Tuesday March 16 2010 | Week 10
HOPE FOR HAITI
F E AT U R E S
» P11
S cott ish S t udent Ne wspaper of the Year 2009 S I N C E 1887
T H E U K ' S O LD E S T S T U D EN T N EW S PA P ER
Higher education: quality over quantity? Jordan Campbell
THE GOVERNMENT should scrap its target of admitting 50 per cent of people under 30 into higher education, according to a new report from the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR). It has also proposed a phased increase in tuition fees by 2020 with safeguards in place to ensure that those who cannot afford the increases are not disadvantaged from higher education. The AGR believes that the government target has watered down the importance of degrees. AGR Chief Executive Carl Gilleard said the proposals would ‘reaffirm the value of a degree.’
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The 50 % target has driven down standards and devalued the currency of a degree." Association of Graduate Recruiterst
The 50 per cent target has in recent years been central to the government’s approach to higher education, with greater inclusion viewed as a vital tool in attempting to improve social mobility. However this goal has come under scrutiny after the Government recently placed caps on university places amidst the uncertainty regarding the future of public spending. The report asserts that the 50 per cent target has ‘driven down standards and devalued the currency of a degree’ and that the ‘focus must shift back to quality rather than quantity.’ The report also describes the raising of tuition fees in England as ‘inevitable.’ However it indicates that the fees cap should be removed in stages, with
graduates only having to repay their fees once they earn £15,000 or the equivalent when inflation is taken into account. It indicates that families should start saving at an early stage, paying into a ‘national savings scheme’ years before their children start higher education. However it does not recommend any set size of fee increase. The National Union of Students (NUS) has viscously attacked the proposals. NUS President Wes Streeting said: "At a time when students are leaving university with record levels of debt, and graduate job prospects are at an all time low, it is offensive to argue that the cap on fees should be raised at all, let alone lifted entirely." NUS recently launched the ‘use your vote’ campaign to encourage students to use their vote in favour of MP’s who do not support raising fees. Earlier in March, EUSA President Thomas Graham unveiled that Edinburgh North MP, Mark Lazarowiz, had backed the campaign. Tuition fees are set to be increase to £3,290 next year in England. Last November, Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson set up a Government review into tuition fees. Though Lord Browne, head of the fees review, has insisted that fee increases are not a ‘forgone conclusion’, many analysts have claimed that fee increases are on the cards as a measure to counteract future public spending cuts. Scottish students studying in Scotland currently do not have to pay fees. Despite uncertainty regarding higher education funding in Scotland, Scottish Education Secretary, Mike Russell MSP, pledged earlier this month to Scottish NUS delegates that the Scottish Government will not be introducing tuition fees. Academics have expressed their disappointment over the report. General Secretary Sally Hunt said: "The future for the UK is at the forefront of a high-skilled knowledge economy and we won’t get there with less graduates." She added, “It is time that business started to make a proper contribution to university funding, instead of parroting its siren calls to increase the debt of students and the burden on hardworking families struggling in tough economic times.” Other recommendations in the reContinued on page 2 »
Trident try-hards A thousand protestors take to the streets against the UK's nuclear weapons. Page 4 >>
Hugh Robbed, son! Anna MacSwan AN INVESTIGATION has been launched into a series of thefts in the Hugh Robson microlab, as Lothian and Borders police removed a man and a woman from the premises on Monday evening at approximately 11pm. Edinburgh University Security confirmed they were aware of a number of similar incidents in the previous few days, where students working late at night have had mobile phones and other possessions stolen. Lothian and Borders police were unable to confirm whether any arrests were made. The alert was raised through a phone call to security from a student who felt uncomfortable with the presence of the pair in question. Chief Security Officer Adam Conn told The Student: “From time to time we get people coming into university microlabs who are not students or staff and
authorised to be there. This defeats the purpose of having an access controlled door. The fact that no one asks who they are or to show their students card leaves open the possibility of theft of personal belongings.” “If there’s one thing I would like to come out of this, it would be that it raises student and staff awareness of what can happen if unauthorised access to the building is allowed. Everyone must share responsibility for promoting security across the University. 4 out of 5 crimes are committed by opportunist theft, and offenders shouldn’t be given a chance.” He also encouraged students to alert security as to any concerns. Access to the microlab, also known as 'The Bunker', after opening hours is authorized exclusively for students and staff, with swipe card and pin access. As yet there is no means of controlling the possibility of entering the building through 'tailgating'. Security for George Square is based in Appleton tower, where other buildings are monitored by CCTV.
JEN MAH
Graduate employers disregard government targets for increased university attendance and capped fees.
One third year student, who witnessed Monday night’s events whilst working in the microlab, said: “I saw a group of several security guards walking back and forth... I then saw two police officers come in and go through to the next room, when I realised they had detained and were questioning two people. About 10 minutes later they led out a girl wearing handcuffs and a security guard came and asked the row I was sat on if we had seen the people before. “Most people answered that they hadn’t, and the security guard informed us that they had been coming in after hours and stealing phones, bags and jackets. This information left me feeling a little shaken and made me realise how lax the security is in the micro labs.” Conn maintained that the University is not complacent with regards to the issue, saying that access to the microlab after opening hours is an issue discussed regularly by the University administration. news@studentnewspaper.org
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What’s in this issue NEWS »p1-6
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ANTI-TRIDENT MARCH p4
Politicians and students unite in opposition
DE-CENSOR-IZED p5
The Journal is back on stands at Napier University
COMMENT »p8-9 OBLIGED TO VOTE p9
Matthew Macauley argues for compulasry voting
ARTS&FEATURES »p11-22
Student band may play Glastonbury Melissa Birbeck A LOCAL band featuring two Edinburgh University students is vying for a gig on the coveted Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival. Selected by a panel of judges from over 1600 applicants, five-piece, folkinspired band, Mayhew, triumphed in a public vote to take them through to the final round of the competition, where they will face 11 other hopefuls. The band consists of Cathy Wilcock, Gregory Fonte, Chris Lyon, Daniel Lawrence and Gordon Webster, and will travel to Pilton in Somerset, the location of this summer’s festival, at the weekend to compete for the top prize. Mayhew is the only Scottish act to have been shortlisted for the Pyramid Stage. Speaking to The Student, lead vocalist Wilcock and cellist Lyon expressed surprise at their own success: “We’re chuffed. We didn’t think we had any real chance”. The band came across the Glaston-
bury Festival’s Emerging Talent Contest by chance while searching for gigs online. “We even debated if it was worth the entrance fee”, Lyon said. “We looked at the spot checks on the website to check out the competition. From that we thought we might make the ‘maybe pile’”. The entrance fee of £12, has clearly proved its worth. The band members were hesitant to predict their own success: “We’re being pretty cautious. We’re hopeful we might get put on at least one of the stages at Glastonbury as last year, 11 out of the 12 finalists got to play on one of the other stages. But there’s no guarantee.” In the last round of this competition, the group will be given a twenty minute slot, in which they hope to perform around four songs. However, regardless of the outcome of the final, the band were thrilled to have come as far as they have. “We’re pretty excited. For us at this stage, to play at Glastonbury, it’s a mas-
sive win”, Lyon said. Described by Tom Robinson of BBC 6Music as 'drop-dead gorgeous', the band has experienced an increased wave of attention in the wake of the competition, with their MySpace page receiving more hits than ever before. Wilcock is a fourth-year English Literature student at the University of Edinburgh, while Lyon is a third-year music student. The two noted the difficulties of combining the growing demands of the band’s success with their studies. “It’s the same for anyone with a commitment really”, Lyon said. “The excitement does make it hard to concentrate and it is hard to juggle…We can’t complain though!” The members of Mayhew were keen to thank everyone who had voted for them. Fans need now wait less than two weeks to see whether the band will indeed perform at the Glastonbury Festival in June alongside the likes of U2, Muse and Stevie Wonder. news@studentnewswpaper.org
HEALING HAITI'S WOUNDS p11
Fran O'Hanlon writes about his experiences as a volunteer
ON THE HIGH SEAS p16
Tech discusses the issue of piracy (real pirates not included - only available in Somalia)
FUCKING MATT DAMON p17
Green Zone gets a four-star review from Film
IT'S A GEEK WORLD AFTER ALL p18
COURTESY OF MAYHEW
TV reviews Caprica and Brian Cox's Wonders of the Solar System
DREADFUL DETOXES p20
Lifestyle's Caitlin McDonald takes the plunge so you don't have to ALMOST FAMOUS: Mayhew are on a shortlist to play the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury
SPORT »p23-24 IT'S MILLER TIME p23
Martin Domin interviews Irish midfielder Liam Miller
Association of Graduate Recruiters report provokes fury From front page...
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p18 The Student Newspaper | 60 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ Email: editors@studentnewspaper.org
Other recommendations in the report include greater work experience for students before university and that universities should offer more information on graduate prospects of degree programs. The AGR represnts 750 employers, including many blue chip companies, banks like Barclays, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, as well as other influential financial groups. Government agencies like the Ministry of Defence and NHS Scotland are also part of the group. Together they recruit around 30,000 UK graduates every year. news@studentnewspaper.org
University scientists crowing over cock findings James Ellingworth EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY scientists have discovered the genetic secret of hermaphrodite hens, it was announced this week. Scientists from the University’s Roslin Institute, led by Dr Michael Clinton, examined gynandromorphous chickens – where one side of the body is male and the other female. Around one in 10,000 chickens is thought to have this condition, which can mean a bird can have different coloured plumage and body structure on either side of the body. The breakthrough came when the scientists found that hormones do not determine whether bird cells are male or female, but that this is determined separately. Clinton said: “We looked at these birds initially expecting them not to be half-male and half-female. We thought there'd be a mutation on one side of the body. "But we found that they were halfmale and half-female and that's what actually showed us that the system was different in birds and mammals."
He added: “This research has completely overturned what we previously thought about how sexual characteristics were determined in birds. Our study opens a new avenue for our understanding of birds’ sexual development.” The researchers believe that their findings could translate into practical benefits for chicken farmers, who could use modified chicken genes to combine traits associated with male and female animals, such as longer life. "If you put female cells into a male body they'll develop into the normal tissues, but they'll behave as female cells," Clinton said. "If we can understand what the differences between the male and female identities are, then we can imagine making female birds with the same growth characteristics as males. That would increase productivity, and food security." There are now hopes that the findings could allow other researchers to shed further light on human genetics, perhaps explaining the mystery of male nipples. news@studentnewspaper.org
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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News 3
Julia Symmes Cobb POLITICIANS WERE given a chance to compete for the student vote during a rousing political debate on Thursday in McEwan Hall Panelists included Labour Finance Spokesman David Whitton, MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, Conservative Finance Spokesman Derek Brownlee, MSP for the South of Scotland, Liberal Democrat Finance Spokesman Jeremy Purvis, MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale and SNP Treasury Spokesman Stewart Hosie, MP for Dundee East. The debate focused upon economic policy and was conducted in a similar format to the BBC's Question Time, with opportunity for audience participation. All of the party representatives agreed that the economic crisis cannot be fully blamed on the British government, or on Britain’s regulation of the finance industry. "It’s a bit of an illusion that government is the master of its own destiny…everything depends on the world market," said Brownlee. Yet the panelists disagreed on how best to extract the country from financial trouble. Hosie advocated what he called ‘prudent debt, prudent deficit’ and recommended cutting ‘big-ticket items’ like Trident, instead of public services. Purvis said that the country should reduce debt by cutting superfluous policy, like ID cards and warned that "the economy is still very fragile." Brownlee compared the national debt to that of credit card debt, saying:
"The sooner you stop building it up, the sooner you get out of debt". Whitton asserted that Britain will have to 'work its way out' of the recession. First year Economics student Maria Vildavskaya asked the panelists what the role of banks would be in the future, after the recent Government bail-outs. Hosie said that the actions taken by the Labour government to stem bank failures 'were the right thing', but added that that there must be an international regulation framework to “protect the system.” Whitton and Brownlee both agreed that greater regulation was the key to averting a future crisis. Purvis said: “There is a public understanding that it is not the job of the taxpayer to subsidize risk. RBS and HBOS were too big to fail, but they were also too big to save.” He advocated radical reform to the regulatory system. When asked after the debate if she was satisfied with answers to her questions, Vildavskaya said “No, they’re politicians – they don’t answer questions.” It seemed all the panelists when caught off guard when asked by an audience member what their personal qualifications were for serving in finance and treasury positions. None of the panelists claimed to have formal qualifications, and most cited colleagues or their vested interest in the subject. Whitton said: “Elected politicians are surrounded by officials who can give us advice, but in the end it comes down to democratic accountability.” Caroline Bellamy, a candidate standing for the Communist League in the next election, challenged the morality of
TONY SIM
Showdown in McEwan Hall
VOTE FOR US.. From left, Stewart Hosie MP, Derek Brownlee MSP, David Whitton MSP and Jeremy Purvis MSP dicsuss economic solutions ahead of the General Election. the panelists belief in capitalism by asking if “there is any solution to this crisis that doesn’t involve transferring debt to working people and transferring capital to super-rich bondholders.” Brownlee stated: “Capitalism has its problems, but there is no credible alternative – it allows people to realize their potential – greater opportunities don’t correlate to greater welfare spending.” “I think it’s great that you’re running –though I don’t think you’ll win,” said Whitton. Hosie said that finance must be re-
balanced, “we have nationalized risk…no banker with public money should have been getting bonuses, and its ordinary people who are paying.” Purvis, who seemed to have hit his stride said: “After a decade of Labour government, the gap between rich and poor is wider than ever. This is the ugly face of capitalism; the people have paid for the grotesque greed of lobbyists and companies who were rewarded for increasing risk. It is a test of the parties on this platform…we must change the trend in regards to equality.”
The debate was chaired by Executive Editor of the Scotsman, Bill Jamieson. When asked by The Student why he believes it is valuable for students to attend events addressing the economy, chair Jamieson said: “We’re at a very important interval between the collapse and the other shoe – the consequences. We’re in a new world, with a new order in finance – it’s truly revolutionary.” news@studentnewspaper.org
Extraordinary times for EUSA EUSA HAVE announced plans to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting to vote specifically on the issue of whether students should be able to change the student association’s constitution through online referenda. The proposal being put forward, known as the ‘enabling motion’, aims to tackle a long standing problem where the vast majority of students do not participate in EUSA’s decision making process, given the logistical difficulties of attending a general meeting. Speaking as to why online referenda is an urgent priority, EUSA Vice President Societies and Activities Camilla Pierry said: “There is no conceivable way that a General Meeting can ever include all of students we are supposed to represent. And that’s not for want of trying: we contacted all student parents before the last GM, for example, offering to provide free childcare to help them attend. “But it wasn’t enough - while we had loads of people contact us to thank us for the thought, they all had other commitments, older children, were working... hundreds of reasons. Students’ lives are complicated, and whatever extra measures we put in place we will just never be able to make a physical evening meeting accessible to everyone. “It is not acceptable for EUSA to continue to exclude these groups of students from EUSA’s decision making structures. It is simply undemocratic.” Because the motion itself entails constitutional change, it requires
an overwhelming majority of 75 per cent vote in favour at a general meeting, with a minimum of 300 votes. Should the motion pass and enable voting take place online, the number of votes required for a motion to pass would rise from 300 to 1,000. This is the fourth time students have voted on the motion, which has been brought forward at the past three consecutive General Meetings. With approximately 241 votes in favour at February’s General meeting the motion won 85 per cent support, however fell short of the required 300. Similarly, last February’s General Meeting saw 90 per cent support, but fell due to a lack of quoracy. Whilst November’s Annual General Meeting saw an exceptionally high turnout, the motion fell with 70 per cent in favour, short of the required 75. Students speaking against the motion in November cited reasons such as the demise of debate with the formal GM. It is also believed that the spillover of 200 students who watched the debate through a live video stream in Appleton Tower could not hear properly due to technical difficulties, and therefore voted unclear as to what the motion entailed. The EUSA executive maintain that the fact that the overwhelming majority of students voted in favour each time mean they are justified in continuing to bring the motion back. Speaking to The Student, EUSA President Thomas Graham said: “Every single time we do our annual survey, students say they want online referenda.
We’re trying to change EUSA for the better and it’s important that that process can continue with as much student engagement as possible.” The call for an EGM was approved by the SRC and Committee of Management, and backed by the signatures of 380 students. In an effort to make the meeting as accessible as possible to all students, the meeting is to be held at Pollock Halls. Concerns have been raised, however, that the decision to call an EGM gives the appearance of attempting to push through an unpopular decision. One SRC member who wished to remain anonymous said: “I think the main things people are concerned about are looking like it’s trying to be pushed through again and not addressing the concerns of those who voted against it. “I was in favour at SRC but I can see why people have concerns about it. It’s difficult, because pretty much everyone seems to want the motion to pass, but they don’t like the idea of just bringing it back over and over until it does.” In an attempt to counter this, the sabbaticals have confirmed that the motion will be presented independently, by NUS Scotland President Liam Burns and EUSA Chief Executive Anthony Blackshaw. Pierry defended the move, saying: “Representing students’ views is EUSA’s whole reason for being, and so it’s absolutely right that we should channel all our energies into these events. “Whether or not the referendum passes, mobilising people to come
along and have their say is our core business - we owe it to students to get enough people there to actually enable a vote.” Graham echoed such sentiments, saying: “We can’t afford to delay this change any longer. We’ve already had three General Meetings where the overwhelming majority of students have said they want online referenda.” Passage of the enabling motion would only enable online referenda on motions involving constitutional change. Other motions traditionally discussed at general meetings such as proposals to ban Facebook or Nestle products would not be immediately affected, although there is the possibility that this would
be changed with constitutional review. Graham said that if a majority of students were to vote against the motion, it would not be brought back. As part of the effort to achieve quoracy the meeting is being treated as an election campaign, with members of EUSA planning to knock on doors to encourage attendance. Incentives such as society cards will also be provided. The Extraordinary General Meeting is to be held at 7 pm on March 23rd, in South Hall, Pollock Halls. news@studentnewspaper.org
SHAN BERTELLI
Anna MacSwan
PHOTOCOPY AND PASTE: Demise of the formal GM could see the demise of recycled GM photos too (refer to last week's paper)
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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News
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Edinburgh students join politicians to march against Trident renewal Salmond calls for Scotland's voice to be heard
ter most at home.” “The fight against nuclear weapons unties people of all faiths and none,” he added. Several MPs were on hand to speak as well, including Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz of Edinburgh North and Leith and Lib Dem MP John Barrett, of Edinburgh West. Said Lazarowicz, “let none of us forget that it is not just arguments of emotion, but of logic that are on our side.” Barrett urged citizens to let their opposition to Trident be heard in the upcoming general election: “People have to get out onto the street and vote for parties who oppose Trident.”
