The Badger Week 3 Issue 2

printed on recycled paper

available on the Big Lemon bus

news 1 | feature 6 | letters 7 | comment 8 | students’ union 10 | badger arts 12 | what’s on 16 | science 17 | sport 18

www.thebadgeronline.co.uk

feature

badger

the

FREE WEEKLY 24.01.2011 Official newspaper of the Students’ Union

8 & 9 science

Education reform: what the papers didn’t say

17

Is oral sex safe?

Miliband answers questions in Hove Labour leader talks in Hove Town Hall on the morning of a by-election victory in Oldham Conor Bollins Last week the leader of the Labour party, Ed Miliband, met with over 200 residents of Brighton and Hove as part of his comprehensive policy review.

The event took place in Hove Town Hall on Friday 14 January on the morning after the by-election in Oldham East and Saddleworth which was hugely successful for Labour.

The by-election was won by the Labour candidate, Debbie Abrahams, who received a majority of over 3,500 votes. The Conservative vote dramatically fell by 7,000.

Miliband told those present in Hove Town Hall that the result had sent a “very clear message” to the coalition. He said this was: “the first major verdict of this Conservativeled government.

“What the people of Oldham East and Saddleworth were saying was that when it came to the rise in VAT, when it came to the trebling of tuition fees, when it came to the police cuts this Conservative-led government should think again.”

However, he promised not to gloat over Labour’s victory and acknowledged that it was just the “first step of the road for the Labour Party to win back trust.”

The meeting in Hove was part of a series of events across the country aimed at understanding why the public had lost confidence in Labour following up to the 2010 general election.

A variety of people with different political persuasions attended. They were able to ask Miliband questions in a BBC Question Time format.

Labour Councillor Gill Mitchell, leader of the opposition in Brighton

and Hove City Council, opened the event.After defending Labour’s record in government, both nationally and on a local level, she said that by contributing to the policy review people would be able to decide “where we as a city and as a country want to be.”

A range of issues were raised during the event that at times turned into controversial debates between members of the audience.

The first question was on greenhouse emissions, which was followed by several concerned citizens commenting on how the public sector cuts were specifically affecting them and their city.

Miliband promised to meet with one local council worker, who was concerned with the increasing demonisation of benefit claimants and the government’s plans for welfare, so as to understand her work with people in need of benefits.

Opinions over the NHS were polarised. Miliband criticised the Health Secretary’s reorganisation of the institution but admitted that some reform was needed, particularly in regards to the number of available staff in hospitals.

After the event, Miliband met with a woman to receive a copy of the Bliss Baby Report that she had brought for him in order to bring to his attention the understaffing of neonatal units across Britain.

One GP from Brighton and Hove council suggested that it is time to downscale the NHS, which provoked a fierce reaction from the other people present.

In response, Miliband stated that the NHS “expresses something incredibly important about our

Ed Miliband answered questions from local residents in Hove Town Hall last week. Photo: Chronicle Live society and it is very important that we defend it.”

Someone else stated that Labour’s mistake was when it did not set about dismantling Thatcherism when they came to office in 1997.

Miliband conceded that the recent financial crisis we have experienced should have alerted society to “the dangers of unrestrained free markets” but that he did not agree

with suggestions to nationalise water and gas companies.

As the crowds filed out, Miliband told the Badger that he was glad that a reporter from a university newspaper was able to come and when a student commented on the police tactics employed at the demonstrations towards the end of last year he agreed that people’s right to peaceful protest should be defended.

Those who attended were given

consultation booklets so that they could tell Labour what their priorities for the country are and to put forward “fresh ideas” for the party.

As well as having created a website to allow the public to take part in the policy review, Ed Miliband has also lowered the price of joining the Labour Party for people aged under-27 to 1p in a bid to attract young people disillusioned with the coalition.

24.01.11

2

badger | badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

the

news

Left: Fresher Amy Woodcock promotes costume society. Top Right: African Caribbean and Asian Society (ACAS). Photos: Anna Evans Bottom Right photo: Photo Polina Belehhova

Top left: Kick-boxing Society. Right: Students advertising new Brighton nightclub Lola Lo. Photos: Polina Belehhova

24.01.11

3

the

badger

Editors-in-chief Juliet Conway Eleanor Griggs badger@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

News editors Raziye Akkoc Jamie Askew Inês Klinesmith

badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Features editors Kieran Burn Joe Jamieson badger-features@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Comment editor Marcelle Augarde

badger-opinion@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Letters editor Rosie Pearce

badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Arts editor-in-chief Olivia Wilson badger-artspages@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Visual arts editor Joseph Preston

badger | badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

the

news

Societies fair praised as ‘one of the best yet’ Albany Cordova and Inês Klinesmith News editor

Last week on Tuesday 18 January Falmer House was again the chosen venue to hold Refreshers’ Fair.

The fair was an opportunity for students’ societies and outside businesses, such as Pizza Hut and Lola Lo, to get together and advertise themselves.

Amongst many others, there were RAG,Student Media,Kickboxing,Rollerblading, Philosophy society, Sussex LGBTQ and Green Party stalls.

Mahan Elmi, a member of the kickboxing society said: “no matter how you look at it, kickboxing is awesome, either the weekly training or the demonstrations for others. I believe the guy started it with the massive hangover’’.

The Health and Wellbeing coordinator, Amanda Griffiths working with the Student Life Centre on campus stated that “the stall was extremely crowded.’’

University Radio Falmer (URF)

Flyers of a refreshers event on the Sussex LGBTQ society stall spread out on the ground, first and second floors. Students quickly gathered around the Pizza Hut stall every time there were hot deliveries, grabbing the rare opportunity for free food.

badger-arts@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Refreshers’ Fair this year was one of the best yet!

Music editor Louise Ronnestad badger-music@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Film editors Lucy Atkinson Lily Rae badger-film@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Performance editor Wanjiru Kariuki badger-performance@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Science editors Natasha Agabalyan Thomas Lessware badger-science@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Photo editors Anna Evans Polina Belehhova

Listings editor Olivia James

badger-listings@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Sports editor Matt Stroud Ben Denton

badger-sport@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Sub-editors Luke Guinness Sydney Sims Barnaby Suttle

Students’ Union Communications Officer

Sol Schonfield communications@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

The Badger holds weekly open writers’ meetings Fridays, 1.30pm Falmer House, Room 126

made sure it entertained the students that marched in and out of Mandela Hall throughout the day.

Its first two hours set it off for a very positive start for the whole of the event,

After 2 o’clock there was a smaller flow of students, but the amount was still large enough to keep the fair running successfully. One student told The Badger: “Refreshers’ fair was a really

Photo: Anna Evans

great opportunity to see the societies at the university. Last term I missed the fair and I am really glad that the union held another fair for those who may have missed it, changed their minds or wanted to see what other societies were on offer.

“It was also really useful as I was able to find out more about the new Student Life Centre.

It was also a chance to get more freebies especially the pizza slices from Pizza Hut.The one thing that did frustrate me was how badly the event was advertised.

Freshers’ week was advertised really well, and the union should have done the same with this fair.”

Students signed up for societies, got freebies and had the opportunity to speak to societies’ members.

Even though there were still students

going in to Mandela Hall, several societies had already decided to leave their posts, which left those students with very little choice.

One student said: “Refreshers fair was a little disappointing. I went after my seminar around quarter to 4 and already some of the societies were packing up or had left. If it’s meant to be on until 4pm, it really should have been still going when I went.”

Despite this, Sol Schonfield, the Communications Officers for the university’s Student’s Union stated: “Refreshers Fair this year was one of the best yet!

With over 80 stalls including club, societies and other opportunities at Sussex and more students than ever.

We’re really happy with how it went.”

Student neglected in sexual assault claim Jamie Askew News editor A University of Sussex student has described her treatment by police as ‘horrible’ following a sexual assault during the tuition fees protest on 9 December 2010.

The female, who wishes to remain anonymous, fell to the floor during a police charge and was subsequently groped by a white male with shoulder length, curly hair and brown eyes.

The incident took place at around 5pm. Five minutes later, the student, having been found on the floor by her friends, was refused permission to leave the ‘kettle’ and instructed to await further instructions.

Between 5.30pm and 5.45pm, the group were finally allowed to leave the crowd to seek help from police officers.

The student has told the Badger that thereafter, the police did not take

her complaint seriously and failed to listen to what she was saying. She was ushered into an ambulance that she did not request or require.

The student was later taken to a police station where she was questioned in, what she believes to be, an inappropriate manner for an hour.

She was refused drinking water and had her tights taken as evidence without being supplied with a suitable alternative. At 10pm, she left the police station to make her own way home.

The victim’s friend described the police treatment on the day: “Having been a participant in the protest, [she] was treated as a criminal and not with the sensitivity due to a victim of sexual assault.”

The student has written a complaint to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) giving a full and detailed account of the events on that day and her subsequent treatment. As yet, she has not

received a reply from the IPCC. On 15 January, the victim received a follow up telephone call from the Metropolitan Police where she describes her treatment as ‘similar’ to that which she received at the police station in London. She was required to meet police in London within a couple of weeks or she was told the case would be dropped.

The student has told the Badger that there is “zero chance that my case will be dealt with”. She went on to say: “the state failed me on that day and had no regard for my safety.”

The IPCC have said that they cannot comment on ongoing investigations but that they take all complaints extremely seriously.

The IPCC have received 111 complaints since the first student demonstration on 10 November 2010. 66 of those complaints relate to the protest on 9 December 2010, including the high profile incidents

involving the abuse of wheelchair user, Jody MacIntyre, and the hospitalisation of Alfie Meadows.

The University of Sussex Students’ Union has said: “The police’s behaviour in this incident is despicable. Reports of beating, charging and ‘kettling’ are enough without the accompanying negligence that this student has suffered. The police’s record in dealing with sexual assault in this country is shameful.”

Sol Schonfield, the union’s Communications Officer has said of the incident: “the police’s actions on 9 December 2010 were abhorrent.

Just when the police can play a positive role they let this student, and countless others, down. I urge any students who have any information in relation to this, or any other case, to come forward.”

If anybody has any information related to this particular case, they should pass it on to the police or contact the Students’ Union.

24.01.11

4

news

the

badger | badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Library refurbishment to be completed by end of the year Raziye Akkoc News editor

The library refurbishment will be completed by the end of this academic year according to library staff in a meeting held last week.

The gathering was organised by Lita Wallis, the University of Sussex Students’ Union Education Officer, where student representatives from different schools presented their queries to library staff including Kitty Inglis, the librarian.

Jane Harvell, Head of Academic Services, Emma Walton, Learning and Teaching Support Manager and Gráinne MacDermott, Lending Services Manager were also at the meeting on Thursday 20 January.

Library staff also told students reps that class marks A to N are in their “final new positions”.

The Main and Short collection have been merged to allow students to see what is available and texts that might be similar and thus helpful to their study.

At the meeting, Kitty Inglis sought to reassure student reps and students across the university that the refurbishment is “important”.

One student representative began the discussion with a query relating to the university’s library and heating, an issue which many students seemed to be concerned about.

Inglis explained that the library is bleeding the radiators everyday but the library does have an “antiquated heating system”.

In 2006, a district heating system was installed and the library is seeking to improve the flow of hot air.

Inglis said: “We will continue to work with the Estates [and Facilities Division].”

The Librarian added that there will be no more new sofas but there will be “more study spaces than before, and different types of space… and study environments”.

Different spaces include reflective, creative and interactive. Reflective spaces will be for students who want to study in silence whilst creative spaces will be small group spaces for quiet work such as the space available currently at the front of the first floor.

Areas of the library have been closed off as refurbishment continues. Photo: Polina Belehhova Interactive spaces will be informal chatty space such as the current space on the group floor close by the Core Collection.

Signs will be brought in to show students which areas are what and there will be greater efforts to stop students eating, drinking and using their mobile phones in the library.

The usage of mobile phones is the most complained about issue to library staff.

Another query related to the lack of computers in the library. Inglis stated that by the end of the refurbishment, there will be more computers.

The library had 140 computers but will have just fewer than 200 by the end of the refurbishment.

Current work on the ground floor

at the back will soon house computers and benches for users to plug in their laptops.

There will be 32 ITS desktop computers and 20 data and power outlets.

At present, there are over 450 power outlets in the library which will increase and over 150 data outlets for users to connect to the internet with a wire.

Wireless coverage has also been upgraded and improvements are presently taking place.

The library wants to engage more with student reps, the Library Consultative Group, undergraduates and postgraduates.

