The Lion - Issue 2, Volume 2

Freshers Week

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Two Freshers give their verdict on the week’s events

Oxford Street

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Chris Clarke on shopping in the capital city

The

Heythrop Students’ Union Volume 2 Issue 2 Wednesday 19th October theheythroplion.co.uk

Postmodernism

The art world’s flavour of the month at the V&A

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Lion

MP Loses Heythrop Internship

Photo: catholic church/Flickr.com

• MP kicked off heythrop course by church for views on Abortion and Gay Adoption.

• Spokesman: MP’s views “significantly at variance with catholic church”.

Joshua White News Editor Labour MP Jon Cruddas has been dropped by the Catholic Church from an internship studying at Heythrop because of his views on gay adoption and abortion. cruddas was originally listed alongside tory MP conor burns, Lib Dem MP Greg Mulholland, baroness hollins, cAFOD, caritas and the Public Affairs Office of the Diocese of Westminster to receive an intern for a 10 month full time placement in a public policy setting. According to Bishop John Arnold, who oversees the internship scheme, the aim of the project was “to help form the

consciences of the next generation of Catholic lay leaders; people deeply committed to their faith, who have a vocation to public service and a desire to put their faith into practice by working towards the common good”. the academic dimension of the internship scheme involves studying for a part-time MA at heythrop college, which is supplemented with seminars and discussions on a regular basis at the offices of the bishops’ conference as well as with lectures at public policy think-tanks.

It seems cruddas was dropped after the church became aware of his views on these matters of great contention.

On top of his strong voting record for equal gay rights, in the past cruddas has described his position on abortion

as “pro-choice” and has said in the past that abortions should be “safe, legal and rare”. As for gay adoption, cruddas has supported the adoption proposals that the New Labour government initiated under tony blair in 2007. the proposals were the source of great contention at the time and remain so today. Since then there have been cases of adoption agencies closing completely and instances of such agencies seeking exemption from the Sexual Orientation regulations act. In one such case catholic care sought exemption from the regulations which require them to consider gay and lesbian couples as prospective parents.

Continued on P2>

tablet report heythrop cuts down to “Poor research” Advertisement

Joshua White News Editor The Tablet, the international Catholic journal, has reported that Heythrop College has received a funding cut of 6.8% as of this year due to its research being found to be “below the standard of nationally recognised work.”

In this academic year, Heythrop will receive £1,576,231 which is around £115,000 less than last year’s settlement.

A higher Education Funding council

for England (HEFCE) spokesperson has stated that there has been a withdrawal of £24 million from the teaching budget, specifically in relation to postgraduate provision. The Tablet notes that at the same time funding for Newman college in Birmingham has risen by 4.5% in 2012 and Liverpool Hope University by over 2%, though St Mary’s University College in Twickenham have received a funding cut of 0.1%.

As the tablet has reported, the funding cut is down to the results of the research Assessment Exercise that last took place in 2008. It found that 10% of theology, divinity and religious stud-

ies research at heythrop fell “below the standard of nationally recognised work”. Out of a possible rating of four stars, 80% of the research was awarded one or two stars.

The College’s Director of Administration, Elizabeth thussu, has said that the decline in funding had been predicted and will have minimal impact on the college. “It looks bad because it’s a percentage but in fact we have more than we did two years ago. There is a small loss because of the rAE but the main thing is that they have taken away a premium on postgraduate courses in humanities at all institutions.”

the tablet, a catholic weekly journal that has been in regular publication since 1840, reports on current affairs, politics, social issues, literature and the arts with a special emphasis on Catholicism.

The College boasts on it’s website that “the Philosophy department is home to the centre for Philosophy of religion, and is a founding member, and on the management committee, of the Institute of Philosophy, which is part of the University of London’s School of Advanced Study. It specialises in philosophy of religion, mind, aesthetics and metaphysics”

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

NEWS

Heythrop isn’t Pointless!

BBC Show Pointless asks 100 people to name colleges of UL, and someone knew Heythrop!

Can’t Find the Lion?

All our issues are online at our website!

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

Photo: BBC

Alex Hackett Editor-in-Chief

Please recycle your Lion at one of the many recycle bins around College

heythrop is confirmed as more well known than once suspected as someone out of one hundred people surveyed for the gameshow Pointless knew it was a constituent college of the University of London.

It has been commonly assumed that, although heythrop is well known

within the spheres of philosophy and theology, its small size coupled with its academic specialism make it virtually invisible to the outside world. however the gameshow revealed that out of 100 people questioned, fewer people knew of the royal Veterinary college’s affiliation to the university than knew of heythrop’s making it not a “pointless” answer.

The BBC1 show Pointless asks contestants to name members of a select-

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

ed category, the aim of which being to come up with an answer that none of the hundred people gave in order not to gain any points. The contestant with the lowest amount of points wins the round with the contestant with the greatest amount being eliminated. the contestants in this round gave LSE as an answer which scored them 68, Birkbeck which scored them 38, and Imperial which was incorrect, their having left the University in 2007.

Editorial Team

NEXT DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS

26.10.11

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

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

NEWS Ex-College Chaplain Suffers Aneurysm Gala Jackson-Coombs HSU President Fr. roy Dorey, former chaplain of the college who retired two years ago, collapsed and was rushed into St. thomas’s Hospital for an emergency operation on an aortic aneurysm in his abdomen. roy was kept on a ventilator and sedated for a week due to problems with his heart, but his condition has been described as stabilising. roy is a founding member of Donkey club, the real ale society, and is loved by many students past and present. he also starred in a BBC advert, which can be seen on the hSU’s Youtube channel - hSUtube. his wife Mary has said that people can’t understand what roy’s saying, which can be frustrating. She also wanted to thank the students who had written him cards and wished him well over this difficult period. roy is still currently in the intensive care unit, so is not quite recovered enough to receive visitors.

If you wish to send roy a get-wellsoon message, please email president@ heythropcollege.ac.uk, and we will ensure the message reaches him.

church drops MP >Continued from P1 the charity tribunal upheld an earlier ruling made by the charity commission and the claim to exemption was refused.

It looks as though the internship scheme is set to go ahead as it would without cruddas. the claims that the decision was made because of the positions cruddas held on abortion has been confirmed as a spokesman for the church has stated publicly “It has now emerged that one of the MPs we intended to work with this year has views on abortion significantly at variance with the church’s position. Accordingly, we will now be placing this intern with another MP. We seek to place Catholic parliamentary interns with different MPs and MEPs each year. these MPs and MEPs come from all political parties. They are all practising christians but not necessarily catholics. They are committed to working with us in delivering an educational programme for the interns. We seek to ensure that their views on fundamental moral questions are consonant with those of the catholic church.”

When asked whether anyone within Heythrop itself had any part in the decision to drop cruddas, head of External relations Annabel clarkson stated that the College has no part in the selection process.

FRESHER’S WEEK: New heythrop Student Amy rollin’s Freshers’ Week logo.

Photo: Amy rollin/facebook.com/heythrop2011

HSU Vice President Development Resigns to “Commit Time to Studies” Alex Hackett Editor-in-Chief The Vice President Development of the heythrop Students’ Union Jasmin Khosah has resigned her position to “commit more time to her studies”.

Khosah, a 3rd year undergraduate studying for a bA in Philosophy and Theology, is now the second member of the executive to resign their position, after Sports and Societies Officer Joey Youll left before term began. In her resignation letter sent to all student emails, Khosah says it was a “great pleasure working with this year’s fantastic executive” but stated that her degree must be her “first priority”.

When questioned on her resignation, hSU President Gala Jackson-coombs said it was a “huge lose to the executive” and that Khosah was “exemplary” in her position.

The Vice President Development role is commonly looked upon as the “second in command” to the President, having the power to co-sign cheques

from the Union’s budgets and chair union meetings when the president is unavailable. Previous Unions have hoped to turn this position into a sabbatical role, similar to that of the President, to allow the position holder to cope with the heavy work load without compromising time on their studies. It is as yet unknown how Khosah’s resignation will affect the union’s attempt to secure the development role a salary next year, however Jackson-Coombs stated that “her resignation shows how much work it entails and how it only makes sense to make it a sabbatical for 2012/13.”

A by-election has been called for both the Sports and Societies and the Vice President Development roles. two candidates have announced their intention to run for the societies role; Ashley Doolan, who ran previously for Male Welfare last year and was President of the LGbt society, and Quddous Ahmed, who ran previously for Islamic Society President and is current President of the running Society. Voting for both positions starts on the 31st October with a hustings to be held beforehand on 28th October.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE HSU BY-ELECTION, VISIT THE NEW HSU WEBSITE

HEYTHROPSTUDENTSUNION.CO.UK

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FEATURE

WEDNESDAY 19th October | THE LION

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WEDNESDAY 19th October | THE LION

FEATURE

THE VERDICT Freshers Katie Whiteley-Maguire and Charlie Yarwood give their verdicts on Freshers’ Week, from Pub Crawl to Roxy.

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURDAY

FRIDAY

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BBQ+Pub Crawl

KATIE: So, the barbecue was pretty good. It was a nice relief after the hours sat in the hall listening to various talks.

It was even better because I’m vegetarian so I got to skip ahead and get a veggie burger (which was delicious!). The downside was that I then had to wait for half an hour for all my meat eating friends to get their food. Next time, I suggest more barbecues and more cooking hands because it took quite a while. The free alcohol was good, though I personally felt it was too early to drink (and, honestly, felt a bit sick from all the sambuca the night before).

Plus, it was Pimm’s or Lager and to be honest I’m not a fan of either. But, hey, what can you do? Anyway, the weather was good, the food was great, and I enjoyed that part of the day.

I didn’t go on the Pub Crawl, mainly because it was going to work out far too expensive but also because it’s very difficult for me to get back home after about 12 and I didn’t want to end up stranded and drunk.