Julia Symmes Cobb AS MANY as a thousand Edinburgh protesters were joined on Saturday by First Minister Alex Salmond in a march against the renewal of Trident, the UK’s nuclear deterrent system. The march occurred in tandem with talks in Washington between American President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev about reducing their countries’ active nuclear arsenal by as much as one quarter.
£20bn
Ian Galloway, Church of Scotland
The ‘Cut Trident, Not Jobs’ demonstration was organized by ‘Scotland’s For Peace’, a looselybased coalition of groups who oppose WMDs. The Trident nuclear weapons system is located in Faslane on the Clyde, outside of Glasgow.
IN
Brief
No Apprentices. Only the real deal IT MIGHT be lacking an Alan Sugar, but ‘The Original Edinburgh Apprentice’ 2010 is well underway and proving that Edinburgh Students are fired up and ready to go in to the world of business. The second round of the competition, arranged by iCUE (Innovative Consultancy, University of Edinburgh) Society, saw teams competing to raising money for Barnardo’s, the society’s partner charity through raising the profile of ‘The Scotch Whisky Experience’ (SWE), a visitor attraction at the top of the Royal Mile. The six teams, were each armed with 10 complimentary tickets to the SWE and 48 hours in which to use their business cunning to raise money and awareness. The winning team, Smart Fellas, kept their heads clear to contribute £272 to the Barnaro’s fund, which came to over £700 in total. The teams contributed money raised via club nights, silent auctions, raffling and good old-fashioned hard-selling. The competition has progressed onto the final two rounds and after frantic charity selling last week. GB
JEN MAH
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“Every pound we spend on Trident reduces our capacity to do the things that matter most at home.”
CUT TRIDENT: Salmond marching through Edinburgh with protestors The march began at Scottish Parliament and wound down the Royal Mile into the Grassmarket, where Alex Salmond rallied the crowd with a vehement speech. “I look forward to the democratic abolition of missiles. There’s an irony in deploying Hans Blix to look for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq when he would have
Sinner or Saint? EISF wants to know.
EDINBURGH INTERNATION AL Science Festival is wanting to know if men sin more than women? If the Scots are bigger sinners than the English? and which sins are we most predisposed to commit? The study is being conducted by Psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire to examine the level of sinning in the UK. Professor Wiseman said “Being able to control our emotional urges is an important attribute and it will be interesting to see what types of people can, and cannot, resist temptation.” EISF is asking students and the citizens of Edinburgh to complete an online surevy form available at www. sinnerorsaint.org The results of the research will be announced at an event be announced at an Edinburgh International Science Festival event at The Jam House on Monday 12th April. Dr Simon Gage, Director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, said “Our annual on-line survey always proves popular, and inevitably produces some interesting results. This is a light-hearted look at a serious subject." HK
had no trouble finding them in Faslane on the Clyde,” he said. The First Minister added: “Scotland has made its choice, we wait for that choice to be recognized. There is no defence logic in keeping Trident, and everyone knows it.” Salmond was joined in the march by members of his SNP party, the Clydebank Trades Council, the Communist
EUSA announces finalists of Pimp competition EUSA’S CAMPAIGN to reinvigorate the University campus has announced the short list of final designs. The competition named ‘Pimp My School’ has received 36 entries including proposals for roof-top gardens, out-door chess sets, and an extremely strong demand for more comfort around campus. The judging panel, which included staff at students, met last week to decide the shortlist. The final shortlist is: Hugh Robson Reception Revamp (Harriet Page/Sarah Cunningham/ Dave Campbell) Paterson's Land Common Room Revamp (Kara McMillan) Pimp The Engineering School (Evelyn Buchner Santos/Cath Inglesfield) Renovation of Social & Political Sciences Undergraduate Reading Room (Tony Laing/Emma Lister/ Thomas Fotheringham) EUSA is working with the university to identify ways of moving forward as many of the proposed projects as possible. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be announced at an awards reception next Thursday. HK
Party, the Lib Dems and others. Many speakers, Salmond among them, mentioned the economic toll of Trident in such a fragile economy. Said Ian Galloway, Convener of the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council: “Every pound we spend [on Trident] reduces our capacity to do the things that mat-
The cost to renew Trident , as voted for by parliament in 2007
Kate Hudson, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament chairman cited recently released opinion poll statistics in her speech: “It's young people who have the foresight to say that they don’t want the UK to be a nuclear country past the middle of this century.” “We have to make sure that good intentions don’t remain intentions – it is our duty to make politicians listen to our message,” she added. news@studentnewspaper.org
Library 'work-in' confirmed Neil Pooran HUNDREDS OF students are poised to stage a peaceful ‘work in’ in George Square library, as pressure on the University to keep the building open for 24 hours grows. As The Student went to press on Sunday night, over 800 students said on facebook that they would be ‘attending’ the work in on Monday night to Tuesday morning. A large turnout would reinforce the Students Association’s push for a 24 hour library, demonstrating that there is some demand for the building’s opening hours to be extended. EUSA Vice-President for Academic Affairs Evan Beswick, said the lack of a 24 hour library damaged Edinburgh’s international reputation. He told The Student: “There’s a huge number of students who are fed up with a university that’s way behind the Russell Group in terms of access to facilities. This is ridiculous for the 20th top university in the world, not to mention one of the wealthiest in the UK." There has been some discussion as to whether the ‘work in’ should last just one night, or continue until progress is made with the University. At a planning meeting on
Thursday 11 March, students voted to limit the demonstration to one night. Parallels were drawn with last year’s occupation of the George Square Lecture Theatre by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Though the five` day occupation was entirely peaceful and the students involved suffered no sanctions from the University or police, organizers do not want to mimic its highly politicized message. Beswick explained: “I’d like to stress that this isn’t an occupation – we don’t have a list of ‘demands’ which must be met before we leave. It’s meant to be a fun way of showing the university that students value their education, and that current opening hours don’t work for all of them. At the moment we are throwing upwards 200 students out of the library every day. That’s bonkers from my point of view! I’m hoping this kickstarts a grown up discussion on the sort of access a world-class university should provide students to its facilities.” The University is understood to be cooperative with the planned demonstration, and has agreed to keep on lights, heating and internet facilities throughout the night. Beswick and EUSA President Thomas Graham will meet with University Secretary Melvin Cornish on Tuesday morning to attempt to negotiate increased opening hours. news@studentnewspaper.org
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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News 5
Removal of newspapers from Napier campus causes protest, comment by MSP Harrison Kelly THE JOURNAL newspaper has been reinstated at Edinburgh Napier University campus after a row broke out last week between the paper and Napier Students Association. News broke on Twitter last weekend that the student publication had been removed from campus after it was claimed that the latest edition contained an article that was defamatory and contained ‘unsubstantiated comments.’
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The whole point of a student newspaper is to say things that are uncomfortable." Shirley-Anne Somerville, MSP
The front page article ‘War breaks out at NSA’ contained details of a vote of no confidence against current NSA President Kasia Bylinska from Nathan Sparling who ran
against Ms. Bylinska in last week’s NSA elections. Commenting of the decision, a spokesperson for NSA told The Student, "The decision by NSA's Elections Committee's to remove The Journal from campus stemmed from its responsibility to ensure fairness between candidates and to promote a level playing field. It believed the front page article that appeared in the 3 March edition militated against those objectives.” Editor in Chief of The Journal, Paris Gourtsoyannis, told The Student last week that he had not been told of the decision in the immediate days after the action was taken, yet NSA maintains that “Discussions were held with the Editor of The Journal to explain the initial decision and to discuss the compilation of the journalist's report. Following these discussions the Committee remained of the view that the article was likely unfairly to prejudice the election.” The decision by NSA has sparked protests by students at the University who have been holding campaigns over the past week as ‘NapierAnon’, claiming that the actions of NSA constituted censorship of the student press. The protesters have been demonstrating on campus all last week and met with Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP last Thursday at a protest outside Holyrood. Somerville offered her support to the cause, stating that “the whole point of a student newspaper is to say things that are uncomfortable.” However the campaign has been criticised for becoming a personal attack on Ms Bylinska as hostility on campus increased after the decision was made. Memebers of ‘NapierAnon’ told
MATTHEW DALE
The Journal back in news stands
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS UNDER THREAT?: The Journal's supporters take to the street The Student that this is not the case, saying: “We just want people to play by their own rules.”
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We just want people to play by their own rules."
Napier-Anon
Papers seen by The Student also show that students voting in the elections were able to view who else had voted, and for which candidates
Teaching awards shortlist announced Harrison Kelly
THE SHORTLIST for the second annual Teaching Awards at the University of Edinburgh has been revealed naming teachers from a wide range of departments at the University. The awards, voted for by students and organised by Edinburgh University Students Association, aim to celebrate and reward good teaching practice by lecturers and tutors. Nearly 3,000 nominations have been received, with categories including Best Department, Best Feedback, Innovative Teaching and Best Research Supervisor. Evan Beswick, VP Academic Affairs said: “These awards are great because they not only give student recognition to their excellent teachers, but also because they don’t just reward the ‘usual suspects’.” The awards are highly coveted by staff at the University and the winners will be announced at a lavish Ceremony on 24th March in Teviot Debating Hall.
James Holloway, Teaching and Learning Convener at EUSA said: “The standard of candidates for this year's Teaching Awards has been absolutely fantastic, and reading through the comments that students have made about their lecturers and tutors, you really get an insight into the huge appreciation they feel when they receive innovative and inspiring teaching.” Edinburgh was ranked bottom in the National Student Survey last year for the quality of feedback, indicating that many students at the University often feel that teaching is given second preference over research by lecturers. It is hoped that the Teaching Awards will address this imbalance and reward lecturers and tutors who consistently excel at teaching. Beswick continued, “Like last year, this year’s list includes people who might not immediately be known to everyone but have been working at improving their students’ lives without asking for reward. It is great we can show that students really appreciate their work.”
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This year’s list includes people who might not immediately be known to everyone but have been working at improving their students’ lives without asking for reward. It is great we can show that students’ really appreciate their work.” Evan Beswick EUSA VPAA
A full list of nominees will be announced later this week. Students can watch the ceremony live on the EUSA website beginning at 8pm on awards night. news@studentnewspaper.
by clicking a link on the online nomination form. Members of Napier Anon have now claimed that the result of the NSA elections should be made void as the slip-up by NSA was a breach of data protection, “the whole process has been a farce, this is no longer a can of worms, but a whole barrel-full.” The Journal is a student society registered with EUSA and is distributed to campuses all across the city. The fortnightly publication has contributors from several HE institutions across Edinburgh. Speaking about the dispute, EUSA President Thomas Graham said that he “won't comment on the election process at another in-
dependent students' association. However, I do not believe that any press (student or not) should be censored.” “I think it's extremely helpful to have student media covering elections. They hold us to account, ensure we know who the candidates are and what they stand for, and raise the profile of the elections in general.” It is uncertain if The Journal will take any further action against NSA in the light of loss of revenue for the advertisements contained within the removed papers. news@studentnewspaper.org
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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news@studentnewspaper.org
News
First of University's new International Women's Day lectures Katie Cunningham THE UNIVERSITY of Edinburgh has marked International Women’s Day with a guest lecture by a prominent advocate of fair trade. Harriet Lamb, executive director of the United Kingdom Fairtrade Foundation, spoke in McEwan Hall in the University’s inaugural International Women’s Day lecture. The University plans to establish an annual lecture series featuring “inspiring women speakers” on International Women’s Day, March 8, which is now in its 102nd year. The event publicises political issues surrounding women, and encourages women to participate in politics. It currently focuses on equal pay, encouraging greater numbers of women to enter politics and business and seeks and end to violence against women. After being introduced by Uni-
versity principal, Timothy O’Shea, Lamb spoke about the benefits of the Fairtrade movement with emphasis on its importance to women in developing countries. She said: “Fairtrade is not a handout - it is a hand up. Famers have repeatedly told me we are not a charity; don’t buy our products because you feel sorry for us. Buy it because it is the best product out there. “Fairtrade deals with the root causes of poverty in Africa, it helps to change lives by giving independence rather than just giving cash.”
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We all love a bargain but we ought to stop and question ourselves: 'Is this right?'" Harriet Lamb, Executive Director, UK Fairtrade Foundation
She later added: “We all love a bargain, but when we know the true cost of out commodities we ought to stop and question ourselves: ‘Is this right?’”
In 2004, the University of Edinburgh became the first university in Scotland to become a Fairtrade University, and among the first in the UK. During her talk, Lamb dismissed claims that Fairtrade deprives the fight against climate change of attention and funding, saying that she saw no “conflict between climate change and Fairtrade”. She compared the average Kenyan’s carbon footprint – around 200kg per year – to that of the average Briton, around 9,000kg. Quoting leading economist Nicholas Stern, she commented: “Africa has the moral authority when it comes to climate change.” Fairtrade is becoming a major force, with £700 million made in 2008 and 4500 Fairtrade products available. Last year 9 out of 10 people in Britain bought a Fairtrade product, according to one survey. This is partly due to recent awareness campaigns such as ‘The Big Swap’, where people were encouraged to buy Fairtrade alternatives to the products they normally buy. The campaign has attracted 870,000 people in Britain so far. news@studentnewspaper.org
FULL OF BEANS: Harriet Lamb supports a fair deal for African farm-
FLCIKR: PAUL EVANS
Fairtrade speaker celebrates women's achievements
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Culture of vengeance Joshua Jones addresses the reasons why Jon Venables' identity should be kept secret It was with added uneasiness that the tragic death of James Bulger was brought back to our attention this month, 17 years after his murder. Jon Venables, who has successfully lived under a veil of anonymity for almost a decade since his release from a secure children’s unit, is now back facing public condemnation following a breach of his life license. We should all be concerned with the "extremely serious allegations" that have returned Venables to imprisonment, given the gruesome nature of his original crime. Discounting the mitigation from the case, James Bulger’s murder is one of the few crimes in British history that comes close to being considered unforgivable. The torture and murder of a two-year-old child rightly shocks and disgusts us. The details of Venables’ latest criminal venture should be subject to much legal scrutiny. If rumours are to be believed, the 27-year-old may have been returned to prison for allegations of a category four sexual offence. One of the
less reported elements of the Bulger murder, perhaps because of its sheer repulsive connotations, was the suspected sexual nature of James’ injuries below the waist. It is far from absurd to suggest that the two crimes may be linked despite the 17 years separating them. Yet the Bulger case is one of those few cases in human history for which it is reasonable to suggest that the killers were victims themselves. Venables and his conspirator, Robert Thompson, were just ten years old when they performed the act which would change their lives and identities forever. To commit such an act at such a young age paints a picture of two boys who were extremely psychologically disturbed at the time of the attack. It appears to be a curious element of our society that when a young child kills we need to condemn him more than when an adult who knows what they are doing performs the same act. When children steal, we forgive them for being naïve while showing no such
sympathy for an adult who replicates the crime. Why is it then that the balance shifts so dramatically when it comes to murder?
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The Bulger case is one example of our society therapeutically adopting a vengeance mentality" The idea of a child killing is a shock to all of our systems; the Bulger case, however, is one example of our society therapeutically adopting a vengeance mentality led by the tabloid media. We label these children as "evil" so as to dismiss them as something that our moral society could never possibly have produced. Inevitably it leads to the calls such as those from Merseysid-
Crossing the line
FLICKR: DVID SHUB
The trials facing voters in Iraq leadssMatthew Macauley to conclude that compulsory voting should be introduced in the UK
ers after the Bulger trial for the young perpetrators to be hanged. We should all take a step back and imagine a situation where these boys were executed rather than reformed. Would we have felt any better about James Bulger’s death knowing that two ten-year-olds had been killed to give him justice? The original crime itself provoked enough questions of "broken society" without having a situation where society enlists a culture of merciless hatred. Such a culture has returned in the last couple of weeks, as the public demands to know the nature of Venables’ return to imprisonment. Even cabinet ministers appear confused over the right course of action, with Home Secretary Alan Johnson claiming that the public deserved to know, before Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, announced last week that no information would be released. Soft-spoken Straw has the edge in this case; any information released would jeopardise the prospect of a fair trial for Venables, as the jury would immediately
recognise him as young James’ killer. There is also an ethical question here: Why do we so desperately need to know the nature of his most recent offence? The question, of course, relies on the issue of anonymity and whether he deserves state-funded protection after breaking his license. Revealing his identity would do nothing to quell the hatred towards him and would most likely lead to a vigilante murder. If protecting his anonymity means keeping the details of his activity secret, then it is a risk worth taking. The Bulger case is one that shocked and repulsed the public. However, we should take comfort in the fact that it was by no means representative of our rational and moral society. We should all condemn Venables for what he did, but we should also attempt to understand rather than crucify a clearly psychologically unstable character. If we don’t, we risk creating a culture of hatred which permits revenge as a reasonable form of justice.