The Library Consultative Group meets once a term to discuss the

library’s services.

Student reps also expressed concern at missing books and wanting more books for courses the library does not have.

Emma Walton said that if students want the library to get a book ordered, they can do so via the catalogue. The library is hoping to make it easier for requests to be made.

The Students’ Union commented: “It is important that the university bases its decisions on student needs, and face to face meetings such as this are a positive step towards improving communication between the University and the student body.

“Today was a good example of

what the Student Rep Scheme exists for. Some very important issues were raised, and the library seemed keen to take action.

“The union, in conjunction with the Student Reps, look forward to making sure these actions are taken, so that students can benefit from these changes as soon as possible.

Lita added: “I hope that other university departments will follow the Library’s lead, by tapping into student opinion, and responding to what students need.”

Students can contact the library via their page on Facebook, sussexlibrary on Twitter, their website, www.sussex.ac.uk/library/, or via e-mail at library@sussex.ac.uk.

DPhil from the university’s American Studies Program.

Tripathi’s supervisor, the Dean of the former School of Humanities, Dr. Stephen Burman, had initially told him to prepare for his graduation.

Tripathi’s previous texts include ‘Overcoming the Bush Legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan’.

Tripathi believes that bias political agendas were involved in the refusal of his doctoral thesis.

The oral examination or ‘viva’ which is usually taken for a doctoral thesis takes an hour. For Tripathi, it was nearly two hours of “sheer hostility. “[The] viva was not an oral

examination but an hour and fifty minutes of sustained interrogation during which the external examiner shouted throughout, not allowing me to answer, while objecting to matters of trivial importance.”

Dr. Burman was not present at the viva.

Tripathi further suggests that the examiners never actually finished reading his work as he found “angry notes on about a third of the pages, then nothing.”

According to Tripathi, part of his research, which relied on the Cold War International History Archive material of the Smithsonian Institute, was described as “unacceptable”.

The former student explains that he was told by the external examiner that he “would have to rewrite the thesis in a year, without the Cold War History Archive that gave (him) access to the Russian and East German archives, and resubmit only for (a master’s degree).” This would also involve another viva.

The internal examiner left her post at the university and the external examiner no longer has affiliations with the university.

The University of Sussex explained that no comment could be given “publicly on specific matters in relation to any individual candidate.

“In relation to the examination of

DPhil theses, detailed reports are provided by internal and external examiners on both the written work and following oral examination of the candidates. Those reports and a recommendation are presented to a Research Degree Examination Board and final decisions made on the award of such degrees.

“Following the decision, any dissatisfied student has a period of time to appeal to a Research Degrees Appeals Board on the basis that the degree has not been properly examined. If they then remain dissatisfied, they can appeal to the national Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education.”

Failed DPhil text published Eleanor Whalley A former University of Sussex student’s failed doctoral dissertation has recently been published.

Deepak Tripathi’s book is based on research for his DPhil which he never received.

Tripathi, an ex-BBC producer, has said that he is proud of his latest work although the book is associated with a negative experience at the University of Sussex.

The dissertation failed because it did not meet with the examiners’ approval. Tripathi submitted his thesis in early December 2006.

His research for the text, begun in 2002, was part of his work for his

24.01.11

5

badger | badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

the

news

Labour fails to save Sussex could EMA as axe falls face £2m cuts Sebastian Noble

Protesters demonstrate against the axing of EMA last year in London. Photo: The Independent

Joshua Feldman Student protesters and the Labour Party have lost their joint cause to prevent the scrapping of Education Maintenance Allowance in England.

The vote was passed by 317 votes to 258, a government majority of 59.

The decision came after a long debate in the House of Commons, staged mainly between the incumbent Conservative Education Secretary, Michael Gove, and Labour’s education spokesman, Andy Burnham.

As the voice of austerity, Gove claimed that the grant had been “poorly targeted” and told MPs that “you cannot spend money you do not have”. He quoted figures of a £560m annual expenditure, with administration costs amounting to £36m. “Choices are dependent on the money”, he said, “and where is the money coming from?”

Burnham, meanwhile, argued on behalf of the low-income families that would be affected. He said that EMA is “about people making the best of themselves”, and that its removal would “stack the odds”

against the underprivileged and “kick away the ladder of opportunity”. Social mobility, he asserted, would be “thrown into reverse”.

While Gove cited findings by the National Foundation for Education Research that 90% of students who receive EMA would continue in education without the payment - described by Chancellor George Osborne as “90% deadweight costs” - Burnham pointed to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that says the scheme has increased attendance as well as grades. The IFS posit further that even if the claim of “90% deadweight costs” is true, the expenditure is counterbalanced by the value of increased participation by the young.

The Labour Party was not alone in their purpose, as several hundred campaigners took to the streets of Central London to voice their discontent. They held what has been described as a “noisy but peaceful protest”, hoisting placards as they marched from Piccadilly Circus to Westminster to the music of a wheeled sound system. There were also a group of student protestors who occupied a room in the Houses of Parliament.

Tali Janner-Klausner, 19, a parttime student at City Lit college, captured the consensus of the movement when she said: “Some of the cabinet are millionaires and the government’s propped up by big business… they don’t understand what £30 a week means to many people”.

EMA was established across the UK in 2004 to encourage young people from poorer backgrounds to remain in education. It granted payments of up to £30 a week depending on family income, although a certain level of attendance was necessary to receive the specified amount.

Despite being entirely scrapped in England, EMA has only been reduced in Scotland, while there are currently no plans to cut it in either Wales or Northern Ireland.

On these shores, however, the government plans to replace the scheme by tripling the current £26m ‘learner support fund’, which is given to schools, colleges and other training providers to help their poorest students with studyrelated costs. Details will emerge as part of a review on education by the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Simon Hughes.

Sussex alumnus wins grant for art project Edyta Bryla A Sussex alumnus who graduated in 2010 in English Literature was awarded a bursary from American Express to fund a community arts project which enables those interested in arts realise their potential.

Alicia Mitchell became inspired to create a space for those interested in arts while helping to organise an art exhibition last summer.

After finding it difficult to obtain employment following graduation, she wanted to provide opportunities for others to learn and to gain the necessary skills and experience to find future work. As a result she founded the Common Academy of Arts (CAA) in November 2010, hoping to make use of an empty, unused building in Brighton.

To win the bursary, Alicia entered a competition advertised by the Argus

and was required to write a 100-word long statement detailing how she would use the money if it were awarded to her.

Alicia’s objective to organise a programme of a combination of free classes, talks, events and workshops for the community impressed the jury at American Express who awarded the CAA a grant to “enable them realise their potential”.

Upon hearing the news, Alicia said: “I was shocked. Until that point it was hopeless. I was scared that I won’t make it happen.

“This is very good, and encourages me greatly. From previously being vaguely nowhere I feel the CAA is now almost certainly somewhere, glimmering, in the future.”

The CAA provides free access for all and values community engagement, learning through creativity and creativity through learning for volunteers and

visitors. The project is not-for-profit and is wholly sustainable and ethical.

Future planned activities include drawing classes for those “who say they can’t draw (and those that think they can)”. Alicia is also keen on inviting professionals and PhD students of arts and visual media to give talks or short lectures.

So far, Alicia has received a good response from people interested in participating in the project and its development, especially after publishing an ad on Gumtree.In her blog,she revealed that she “was surprised and very happy by the number of responses from people who seem to be very interesting, talented and excited.” She is also hoping that Argus will help with promotion and publicity.

To get in touch with Alicia and join the Academy visit her blog, http://commonacademy.blogspot.com/ or e-mail thecommoncacademy@gmail.com.

The University of Sussex is facing an estimated £1.9 million budget cut following the Government’s annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), published on 20 December 2010 and setting out a reduction of around 6 percent for universities in Sussex in 2011-12.

However, the University of Sussex stated that: “It is incorrect to say already that there has been a cut of £1.9 million to the University of Sussex’s budget” and pointed out that individual institutions do not find out their grant allocation from HEFCE until the end of March 2011.

But calculations have estimated that a 6 percent budget cut will indeed be in the region of £1.9 million. The scheme is also expected to impact on other local universities, including Chichester and Brighton, with calculations indicating that Brighton may lose up to £2.9 million.

Vice-Chancellors have also been forced to implement pay freezes and encourage services to be shared among neighbouring universities,

with the aim of achieving a 6 percent efficiency gain from April.

The proposals have provoked criticism from Universities UK, a Vice-Chancellor umbrella body, who suggested that in real terms, the cut in funding will actually amount to an 8 percent drop.

Meanwhile, the University of Sussex has claimed that it is “wellprepared after removing £5 million from the university’s annual costs following the implementation of the Proposal for Change in 2010. Sussex’s financial plans already assume a 25 percent cut in income from government grants over the next four years.”

The Students’ Union remains committed to lobbying the university for additional support for students in the form of scholarships, bursaries and affordable university-managed accommodation following the rise in tuition fees and will encourage university management to do whatever possible to offset the Government’s regressive new policies. They have also promised to coordinate action opposing government cuts in the current term.

Southern up for eight rail awards Edyta Bryla Southern Railway has been short-listed for National Rail Awards in eight out of the 14 categories.

In appreciation for maintaining the service during last year’s snow and ice, which was attributable to the development of a new strategy that allowed for drawing power from the third rail, Southern is nominated for an Engineering Excellence Award.

Southern is also up for the Safety and Security excellence award after an ‘Eyewitness’ programme was developed in order to fight against crime and antisocial behaviour aboard its services.

Southern has also been praised for effectively tackling the problem of overcrowded trains in busier times, something which can be especially troublesome for disabled passengers, and so secured the nomination for Rolling Stock Excellency.

As the users of Uckfield station can now enjoy new seats and a shelter, provided after a few years of renovation, Southern also received a nomination

for the Station Excellence Award.

DavidWalker, 30, is a proud nominee for theYoung Professional of theYear as he proved his expertise, knowledge and experience, despite the fact he has only worked for Southern Railway for five years, holding position of Head of Train Specification and Planning.

Southern’s Loco Toledo is nominated for the Rail Professional Marketing Campaign Category. A part of the franchise was the launching of Southern’s improved website, which is now more customer-friendly.

Southern’s managing director, Chris Burchell, said: “This is a fantastic achievement. We have been working hard over the past year to improve all aspects of the passenger experience and to be recognised in this way shows that we are moving in the right direction.

“Of course, I am hopeful that we will be successful at the awards, but the real reward comes from the improvements our passengers experience as a result of these innovative projects.”

The results will be announced on 17 February.

Southern Railway has been short-listed for various awards. Photo: Sky News

6

24.01.11

comment & opinion

the

badger

| badger-opinion@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Billionaire tax avoidance Liam Sabec Last term I had the dubious pleasure of reading an article by John Galt, defending the Coalition government’s socio-economic policy (“Anger at tax avoidance ignores overwhelming positive effect”, 06/12/2010).

The article set out a breathtakingly simple moral binary; those who received benefits are moral reprobates taking something for nothing, while tax-dodging billionaires are justifiably defending the “fruits of [their] labour”, conjuring up visions of the toil of these downtrodden global elites.

The reactionary tone was truly set with an appeal to “right-thinking people”, a higher state of mind which invariably requires dispelling any sense of empathy and allowing unashamed self-interest to dominate.

There may well be problems with the welfare system; however the remarkable vitriol the article demonstrated is deeply unhelpful in

resolving them in a fair manner.

Indeed, it is quite incredible that the article fails to mention the state of the job market or predictions of a jobless recovery, precluding many from finding work.

Presumably this segment of society, including almost nine percent of recent graduates, should also be condemned to poverty, as “society should get value for money”. The coalition’s decision to cut back on both benefits and agencies assisting people looking for work does little to dispel such an impression.

John Galt’s vision of society attempts to define people solely by their economic value while the state is reduced to a macrocosm of the self-interested individual extracting “value for money” from society.

The article then goes on to highlight that billionaires’ tax avoidance is not illegal. Although this is factually correct, the point is that the government has the power to legally prescribe that which a majority of

The coalition has lowered corporate tax and slashed the budget of the department which investigates corporate tax fraud

David Cameron and George Osborne have slashed department budgets. Photo: Wayne Smith society believe to be immoral.

However, the coalition has instead lowered corporate tax and slashed the budget and staff of the department which investigates corporate tax fraud.The example of Sir Philip Green, who in 2002 avoided £285 million in tax by registering his company in his non-domicile wife’s name, bolster this case.

Entrepreneurship certainly has its social benefits but this is no reason to allow the rich to escape taxation.

