2013, Term 1, Issue 7

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4 NOVEMBER 2013, WEEK 7

LEWES BONFIRE PREVIEW THE ROYAL ISSUE: QE2 OPENS £19M ARCHIVE SUSSEX SAYS

The etiquette of clothing in clubs

FEATURE

Miriam Steiner Page 3 explores religiosity on campus Page 8 Page 5

THE BIG DEBATE

SCIENCE

Is The Queen an Page 14 figurehead appropriate to open The Keep?

Page 11

EU plan to ban menthol cigarettes by 2020 Page 12

ARTSTUNE IN ONLINE Mos Def reviewed at Concorde 2

Page 15

Resistance in the rain Trade Unions take a stance on wage deflations with student support on the picket line

Daniel Green & Jack Williams News Editor Striking trade unionists and student sympathisers defied treacherous weather conditions to partake in industrial action centred on a pay dispute.

Members of Unite, Unison and UCU took the decision to strike in response to being offered only a 1% pay increase by the University and College Employers association (UCEA) after two months of negotiation earlier this year, a significantly lower offer than the Unions’ demand of a 3.2% increase.

An estimated 100 demonstrators formed four separate pickets across entrances to the University of Sussex campus, attempting to dissuade others from entering.

Notable figures such as Owen Jones, as well as Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas, have expressed sympathy with strikers and their struggle to receive a better deal on pay.

Reiterating the Students’ Union’s support for industrial action, Emily Holliday, Students’ Union Operations Officer, explained: “The Students’ Union supports the strike as we have made clear in our statement and I personally feel it’s completely unfair that lecturers and tutors are being offered a cut in real term pay whilst the management’s salaries rise. It’s a reflection of what’s going on in society at the moment”.

Tim Carter, a tutor and member of UCU, was adamant that the University would “have to listen”, in the face of orchestrated industrial action, commenting: “It’s not just lecturers and tutors that are striking, its support staff, professional service workers and some of the lowest paid people in Higher Education.

“At a time when Universities are in

surplus, they can afford to invest in their staff, but they neglect to do so.”

Earlier in the day, a temporary barricade was erected by rogue sympathisers outside of Falmer house, but was later kicked down by someone entering campus.

Jeremy, a Unite member, predicted that constant below inflation wage increases would have detrimental effects on the living standards of junior higher education employees.

He said: “We’ve all got bills and energy prices are going up; everything is more expensive. Universities are making significant amounts of money and we’re getting a pay cut year after year. We’re down 13% since 2008. It’s ridiculous.”

Insisting that he was prepared to participate in further bouts of industrial action, he continued: “A one day strike is good for raising consciousness but as far as I’m concerned you’ve got to show management we’re not prepared to sit around and be ignored.

Enough is enough.”

Echoing these sentiments, a senior member of a striking Union, said he was ready to do “whatever it takes”, adding: “I am prepared to do a two day or three day strike. This is the only route we have left. Negotiations have got us nowhere”.

Questioned why they made individual staff members declare if they intended not to strike, a University of Sussex spokesperson stated: “We wanted to ensure that, as far as possible, services could continue to run as normal for our students, staff and campus visitors, so we needed to make an assessment of staff attendance.”

They continued: “We did this by asking them to report in advance that they would not be taking strike action. This is the same approach we have taken in previous industrial action.”

Summer Dean

‘Long may she rain...’

Halloween had a royal flavour as HRH The Queen visited on Thursday.

Her Majesty, last seen at Sussex to open the library in 1964, toured the local area and opened The Keep, the new home for the University’s state of the art archive collection, across the road from the campus.

The vast collection includes thousands

of historical resources and archive materials, available for use by academics in all fields.

The Queen arrived just after 2pm, meeting staff volunteer groups and unveiling a plaque to commemorate the occasion.

The £19m facility, situated across the

Summer Dean road from Falmer campus, will open to the public next month.

Michael Farthing, the Vice-Chancellor, said in anticipation of the occasion: “The University of Sussex is proud to be a partner in creating this remarkable new resource for the region. It is a fitting home for our internationally-acclaimed Special Collections.”

the badger

4 novemBER 2013

in pictures • 2

IN PICTURES In pictures: what’s happening on your campus Staff Strike

Halloween Cake Sale

Summer Dean

Ho Wah So

CoppaFeel:Sussex Boob Team Cake Sake

Michael Turnbull

Extraordinary Members Meeting

Mina Rassouli

Mina Rassouli

Mina Rassouli Danceathon

St Jude Storm in Brighton

Amy Bracewell Badger pumpkin

Mina Rassouli

Sussex Snow zombie social

Students’ Union

Ambie Roberts Womens’ football tournament

Ana Rufusova

Xiangxiang Gong

the badger

4 November 2013

NEWS • 3

EMM: Education, education, education MEETING SUPPORTS strike action and proposes that the student union closes all commercial services in future strikes

Matthew Fallon The Extraordinary Members Meeting of the University of Sussex Student Union held on Tuesday 29th October produced a relatively unsurprising result as the 164 attending members voted unanimously to support the Halloween strike of Sussex University staff with a coordinated student strike.

The meeting also saw a number of increasingly heated exchanges between the Students’ Union’s Full-time Elected Officers, and a number of attendees concerning controversial Amendment Four.

The amendment stated that the Union will close all its commercial services in future strikes while transforming Falmer Bar into an educational space, in order to show solidarity with striking workers and shut campus down.

However, the meeting failed to have the necessary 450 students present to become ‘quorate’ and therefore the policy is not binding and will need be debated again by the Executive Committee.

The meeting began amicably, with a speech by student Lewis Gilson tabling the reasons to support the strike action. He outlined that since 2009, the

beginning of Michael Farthings vicechancellorship, his pay has risen 57% to £280,000. In the meantime, the salaries of all staff at Sussex University from lecturers to library and cleaning staff have been frozen, essentially amounting to a pay cut when taking into account rising costs of living. This was met to rapturous applause from an audience who seemed to broadly agree this was an issue.

Concerns were raised about the general behaviour of those who would participate in the strike. Student staff who work in the Union’s bars expressed anxieties regarding the potential harassment of students and employees who choose to cross the picket line, citing previous incidents of past strikes.

Student Ben Perkins was particularly vocal on this subject stating “If there is an instance where there is a number of students being intimidated by people on the picket, they should review support of future strikes”.

A second amendment was subsequently passed stating that the Student’s Union will support the strike under the condition “safe space” is protected and would withdraw support if the condition is judged to be broken. Amendment Three was later passed, specifying that Union

staff would not face harassment on their way to work.

This led to a number of counter attacks from other students who stated that if the union shut down during future strikes, it would not only show solidarity with striking workers, but would eliminate the need for SU workers to deal with potential harassment as they would not need to come on to campus.

Amendment Four was therefore tabled and subsequently passed, and the meeting threatened to spiral out of control as

Michael Turnball

debate descended into argument. The main point of contention for the Union representatives was the feasibility of shutting down the Union for multiple days in future strikes, with Operations Officer Emily Holiday quoting financial losses of ‘8-10k a day’ for a Union ‘already running at a deficit’ and potential legal issues with the shutdown. It was also pointed out that they would have to gain approval from the company’s board, and that the three striking Trade Unions had agreed that the Union should stay open.

The result will be seen as a victory for the majority of those attending the meeting and presents another headache for the Union which has already come under fire from some for appearing not to be doing enough to tackle voter apathy.

This point was brought up at the end of the meeting.

Several students voiced frustration that not enough was done to promote the Extraordinary Members Meeting, with one objector asking “Why did I get an email advertising pizza yesterday and not one for this meeting?”

Although Communications Officer Imogen Adie explained that the Union has to resort to advertising for revenue, there appeared to be no explanation about the

lack of an EMM email. It was pointed out however by the Students’ Union President, Kelly McBride, that if anyone has issues with the Union, they are able come and speak to officers directly regarding any issues.

The University commented that ‘Sussex, like most other universities, is represented in the national negotiations by the Universities and Colleges Employment Association (UCEA), who have made the pay offer and are responsible for the negotiations with the unions nationally.

These national negotiations have to take account of the position of all universities and they will vary in terms of their different financial positions.

The agreement has to be manageable and affordable for all institutions. In relation to the offer made, the HE sector continues to face considerable uncertainty and the outlook for public funding for HE remains uncertain due to predicted cuts to government expenditure: financial sustainability remains vital as we work within the new funding regimes. Nationally, negotiations have taken place against a backdrop of economic stagnation and expectations of restraint, given a public sector pay policy that limits pay increases to 1 per cent.’

Arts A: ‘super uber occupied’ by strike supporters

Whilst Labour and Tory societies unite against building occupation

occupation

Daniel Green & Jack Williams News Editor Protestors conducted a flash occupation of the Arts A1 lecture theatre on Wednesday in solidarity with the strike scheduled to take place the following day. Several protesters daubed messages in yellow chalk on the exterior wall facing Library Square, which included ‘super uber occupied’.

A source from within the occupied lecture theatre told The Badger that 60 protestors had planned to stay in the building overnight, dispersing in the morning to join strikers at the picket line.

The occupation arose spontaneously following a planned demonstration to promote camaraderie with striking workers, who took industrial action on Halloween last week in a national dispute over pay.

In an official statement agreed upon by the occupiers, they said: “We are occupying in support of the strike in the fight for fair pay in higher education.

The cost of living is rapidly increasing; this is unacceptable and insulting and cannot continue.”

The Occupy Sussex movement have received several messages in support of the occupation. However, the Students’ Union announced in a statement that they did not support the “occupation of teaching and learning space that disrupts activity on campus”.

A picture of both Tory and Labour society executives was posted on social media, echoing the concerns raised by the Students’ Union, and depicted representatives from the opposing political societies shaking hands against the Arts A occupation in the background.

Despite the occupiers pledge to keep disruption to a minimum, Rob Frost, President of the Sussex Labour society said he was “unable to attend scheduled events that were due to take place between 2pm and 6pm”.

Responding to claims that academic activities were disrupted, one of the occupiers contested, saying no such interruption of lectures took place- citing instead that a History department workshop was the only scheduled event to take place inside Arts A1 after 1pm.

He explained that “no classes that are part of a degree programme took place [in Arts A1] after 1pm.”

Referring to the History workshop,

he said: “the reasons for people being turned away was not related to the actions of the occupiers but the response of the Estates department, who did not allow tutors to hold lectures in an occupied space.

“We tried reasoning with them, and we supplied them with a new lecture theatre”.

Students’ Union officials were understood to be ensure students in the occupation had safe access to the occupied room.

One of the occupiers confirmed the stance of the University security team, relaying hopes that a more “appropriate” deal could be struck.

However, a University source denied these allegations, commenting: “No-one was prevented from leaving. We made it clear to the 20 or so students who held a sit-in in Arts A that they should leave and that they were disrupting normal teaching activities for other students”.

A second year history student, who observed the occupation of the lecture thearte, said: “I don’t know what they hope to gain with the occupation.