CHARLIE: The typical view of a student if you ask anyone on the street is something along the lines of a poor, smelly adolescent who drinks too much. So what better way to kick off Fresher's week than with a Pub Crawl in Notting Hill? At the first event, I guess no one really knew what to expect from each other except for the now standard feature of a night out - someone getting too drunk and reminding us all what they ate for lunch. If that was you, you ought not worry because it does happen to all of us in our turn.

To a certain extent we could probably have expected someone to “take a leak” in the street but I would have thought that was more a thing for the boys.

You probably would also expect that your university would discourage stealing but with the amount of beer mats, candles and glasses that were "collected" House points would make anyone think that this year was full of – albeit not very inventive – kleptomaniacs. Ah well, at least no one got arrested.

The only real complaint I've heard is that some people didn't feel there was enough time spent in each pub so they didn't really have time to finish any of their drinks. However, if we are all being completely honest they probably just haven't heard the phrase 'Down it Fresher'.

Medieval Banquet

KATIE: Tuesday was enrolment day, aka Hell on Earth. A note to Nadeem: It would be good if the Freshers printer credits worked by that day because a lot of people were having to run up to the computer room then Student Services (where there was a ma-hoosive queue) then back again and it was a bit of a nightmare. However, it mostly went smoothly and was over with after 2 hours or so. The introduction to my course (Philosophy) was enjoyable - I don’t know about other people’s but I heard that some lasted 15 minutes and some lasted 2 hours, so... I guess everyone has a different opinion on that.

I then, for some silly reason, decided a trip to Camden on such a busy day was a great idea. Having finished at about 3.30, myself and some others got on the tube, arrived at about 4.10 and proceeded to walk around the half-closed market. We had a quick peek in Cyberdog then realised that if we didn’t get back we wouldn’t be ready in time. Useless endeavour. If you’re going to go to Camden have a full day set aside, seriously.

The Mediaeval Banquet was definitely worth rushing back for. The food was amazing. As a vegetarian I’m used to being served a bit of salad, some soup or some pasta but this was on a whole other level. My starter, like everyone else, was the soup. The bread was outstanding and the soup was delicious. I think that was followed by some roasted vegetables or something but the wine was so good (and free) that I don’t really remember. I do however recall the main course. Mine was a mouthwatering bruschetta with roasted apple, aubergine, pepper and all sorts on top along with an amazing mozzarella cheese, which reminds me that my 2nd course was a beautiful Insalata Caprese (Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella - basically what you guys had but without the shavings of meat). The pudding was delightful, too, but I was far too full to finish it off. So, 5 stars for the food (I even sent my compliments to the chef!)

5 stars also for the entertainment.

Although it felt a bit weird at first, as the night went on and the wine went down, the amazing gymnasts, sword swingers, dancers and singers really made the night something special despite sometimes making it quite difficult to converse with your neighbours.

I’ve bookmarked this place for parties in the future.

Lion’s Birthday

KATIE: The Freshers’ Fayre was good given Heythrop’s size. I was slightly disappointed, but only because the week before I had snuck my way into the Kingston University Fresher’s Fayre and scored all sorts of free stuff (pizza, t-shirts, keyrings, and toiletries to name a few). Shh. Don’t tell anybody. Anyway, I noticed quite a few Churches tried to lure me in with food, to varying amounts of success, and I signed up to some of the societies - the Lion (of course!), LGBT, the Folk Society and ULU. Most of it wasn’t for me, to be honest, but I guess I’m the exception because everyone else seemed really happy with the number of stalls and what was going on.

The Lion’s Birthday was, on the upside, great fun. The quiz was challenging but at the same time hilarious and the music afterwards was, as expected with James Johnston DJ-ing, bassdriven heaven. Drinks were cheap and cheerful and all my friends seemed to be hitting it off with various men throughout the night (always a good sign). I danced my behind off, and some more, and despite painful shoes managed to continue onwards to Punk.

By this time, though, we were all a little bit exhausted and so after an hour or two there we made our way back to Halls, where I slept. The Most Important Thing I Learnt During Fresher’s Week: Never, and I mean, NEVER, try to fit two people into one of those beds unless you’re comfortable either a) sleeping on top of one another or b) spooning so hard you become like conjoined twins. It was the worst experience ever and after 4 hours of drifting sleep I realised it was 7 o’clock so the tubes were running. Hurriedly, I got dressed, jumped on the district line and was home within half an hour. Right then I realised that my double bed is the most important thing in my life. I would like to say thanks to Ellie for letting me crash at hers, though.

CHARLIE: I don’t remember my first birthday but I’m pretty sure no one got drunk at it (maybe the editors just can’t cope without some level of inebriation).

I must’ve been drunk since I couldn’t find the tube station. From what I remember the rest was good but I’m pretty sure a few of my flat-mates spent the entire time roaring at each other. Start as you mean to go on...

ULU Party

CHARLIE: I think the idea behind the trip to ULU was to introduce us to our closest Students’ Union bar since the Heythrop campus lacks one. Some of us are still debating as to whether that is a good or bad thing. However, that can’t be the reason since we all spent the night of The Lion’s first birthday there but ah well, who needs an excuse for another drinking session? Even so, some of the singers on the karaoke night seemed rather determined to give us more reason. I think the less that’s said about it really is the better...

Battle of the Houses

CHARLIE: First off, it has to be said that it’s a good job that orange-dodging Female Welfare Officer Ellie Rimmer wasn’t around when we got around to the last game of the Battle of the Fresher’s because her team wouldn’t have stood a chance. Passing oranges from person to person using only your chin is a lot more difficult than it looks but the Facebook photographs are hilarious...

Tensions ran high as this was essentially the main event to win “House points” for your fresher family. All in all, a chilled and enjoyable evening.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

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Movie Night

KATIE: How awesome? Very awesome! I finished work at 8pm and went straight to the Movie Night to watch most of Pulp Fiction. There was popcorn and nachos and meaty stuff I didn’t pay much attention to. It was pretty cool. I guess some people expected something bigger for a Saturday night but personally I really enjoyed it and I’m not just saying that because I got cake. Pulp Fiction is one of my favourite films so I really enjoyed chilling out and watching it. Afterwards myself and a couple of friends headed into Kingston for a night out. There were lots of jaeger/sambuca bombs and lots of laughter. It was great fun and we all woke up bright and early the next morning. Although I had no voice, a bad cold the day after...typical.

The Roxy

CHARLIE: I asked Chez from my flat what she thought of The Roxy and received a blank stare for my efforts. “I remember sitting on the floor changing my shoes?” I must say she did put in a really good effort that night.

I’m glad that, after the right volume of alcohol, I’m able to dance to just about anything because I don’t think I recognised any of the music was played that night; a feeling that I believe was replicated across a lot of those who were there but thankfully by that point most of us were so sleep deprived, and probably still a little worse for wear from the other nights, that it was more about enjoying yourself and then being able to crawl back to bed before lectures started in the morning as opposed to actually listening to the music.

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

HSU PAGE

This page was provided by the Heythrop Students’ Union

HALLOWEEN PARTY The London Stone Cannon Street

26th October 9pm - 3am

only £4!

Buy from hsu office

Apple shots £1 2 for 1 on cocktails!

Get the District or Circle line to Mansion House, then walk straight down Cannon Street

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

Faye’s Freshers’ Week Fresher Faye West gives her unique take on the weeks events.

Faye West Fresher This article is written by someone who came straight from an all girls’ school to be put on an all girls’ floor. I’m fine with this; everyone is lovely and I feel it set a false precedent in my mind that freshers’ week would be unsurprising.

Let’s start off with my room. Alban Hall: what a place! There aren’t many eight-floor residential buildings than can claim it has its very own party floor. that was what I heard anyway. but, judging from my room, an interesting shade of minty green with a lamp socket fused to the wall, I imagine it was a party floor. I hope so anyway; I don’t want to find out that there is some sort of bar on the 6th floor... heythrop is lovely isn’t it? Not intimidating in the slightest, it was more confusion when strolling down to the common room the first time I found the toilets ripped out the wall and placed on the floor. I was later assured this was due to refurbishment and not at all a metaphor for the degree ahead of me; something like a philosophy degree was like a cracked toilet in the middle of a corridor, full of excrement and in the way of useful things.

The common room: it’s nice, well, in the sense I was demanded to admire the re-upholstered sofas. Which I did; I value my thumbs. Seeing as I’m the kind of person that makes friends through glow sticks it wasn’t long until the room had a subdued neon aura.

Moving onto more important issues.

The Principal’s address, I felt, was an excellent speech, calm and moderated but spoken with an assertion that we were here to learn how to benefit the world we will step into. the Monday previous to this had a bouncy castle. It struck me that I was truly in a place of value when I saw this noble rubber monument. I am home here; there have been signs.

Let’s talk about Freshers’ Fair. I had some interesting chats and learned a lot about what heythrop has to offer and also the impression that new societies needed to be of break-through popularity to compensate for the laziness/ student mass ratio. Anyway, not only did I gain sweets, I gained baked beans: always handy.

As I would like this to go in to the Lion newspaper (for it is an institution of great integrity and literary prowess), I shall dedicate this section to the Lion’s birthday. There was cake, really good cake. It was actually a brilliant evening overall; quizzes are always fun apart from the trouble I have of becoming unnecessarily competitive. Our team lost. The DJ was good, I think, and it was nice to be a part of a celebration of something that takes up so much time for a few dedicated people.

Seems a long time ago, the open day I had here. Back when A levels were simultaneously the most vital and the least fulfilling things that dominated my life. I decided on that open day that this was the place I wanted to spend my next three years and freshers’ week confirmed that in an unorthodox way.

You know somewhere is going to be fun when you see the things you see here.

