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Vice-Chancellor speaks out against reducing tuition fees Page 3

Such thing as Adoption Angst? Not really Page 8

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9 MARCH 2015, Week 8

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science

Arts

Why I Festival think that SICK! review HeforShe does not represent me 13 Page 11

Are we really two years from full body transplants?

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Psychogeography, Surrealism and Kötting and Sinclair’s Swandown Page 17

£60k atop bosses’ pay Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Group (VCEG) claims nearly £60,000 in expenses over the past two calendar years UCU also release report citing Sussex as one of few universities who failed to respond to their expenses enquiries

Jack Williams and Jessica Pitocchi News Editor and News Sub-Editor The University of Sussex Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Group (VCEG) has claimed almost £60,000 in expenses over the past two calendar years, the Badger can reveal.

In total, the seven members of VCEG claimed £59,935.97 on accommodation, travel, hospitality and food, conference attendance fees, training and work related calls in 2013 and 2014.

The Vice-Chancellor Michael Farthing claimed the most in expenses, spending almost half the overall figure on travel (£25,838.08).

Farthing’s travel expenses are in relation to University events on recruitment, alumni, potential donor opportunities and research and institutional partnerships.

Over the last two years,

he has visited Thailand, Malaysia and the USA in relation to recruitment, Korea for a research event, and China, the USA and Spain for alumni and donor events.

A University of Sussex spokesperson said: “As a leading university, we want to be able to maintain our high standards and continue to attract the best students and faculty from around the UK and internationally.

“That means that some academic and professional services staff, at many different levels, are required to travel in order to undertake business on behalf of the institution.

This work ranges from student recruitment, raising funds for the University and establishing important academic links with other institutions to keeping in touch with our alumni and progressing vital research projects.”

Sussex VCEG spent a total of £7,982.01 on accommodation, with Registrar and Secretary John Duffy spending £2,846 alone.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Stephen Shute, who was appointed in October 2014, spent approximately £677 across all expenses categories in just three months.

Pro Vice-Chancellor for research Michael Davies spent almost £450 on work related calls, while four of his colleagues spent nothing.

The only VCEG

member to spend any money on training was Pro Vice-Chancellor Clare Mackie, who spent £80.

Less than three per cent of the total expenses were spent by Director of Human Resources Jane Summerville. Her expenses only covered her travel (£1,624) and a mere £14 on hospitality, totalling £1,638.

At the time of the Badger investigation, a UCU report was released on transparency within the higher echelons of higher education institutions. It revealed that LSE’s Director, Craig Calhoun, spent £59,812 on first or business class flights in the academic year 2013/14.

They sent FOIs to 155 universities asking for data on the expenses of senior vice-chancellors.

It exposed that the University of Sussex was one of seven institutions that did not disclose certain information due

to the request exceeding the appropriate time limit, although this is disputed by the University.

The Badger has conducted its own investigation, details of which will be published next week.

However, we can reveal that the University of Brighton’s senior management group spent just £9,568 in the period it took for Sussex to spend the £60,000 figure.

The University spokesperson also said: “In particular, a key part of the role of senior managers is to maintain the array of our international relationships and to establish new links with universities, businesses and non-governmental organisations around the world.

“Inevitably this involves a significant amount of international travel.

“This work benefits our students in so many ways and ensures that we continue to provide high-quality teaching and research for our students.”

Photo credit: Nelly Tookey

the badger

9 march 2015

IN PICTURES Your photos of Spring in Brighton

in pictures • 2

Daniel Hadley

Marina Costin

Marina Costin

Marina Costin

Daniel Roberts Editor-in-Chief Deborah Batchelor badger@sussexstudent.com News Editor Jack Williams Comment Editor Victoria Farley Tech/Sci/Features Editor Jordan Ellis Arts Editor Tom Powell Head of Publicity Lili Pammer-Zagroczky

Sports Editor Joe Cummins josephcummins.sportseditor@gmail. com News Sub Editors Daniel Green, Zoe Halse, Alex Ferguson, Rosie Dodds,Jess Pitocchi badger-news@ussu.sussex.ac.uk Comment Sub Editors Miriam Steiner, Alice Nettleship badger-opinion@ussu.sussex.ac.uk Letters Sub Editor Louis Patel badger-letters@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Tech Sub Editor Connor Cochrane badger-tech@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Sports Sub Editor Vladislav Hristov Grozev badger-sports@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Features Sub Editor Ryan Bourne badger-features@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Photo Editors Nelly Tookey, Sophie Jones thebadgerphotography@gmail.com

Science Sub Editor Jade Groves badger-science@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Publicity Coordinator Lenart Celar badger-publicity@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Arts Sub Editors Victoria O’Donnell, Ioana Matei, Raymond Jennings, Lily Cooper, Lottie Brazier badger-arts@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Online Editors Steve Barker, Pete Humphreys badger-online@ussu.sussex.ac.uk

Media Development Officer Paul Millar mediadevelopment@sussexstudent. com Communications Officer Michael Segalov communications@sussexstudent.com Find us online: www.badgeronline.co.uk @thebadgernews facebook.com/thebadger.ussu Instagram: thebadgernewss

the badger

9 MARCH 2015

NEWS • 3

Sussex Vice-Chancellor speaks against Labour’s tuition fees reduction plan Michael farthing declares that Labour’s commitment to reduce tuition fees to £6,000 would do “lasting damage” to social mobility and says it would be reckless not to challenge the proposal

Paul Millar Labour’s candidate for Brighton Pavilion, Purna Sen, has clashed with Sussex ViceChancellor Michael Farthing over tuition fees and higher education policy Professor Farthing has passionately voiced his opposition to Labour’s pledge to reduce tuition fees for British students by a third from £9,000 to £6,000 per year, claiming Ed Miliband’s recently announced plan would cause “lasting damage on widening participation and social mobility”.

Farthing argued that the coalition’s tripling of fees has financially benefitted the poorest students, while allowing his management team to “take more risks”.

“Most universities are planning five, six, eight years ahead. We can think about taking more risks, and we can think about further investment. So it’s been a very important step,” Farthing said last Friday in an interview for BBC Radio Sussex which was also broadcast on nine other regional stations.

However, the parliamentary candidate for Labour in Brighton Pavilion, Purna Sen, appeared on URF to directly counter Farthing’s claims and defend her party’s vision.

“I’m very much in favour of a reduction of fees. With my experience as a mother with daughters who’ve gone through university and from working with my students at my day job at university as my day job, I’m very very clear that emerging from university with the current high debts is actually not a very a positive start to adult life for young people,” she said,

adding that “parents and grandparents” have also been affected by the coalition’s tuition fee increase.

Meanwhile, Dr Sen, the main challenger to the Greens MP Caroline Lucas in this constituency, argued that funding universities through taxation, through a cut on a fund for wealthy pensioner, would actually provide more certainty and stability to Vice Chancellors’ budgets.

“Universities will have a more certain

“These extra fees are all about social mobility. The stated government policy aim is that eventually all students who are bright enough and who wish to attend will have an equal opportunity to come to university” projection of their income over the next five years of parliament of a new government rather than being reliant upon an unpredictable number of students coming through campus and therefore being reliant on tuition fee income.”

“It’s not good for our economy either [as] so many of our debts have been written off.”

However, Sen acknowledged that a change in higher education policy was bound to irk and unsettle British uni-

versity Vice-Chancellors, the majority of whom have opposed the reduction pledge.

“Any change in funding and structures takes some time to bed in and for people to adjust to, and I think that’s a fair enough response,” Sen said.

“But I know how very strict our party is about the commitments that we’re making and they’re fully funded from the lost fee income.”

The Vice Chancellor made initial comment against Labour’s policy announcement before leader Miliband even un-

veiled it.

The University released a press statement quoting Farthing as opining: “These extra fees are all about social mobility.

The stated government policy aim is that eventually all students who are bright enough and who wish to attend will have an equal opportunity to come to university.

“It would be reckless for any head of a higher education institution to do anything but challenge a proposal which would appear to have such lasting damage on widening participation and social

The Guardian mobility.’’

Since Farthing’s comments, Sussex has been hoisted to the centre of the tuition fee debate. President Abraham Baldry, who has taken a similar stance as Purna Sen, has appeared on Radio 4’s Today and the BBC Six O’Clock News to condemn the Vice Chancellor’s comments while arguing Labour’s reduction pledge does not go far enough.

Ed Miliband’s announcement that a Labour government would reduce tuition fees also disappointed some key figures inside the party.

Living Wage accreditation could cost Union £136k Paying living wage of £7.85, plus holiday pay, would cost the Students’ Union additional £136,000 per year Rosie Dodds and Jessica Pitocchi News Sub-Editors The University of Sussex Students’ Union has affirmed that one way to be an accredited living wage employer could cost up to £136,000.

In a meeting with the Living Wage Foundation, it was suggested that the living wage, currently of £7.85 per hour, could include a proportion of holiday pay entitlement.

However, the Foundation has since told the Union that the information they provided previously may be incorrect, meaning that Sussex are only able to award the living wage accreditation if they pay a wage of £7.85 per hour with holiday entitlement as extra to that.

The initial proposal set by Sussex Students’ Union included a succession of eight 10p wage increases, one increase per quarter, over a period of

two years from May 2015-February 2017, leaving a total additional cost to the Union of £78,200.

Although this proposal, according to Operations Officer Dan Greenberg, will move Sussex closer towards the living wage, it may not allow them to receive accreditation.

For Sussex to pay the living wage of £7.85, plus holiday entitlement on top of that, it would cost the Trading Company around £136,000 per year on top of their current budget.

The company normally makes a surplus of around £120,000 per year.

Therefore the figure required to gain one of the options for accreditation would force the company into bankruptcy as well as taking away from the Union’s main budget.

Dan Greenberg has said: “The feedback from the most recent news has been understandably mixed. There are a range of opinions among our outlet

staff, and the mixed messages from the Living Wage Foundation themselves hasn’t made communicating our progress to staff and students any easier.

“The most recent plan to implement a pay increase presented to staff proposes increasing pay gradually, giving a pay-rise for all part-time staff every three months. We’re currently in the process of receiving feedback on this option.”

In an email sent to Union Shop staff, Co-op staff and bar staff, he wrote: “There is no reason why we shouldn’t continue to work towards this if the company continues to perform well and grows. Using the initial proposal of 10p increases per quarter to reach living wage plus holiday entitlement would take a minimum of four years.”

He added that uncertainty in the demolition of East Slope and the

livingwage.org move out of Falmer House into a new building “could delay this a fair bit”.

A staff member at the Co-operative said that: “While it would be great to get paid the living wage, I understand that it should not be introduced at all

costs.

“If they were to introduce the living wage on their current budget, the amount of jobs that could possibly be cut to implement the scheme.”

the badger

9 March 2015

NEWS • 4

Candidates Question Time 350 people flood into Jubilee lecture theatre to question and listen to Brighton Pavilion candidates

Mia Blakeney, Kat Tsibouklis, Daniel Green & Ayomide Oluyemi Over 350 people attended a heated debate between Brighton Pavilion’s parliamentary candidates in the run up to the general election on 7 May. The event, co-hosted by the Students’ Union and the Politics Society, featured all the five main parties, including UKIP whose presence has proved a controversial issue over recent weeks.