They’ve tried it all before and it never worked. I think the strike itself will make a much more potent point than this.”

Upon occupying the lecture theatre, the protesters convened a “democratic

student meeting”, discussing their plans ahead of the Halloween strike and the movements more long-term goals.

Organisers of the occupation distanced themselves from those who wrote on the side of the building, as well as writing on desks in the lecture theatre, saying that the people who have to clean it are those being directly affected by both the real-term reduction in university pay and university outsourcing.

Demonstrators were split on the idea that Arts A1 should be turned into an ‘information point’ during the Halloween strike; with some arguing that

picket lines should be prioritised and that this action could be perceived as allowing people to cross the picket.

One demonstrator said that there was “no need to occupy a building to be on the picket line tomorrow”.

Security was relaxed three hours into the occupation, with people able to join using the main doors in the building; entrance had previously been limited to a fire exit at the back of the lecture theatre.

Further coverage is available on our website, online at www.badgeronline.uk.

Daniel Green

THE BADGER

4 NOVEMBER 13

NEWS • 4

Homeless homed in shipping containers Reuben Cross A new initiative in Brighton sees unused shipping containers being brought in and renovated as homeless shelters.

The project, overseen by the Brighton Housing Trust (BHT) will provide temporary accommodation for 36 homeless men and women in a former scrap yard situated on New England Road. Although the scheme has been labelled by some as “imaginative and appropriate”, it has also raised some concerns.

A similar initiative has already failed to take off in the Netherlands due to insufficient funding. With the containers being imported from Amsterdam in order to aid the fast implementation of the project, it is hoped that it will be met with better fortunes here in Brighton. Privately funded initiatives have already been completed successfully.

Eric Reynolds created what is called “container city”,located opposite the O2 Arena in east London. He has created similar spaces Camden Lock, Spitalfields Market and Green Park Station Market in Bath.

The use of such building materials means the rents can be kept low, making it an ideal solution for the council facing budget cuts. The project already has the backing from the BHT and QED Estates Ltd., West Sussex based property developers.

YMCA

It has been reported that the containers will be stacked in blocks with those higher up being fitted with balconies and external stairs for access.

Roofs will be fitted with solar panels as a power source and each block will back onto its own garden.

As some of the containers are still being held in Essex, the Brighton site is being prepared to house its new residents.

The chief executive for the BHT stated on the company’s website that it is expected that all of the containers will have been allocated to new owners within the next month.

The latest figures suggest 21 out of 36 containers have had occupants

register. It is anticipated that these homes will provide shelter for the next five years in a bid to tackle the growing concerns over the rising number of people without fixed accommodation.

The number of applicants accepted as homeless by councils leapt up by 6 per cent in the past year and those placed in bed and breakfasts by 14 per cent, according to government statistics.

Housing charities claim that the increase is clear evidence of the impact of the government’s welfare reforms.

The first houses were unveiled both to the public and some of the future occupants on Friday 25th October.

A call to observe Sussex marks Remembrance day Eid celebrations Jonny Harris

Zoe Ambrozewska

11 November will see a two minute silence to commemorate those who have lost their lives fighting for their country.

This will be the first time Remembrance Day has been observed on campus for several years. There will be a service in Library Square as well as the opportunity to listen to a short lecture on Poppy Day, followed by a screening of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front.’

Poppies will be sold by a group of students for the whole week in order to raise as much money as possible for the British Legion. The goal is for the whole of the Sussex Campus to observe a two minute silence.

The students are running the Poppy Appeal in an attempt to raise money for ex-service men and women and their families.

15 October saw the Eid al-Adha celebrations take place. The event was hosted by the Islamic Society and the Students’ Union jointly at Dine Central, Bramber House.

The attendance was double the size of last year’s event. An estimated 160 students attended. The event featured live performances and recitations of the Qur’an, games and entertainment; and the sacrifice of a sheep piñata. Eid al-Adha is the second of two annual, worldwide Muslim religious holidays. The celebration falls at the end of hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage, which approximately 1.5 million Muslims in Saudi Arabia undertook this year.

The religious significance of the holiday is centred on the importance of willingness to sacrifice for God, and the trust and love felt for Him. A spokesperson from the Islamic Society said: “We’re grateful that Muslim students are able to engage in the festive occasion together”.

Ussu

USSU

TED talks come to Brighton Steve Barker Online Editor

Imogen Adie Communications Officer

What should the Students’ Union do? It’s up to you...

We’re writing our new strategy for the next three years, and we want you to tell us what we should be doing. We want you to come forward with your innovative ideas as well as telling us what you like and don’t like about what we currently do.

On Tuesday 5 November we’re going to be outside Falmer House all day so that you can come along and chat to us about your ideas, get a nice cuppa and fill out one of our comment cards with your ideas.

Alternatively you can fill out the comment card on page nine

of this newspaper or pick a card up from lots of points around the Union. Please return these cards to Falmer House.

We’re also taking online submissions if you can’t make it to campus, just head to sussexstudent.com/ournewstrategy.

We’re going to turn all of the submissions into five visions for the Union, and then give you the opportunity to vote on these in February. Once we’ve written the new strategy we’ll then take this vision to a referendum, and ask all students their views on it.

An independently organised TED event, took place in Brighton on the 25th October, for its third consecutive year.

The theme of the TEDxBrighton event, held at Brighton Dome, was ‘pass it on’, where Speakers were encouraged to speak on the topic of legacy and heritage.

In a speech to the talk, Mick Taylor, a former teacher with a PhD in mathematical epidemiology said: “Money is often taught wrong.

“If our assumptions about money are wrong – there’s a danger that our analysis and policies based on it are wrong.”

Mick went on to explain how our public approach to finance is nonsensical, arguing that this was all too clear when we find ourselves labelling banks as ‘too big to fail’.

Using a bathtub as an analogy, Mick demonstrated that our money supply is generated almost entirely from banks lending at interest, proposing instead the solution of a full reserve banking system

“We put the plug into the bath, and pass control of the tap to an accountable body. It’s a politically neutral change, because both right and left could spend it as they see fit.”

Sam Watling, a sixteen year old sufferer of asperger syndrome, spoke of the weaknesses of the education system in the UK. According to Sam, technology is revolutionising our social structures, but education is being left behind.

Sam claimed that most schools have a ‘toxic psychology’, in which bullying and the reduction of pupils to teachers

ratio has become the norm.

He asked the audience to consider how we could use technology to identify which subjects students struggle with, and develop a bespoke timetable accordingly.

TED is a non for profit organisation that is devoted to spreading worthy ideas, which was originally conceived as a four day conference in California 25 years ago.

Over the years, the organisation has attracted prestigious figures to speak at its events, including Sir Richard Branson, Al Gore and Bill Gates.

Steve Barker

THE BADGER

4 NOVEMBER 2013

SUSSEX SAYS • 5

SUSSEX SAYS

Claim To Fame

THE MOAN ZONE

A Golden(balls) Experience Isabella Silvers Working in fashion and event production isn’t glamorous. I wake up early, lug heavy equipment from one end of London to the other and occasionally run in the rain to buy a biker group sandwiches and drinks. I finish late and most often don’t get paid. It’s not sounding great, is it? But there are some perks to the job. Aside from the freebies, the leftover catering (professional models were never going to eat

ing so glammed up at 12pm felt uncomfortable. I hope his front row appreciated the cream carpet underfoot I painstakingly hovered just hours before.

But the real claim to fame came the next day, while I worked at the launch of the new Belstaff store on New Bond Street. Referred to only as ‘the talent’ for fear of work getting out before the evening, I prepped a green room for this mystery celebrity and manned the backstage doors. So who could this famous face be, hired to make an

After the event, and making eye contact with the one and only US Vogue editor ANNA WINTOUR(!), David’s exit from the building naturally coincided with my convenient door-manning location. He was happy to take a quick photo (or four) with the team. I’ve never been hugely attracted to him, but when his arm was around me I understood what all the fuss was about!

Of course, me and David have kept in touch and are best friends...and pigs can fly!

“...professional models were never going to eat 150 Krispy Kremes...”

150 Krispy Kreme’s now were they) and the oh-so-worthwhile experience, I do get the opportunity to meet some famous faces.

In September, London Fashion Week in full swing, I worked with a London based production company on two of their events. The first, for the glamorous Julien MacDonald collection, saw me rub shoulders with the likes of Pixie Lott, Paloma Faith and Julien’s fellow Strictly Come Dancing cast mates. Abbey Clancy in particular struck up conversation with me about the cold and how be-

The sour screech of the police siren loomed from behind me. It isn’t me is it? I’m drunk and I’m cycling and I’m being pursued!

Flashes of shocked faces roll from view as I realise I have been loudly chanting “I want to take you to a gay bar” like a mantra for the camp-est cult in existence.

I realised that in order to fake sobriety I had been making hand signals to turn, while cycling down a straight road for 10 minutes. The wail of sirens encroached and the police pulled up to my frantically cycling feet.

“Pull over” “PULL OVER!” How did I get myself in this situation? Well, I’m sure it started with Carling, it always starts with Carling. I had been pre-drinking with my roommates and I needed to get to

Granted, I am writing this following a big night out in Canterbury to celebrate my friend’s birthday and I was the only one wearing nonblack shoes. Yes, admittedly, the shoes in question would be more akin to skateboarding than clubbing scene, but given the half-cut state of everyone entering the venue in question, it seemed at best pedantic to interfere with my night out over such a trivial matter!

This leads me on to my second moan; why do women have so many shoes to choose from? Why do men not have a leopard print style to choose from? The hardest decision we have to make is “brown or black”.

I do agree a level of dress should be expected but I must put my foot down when it comes to shoes, as I don’t enjoy being walked all over by sole-less bouncers.

Creatures of the Night @SussexSays #Moan Mike Gray

CREATURES OF THE NIGHT Seamus Mulrenan

Clubbing is lots of fun; it often involves copious amounts of alcohol and an opportunity to bust out dance moves. The photos the next day present a half-dad dancing fiasco, yet the photos have never put me off continuing to do it. What really hacks me off, however, is that in this less-than-lucid state, the type of shoes you wear is so important to the bouncers and it can even prevent you from getting in! As if shoes have that much of an effect? Who even looks at other peoples shoes in clubs anyway?

Despite my reasoned and logical debate with the security (at least the bits between the slurring) I grudgingly walked back home and changed my shoes! I returned slightly less enthusiastically than before, but keen to get dancing. The bouncers allowed me to enter.

However I felt somewhat overdressed in the sea of canvas shoes and brightly coloured high heels.

appearance for a luxury leather biker brand alongside a troupe of real bikers and leather-clad models? I was told male, not an actor or musician and supernova famous. Well, as you’ve already seen from the picture, it was none other than Goldenballs himself David Beckham, complete with security team but unfortunately minus Victoria. Eschewing champagne and wine for beer, and enjoying the strawberries I lovingly arranged for him, I listened to Beckham chat about Harper before catching my first glimpse as he popped to the loo.

know them before they all went to the Tent party that I missed out tickets for. Instead I went to see an old friend in Brighton for an amiable drink. Perfect.