WhErE thE SWP IS WrONG...

Satirist Serj Ghosunof on his view of the Socialist Workers’ Party.

FEATURE Heythrop’s

Masterpieces Unique Heythrop oddities from around the college campus Frame: glen.dahlman/Flickr.com

Photo: Gene hunt/Flickr.com

WELcOME tO hEYthrOP! Taking Dada to the extreme.

IS THAT A...

Get yours in the canteen.

WhErE’VE YOU bIN? It took ages to find this...

The views expressed in the article below are those of the author named and are not necessarily those of The Lion Newspaper, The Heythrop Students’ Union or Heythrop College.

Serj Ghosunof Satirist Let’s make one thing absolutely, abundantly crystalline clear before I begin this (probably ill-advised) rant. I have, and have had for a long time, a great deal of sympathy for left-wing political views and socialist theory. I consider myself a socialist, and believe that it is a pragmatic and intelligent political approach. The fact that I’m now going to spend the rest of this article petulantly bitching about the Left is done out of love. Honestly.

Firstly, I’d like to clarify exactly who it is I’m bitching about. I’m bitching about the Socialist Worker’s Party. I’m bitching about their newspaper, the Socialist Worker, and not just because their circulation is higher than that of the Lion (ish). I’m bitching about it because of its execrable views and its colossal misappropriation of leftist political views. If you want to be a member of the SWP, it seems you’ve got to take a few things as red (shouldn’t that be read? Ed.) Firstly, some would argue, you’ve got to hate Israel. Secondly, under no circumstances can you have ac-

tually understood Das Kapital. thirdly, you have to hate and abhor thOSE bAStArDS more than anything. You know exactly who I’m talking about. thOSE bAStArDS who work for the banks. thOSE bAStArDS who form this government of millionaires. thOSE bAStArDS are the real ones fucking this country up the arse, not socio-economics. the fucking cONSErVAtIVES. If you want to be able to identify a conservative bAStArD, then you’re going to need to know a few simple things.

Your typical conservative paper-tiger running-dog whatchamacallit will, of course, not fervently support Palestine in the decidedly complex and volatile conflict in the Middle East. he will not be a member of the Socialist Worker’s Party. he may even not be bisexual. he might well be a member of another supposed Socialist Party. Be wary of those people at all times. They will stop at nothing to try and coordinate a United Left, which is precisely what the SWP does NOt want. You heard me.

The thing is, The Socialist Worker’s Party, despite having their hearts in the right place, are about as graceful in their application of their political beliefs as two epileptics sharing a plate of noodles. rather than trying to win the support of the working class and foster an attitude of sympathy towards socialist theory, they would rather vomit forth violent rhetoric at high-profile events like the Anti-cuts Marches, and engage in a culture of bitchy backhand-

ed treachery that would bring a tear of joy to Machiavelli’s eye. It’s people like this who are giving Socialism a bad name.

If you really want to make a dedicated pursuit of socialism, then check out Socialist Appeal. these delightful and earnest chaps will happily listen to your views, tell you their own and buy you a drink in the pub while you talk about socialism. More relevantly, they are also committed to a united Left, they make the acquaintance of many disenfranchised working class, and they have a sincere, dedicated view of what a truly Leftist country should achieve. the SWP, on the other hand, would rather blather on aimlessly about bringing down the bankers and opposing the cuts without proposing any other viable alternatives for pulling this country’s economy out of the toilet.

I don’t mean for a moment to imply that the SWP aren’t good people. The majority of them probably are. They have just confused having the right idea with doing the right thing. If you want to bring about Socialism in this country, you can’t do it by a simple hatred of The Other. The Other might be Tories, it might be Israel, it might be anyone. but there’s no excuse for claiming to be a Socialist without knowing what you intend to do for the cause. rhetoric can only get you so far. So if you want to support the Left, treat your political vocation as a full-time job and go out and make the world a better place.

IN cASE YOU WErE UNSUrE...

The HSU (also toilets!)

MAINtENANcE PArADOX? We’d report this, but....

F*cK YEAh chUcK NOrrIS! Look who wants an hSU Gym...

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

“COMMENT.”

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

Photo: expertinfantry/Flickr.com

A Criminal Decade for Afghans News Editor JT White debunks the myths surrounding the War in Afghanistan and shows why the prevailing narrative is far from accurate.

JT White News Editor We have been in Afghanistan for 10 years now, though the US has interfered in Afghan affairs for closer to 30 years. It is almost common knowledge that the US intervened in the 1980s and backed the Mujahideen to fight the russians who had invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Actually, it was the carter administration that put together $500 million to set up the Mujahideen in 1978 to counteract the Saur revolution. the fundamentalist regime of General Zia-ul-haq was more than welcome to assist the Americans in the bid to prevent Afghanistan from falling under the Iron curtain. the support for General Zia-ul-haq went as far as to support the radicalisation of Pakistani society; Jihadist manuals were actually printed at the University of Nebraska before being distributed throughout Pakistan. the consequent sympathy for Islamism in Pakistan combined with bureaucratic incompetence and institutional corruption is what kept Osama bin Laden safe in the country for so long. The horrible war, for lack of a better word, which has now touched Pakistan as well as Afghanistan cannot be understood without this context.

In the beginning we were told this is the “fight for freedom” and we were told “we will see freedom’s victory” in the end. There is little mention of the facts about the people who run Afghanistan now. It is a narco-state where 50% of the economy is “black”, which means that the cultivation and

trafficking of drugs accounts for half of the Afghan economy. The warlords who cultivate and smuggle drugs out of the country are the same people who slaughtered 50,000 people in a 4-year bid to takeover Kabul in the 1990s. the warlords were won over to “our side” with truckloads of cash and guns. For years now these thugs have gotten away with the mass-rape of women, girls and boys. there is no serious commitment to the reconstruction of the country; instead the Karzai government is allowed to wallow in corruption while the ordinary Afghan goes without universal health-care and education.

The Afghan people are only permitted the formal role of ratifying the position of hamid Karzai as President as the country is occupied and trashed. the purpose of the invasion was never to overthrow the Taliban; the US had supported the taliban for years and had provided billions of dollars in support of the regime. then, after 9/11 the demand came from George W. bush that the Taliban has to hand over Osama bin Laden to the Americans. The Taliban agreed, provided that the US put forward evidence as to bin Laden’s guilt (which is normal procedure for an extradition). The US then proceeded to bomb Afghanistan without any international authorisation in October 2001.

Ironically, the following year bush and blair were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. It is worth noting that there were 5 million Afghans on the verge of starvation in the country at the time and, as the bombing commenced, it looked as though the number could rise to 7.5 million. thankfully, the war

has not led to starvation on a huge scale, but that does not excuse the immoral nature of the war, unless we also think that it was a sensible idea for russia to station nuclear missiles in cuba and aim them at the US, because it didn’t lead to a nuclear war.

The attacks of September 11th, 2001 provided an opportunity for the US to drive a wedge into the Islamist movement, which was actually highly critical of the “new approach” al-Qaeda had taken to attack the far enemy rather than one of the many near enemies. If there had been a serious operation to apprehend the suspects then a wedge could have been driven into the Islamist movement; Osama bin Laden would have been isolated and the threat of terrorism could have been decreased.

Ayman al-Zawahiri, the chief strategist of al-Qaeda, wrote then that the aim of the group was to lure the US into an over-reaction in which it would “wage battle against the Muslims” so that the US would be left vulnerable to a horrible drawn-out conflict while the long divided Islamist movement could be brought together against the West. the plan worked out, as the US and UK jumped at the opportunity to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. There have since been attacks against cities across Europe, from Sweden to Spain.

It is difficult to ignore the strategic value of Afghanistan and Pakistan in the battle for control of energy resources in the region (which has yet to conclude) and we have to bear in mind the superpowers in waiting (e.g. china and India). Logically, any pipeline starting in India would have to pass through

both Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to reach the nearest sources of oil and gas in Iran or turkmenistan. the problem with this is that India could feasibly turn to Iran for oil and gas but the US wants to isolate Iran and would prefer it if the Indians turned to turkmenistan. Afghanistan is situated close to the major energy producers in central Asia and the Middle East. It also shares a border with Iran and therefore could be used to “contain” its independent neighbour. the possibility of a Central Asian energy network which would exclude and isolate Iran is quite appealing to the US. To the chagrin of the Americans, Iran has managed to extend its influence in Iraq and Afghanistan in spite of the continued efforts to marginalise Iran in world affairs.

Only when some of “our lads” are killed in battle are we allowed to criticise the war. So (the logic goes), the deaths of over 40,000 Afghans would be fine so long as no American or British troops died along the way. the assumption is that this is a noble war against terrorism that has to be fought to secure the West from further terrorist attacks. the line goes “If we don’t fight them over there, we will be fighting them over here.” the same argument, incidentally, which was used by the US government to defend its war against the Vietnamese; President Johnson stated “We have to stop the communists over there [Vietnam] or we’ll soon be fighting them in california.” this is a perverse argument; American and british troops are effectively dying in Afghanistan only to raise the threat of terrorism in the US and the UK. As the war

has escalated it has spilled over into Pakistan, so now the possibility of a state with nuclear weapons falling into the hands of Islamists has increased.

Protection of Western civilians and prevention of the spread of terrorism has nothing to do with the Afghan War. The war in Afghanistan also has nothing to do with freedom, democracy or anything as sanitary as self-defence.

Not so much as a thought of the Afghan people has ever passed through the minds of the war-pigs and chicken hawks who decided to start this war.