As John Galt asserts with such outrage, taxation is discriminato-

ry. Indeed, one can barely imagine how a system of direct taxation could not discriminate on the basis of differing incomes.

However, it is not prejudicial; it is based on a belief that those who have gained the most from society, and whose standard of living will be affected the least, should pay back the most.

John Galt presupposes an equal starting place in a society characterised by a rigid class system, declining levels of social mobility and increased inequality. It remains far more difficult for those in dep-

rivation to do “the right thing”, as David Cameron regularly extols us all to do, than it was for the patrician government.

The Government’s is a vision of ‘fairness’ which has seen £25 billion in corporate tax avoidance go substantially unchecked while harsh benefit cuts have seen the removal of mobility allowances for those on disability living allowance.

It is a ‘fair’, which for all who believe that justice should not be dependent on power and privilege, appears to be manifestly unfair.

Should our education be a right or a privilege?

Jessie Thompson There was a common refrain throughout the many protests that took place last year against the cuts to education: ‘Education is a right, not a privilege’.

It was entirely justified to argue that education should not be something that one can only acquire through immense wealth, even if the cost of tuition fees was raised.

However, there is not a day that goes by that I do not wake up and feel incredibly lucky to be studying a subject I love at a fantastic university (although perhaps not on days that I have a foreboding essay to write).

I do not feel that this is necessarily something that I was born with the right to, I feel it is something that I have earned, and continue to do so by taking advantage of the vast opportunities laid out before me through attending university.

If something is seen as a right, it is far easier to take it for granted, and if more people treated education as a privilege, they may see more clearly the advantages and chances it gives.

However, that pesky coalition government are at it again – our friendly

Education Secretary Michael Gove has decided to introduce the English Baccalaureate into schools, a new measure of GCSE results that only takes into account a small range of

subjects. The subjects of English, Maths, Science, a foreign language and either History or Geography, are what Mr Gove has deemed to be ‘important’ and a student must

Gove has introduced the ‘English Bac’ to schools. Photo: Wiltshire Division

acquire A*- C in these in order to gain the diploma.

This scathing narrowing of choice for students could have a devastating effect. Students are individual people, with different skills and interests. For every person that thrives at science, someone else may have an extraordinary flair for music.

Under Gove’s blithe hierarchal system, the latter student’s talent is now deemed something that is of less importance.

The mind-set that some subjects are better than others is old fashioned and unfair, and makes it much harder for individual talent to become realised.

While the need for the study of languages to gain greater prominence is clear, surely it would be wiser to introduce it from a primary school age when children are more receptive to learning?

The elitist English Baccalaureate not only turns its back on those students that enjoy and excel in less traditionally academic subjects, but it forces them to look at education as something that is forced upon them without any consideration for their individual needs. If schools place

more importance on this narrow list of subjects in order to achieve the results asked of them by the government, the resounding sound of doors closing will be heard all over the country.

For a student to see education as a privilege and something that they are excited to continue into their adult years, they must be engaged.

It is important that they feel that there is a place for them somewhere with the personal talent that they have, and if this is abandoned in favour of ‘important’ subjects then their view of what education is will be irretrievably altered.

Education is something so valuable that, even if it is a right, we must treat it as though it is a privilege. The worrying truth is that this is a view that will surely become rarer, as our future talent sits in classrooms, rote learning things that students may find difficult or unengaging at the expense of things that they have the ability to thrive at.

The cost of seeing a generation of school pupils as an undistinguished body without interests and skills could have a higher cost than Gove has anticipated: indifference.

Student Media Office Falmer House University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9QF

response

24.01.11

badger | badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Telephone: 01273 678875 Email: badger@ussu.sussex.ac.uk Advertising: BAM Agency vb@bamuk.com

the

7

Views expressed in the Badger are not representative of the views of the USSU, the University of Sussex, or the Badger. Every effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright for any material used in this issue, and to ensure the accuracy of this week’s stories.

Please contact the Communications Officer if you are aware of any omissions or errors.

letters and emails Free school meals

Political diversity

Changing campus

Dear Sir/Madam,

Dear Sir/Madam,

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to briefly respond to the letter by Charley Jarrett in last week’s edition, which praised the “unsung proviso” in tuition fee increases which means some individuals who received free school meals (FSM) may pay fewer tuition fees than they do under the present system.

The provision has not been simply ignored; it has been widely condemned for a number of reasons.

First, using FSM as a measure of income is not only inaccurate but conceptually flawed: it cannot adapt to changed circumstances or the significant incidence of families who do not claim the benefit which they are entitled to.

Second, there are fears that universities which would be liable to pay fees will operate a discriminatory enrolment policy against those who received FSM to avoid incurring expense. Third, the Sutton Trust Report demonstrates that the number of FSM recipients in the better universities is extremely low, hence, as these are the institutions most likely to charge over £6,000 (which is when the benefit comes into effect), the number benefited will be very small.

There will be significantly more students from poorer backgrounds at universities where they will not receive this benefit and will incur fees of up to £6,000 per year. Fourth, even amongst the country’s better universities the less wealthy institutions generally have more students who received FSM than wealthier institutions: less than 1 percent of Oxbridge students received FSM. As such, it will be a greater financial burden to the less wealthy universities.

More generally, to praise the government for this small, and extremely flawed, concession is to accept that the provision of higher education should not be the responsibility of the state. A far simpler and fairer way of distributing the costs of education is to provide it free and fund it through increased, graduated, direct taxation on individual incomes and corporate profits. Unfortunately, the government has made it very clear that this is not an approach it is interested in taking.

I read with interest the feature regarding political diversity on campus [‘Can’t we all just get along?’ 17/1/11] and would like to put forward my view.

There is a great lack of diversity at Sussex, but this is not necessarily the fault of the Union or the university.

Speaking as someone whose views are not represented anywhere on campus, I believe the fault lies with the students themselves.

Political societies are formed by students - accordingly, if there is no group of politically active students willing to form a society, it will not exist. The fact of the matter is that Sussex attracts and encourages students from the Left end of the spectrum - with all extremes catered for (indeed, somewhat alarmingly so).

I am sure that the Union has a policy of equal treatment (unless you support the BNP...). However, in reality, the student population makes it very hard to be anything right of politically correct, “ban everything” Socialism.

I speak from experience - being one of the only students supporting the Tories (out of necessity, may I add) during the televised elections at East Slope bar. Not only were the Tories and their supporters booed and hissed at - which is of course perfectly acceptable - there were also glass bottles being thrown at the screen, and less lethal objects being thrown at myself. I estimated at the time that I was one of three or four Conservative voters in a crowd of well over a hundred.

This is obviously an extreme example - most marginalisation comes from the fact that there are simply far more politically active students on the Left at Sussex; therefore you are going to be stopped by a Socialist in Library Square, not a Libertarian, and the policies voted in at the AGM will be Left-wing.

In closing, a culture of true political diversity will probably not exist in the near future at Sussex. The Union should be careful not to incite those on the far Left to worsen the situation.

Am I alone in finding Sussex to be a rather confusing place of late? Even merely flicking through the Badger one observes a constant struggle between positive and negative views of the university’s future.

On the front page we have a photo showing the fruit and veg market, which is to remain on campus due to successful Union/university negotiations. Yet just a few pages in there is a comment piece bemoaning the gradual stifling by university management of independent food outlets on campus. Rising applicant numbers are praised while controversial structural changes to the academic year are criticised.

I find this to be a rather unsettling time to be at Sussex – not only will I be one of the last students to enjoy lower fees, but I will be one of the last to have used the friendly York House Union Store, to have known of (if not specifically visited) Unisex, to have had blissful exam-free January study periods.

It seems that there is a tangible transition underway at Sussex, and I wonder if this will lead to divisions among the student body – will past students regard Sussex through rose-tinted spectacles, harking back to the ‘good old days’, while the newer intake finds that the increasing pressures of higher debt affect their learning experiences? Will the typically liberal and free-thinking reputation of the university undergo changes?

Only time will tell, but, due to leave for a year abroad in September, it will be very interesting for me to return in my final year and note any changes to Sussex – whether these are obvious developments such as new buildings, or more subtle alterations in the mindset of the student body.

Yours,

Yours in frustration,

Liam Sabec

John Galt

I’m writing on the subject of laundry.

This topic may not enthral you, but it is nevertheless something I wish to comment on.

Yours, Andrew Walters

New laundrette

Now, I am a reasonable person, but I do not think it’s unreasonable to feel somewhat irritated by the following: I resided in Park Village for an entire year, in a house virtually opposite the “communal building”, but endured the long and treacherous (perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration) trek to Bramber House fortnightly to do my washing.

Bearing the weight of my laundry was a challenging task for a small person like myself (and before you ask, there were no chivalrous males in the vicinity to come to my aid.

Either that or chivalry no longer exists). Many socks were lost along the way. The one question I ever asked my RA – ‘is the Lewes Court laundrette exclusive?’ – was ignored, not unlike all of his other duties.

Also during my residency at Park Village, I regularly played a game I like to think of as “musical common rooms.” This involved going from residence to residence on a Saturday night and hanging around outside the locked common room of each one, until some kind inhabitant allowed us to enter and make use of their television (many thanks to those in Lancaster House, who showed particular solidarity on this front). The reason? 80% of the time, the Park Village common room was locked and we were unable to enter the area which was supposedly ours to use.

So it rather aggravated me when I was forced to suffer the inconvenience posed by loud renovations taking place right outside my window, for the improvement of communal facilities which would not be enjoyed by my own generation of Park Villagers, but rather by the 2010-2011 entry. There was even talk of Wi-fi becoming available.

My annoyance culminated, however, some weeks ago, when I learned the new location of the campus laundrette: Park. Village. I only hope that the current residents take full advantage of their new facilities, and remember that they came into existence at the cost of somebody’s lie-in.

Yours faithfully, Lorne Ritter

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write in reference to Jamie Askew’s recent comment piece [‘Another Tory tax break,’ 17/01/11].

I had always thought that the classic phrase ‘Save our trees’ was used to ridicule environmentalists as just some tree-hugging hippies, and had never thought I’d actually have to seriously use the phrase in a UK context, especially when this government pledged to be the greenest government ever (not that I really believed them).

Since the First World War, the UK has done quite well at setting up nature reserves, national parks, sites of special scientific interest and so forth to protect the countryside and the flora and fauna therein. However, recently PM David Cameron has, in his wisdom, come up with a brilliant money-making scheme.

This scheme is to sell off not some, but all of the UK’s state owned forests and nature reserves to the highest bidder.This includes ancient woodlands such as Sherwood Forest and the home of Winnie the Pooh, just up the road in Ashdown forest.

Although some land will be bought up by conservation NGOs, what this means is that in the majority of cases fences will be put up, reserve managers will be sacked, access for visitors will be denied and visitor centres and shops will close.

Currently millions of people visit our forests each year and they are managed to prioritise conservation of woodland species as well as access for all including wheelchair and cycle access. At the same time as this announced sale, the government is relaxing planning laws so it will be easier to push through big projects like, say, forestry... by ancient woodland.

The government justifies this sale by claiming it will save billions, when in fact managing these reserves in a manner which promotes the economic benefits of tourism and ecosystem services (carbon storage, pollination etc) costs a mere 30p per taxpayer per year; letting Vodafone off its recent tax bill cost us double that.

Before I was a bit miffed – now this has been announced, I’m angry and so should you be. http://www.38degrees.org.uk/ page/s/save-our-forests.

Save our trees

Yours,

Dear Sir/Madam,

Jethro Gauld

Clarifications and Read something in the Badger that has annoyed or delighted you? corrections 17.01.11 p.4 ‘Hundreds of drivers Do you want to respond? Then get in touch! will lose out in new campus parking scheme’. It was written incorrectly that parking permits for students will cost £55 a month. It is actually £55 Send your letter to our letters editor, Rosie Pearce, at: per term. badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk Got an issue to raise?

www.thebadgeronline.co.uk

Visit us online! Here you can comment on any article, subscribe to the writers’ list, and contact the editors.

24.01.11

8

feature

the

badger

| badger-feature@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

What’s happening to our universities?

A critical analysis of Government higher education reform over the past three decades Ralph Kellas Sam Waterman As two undergraduate students who have followed the Government’s plans for higher education over the preceding weeks, we have been appalled by the lack of proper scrutiny both in the political arena and, perhaps most shockingly, in the British mainstream media.

Tabloids and broadsheets alike have preferred to waste their front pages on glossy images of the trifling scrape between the royal car and protestors, instead of reporting the advancements that this policy has made towards becoming law.