But as the night progressed I felt the haze of alcohol descend on me.

My ears ceased to work and I instantaneously developed the cataracts of a dying man. Oh god, I knew I was drunk.

Having consumed what turned out to be about 750ml of pure whisky, the drunkenness had begun, which included making toast – I needed to sober up right? The next thing I knew I had taken a trip to the toilet and seemed to have taken a bunch of parsley with me… to season something?

Having left my friend’s house we decided to head into town.

“Let’s go to a gay pub. It’ll be fun” Later a gay friend would warn me.

A gay pub is where gay stereotypes go to die. We entered: We realised we didn’t quite fit in but instead of leaving we fought back with hard liquor and started dancing! While reminiscing about the little parts of the night I could remember on my journey home, I was interrupted again by: “PULL OVER” I dismount the bicycle like an anaes-

This week: The Rules of Clubbing

thetised crab.

“Your bike light has fallen off ” slightly relieved by the fact they had not noticed my intoxicated state I thought to myself I must act sober. What do sober people do?

“Thank you so much officer” I straighten my arms and my back. “You’re going to have to wheel that bike home” replied the officer. I was almost free and told myself to just say goodbye: “Good to see you, have a wonderful new year” – Oh dear!

Next time I think I will pass on the Whiskey if I have to cycle home in order to avoid a close run-in with the law!

HAVE YOU GOT A STORY? Had any eventful nights out in Brighton recently?

We want to hear it!!

E-mail Sussex Says at lmh34@sussex.ac.uk

Share your moaning moments

TOP CELEBRITY TWEETS OF THE WEEK “Britney Spears said she loves Coronation St. There’s loads of weird voices and she never knows what’s going on. It’s like real life to her.” @JimmyCarr “I love watching people smile at their phones like some Cheshire Cat” @imLucyWatson “Stop boasting about how you’re not on Instagram. I get it, you’re not lonely” @WhitneyCummings “cant believe my dog hates the cold nearly as much as me, he’s even got his puffa jacket on! #winterwear” @BobbyCNorris “At the dentist. Teeth not sore, just really fancied a pint of that yummy pink water.” @BigBoyler “Remember kids, if at first you don’t succeed, remove all evidence that you ever tried in the first place.” @rickygervais

the badger

4 november 2013

Letters • 7

LETTERS

In defence of freedom of press Dear Badger, Last week, a letter was written by Juliette Cule on an alleged ‘unsubstantiated concern’ raised in an earlier article written by myself on the subject of turnout in the most recent Students’ Union elections that saw a turnout of under a fifth of eligible voters on campus.

It is this newspapers job to report and hold accountable the institutions of which its readers are a part of. I was elected as this Union’s Media Development Officer, when I pledged to make sure that student media would do just that.

Claims thatanyofthelegitimateconcerns over turnout and representation raised to this newspaper by students were trivial ‘unsubstantiated concern’ do a disservice to the voice that students have on campus, and the role that the media has in local and national affairs.

It is our job to report on stories of interest to students, and within any student (including the Education Officer’s) right to offer their thoughts in the form of a letter or comment piece.

This newspaper holds itself to account by publishing articles or letters that critique the paper itself, as has been demonstrated by Cule’s letter and a comment piece featured in the same issue- and so it should, if it expects open dialogue and debate within other components of University and Union life.

In regards to the criticism of the article itself, fifty per cent of the piece was dedicated to putting our queries to Union officers and a University spokesperson.

I put it to Cule that her allegation of what she calls a ‘negative article’ is in fact an example of how this newspaper is successful in its endeavour to challenge the Union over legitimate concerns, explained to us by the students they represent.

I have no quarrel with the Union, and personally commend the hiring of election ambassadors and the amount of personal enthusiasm channelled by officers and those who put themselves up for election.

But to contest that this newspaper should not be able to challenge issues such as this, in the way that it has done, is detrimental to the fundamental understanding

that the press should hold elected officials and their actions to account.

Having gone through election week once myself, I can understand how hard some people work and how passionate some students are about doing right by their students by standing for election.

The editorial team and I all believe that Student Representatives have the potential to make powerful changes to this institution. But imagine how much more of an open university we could study in, if an officer was open to the idea of transparency and self-reflection.

Proudly, Aubrey Allegretti and his band of phantom naysayers

RE: Is crime rife on campus?

email: badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk sort of thing would never happen to me. It was a naive thought in hindsight, and the prospect of having my photos and videos - my memories - cruelly snatched away from me by a stranger has taught me to be more cautious.

If anyone can take any message from my experience, it would be an obvious one. Keep your valuables in a safe place when you are out and about, and don’t become a target of thieves.

Daniel Green

The Daily Mail fuelling outrage over gender neutral toilets Dear Badger,

Dear Badger, I recently read your article about crime on campus (‘Is crime rife on campus?’ 21 October) and I couldn’t help but think about an experience I had in Fresher’s Week where I almost fell victim to theft.

During my first week at Sussex, I was looking forward to going to the Fresher’s Fairs, and when the opportunity came to go the first one in Mandela Hall, I couldn’t say no. As anyone who went can testify, the hall was packed full of people with movement nigh on impossible.

It was only by pure chance that I looked down and saw a hand reaching into the pocket of my hoodie, attempting to steal my phone. I looked at this stranger, and as he looked at me, he laughed, pulled back his hand and disappeared into the crowd; I have not seen him again.

Originally, I laughed it off, thinking it was some sort of joke, but I as I thought more about what had happened, I was stunned. Stunned that someone, perhaps a student of our university, would happily prey on people in a place full of potential witnesses.

Stunned that it had happened on campus - a place where I had felt safe and protected. Stunned that I had left my phone in such a place where it was easy for someone to take.

I have often had friends recall stories of going to nightclubs and returning home having had their wallet or phone stolen, but I had always thought that

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

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

BADGER

THE

This week the ‘Daily Mail’ attacked the Students’ Union’s policy of introducing toilets for transgender students.

It quoted several members of the Sussex community criticising the initiative as a waste of time, political correctness gone mad, etc. etc. Yawn.

A history student even told the journalist – a term I use in its broadest possible sense given that we’re talking about the ‘Mail’ – that the Union “may as well build a toilet for midgets.”

Let me just clarify the so-called story here, because it’s fuelling so much outrage that it has been blown out of all proportion. A student union has adopted a policy which makes some of its members feel more comfortable, while not hurting any of its other members in any way at all.

Slamming the union for doing this is either incredibly selfish (‘any time spent on policies that don’t directly benefit me is wasted time’) or generally intolerant (‘these people’s concerns are of no substance and they should just pull themselves together and be more like me’) or both.

I’m not transgender so these new toilets don’t affect me. They don’t affect anybody except the minority of people who will be pleased that their concerns are being recognised. Is that so terrible?

Gabriel Webber

# T hebadger the week in tweets @jblay2 trains cancelled making me miss my 9am, what a shame #TheBadger @dbatchelor94 This storm though. It’s a tad wet out there guys... #TheBadger #StormySussex @white_orchid91 CAMBRIDGE only offers BAs in all sciences - a BSc is irrelevant if #psychology is a science or not! #TheBadger #tired #checkyourfacts @white_orchid91 ‘ology’ does not mean SCIENTIFIC study and this comes from an actual Greek speaker #TheBadger #psychology #checkyourfacts @JellyElliott Couple trees fell over and my outdoor bin disappeared, the only thing frightening about the #UKstorm was my train timetable. #TheBadger

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@dbatchelor94 Praying that my essay deadline gets extended due to the protest on Thursday #SussexProblems #TheBadger @KaroliinaL Proud to to be a phantom naysayer! #TheBadger @breeallegretti Walking across Library Square in the rain is like a minefield. You never know which paving stone will explode... #TheBadger @heathergwyther EW, a ‘union box’ #TheBadger @emilyrosesuth impossible to get a computer or even anywhere to sit in the library, sussex needs less students not more #TheBadger If you’ve got a 140 character letter, simply send a tweet and make sure to hashtag The Badger to be include in the next week’s issue.

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the badger

4 november 2013

FEATURE • 8

FEATURE

Ho Wah So

Losing my religion?

Following on from a series of religious events across the University last month, Miriam Steiner explores whether religious observance has a place within a university founded on liberal principles.

For a university famed for individualism and liberalism, it seems unsurprising for some that religion doesn’t take centre stage at Sussex. You are far more likely to see someone wearing a yellow square than a cross when walking around campus. But according to a 2010 NUS survey, 32% of students describe themselves as belonging to a religious group. Having around a third of students following a religion raises the question of how does Sussex and its students treat religion on campus, and how should we approach religion in a wider sense?

The Students’ Union has active societies representing all major world religions, and the Union has recently run events to celebrate Eid and Diwali.

The positive outreach of the Union to religious students, and the fact that all religious societies and events are open to all students – religious or not – shows an inclusivity at Sussex that you might not expect from many religions outside of a university environment.

But some may argue that religion shouldn’t even have a role in university. The fact that we live in, what I consider a secular democracy, with a separation of church and state, with religious groups often disagreeing on some of the most basic human principles, could lead people to say that religions have no place in our liberal education system. Others would argue that the influence of religion on vulnerable students can negatively affect their lives, pushing them towards reli-

gious fundamentalism.

However the positive effects of religion cannot be ignored. It would be difficult to disagree with most of the Ten Commandments, and the moral guidance that religion brings can be a respite for many people when suffering, particularly whilst at university and away from the comforts of home, many find it difficult to adjust to inde-

“Surely religious equality means equal treatment of all religions, not especially accommodating treatment?” pendent living.

As many Sussex students would argue, religion can be seen in the words of Karl Marx, as the opium of the people. But you have to question whether an opium that provides a good moral path for many who may have otherwise turned to more negative life choices is necessarily a bad thing.

It is clear that the Union’s work is largely supportive of religious activities, but in my opinion, the same cannot really be said of the approach by the University, particularly in regards to exam and assignment deadlines.

The introduction of exams taking

place of Saturdays means Jewish students cannot take exams on the same day. This has led to some students falsely claiming to be Jewish, and the university introducing a system where people have to provide “proof” of planning to observe a holiday. This can cause issues for people who do not attend Synagogue but do observe privately, as no one can verify their attendance.

I would argue that Saturday exams have also caused massive issues for those who do go through the correct process which the University then chooses to ignore. Last year, a secondyear Jewish student was allocated a Saturday exam despite declaring her religious observance. The University was extremely abrasive, according to the previous head of the Jewish Society, who claimed that the University initially refused to let the student take the exam on an alternative day. The University later said the student could take the exam in August, which is obviously not a practical arrangement, and only after the student threatened to complain on grounds of discrimination did the University change its position and allow the student to take the exam a day early. This , to me, shows a clear contempt by University administration for the religious needs of students.

