The Lion - Issue 1, Volume 2 by The Lion

Freshers!

The Lion gives you the inside track on life at Heythrop

Ms President

Meet the new President of the HSU

Heythrop Students’ Union

The

Volume 2 Issue 1 Wednesday 28th September theheythroplion.co.uk

Tipsy Hippo

The Lion’s introduction to theatre in London

Lion

Degree Misconducts: Cases Mishandled? Some report slow & unfair treatment from college

SENATE HOUSE: University of London Photo: Secret Pilgrim/Flickr.com

Alex Hackett and John Ord Editor-in-Chief and Senior Editor The College’s system for the designation of academic misconducts has been called into question by both returning students and members of the Union Executive. Many Union Executive members commented at an apparent increase in the number of students being given the misconducts over the last year with many students not knowing why they had been given or how serious they are to their academic futures. Some students were only informed of their misconduct through their end-of-year results, without once being contacted by any member of the college administration beforehand. A student, Continued on P3>

Heythrop To Have One Of The Cheapest Fees in UL Joshua White News Editor The Ofﬁce for Fair Access has given Heythrop College the “green light” to set its fees at £8,250 a year to charge undergraduate students for 2012. This is less than the national average of £8,678.36 and would place Heythrop as part of the 25% of British universities which aren’t setting the maximum £9,000 a year. The Governing Body holds that this is consistent with en-

couraging the study of theology and philosophy whilst maintaining the ﬁnancial sustainability of the College. In the most recent Quality Assurance Agency Institutional Audit Report, Heythrop was commended for excellent support in both academic and pastoral areas – including one-on-one tuition. Tuition fees have been a subject of much interest in student politics and concern for all students. Gala Jackson-Coombs, incumbent President of HSU, has said “Although in my heart I wish the fees were much lower than this, I know the sacriﬁces the college have made in an attempt to keep their

courses as affordable as they possibly can during this difﬁcult period. I am very proud to be a member of the cheapest college of the University of London, whose ethos has been and will always be that knowledge is the most important thing, and it should be accessible to all. I will continue to campaign for cheaper fees for students on a national level, as I do not agree with the government’s decision to increase them.” The University of Edinburgh is the most expensive in the country at £9,000 for each degree and a standard 4 years for a course amounts to £36,000 per degree. Comparatively, a degree from

Heythrop entails less than £25,000. The tuition fees at Heythrop are amongst the lowest in the University of London. The UK now has the third highest tuition fees in the developed world, with South Korea coming second and the United States as ﬁrst according to the OECD. In public expenditure terms, the UK spends 0.7% of GDP on higher education, well below the OECD average of 1% and at a lower level than France (1.2% of GDP), Germany (0.9% of GDP), Canada (1.5% of GDP), Poland (0.9% of GDP) and Sweden (1.4% of GDP). Continued on P3>

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WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

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NEWS

Welcome Freshers! From The Lion Editorial Team 2011/2012!

theheythroplion.co.uk f facebook.com/theheythroplion t twitter.com/theheythroplion Y youtube.com/theheythroplion : ﬂickr.com/theheythroplion

Please recycle your Lion at one of the many recycle bins around College The Editor-in-Chief Alex Hackett alex@theheythroplion.co.uk

News Editor Joshua White news@theheythroplion.co.uk

Senior Editor John Arthur Craven Ord john@theheythroplion.co.uk

Features Editors Josh Ferguson and John Ord features@theheythroplion.co.uk

Senior Editor Joshua Ferguson josh@theheythroplion.co.uk

Comment Editor Ryan Boyd comment@theheythroplion.co.uk

The Lion is the independent student newspaper of Heythrop College, University of London. We distribute at least 1000 free copies during term time around campus and to popular student venues in and around Kensington. The Lion is published by HackJack Ltd. and printed by Mortons Print Ltd. All Copyright is the exclusive property of HackJack Ltd. No part of this publication is to be reproduced, stored on a retrieval system or submitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Culture Editor Francesca Gosling culture@theheythroplion.co.uk Sport and Societies Editor Joe Walsh societies@theheythroplion.co.uk

Editorial Team

NEXT DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

09.10.11

Please send your submissions to: submit@theheythroplion.co.uk The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Editors or of the Heythrop Students’ Union. Every effort has been made to contact the holders of copyright for any material used in this issue, and to ensure the accuracy of this fortnight’s stories.

Created by Alex Hackett and Gala Jackson-Coombs © HackJack Ltd. 2010, 639 Nell Gwynn House, Sloane Ave, Kensington, London SW3 3BE

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

NEWS Tuition Fee £750 more than HSU wanted Joshua White News Editor >Continued from P1

COMMON ROOM: The union’s revamped lounge with entirely new ﬂooring and reupholstered furniture. Photo: John Ord/Heythrop Archive

£300 in, £300 out:

The Piano that could cost the HSU £600 for a year’s use Joshua White News Editor When we contacted James Johnston on the subject of Joey’s piano and asked for a quote he fell into such a violent ﬁt of laughter that we were unable to get a sentence out of him. Joey Draycott’s piano has been in the Other Room, along with lots of other equipment, for less than a year. The intention was to store the piano, which is an antique, for later use for the duration of Draycott’s studies at Heythrop. The arrangement was attractive because of its apparent simplicity and convenience. James Johnston agreed that the HSU should provide adequate storage for the piano. There were no contracts to sign in a room with lawyers as in the case of a much more complicated market transaction. So the piano was initially moved into the Other Room for storage, with the HSU spending £300 for it to be

properly disassembled and shifted into the room where it could then be reassembled. Joey Draycott feels that the HSU made a charitable decision to store the piano and saw it as a contribution the College overall as there was talk that the room could become a music room for students to use. He is disappointed that there may not be a music room for Heythrop students, given that Heythrop is an Arts College and there tends to be a high inﬂux of artistic students among those taking philosophy and theology at the College. It was never made clear that the piano could be removed before he had completed his degree, as new HSU representatives were elected or the circumstances of the arrangement changed. The piano has been unusable while it has been in storage, as it needs to be tuned and tweaked - which could cost £70, give or take. Now it looks as though the decision has been made to remove the piano at a possible cost of £300 to have the piano properly disassembled so it can be

moved from the room and reassembled somewhere else. That being said it isn’t clear where the piano could be moved to. We asked Gala Jackson-Coombs, President of the HSU, on where the student union stands on this matter now and she said “The choir was a runaway success last year, and looks to be even more successful in the year to

come. However, the piano in the Other Room is a baby grand, and as such, takes up about a ﬁfth of the space we have. I have urged the choir to speak to the college in relation to moving one of their pianos into the room, which are smaller. However, unfortunately the HSU is just too small to house such a large instrument at this time.”

The figure of £8,250 was not the number initially preferred by the HSU. James Johnston, former President of the HSU, said “In terms of tuition fees, I argued for £7,500 as that seemed to be the minimum we had to charge to break even, although it would have meant increasing student numbers, which HEFCE may not have allowed us to do. Obviously £7,500 for a degree at any institution is far too much, and higher education, particularly humanities should receive government funding to accurately reflect its worth. This Government’s HE policy and indeed education policy in general has been and continues to be a festering sack of sh*t.” Heythrop College will offer matched funding to students under the National Scholarship Scheme. 52% of the income from tuition fees will go to a range of bursaries. For students who enrol on the BA Abrahamic Religions programme there will be a bursary of £1,250 a year, while students with a household income of £25,000 or less studying BA Theology and BA Study of Religions can receive a bursary of £1,000 that year. Dr John McDade SJ, former Principal of Heythrop College, has stated “Heythrop is absolutely committed to giving students the best possible educational experience that will benefit their future lives.” The Lion inquired into what some of the Freshers think of the fees set for 2012. Zac Phoenix said “Well, the fee rise doesn’t affect this year’s freshers but it’s a disgrace that the people coming after us will be paying three times the amount for the same degree that we will get for the old fee rate.” Charlie Yarwood said “As much as the government probably thinks they’re making people more responsible to their own degrees because they’re having to pay more for them thus hopefully reducing the amount of students who go to university just for the social side, they’re also penalising the future of the country because some of the people who ought to be going to university aren’t and it’s the people who can afford it who are.”

Students told of Misconduct “too late” by College >Continued from P1 who did not wish to disclose their name, said, “It’s a massive disappointment, I feel it’s unprofessional of the College to not inform students of the reasoning behind their decisions; I don’t even know what effect this could have on my further studies. It’s just too late notice”. In an interview with The Lion, Rebecca Middleton, the new Head of Student Services at the College, said that they are currently undergoing a period of transition that has exposed a few gaps in the current procedures that are currently being handled by Middleton her-

self. Middleton explained that there were issues around communication between the various parties involved in the procedures. She wanted to stress that the misconduct meetings should not be about penalty so much as helping the students come to an understanding of how misconducts happens, which hasn’t evidently been the case until now. She has already started working with Kim Burke, Heythrop Scholar and Admissions ofﬁcer, to increase the amount of referencing and plagiarism guidance in the Heythrop Scholar programme. The process of change has also in-

volved the transferal of responsibility for the meetings to a new misconduct officer. Speaking of the new Academic Misconduct Officer Helen Costigane, Middleton said that she has ‘confidence that she and I will work together to make the process fair and that all students will be treated equally’. Part of the change will be greater guidance given to the Course Conveners, making for more effective response to possible cases of misconduct, primarily plagiarism. This will give a more rapid response time as well, meaning that students will not be put at a disadvantage as a result of what has been a somewhat slow process. Speaking of

students still awaiting responses from the summer’s events, Middleton said that anyone with only one case outstanding will be allowed to progress while the details are conﬁrmed. The Lion also spoke to Dominic McLoughlin, the Student Development Ofﬁcer, who admitted that a Union representative should have been present at the meetings from the start. However for the cases reviewed over the summer period, the Union Exec were not informed of the meetings at the time and had no involvement until they were approached about appeals after the event. McLoughlin was also very positive about the changes that have been made

to the procedure, saying that what is in place now is right and will serve the students well. Conceding that timing is important, he went on to say that measures were to be taken that would ensure action would be taken earlier than has been the case thus far. Middleton also said, ‘I can guarantee that the process from now on will be fair and transparent and that all students will be treated equally.’ Students may now rest assured that the events of the summer will not repeat themselves. This reform, although good when looking ahead, arguably comes too late for the students already affected by the previous system.

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

FEATURE

Meet The HSU President The Lion Interview the new HSU President Gala Jackson-Coombs about Freshers’ Week, the future of the Union and which lecturer could win in a ﬁght.

