The Badger 4th Feb 2013

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NEWS

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee speaks at Amnesty International event Page 5

SUSSEX SAYS

STEWART LEE INTERVIEW

Lonely hearts: Sussex Says gets personal

Page 6

An exclusive Stewart Lee interview talking to the man about ‘The Alternative Comedy Experience’ Page 14

DRUG USE SURVEY

The Badger has released a survey all about students’ drug use - fill it out at: www.badgeronline.co.uk

Dissertation Dash Cancelled

Jonanthan Barton

New administrative changes have meant that the University has cancelled the traditional Dissertation Dash, due to take place on dissertation deadline day this summer.

The University’s plans mean that Mandela Balcony will no longer be used as a centralised hand-in location for finalists, and students will have to submit work at their individual school offices instead.

The Dissertation Dash has been a Sussex tradition for decades.

It takes place on the deadline day for the majority of final-year arts and humanities students to submit their dissertation or project work.

The focal point of the Dissertation Dash is on the central submission station which is set-up in Falmer House for three days every year.

This is where students can come throughout the day to hand-in in the physical copies of the work that they’ve been producing for months.

In the half an hour before the 4pm deadline, a large crowd traditionally gathers along the route between Library Square and Falmer House to watch and cheer those students leaving it to the last minute to submit their work.

This is where the day gets its name as dozens of students can be seen “dashing” the 300 metres to hand their work in.

Many students genuinely submit their work in on this day, while some take the opportunity to get involved in the fun and “dash” in costumes or as part of large groups.

Students’ Union Communications Officer, Kit Bradshaw said: “Dissertation Dash is an incredibly happy time for finalists and an opportunity for all students to come together and celebrate the achievement of those handing in their final piece of work at Sussex.”

Dissertation Dash celebrations take place in and around Falmer House throughout the day, with hundreds of

The dash to Falmer House in 2012 Photo: Students’ Union

students heading to Falmer Bar to party with friends.

In recent years there has also been live music and stalls on the grass next to the Attenborough Arts Centre.

Kit Bradshaw continued: “The Students’ Union is incredibly disappointed with the University’s plans to effectively cancel the event.”

“This is the second year in a row that they have tried to prevent Dissertation Dash from taking place. Their decision shows a lack of understanding of how much finalists appreciate Dissertation Dash and the great tradition the day has become.

“It is not simply the handing in of work, it’s an opportunity for students

to celebrate hard work and the coming to an end of their time at Sussex.”

Paula Lipkowska, former Sussex student, said: “the Dissertation Dash was one of the highlights of my final year; everyone was so relieved to have finished.”

She said that there were bouncy castles and people having a good time

and it was like being at Freshers’ Week again.

Crazy clothes, dancing, or even going naked are all a part of the spectacle and it has become one of the biggest events on the Students’ Union calendar.

Continued on Page 3...

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

NEWS • 2

In Pictures www.thebadgeronline.tumblr.com

Sussex Uni under the snow.

Photos by, Ana Ramirez and Rebecca Fitzgerald

Photo: Ana Ramirez

Photo: Rebecca Fitzgerald

Photo: Ana Ramirez

Photo: Rebecca Fitzgerald

Photo: Ana Ramirez

THE BADGER

34 DECEMBER 2012 FEBRUARY 2013

NEWS

...Continued from page 1

It has made national news in the past making it something of a Sussex institution.

Kit commented:“The exact year it began or how is not entirely known but it developed from a few students sitting on the grass bank of the library as others rushed to get their work in, to the large-scale event it is today.”

The Union organises music, stalls, food and drink for finalists as a way of rewarding the hard work of students and celebrating their achievement.

The University has said that in reality most students will have handed in their work before the deadline and that structural changes in the schools have made the single point of collection redundant.

The Students’ Union is negotiating with the university to try and prevent the cancellation.

The University has said that it will work with the Union in an effort to keep the dash alive but adds that the the changes to the way work is handed in will go ahead.

Anna Henley, former Sussex student, said: “I do think it’s a bit of an

NEWS • 3

institution and it seems a shame to scrap it for no reason.”

“But Falmer House won’t stop having the big party and people will still want loads and loads of Pimms following their hand-in.

“The only thing that will be lost will be the 3:50 to 4pm craziness of people getting naked and things.”

The University has said that maintaining a temporary single collection point that has to be staffed for several days would take staff away from supporting students.

They also said that with greater numbers of students it may not be possible to accommodate them all in one place.

The University has said, however, that they will continue to foster the spirit of the celebration and satisfaction that the Dissertation Dash stands for.

The Students’ Union has pledged to work on a solution that final year students will be happy with.

They said: “We are committed to continue to celebrate the success of final year students as they leave Sussex.”

Current final year History student Mary stated: “I hope that the Students’ Union can save the tradition.”

Photo: Students’ Union

Save the

Dash

sussexstudent.com/savethedash facebook.com/savethedash #savethedash

Postgraduate and international student fees to rise next year Jonathan Barton The cost of study for international and postgraduate taught (PGT) students will rise in the next academic year, as a result of the University’s new fee plans.

From next year, returning international and postgraduate students at Sussex will have to pay fees between 5 and 8 per cent higher than those studying this year.

An even higher rise for continuing students of over 12 per cent was brought down following successful lobbying by the Students’ Union last term.

However new international and PGT students will face a greater increase than those staying at Sussex of up to 11 per cent.

This falls under a newly announced fees policy which affects students coming from outside the EU and those planning on studying postgraduate taught courses.

A week before the fee rises were revealed the University announced a new scholarship scheme for postgraduate study for those who achieve either a first, or upper second-class degree at undergraduate level from Sussex.

At the announcement of the scholarship scheme Claire Mackie, Deputy Vice Chancellor, said: “We are acutely aware of the difficult funding climate and the current lack of a coherent national support system for talented postgraduate students.”

The new scholarship scheme means that Sussex students who achieve a first or 2:1 degree in 2013, and who are offered a full-time place on an eligible Masters course, will receive a Sussex Graduate Scholarship worth up to £3,000 to help towards fees.

The scholarship enables students with a first-class degree to be eligible for a £3,000 award and students with a 2:1 for a £2,000 award, in the form of a fee waiver.

Mike, a third year politics student, said: “The backhand annoucement of a PGT fee increase of between 5 and 8 per cent next year has made me very cynical about their new scholarship scheme, which I was originally very excited about.

“The University seem to give with one hand and take with the other – there is no unincentivised help given to Sussex students by the University.”

Director of Finance, Allan Spencer, said: “[The] fees increase [aims] to reflect our standing as an international institution.”

He said that previously students already enrolled had to pay the fee levels for new students starting their course and the new policy will fix that.

The Students’ Union has said that it is committed to securing the lowest possible fee rises for all students.

Students’ Union President, Kelly McBride said: “We strongly disagree with the University increasing international and postgraduate fees above inflation rates.”

Fees for UK and EU undergraduates are fixed but there is no limit on what the University can charge those from outside Europe who wish to study at Sussex.

Kelly, an international student, said: “I already pay about double what it costs an EU student and cost was one of the reasons I chose Sussex over other universities.

“It’s a really good University in my experience, and ranking wise, Sussex is great, but I’m not sure I would have chosen it if it cost me the same as some other universities that appealed to me.”

The fee rise coincides with the announcement last Monday by Marcus Williams, Director of Student Recruitment, that the University aims for 25 per cent of students to be from overseas in the near future.

Last year an international student studying postgraduate Chemistry would expect to pay £15,400; next year it will cost them as much as £16,200 Nick, a postgraduate student, said: “In these times of austerity, postgraduate education is becoming more and more of a luxury.”

“If Sussex increases their prices too much I think they’ll risk losing their competitiveness, which could ultimately result in fewer applicants and some courses being cut.”

The Students’ Union has said that it will continue to monitor all fee rises by the University and speak out against excessive increases.

Kirby speaks out for gay marriage Mike Rowland

In a talk on campus last week Conservative MP Simon Kirby discussed the pertinent obstacles slowing the progress towards the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

In an event hosted jointly by the Conservative Society and the Law Society, Simon Kirby primarily reaffirmed his political support for the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

It was the first Conservative Society talk to invite a Conservative MP to speak on campus since the Mike Weatherley incident last term.

As a result the presence of security had clearly been enlarged in light of previous events.

After a brief introduction, Mr Kir-

by spoke for around fifteen minutes during which he outlined the reasons why he is in favour of equal marriage.

These seemed to mainly revolve around two points: there is significant support for it among the general population, and that bringing in equal marriage will help to strengthen marriage as an institution in the twenty-first century.

“I’ve always been an advocate for equality,” he started by saying, “Being gay is not a reason why someone should not be able to get married.”

Another key point in Mr Kirby’s talk was his firm belief that religious organisations should not be pressurised into performing same-sex marriages.

“We want them to be protected

in law so they do not have to hold same-sex marriages.”

“However, I think the Church of England may reconsider its current position in the future”, he said.

The talk was followed by a Q&A session in which several questions were asked.

One of these was about why the definition of marriage needed to change when civil partnerships already exist.

The response from Mr Kirby was that it is more an equality and respect issue than anything else.

He compared it to the US civil rights movement by saying: “It would be like telling Rosa Parks, you’re on the bus, what’s the fuss about?”

This was in allusion to the black

woman who refused to move to the back of a bus when buses were segregated by skin colour.

The talk ended with Mr. Kirby commenting on his own party, saying: “I think the Conservatives are split fifty-fifty.

“There are a number of people like [East Worthing & Shoreham MP] Tim Loughton who will vote against.”

“But this is because it is a free vote, not subject to influence by party whips. Having said that, MPs are very swayed by their inboxes and postbags.”

Commenting on the event, president of the Conservative Society, Matt Boughton said: “We organised the talk because equal marriage is a very topical issue and one that lots

of students care about, and we have a local Brighton MP who is passionate about the issue.

“We felt the event went really well; Simon had some very good arguments and there were some extremely good and thought provoking questions.

“The Conservative Society are delighted that the event with Simon Kirby MP was so successful.

“It shows that despite the attack on Mike Weatherley a couple of months ago the Conservative Society shall not be prevented from putting on similar events and inviting Conservative speakers to campus”.

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

NEWS • 4

Students question Sussex strategy Samuel Blausten Leading figures of the University of Sussex management team held a question and answer session on Monday 28 January, to explain the University’s growth strategy to students. There were about 20 students in attendance, filling the seminar room.

Growth in student numbers was stated as the primary strategic priority of the University. Projected growth will see student numbers reaching around 20,000 in 7 years’ time, an increase of around 7,000 from present numbers.

John Duffy, the University’s registrar, gave two motivations for this: last year, on average, there were seven applications for every place offered, and growth of the University would allow for as many young people as possible to have the “Sussex experience”; and to attract the best students and staff in order

to strengthen the academic excellence of the University.

A detailed presentation then showed the statistical context for these plans.

The University of Sussex lags behind many of its competitors in most growth and income statistics. Exeter University has shown how a strong growth strategy can rapidly push up academic success and competitiveness.

It was underlined that all comparable universities are expanding as fast, if not faster, than the University of Sussex plans to.

Duffy also explained that increasing numbers of international students in line with other universities from 22 percent to 25 percent would provide “increasing financial security and financial robustness”, reversing a position three years ago where the institution was running recurrent deficits which hindered any development.