On the whole the media-lens has been fixed on issues of social mobility and fair access to higher education (HE) for individuals from low-income backgrounds, with generous coverage of the debate about whether or not the government’s plans represent “a better deal for students.” This is an extremely important argument to be had. However, it is only one aspect of the governUniversity reform: 1978 present The attack on the independence of the British HE system began under the Thatcher Government of the late 1970s. Under the now all-familiar rubric of ‘efficiency’, universities’ funding was cut and the importation of new top-down managerial processes was encouraged.

Prior to the Jarratt report (1985), universities operated through collegial structures, where heads of department and even vice-chancellors were active academics taking on positions of administrative authority on a rotating basis. This arrangement meant that managerial staff were not alienated from the needs and values of academic colleagues. Further, their own academic resources and intellectual independence would be affected by the administrative decisions that

ment’s fundamental change to higher education, and to society more broadly.

The government’s agenda is to transfer most of the cost of and responsibility for higher education from the state to the market. The result is likely to be that the plurality of values in HE will be replaced by just one: higher education will work exclusively for the economy.

It will thereby be deprived of its independence to pursue knowledge for any reason other than making money. Both political and media debate has consistently failed to address this fundamental redefinition of higher education, and thus to question whether it is a good thing.

In the following we outline the historical trends of marketisation in the higher education sector over the last three decades – culminating in the Browne report – and address some of the serious problems which arise when universities are made to conform to market values. turing, universities were subject to new auditing practices such as the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which would determine departments’ research funding on the basis of quantitative scores. Aside from producing endless procedural problems, this also placed universities in competition with one another for what were becoming increasingly scarce public funds.

However, rather than creating a form of competition that might benefit universities and students alike, these audits often produced a culture of “auditable performances”. Research practice became part of a game in which competing for quality related funds was determined by rules and goals specified by non-expert public figures i.e. politicians Under New Labour, the Lambert review (2003) continued down the path set by Jarrett, recommending that universities be run by small Councils

Browne does not really regard the market as a secure solution to the problem of HE funding; he knows that the market is a gamble they made, thus creating further incentives to act with empathy and co-operation.

Thatcher’s government encouraged the abolition of this collegial structure, to be replaced by systems of top-down management, where self-governance and academic independence were superseded by central chains of command. As part of this transformation, the Jarrett report advocated an increased involvement of business people on university councils, reducing the powers of participatory senates comprised predominantly of academic staff.

Alongside this managerial restruc-

with a “majority of lay members”, and a small senior management executive. Further, universities were resituated as substitutes for the manufacturing base that had been decimated by Thatcher, and became central drivers in New Labour’s vision of a modern “knowledge economy”.

If Thatcher’s Government demanded value for money in terms on public input, Labour strengthened the State’s stronghold on the output of HE research. Universities were transformed from independent educational institutions into providers of economically exploitable research and skilled labour, by a process in which govern-

Tabloids and broadsheets alike have preferred to waste their front pages on glossy images of the trifling scrape between the royal car and protestors, instead of reporting the advancements that policy has made towards becoming law

ment and business should, according to Lambert, exert a greater “influence over university courses and curricula.”

While on the one hand pledging to get 50 percent of young people to university, Blair’s Government were also responsible for introducing the top-up fees that would gradually change the public’s perception of university education from a public good to a private investment, for which the student, like the government, expects an economic return.

The Browne (not Brown) era While the educational reform of recent decades has worked to steer HE research towards the needs and wants of business, the Browne report (2010) advocates the expansion of this process of marketisation into the domain of teaching.

As the majority of students will now know, Browne advocates increasing the fee cap to £9000 per year, with a Government levy on institutions that charge over £6000. Thus, the report states: “As students will be paying more than in the current system, they will demand more in return.” According to the report, higher cost means greater choice for undergraduates: “…our proposals rely on student choice to drive up the quality of higher education.”

However, for Browne, the choice a studentsmakes should not be primarily on the basis of which subject they have a passion for or which institution they feel suited to. Rather, this choice is to be made on information provided by schools about a degree’s value in the labour market. In order to make “the best” choices about what to study at university, school pupils will receive “individualised careers advice” by “certified careers professionals.”

It is unnecessary to read between the lines here, since the report makes explicit what this means for both degrees and institutions which do not adhere to the values of the labour market: “Courses that deliver improved employability will prosper;

those that make false promises will disappear.” And for institutions: “In a more competitive environment, some institutions will be more successful at attracting students than others; this means that some institutions may be at risk of failing.”

The ‘choice’, then, which Browne bestows upon prospective students, is a choice which severely restricts the independence of universities and students alike to pursue subjects for any value other than their economic output. It is a choice which further enslaves HE to the demands of business and, as Browne makes clear, business wants more: “Analysis from the UKCES suggests that the higher education system does not produce the most effective mix of skills to meet business needs.”And so business gets more: “This evidence suggests there needs to be a closer fit between what is taught in higher education and the skills needed in the economy.”

Ironically, having presented the market model as the solution to the problem of HE funding, Browne then says that, for the well-being of our society and economy, public funding will be maintained for science, technology, engineering and medicine – the STEM subjects. Reserving public funding for these subjects shows that Browne does not really regard the market as a secure solution to the problem of HE funding; he knows that the market is a gamble. Thus the termination of public funds for the arts, humanities and social sciences, which are by Browne’s implication not important to the well-being of our society and economy, is in effect, a deliberate attack on those subjects. In Alan Finlayson’s words: “In removing all funding from these [non-STEM] areas, the coalition is… rigging the market in which it pretends to believe…”

WANT WANT WANT However, Browne does not simply want his skewed conception of student choice to determine which courses are on offer, but, further, wishes to allow

students (including preuniversity students) greater freedom in determining what comprises those courses.

It is alarming to think that the survival of the non-STEM content of HE will be totally in the hands of students, many of whom will be sixth-formers. This is encapsulated in Browne’s statement: “Students are best placed to make the judgment about what they want to get from participating in higher education.”

The premise of this market-based policy is that what consumers say they want rules. This is flawed for two reasons. First, charging students three times as much and insisting that what they ‘want to get’ is a degree which has recognised value in the labour market, is not synonymous with offering them a truly free choice. But, even if this were the case, the idea of consumer sovereignty is incompatible with the nature of education.

To go to university is to have a relatively unsophisticated understanding of your chosen area of study. What students ‘want to get’ from HE can only refer to what students think they want, which is all the more tenuous considering that students go to university in order to learn to think. The formative experience of university education involves the questioning and sometimes the rediscovery of who we are and what we want to learn about. It follows that a large proportion of responsibility for course content is necessarily entrusted to academics. To divest academics of such responsibility is to undermine the integrity of HE. This does not mean a hierarchical relationship between lecturers and students in teaching practice. Nor does it preclude students’ independence to choose courses and the direction that they take within them. It is just to say that the importance of studying many areas of a discipline cannot be known by students in advance.

Stefan Collini points out that it may not be until some time after graduation that philosophy graduates appreciate why the module on Kant was com-

24.01.11

9

feature

pulsory. Ultimately, “individuals often need to be told by someone who knows that a particular line of study is worth pursuing whether at the time they want to or not.”

‘Employability’ Trebling tuition fees will, as Browne intends, coerce students into making a very crude economic decision on what to study.

The report regards information about employability as essential to the proper functioning of the market. It envisages that such information will be the benchmark in deciding to which universities and courses students apply. However, the report also states that there are ‘gaps’ in this information. Browne thus proposes to use a formula

the

badger

whose key ingredient is missing.

The Independent Review by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) warns that this will be “positively dangerous”.

But can advice on what the economy will need in ten or twenty years’ time ever be accurate? Can those ‘gaps’ in information ever be closed? Browne speaks as if there is some oracle or crystal ball to be consulted.

His economic ‘sense’ denies the fact that societal and economic development is highly unpredictable. Gordon Finlayson recalls the closure of Russian departments in universities on the alleged ground that, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian was an economically redundant academic field. Yet Russia has re-emerged as a world

power – indeed, as a member of the G8. Similarly, forty years ago a prospective ecology student may well have been told that his or her degree would lead to an esoteric career remote from mainstream public issues. Now it is not only indispensable to environmental research and policy, but also to the functioning of ‘green’ industry.

The paradox in markets promising ‘sustainability’ for higher education is that they are incapable of projecting beyond the short term.

Just as it would be absurd to say that reservoirs should only be filled when water begins to deplete, academic departments cannot be set up and dismantled according to perceived economic need, nor according to what subjects are in

vogue among students.

The loss of expertise deemed unfashionable or economically useless at one point in time cannot be later recalled in the event of unforeseen political, social or environmental changes to which it is relevant. Unlike many goods and services, academic departments take a generation to build up. Their existence presupposes that the people who constitute them have studied and become experts within them. To respond to quick-paced societal changes, then, universities need to sustain expertise in a broad range of subject areas, even if some of those areas are not ‘profitable’ for certain periods of time.

Lastly, Browne’s insistence on increasing the teaching of “skills for employability” in an environment “where a key selling point of a course is that it provides improved employability” not only threatens the non-economic values intrinsic to higher education, but is also self-defeating in his own narrowly economic terms. Standardising the teaching of skills for employability will homogenise graduates and offer the market less choice and fewer employees who can think critically and for themselves. It is precisely by not standardising employability skills nor prescribing training for work programmes that universities can provide the market with a range of employees with a variety of skills and qualities.

As former Sussex UCU President Paul Cecil put it in an interview with the Badger last year with regards to Sussex: “I would argue that the interdisciplinarity of Sussex is, in fact, the greatest employability skill that this university offers. … I have employed Sussex graduates. The difference that their educational background brings is very noticeable.” So, it is their unique academic background and their freedom to pursue knowledge for its own worth that makes them employable, and not a set of “employability skills” that were prescribed to them along the way.

In the words of the founder of traditional liberalism, John StuartMill: “What professional men (sic) should carry away with them from an University, is not professional knowledge, but that which should direct the use of their professional knowledge, and bring the light of general culture to illuminate the technicalities of a special pursuit.”

| badger-feature@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Other orders of value

that universities are important for “keeping alive the tensions between market values and those values representative of civil society that cannot be measured in narrow commercial terms.”

We can only really aim to understand the world if we are open to the plurality of values that we vest or recognise in things as human beings.

For example, a patch of land might be of interest to an ecologist for its biodiversity; to an historian for its significance to previous peoples; to an artist for its aesthetic appeal; and to an economist for its value in the market. All these values help us to understand what this land means, and it is in universities that those meanings are explored. Hence universities should be able to pursue all of them in themselves and for themselves; that is, irrespective of other values, i.e. monetary value.

By removing public funding from the arts, humanities and social sciences the Government is censoring those areas whose very purpose is to analyse and criticise the political status-quo, and to explore and offer alternative ways of thinking - not least alternatives to government education policy. By attempting to preclude us from being able to think and see otherwise, the current polity tries to make itself synonymous with democracy. As Alan Finlayson put it: “[The coalition is] deliberately undermining the very fields of learning that can best contribute to a collective understanding of our social, economic and political situation. That is to say, it is seeking to undermine the kind of thing that enables citizens to understand what is being done to them, why, and by whom.”

It is the thinking of successive governments that has cultivated the view that the public sustenance of arts, humanities and social sciences serves only the self-indulgent student of such subjects, and renders no benefit to society as a whole. It is as if the people who become what they are through such lines of study – artists, musicians, authors, actors, journalists, film makers, academics, and even politicians – give nothing back to society.

At a time when markets are encroaching from every direction, we must protect these lines of study that help to keep us in contact with what actually makes us human needs, wants, good, bad, beauty, laughter, jealousy, love, anger, imagination.

However, more important than anything else, allowing universities to pursue knowledge for other values is essential to democracy as a continuous process of self-critique.

Kathleen Lynch makes the point

For further critical comment on current government education policy, visit Storm Breaking Upon the University at http://www. stormbreaking.blogspot.com

bling university management to force through unpopular reforms. Those plans were defeated by a staff-student campaign.

In 2003 the Chemistry department escaped the axe thanks to the efforts of staff and student campaigners. Other targets of the university’s ‘strategic planning’ were not so lucky. Sussex was once one of the small number of campuses to offer degrees in Gender Studies. Too niche, they had to go.

Environmental Science was another recent casualty.

As part of the university’s marketisation drive courses which recruit

insufficient numbers of students are deemed uneconomical. This is detrimental not only because it means students have fewer course options.