However, many would argue that religious students should be treated as equals to other students, taking the exams on the same day as everyone else. Surely religious equality means

equal treatment of all religions, not especially accommodating treatment?

This is the core of many arguments against the special treatment of religion and religious students on campus. However, if we say that equal access to education regardless of religion is more important than equal dates, within a day or two-day period, then we can accept that treating religions fairly in terms of getting a degree is a fairer route to take than restricting people’s religious activities due to dates that can be changed.

There is the question of whether exams should be taken earlier or later than the rest of students. Both allow the possibility of students telling others the questions, but there is the issue of students who are religious getting more time than non-religious students, meaning that these students may have a slight advantage.

This is against equality guidelines which state: ‘access to education should not be influenced by religion or lack thereof’, and I believe there should be a consideration of changes in grading for students who get more time to work towards assessments than others.

University regulations state that there is “process to allow for candidates with a flagged disability to have a reasonable adjustment prior to an assessment and for students with religious/ sporting commitments to have an examination outside the normal times.”

The reason stated for allowing this is “equity for all”. The fact that religion,

disability and sporting arrangements all come under one section for moving exam times shows that religion is not seen as more important than any other life circumstance, and that individual differences and needs, religious or not, are theoretically taken into account by the university.

Overall, it seems that religion at university is something that does, and should, matter for students who prescribe to a faith. Fitting with Sussex’s liberal approach to most things, people are free to worship or not worship as they see fit. Some people may think the University administration does blunder, such as with Saturday exams for students who cannot attend, or recently sending an email out to some Jewish students saying “Dear [Student Name], We see from our records that due to your Jewish faith you are unable to sit exams on Saturdays or during Ramadan.” which is almost comical in its stupidity.

But the availability of the Meeting House as a hub for all faiths and the freedom to establish religious societies and communities is a positive thing for students-religious or not- to have access to.

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THE BADGER

4 NOVEMBER 2013

COMMENT • 10

COMMENT

Generation apathy- the new Brand?

Ellen Harber Many of us will have become aware of Russell Brand’s explosive launch into the world of politics this week with the viral clip of his Newsnight interview with Jeremy Paxman, in which he was called upon to defend his recently acquired status as guest editor of the New Statesman maga-

zine.

Responses to the video have been wildly varied; many are applauding him for giving voice to a generation so thoroughly disenchanted with politics that they don’t engage with democracy, others for holding his own against Paxman’s intimidating accusations…and beard.

On the flip side, his remarks were described in the Independent as the

Union box

“...ultimate expression of Slackerism, a political theory with roots in teenage angst, mild rebelliousness, and a pie-in-the-sky leftism that wants to pull down the walls of the politics then sit around smoking pot in the ruins.”

However, a great deal of the video’s response was less to do with the ideas being discussed but rather with the man himself.

Whilst some people seemed surprised at Brand’s eloquence and quick thinking, more scathing commentators suggest that some of his words seemed too rehearsed (the beautifully alliterative ‘disenfranchised, disillusioned, despondent underclass’) and were in fact a mask for repetitive and vague complaints against a political system to which he offers no alternatives.

Others, like Paxman, see Brand as somehow under-qualified to make such bold statements- some arguing that half-formed ramblings are transformed by celebrity into profound and thought-provoking ideas undeserving of the attention they receive.

One thing Brand could never be accused of, however, is taking himself too seriously. He freely admits to

Sophie van der Ham Welfare Officer

EMM: My perspective I fully supported the strike last Thursday. Staff members should not be forced to take a pay cut that is not reflective of how much, we, as a student body, value their work and feel that we are one community. 150 students asked the Union to hold an Extraordinary Members Meeting (EMM) to mandate the Students’ Union to support the strike, even though we had already put a statement out in support.

An EMM, I find, is not a safe space. To me, a safe space is a place where everyone feels free to participate and is not intimidated by (informal) hierarchies. An EMM is not a forum where democracy

of us. As young people we are constantly bombarded with all the problems in the world, we are told that it must be our generation to undo the mistakes of our under-informed and unenlightened ancestors. It’s easy to be apathetic in the face of so much that needs fixing. Where to start?

What’s more urgent? Climate change or child soldiers? Gay rights in Russia or women’s rights in Saudi Arabia?

I for one am at a loss. This sentiment has been described as ‘abject apathy’ stemming from our pessimism and despondence with the modern day international political system.

Nevertheless- I am not going to stop voting. Because to do so would be to allow minority groups with extreme views disproportionate power whilst we still haven’t come up with an alternative.

The revolution that Brand is calling for does not have to exist solely outside of the political space for it to be valid and to affect change.

In the meantime, his promise to go ‘out on a limb to say stuff that causes trouble’ means we probably won’t be bored by Brand’s forays into politics and beyond, and I will be watching this space.

A light unto the nations?

Gabriel Webber

An except from Sophie’s article on the recent EMM. Read the full story at sussexstudent.com.

editing the Statesman ‘for novelty’, calls himself facetious and is open with his lack of political knowledge.

His twitter bears an image of him in an excellent copy of the iconic Che Guevara photo, and he’s currently on a tour called ‘Messiah Complex’.

So what serious points can we extract from the interview? It all comes down to apathy.

The crux of the ten minute interview is that Paxman refuses to recognize Brand’s right to a political voice if he will not exercise his right to vote; a right that was not easily won and is not enjoyed by many people across the globe.

Meanwhile, Brand contends that there is no scope for change within the current political system and therefore to vote would be a waste.

On this point, the two men continually collide and cannot make their opinions meet.

Brand also asserts more than once that his reasons for not voting have nothing to do with apathy but an ‘absolute indifference, weariness, exhaustion’ with politics that serves only to further corporate interests, exploit the environment and exacerbate the wealth divide.

This has struck a chord with a lot

takes place. A couple of voices dominate the conversation and the discussion is limited by the old-fashioned constraints that we allow ourselves to operate in. It is not meant to generate consensus because we take a yes or no vote.

We pit people against each other instead of all coming up with solutions. It’s set up by people who want their point heard, and only their point, but that is not what democracy is.

This recent EMM demonstrates that beautifully: I support the strike, the Union supports the strike, the students present at the EMM support the strike but I left that meeting feeling defensive and as if I couldn’t possibly work constructively with some of the students present.

Not many people know this, but Britain is currently standing for election. Yes, the whole country.

We're after one of two seats reserved for European countries on the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the poll will take place at the start of November. One state, one vote.

Up until 2006, there was a UN Commission on Human Rights, but it was often attacked for "allowing countries with poor human rights records to be members."

That sounds awful! Imagine an organisation tasked with protecting human rights that was run by the likes of China, Zimbabwe and Russia!

So the Commission was abolished, and replaced by a 47-seat Human Rights Council, which has since had its places occupied with luminaries such as Bahrain, Qatar, Indonesia and even Libya.

So that was a worthwhile change, then. Rebranding one sick joke as another sick joke which, on closer inspection, was identical to the first one anyway.

Sadly, Britain's presence on the

Human Rights Council will not enhance it’s credibility. Our manifesto is on the Foreign Office website, and gives several compelling reasons why other countries should vote for us.

"We are committed to strengthening human rights efforts," it says.

Could this possibly have been written by William Hague, close colleague of Theresa May, who only last month told the Conservative Party Conference that human rights are about protecting criminals, and announced her intention to repeal the Human Rights Act? Yes, it seems so.

"The UK pledges to work for the protection of the most vulnerable in our societies," it continues.

Could this pledge have been made by the same government that is currently withdrawing benefits from the disabled, legal aid from those in need and telling the elderly to buy more jumpers if they can't afford to pay for a 10% increase in their energy bill? Apparently, yes.

By rights, Britain should definitely be elected to the Human Rights Council. As the seventh-richest country in the world, main drafter of the European Convention on Human Rights and for decades a strong advocate for democracy and civil lib-

erties, we should be an example to all, a light unto the nations.

But our reputation as a beacon of democracy has been blighted in recent years, and it turns out that nowadays the best international human rights manifesto we can come up with reads like a work of historical fiction. The government should withdraw from November's election.

We should absolutely be a part of the United Nations Human Rights Council, but not until we make it look like an organisation serious about promoting values of dignity and equality and tolerance and democracy.

And, not until we can stand out as a human rights defender amongst the crowd of Bahrain-style human rights pretenders.

the badger

4 november 2013

comment • 11

THE BIG DEBATE

Is the Queen an appropriate figure to open a university building in 2013?

Queen Elizabeth II opened the University of Sussex library in 1964, but 49 years later, The Badger asks whether students should be proud that she is unveiling our new archive, The Keep

1974

No Dan Williams

The United Kingdom has come a long way in recognising arbitrary mechanisms of privilege and discrimination for the egregious scourge on our society that they are.

It’s conspicuous, then, that hordes of patriots still turn out with great passion to express their sycophancy towards our current head of state - a position, of course, she obtained because of her blood.

Following in this tradition, Sussex University is supposed to be honoured by the Queen’s visitation this week. Republicans such as myself, however, don’t believe this to be an honour. We believe it to be a bizarre relic of ugly deference to unjustified power, wealth and prestige.

We are embarrassed to live in a country wherein people are supposed to fawn over an anti-democratic and anachronistic symbol of undeserved societal status.

And now we must be embarrassed that this symbol is to loom its ugly head over what is meant to be – despite the best efforts of certain figures in management – an honourable and progressive institution.

It’s often said that such objections to the monarchy are misguided and naive. The British monarchy, it is argued, lacks any institutional power of the sort we should be worried about.

The Queen, it is said, is nothing but an innocuous figurehead that preserves a sense of national identity and tradition for a country that might otherwise lack it. Moreover, she’s a Very Nice Person, and it’s wrong to be horrible about very nice people.

We – republicans – can agree with at least some of this argument. Having a Queen does

2013

help to preserve a particular sense of national identity and tradition in this country. It just so happens that the historical tradition is one steeped in arbitrary hierarchy, chronic abuse of power and genocidal colonialism from which our country’s image, and the peoples of exploited nations, are still recovering.

(We may not remember, for example, history’s largest and most expensive feast held in Queen Victoria’s name in India in 1876, whilst elsewhere tens of thousands of Indians starved to death from preventable famine; Indians, however, do.)

It’s hardly a tradition, therefore, that we ought to care much for maintaining.

Regarding the national identity inculcated by the existence of a monarch, it is here where the institution’s power really lies.

Every day, we are forced to see the stupendous reverence of a British public towards an institution of unearned and undeserved privilege.

If we allow this to be defining of our national identity, is it surprising to see subservience to unearned wealth or support for structurally unequal systems elsewhere? Are we surprised that there is little complaint about widespread wealth inequality and an outright absence of serious meritocracy?

Clearly, such problems are not wholly, or even largely, attributable to the monarchy.