Bio: Name: Gala Augusta India JacksonCoombs Previous Positions held: Communications and Publications Appointee of the HSU 2010/11, CoFounder of The Lion Newspaper Manifesto Pledges: - Complete transparency - Mini HSU event at least weekly - New Strategic Plan for HSU - Greater accountability - Bring back Fresher parents - Improve HSU website - Appointee Program for HSU - Separate Union bank account - Renovate the Common Rooms

Alex Hackett Editor-in- Chief What is the best part about being HSU President? This is going to sound cheesy, but it’s being able to help Heythrop students have a better all round student experience. It’s very rewarding to see renovated common rooms and social areas and to see people enjoy them more than they did before. I must also admit that being called president all the time is pretty nice too. You won on a ticket of greater accountability to the student body. How do you feel you have met this? Well the most visible thing I have done so far is the creation of a VYou Chan-

nel (vyou.com/votegala) which allows me to accept anonymous questions from the student body and respond to them via webcam. The union will also be relaunching the HSU website (heythropstudentsunion.co.uk) in the coming weeks to show previous minutes of HSU meetings including what each officer promises and agrees to fulfil for the student body. During term time, I hope to have the date posted of each upcoming executive meeting on the site so observers can watch or discuss the matters the executive are deciding upon. I will also be holding the regular AGM’s and OGM’s with detailed officer reports given and a question and answer session between the executive and those in attendance. What is you one big aim for the year as president? My main aim is to extend the HSU’s

commercial services to allow the union to develop in line with other unions in the UL. I’ve developed a marketing booklet, which will be clearly marked on the website for prospective advertisers. We have also we started charging outside companies for stalls at Freshers’ Fayre, providing a new revenue stream and developing a relationship with local businesses in Kensington. We will be offering advertising space on noticeboards and publications in the same why the Lion does at the moment, as well as sorting out plans for a permanent HSU shop to be built in basement.

that last year’s union did a terrific job and they should be rightly proud of the many achievements they had. What is you relationship like with other union officers and what would you say is the biggest achievement made by a single union officer so far? I think we get on well as an executive. All my officers are lovely and have worked really hard in getting freshers’ week ready. As a single officers achievement goes, I think all members have done a great job, I couldn’t pick out one who’s done better than the others.

If you were the president of the previous students’ union executive, what would you have done differently to your predecessor?

You have already lost a member of the union executive? Do you think this reﬂects poorly on your presidency?

As a union appointee I was, to an extent in the union executive last year, but I wasn’t an ofﬁcer and didn’t have a vote on any decisions made. I would have proposed more events during the year, a greater emphasis on web promotion of the HSU throughout the year and tried to get more people involved in the union’s inner workings to get them interested in running for a position in the future. I will state however that I think

Sports and Societies ofﬁcer Joey Youll left us at the beginning of summer due to his family deciding to emigrate to Australia. It’s a terrible shame and the entire executive wish him and his family all the best. I’m certain this did no have anything to do with the union or myself, he simply had a family commitment that could not be superceded. As for how it reﬂects on my presidency, I think that’d be giving me a higher im-

portance than I have. I think it would be vain of me to say that the executive and their achievements are my own and so conversely, I do not feel personally responsible for there departures, especially in the case of Joey. What freshers’ week event are you most looking forward to? (Dare we suggest the Lion Birthday?) I think freshers week this year is looking crazy awesome. By the time this comes out, everyone will have already gone to the barbecue, pub crawl and medieval night, which I hope they enjoyed immensely. However I am most looking forward to The Lion event on the Wednesday because, as a founding editor, I do feel enormously proud that it has come so far in such a short time. I must also admit that the big blow out party on Sunday looks to be incredible. Hayley and Abi (Events and Entertainments Officers) did a superb job organising it. Who would win in a fight, Stephen Law or Louis Caruana? Its a difficult one, both have their strengths, but I’d back “The Law” any day.

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

HSU PAGE

Choir serenade - FREE WINE - Common Room 6pm

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

FEATURE

GUIDE TO HEYTHROP

The Lion Editorial Team give you their sage advice on how to avoid making the same mistakes they did.

Rules To Make Life My One Piece Of At Heythrop Go That Advice: Much Smoother... GET INVOLVED! Josh Ferguson Senior Editor 1. Crispin’s, located on High Street Kensington and Kensington Church Street, is a wonderful 24-hour shop that sells cigarettes, various assorted foodstuffs, magazines, some limited toiletries, Pro-Plus and alcohol (within licensing hours). Learn to love this place, despite its unfair prices and rather crabby shopkeepers. It is the place to which you will run when you need to buy some beers for a party or when you run out of fags at 4 o’clock in the morning. And you will. 2. If you have little or no money, then a liberal handful from the baskets of free food they place around Whole Foods on a Saturday can make for a ﬁlling (if bizarre) lunch. Try not to abuse their kindness, though. Their patience for impoverished students is not inexhaustible. 3. That 24-hour McDonald’s across from High Street Kensington is proof that God loves you and wants you to be happy and well fed in your ﬁrst year at Heythrop. However, utilise caution. Don’t eat more than one McDonald’s meal in a day, and no more than three in a week. Even the most reckless of nihilistic pleasure-seekers will baulk at the thought of doing a double-Donald. 4. If you are living in the Halls Of Residence, having a guitar can make for a wonderful way to make friends and liven up an evening in the common room. However, refrain from playing it after most people have gone to bed. The walls of that building are thinner than you might think, and guitars are much louder than you realise. Not everyone wants to hear your wobbly rendition of The Times They Are A-Changin’ in the

Heythrop’s Masterpieces They didn’t make it into the prospectus, but here’s our pick of the Heythrop sights

wee hours of a Tuesday morning. 5. On a similar note, it can save a lot of embarrassment if you realise that your next-door neighbour in the Halls can, more or less, hear everything you say unless you speak very softly. Far be it from us to preach, but you may want to keep this little factoid in mind when you are in the company of someone you intend to… get to know. 6. On another similar note, you might do well to remember that you are all going to have to live with everyone else for a year, not just Fresher’s Week. Heythrop is very small, and everyone (at the very least) knows of everyone else. The practical upshot being: Keep it in your pants during Fresher’s Week. This might sound weirdly puritanical, but trust us: It’s better to lay off now than to suffer a bad reputation and weird glances for the rest of the year. 7. Don’t skip lectures. Ever. For any reason. That way madness lies. 8. The Builder’s Arms Pub is (marginally) closer, but The Greyhound is cheaper, more comfortable, bigger, and plays the football on TV. The food is also less achingly pretentious at the Greyhound than it is at the Builder’s. (Sautéed curly kale? I mean, honestly.) 9. Do your share of the washing up. There is no faster way to make everyone on your ﬂoor despise you than to leave a towering pile of mouldering crockery on the counter and in the sink. Washing up dishes isn’t hard. You’re supposed to be independent now, for God’s sake. 10. The last, and most important rule is: Don’t be a dick. Everyone’s in a strange new place here, surrounded by incomprehensibly weird people. Being an arse to people only makes it worse. Just be friendly, keep your mind open and don’t be a dick. We mean it.

FIXED YOUR INTERNET!: A router in an in-tray.

Alex Hackett Editor-in- Chief A common criticism of Heythrop, as well as other smaller institutions, is the lack of on-site amenities and activities for students to get involved in. Although the stock response that “The University of London Union boosts hundreds of active and dedicated societies” usually quells such grumbles from prospective students, I do understand how a lack of facilities that you can roll out of bed and use could negatively affect someone’s student experience. I certainly remember feeling rather uneasy when it eventually dawned on me that I was attending an institution that could happily ﬁt into one of Imperial’s smaller storerooms of smugness (which I’m assuming, having met many of their students, are great in number). However, I would argue that the lack of pre-existing clubs at Heythrop is something that an enterprising student can thrive on here at the college, as you have the complete creative freedom to start something new and greatly affect your own environment. Heythrop is a blank canvas needing only those with a passion and a love for it’s improvement to make an indelible mark on it’s histo-

ry. Take the Choir: set up only last year by a few dedicated singers, it has now been wholly accepted by the college itself, to the point where it has become Heythrop’s ofﬁcial “Schola Cantorum”. Another example would be the Aikido and Budo team which has given many of it’s members the opportunity to compete on a national level in various martial arts competitions (and learn how to handle any would-be muggers). Heythrop is different. At bigger institutions, the society you wish to create most likely already exists and has at it’s top an inaccessible clique of those who are more popular than talented. Here at Heythrop such hierarchies don’t exist because frankly the society itself doesn’t exist, so you have carte blanche to start it up and run it yourself. There’s noone to hold your hand, so it all comes down to your own dedication, hard work and perseverance and with that inevitably comes a fuller sense of achievement when your plan comes to fruition. In short, having the foundation of a single society, club or group to your name at Heythrop is worth a thousand petty memberships to shiny, gleaming, pre-established societies at a larger, better-funded university. Your achievements here are your own, more satisfying, and will ultimately make a longer and more lasting impression.

London Buses: A Heythropper’s Best Friend

HEYTHROP’S BAR: An inviting view of halls.

HIGH TECH AIR CON: There aren’t words...

WHY? JUST WHY: He guards you while you sleep

John Ord Senior Editor A much sidelined but genuinely useful part of London life, especially for Heythrop students, is the bus network. Although not always as reliably frequent as the world-famous tube system we have they are nevertheless an easy way of navigating London without the interchanges and claustrophobia inher-

ent on the underground. From High St Kensington, there are buses that take you easily to Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush, Notting Hill, Victoria and central London including Kings Cross, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus and so many more places you’ll want to visit at one time or another.

The buses can be intimidating at ﬁrst because they’re not as easy to adapt to as the tubes with their maps on every corner and in every bin in central London; there are no comparable maps for the buses, although there are maps at every bus stop that show you exactly where you are. The buses also have a

helpful section on the TFL website and are also a fantastic resource for newcomers to London, allowing you to see London while you’re traveling around ensuring that you can fully appreciate the beauty and history of the greatest city in the world as you’re worrying about making it to work on time.

MORE T, FATHER?: Welcome to Higher Education

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

FEATURE

A RESTLESS SUMMER News Editor JT White fills you in on everything you missed over the summer without your trusty Lion to keep you informed. Joshua White News Editor Over the summer there seemed to be an endless flow of stories for the media to prepare narratives for and spoon-feed to us. This will come as a shock to those of you who have spent the summer on Mars. With everything from neo-fascist killing sprees and economic crises to phone hacking and celebrity deaths, it was a damn good summer for news and certainly no silly season. Here are a few looks at major events in the summer that you won’t find in the mainstream media. HACKED OFF! The scandal at News International will probably be never fully said and done. It is much bigger than simply a scandal of hacking the phones of murdered children and soldiers killed in battle. We now know a lot more about the profoundly sordid relationship between the Murdoch media and the establishment. It has been common knowledge for a long time that News International has a right-wing agenda. Out of the 247 editors who work for Rupert Murdoch not one came out in opposition to the Iraq war. The Murdoch media amounts to 40% of British media and has backed Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and David Cameron to electoral victory. We now know that soon after Cameron took office he first met with Rupert Murdoch before going on to meet with Rebekah Brooks (when she was editor of News of the World) and then Dominic Mohan (of The Sun) for a “general discussion”. Cameron attended News International’s summer party where he gave an interview to James Harding of The Times and then went onto give a speech at the CEO summit of that same newspaper. Keep in mind that the Prime Minister also met with Paul Dacre, the editor of The Daily Mail, Lord Burns of Channel 4 and Deborah Turness of ITV News in the first month he was in office. Cameron later met with the editor of The Evening Standard for another “general discussion”, the Prime Minister also attended the summer parties of The Financial Times and The Spectator. Unfortunately, the level of ingratiation that the political class has achieved with Murdoch does not end at a Christmas dinner with Rebekah Brooks and James Murdoch. We know that Tony Blair is the Godfather of Murdoch’s daughter. We found out that the Conservative Party and the Police essentially colluded in order to cover up crimes committed by employees of News of the World. No surprise here; it was the Thatcherites and the Met who colluded with Murdoch in 1986 to crush the print unions in Wapping - a favour for when The Sun led the media campaign against the Miners’ Strike of ‘84. Perhaps an extended favour for the campaign the Murdoch press led against Tony Benn - which went as far as actually fabricating psychiatric reports in order to question Benn’s mental health to prevent him from becoming leader of the Labour Party. The problem with the dominant nar-

rative in the mainstream media is that it assumes what went on at News of the World was an aberration. As in All the President’s Men, we’re told that the little guy can uncover a scandal which reaches the very top of power which in turn brings down the President in the name of justice. The idea is that corruption can reach the very top but because of the democratic features of our society we can ﬁnd it, root it out and restore greatness in our society. Once again (as Zizek demonstrates again and again) it turns out we want the thing itself without the harsh element of it, just as so many of us want coffee without caffeine (decaffeinated coffee), war without war (no casualties on our side) or even a revolution without revolution (no real change). In this case it is as if we want sleaze without sleaze (i.e. gossip without the unscrupulous method of attaining it) - we need to return to proper journalism which ran without corruption and unscrupulous methods such as phone-hacking – so the narrative goes. It’s the classic feel-good story which is used to prevent a serious attempt to ask fundamental questions about the nature of the mass-media and the provision of news through corporate structures to the public.

missible view was outright condemnation of the violence, which is a platitude to say the least, as no one condones what happened. Even though the Right wanted to stress that these were the decisions undertaken by free individuals it could not bring itself to admit the exact nature of the riots. In the midst of the riots Kelvin MacKenzie (former editor of The Sun) was asked “Should we try to understand this?” and he responded “No, I don’t think we should...” As if that wasn’t bad enough, Michael Gove popped up to let us know that he’s on “the side of order” and there are no excuses for violence. A strange position for Michael Gove to take given that he thinks the Iraq war is justiﬁed by the current GDP of Iraq. Incidentally there

IRONY in TRIPOLI.