On the 7th of March, millions of Iraqis turned out to exercise their democratic right to vote in the face of deadly bomb and mortar attacks. By the end of the day, 38 were dead but democracy had triumphed. Obama praised the courage of the Iraqi people for this historic election and referred to the voting as ensuring that "the future of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq." But can we say, with a general election fast approaching, that we too will exercise our right to vote and at least have some say over our future? Electoral turnout has dropped steeply since 1992, when 77 per cent of the population of the UK voted, compared to just 61.4 per cent in 2005. This is somewhat pathetic considering the only potential risk posed to us by voting is getting a vicious paper cut from the ballot. Crucially, statistics reveal that young people are most guilty of voter apathy. The Electoral Commission recently released results which suggest that 56 per cent of 17 to 24-yearolds may not even be registered to vote. Consider this alongside the fact that only 37 per cent of young people voted in 2005. Worryingly, this culture of apathy, which is highly destructive to our democracy, is endemic. If just 60 per cent of people vote in the next general election, the government will only have a mandate from three-fifths of the country, which is not a characteristic of a healthy democracy. Do not misunderstand me: I am under no illusions about our political system, and believe it is far from perfect, but I also recognise that change is not achievable unless people engage with it. Many who express disgust at the
British National Party gaining two seats in the European Parliament did not vote in the European Union elections to prevent them from gaining that platform. The BNP did not get elected solely because of the votes they received, but because less people voted for the mainstream parties. This led to BNP votes being worth more than in previous elections, which helped them win their seats. In the last European election, only 34.7 per cent of people eligible to vote in the UK actually did, which means that the MEPs elected to that parliament have been endorsed by less than two-fifths of the population. This is of great concern, as 85 per cent of our laws are now made in Brussels. It is for these reasons that compulsory voting should be introduced in the UK to ensure that elections are truly democratic and that everyone has their say. A system akin to that of Australia could be set up, under which people are fined a small amount if they do not vote. God knows the next government will need an extra source of revenue. This would not necessarily mean that you have to vote for a party, as there would also be a box which you could tick to abstain. It would merely ensure that everyone had to take part, to some extent, in the political process. I would urge you to vote. It is not only a right but also a privilege as the recent election in Iraq demonstrates. It may be a cliché, but it is worth mentioning: previous generations gave their lives so that we could live in a democracy, and the least we can do to honour their sacrifices is to put a cross on a piece of paper.
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Comment 9
Widening the web
Ele Paganini argues that, in our modern world, internet access should be recognised as a human right
to succeed. So, if the Internet is a necessity, the absence of which can distort an individual’s achievement of certain goals, it makes sense to expect our governments to value it as a human right. If anything, it is the current superstructure of society that forces this to be the case. Nevertheless, governments disagree on the extent to which the Internet should be restricted and,
despite UN attempts to promote Internet access there still are countries, such as China, blocking, filtering and manipulating what their citizens can access. This seems unfair and incoherent given today’s level of globalization, which is having both positive and negative effects on the life of every single individual. Although governments cannot force it on their people, they can help their citizens face fewer
obstacles in their everyday lives. The need for a minimum level of government regulation, just like the need for laws on other (non-virtual) activities, must not be confused with the fact that Internet access is today a necessity. The poll shows that 59 per cent of people are concerned with fraud and violence, but all this shows is that governments need to realize the slight difference between freedom of expression and freedom of information. The latter cannot be entirely abandoned to uphold the former. It is not yet clear whether virtual communities, such as Facebook groups, activists and campaigners can make a difference, but they are nevertheless communities of people who enjoy sharing and spreading their views. Governments that interfere with their citizens’ access to the Internet are not only depriving their people of knowledge, but also of the right to have a voice, to communicate, and to unite – in brief, basic rights for which we have fought for centuries. If Internet access today is no longer a privilege but a basic to human flourishing, then it must be considered a human right, be it in the name of freedom or simply because the world’s superstructure makes it a necessity. The gap between the information-rich and the information-poor is now a moral issue, and it would be inconsistent to fight for freedom as a fundamental human right while depriving people of the means to such freedom. Unless those who benefit from the Internet understand the need to "slow down" their momentum in the name of equality of opportunity for the rest, which is highly unlikely, Internet access has to be recognised as a human right to the same extent as it is a modern human necessity.
FLICKR: MANGROVE MIKE
IN ITS short history (March 15th 2010 is the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the first Internet domain ever) the Internet has transformed the way the world works. According to a new global poll conducted across 26 countries for BBC World Service, four in five people believe that Internet access should be a fundamental human right. The main reasons for this are the right to freedom and equality of opportunity. The momentum that the Internet has gained, and which will be sustained, means that more and more activities will require it and that the situation is incontestably irreversible. We are geared towards a digital future. Internet access is changing the way we communicate, the way we shop, the way we learn, the number of books we read, the way we entertain ourselves and, for some, even the way to find partners. To use the words of Dr Hamadoun Touré, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Internet should be regarded "as basic infrastructure – just like roads, waste and water." Similarly, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly urged governments to uphold freedom of opinion and expression for all journalists, bloggers and media professionals, "as a matter of principle, and because a free press is essential for building a better world." As Barack Obama said, the Internet is "not only a powerful engine for economic growth, but it is also essential for the generation of ideas and creativity." It therefore seems that, today, people are strongly encouraged to adapt and embrace the benefits of Internet access. Indeed, in this capitalist system in which we find ourselves, the pressure to compete, to “keep up” in order to survive, means that we are practically obliged to seek all the possible means
Opposing op-press-ion A free press should be put to good use and not squandered, writes Harrison Kelly
THOMAS JEFFERSON once said, "the press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man, and improving him as a rational, moral and social being." This is the essence of why freedom of the press and journalists’ autonomy is so important and why it must be defended, from the smallest student newspaper to the globalised news agencies, including, dare I say it, even NewsCorp. May 3rd this year has been earmarked across the globe as the World Press Freedom Day, a chance to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The day also marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991. However it would seem that some British journalists are forgetting the fortunate conditions they work under. Living and writing in a country that enjoys huge freedom of the
press, it disheartens me to walk past news stands and see headlines of "CHERYL, END YOUR FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE" or "JOHN TERRY SCORES AWAY FROM HOME." Is this news? Is it in the public interest? I would say it is not. Today’s papers are filled with stories that I would argue are not newsworthy. Journalists who justify their coverage of John Terry or Cheryl Cole by saying that the stories are in "the public interest" seem to forget that "the public interest" is not the same as something that the public finds interesting. I found the tsunami of stories that engulfed the British media in the weeks (not days) after allegations of John Terry’s extra marital affairs frankly tedious and disheartening. The Sun or The News of The World absolutely have the right to print these stories if they wish, but if it means that reporters are devoting time uncovering more details of hurtful and malicious filthy stories to print, then there is definitely something
amiss with the rationale of the paper. "Attack Journalism" is an important tool when uncovering injustice in society and corporate corruption, but it has no place when reporting Cheryl’s split from Ashley or John’s split from Toni. These are real people and I am sure they are hurting enough without the claws of the press scratching at their door.
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With on average one journalist arrested every day across the globe for writing the truth, we have a responsibility to use our freedom of speech for good efforts" Speaking at City University recently, journalist Nick Davies, who uncovered the News of the World phone hackings, said that journal-
ism had "lost its moral compass" and it is about time we got it back. What makes the phone hacking at News of the World even more shocking is that the reporters involved were tapping the phones of people who had done nothing wrong. This was not Watergate; these were pure, targeted vendettas against individuals by an institution that claims to be "Britain’s biggest-selling newspaper featuring the best news exclusives." Enjoying freedom of speech must go hand in hand with responsibility. On May 3rd I would urge all UK newspapers to print stories that fall within the realm of responsible journalism, articles that tell stories worthy of the column inches, concerned with the real issues facing society. With on average one journalist arrested every day across the globe for writing stories of truth, we have a duty as responsible journalists to use our freedom of speech for good efforts. We must act as truth seeking missiles to tell the stories of wrongdoings in society, or else we have no right to be called journalists at all.
The Most Liberal of All Democrats THE LIBERAL Democrats have selected Anna Arrowsmith as their parliamentary candidate for Gravesham, one of those quaint, picturesque constituencies you might have lived your life without ever hearing about. In picking Mrs Arrowsmith as their candidate, the Liberal Democrats are flaunting their liberal credentials to the extreme, for she also labours under the name Anna Span as the UK’s most prominent female porn director. A graduate of film at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design, Anna Span is a woman of contradictions; she identifies as a feminist yet writes a regular column for The Daily Sport, probably the most misogynistic newspaper in the country. While there are no doubt some residents of Gravesham open-minded enough to overlook her career (not to mention some who may support her because of it), there will certainly be those put off. This could perhaps be countered by describing her as a director of art house cinema. In the information age, however, it would not be difficult for a prospective voter to seek out the body of her work and possibly be offended. Luckily, this can be pre-empted by providing short synopses of her films so as to acquaint people with more acceptable interpretations (probably impossible with Play the Slut, but there will always be at least one). Hand of the Law could become a daring police drama, challenging stereotypes of police officers as out of touch with those they serve. In fact, this film illustrates an exciting and dynamic approach to policing, where the needs of the community are always met (they will never be left asking for more) and relations between the bobby-on-the-beat and local housewives are at an all time high. Some of her films could even be touted as daring documentaries: The exploitation of seasonal workers employed to pick strawberries over the summer months is exposed in Pound a Punnet. Not that all of them deal with such depressing subject matter, as viewers are taken on a tour of London in Hoxton Honey and Southwark Sugar. The first is the inspirational story of an inner-city beekeeping co-operative, which never fails to produce their quotas of the viscous liquid on time. The latter is a tour of the borough’s many charming landmarks. From Southwark Cathedral’s phallic thrust skywards, to the curves of Shakespeare’s Globe, to the endless pumping of The Ministry of Sound, all tastes are catered to. Indeed, catering to all tastes is generally the Liberal Democrats’ goal, so Mrs Arrowsmith may ultimately prove too divisive a choice. It does, however, show the party possesses a daring streak, which can only be a good thing. Kyle Bellamy
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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10
I WAS pleasantly surprised to see a jeans guide adorning the back pages of The Student, as I really struggle to find jeans. I thought that this might be time to take on board some sound advice and finally find those ‘perfect jeans’ on the high streets of Edinburgh. Also, it is all well and good for Women’s magazines to have jean guides, but when they are not specific to your area or budget, it makes little difference. They are just pretty pictures. However, they missed out the body shape that struggles most to fit into a pair of jeans in the first place. I would class myself as ‘curvy’, and none of these people seemed even slightly curvy. The ‘pear shape’ doesn’t seem that curvy. If you are going to write something, then you should do your research properly. It doesn’t take much to do this. Or alternatively, why not suggest more flattering clothes for curvy people, such as dresses? Or long shirts and leggings? I have tried endless amounts of jeans in endless amounts of shops and to be quite honest, I’m fed up with searching. I don’t believe that there is the perfect pair of jeans for everyone. There is no jeans ‘soul mate’ for everyone out there. I’m sick of the shame and humiliation which occurs every time that I am in Topshop and some skinny shop assistant snottily replies that the waist measurement refers to a UK size 14-16, and despite getting into them, I can’t seem to get them off. Last time I tried a pair of high-waist jeans , and despite fitting smugly in the shops, they cut into my stomach for days. What I'm saying is, that for some people there is no 'perfect jeans' hope. Poppy Cuthbert
IF THE huge blue wraparound cover adorning the pages of our paper are anything to go by, the most significant transformation of our Student Association and how students vote for what happens at the University is due to take place. We dare say it’s about time that online voting was made a possibility. Anyone who has had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting through your typical University AGM knows what we’re talking about... right? Ok, so you probably don’t. Lucky you. First of all, speaking as fairly typical Edinburgh students, there is the task of finding the time to sit down on an evening for 2-3 hours and pay attention to something that is neither your degree nor your part-time job. For many students, We are sure that attendance is simply not viable. At the AGMs, it becomes patently obvious that the meagre amount of students in attendance are not anywhere near representative of the University’s student population. In fact, it seemed almost an effort to quash fair representation at the University. The AGM becomes a haven for EUSA hacks and various societies and groups with political affiliations. And the student press, timidly perched at the back of the hall. These people cannot collectively be said to represent the University of Edinburgh. If the online vote is approved at the impending EGM, you’ll never feel obligated to go again. Neither will future generations of students: what a favour you will be doing them! This week, the Features section has a double page article on vegetarianism (pages 12 and 13) which caused quite a bit of controversy in the editing room. After broccoli and strong opinions
A quick history lesson... The Student was launched by Scottish novelist and poet Robert Louis Stevenson in 1887, as an independent voice for Edinburgh's literati. It is Britain's oldest university newspaper and is an independent publication, distributing 5,000 copies free to the University of Edinburgh. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Kitchener, David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill are a few of the famous people who have been associated with the paper. In the 1970s, Gordon Brown was the editor in chief, working alongside Robin Cook who at the time was in charge of film and concert reviews.
Disclaimer The Student welcomes letters for publication. The editors, however, reserve the right to edit or modify letters for clarity. Anonymous letters will not be printed but names will be witheld on request. The letters printed are the opinions of individuals outwith The Student and do not represent the views of the editors or the paper as a whole.
Editors Shan Bertelli/Kim Mclaughlan News Anna MacSwan/Jordan Campbell/Harrison Kelly Senior News Writers Josh King/Julia Symmes Cobb Comment Dan Nicholson-Heap/Kyle Bellamy Features Sara D'Arcy/Catherine McGloin/Juliet Evans Lifestyle Nell Frabotta/Wanja Ochwada Art&Theatre Hannah Ramsey/Lisa Parr/Luke Healey Music Andrew Chadwick/ Catherine Sylvain Film Helen Harjak/Laura Peebles TV Paddy Douglas Tech Richard Lane/ Jonny Mowat Sport Martin Domin/Alastair Shand Secretary Lara Zarum Executive Refreshment Manager James Ellingworth Copy Editing Rachel Shauger/Lara Zarum/Tom Hassler
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on the subject were thrown around, we eventually settled with a truce and decided to respect each other’s beliefs on the matter then we all went to Red Fort and had chicken Korma for dinner. Note: the illustration to the right is not indicative of our attitude towards vegetarianism. At all. Now it’s time for our weekly ‘strange news from the rest of the world’. Written because we love to make you smile. Visitors to a Zurich zoo were lucky enough to see one of the most unusual sights in (contained) nature. A zebra wandered up to a hippopotamus and stuck its head into the hippo’s open mouth.For those of you who aren’t familiar with these omnivorous water-dwelling creatures (the third largest land mammal in the world), hippos are nothing like the happy tutu-ed creatures depicted in Disney’s Fantasia. They are very aggressive, unexpectedly fast and can half a small boat with one bite (well, maybe two, but you get the point – they’re dangerous). However, this hippopotamus had no intention of doing any harm as it was using the zebra as a toothbrush. It is not uncommon to see small birds picking food from the teeth of hippos and crocodiles but it seems that, in their small enclosure, these two animals have formed a mutually beneficial bond. Yes, we know it’s strange but we like it. Finally, it’s Saint Patrick’s Day on Wednesday! Old Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland and, let’s be honest, every student who ever drank a beer. So whether you’re celebrating the true meaning of the holiday or downing pints of the black stuff because you simply have to get one of those Guinness hats, enjoy yourselves (and drink responsibly)!
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WHAT'S UP DOC?
EDITORS' SOUNDTRACK What we're listening to while we edit
(because you're that interested)...
1. 'The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song' - The Flaming Lips 2. 'Hiphopapotamus vs Rhymenocerous' - Flight of the Conchords 3. 'The Humans Are Dead' - Flight of the Conchords 4. 'If You're Into It' - Flight of the Conchords (yes, we got a bit carried away) 5. 'Telephone' - Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce (the video confused us... a lot)
NEIL CUNNING
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studentnewspaper.org Tuesday March 16 2010
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IN THE STUDENT THIS WEEK
RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE CULTURE P14
SONIC RIDES AGAIN
TECH P16
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO FILM P17
Na'p Kenbé - We're holding on
University of Edinburgh medical student Fran O'Hanlon describes his experience of helping at an emergency field hospital near Port au Prince in the chaotic aftermath of the Haiti earthquake t’s hard to imagine anything resemIgether bling winter here. I skipped it altothis year. The closest venture towards that moth-eaten semblance of feeling cold, that cob-webbed physical memory, is a nightly bucket shower beneath the stars, with blue tarpaulin cabins flapping about the semi-self-conscious, silent, black and white shapes. Since September I have not felt the cold. This is perhaps one reason why the Winter Olympics have seemed so far removed. I have been on this island for six months, and at this field hospital in Fond Parisien for seven weeks camped on the front lawn of an orphanage 30 miles from Port au Prince. It houses around 280 patients and their family members and supports a sister refugee camp and a variety of local clinics. The dynamic of the camp and the needs of the people in it have changed a lot over the weeks: there are no more bus and helicopter loads of patients transferred in numerous times a day; patients are no longer dying from their injuries; pain is well managed. External fixators (scaffolding keeping broken bones fixed in place) are being removed, people are no longer bed-bound and in a few weeks we will receive and start fitting prosthetic limbs. Teams are providing physical therapy and psychosocial care - in short, we’re out of the acute phase of the disaster and the emphasis is now on rehabilitation.