Crucially, however, they are embodied by the monarchy. Insofar as it upholds a national identity, therefore, it upholds a fundamentally unjust one. Insofar as it creates a national identity, it creates one we ought to be ashamed of.

Our university should not be proud of the Queen’s visit to open the new Special Collections archive.

Instead, we should be indifferent about the presence of an archaic tradition, or indignant that this tradition is still bestowed with praise and adulation.

Yes Daniel Stuart

Queen Elizabeth II. You may recognise her from her starring role on stamps or perhaps even money, however most people will remember her from the film “Helen Mirren”, which also starred Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, where the Queen played the illustrious actress with style and panache receiving a rating of 97% on rotten tomatoes.

Film career aside, the Queen can in many ways be seen to be an underrated figure in modern times, with “reputable” source listing among her many achievements, setting up her email account, owning a mobile phone and playing the Wii; which possibly alludes to the author’s condescension of the elderly more than anything.

It is not just her high scores on “Mario Kart” that qualify the Queen to open a university building. First of all, there are few who command such widespread popularity these days without some form of infamy. If an opening ceremony wishes to draw in crowds without the onlookers being armed with rocks or such, the Queen is a sure fire winner. Whether it is the fact that she has now had 174 birthdays, an unprecedented achievement in modern times, or her impressive performance on the BBC’s 100 greatest Britons poll, unexpectedly finishing well above Sir David Attenborough and Robbie Williams, she certainly knows how to draw in the crowds.

Not to mention her consummate professionalism at these sort of occasions. We all remember her commitment to sitting out in the rain for hours on a boat during her jubilee celebrations of 2012 and even jumping out of a plane during the London Olympic opening ceremony.

Her Majesty will fulfil any role required of her with conviction and unrequited amounts of waving. Adding gravitas to occasions where the

national anthem “Hey Jude” is belted out by Sir Paul McCartney alongside the pop classic known affectionately by the Queen as “God Save Me”. It can only take a certain calibre of person to accomplish this.

Indeed the most compelling reason for HRH’s immense popularity is her perfect embodiment of the British time honoured tradition of patience and politeness. Her Majesty will take no qualms with appearing in public in any format, whether high or low profile, emergency or gratuitous, the situation makes no difference.

Take for instance the London Borough of Hillingdon, which the Queen visited in 2005. Invited to possibly the veritable armpit of the borough, Hayes, Liz, Phil and the kids accompanied by a few close friends (armed security) and some more distant relatives (snipers), sat through the blustery, cold British summer day and listened to a full array of music.

Whether it was a performance of Cruella de Ville, Bing Crosby’s Swing Swing Swing among other more classical hits from the Hillingdon music service brass band, or a more exotic congo and bongo drum group, amongst others, she attended them all.

Now, from the line-up of her birthday gig, the Queen is more of a JLS or Madness kind of woman, yet she sat through this repertoire without so much as a stifled yawn and preceded to meet members of the groups thanking them and complimenting them. To put this in perspective, I was a member of said brass band. My own family could not attend this. Yet the Queen of England in fact did, and I am sure has turned up to many of said events with the same punctuality.

One final argument against could perhaps be that she is in fact not cool enough to open a building on campus, too out of touch. But, aside from the afore mentioned, Wii mastery and love of popular music, HRH is in fact also Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas and so on. When picking one’s ruling territories, holiday destinations are the first box to tick. Case closed.

the badger

4 november 2013

SCIENCE • 12

SCIENCE EU plans to ban menthol cigarettes by 2022 Christian Baldock

The amount of people smoking in the UK has dropped from 45% in 1974 to 20% in 2012 and the war on cigarette smoking rages with the EU planning more sanctions on tobacco. In an attempt to help prevent young people from developing a smoking habit, the EU is planning on putting an end to the sale of “easy to smoke” menthol cigarettes and the cheaper, smaller packets that are popular with females and the younger members of the population.

It is now a well-known fact that smoking is bad for you. The consequences of smoking range from the superficial staining of teeth and bad breath to the much more serious cases of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Despite the constant bombardment of the negative side effects that we see in morbid TV commercials and on the packets of cigarettes themselves, young people are still seeing an appeal and picking up the habit. This is

science factoid of the week

something the government desperately wants to prevent as the NHS alone spends up to £5 billion a year on smoking related illnesses.

Menthol cigarettes are branded much more attractively than regular cigarettes. Associated with ‘mild’ flavours and ‘softer’ colours on packaging, menthol cigarettes make the act of smoking much smoother and easier to inhale due to the cooling effect of menthol. This cooling effect reduces the harsh irritation on the throat that comes from inhaling tobacco smoke and many young people use them when they start smoking.

Not only are menthol cigarettes easier to smoke in most people’s opinions, but new studies have discovered that menthol cigarettes can actually be more addictive than non-menthol cigarettes.

A report written by Dr. Nadine Kabbani reviews the effects of nicotine and menthol on receptors in the brain. It was already known that nicotine binds to nicotinic receptors in the brain which leads to an increase in

Acyclovir, commonly known as Zovirax, is taken by many of us to treat a pesky cold sore and other herpes infections.

Cotard’s syndrome, which makes you feel like all or part of your body isn’t yours, has been linked as a strange side effect of acyclovir.

In some cases this has the ability to turn into walking corpse syndrome, where you feel like all of your body is dead, like a zombie.

Fortunately this only usually occurs in those with renal failure...

Phew.

Amy Dodd hind their parents back. Banning menthol and smaller cigarette packets may be an inconvenience to teenagers but it is almost certain that if they want to, they will start smoking. It will also prevent those trying to cut back from

20s to 10 packs more difficult.

The tobacco industry will be hit by losses up to £6 billion, but if it helps to prevent some of the 100,000 smoking related deaths a year in the UK then it can be seen as an equal trade.

Free vitamins for under 5’s to stop the increase of rickets Sian Kitcher

Cold sore cream turns people into zombies!

dopamine in the body. This is part of the cycle that leads to addiction. It has recently been discovered that menthol can also interact with these receptors. It was found that menthol stops nicotine from binding to the receptors which makes+ the body crave more nicotine, which will make you want to smoke more.

Long term smoking of menthol cigarettes has found to increase the number of nicotinic receptors in the brain by 9-28%. The number of receptors has been linked to the level of addiction to nicotine so more receptors means stronger cravings. This is a link to the fact that people who smoke menthol cigarettes find it much more difficult to quit and relapse rates are higher than those for non-mentholated cigarette smokers.

The EU is planning on eliminating packets of 10 by 2016 and menthol cigarettes by 2022 but will it really make a big difference? Although smoking is no longer seen as ‘fashionable’ like it used to be, there is still an air of rebellion for a teenager to smoke be-

Last week saw England’s chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, publish her annual report, which this year put a lot of emphasis on both giving children a healthy start in life and tackling obesity.

Currently, if you are on benefits and also have a child under the age of four or are at least ten weeks pregnant then you qualify for the ‘Healthy Start’ vitamin programme. This provides people who meet the above criteria with coupons to exchange for Healthy Start vitamins as well as vouchers to spend on milk and vegetables. In her report, Davies recommended that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) examine the cost-efficiency of making the Healthy Start programme universally available, rather than just to low income families.

This recommendation has been made after claims that up to 25% of children are vitamin D deficient, and evidence that a universal programme of Healthy Start vitamin D supplementation can lead to a substantial decrease in cases of symptomatic vitamin D deficiency in a high-risk population.

One example of symptomatic vitamin D deficiency is rickets. This is a disease that causes soft and malformed bones, leading to cases of bowed legs.

Rickets has surprisingly seen resurgence in recent years, potentially attributable to the rise in vitamin D deficiency. But how much is considered to be a rise in rickets? And what can we blame for this sudden increase?

More parents on benefits? Parents not providing their children with a correct healthy diet?

It is tempting to question why it is the taxpayer that will end up paying for other people’s children to receive a sufficient amount of vitamins to prevent diseases such as rickets, as surely this should be the responsibility of the parents?

Unfortunately, it is not so simple.

Vitamin D is not the easiest vitamin to obtain even through a healthy diet. This is due to it not being naturally present in many foods.

Vitamin D can however, be made by the body when sunlight hits the skin. A substance called 7-dehydrocholesterol, found in the skin, is converted to vitamin D3 when the ultraviolet rays of the sun hit it.

The vitamin D3 then travels through the bloodstream to the liver where it is hydroxylated to become the hormone precursor 25-hyroxycholecalciferol.

This is then transported to the kidneys where more hydroxylation converts it to the active form 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol.

This active form is a hormone, which

Bella Cockrell is then released back into the bloodstream where it regulates the levels of calcium and phosphorus, therefore making it very important for growing and maintaining healthy bones.

So it seems that (in most cases) no one is to blame for our children’s lack of vitamin D. It is a problem that arises no doubt in part because of us being a country in the northern hemisphere,

alongside widespread fear of sun exposure.

To provide vitamins is a good idea, which will give our children a healthy start in life. However, awareness of the issue certainly needs to be increased to prevent an increase in vitamin popping adults as these children grow up, in order to seek a quick fix to becoming healthy rather than a balanced diet.

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the badger

4 november 2013 ARTS • 14

Arts

Photography

Electronic

Nadine Lee Cohen

The Haunt

Emancipator

One Eyed Jack’s

25th September Katherine Hardy Science Editor

Callie Payne

Last Friday, photographer Nadia Lee Cohen debuted her American movie-stills inspired work in One-Eyed Jacks gallery, a small studio tucked away beside The Hobgoblin on York Place.

The studio, on opening night, was tiny and over stuffed with the glamorous, the thin and the moustached.

It was the place to be seen for the evening in Brighton, and the free prosecco was liberally doused throughout the crowd.

Cohen, a stunning platinum blonde, dressed in white leather and wielding a skinny white menthol, was monopolised all evening by adoring friends, family and fans; she looked as though she were brimming over with success.

The photographs themselves were intriguing, bold and beautiful.

Each “still” entailed an elaborate story of context, colour and juxtaposition, and many gave a nod to such American cinematic classics as American Beauty, Pulp Fiction and Twin Peaks.

Indie

Veronica Falls Green Door Store 24th November Lottie Brazier It’s hard to talk about Veronica Falls without at first referring to their predecessors.

And just going on fashion sense alone, it’s pretty clear which indie cannon they fall into. Excessive corduroy and dead-straight fringes just scream ‘80s indiepop/c86’ like nothing else.

Disregarding all questionable fashion statements, what the fey youths of 80s yesteryear also had to show for themselves was a rough kind of pop, driven by the obsessive desire to capture adolescent angst in under three minutes of song.

Likewise, Veronica Falls clearly regard live music as uplifting entertainment, rather than as a medium for communicating empty pretence. It’s nice, for a change, to see a band not taking themselves, or their influences, too seriously.

Live, Veronica Falls are a comforting synthesis of your parents’ record collection - a familiar country-twang from early R.E.M. here, vocals reminiscent of The Shop Assistants there.