Nigel Carter, the UKIP candidate, quickly addressed the issue, saying: “I’m glad to be here. The suggestion that I should be banned from attending this debate is the most fascist suggestion I’ve ever heard.”

The controversy of Carter’s attendance was further exemplified by a toilet roll being thrown at the candidate during a question on the European Union.

Questions raised in the debate ranged from tax avoidance by corporations, devolution to cuts in the NHS budget.

Tuition fees was inevitably raised, with Labour’s Purna Sen guaranteeing a reduction in fees to £6,000 a year if elected in May. However, Clarence Mitchell, the Conservative candidate, claimed this was “a good headline grabber but a break on social mobility”.

Mitchell reaffirmed the government’s stance on tuition fees, arguing that “they have been a success and will remain in place if the Conservatives win.”

UKIP and the Greens agreed to the

IDS host Pavilion Candidates

Nelly Tookey principle of abolishing tuition fees, but Carter emphasized this is only possible if Britain leaves the EU. He added that free tuition should only be available to certain subjects, saying “we don’t want to spend billions training ballerinas and sociologists.”

On the subject of the European Union, Mitchell guaranteed that a Conservative government would hold a referendum on British membership by 2017 at the latest, a view supported by Liberal Democrat candidate Chris Bowers.

However, Bowers defended Britain’s place in the 28-nation group, stating that the UK is “of Europe”. Carter claimed that the EU is a “undemocratic… foreign power taking us over”, which is “holding the UK back”. Labour and the Greens objected to the EU’s treatment of Greece, with Purna Sen saying: “the EU should be for the common good, yet it is neglecting the suffering of the Greek people. The crisis in Greece is crushing.”

There was a strong reaction by the

audience after Mitchell denied that the coalition government had made any cuts to the NHS, arguing that “emotive language, such as destruction”, is an exaggeration of the reforms made by the government.

Caroline Lucas, the current MP, lashed out at this suggestion, claiming “The NHS is not safe in Tory hands.”

Sen asserted Labour’s stance on the NHS, saying: “I believe in a publicly owned and accountable NHS, and the pressures put on the health service are

indefensible.”

Bowers, the Liberal Democrat candidate, admitted they had been “caught on the hop” by the reforms to the health service, but said that the NHS needed stability, rather than further reform.

On a local level, housing was recognised as a major issue for Brighton by all the candidates.

Lucas advocated the abolition of the bedroom tax and caps on rent, with Sen arguing in favor of a “landlord register” to ensure the fair treatment of tenants.

Carter asserted that “younger voters have been betrayed" and that inspection of rented housing is desperately needed.

He also stressed that Brighton residents should get priority over social housing.

However, Conservative candidate Clarence Mitchell emphasised that ending the “Green experiment” is the top priority for his party, claiming that they can provide the “strong voice Brighton needs in parliament.”

All the candidates highlighted the importance of registering to vote, with host Abraham Baldry, President of the Students’ Union, explaining it is now possible to resister via Sussex Direct without a National Insurance number.

In a Badger poll carried out during the event,83 out of 140 people who responded to the question of which what candidate they would consider voting for, 83 percent said they would vote for the current MP Caroline Lucas. For the full result of the poll, check www.badgeronline.co.uk

Rats run rampant in Stanmer Court

Multiple students report rat problems and sightings at campus accommodation

Daniel Green News Sub-Editor

Alex Hickson

Over 150 people attended a debate hosted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) featuring candidates for the upcoming general election for Brighton Pavilion.

Topics discussed during the 90 minute debate ranged widely; covering issues such as the ongoing insurgency by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, climate change, the arms trade, foreign aid, and Britain’s membership of the European Union.

Caroline Lucas, the UK’s only Green MP, received significant praise for her stance on Britain’s trade of military equipment, saying that “we should stop hosting the biggest arms sale in Europe” and that considerations should be given to the human rights of states when selling weapons overseas.

Purna Sen, Labour’s candidate in Brighton Pavilion, defended Labour’s record on international development, which has received criticism in the past as a result of the Iraq War. She said: “Labour have an honourable history of addressing poverty and discrimination both globally and at home.”

Read the full article on our website

Rats have been seen running around Stanmer Court residence on campus causing alarm amongst students.

Staff at the residence hall said that they are doing all that they can to stop the rodents but suggested that students were leaving their rubbish in inappropriate areas and creating a mess which attracts the rats to the location.

Sussex Estates and Facilities and the University told The Badger that they were aware of the situation and that appropriate measures had been undertaken to eradicate the problem.

Chuaman You, a PHD student said: “It’s disgusting. Something should be done about it.”

Rachel Paton, a resident of Stanmer Court, confirmed that she and some of her friends had seen rats around their building and said that there appear to be less since the University started dealing with the problem.

The University said that they have

employed an outside contractor to kill the vermin and the situation is now being monitored in case further measures are necessary.

Bilal Shariff said that he had seen a few rats while walking in the courtyard between the blocks and said that he thought some students were to blame for the increase in rat sightings: “Some people just expect someone else to do the cleaning for them, so we should not be surprised when rats turn up.”

Staff in Stanmer Court said that the rats are attracted to the residence because students are leaving rubbish near but not in the bins provided.

A residence worker said "someone threw a full bin bag over the top of the bins and it almost hit my colleagues head as he was clearing up the rubbish."

The University told The Badger that the railway premises adjacent to Stanmer Court has been known to have had rats previously and it is believed that the problem may have come from there. They have spoken to Southern Rail about this problem.

Wikipedia Commons Wire wool has been used to block up the holes made by the rats, because they are supposedly afraid of wire wool.

One of the doors to Stanmer Court Block 3 is broken and currently does not close properly. This provides

easy access for rats that are looking for student food.

The University stressed that there has been a limited number of rat sightings and that the problem has been exaggerated.

the badger

9 march 2015

NEWS • 5

The Badger speaks to Mars bound student Daniel Green News Sub-Editor

A Sussex student has become of one of 100 candidates to participate in a oneway trip to Mars.

Zaskia Antelo, a third year International Relations and Anthropology student, was chosen by the not-for-profit organisation Mars One, which aim to form a human colony on the surface of the ‘Red Planet’ within the next ten years.

Over 200,000 applied for the opportunity to be one of the first to explore Mars, with the shortlisted candidates to be whittled down to 24 over the next few years.

Antelo, who is the only representative from her home country of Bolivia for the mission, is hoping to be one of the 24 planned settlers who would colonise the planet.

In an exclusive interview with The Badger, she said: “I applied as I think

Mars One fulfils everything I’ve always wanted to do with my life.

“I am always looking to learn, to live, and to adventure into the unknown, so the mission seemed to fulfil all these.

“I’ve always kind of dreamed about exploring space but never thought it could actually happen.

“However, if there’s an opportunity, I’ll take it and that’s what I’m doing.”

She explained what the “chosen ones” would do once on the surface, saying: “Once we arrive on Mars, we will have to work on constructing the settlement, carry out maintenance, since our lives will depend on the technology, carry out research, whilst having leisure time, including reading, writing and painting.”

When asked about her feelings about the prospect leaving friends and family behind on Earth, she said: “I am willing to do it as I know it could be worth it.

“My friends and family have all told me that they expect me to stay, and my

mum told me she wanted me to lose the latest round.

“Although they don’t want me to keep on with the project, they do want me to be happy and they know that I’ll always do what I want in the end and they trust that I’ll choose wisely.

“I knew I would make it this far in the process, but from here on, I don’t know what could happen.”

Eight candidates from the United Kingdom have made it to the final 100 for the one-way mission, including Durham University student Hannah Earnshaw. Speaking about the mission, Hannah said: “Putting a colony on Mars is just a small step and such a big adventure. That’s such an incredible thing to be a part of.

“I want, more than anything, to become someone that Earth would be proud to have represent them on Mars.”

Under current proposals, Mars One’s first settlers are due to land on the Martian surface in 2025.

The programme has attracted some controversy over plans to finance the expedition through a real-

ity TV show from the colony, and has been dubbed as ‘foolish’ and unrealistic by many.

Mars One

Replace Campus Co-op with Aldi, calls petition Alexander Ferguson News Sub-Editor

change.org

News in Brief

LSE Students’ Union pulls Student protesters occupy Nick Clegg’s Office The Beaver articles

On 2 March, the London School of Economics’ students paper, The Beaver, was due to go to print when the LSE Students’ Union intervened and pulled several of its articles.

This week The Beaver was due to print a collection of articles analysing the prospective candidates for the LSE Students’ Union elections that took place on 4 March. The Beaver’s statement on Facebook has read: “We had prepared a paper that included content we thought students would appreciate this close to elections. This included interviews with former students and campaign coverage.

“At our print deadline this afternoon, the SU intervened and prevented us from publishing a significant amount of content. This sets a dangerous precedent for the freedom of your student paper, and by extension what you can read.”

Rosie Dodds

Protesters from the University of Sheffield briefly occupied Nick Clegg’s constituency office on Wednesday afternoon while he was away at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Students from the Free University of Sheffield activist group headed to the Sheffield Hallam MP’s office, who they say has “betrayed a generation”.

The students, who wore Nick Clegg face masks, climbed onto the roof of the office, occupied the doorway and began chanting and holding out banners.

Police were called 10 minutes after the group arrived and there were reports one attempted arrest was made.

Jessica Pitocchi

A petition founded by a University of Sussex student is calling for the campus Co-operative food store to be replaced by an Aldi.

Callum Garlick, a second year University of Sussex student, has started the petition on the website change.org.

The petition showed initial success gaining 250 signatures in the space of only one day.

By the time The Badger went to print the petition had been open for five days and had received 391 signatures of support.

When asked their opinion on the prospect of having an Aldi store on campus, one student said: “I think it’s a great idea.

“Anything that helps to lower the price of food and alcohol on campus gets a yes from me!”

Adding to this, a third year student at the University said: “I don’t mind either way to be honest with you. But I’m not sure that it would go down very well with the middle class yuppies-to-be that make up a huge number of Sussex students!”

On the change.org petition profile, the founder highlights the irony in the view that “a shop for university students, who are notoriously poor, charges extortionate prices”.

He goes on to call for students to “join in campaigning to bring a cheaper, more competitive option to campus, where German efficiency brings you bread for 45p, and 4-packs of beer from £2.15.

4-PACKS OF BEER FOR £2.15!”

The petition profile ends with the

words “Join the revolution. Cheaper booze for all”.

A second year student working at the Co-op stated that the petition was the “impractical” in its aim to get the store replaced.

She said: “I don’t see the point in setting a petition like this up. It’s aims are totally impractical. To make a petition calling for Aldi to replace Co-op is a complete waste of time.”

The Southern Co-operative were contacted to comment on the petiton but did not respond at the time of going to print.

The Co-operative brands itself as an ehtical company and says on its website: “We are guided by the long-established co-operative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.”

Council approves 1.99% tax increase Jack Williams News Editor Council Tax in Brighton and Hove will rise by 1.99 percent this year following a compromise agreement between Labour and Green Party members on the city council.

The Green Party group originally forwarded a proposal that would have seen council tax increase by 5.99 percent, but a heated six hour debate on the plans ended in stalemate two weeks ago.

Councillors eventually voted 29 to 19 in favour of Labour’s initiative from a smaller 1.99 percent increase, despite several members of the Green Party group threatening to vote against the majority green administration’s final budget.