SHOPPING with VIOLENCE. The riots seen in the UK seemingly came out of nowhere, inexplicable and indiscriminate violence tore through the capital before hurtling across the country. It was a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the death of Mark Duggan at the hands of police officers that descended into violence first. Then a tidal wave of violence and looting rushed through the streets of most major cities in England. The commentariat was soon flailing wildly out of control for a useful narrative, with Max Hastings wondering “How do you inoculate values in a child whose only role model is footballer Wayne Rooney - a man who is bereft of the most meagre human graces?” The Evening Standard pinned the blame on the GTA video game series whilst Melanie Phillips blamed the “liberal intelligentsia”, oh and the rise of single-motherhood. As the Left called for recognition of the “legitimate grievances” of the rioters, the Right called for cuts to benefits and the repossession of property to punish the rioters. Historian David Starkey emerged to tell us all that it is down to the encroachment of “black culture” into a halcyon vanilla Britannia. The conservatives were eager to shoot down any “liberal” nonsense about “legitimate grievances” and “social deprivation”. At the same time the only per-

with no such stake and nothing to lose. Zygmunt Bauman was correct to designate the riots as “defective and disqualified consumers” and it is easy to see the mass-looting as consumerism turned violent as it could not be realised in the proper way of shopping. Even the ignominious David Starkey acknowledged this point when he called the riots “shopping with violence”. That was before he opted to wheel in the words of Enoch Powell to insulate the prevailing ideology from any damaging self-reflection. In the riots we find that at best “legitimate grievances” are secondary to impotent expression of anger, despair and envy. Ultimately the riots were a clear demonstration of the material force of ideology, it was the barbarous underbelly of consumerism rising to the surface and overflowing for all to see on Sky News. As for the people peddling vengeful answers to the riots, these are the same people who claimed there is no such thing as society. It was they who called for the “liberation” of the individual to pursue their own self-interest at the expense of others.

are 5 million orphans in Iraq with over 1 million people dead as a direct consequence of war, with millions more displaced, deformed and dispossessed. The violence of the student demonstrations came with a political message whereas the riots had no message at all. The rioters were not a revolutionary subject, in the Marxist sense, but more of a Hegelian ‘rabble’ who are outside of the organised social space and can only express their discontent through irrational outbursts - a ‘lumpen-insurrection’ of sorts. The rage and despair of the ‘rabble’ was expressed in the most impotent forms; the torching of random buildings and pointless thievery for example. Slavoj Žižek was right to call for a rejection of the demand to take a side, either that of a ‘disenfranchised youth’ or a ‘small business owner’. In the riots we saw society attack society, a lot like watching a man slash away aimlessly at his own limbs, as Hunter S Thompson noted of much worse riots in the 60s “the American dream was clubbing itself to death”. It was a conﬂict between people with a stake in community, who had managed to function within the system, and the people

Then the Libyan Civil War resurfaced in the news as the rebels seized the capital to the surprise of Orientalist commentators everywhere, to whom the Arabs are still either incapable of winning a fight or are bloodthirsty animals. It looks as though this is the autumn of the Colonel, for Gaddafi soon disappeared. The great irony of the situation is that the Gaddafi regime was interventionist in foreign policy and had been for a very long time. The regime backed Idi Amin in Uganda, Slobodan Milošević in Serbia and Charles Taylor in Liberia as well as the IRA, the Sandinista movement and the ANC. Gaddafi sought to mediate disputes in African countries such as Mali, specifically between the government and rebels. He has even sent peace-keeping missions to countries like Somalia. It has even been suggested that the Libyan government provided millions in investments to support governments in Liberia, Niger, Chad and the Central African Republic. Under Gaddafi the country had been led into armed conflict with Egypt and Chad on multiple occasions. For years Muammar al-Gaddafi stood as the mirror-image of an American neoconservative as he saw a moral obligation to intervene where necessary on the side of the victim against the oppressors of the world. Of course, the side of the victim can be chosen

selectively in accordance with the geopolitical value of fending off a particular oppressor. The same is true of the neoconservatives who wanted to fight the Communists in Afghanistan in the name of “freedom” but quietly supported Ceaușescu in Romania at the same time. We find similar contradictions in Libyan foreign policy, Colonel Gaddafi was on board for war crimes in Sierra Leone but backed the ANC at a time when Nelson Mandela was smeared as a “terrorist” in the US and Britain. The same reasoning was deployed to justify sending Libyan agents across into Egypt with the stated purpose of “subversion”, even though Gaddafi was an admirer of General Nasser and wanted to emulate him as a “strong man”. Back in 1971, the CIA and MI6 put together a plot to bring down Gaddafi as part of an all-out-invasion of Libya, which would culminate in the release of political prisoners and the restoration of the monarchy. The plot fell apart as the CIA concluded that the Colonel sufficed as a bulwark to Communism in North Africa. The regime in Tripoli was opposed to Israel and Western imperialism, but it was also opposed to the Soviet Union and Russian influence in the region. This was good enough for the time being. There has even been the suggestion (which has yet to be verified) that the coup which Gaddafi orchestrated in 1969 had been supported by the US. The regime modelled itself on the example set by Egypt, which had become a worrying example of independence by then. It is plausible that the coup was seen as a way to “buy-off” socialism and create a bulwark to the Soviet Union at the same time. So when tensions in the new regime led to a conspiracy to overthrow Gaddafi in 1975 the CIA immediately warned the Colonel who then steam-rolled over all internal opposition and continued to pursue an interventionist foreign policy. As Gaddafi’s regime became increasingly repressive and began to turn to the Soviet Union for greater support, so it was clear that Libya was going to become a “pariah state”. Today, commentators like to make reference to the way Gaddafi sponsored terrorism. When the US bombed Libya in 1986 the “reason” was that Gaddafi had sent arms and advisers to the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. Gaddafi mirrored the American support for the Contras, who were at the forefront of a terrorist campaign against the Sandinistas. The US continued to lean on Libya into the 1990s; this went as far as economic sanctions and backing an attempt to assassinate Gaddafi in 1996. A few years later the US made peace with Libya as Gaddafi made a bid to secure a comfortable place in a world that had changed greatly since the Berlin Wall fell. The support lent to Gaddafi was extreme; it went as far as selling him weapons which were later used against his own people. The British and the American governments even saw to it that the attempt to indict Gaddafi for his responsibility for the deaths of 1.2 million people in Sierra Leone would fail. Photo:HowardLake/Flickr.com

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

“COMMENT.”

Edited by Ryan Boyd | comment@theheythroplion.co.uk

Graduation Blues... Amy Simpson Alumna Welcome to Heythrop! Or, if returning, welcome back! “Youth is wasted on the young,” was something my grandmother would often say to me, in her strong Irish brogue, when I was naught but a wee lass. Writing it down now, I feel as though I should be sporting curlers and wearing a matching tweed twin set. Unfortunately, she was right. Final exams ﬁnished in May and university has since become something of a vague, drunken memory. Saying that, I probably was drunk for a solid part of three years. You are probably not going to want to think about anything beyond stumbling to the kitchen to ﬁnd an adequate hangover cure at this stage in your life; having some snot-nosed graduate tell you to buck your ideas up and shove a rocket up your arse is - more than likely - not going to alter your attitude. However, the time will come when graduation is not so far off round the corner and reality is going to come crashing down faster than Lewis Hamilton can change gears. You are going to have to create a CV. You are going to have to go for job interviews. You are going to have to learn that hanging your clothes up to let the creases fall out does not constitute proper ironing. You are going to have to get a life. An actual one. This is going to seem like an impossible

task for some but never fear, there are options. Option 1: Postgraduate study A fantastic option for those who haven’t a clue as to what they want to do in life. This is no bad thing. In our current economic climate, staying in education for as long as you can is an epic win. It means you can remain a student and live in goo-goo land for that little while longer; you can show the freshers what it actually means to hold your liquor and you can continue studying in your area of expertise. The downside being that you have at least a couple of grand more added to your already ridiculously-sized student loan. Certain schemes, especially government funded ones involving teaching and the NHS, will pay for you to do a Masters but it will be more than likely that you will have to personally fund it. Option 2: Post-study ‘gap year’ For those who didn’t get the chance to have a gap year before they left for university, spending a year travelling after you’ve completed your degree provides you with the perfect opportunity to see the world and have fun whilst you’re doing it. The downside is money. Isn’t it always? The main solution would be to work whilst you travel but applying for a work visa (especially outside of the EU) often ends up being drawn out and expensive. Inter-railing is a brilliantly

Photo: David Michael Morris/Flickr.com

cost-effective way of seeing Europe at your own leisure and you can practically sightsee whilst on the train!

Ryan Boyd Comment Editor

Option 3: Internships Internships are a great way of packing out your CV and getting a chance to work for some of the bigger companies. Regardless of whether you stay there for two weeks or six months it shows commitment and dedication to a job that you are not even getting paid for. Yes, you read correctly: you will not be getting paid. There are some circumstances where a company will pay living expenses, or at least travel expenses, but these are incredibly rare. Also, be prepared to work long hours and deal with an extensive amount of crap. You will be treated like a skivvy but the reference will be worth it. The perfect option for the career-obsessed. Option 4: Full time employment After having been a student since forever, the prospect of going into full time employment after full time education is going to make you want to chug an entire litre of vodka, followed by several tequila chasers. This option is not for the faint hearted. It requires stamina, as well as the ability to be able to get out of bed the brighter side of midday. If you’re looking for something fairly decent, it also requires that you already have a pretty packed CV. If you have, then great! If not, be prepared to work

From the Comment Editor

slovenly hours is some crappy job. Option 5: The Dole I’d like to think that not one of you would consider this but it is an option nonetheless. Option 6: Death See above. Graduating probably seems scarier than the zombie apocalypse (and that’s no laughing matter) but as you can see from the above options, the world is your oyster. Trust me when I say that it’s not all doom and gloom. You get to do things like buy an entirely new wardrobe for work; sympathise with Dolly Parton whenever ‘9 to 5’ comes on the radio; go to trendy cocktail bars and trade witty anecdotes about your days in the ofﬁce and to top it off, you get to spend every waking hour creating different scenarios in your head of how your horrible boss is going to have a tragic accident. There is a silver lining after all.

