The Journal - Edinburgh Issue 037

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EDINBURGH'S UNIVERSITY NEWSPAPER

ISSUE XXXVII

WEDNESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2010

New leader, New Labour? » 11 As he takes the reins following a close-run election, can Ed Miliband live up to his ambitious promises of a new era of progressive politics?

» ONLINE

University fining own departments for unofficial room use

IN NEWS >> 5

Edinburgh unearthed Murder mystery at the University of Edinburgh as archaeologists investigate a medieval crime scene beneath Old College

IN NEWS >> 11

Saltire squabbling Row erupts over whether a Saltire or Union Jack should be given prominent position on Edinburgh Castle

Thousands in charges levied against schools using unauthorised seminar space at University of Edinburgh Pierre Thistlejohn

DEPARTMENTS AT THE University of Edinburgh are being fined several thousand pounds a year for not holding classes in the right rooms, The Journal can reveal.

The School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language Sciences was charged roughly £3500 in the 2009/2010 academic year, with £50 being levied for every class that takes place anywhere other than the room that has been booked for it – representing roughly 70 classes over the course of the year.

One tutor from within the school, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Journal: “It just seems crazy.”

“The whole room-booking situation is a mess,” they said, adding that tutors were in “competition” for the best venues for classes.

The Journal has learned that at a meeting of prospective undergraduate tutors held three weeks before the start of the current term, attendees were warned by Linguistics & English Language school administrator Debbie Moodie not to teach classes outside of their assigned room, as they would incur fines for their department.

Tutors have expressed their unhappiness at the system, which

prevents them from switching class venues if the room they are assigned is inappropriate.

One told The Journal: “Tutors have been given rooms without a blackboard – how are you supposed to teach a class of 16 without a blackboard?”

Asked whether classes were ever assigned to rooms that were too small for the number of students, the tutor said: “There have been instances where there’s no room to manoeuvre. It makes it far more difficult to engage with the class and make the lesson interesting.”

It is understood that university security staff, who regularly interrupt tutorials held in buildings at the George Square campus, are in fact being used to verify the occupancy of rooms and establish whether a fine should be handed down.

Another tutor from the same school, who has taught at a university abroad, told The Journal: “At my last position, you could even take classes outside if the weather was good. I can’t do that here.”

The University of Edinburgh is responding to a request to disclose how widespread the policy of fining departments for class venues is, how the fines are implemented, and how the revenue is spent.

IN COMMENT >> 13

Funding our future NUS Scotland president Liam Burns talks to The Journal about the need to protect students from poorer backgrounds

IN MUSIC >> 17

Back to the Futureheads

Godiva gets dressed

Financial Masochism at the University of Edinburgh >> 12 EDMUND FRASER

» 21

The Journal joins the Freshers' Week crowd at Potterrow for the return of 2004's 'next big thing'

2 News

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

This week in The Journal

Rewarding festivities

»6

Scots more likely to die from drinking Oxford academics say people north of the border suffer from higher levels of alcoholrelated diseases

The Festival City - Edinburgh’s festivals cement their place as the best in the world with a top award

Emma Fielding

» 16 Catholic » 15 Artistic catharsis Creedibility Matthew Macaulay looks at how the Pope’s visit may have changed opinions of the Catholic Church

Tasting times The Journal heads to Clackmannanshire to sample the gastronomic pleasures on offer at Alva's ScotFest

**

Glaswegian Turner Prize winner's postFestival show blurs genre lines

» 20

NATIVE SCOTS ARE more likely to die from alcohol-related causes compared to Scottish residents born in England or Wales, according to a recent study.

The research, carried out by The Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford and the NHS Information Services Division, looked at the rates of alcoholrelated deaths in Scotland between 2000 and 2005. These included death caused by alcoholic liver disease, accidents and certain cancers.

Researchers used 2001 Census data in addition to mortality data between the years 2000 and 2004 in order to gain information, and focused on the differences in alcohol-related mortality by country of birth.

Dr Neeraj Bhala, one of the authors of the study published in Alcohol and Alcoholism, from The University of Oxford, told The Journal: “This study does help in showing that there are high-risk groups, albeit someone’s country of birth is likely to represent other factors, e.g. culture of drinking. The most important message

relates to showing how these alcohol-related deaths are preventable: that is the striking thing about these inequalities.”