The result at first sounds like they’ve used the best from the best - less in

Courtesy of One Eyed Jacks

Also referenced are the overly glamorised scenes of contemporary American housewives - platform heels, large green lawns and white picket fences et all - that we are familiar with thanks to American television and cinema.

This superficial glamour and beauty however, served only to underscore by juxtaposition the show’s main theme: the undertone of darker, sexual transgression.

One photograph, for example, features a woman with luxuriously shrugging off a shoulder stole of thick fur, breasts exposed as she peers darkly into the camera, her back to a tousled haired boy, head in pastiche and more in allusion.

But with the band’s drummer only having one setting (a generic tribal beat reminiscent of ‘Antmusic’ by Adam and the Ants) the cracks begin to show around Veronica Falls’ otherwise pristine pop.

Towards the end of the evening, it begins to feel as if Veronica Falls only have one trick that they do well. And they cling onto that trick for dear life, as if horrified that they might fall off the indie bandwagon and into some less lucid genre.

Lacking in dynamic, it’s hard to see how long Veronica Falls will last in a musical climate where bands are obsessed with having their ‘Kid A’ moment. But in indie pop circles, where songwriting is championed above all, it’s likely they’ll be remembered well.

Victoria Rodrigues O’Donnell

hands in the bed behind her.

Another particularly striking shot is of a female model - dressed as a male to female transsexual - bald headed, fur dressing gown and cigarette dangling against a stark, white backdrop.

Cohen is a talented and precocious photographer, who gets bad taste just oh-so-right. Aged just 22, Cohen has been attracting a lot of international attention online and in magazines, and this was her first solo show. From the private view alone, it looks set to be a success, and its unlikely that we will be able to see her work in such a small space in the future.

If you like American-style colour photography, keep an eye on OneEyed Jack’s gallery for more along these lines.

Entry is free.

Alternative Washed Out Concorde 2 23rd October

Emma Pavans de Ceccatty Ernest Greene, aka Washed Out, is part of a semi-accepted genre named “chillwave.”

Yes, everyone agrees that it is an incredibly cringey name; nonetheless, it is useful to describe the quite precise vibe that many artists (notably Neon Indian, Washed Out and Toro Y Moi) have adopted.

The New York Times’ Jon Pareles described this music as “solo acts or minimal bands, often with a laptop at their core [that] trade on memories of electropop from the 1980s, with bouncing, blipping dance-music hooks (and often weaker lead voices).”

As such, I was really curious to see first of all how it would feel to hear their floaty music live, but also more interestingly, how they would perform and compose this sound live.

In the large venue of Concorde2, a diverse crowd of all ages and styles (pink

The Haunt is an intimate venue, and despite holding a plethora of club nights the floor is surprisingly not sticky.

So much so that during the support act, Kanzi, some people decide to fill the gap between the stage and the crowd by sitting down.

Kanzi are a four piece band hailing from Brighton.

They look like geeks, so it is incredible to hear the beautiful sounds they play in contrast to their appearance.

The soft vocals resemble a good balance between Hot Chip and Sigur Rós and are accompanied by an excellent marriage of synth and bass guitar.

Kanzi’s latest single, ‘Water’, is very crowd pleasing.

Everyone in the crowd looks sombre

Katherine Hardy hair, berets, nose rings - the Brighton crowd par excellence) was engulfed in an atmosphere of strong beats, soft vocals and synths, and pale lights.

It was great to see how their sound was decomposed from the harmonious haze of the recordings into five different members, mixing electronic sounds and instruments.

The structure of the set was also intricately chosen to create an evolution from slower beats - what Greene calls ‘nocturnal amorousness’ - to faster, dance-y tunes, or ‘daytime psychedelia’.

The crowd went from being relaxed,

as Kanzi play and even sway a little to the hypnotic tunes.

They even break out a cow bell for one song, creating a little bit more energy into the mix.

It’s been seven years since Doug Appling’s, aka Emancipator’s, first album was released when he was only 19.

That’s young enough to make you wonder what you’re doing with your life.

It’s certainly been long enough to create a huge following of fans from all over the world.

Cast your mind back ten years ago, when you were playing Tony Hawks Underground on a PS2, and there was this amazing music that you had no idea what it was but it just seemed perfect for skating…

Well that’s what it feels like when listening to Emancipator, regardless of if you’ve ever owned a skateboard before.

Emancipator is unlike your average music producer and this is evident by his being accompanied by a live violinist throughout the set.

It adds layers to the songs that prior to this addition, would not have been so awe-inspiring and moving.

The violinist even plays the violin in a less conventional way, like a guitar, at a few occasions – creating sounds that you wouldn’t ordinarily hear from this instrument that fits so well.

Even ‘Shook’ - that features Mobb Deep and Sigur Rós - has an air of calm among the rap and drum beats.

Despite this, the crowd dance along energetically.

People sing along endearingly and Appling smiles throughout, enjoying every second.

Despite Emancipator not crossing the Atlantic much, it’s definitely a gig worth going to. nodding along with closed eyes, to dancing energetically, all in a fluid progression.

The stage presence of Washed Out mirrored the crowd’s mood, being at first quite reserved, letting the public enjoy the raw sound, to more connection, dancing with us.

It was a great mix of old, Within and Without, and new, Paracosm, that left me with a happy walk home.

PS. The drummer looked identical to Howard Moon. It was amazing and definitely unintentional.

the badger

4 november 2013 ARTS • 15

Reviews ALTERNATIVE ROCK

Alternative

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

SOURCE New Music Brighton Dome 26th October

Brighton Dome 24th October

Seamus Mulrenan

Cat Gough Deputy Editor-in-Chief Despite having been a Brighton local for nearly a decade, popular accounts of Nick Cave sightings, (Nick Cave walking down New Road, Nick Cave ordering a flat white, Nick Cave walking past Morrisons) seem to invariably become exalted anecdotes, no matter how cool or unflappable the narrator.

So the patent anticipation in the Brighton Dome on Thursday for Brighton’s most celebrated resident was naturally quite intense.

The fervour of the crowd when the Bad Seeds took their places, and when Nick Cave, clad in a shiny black ensemble, cooly jack-knifed onto the stage, was incredible. They launched, waggishly, straight into an uptempo, episodic version of Jubilee Street.

The number tells of a classic Cavian protagonist, in Armageddon, caught between the chapel and the brothel, taking place amid the Brightonian, titular home of the Jubilee Library, Headmasters and Carluccio’s.

As Cave’s deep, rich voice filled the

HIP HOP

Yasiin Bey AKA Mos Def Concorde 2

28th October James Miles Tonight we witnessed a rebirth of one of the most cherished hip hop MCs in the last 20 years.

Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, switched guises approximately 2 years ago, and since then his musical output has remained somewhat muted, making tonight’s performance a hotly anticipated one.

Over the years he has become more acquainted with large scale performances - be it festivals, Broadway or on film - so Concorde2 was a relatively humble and intimate setting for the Brooklyn native.

In typical live hip hop tradition, the warm-up DJ blasted classics until the main event arrived. The audience wait patiently for over an hour, stewing in tunes from Hip Hop’s illustrious past. It has reached 10 o’clock and still no sign of Bey. As the audience’s jeers reach a crescendo, Bey’s shadowy entourage appear.

The negative tension dissolves, paving the way for giddy anticipation.

Brighton Source Mike Burnell Dome, the tempo increased, and he strode powerfully towards the edge of the stage, where bewitched fans grabbed his holy, skinny limbs.

If the incredible quality of the setlist, including the likes of classics such as Nobody’s Baby Now, Higgs Boson Blues, From Her to Eternity, Stagger Lee and The Mercy Seat, weren’t enough to electrify the thrilled audience, Cave’s sheer magnetism would have been.

To say he was flailing himself around doesn’t quite do justice to his dancing, it is something I would urge you to research and enjoy in your own time.

Despite some of the seemingly possessed characters lining the front and back of the crowd, Cave never How much of the ‘mighty Mos Def ’ would remain in Yasiin Bey, the act everyone had paid to see? Finally, the MC emerges and in a moment all is forgiven and forgotten, there stood Yasiin Bey sporting a white jellabiya, his old leather flat cap and a massive grin.

Clutching his signature vintage red microphone, he blasts through the first five tunes effortlessly. Bey’s deceptively powerful singing style is used to book-end most of the opening tracks, and while he may not be classically trained, the intense conviction in his voice permeates every corner of the venue.

At 5’9’’ and performing without hype men, Bey’s singular presence still manages to command every inch of the stage. Gently crooning his way into songs, the MC builds tension carefully with streams of thought provoking wordplay before closing with some grandiose ad-libbing.

After a short rendition of Biggie’s “Juicy”, we are treated to the first hit of the night, “Hip Hop” off his debut album, and this is where the set reaches boiling point.

The audience responds with feverish delight, transforming into a sea of bobbing snap backs and waving gun fingers, Yasiin Bey appears to have momentarily transformed back into Mos Def. He machine guns his way through the lyrically dense “Mathematics” and the Madlib-pro-

took the outright adoration of his Cat ironifans too seriously, whispering cally into the microphone “can you feel my heartbeat?” whenever certain enthused audience members reached out to caress his chest throughout the show.

Towards the end of their two hour set, while song requests were yelled out from seemingly every corner of the Dome, Cave sat down at his piano. “We haven’t practiced this one,” he said almost timidly into the microphone, before crooning a perfect and beautifully slow rendition of Green Eyes.

Cave then proceeded to slope off stage unassumingly, finishing up what was a remarkable show, in earnest insightful and witty.

Often great inspiration breeds inferior followers, particularly an introducing gig, and can demonstrate a problem of an entire night.

This is even more accurate when a band step onto the stage having been drafted in last minute with a 12 inch called “Ultimate Tunes” under their belt and a name to suggest an infinite number of ever expanding indie bands.

A big bang comprised of loose tshirts, tight jeans and mediocrity, Cousin - though competent - remained an indistinct presence. A problem exacerbated by the fact that they were purely instrumental.

They played well but the music was so indebted to instrumental rock deities Mogwai and crippled by their lack of understanding of the importance of musical tension that the highlight was the drummer’s gurning, bald

Lauren Garbutt/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto duced “Auditorium” sees him acting out caricatures of Slick Rick’s memorable guest verse on the latter.

The promise of new material comes to fruition, and we are granted with two new tracks.

The new material mimes the Jazz and R&B influences that subtly underscore the roughneck beats of previous material. Phrases like “Don’t be afraid” and “I want real love” are repeatedly chanted creating a soul fusion mantra over the rich music.

The tone never becomes too preachy or frank and it is clear that Yasiin Bey’s mission statement is one of overwhelming positivity.

However, a handful still aren’t convinced and yell for fan favourite ‘Ms Fat Booty’. Bey pleads with them “Don’t do that” in a voice that is audibly tired of justifying a change of

style to the impatient detractors who keep turning up for the Mos Def experience. And why should he when it yields such creative results, Yasiin Bey is clearly no longer a rapper who is interested in talking about a girl with “an ass so fat you can see it from the front”.