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The chalked lessons from the 12th of January are still on the blackboards; the date hangs there exerting a heaviness on the conscience" The chalked lessons from the 12th of January are still on the blackboards; the date hangs there exerting a heaviness on the conscience, a strange spectre in the corner of our eyes as we work in the schoolrooms-cum-operating theatres, offices, supply rooms and pharmacies. There was such abundant coverage of the earthquake and the ensuing tragedy that it has come to be something we accept and know only as tragic. I think this is a mistake. It’s impossible to maintain interest for longer than a short while in something that is purely a tragedy. And Haiti is a subject which has to keep generating interest. Wandering around the broken streets of Port au Prince is a surreal experience. The destruction is immense: almost everything will have to be rebuilt. A Chilean friend said to me it is as if the planet were developing an allergy to us.
DAWN OF HOPE: Sunrise over the refugees' tent village near Port-au-Prince
To see people climbing over the rubble, clearing the debris, collecting bricks, one by one, stacking them up - just a single one weighty enough to break bones - and to imagine hundreds collapsing in on you sends an eerie shiver down my spine. People were terrified when there were aftershocks in the weeks following the earthquake. Even in tents people injured themselves clamouring to get out. There was one while I was in the pharmacy with a few American doctors - the windows rattled and the ground shook briefly, everyone sprinted and stood outside looking helpless before turning round to a scene reminiscent of one from The Life of Brian; with twenty or so Haitians rolling around on the ground, nearly blue in the face with laughter at how terrified we all looked. The Haitian people are so proud, so enchantingly, achingly stubborn. In a country so crippled by poverty there is some extra glimmer in their eyes and a musicality in their voices and their language, a faith that is so deep-rooted and certain, and so fundamental to everything - it is like nothing I have known. The first week was completely exhausting; the day began at 7am and we didn’t eat or rest until 7pm. I would drink litres of water, and never see them again, not to be too descriptive. It culminated, as all good weeks do, in a Sunday. The work schedule was similar but during the morning patients slowly made their way down from the wards to a clearing in the tents where benches had been assembled. Around nine o’clock the
first sign I heard was the thump of a bass drum and the clattering of hi-hats and cymbals being shifted into place. Then there was a bass guitar, and finally an organ. When I got down to the clearing there were a few hundred people waiting for mass to start; patients and their families, medical staff, translators, children from the orphanage, people from the local community. A voice crackled across the PA system, the crowd’s own voice quiet in comparison, chanting Creole prayers with this eyes-shut-tight brimming-over of belief in the midst of a sea of waving hands. People got up from the crowd and took the microphone, they would talk about what they had experienced, some had been trapped beneath their houses or in factories or offices for hours or days; they would lead a song and the band would join in with them. One woman in the camp made international headlines when she was pulled out of the wreckage after eight days. The congregation was singing: "Take me where you want to Lord / Even if I don’t want to go, / However you want / Even if I don’t want to / Take me where you want me Lord." We were all in tears of such happiness, wonder and sadness at these simple, humble but enormously heavy words. It was the first time that the full weight of what people had suffered hit home. The preacher’s voice began chanting, and people began wailing, the chant rose up, inciting the crowd, shrieking, until everyone was shouting: “Béni soit l’éternel! Béni soit l’éternel! Grace! Grace! Grace pour Haiti!” Ex-
hausted, the chanting descended again into song, quieter this time. It was after midday when the ceremony drew to an end and people finally dispersed. That evening, I walked past a tent where a woman was singing, “Dieu nous a quitté les chaussures...” It was sung with such joy and faith, such beauty and sadness..
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There is a tremendous beauty to Haiti, and it is in part a beauty that is born out of sadness" I dare say the hospital is a happy place. There have been over 1,000 patients here now. There are lots of grinning, cheeky children running about, playing with kites, or footballs, clubs are organised with games and painting and drawing every day. Conditions are comfortable, there is regular, good food and there’s a lot of laughter. Haitian people (particularly the matron-esque women) have the most incredible capacity to look terrifyingly stern and unforgiving one minute and then morph their faces into a huge, warm grin the next. I don’t want to create a glossy or false image of Haiti’s suffering, but Haiti has suffered in so many aspects of its existence and will almost certainly continue to suffer. Things had been relatively stable and conditions were slowly improving in Haiti before the earthquake - now everything has to start again from scratch. A friend here told me that Hai-
tians don’t really think about the long term, but live from day to day and moment to moment, and I can understand it, because I think if you were to examine the past and then try and plan too far into the future for Haiti, you would just sort of grind to a halt in despair. The country will undoubtedly continue to suffer. There is a tremendous beauty to Haiti, and it is in part a beauty that is born out of sadness. So I hope things will keep going from day to day here. There are amazing people working both here and back home and all over, raising money, sending volunteers, sending supplies and resources; there is a huge need for so many things. Yet I think the most important way to help is to stay interested in Haiti, find out information and keep up to date about what is going on. Tragedy is something that can be too easily forgotten or pushed aside.
Fran is going to Carrefour and Chantal next, communities that work with people with intellectual disabilities. Carrefour was near the epicentre of the earthquake. A blog describing life in Haiti can be found at Mwen Pa Fou (Creole for I’m Not Mad) http://www.larche.ca/reporters/jonathan/mwen_pa_fou/en Email for correspondence: fran.ohanlon@gmail.com
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
12
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Features
The Student Diet Survey:
For Vegetarian Month, Jen Bowden asks University of Edinburgh students about their eating habit hree million people in Britain are vegetarian, according to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. It may not seem like a large figure, but considering those who would not classify themselves as ‘vegetarian’ but also vegan, pescatarian, or lacto-vegetarian, the number is sure to grow. Britain is constantly referred to as a multi-cultural society and while this often refers to race, it can just as easily refer to the cultural differences in diet and lifestyle. People choose their type of diet for numerous reasons, be those religious, social or simply the desire to be healthier.
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62% chose to be vegetarian or vegan because they think killing animals is wrong. One student said, 'I just don't like the idea of eating an animal. I can't dissociate the meat from the dead animal in my mind.'" Currently the health benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets are coming to the fore in relation to Britain’s battle
with obesity, with the five-a-day campaign creating awareness about how unaccompanied meat does not constitute a healthy diet. However, 95 per cent of British citizens define themselves as meat-eaters. In a survey conducted by The Student, 64 per cent of University of Edinburgh students said they would consider themselves to be meat-eaters, compared to the 15 per cent who label themselves as vegetarian, one per cent as vegan and 13 per cent who do not classify their diet as any of the above. These figures suggest that vegetarianism is more prominent in a student environment. One reason could be that meat is considered too expensive for a student budget, as nonmeat products are much cheaper. In The Student survey 49 per cent said they would become vegetarian because it is cheaper than buying meat. One student said, "I rarely buy meat because it’s so expensive. Vegetables are healthier and if they save me money too then that’s a double bonus, but I wouldn’t say I was vegetarian." Clearly when it comes to choices regarding diet, vegetarianism might become a by-product of the student lifestyle, but not everyone confines their diet to non-meat products. Some people have allergies to certain foods, which can affect their diet in the way that becoming vegetarian or vegan might not seem possible. The most talked about allergies were nuts, wheat and soya allergies; three foods which play a large part in replacing the protein
gained from meat in a vegetarian or vegan diet. There are also those with allergies to fish, and other intolerances to foods which mean that there is more to consider when making decisions about becoming vegetarian. With regards to health, a vegetarian diet is not the best option for everyone in terms of maintaining necessary levels of protein. One student admitted that they had to stop being vegetarian because "the vegetarian meals provided in halls were unhealthy and I lost too much weight", while another revealed, "I used to be vegetarian but started eating meat again due to doctors' advice."
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64% of students consider themselves as meat-eaters, compared to 15% who label themselves as vegetarian and 1% as vegan." Edinburgh-based nutritionist Anne Cross said that there are always other options for people with allergies who want to change to a vegan or vegetarian diet: "You would consider food options away from allergies or intolerances; for example with fish and nuts you would look at other sources of vegetarian proteins such as peas, beans, or soya and dairy products. Supplements such as
good quality protein powder or green super-foods like barley grass or spirulina are also suitable. If someone was intolerant or allergic to wheat they can also eat other grains such as oats, wheatfree muesli and brown rice. There are always options for everyone." The majority of students have different ideas regarding what constitutes vegetarianism and veganism. Vegetarianism, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is the "abstention from eating meat, fish, or other animal products." One student defined a ‘vegetarian’ as "someone who ate just vegetables, no fish or white meat", whilst others were more flexible saying that "I would consider someone who eats fish as a vegetarian." In The Student survey, 57 per cent thought that being a vegetarian does not constitute a healthier lifestyle. Yet Cross is quick to point out, "There has been a lot of research that links vegetarianism with a reduced risk of degenerative diseases such as heart disease, strokes, cancer, diabetes and arthritis. A diet rich in vegetables, fruit, wholegrain, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds can offer protection against the development of chronic disease." Despite the suggested health benefits, only a small proportion of people cited health reasons for their diet choice. The most cited reasons for becoming vegetarian or vegan were, predictably, moral and ethical views regarding animals and the environment. 62 per cent chose to be vegetarian or vegan because they thought killing animals was wrong. One student said, "I just don't like the idea of eating an animal. I can't dissociate the meat from the dead ani-
mal in my mind." Another commented that "meat is one of the most damaging food products to the environment packaging, transport, production etc all add up and contribute a lot of damage."
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Both eating meat and opting for a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle come with their own pros and cons in terms of health, morals, and the environment." The meat industry alone accounts for 18 per cent of all man-made greenhouse gases, according to the UN. Students noted that following a vegetarian diet does not entail being more ecologically friendly. One student commented how "soya and tofu crops are often the first crop to be planted after rainforest deforestation", a fact which was brought to light by Greenpeace in 2006 where it was revealed that the market for soya was growing at the expense of the Amazon rainforest. It seems that it is not what you eat, but the research you do into the provenances of food products. A confident 55 per cent of students claim to have knowledge of ecological issues related to vegetarianism, yet it appears that this knowledge is not always in favour of vegetarian or vegan lifestyles. Both eating meat and opting for a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle come with their own pros and cons in terms of health, morals and the environment. It becomes apparent that all kinds of things affect diet and that each person makes individual choices regarding what they eat. It is by no means a black and white issue, but the important thing to remember is that it is about choice based on lifestyle and principles.
RUPERT CAMERON SULLY
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Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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Features 13
You are what you eat
ts and evaluates the benefits of your diet. University of Edinburgh student, Natalie, used to be a vegan; she explains why she decided to revert back to being a vegetarian… I was fourteen when I became a vegetarian. It wasn’t a difficult decision but becoming vegan at 18 was much harder to maintain. I was vegan for nine months. During this time my main diet was limited to things like comprised pasta, bread, fruit and vegetables. Soon I began eating dairy products and became a vegetarian again, because although being vegan was saving me a lot of money food shopping, I wasn’t eating out much with friends and flatmates. Explaining what I could and couldn’t eat to people felt like being made to face an illness everyone could recognise but no one could understand. I am not against eating meat or other animal products if the animal has been reared humanely, what matters is buying local and organic animal products. I don’t think people who eat meat are wrong but I have a problem with those who contribute to the poor conditions that make up factory farming like big food corporations. It comes down to personal health and ecological matters, and even being vegan isn’t a solution to ecological problems. Like all diets it comes with it’s own price.
Neil , University of Glasgow student, gave up meat for lent. Here he explains his surprise at his lack of craving for meat...
One University of Edinburgh student’s sister turned vegetarian and it changed the way their family eats… My sister has been a vegetarian for over a year now, and is considering going vegan. The whole family have all been really supportive of her; my mum tries to cook veggie meals when she is around, which means we all eat a lot of Quorn now. My mum likes the fact that it is cheap and healthy because it is low in fat, yet high in protein. I think at the moment we probably eat as much Quorn as we do fish. My sister turned vegetarian for ethical reasons. Her motto is, 'you wouldn’t eat a person, and people are animals' sort of thing. Although vegetarianism is very healthy in some ways, I don’t think that it is as balanced as other diets. My parents agree with this but want my sister to be able to make her own choices. Personally, I think that buying free-range chicken and maybe not eating meat every day of the week is better.
Some surprising non-vegetarian foods: Our beloved sweets Haribo contain Gelatin, a gelling agent made from boiling animal bones and skin. All Thai sauces contain crushed fish bones. Some wines and beers use animal products as fining agents to remove excess protein and yeast. Mars only made their chocolate vegetarian in 2007, after complaints from the Vegetarian Society and their customers. Mars products rignally contained Rennet, an animal enzyme.
I'm not Christian so I don't follow Lent for any religious reasons. But I quite enjoy it as a test of willpower and to prove to myself that I can change my habits one step at a time. I chose vegetarianism because of the level of commitment involved and I wanted to be able to fully appreciate the vegetarian lifestyle; it takes a surprising amount of effort to ensure everything is meat-free. In terms of health, being a vegetarian has no detrimental effects whatsoever. I think you’re more likely to follow a well-balanced diet as a result of having to select foods to complement dietary requirements. The only important constituent of meat is vitamin B12, which is included in most multivitamin supplements anyway. Vegetarianism has certainly been saving me money. It’s astonishing to see the price difference in the market between even the little things like sandwiches. Every little helps when you're a student. The main difficulty for me is that I occasionally forget that I’m living a meat-free lifestyle given that I’ve only been doing this for a short period of time. I think becoming vegetarian is a choice that everybody should make for themselves and if it isn't something you strongly believe in then it’s probably not right for you. I would urge people to try it out for a while because a major side effect is that it really makes you evaluate eating patterns and balanced diet. It has led me to be more inventive and adventurous with food and I don't miss eating meat at all.
University of Edinburgh student, Sara , explains why she turned vegetarian and never looked back… I decided on Boxing Day, after another Christmas dinner of pushing the turkey around my plate, to do a 30-day trial at being a vegetarian. Six years later, I haven’t turned back. I found that instead of vegetarianism limiting my eating options, it actually increased them and made me more inventive with my cooking. I now cook the majority of my meals from scratch, and when I host dinner parties my meat-eating friends tell me it tastes delicious despite not including any animal products. I turned vegetarian for moral reasons. I think it is wrong to eat something that is capable of forming relationships. My friend who comes from a farming family described the annual event of sending the calves off to be slaughtered as ‘horrendous’, as the cows moo for days, mourning for their calves. I have always struggled to understand how people can eat meat off the bone, or peel the skin off a fish. My vegetarianism is not forced, however, which is probably why I haven’t erred. I have conditioned myself to hold an aversion to meat now, but it is the sneaky products like most gummy sweets, which tempt me. But I have to keep reminding myself that they have animal products in them. I think vegetarianism is now more than the moral principle of not killing animals. Many people turn vegetarian for health reasons. My mum, for instance, has become a pescatarian because it ensures that she maintains a vitamin and protein enriched diet, whilst lowering her intake of fatty products. I have started to change my eating patterns to lower my carbon footprint. I have now stopped drinking soya milk, because of the environmental cost to produce it, and I buy organic, local products as much as I can. I don’t think vegetarianism is for everyone. But I do think it makes you more aware of what you are eating, and the effect your food has on the animals and the environment.
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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14 Review
CULTURE
COMMISSION #9: Fiona Jarrett
THE JUNGLE BOOK BEDLAM THEATRE RUN ENDED
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Paul Brotherston's Father Wolf is as wolf-like as any wolf you'll hear." It is hard to fault Friend’s casting, especially of Paul Hughes and Sacha Timaeus who seem made for their respective roles as Kaa and the narrator. Hughes’ wiry physique and flickering eyes come second to no snake, while Timaeus' ability to tell a story, and mediate the action while standing aside in the shadows, is inspiring. Overall, there is little to fault in this jungle: the costumes and makeup are implicit and powerful and the set is authentic, though perhaps more suggestive of a street bazaar than a jungle. In fact, the jungle atmosphere is achieved much more effectively with the green canopy lighting (although, since it is left on throughout, the audience sees a lot of haphazard scene changes). The play’s effect, though, is both chilling and comic. It is clear that everyone on stage and off worked hard to reach such convincing degrees of bestiality, and it is a refreshingly dark play that is only rarely Disneyesque. Paul Collins PAUL COLLINS
THE BEASTS of the jungle have been closing in on Edinburgh with each passing day – so much so that it has been difficult to turn a corner without glimpsing a troop of monkeys, a brown bear, or in the very least a person in a Jungle Book hoody traipsing towards the Bedlam Theatre. If those have escaped your notice, do not fret because there are many more animals deep within. Last performed in 2004, it is a wonder that Rudyard Kipling’s beloved collection of animal fables has virtually evaded the UK stage. Now performed for the first time in Edinburgh, Beth Friend’s highly anticipated new adaptation has already garnered much praise. Upon entering the auditorium, a variety of animals call from the balconies. It is sometimes difficult to discern the actors from the sound effects because many of the cast members are excellent mimics. Llinos Henry is particularly memorable in her talented double-up as Tabaqui and Chil, and Paul Brotherston’s Father Wolf is as wolf-like as any wolf you’ll hear. The visual impact is equally striking. Friend makes an unusual but lucrative decision in casting Kay Singh as a voluptuous, slinking Bagheera and, when seen next to Alex Fernandes’ mild and melancholic Baloo, there is an endearing
marital subtext that barely (excuse the pun) existed in the original. This is enhanced when Mowgli, cast once again in a female role, arrives on scene. Venice van Someren’s wonderful restlessness in the jungle, followed by vacant gazes into the audience and fearful moments when among mankind, makes her a surprisingly convincing protagonist.
Coboltoan Dolomite
Coboltoan Dolomite is part of a series of works exploring the attributed
etheral properties of crystals
THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE
fresh and twisted plot with intriguing and very believable characters.