The results of the study have shown that mortality from alcohol-related deaths is lowest for those born in Pakistan, England and Wales. Men born in England and Wales are 64 per cent less likely to die of alcohol-related causes than their Scottish-born counterparts.

In addition, Pakistani-born men in Scotland are 72 per cent less likely to die of alcohol-related deaths. However, mortality from alcohol-related deaths is high for those born in Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and India.

One explanation for the differences in direct alcohol-related mortality by country of birth is socioeconomic status within the United Kingdom. It has also been suggested that culture may be another explanation, such as religious attitudes towards alcohol.

In Scotland, there are now almost 1,500 direct alcohol-related deaths per year, with the number of fatalities having more than doubled between 1991 and 2006.

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News 3

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Edinburgh students to the fore as Team Scotland flies out to troubled Delhi Games University sports stars set to take centre stage despite problems with Commonwealth Games accommodation Megan Taylor THE UNIVERSITY OF Edinburgh have sent 34 athletes, coaches and staff all affiliated with the Sports Union to participate in the Commonwealth Games in India.

33 members of the team are with the Scottish delegation. Steven Watterson will represent the Isle of Man in shooting’s 10m air rifle competition.

After delaying their departure to allow officials in India to improve the state of the athlete’s accommodation, some of the Scottish team flew to Delhi from Glasgow on Saturday, the remainder arriving on Tuesday.

Pictures of inhabitable living quarters had been sent to media outlets across the world. Rooms appear dirty

"It's been a hard week, I've had easier working weeks as have the rest of the guys out here." and unhygienic and in some cases the monsoon season has caused the brand new buildings to flood. Work on the athletes’ village is still ongoing leaving many areas unsafe.

The validity of the Games, which have allegedly cost India £1.5 billion, has been called into question after claims of corruption hit the press along with news of a fever epidemic in the city.

Despite this, the English and Welsh teams have also arrived in Delhi.

Scottish team manager Vicky Strange is already in Delhi and told the BBC: “Our accommodation for Team Scotland is actually very much ready.

“It’s been a hard week, I’ve had easier working weeks as have the rest of the guys out here.

“But, it definitely has paid off and the organising committee have now taken notice of everything that has been said and there’s been a lot of progress.”

The Games are due to take place between the 3 and 14 October. In 2014, they will be in held Glasgow.

At the previous competition in 2006 in Melbourne, 25 of the medals were won by competitors that had links to Edinburgh University.

Jim Aitken, Director for Sport and Exercise at Edinburgh, said: “The University has always enjoyed a strong representation at Commonwealth Games but this is our largest contingent to date, which is marvellous and testimony to our commitment to performance sport.”

Edinburgh’s best hopes of medal glory lie with the hockey squad. Graham Moodie, the player-coach of the University First XI is hoping to play beside graduates Alistair McGregor and Stephen Dick who already have over 100 caps between them.

Newly selected for the women’s team is Becky Merchant. Ms Merchant has just finished the fourth year of her Neuroscience degree and is travelling with the team to what will be her first games. Joining her will be fellow student Morag McLellan, who is studying sports science.

Five out of the 21 members of the Scottish swim team are also members of Edinburgh University’s swim club. Kris Gilchrist, who won a relay medal in Melbourne, will compete in three events this year including the men’s 100m breaststroke. It is not only current students who are competing. Susan Maitland is a staff member at the School of Chemistry and has been selected for the women’s Archery team. She trains with the Edinburgh alumni club.

Three members of the university’s Fitness Assessment and Sports Injury Clinic will support the Scottish athletes while they are competing.

Edinburgh's shining stars head to Delhi Anne Ewing recently graduated as a doctor, will compete in the women’s road race cycling event Kerry Buchan will compete in the women’s 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke and 4x100m medley relay Kathryn Johnstone will compete in the women’s 50m breaststroke Louise Pate will compete in the women’s 4x100m medley relay Michael Jamieson will compete in the men’s 100m breaststroke and 200m breaststroke Eilidh Child will compete in the women’s 400 m hurdles

Evan Oliphant will compete in both the men’s track endurance and road race cycling events Chris Fusaro, Stuart McInally and Scott Newlands will all feature in the rugby sevens event Alan Clyne is the Scotland number 1 and world number 64 at squash Craig Howieson is a current student and table-tennis player seen as a strong prospect for the 2014 Games in Glasgow.