The detractors get their wish with a brief return to conventional hip hop before winding down with the finale, which consists of two unknown tracks accompanied by the jubilant Bey darting around the stage as if he were imbued with the same deity he so frequently references throughout the night.

Unfortunately, the lack of vocals takes its toll and as a finale it is a disappointing one. He takes a bow to the audience, a bow to his DJ/Producer combo and leaves the stage to

head. Like a potato having an enema.

The night reached it crowning moment with, painfully indie-titled, Teardrop Factory. Their shoegaze style stood out purely because they didn’t attempt to slavishly follow an influence like the two prior acts.

Elements of Ty Segal could be extracted from the reeling feedback of scuzzy guitars and an almost improvisatory song length, between 1 to 4 minutes. Teardrop Factory charmed, however, because no attempt was made to follow the traditional postpunk formula.

Finally, the supposed headliners Traams proved a top spot doesn’t make for the most able, just the most apt for the night. The taut, sharp interplay between guitar and drums drew attention away from the weaknesses that grew more apparent progressively, song after song.

The lead singer’s characterful, unique, yelping falsetto gradually grated. Similarly, their adoration for musical breakdowns turned almost self-congratulatory, masturbatory even. The concluding two minutes of the gig was the sonic equivalent of the Traams trio giving each other high fives over how totally awesome they were.

In fact, the band’s sound reflected the night as an entirety: essentially derivative; only altered ever so slightly.

While SOURCE New Music is worth a look, it may well be best to remove the titular new or at least add an -ish. behind it. the sound of applause.

Having punched the clock after an hour and a quarter, the audience want more and chant for an encore - but to no avail. The whistling and jeering that preceded the set returns with greater force.

Owing to the late start, the audience feels robbed of at least fifteen minutes.

Whether this extra time would have been allocated to Yasiin Bey’s unreleased material or Mos Def ’s classics is almost irrelevant as both successfully scratched very different itches (in the case of the former, one we previously didn’t know was there).

Sadly it has become the accepted norm for hip hop acts to arrive late to their own headline shows. However, this usually warrants a hit-heavy or extended set to compensate those who paid and waited.

Neither tactic was adopted tonight, sullying an otherwise charismatic and highly musical performance from one of the great figures of contemporary hip hop.

Bey reminded us at one point that “time is our most valuable asset”.

Reflecting on these wise words one cannot help but think that had he spent a little more of that most valuable asset on his fans, tonight’s experience could have been unforgettable for all of the right reasons.

the badger

4 November 2013 ARTS • 16

LIFESTYLE The pains of being sober: really worth it or purely sanctimonious?

Tom Natynczuk Anyone who has ever drank transcendentally is well versed in the ritual of self-pity that follows in the wake of a riotous night.

The intense introspection, darkmorning-of-the-soul, and then the phoenix-like rising that enables you to do it again and operate cyclically, almost like a microscopic version of a year’s seasons: sobriety> intoxication> ruin> recovery.

A non-drinker, i.e. me for the past few years, comes to miss this simple method of self-medication: when you deny yourself the failsafe excuse (for the weirdness of life) and pressure valve (out of the weirdness of life) – existence becomes this unmitigated weirdness.

Someone may choose this for reasons of health, sanity or economy.

(I used to think age came into it but have been completely debased of that way of thinking: friends in their thirties get smashed just like Freshers, if not with more abandon: it seems that more responsibilities and more money exacerbate the vehemence of Dionysian excursions).

One who prohibits because of their health sees it like this: there’s a conflict between fitness

and a good diet on one hand and getting pissed on the other.

The finer foods, like quinoa and oats don’t appeal after 3 pints - pie does, kebab does; cheesy chips do.

The economic prohibitor judges the cost of a night out against bills, clothes, food, and chooses pragmatism and materiality over forays into communal unconsciousness.

The abstainer frightened by alcohol’s treat to sanity sees their shaking hands, feels the weight of the gloomy psychic clouds that constitute the hangover; knows that fornications fueled by alcohol can often be nadirs.

My reasons for not drinking are all three; I should be sanctimonious in my infallibility.

I’ve got all the bases covered.

Yet. Yet there’s a gorge-like chasm (and it has not a trickle in it) that’s been opened up from depriving myself of this essential access to self-medication, and furthermore of a means to dive into what can be a deeper realm of consciousness.

I read Baudelaire’s ‘Be Drunk’ which accords with David Foster Wallace’s line that it is impossible to be free from addiction to something.It goes like this: ‘You have to always be drunk. That’s all there is to it – it’s the only way.

So as not to feel the horrible burden of time that breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to

be continually drunk’.

Inebriation is a human tradition, through which you reveal yourself and establish your togetherness with others, throwing off the

masks as it were - seeing how we’re the same, but that we each have our unique dance, our uniquely idiosyncratic way of spieling about life.

Of course, you can attain moments of self-revelation, achieve blissful carefreeness, live exclusively in-the-moment, without a hint of booze, but it’s a lot harder, and scarier, and laborious, and not as funny.

Living is an art - the best artists (viz. holistically healthiest people) utilise every means that the earth and our own bodies give to us to realize the opportunity to live.

Drinking, just like loving, is an art form to learn.

I feel that if you never drink, you are missing something.

If you drink too much, you are missing something.

It’s Confucius’ Golden Mean.

Getting polemical now, drink needs to be no more than an accessory, rather than a stand-alone means.

Should you drink to tolerate something that would otherwise be intolerable - to enjoy something that would otherwise be unenjoyable?

I think in a given situation you should ask yourself, “Is this something I’d happily do sober?”

And if it is, have one on me.

hungryhouse.co.uk: Perfect Pizza (that’s amore) Bree Allegretti Editor-in-chief There are few things more precious to me in the world than pizza. As an avid Italiancuisine diner, I’m not averse to takeaways.

Greasy takeaway pizza to me is as much of an indulgence to me as the high flying Pizza Express ones where they remove most of the middle of the pizza and drape it in salad and all sorts of green leaves whose names I won’t even try to pretend I know how to pronounce.

It was on a wet and windy evening then, that I found myself yearning for the joy of a takeaway- a pizza nonetheless.

We decided to make a meal of it and so splashed out on a dinner for two, so as not to sound like a lonely diner on the phone to the gentleman taking my order down the phone.

The wait for said food whet my appetite, and at the sound of the doorbell I hopped across the room like a kid at Christmas, and pulled open the door to reveal the holy grail.

Ace Kebab and Pizza really are that: ace.

A free pot of garlic and herb sauce never goes amiss with me.

But it does seem somewhat lacking on a 15 inch pizza- probably just about enough to spread a thin layer on a few slices.

Having taken this in to consideration, I decided that I’d be tactful and save the sauce for the crust- something that needs a condiment to help wash it down properly.

I tucked in with eager and was treated

to a tad more pepper than one might expect on a pizza (like when the waiter at a restaurant doesn’t hear you when you’ve said ‘thank you that’s enough’). But this was more than made up for by the display of meat on a good solid tomato base.

Good old ham and a cheeky bit of chorizo always add to a pizza.

I’m a thick-crust kinda guy, so naturally opted (for no extra price) to get more for my money and fill up on the starch.

Although I didn’t opt for any vegetable toppings, I was assured by a friend that there was a wide variety available on request. But anyone who knows me will understand my aversion to any of the hidden ingredient which luckily didn’t manage to sneak on to the pizza in the form of any sloppy bits of mushroom or pepper.

Price-wise, it was fairly standard for a Brightonian takeaway, and while it wasn’t quite the sweet delights of an authentic Italian pizza delivered to me buy a small Italian man who had brought the good stuff on a vespa from Italy, a cheery delivery driver added wholeheartedly to my enjoyment of the food.

Cheers Ace Kebab,. you’re ace!

JOIN THE CLUB Casablancas

Thomas Powell Arts Editor On first descent below the infamously poor Churchill Palace Hotel on Middle Street it’s easy to slip into the mindset that you are walking into a CarmelH dive.

The fact is that you are, but at least Casablancas is an authentic dive and somewhat proud of its status.

The toilets reek of urine and the dance floor reeks of desperation (disclaimer: you won’t notice if you come in a larger group).

This is not to say that I don’t love the place, it’s just that the same house band have been playing the same setlist every Wednesday and Thursday night for at least two years now.

In short, there are only so many drunk students feigning a birthday for a trip on stage that I can take (and don’t get me started on that cover of ‘Sir Duke’).

Perhaps my biggest issue with Casablancas is their completely incorrect branding as a Jazz bar; when I first made that descent through their double doors to the scent of sweat and cheap spirits, I hoped to hear a live jazz quartet striking up, not a covers band playing a number by Luther Vandross.

Sometimes I think I should’ve gone to The Mesmerist instead, but not for a long while: I chose Casa’s because, unlike The Mesmerist, it’s totally unpretentious.

It is genuinely seedy rather than simply acting seedy, and you can buy nasty drinks there knowing that they won’t hurt your wallet.

Just don’t go too often, because you’ll forget all the reasons why you fell for it in the first place.

the badger

4th November 2013 ARTS • 17

Sussex Showcase - ‘Delight’

Jessica Luther

Rhiannon McCluskey

Naomi Horsfall

Clementine Loustric

Naomi Horsfall Naomi Horsfall

Daniel Day

Dongshen Li

Yi Wang

the badger

4 november 2013 Arts •18

Arts

The agenda

This week’s cultural highlights that you must see

Gigs

SOUL South Coast Soul Revue Brunswick

Discuss

Club

Discuss Aral Balkan Duke of York’s

CLUB West Pier Dance Society 10 Below Friday 8th November 10pm

Monday 4th November, 7pm £8

Alternative Rokia Traore Corn Exchange

Wednesday 6th November, 7.30pm £17.50 Having released her latest album Beautiful Africa in April this year, Rokia Traore - Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist - brings her inventive balance of alternative rock and traditional African music to the Corn Exchange this Wednesday night.

South Coast Soul Revue is an eight piece band that will play you the best of classic and contemporary soul music with the odd bit of funk thrown into the mix for good measure. With two vocalists and a full brass section they are sure to create an incredibly authentic brand of soulful funk that appeals to all audiences.

With quality musicians, great songs and a commitment to crowd-pleasing, this could be for you (if soul’s your bag).

Film

The London duo bring their relaxing vibed electronica to Concorde 2 with support from oOoOO, the San Franciscan pioneer of witch house.

Aral Balkan is an experience designer working to change the world by bringing design thinking to open source. His latest project, Prometheus, is an ambitious initiative to build a beautiful new mobile platform that empowers regular people to own their own data.

Theatre

Electronic Mount Kimbie/oOoOO Concorde 2 Wednesday 6th November, 8pm £7

Sunday 3rd November, 1pm £3

£3

Join us at 10 Below this Friday for the second night of WPDS. The focus is on Chicago/Detroit house this month, with Brighton legend Donga taking to the decks.