It is also closing down the vital space for academics to experiment with new areas of study. The most innovative, leftfield subjects which may be unpopular for a time are precisely those which ought to be given a chance. For sure, some of these experiments will fail. But how many insights and discoveries will never come to be thanks to the craven narrow-mindedness of the post-Browne university?

Viewpoint: the situation at Sussex Tom Wills Former SU President “If fees are going to rise, we need to embrace it in our language. We all expect the cap to come off. We have to think about how we’re going to sell what is going to be seen as an investment.” Four months before the Browne report recommended lifting the cap on tuition fees from £3,000 to £9,000, University of Sussex managers were already talking the market lingo. While students were out enjoying campus in the June sun, inside a sweaty Sussex House boardroom

the assembled corporate bigwigs and university bosses who set the institution’s top-level strategy were discussing how Sussex needed to change in the neoliberal era.“Because there’s a crisis, there’s an opportunity to think quite radically about the way things are done.” Less talk of getting into debt and more “return on investment” said one – “which means employability,” continued another, as if speaking from one mind.

But Browne is only the intensification of a political agenda which has been making its mark on our university for decades. Year by year, the

increasing pressure on the university to conform to the logic of the market has resulted in cuts, closures and a sometimes confounding misplacement of priorities.

Often this takes place by stealth.

Outright department closures attract attention and opposition, but university managers are in this for the long game. In 2009 management proposed to downsize Senate, the university’s parliament where elected academics can express the views of staff and students. Under the plans the elected representatives would no longer have a majority, further ena-

10

24.01.11

badger | communications@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

the

students’ union

Referendum on the future of the Students’ Union Ten percent of students have to vote to ensure the Union can be reformed As a result of the Charities Act 2006, the Students’ Union must change its status to one of a registered charity.

A referendum is a chance for all members to vote yes or no to a particular question, in this case on the future structure of the Students’ Union.

The referendum will open for voting online on Tuesday 8 February. There will be a Question Time for students to find out more about the issues on Friday 4 February, 4-6pm in Falmer House room 126.

This is essentially a legal exercise necessary in order to ensure that the Students’ Union complies with the new charity legislation. As part of this there is a legal requirement to produce a new set of governing documents (known as Articles of Association) for the new Students’ Union. The key part of this process is that as a member of the University of Sussex Students’ Union you have to give your consent for this to be made legal.

The proposal is to create a charitable company (that will be called the University of Sussex Students’ Union) and then transfer all of the assets (anything owned or controlled) and liabilities (anything owed to another organisation or individual) of the Students’ Union to the newly formed charitable company.

This new charity will then carry on the work of the Students’ Union and the old Union will be shut down.

In order for all this to happen we are holding a referendum. To make these changes we need students to vote on the following question.

Note that the wording is subject to slight alteration by Union Council at their meeting on Friday 28 January.

I agree that the Elected Officers, along with the Union Council, be mandated to establish a new charitable company to be called the University of Sussex Students’ Union with the intention that from the academic year 2011-12 all students will be members.

The new charity will then assume all the assets and functions of the current Union, which will then be dissolved.

If you’d like to campaign for or against the referendum ques-

tion please contact the Returning Officer - returning@ussu.sussex. ac.uk - by 4pm on Wednesday 26 January. Campaigning will start on Thursday 3 February.

Why change?

Over the last three years, just about every students’ union in the country has been reviewing its governing document, or constitution, to comply with new legislation.

Students’ union are charities.

The Charities Act 2006 makes changes to charity law, and requires students’ unions to become “regis-

which individuals are responsible for its affairs. Most charities have trustees who are unpaid volunteers, often from the business or voluntary sector. Students’ Unions are recognised to be different and are allowed to have paid trustees (fulltime officers) as long as they are not the majority.

Who are they?

The proposal is for six full-time elected Union officers, three other elected students and three professionals co-opted to give the Union advice on the law, financing, etc.

This is necessary to ensure that the Students’ Union complies with the new charity legislation tered charities” rather than being exempt from registration as in the past. The Charity Commission has a number of conditions for registration, which the Union and university need to meet.

The Union’s elected officers and Council have therefore considered a number of options for updating the Union Constitution.

Articles in the Badger, and discussions at Union Council over the last two years, have concluded there is no need to change drastically the way the Union works. So the changes being proposed leave most of the structure intact.

What will change?

Legal form. For the first time the Union will become a legal body separate from the university. This means it will be able to sign contracts for example, and if we are taken to court it will be in the name of the Union rather than the president or elected officers personally as at present. Legally the Union will be a “company limited by guarantee”, like most large charities, and all students will be members as now.

Charity Trustees. A registered charity is required to spell out

These numbers are similar to most other students’ unions, and mean that elected students will always be in the majority if a vote is needed. They will meet a few times per year, and not be involved in policy but are there to ensure legal and financial issues are dealt with.

What will stay the same?

Just about everything else. Policy will still be made by a referendum or mass meeting where all students can vote.

Union Council will remain, where students elected from the schools will meet with officers and be able to hold them to account.

Other committees such as Activities or the Executive will stay. Any changes in these can in future be made by the union without needing university approval.

Why is the university involved?

The law makes the university responsible for approving the Union’s constitution. The university is also the Union’s main funder so needs to know funds are used for the purposes intended.

So the new constitution has been drawn up between Union and university officers and now needs approval by both parties.

Join the Model United Tickets for January demo Nations Society on sale now

Are you interested in current affairs? Model United Nations (MUN) is a simulation of the UN General Assembly and other UN bodies.

In MUN, students take on the role of delegates from UN member states and NGOs to debate current issues on the conference agenda.

During the conference delegates make speeches, prepare draft resolutions, and negotiate with others in an attempt to resolve conflicts.

Joing MUN looks great on your CV, you’ll meet fellow like-minded students, and it’s both sociable and educational.

The University of Sussex Model United Nations Society are having a conference this weekend (28-30 of January) with topics on the rising tensions in Korea, the treatment of prisoners of war after 9/11 and more. Check out: www.usmun2011. org.uk or email mun@ussu.sussex. ac.uk We meet in Fulton 103 on Thursdays at 6 p.m. In our weekly preparational meeting this week, we will be discussing: The treatment of prisoners of war - a really relevant and current topic of today.

Please come along, even if you’ve never done/heard of Model United Nations.

The Students’ Union is organising transport to and from the ‘No Fees, No Cuts! Defend Education & the Public Sector’ national demonstration in London on 29 January.

Tickets cost £8.50 and are available to buy online at www.sussexstudent.com/demo and the from the Falmer House Box Office.

Coaches are leaving from Pool Valley Coach Station, Brighton, at 9am and will drop students off at the University of London Union, Malet Street.

Coaches will be leaving London to return to Brighton at 5pm.

union pages

24.01.11

badger | communcations@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

the

11

24.01.11

12

arts THE MAIN EVENT Page 12

the

badger | badger-artspages@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

The main event

VISUAL ARTS PERFORMANCE REVIEW UNIVERSITY APPAREL Page 13 ON THE BIG SCREEN Page 14 MUSIC ROOM GIG PREVIEW Page 15

arts

Photo: meltingvinyl.co.uk

badger

WHAT’S ON...?

Page 16

James Duffield Media Development Officer You’re at the University of Sussex.

You’re staying in Brighton, the popculture capital of Europe (if not the world), the place to find new musical talent from all over. Sounds good, but where am I going with this, I hear you ask?

Being in such a vibrant city gives us amazing opportunities to experience live acts we may not be able to see again, and be introduced to music we may love for the rest of our lives. A great example of this isVive La France!

2011, which is coming to Brighton on the weekend of 27-19th January.

If ever there was a reason to get out of halls or house and get into Brighton town, this is it. Melting Vinyl bring an

impressive cast of French talent to Brighton for a third year. Loads of venues in the North Laines will be host to a diverse mix of musical genres from the land of the Eiffel Tower, to impress both connoisseurs and newcomers to the French music scene. Komedia, The Hope and The Basement all welcome such artists as Melanie Pain, Punks Jump Up, Housse De Racket, Chapelier Fou, Curry and Coco, JD the DJ, and KKC Orchestra, who comprise and Drum ‘n’ Bass DJ, a pianist, a swing guitarist and a rapper.

You’ll only see acts like this in Brighton, and you’ll only see these guys at Vive La France! Plus there are more great acts to be announced!

But Vive La France! won’t only be showcasing music – after all, it wouldn’t truly be representing France

if it omitted a vital part of French Culture: its food! French Bistro ‘Mange Tout’ on Trafalgar Street will be selling the finest of French cuisine.

Give into the temptation to try some French wine, beer and other bites.

Plateau, in Bartholomew Square, is a new venue, combining some intimate after hours DJ sets with the culinary delights that France is famed for.

As well as this, the Duke of York’s Picture House, just off Preston Circus, will host the exciting finale through the medium of film. An exclusive latenight screening of the best of French film, ‘Delicatessen’, a cult classic back home, is sure to entertain the discerning festival-goer. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (of Amelie fame) and Marc Caro, this acclaimed black comedy, set in a post-apocalyptic

apartment block in France, asks the question: “What would you be willing to do if food was a rare commodity?”

An intriguing and atmospheric story, ‘Delicatessen’ is the epitome of Viva La France! after dark.

The festival also includes seminars from some of the pre-eminent names in the French music industry, and with more acts still to be announced, Vive La France! 2011 promises to exceed the high standards it set in 2010 by further establishing itself as a cultural focal point in Brighton’s musical calendar.To grab a slice of French culture, and to experience Brighton like you’ve never before, get to Vive La France!

2011! Make sure you get your tickets online at ticketweb.co.uk, seetickets. com or picturehouses.co.uk. Don’t forget your ID!

Want to be an arts editor?

Are you committed and hard-working with an interest in journalism? Are you a good writer with a keen eye for grammar? Do you have a passion for arts and culture? Then apply now to be an Arts Editor, applications are now open.

Your responsibilities will include: - attending weekly editors’ meetings on Friday, 12.30pm, in the Media office and the writer’s meeting directly after it - sourcing stories, features, interviews and reviews covering all arts subjects including film, music, performance, visual arts, television, computer gaming, food, literature, fashion... which are to be brought to the weekly editors’ meetings - dealing effectively with PR companies and other organisations to arrange such stories - commissioning these stories to be printed on your page to writers at the meetings or by email - putting together one page in InDesign each week, by the Tuesday evening deadline - uploading all stories from that page onto the Badger Online using Wordpress every Friday

Being involved with The Badger is great work experience vital for your CV and lots of fun too!

To apply, please fill in online the form at http://bit.ly/hm0Z6U

24.01.11

13

arts

the

badger badger-artspages@ussu.sussex.ac.uk University apparel

Visual arts

What is art?

Joseph Preston Visual arts editor

Could the black and white warning sign on a cigarette packet be called art? Photo: Shahbaz Majeed @ Flickr Joseph Preston Visual arts editor What is art? To some, art is something seen in an exhibition, an established canonical work by Van Gogh for example, or the photography seen in published collections, to me, however visual art is everywhere.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, good art is art that isn’t supposed to be art.

It’s this kind of thinking that inspired artists like Banksy to challenge the public’s view of graffiti, making people see it as art rather than vandalism. Was some of the world’s earliest art not graffiti?

And as I go over the road to the 24

hour off-licence to buy another pack of cigarettes, I can’t help think the bold black “smoking kills” against the bleached white background with a strong black border is sort of iconic, beautiful. Ironically supposed to warn against the effects of smoking, I think it makes the packets rather attractive.

Of course, the idea of viewing commercial products as art is hardly new.

Andy Warhol began the craze with Campbell’s Soup and extended it to multicolored portraits of Monroe.

But that leads us to a discussion about the artist as a celebrity which I’m not concerning myself with here.

Art is everywhere and we mustn’t

just see art as something for galleries and the celebrity artist. What happened to art for art’s sake? The designer who created the “smoking kills” slogan didn’t intend it to be visual art, but nevertheless it was no doubt designed by a professional graphic designer.

It’s the minimalist simplicity of the design, the bold statement, like a Warhol screen-print or a Rauschenberg collage. I’m not denying I’m probably the only one who does find them aesthetically pleasing.

But it isn’t just the pretty antismoking slogans on packets of cigarettes, it’s the way litter is piled on the streets, the graffiti on the seats of

buses. Photographers for years have been exploring the concept, the way a person walks across the road, the light shinning on a cathedral or the natural geography of an open field.

Visual art can be found everywhere we look: the Coca Cola trademark, ecliptic shop fronts or collections of bric-a-brac in a junk shop.