Sarah Jones has been selected for the 72 kilogram wrestling

Edinburgh uni embraces controversial qualification Sixth year qualification will allow some pupils immediate entry into second year Florence Campagna

EDINBURGH IS TO become the first university in Scotland to offer school pupils the chance to fast-track into second year based on a controversial flagship qualification.

The Scottish government’s baccalaureate (bacc) was introduced last August to encourage school students

to take an inter-disciplinary approach to education. But it experienced significant drop out rates in its debut year and was criticised for not being available in most schools.

Pupils with the qualification will be able to apply to go straight into second year at Edinburgh. Mary Bownes, a vice-principal at the university, said that the inter-disciplinary focus means the bacc “lends itself particularly well to the Scottish degree.”

The qualification suffered problems after its launch in 2008 as is only available at a small number of schools. Students are required to study two advanced highers and one higher in addition to an a dissertation style project.

Some institutions have found themselves unable to offer the qualification given the teaching-intensive nature of advanced higher courses. One union leader said earlier this year that the

lack of universality meant there was the risk of a “postcode lottery.”

A large number of students who began studying the bacc in its first year subsequently pulled out after discovering that it would not help them gain a place at university.

Of the original 246 entries, 70 pulled out - 60 from science and 10 from languages - leaving 153 studying for the science bacc and only 23 for the languages equivalent.

Of those schools who do offer pupils the chance to study the bacc, many have teamed up with local colleges to pull resources. The Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) has expressed hope that more schools will enter into partnerships to give more pupils the qualification.

NUS Scotland welcomed the move.

President Liam Burns said: “Edinburgh University is absolutely right to recognise the value of the Baccalaureates.”

4 General News

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Primark planned for Princes Street

NHS advised to charge for GP appointments Introduction of appointment levy could help NHS funding during cuts JONI LANGDALE

Amanda Svensson Falk

PROFESSOR DAVID BELL, a senior adviser to the Scottish Parliament, has suggested a £20 patient fee to see a GP as a way to deal with impending budget cuts.

In a paper published on 9 September, Professor Bell advised that this is the type of action necessary in order to deal with expected extensive spending cuts to Scottish public services, and suggested that ministers should follow Sweden’s example and introduce a patient fee for each visit to a NHS doctor or hospital stay.

The plans could potentially raise up to £300 million a year for the NHS in Scotland.

Prof Bell commented that there is a “widespread lack of public appreciation” of how severe the hits to the public service could be.

Under Professor Bell’s proposed system patients would have to pay between £5 and £20 to see their NHS doctor. In Sweden, user charges like these provide three per cent of the total health budget.

Prof Bell said: “Hotel charges for hospital stays and other charges in Sweden provide what would be the equivalent of £300m to the Scottish health budget.

“Charges for the NHS would be means-tested so those who can afford it contribute the most.”

His advice came after finance secretary John Swinney opened discussions to end the three-year freeze on council tax, following stark warnings from council chiefs about the state of their finances.

Prof Bell stated that a lack of plans on how to deal with the impending cuts would leave the public sector with a short time to make preparations, and called for ministers to look beyond areas already identified for savings.

Speaking to The Scotsman, Scotland Patients Association chair Margaret

Rachel Hunt WORK IS FINALLY due to start on a flagship Primark store in Edinburgh after a year of speculation. However, the Princes Street store is not set to open for at least another year.

After buying the former Marks and Spencer store in the centre of Edinburgh’s busiest shopping street, the company conducted extensive public consultation before submitting their planning application to City of Edinburgh Council earlier in the summer.

These plans have now been approved and work is due to start as soon as possible. The opening is officially scheduled for Christmas 2011.

The 75,000 square-foot site is set be completely restructured internally, with the addition of a second shop front on Rose Street. 3DReid, the architect firm in charge of the final design have pledged that the building will “respect the scale and character of a valuable World Heritage Site and the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Area”.