Increased social and ethnic diversity on campus was also seen as a leading positive factor.

As a public organisation, the University reinvests any profits made. John Duffy highlighted recent spending on campus, including the Jubilee Building, the redevelopment of Bramber House, the investment in the Library (including extending its opening hours) and improved IT services.

Mr Duffy also highlighted additional building projects, such as the Fulton building, and new on-campus accommodation at Northfield and Swanborough.

Future projects were highlighted, which include increasing residential capacity with a redevelopment of the aging East Slope and Park Village, building new social spaces, and a conversion of the Mantel building into more residential space.

One student questioned whether increasing numbers of students and professors would necessarily improve academic quality, citing the example of SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies) in London.

Duffy countered this comment, stating that SOAS was a specialist university and a city university, so is not comparable. He stated that all other large campus universities are pursuing similar growth strategies in order to increase quality.

Another question, this time on promoting diversity at the University, suggested that the redevelopment of East Slope would remove the only affordable housing from campus. Concern was expressed by the student that the new top rate fees might discourage poorer prospective students.

The panel replied that the replacement to the current East Slope accom-

modation would not have en-suite accommodation and would be affordable.

Fees at the University of Sussex were apparently in line with other competitor universities, they said, and strong scholarship and grant schemes like the First Generation Scheme and the recently launched postgraduate scholarship, worth up to £3,000 for Sussex alumni, promoted diversity.

The staff to student ratio was one of the most heated discussions of the event, with one postgraduate claiming that chemistry lab groups had increased massively since she was first studying here three years ago, and an arts student claimed that her seminar had doubled in size this year.

Duffy responded that they were already recruiting 70 new staff this year, 30 of which were academic, and had plans for 40 more by the end of the year.

Students’ Union writes to academics as “yellow squares” appear on campus Kelly McBride President president@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

At the end of last term, as many students left Brighton for the Christmas break, I wrote to academic staff at Sussex, outlining the Students’ Union’s concerns with the University’s plans to outsource the Estates and Catering departments to private firms.

In the letter, the Students’ Union invites academics to show their support for their campus community, and support the campaigns being led by students

and staff against a move that could forever change the unique learning environment at Sussex.

I hope Sussex academics will agree that neither staff nor students have been adequately consulted on the proposals that would see the privatisation of 235 jobs and could have major consequences for this institution.

The idea to write to academics, to encourage them to support the campaign against outsourcing, came from a student who attended the Union’s Emergency Members Meeting on 13th November. The hope is that if academics and students can come together, we can both stand united in vocally opposing the plans to University management.

One new way both students and staff can show their support for the campaign is to display the yellow square.

It is the new symbol of both the staff and student-led campaigns against outsourcing and has been spreading across campus since the start of term.

Hundreds of handmade yellow felt badges have been made by members of the campaign team for people to wear on their clothing as a public show of support (see picture, left). Campaigners have also called on staff to display a yellow square in their office windows.

If you’d like to pick up a badge, they’re available from the Students’ Union reception in Falmer House.

There are two important upcoming outsourcing-related events. There’s a Demonstration on Thursday 7th February at 1pm in Library Square.

Gary Palmer from the GMB Union is due to speak about the privatisation within the NHS at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Also the Students’ Union is hold-

Campaigns ing another outsourcing Q&A session with John Duffy, the University Registrar, on Monday 11th February at 5pm in Fulton 202. Come along for the chance to ask management your questions about their plans.

I hope that staff and students will work together in these difficult times to preserve our distinctive and tight-knit campus community. ■

Find out more on upcoming outsourcing events & read the full letter to academics:

sussexstudent.com/outsourcing

TRACK THE CAMPAIGN – LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH Imogen Adie News Editor

LGBT history month is being celebrated throughout February, with a series of events designed to promote and celebrate the lives and achievements of the LGBT community.

The annual history month started in 2005, and is held nationwide throughout February. It has grown to become both an opportunity to

learn more about the histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and a celebration of the lives, achievements and diversity of the community.

The LGBTQ group at the University of Sussex have organised a number of events to celebrate the history month.

Events include film and documentary screenings, an education programme, a pub quiz, and football tournament, with many events being held at the University campus.

On Saturday 16 February, between 10am and 5pm, a football tournament has been organised as part of the Football V Homophobia day, with all proceeds going to the Justin Campaign.

The Justin Campaign remembers Justin Fashanu, the world’s first openly gay professional footballer, who took his own life in 1998.

The campaign aims not only to influence government and policy makers, but engage LGBT people in football and eradicate discrimination in both

professional and grassroots sport and academia.

The tournament invites students, staff and members of the local community to join together to remember this important cause. 7-a-side teams are able to register to take part until Wednesday 6 February.

Local writer and historian Rose Collis and programmer Stephen Watson are creating an LGBT history app in honour of the month. The app will be able to take users on a guided tour of three

LGBT history trails around the city, encompassing historic LGBT people, places and events.

There’s more information about LGBTQ at the University of Sussex and the events being held this month on Page 9.

Throughout February the Badger is running a comment series on LGBTQ issues, starting with “Why the Q?” on Page 10.

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

NEWS • 5

“A black blot on our history”:

Guantanamo detainee at Sussex Jacob McMahon It may be four and a half thousand miles from Brighton, but the debate over the controversial detainment and interrogation facility known as Guantanamo Bay was brought close to home on Tuesday night when the Amnesty International Society hosted a panel discussion on the subject in the Jubilee lecture theatre.

The event started with an introduction by Andy Worthington, a historian and writer who has spent seven years researching Guantanamo Bay and who spoke about the camp’s history and purpose.

Set up in early 2002, a staggering 779 people have been sent to Guantanamo, the vast majority of them without trial or conviction. Out of these detainees 604 have been released, 9 have died and 166 still remain imprisoned behind its fences.

The debate that followed focused on the question of why, after all these years, does a place like Guantanamo still exist? It was widely acknowledged amongst participants in the discussion that the facility breaks human rights and international laws about detainment without trial and that it creates long term problems

because the detainees cannot go back home in case they are tortured there.

Although Worthington recognised the considerable pressure that the Republicans put on President Obama he asserted that his recent promise to close down Guantanamo was ”a failure” and that Obama should not wait to close Guantanamo just when it is “politically convenient”.

The discussion shifted its focus to exploring how the development of a place like Guantanamo was possible.

What had led to its construction, not only as a place but as an idea?

This was addressed by the second speaker, Elspeth Van Vereen, a researcher from the International Relations Department here at Sussex, whose focus was primarily on Guantanamo’s impact on our understanding of torture and international security.

She felt that the horrors that already existed in the US prison system, combined with torture taking place abroad and the aftermath of 9/11 created a climate that made a place like Guantanamo acceptable and potentially even inevitable.

Omar Deghayes, a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay from April 2002, who is now passionately campaigning for human rights, was the third

Photo: Rebecca Fitzgerald

speaker. He described what happened to him whilst he whilst he was imprisoned at Guantanamo and spoke of his own personal experiences in fighting the oppression of the detaining facility.

Omar spoke of people that lost limbs due to poor treatment by personnel and gave a personal account of how he became permenantly blind in one eye as a result of having it gouged by a guard.

He noted that the US were most responsible for Guantanamo’s continued existence, yet it is an “international torture facility”. He alleged that the “French, Spanish, Canadians and MI5” all visited people inside the facility in order to interrogate.

When asked by the audience how he came to be released Omar was adamant that it was not by any legal process but because of the pressure brought on the authorities through campaigns in Brighton and the action of the Sussex MPs who demanded that he, as a constituent and a British subject, be released.

The final question of the evening examined the legacy of Guantanamo.

Elspeth said that “the US has learnt from Guantanamo but not necessarily for the better” and as a closing remark, Omar said that “people will look back on Guantanamo in shame as a black blot on our history.”

Chaplains change: the future of the Sussex Meeting House Millie Davies

Christmas vacation saw the departure of the Revd Dr Gavin Ashenden, who had held joint position as the University Chaplain and was an academic in the English department since joining the university in 1989.

Joining the Meeting House as Anglican chaplain is Alex Wood, a Manchester Theology graduate who is currently studying for his postgraduate degree in London. Alex has said he has enjoyed his time on the campus so far

and is looking forward to getting involved with the campus community, having recently set up a new weekly Sunday event called ‘The Eleven’.

A replacement as University Chaplain will be active in the Meeting House as of September, to see in the new academic year.

After over twenty years at the University of Sussex, Gavin has relocated to assume Vicarage of a Jersey parish. He is currently on sabbatical leave from Sussex, coming in two days a month to attend to his PhD English students.

Photo: University of Sussex

Gavin’s departure from campus potentially sees a new direction for the Christian administration of the University. Whilst Revd Gavin was Anglican, the Chaplains before him have been Presbyterian, Baptist and of the United Reform Church. The Chaplaincy is also open to other Christian denominations.

Originally built in 1961, the University of Sussex perceived itself as secular, and resisted the idea of a Chaplain attached to the institution.

However, campus architect Basil Spence’s aesthetic design of the Meeting House, a church designed not to look like a church, saw the construction of the University’s first religious building, created alongside the Coliseuminspired Falmer House and the open book styled library.

The University’s desire to disassociate Sussex from religious affiliation led to legislation which denotes that the residing fulltime Chaplain must also be a teaching academic, and his income would come from his teaching capacity.

With the departure of Revd Gavin, who was a senior lecturer in English, discussions are currently in place

about the future role and expectations of his replacement as University Chaplain. The new Chaplain may not also be a member of the academic faculty.

This could lead to a change in tradition, and the question of his or her financial contribution from the University is also in the air. Whilst the income of Chaplains is traditionally secured through their clergy and religious ceremonies, a fulltime University Chaplain without an academic role and thus University support may struggle to support themselves.

In the Sussex bulletin, Gavin explains that in Jersey: “I won’t get paid, but in return for living there I will look after the church, which is too poor to support a parish priest, a couple of days a week. For the rest of the time I will write”.

Catholic Revd Paul Wilkinson, considers the working hours of a Chaplain to be long but rewarding, providing pastoral and spiritual support to the campus community, Christian or otherwise.

Some of their most important work consists of being available to the community and this is aided by living in such close proximity to campus.

of

POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

EUROPEAN UNION SPECIAL Aubrey Allegretti News Editor The start of the 2015 election campaign has begun.

Having just reached the halfway mark of the coalition government, alarm bells must have started ringing in party campaign offices up and down the country.

The issue hotly tipped to be a vote-swinger this election will be the E.U. In recent weeks we’ve seen some dramatic events – Cameron has announced he will hold an in/ out referendum if he is elected in 2015, whilst Miliband, originally denouncing all such referendums under his leadership should he be elected, later clarified his position, saying it had not been entirely ruled out.

UKIP’s Farage will be a fresh face to mainstream politics.

Cameron ia hoping to diffuse any Eurosceptic tensions in his party by taking a firm stance on a referendum to leave the Union many of the most vocal in his party are opposed to.

FACTS & FIGURES When did Britain join the E.U.?

1973 Although France rejected Britain’s application twice.

How many countries use the ?

€

23

Who isn’t in the E.U.?