If the Green Party proposal for a 5.99 percent rise was approved, it would only have been validated following a city-wide referendum because it would have been more than two percent.

The local Green Party claimed that a 1.99 percent increase was necessary in

the face of cuts in central governments subsidies to local councils across the country, with predictions that up to £19million could be lost this year, causing a £26million funding gap.

Projections by Brighton & Hove Council indicate that only £4million more will be raised in the 2015/16 financial year through council tax and rent than was raised in the 2014/2015 academic year. Further projections predict that the funding gap will reach £102million by 2019/20.

The Conservative group leader, Geoffrey Theobald, who’s party targeted an freeze in Council tax, dismissed the new budget as a “bad deal” for the city.

After to rise was approved, he said: “It’s all very depressing for our residents but also very predictable.

“It’s a bad deal for residents, especially with car parking charges going up as well as council tax increases at seven times the rate of inflation.”

All 15 conservative councillors voted against the proposed rise and were twinned with the grouping of rebellious green councillors in opposing the

deal.

Six members of the Green Group publicly announced their intention to vote down the budget’s tax cuts, with three joining the Conservatives in opposition of the measures and the other three abstaining.

Warren Morgan, the leader of the Labour, condemned the “militant” sections of the Green Party and Conservative party groups for attempting to vote against the last-minute budget, which was passed seven days before the illegally imposed deadline.

Morgan commented: “It was our aim all along to set a budget at an affordable rate and protect funding for children centres, for voluntary sector groups , for domestic violence funding and more, and we’ve achieved that.

“I condemn the militant Greens and the Conservative group for pushing us to the brink of handing control of our local services to government-appointed commissioners, who would have inflicted cuts even deeper and faster than already imposed by this Conservative Government.”

the badger

9 March 2015

FEATURE • 8

FEATURE

Eric Ward - Wikipedia Commons

Such thing as Adoption Angst? Not really

Louis Patel distinguishes between birth parents and real parents, and describes the reality of the adoptive process Louis Patel Letters Sub-Editor ‘But who’s your real Mum?’ This is a question every adopted kid gets asked. While it annoys me, I have to remind myself that I’m one of the lucky ones who was adopted, there are many who didn’t get their second chance in life.

Because in many ways, that’s what being adopted is: a second chance at life. Not in an addict type sense, but in that your birth family were never able to care for you like most families can.

Before I get to that though, I’ll bring you up to speed with my own adoption tale, it’s not going to be the Dickensian tale you’ve been led to believe though.

People get the adoption story through narratives of despair. Characters like Harry Potter, Matilda and Annie come to mind.

Thanks to these stories people assume that: 1) you must’ve come from an orphanage; 2) you must be oh so sad; and 3) that you must yearn for your real parents.

These are valid questions, but let me play myth buster for a second.

When people ask me ‘but where are your real parents?’

‘You tell me’, can sometimes be my candid reply. But once I’ve gotten over that flippancy, I explain that the parents who adopted me, the ones who raised me, the ones who took on a child that wasn’t their own, those guys are my real parents.

Now, what they mean is ‘birth parents’. My birth parents, the ones

who did the ‘business’ and produced me are confused as my ‘real’ parents, and people naturally assume that it’s them who I must identify with.

My parents never lied to me or my adoptive sister about our respective pasts. My own birth mother had addiction issues, which led to severe mental health problems.

Therefore, by the time I was starting to show, it was evident to social workers I’d need to immediately be placed in care, which I was.

My birth father? I really don’t have a clue. My birth mother certainly couldn’t recall who he was when asked by social workers, so I imagine I’m the product of a quickie in the back of a club.

I was born up north in Rochdale, and placed into care at two days old.

From there comes the second regular question: ‘what was it like in the orphanage?’

Here I explain that, really, orphanages died out a long time ago in the U.K. I was placed with a normal, regular foster family, who looked after me till I was two and half.

My parents first visited me when I was two; my first words to my mum were: ‘here’s a book, read it to me’.

My love of reading and being demanding was born.

So adopted kids have those moments tantamount to first words, in the same way I have first memories of my parents.

My earliest memory of my dad was him carrying me down the stairs on my third birthday to my Thomas the Tank Engine cake.

Of course, I’d be lying if it was all

rosy. Passing a child from one family to the next creates certain shortterm hangovers. Mine was that I used to crawl out of bed and sleep on the landing, disorientated by my new home.

“...the parents who adopted me, the ones who raised me, the ones who took on a child that wasn’t their own, those guys are my real parents.”

My sister told me years later how excited she was to be getting a baby brother. ‘It was like getting a new pet’ she exclaimed, err, thanks? Growing up together as adoptive siblings was great fun in many ways.

We had something different and secretive that only we could share, in many ways I think that’s what our bond has been based on.

Being a Transracial family (my sister White, myself Asian) are often never pieced together as brother and sister. I was once cringingly asked if she was my girlfriend. I didn’t know whether to laugh or punch the person in the face.

A hang-up I do have as an adoptee, is witnessing the depths that people go to in order to have biological children, when they find conceiving naturally to be a problem.

I get that having ‘his eyes’ or ‘her

nose’ may be an attachment that some parents can’t bear to go without out. Less trivially, I get that couples just desperately want to have their own biological family, and avoid having to against the norm.

Not being able to conceive whilst all your friends are having kids must be hell.

But, can I just say, there are currently 68,840 children currently in care. Last year, only 5,050 children were adopted; of those adopted 76% were under the age of four; just 1% of those adopted were over the age of ten.

Do you see where this is going?

The reality is, once you past the golden age of four, you are likely to never be placed into an adoptive family.

There will be no family, there will only be that person, left to grapple with the fact that not only could their birth parents not care for them, but the rest of society couldn’t either.

So, when I hear of couples who are spending a small fortune on IVF and other remedies, I feel like passing them a little note with those sorry facts scrawled on.

Your child is your child, DNA is trivial. Ask any member of my family; we know that none of us share the same gene pool, and it doesn’t change our love for one another.

Adopted kids are often labelled as ‘brave’ or ‘survivors’. But I know many adoptees’ that didn’t end up so lucky. They create their own conflicting identity, halfway between who they think they are and who they’ve been told they are.

This is often for one reason: they

never had their past explained to them, and they walk around with questions permeating their brains, unable to accept their situation.

I was able to tell you, quite candidly, about my past, because it was never hidden from me. I have no interest seeking out my birth family; it may sound cold, or unbelievable, but there’s no attachment to them.

I see them much like the past: they exist, but in a world I’ll never know, nor a world I’d want to. So, for me, the real heroes are the parents who take the brave step to adopt a child, and remain unreservedly open to the questions which could possibly tear a family apart.

I may be biased here, but I’m talking about my own parents, they’re the best.

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the badger

9 MARCH 2015

Comment • 10

COMMENT

Disability, language, and how everyone can improve William Norman Recently, wonderful Sussex students have reminded me of just how acceptable it is to verbally bash the disabled.

The tour guide who compared his timid sociability to Asperger's syndrome, the girl who asked for my assistance with her ‘retarded’ searching skills to locate her bike, and the quizmaster who branded one team a ‘bunch of retards’ due to their excessive loud noise, all led me to reflect on the position of this language.

Extreme drunkenness is being ‘spasticated’, drug induced catatonia is ‘monging out’, even severe stupidity is ‘retarded’ Sadly these are everyday, acceptable phrases in our vocabulary.

Disability is important to Sussex, which provides specific housing, advisors and sport for the disabled.

Therefore it is imperative that we keen essayists all participating in a ‘character forming’ module, autocorrect our language towards groups such as disability.

One would assume that rationality would yield the most effect in the fight against those dissing the disabled.

Yet, for each occasion when I have requested a refrain of such language, a repetition occurs almost instantly, usually proceeded with an empty apology: “Sorry, I forgot”.

They have not forgotten the offensive nature of these remarks, just

that someone who is offended is present as they uttered it.

Condoning this language reveals extreme apathy; people just don’t seem to care that the colloquial use of the word retarded equates disability with inferiority.

Detailing dire disabled conditions proves more effective. Graphic descriptions of lumping an 80kg human around and constantly cleaning his excrement, make my converser contort in angst, guilt and sympathy.

They become unable to extricate depressing images of disability with this brand of insult; and therefore less likely to repeat them as it becomes a conscious choice rather than the acceptable "habit" that it is often excused as.

Wheeling my brother in public exposes society's ambivalence with disability, and specifically a paradox in the attitudes between children and their parents.

Generally, adults will avert their eyesight to practically deny the existence of disability, yet children clumsily gawk in a concoction of confusion, shock and curiosity.

My mum tries to harness this wonderment through encouraging conversation between gazing children and my brother.

However this attempt to familiarize children with disability seems unidirectional, coming only from the side of the disabled, typically the child's parents teach merely to "stop staring"; to ignore the matter rather

than explore it.

Hence the average person is not sufficiently exposed to, or taught about disability.

If the parent urged a mere "hello" to my brother , the child would learn that the disabled are not all that different, and the awkwardness of the parent and child would evaporate with the realization that a disabled person is just another person.

Yet as long as the parents pass naivety onto their children, the disability divide will continue.

This ambivalence permeates our media, which penetrates our character, and the awkward are reassured that their ignorance is acceptable.

While Frankie Boyle explicitly stated that those with Down's Syn-

drome should die early, Ricky Gervais persistently attempted to appropriate the word "mong" ; naïve to its offensive history.

A quick search of Kevin Kilbane on Twitter shows thousands who believe him to be “easily offended" by ‘mong’ chants by Tottenham fans.

Those of this belief must comprehend the fact that using a word in a derogatory sense makes it inherently offensive to its subject.

Calling an able-bodied person retarded is offensive to the disabled as calling a straight person gay is to a homosexual person.

Associating a person's character with inferiority makes it an insult.

Fortunately, exposure is increasing via disabled actors such as Liz Carr

in Silent Witness and R.J Mitte in Breaking Bad, sporting greats like Ellie Simmonds and disability themed shows such as The Last Leg. In this proliferation of awareness, society must embrace the issue, show the similarities, celebrate the differences and importantly, encourage interaction between the child and their disabled counterpart.

Free speech is important, every person has the right to say every word.

Yet, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

If your mate deserves shaming, by all means insult them relentlessly until your words have rendered them lifeless, just ensure that they are the only ones you are insulting.

Paralympics 2012

For the angry Cornishman: In defence of vegetarianism Kathryn Cheeseman I am often called into debates by virtue of my vegetarianism at parochial gatherings; ceaselessly challenged to justify myself by those with a bewildering and lusty resentment.

This happened most recently when I went home over Christmas at one of those, as a general rule, fairly intolerable festive parties (sorry Mum).

Reaching for a slice of quiche, I was accosted by a silver Cornishman (home being a rural Cornish village), and petitioned to defend my convictions.

Almost six years into my decision to be a vegetarian, this has become one of those especially irksome requests.

What seems to be the primary, and I shall contend, fairly arrogant argument levied at me, is that human consumption dictates the existence of animals slaughtered for meat.

This is true to some extent in the broader context of anthropogenic climate change and intensive farming practices.

Cow populations would invariably decrease in a world of human herbivore predominance, but crucially they

would decrease to a more natural level in subtraction of the aforementioned intensive farming, and adaptation would surely ensure continuation independent of human resource use.