Watt said: “Imposing charges is not the way to do it. A lot of people don’t have enough to feed themselves, so if charges like this were brought in, people would not have the money to go to see a doctor and get help with their conditions.

“It would put public health at risk and if people didn’t go to see a doctor, their condition could get a lot worse and it would end up being more expensive.”

Health economist Professor Alan Maynard, of the University of York agreed: “Certainly it is an obvious way of raising revenue and it is also likely to have a deterrent effect. But it is essentially a tax on the ill. And while you may get fewer people with trivial illnesses

utilising the service, they may only then come back a few years later with a more serious illness which is more expensive to treat in the long term.

“And if many people are exempt from charges, it basically hits middleclass people the most.”

A spokesman for Mr. Swinney said: “The Independent Budget Review is helping shape the debate surrounding Scotland’s future spending. The SNP government is engaging with opposition parties, organisations and the people of Scotland to help determine spending priorities. We won’t know just how bad the Westminster cuts to Scotland’s budget are until next month

when George Osborne announces the spending review.

“We are completely opposed to the idea of charges for NHS services.”

In Sweden, patient fees are capped at around £80 for every one year, with a similar solution in place for prescribed medicines. Children under the age of 18 and family planning services are exempt from all charges.

Polls have shown that very few Swedish citizens have refrained from seeking medical treatment on the grounds of cost, and that implementing fees have kept demand from getting completely out of hand.

Scottish government meets US officials over Lockerbie bomber Justice officials quizzed over decision to release Al-Megrahi Jessica Abrahams

US OFFICIALS WERE in Edinburgh earlier this month to interview MSPs over the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi.

Representatives from the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations including its chair, US Senator Robert Menendez, travelled to Edinburgh on 16 September. they have launched an inquiry into the release following concerns it was linked to an oil deal with Megrahi’s home nation of Libya.

It is believed the delegation wanted to question Scottish justice officials over claims that their

Criticised retail giant finally coming to the capital

decision to release Megrahi was heavily influenced by oil giant BP in a bid to secure a $900 million dollar exploration deal with Libya. Both BP and the British government have denied the allegations.

Mr Al-Megrahi, was the only person to be convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988. He was released on compassionate grounds last year after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.

First Minister Alex Salmond had refused to send MSPs to appear before the hearing in Washington but did offer to hold an official meeting with delegates if they chose to visit Scotland. In a letter to senators he wrote that: “The Scottish Government has

nothing to hide and nothing to fear from any properly constituted inquiry, but the Scottish Government is rightly accountable to the Scottish Parliament and not to the US Senate.”

The Scottish government described the meeting as a matter of courtesy.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who made the decision to free Megrahi, did not attend. MSPs stressed that the decision had been based on compassionate grounds alone, while Labour justice spokesman Robert Baker called for the medical report that had been reviewed by MacAskill at the time of the decision to be published.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government told The Journal: “Scottish Government officials had a very

amicable meeting with Senator Menendez’s staff, in which they were pleased to respond to questions about the Justice Secretary’s decision to grant compassionate release. We believe that it was a helpful exchange.”

Despite the three-month prognosis given by doctors at the time of his release, Megrahi has lived for over a year. On Tuesday 14 September he met with Jim Swire, a Scottish doctor who lost his daughter in the bombing. Mr. Swire, who believes in the convicted Lockerbie bomber’s innocence, said that Megrahi “remains a sick man” but was in better health than expected.

Megrahi’s family have refused to comment on the state of his health.

"This is a significant boost to the city centre retail strategy" A spokesperson from the Edinburgh City Council told The Journal: “This is a significant boost to the city centre retail strategy, with the new building creating a major retail store with a high profile occupier.

“In addition, the development will enhance the appearance of Princes Street and Rose Street, delivering improved public realm and creating significant employment opportunities.”

The retail giant has recently come under some criticism in the national press after charitable organisations spoke out against its policy of shredding damaged and unwanted clothes.

It is not the only high street chain to enact this procedure, although many companies, including Marks and Spencer, donate their leftover items to various charities. These are then sold in their own stores alongside individual donations, which the Association of Charity Shops estimates earns organisations around £120m each year.

Speaking to the BBC, Chief Executive Warren Alexander said it was “a shame” that charities were losing out on profit, going on to highlight the environmental impact of the policy.