We are only allowed to question the war because “our lads” are suffering, which might explain why there is little ink and camera film used to cover the slaughter of thousands of Afghan civilians. the vast majority of the people who have been killed in Afghanistan were the victims of the taliban and the Northern Alliance, not the defenders of Osama bin Laden. We have to concede that the backlash has come from the victims of war - the Taliban now represent a small element of the armed opposition to the occupation. the war itself has made the West hated even more than it was before 9/11 and neither George bush nor Tony Blair will have to live with the consequences of such hatred. It was Jean-Paul Sartre who said “When rich people fight wars with one another, poor people are the ones to die.” think bush. think blair. think of Obama and Cameron. Forgive none of them.

To read more of JT White’s articles, visit his blog at livinginphilistia.blogspot.com

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

COMMENT

It’s about time...

Photo Editor James Barber considers recent scientific revelations in light of faith.

Ave Heythrop!

Ex-Vice President Campaigns Philip Woods argues for a stronger hSU stance on rising tuition fees.

Philip Woods MA Student

Photo: Wimox/Flickr.com

James Barber Photo Editor I don’t know about you but I find what is going on at cErN utterly fascinating.

As some of you may know, I applied for astrophysics before I subsequently applied for theology, so I can understand at least the beginning of the scientific jargon being used. It’s incredible what they appear to have discovered; some particles can travel faster than the speed of light. those of you accustomed to Star Trek may not be shocked by this but in reality a lot of our understanding of physics relies on the ceiling of speed being set at 299,792,458 meters per second. If there are things going faster than this it leaves open incredible possibilities for our future descendants.

One thing in particular that scientists are speculating about is the possibility of time travel – presuming that these particles are indeed nipping out of out one dimension and into another where time is more compressed. One scientist reported that this find may force an adjustment in of our understanding of time as linear into a more Doctor Who “wibbly wobbly mess” model.

I was getting all excited about this as a very amateur physicist until it occurred to me that this would have ramifications in philosophy and theology also.

Not only does it upset Peter Vardy’s “I am God standing over reality looking down upon the road of time” model (if he were still lecturing -while stood on chair being obligatory, Ed-), but there are some metaphysical models of existence that may have to be reconsidered by their adherents. As a theology student, however, there is something particularly interesting that pops up in theology: the Catholic theology of the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate conception. the catechism of the catholic church attests a particular belief that Mary

was saved from sin, acquired from conception, through her participation in her son’s victory over sin, which would be fairly far ahead in the future. this explanation has been ridiculed over the years by critics because of its poor logic. However, the basis of that criticism has been removed if indeed some particles travel faster than light.

If time is not utterly linear then Mary could indeed have participated in christ’s salvific act at her conception even though the event took place long after. Before, the explanation of the doctrine of the Immaculate conception seemed like nothing more than a wild assertion to critics, appearing like a “God can do anything (so therefore we must be right)” argument. however, this potential discovery at least makes it more plausible as God would not be using some really quite extraordinary means, far beyond anything He has done before, bar the Incarnation, to achieve something, but is just utilizing reality much like in the Old testament.

Something that would also have to be looked at in greater detail is how we conceive of God as “outside of time”, since time itself may have an altogether different meaning in light of this (apparent) discovery. After getting carried away, I realised the immediate effect is that the unity between Faith and reason can be clearly seen here, especially considering the catholic church’s refusal to conceive of time as linear and holding a theology which effectively promoted this as early as the 3rd Century - somewhat before the natural sciences discovered such things as remote possibilities. It shows the close link the natural sciences have with philosophy and theology and how a discovery in one area can have instant ramifications in another. I welcome these challenges but we, as students, must have the dynamism to account for such groundbreaking discoveries.

When I stepped down as Vice President (campaigns) in March, I optimistically told Lion readers that I was ‘very excited by the way in which the heythrop Students’ Union (hSU) is evolving; from a nice, polite union, terrified of upsetting the college management… to one that is prepared to take a stand when simple dialogue fails...” the front page of the previous edition of The Lion indicates, in the article entitled “Degree Misconducts: cases Mishandled?”, that this evolution continues; however, it also indicates, in the article entitled “heythrop to have One of the cheapest Fees in UoL” that the HSU is beginning to regress, insofar as heythrop’s £8,250 tuition fee (rising almost a grand above the minimum of £7,500 set by last year’s Executive, and around three times the figure currently charged) is concerned.

Last month, Gala Jackson-coombs, HSU’s Sabbatical President, told Lion readers that “Although in my heart I wish fees [at heythrop] were much lower than this [£8,250], I know the sacrifices the college have made in an attempt to keep their courses as afford-

able 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, … [and] 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 hSU’s Senior Vice President, James Johnston, appeared to take a similar stance, saying that the figure of £7,500 that he proposed last year as Sabbatical President “would have meant increasing student numbers, which the higher Education Funding council for England (hEFcE) may not have allowed us to do”.

Nonetheless, the article also reveals the gross dissatisfaction of students with this compromise. First year student, Zac Phoenix told Lion readers that “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”. Indeed, if fees of £8,250 per annum are the cheapest in the University of London, this is not a good thing; it simply shows just how absurd and obscene the price of higher education will be in the aftermath of the cuts and the increase from a national fee cap of £3,350 to £9,000 in 2012. Moreover, if heythrop refuses to increase its fees, it will at-

tract far more students, which will increase our revenue dramatically; if, as Johnston suggests, the hEFcE objects, we must be prepared to fight them.

As a former member of the Executive, I fully understand the pressure that the current Executive is under. Furthermore, I still believe that the hSU’s “talk first” policy regarding management is a very healthy one. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that, first and foremost, their duty is to the students and prospective students of heythrop college; for their sake, the Executive must be prepared to challenge management and lose friends when talking fails.

Some of you may remember seeing me in a certain Youtube video posted while I was President of the Ecumenical christian Union. Me, henry balkwill and Kieren Aris sung a parody entitled “Ave heythrop” (translated as “Awake heythrop”). Indeed, the students of heythrop need to wake up to the fact that sometimes things are a bit shit, that we have to do something about it, and that, if the HSU does not remain sober and vigilant, we will devolve into the college management’s lap-dog.

What do you think?

Send a response to comment@ theheythroplion.co.uk

A Trip Down Oxford Street Chris Clarke rd 3 year Undergraduate I am generally an unemotional person but one place in the world fills me with barely containable rage. That place is Oxford Street, London, W1.

Oxford Street gives us all the freedom to enslave ourselves to the most pitiful existence. It perverts individuality into something only achievable if one sacrifices oneself at the altar of consumerism. If anywhere is more guilty of the loss of real authenticity from this country/world I have yet to find it. today, I needed a screwdriver, of course none were to be found anywhere on Oxford Street. I should have known better. Oxford Street offers only the vapid, not the practical.

I had visited London many times before moving here and cannot understand the painful level of stupidity in anyone who considers a shopping trip on Oxford Street a vital part of a trip to London.

All the stores there (except Selfridges) can be found in any provincial or global town/city centre. London contains some remarkable independent and small stores literally a couple of minutes from the damnable Oxford Street.

Of course, one could say that different things please different people. really? If anyone is truly able to gain pleasure in buying a poorly-made garment in the ‘flagship’ chain store rather than their local version (or online, or in a better, more interesting shop) then I honestly believe no level of Dante’s Inferno would be good enough for them.

It wasn’t even particularly busy today,

in between the summer and christmas busyness with no real sales to speak of. Even so, thousands of the world’s victims of the consumerist creed were there; gleefully homogenising themselves with the latest trends. It is a depressing sign of the lemming-like nature of so many human beings that they only feel secure hidden under a ‘Made in (Insert Far Eastern country here)’ uniform. the sad fact is that this homogenisation is often sold as individuality but how can one find one’s own individuality if one is buying it from the same place as millions of others?

I got my screwdriver at robert Dyas at the top end of tottenham court road. It’s actually a ratchet, with 12 interchangeable bits.

Send a response to comment@ theheythroplion.co.uk

10

WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

COMMENT

How Star Wars turned to the dark side...

How to Self-Publish your Novel

Marc Crosby on the how the Star Wars films have been adapted over time, for better and for worse.

Photo: Official Star Wars blog/Flickr.com

Charlie Yarwood Fresher

Marc Crosby

3rd year Undergraduate A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a little known film known as Star Wars was released and it began an incredible cinematic legacy. Written and directed by George Lucas, the film became the highest grossing movie of 1977 and, taking inflation into account, is the second highest grossing film of all time in the United States. It became an instant phenomenon, spawning two well-received sequels (with many regarding The Empire Strikes Back, the second movie in the franchise, as the best of the lot). In many ways we take the films for granted but the influence of Star Wars upon subsequent cinema and its position within popular culture is virtually unparalleled; heck, many regard it as the birth of the modern blockbuster. And the good news is these films were released on blu-ray in September, so that we can all enjoy this amazing saga in high-definition…or, at least, that would have been the case had it not been for a number of significant changes Lucas has been making to these films over the years. the films we received on blu-ray are, in fact, mutant variants of the original movie releases, updated with modern cGI and drastic scene alterations. Worse still, Lucas has decided to edit these films further for their blu-ray release, including terrible additional dialogue to one of the most pivotal scenes in the whole trilogy. By now there will be two sorts of reader. the first will be as appalled as I am, disgusted by these changes, outraged that Lucas is further damaging these films.

The second kind of reader will be the one thinking ‘Who cares? they’re just movies.’ Well, I concede we’re not talking about global poverty here, nor economic collapse or X-Factor. but imagine a world that had the perspective to say ‘they’re just movies’, a world where people were able to focus on actual relationships, a world absent of pale men living in their mother’s basement. Imagine a friendly internet where grown men could no longer hurl abusive insults at each other behind a veil of anonymity (with names like, for example, off the top of my head, DarthCrosby77)

over arguments like ‘who out of captain Kirk and captain Picard would win in a fight?’ thinking about such a world makes me shudder (although you do have to wonder what motivates people to write lengthy rants that they’d never have the balls to say to the creator’s face and whose opinions few care about. It’s completely alien to me).