Sweden & Norway HOW DO OTHERS FEEL ABOUT A POTENTIAL BRITISH EXIT? “If Britain wants to leave Europe we will roll out the red carpet” - French Foreign Minister, L. Fabius “We want to see a strong British voice in that European Union. That is in America’s interest” - Obama Administration, P. Gordon “Germany and I personally want Britain to be an important part and an active member of the European Union” - German Chancellor, A. Merkel

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

SUSSEX SAYS • 6

SUSSEX SAYS

Academic Armchair

THE MOAN ZONE

Dr Lizzie Seal, Criminology Amy Bracewell

Dr Lizzie Seal lectures on Criminology and at present is a member of the School of Law, Politics and Sociology. Four years ago she moved to Sussex after transferring from Durham Univeristy.

(B) Where did you attend University?

(LS) I studied as an undergraduate at University of East Anglia and as a postgrad at UCL and Bristol.

Highway to hell

(B) What research are you working on at the moment?

(LS) My current research is on the cultural life of the death penalty in 20th century Britain - I’m writing a book entitled Capital Punishment in Twentieth Century Britain: Audience, Memory and Culture.

(B) What is your favourite thing about the Uni? (LS) I haven’t been at Sussex for very long, but my favourite thing is its friendly atmosphere.

(B) What is your favourite place in Brighton?

(LS) I still need to do much more exploring of Brighton and the surrounding area.

It’s a novelty for me to be able to go down to the seafront so easily.

I also like being able to get coffee/ lunch/dinner on Western and Church Road.

(B) What is your favourite book and why?

Maxim Robinson

(LS) I don’t have an overall favourite book, although Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood was part of what inspired my interest in perceptions of women who kill, which was the subject of my PhD and first book - so reading it was a pivotal experience.

(B) What is the one piece of advice you’d pass on to the students you teach?

(LS) My advice to students that I teach is that being willing to read around a subject usually helps you to be more successful in assignments.

And so does finding the stuff that you enjoy reading and thinking about.

The Badger wants to ask you a few questions about the big D...

Drugs.

Have you, do you, will you use them?

Which ones and why?

Any interesting stories?

This week’s poll Spotted: Univesity of Sussex Library is...

• Invasive • Hilarious • How I met my future husband... (he just doesn’t know it yet)

@THEMOANZONE

Write to Sussex Says and start your love story today (Taylor Swift style)

HEADLESS BODY IN TOPLESS BAR - The New York Post KISS YOUR ASTEROID GOODBYE! (Meteor misses earth) - The New York Post AXIS OF WEASEL - News I FOUND FACE OF JESUS ON MY FISH FINGER - Sunday Sport

THE SURVEY THE POLL

Share your moaning moments

Personal Ads

TABLOID FODDER The week’s best tabloid headlines • • • •

Sweaty, weak at the knees, out of breathe and absolutely filthy; yes, you’ve just experienced your first cycle into Sussex university.

What started as a bohemian money saving fancy soon turned into a burning sensation in your thighs which can only be compared to actually being on fire.

For a relatively flat route along Lewes Road each rare gradient you encounter feels like a challenge even the great Bradley ‘Wiggo’ Wiggins would struggle against, with or without performance enhancing drugs a possible solution to this trial of travel each cold winter morning.

When you finally push through the pain and arrive at campus you’re greeted by the happy faces of ‘freshers’ who have simply rolled out of bed last minute to go to their seminars.

“You don’t understand second year troubles” you consciously think to yourself whilst your subconscious sobs over the amount of jealousy caused by memories of first year campus you’ll never experience again.

To make matters worse your only other option is the bus.

Or rather, that metal automotive which looks like a bus but is actually a moving prison whose inmate’s soulless faces press against the windows due to overcrowding.

After ten busses pass you might be able to squeeze onto one but by then who can actually be bothered?

68% Think

University Halls are better than a Student House.

13%

Believe in neither: Squatters Unite!

Respond now at www.badgeronline.co.uk

Global studies student seeks company for Friday night dreadlock platting.

Please contact Tofu Mousaka Lonely Nor thfi eld stu acquai dent s ntace eeks f to be m riend o y 2nd r Player on XB ox Liv e

.

er of the ker d memb n a t t Wor n e d ’ stu s Socialis k e e s y Ex ‘ra-ra t . ie ative Soc edtime activities Conserv b y r g n a for se. student ems plea No Lib-d

HEARD ON SUSSEX CAMPUS THIS WEEK ‘Why can’t every guy be like Will Ferrell in Anchorman?’

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

LETTERS • 7

LETTERS

Why not give up?

for the last couple years now, but heyyou have to start somewhere.

Dear Badger,

Anonymous I’m nineteen years old and I’m addicted to tobacco. As dramatic or as ugly as it may sound, its true.

I must say, I have cut down quite a deal since University, but I’ve only stopped because I can’t afford Britain’s high priced tobacco with my small student budget. But the real reason why I Dear Badger, should be quitting is because, as cheesy as it sounds, it’s harming my body. If I Recently within the Badger’s comment pages there has been a strange repetidon’t quit now I probably never will.

Every person and smoker is different. tive idea that Sussex has fallen into the But personally, I know that if I keep hands of an authoritarian left-wing pretending that I have all the time in the junta, with the collusion of such august bodies as the Students’ Union. world eventually I won’t.

Up till now I have maintained a tolerI started smoking at fourteen when living in Spain whilst going through that ant silence, but the latest splenetic ofwhole ‘rebellious’ stage. It was just the fering has forced me from comfortable beginning. Due partly to Spain’s abnor- apathy to tiring antipathy.

“Double vodka and a one night stand” mal acceptance of young smokers and their very economical prices, there was is full of such blatant mistruths, falsifications and downright lies that it seems no ending.

A year later, I was smoking a packet a a vain hope that the author will respond day, two on nights out, right up to now. to reasoned argument.

For the benefit of the rest of Sussex I knew before trying my first one that you could probably get addicted, but na- however, here is a critique of some of ively I ignored this. I was convinced that the main points.

1. On the stoning of Mike it was just a passing stage of my young adolescence. Before I knew it my ‘cool’ Weatherly: “while it is unclear whether smoking experience turned into a daily any students were actually involved, we strongly believe that the act was suphabit.

I’m turning twenty this year and my ported by many students”.

This passes through lies and strides poor lungs have been taking a beating for five years now. Through the most cockily towards libel. Of the left-inclined crucial time when my lungs were still students present at the event there was uniform disgust at the violence. This was developing, according to experts.

Lately, I’ve been thinking what the publicly aired in publications such as the Badger hell for? I’m wasting my money on 2.

“The Student’s Union is suffersomething that doesn’t even benefit ing apparent favoritism towards radical me. Sure, it calms me down when I’m stressed and goes down nicely after a left wing groups”. The Student’s Union meal. Sometimes it simply entertains is democratically elected. This means me when I’m bored but I don’t really students decide who is to represent them. need it.

However flawed representative deIt is so money and life consuming. All mocracy is, it does not lead supposedly it leaves me with is stale breath, smelly fingers and sometimes a really bad head stable right-wingers to accidentally elect Bolsheviks. If the Students’ Union is farush.

I had an epiphany the other day when vouring left-wing groups (incidentally, my drunken indoor smoking got me it’s not; when was the last time lefties were treated to a visit from the Commukicked out of a night club. nications Officer?), it is because the stuAs of yesterday I have quit smoking. dent body has mandated them to do so.

Any smoker or right-minded person 3. On the conservative views reading this right now, will most likely “held by a vast number of Sussex stube laughing out loud and saying, “Yeah, dents”. The idea that there is student uh, sure, that’s what they all say!” not sympathy for the ideology or party believing it for a second. I don’t blame that made many of those on campus you. To be honest, I don’t even fully be£27,000 poorer is little more than the lieve myself. mumblings of a fantasist.

I’ve been promising myself, my parThen again, remember the huge pubents and my friends

A response to rightist ramblings

email: badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk lic meetings and demonstrations the Conservative society regularly organises…

4. Conservatives suffer from “the threat of violence, intimidation and oral abuse”. The university population’s completely peaceful criticism of rightwingers is based on analysis of their peculiar ideology’s feasibility and morality.

Alexander Benham (Editor’s note: The article mentioned in this letter was printed incorrectly and was not written by Debie Bachelor, but instead by Tawanda Gavhure and Ed de Souza. The headline was also incorrect and inappropriate. )

Murder on the Orient Express Dear Badger, The worst thing about Brighton on match day, is surely the huge crowd that has to clog the roads and rails to get there.

Thankfully, there was one less blockage on this last weekend of January.

So, eventually, the crowd flowed away.

Snow’s scar isn’t completely healed though. I’m still waiting for Southern to refund my severely delayed journey.

I’ve had the recurring thought that I shouldn’t have been so eager to declare that ticket worthless.

The train ground, painfully, to a halt at one of these nowhere-stations and I looked out on a scene that seems to have inspired a fair selection of great 20C books. Childish excitement was the first thing to cross my mind, sparked by the moral irony of “Thomas and Bertie”, where the tank engine’s passengers are saved by his less popular mate.

The guard and driver formed teams excellently with other trains to find a similar solution in the real-world drama.

In such a state, there was plenty of time for the Balkan-sounding guard to detail their plan.

I relayed to mummy and daddy, but things soon became more sincere as my line cut and the phone-screen blanked.

This death, combined with the almostRussian voice over the PA daubed my snowy scene in “Murder on the Orient Express”, so much so that I made several mental notes.

Soon after, the team prevailed and we beat the snow. I hope my journey will pay dividends in highlighting the bril-

The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not nessesarily represent those of the Student’s Union, unless explicitly stated.

University of Sussex Students’ Union Falmer, East Sussex, BN1 9QF

Corrections

liance of the teamwork we afford eachother in our spare time.

Clearly, we rely on our class-mates and teachers to bring out our best in the run-up to dissertation dash. But, maybe it will be a more voluntary team, the tea-makers and proof-readers who will prove vital to our results.

Ed

Download-ing my frustration

BADGER

THE

Editor-in-Chief Katie O’Shea badger@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Deputy Editors-in-Chief Anna Gross

badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Molly Taylor

Dear Badger,

badger-artspages@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

As soon as I heard that bands such as Papa Roach, Rammstein, Queens of the Stone Age and the almighty Slipknot would be at this year’s Download Festival in Donington Park, I was sold.

It seemed like the perfect getaway. Nevertheless, my dream was tainted when I saw the festival dates.

Download Festival is a five day event with three full days of music, but unfortunately these dates overlap with the examination period here at Sussex.

This could be a non-issue if my exams aren’t in the last few days of the exam period. Yet, why would a festival as large as Download risk missing out on the lucrative market of students, many of whom would be ready and willing to part with almost two hundred pounds to be a part of the event.

Some people do manage to work out how to go, even last year when, for myself and my friends, it fell smack-bang in the middle of A-Level season. Yet there must be many students that have a clash with exams, making it physically impossible to attend. It seems ludicrous that the organisers would risk missing out on this hefty demographic.

The festival is the first big English festival of the summer. Organisers have obviously decided that being at the front of the festival queue gave them some advantage enabling them to attract more acts. Or it could be that the timing is more suitable for other entrants, i.e. before everyone goes away on their summer holidays.