For example, the New Forest ponies are essentially wild, coexisting amongst settlement.

Their existence is not dependent on material human intervention, rather legal fictions, such as property own-

ership.

A second argument invocated seeks reason and rationality for my decision, and is one which when made coherently I do agree.

If eating meat was done by means of small-scale subsistence hunting, whereby all by-products of a kill are used, this would be a much more defensible, economical and sustainable version of predation.

However, sensible of contemporary farming and consumption patterns, this proposition is unfortunately irrelevant.

Meat is mass-produced; by this virtue in predominant lack of attention to quality of life, and as topically seen many animals are subject to cruelty before and whilst slaughtered.

This production process is sanitized in clean cellophane, so that consum-

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ers can make their purchases in dissociation with the violence of their product, in which they are now complicit.

Not to mention the considerable carbon footprint associated with this modality of consumption.

A final note: a call for the value of life.

Something does not need to die to sustain my life – I can survive without this.

As a nation of dog lovers (myself included), we cherish our pets; why is the life of a chicken or cow worth less?

It has been suggested that cows can form friendships; that they have the capacity to grieve.

Arguably there is more sensation going on beneath the surface than that observed in our distorted public figures (not necessarily suggesting cannibalism as preferential, although that councillor from Meet the Ukippers is fair game).

If, subsequent to these ideological contentions, a substantiation in physicality is required: I also just don’t like the taste. I’ll be in the corner with my quiche.

the badger

9 march 2015 COMMENT • 11

COMMENT

Tony Blair is to blame for things, including fees Harry Howard

After Labour leader Ed Miliband announced last week that university tuition fees would be cut from £9,000 per year to £6,000 if his party wins May’s general election, many students will be rejoicing.

The work of those nasty Tories who trebled tuition fees with the help of their turncoat liberal sidekicks will be tempered and millions of young people will be better off.

Yet this perception is not grounded in reality.

On the one hand Miliband’s proposal has been dismissed as a piece of populist gimmickry that will a £10bn black hole in university revenues.

On the other, those opposed to the current policy need to face the fact that the current fee regime has been fair to students; you only start paying the loan back when you are earning over £21,000 and any debt that remains after 30 years is written off entirely.

It is also crucial to recognise that current fees are entirely necessary given the massively inflated university population and the state of the nation’s finances.

Indeed, it seems as though this policy announcement has a lot to do with the

vast student electorate that is up for grabs after they were so stung by Nick Clegg and his promise not to raise fees.

Yet it is rather ironic that it is the fault of the Labour party and not the current government that the higher education system is in such a mess.

In fact, the finger can be pointed directly at that titan of the centre ground that is Tony Blair.

He strode to power in 1997 amidst waves of optimism, shouting his mantra of “Education, Education, Education,” which included the headline-grabbing 50% target for university participation amongst young adults.

Given that this figure is near to being achieved, you might wonder why I have singled out Blair’s policy for criticism.

Firstly, because so many people are going to university, we now have a huge lack of people training in skilled professions that pay well, such as plumbing and carpentry.

In addition, not enough young people are embarking on technical apprenticeships because of the societal pressure to go into higher education; leaving a massive skills shortage in vital areas of manufacturing.

Alan Smithers – one of Britain’s leading voices on education – highlighted another point, elucidating the link be-

tween Blair’s education policy and tuition fees, “the expansion of higher education and the introduction of tuition fees are not unconnected - the growth could not be afforded out of taxes.

Blair’s emphasis on university education further undermined the ladders from school into work which were already shaky.”

Indeed, the massive expansion of university places has generated a culture where those who don’t go to university are considered the odd ones out.

University used to be about furthering your knowledge and education because you had the ability and a genuine interest in your subject of choice. Now, many people go because their friends are going and because they want to ‘have fun’.

If they had chosen to go straight into work after leaving school, like the majority of people used to do, there is a good chance that three years in the same job would have brought them promotion and a salary increase; rather than starting at the bottom of the same ladder with £40,000 of debt and a mediocre degree in a soft subject that will bring little, if any, advantage.

The saddest thing about this whole mess is that successive governments will not do anything about it.

It is too politically toxic for politicians to say that there are too many people going to university.

Instead, the unsustainable increase in the numbers of people going into higher education will only further contribute to grade inflation – where you now need a good degree for a job that you would have previously got with good A-levels.

“If I had to characterise the Blair government’s approach to education,” says Professor Smithers, “I would say it has desperately wanted to be seen to be doing good things.” The ultimate consequences of this approach will continue to be felt by successive generations, but given that the figures look good on paper, Blair will not bat an eyelid.

REX

Why I think that HeforShe does not represent me Pippa Sterk September 2014, Emma Watson launches the HeForShe campaign, inviting all men into feminism.

September 2014, the first meeting of the University of Sussex Women’s Group. The topic? How we can make feminism more interesting for men.

September 2014, the first meeting of the Feminist Society.

We talk about how we can make feminism more interesting for men.

November 2014, a talk about lad culture in university environments, detailing how unsafe women feel on campus.

The questions that followed were mainly about how we can make sure that men are welcome in feminism, and whether men should take leadership roles in feminism.

I’m going to say it: I don’t think that feminism is exclusionary towards men.

In fact, I think that feminists on average spend more time making the movement interesting for men than they do for women.

However, I do think that feminism has an exclusivity problem.

I just don’t think that men as a group are the victims of it.

In fact, I think that the continued practice of making feminism less dangerous, less intimidating so as to attract men, is something that fuels continued exclusion of women of colour, trans women, working-class women

and other marginalised women.

Take for instance, the ever so popular “If you believe that men and women should be equal, you’re a feminist”.

On the surface, this seems a really nice phrase, and I have to admit that for a long time this was how I liked to think about feminism.

All the people that seemed to be indifferent about women’s rights are now suddenly feminist friends, because they fulfil the basic human standard of “not being a bigot”.

It’s a very safe standpoint, accessible even for people (regardless of gender identity) who think that feminism is a dirty word.

Of course, what this mindset overlooks is that it implies that feminism should be as simple as that: men being equal to women and nothing more.

Where are women of colour in this equation? What about people who are neither men nor women? Is there any discourse about disabled women?

Simplifying feminism to something this basic means erasing all the diversity within the label of ‘woman’, and means that people can call themselves feminist without ever having to think about how different identities shape different experiences of womanhood.

Watering down feminism to make it accessible to the mainstream has so often meant throwing marginalised people under the bus.

Who hasn’t heard the phrase “Yeah,

I’m a feminist, but I’m not a hairy lesbian,” as if the worst thing in the world would be to be associated with women who are hairy, lesbians or both.

When will we stop saying “I’m a feminist, but I still think girls should have some class.”

Why don’t we stop putting our efforts into phrases like “you can be a feminist and still be pretty” and start saying “beauty is socially constructed and relies on racist, cissexist, ableist standards of how a person should look and it’s up to feminists to undermine that construct and realise that a pretty feminist is not better than an ugly fem-

inist, it’s just someone who fits better into those arbitrary standards.”

So no, I won’t be supporting #HeForShe. Any speech that focuses its efforts on getting men to join feminism, while at the same time equating “woman” with “the ability to give birth” is the type of feminism that I find ineffective.

I think that feminism that tries to sell itself to everyone, regardless of what their view is, is ineffective.

I think focusing our time on people who only want to be part of the type of feminism that makes them comfortable is ineffective. I want my feminism to focus on the quality of its movement

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rather than the quantity of its followers.

Feminism is not supposed to be about celebrating and inviting people who are not actually interested in changing their own behaviour. It’s not supposed to be a space where you get a lollipop just for identifying as a feminist.

It is not supposed to be a place where people go only if we kiss the ground they walk on.

The people who only want to be a part of feminism only if it’s reduced to quirky catchphrases and when it’s made safe to consume are exactly the type of people I think feminism could go without.

Being involved in activism means looking at our own actions critically, and deciding that in the past we have done things wrong and in the future we will do things better.

Realising that not every struggle is for us to comment on.

It’s about realising that “woman”, or even “person” is a complex label that comes with different experiences for everyone, all of which need to be treated in specific ways. And that is difficult.

And there is no shame in admitting that it’s difficult.

Feminism is supposed to be loud, dangerous and outspoken, it’s supposed to appeal more to those on the outside than those on the inside, because that is how change is made.

the badger

9 March 2015

SCIENCE • 12

SCIENCE

Are we really two years from full body transplants?

Dorothy Yim “While there’s life, there’s hope”.

The famous quote by Stephen Hawking, adopted in The Theory of Everything which won the 87th Oscars last month, is always a source of strength for terminally-ill patients.

Now, the idea of transplanting a live person’s brain to a dead body is no longer merely an imaginary scenario in horror or sci-fi movies. Advancing medical technologies are believed to be making it a reality in two years.

Sergio Canavero, a doctor in Turin, Italy, recently published an outline

demonstrating how full body transplants could be performed to prolong the lives of patients whose muscles and nerves have degenerated or whose organs are riddled with cancer.

The first successful head transplant was attempted on a monkey in 1970 at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, US. But the monkey only lived for nine days as its immune system rejected the head.

To perform the surgery, doctors would first cool the patient’s head and the donor’s body to prevent their cells from dying. The neck is cut through, the blood vessels joined with thin tubes, and the spinal cord cut with a

Oly Darke

Science factoid

of the week

Jade Groves Science Sub-Editor Dogs may not appear to be very clever as they run around chasing their own tails, but in fact, dogs are very socially aware of both themselves and humans.

Studies have reported that dogs can sense human emotion, and tell the difference been happy and sad.

It also seems that dogs can now tell if humans are untrustworthy.

As we all know dogs will respond to humans when they point at an object, but research published in the journal of Animal Cognition suggests that if dogs know that they are being tricked by an untrustworthy person they will no longer respond to human cues.

This therefore suggests that dogs use experience as a experimenter to assess where a human is reliable.

It also said to suggest that dogs like things to be predictable. As soon as events change and become irregular, the dog will look for alternative things to do. This will eventually lead to the animal getting stressed, aggressive or fearful.

To conclude, it appears dogs may be far more intelligent than once believed.

sharp knife to minimise nerve damage. The recipient’s head is then moved on to the donor’s body.

Technical hurdles of fusing the spinal cord, reviving the reconstructed person and retraining the brain to use thousands of unfamiliar nerves and preventing the body’s immune system from rejecting the head imply that the surgery could be ready as early as 2017.

According to the research, the patient will be able to walk within one year with the help of physical therapy after the transplant. Dr Canavero is hoping to assemble a team to assist him in a conference for neurological surgeons in Maryland, USA this June where he will perform the first human full body transplant.

While bringing good news to patients, his ideas are met with disbelief in surgeons and opposition from advocates of ethics.

Dr Andrew Chitty, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy in University of Sussex, told The Badger, “what is wrong with this procedure is that it opens up the possibility of prolonging an individual’s life indefinitely. Most of us fear death, so we might welcome this. But in fact immortality is not a good for human beings but rather an evil.

“It is certainly not a good for the human race as a whole (see for ex-

ample Kurt Vonnegut’s short story ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’), and I would argue that it is not a good for any individual human being either.

Rather than developing medical technologies that hold open the prospect of living forever, we should be focusing on ones that improve the quality of our finite lives.”