The story of how the name Star Wars no longer commands the authority or admiration it once did is a fascinating one. Frankly, it has taken George Lucas a lot of time, money and effort to reduce Star Wars to what it is now. So, keep reading as we explore how Star Wars turned to the dark side. It surely began in 1997 when Lucas released the ‘Special Edition’ versions of the original films on VhS. In many ways I am quite empathetic with the intentions of these releases, which aimed to utilise modern film technology to realise Lucas’ vision on screen in a way in which the technology of the seventies and eighties could not allow. Wonky special effects were cleaned up, and new cGI was added in where necessary. One might object to such changes if they viewed the original movies as works of art; products of their time to be admired, with the perception that adding computer effects is akin to vandalism. Well, I get this point, and obscuring an entire shot with a cGI monster in the original Star Wars, if even for a few seconds, probably was inexcusable. Nevertheless, when done well the updated effects do give the movies a timeless quality (besides a few dodgy haircuts). What was more worrying was the alteration to some scenes; the most infamous of which was changing the order in which Han Solo and Greedo exchanged shots in the Mos Eisley Cantina. This, however, was really only the start of the dirtying of the Star Wars franchise. things were about to get radically worse when Lucas announced new Star Wars movies were in production. In 1999 Star Wars: the Phantom Menace, the first of the infamous prequels, was inflicted upon cinemas. In all fairness a new Star Wars film was never going to live up to the expectation put upon it but few could have anticipated just how big a misfire the Phantom Menace would turn out to be. cardboard

characters, wooden dialogue and an obsession with cGI so great that the film never felt real are just some of the common criticisms. It also, bizarrely, had a large number of characters which cleaved to racist human stereotypes, thinly disguised by making these selfsame characters aliens - with the irritating JarJar Binks leading the way on that front. 2002’s Attack of the Clones was in many ways even worse, with Lucas deciding to write Anakin Skywalker (the man destined to become the greatest villain of all, Darth Vader) as a whiney brat and which featured an attempt at romantic dialogue so bad that it made the now Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman look like she couldn’t act her way out of a paper bag. the final instalment, revenge of the Sith, was generally considered a better effort, although I can’t work out how Lucas has got such an easy ride for devoting an entire trilogy to one event (namely Anakin Skywalker turning to the dark side) and then completely dropping the ball once this climactic moment arrived. It’s as if Anakin just realises this is where the story needs to go, turns to the dark side and then, next scene, kills a kid (although I’m sure in a few releases time the kid will strike first). the actors had all but given up by this time and we’re treated to the bizarrely graphic imagery of Anakin writhing about in agony as his flesh slowly burns away… nice. In many ways though, the prequels do get a hard time. Sure, they’re awful, but they’re well-meaning and if you dig into the plot it’s really quite good. compared to today’s cGI behemoths, like the sickeningly stupid third Transformers movie where a single digit IQ is needed for enjoyment, the prequels compare rather favourably.

Up to this point Lucas’ actions are almost defendable; the original trilogy was only edited to help realise its full potential and although the prequels suck, it’s not like that should effect your enjoyment of the original trilogy. Well, then Lucas decided to edit the original trilogy once more for their 2004 rerelease on DVD, only this time linking them fully to the prequels. Now we’re treated to the city of Naboo in the final celebrations (because that was exactly what return of the Jedi needed, Gunguns) and the original ghost of Anakin

Skywalker was replaced with Hayden Christensen. Ignoring the point that it makes absolutely no sense at all for his younger self to be there, this felt like two fingers up at the fans who weren’t willing to embrace the new movies and frankly made Anakin’s redemption harder to swallow, acting as a reminder that he killed kids barely twenty seconds after his conversion, making him a bit of an arsehole in my book. Now, in 2011, the Star Wars blu-rays have been released and more damage has been done. There are more silly changes (apparently Ewoks blink now…yay!) and at the once poignant and powerful moment when Vader saves Luke, his son, from the Emperor without uttering a word, allowing us to guess at what kind of emotions must be going through his head, Lucas has edited in a comical ‘Noooooo!’ from Vader, giving this most important scene in the franchise a feel of farce – and this makes one wonder if Lucas is now deliberately aiming to piss fans off (if only those rioters had waited a few weeks, we would finally have been able to give an answer as to why exactly they were so angry!)

Attempting to defend Lucas’ actions is a bit like attempting to defend a kid who has drawn all over a clean wall.

‘Look’ you exclaim, ‘you can still see the original wall, and in a way the drawings have made it a bit prettier.’ Meanwhile, behind your back, the kid is wiping his own faeces over the wall. At the end of the day they are Lucas’ movies and he can do what he likes with them (well, that’s probably contentious, the latter two sequels in the original trilogy were directed by two different directors and thus one could argue that change is disrespectful). but the question is not can he but should he? And for the sake of this franchise the answer seems an unequivocal ‘no’. to quote George Lucas himself when delivering a speech to congress in 1988 he argued “People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians.”

Alas, it appears that George Lucas is no longer with us. If only there were some way that we, the consumer, could make a stand and show Lucas we object to the constant editing of these movies…anyway, got to go, I think I might watch my Star Wars blu-rays again.

So, self-publishing. With the publishing industry caring more about a manuscript’s potential marketability (as well as it being about the people you know as opposed to the talent you possess) it seems that the best way into the industry is to self-publish and prove you are worth your book’s weight in paper.

In theory you’d think that it would be something which would be pretty simple – we writers ought to be able to spend time churning out novels and debating with ourselves over grammatical dilemmas or raiding the thesaurus for a better way to express something – but that is unfortunately not the case. Unless you have a few spare thousands sitting in an off-shore bank account so as you can afford to pay someone to deal with all the editing, formatting and design issues then it becomes a tedious process of doing everything yourself. Anyway, with the right amount of guidance it can be slightly less painful and the end result is something you can almost be proud of. the first thing is to choose your company. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a great guide to rate all of those that it is possible to use, so it tends to fall to those of us who’ve been there before. Personally my own choice was narrowed down to Lulu or createspace.

Lulu is based in both britain and America so it uses both sides nation’s Amazon site, whereas Createspace is based only in America, so your book will only end up on the .com version. though you can still use that from this side of the pond, the postage is an absolute bastard.

It’s at this point - most probably anyway - that the people who know a reasonable amount about my own experience of self-publishing may turn and ask “charlie, why did you then in fact use createspace rather than Lulu, since Lulu is also a lot cheaper?” Well, let me tell you. createspace provide comprehensive guides to each step along the publishing route. they also have free formatting templates available for each of their printing sizes which, believe me, saves one from hours of work. but, the most important reason for me...the cover was far prettier. Oh, aesthetics, how you are out to get me. I guess it serves me right for being so shallow but the notion of never judging a book by its cover is as dead as Steve Jobs. What’s another similarity? You can debate if either of them ever had a life in the first place.

I guess the key to it all is either having the money to invest and pray you will someday make a return on it or just to have a group of friends that includes language and computer nerds. If not, look forward to the many all-nighters it will take to reach the finished product.

So, to anyone who is considering taking the plunge into the wonderful world of words, good luck to you; you’re going to need it.

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

Culture[

Art: Thoroughly Postmodern Musings Fran Gosling Culture Editor

The end of September saw the opening of one of the V&A Museum’s biggest exhibitions of the year. Simply entitled “Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990”, it successfully takes the viewer on a compacted journey through one of the most significant eras of our perpetually avant-garde culture, covering its rise, its debatable demise and all its influences in between. So, naturally, being a heythrop student used to understanding “postmodernism” as one huge melting pot into which so many social and philosophical landmarks of the century are thrown, I thought it would be worth a visit.

We begin with the burning chair that illustrates the anarchic, yet melancholy, death of modernism as the political struggles for democracy and peace during the late 60s created within society a sense of disillusionment with its ideals of progress and human advancement. this growing dissatisfaction developed into a rebellion across socio-politics, using forms of radicalism to embrace an attitude of “both/and” over the modernist “either/ or”. changes in art and architecture became a predominant medium of expression of this paradigm shift and we are given examples of postmodernist figureheads in the field, such as charles Jencks, reviving techniques such as high classicism to create a pastiche reflection of this new focus on the importance of past and present together.

Yet this change in outlook was not merely driven by the ironic and condescending treatment of the waning modern era as it often appears. The nature of early postmodernism had an elegiac quality; it was both a lament over the true essence of plurality that modernism, with its ideas of human progress, forgot and a hopeful call for its revitalisation. Better news still, the result proves to be more than the creative catastrophe of pastel-coloured geometric fug that still haunts the interiors of our grandparents’ houses.

With this new emphasis on the freedom of diversity came an air of flamboyancy which began to flower through all sorts of social conventions, from commerce to art to sex. Even traditional styles of architecture began to revolutionise their form through new colour and shape to reflect the new purposes of the buildings themselves, from the Las Vegas Strip to Krier’s plans for the roman Piazza in 1977. Some of the more impressive architecture in the late 70s, for instance, experimented with fragmented building, creating the impression of a conscious mish-mash of things unfinished. the presentation of these models together highlights the postmodernist concern

for a liberal world and illustrates the elements of dystopia and imperfection characteristic of the rejection of the utopian ideals of modernism. but the prevalent use of these external radical demonstrations promoted the idea that image is everything, encouraging an attitude of consumerism most evident as the exhibition moves into the era of the 80s. During this time, the power of commodities to actualise the transiency between what is old and new was further influenced by the growing popularity of Marxism and the postmodernist emphasis on the inconceivability of the future. this perspective came to expression in almost all art forms across western culture. the experimental futuristic concept behind ridley Scott’s blade runner, for instance, Vivienne Westwood’s punkmeets-global tribalism fashion lines and Schobinger’s almost poignant jewellery pieces combining the remnants of beautiful antique artefacts with broken glass and metal scraps.