It seems to be working out for Download organisers. Last year they won Best Festival line-up of the Year and the main festival director, John Probyn, won a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2012 UK Festival awards. Despite the success, I wish it was later so I knew I could go.

News Editors Imogen Adie, Bree Allegretti, Amy Bracewell, Cat Gough

Jake Wilson

Advertising BAM Agency

The article on page 10 of last week’s Badger (28 January) titled “Double vodka and a one-night stand” was printed with the wrong headline and attributed to Debbie Bachelor, when it was actually written by Tawanda Gavhure and Ed de Souza, and was a repsonse to the Mike Weatherley incident. The Badger apologises for this mistake and any confusion caused.

badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Letters & Societies Editor Yasmin Centeno badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Features Editors Emily Sutherland Bill Kilner badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

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Arts Editors John Attridge, Sam Durrant, Izzy King, Georgia Murray, Holly Nash Science Editor Sam Duthie badger-science@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Sports Editors Nic Davies Martina Aegerter

badger-sports@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Photo Editor Ana Ramirez badger-photo@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

vb@bamuk.com

Students’ Union Communications Officer Kit Bradshaw

communications@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

FEATURES • 8

“To the brunette with...”

- Is Spotted a probelm?

Illustration: Sophie Wolfson

Misogyny on campus In light of a new NUS survey about sexism and sexual harrassment at university, as well as the new “Spotted” page, we investigate attitudes to women on campus

WORDS EMILY BARKER Sussex University has been asked by the National Union of Students (NUS) to look into sexism on university campuses across the country by conducting a survey, the results of which are to be revealed in March 2013.

Lad Culture can take many different forms in our university experience from themed nights like the Carnage “Pimps and Hoes” events, websites like UniLad and the growing craze sweeping across Facebook of “Spotted”.

At a recent meeting held by the Sussex Women’s Group on campus the topic of conversation was: Should women be allowed women-only spaces on campus, or is it unfair that men are not allowed to attend such meetings?

The real issue underlying this meeting is, why do women feel a need to be separated? Many admitted to feeling much safer in the presence of their own sex and described it as an “escape.”

This in turn raises the question of how women are treated on campus and whether this desire for a female-only space is necessary and reflects the concerns of the majority of the female student population.

The women in the group complained about the number of ways in which they experienced sexism and misogyny on campus. A particular worry was the introduction of the latest “Spotted” craze

which has hit our university and Facebook pages, which some students feel is a worrying example of problematic “ladculture” emerging on our campus.

Alison Phipps, Head of Gender Studies at Sussex, describes the survey as necessary and logical as “sexism and sexual harassment create the conditions in which sexual violence can occur.”

It all stems from the same root problem of a demeaning view of women on campus. Although the majority of sexism on campus may take a mild form, it only takes one instance to escalate and take a more sinister route.

The same situation is apparent across the country with a recent NUS Hidden Marks Survey showing that 1 in 7 women experienced “serious sexual assault or serious physical violence” Themed nights like “Slag n Drag”, “Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes”, each basically calling for female students to dress provocatively, often subject women to different forms of sexual harassment and many are taken advantage of. Phipps states that “Women are seeing themselves valued primarily on what they look like, not what they can do…the question is, what impact does it have?”

The “laddish” culture has created misogynist online magazines such as UniLad, aimed directly at male undergraduates. In January 2012, UniLad was

temporarily closed after publishing an article about “surprise rape.” It stated that “If the girl you’ve taken for a drink… won’t spread for your head think about this statistic: 85% of rape cases go unreported. That seems to be fairly good odds.”

women.

One member of the Women’s Group stated that it added new pressures for women to dress or look a certain way.

“When I was first introduced to Spotted, it made me feel horrific…I feel like I can’t go into the library. It’s like now I have to

“Themed nights subject women to different forms of harrassment” This normalising of rape is rife in campus culture and is all too evident in nights such as one organised by one male sports team, in which a student dressed as the “campus rapist” and wore a sign proclaiming “it’s not rape if you say surprise.”

This trivialisation makes rape seem like a normal and almost inevitable occurrence, making it less likely for victims to report assaults. Indeed only 4% of those who had told Hidden Marks that they had been assaulted sexually actually reported it to their universities.

The current Sussex University Spotted pages that have risen to prominence pose a new problem of misogyny on campus.

Spotted allows students to send in anonymous messages on a Facebook page. It started off as a way to harmlessly flirt with someone or grab their attention but has taken a twist and now acts as a way to victimise people and objectify

make a concerted effort to dress up so I don’t get taken the piss out of.”

There are comments on how people look and which sexual acts people would like to perform on the “lucky” spotted person of their choice. Of course the “banter” goes both ways with many women being involved and much of the overall tone may be innocent, but what needs to be considered is, where does it end? And what effect is it actually having? It allows “lad culture” to become acceptable and practices in which women are targeted and are made to feel like objects become part of the normative morality on campus.

The fact that people can post pictures of others on the Spotted page, takes the debate to a whole new level. A member of the Women’s group stated that “the pictures are problematic…it’s like a whole new step of invading people’s privacy.”

The “Spotted: Night out in Brighton”

page has countless pictures of women in compromising positions with men. The women who are named, shamed and victimised are actually put in real danger the next time they are seen out and are seen as “easy” targets.

It is argued that the girls have no right to complain as they should not have put themselves in that position in the first place: “To the black girl spotted at FYI Hedkandi 11/01/13 getting fingerbanged: we will delete the picture out of respect to you, however this is a warning for everyone else on a night out.

This could be you ;) #Spottedonanightout #dontshootthemessenger”.

When asked why the picture had been taken down, the page creators replied “The person personally asked us to take it down, if she pipes up though it will be up again with a print screen of her begging. #shewantshed.” (13 likes) Overall it is clear that “lad culture” exists in many different forms around us and some of its more worrying trends are having a detrimental impact on student life for women that cannot be dismissed as merely banter.

This survey provides a wakeup call to raise the issue and remind us we must work together to find solutions to the problem.

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH • 9

Why it’s important to mark LGBTQ history month Susie Coleman Communications Officer, Sussex LGBTQ The LGBTQ Society has put together a timetable of events to celebrate LGBT History Month. It has been brilliant to find a lot of support within the Students’ Union and other societies and sports clubs organising events to celebrate. So if we have all this support has the month become redundant? Is LGBT history now just history? Discrimination and hate crime against LGBTQ people still occurs around the world. It is important not to get discouraged. History Month is an opportunity to celebrate how far we’ve come and the brilliant contributions LGBTQ people have made, while not losing sight of what still needs to change. History Month also has an educational role. People

LGBTQ society at Freshers Fair 2013

are not just gay or straight, male or female. Our “Queer and A” will explore this and is for anyone who’s ever wondered why the University has an LGBTQ Society instead of an LGBT Society. This Month is for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. So

if you want to learn more or are just grateful to Alan Turing for your computer, think Dory was by far the best character in Finding Nemo, or firmly believe Stephen Fry should present everything, you should get involved.

To find out more head to:10:21 www.sussexstudent.com/LGBTQ 1 31/01/2013

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THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

COMMENT • 10

COMMENT

The Sussex bucket list

Three students share the list of stuff they want to get done before graduation little inside remembering.

Crash a party. Ok, so you know that one person who’s going: the friend of a friend who’s cousins with that guy you once met in Freshers’ Week. S’all good. Grab some drinks and a couple of unwilling housemates and you’re set. After a few games of Ring of Fire no-one will remember their own name let alone yours.

Naji Ansari

Illustration: Josie Carder

Jodie Rawl Swim in the sea. Let’s be honest, the only time you’re likely to pull this off is after stumbling from one of the seafront clubs and drunkenly making the perilous journey to the shore. You’ve seen the crazy locals doing it for fun in the middle of the day, except this time your only fuel is booze and a determination to make the most of going to a uni by the sea.

Plus you get a good story.

Prank a housemate. What’s uni life without the standard and of course ‘hilarious’ prank? Clingfilm their doorway, steal furniture, tape their stuff to the ceiling - go full blown “Jackass” if you want. So you might put more effort into the plan-

ning and execution of the prank than you did your first year of uni, it pays off more.

Give money/food to a tramp.

It’s hard to walk three metres in Brighton without coming across a homeless person. But instead of awkwardly avoiding eye-contact for fear of actually having to find your change, break the habit. Buy a pasty.

Spare some change. If not for the good - then for the karma points.

Make a mistake. You know the ones. Less an intention and more something that’s bound to happen at some point. So you blame the bad lighting, the beer-goggles, that last tequila shot that sent you over the edge. Besides, you “can’t even remember what he/she looked like anyway”. But you can, and you die a

When it snows, find a place to sled. This might be the only event that’s only possible, either early or late in the year, for a week. If we’re lucky. Sussex is full of slanting hills and slopes everywhere. Get a baking tray and slide/bump nervously down the biggest slopes on the Downs.

Make time to see Brighton & Hove Albion FC play. The Amex Stadium is fairly new and lies just outside the university campus. It wouldn’t set you back too much to go and experience the football team play the beautiful game. Besides, you are kinda obliged to temporarily support them while you’re here.

Kayak in the Sussex sea. It’s cheap (£10), pretty easy and something to do on a day on the beach.

Granted getting it back up the beach to the rental shop is a bit of a drag (I’m sure you appreciate the pun) but paddling in the sea is just awesome.

So do it.

Explore the fields and forests

just outside University campus. I lived on campus last year and never got a chance to check out certain areas on campus. What I did see though was beautiful fields with cattle just past the fences behind Park Village and a long, picturesque path through the forest. It’s also a perfect place to jog, but only if you’re daring enough to brave the occasionally wet and slippery mud. Isn’t your middle name “Danger”?

Don’t miss the famous Sussex graffiti murals. Brighton is known for being open to collaborations with street artists to create mesmerising murals of graffiti. Most of the graffiti will take a keen eye to find, but some are hard to miss and may lead you standing there thinking, “What the hell am I looking at?”, with your jaw dropping unknowingly.

Josie Carder Queuing all the way round the coop only to have your bagel stolen by a sea-gull. We all know no one just “pops” to the co-op. You simply cannot manage lunch without wasting a good twenty minutes queuing. As the dreaded “cashier number 2, please!” rings through your ears, all you can think of is getting out of there with that funky tuna and tearing into its bagel-ly goodness.

When you at last leave Bramber House however, tucking into that

long-awaited breaded wonder, you will be allowed no more than two bites before a giant feathered beast whips it from your very palms. Alas, one nil to the seagulls.

“Accidentally” taking that good looking pint glass home from East Slope bar. Well, you technically paid for the beer to come IN the glass: you are entitled! Plus there are NO glasses in your halls. ANYWHERE. Attempting to awkwardly carry an entire co-op shop in your arms because you forgot your Bag for Life and refuse to buy yet another one…And you will NOT be queuing again. Bags for Life are not just for Christmas. They sit in your kitchen, mounting in numbers until eventually you run out of bin bags and they become the prime target. Never once are they re-used at the co-op.

Smuggling relentless mochas in various places into the library.

Sometimes you’ve just got to do, what you’ve just got to do. The sleeves are the main mode of transport, however providing you can find a lid, the coat pocket is also heard to deliver a high success rate.