We now begin to understand the intricacies of the situation and why the story is much more complicated than it initially seems. McDonagh effectively explores the complexities in human relationships. The dialogue is completely naturalistic to the extent that one wonders if it is improvised. Cownie’s stage depiction brings to life this idea of domesticity and reflects the bland and bleak life Maureen leads, yet at the same time has simply stunning visual elements like rain falling across the stage. The play itself is so entertaining – the audience is kept laughing with the silly conversations and domestic arguments between mother and daughter – that we are lulled into a sense of
LYCEUM THEATRE RUN ENDED
MARTIN MCDONAGH’S The Beauty Queen of Leenane: one could begin by naming a thousand interesting things about this play. The fact that it was written by McDonagh at the age of only 25, or that it was a huge success on London’s West End when first released, or that it has been directed by Tony Cownie, known as the ‘Quentin Tarantino’ of theatre. Where these points may be impressive, it appears that the true appeal of the play and the reason behind its success is captivating in itself – a
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The speech is completely naturalistic to the extent that one wonders if it is improvised" At first, the play seems simple enough. The story is of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship between Mag and Maureen Folan (Nora Connolly and Cara Kelly). Maureen has been looking after her mother for the past 20 years only to be taunted by jeering and insults, her mother's controlling behaviour, and her own history of mental illness.
The Jungle Book: "There is little to fault in this jungle: the costumes and makeup are both implicit and powerful". security. We start finding some kind of a connection to their problems.
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Mag appears to be so fragile and vulnerable looking that her spite hits us like a frustratingly ugly truth" This is what makes the revelation of the underlying terror so much more horrifying for us. We understand the hurt felt when those who are meant to unconditionally love us perform the ultimate betrayal. The character of Mag appears to be so fragile and vulner-
able looking that her spite hits us like a frustratingly ugly truth. When Maureen falls for Pato Dooley, a construction worker in England, Mag determines to ruin her daughter’s last chance at happiness. Will she succeed? This question provides the crux of the tension in the play. Ragingly contemporary and yet classic – the play is truly a masterpiece – both literarily and theatrically. The acting is marvellous and fully entertaining. If anything is worth watching this season, it is The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Farya Hussain
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Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
Review 15 STAR RATING Shere brilliance Exceedingly good
A little hullaBaloo The bare necessities Bungle in the jungle
OLIVIA FLOYER
Space Invaders
In the first of a two part series, Luke Healey talks to the individuals taking matters into their own hands to prove that there is hope after Art School I HAD little sense of the vertigo that art-school graduates must feel upon leaving their academic bubble before Glasgow School of Art graduates Carrie Skinner and Juliet Fellows-Smith stood up and made themselves heard at the Collective’s D.I.Y. soapbox event last December. "After graduation, we were told the community that makes art school so immersive would dissolve and each individual would be left alone, working a menial job to pay the council tax and waiting for a miracle man to save them and shoot them to art superstardom," they recounted. Carrie and Juliet were not just present at the Collective that evening to bemoan employment conditions for young artists, however. "Quite quickly and concisely, we decided that if there was no hope after art school, we would have to make some." To this end, they have, setting up an artist-run collective called GSA Mutual along with two fellow graduates. With "ambition and naivety," they found a temporary space in the city and held three exhibitions there. The first, appropriately, was entitled "Descent into the Maelstrom," and was thematically based on an Edgar Allen Poe story "about human ingenuity overcoming a seemingly irresistible hopelessness." That was last summer, and things have progressed nicely since then: "the bravado borne of naiveté with which we embarked upon this venture is beginning to be replaced by an increasing confidence and excitement about what can be done." Glasgow is often a starting-block for these types of projects, but a trend towards this sort of initiative is being felt here in the capital too. A case in point is Sierra Metro, a gallery currently based in an old lighthouse way out at Granton Harbour.
The gallery was set up in July 2008 by Janine Sproule and Martin Minton, who met while invigilating at the Talbot Rice. Since then, Minton has left and Sproule has been joined by Rosalie Doubal and Matt Carter, who is juggling running the space with his continuing studies. Sproule recalls: "I had no money when we started the project, so the decision was completely bonkers, but things had got to the stage where I was just thinking, 'why not?'" In January, the gallery was recognised as deserving of funding from the Scottish Arts Council, which has had a huge impact. "We can now contribute money to our artists, which is a massive thing for us. It’s nice to be able to thank them for their dedication."
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
as its Yorkshire Moors setting, while the neatly manicured lawns of Thrushcross Grange provide the perfect antidote to its neighbour. The Grange reveals the Linton household, talcum-powdered and sickly, a place where ribbons are not
FESTIVAL THEATRE 11 & 12 MARCH
CLAUDEMICHEL SCHÖN BERG’S score and David Nixon’s choreography impeccably translate Emily Brontë’s timeless Wuthering Heights to the stage, producing a beautiful adaptation with clinches that speak a thousand words. The Northern Ballet Theatre were welcomed to the city last week, a company with an impressive track record here, and a weighty reputation to maintain. Multi-tasking Nixon, who also masquerades as director and costume designer, wisely chose to focus on the dominating relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff, surrendering the subplot concerning the next generation. This results in a stripped-bare love story, allowing the passion to do the talking. While the production probably requires a certain intimacy with the text, this is by no means a fault; rather, it is a demonstration of attention to detail. Fans of the novel receive an adaptation faithful to the emotions of its predecessor, while the next step to those introduced to the story must surely be a trip to Waterstones. Ali Allen’s set design is just as meticulous. The architecture of Wuthering Heights feels as rustic
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'We could be the hippest place on the scene, but we wouldn't be able to develop without that professional validation.' - Janine Sproule The founders don't object to this intervention from the establishment. "I have a big problem with these ideas of 'underground' and 'counter-culture'", notes Carter. What is important is that artists get a chance to experiment, but that can be done in numerous different ways. "I’ve always had a business head," observes Sproule, who also works for the Cultural Enterprise Office. "When we started the gallery we wrote a longterm business plan, and we’re a limited company. We’re quite a professional outfit." The gallery may be founded on
Get yourself inside Heathcliff, you'll catch your death. confined to ladies’ hair. Wuthering Heights, in comparison, is bare, rough and melts into its surroundings. The tangled plot is played out between the two locations.
D.I.Y. premises then, but it is dedicated to making an impact beyond the hipster elect. "Who’s going to validate us if we remain ‘underground’?", Sproule quips. "We could be the hippest place on the scene but we wouldn’t be able to develop without that professional validation."
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'If there was no hope after art school, we would have to make some.' Sierra Metro’s creators are aware of the mounting proliferation of artist-run collectives with similar aims to their own.The time is right, Sproule observes, because of the economic downturn: "there’s a lot more empty buildings available, and, thanks to social media, people are able to find out about them really quickly. It’s much easier for projects to gather momentum now, and the more the merrier, I say." When I spoke to Rachel Adams, one of the founders of the Dalry-based collective Rhubaba, it was in an abandoned copy-shop on Cowgate, where Rhubaba had installed an exhibition of work by Ed Atkins. "We have a permanent exhibition space in Dalry," says Adams, "but this temporary space has had a good deal more footfall." Although the exhibition was only set to run for a week, the premises were given a complete overhaul to create something that was perfectly suited for a contemporary art exhibition. "If buildings aren’t shifting, it’s good to have something in it, even just to have someone looking after it and putting the heating on," Adams points out. "We’re providing something welcome for the building’s owners. It’s good advertising for the property." For the moment, Rhubaba are happy with this ad-hoc ap-
Kenneth Tindall ticks all the leading man boxes. Brooding and wild, Tindall’s Heathcliff is both strong and vulnerable, revealing how his Cathy, Julie Charlet, completes him. Charlet gives an equally breathtaking performance channelling Brontë’s heroine. Hironao Takahashi and Pippa Moore in the roles of Edgar and Isabella Linton respectively, give more than competent support. Ensuring that the production doesn’t become a caricature of the original, humour is delicately weaved throughout, providing a fresh tone to the piece without removing focus from the protagonists. Avoiding self-indulgence, the costumes also compliment the adaptation’s focus on what is surely one of the most famous love stories of all time. “You said I killed you, haunt me then,” utters Heathcliff in the novel, first published in 1847. With what potentially could have been difficult to demonstrate, the production deals with the instruction with ease. Memories of a playful, young Cathy and Heathcliff permeate the ballet, illustrating the ghosts that follow the pair throughout. These images also flit in the minds of the audience long after the performance is over, proving that the Northern Ballet Theatre continues to be the company to clear all diary entries for. Hannah Ramsey
proach, but they have their eyes set on a more professional future: "At the beginning of the project we figured it was quite unlikely that we would receive any funding from the Arts Council, but now that we’re more established that’s something we’re going to try and resolve." Don’t call it underground. What emerges from talking to the individuals behind these projects is that, for many, the D.I.Y approach is not about creating a hip alternative scene, or a radical counter-culture. It is, first and foremost, about making a livelihood.
Skinner and Fellows-Smith claim to have set up GSA Mutual as a corrective to "a recent and unnerving trend of cherry picking" by the art-world powers-that-be, an idea that Sproule is also dedicated to: "When I’d just left art college, a curator was like this all-seeing eye that was going to decide what’s interesting or what’s relevant right now. But what’s been happening over the last few years has really taken away that scariness, because we’ve all realised - why should they decide what’s interesting?" Little by little, Scotland’s artists are elimi-
MATT GREEN AND GARY LITTLE
a member of the UN." Covering material from the intellectual to the mundane, including a hilariously anticlimactic piece involving a rat, a rubbish bin and an unsuspecting member of the public, Green delivered a thoroughly satisfying performance that was deserving of the enthusiastic reaction which it received.
PLEASANCE CABARET BAR 9 MARCH
THERE ARE a few emotions one may associate with a comedy gig. There are good ones – joy, mirth; bad ones – boredom, bitterness; and of course those that fall somewhere in the middle – shock, awkwardness and many more. The list is a long one, but nowhere on there will you find fear. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror is not a feeling associated with a comedy club audience. Having attended Gary Little’s gig on Tuesday night, however, I can safely add terror to the pantheon of my comedy experience. The Glaswegian headliner probably didn’t mean to scare the Jack Wills pants off the clean-cut student crowd. He just did. In contrast, the light-hearted and candid performance of opening act Matt Green emphasised the eye-opening nature of Little’s set. An established comic in his own right, Green kicked the night off with some well executed audience banter, displaying a slightly acerbic wit which unfortunately did not manifest itself in his material. Embarking on a set describing life as a self-professed geek, Green illustrated his talents as both wordsmith and observer, remarking early on, "I’m a member of the gym in the same way that North Korea is
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The Glaswegian headliner probably didn't mean to scare the Jack Wills pants off the clean-cut student crowd. He just did."
The slightly complacent student crowd was then treated to as close to a lesson at the University of Life as many of us are ever likely to receive, in the form of a smile-wiping, jaw-droppingly honest set from Gary Little. Basing much of his show on his recent stint in prison, and then following it up with the graphic description of his time spent at a middle class Edinburgh sex party, Little ensured that inhibitions would not be the order of the day. Although I got the impression that his set went on for a few minutes too long, the laughter of the crowd – nervous laughter, mind you – continued for his entire set. Little very capably told the crowd some stories which they are unlikely to hear from the McIntyres and Howards of this world, which is a great thing. And I think they found it funny. Terrifying, but funny. Charlie Shute
Tuseday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
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16 Review
TECHNOLOGY TECHIN THE MICKEY Going to Hell...
Richard Dennis wishes this game had stayed in the Seventh Circle DANTE'S INFERNO X360, PS3 34.99 EA, VISCERAL GAMES
know, I know, we've used this Ithough, headline before. For once it's not us who are well and
truly extracting the Michael. For the past couple of weeks the games industry has been shooting itself in the foot (and the consumer in the face) with everyone's favourite anti-piracy measure, Digital Rights Management, or DRM. It all started in January, when Ubisoft announced that all their forthcoming PC releases would come packaged with a new DRM system which requires a constant Internet connection to play the game, regardless of whether the game was single- or multi-player. In short, should your Internet connection fail while playing games like Assassin's Creed 2 or Silent Hunter V, you will immediately be booted from the game. Naturally, the reaction from the PC community bordered on nuclear, but Ubisoft persisted with their draconian piracy-protection system, and a fortnight ago Silent Hunter V was released. Typically, just over a day later, the new DRM system was cracked. The insanity doesn't end there. On the day of Assassin's Creed 2's PC release, Ubisoft's servers, which have to constantly monitor the new DRM in order for it to work, went down across the board, the result being that any legitimate purchaser of either Assassin's Creed 2 or Silent Hunter V found themselves unable to play the games. In contrast, anybody with a pirated version of those games could play without any problems. DRM has been a thorn in the side of gamers for years now, and it seems the situation is only set to get worse, as measures like Ubisoft's only serve to create justifications for piracy. Which would you prefer: to pay for a game and then be forced to wait a week before you could play it, or to acquire a game for free and be able to play it immediately? It has been shown time and time again that attempting to curb piracy by treating the consumer like a criminal and then beating them across the head with a stick of capitalist righteousness simply does not work. The pirates will inevitably crack the coding, and the consumer will feel even more justified in downloading a pirated copy regardless of legality. However, pirating a game 'out of principle' is not the solution; it only serves to exacerbate the problem and lead to companies like Ubisoft creating even more intrusive DRM systems. For although they are quickly cracked, they do protect their immediate profit, which is all game publishers care about. If you want to make a stance against DRM, the most appropriate move is simply to not buy the game at all. Richard Lane
lagiarism is a tricky subject. P Philosophers could no doubt debate for generations about whether
such a thing as an original idea exists, or whether every artistic product is at some level just a rip-off of those that have come before it. With Dante’s Inferno, though, Visceral Games have taken the notion of plagiarism to a level that isn’t taking the piss so much as ramming a catheter up the urethra of original ideas and extracting whatever bodily fluid it can. First off there’s the title, which, as you may know, is also shared by the first part of the 13th century epic poem The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, which concerns his journey through Hell, Purgatory and finally Paradise. As is consistent with a game devoid of any ideas of its own, you play as a character called Dante, who also goes on his own little trip through Hell in search of his wife, along the way beating up demonic minions with the aid of Death’s scythe and the power of flying lightning crosses. The less you think about the plot, the happier you will be. This game is based on the original poem in the same way that Schindler’s Fist is based on the original film. The designers have taken all the poem’s imagery of Hell, blended it up and exaggerated it into something that is visually striking if nothing more. Babies with blades for arms emerging from a gigantic zombie Cleopatra’s breasts and tentacles bursting out of naked women’s genitals, aren’t images you’ll forget in a hurry. It’s
WHAT A BONER: Your hip bone is connected to my scythe blade hardly a faithful re-telling of the original, but at least there are moments that smack you around the head, for a while. About halfway through, Dante’s Inferno just stops trying, which is impressive for a game that is totally and absolutely ripped off from God of War. Don’t be mistaken: this isn’t ‘inspired by’ God of War, it’s not ‘influenced by’ God of War, it just is God of War. The only thing it’s lacking is the quality. The gruff protagonist with a shady past, the art style of the cutscenes, the puzzles, the controls, the combos, the camera angles, the epic ideals, the design, the music, the Quick-Time Events: every last element is ripped off pixel-for-pixel from God of War in a manner so blatant it borders on the comical. For those of you who aren’t familiar with God of War, I can only recommend buying a second-hand
...in a hand kart
PS2 and a copy (all for probably around the same price as Dante’s Inferno) and experiencing one of the most enjoyable hack-and-slash action games around. If that seems like too much effort though, here’s what to expect: using a series of light and heavy attacks, along with the odd bit of magic, you fight your way through hordes of varying enemies, using a variety of combos and tactics to defeat them. It sounds simple, but the joy comes from building up effortless, seamless combos to a vast and impressive backdrop. With Dante’s Inferno, however, the combat isn’t particularly fluid. There aren’t that many varieties of attacks, the light attacks are too soft, the heavy attacks too slow and the battles are confused and muddled. You can level up your attacks using a binary Holy/Unholy morality system based on whether you
redeem or punish celebrity sinners, but the divide is pointless and frustrating. Add to that boss fights that are bland, not only in their presentation but also in the way their health bars are so large that your attacks feel like trying to take down a brick wall with a water pistol, and you have a central game mechanic that just can’t stand up to a game released on an old console three years ago. About the only reason you’d want to get Dante’s Inferno would be if you have a 360 and can’t justify getting a PS3 just for God of War III. In that case, you’ll get something similar - a pale imitation that is at least visually disturbing. Other than that, and especially if you have a PS3, there’s not much reason to bother with this game, doomed as it is to whatever circle of Hell there is for plagiarists.