Medico-moral implications are raised regarding Dr Canavero’s concept. The costliness of this surgery exposes it to exploitation by wealthy individuals. As with cases of designer babies, genetic modification and cloning, organs and bodies become commodified, and the sanctity of lives no longer respected or cherished.

In addition, this concept would widen the gap between the rich and the poor, reinforcing the idea that money makes people immortal. Conveying this message to the younger generation will be detrimental to their ethical values. If you could extend your life indefinitely, would you still take utmost care of your health and make full use of your time?

Imagine a world where everyone cultivate bad lifestyles in the knowledge that money can solve the problem, imagine that everyone looks for money in the wrong places to buy lives which are originally priceless.

Regarding the commodification of organs, because of the high demand of organs for around 10000 medical procedures each year and low donation rates, organs of executed prisoners in China used to be collected without permission of themselves or their family.

Body parts may be traded for profit and end up on the black market.

Thanks to human rights advocates, China’s organ donation committee has forbidden these scenarios starting from January this year.

Without appropriate regulation, it is worrying that a similar story from China’s history would be brought about by the procedure of full body transplant - where wealthy, aging individuals secure the healthy bodies of young individuals on the black market, with “unscrupulous” surgeons carrying out the head transplantation.

In response to ethical concerns raised, Dr Canavero said, “If society doesn’t want it, I won’t do it. But if people don’t want it, in the US or Europe, that doesn’t mean it won’t be done somewhere else.”

One of doctors’ roles is to benefit patients and the public - they should uphold social justice. Let’s hope that they will remember the values they have vowed in the Hippocratic Oath.

Research suggests brains can control wheelchairs Astrid Nardecchia Best known for having created a full body robotic suit which helped a paralysed man to kick off the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis does not stop to impress.

Coming from Duke University, he recently carried out a research on two rhesus macaques which involved the monkeys having electrodes implanted deep in their brains consequently allowing them to steer a wheelchair using thought alone.

This research has risen hope for paralysed people: advances in biomechanical engineering, cognitive neuroscience, mathematics and computer science have come together to offer optimism to legions of people who suffer from spinal cord injuries.

Miguel Nicolelis’ team initially recorded activity in the motor and sensory cortices of monkeys riding around in chairs. A computer decoder correlated this neural activity with the direction of movement of the chair and after the training period was over, the brain-machine interface worked in reverse – using the neural inputs to actually steer the chair. “They can reliably steer the wheelchair to get a grape,” Nicolelis said in a National Geographic report. “They like grapes.”

Across the decades, scientists have had the ability to record brain waves (EEG) or even implant specialised arrays of electrodes into the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain.

The goal of the research is partly to help develop a “brain pacemaker” implant that would pick up clearer signals from thoughts to help future robotic prosthetics.

Each year 130,000 people suffer spinal cord injuries worldwide, and for more than a decade, researchers have sought to help these patients using robotic interfaces with the brain. The findings of the research were presented to the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference in Washington, DC. Paraplegics are given the opportunity to walk again by using an exoskeleton that is controlled by brain signals that are associated with movement. Describing a pilot research in which eight paralysed patients walked using a robotic exoskeleton that moved in response to readings of the patients’ brain waves, Nicolelis states that some of his patients “feel they are walking on sand” and that their brains are fooled to think it is themselves walking forward rather than the machine. Similarly, in fact, analysis of the monkey’s brain signals showed that the animal learned to assimilate the robot arm into her brain as if it

were her own arm.

Eberhard Fetz, a neuroscientist of the University of Washington and colleagues have similarly showed that brain interfaces in monkeys can “bridge” the damaged area in a spinal cord injury, allowing voluntary movements of muscles.

An interesting finding about the patients and their experience with walking with an exoskeleton is such that “if they walk slow, they feel that they are walking on sand; faster, that they are on grass, and fastest that they are walking on hot pavement,” creating a “phantom” feeling.

Although these new technologies offer a window into how the brain

creates movement, there is a substantial amount of work which still needs to occur before it can be consolidated. Daofen Chen, a neuroscientist of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says, “We are far from understanding the brain well enough to expect them to serve as solutions.”

Fetz, however, suggests that enough progress is being made to feel good about developing robotics that might help patients. “One of the benefits of this whole area of research is that training patients on these devices helps them become part of the research team,” Fetz says.

“We are working together.”

The ReWalk Exoskeleton

the badger

9 March 2015 ARTS • 14

ARTS

+1: The War on Drugs

We sent William Scharff and Robert Henry to Brighton Dome to see Adam Granduciel’s The War on Drugs at the end of last month, in the first of our +1 features, we hear both writers’ account of the show, seeing what worked and what divided opinion when Philly’s finest swung by Brighton. Despite their conflicting opinions, they seem sure on one thing: Lost in the Dream is well worth hearing live.

Crack Magazine William Scharff A few hours before heading to the gig at the Dome, I was wondering if I still actually wanted to go or not.

OK, so I hadn’t listened to any of the three albums for months, and I wasn’t so sure that I could handle all that heavy rain and wind on a Sunday evening.

I just felt that I wasn’t as happy to see them as I would have been a year ago.

I know for sure it would have made many of my jealous friends happy.

However I stopped whining, grabbed an umbrella and made my way to the Dome in any case.

I mean after all this was a sold-out show in Brighton’s biggest venue, this was the band which released, in my and in many critic’s opinion, 2014’s best album Lost In the Dream.

This was a chance to finally see The War On Drugs.

Ever since the release of its acclaimed third album, 2014’s Lost In the Dream, The War On Drugs, led by guitarist and songwriter Adam Granduciel, has been the band à la mode.

The album’s distinct sound, a mix of 80s Springsteen, folk and progressive rock, has delighted the ear of many.

As I’m waiting for the concert to start, I can’t help but notice the joyful excitement which people aged 16 to 70 are showing.

They opened their set with the rhythmic ‘Under The Pressure’, immediately getting everyone into the mood.

Even I started to ask myself why on earth I ever wanted to give away my ticket.

Indeed, with a set in which they skilfully mixed

Robert Henry older and more recent material my mind started to drift to a beautiful place.

It was the exact same type of escape I felt while listening to the album for the first time.

Granduciel’s live guitar playing was not only impressive, but also served as the backbone to the show.

His wild riffs created a fast-paced atmosphere during songs like “Burning” but almost brought tears to my eyes down during songs like “Lost In The Dream”.

To this we can add the saxophone and the thumping drums that contributed to the elevating sound that is mesmerizing the entire audience.

His Dylan-influenced lyrics too were distinct, due to the formidable acoustics of the Dome.

I looked around me and all I saw now reflected in the eyes of the people next to me were the long lost highways of the American deserts.

They played a welcomed encore comprised of three songs from older material.

“I am the free way down by the harbour”, sang an imposing Granduciel, still capturing the utmost attention from everyone in the Dome.

“Coming Through”, released in 2010’s EP Future Weather, was even played at the request from a few enthusiastic audience members.

I take back my early qualms: what a great show.

When Granduciel told us “We love Brighton”, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking ‘well Adam, tonight Brighton loves you too.’

It ought to be easy to be snobbish about the War on Drugs.

Or, to put it another way, to feel justifiably sceptical about a group who seem a little too inclined to punctuate their tracks with Springsteen-patented ‘Dancing in the Dark’ whoops and intent on reviving the synthreliant commercialism of 80’s stadium rock.

In fact, perhaps the most surprising thing about the War on Drugs is just how ‘unsniffy’ the critical consensus has been about their recent work.

With their latest album Lost in the Dream they have consistently topped, or vyed for, the best album accolade in a variety of national and popular music publications.

The reason for the acclaim, of course, is that there is much more to their sound than the pop rock staples they sometimes invoke.

Take ‘Under the Pressure’, for instance, the opening track of the album, and the night’s show.

Building from an almost breezy beginning the track expands into a churning jam of saxophone, virtuoso guitar riffs and synths before it disintegrates into a haze of drone and slow-dying chords that evoke a soundscape of almost dystopian proportions: as far removed from the ‘chiming’ opening as one could have imagined possible.

Such reversals, or inversions, are the order of the night as the band shapes their seemingly incongruous mix of motorik rhythms

and the nostalgic inflections of highwaybound Americana into darker, more troubling vistas.

Indeed, the show is at its best when, in tracks like “Eyes to the Wind”, Adam Granduciel’s most Dylanesque vocals.

Similarly, during “In Reverse”, the band begin from a template which would sound derivative or uninspired if it wasn’t carried across into new terrains of space and time: here, harmonicas and saxophones are drowned out and supplanted by looping space guitar jams.

It is almost as though Granduciel and his acolytes have taken their own trip, ‘on that magic swirling ship’ only to return to discover a present of fading dreams and broken hearts.

Curiously though, the set and the chosen tracks (mainly taken from Lost in the Dream) while languorous and not without pain and sorrow cumulatively, and individually, achieve an almost cathartic effect.

Through each sprawling tracks, they evoke a psychedelic journey of the soul.

It is well known that the album was inspired by the exhaustion of life on the road and the break-up of a long-term relationship for Granduciel, the principal song-writer.

But there is sweetness to Granduciel’s sorrow; as he revisits the sounds of the past, he demonstrates that there may even be hope on the horizon.

the badger

9 march 2015 ARTS • 15

Reviews film

Appropriate Behaviour Q&A Charel Muller Appropriate Behaviour begins and ends with a twenty-something woman on a subway train.

The woman’s name is Shirin, a bisexual Brooklynite with Iranian origins.

Throughout the comedy, we come to know how she arrived on these two completely contrasting journeys on New York’s most popular means of public transportation.

The result is reminiscent of Frances Ha and the recent works of Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On; Love is Strange).

It is the kind of film in which the protagonist walks through the streets of New York holding a strap-on.

The Duke of York’s recently hosted Desiree Akhavan, the writer, director and star of this debut feature, and I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the (almost) sold-out event.

Akhavan, known for a webseries called The Slope and a guest appearance on the current season of Girls,

was a funny and engaging presence for a lengthy Q&A session after the screening.

The only let-down of the evening was that I didn’t win one of the ten fashionable t-shirts promoting the film.

Let’s discuss the film first though.

The story is told in a non-linear fashion on two parallel timelines.

On the one hand, we see an unhappy, frustrated Shirin (Akhavan) drifting through life in search of a sense of direction.

After a rough break-up, she is in desperate need of a new start.

She begins to teach a film class to a group of fart-obsessed five year-olds and engages in a series of casual sexual encounters.

These scenes are funny (in a typical, deadpan New York-way), sexy and usually painfully awkward.

In the film’s most memorable sequence she hooks up with a random couple she meets at a bar.

This will make you laugh and physically cringe at the same time.

Shirin’s semi-successful attempts to deal with her break-up are interspersed with flashbacks of her once happy relationship with Maxine (Rebecca Henderson).

This half of the story is clearly weaker and lacks emotional impact.

There are occasional laughs, but an

increasingly serious, nostalgic mood permeates these scenes as they play like a generic romance.

These flaws fortunately don’t take away from the entertainment value of the film.

Its biggest virtue is honesty.

Appropriate Behaviour is clearly an extremely personal project for Akhvan, but the film never becomes selfindulgent.

She draws upon her own experi-

ence and opens up.

She invites the audience into this strange, hip world of present-day Brooklyn in order to tell a universal story.