Taking toast from the Christians in York House whilst pretending to listen to them. The first thing you want after returning from a night out is toast. The last thing you want is preaching. These guys are genuinely lovely though and have stayed up all night to help you safely on your way, toast in hand. Be grateful and don’t ask for an accompanying fish.

Why the Q?

To mark LGBTQ History Month (February), The Badger is running a comment series on LGBTQ issues, written by members of the campus community. This week, to kick things off, Sussex LGBTQ Chair James Lowe addresses the ‘Q’ and explains its history

James Lowe Chair of Sussex LGBTQ Sussex LGBTQ is a society for Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans and Queer students and staff at the University of Sussex; one thing we are often asked is why we have the Q. A lot of people are unaware as to what the Q itself stands for and it is often interpreted as questioning, the fact that it stands for Queer receives a

varied reaction.

Some people are fully supportive of our inclusion of the word Queer, whilst others disagree that we include it at all as historically the word was often used as homophobic abuse.

For us we view its inclusion as not only important but necessary as we have various members, including those who hold committee positions who identify as Queer. Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities, it is a way of separating sexuality and gender, as well as pulling away from

the heteronormative ideology of sexuality, anyone can identify as Queer.

Queer is in a sense a label you use when avoiding labels; Gay and Lesbian are terms used to identify someone who is attracted to the same sex only, but sexuality is often more complicated than that.

A person can be attracted to the opposite sex, but then fall in love with one man, society would try to claim he was Gay, or Bi, but in this instance he is not attracted to the same sex as a whole, he is attracted to a person.

Queer is not only a sexuality, it can also be a Gender identity; society as a whole tries to categorise people into two genders male and female (including trans male and trans female) but it is not that simple, some people consider themselves gender fluid, that their gender can change on a daily basis, others gender neutral and don’t identify with male or female gender.

Sexuality and gender are often confusing and complicated, but society likes to label and put people into categories, this is why the term Queer

is so important.

February is LGBT History month; Sussex LGBTQ are holding various events throughout the month, if you would like to learn more about why Queer is important, and what it means to people then feel free to come along to our “Queer and A” which is taking place on Wednesday February the 27th, in Fulton 104 at 6:30, where you will get the chance to ask questions and hear peoples personal identification with Queer.

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

COMMENT • 11

The Big Debate

Do you still trust the police?

We’ve had Hillsborough and Plebgate; Lord Leveson and News International.

This week, The Badger asks, do you still trust your police service?

No

Yes

Alaina Briggs Maybe a more apt question would be, were we right to ever trust the police? In the last year the public’s opinion of the police has plummeted due to evidence of serious failings and disgusting corruption from last year, three years ago, 25 years ago and 30 years ago. For those involved in long-running battles for justice, the mainstream questioning of trust is long overdue and is answered with an only more resounding ‘no’.

Last year it emerged that politicians, London’s Metropolitan Police and News International’s branches of the mainstream media were engaged in a corrupt triad of ’phone hacking and collusion. The police’s specific role in this was discovered to be failing to inform every victim of ’phone hacking of the crimes committed against them and, influenced by this, the Crown Prosecution Service didn’t charge News International for all crimes despite the company’s apparent guilt.

In the last year serious incidents in which the police were involved in 25 and 30 years ago under Margaret Thatcher’s leadership, which have always being identified as examples of police brutality and wrongdoing, were publicly acknowledged, in part, as exactly that. In 1989, during an FA Cup Semi-Final match between Sheffield Wednesday and Liverpool, 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in the stands with a further 750 people injured.

At the time of the disaster, South Yorkshire police were accused of, at best, attempting to protect their reputation and at worst, falsifying statements and neglecting those requiring urgent medical attention with the consequence that some of the victims with serious injuries, who could have survived, died.

West Midlands police conducted an inquiry into the incident at the time and found no police misconduct, which then allowed the police, government and media (particularly The Sun which saw a dramatic drop in circulation in Liverpool in the aftermath), to begin a smear campaign against Liverpool supporters claiming that they were to blame for the deaths.

In the years since, the Hillsborough Truth and Justice Campaign has fought tirelessly for a further inquiry into the disaster. In December, the High Court quashed the ‘accidental death’ verdicts of the 96 victims who died which paved the way for a new inquest into the incident and the involvement of the police within it.

Sam Blausten

Only a few years prior to Hillsborough, in 1984 during the Miner’s Strike, an event eventually coined the Battle of Orgreave took place at Orgreave coking plant near Sheffield. Riot police on horses charged striking miners which, despite the BBC’s best attempts by reversing footage of the day, demonstrated that it was the police who had initiated the violence that ensued.

Last year, in the midst of the Hillsborough enquiry and under increasing amounts of pressure from justice campaigners to do so, South Yorkshire police referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. They are currently being ‘investigated for possible assault, perjury, perverting the course of justice and misconduct in a public office’, the outcome of which is yet to be released.

These are specific and high profile cases of deliberate police perversion and injustices but they aren’t confined to northern workers almost 30 years ago, they still perpetuate every aspect of society today as student protestors discovered in 2010 when they were kettled, beaten, chased and generally terrified by riot police during the tuition fee’s protests.

The Metropolitan Police in particular are wellknown for their institutional racism, first publicly condemned by the Macpherson Enquiry 10 years ago yet still apparent today demonstrated by the recording of a police officer racially abusing young black man which came to light in April 2012, alongside the bleak fact that black people are six times more likely to be stopped by the police than white people.

Women don’t escape mistreatment either as last year the Guardian reported on what it believed was widespread sexual misconduct within the British police force through which officers abused their positions to take advantage of and harass victims of crime and female officers.

These examples form the backdrop of the ongoing enquiry into the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests, which is widely attributed to police brutality and the report last week detailing that Kent police officers have being manipulating crime statistics to improve their reputation.

So should we still trust the police? No. It seems that we were naïve to ever have done. It is evident that their protection and service applies to only themselves and their interests.

It seems sometimes that the recent barrage of revelations about systemic corruption, incompetence, and cover-ups in our police is just part of an ongoing story of a broken and disgraced Police force.

Yet public perception of the police in this country is actually quite positive compared to Europe as a whole according to a 2010 report by the European Social Survey (ESS). We rank alongside Belgium and Germany in most measures of public trust, and among the top 3rd of EU countries (led by Denmark, Finland and Norway), in almost all measures.

A large body of research on trust in public services suggests that perception is generally formed out of two things: personal experience and media coverage. Few of us have much contact with the police in our lives. The ESS research suggested that 63% of UK citizens have had no contact with the police in the last 2 years.

For students at Sussex who have attended protests and who read any newspaper, the experiences and broader understanding of the police are both probably very negative for obvious reasons.

Even when we get positive reports on our police the media prefer to focus on the negative.

For instance, a 2011 Guardian article covering the ESS survey grossly misrepresented the very positive facts, instead opting for sensationalism and running the headline, ‘Police in Britain deemed untrustworthy compared with Europe, says study’.

Personally, I have only ever had positive experiences of police professionalism. Whether being fined for jumping a red light or vomiting in a taxi on a night out, I have talked to them like reasonable people doing a job, and they have treated me respectfully and politely in response.

That is one reason that I personally have a strong sense that our street police are reasonable, professional and trustworthy.

Police at protests behaving far more aggressively than normal police on the street outside Oceana, are from specialist riot squads like the Territorial Support Group who are given different training and are really only a back-up force called only to police potentially violent demonstrations and riots.

I would suggest for this reason that personal experiences of police at protests is a particularly

unrepresentative measure of police conduct generally.

The police are expected to be infallibly fair and professional because they are symbols of empirical justice and law. Yet it is not possible that they can be perfect, however well trained they are, because they are humans just like me or you. Of course that does not mean we should condone the corruption, excessive use of force, prejudice and incompetence frequently subject to the media’s attention.

One of the most difficult and contentious issues in police accountability is therefore how we regulate the police – do we punish them like any other murderer when they make a wrong call and shoot an innocent man? The answer is unfortunately no. If we did treat any police misconduct with the same sanctions as civilian criminality, we would severely disable the confidence of the police in doing their job.

Policemen have a job which requires them to exercise force and power on a daily basis. They are required to by the public in order to protect us and serve the justice system. Is it fair that in such a professional environment where even a small mistake can make a big impact on another person’s life, these civil servants are treated the same as someone sitting at a desk in the Treasury? It is for this reason that even the Independent Police Complaints Commission set up in 2004 is seen as ‘toothless’ by many.

However, accountability of policing has been moving in new and radical directions recently, with the introduction of elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) who now direct the budget and priorities of the forces outside London.

The Police have come a long way since 2004 in terms of accountability, racial discrimination and internal investigations.

I believe they will only continue to improve as new reforms are pursued, and the new PCCs, a huge and radical step forwards in police accountability, gain electoral credibility with more people voting for them in the years to come.

In a more realist sense, we have no choice but to trust our police when we become victims of crime. True, rich people may increasingly hire private security to supplement their safety, and gated communities are increasingly popular. However, most people do not have this option – we have to rely on the police because they are our only choice. The other choices are vigilantism and silence, neither of which are exactly desirable alternatives.

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

SCIENCE • 14

SCIENCE

Wonders of Transhumanism Felix Kern

Transhumanism is a philosophical position that advocates using technology to improve our lot in life.

While the Humanist strives to bring everyone up to a baseline standard in terms of quality of life, morality and ethics, the Transhumanist is concerned with raising that baseline above and beyond its current level.

Put succinctly, the goal of Transhumanism is upward, onward; to rid us of our weaknesses and to transcend our limitations. It is a hopeful dream, a longing enthusiasm for the best possible future.

Though not in itself entirely new – after all, transcending limitations lies at the heart of all progress - transhumanism has grown into a cohesive, visible movement only in the last few decades.

Transhumanists are inspired by the promises of science and technology, spurred on by the knowledge that life is a physical process and a product of evolution. We are, so the story goes, on the cusp of a new era: The era of humanity version 2.0, where we are enhanced, improved and extended beyond our current capabilities and beyond imagination.

Several technologies are on the fast track towards providing us with tools that belonged to the realm of science fiction

just years ago. For example, genetic engineering may soon allow us to hack our own genome, allowing us to fix perceived defects and improve our physical and mental capacities.

Combined with longevity research, we can soon expect to live longer and healthier – much longer, perhaps, if the aging process can be reversed.

Replacement organs are already being grown from stem cells, while nanotechnology has recently given rise to artificial blood cells many times more efficient than our own.

In other areas, transhumanist goals have already left the lab. With mobile phones, we’ve become telepathic, and with smartphones, we have instant access to virtually all of humanity’s accumulated knowledge.

Certainly, we still need to use tools, a deeply human characteristic. But for how much longer?

We have already begun using neural interfaces to replace dysfunctional ears and eyes, and it seems only a matter of price and practicality before healthy individuals will want to make use of these technologies.

To increase the spectrum of sensations, for example: ho wouldn’t like to hear bats squeak, or see the world in infrared, if all it takes is a software update?

These are just some examples of transhumanist thought, and rather tame ones, at that. Some transhumanists, however, go much further than that.

The prospect of understanding the human brain well enough to upload it to a computer inspires ideas ranging from colonising space without the need for life support to transcending the boundaries between individuals and merging all minds into a global supermind.

Other thinkers prefer to stick to the biological substrate, advocating biotechnology to abolish all suffering and the rewiring of our bodies to produce eternal bliss.