My point is that our values towards visual arts are based on the market place and not art itself. Also, that even though some of us may never be the next Francis Bacon or Damien Rice, doesn’t mean the only art worth seeing is art approved by the establishment. Art is everywhere.

Eleanor Chambers Love’s Labour’s Lost 13-14 January Falmer House The intimate space of the Debating Chamber made a fitting setting for SUDS unassuming adaptation of ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, performed by a small but adept cast. As the lights dimmed, the music faded in, we were taken from a room in Falmer House to a student flat, a nightclub, an office, a dressing room, as we shared in the all too familiar struggle between love, work and play that played out within a group of students and the dancers they worshipped.

The original play, is unusually inaccessible, so Kristina Wilde must have had her work cut out in taking on the task of adapting this somewhat obscure comedy. I am pleased to say that on this occasion, love’s labour was not lost – she has excelled in creating a clever and engaging adaptation.The play has been updated and reworked without losing the subtlety and clever wordplay of Shakespeare’s original, which is often considered one of his

most intellectual plays. The decision to set it in the playful and flirtatious 1920s, with a group of students and dancers, was a particularly shrewd choice and judging by the occasional outburst of loud laughter, one that was appreciated by the predominantly student audience.

Comedic roles were carried well by the cast, and all deserve to be commended for making the performance so accessible and humorous. Especially good were Moth (Rosemary Terry) and Don Adriano (Diego Iraheta), playing the main comedic duo and providing a diverting sideplot as excellent foil to the main plotline. I will say that the play felt a little flat in its ending, but this is understandable as the ending to the original play is similarly abrupt.

It is thought that ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ was originally written to be performed to students at the Inns of Court. While the Debating Chamber may not quite be the same, SUDS can congratulate themselves on translating Shakespeare’s ideas so successfully. All in all, a warm-hearted, funny and original production, a real labour of love.

Photo: Photo: dailycal.org Theatre Royal Brighton

Performance preview

Boys and Girls we have things to talk about. Things your mother probably told you long ago about dressing but you were too cool to listen, but things that are the basics of good styling and coping with trends should not be ignored. Sit down; listen to me, and we’ll travel into the realms of good taste and how-to-deal-with-trends together.

First of all girls - Hats. Hats are big this winter, and look set to be staple in spring (Chanel, Audrey Hepburn or Joan Collins). But hats are difficult, get it wrong and you look like fashion’s freshest victim, and no one wants to be that person.

Get the hat right, and you’ll enter into whole new planes of chic. Don’t go for the biggest, furriest, brightest piece of tat you can find, it should be casual, cute and cosy.

Our friends at Style magazine would have you believe that a brightly colored trilby is the height of chic, but I whole-heartedly say: no, don’t be a d**khead. In my experience, girls who wear trilbies are insufferably dull and totally lost on the seas of style. If Elle Macpherson looks like a d**k in one, SO WILL YOU. Boys, stop checking bikini pics on facebook (for the heteros) and get off Grindr (for the gays), David Gandy had released a new Style app. David Gandy, the God of men’s fashion, is sharing his tips to a flawless and classic look in short easy bite size chunks. Gandy is pushing for a return to Bond-y style chic-ness; suits and tailoring are the words du jour. And children, please, no more knee length combat style shorts this summer please, you’re giving Auntie Gloria a headache.

And so duckies, we come to the big one, the jumpsuit. Jumpsuits have been around for the last year, but we weren’t convinced of their true longevity. Thanks to long term onesie pusher gorgeous Stella McCartney there is a welcome place for them in our collective wardrobes. Bring on those Topshop Playsuits, those wonderful Celine elegant trouser legs and above all, that timeless; elegant and beautiful Chanel cat suit. Or at least the cheap knockoffs from the man down the road.

24.01.11

14

arts

the

badger badger-artspages@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Photo: daemonsmovies.com

On the big screen

Lucy Atkinson Film editor Blue Valentine Derek Cianfrance USA, 112 mins, 15, 2010

their early romance would clearly do spectacularly well at the box office (almost undoubtedly better than the actual film will fare), it is in the scenes of destruction, of love lost, that the true genius of the film lies.

Opening on a shot of their daughter calling out for their lost dog, the film sets a tone of searching, of desperation, of an impossible desire to regain what is lost. This heightens as the film continues, until every moment of tenderness between the pair hurts just as much as every harsh word. Instead of focusing on moments of high drama, as is the way of so many other films dealing with the breakdown of a marriage, here the film confronts us with the day to day life of the couple. The tedium and routine of daily life, the little frustrations, the things which used to be cute or funny but suddenly aren’t. This is the way love dies in real life, played out in excruciating detail. Parallel sex scenes from the

start and end of their relationship spell out most explicitly the change that has come upon them, and make for some of the most uncomfortable viewing you’re likely to get in the cinema for quite some time.

The reason that the audience cares about the characters, that the film remains watchable and compelling even when you’re confronted with images and situations you’d really rather not see, is entirely down to the two lead actors. Ryan Gosling continues on his quest to avoid the heart-throb image in which Hollywood is so desperate to cast him, and by so doing provides us with yet another tour de force performance.

His character, Dean, is a wonderful father but a sub-standard husband, an insecure, bullying dreamer caught in a life he chose but never wanted.

Michelle Williams is quickly proving to be one of the best actresses in her generation, instilling Cindy with the quiet determination and vulner-

ability of a woman whose life has turned out the opposite of what she had planned. Both performances are so perfectly nuanced, so delicately observed, so essentially human that it is impossible to look away.

Blue Valentine will not be to everyone’s tastes. It is slow, quiet, understated and sombre. Beautifully and unobtrusively shot, with a cold, washed out colour pallet which makes everything appear even bleaker than it already is. The soundtrack by Grizzly Bear is dreamy and melancholic, hinting at a happy ending that we know won’t come. While not for the faint of heart, or those hoping to do anything after the film apart from sit alone and have a little cry, it is a film worth watching. Beautiful, brutal and heartbreaking, it reminds us that the happy ending is only half the story, and that the point where most romance films end is where the real story begins.

his trapped arm; his only instruments a blunt pocket knife and a makeshift tourniquet.

An incredible story, no doubt. But one that surely seems more suited to the small screen than the big one. In the hands of any ordinary director and actor, the film could have turned into a overwrought, sagging snoozefest. Thankfully though, Boyle and Franco are no ordinary combination and in their hands the story becomes a blistering, gut-wrenching ride that ranks amongst the most intense cinematic experiences of this year. And while reports of audience members fainting seem a little over the top, ‘The Scene’ is just as toe-curlingly

painful and nauseating as one would expect it to be. But this, quite obviously, is unavoidable As Ralston lurches from his initial sense of panic to an acceptance of his fate, to then go easy on the audience at the final moment and to sanitise the experience that the real-life Ralston endured would be to inflict the severest case of cinematic blue balls imaginable. It just couldn’t be done any other way; and deep down we all know this. This is not arbitrary gore along the lines of ‘Saw’ or ‘Hostel’, it serves a real purpose: to represent the truth of what really happened.

Seemingly using every trick that

he has accumulated over his near twenty year career Boyle’s frantic 1990’s MTV style aesthetic – which can occasionally be quite jarring to some – works perfectly here. From split-screen openings, time-lapse photography, flashbacks to childhood, Scooby-Doo hallucinations and even the dreaded video diary none of these, surprisingly, ever feel gimmicky or forced and succeed in making the film as accessible and approachable as a film about a man who cuts off his own arm could ever hope to be.

Some people will describe ‘127 Hours’ as one of the worst date movies ever created but I can’t help feeling

like this is a little unfair. Granted, if the film faded to black immediately after the three-limbed Franco stumbles away from the boulder your overwhelming desire would probably be to crawl into the foetal position and cry yourself to sleep as quickly as possible.

But it doesn’t. There is still Ralston’s rescue which is a scene just as effective and moving as any scene from this year. As a result you leave the cinema exhilarated with a burning desire to live life making ‘127 Hours’ one of the best films of the year and far from a mood killer.

Just don’t make dinner reservations for immediately afterwards.

Photo: fastmovieblog.blogspot.com

Blue Valentine was 12 years in the making. The script had 66 drafts.

When the concept was first created, Ryan Gosling was in a Disney show called Young Hercules and Michelle Williams was auditioning for Dawson’s Creek. In the intervening years, the two actors grew to become two of the finest and bravest working in their medium, and the script developed into one of the most raw, painful, heartfelt pieces of screenwriting I’ve ever experienced. As a result, Blue Valentine became a piece of filmmaking born from love, dedication, hard work and time, a remarkable achievement for both actors and director, and one which deserves all the recognition it can get.

The film tells the story of Dean and Cindy, a young couple on the brink of destruction. Intercutting between the start and end of their relationship, the audience is allowed to understand how the couple fell in love while watching their relationship deteriorate. The scenes of their meeting and initial romance are touching, funny, charming and beautifully realized. They could quite easily come from an indie rom-com along the lines of Garden State or (500) Days of Summer; complete as they are with spontaneous dance routines, quirky humour and a leading man to make any and all female audiences dissatisfied with their current partners. Gosling particularly shines in these sequences; effortlessly charming and handsome, his performance had every girl in the audience (myself included) giggling as though he were flirting with them alone, rather than with the characters on screen. Although the film of

Declan Foley 127 Hours Danny Boyle USA, 94 mins, 15, 2011 The prospects, from the premise, look far from thrilling. A film adaptation of the real life story of extreme sports enthusiast Aron Ralston (James Franco) who in 2003, following a freak accident, found himself trapped on the inside of a canyon by a boulder pinning his arm to a wall.

Five days later, having extinguished his supply of food and water and seeing various attempts at freeing himself fail, he decides to amputate

24.01.11

15

arts

the

badger badger-artspages@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

The music room

Nimmo and the Gauntletts

Food for thought

Hannah Meaney

Reva Gauntlett and Sarah Nimmo Photo: Anna Evans Louise Ronnestad Music editor What better way is there to begin the year, or anything, than with the folky/pop orchestra Nimmo and the Gauntletts (NATG)? I doubt there is a better way because, genuinely, this is the real deal people; they are your winners. Can music ever get more complete than with NATG?When they give all they’ve got up on stage (and they do); it is a total experience of something incredible; that is what they give out and invite you to be. It probably won’t get better than this they manage to leave you euphoric, wanting more.

Nimmo and the Gauntletts are wide-ranging in their music: emotional, witty and soulful. Their ability to stir up emotions that you didn’t

know you had, felt or forgot about is epic. At recent gigs in Brighton and London, the band contrasts the new emotional song ‘Young Light’ with a jazzy classic ‘Bandol Blues’. University of Sussex students Sarah and Reva even makes some dance moves when performing which makes any audience groove too – if you are the rhythm they’re right there with the beat or the other way around. That is how they communicate. Nimmo and the Gauntletts are able to make you blush as much as make you laugh.

The band with folk roots is on a melodic journey, standing tall and moving forward with the light switched on because they forgot to switch it off. Alas, it is more than a lucky shot, the dynamic fivesome: Sarah Nimmo and Reva Gauntlett (vocals, guitar), Hannah Rose (saxo-

phone, keys), Joshua Faull (violin, bass) and Jack Williams (drums) fit ghostly well together. Is it a female telepathy between vocalists Sarah and Reva that works? Perhaps so, but it might also be the secret tunes from Joshua on the violin in ‘Woe is Me’ or Hannah and the sax induced love.

On stage and in between songs: what Sarah does in words, Reva gently delivers in presence. It’s what they both are - how and why they go so well together with Joshua, Hannah and Jack.

Sarah speaks about the road forward for NATG that she and the band has accepted. She denies that Nimmo and the Gauntletts is “the next big thing in music”. But again, who knows and why not? They might as well be one of these big things. NATG is known for being supported by Strummerville. Now, they are taking two steps

back to be able to stand on their own in the success. Waiting to catch the best opportunity for the band that will enable them to move in the right direction.

A line from their new material: ‘following fate I am love’s bait and you swim in my mind again’ seems to describes NATG’s road quite well and where they are at perhaps. Obviously, the band is on this exciting journey because they indeed belong here, starcrossed, as it were. It’s a band that will swim in your mind if you invite them to.

Listening to and experience Nimmo and the Gauntletts is like walking in the woods. It’s food for the soul. It’s what you thought you didn’t need but discovered that you wanted. It’s ‘Timeless Lust’ and puts a smile on your face.

Douglas Clarke-Williams

larly sharply in this kind of setting, headlining at The Jam. While Sea of Bees wooped and wailed and regaled the crowd with various titbits of information about the life of a travelling musician, her predecessor offered only a shy smile and a request that we enjoy ourselves.