Even the most ridiculous situations hold a core of emotional truth.

We may not know what it feels like to be a bisexual Iranian in New York, but we understand her existential anxieties about identity, love and loneliness.

During the Q&A, Desiree Akhavan asked a very poignant question: “Why do films about bisexuals or Persians always have to be like taking medicine?”

With Appropriate Behaviour, she has managed to add a spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down in a most delightful way.

It’s a flawed, consistently funny (self-)portrait of a fascinating young woman.

Cat

Parkville Pictures

music

The Jesus and Mary Chain Brighton Dome

Monday 23rd February

Laura McIntyre Do you remember that scene from Harry Potter where Voldemort’s face pops out of a book in the restricted section, wailing in Harry’s little unassuming face?

Imagine Voldemort’s scream but 100 times louder, non-stop for well over an hour.

Safe to say I felt like a goldfish that had been plunged into a tank of Scottish shoegaze.

Welcome back The Jesus and Mary Chain: goodbye adequate hearing.

The first set was a shoegaze continuum that began with songs of the unfortunate stadium rock persuasion.

This was a somewhat disappointing first impression given the nature of their performance history; their 1985 gig at Electric Ballroom ended in a full blown riot resulting in the destruction of the venue’s lighting rig.

But now, 30 years later, the gig

Andy Von Pip

serves as a reminder of the bittersweet transience of youth.

I couldn’t help but notice the audience encompassed subtle variations of the middle-aged rocker archetype seeking to negate an unfinished battle with the band.

It is the most Scottish thing I’ve ever been to, with the crowd shouting affectionate insults to each in the between each song whilst moshing in a kind of solidarity.

The presence of the dome’s security seemed to symbolize even more the band’s violent past, when the riots preceded their music altogether.

However, there is much to be

said on the music itself.

Songs like ‘Reverence’ have an overt Iggy Pop influence and it is, perhaps, too derivative of ‘I wanna be your dog’.

The soft cymbal crash at the end of every bar made The Jesus and Mary Chain sound like a perverse 60s girl group.

The drumming ‘Just Like Honey’ resembles the percussive style of The Shangri Las for instance.

The slow and steady 60s rhythms suddenly proliferated into the My Bloody Valentine threshold of the shoegaze spectrum by the end of the fist set.

The excruciating white noise

from William Reid’s feedback continued into the second set: Psychocandy in its entirety.

The word ‘psycho’ is there for a reason: Reid’s guitar sounded like wound being reopened continuously.

The drumming became more machine-like, perhaps taking influence from earlier post-punk bands like Joy Division.

Jim Reid’s voice is what prevented the overbearing feedback and monotonous drumming from turning into nonsensical chaos.

It’s like a fine thread that weaves the painful sounds together into something pleasant and endearing.

The soft, steady execution and unvaried vocal range suggested Reid was totally unphased by the chaotic moshers in the front row.

The band’s mysticism and removal from the action increased as they dissolved into the copious dry ice smog.

Someone was certainly feeling generous with the dry ice that day.

The Jesus and Mary Chain no doubt deserve greater exposure to a younger audience.

Their continued provocativeness sets the bar high for others aiming to create a sound that stands above the current wave of mundane shoegaze revival groups.

the badger

9 MARCH 2015 ARTS • 16

LIFESTYLE

The day I saw the internet go wild over a dress Anna Sudnitcyna In all honesty, I expected that one day the internet would give the world a reason to divide itself into two camps, but neither I, nor anyone else as far as I know, could have predicted that it would happen because of a dress.

OR, should I say, not just a dress.

THE dress.

And an ugly one at that. Quite frankly unbelievable.

It seemed like only people in outer space - and perhaps those with more important things to think about - didn’t bring up the dress at some point.

So… Is the dress black and blue or white and gold ?

The question of 2015 so far.

And it seems that everyone has an opinion on the matter, with celebrities from Taylor Swift to the Kardashians and Kanye West to Julianne Moore tweeting and instagramming about the ‘black/blue or white/gold’ question, and everyone’s Facebook feeds filling up with statuses and articles and comments about it.

If you were after a fight, you could even bring it up with people you’d never met before and have a couple of hours of truly intense, angry debate.

Hell, one American guy even got the dress tattooed on his leg - always the sign of a truly important stage in someone’s life right ?

BBC News I really wonder if he will come to regret that later…

But, all internet storm aside, there must be a rational reason for this, right ?

Whilst some blamed the lighting, and others questioned Photoshop,

the Guardian, who called this craze the ‘Great Dress Debate of 2015’ (whilst others preferred ‘dressgate’) turned towards neurology as an explanation instead.

We all perceive the world around us differently, as we perceive with

our brains, rather than with our eyes.

Therefore, the process of analysing the world around us in different from person to person, particularly with colours.

Jay Neitz, neuroscientist of the University of Washington said “I’ve studied individual differences in colour vision for 30 years and this is one of the biggest individual differences I have ever seen.”

Personally I find it fascinating that whilst we all see the dress differently, it might mean something more as well.

Despite what the internet might be shouting at you, there is also no absolute right or wrong: it entirely depends on how we perceive and interpret the world around us, making us each unique.

On a different level, I think that the debates surrounding the dress are more about connecting us together than turning us away from each other.

When everyone from celebrities to professors talk about the same thing and share their opinions, such internet phenomenons bring us together.

Finally I feel like I really need to put my opinion of the dress out here.

It’s kind of weird.

I don’t see it as black and blue or white and gold.

I see the dress is blue and brownish gold. So I cannot even be part of the game. What is wrong with me?

Recipe of the week Karen Murphy’s

Chicken & Spinach Risotto Ingredients For four people: 1 medium sized onion, chopped 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped 4oz butter 4 handfuls of rice (risotto is best, round or pudding is good, long grain (not pre-cooked) 1 glass of Martini or vodka Some cooked chicken pieces – a lot of chicken goes a long way in this dish 2 pints of chicken stock – the better the stock, the tastier the risotto 8 oz of frozen spinach, de-frosted, keep the liquid A handful of grated Parmesan + more to serve 4 tbsp of crème fraiche 4 oz of pine nuts Grated nutmeg, salt and freshly ground pepper Method Have all your ingredients prepared and ready to use before you start. Bring the stock to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan. In a large saucepan, over a gentle heat, slowly fry the onion and garlic in 1oz of the butter, for about five minutes, until transparent.

Better Call Saul: a brief history of the spin-off George Pundek In February, AMC/Netflix unveiled its latest offering of goodness: the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul.

It’s been a great success, achieving critical acclaimed and acquiring a second series, and marks a high-point on the increasing trend of spin-offs in modern entertainment media.

It seems the spin-off, a genre originally sneered at for its seeming lack of creativity and derivativeness, is truly coming into its own.

Let’s trace this back.

The spin-off has always had its roots in television, especially in the US, with producers seeking to breed a fresh series from the dying bud of a successful one.

Frasier, with its eleven series and numerous awards, is arguably the most successful spinoff, and indeed sitcom, of all time after it grew out of the popular Cheers.

There was also Happy Days, which provided incredibly fertile ground for executives looking to capitalise on the show, spawning successful spin-offs such as Mork & Mindy (which gave the late Robin Williams his break), and Laverne and Shirley.

However, there were also scores of failed Happy Days spin-offs such as Joanie loves Chachi and Out of the Blue; the latter of which, due to scheduling errors, meant the spinoff began before the character had even been introduced in its parent show.

Elsewhere there was Joey, which seemed the antithesis of Frasier in failing miserably as a Friends spinoff.

Yet, this is only takes into account those that actually became a full series, with scores of failed projects being shut down at the pilot stage.

Take for example The Farm, an intended spin-off of The Office, where an episode was built into the latter’s final season to establish new characters and settings, only for the studios to later pass on the idea.

Across this side of the pond the spin-off trend is less alive however.

The Body Farm, the Waking the

Dead spin-off, and the torturously mediocre Only Fools and Horses spin-off The Green, Green Grass were both short-lived.

The only ones with any life stemmed from the Whoniverse – Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures – but even Torchwood was repeatedly shunted across channels in an attempt to find it an audience.

However, as a whole, television spin-offs are increasingly prevalent.

In fact, whereas they used to germinate out of concluding shows, they now stem from ones that are alive and well.

The Walking Dead, one of the most successful shows in US cable history, is soon spawning a spinoff to take place in the same universe but with new characters.

In cinema the trend becomes headachingly more complex.

With the X-Men franchise there were the Origins and The Wolverine

“It seems fair to dismiss the out-dated prejudice of unoriginality in spin-offs and instead embrace them with an open mind.”

Add another ounce of butter, let it melt and add the rice, Cook together on a really slow heat , stirring constantly for spin-offs, then the spin-off prequel about ten minutes. Turn up the heat First Class, which became the par- and add the Martini, keep stirring till ent/spin-off mash up Days of Future the liquid has been absorbed.

Past, and soon there will be Apocalypse to hand over the mantle of the main franchise to the new kids.

Meanwhile, The Avengers franchise seemingly built itself as a spinoff in reverse, with individual films building towards a collaborative centre point as opposed to the traditional other-way-around approach.

And coming soon we will not only have a new Star Wars trilogy, but individual spin-off films in between.

Thus, there is an increasing amount of money and risk being placed on spin-offs, with their relationships to their original sources becoming interpreted in increasingly different ways.

After all, the creators have stated that Better Call Saul aims to take place before, during and after Breaking Bad. Thus, taking the initial quality and reception of Saul, it seems fair to dismiss the out-dated prejudice of unoriginality in spin-offs, and instead embrace them with an openmind as a genre increasing in diversity and direction.

Now start adding the simmering stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly till the liquid is absorbed each time – it should take about twenty minutes in total, if you run out of stock before the rice is cooked use the water from the spinach.

When the rice is cooked, add the cooked chicken and the spinach, allow the risotto to come back up to temperature then beat in the cheese, butter and crème fraiche before putting the lid on the saucepan and letting it rest while you toast the pine nuts.

You can toast the pine nuts either on a baking tray in a hot oven (220°C) or in a skillet on the hob, but watch them carefully -they burn quickly and taste horrible burnt.

Stir half the pine nuts into the risotto with salt and pepper to taste and a good grating of nutmeg. Nutmeg and spinach are a match made in heaven – don’t miss out this step. Serve the risotto with the rest of the pine nuts.

the badger

9 MARCH 2015 ARTS • 17

PAGE 17

‘Ahoy there, Duckboy!’: Swandown and Psychogeography, a Surrealist Jaunt into England

Fly Films

Last week, Arts Editor Thomas Powell was invited to Towner Eastbourne to see Iain Sinclair and Andrew Kötting’s 2012 movie Swandown as part of their Sea Interludes film series.

With both contributors there to elucidate their creative work, Thomas learned a little about psychogeography, ‘reverse evolution’ and the waterways of Sussex, Kent and Essex.

Apparently paraphrasing Marx, founder of Letterist International and early psychogeographer Guy Debord once stated that: ‘People can see nothing around them that is not their own image; everything speaks to them of themselves.

Their very landscape is animated.

Obstacles were everywhere. And they were all interrelated, maintaining a unified reign of poverty.

Since everything was connected, it was necessary to change everything through a unitary struggle, or nothing.

It was necessary to link up with the masses, but sleep was all around us.’