Well, welcome back to Heythrop. The Lion is well-established by now and students (from the newest to the eldest) have continual opportunities throughout the year to air their thoughts and, in doing so, sharpen their journalistic and - indeed philosophical - wits. The comment section, of which I am the editor, is at the heart of the paper and where the bulk of your article ideas may well end up. As a simple encouragement, I only ask that if you ever feel that familiar sensation of a brewing opinion – whether it is in reaction to news, or something you see happening but which isn’t making the news, please don’t let the idea die. Make some time for it in amongst the essays and the nights out, think it through, put something down and send it my way. I’m interested in ideas which take an unconventional look at events and which aren’t afraid to take themselves seriously. Stay clear of relativism! But in the end, everyone is welcome and anything which is well-written and interesting will be considered. Please follow the submission guidelines at the front of the paper. The email address for comment submissions or queries is comment@theheythroplion.co.uk

Why does 9th November Matter? Vice-President of Campaigns Sam English gives his thoughts on why students should not give up in their ﬁght against education cuts and tuition fee rises. Sam English VP Campaigns Another year, another demonstration, another NUS Executive backing down and another set of negative headlines. We can see it already; or can we? Education is an investment in oneself and in one’s community. Education as an investment is a very fragile concept and the chord is easily broken but if we choose to invest in knowledge and skills then we invest in not just our individual future but our collective futures; the future of England as a whole. If investment in knowledge and skills is reduced we will shortly ﬁnd ourselves asking where the source of our economic growth will come from. Where will that generation of inventors emerge from? Where are the writers, artists and musicians of tomorrow? It seems that the writers, artists and musicians of tomorrow are being left behind by a series of monstrous coalition manoeuvres which now include privatising universities. The government’s actions have done a disservice to the idea of a university ed-

ucation - as privatisation, bureaucracy and proﬁt become the focus for those responsible for providing university education. Current and future generations of students are at risk of being looked at as consumers instead of individual students with goals and aspirations. If only the current government could see that Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) institutions should be where the ‘Big Society’ begins. £9,000 fees for undergraduates, uncapped fees for those aiming at MA/ PhD’s. The future is far from bright. It seems that universities will once again become the preserve of the rich. I, like many thousands of others, aim to apply to universities such as Oxford or Cambridge to study for an MA or maybe later down the line a PhD. These institutions simply offer some of the best education available in the world. Yet my worries are not - as they should be - entirely focused upon getting a First Class degree. My main concern is primarily ﬁnancial. Unfortunately, conversations with Sixth Formers and fellow undergraduates coupled with the hours spent reading about the repercussions of coalition

plans for the future of our universities have led me to conclude that my situation is not unique. What’s worse, this state of affairs will become ever more ﬁrmly established as young people are simply priced out of education. Last year students and workers fought back with mass strikes, occupations and direct action; Tony Benn even came to Heythrop to talk in association with the Coalition of Resistance. It is clear that discontent is widespread amongst students and workers and this should be acted upon. This is a new year and all the progress we made last year should not be forgotten; it must be built upon or else those in power will forget about our generations striving for individual and social justice. Perhaps they ought to heed Steven Schwartz’s words: “By encouraging students from all backgrounds to come to university, universities can do more than almost any other institution to improve social mobility and justice. Here, then, is at least one moral purpose of higher education that we can all sign up to - making Britain a more open, more just and fairer place to live.”

I believe wholeheartedly that if we get together we can save education, and the welfare state; where better to begin than on the streets of the city in which you now study - Wednesday the 9th of November, 2011 is the date, London is the place. Why not have your voice heard? To ﬁnd out more information, please

visit the event’s Facebook page by searching for “National Demo - Defend Education, Fight Privatisation”. Please also support the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts at anticuts.com. Feel free to contact me at any time at samuel.english@heythropcollege. ac.uk.

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

COMMENT

ENVY Photo: craigloftus/Flickr.com

James Barber Photo Editor Envy is one of the seven deadly sins that rarely gets much credence but in reality is far more at work than many others in our studious lives. This realization came to me a couple of weeks ago when I was at the Globe watching Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe; a play about a theologian who turns to the occult practices of sorcery and conjuring to satisfy his earthly desires. At one point, after convincing Dr. Faustus that thinking on heavenly things is useless, Lucifer makes manifest the seven deadly sins for him to contemplate. Envy describes himself thus: “I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books burned. I am lean with seeing others eat. O, that there would come a famine over all the world, that all might die, and I live alone! then thou shouldst see how fat I’d be. But must thou sit, and I stand? come down, with a vengeance!” It’s easy to see why this scene was so controversial in its time. Often when we theology students speak of sin or sins, it is usually other people who are doing them and these people are usually better off than us. However the sin of envy is manifest in the lowest of society; the poor and hungry. As poor students of philosophy or theology we can easily slip into the mentality that we are looking upon society from the outside, appalled by what we see, moved to condemnation because what society is doing is not something we would do, we who are seemingly more intelligent and more considered than them. It would seem that when we are caught up in this self-righteous crusade of the intellect we have become blinded by envy; we forget people have a right to ownership and private property, that people are allowed to live according to their means, that we have no right to bulldoze into others’ lives with high-handed principles which have no relation to reality. The theology student would joyfully exclaim the virtues that ﬂow from poverty but we must not let our guard down and assume that we are therefore immune from corruption and poor judgment. We must refuse to believe that because one person is unable to sit nobody should be allowed to stand and stalk the world with nothing but condemnation on our lips. Of course, balance is the key. So while we would teach that it is the duty of the very rich to redistribute their wealth it is one thing to demand someone with a £5,000,000 a year salary to give some to the poor but quite another to oblige someone barely holding a family together on £20,000 a year to do that same. As we begin the journey of intellectual discovery this year, to hold us back from unbalanced conclusions, we must remember the distinction between what is holy and what is duty. Holy things are good and should be encouraged but one cannot oblige someone to be so. However, duties are obligatory; whether it be to cook for your housemates on Wednesday evenings, or to take out the rubbish on a Monday morning. It is this sense of duty that we can demand as learned men and women.

A “Slut Walk” in California | Photo: David Michael Morris/Flickr.com

A Modest Thought on Feminism John Frussgoe Satirist I used to know what “feminism” meant. It was a nice word, which conjured up images of articulate, intelligent campaigners for feminine equality in the world, like Iris Murdoch or the Suffragists. That understanding was, as it turns out, ﬂawed. My interpretation of feminism then changed to the idea of enormous, butch women with jarhead haircuts and dungarees, spouting off about how men were S.C.U.M while also seemingly emulating them. It conjured up images of Valerie Solanas, Gertrude Stein and (for some reason) a vacuum cleaner with teeth. But, as ever, as soon as I get comfortably settled into a paradigm, a shift isn’t far away. Now, the most common feminist one met was not a brick shithouse-ette, but instead a girl who would go that extra mile to look attractive, alluring, approachable, amenable, and all those other euphemisms to mean “slutty”. That’s right, gentlemen: Neo-feminism had arrived. Submission was the new liberation. Rather

than stand up for one’s own rights, a lady so inclined could use her feminine wiles and make use of the womanly art of manipulation. Be in control by making men think that you might sleep with them if they do what you want. And undoubtedly, this is a good thing. Personally, I acknowledge that men in general have a chink in their intellectual armour around the groin area, and that most men are more likely to be inclined to acquiesce to the demands of a hot redhead with dark eyes and a comehither bosom. These neo-feminists are merely admitting that all people are not created equal (a sentiment I agree with utterly) and that beautiful girls should use their genetic advantage to a worldly advantage. So what if you can’t compete with men on a physical or intellectual level? You’re a NEO-FEMINIST! Sleep your way to the top! Why work hard to stand on your own two feet when you can make a fortune lying on your back? So now, my current thought on feminism is empowerment through subjugation. It’s high time we agree that the sexes aren’t equal, so let’s stop treating them as equals. Men can run the world again (almost as though

they never stopped) and women can use the lukewarm hole in their crotch to win money, power and fame off the back of the hard work and innovation of their male counterparts. It’s been this way for centuries, why should it stop now? The only change is that now, we’re honest about it. So now women can ﬂock to Ann Summers in order to purchase all the lacy undergarments they need to make themselves look sufﬁciently kinky, all the better for batting their eyelids and feeling superior while getting wolf-whistled and groped. So my modest proposal is that this continues. We all revert to the Übermensch ideal of our own gender stereotypes. All women doll themselves up to please their men, but with their own ulterior motive. Women should be manipulative, gorgeous and completely docile. Men should be intelligent, savage and strong. Not only could we have neo-feminism, but neo-masculinity as well! The ideal of the physically healthy, rational, intelligently vicious man who adheres to misogyny not out of hate, but out of a sincere respect and caution for the power a woman can potentially hold over him. The author of

this article humbly holds himself up as the archetype for this New Adonis. But back to feminism. Unfortunately, for all the courageous women who are willing to tart themselves up to the sixtynines, there are some squares who have the temerity to call out the neo-feminist agenda as being inherently self-defeating, badly thought-through, genuinely degrading and playing up to a horrifyingly negative stereotype of women as docile manipulators who will sacriﬁce self-respect and simple common decency just to further themselves and who wonder how neo-feminists don’t cry themselves to sleep every night after regurgitating dinner and cutting themselves. But hey, who cares about them, right? They’re the old, out-of-date feminists, talking about ridiculous things like judging someone on the quality of their character and stupid sh*t like that. Strap on that lingerie and spread those legs, girls, it’s time for a hard, fast empowering you’ll never forget!! (John Frussgoe has now been banned from the Lion Ofﬁce. - Ed)

f Like, Dislike or Indifferent? Zahra Al-Kateb Student Facebook: 750 million active users; 50% log on every single day; on average, people spend 700 billion minutes per month using it; the average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events. Yet it has only existed with us for less than a decade. So why is it something that has swept not just the nation but almost the entire world? Is it even good for us? I’ll admit it. Occasionally I have spent evenings aimlessly refreshing my Facebook and Twitter feed and checking my emails waiting for something to happen. Perhaps because I want to see what is going on elsewhere; there’s an anxiety to not miss out on something interesting. Or perhaps it is because I have now become aware of too many alternative ways of living - possibly a new take on the grass is greener on the other side. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow us to be able to see what other people are doing with their lives. An understanding of these alternatives can have negative side effects – they can lead us to become dissatisﬁed with what we have, causing us

to become more focused on what is going on elsewhere rather than what is going on in front of us right now. The biggest problem of the fear of missing out is that it takes up so much of our time. Rather than doing something, people often spend too much time observing what other people are doing and worry that they are not doing anything. It becomes a vicious circle; by becoming so scared of missing out on things, people end up actually missing out on things. Whereas if they didn’t worry about missing out on things, people might actually not miss out on them so often! Although it is often portrayed that Facebook users consist mostly of teenagers and young adults, being susceptible to the fear of missing out could be something that has more to do with different types of personalities rather than that of age groups. Psychologist Dr. Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus believes that those who have an idea of what they want to achieve and how they will achieve it are less likely to feel that they are missing out, perhaps because they are happy with what they have and feel no need to look for more. By contrast, there are people who are always looking for alternatives, preferring to explore every option before they make a decision.