Being aware that the music should speak for itself, but in an age where live performance is all that’s keeping many musicians from starving it has by necessity become more performance than a simple communication of the hits and a couple of signed CDs at the bar afterwards.

The fact that most of Sea of Bees inter-song banter was self-consciously whimsical fare about how ‘cute’ a half-pint of Guinness and decidedly un-novel observations on the adorable nature of English accents didn’t matter; by engaging with the audience she made us invest something in the performance, and maybe get something out of it we wouldn’t have otherwise. It is strange that such intensely personal music should be brought to the fore in such a manner. Surely, it is testament to Sea of Bees skill as a performer that this is able to happen.

Gig review

Sea of Bees Jam 18 January 2011

Julie Ann Bee Photo: newdust.com

California has an unusually rich history of female singer-songwriters. The likes of Joni Mitchell and Judee Sill cast a long shadow over any young woman from that part of the world who decides to pick up a guitar and sing. Julie Ann Bee, otherwise known as Sea of Bees, from Sacramento has found her own way of escaping from this particular shadow: she uses yelps.

Wailing and moaning as much as using actual words and doing so with an impressive range, brings to mind America’s earliest crop of gospel-blues singers. Expressing emotion through a kind of protoprimal scream theory.

This performance is anchored by the presence of a lightly plucked electric guitar, which plays well against Bee’s occasionally over-enthusiastic strumming and provides a touch of much-needed weight to her soaring vocals.

Sea of Bees stands out particu-

At one point last Tuesday night, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was on the verge of tears. In his hands he held an enormous freshly caught cod - a species under severe threat from over-fishing - which he was forced to throw back into the sea, despite the fact that it was already dead. “It’s like two large lebs of lamb!” he wailed. “It’s like a whole sirloin of beef, and it’s going back into the sea... it’s insane!”

This was, of course, a scene from Fearnley-Whittingstall’s three-part mini-series, ‘Hugh’s Fish Fight’, part of a season of shows designed to highlight the dismal state of the fishing industry worldwide.

This particular programme focussed upon the EU fishing quota initiative which was created to protect fish stocks, and currently prevents fishermen from landing more than a certain weight of cod per year. However, as many boats work in mixed fisheries, they are unable to avoid catching cod and are forced to throw back any surplus as ‘discard’. The waste is astounding, estimated at half the annual total catch in the North Sea. Although fishermen argue that cod is in plentiful supply and protection isn’t needed at all, the science doesn’t back this up. The recent increases in cod simply shows that they are beginning to recover - very slowly. Fearnley-Whittingstall argues that a different kind of system could both protect cod and stop the enormous waste.

Fearnley-Whittingstall also highlights the destruction wrought by large scale tuna fishing, in which nets of up to one mile are used to catch whole schools of tuna, trapping sharks, turtles and dolphins in the process. In particular he criticises Tesco and Princes, who use this method while at the same time claiming to support the marine environment.

Finally, he examines the salmon farming industry, where three pounds of wild fish is needed as feed to produce one pound of salmon.

It’s not all bad news. The Fish Fight campaign has already had some success, with Tesco switching all its own brand tuna from destructive net catching to pole and line methods.The petition to change the current EU quota system already has almost 500,000 signatures and the current UK fisheries minister is committed to the cause. Also, less popular fish, such as pollock, mackerel and sardines are cheaper, which can only be good news for students.

For sustainable fish recipes, or to sign the petition, go to www.fishfight.net.

24.01.10

16

arts

the

badger

What’s On...?

| badger-artspages@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

If you want to see your event on these pages, contact Olivia James with the venue, date and time of your event, a short description, and any relevant images. Send your request to badger-listings@ussu. sussex.ac.uk by the Tuesday of the week before your event is happening at the very latest. * Tickets available from the Union Box offic in Falmer House

Monday Will Self: What’s New About The New Year?

Cowley Bookshop Talk: Dr Judith Suissa

Erudite grouch interviewed by Mathew De Abaitua

Dr Suissa is a senior lecturer in Philosophy of Education from London and she is coming to talk about her book ‘Anarchism and Education’ The Cowley Club 7pm £free

Komedia Down 7.30pm £12

The Duke of York Cinema

JailBait

Black Swan starring Natalie Portman and directed by Aronofsky, who directed The Wrestler. The Story was been inspired by Swan Lake and the film has been nominated for several awards The Duke of Yorks 1.30pm, 4pm, 6.30pm, 9pm

Every Monday, instead of Trash why not try Jailbait. RnB, Hip hop, garage, and plenty of 90s classics.

Life 10.30pm, £2

Tuesday C. W. Stonekind & his primitive Horn Orchestra Tremendous vocal and instrumental style from the musician who draws influence from pre-war blues, jazz, 1920s calypso and folklore to produce his original song.

Komedia Down 7.30pm, £12

The Bee’s Mouth

Acoustic Open Mic

CU Next Tuesdays

Roll ‘Dem Bones Blues, jazz and 60s tunes.

Calling all musicians, guitarists, bongo players, MCs, singers... anything! Turn up and play, or listen and drink.

The Bee’s Mouth 8.30pm, Free

Falmer Bar, every Tuesday 8pm

Another student night, where the name has been wittly changed form glitterati to the perhaps a little crude CU next Tuesday. Its the ‘creme de la creme’ of the socail elite...

Digital 11pm, £4/3

Wednesday Closing of Elections

Funky Spanish Breaks

SchMOVIES: Punk’s Not Dead Documentary tracing the history of Come along for tips about living in Don’t miss your chance to vote for next Funky house band and Latin DJs, along- Headquarters, Nitkowskit, Guns & punk . The film features live footage years officers! This is the last day and side great drinks deals!

Knives New York power pop and and interviews with bands like Green Brighton and in the private sector. polling closes.

Day and My Chemical Romance, as London math rock well as more likely inclusions such as Minor Threat and Henry Rollins Casablancas Around Campus, Cowley Club Hectors House Lancaster House Common Room 10pm, £2 by 4pm 7pm £free Evening, £6/5 10am Housing Information Fair

Live Music

Thursday Fish Fry

Vive La France!

The Vaselines

Brighton’s unique French music festival returns. Melanie Pain, Punks Jump Up, Housse De Racket, Chapelier Fou plus more. Also a celebration of French food and Wine!

The Basement 8pm, £TBC

Alternative rock band from Scotland A night of pure jungle, Drum and Bass and drum step madness! Playing will be are heading to Brighton for their long- Former Kiss FM DJ, DJ Kenny Ken and his partner MC Fearless will reuniting awaited come back! and headlining this massive night, and alongside them will be Sub Zero. B2B are looking for DJs and MCs to play at this night, so if you think you could be the next big thing, text your name to 07795837513 to speak to a promoter.

Coalition 7.30pm, £12 East Slope Bar, 9pm, £Free

Early US rhythm & blues, original Jamaican ska and r&b, jump blues, rocksteady & early reggae, gospel, roots of rock n roll, calypso and jazz!!

The Badger writers’ meetings

Union Council Meeting

Live Music

Battle Jam

Want to write for The Badger? Come down and meet our friendly editors!

This is the primary policy making body of the SU. All elected officers and Union Councillors are eligble to vote at Council. Any student can attend these meetings and have speaking rights.

Venue TBC 4pm

Come chill at East slope bar with Live JFB and Ed Solo will be freestyling and music every Friday. If you want to on the turntables! be involved then email hollie.lucas@ sussex.ac.uk

BACK TO BASICS: The Uni Party (Bringing Brighton to Campus)

The Jam 10pm, £1

Friday

the

badger

Every Friday Room 126, Falmer House, 1.30pm

East Slope Bar 8pm. £Free

Audio 11pm, £5

Saturday National Demo NO FEES, NO CUTS! Get yourself to London if you want to protest agaisnt the governments choice to raise the University tuition fees. Buses are running from campus so makesure you buy a ticket!

London £TBC*

Black Box Techno

Off The Cuff Comedy invented in real-time Upstairs at Three and Ten 8pm £8/6;

Neil Landstrumm Live, Mustard Gunn, Tony Montana, Wonkay Musi and Erisian djs. If you like techno and psytrance....

Matt Barker Magnificent turned out DJ Downstairs at Three and Ten 10pm £free

Concorde 2 11pm, £3

Sunday Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra An all-English programme featuring works by Walton and Vaughan Williams, with a pre-show talk Brighton Dome 1.45pm/2.45pm £9-32

Krater Comedy Club Award winning comedy every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Eat, drink, watch and laugh as 3 top stand-ups and one of the best MCs on the comedy circuit entertain you.

Komedia 8pm, £9.50/6

Brighton Filmmakers Coalition Meeting

Chill Out

Loads of pubs around Brighton tend Get involved in local projects and put to have a relaxing Sunday night DJ your ideas on the table playing with great drinks offers.

Try the Druids arms for some trip hop and dub or the fishbowl in town Marwood Cafe is also great!

6pm £free

24.01.11

17

science

the

badger

| badger-science@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Oral sex show examines HPV virus Lily O’Hare BBC Three recently broadcast a programme entitled ‘Is Oral Sex Safe?’, a documentary which - in the channel’s typical sensationalist style - examined the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Presented by Jaime Winstone of ‘Kidulthood’ fame, the show featured bizarre animations of individuals performing sexual activities and regulatory outfit changes from Winstone.

This programme is a prime example of how ‘health’ documentaries need to be taken with a pinch of salt. One can imagine that the teenage audience at which it was largely targeted were left bewildered, and perhaps even frightened. To give the show its dues, it did expose a virus that is still amazingly unheard of by many. After having watched the documentary and spoken to friends, I realised that the vast majority of us know little if anything on the subject.

In the 1980s, the idea that people could transmit cancer to one another was regarded as absurd. But as times moved on, and scientific research examined closer, this belief rapidly altered. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus that affects the skin and the moist membranes which line parts of it. Half of sexually active adults will be infected with HPV at some point, usually showing no symptoms, or occasionally outbreaks of warts; however HPV will usually clear on its

own within two years. In rare cases the HP virus can lead to cervical cancer, cancer of the vagina, penis, anus or mouth and throat. Recent studies have found lower cases of HPV in circumcised men, which may indicate that it exists under the foreskin in the smegma, however this is still being debated with other studies finding no correlation.There are hundreds of different strains of HPV and each strain causes different affects; some are associated with genital warts, others can cause common warts and so on. Then there are the high risk strains which are associated with cancer.

Of HPV related cancers, cervical cancer is by far the most common, with just under 3,000 cases in 2007.

In that same year about 5,000 people were diagnosed with oral cancer but only roughly 25% of these cases were HPV related. HPV related cancers of the mouth and throat are caused through the performance of oral sex, and this was the avenue Jaime Winstone went down. Her overriding argument was that the HPV vaccine, which is now provided in schools to girls, should in addition be given to boys. She argues that boys are more likely to get HPV oral cancer than girls are, which although true, ignores the fact that cervical cancer is still much more common.

In 2008, an HPV vaccine was introduced in schools for girls aged 12-13 with the initial aim of preventing cer-

vical cancer at an effective age before the girls have had sex. However as more on HPV was discovered, people have questioned whether boys should receive the vaccine as well. Funding for the NHS is a rigorous process of picking and choosing what the best options are to prevent overall illness, and by vaccinating girls the hope is that this will start to create a ‘herd’ immunity against HPV related cancers.

With HPV cancers in males relatively low, the cost to immunise both sexes has proven uneconomic. If funds are allocated to this strategy, there would certainly be cuts in other areas of the health service.

For those of us currently studying at university, we have essentially missed the boat. So what precautions must we take? A health advisor at the Claude-Nicol Centre in Brighton elucidated on the topic. Most people go into the clinic anxious about warts, yet Claude-Nicol and other clinics likewise will happily remove them, if only for cosmetic reasons. Warts generally derive from a strain of HPV which is completely different to those which cause cancer. For women aged 25 or over, smear tests are a vital method of checking for cervical cancer, so it is recommended that they pop into their local clinic or go and see their GP. For all of us under the age of 25, we find ourselves in an awkward middle ground, too old for the vaccine and too young for smear tests. Protected sex is

The Human Papillomavirus Photo: med-ars.it fundamental and even easier with the introduction of the C-Card - a new joint venture between the students’ union and Health and wellbeing that entitles free condoms for 18 - 25 year olds. The vaccine has recently been found to be effective even after sex so

it’s never too late to get the vaccine.

However for over 17s this will set you back £300-400. The best option for HPV and all sexually transmitted diseases is to go and see your GP or a health advisor to get more information.