Psychogeography, with its roots equally placed in the pedestrian exploration of de Quincey, the urban ramblings of the Baudelairian flâneur and Benjamin’s Arcades Project, has since the mid-20th century become a form of escape from the subject-obsessed tunnel vision of contemporary existence.

It is the lateral experiencing of human environments.

Iain Sinclair’s work and renown is the fruit of the niche he’s carved in this area in the last couple of decades.

First he tackled the M25 with London Orbital, an account of his walk around London’s periphery, taking in its forgotten fringes, the neglected sites of post development.

Next he tackled his home, Hackney, about which he wrote an autobiographical meandering truly in the vein of his precursors Baudelaire, Benjamin and Debord.

Now, with the help of Hastings based filmmaker Andrew Kötting, he tackles the South East’s Canals, the Medway and the Thames in a Swan shaped pedalo.

As a cinematic idea, Swandown is hardly a blockbuster on paper.

Its narrative sits somewhere between an English waterways documentary and Dara O’Briain, Griff Rhys Jones and Rory McGrath’s uncomfortably laddish TV version of Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat.

Kötting’s caddish frippery to passers-by at times imbues the work with a similar aesthetic to Three Men in a Boat: his asking ‘Which way to London?’ to a man on a bridge near Dartford and repeated reference to Sinclair’s seniority reeks more of laddishness than the psychogeographi-

cal discovery I illuminated with the earlier quotation from Debord.

However, beneath the discomforting veneer of masculinity and posed bromance (Kötting at one point stating ‘I actually miss the old guy...’ after Sinclair leaves for America towards the end of the film), Swandown is a marvellously witty, and delightfully surreal journey into a rarely seen England.

Taking in the mutter of the edgeland’s rushes, Kötting and Sinclair float majestically through backwater England, stately as an actual swan in their gaudy pedalo from Hastings.

As their comfortably reclined torsos give the image of the royal bird itself carefully ebbing down the river, their pedalling legs give the impression of gently fluttering wings.

This method of transport, they both add during their introduction, is ideal as it keeps you afloat at walking pace; you absorb each bank slowly, opening yourself up to chance interactions with both humanity and the natural world.

Early in the film Kötting leans out of the boat to brush away algae that’s slowing their course downstream.

Later he does the same in East London with the slowly increasing human accretions: plastic bottles, beer cans, KitKat wrappers and train tickets, clearing a pathway through the detritus.

Shots like these demonstrate the

oft-ignored minutiae of the canal network, that which is paid scarce attention from the banks or faster moving boats that leave the swan pedalling pair spinning in their wake with a guffaw and a flick of their Vforks.

However, the swan is not only a vehicle from which to view the world at a leisurely pace, it is also in a sense a mode of reverse psychogeography.

As demonstrated by the aforementioned guffawing boatman, as well as the stone throwing delinquent yelling ‘Ahoy there, Duckboy!’ at Kötting in London, the stately floating swan becomes a surreal object to the bankside observer, provoking baffled awe, guarded embarrassment and at times performed rebuke.

In this way, while observing an English edgeland otherwise unseen, the filmmakers contravene the idea of their work as psychogeographical documentary, instilling it instead with a gaudy image that turns journey to jaunt.

Even if a little overused, the absurd image of the pedalo floating in and out of shot in slow-mo gives laughs both to the viewing audience, and diegetically to those watching from the riverbanks.

Not only does this wit make for a more entertaining watch, but it also proves Debord’s theory right, by imposing this object on the English waterways, Sinclair and Kötting see

beyond themselves, but so does every dog walker or fisherman that observes them in their ludicrous vessel.

Through their levity, sleep is no longer around us.

This, it appears from the film’s narrative (a journey from Hastings to the Olympic Park in Hackney) is imperative.

The reason behind the journey, Kötting playfully alleges, is that Sinclair was upset that someone was doing something in Hackney without asking him first.

So while the world’s eyes were on Stratford in 2012, a small swan made its way unseen into the heart of commercial darkness (complete with the dark clouds over Gravesend), completing what the directors called a reverse evolution, from periphery to centre.

However, a few eyes, now including my own, were diverted by their journey.

As a result we are more aware of the unseen England, the one between the rivers and the roads.

Once, people retreated to the seaside resorts of Margate, Brighton and Hastings on weekend jaunts, what Sinclair and Kötting have now proved to me is that reversing your route can be just as worthy an escape.

In reversing charabanc excursions and adopting a playful psychogeographic mode, looking properly around ourselves, we awake.

the badger

9 march 2015 Arts •18

Arts

Editor’s Picks

Arts Editor Lottie Brazier shares her tips on the week ahead in culture

MUSIC VENUE St George’s Church

ART Here, I Am Goddamn Media 6th March - 12th March FREE

There is still novelty attached to the idea of the church as music venue – one that enables the institution to generate extra funding. For those with more secular interests churches, as you may know, have great acoustics. In Brighton, St Peter’s Church is definitely the better-known proponent of live music events. It’s not the only church in Brighton run these though. St Georges’ Church is such an establishment, found tucked away in Kemptown – and so most likely out of the way for most students. It’s hard to miss though, it being grandiose and idiosyncratically Georgian. Like most churches that operate in part as gig venues, this church sells its secular function well. So far it has showcased Seth Lakeman and Scott Mathews, but it’ll soon be diverging from folk sentiment by hosting an array of bands as part of the Great Escape (TBA).

Courtney Pine Press

MUSIC @ ST GEORGE’S CHURCH Courtney Pine + Zoe Rahman Friday 14th March, 11pm £18

Goddamn New Media is a small gallery on the Level, with a DIY aesthetic that Brighton lays strong claim to.

The gallery will be displaying works by a range of artists under the theme of consciousness. The works are supposedly visual and performance based responses to the subject via ideas expounded in philosophical and scientific approaches.

Alastair Reid

As a separate event from the Great Escape, Courtney Pine and Zoe Rahman will be playing at the venue on the 14th March. Pine is famous on the jazz circuit as a multi-instrumentalist, especially known for his saxophone playing. In most recent years, he has used his jazz training to bring an innovative approach to more contemporary styles like garage. This March he’ll be returning to his musical origins.

Playing bass clarinet alongside Mercury nominated pianist and composer Zoe Rahman, the duo will be set to accompany each other over ballads. Rahman is bound to bring her own personal flair for Bangladeshi folk, and so the performance cannot be expected signify a pedestrian return to standards and trad jazz stylings.

watch, write, review

FILM Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter Duke’s at Komedia Saturday 7th/Monday 9th March 11pm/11am £8 Likely to be the lucky cinematic break needed by actor/director Nathan Zellner.

This film tells the story of a Japanese woman Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi) who, driven by a film, travels from Tokyo to Minnesota, in order to find treasure supposedly buried there. The journey for the protagonist acts as a break from solitude and a domineering working environment, made manifest in an obsession for this lost fortune. Critically acclaimed and a favourite at Sundance, this tale is most likely to compel and enthral.

Get involved in the Arts team by joining us at our writers meetings or searching on Facebook for

Badger Writers

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the badger

9 March 2015

SporTS • 20

SPORTS

Sussex Mohawks reign supreme for a fifth consecutive year Stuart Thomson A howling wind and gale did little to stop the weekend beginning the 28th of February from becoming another successful one for the Sussex Mohawks Ultimate Frisbee team.

The bleak Southampton morning saw an upbeat first team quickly dispatch Winchester Ultimate in a 13-0 triumph, and with spirits high the Saturday was shaping up as a decidedly positive start to the tournament. The first team’s success was also matched by the likes of the Mohawks 2, who secured a narrow victory over Royal Holloway, coming back from 5-6 down to establish a 7-6 win in a tense sudden death climax.

A clash also occurred between Mohawks 1 and local rivals - the Brighton Panthers. Missing their star player Joe Butler, however, the Panthers could do little against the Mohawks fluid offense, which saw the game culminate in a decisive 13-1 victory. However, equal to the skill of the more experienced Mohawks team was the positivity and determination with which the Panthers approached their play, which promises fierce contention for the regional title in the not too distant future.

As the day progressed and the weather cleared, Mohawks 1 claimed further decisive wins in the remainder of their group games, holding on firmly to their top seeded position. Mohawks 2 and Mohawks 3 finished the Saturday in 10th and 13th position respectively, commendable results considering both teams played the entirety of the tournament without any substitutions, an uncommon occurrence in higher level Ultimate.

The Sunday morning saw Mohawks 1 deliver a convincing 13-0 win against a well spirited Chichester, serving to secure their place in the semi-finals against an experienced Surrey team.

As the game got underway the Mohawks found themselves rapidly conceding 4 points against opponents Surrey, and a much needed shuffle of offensive tactics was called by the Mohawks captain James Allen. Sussex were able to quickly utilize their more clinical deep throws, quickly bringing the game to an even 4-4 and marking the beginning of a much needed turn in tide. The game finished 9-5 to Mohawks, setting up another final against Oxford University.

Both previous encounters with Oxford having been narrowly decided in sudden death, tensions were rising in

both camps as the build up to the final got underway.

The Sunday of the tournament also saw Mohawks 2 and Mohawks 3 clash in what was to be an intense derby. The match, characterized by outrageous overhead throws and full body mud slides, finished in a 12-1 win to Mohawks 2.

As the final commenced a fiery Oxford wasted no time in establishing their first point, yet undeterred Mohawks were quick on the counter attack. A huge play erupted from first team fresher Chris Wastell, tactically clearing airspace to provoke an impressive layout catch from receiver Alexander Gorton, securing a much needed 2-1 lead. As the game progressed numerous scores from both sides reflected each team’s similarities in skill, athleticism and desire to secure victory in their first outdoor showdown with one another. Yet with tensions from the crowd heightening, a nail-biting 6-6 sudden death came to its conclusion in the form of an impressive grab from first year Mohawk Callum Heath.

With some hotly contested silverware secured and a spot at Division 1 Nationals established, attention from the Sussex Mohawks now turns to the national competition.

Sports bursaries pay off

Sussex sports scholarships propel Ashcombe to success James Clow Sussex volleyball coach Four Premier League volleyball players from The University of Sussex played for Ashcombe Dorking on Sunday and were pushed to the limit in their National Shield semi-final against Birmingham.

Saso Anri came on mid way through

the second set and changed the game.

Ashcombe fought back from two sets down, with Evelyn Potocnik passing accurately to stabilise the defence. In the fourth set, Deirdre Wilson drilled her attack home to save a match point and then served to take the set. Ashcombe went on to win 15-8 in the fifth and reach the National Cup and Shield Finals at the National Volleyball Cen-

tre in Kettering on 28th March.

James Clow said “this was a real crowd pleaser game. Ashcombe showed real determination to come back from the brink of defeat. They played some of their best volleyball of the season” Ashcombe will face Chester Amazons in the Final who beat North Riding Eagles 3-1.

Clash of the Sussex Titans Rugby vs Old Girls (Lewes) Emily Robbins In January 2004 a beautiful, intelligent and vibrant young Sussex student Natalie Naylor tragically lost her life to meningitis. The Natalie Naylor trust fund was set up by her family to raise money towards meningitis research, and also for causes close to Natalie’s heart. Every year Sussex women’s rugby play Sussex alumni players and dedicate the match to Natalie and the charity. We collect prizes as charitable donations around Brighton and set up a tombola during the game to raise money for this fantastic cause. Unfortunately this year due to the awful weather conditions the tombola couldn’t go ahead as planned, so please check our Facebook page where will be announcing when and where the postponed tombola will take place. We have some fantastic prizes to be won, and would hugely appreciate any support.