Tom Hasler plays a game where the hedgehog does the running over SONIC AND SEGA ALL STARS RACING X360, PS3, WII, DS 24.99-39.99 SEGA
t first glance, Sonic and SEGA All A Stars seems like a bad proposition. With so many bad Sonic games in
the last few years alone, it's hard to imagine a Mario Kart rip-off would offer anything but another quick cash-in for SEGA. Give enough monkeys enough time however, and you’ll get Shakespeare, or in this case, a Sonic game that doesn’t totally suck. Of course, the racing is heavily derived from Mario Kart, with the similar drifting mechanics, jumps and items. The key to Sonic’s success is that the experience is simply better-tuned than the most recent Mario Kart instalments. With Sonic you don’t have to deal with the Wii’s clumsy driving peripheral and the game is generally more balanced. Only a few of the items are particularly powerful, often leading you to ration a good item for key opponents. There is also a special item unique to each character called the All
Star, which gives you a boost across the track with some steering assistance as well as doing varying amounts of harm to other players depending on your character. This item is only seen by stragglers so it never seems unfair, especially when a freak accident leaves someone trailing. It’s actually enjoyable seeing the underdog come back and win the race. The results of each race are often very close, leading to a surprisingly dramatic and competitive game. With Mario Kart now being completely luck-based you start to see a real competitor. The game features a plethora of game modes, supporting online, single-player and split-screen action, although I would also have liked to see a LAN mode. Playing these various modes earns 'SEGA miles' which can be spent buying new characters, tracks and even music from across SEGA’s back catalogue. A lot of these rewards are pretty interesting, giving the game undeniable replay value. The characters are all fairly well envisaged with a handful of vehicle classes, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The large vehicles
for example actually tend to be the fastest and have the best All Stars, but they lack the handling necessary to maintain consistent momentum. The tracks are also well thought out, with insane layouts that include loops and corkscrews, well placed jumps, boosts and items, and often feature unique hazards. Resultantly each track has a great sense of character, giving the player something new to enjoy with every corner. With the addition of some hidden short cuts and vibrant visuals the tracks almost seem perfect. Even though there really isn’t much to complain about with Sonic, aside from the commentator, there isn’t really much that’s unique either. While it improves and refines much of Mario Kart’s framework, many people may find it too derivative of the classic kart-racer, which to be fair I’ve
referenced at least three times now. That being said, the game is solid and enjoyable on a night in with friends, especially if you don’t have a copy of Mario Kart or simply need some fresh tracks. Ironically, the game’s greatest accomplishment may also be it’s downfall. Nintendo’s Kart division, seeing how close Sonic came to taking their crown, will hopefully get the kick up the backside they needed to get the series back on track. And that’s what everyone really wants.
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Tuesday March 16 2010 film,studentnewspaper@gmail.com
Review 17
Film And the winner is...
Shutter Island Directed by Martin Scorsese Martin Scorsese’s latest film, a psychological horror-thriller, gives a whole new meaning to the word 'crazy'. It’s 1954 and US Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) has been sent to Shutter Island’s Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. He and his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) are investigating the case of an escaped patient (Emily Mortimer). Teddy is a shaky, seasick wreck; Chuck never loses his cool. Teddy is recovering from the death of his wife (Michelle Williams), who we encounter through flashbacks and surreal dreams which look like they could have come straight out of a Salvador Dali painting. You start to get the feeling that maybe Teddy is suffering from more than just seasickness. The music signals that something’s not quite right before the first frame is even shown. Coupled with the blackand-white mist of the opening scene, the score sets an ominous tone. But Scorsese hits us over the head with it. Really, we don’t need a symphonic sledgehammer to the brain to understand that an island hospital full of mentally unstable murderers is a scary place. And just in case that
wasn’t enough, Teddy and Chuck are told, “We take only the most dangerous, damaged patients.” The island is creepy. We get it. The thing is, despite the heavyhanded exposition, it really is creepy. The craggy cliffs and rumbling clouds form stunning images. The movie is filled with creaks and drips, howling wind and the laughing and screaming of patients. Scorsese builds up the elements of the plot on such a basic level of entertainment that you can’t help but delight at the sheer Nancy Drewstyle mystery of it all. The film picks up steam when the focus shifts from the escaped patient to Teddy himself. His involvement in World War II in particular sheds a fascinating light on the dynamic between patients and doctors at Ashecliffe Hos-
pital. The rest of the movie is a bombardment of one plot twist after another - let’s just say I can relate to Teddy’s persistent migraine. Innumerable influences and allusions weigh down an already dense plot. From The Shining to pretty much every Hitchcock movie ever made, Shutter Island becomes a pastiche of genre and style, refusing to settle on any particular one. “You’re a fucking rat in a maze,” a patient tells Teddy. He might as well be speaking to the audience. It’s a long, winding path to the movie’s final revelation, but what a revelation! The last 15 minutes are a nice reward for the pure concentration needed to follow this film. This is one of those movies that deserves, maybe even requires, a second viewing.
Like 2002’s Gangs of New York, Shutter Island works best on a sensory level. It’s a visually rich, beautifully directed movie. But, like Gangs of New York, the movie fails to forge a connection between the characters and the audience. It has all the violence, guilt and redemption of a classic Scorsese, but something about it feels distant. Scorsese has made so many great movies in the past four decades. Shutter Island is, at best, only a good one.
Green Zone
The girl with the dragon tattoo
Directed by Paul GreenGrass
Directed by Niels Arden oplev
Matt Damon’s third collaboration with Paul Greengrass is not as the character Damon has become most well-known for playing: that of amnesiac CIA agent, Jason Bourne. However, with the break-neck pace of the camera fleeting over the frenzied, lawless streets of Baghdad to the opulence of the invading forces ‘green zone,’ we still get plenty of thrilling action from Damon and Greengrass. In Green Zone, Damon plays Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller sent to various sites within Iraq to locate the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), upon which the argument for invading Iraq was based on. The issue at hand is extremely relevant and controversial as it is only recently that politicians are being taken to account for the fabrication of the existence of WMDs. Indeed, one wonders if characters like Damon’s had been put in charge of things in the first place, then maybe the pointless war we’re in would have ended much sooner. As is Greengrass’ style, characters in his films aren’t clean-cut, black and white, good or bad guys. Damon is one of the good guys but as he unravels the WMD cover-up throughout the film, he faces animosity from those on his own side. Enter menacing mustachiowearing officer Briggs ( Jason Isaacs). Due to the subject matter of this film, humour is sparse. However, I failed not to crack a smile when Isaacs appeared on screen. His mustache deserves a film all of its own. The war on Iraq was always going to be unpopular with the public, but the politicians went ahead anyway, knowing that we weren’t behind them. Thus, to
Based on the bestselling novel by Stieg Larsson, this film has received a lot of hype. Fortunately, it’s entirely deserved. Set in Sweden, the film follows Mikael Blomkvist, a watchdog journalist famous for exposing the shady activities of business tycoons. Henrik Vanger, an elderly member of the Vanger family and enterprise, approaches Blomkvist in the hopes that he will be able to solve the case of his missing niece, presumably murdered by one of the Vanger family 40 years before. As Blomkvist begins to delve into the family’s history, a trail of inscrutable clues unravels, incomprehensible to Blomkvist. Here enters ‘the girl with the dragon tattoo’ herself, a troubled ex-convict and professional hacker, who helps Blomkvist to unpick the mystery of the missing girl. The film is intriguing, exciting and disturbing in equal parts. It’s undeniably heavy but avoids weighing down the audience too much with its carefully placed, genuinely funny moments. I watched the film as someone who hasn’t read Larsson’s book, but was
still aware of how passionate its readers are and how much the adaptation had to live up to. However, fans of the book shouldn’t be disappointed. The film is intense, gripping and intricately detailed, but well-paced and not overstuffed with information - a common downfall of many book-to-film adaptations. It stands very well as a film in its own right, as it is entirely accessible to the viewer and does not simply cater to fans of the book by avoiding obscure references film adaptations often use, leaving newcomers to the story out in the cold. All in all, it’s a fantastic film: perfectly paced with many a heart-racing scene, stitched together with a slow build-up of characters and tension. With some really horrifying scenes, the film is not for the faint-hearted; however these are far from the gratuitous gore-soaked scenes you find in some thrillers. The violence in the film is all conducive to either the construction of the plot or the characters themselves. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo already holds a fistful of awards, and with good reason. It’s definitely not to be missed.
limit the damage, the search for proof of the existence of WMDs both in this film and in reality becomes extremely important for the government's reputation. In the film, the media is represented by The Wall Street Journal reporter Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) who, like Miller, questions the accuracy of the information that led up to the invasion of Iraq. However, we don’t engage with her character all that much, which isn’t surprising given that the limelight is very much focused on Damon. The treatment of suspected Iraqi citizens, subjected to extreme physical abuse, makes for uncomfortable viewing, especially as it forces us to admit that the ‘liberators’ can also be torturers. All too often films are promoted as being totally ‘unmissable’, but in the case of Green Zone, I happen to wholeheartedly agree. Angela Meek
Screening Times Cineworld Daily: 12.30 15.10 17.55 20.40
Lara Zarum
Screening Times Cineworld Daily: 11.00 14.05 17.15 18.20 20.20 21.20
Rebecca Chan
Screening Times Cineworld Daily: 10.50 14.10 17.30 20.50
The Oscars (or the 82nd Academy Awards if we’re going to be precise) is the big bang that signals the end of the film awards season. Unlike last year’s ‘Recession version’ of the Oscars (where the majority of the props for the opening number were made out of pizza boxes and tin foil) the Kodak Theatre was returned to its full splendour with no expense spared on the dresses, the stage or anything that glittered. They even went all-out with the nominations, allowing ten films in the Best Picture category (something that hasn’t happened since World War II) including Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds and, surprisingly, District 9. The ceremony opened with a number by Neil Patrick Harris. Why? Even he didn’t seem to know, but his sequined suit was just enough to distract the audience before making way for the two hosts of the evening: Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. The duo were suitably funny, although they were outshined by Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr, who presented Best Original Screenplay saying that the relationship between actors and writers was a collaboration between "handsome, gifted people and sickly little mole people". There were only two notably awkward moments which may have marred the otherwise perfectly veneered night: one being the exclusion of Farrah Fawcett in the ‘in memoriam’ montage. The other was during the acceptance speech for Documentary Short when director Ross Williams (for Music By Prudence) was ‘Kanye’d’ by Elinor Burkett (a codirector who had been thrown off the project months ago). Sadly, however, this year’s results were as disappointingly predictable as always: Meryl Streep was nominated but didn’t win (again); Costume Design went to yet another British period film and, despite the neck-and-neck battle, The Hurt Locker eventually triumphed over Avatar. There were no shockers in the acting categories either – Bullock, Bridges, Waltz and Mo’Nique are the same four names that have been on the list of winners for the past one and a half months (including one Razzie for Sandra Bullock), but at least Christoph Waltz managed to keep his rambling speeches and endless gratitude for Tarantino short this time. The only real surprises were in the Foreign Language category where The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina) unexpectedly beat the favourites, A Prophet and The White Ribbon, and Adapted Screenplay was awarded to Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious instead of Jason Reitmen which (judging by the look on his face) he had been very sure of. The real focus, of course, was on the battle between Katherine Bigelow and James Cameron. While Avatar was unquestionably the most popular film of the year, The Hurt Locker had all the qualities that the Oscar committee loves as well as being a very good film. It was also the first time in history that a Best Director Oscar has been awarded to a woman although this isn’t surprising as women aren’t usually nominated at all. Hopefully this marks a change in the Academy’s attitude towards female directors, even if it took a masculine war film with one female lead who has a total of 5 minutes screen time to do it. Shan Bertelli
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
18
Don't go anywhere without your iPod? Email: music@studentnewspaper.org
Review
MUSIC
Indie Heavyweight Showdown
Tuesday night gig-clash: Representing England and ennui are The xx and These New Puritans while in the American corner fighting for smiles and happiness are Grizzly Bear and Beach House; Michael Russam and Catherine Sylvain keep score. Where were you?
Grizzly Bear and The xx stick two fingers up to passport photo regulations, being this hip means you can go anywhere... even North Korea; the hipster dream destination.
GRIZZLY BEAR Queen's Hall, Edinburgh 9TH MARCH 2010
IT MAY be a sentiment that would be easy to scoff at, but there’s something to be said about seeing a band on one of these “victory-lap” tours; the sense of accomplishment that emanates from the band themselves, the heightened sense of communal experience that the audience shares. Grizzly Bear already supported their most recent effort Veckatimest in the UK with a smattering of dates around the time of its 2009 release. As soon as it was unleashed, it was clear what that stellar album would do for the band’s career, and now they’re back to demonstrate it, the venues bigger and their profile higher than ever before. From the moment that “SouthTHE XX
ern Point” begins to ease us in to a set of vaguely folky, chamber-laced pop music, two things are clear: first, these Brooklynites have serious chops, and second, this isn’t one of those shows that aims to showcase a sloppier, louder, more cathartic underbelly to the group’s recorded output. Everything about the gig comes across as intensely considered, from the impeccably played, (and deceptively complex) guitar lines to the soaring, note-perfect vocal harmonies. It’s not just musically that Grizzly Bear demonstrate their perfectionism and attention to detail; they do so visually too, with all but ringleader Ed Droste remaining calmly seated for the gig’s duration, against a backdrop of a subtle, perfectly timed light show. This flawlessness is, interestingly, largely the only thing that can be complained about. It must be acknowledged that some of the best live shows
so young. Just three members now thanks to the departure of their other guitarist, the exhaustion of being so consistently nonchalant became apparently too much THE XX look like a band who wouldn’t for the second female member. Romy leave their bedsits if they didn’t have a Medley-Croft and Oliver Sim share gig on. There’s something cripplingly shy sparse vocals while Jamie Smith tinkers about their all-black attire and muttered about on synth decks giving off the wall greeting to the Tuesday night crowd at of atmospheric electronica that characterStudio 24, and also oddly malevolent, izes their music.They leave agonising like the camcorder guy from American pauses in which the audience shifts about Beauty. Emerging from behind a white uncomfortably; an effect of Medley-Croft sheet that looked like a Victorian and Sim’s mesmerizing breathy vocals hospital curtain, they have none of the riven through with implicit sexuality. It’s a presence of a band whose debut album gig where all you can do is stand topped critical lists for months as theirs very still and try not to make eye-contact did, and are strangely restrained for some with anyone; bit like my home life. Studio 24, Edinburgh 9TH MARCH 2010
out there are those eardrum busting, sweaty marathons that make up for any musical fluffs with sheer energy and rambunctious charisma. But Grizzly Bear aren’t a punk band; this is music composed meticulously, and as such warrants a live airing in exactly the same vein. There's no danger of getting bored, anyway; with a setlist comprised of mainly Veckatimest material, album highlights like “Two Weeks” and “While You Wait For The Others” kept the crowd hooked, alongside a smattering of gems like “Knife” and closer “Brother” from elsewhere in their discography. It might not have been the most riotous of nights, but Grizzly Bear provided the audience with a night of lush, restrained and pretty much beautiful musical entertainment.
END OF TERM PARTY
Michaerl Russam
The set is short, no encore, little banter and a few rudimentary covers that The xx make very much their own. Dance classic ‘Teardrops’ by Womack and Womack becomes an eery slow breathy number, almost unrecognizable. They close with faintly apocalyptic drums, a nod perhaps to support act These New Puritans whose ominous new songs ‘We Want War’ and ‘Attack Music’ cemented the evening as one in which outsiders reign high. Only those who dwell on the edges of society and of rooms can evoke the apocalypse so fully and with such relish. Catherine Sylvain
Potterrow 9pm - 3am
FRIDAY 26TH MARCH Tickets: Free Before 10PM/£3 Before Midnight/£4 After (£5/6 Non Students)
eusa.ed.ac.uk
Edinburgh Univerity Students’ Asociation is a Registered Scottish Charity (No.SCO15800)
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Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
Review 19
TV
Motherfrakkers, listen up!
STARING AT THE SUN
Caprica has arrived, and Richard Dennis thinks you should care
the Cylons, and how they fell out with humans in the first place.
“
The standard of the writing is still as superb as ever"
BELIEVE IT OR NOT: This is a sci-fi show. I bet you're interested now. ci-fi isn’t a genre that exactly S enamours itself to the uninitiated. Too many people see the spaceships,
the lasers and pseudo-scientific waffle and dismiss it out of hand. But in 2003 came Battlestar Galactica, itself a remake of a 70s show that pretty much embodied in sci-fi what the geeks loved and everyone else hated, and it highlighted what a powerful genre sci-fi can be when it does what all great drama does: focus on the characters and ignore the pseudo-bollocks. It dealt with issues such as genocide, war, love, survival, politics, religion, psychosis, good and evil, and the fundamental meaning of what it is to be a sentient creature, with more maturity, wit and excitement
than the vast majority of other dramas of recent times, regardless of genre and without resorting to a single mention of photons. And so now we arrive at Caprica, not a spin-off so much as a continuation of the story, albeit one set 58 years before the events of BSG. Which, from the off, gives any viewer who’s seen BSG an odd feeling because, with the exception of a young Admiral Adama, you know that in 58 years time every single person you meet is going to be wiped out in a nuclear attack by the Cylons, a group of sentient robots at war with the humans (stay with me non-sci-fi fans, the intrigue is in the drama, remember). Indeed, one of the main storylines in Caprica is to do with the creation of
Unsurprisingly, visionary creator Ronald D. Moore maintains the bar from the get go with an apocalypse of a whole different kind, that of two fathers losing their daughters in a suicide bomb attack. From here things get ominous, not only because one of the fathers is Joseph Adama (yes, father to that Adama), but mainly because the other father, Daniel Graystone, is a technological genius on the brink of creating true AI in robots, whose daughter, Zoe, before she died, was such a frakking genius (oh, it feels good to hear that word again) that she made a virtual copy of herself. And when Daniel Graystone transfers Zoe’s consciousness into a prototype robot that looks disturbing familiar, what do you think happens then? Of course, a lot of that paragraph will seem nonsensical to someone who’s
never seen BSG, which is an issue with Caprica. The standard of the writing is still as superb as ever, the handling of grief, the various plot strands, corrupt officials, religious undertones, the ambiguity of morality, it’s all as sure as it ever was in BSG and no doubt it will develop and move into realms we can’t guess at yet (at least, that’s the hope, if it gets complacent and just repeats themes - having a mysterious good/bad character with a British accent isn’t a great start - then it will be a massive disappointment). However, to the uninitiated, there is so much in Caprica that loses significance. What it means to see the first Cylon activated, to understand the consequences of apparently insignificant actions, to hear certain key phrases, will be entirely lost on the layperson. Which is a shame, because for some the concept of watching five seasons of another show just to properly enjoy this one will be too much effort and, again, they will have missed out on a particularly fine piece of allegorical fiction. For the rest of us, though, Caprica would appear to be carrying on the fine tradition that BSG established, and so say we all.