When they finally do decide to make a decision, they often regret the decision they have made because of what could have been, leading them to feel less satisfied with what they have chosen. Being connected is no longer restricted to being at home as the rise of smartphones such as the iPhone or Blackberry have become as popular as ever, allowing users to engage in social network literally wherever they chose to. Currently, there are more than 250 million users on Facebook who access their accounts through their mobile devices. They are twice as many active on Facebook than non-mobile users. And this year – for the first time eversales of smartphones have exceeded sales of personal computers. Social networking is something that can be done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When a sample of 200 students from Maryland University were asked to abstain from Facebook and Twitter for a day they began to experience withdrawal symptoms. Students were asked how they felt during the period of time in which they abstained from social networking sites and claimed they felt cravings and became anxious. All of this begs the question: is social networking healthy?

Samples of studies have proven that some people in fact do feel better about themselves once they have taken to Facebook and Twitter by claiming it increases their psychological well-being, largely because of social capital i.e. the emotional and social support that family and friends can provide. Although it is unlikely that you are meeting new close friends on social networking sites, it can help maintain and strengthen the current friendships that you do have. Often individuals on Facebook feel that looking at their profile is self-affirming. This can all be seen as reaping the psychological rewards of social networking. However many people find that they always want to be involved, respected and popular, with their actions being heavily influenced by these desires. There is a fine line between being motivated and put down by having constant reminders of other alternatives. Instead, stop making upward social comparisons. Try to live in the moment and look at the positives of your life and marvel at how much you have achieved so far. Perhaps the grass is greener on your side after all. Agree? Send us your response to comment@theheythroplion.co.uk

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

COMMENT

JOINING CITIZENS UK Fr. Dave Stewart SJ explains Heythrop’s recent afﬁliation to West London Citizens and how he feels it can beneﬁt local communities

Photo: stevecadman/Flickr.com

Fr. Dave Stewart SJ College Chaplain “All politics is local”, claimed an influential Massachusetts politician of the last century, Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill. If O’Neill was right, he was telling us that people acting together have the power to change their communities for the better. And, having brought about change for the better in the local community, they contribute to bringing about change in their country, and in the world. All over the world and throughout history we see inspirational and committed people who have worked locally and brought about change. Sometimes it’s about tackling a specific injustice, sometimes it’s a broader concern about the betterment of human society for all. We might think of Gandhi or Mandela and even US President Barack Obama who cut his political teeth as a community organiser in the poverty-ravaged Chicago inner city. And that’s what has become known as community organising. Now, community organising has come to Heythrop! As announced during Freshers’ Week, Heythrop College is now a fully-fledged affiliate organisation of West London Citizens, which is itself the newest branch of the Citizens-UK movement. This exciting initiative has come about after extensive and wonderful co-operation between the HSU and the Chaplainc. HSU Past President Jim

Johnston and I have been talking to Citizens-UK leadership since earlier in the calendar year, while current HSU President Gala Jackson-Coombs and several other students have already attended several West London Citizens events. Citizens-UK points out that political and corporate leaders don’t often embrace change or reform unless they are pressured by the people whom they are meant to serve. The growing citizens community organising movement supports and resources that pressure, allowing members of the local community, who are serious about making things better, the opportunity to do so. Members meet other members. Strategies get hammered out democratically. Ordinary people, workers, students, migrants get challenged to imagine the change they want to see in their local community. They are empowered, by the all-important person-to-person community organising that Citizens resources, to link their interests and strengthen each other, taking real local control of the agenda for change. Who’s in it? So many local communities and organisations that it’s hard to keep count. Mosques, trade unions, churches, community and youth leaders, sixth forms and now, with Heythrop’s afﬁliation, a university college. A local Borough Organiser is in post to help support & resource the smooth running of this

coalition. Where and when do they gather? As needed, usually on a borough basis – West London Citizens covers the London boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster & Hounslow. Leaders from the various member organisations and communities, meet to review progress and to share ideas for planning for the future.

cally, meetings with the 2012 Olympic authorities to press for several guarantees for local people in Newham; and a fun “ﬂashmob” action in Tesco Hammersmith in support of demands for the Living Wage, that led to a successful meeting with Tesco’s top management. The Community Land Trust proposes affordable family homes in the capital and action on overcrowding in existing housing stock.

What happens, and has it worked?

What’s planned?

Two of the best-known campaigns recently have been the “Strangers into Citizens” campaign, a movement to better the lives of migrants & asylumseekers and their families in our city, ending the disgrace of destitution for people who have sought sanctuary in our great city. There’s the London Living Wage campaign, which recognises that nobody could live in the capital if earning only the Government’s national minimum wage (£5.93 an hour); a signiﬁcantly higher “Living Wage” (£8.30 an hour) is advocated. Some big and powerful interests, notably HSBC Bank, have already listened to Citizens and are changing the way they treat their lowest-paid workers. Others campaigns and causes, all originating from among the membership itself, have included attempts to re-connect communities across neighbourhoods after the recent summer riots, and organised groups to clean up the streets physi-

A major event in the life of our capital is the London Mayoral elections of May 2012. London Citizens is currently launching the “2012 Governance of London Campaign”. The aim is to develop a “Citizens’ Agenda” for the mayoral candidates, an agenda that might not be what the political parties want to offer the people. The Mayor of London has a great deal of power and a huge budget (£13.8bn) to run this city. As the election draws near, there’s going to be a Listening Campaign. There’s a big difference from the usual election hustings - it’s the candidates who are to do the listening, not us! If they try to make political speeches during the meeting, they won’t get far! What will we do here at Heythrop? Everyone is invited to a meeting with Jessica Kennedy, our Borough Organiser who will, with James, Gala and

myself, outline what our membership of the movement will involve. That will be in the College on Wednesday 12th October (don’t worry about remembering the date as we will e-mail everybody beforehand). We want to participate in the Mayoral Listening campaign. That gets under way quite soon. Remember – this is not them addressing us to get our votes, but they have to listen to us and our concerns as local people. We want to recruit at least 15 Heythrop people as delegates to the WLC Assemblyon Tuesday 15th November. That will give us 3 votes in the meeting; if more of us join up, we get more votes! We want to invite you to the Annual General Meeting of London Citizens, to be held in “London’s Living Room” in City Hall on Wed, 7thDecember. Especially if you’ve just come to London, here’s a great way of engaging with the realities of this city – and of making change for real. Making a difference locally will have an effect nationally and internationally, if Tip O’Neill was right. Heythrop, as a College in the Jesuit tradition, seeks to encourage its members to become “Men & Women for Others”, the tradition of so many Jesuit colleges and institutions in over 100 countries worldwide. HSU and the Chaplaincy hope that our exciting new partnership with West London Citizens will provide us all with a great opportunity to do just that – and to bring about lasting change in this great city, change for the poorest, change for the better.

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

Culture[

Edited by Fran Gosling culture@theheythroplion.co.uk

Life: Welcome to London Fran Gosling Culture Editor

As a large proportion of you are likely to be a) freshers, b) not native Londoners or c) both of the above, you probably chose your university in one of the most exciting and historical cities in the world with every intention of exploring and esperiencing everything it has to offer. But it only takes the first flick through your glossy new A-Z, or your first encounter with a bus stop map, to make you feel completely overwhelmed! With this all too familiar feeling in mind, I have put together just a few suggestions to help get you started. Free culture? If you have yet to experience the Natural History, Science and Victoria & Albert Museums then these worldwide favourites are a must see and are all directly accessible from

South Kensington tube station. The National Gallery (Trafalgar Square), Tate Modern (Bankside), Wallace Collection (Manchester Square) and Imperial War Museum (Waterloo) are also worth visiting as there are always free exhibitions throughout the year. For a slightly different cultural experience, look up late night openings in many London museums and galleries. Movie night? A great discovery in my ﬁrst year was the Coronet Cinema in Notting Hill Gate. It’s a gorgeous, quirky converted theatre only a short walk from college and it screens a selection of the latest releases every week. The best part: students only pay £3.50 on Mondays and Tuesdays! Late drink? For places open late in London you often have to be prepared to pay your pennies or endure impressive levels of grime! But if you really need to get out, there are plenty of 24-hourers scattered about including The Swan

Tipsy Hippo

Tavern (Monument), Vingt Quatre (Fulham Broadway), and The Birdcage (Shoreditch)...or you could just resort to Archangel on Kensington high street! Free party? Even though places like Fabric and Ministry of Sound are better known, their special events often come at budget-breaking prices. The best thing to do is to check club websites to hunt out the free events or at least get yourself on the best guest lists. Good places for this are Koko (Camden) and Heaven (Soho). A personal favourite is Cafe 1001 (Brick Lane); a great hangout spot during the day and puts on all sorts of different gigs and raves until the early hours every night of the week. Gigs and Giggles? There are hundreds of free gig venues suiting all tastes around London which you will most likely stumble upon as you wander the streets! Try The Social (Soho) for a variety of music gigs every night or “Comedy Bin” every

Monday at Carnivale (Aldgate East). Economy dating? London may not be historically renowned for being the city of love but there are endless options for taking out that special (ish) girl or guy on a budget, whether you are looking for something cool and edgy or something more romantic. Try Jamie’s Italian (Shepherds Bush/Covent Garden) for great quality Italian food in a cheery, sociable environment; a tequila soaked Mexican in El Camion (Soho) or Thai on a terrace overlooking one of central London’s most legendary market streets at Garden and Grill (Portobello Road). Of course there are thousands more that can be added so if you would like to share your own favourites, or even give a review of one of the above, please email your contributions to be published in the next issue.

worth hopping on a tube and making your way through the maze that is central London and back in time for your lecture. Not strictly West End theatres, the Old Vic and Young Vic are two of the best theatres in London. In my humble opinion, the Old Vic is the ﬁnest example of what a theatre should be anywhere in the world. Not only is it a marvelous venue but also, under the artistic direction of Kevin Spacey (recently starring in the lead role of the highly acclaimed Richard III himself), they have produced a series of fantastic shows, currently running Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World. In partnership with the Young Vic they are the most highly renowned theatre pairing in London. The Young Vic is well known for fantastic shows, most recently Vernon God Little, among others with strong casts and production teams. They also run a very tidy student/young persons’ discount but tickets for these shows are worth booking well in advance because, like their older brother, they sell out fast. The Old Vic also offers a student discount so it’s worth cashing in on these two tremendous theatres. For both the Old and Young Vic theatres, slide on over to Waterloo on the tube and they’re a short walk from the station, the Young Vic slightly past the Old Vic and well signposted. Another venue that offers a great

“All health and pleasure” Welcome one and all Heythropians to another (or perhaps your first) year of reams of reading, endless essays and psychological showdowns. But “tears are for after; they just waste time before”. So before you throw the towel in already, try to remember that there is so much beyond the wardrobe doors to Heythrop-nia! After all, isn’t being a student here all about honing your naturally cultured and creative mind? As editor of this section I will be doing my best to tickle your taste buds with the latest trends and flavours from beyond study walls, whether you are amongst the most hardcore of culture vultures or just fancy something different to read between lectures. I would also love to invite writers to send me contributions of their own, be it discoveries, news or reviews on all things cultural from films to fashion, sight-seeing to swinging! If you would like to submit anything please send it along to: culture@theheythroplion.co.uk.