After smashing their league this season, Sussex women’s rugby were eager to give their new players a run in this annual charity match against Sussex play

ers of past. The girls faced opposition doubling our girls in size, and mostly consisted of Lewes women’s rugby players – this was going to be a tough fight!

Within the first quarter Old Girls were smashing hard in our defence, turning over multiple rucks and scoring three trys. By the end of the first half, the score was brought up to 37-0 to the Old Girls.

But within the first five minutes, centre Natalie Haines took a sneaky tap and went penalty in our 22, sprinting around their defence and popping it to fly-half Katie Wadeson, who scored Sussex’s first try of the game. Another speedy run by Natalie saw her storm passed 3 defenders and score again, bringing the final score to 48-10. Both man of the match and dick of the day went to captain Katie Wadeson and her butterfingers.

We’d like to thank the Old Girls for coming along for what was a brutal but very enjoyable game! Details of our charity tombola will be announced on our Facebook page soon please come along to support the fantastic cause and have the chance of winning some great prizes

Isle of Man running festival: A weekend of long runs and beer runs On the 3rd of April the Isle of Man will host its Easter running festival for the 53rd year running. Dubbed a festival as opposed to a competition because it will encapsulate so much more and be without any elitist pressure and emphasis placed on a joint love of the sport.

The festival has been revitalized in recent years with 2014 seeing an attendance of over 450 people, the largest since the 80s. Even greater things are expected for 2015’s event.

Word has spread and there is now a large following in the British Isles and further afield.

“Indications are that this year we’ll see a strong off-Island representation again, especially from universities which field large teams and traditionally enter into the spirit of the occasion with many competing

in costume, which really adds to the festival atmosphere.”

The chance is there to be taken for Sussex students with a passion for running or who just want to soak up the atmosphere of a sporting festival.

More information and entry forms can be found at: www.easterfestival.info with entries closing the 21st March.

the badger

9 March 2015

SOCIETIES SPOTLIGHT ADVERTISE YOUR SKETCH COMEDY SOCIETY

On this page you can find out about what our societies have been up to and what their plans are for the coming weeks! You can view and join all of our 150 + societies online at www.sussexstudent. com/societies. If you’d like to advertise your society on this page, send your articles to societies@sussexstudent.com by 12pm on Wednesdays.

ONE WORLD WEEK One World Week is nearly upon us!

One World Week is a week-long series of events (16th - 21st March) organised by the Students’ Union and the University that aim to expose students to a globalised world and diversity of cultures.

The multitude of nationalities and cultures of our students and staff provides an excellent opportunity for us to put on events that engage, educate and entertain, from raising global awareness through lectures on world issues to the celebration of cultural festivals.

Lots of our societies will be putting on various events and activities during One World Week, including: the Italian society, Liberal Democrats, Kazakh society, Foodies, TED, Taoist Arts, International Students Society, Nigerian, Politics, GeogSoc, South Asian Students Society, International Relations, FemSoc, MEXSAS, Taiwanese and many more.

Make sure you come along and support them!

Do you have a love of comedy? Do you like laughing and making people laugh?

Want to explore this through writing and acting?

The Sketch Comedy Society is a fairly new society that offers a chance to write your own sketches and perform them in a friendly environment.

We also provide an opportunity to try your hand at improvised comedy with regular improv games that will create further sketch ideas but are also just a bit of fun.

Weekly meetings will be a mix of working on sketches and your comedic strengths through improv and collective sketch development.

Our first meeting will be on Thursday the 12th of March 5-6pm at Meeting Room 2, it will be an informal session so come see if we’re for you.

All are welcome (do we really need to say this at this point?), whether you have a burning passion for throwing yourself into comedy, are unsure and want to have a taster or just want to try something new, come down and see what we are about.

If you are interested, join the University of Sussex Sketch Comedy Society Facebook group for more information soon and look out for our leaflets around campus.

BALLROOM AND LATIN In December a group of dancers from the Ballroom and Latin society had the amazing opportunity to go to Portsmouth Harbour with the BBC for the day to participate in a flash dance in honour of Strictly Come Dancing’s spin-off show for

Comic Relief.

Our ladies wore dresses from the Strictly wardrobe and the men were lent tail suits that were also worn on the show.

We rehearsed outside on the seafront in temperatures close to zero all morning, waiting for Marine Cassidy Little who we were surprising to turn up in the afternoon.

When Cassidy had arrived, we all hid on the HMS Victory and waited.

The Royal Marine band appeared, playing the Strictly Come Dancing theme tune and we gracefully quickstepped our way towards the cameras.

It was all over in a flash.

Cassidy had no idea what we were doing, he still thought that he had to finish an interview with Forces TV. We had a once in a life time opportunity and this is something all of us will never be able to forget!

The first episode of The People’s Strictly aired on 25th February however you can catch up on BBC iPlayer if you want to see us in action!

We are always looking for new members and welcome people of all abilities, so if you want to find out more about us, please visit our page on the Students’ Union website or our Facebook page ‘Sussex University Ballroom and Latin Dance Society’.

SHOW CHOIR On Sunday 1st March the University of Sussex Show Choir went to Royal Holloway University to compete in the annual Masters of Show Choir competition.

Sussex Show Choir unfortunately lost their reigning title of National Champions however still gave a spell-

binding performance to come a respectable second place, losing out to Cambridge University.

Our society gives students the opportunity to rehearse and perform a huge range of songs, from jazz to modern pop to old classics, show tunes and lots more!

We are in our fifth year as a society and during that time performed at both East Slope Bar and Falmer Bar and at events such as the annual Student Awards and ACS Culturefest.

Unfortunately we won’t be holding any more auditions this academic year - but we hope to see you in September!

In the meantime, you’re more than welcome to get involved in our socials, fundraisers and events!

On Wednesday 11th March we’ll be holding our annual fundraiser at The Royal Pavilion Tavern, Brighton.

The theme is Song Titles and you can get super creative with this one!

Think ‘Yellow Submarine’, ‘Ace of Spades’, ‘You’re the Devil in Disguise’, ‘Ghostbusters’... you get the idea!

There is even a prize for the best costume! Come along to help raise some funds for the society (£3 entry) from 9pm, The Royal Pavilion Tavern.

CHRISTIAN UNION All day every day this week the Christian Union will be having a sofa in Library Square!

Come and have a chat with members of the Christian Union on our Sussex Sofa to hear all about our upcoming events!

We look forward to meeting you!

Societies - 21

THE WEEK AHEAD Thursday 12th March • Psychology SLV Talk: Voluntary Placements in Sri Lanka talk.

SLV are a voluntary organisation working in Sri Lanka, founded by a group of University graduates in 2010 and are looking for some new volunteers to join the team.

This is a great chance to gain practical work experience for those wanting to pursue a career in education, mental health sectors or clinical psychology.

Arts A103, 3pm.

•Think ‘Where have we gone wrong with meat? Factory farming: our environment and health’ discussion led by Dil Peeling, Director of Public Affairs for the charity Compassion in World Farming.

Location TBC, 6pm.

Friday 13th March •SUDS The Drama society is holding its first ever showcase!

Come along to see the finest talent Sussex has to offer!

Falmer back bar, 8pm.

the badger

9 MARCH 2015

Careers and Employability• 23

CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY CENTRE

A placement year can help you get ahead in the job market!

Beatriz Lacerda Ratton Student Writer There is good news for students who want some real hands-on experience in the job market before graduating.

All undergraduates can now incorporate a placement year into their degree programme as part of the Sussex Choice initiative.

Placements can be a good way to spend time in a more varied environment than university and earn some money.

With many graduate jobs requiring work experience, it can seem difficult to know how to gain this whilst studying full time.

A placement can go a long way towards solving this conundrum.

An academic year working in a company, a placement involves a minimum of 40 weeks of full time work.

While you remain a Sussex student, you are also am employee of your host company, thus having the benefits of both worlds.

Though the placement usu-

ally takes place in your penultimate year of study, you should think about planning as early as your first year.

Attend a CEC event on how to plan and work through the Study Direct site which contains all the relevant resources to help you secure a placement.

In your second year you’ll start applying to placements. The application process can be hard work but the end result is very rewarding!

CEC offers lots of support to help you make the most of your skills in your applications.

There is also a dedicated Placements team.

Once you have secured a placement you will be assigned a placement tutor to help you with any queries you may have.

During the actual placement year, you will be required to submit regular progress reports, as well as an assessed report at the end of the academic year, a deadline which will be set by your school of study.

Support is given throughout

the year from your Placement supervisor, as well as your workplace supervisor (normally your line manager).

There are thousands of placement vacancies advertised by the University each year, and many of these are open to students of all subjects.

Organisations offering placements range from large multinationals such as The Body Shop and Nationwide Building Society to smaller companies and not-for-profit organisations.

The University welcomes placement opportunities worldwide and we have supported students to undertake placements in four continents.

While some may be inclined to apply to well-known companies, it is worth keeping in mind that a much more personalised experience can be had for those who choose to work with smaller organisations.

A placement year could be just what you need!

Stories from students: Informatics student David Richards encourages students to do a placement year, talking of his experience: ‘For my placement year I worked as a software developer at Mobbu: a Brighton based company specialising in fast and secure mobile technology for the police, government and security organisations. ‘ As part of a small agile development team, my role required me to use a wide range of the skills I learned during my studies and apply these to new challenges and exciting new technologies.

‘Working at Mobbu was fastpaced and dynamic and I found myself quickly working on projects, learning new languages and integrated as part of the team.

A placement year is a golden opportunity to work with the experts in industry and Mobbu are certainly among these experts.’

A third year Business and Management student added: ‘It was a brilliant experience that completed my time at Sussex and I would definitely recommend the placement option to students as it opens doors that you wouldn’t necessarily have access to otherwise and provides you with priceless life experiences’.

For more information: email - placements@sussex. ac.uk visit - http://www.sussex. ac.uk/careers/gettingexperience/placements

Library, University of Sussex T: 01273 678429 E: careers@sussex.ac.uk W: www.sussex.ac.uk/careers

The fourth instalment of TEDxSussexUniversity is shaping up bigger and better than before!

TEDxSussexUniversity is an independently organised TED-like event, organised in the spirit of ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’.

The conference is to be a platform for like-minded, curious, bright and passionate thinkers, wanting to participate in a TED-like experience.

On previous occasions we have successfully brought together great speakers with amazing ideas to share with the students and staff at the University.

Rhiannon Colvin, and other nationally and internationally recognised speakers.

This year will not be an exception for that.

The wide range of experts who will participate in the conference guarantee the richness of the content for this year.

This year’s speakers include Dr John Child, Kirsty Hulse,

This is an event not to be missed!

WHEN AND WHERE?

INTERESTED?

The conference will take place on March 21st 2015 in Fulton A Lecture Theatre from 10am to 4.30pm. Student tickets will be priced at £10 and will be on sale by the end of this week.

WANT TO COME? GET YOUR TICKETS! Link to purchase tickets will be available on our website: www.TEDxSussexUniversity.com