If history is any indication, most of these dreams are far off the mark. History has also shown us, however, that nothing ever lasts; certainly not something as dynamic and explosive as the population of Homo Sapiens in the last few centuries.

From this perspective, there seems little doubt that soon, we will have to make a choice, both individually and as a species.

The choice will not be between having or not having advanced knowledge and tools.

Rather, it will be a choice of embracing these tools as part of our identity, a choice between staying human on the one hand and becoming something more, or even something new altogether, on the other.

Misconception of troubled minds Danielle Warren Schizophrenia is a popular mental disorder when it comes to misconception. Although the greek translation of “Schizophrenia” means split or splintered mind, the word is commonly used as a stand in for a split personality. Everyday newspapers like to portray various (false) clichés associated with mental disorders; such as schizophrenia’s apparent association with extreme violence by creating headlines, such as when in 2007 The Sun ran a headline declaring “Schizo killer jailed for life”.

A Cambridge Psychiatrist who posts online with the moniker ‘the angry medic’ defines schizophrenia as: “individuals who are splintered from reality, with manifestations of psychosis, delusional thought, neologisms, thought withdrawal/insertion/broadcasting and passivity. They do often get auditory hallucinations, but schizophrenics never believe that those voices are another personality within them.” As Otto F Wahl writes in his book, “Media Madness: Public Images of Mental Illness”: “The mass media, strongly and repeatedly communicate that schizophrenia and split personality are one and the same. To begin with, the use of the term “Schizophrenia” by writers and reporters as a shorthand to describe a state of affairs in which there

MORONIC ACID

are dramatic contrasts has become widespread.”, with examples such as the New York Times describing Berlin as “The schizophrenic city”.

As an effect, such examples lead to the general population picking up words associated with disorders, without understanding the implication. Survey results have shown that a large portion of the general public associate schizophrenia with split personality patients.

What people fail to see is the implication of such misunderstanding, as a “split personality” is actually a result of a different mental disorder associated with severe trauma, namely Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

As opposed to schizophrenia, DID is currently known to be almost entirely caused by severe trauma, most commonly during childhood. Nevertheless, genetics have been shown to play a role in how “prone” individuals may be to produce such a complex self-preservation/ defence mechanism. Childhood trauma in individuals suffering from DID is usually the result of extreme sexual abuse, which can begin as early as infancy. These traumatic events cause the dissociation of the affected individual, into an alter personality that is capable of dealing with the situation emotionally. Once an initial dissociation from the core personality has taken place, further personalities (alters)

may emerge to cope even with everyday stresses. The alters have their own identity, style, talents and characteristics.

They also often vary in age and gender. As an entirely unique personality they are very adaptive and fully functional in everyday life, which also stands in contrast to a sufferer of schizophrenia. The different personalities’ awareness of each other is dependent upon the alter-ego, as not all are conscious of their concurrent and intertwining existence and are commonly subject to blackouts that imply memory loss when another alter takes over.

Well documented cases, such as those of “Sybil” and the autobiography of Joan Frances Casey, “The Flock”, provide an insight into their suffering and how common misconceptions of their mental health can affect their path to recovery.

Although definitions and interpretations of disorders may be misleading, it is important to scrutinise information from any resource. Mental disorders are a delicate topic and although misconception in the general population is widely varied and easily ignored, it can have a devastating impact on those whose lives are affected, as their suffering may be disregarded or their fear of how they are publicly perceived may stop them from seeking help.

Illustration: Megan Bond

Talking to the skies: a review of the Royal Observatory in London Lili Kokai I was looking for something to do on the weekend in London, when I stumbled upon the Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2012 exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. As I have never been to the Royal Observatory before, nor Greenwich, an admission free exhibition was the perfect reason to visit.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich, founded by Charles II in 1675 is the official starting point for each new day, year and millennium as it is the home of Greenwich Mean Time. The Prime Meridian of the world – the centre of world time and space – can be found here at longitude 0 0’ 0”.

The Prime Meridian at Greenwich was chosen to be the Prime Meridian of the world in 1884 and ever since every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance east or westof it. Visitors can stand in both eastern and western hemispheres simultaneously by placing their feet on either side of the Prime Median line. The observtory has been part of the National Maritime Museum since 1997.

The Astronomy Photographer of the

Year exhibition is located in the Astronomy Centre, one of the seven buildings of the Observatory. 2012 has been the fourth year of the Royal Observatory’s annual competition and out of over 800 entries from all over the world 24 images have been exhibited this year. Photos have been submitted with the help of Sky at Night Magazine and the photo sharing website Flickr.

Even though getting to the Observatory is quite a journey, I’d recommend it to everyone, as it is absolutely worth the ride. If after the exhibition you haven’t had enough of Greenwich’s cultural musts, visit the rest of the Observatory with a 15 pound ticket (for adults) or the National Maritime Museum, The Cutty Sark and The Queen’s House that are all within easy walking distance from the Observatory.

There is still time to see the winning images of 2012 in the admission free exhibition until the 17th of February from 10.00-17.00 daily (last admission 16.30).

Should private firms be making profit out of public Universities?

Has major outsourcing worked well at other Universities?

Will the University save money by privatising 235 jobs?

How will the private firms listen to students?

Q&A: Outsourcing at

Sussex

Ask senior management your questions about the privatisation of the Estates and Catering departments.

Monday 11 February — 5pm — Fulton 202 Q&A session with John Duffy, University Registrar www.sussexstudent.com/outsourcing If you have any accessibility requirements please contact us – president@sussexstudent.com This event is subject to the Students’ Union’s Guidelines for Participation, please visit our website for further details.

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

ARTS • 14

ARTS

Alternativlee? Exclusive Stewart Lee Interview

Interview Tom Pearson & Rhys Giles Words Tom Pearson If Stewart Lee is a name which you find unfamiliar, then it is likely - and entirely forgivable- that you’ve yet to discover alternative comedy.

Shows like Comedy Roadshow, often exhibiting individuals with a knack for observing quotidian activities, offers little of comedy’s wide variety of forms. But, by stealing your gaze away from the bright lights of the Apollo Theatre, Comedy Central’s new show “The Alternative Comedy Experience” gives welcome exposure to deserving comics who have previously lacked a suitable format to display their talent.

Lee, who some consider as the patriarch of modern alternative comedy, displays genuine enthusiasm for the new show. “Colin Dench [producer] realized that there are lots of good people that don’t fit the mold of who gets to go on television now, and they’re often the people that

broadsheet newspaper critics rave about and that other comics really love.

“I’m really pleased with it...whether you think it’s funny or not, it’s the most accurate and visceral capturing of stand-up that there’s been on British television since The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club [a mid seventies variety show].”

Having created the award winning BBC show “Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle”, and consequently securing the commissioning of a third series, Lee proves that a comedian can generate their own success despite mainstream convention.

Having never been approached to perform on Live at the Apollo, should this show be viewed as a counterpart?

“You’re encouraged not to by Comedy Central because they show a lot of those sort of programs...their angle would be that it’s an addition to your buffet of choice. But actually, in the last couple of days I’ve thought, fuck it, it really is.

“I think all the comedians on the

program look like what comedians should look like, they mainly look like the people who would be kicked into the urinal at school and pissed on, and ended up doing comedy as a result.” Here followed the first display of Lee’s unique ludic chuckle.

“The best comedy comes from people who look a bit mental.

“There’s about 20 people in the series who kinda fade in and out, some of them are in for around four episodes so you get to know them. We thread them through a series, so you get a sense of their whole act.”

Although Lee does not perform in the show, he is revered by most within the industry, thus lending credibility to a program which otherwise, would struggle to receive backing from a broadcaster.

The show is certainly a step in the right direction, but the comedy establishment has not yet, nor will it readily, let go of the lucrative mainstream market. “On some level, I picked up the vibe that this was career suicide.

“Those kinds of big agencies want

to show their act in a huge place, then they can get £5000 for a corporate gig. For a commercially minded agent, not a creatively minded agent, it’s perhaps not hugely helpful for them to have a film of their act looking like they played to 120 people in a cellar...whereas in fact, those are the best gigs.

“Nothing, in the arts, is improved by scale.” Whilst watching the new show, it seems evident that these performers find joy in pushing the fringes of comedy, rather than selling tickets to arena shows. “Certainly with my own television series, what makes me laugh as I start to write it is the idea that it will be on,” Lee chuckles mischievously. “...and there’ll be people going ‘I hate this!’”

There seems to be an acceptance throughout alternative comedy, that there will be many people who don’t like what they see. Despite this, Lee explains the benefits of an act refusing to compromise their artistic goals for an audience’s taste.

“Those [commercially successful] acts, and it’s the same in any area of

culture, need people to explore the limits, to develop new styles, to find out what is and isn’t accessible. They need people to explore the fringes and firm up the foundations. All the people in this show are doing that.”

It’s little surprise that when defining his own art, Lee makes analogies to another of his passions: music.

“Alternative comedy’s relationship, in the late seventies, to all other comedy, entertained pretensions towards having the same relationship that punk rock had to progressive rock...We need to have a word to say it’s not from ‘Live at the Apollo land’ and it’s not ‘Quiz show land’, it’s something else. If you don’t like stand-up, don’t be put off, you might like this.”

The new show, “The Alternative Comedy Experience”, premieres at 11pm on 5th February 2013, on Comedy Central. My fellow interviewer and I would like to thank Stewart Lee and Sally Homer for their time, and for

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

ARTS • 15

Reviews ART

Near and Far

trailing in to the distance or the scattering of Parisian metro tickets.

Poetically, the ‘Near and Far’ relationship to place is explored through multilingual poems as well as experiences of location which evolve into a

meditation on proximity with others.

This is, perhaps, better reflected in the poems due to a lack of human subjects in the images.

The exhibition consists of thirtytwo works of photography and po-

etry, paired and suspended in rows across Mandela Hall.

The layout allows the viewer to find a private place among the works, inhabiting the vast space by breaking it into pictorial corridors.

Visible in passing through Falmer House, the exhibition occupies a prominent position on campus, offering a physical demonstration of creative interest.

The mingling of word and image provokes an overlapping of approaches to each form.

The spaces between lines become a visual element to a poem, whilst offering an opportunity to return to the photograph beside it.

The poem can similarly offer a narrative for the photograph.

Both artistic mediums are associated with one another subtly and evocatively: the red-tinted photograph quietly echoes the paprika in one of Rowan Dent’s poems.

At other times the works are paired through more obvious associations; but overall the collection avoids making forced connections.

Visiting the exhibition during a day of university provides distance and proximity in itself, an opportunity to escape academia for a moment of reflection. The emphasis on travel is epitomised by the comments of one visitor who described the exhibition as ‘a holiday in the middle of university life’.

Lady is a Tramp’ and Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’.

Later, we were introduced to the first act of the evening: the Algerian Miss Bruise Violet – aka ‘The Green Inferno’.

Dazzling us with her extravagant costume and quirky green hair, she perfectly encapsulated the theme of Parisian burlesque.

Pulses were raised as she brought the stage alive with charmingly seductive choreography and exposed us to everything but what lay behind her shimmering nipple-tassels.