Theatre Reviews written by John Arthur Craven Ord tipsyhippo@theheythroplion.co.uk

An Introduction to London Theatre London, in particular the famed West End, is the most vibrant and accessible city in the world for theatre and performance of all kinds. There are a myriad of different venues and styles, art forms and companies on almost every street in central London - and it doesn’t stop there. The sheer volume of what’s on offer can be intimidating for all but the experienced theatre-goer, so I would like to give you a quick guide to the best venues, both West End and fringe, so that students of Heythrop College can make the most of the theatrical marvels available. The centre of Theatre-land is Shaftesbury Avenue which stretches from Piccadilly Circus almost all the way to Holborn. Around here (and stretching from here to Covent Garden and the Strand) is the highest concentration of commercial theatres in London, also known as the West End. Wading through the sickening slurry of ‘pop musicals’ you can find some really fantastic shows in the theatres here, the critically successful Trevor Nunn Season just finishing now with The Tempest (starring Ralph Fiennes) at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (next to Phantom of the Opera), is just one example. Most of these theatres offer a student discount that you are likely to be asked to confirm in person on the day of the show. There aren’t often many of these so it’s worth calling up in the morning and asking if they have any available. If so, it’s definitely

From the Culture Editor

student discount and is famed for the high quality of original work that they produce is the Royal Court Theatre in Sloane Square. Easy to reach on the Circle Line, it’s well worth exploring this area as it also boasts The Pheasantry, a Pizza Express restaurant that has one of London’s leading revue bars downstairs, not far from the station. The Royal Court is one of the few theatres in London to have comfortable seats (along with the Old Vic, Trafalgar Studios and precious few besides) and their penchant for original work is more often a grace than a curse. The box ofﬁce staff are very helpful and their under 25 deal is really worth a gambit. More locally there are some fantastic theatres that are necessary visits for theatre-goers. The Finborough Theatre is famous for having its shows transferred to West End venues and beyond, winning multiple awards for the quality of their productions and theatre space itself and is one of the many London venues that have set up shop above a pub. The space itself is small and, as a result, tickets disappear fast, but it’s not far from Kensington and if you can stretch to it you won’t be disappointed. Alongside the Finborough, the Bush Theatre (a short bus ride on the number 49 to Shepherd’s Bush) is one of the leading theatres for new writing and original work in the city and has a reputation that it has worked very hard to build. Currently in the process

of completing a move to a new venue on Uxbridge Road, just off Shepherd’s Bush Green, it’s a resource that we are lucky to have nearby. If you’re ever in doubt as to what you want to see there are two resources that you should look in to. Firstly, there are theatre listings that show you what’s on. These are sometimes hard to navigate and not frequently updated but the best sources are online at The Stage website and the Time Out London website. Next, you’ll want to ﬁnd out whether the shows you’ve picked out are worth seeing. Reviews are available everywhere (including this very paper!) ranging from websites to blogs and newspapers. The Stage has a respected reviewer in Mark Shenton (though I disagree with him more often than I agree) and the Arts Desk website is perhaps the best resource for a range of reviewers covering a range of creative pursuits. There is also (personal plug alert) my own baby, the Tipsy Hippo blog - soon to be website. It’s all about ﬁnding a reviewer who thinks the same way as you so my advice is to check out as many as you can. So there you have it: a brief introduction to London theatre and how best to make use of what’s on offer. Read reviews and more at hipporeviews.blogspot.com

Happy Heythropping and I hope you all have just the BEST year, darlings!

Life: Your London

For those of you who are new to London and want to experience the upper end on a student budget, think about signing up for: “Entry Pass” – with this card anyone aged 16-25 can get £5 tickets to National Theatre, with mates rates, and the ﬁrst one comes free! For more info visit: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/entrypass “TasteCard” – get two-for-one meals at over 5000 UK restaurants. Visit: www.tastecard.co.uk “Groupon” – discover something new; receive notiﬁcations on all sorts of deals and discounts around London. Just sign up at www.groupon.co.uk

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

CULTURE

Theatre: Wild for Wilde? As you may be aware, auditions will soon be being held for this year’s HeADS production: “Lady Windermere’s Fan” by Oscar Wilde. This idea may well make some of you groan with the memories of long hours of GCSE English Literature lessons, a monotonous old crone of a teacher forcing you to “read between the lines” to reach those “higher level points”. But Olivia Grifﬁths and Alice Heans, this year’s new Directors of HeADS, explain why their take on this classic production will be nothing short of enthralling.

Olivia Griffiths HeADS Director “Back through the ages of barbarism and civilisation, in all tongues, we find this instinctive pleasure in the imitative action that is the very essence of all drama.” As an enthusiastic and flamboyant spokesman of aestheticism, this is most likely a sentiment that Oscar Wilde would have shared. Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was, and still is, one of the most flagrant devotees to beauty and the pleas-

ure it inspires. He saw drama, as a way to illustrate and develop the ideals of aestheticism, as a most admirable occupation as well as an effective medium to satirise society. We probably all know Wilde for his witty aphorisms and paradoxical epigrams, but beneath the somewhat affected eccentricities of this 19th century dandy, was a rather surprising and intricate theory of art. During his studies at Magdalen College, Oxford, Wilde encountered the already ﬂourishing philosophy of aestheticism developed by Walter and Pater and John Ruskin to which he would dedicate his life and works. Wilde’s theory of ‘art for art’s sake’ proposed that art and life were to be separated, with art as the highest priority. His ‘imaginative’ theory of art, which describes the imagination as a light that transforms the natural world into one of the artist’s own creation, overturned various mimetic theories of art, including Plato’s boorish theory of mimesis. This did not merely insinuate that ladies of high society in the 1880s desired to mimic a particularly beautiful Rossetti or Burne-Jones, but also that ‘We perceive the world by means of the con-

Mr Hudson Says... Almaz Messenger Culture Correspondent

ceptual models provided for us by art’. Echoing Aristotle and Kant’s theories that good art is natural and beneficial and requires a different kind of judgement to the practical or rational, Wilde also attempted to finalise the late-Victorian conundrum in which claims to truth, nature and reality could not be certified. Wilde writes in a playful and seemingly non-sensical style to illustrate the idea that our words do not necessarily correspond to the world in which we live or even to our own intentions, foreseeing a rather Foucaultian project. But aside from the epistemological and aesthetic questions raised by the master of satyrical wit, his plays are widely considered ‘the bee’s knees’.

So this year, the Heythrop Amateur Dramatics Society (HeADS) will be presenting “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, propelled into the dazzling era of the 1920s. In a fascinating and beautiful story of a good woman and wife, Wilde manages to satirise Victorian morality in a characteristically sharp and biting exploration of ﬁdelity, honesty, reputation and sacriﬁce. So prepare for cloche hats, a spot of Duke Ellington and copious amounts of Gauloise and gin. Whether you’re excellently barbaric or exceedingly civilised, come and experience the wild and instinctive pleasure of the Heythrop Amateur Dramatics Society.

I work at Waitrose in Clerkenwell and we get enough celebs in there that I could probably start my own ‘Spotted’ page. But instead I’ve decided to go one better. I have struck up a conversational relationship with Mr Hudson (you know, the guy off ‘Supernova’ who did that ‘Forever Young’ cover with Jay-Z) and thought that a fortnightly ‘Mr Hudson Says’ corner would be something you’d all be itching to read! I know you’ve always wanted to hear his take on the mundane, the current and the weird and wonderful, so here you are. Your prayers are answered. When I recently suggested that I didn’t like the new Kanye West and Jay-Z ‘Watch the Throne’ album’s sample of Nina Simone, Mr Hudson said: “Well as long as it gets people talking about older, great music like Nina and Otis, then it has to be a good thing. Many people nowadays wouldn’t be talking about them if they weren’t sampled on a Jay-Z or Kanye West album.”

Photo: damo1977/Flickr.com

Film: The Inbetweeners Movie Sartaj Singh

3rd year Undergraduate As well as the swarms of modern remakes ﬁlling the big-screen today, the other current Hollywood trend is the production of ﬁlm adaptations of popular television shows. Think “Sex and the City”, “The Simpsons Movie” and many other programmes with a remotely recognisable name. So it was no surprise to hear they were making a movie out of the hit British comedy series, “The Inbetweeners”; a show that

has been the talk of Twitter and Facebook since its release. Being more of a classic comedy fan myself – opting for shows such as “Blackadder” and “Fawlty Towers” - I recently decided to give it a go, out of curiosity more than anything, to see how it would stack up against “Peep Show”. I really enjoyed the show and found it easy to relate to, funny and engaging. However, the programme was not without its ﬂaws. I found one character particularly irritating and just could not ﬁnd credibility in the relationship between the four central characters.

So having watched two series worth of the programme, how was the film? In short, I found it to be a great adaptation which took the characters in a great new direction. It kept the humour of the show intact and even redeemed some of the faults I found in the television show. The first thing to be applauded about the film is that it does avoid the trappings of just being a long episode on the big screen. This is mainly down to the direction of Ben Palmer, who also directed the entire second series of the show. Rather than making it feel like a 90 minute episode, Palmer takes great

advantage of the cinematic medium, with good usage of music, effects and pacing. In the moments when no jokes were being made the movie slowed down a lot and Palmer took advantage of this to ﬂesh out the characters. The script itself was of good quality, genuinely paying homage to the show and giving all actors a chance to expand their characters. For example, we see a different and more amiable side to the character Jay who seemed a very onedimensional, and frankly irritating, character in the show. The only problem with the script, in my opinion, was the excessively banal humour in some

cases. Overall, the ﬁlm adaptation of “The Inbetweeners” is a fantastic big-screen adventure, boasting both great writing and great acting throughout. It achieves everything that a good movie adaptation of a television series should. The characters are successfully expanded upon but retain the same charm that their fans fell in love with in the ﬁrst place. In an age where there are so many movies based on television shows, “The Inbetweeners Movie” feels like a breath of fresh air.

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

CULTURE

What will you do?

Fran Gosling Culture Editor One of the most thrilling components of undergraduate student life is those long summers that you (theoretically) have at your disposal to explore all the wonders of the world before graduation will inevitabley force you to join the reality of routine. There really are so many opportunities available for the taking, whether it’s exotic holidays or obscure summer jobs, and it is never too early to start planning. So I asked three students, just starting their third and ﬁnal year, to share how they spent their last glorious summer of freedom from the expectations of society!

Writing: Why Jottify is better than sex...

Jottify. Josh Ferguson Senior Editor Jottify is a new website designed for writers. Its sole purpose is to allow writers of poetry or prose a platform to show off their works to a sympathetic audience of people who have similar interests. So, if there are any of you reading this who have always nursed a fondness for writing, or have ever dreamed of being an author, there is no better place to start. There are hordes of people flocking onto this website, all of whom are interested in reading what you have to write, and who want you to read what they have written. With me so far? What makes Jottify so interesting is that it is a purely meritocratic system. On Jottify, the cream rises to the top (not counting the occasional inexplicably popular literary turd), and if you’ve written a good poem or story, full of wit, charm and originality, it will most definitely be recognised. It’s an excellent place to receive feedback, writing tips and heaps of (mostly) constructive criticism. Stephen Fry has also recently championed it, if that sort of thing floats your boat. There’s also a thumping good short story on Jottify called Euphoria, by a chap who (by an absolutely mindbending coincidence) has the same name as me. You should probably read it. It would doubtless be an excellent way to curry the favour of Heythrop’s premiere newspaper. Oh, and the reason Jottify is better than sex is because it won’t give you any viruses. Check it out for yourself at Jottify.com

S T UD

Summer:

HOB T N E

Biking for Cancer Cornelius Walsh

3 year Undergraduate rd

At the end of August I took part in a bike ride to raise money for children with cancer. The route mapped out started in London with the half way point in Amsterdam and the finish in Brussels. In total it covered a distance of about 400 miles. There were four of us taking part in the charity out of a larger group of about one hundred and thirty. Our rather unique cycling outfits (consisting of a black background with orange polka dots, Grateful Dead skulls and a Bob Dylan quote on our backs) certainly made us stand out from everyone else and set the tone for the kind of trip we intended to have. I knew it would be a challenge as I had done a similar bike ride in 2010 from London to Paris. However, unlike that trip, this one I was rather unprepared for. I had not been on a bike of any form for over a year and with my brilliant, albeit ridiculous, outfit I was wary about looking like the typical bloke with all the gear and no idea. The first two days were tough but bearable and I could really feel how