CLUB Boogie Wonderland Green Door Store

Thursday 7th November, 11pm Free

FILM Makino Takashi & Rei Hayamaz Fabrica

Thursday 7th November, 8pm £3 Why not kick back to some contemporary experimental Japanese cinema as part of the colour out of space festival at Fabrica this thursday?

What it lacks in narrative it gives back in visual beauty.

THEATRE As You Like It Corn Exchange

This, the third Boogie Wonderland party by Teen Freaks, is sure to be off the hook. Expect to hear Classic East Coast Grooves, New York Boogie and Philly Disco.

Saturday & Sunday 9th & 10th Nov, 7:30pm £7.50 students

PREVIEW: London Philarmonic Orchestra Saturday 9th November, Brighton Dome

Thomas Powell Arts Editor

Charlotte Newell

As Sussex students, our close proximity to Lewes can go easily unnoticed for most of our time here - especially when we have the artistic hub of Brighton as a go-to. This all changes for one day a year: November 5th.

The Lewes bonfire celebrations are the biggest celebrated bonfire night event in the world, with six

A night exploring the vast back catalogue of one of the greatest and most influential labels to have ever existed. Expect to hear songs new and old from artists such as: TV on the Radio, This Mortal Coil (pictured), Cocteau Twins, Beirut, Zomby, The National, Pixies, Grimes and Gang Gang Dance - an eclectic mix indeed.

CLUB Mash Mondays Blind Tiger Great vintage music including Doo-Wop, Motown, Rocksteady and Funk with discounted drinks including £2.50 pints, £2 shots and 2-4-1 cocktails! A great alternative to Coalition night with a similar name...

Shakespeare’s fantastical tale of love in exile is one of his most popular comedies. Theatre troupe Transport reinvents this muchloved text with a strong visual style.

Upcoming on the arts calendar is the world renowned London Philharmonic Orchestra, with their rendition of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 (Italian), as well as the William Tell Overture by Rossini and Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.

Having seen the London Philharmonic Orchestra before at the Dome, I can tell you that there is

Sunday 10th November 8pm Free

Monday 4th November 7pm Free

PREVIEW: Lewes Bonfire Night Tuesday 5th November, Lewes separate bonfire societies organising fires, fireworks and costumed processions all over the usually quiet town.

Be warned that this night is not for the faint-hearted, with loud noise and flames being part of the fun there have been many injuries in previous years.

Due to the event’s popularity it is advised that you get the bus or train early and buy a ticket beforehand.

CLUB 4AD Sunday Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar

no better place to take in the atmosphere of Brighton’s civilized culture, as well as listen to some sophisticated yet exhilarating classical music.

So, even if only for one night, forget your dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass and let the LPO guide you into a pleasant and indulgent state.

Join us on Saturday: Student tickets available from £4 when you quote ‘NOISE4’.

watch, write, review Get involved in the Arts team by joining us at our writers meetings or searching on Facebook for : “Badger Writers” See submission guidelines on the Badger website

the badger

4 November 2013

SporTS • 20

SPORTS

Revitalised volleyball returns to action Daisy Mumby The University of Sussex Volleyball Club have enjoyed a strong start to the new season. As the new manager of both the men and women’s teams, James Clow has already introduced his unique brand of game-play, which is sure to unnerve and surprise some of the opposition Sussex is set to face in the season ahead.

Lead by newly appointed captaion, James Scott, the men’s team managed to secure a fantastic 3-0 win against Chichester University in the first BUCS fixture of the season, despite the unavoidable absence of their new coach.

Although the match ended with a Sussex victory, it did not begin in the same style. Despite Chichester being awarded several free points due to service errors early on, the Sussex men finally managed to pull it together and get their hypothetical heads on.

The whole team played their part from here on in with new liberos, Dimitrias Notas and Mathew Wong delivering consistent and accurate passes.

Man of the match went to Turbo Cheung, whose immaculate fast sets for middle attackers Vladko Grozoev and Hamish Reid gave Sussex the platform with which to finish off the opposition.

Admittedly the final score-line does

not reflect the close nature of the match, the second set in particular was nail-bitingly close, but Scott’s pipe attacks shook the opposition allowing us to battle to a 33-31 victory.

Despite a tough fight, this first match provided a great basis on which to build and improve Sussex men’s volleyball, who are hopeful for a promotion at the end of the season.

Fast forward a week and an undefeated and vivacious Sussex men’s team returned home with yet another sweeping 3-0 victory against a strong Kingston side.

With only three quarters of the team able to compete, every available player knew they had to be at their very best.

Luckily our men delivered yet another resounding win with Reid’s faultless serving and Notas’ perfect passing, allowing an injured Cheung to set every ball up for a clean kill. Cian Whelan’s debut as an opposite gave extra height on the block, refusing Kingston points on the attack.

This seemingly effortless beginning to the match brought a vengeful Kingston on court for the second set. A great defensive unit made up of Scott, Grozoev and Notas was not enough to break Kingston’s strong attack.

However, Wong, now operating as an outside attack, pressurised the opposition with his flawless top-spin serving, acing the ball to eventually close the 7 point gap to give us the lead.

Giving his all, Grozoev was voted Man of the Match by his teammates who all performed above and beyond to sustain their clean sheet.

Year upon year, Sussex Women and UCL have battled it out on court, this year being no exception. With the prospect of an early morning start and 3 matches piled into one day ahead of them, the girls knew they would have to sustain their energy at the Saturday tournament which opened the year’s fixtures.

Sussex endured a shaky first set against UCL, but the solid passing from both liberos Nicole Tsui and Sarah Eble allowed for a great setting performance from Barbara Franca.

A 25-4 victory in the second set saw Anja Berglund, captain and Player of the Tournament, hit the line to finish the majority of the points.

A determined UCL returned on court for the third set, but on her debut match as an outside, Anri Saso’s defence allowed Sussex women to win their first match of the season.

Last season’s narrow loss to King’s brought a motivated Sussex team on court for their second fixture of the tournament. Successful blocking from both middles, Celine Ruud and Roisin Fisher, prevented King’s from using their strong fast attack to gain points.

The height from Sussex’s opposite block, Daisy Mumby, forced King’s to

use their weakest attack and allowed Sussex to challenge them throughout.

Tremendous setting from Kristina Nishi in her first tournament for Sussex aided in their continuous battle for points.

An unfortunate narrow loss failed to dampen Sussex’s spirit as they came away from the match with their heads held high knowing they had given a good account of themselves.

Exhausted, but driven, Sussex began their final fixture with determination and power. A solid string of serving from Basirat ‘Bash’ Mamman gave Sussex a good lead, but Surrey’s solid defence prevented points from amount-

ing to a lead.

A close first set loss spurred Sussex on in the second half of the match. Fighting spirit and ambition was prominent, but proved to not be enough against a recently promoted Surrey.

As a predominantly new team, everyone gave their all and a lot has been noted and learnt from this tournament. Sussex Women are ready for a comeback!

Stay up-to-date with fixtures, results, socials, beginner’s sessions and all other Sussex men and women’s volleyball news on: www.facebook.com/ UniversityOfSussexVolleyball

Photo: Daisy Mumby

Sussex football leave Panthers black & blue PLAYER PROFILES - Christina Cameron Oli Perkins

On the morning of a vital match against Brighton's 2nd team (the Falmer campus 1st team), the Sussex men's team were disappointed by an extremely pre-emptive phone call from the groundsmen abandoning the game due to rain.

Not shaken by the news, and knowing the boys would give their right eye to play a match with such rivalry anticipated, Sarah Hall, the sports coordinator, managed to re-arrange the fixture and sent the boys across the road to the other side of the train station to play the fixture away from home.

As per, the atmosphere at Brighton was hostile; but not enough to put off the Sussex boys who quickly got their heads in the game for the first ompetitive match of the 2013-14 season.

The opening ten minutes of the match did not reflect this and they were dominated by the home side who seemed slightly cocky after their 4-0 victory against Eastbourne University last week.

However the Sussex men in the un-

familiar colours of black and yellow fought back and begun their domination over the ball, threatening the Panthers goal with some half chances and one fairly blatant penalty appeal.

On the half hour Sussex drew first blood when some typically gladiatorial play from Matt Cheetham lead to the ball finding Josh Hughes wide on the right.

Hughes’s ingenuity and desire, reflected in his man of the match performance, skipped him past two tackles then fired the ball across goal for the great full Oli Perkins to scramble it home.

Sussex continued to play the ball aesthetically and beautifully until half time, and once the second half restarted within minutes, Sussex managed their second goal.

Josh Hughes and partner in crime Ben Wright intricately made their way down the right hand side of the pitch, before Hughes sliced a cross into what should have been the keeper’s arms.

However unfortunately for Brighton University, the ball slipped agonizingly through the keeper's grasp and the defender on the line could not save himself or his goalkeepers red

faces as the ball hit the top corner of the panthers net.

From then on the game turned into a scrap with Sussex holding onto their two goal cushion.

With fifteen minutes to go, Ben Wright's engine resembling that of a Rolls Royce clicked into overdrive, as he took on the Panthers single handed.

He played a cheeky “one two” with Ethan Butler before producing a delicious finish in the far corner putting the icing on a cake even Mary Berry from Bake Off couldn’t resist.

The game finished 3-0 to Sussex 1st's and coach Nathan Bowen proudly told the boys that if they could replicate the same desire and competency to win that they had just produced, they would be serious chalkangers for the title come to the end of the season.

The match proved to be a great start for the team, who last year lost many of their final year players and even their first team coach.

Their new black and yellow kit a, symbol of victory and success, will no doubt continue to prove so throughout this very promising campaign.

Karoliina Lehtonen Sports Editor Christina Cameron, an avid netball player, is currently one of the copresidents of the squad as well being the Netball sports ambassador for the university.

Having started playing at the very young age of 10, Christina has been on the team since her first year, and has now come back to the team after doing a year in industry.

Being on the Netball team at Sussex University gives her a great sense of camaraderie with the other girls on the team. They train hard, play hard and party hard; all the while making life-long friends while playing a great sport and keeping fit.

Her greatest achievement while representing the university has been winning club of the year in her second year at Sussex and beating Brighton University at Varsity.

Although netball is a passion of Christina’s, now in her third year she wishes to pursue brand management in the fast moving consumer

goods industry after graduation.

This year, we can come to expect the best squad the university has had in years.

With a huge intake of talented freshers joining the team this year, Christina is hoping for promotion for both teams and strong development opportunities for their social players.

Having one of the biggest women’s teams on campus, including a social team, the netball team offers free sessions every Sunday from 6-7:30pm at the bottom sports centre for those who do not make the first team.

They also give the social members of the team the opportunity to play competitively against other universities.

This term they have a tournament against Imperial University and Campus Halls Cup on 2nd November.

Students are encouraged to make sure they get down to the bottom sports complex to watch and support the girls in their next match and spur Sussex on!