All of these items effectively draw attention to the way that commerce and consumerism began to infiltrate even our most ancient values.

Yet a developing focus on the possibilities of plurality gave rise to multiple connotations. Next, we are lead to explore a showroom tracing the trends in other areas of design following this material revolution. the world-famous brand Studio Alchimia, founded in Milan in 1977, adopted an approach of conceptual indifference, amalgamating antique designs with geometric patterns and antithetical household items to portray a “state of waste”. Ettore Sottsass’ Memphis group, on the other hand, developed on top of this groundwork an exaggerated and theatrical “mental gymnasium” of a collection with the more positive aim of combining the more subversive postmodernist statements with commercial appeal, still embedding itself into the postmodern obsession with image. The variety that this one fundamental awareness can produce is extraordinary and cannot go unappreciated even if, on a practical level, the idea of a bar stool with a protruding plastic penis à la Clockwork Orange as the centrepiece of your living room does make you sigh with relief to be living in the 21st century.

At this point, the exhibition moves into its most captivating room, using sound, video and lighting to demonstrate how the popular culture scene influenced this totemic attitude. through the collective examination of iconic artists, such as Annie Lennox and boy George in their androgynous phases, New Order and dancer Ono Kazuo, it is made overwhelmingly clear how the musicians of media were, in many ways, the authors of the controversially be-sequined postmodernist style.

Edited by Fran Gosling culture@theheythroplion.co.uk

Life: Your London

It’s one thing getting cheap entry to events and venues in London but when you have just run out of ideas for places to go then it can still be hard to feel like you’re successfully making the most of all the city has to offer. There might be a limit to how much you can find simply by typing “London events” into Google without having to trawl through pages of useless information but there are so many websites especially designed to keep you updated with all the current craic! try checking out: www.londonconfidential.co.uk www.timeout.com/london www.thebestof.co.uk/regional/london www.londonnet.co.uk

but, as one of Oscar Wilde’s best lines reads: “there are two great tragedies in life. One is not getting what one wants and the other is getting it”.

With the economic boom generated by the pop culture obsession of the period and the Japanese influences combining shopping and leisure in urban complexes, the postmodernist ideal ebbed against the swash of its own success and ceased to become a political statement – a new paradigm shift marked by some of Andy Warhol’s later work.

From this new trend emerged the concern that many of us are still recognising now: the negative effects of extreme material desire on true value. this sense of impending doom for human nature is illustrated most powerfully

by Jenny Holzer’s wall sized cityscape photograph baring the simple statement: “Protect me from what I want”.

So, as the 90s rolled in, the postmodernist fashion rolled out with almost the same regretful eulogy over forsaken values with which it began. Ai WeiWei’s ancient Greek style urn with the cocaCola logo painted on it in red serves as a simple, yet painfully ironic, demonstration of the uncomfortable juxtaposition that inevitably comes from manipulating ancient culture with the reigns of global capital. There are even whole cabinets devoted to showing how the extraordinary success of the Disney enterprises arose from combining

elements of fantasy and art with commodity to such a massive extent that it managed to transform the impossibly basic logo of two black circles into “the world’s most famous pair of ears”.

So, as I leave the last room – appropriately small and dark, innocently dotted with a Joy Division vinyl sleeve or two – I can’t help feeling just a little mournful myself. If postmodernism couldn’t get it quite right, then where are we ultimately headed next? What new aesthetic values will we discover and which sacred ones will be forgotten along the way?

Whether you ultimately find it to be a depressingly materialistic comment on humanity or, as the times’ Waldemar Januszczak describes it, a sensual and “edible feast” of consumerist culture, this exhibition is a must-see relevant for all philosophers, ethicists and artists alike. It offers all viewers a dynamic and colourful portrayal of the vastly complex and intangible subject of postmodernism and the world of loss and possibilities it brought to light.

Get your £8 student ticket before the exhibition closes in January 2012 For more information about this exhibit, visit the V&A website www.vam.ac.uk

Culture at The Lion

Proudly Presents...

Sell ME A

LEMON Show & Tell with added zest!

Bring your weirdest and most wonderful artefacts, tell us why you love them and convince us to love them too.

Books, art and all other miscellany welcome!

Presented By

Gnöra Sfling theheythroplion.co.uk/podcast

12

WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

CULTURE

Photo: luigi morante/Flickr.com

Tipsy Hippo Theatre Reviews written by John Arthur craven Ord tipsyhippo@theheythroplion.co.uk

Cool Hand Luke cool hand Luke is the story of a war veteran in America who, due to his experience of WWII, has lost his faith in both God and the hypocritical authorities that use religion to justify their actions. Based on the 1965 book written by Donn Pearce and not the successful 1967 film adaptation starring the indomitable Paul Newman. revised by Emma reeves for its world premiere on the West End, the results are less than enchanting. there are a number of problems with the production that stand between it and a good review, not least of which is the undeniably poor stage violence.

Even sitting at the very back of the stalls I could see the obvious lack of contact where guards were supposed to be hitting and kicking the convicts all the time. It just felt a bit farcical. this wasn’t helped by the pathetic use of props in a couple of scenes. When one person had to bring on a turtle that boss Godfrey had shot, he brings on an obviously plastic turtle that was about as large as his torso and was probably found at the Early Learning centre. A short time later when the group was set to be harassed by a ‘dangerous snake’ they spent a couple of minutes fighting with empty space until Warren reached behind a bush and pulled out a toy snake, making a clowning effort to simulate life in the poor thing. Embarrassing doesn’t cover it, especially for a West End show.

The script itself was possibly the main stumbling block. I’m not sure how Luke was able to grapple with the apparent absence of his God when he had the far more immediate concern of trying to hammer his way through a dull, fragmented and one-dimensional script.

There were only a few mentions of his struggle with God and it was never fully explored, the overriding coolness of his character being apparently more important than any emotional growth or expression, even in a monologue. the script just wasn’t good enough, simple as that. the gospel singing that sprang up throughout the show, most obviously in scene changes, was undoubtedly beautiful but far from adding to the show, actually took from it. Although the story is told in the form of an obvious narrative (where Dragline tells the story to his fellow chain gang members) the intermittent singing further fragmented the scenes, making them appear like chapters in a book more than a single continuous story. It was also a rather clumsy way to place the image of God in the foreground of the whole show and undermined to a large extent the efforts of the other people in the chain gang to make an impact on the audience.

Marc Warren’s efforts as cool hand Luke himself were strong. throughout he was the cool figure you expect to see and he gave a good showcase of his skills as a performer as well. His cameo with a banjo was impressive and could have been used more to greater effect and his comedic turn when working his way through the infamous egg-eating scene really made the audience laugh, which was sorely needed by that point.

It felt like he was constantly struggling with a script that gave him very little room to expand his character and as a

Photo: stoptrafficclothing.blogspot.com

Travel: An Indian Summer Fran Gosling Culture Editor

result the character seemed a bit wooden. When he was given the opportunity to expand a bit, he took them with both hands but such occasions were few and far between.

One character who was given plenty of opportunity to shine and who took every opportunity with both hands and made a damn good show out of it was Lee Boardman as Dragline. From the very beginning where he starts telling the story you can feel he has a fully developed character and as the story of cool hand Luke progresses he is the one who appears to be at the centre of it all. boardman gave a first class performance and I look forward to seeing him in whatever he turns his hand to next. Dragline was the character you related to, the character you empathised with and this was largely thanks to boardman’s riveting, nuanced and emotionally charged performance.

It wasn’t all roses when it came to the cast, however, and now’s the time where I turn more critical eyes to the cast and in particular to richard brake, who played the part of boss Godfrey, the big bad wolf of the prison. He is meant to be intimidating and terrifying, the kind of person you don’t want to cross if you have a particular attachment to any part of your body that could easily be removed. he is not at all. brake is more caricature than character and stalks around the stage with the bearing of a one-dimensional bad guy empty behind the stereotypical sunglasses and hat. There is no character behind the costume at all and the lack of fear deeply undermines the rest of the show. If I hear the phrase ‘get your mind right’ one more time I’ll do something terrible. Like imitate his accent.

What is meant to be a gritty, dirty and violent show turned into a comedic farce. I was very disappointed by Cool hand Luke, the script being the main fault but the direction being just as responsible for what felt like a sixth form show despite the best efforts of Warren, Boardman and a few others. This is a play about a chain gang and as Johnny cash reminds us, ‘there ain’t no good chain gang.’

For information about a great comedy night out ‘Circus of Comedy’ go to: hipporeviews.blogspot.com

“A bundle of contradictions held together by strong but invisible threads”. this poetic, optimistic epithet was used

by India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to describe his country’s hopeful strive for civil unity after the Indian Independence Movement succeeded in achieving liberation for India from british rule in 1947. the subject of social unity throughout India to repair the divisionary effects of British colonialism and hindu-Muslim conflicts has in fact been one of high importance and much contention over the past century. but this multitude of political struggles has never tarnished the colourful and euphoric passions of the Indian people that come to expression through their rich and diverse culture. the national festivals, cuisine, music and dress have always made this “land of many gods” an intriguing utopia to tourists around the world. It is this fundamentally celebratory nature of Indian culture that enabled it to re-establish international trade relationships, transforming it into one of the largest world economies in terms of purchasing power in less than half a century.

Yet, though this has been the general trend for the country’s capital as a whole, economic growth occurs in the most developed cities whilst over half the Indian population still live in rural villages only minimally affected by modernisation. Individual areas of North India, for instance, have seen extremely low increases in economic development – at even less that 1% in some cases. but would this level of material development and westernisation necessarily prove to be an improvement for these communities that have timelessly thrived on the richness of their religious and humanitarian traditions?