I hadn’t been on a bike in such a long time! Every day ﬁnished with a few celebratory pints and an early night. The second day we ﬁnished in Amsterdam. I was wary beforehand about this leg of the trip and was determined not to do anything stupid when we arrived in the city. Having ten pints that night when I had over 100 miles to cycle the next day, for example. To cut a long story short, I ended up ‘accidentally’ having about then pints and a little bit of wine. When I woke up late the next morning, I was perplexed as to why I felt so bad. I could not understand - I’d said to myself I was going to be careful! Then when I counted up what I’d had to drink the night before I realized it was going to be a long 105 miles. So what is it like to bike 105 miles with a hangover? Well let’s just say that if the guards down at Guantanamo Bay ever need a more inventive form of torture, I highly recommend forced hungover cycling. Trust me, there would be no need to dunk anyone underwater anymore, just 50 miles in 30 degree heat after a boozy night and we’d get rid of this whole terrorism thing! My own personal suffering aside,

I was able to take note of the countryside surrounding Amsterdam and it is stunningly beautiful. Nearly every house was surrounded by water and all were immaculate; the only things littered around the houses were statues and sculptures. With the third day completed, the final push into Brussels was all that remained. While it was a tough day, due to many hills and 35 degree temperature, it was also my best day of the trip. I was really able to gain some speed and push on for the final leg. The finish line was under the Brussels version of the Arc De Triomphe in Cinquantenaire Park - a massive monument that makes you feel that you really have achieved something worthwhile. Although it was a challenge, the feeling of accomplishment you get at the end is definitely worth the pain! After my legs stopped trembling and I remembered the fact that the money we raised all goes to children with cancer, I realized that it was all worthwhile and I will definitely take part in another ride next year. The medals we received at the end were inscribed: “from exhaustion to elation”. I could not have said it better myself.

Behind Festival Scenes Almaz Messenger Culture Correspndent

This summer I worked at two festivals: “Global Gathering” in Stratford-UponAvon and “Wilderness” in Oxfordshire. The two couldn’t have been more different both atmospherically and musically. If you’re looking for a laid-back long-bearded muesli-munching family fest, pick Wilderness. If you’re looking for a so-off-my-face-I-don’t-remember-my-name two days, with banging bass-lines, masses of tattooed northerners and perpetual shirtlessness, pick Global. But the point is that I wouldn’t have known the ins and outs of these smaller scale festivals if I hadn’t have worked there. Websites are all well and good for getting a superﬁcial idea, but actually working festivals is a sureﬁre way to get a feel for the crowd and

the music. Ultimately, it gives you enough to help decide what sort of festival you’d attend as a civilian - and you’re getting paid or covered for it! The work is relatively easy to get into (especially if you know someone who has already done it) and there are loads of glamorous opportunities like litter-picking, programme-selling and bar work up for the taking. I chose bar wark and as long as you can hold your tongue, stay mentally together in the presence of wasps, have an endless energy reserve and are pretty good at playful banter with the public, it’s a fun, albeit tiring, endeavour. Also, depending on your hours, you get time to explore a bit and scare yourself silly on the rides (at Global), catch some of the acts (Nero to Tinie Tempah at Global, Laura Marling to Antony and the Johnsons at Wilderness) and munch a bit of the food (surprisingly delicious

ostrich burgers at Wilderness and some not so delicious stuff at Global). Then, when you’re home and dry, you get to make a properly informed choice about your festival plans for next summer with a bit of paper in your pocket. Another bonus about choosing to work at smaller festivals, as opposed to the larger ones, for the purpose of checking out which ones to attend is great for the bank balance if you do decide to go again. You can have just as much fun at these smaller affairs as you can at Reading or Leeds for about half the price and, if we’re talking about Global Gathering, the level of mental is certainly not compromised! Ok, so the pay isn’t amazing, if you don’t like camping you’re a little screwed and the hours can be killer, but it’s worth it even if only to decide which festivals you do – or deﬁnitely don’t – want to go to again!

American Dream Laura Reside

3 year Undergraduate rd

If you want to experience a life you never knew existed, then there is nothing quite like packing yourself off to a different continent for three months to live and work with twelve children you’ve never met! And that is exactly what I did this summer. I spent the whole summer working at Camp America and I can easily say that it was the best experience of my life. Working as a cabin counsellor taught me how to be incredibly patient and to keep a level of composure that I didn’t know I could have at the most trying moments. But this experience also helped me to lose the self consciousness

that most 20-year-olds have and to just have fun and get involved with all the crazy activities going on around me. But don’t be fooled into thinking that it was an easy summer just about having a good time and earning loads of money. To work with children is one thing, but to live with twelve of them and be responsible for everything from their daily living needs to their welfare and happiness for twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, is another. I had to deal with issues such as eating disorders and bullying as well as ﬁrst aid situations. As a camp counsellor you act as a parent, a teacher and a friend to the children all at once. It’s an incredibly hard balance to strike and you can never please every child. However, for every low that makes you

feel like quitting or just crying, there are highs that you feel you will never come down from. Children can be cruel and malicious but, no matter how hard they are on you, they can love you so much more. When they hug you, make you laugh until you cry and tell you all their secrets, you forget all the bad points and the reward of loving those children and having them love you back is something that can never be taken from you. I went to Camp America this summer to help people and to try and make a difference, but when I came back I found it was me who had changed for the better! I loved my American experience more than I ever thought possible. Send us your summer stories at culture@theheythroplion.co.uk

Let Them Eat Cake! Fran Gosling Culture Editor

If you haven’t flicked through my wannabe foodie ramblings before, The Student Hob is a little column all about sharing tips and ideas to inspire you to cook-up your own simple yet tasty (and sometimes even healthy) dishes on a budget. As we begin the academic year we are celebrating the Lion’s first birthday – and a belated National Cupcake Week. So, naturally, there can only be one subject for this issues menu. That central birthday party element: the cake! So if you promised you’d bake your mum’s birthday cake but find yourself pushed for time, ingredients or even culinary skills, then the recipe for basic sponge cake batter is a simple andeverusefull tool to have up your sleeve! All you need to remember is: one part selfraising flour, one part sugar and one part unsalted butter, in equal measures (about 200g), whisk together with 3 eggs and bake at 180 for about 20 minutes. On the other hand, if you are in the mood for a little more adventure, this honey cake with cream cheese frosting always goes down a storm! For the cake: 100g muscovado sugar 200g unsalted butter (chopped) 200g clear honey (Tesco value jar works best) 300g self-raising flour 3 eggs 30g finely grated carrot 1 tsp ground cinnamon For the frosting: 200g cream cheese 250g icing sugar 40g unsalted butter (softened) 1 tblsp Amaretto Pack of milk chocolate buttons for decorating Method: Preheat your oven to 180 and grease the inside of a square/rectangular cake tin (roughly 30cmby 20cm and at least 2 inches deep). Put the butter, honey and sugar in a pan over a low heat, stirring every so often. When the mixture is fully melted, bring to the boil for 1 min and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Beat in the eggs. In a separate large bowl, sift in the flour, add the liquid mixture and beat together to form a smooth batter. Transfer to the baking tin, making sure the surface is level before baking for 40-50 minutes. You’ll know it’s properly cooked when the whole cake is golden brown and springs back when pressed or a cake skewer comes out clean. While the cake is cooling you can make the frosting. Simply beat together the butter and cream cheese, gradually adding in the Amaretto and then the icing sugar. Spread thickly over the cake just before serving, decorate and enjoy. If you’re already a dab hand at all this baking malarkey and are looking for some extra inspiration then Nigella Lawson, Ina Garten and Sophie Dahl are the ladies to look up!

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

Societies Sports and

Edited by Joe Walsh | societies@theheythroplion.co.uk

Bike Society Luke Milborn

yourself to be a ﬁtness fanatic, you will be faced with a problem. Here I will allow H.G. Wells to explain;

The idea of this society is to ride bikes with everyone who has an interest in them, regardless of experience, ability or fitness. Immediately there are several problems that present themselves when trying to enlist riders. First, the overall image of cycling, when considered as a sport, does not encourage people to want to join. The association is of lycra clad men with their legs shaven and brightly coloured helmets. This kind of cyclist thinks that he or she is a semi professional athlete with a performance to back up that attitude which does not include support of others. Heythrop bike society requires none of these sacrifices. To begin with I will offer the opportunity to get more confident at riding a bike. Hyde park is conveniently situated for a regular Sunday afternoon bike ride, there are many brilliant bike routes across it. This offers the opportunity to cruise around without the offputting deluge of London traffic. As it is within walking distance of Heythrop this is a great place for anyone to start riding in the city, even without having been in the saddle before. The idea is to amble round while taking in the scenery and discussing philosophical puzzles at a comfortable pace. This offers a great opportunity to meet other people who cycle; even the bike geeks can chat away while offering support to those who are not as confident. Of course if you get bored of this there are plenty of pubs to stop at so that you can admire bikes and landscape. After getting a bit of cycling under your belt, even if you do not consider

“I came out for exercise, gentle exercise, and to notice the scenery and to botanise. And no sooner do I get on that accursed machine than off I go hammer and tongs; I never look to right or left, never notice a ﬂower, never see a view - get hot, juicy, red - like a grilled chop. Get me on that machine and I have to go. I go scorching along the road, and cursing aloud at myself for doing it” The Wheels of Chance.

2 year Undergraduate nd

It is surprisingly easy to get drawn into cycling after only a small taste. To help satisfy this desire there will also be a regular weekly ride for people who want to cycle at a slightly more energetic rate. This will not require any racing experience what so ever but it will be a chance to stretch your legs in the company of other cycle enthusiasts. Again, lycra and a racing bike are not compulsory but there will be a number of Heythrop college jerseys available for those who wish to commit to the peloton aesthetic. Due to winter nights this will mostly likely take place on the Sunday afternoon after what could be considered to be a warm up round Hyde Park for the social bike ride. From here there are plenty of other great rides to and great routes around London, Richmond being a particular favorite. Road, touring, fixed gear or hybrid bikes would be fine for this, basically anything without mountain bike tyres is fine unless you want to train at a level more inline with Tour de France cyclists. The pace will depend on those present but will ensure that none are left behind!