Another popular, yet magnificently talented, entertainer of the evening

was ‘Angie Mack Hula’, dominating the set with her professional hulahoop performance. Already described as “absolutely amazing” by Brighton’s hit-DJ FatBoy Slim, we were enticed by her LED hula-hoops and UV-lighted costume.

Placed into a surreal darkness, we were able to fully admire her thrilling agility.

Other fantastical acts included that of the soulful dancer ‘Coco-Deville’, who claimed to be “an actress by trade, a dancer by heart” as she allured the spectators into a sensational combination of contemporary yet risqué dance.

As the theatrical side of the evening came to a close, the dance floor was cleared.

The audience were invited into the electrifying club-night after-party, where the staff and spectators were seen to be dancing the night away to an array of classic, electro-swing club classics.

Whether for a tasteful dinner date, girl’s night out, or just something a little more alternative, Proud Cabaret Ballroom will be taking the spotlight as one of the top fashionably exquisite destinations in Brighton, and should be on the wish-list to visit for us all.

Photo: Divya Shivaram

Mandela Hall

28th January - 1st February

★★★★★ Lauren Sedger Contrasting word and image, the ‘Near and Far’ exhibition creatively explores the themes of distance and proximity implied by its title.

Not only does it facilitate the meeting of two artistic forms, it combines the works of students from a broad range of academic disciplines, including non-arts subjects.

A product of The Wordsmiths’ Union and PhotoSoc, the collection also boasts collaboration between two different societies.

Initially most striking is the vibrancy of the photography, giving the exhibition an exotic feel which isn’t unwarranted. The call for submissions was intriguingly well met by international students with diverse experiences of multiple cultures.

An emphasis on place in the photographs is communicated through architectural landmarks and landscape. Travelling also features heavily through the inclusion of railway lines

CABARET

Le Chat Noir Proud Cabaret 26th January

★★★★★ Grace Cummings Tucked away in the heart of Kemptown, you may be surprised to find a retro supper-club.

Here is a place to relive an era of burlesque, cabaret and carnivalesque theatre-arts.

Brought to Brighton by London’s ‘Proud Ballroom’ team and founder Alex Proud, the venue allows curious visitors to step back into the 1920s surrounded by the array of vintage decoration, cosy booths and smooth jazz to welcome us into a night of glitz and glamour, elegantly nostalgic of such a much-loved period.

As the audience were personally escorted to the tables in their wonderful outfits that reflected the evening’s theme, we were greeted by the compere for the show, Paul Roberts, whilst he engaged with the spectators waltzing around the room singing Frank Sinatra’s classic ‘Fly Me to the Moon’.

Echoing a talent and charisma worthy of that of the jazz sensation himself, Roberts completed his introductory set with other enticing performances of Tony Bennett’s ‘The

PREVIEW

Jason Lytle The Haunt

9th February

Grandaddy front-man Jason Lytle has announced a run of European solo shows, starting at the London Scala on Feb 7th, and coming to Brighton’s The Haunt just two days afterwards. Tickets are on sale now!

Jason Lytle will be performing songs of his latest album Dept.

Of Disappearance, which is the anticipated follow up to his acclaimed 2009 album Yours Truly, the Commuter.

Dept. Of Disappearance plays like an emotionally resonant soundtrack for a non-existent cinematic masterpiece. The BBC website has described it as: ‘An album of depth and scale, Lytle is aiming to move mountains. It’s big. A reassuringly mournful sadcore epic’.

On the album the sometimes reclusive, always intriguing musician has deftly infused the toil of ordinary existence with a sweeping sonic beauty.

Prior to his European solo tour, Jason will support Band of Horses through the US and Canada.

Jason also recently collaborated with Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, covering Don’t You Take It Too Bad (by Townes Van Zandt).

“Ben of Horses Bridwell sent me this little “vocal, drum, guitar demo” that he recorded the night before in his hotel in Milan, Italy and asked me if I wanna “add some whatever” to it. I proceeded to slather sonic goo and build and mix upon it until I suspected the ghost of Townes Van Zandt was starting to get annoyed…

It’s a beautiful song chosen and sung by Ben and I had a great time working on it”, says Jason.

For more information go to www.anti.com, www.facebook.com/ jasonlytle or www.jasonlytle.com.

COMPETITION To find out how to win a signed copy of Jason Lytle’s new record Dept. of Disappearance, head to The Badger’s Twitter feed: @thebadgernews

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

ARTS • 16

LIFESTYLE

What’s all the fuss about Virginia Woolf?

As Sussex library gets access to the author’s personal diaries, we take a look at just how influential Virginia Woolf was to twentieth-century British literature

Mike Rowland Recently, Sussex University Library announced it had acquired, for £60,000, Virginia Woolf ’s engagement diaries.

These diaries do not contain the writer’s innermost thoughts, or her detailed ideas about her books, but merely her day-to-day appointments, meetings with friends and reminders.

Why, then, are they at all important?

Is it just because she lived up the road at Rodmell, near Lewes, for many years?

As a long-term fan, I could bore you into unconsciousness as to the reasons. Instead, I’ll just tell you a bit about Woolf, and why she means so much to me and so many other people.

A few years ago, as an undergraduate at the University of Kent, I did a second year course during which I had to read Woolf ’s To The Lighthouse. I had read it once before, and had loved it, so was more than happy to read it again.

This second reading proved to be completely different. As anyone who knows To The Lighthouse will be aware, the book focuses around the Ramsay

family, particularly the inner thoughts of Mrs Ramsay and the thoughts of others about her.

Halfway through the book, quite literally in the middle of a sentence, Mrs Ramsay dies. The rest of the text is a process of picking up the pieces.

Not long before I re-read To The Lighthouse, my grandmother had died. I have never had so much trouble getting through a book; I will always be glad that I did. It was this second reading that made me fall in love with Woolf.

An internationally renowned writer, Virginia Woolf was born in 1882 into an academic family, but one that rapidly fell apart as she was growing up.

A series of tragic deaths and even child abuse left the young Virginia damaged.

Her comfort was in reading and writing, and she published her first novel, The Voyage Out, in 1915. Over the next twenty-five years, she published books that constantly reinvented form and style, found new ways of telling a story, and got the reader closer than any writer before to the inner life of the mind.

But she wasn’t just a novelist; she was also a progressive thinker, particularly around women’s issues. Her book A Room of One’s Own (1929) set out her thoughts on the struggle for education and independence that women like her faced.

Always strongly attached to other people, she was a member of the Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals and had a busy social life, as the engagement diaries in the Special Collections show. Such literary greats such as ‘Morgan’ (E.M. Forster) and ‘Tom’ (T.S. Eliot) appear in it. She also had particularly close relationships with her artist sister Vanessa Bell, her supportive husband Leonard Woolf, and her lover Vita Sackville-West, for whom she wrote one of her most inventive novels, Orlando (1928).

Plagued by mental health problems all her life, she experienced periods of severe depression brought on by family troubles and problems with her work in particular.

Eventually, in the midst of a serious bout of illness, she took what she felt was decisive action. Leaving a note for Leonard, she went to the River Ouse, not far from Lewes, filled her pockets with stones, and walked into the water on 28th March 1941.

Virginia Woolf ’s legacy is huge; her experiments with style and language changed literature. Her grasp of human feelings and perceptions has been a comfort and inspiration to many, including myself.

Speaking about the diaries, our very own Special Collections manager

Hannah Mclaughlin

Jamie’s Italian 11 Black Lion Street Brighton BN1 1ND www.jamieoliver.com/ italian

Fiona Courage said, “The activities recorded in these engagement diaries may not have found their way into her more detailed daily diaries, but are significant in terms of her daily life, her social circle and her physical and mental state. The diaries also complement a set of appointment diaries belonging to Leonard Woolf, and held within his papers at the University. By acquiring them we can now make them accessible to scholars, enthusiasts and the general public.”

The fact that these diaries now sit in our very own library should make us feel really, really lucky.

Brighton’s North Laine legends Eleanor Walsh At number 7 Kensington Gardens in the North Laines lies Snoopers Paradise, a staple favourite on Brighton’s vintage circuit for many years now.

From the outside one might not be able to discern what lies inside, but upon wandering in, you discover that the shop is home to almost everything you won’t find on an ordinary high street; its white artificial light reflects the kind of space you need to house such objects, for there are so many of them.

Glass cabinets are filled with old Praktica cameras, collections of digital Casio watches, unopened boxes of 1960s Action Man and a peculiar family of rusting Oxo tins. Punk and Soul vinyls are separated into boxes and a variety of heavy coats hang on the rails.

Furniture is sectioned into decades, and small areas compose room-like scenarios; a shambolic lkea showroom.

I chat to Chelsey, who has worked at the shop for a year, after moving to Brighton after finishing Uni.

“I lived in Worthing whilst I was studying, and I always wanted to live in the South as I am from up North, and Brighton is just a really great place- it’s cheaper than London”, she tells me, “There’s always culture on tap, whatever night of the week. If you want to see something interesting there’s always something going on”.

She explains that Snooper’s will appeal to a mixture of “uber-trendy people and people who like antiques”, before adding that “there’s so many different

stalls in here that it attracts all different types of people”.

A regular shopper herself- “I bought some DMs from upstairs for like, £30”it appears from talking to Chelsey that Snooper’s certainly reflects the Brighton lifestyle.

“I hate the word eclectic, but this shop is definitely eclectic. Yeah, it kind of represents those trying to be cool with all their vintage stuff but also represents people interested in antiques”, she says.

FOOD

And what about the strangest items on sale?

“Really grotesque, mass produced stuff. You get really weird, strange ornaments”.

So, whilst I’m not suggesting that you purchase a 1950s Art Deco cabinet for your student house, porcelain trios, out of print books and a ‘Ceramic Phrenology Head’ may just brighten up your Brighton abode. Happy snooping.

Photo: Eleanor Walsh

If you’re craving Italian food with a difference, then Jamie’s Italian is the place to go.

Situated between the sea front and the heart of the bustling South Lanes and amongst an array of other Italian chain restaurants, it has something to offer that differs from the generic pizza and pasta served at neighboring competitors- rather shockingly, there isn’t a pizza to be seen on the menu!

However, despite a distinct lack of pizza, the food served is certainly good enough to help you get over any initial shock and have a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

The menu caters for all tastes, consisting of traditional Italian delicacies, but of course with a ‘Jamie’ twist; for example the delicious ‘Honeycomb Cannelloni 3 Ways’, which, as its name suggests, consists of cannelloni with varying fillings, including aubergine and sun dried tomato, pumpkin and ricotta and spinach, providing the perfect meal for an Italianloving vegetarian.

The menu is one that suits both meat-eaters and veggies alike, with the only downside being that prices are not what some would consider ‘studentfriendly’, with mains starting at £10.

The restaurant itself is the epitome of the Jamie Oliver ‘image’, the atmosphere relaxed with great service (waiters and waitresses wearing jeans à la Jamie, reinforcing the laid back patron’s image), and, being in Brighton, nautically infused.

But everything in the restaurant is ultimately aimed towards emphasizing what the restaurant is there for; quality fresh food with great, simple flavours.