DARK COATS AND GLASSES: TV shorthand for shady characters.
There's mutton on telly
Kirsten Waller endures the nail-biting televisual phenomenon that is Lambing Live
T
he BBC does seem to have a knack for coming up with programmes that you never ever thought you needed to see. Not necessarily in a negative ‘Good God, how utterly crap’ manner; more in a ‘Really? There will come a point in life when I am required to know this?’. Hence Lambing Live.
“
The lambs are terribly cute, gambling around and headbutting one another" Presented by Kate Humble, previously seen on Spring Watch, and real life farmer Adam Henson, the show resembles a fairly ordinary ‘country life’ style programme subjected to the rigours of 24 hour rolling news. The BBC evidently wished to produce some kind of televisual ‘event’, broadcasting the programme over five days, with an hour each evening. The screen is filled with sheep, lambs, apple-cheeked chil-
dren, more sheep and shots of gorgeous Welsh countryside. It’s as soothing as a warm, buttery tea cake. The problem comes with the actual lambing, which takes place in a rather attractive, slightly Gothic barn. The ewes, evidently not used to working on a tight schedule, fail to produce any births on the first two shows. Lambs have been
born before filming, lambs have born after filming at 3am, but no lambs are born during filming. This leaves the presenters at something of a loose end, as they are forced to make small talk, visit the sheep in the maternity ward and show short films of other sheep-related activities, which usually involve Humble picking up impossibly cute lambs and
AWWW: It's so cute! And think how tasty it would look on your plate!
declaring them to be tiny. It’s exactly the same atmosphere as a hundred live news broadcasts and Election Night rolled into one. Thankfully, lambs begin to be born between the hours of 7:30 and 8:30pm on the third show, and continue for a solid 24 hours. Cue multiple shots of farmers elbow deep in the back end of a ewe and very relieved presenters. The programme becomes fixated on the newborns in all their slimy glory, being licked clean by their mothers, sprayed with iodine and shivering themselves warm. It’s certainly not the most stomach churning thing to have been broadcast in recent years, and once they’ve dried out a little the lambs are terribly cute, gambling around and head-butting one another when not being cuddled by cooing humans. You have to struggle to remember that ultimately, most of the lambs will end up as stripped and bloody carcasses, swinging from a butcher’s hook. Funnily enough, the programme doesn’t particularly dwell on this until the final episode. It’s all about the joy of life, rather than bred to-be-slaughtered life. I suppose that would rather spoil the self-consciously lovely mood.
T
he universe is quite interesting, apparently. It is easy to forget this fact while going about your mundane existence, which is why we have people like Brian Cox. His new series, Wonders of the Solar System, is all about how cool the universe is. And he is pretty cool too. If you type ‘rockstar physicist’ into Google, his Wikipedia page is the first hit. Albeit, this is due to the fact he played keyboards on that New Labour anthem for the 1997 election, which in retrospect is perhaps not so cool - but that doesn’t matter, because the universe still is! Please forgive what appears to be a mock-enthusiastic tone, but I would like to make clear that this is completely sincere. I have genuinely been infected with Professor Cox’s enthusiasm for all things physics. The series' first programme on the sun initially sounds like it might be a dull affair, as we are already well exposed to the sun and what it does. Well, perhaps not so much in Scotland where, forever obscured by overcast grey, it functions more like a lamppost in a Gothic drama production but, nevertheless, it is just the thing that divides our days by inconveniently shining through the curtain to wake us up - that is until Brian Cox came along. Your normal run-of-the mill science documentary usually tries to make science look cool by showing you some hi-tech looking diagrams or impressive images of nature and planets to the sound of tinkling piano keys and strings, but there is no need when you have a presenter with such awed enthusiasm for his subject. For the scientifically challenged like myself, it is hard not to share his amazement as he excitedly reels off incomprehensible facts about the sun (it’s composed of ten billion, billion gas molecules?), explains the workings of the solar system using some vegetables he has just grabbed from a market, and figures out how much energy the sun exerts on to the earth using some water, a bucket, a thermometer and an umbrella at the Nevada desert, afterwards exclaiming, ‘And that’s why I love physics!’ as he pokes the umbrella into the sand like a restless child at the beach. It is certainly a much more soothing way to experience the wonder of science rather than watching Richard Dawkins simply shout at yet another self-evidently idiotic creationist. Likeable, engaging personalities are what science need at a time when it is regarded with increasing distrust by the public over issues such as climate change. Perhaps with people like Brian Cox around, things can only get better. Calum Barnes
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
On your knees peasants, Lifestyle is here. lifestyle.studentnewspaper@googlemail.com
20 Lifestyle
In-Convenience
Pastels, peaches and creams
Abee McCallum does us all a favour, finding the season's trends on a budget B rowsing through the pages of Vogue, any financially-challenged reader such as myself grows steadily greener with envy. My wish list of designer pieces from the latest trends grows until I have to forcibly remind myself that
I
’ve had some strange debates in my time as a student. “Which Pokemon would you shag if you had to?” was certainly one of them, but perhaps the most heated was one I had recently on the subject of supermarket self-checkouts. I happen to love them. Maybe I was a checkout assistant in a past life, but I still get a little frisson of excitement when my Basics noodles get the beep of affirmation. All the fun of playing with the scanner but without the 12-hour days, minimum wage and crap working conditions. Standing in the queue waiting gives you the chance to survey an entertaining tableau of people locked in battle with the machines, trying to scan their milk for the tenth time and staring slack-jawed at a bunch of broccoli. I’m in a tiny minority, though. The biggest complaint is that they’re not actually any quicker than the staffed ones. Perhaps true, but that’s because we let anyone use them. The other day I was stood behind a guy so glacially slow that I came close to wrenching his tomato soup out of hands and doing the whole sodding thing for him. The solution: tests that everyone does like GCSE English should have a checkout component at the end. Once you’ve finished writing ten pages of pseudo-academic shit about Carol Anne Duffy, you can’t leave the exam hall until you’ve scanned a variety of common household items. Fail it and you’re banished to the Epsilon minor slow-lane for the rest of your life. Not interacting with a human being is obviously a downside, easily resolved by having celebrities voice them - I’d love to hear Stephen Fry asking me to put my items in the bagging area. He’d be great, making saucy comments when you scan a packet of condoms. Celebrity voices would also solve the problem of people being too slow. You would have, say, five seconds to scan each item: do it in less and the machine congratulates you, bathing you in the dulcet tones of Judi Dench. Take longer and you get Malcolm Tucker shouting a choice line from his vast litany of insults (“You’re about as useless as a marzipan dildo”, “Hurry the fuck up, or fuck the fuck off, YOU MASSIVE GAY SHITE”). That should get people to speed up and force the old, slow or stupid to get back to the normal checkouts where they belong.
Dan Nicholson-Heap
Burberry Prosurm SS10
my student loan can only just cover the price of one Chanel bag. So, as we students are in a state of perpetual credit crunch, I have sourced some alternative versions of two key spring/summer 2010 trends which will not explode the overdraft. Pastels are big this season with designers such as Burberry and ChrisMulberry's 'Alexa' bag topher Kane dipping into the sherbet a subtle hint of pastel. palette. A high street bargain of this On the catwalk at the spring/sumtrend is New Look’s ‘Flush Pink’ Boymer 2010 Balmain show, the military friend Blazer which at a mere £18 can be afforded, with change, if you abstain trend carried through from the from your morning Starbucks for just a previous season but with a look that was more utilitarian than Napoweek. Teamed with a plain tee, such as leon. Gap does a great selection of that from the Topshop Basics range (2 casual neutrals which can be layered for £10), a pair of skinny jeans and evtogether or worn under an oversized ery girl’s failsafe pumps, a pastel blazer parka (raid your father’s wardrobe like New Look’s version allows you to if you don’t have one) in order to work the trend without simultaneously recreate this look. overworking your credit card. And if, like me, your bank balance Alternatively, for those who are cannot stretch to purchase the latest slightly afraid of this brighter-thanMulberry ‘Alexa’ bag, Armstrong’s on black trend, a slick of nail varnish Nicolson Street often stock an eclecsuch as Rimmel’s Lycra Pro in ‘Grape tic variety Sorbet’ of satchels (£4.49) or an which eye-lid dustcomplement ing of Bobbi the military Brown's pastrend tel metallic perfectly. eye shadow Browsing provides just Bobbi Brown pastel metallic
through the rails on my way to class I have spotted the occasional Mulberry-esque satchel or wonderfully weather-beaten leather briefcase, and I would definitely recommend a quick look to those loving the utilitarian style. Accessories in general are also a great way of emulating trends without having to pay big bucks for several pieces. A pair of lilac-framed sunglasses or a chunky bracelet gives an understated nod toward the pastel trend and the addition of a simple tan waist belt will add a touch of Celine’s military style to your outfit. Do your research, look online and in vintage stores because any trends yet to come can be achieved at an affordable price that won't leave you a greener shade of pastel.
Summer Pearl bracelet
They tried to make me go to rehab
Caitlin McDonald takes along her week-long food detox experience... A fter spending an entire weekend at home carb-loading on toast and spaghetti carbonara, I returned to Edinburgh feeling bloated, tired and ready for something radical: a detox. I’ve always quite fancied trying one, but things kept getting in the way (namely, birthday nights out and pub crawls). Last Monday, on the spur of the moment, I decided that I was going to spend the week cleansing my body of toxins – easy peasy. I mean, if Beyonce can do it, so can I. Right?
hair and nails and a flatter tummy as promised on the website. That, and the £40 price tag on the tree syrup, is enough to make me grin and bear it. Although, when I add it all up, I probably spent about £40 on food and rosé wine in a week, anyway.
Day 3
Day 1
Surprisingly, I found it easy enough to fast the whole day; in fact, I didn’t even get a chance to buy the litre of tree syrup required for a week of this detox malarkey until about half past four. After that, I did get a few funny looks as I stood in the Tesco queue with 25 lemons in my basket. Basically, all I'm allowed for a week is 6-7 glasses of drink mix a day and copious amounts of peppermint tea… and that’s it. Yikes. The drink mix is 20ml syrup, the juice of ½ a lemon, a pinch of cayenne pepper or ground ginger and 300ml of water per glass. Apparently, my Madal Bal tree syrup is going to give me all the nutrients I need to get through this week without passing out. Hmm. Under the curious gaze of my flatmates, I mix the first batch in the kitchen, add the pepper and give it a go… Bleurgh. The syrup has a really sickly aftertaste and the pepper doesn’t cut it. I drink as much as I can and go to bed feeling nauseated.
Day 2
I wake up in a pretty good mood until I remember that instead of a large bowl of Coco Pops, my brekkie will consist of more drink mix. Delightful. I actually can’t face drinking it, so go to uni on a very empty stomach with a bottle of murky brown drink mix in my bag. A few sips are all I can manage throughout the day, and I start to doubt whether I can do this. After getting home I decide to make a new batch with less syrup, more lemon and ginger instead of pepper. Success! I have it ice cold, and it’s actually alright. Still, I don’t feel so great, so I go to bed early with a pounding headache. The only thing that’s keeping me going is the thought of clearer skin, shiny
I feel really weak this morning, so I determinedly chug some drink mix and trot off to uni. I’m pretty worried about how I’ll cope today – the past two days I’ve been so busy, but the emptiness of Wednesday afternoon stretches before like a giant pancake. I fill it by going to the library and then going for (peppermint) tea with a friend. When people ask about my strangely coloured bottle of juice, I say I’m fasting. This is working well; a) it makes me feel like my detox is imbued with a sense of purpose and b) it sounds possibly religious so c) people tend to stop asking questions. I think they think I’ve joined a cult – I’m so miserable I couldn’t give a crêpe.
Day 4
AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH. I could murder a Tetley’s.
Day 5
The end is in sight! My skin is dreadful, which the website would have me believe is a result of toxins leaving my body; I think it’s because I haven’t eaten any fruit or veg for days. Also, thanks to the noxious combination of acid and sugar
sloshing round my mouth every day, my teeth are constantly furry and my tongue is a delightful shade of yellow. I spend my shift at work feeling a bit sluggish, then have an early night. Luckily, my flatmates are off the sauce for a week, otherwise I’d probably be tempted into some cocktails and dancing.
Day 6
I actually wake up full of energy this morning - amazing! After a really busy shift I head home and start to tackle my essay, juice drink by my side. I’ve got no idea if what I’m writing makes any sense, but I feel fairly alert. I’m so excited about eating solid food again, but instead of craving Domino’s and chicken tikka masala, all I can think about is veggie stir fry and fruit salad – what is happening to me?!
Day 7
Unbelievably, I’ve made it a whole week without eating, and when I hop on the scales this morning I’ve lost an incredible 14lb, despite my BMI being in the 'healthy' zone anyway. If that’s my toxins getting flushed out, my body must have been a veritable nuclear power plant. In a really twisted way, I’m quite sad it’s over – I feel really light and energetic. I buy loads of healthy food to last me the week, terrified of re-gaining all the weight I’ve lost. All in all, I’d do it again, especially if I had a big occasion coming up. Right now, though… pass us a sandwich.
HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK: Tea off in the morning: hot tea can slash your risk of kidney cancer by 15 per cent, according to a
review in the International Journal of Cancer. Try pu-erh tea, which is better than green or black tea at preventing DNA damage.
Robert Downey Junior on the relationship between actors and writers:
people."
The Student Crossword #21
DOWN
1. Fortresses (7) 2. Capable of being cured (7) 3. Person who delivers ice (6)
It's a collaboration between gifted, handsome people and sickly, little mole
Puzzles
Solutions
Sudoku #21
ACROSS
HITORI
Sudoku is a logic-based number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill the 9×9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contains the digits from 1 to 9 only once.
Hitori #21 The object of Hitori is to eliminate numbers by shading in the squares such that remaining cells do not contain numbers that appear more than once in either a given row or column. Filled-in cells cannot be horizontally or vertically adjacent, although they can be diagonally adjacent. The remaining un-filled cells must form a single component (i.e there must be no isolated numbers)
4. Women in general (6,3) 5. Scottish musician (5) 6. Theoretical (8) 7. Teashop (7) 8. Decreased (7) 16. Remaining part (9) 18. Person who tends sheep (8)
19. Scholar (7) 20. Christen (7) 21. Pledge (7) 22. Gift (7) 25. Three-legged support (6) 26. Smoggy (5)
CROSSWORD
1. Travelling by bicycle (7) 5. Psalmbook (7) 9. Physician (7) 10. Rise to one’s feet (5) 11. Thievery (5) 12. To hit a ball high (3) 13. Lengthier (6) 14. Conditional release (6) 15. Bring civil action against (3) 17. Woman who conducts others to their seats (9) 21. Explosive sound (3) 23. Merchant (6) 24. Christian festival (6) 27. Be in debt (3) 28. Pertaining to people (5) 29. Banish (5) 30. Dispossess of(7) 31. Second day of the week (7) 32. High temperature (3,4)
“
SUDOKU
Puzzles
This Week's Horoscopes... and head to the nearest house party immediately. The love of your life nearly spring time will be there waiting, add a twist of and with the longer, sunlime for the perfect ending. nier days the Quilute tribe are already taking CANCER June 22—July 23 over Faulks. Take Bella and go undercover, or give her over to Jacob ey! Look out for that for ever. moving van, driving down the street. You better lock PISCES Feb 20—Mar 20 up your man before he meets...the new girl in town. And yet he evening of your we'd like to be like her cause she's the month is upon us. In these kitten that the cats prefer. final hours, as Mercury rotates away from the LEO July 24—Aug 23 Sun leaving you to fend for yourself, take solace in the remnants of gin left here is a pungant smell in your fridge and ignore the sacriin your house. Don't ficed goat in your bathroom. bother burning canldes, the smell of French VaARIES Mar 21—April 20 nilla won't cover up that of your dignity dying. Just take the £ 20 note on ries, ready yourself for the bedside table, trust us, it will some immense changes in soothe the pain. your life. As Jupiter brings your more opportunities VIRGO Aug 24—Sep 23 for fun than you ever imagined, use them. But remember what happened handi would say viothe last time you went overboard... lence is never the answer, social services definitely does. but we say ignore that frail old herbivore. This week TAURUS April 21—May 21 someone will try and take you for a ride; whether it’s the hairdresser who ail is bleak, as you sit in goes to town when you specified a your 8x10ft cell, don't simple trim, or your granny who only blame us. We told you to put five quid in your greeting card. kill the man at the chippy Take our advice: smack a bitch up. and destroy all evidence. Don't be discouraged though, 11 years will fly LIBRA Sept 24—Oct 23 by. Just don't drop the soap. AQUARIUS Jan 21—Feb 19
It's
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Fresh Air, Edinburgh’s student radio station, is holding its annual charity auction on Sunday 21st March at City Cafe. Up for grabs are all sorts of great prizes including wine tasting, signed Rangers FC memorabilia, guitar lessons, vouchers for Body Shop and Mosko hair salon, deluxe gifts from Lush, Fat Face clothing, tickets to Caberet Voltaire, Vue Cinemas and Our Dynamic Earth and much, much more. This year’s chosen charity is Waverley Care, Scotland’s leading charity providing care and support to people living with HIV and Hepatitis C. Profits from the auction will be split between the station and Waverley Care, who are celebrating their 21st birthday in 2010. Fans of fine dining are in for a treat as top Edinburgh restaurants King’s Balti, Double Dutch, Mussel Inn, as well as student favourite The Tron, have all donated complimentary meal vouchers to the auction. The auction kicks off at 7pm at City Cafe on March 21st
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SCORPIO Oct 24—Nov 22
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he lunar shadow is directly in your cycle this week, signaling only one thing: you are unfathomably horny. Take this as a sign to indulge, because whatever happens in your lunar shadow stays in your lunar shadow... SAGITTARIUS Nov 23—Dec 21
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f it takes a man three days to fully recover from a weekend trip to Vegas, then how long will it take him to realise he gave the hooker his credit card number, and she gave him herpes? CAPRICORN Dec 22—Jan 20
H
know.
umans and Bonobo (pygmy) monkeys are the only species that have face-to-face sex. Now you
Astrologist: Wanja Ochwada
J
GEMINI May 22—June 21
Stop what you are doing!