There will also be a trip to Herne Hill Velodrome. Having been recently resurfaced and situated only a short train journey from victoria station this is an ideal venue for anyone who is curious about track cycling. Although it is out doors it has a banked tarmac track. No cycling on the road or experience at racing on the track is needed. Everyone will need to take part in a short introduction session to learn track etiquette and technique. This may be somewhat familiar to fixed gear cyclists as the track cycling experience is very different from road cycling. A track bike has no brakes; the pedals do not rotate independently of the back wheel so if you stop pushing forewords they will continue to turn with the momentum of the bike. This is a slightly surreal experience for those new to it but it results in you feeling “at one” with the bike giving you more control and a more accurate perception of speed. While this offers an opportunity to be competitive it also offers a great chance to try the precision team racing, as seen in the Olympics. On a very different note I hope to continue the Heythrop college bike polo team this year. After a difficult incubation last year our team entered into an international bike polo tournament in Cambridge only a matter of months after it was formed. Despite not finishing well we had a great time and were hugely surprised by the support we got from loads of the other polo players. In London there are dozens of teams, a few of whom are arrogant and snobbish about their underground sport yet we were supported by the majority of player to continue playing and we would take great pleasure in introducing anyone from Heythrop who has

an interest in the sport. The game its self takes place on a netball sized hard court on which two teams of three players hit balls around with mallets. These mallets normally consist of plastic pipe on the end of old ski poles and the play is comparable in pace to ice hockey. As usual no previous experience is required and there will be beginner sessions hopefully leading to us once more entering into the London bike polo league.In addition to these events the bike society will offer tools and skills to any cyclists passing through heythrop, these will be available through the student union. If you have any questions or would

like more information please contact me at luke.milbourn@heythropcollege.ac.uk or keep your eyes peeled for posters on the sports and societies board in the common room. Drop by the bike society stall at the sports and societies fair on Wednesday the 28th of September to put your name down for joining us on any or all of our rides. Our ﬁrst event will be the social ride around Hyde Park on Sunday the 2nd of October meeting by the bike sheds at Heythrop College at 3:00PM. Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. ~Mark Twain, “Taming the Bicycle”

WI and “Stitch and Islamic Society: Bitch” Society Welcome Newcomers! Emily Perkins WI President Calling all stitchers, bakers and makers of all kinds! Though we at the Heythrop W.I. and the Heythrop Stitch and Bitch have giggled our way through two years of gingerbread baking, schnapps-infusing fun, we are looking to ‘swell our ranks’ (as Jennifer Saunders would put it. Come and join us at one of our meetings for a spot of tea and cake, where Fran (of the Student Hob) can teach you how to whip up a storm in the kitchen or Emily (or another of her lovely assistants) can show you how to knit, crochet or stitch up a treat. Or simply bring along your own projects and suggestions for a natter over the needles! We’re ardently hoping to build upon the successes of last year, with regular meetings and our ﬁrst jumble sale planned for Christmas time – with all the proceeds from the bake sale going to charity, though individual stall-holders have complete control over the destination of their own kitty! Last year’s charity jumble raised over £100 for the cho-

sen RAG week organisation, WaterAid. The ﬁrst session will be open, so that existing and potential members can bring along their own suggestions for meetings and tutorials, though a date hasn’t yet been set so keep your eyes peeled! Can’t wait to see you at our next meeting! Love and hugs.

Photo: WordRidden/Flickr.com

Uzma and Saﬁyah Isoc We ﬁrstly wish every one of you a warm welcome to Heythrop College. We hope you enjoy your time here at Heythrop, get the full University experience and join in as many of the wonderful societies that Heythrop has to offer. We represent the Islamic society; a society that aims to take away the misconceptions of Islam, discuss various issues Muslims are faced with today and invite all our members to social gatherings. Our society welcomes all members, regardless of belief or faith. The Islamic society staff team is made of both Muslims and non-Muslims; our non-Muslim Vice President position was created so we can incorporate a wide range of views and opinions when it comes to planning society events and throwing new ideas into the society. Last year the Islamic society held various interesting events. One of which was the spectacular ‘Islamic Experience Week’. This week was designed to cater to people of all tastes, with events rang-

ing from ﬁlm nights to poetry evenings, including a lecture of ‘what is Islam?’, a trip to the beautiful Regents park mosque. The Islamic Experience Week ended with a fantastic fundraiser, lots of tasty hot food, products on sale and henna tattoos! All money raised went to the Pakistani Flood Appeal. So look out for your Islamic Experience Week this year and remember to join in as many events as possible; you will not regret the amazing experiences, knowledge and people you will meet. The other type of events we hold are seminar/lectures, where we have our respected Heythrop lecturers talking about Islamic issues and Muslim relations with the other two Abrahamic faiths. Various social events will bring Muslims and non- Muslims together for dinner, games night, quizzes and informal debates with complimentary munchies. Our events are a great place for discussion and asking any questions you might have; a place for unity and understanding of people from different faiths and backgrounds. As Heythrop College is part of the University of London, we hope to bring other Islamic Societies together as one and bring people

together through a mixture of events on a larger scale. If you ever have any queries/questions or want to be updated on our societies events then please visit our facebook page (search ‘Heythrop Islamic Society’). Those who may not have facebook can be informed about our future events by checking out our societies notice board at Heythrop or checking your university emails. For those interested in learning more about Islam then please visit our YouTube channel (Youtube.com/HeythropIslamicSoc). WE WANT YOU – to join our amazing team; new positions are available for a Muslim President and a non- Muslim Vice President. Details will come soon, however, if you’re an eager beaver you can email heythropisoc@groups.facebook.com for more info. Join Isoc by talking to Uzma and Saﬁyah Try ﬁnding them at the Freshers’ Fayre! Wednesday 28th September

WEDNESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER | THE LION

SOCIETIES

Kyu Shin Kan Budo: ‘Martial Arts Soc’ Bradley Smith Budo President What is Aikido? Aikido is a martial art which is centred around manipulating the power and momentum of an attacker to control and neutralise a threat. Aikido is far more than just self-defence; simply put, we learn to control minds, then our bodies, and then to control our surroundings. Aikido literally means ‘the way of harmony’ and as such, we do not seek conflict. We do not ‘fight’ our attacker but instead use movement, the breaking of balance and joint locks to protect ourselves from harm. Aikido has an interesting and nuanced philosophy of conflict which provides a student with constant intellectual and physical stimulation. However, do not mistake Aikido for a gentle and ineffective martial art – whilst it can be beautiful and soft, it can also be immensely powerful and painful.

What can I get from Aikido? Training in Aikido can, and will, increase physical fitness, flexibility, coordination and physical conditioning. It will provide the practitioner with greater self-confidence and discipline through teaching the control of both mind and body. Simply put, if you learn Aikido, you will learn to control yourself and control an attacker through joint and pressure point manipulation, strikes and throws from a wide variety of attacks. Why Kyu Shin Kan Budo club? We are now entering our third year of weekly classes at Heythrop. We have and will continue to host local and national courses in Aikido, Judo and Karate with guest instructors from each discipline, all of world-class quality, with a life-time of martial arts experience. Students are also regularly taken on national and international courses, to learn from some of the best instruc-

tors in Europe. Students can also be expected to be graded by the head of Aikido for our association. Training in martial arts offers the student the chance to make new and powerful friendships, whilst learning skills which are applicable to all levels of life. Kyu Shin Kan Budo club offers students a unique chance to train with and under a huge variety of immensely talented and immensely friendly individuals; we have excellent connections with clubs across the UK. For more information, contact Bradley Smith on bradley.smith@heythropcollege.ac.uk, and ‘like’ Kyu Shin Kan Budo on Facebook. Everyone is welcome, regardless of age, gender and previous experience. Loose, long sleeved clothes (to prevent friction burns) and a willingness to learn and work hard are all that is required! Classes are free.

LGBT Society: Mudblood Andrew Gee LGBT President The smug look on Malfoy’s face flickered. “No one asked your opinion, you filthy Mudblood,” he spat. Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, “How dare you!” and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulling out his wand, yelling, “You’ll pay for that one, Malfoy!” and pointing it furiously under Flint’s arm at Malfoy’s face. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling, 1992, p.112. I, like so many of you, read the Harry Potter series and I will confess I did enjoy them for what they were. Recently, however, I found myself growing out of what I consider one of J.K Rowling’s less inspired creations, the term ‘Mudblood’. Today we are so frequently exposed, within films and through the media, to obscene and abusive language. For me, the basis of the word mudblood in the Harry Potter series is it’s light, childish, mocking composition; a mild slander rather than the shocking abhorrent insult. The cushioning of the strength of the insult was born out of its cradling in fantasy context of Harry Potter. I am well aware of the mournfully abundant historical cases for which Rowling’s concept of wizarding blood purity makes an analogy. Seventy six years ago on September 15th 1935, laws were passed in Germany stating that a section of society fully akin to their fellow citizens in no less a way than I am akin to you, were Mudbloods. The Nuremberg laws formalised the Nazi party’s vile conception of blood purity into legislation that firmly branded the Jewish community’s of Europe as possessing “Dirty Blood”. The evils that would rise out of this

twisted philosophy are well known to us all, three quarters of a century on the concept of dirty blood rightly belongs sealed within fiction. Yet as I sat on the train returning to my flat late this evening I felt, suddenly, the full sting of the insult hit me. I was reading an article on the current government review of the MSM (men who have sex with men) blood ban and it hit me in a very personal way; that I am, in the eyes of my government, a Mudblood. The MSM blood ban in the UK was brought in during the 1980s during the height of the panic surrounding the outbreak of AID’s; at a time when little was known about the virus. The government at the time was responding to a threat which it saw embodied within the gay and bisexual male community on the basis of their status as the group at greatest risk of HIV infection. Consequently, it placed a life-time ban on any man who has ever had sex with another man. This ban stands today. It stands regardless of whether protection was used or not, regardless of whether it was oral or anal and regardless of whether the HIV status of both partners is a confirmed negative. The government is currently reviewing this blanket ban and it is thought the committee examining the ban will suggest a ten year deferral policy whereby any MSM who has been sexually in active for ten years or longer will be allowed to donate blood. I have a great deal of understanding for the concerns of people regarding the risk of HIV infection. To this day, the virus remains without a cure and has infected 115,000 people in the UK and taken 20,000 lives since its emergence in the 1980s. Nonetheless, even if the law is changed to include a ten year deferral period it remains highly offensive and an affront to equality. Diagnosed cases of HIV among heterosexuals are on the increase. Over 46% of all diagnosed cases of HIV have been among the heterosexual community. The Health Protection Agency

says the majority were born abroad (mostly in sub-Saharan Africa) and acquired their infection there. The government has not moved to implement a blanket ban towards these other groups because to do so would be abhorred and rightly so. With HIV infection rates among heterosexuals in the UK rising steadily by the year the risk of infected blood entering British blood banks should surely be seeing a sharp rise also, at least that should be the case if the arguments around maintaining the MSM ban are to hold ground. The number of cases of HIV infection contracted through blood and tissue products have, however, seen no marked increase. In fact, since 1987 when blood screening for HIV was introduced, the diagnoses rates have remained near unchanged. The HPA website states that “Since 2002 all infections acquired through receipt of blood/tissue products were acquired outside of the UK”. I am a sexually active gay man; I get tested frequently for most common STI’s, including HIV, certainly more than most heterosexuals I know and probably more often than is truly necessary. I would never consider donating blood before I was as certain as any person can be that I am HIV negative. Moreover, once my donation has been made it would be tested before it could be used for a blood transfusion. I am not asking that we increase the risk of HIV infection for anyone, precautions should be taken at every step but these precautions should minimise the number of healthy donors excluded from giving blood and should not be based in prejudice. A deferral period would be a useful precaution but such should be a blanket measure taking into account the maximum three month incubation period for the for HIV antibodies to become detectable in the blood stream and applicable to those who may have actually been exposed to virus. Peter Tatchell’s suggestion in his April 12th article for New Statesman that a reduction in the

exclusion period should “go hand-inhand with a “Safe Blood” education campaign” is a fantastic one. I would go further than Tatchell; such a campaign should be rolled out across the entire country; knowledge on the safe donation of blood is something we could all beneﬁt from. I am on the British Organ Donor register and when I die I am happy to know that my organs many go to save the life of another human. I trust that if I have over the course of

my life contracted the HIV virus or any other infection transmitted through blood or tissue contact, the doctors will not consider my organs for transplant. I trust they will work in the interests of the patient in their care. I don’t want to be told I’m a Mudblood anymore and would like the right to save another human’s life as so many of you, my peers, have. If you feel as I do on this issue show your support in a small way and sign the e-petition.

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