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

ARTS • 17

Sussex Scrapbook Photograph: Carlota Jerez The Deluge A great rain is coming A veritable monsoon of fear Followed by a tempest of pains Where there will be mauling of skin s Audible screams echoing in the plain split will e ston Wood and And cinder coated leaves will sing Of the spark erudite man’s lit Spit roasting Nature on a Tephra pit Of dead things singed by fallen sin Hear the thunder in the basin in The slightest tremor in dreams with ing draw in erse disp les ripp The Empty faces in deep ponds drowning See the open wounds in clenched fists heart’s response. hing weig y heav a of cries t silen Out the - Oisin Harris

Photograph: Isinsu Engindeniz

The Virgin Suicides.

Hear ol’ friend this tale of woe from a childhood ghost Of how its innocence died finding out its custodians lied.

How, trying to withhold this very thing; they so sadly lost It with the virgin suicides of never to wear white brides.

Her black eyes bright but hidden by demure mascara Were forever locked on the two old oak doors.

She wore a dream with a melancholic look of alien aura, Whilst resuscitating outside noises on her house’ killing floors.

From the confines of her doll cell, in that slaughter house She narrowed her stares to see through the staircase’s weirs; Tracing in the streets essences of last night’s loud shouts With the crack o’ dawn birdsongs as clear as the voices in her ears.

Illustrations: Suzy Sui

Sat on riches, she ever adored and abhorred the dull Cold and steady head she wore, crowned by those jerry curls.

One day, a car seats relapse soon put a stop to that. And her skull Became the last resting place for Daddy’s favourite little girl.

But let us shut their garage door, Before I tell you more and our neighbours drive past.

Let us remember everything they teach you in class for, This is how bad dreams leave, when they are asked.

Now everything is as it should’ve been in this case In the perfect semi-heavenly realms, I am sure you’d agree nothing here seems out of place, As by the tombs of infant nymphs, there sways five virgin elms.

- Oisin Harris

Sussex Scrapbook is the platform for all your creative endeavours. Send in your poetry, short stories, photography, illustrations and designs to gm240@sussex.ac.uk. Don’t be shy — show the campus your talent!

THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

Listings

LISTINGS AND SOCIETIES • 18

FILM SCREENING: ‘EVEN THE RAIN’

‘DARK GODDESS’: BELLYDANCE LESSONS

LECTURE: NARRATIVE POSITIONING AND AGENCY

FILM SCREENING: ‘MISTER JOHNSON’

Silverstone 309, Mon 4th Feb, 6pm. Free.

Brighton Arts Club, 43 Providence Place, Mon 4th Feb, 7:30pm. £5/8 NUS.

Language Learning Centre, Arts A, Tues 5th Feb, 5:30-6:30pm.

Free.

Fulton 107, Weds 6th Feb, 1-3pm.

Free.

The Political Cinema Group hosts a free screening of the 2010 Spanish drama about the recent Bolivian water crisis. From British screenwriter Paul Laverty.

An alternative but exciting way to keep fit for those who can’t stand going to the gym. Choose from between one and two lessons to fit it in around your schedule.

Dr. Simon Coffey from King’s College London examines the effects of narrative research and strategies on our daily lives, and how we might use them to shape our perception of things.

Part of the African Film Season hosted by the School of English, ‘Mister Johnson’ examines the unusual race relations in 1923 colonial Nigeria. Chaired

by Onookome Okome.

LETHAL QUIZZLE

CAREERS: POSTGRADUATE STUDY IN THE US

SCI-FESTIVAL: HAMMER & TONGUE POETRY SLAM

Careers and Employability Centre, The Library, Thurs 7th Feb, 1-2pm. Free.

Komedia, Thurs 7th Feb, 7:30pm. £5.

LIVE: THE FOLD + LAURA WARD & THE RISEN ROAD

If you’re unsure about what to do after university, the careers centre has brough in the Fulbright Commission to talk about potential study abroad in the 2014/15 academic year.

As part of Brighton’s science festival,this space-and-science themed poetry slam sees eight individuals engage in a battle of wits and words for your entertainment.

LAUNCH NIGHT: SKA + SOUL

FIVEWAYS FARMERS MARKET

The Hartington, Fri 8th Feb, 9pm.

Free.

Stanford Avenue Methodist Church, Sat 9th Feb, 10am-1pm.

Free (excluding purchases!)

A brand new pub night, with all your favourite ska and soul tunes from the 70’s and 80’s keeping you glued to the dancefloor until well past midnight.

Support your local suppliers at the launch event for the new Fiveways Farmers Market - look out for cheap deals and offers for early risers too!

The Blind Tiger, Weds 6th Feb, 8pm. £1 entry per person.

A wildly exciting, alternative pub-quiz entertainment event that demands maximum audience participation.

Teams need to be anywhere between 2 and 6 players - and be sure to make the most of 2-4-1 cocktails while you’re there!

CHARITY CLOTHES SWAP The Queen’s Head, Weds 6th Feb, 7pm. £5.50 adv.

Always wanting to go out but convinced you have nothing to wear? Then why not head down to the Queen’s Head new clothes ‘swish’ event, where you can get rid of all the stuff sitting in your wardrobe and grab something new for free!

PROMENADE MAGAZINE LAUNCH PARTY

Latest Music Bar, Thurs 7th Feb, 8pm. £4 NUS.

The Funfair Club, Thurs 7th Feb, 9pm. Free.

Sussex Fashion Society launch their brand new magazine in style, with dancing, cheap drinks and projected screenshots keeping you entertained until midnight.

LIVE: ATEA WIND QUARTET

An energetic night of folk-rock from two up-and-coming bands who don’t hold back on stage, drawing on a mixture of Irish, American and contemporary sources for their unique sounds.

COMEDY: WIT-TANK

LIVE: GAMBLE STREET

St. Luke’s Church, Sun 10th Feb, 3:30pm. £5 NUS.

Komedia, Sun 10th Feb, 8pm. £12 NUS.

Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Sun 10th Feb, 8pm. £2 entry on the door.

If you’re a fan of classical music and fancy a cheap, afternoon that consists of Tchaikovsky, Hadyn, Berio and much more, then don’t miss this informal event hosted by the group recently appointed Associate Arts Residents at Birmingham Conservatoire.

The stars of BBC Three’s ‘Live at the Electric’ bring all their wacky characters, inventive gags and hilarious sketches to Brighton for one night only.

The four-piece alternative rock band show off old fan favourites and new work at this special underground music event. Check out their YouTube channel for free previews before arrival.

Apply before end of februAry to receive A 15% discount

Find out more at www.intohigher.com/studyinchina

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THE BADGER

4 FEBRUARY 2013

SPORTS • 20

SPORTS Capoeira Kicks off Graham Hope

It was a new beginning last Friday night for the Sussex Capoeira Angola Society, when the performances and entertainment provided by members of “Menino Quem Foi Seu Mestre” of Brighton blended into the atmosphere of Falmer Bar. Led by the society’s ambassador and class instructor, Professor Boneco, the group dazzled the audience with a creative performance merging elements of music, martial arts, acrobatics and dance. The crowd watched in admiration as the performers gave an inspirational display of their acrobatic and martial art skills. The friendly group kept the audience entertained for the entire hour that they were staged and will be warmly welcomed back again for another great show in the near future.

Capoeira is a game of strategy where participants use trickery in an

attempt to outwit their opponents.

The kicks and dodges are progressively complimented by the strings of the Berimbaus, the beat of Panderos, the bass of an Atabaque and the loud Ago-go, which make up the percussion instruments.

A capoeirista, or a person who practises Capoeira must not only understand how the movements and techniques are applied, but be able to sing, play the musical instruments and appreciate the underlying philosophical elements of Capoeira.

Capoeira is a Brazilian “dance fight” which combines elements of stealthy martial arts, dance and acrobatics.

Individuals who practice capoeira are encouraged to express themselves through freedom of movement and to develop a positive train of thoughts.

If you are interested in trying Capoeira, kindly visit http://j.mp/capoe to find the schedules for events, classes & weekly updates.

Photo: Azik Kunou

CHARITY FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT FOR JUSTIN CAMPAIGN Sussex Women’s Football Club are organising a Charity Mixed 7 a side Football Tournament on Saturday 16th February at Falmer Sports Complex to raise money for the Justin Campaign. Entries via the Facebook Group ‘Football vs Homophobia 2013’ - the deadline for entires is Wednesday 6th February so act fast!

Phillipa Hesketh

In what was for more than half of the squad to be their last BUCS tournament, the Sussex Volleyball women wanted to finish on a high. At stake was nothing less than the place at the top of the division! The slightly longer travel time due to bus replacements and the DLR could not be an excuse.

Sussex needed to win all their three games against UCL, Queen Mary and King’s College.

The team knew they needed to start strong into the first game at the UEL Sportsdock, as the last win against UCL had been hardly fought for. The first six needed a few points to get into the game. However, as the game went on, it became clear that UCL would deliver a good game, but ultimately not stand a chance. A strong block was crushing their attack, whilst our own attack found the holes.

The next game was already won on

BADGER SPORT TIME CAPSULE: 1995 Nic Davies Sports Editor With the University of Sussex’s most successful collective sporting season coming in the last academic year, Badger Sport thought it would be good to take a look at some of the successful teams and individuals who kept the Sussex flag flying high before we were half-decent at sport.

The picture is somewhat deceptive, given that this Men’s Volleyball team were actually victorious in 1995, contrary to what the quality of the image and the short shorts would lead you to believe.

Described as something of a ‘mythi-

LATEST BUCS RESULTS

ONLY BEATEN BY (THE) KINGS

Photo: Celine Ruud

paper, so it was more about playing our game and not adjusting to the other team’s level. And, of course, to actually win the game! The players who did not get to play in the first game could show their skill now and did not leave Queen Mary time to score many points in the first set. The second set was a bit closer, but in the end it was a clear win for Sussex.

The last hurdle was a big one. King’s were undefeated and had beaten us in a good game the round before. Again, Sussex was playing strong, despite a slight injury in the first set. Nevertheless, not even the spectators (parents of two players, two of the squad that were not playing and even one member of the men’s team had made the trip to London to support the team!) could make a difference. Sussex lost the first set, came back strong to win the second, but ultimately lost the tight game and the league to King’s College. There will be revenge next year!

Photo: Sussex Bulletin

cal’ victory by some at SussexSport, as people were no longer sure whether this had actually happened or not, the tale turned out to be true.

In 1995, a formidable Mens Volleyball team, including five Sussex County players and players from six different nations won the BUSA (pre-cursor to BUCS) Volleyball Cup, one of the highest team accolades in the Sport, surely making them one of the most talented sporting teams ever assembled at Sussex.

Back row from left to right: Steen Lorenzen, Peter Appenrodt, Ludovic Bourva, Adonis Plataniotis; front row from left to right: Peter Schweitzer, Michael Lim, Jack Molyneaux, Pietro Galli.

Wednesday, 30th January Basketball Men’s 1st

Women’s 1st Fencing Men’s 1st 124 Men’s 2nd Women’s 1st 116

59-68 40-53

13496-135 120-

Hockey Men’s 1st Men’s 2nd Women’s 2nd

0-2 2-5 6-1

Rugby Men’s 2nd Women’s 1st

38-19 36-3

Squash Men’s 1st Men’s 2nd Men’s 3rd

3-2 0-3 2-1

Table Tennis Men’s 2nd Women’s 1st

W 5-5*

Tennis Men’s 2nd

12-0

Volleyball Men’s 1st

3-0

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