Megan Smart, second year Fine Art student at central St Martins college of Art and Design is just one of many people of the modern generation eager to experience a taste of this ancient and exotic culture. So she spent 20 days of her summer with a group of 12 other young Europeans touring the main cities of northern India including Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Jodhpur. having the pleasure of living with her this year, I seized the opportunity to grill her about her adventures!

I started with the obvious question...

everyone is in the same boat and have developed their own systems of living without material wealth. Using underground holes as milk refrigerators, for instance. They also still live by the hindu twenty seven rules about peace and not causing harm to other living things, so their actual quality of life is pretty good.

So religion is still a predominant part in rural life – what about in the cities?

It’s not so important there anymore at all. The older generations still wear traditional dress and live by the caste systems, but young people are very much westernised. I think its mainly to do with the developed education there are some beautifully developed new institutions in some of the main cities – and advanced technology. Developed communication has made it all more available to eastern countries which has opened the eyes of the modern generations about what else there is around the world. Our tour guide gave us a quote from the story of the Golden Palace at Jaisalmer: “you can argue politics but you can’t argue religion”. I thought it neatly summarised the way western modernisation has been absorbed into traditional Indian culture; the feet sticking out of all the pairs of Dolce and Gabanna jeans still have henna tattoos on them and Ganesha’s (elephant-headed deity of mind and humanity) birthday will always be a kept holiday.

So it seems that India’s general sense of its own identity is quite defined. What reactions did you receive as young white women?

White culture is really not a shock anymore in the major cities. but then in some of the smaller areas, such as Agra and Pushka, some local women did ask us to hold their hands and kiss their children! So any reactions tended to be of intrigue and even respect, but we never felt threatened or unwelcome in any way.

So as western tourists you could pretty much do whatever you liked. But what about the local women? Were there obvious differences between the treatment of men and women?

As you toured around the area, did you note much difference between life in cities and life in the more rural villages?

Very much so, but not necessarily in a negative way. Women aren’t allowed to smoke in the streets but a man always steps aside for a woman to go first – even in the cash machine queue!

completely! but true poverty is actually more noticeable when it exists inside the major cities. In the villages

If you had to pick one particular moment, which was the best part of the trip?

As cliché as it seems, the taj Mahal in Agra was absolutely stunning. the countryside in between the cities was also beautifully luscious, not the deserts I had been expecting! The only negative experience, if you’re asking, was the abysmal sanitation that even the major cities haven’t quite managed to sort out yet. People still bathe in the Ganges out of tradition even though it’s full of human ashes and faeces.

As an artist, what parts stuck with you as particularly moving or inspiring?

I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly but there is just something ubiquitously enchanting about India. I asked a tuk tuk driver at one point if he had ever considered moving to another country and he just responded: “why would I want to go somewhere else?

Everyone else is coming here!” I think it’s because the people themselves are so different. Even though they barely have any material possessions, they are so generous and proud with what they have because they truly appreciate the value of things. they don’t have the same upper lip attitudes that characterise british culture; even though freedom of sexuality is still not really accepted, same sex friends (men included) hold hands in the streets!

What advice or tips would you give for others travelling to India for the first time?

Don’t be scared! People are often wary of travelling in eastern countries but you will only benefit by allowing yourself to be open to the whole experience.

I’d advise you to use tour guides as the transportation systems are impossible to handle – you could find yourself waiting up to two days for a train – and respect social customs on things like drinking. Prepare to be conned by poorer beggars and salesmen but it’s because they are cheeky and cocky, not dangerous.

So it seems there is so much more to this gloriously unique country beneath the sweeping images that we often receive from Indiana Jones movies and other accounts that tend to throw all eastern cultures into the same broad basket. In such a “less developed” country you don’t just see a different standard of living but a whole different standard of people at its heart and this is where the real differences lie.

If you want to look into the same tour, check out Gap Adventures at www.gadventures.com Share your eastern experiences: culture@theheythroplion.co.uk

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

CULTURE

Josh Ferguson Senior Editor S.c.U.M are one of those bands that, for all their virtues, I find incredibly infuriating. they are all the same age as me, they are attractive, talented people, and after a string of impressively innovative singles and some high-profile slots at several recent festivals, most notably All Tomorrow’s Parties, they have just released this, their first full-length album. All of these facts drive me up the wall with jealousy and grudging admiration. they’re the kind of band I would kill to join.

One thing about this band that more or less every reviewer notes is their similarity to The Horrors. This is patently true, not least because S.c.U.M

supported the horrors at many gigs, and they literally share DNA (huw Webb, bass player for S.c.U.M, is the brother of the Horrors’ Spider Webb). the music is rather similar too, with plenty of glowing synthesisers and marching basslines. The opening song, Faith Unfolds, is a pleasant, if uninspiring primer for what to expect with the rest of their music. the avant-garde and industrial excitement of their early singles is all but absent here, replaced instead with utopian psychedelic pop, which is, honestly, no bad thing.

Standout songs on the album are Amber hands, the most guitar-heavy song on the album, and the first single. Another excellent song is Paris, which is as close to a ballad as this band are likely to get. It puts one in mind of Brian Eno and The Horrors

in their more melancholic moments, channelling its namesake city’s atmosphere of nostalgic memory and bruised romance. the true high point, however, is the last song, Whitechapel, an almost disco-type song, eminently danceable and euphoric, with a riff that sticks like a hook in the brain. but it’s not all good. Lead singer thomas cohen’s vocals, although competent, can be a little exacting at times, and at one point I did find myself shrieking “WILL YOU F*cKING EMOtE” at my stereo. Another gripe I have with the album is its inappropriate length. Everyone knows that a CD can hold roughly 80 minutes of music, so there’s really no excuse for charging twelve quid of my life-supporting cash for an album lasting all of 30 minutes. Only one of the songs on the

S T UD

Music: S.C.U.M - Again Into Eyes

HOB T N E

Chicken Tonight?

Ann Fig-rols Spatula Thief

album (Whitechapel) strays over the 5 minute mark, and even then only just. coupled with the fact that three of the songs on the album have been floating around as singles for about two years now, the whole affair stinks slightly.

Nonetheless, it’s a perfectly good album, and well worth a look. they have everything a good band should have these days: good songs, catchy hooks and attractive members. Let’s hope that the next one will have more songs.

Everyone loves chicken. Fried, roasted or fajita-ified it forms the staple diet of most students and the best part is it’s so easy to be creative with when cooking at home. The only problem is that fresh chicken breast is quite an expensive meat to buy. thigh meat, on the other hand, is cheaper, tastier, just as easy to cook and is still a great source of protein – if you don’t mind the bones! So for those chicken fans on a budget, here are a few tasty ideas to get you started using cheaper cuts.

Southern style Although this is a really easy way to recreate an international favourite, for best results it does need to be prepared in advance. Simply make a marinade from milk, a couple of cloves of garlic (peeled and quartered), a good pinch of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper.

Place the chicken thighs in the mix, making sure both sides are well coated, and leave covered in the fridge for at least a couple of hours to tenderize.

Next, transfer the chicken with the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil for about 20 minutes until cooked through. remove the meat from the milk and set aside to cool. brush the individual thighs in beaten egg and then coat generously in plain flour mixed with a little cayenne pepper before deep frying in a pan of hot oil until golden and crispy all over.

Teriyaki Glazed Chicken

Film: Lars Von Trier/Melancholia Ryan Boyd

Comment Editor Lars Von Trier is perhaps the most radical director working today. his films genuinely offer an alternative; a cinematic and narrative framework like no other. his film Dogville (2001) had no set to speak of, no location. It was shot on what looks like a film set before the cGI, that is to say, the town of Dogville was simply drawn out on the floor, like a map. There are no walls, no doors, no scenery. The actors are acting, as in a play. It is a continued effort of imagination on the part of the viewer to fill in the blanks. As Zizek states in his Pervert’s Guide to cinema, the consequence of this is not disbelief, but in actual fact a stronger belief than ever. We can watch any soap we like and know very well that it is all a set up – just look at how flimsy X looks. but with Dogville, the opposite effect is achieved. then Von trier’s gruesome Antichrist (2009) created a sense of psychological unease that even the most frustrated and aggressive gore-flick could only dream of. The relationship between charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe is so realistic as to become torturous and horrible to witness. What often goes overlooked in appraisal of Von Tri-

er’s work is his verite style of dialogue, which is stunningly well-observed – often as a result of improvisational techniques. Dancer in the Dark (2000) is an example both of this and as well as Von trier’s genuine radicalness: casting bjork as a central role could only have struck one as being ludicrous, but the resulting film is both beautiful and crushingly tragic. Of course, on top of this, the cinematography in all his films is quite simply divine. both Melancholia (2011) and Antichrist feature prologues which stand alone as great works of art. In Melancholia, it is the complete destruction of the Earth which we witness; in Antichrist, the death of a child. It is only through the genius of Von Trier that both scenes are immediately portrayed and experienced as equally destructive (and yet, somehow, peaceful and of no importance).

Despite criticisms of misogyny, Von Trier is one of the few directors today whose films not only feature women as the definitive points of interest (the leading role, essentially), but portray them with all the chiaroscuro of a Caravaggio; there is no simple heroism, no fast-food feminism on offer.

In Antichrist, Gainsbourg is wild, demented and murderous – but it is definitely Willem Dafoe who is the villain responsible for driving her to this (as

her husband he offers her a clinical therapy and eventually ends up treating her like just another patient). In Melancholia, Kirsten Dunst plays a depressed bride who waltzes her way unhappily through her own wedding day.

She takes baths and glugs alcohol while the guests wait for the cake to be cut whilst her sister, Gainsbourg, and her husband, Keither Sutherland, berate her for wasting their time and money.