A
s things go, this week should be relatively clear.
Monday started off badly, but come St Paddy's Day The semester is nearly you will be too Irish to remember any over and at last the presof the nightnarish events from sure to be constanly readThursday through to Sunday. ing is over. Grab your coat and keys
Random Google Image for the week.
charities spot
StopAIDS S
tanding in the offices of the pharmaceutical company Glaxo-Smith-Klein (GSK), surrounded by secret service-esque men with the wangling wires out of their ears and big black suits, is not somewhere I envisaged myself when I started the Student StopAIDS society. Apparently some of the suits were ex-IRA. I doubt even people who run campaigns like the student StopAIDS campaign ever believed that in 2010 student campaigners would be welcomed into the offices of GSK to talk openly about new drug pricing initiatives. GSK is one of those evil, ‘The Constant Gardner’, type of Pharmaceutical companies, all profit and no love. Well at least they were… Sat on the terrace outside the British Parliament beside the Thames discussing HIV policy with an MP, with the mass of the Parliament behind me and the Thames rolling on by is also somewhere I did not imagine myself
before I started the StopAIDS society. He was not ex-IRA but the keyboard player from Runrig (One of Scotland’s most famous Folk bands), now turned MP. It ’s tempting to assume that student societies achieve nothing but both these occasions above made me realise that the societies you may hear about in passing or on a poster, be it the StopAIDS society or other such societies, do make a difference far beyond what you can imagine. I know, for example, the British Government has committed to a new drug financing initiative (the Patent Pool) because of the direct pressure exerted by the StopAIDS society in Edinburgh and others around the U.K, and we have letters from the Minister in charge to prove it. And how does our work with the British Government and Pharmaceutical companies actually fit in to our aim, to stop AIDS? Our campaign is for Uni-
versal Access to HIV Treatment for all and since 2003 access to treatment has increased up to 50%, which is still pretty shoddy but a far sight better than 5% in 2003. And this new drug pricing intiative, the Patent Pool, will not only create cheaper drugs but also create newer, better, drugs for HIV/AIDS. And it is something that Students, that is you and me, have been instrumental in helping bring about. So all I want to say, is that if there is something you care about, then get up and have a word. Do you know that if you are ever in London and passing Parliament you can give your MP a ring and ask to meet them. If they are free (which they somehow normally are) they’ ll come down, take you into Parliament, that’s right into the depths and cauldrons of Parliament, and buy you a tea of coffee and from there they can take your word into the Parliament chambers and who knows what could happen.
Anyway, back to Edinburgh. We know as a society that stopping HIV does not just mean access to cheaper drugs. It means tackling poverty, tackling stigma and increasing prevention and education. So to celebrate this, we are having a week, starting this Friday called the ‘Faces of HIV week’. We aim to shed some light on some of the most important issues that face people living with HIV and some of the barriers that keep HIV such a massive endemic worldwide. On Friday the 19th there will be a Children’s Tea Party all day outside the library to highlight HIV and children. On the Sunday 21st there will
be a film night at the Brass Monkey showing “Yesterday” 8:00 pm focusing on HIV and gender. Moving on to Tuesday the 23rd we are having a debate on HIV and religion in Appleton Tower and to finish off on Thursday the 25th we will be having an HIV and stigma night in Vodoo Rooms hosted by the Improverts with guest performances from the break-dance, modern dance and Shakespeare societies. Come see how they all incorporate Stigma into what they do! Tom Roberts
Got your eye on the ball? Email sport@studentnewspaper.org
Tuesday March 16 2010 studentnewspaper.org
Sport 23
Miller has eyes only for the future Martin Domin finds Hibs and Ireland midfielder Liam Miller in no mood to reflect on the past LIAM MILLER is a man of few words. I’m sure he has no intention of appearing in court anytime soon but if he did, the prosecution would have a hard time extracting anything more than the bare facts. Perhaps it’s a result of the media training he undoubtedly received at Manchester United. Perhaps he’s just fed up with being remembered as the player who failed to make a splash at Old Trafford rather than one who has been reborn at Hibs. Either way, he keeps his cards close to his chest. The Cork-born midfielder first arrived on these shores at the tender age of 16 when he joined his boyhood heroes Celtic. It took him six years to make a real impact in Glasgow but such was the impression he eventually made that his manager Martin O’Neill heralded the midfielder as the next big thing. In October 2003, he joked that he wanted Miller to sign a 35-year contract but just three months later Miller penned a deal with Manchester United, a decision that left both the manager and the Celtic Park faithful feeling disappointed and a little let down. Two years and a mere 22 games later, Miller was allowed to leave Old Trafford, and former United teammate Roy Keane snapped him up for Sunderland. Although he was finally able to play regular football once again, his career in the Northeast ended when he was placed on the transfer list due to poor timekeeping. An ill-fated spell with Queens Park Rangers followed before he spent last summer at home in Ireland contemplating his next move. Since returning to Scotland he has become a pivotal part of John Hughes’ exciting young side. As we chat at the Hibs’ training centre in East Lothian, he bats away my questions with clinical precision, his answers leaving little to feed on: Do you feel that you let the Celtic fans down when you left? I ask. “I did what was best for my career.” Why do you think it didn’t work out at United? “It’s hard to say. I gave it a go but it
wasn’t to be.” Do you still speak to Martin O’Neill? “No, we don’t speak.” So you left on bad terms? “I didn’t leave on bad terms.” Only once do I manage to catch him a little off guard: “If your career was to end tomorrow,” I muse, “would you be happy with it?” He hesitates for a minute. “That’s a difficult one,” he admits. But then, as a quick as a flash, the steely determination returns and the door slams shut. “It’s had its ups and downs,” he concludes, rather inconclusively. In many ways, his reluctance to elaborate on the past is understandable and his insistence that he has no regrets is admirable. Only once, when talking about his time at Loftus Road, does he admit to making a "wrong move", but he quickly asserts that “you can’t look back with regret.” For someone who maintains that his move to Manchester United was the right one, he seems strangely unenthusiastic about his time there. He notes simply that it was “great training with the calibre of players that were there” and that it was a “great experience”. His time at Sunderland meanwhile simply had its “highs and lows”, but he claims to have enjoyed it even though he believes Keane’s ultimate decision was harsh. Of his return to Celtic Park with Hibs earlier in the season, he prefers to comment on the “amazing stadium” than any reaction from the home fans. For someone who graced the Parkhead turf on numerous occasions, such an observation seems rather odd. It is only when we talk about his current club that he opens up slightly. He has admitted before that he was deeply unhappy over the summer but says that he was always confident that he would find another club. Now that he has, he clearly feels that the move was the right one. “I’ve settled in well; I know the players on and off the pitch now and I’ve put together a run of games. Football is a funny game and you never know what’s going to happen in six months' time but I’m enjoying my football.”
NOT RUN OF THE MILL: Liam Miller has rediscovered his form Miller wouldn't be drawn on whether John Hughes shares any traits with his previous bosses, saying simply that “the managers I’ve worked for have all been different in their own way. You can see he [Hughes] has a real enthusiasm for the game and a will to win.” At one stage in the season it looked as if Hibs might split the Old Firm, but an indifferent run of form has made that highly improbable. Miller accepts that second place is out of reach but that third place would constitute a successful season. “I know people were saying that we were going to split the Old Firm but at the moment they’ve opened up a bit of a gap. At the same time, we were never shouting our mouths off saying that we were going to do this and that;
we’ve just taken one game at a time. The manager has come out and said he’d like to finish third and I think we’d all like that.” The midfielder maintains that he remains ambitious and that he wants to win medals. He believes he can do that in Edinburgh but the Hibs trophy cabinet is hardly bulging at the seams. The club hasn't won the Scottish Cup since 1902 while the League Cup has been lifted just three times in their 135-year history. If Miller continues his impressive form at Easter Road, he may well become the big fish in a small pond and find himself linked with bigger clubs. With time running out, I pose a final question. Would you go back to Celtic? “I’m happy at Hibs.”
Edinburgh crash out at semi-final stage Men's Football
Ed Senior reports from Aberdeen as Edinburgh miss out on a place in the BUCS final Aberdeen
2
Edinburgh
1
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY'S second string threw away a chance to reach the BUCS Cup final after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Aberdeen 1s. Edinburgh went into the game as champions having dominated the BUCS League and Cup the previous season, but they faced a side who had taken four points off them already in this campaign. Yet, it was the visitors who started the game strongly, easily containing any threat that their hosts had. Angus Ramsey and Alex Petrie were both seeing a
lot of the ball on the wings, but they either found themselves up against a competent wing-back or failed to provide the killer ball. Edinburgh took the lead midway through the half when they were awarded a penalty. Calum Erskine went down in the area and Benji Antoni stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way. From the start of the second half, Edinburgh looked susceptible at the back. Aberdeen caused a few scares but poor frontplay by the home side saw no real chances materialise from good positions. The game then turned momentarily nasty. Erskine received a forceful high tackle inside his own half, and although Aberdeen’s central-midfielder was probably more over enthusiastic than vicious, he received a straight red card.
Being reduced to 10 men changed the whole complection of the match. Aberdeen seemed invigorated, whilst Edinburgh appeared to believe that their 1-0 lead would suffice. With a little over 20 minutes remaining, Aberdeen drew level. After intercepting a ball played out to Ramsay deep in Edinburgh's own half, the Deen right winger advanced down the line and crossed the ball low into the box. It bypassed all the Burgh defence before finding its way through to a late arriving left midfielder, who fired the ball into the net, sending the home fans in the stand wild. Aberdeen then scored what proved to be the winner just five minutes later. A long ball forward was misjudged by centre-back Dan Paterson. The nippy number nine ran onto the loose ball, and in an attempt to cover his defensive partner,
Tom Archer stuck out a leg sending the striker floorwards. The referee once more pointed to the spot and Ozzie stepped up to put the ten men 2-1 up. The visitors looked a beaten team at this point and failed to rally any real pressure on a well organised Aberdeen defence. Erskine did have one opportunity inside the area, but his snatched shot ricocheted wide off an advanced Stephen Kenny. Aberdeen simply looked like they wanted to reach the final in Dundee more, where they face Napier. It was a disappointing end to a BUCS season which held so much promise for the best second team in Scotland. Edinburgh remain on tenterhooks as they wait to discover if they will retain their BUCS title. Aberdeen have two games in hand over Edinburgh, who have a five point lead at the top of the table.
Injury Time TAKES A LOOK AT THE WORLD OF SPORT
Bridge over Terry waters FIRST THE naton was disgraced by their football captain. Then by their international leftback, and now by the fact that the male population seems to be engrossed in a topic usually only ever covered by Heat magazine. Wayne Bridge and John Terry are both extremely well-paid England International football stars. Bridge was best man for John Terry at his wedding. Terry himself won 'Dad of the Year' last year, beating my own dad who came a close second; third was Robert Mugabe (but that may have been slightly rigged). Both gentlemen appear to have everything, including very attractive WAGS. Now, call me cynical, but I have seen better looking objects stuffed at the Natural History Museum than both Terry and Bridge. As for their brains, 'stuffed' does not do them justice - 'empty' does. The one problem with being such a good footballer though, is that neither Terry nor Bridge will have attended much of secondary school, therefore meaning that neither man ever studied integration or differentiation. This fundamental lack of education, not necessarily of the maths kind, basically means footballers generally choose the most attractive girl that happens to 'fail' to realise that the unattractive, badly educated man they are 'chatting-up', is actually a loaded footballer. Money and fame is all that these girls want. Their ability to get it in any way possible rivals those of the characters in the musical Chicago. However, maybe I am wrong. Everyone makes mistakes. Terry made plenty in the match against Man City for instance. As for Bridge, he has gone off in a huff and retired from the English national team, but really it is because he knows Ashley Cole will play ahead of him anyway. A player coincidentally who has managed to lose an attractive, faithful wife whose one fault is that she cannot say “L-Oreal, because we’re worth it” with any class. So, where do England go from here? Terry has naturally been stripped of the captaincy, yet something I personally find utterly bewildering, is that his replacement is Rio Ferdinand. At least Terry made his slip-up outside the realms of football; Rio 'unfortunately' missed a drugs test, something that directly affects the sport as a whole. Other candidates were Gerrard, only recently cleared by the court on suspicion of assault, and in form, granny-loving Wayne Rooney, who is also currently embroiled in a court case for monetary reasons. The only solution therefore is to make Saint David Beckham the captain once more. No one remembers Rebecca Loos. Ed Senior
Sport
studentnewspaper.org Tuesday March 16 2010
Miller Time?
Martin Domin talks exclusively to Hibs midfielder Liam Miller P23
Controversial decision denies Edinburgh win
Craig Meek reports from Walsall as Edinburgh's water polo sides take to the pool in the BUCS semi-finals made more of some opportunities, but in the end settled for a 7-7 draw. The final match against Birmingham came with a simple guarantee – a win would secure qualification. The same went for their opponents, and so another captivating tie was in store. Claire Gambles used her experience to make an excellent impact on the game, scoring one of her now trademark lob shots from half-way to put Edinburgh ahead. Julia Rutherford also caused numerous problems for the Birmingham defence with many smart drives down the wings, which also resulted in her making the score sheet. But Birmingham
hit back, and had edged into the lead by the fourth quarter. Sophie Piper, often so strong in the pit, fell foul to the very strict refereeing and despite dominating her marker was penalised several times for pushing off. In the end, Birmingham did enough to secure a 6-4 victory. Bizarrely, because of Cardiff ’s earlier forfeit all teams were on equal points with one victory, one draw and one defeat each. Therefore, the top two for qualification would be decided by goal difference. Controversy then erupted when the tournament directors deemed that the score awarded in Edinburgh’s walkover victory against
Cardiff would be 0-0, leaving Cardiff in 2nd place and Edinburgh in 4th. SU President Laura Haywood pointed out that there is no mention in the BUCS handbook about 0-0 scores being recorded for forfeits, adding: “However the Water Polo specific rules do state that all Water Polo fixtures will be played in accordance to FINA and Amateur Swimming Association Rules and Regulations,” and after quoting various FINA rules, concluded: “As outlined above in numerous instances, the score result of a forfeit or a walkover is never 0-0, but either 5-0 or 10-0 to the non-offending team.”
Despite the strong protests Aaron Campbell, the BUCS sports programme manager, refused to award the 5-0 victory which would have seen Edinburgh win the group and qualify, at the same time ruling out the possibility of having an extra space created in the finals to accommodate the mix-up. It was a bitter blow for the ladies, but they took it on the chin and still returned home in good spirits. Despite elimination from BUCS, the season doesn’t end there, with five men and seven women from Edinburgh having being selected to represent Scotland in the Celtic TriVarsities in Cardiff later this month.
NEIL HODGINS
THE BUCS water polo semi-finals took place in Walsall recently, with both Edinburgh’s men’s and women’s first teams taking part in a tournament that is now becoming a staple in the club calendar each year. The men, albeit underdogs, were looking to emulate last year’s performance and make it through to the finals. The women had put in excellent performances all year round, and were hotly tipped to make it through to their second finals tournament in three years. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the men, who slumped to defeat in their first two games against familiar opponents Bristol and Manchester. The two games proceeded similarly, with Edinburgh beginning with a strong defence to keep the game close, but then a gap opened up as their opponents scored with no reply. The men will probably have rued their shooting accuracy in particular, as they had numerous shots on goal which ended up smashing the woodwork. Sharp shooter Ed Grundy was on target in both matches, as was fresher Rob Tate, who has been an excellent playmaker this season. Despite the 11-2 and 11-3 scorelines, the matches were a lot closer than the numbers suggest, remaining relatively competitive until the final quarter when the opposition put the games to bed. With the knowledge that they had both been eliminated, the men’s last game against Cambridge was a scrap for team pride and the aim was to go home with a victory. This game was a much closer affair, with goals aplenty from Edinburgh. Grundy netted four as he gained plenty of room to unleash his shots, while there were contributions in both goals and assists from most of the team. Veteran goalkeeper Henry Raley, in his fifth year with Edinburgh, played a blinder as he made some crucial saves throughout as he helped earn his side a 9-8 victory. The women’s first match against old enemies Cardiff promised to be a competitive affair, until their opponents failed to turn up. It later transpired that this was due to a mix-up between Cardiff and Bath about their fixture scheduling, as an erroneous entry of results from qualifiers had resulted in the two being placed in the wrong semi-finals groups. Regardless, Edinburgh was awarded the victory. The next match against Manchester did indeed go ahead, and was a tentatively close encounter. Amy Middlemast, having been so deadly all season, added another couple to her season tally of 53 by quickly getting on the score sheet. Manchester responded though, closing Middlemast down and pulling goals back. Edinburgh possibly could have
MAKING A SPLASH: Action from Walsall as Edinburgh's women's team are harshly denied a place in the finals