Science needs more room for doubt

Thomas Lessware Science editor

Last week the Edge foundation’s online magazine released the answers to its annual question to some of the world’s leading thinkers. This year the question was, ‘What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit?’ This question was devised by Steven Pinker, the famous Harvard psychologist. It is especially apt in today’s age where the public understanding of frontier science is far less developed than it was fifty years ago.

This is not a reflection on the intelligence of the public but rather the pace of modern science. In the 1960s, an average person could open a radio and point to each part and explain what they did and how they worked.

Do you think you could open an iPod and do the same thing? Science and technology has advanced so much in the last fifty years that most outside the specific field in question have little knowledge of the subject - this has and will continue to have serious repercussions on all of us until the public understanding of science improves.

Understanding the uncertainty and limits of scientific research was highlighted by several contributors.

Climate science, evolutionary theory and the safety of the Large Hadron Collider have all been under attack from people who misunderstand not only the fields but the inherent uncertainty in the scientific method; this misunderstanding has been exploited

Uncertainty is key to the scientific method Photo: artandperception.com by groups as far ranging as the pharmaceutical and oil companies to the religious right.

The scientific method is our best way of observing and understanding the world around us. However like all systems of thought it has its limitations.

Science is about building a model of a certain phenomena, experimenting and observing whether that model fits

with what actually happens in nature and then refining and changing the theory if it does not fit.

Since quantum mechanics was first proposed in the twenties any notion of absolute certainty of physical phenomena was discarded with that bizarre side effect of the calculations, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.

This principle states that either the

mass or the velocity of a microscopic particle (but not both) can be known at any one time.

While this limits us to only being able to predict probabilities of future events, without it the electrons in an atom would fall from their orbit around the nucleus and no life, planets or stars could exist.

Science is also fundamentally uncertain on another level. Good quality science will never outright claim to have the absolute truth (it should, in fact, aim to disprove the proposed hypothesis, rather than prove it); rather it uses the experimental evidence to build an approximate model of the phenomena in question. This uncertainty is one of sciences major strengths over other schools of thought. Science is not a religion; one inconsistent observation can cause an established theory to completely collapse. This has happened many times before – from the realisation that the earth was not at the centre of the solar system after careful observation and calculation to the creation of quantum physics after the failure of classical physics to explain black body radiation.

The public generally is not aware of this uncertainty in science.Throughout education we learn about the fundamental and most established aspects of science. However we are not taught about the scientific process by which these fundamentals were discovered and formulated.

This is a problem as it suggests that once a theory is proposed it is accepted by all scientists as correct. When a paper is published, there will inevitably

be criticism through the peer review process.

These criticisms can lead to the author to refine and ensure that the paper is of a good quality. If you are unaware of this process, the first example you come across will make you doubt the validity of the science in discussion. This has happened with climate science. While the scientific explanation of global warming due to carbon dioxide emissions is strong and accepted by the vast majority of climate scientists, there is a disproportionate number of the public who don’t believe that human emissions are responsible for the temperature rise.

While this is partially out of convenience and a resistance to change, it is also to do with the fact that critics are able to say that as there is debate within the field, one side cannot be completely right. This would make sense if this uncertainty wasn’t the standard for every scientific field. Because of the lack of understanding of the principles that underpin the scientific method, those with vested interests are able to muddy the waters and prevent any strong plan of action to be legislated. In the case of climate change, if the public is not educated about the process and is unable to tell good from bad quality science, we will never have an effective solution and that condemn us to a disastrous future.

A better understanding of science and learning to embrace its uncertainty will not only help progress but will no doubt be necessary in the coming years as the effects of climate change really start to bite.

Electric Einstein? Roving Rutherford? Fancy writing for the Badger science page? Write a 500-1000 word article on whatever excites and inspires you in the world of science and email it to badger-science@ussu.sussex.ac.uk.

18

24.01.11

SU sport with

badger | badger-sports@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

the

sport

Union sport clubs seeking further success Matt Stroud Sport editor As the university sport scene grinds back into action after the long winter break, it is an opportune time to review the year so far in Union sport, and look ahead to the coming months.

The year kicked off with the annual Refresher’s Fair. Foul weather forced the event indoors but - despite a slight issue with overcrowding - the fair was a huge success, with clubs reporting record numbers of students at their taster sessions and trials.

With more freshers onboard, thoughts turned to welcoming them into the club through the sport social scene.

With the infamous initiations banned by the Students’ Union, the ‘welcome to the club’ events went off without a hitch.

As noted on the sports pages of the Badger in week four of autumn term, the weekly Wednesday night socials in Falmer Bar and Oceana have been very well attended. In addition to this, some clubs ran social tours. Cricket Men are a prime example, as their four-day tour to Somerset attracted 20 members.

Away from the social scene, clubs were focussed on competitive success. Last academic year (2009/10) saw Sussex continue their climb up the university sport rankings, up seven places to 51st (out of 145 institutions).

Scott Sheridan, the Union’s Activities Officer, said this was “a

fantastic achievement [for] an institution that does not have a taught academic sports program”, so this academic year had quite a bit to live up to.

Football Men is a case in point as Alex Kennewell, First Team Captain recounts. ‘The First Team are in second place, chasing a strong Chichester, while a newly promoted Second Team sits top of their league, having beaten rivals Brighton 2-1 in November with just ten men.”

The Third Team is also prospering in this thriving club. One eye is, as always, on the Varsity match against Brighton at the season’s end. Kennewell says: “With Sussex hosting the tournament this year, a strong turnout of supporters would be much appreciated.”

The Fencing Club has had an equally successful competitive season.

Rugby Men have had a more mixed season. James Sempill, Second Team Captain, says of the season so far: “The results haven’t always been what we were looking for but every game has been played with enthusiasm and commitment.

The newly promoted Firsts are very much holding their own in Division 2A and the Seconds are striving for promotion having won all but two of their games before Christmas and are still in contention for the cup.”

Rugby also have plans for the rest of the year, Sempill says. “Our aims are simple: to win every game that we play and look for promotion for both teams.”

Fencing is a prime example of a club for whom this year has not

Sussex sport aiming for varsity victory Photo: The Guardian

just been successful on a competitive front. Over the summer a number of fencers trained as level one coaches and have started a community project. The project has seen coaches visit three local schools (Brighton Alridge Community Academy, Dorothy Stringer and Hailsham) on a weekly basis, offering after school fencing lessons to students. There has been a large amount of interest and the project will continue this term.

Rugby Men have also volunteered, spending a day on the South Downs working with the National Trust for Project V. Their off-field activities have also extended to charity work, notably a 24-hour charity row which raised over £1000 for Cancer Research UK.

Clinical Sussex sweep past Reading Welcome victory

for Football Men Alex Kennewell Sussex 3-2 St Mary’s

Irene Morgan Sussex 32-14 Reading Sussex were disappointed to see Reading with only 11 players, forcing Sussex to make do with 5-man scrums.

Despite this setback, Sussex demonstrated their determination with a strong attack in the opening minutes of the game, resulting in a beautiful break through Reading’s defensive line by Naomi Passley, which lead to a try by newcomer Pauline Olivera.

Sussex were showing particular strength in lineouts, and although Reading had a few strong key players, Sussex were quick to notice this and held up their defence admirably. Reading were close to Sussex’s try line when once again Passley demonstrated her lightning abilities, managing to run nearly the entire length of the pitch, with wonderful support by outside centre Jess Forbes bringing the score to 10-0.

Although Sussex conceded seven points due to a nifty fly half on the opposing team, the forwards displayed their

strength pushing back with an unfortunate held-up try from Andina Brown.

Marcelle Jennings then blasted through the unsuspecting Reading players giving Sussex a further five points.

Jess Forbes demonstrated further skill, twice managing to chase the ball and kick it over the reading try line, and in a race with reading place the ball down magically. The backs were truly showing their colours, with excellent support being one of the main strengths of the team, leading to another try by full back Passley. Unfortunately in the last few minutes Reading managed to slip through Sussex’s defensive line, with a lucky and undeserved converted try bringing the score to 32-14.

Considering the lack of training sessions due to weather, Sussex dealt extremely postively with the first game of the spring term; there was not an individual who did not contribute in a constructive way. Come and watch us this Wednesday, 2pm, at Falmer Sports Complex when we’ll be meeting King’s College London for what will no doubt be another exciting game!

In the first game of the year, the Sussex Men First Team ventured to southwest London to face mid-table St. Mary’s.

A solid and consistent back four soaked up an early general lack of urgency across the pitch by Sussex.

Indeed, this defensive consistency was the foundations upon which the Sussex opening goal was built. A ball drilled into the penalty area from the right was tucked away delicately by playmaker Ed Willoughby.

A rejuvenated St. Mary’s side came back out in the second half and started strongly, wearing down a tiring Sussex team. It was not long before a disputed penalty and a goal mouth scramble gifted the home side a 2-1 lead.

Sussex responded well as Kolodynski lofted a ball forward to surging left-back Kennewell, who slid front man Meskell in. Meskell took the ball around the keeper with composure and slotted into an empty net putting the two sides level.

Not settling for a draw, Sussex soldiered on as the second half continued.

With five minutes remaining, a second from Toby ‘the colonel’ Kolodynski gave the away team an emphatic and deserved 3-2 lead.

It was a lead they held until the final whistle blew. Sussex were relieved to secure three invaluable points, which pushed them into second place and right on the heels of league leaders, Chichester.

The spring term sees the culmination of the BUCS league and cup competitions, as well as several big days in the Sussex sport calendar.

The annual varsity match against Brighton University takes place this April at the Falmer Sports Complex, where Sussex will be looking to emerge victorious after several tight losses.

This is followed by the ever-popular Past v Present event, where ex-university sports members return to take on the current teams.

As much about the socialising as the competition, it is a day not to be missed.

Sussex stands a good chance of success in these events, with many teams riding high this year. As Sheridan says: “Already there has been a vast improvement in the

performance of Sussex teams even in comparison to a very successful previous term.

“The introduction of Tennis to our BUCS squad has been a great addition, and they are performing very well. Teams such as Fencing, Hockey Women XI and Basketball Women have had an exemplary first few weeks and are driving our BUCS performance.

“It seems that there is now a determination from Sussex teams to continue to succeed and improve, and I look forward to this continue throughout the rest of this year.”

Halfway through the year sport at Sussex is looking strong. Competition stretches into summer term, leaving plenty of time for further success. Success that Sussex will hope leads to varsity victory.

Fencing thrives in 2011 Rebecca Yates The Fencing Club, led by co-presidents Nicky Stevens and George Burwood, has had an exciting year so far.

This started with success for both the Men’s and Women’s teams in the BUCS league.

The men’s team, captained by Ben Carter, won three of their four matches and are currently second in the league. The women’s team, captained by Bex Yates, won one match and lost the other by only four points; the final match of the term was unfortunately snowed off.

The number of people interested in fencing has increased and this has been reflected by an increase in members. The club is now thriving, with high attendance at every session.

At the beginning of term the club hosted a well attended social (organised by social secretaries Michael Meny-Gibert and Emma Harrison) which saw Falmer Bar and Brighton overtaken by Zorro look-a-likes. The social secretaries also organised a Christmas dinner at Pitcher & Piano which rounded off the last term with high spirits.

This term we have a superheroes themed social planned for week three and another dinner in the pipeline for the end of term.

Both teams will continue to compete in the BUCS league this term with both home and away fixtures. Both teams have the potential to take the league top spot.

Training on Tuesdays (8pm until 10pm) will continue to be open to everyone, with coaching available from Angela Goodall and a number of Sussex fencers also trained as coaches.

Most excitingly of all a group of eleven fencers will travel to Boston in the United States of America for eight days in the Easter break.

The group were invited by a fencer at Mount Holyoke College who was a student at Sussex last year. Whilst there, the fencers will compete against five colleges and attend training with the Mount Holyoke fencers.

The funds for the trip are partly from a Facebook competition run by Wall’s Sausages offering the winner money to fulfil their passion. The competition was won on behalf of the club by Women’s Captain Bex Yates. This tour is the first the club has been able to run and will hopefully not be the last.

Finally the club is currently organising an individual’s fencing competition for summer term. This is supported by the British Fencing Association and is open to any fencer from any country.

This is an annual competition, with this year seeing it renamed from the Sussex University Individuals Fencing Tournament to the Brighton Open.

We are hoping for many entries from fencers around the country and a very successful competition.

This is an exciting time for the Fencing Club, and new members are always welcome to join us.