Yet Gainsbourg and Dunst’s relationship is always accurately observed.

Gainsbourg tells Dunst that she “really hates her” twice during the film, yet to take this as some sort of misogynistic ideology manifesting itself is to ignore the nature of femininity. Von trier is praising the power of women who can endure these crushing fights and ultimately maintain the relationship.

It is Sutherland, on the other hand, playing a confident scientist who constantly errs. For instance, after huffily removing his mother-in-law from the wedding, he constantly reassures Gainsbourg that the planet, Melancholia, which is due to pass Earth will not, in fact, collide – except that it does crash into Earth after all. Von trier shows the masculine rational/ scientific mentality and its aggressive excesses to be truly ridiculous despite being well-intentioned; Sutherland’s

role is not an absurd but a tragic one. but the most enchanting feature of the film is Dunst’s portrayal of female depression. Despite the impending doom of Melancholia on its way to obliterate Earth, Dunst remains steely and calm to the end, while Gainsbourgh, qua female hysteric, absurdly suggests that they all sit on the terrace with a glass of wine until they are all blasted out of existence – to which Dunst asks “You want to know what I think of your plan?… I think it’s a piece of shit”. Despite its cruelty, the remark is deserved and definitely satisfying to the viewer.

Dunst reveals herself to be firmly reliable throughout and an enduring example of what it is to heroically assume one’s fate. It is only within a wedding of falsity and pretension that her “weakness” is exposed and, even then, Von trier’s impressive technique is to use Dunst’s depressive actions to explain to us the horrifying truth of the situation, despite its idyllic surface. One cannot label Von Trier a misogynist simply for showing us the reality of feminine existence; instead, one must applaud him for creating ingenious works of art which resound deeply, not superficially, with our idea of Woman.

To discover more, visit: www.theunquietvoid.net

to make this deliciously sweet and sticky Asian classic, mix together about 5 tbsps of soy sauce with 2 of sugar and another 2 of sweet wine (such as sake or mirin) and some grated ginger. Add the chicken and allow to marinade for about 15-20 minutes before removing from the sauce. In a large pan, flash fry the chicken on a high heat for a minute or so on both sides to lock in the flavours. Lower the heat and add the remaining marinade juice to the pan. cover and allow to cook for about 10-15 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through, but still tender, and serve with your favourite kind of rice.

Casserole Roast If you’re in the mood for something with more of a homely Sunday lunch feel, this one is probably the simplest of all! First, prepare yet another marinade, this time mixing a couple of cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped), a good pinch of salt and pepper and a teaspoon each of rosemary and dried parsley into some regular cooking oil.

Add the chicken and refrigerate for an hour or so. Again flash fry the chicken on both sides before placing in a roasting tray along with some peeled and chunked potato, carrot, celery and onion and half a cup of warm chicken or vegetable stock. Stick in a preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes until the meat and veg are all fully cooked through.

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

Societies Sports and

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

Heythrop 1st Football Team: Match Report Andrew Swindley HSU Male Welfare Officer After a very long summer break heythrop 1st (playing in black) were unsure as to how they would perform against a team that is arguably one of the best in the league: LSE 7th (playing in blue). heythrop came 9th in the league last season, which would suggest that the relegated team LSE 7th ought to have dominated. However, this was not the case; right from the off Heythrop dominated the game with notable footwork from the centre midfield and the most important play of the half was a denied goal for Heythrop scored by Team Captain hassan Kassem. A pinpoint pass from Jaime into the box was tapped in on the goal line by Hassan. Only after much celebration, the referee rejected the goal on the ground that hassan was offside. Nevertheless, heythrop battled on to finish the half 0 - 0. the second half resumed with the adrenaline now running high and, due to the feeling that heythrop ought to be leading, tempers were frayed. Heythrop’s spirits faltered slightly as it appeared they were heading toward

an aggravating 0 - 0 draw but due to continued shouts of encouragement and a solid back four the scoreline was maintained and spirits were lifted. Finally, in the last quarter of the match, Heythrop got their reward. They were awarded a penalty which the Captain (who was a controversial choice having missed a couple of chances in both halves) stepped up to the spot. the penalty was successfully put away in the bottom left corner. Special praise is due to the LSE goalkeeper, who was inches away from pulling off a magnificent save. heythrop’s goalkeeper, Simeon, managed to keep a clear score sheet at the other end of the pitch until the final whistle blew, making the full time score heythrop 1 - 0 LSE. Man of the Match was awarded to Mark Oates (centre back) while Tackle of the Match, a bone-crunching slide in the centre circle, was awarded to Will Slee.

Many thanks to the supporters who turned up to cheer the team on and the hFc would like to encourage more supporters to turn up to the matches.

Please contact someone on the football team to find out where and when the next game is, due to fixtures being rearranged at late notice.

Date 12/10/11 19/10/11 26/10/11 02/10/11 09/10/11 23/11/11 30/11/11 14/12/11

Teams Heythrop 1st x LSE 7th rSM 1st x heythrop 1st heythrop 1st x rVc 2nd SSEES 2nd x Heythrop 1st Heythrop 1st x St Barts 3rd Imperial 7th x Heythrop 1st Heythrop 1st x St Barts 4th Heythrop 1st x BBP Law 1st

TBP - To Be Played

LGBT: Coming Out of Narnia Andrew Gee LGBT President Most, if not all of you, are familiar with C.S Lewis’s classic The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. This Wednesday is the UK’s National coming Out Day and in light of that I wish to reflect briefly upon this extract from the novel in a way I doubt Lewis ever intended it to be used: as an oculus for the examination of a process everyone in the LGbt community faces. I want to examine how leaving Narnia is really quite OK. coming out is the aspect which, in my mind, gives the diverse membership of the LGbt community in the UK, and around the world, a common ground. coming out is a process faced by everyone who identifies themselves as part of the extensive LGbt community and many who choose not to. Coming out can be a long process made up of many separate occasions or a short process made of a single instance. It can be explicit or implicit, simple and easy or hard and painful but we all at some time, somewhere in our lives pass through this event: we all come out.

Of course, you can’t find your way out of the closet unless you recognise that you’re actually in one. coming out to yourself is the single most important part of the whole event and, I would say, more often than not the most difficult part. realising that your sexuality is not going to change who you are as a person; that it will only be part of your life and define you only as much as you

wish it to can be quite difficult. being in the closet is, for some, a part of their lives with little to no definition; they’re out so fast they barely have time to notice the change from branches to coats.

For others like me it can be a very defined and impactful part of their lives, Narnia can be a very interesting place to be. Many things go through your head and (for me at least) the world felt like a very different place. It was a time for me of great uncertainty; of second guessing and (I look back with a smile now) attempting to hide the overtly “gayer” features of my personality, though I confess not very well. I spent some time in the closet and I felt very surely the change from branches to coats.

Apart from me, the first person I came out to was one of my sisters and I chose simply to text her. It was a terrifying moment but of a fantasy fear alone; of course my making my sexuality known to someone didn’t actually cause the world to end but I did suffer a minor panic attack. I received a text back “ok” and that was that, I had come out for the first time to another person.

I told them the “shocking news” and they weren’t shocked. Of course coming out is not a one-time event, however neither is it something you will necessarily choose to do to every living soul you ever meet. “hi, I’m bi” has a ring to it but greeting everyone in that way is sure to seem a little bizarre.

In the end your sexuality is your business and if you’re happy and comfortable with it that’s what truly matters: “Once a King or Queen of Narnia always

Score 1-0 TBP TBP TBP TBP TBP TBP TBP

Photo: Alex of Gothenburg/Flickr.com

a King or Queen”. You don’t have to scream it from the rooftops but I would say that for the entire LGbt community this experience is something we can embrace. It is, in my eyes, a unique and deeply personal self affirmation and

provides us with an opportunity to reflect not just with ourselves and others about our sexuality or sexual identity but the entirety of our identity; it forces us to ask exactly how we see ourselves.

It also allows us rather beautifully to

leave the cot view of our childhoods and see in the world the vibrancy of the rainbow that is humanity of which we are all a part.

Visit gaythrop.org for more info

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WEDNESDAY 19th OctObEr | THE LION

SOCIETIES

Running Society Ataul Ahmed HRS President

hrS is all about running. Whether it be for fun, fitness or competition, this is where it’s at. this is a truly epic year to be part of hrS as it is the year of the Olympics. We are exploding with excitement and hope to make this an eventful and memorable year for all. but why run? Well, besides feeling invincible after a run, runners benefit from an uplifted mood and great workout for body and mind. runners can expect to burn up to 500 calories during each of our weekly sessions. the benefits don’t just end there though, as cardiovascular fitness will soar as will all-round body strength and muscle tone. running stimulates the production of brain chemicals that boost mood and self-esteem.

Our training sessions are held twice a week and incorporate a warm-up and cool down to aid you in your running.

We will also be holding discussion forums where we can talk about any run-

ning injuries or concerns and also plan for future events. We hold monthly 5km fun-runs in hyde Park and as a member of hrS you get 50% off our hoodies after completing your first event with hrS! We are affiliated with UK Athletics and run in association with ULU Triathlon members, so this is also a great way to make new friends on a broader scale. We will be organising inter-collegiate races and have an awards ceremony at the end of the year.

Apart from running, we aim to bring in a host of events and days out through the year. The sky is the limit and we welcome any new ideas to make this a great society to be a part of. We also aim to attend ‘Art of Motion’ which is in association with red bull at the National theatre free-running event in March. being part of it is easy. Just join our group on Facebook ‘heythrop runners Society’ or email ataul.ahmed@heythropcollege.ac.uk to join the mailing list. Look out for our advertisements on the Notice board outside the common room. If you are willing to help out in events or publications, drop us an email and let’s get the ball rolling!

Photo: Ed Yourdon/Flickr.com

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