In the same article, Primark responded by saying that it was common practice on the high street and that its actions were “designed to protect the consumer” and “prevent unsaleable product re-entering the market.”

General News 5

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Old College crime scene unearthed EDMUND FRASER

Private donor funds bid to find out more about death of Mary Queen of Scots’ murdered husband

Sian Williams

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEGUN work at the University of Edinburgh’s Old College with the aim of uncovering one of history’s most notorious crime scenes.

Buried beneath the Old College courtyard since its construction began in 1789, archaeologists hope to unearth the remains of buildings which became infamous as the scene of the unsolved murder of Lord Darnley, the second husband of Mary Queen of Scots.

Councillor Deidre Brock, Culture and Leisure convenor for Edinburgh City Council, said the dig “offers a tantalising hint of just how much of Edinburgh’s fascinating past still lies buried beneath the city.”

Funded by a private donor, the excavation is being carried out prior to a £1million landscaping project as part of the University of Edinburgh Campaign.

The dig is being directed by Tom Addyman of Addyman Archaeology, a division of Simpson & Brown who are currently in consultation with the City of Edinburgh Council. They are the University’s architects for the landscaping of the courtyard.

The house where Lord Darnley had been lodging was then known as the Kirk O’Fields and was associated with the Collegiate Church of St. Mary. The building itself was destroyed by an explosion on the 9 February 1567.

Lord Darnley and his valet managed to escape the fire, yet their bodies were later found in the garden. They had been strangled.

The Earl of Bothwell, who would later become Mary’s third husband, was largely thought to have been culpable for the crimes but was acquitted a few months later.

The excavation has already unearthed many significant finds

including the remains of a wall indicating the extent of the Kirk O’Fields cemetery. Within this area approximately 50 burials have been discovered dating as far back as 1400.

Towards the east-end of the site the remains of both Hamiltion House, a mansion constructed in 1552 for the Duke of Chatelherault, and the remnants of the first university library which dates back to 1617 have also been unearthed. It has been agreed that these can be excavated at no extra cost to the University which will allow the archaeologists to construct a more accurate image of the site’s original layout.

“This offers a tantalising hint of just how much of Edinburgh's fascinating past still lies buried beneath the city."

Other findings include fragments of pottery and glass as well as various pins and buttons.

Mary Bownes, Vice Principal of the University, has expressed her delight in the findings telling The Journal that the excavation had “revealed so much more of the past on that site than we ever expected.”

The south-east corner of the site is still to be reduced in level slightly but it is thought to be unlikely that anything of significance will be found there. Similarly, as a result of the original principles location under the new building, little more is expected to be found near the site where Darnley was murdered.

Scottish economy healthier than rest of UK House prices expected to rise in contrast to the rest of Britain George Lumbers SCOTLAND STANDS AS the only part of the UK where house prices are expected to rise over the next few months, and where the public sector economy shows improvement above the country average.

A cautiously optimistic report conducted by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Scotland (RICS) has revealed that whilst prices are slipping across the rest of the UK, Scottish house prices are still increasing.

RICS said that surveyors have predicted that house prices will continue to rise in the next three months, and that confidence in the market is the

highest it has been in over a year.

Although, they were keen to emphasize that the stability of prices in the future cannot be guaranteed in the current economic climate.

Sarah Spiers, deputy director RICS Scotland, told to The Journal: “Surveyors in Scotland are confident that prices will rise moderately over the next three months.

“However, the situation is fluid and highly dependant on the scale of public sector spending cuts and the performance of the wider economy.”

Ms Spiers also emphasized the negative effect cuts in the private sector will have on the housing market.

However, Martin Ellis, an economist at Lloyds Banking Group PLC stated:

“We expect that UK house prices will remain static overall in 2010.”

Economist and Investment adviser Jonathan Davis rebuked any sense of optimism in the housing market, telling The Journal: “If Scottish prices bucked the national picture for one month it tells us nothing about the trend – which is down, down, down.

“Also, don’t just look at prices, look at volumes of lending and transactions and numbers of estate agents being made redundant, developers going bust to see the future.”

Chris Boisseau, director at sales and letting agent Factotum, also commented on the issue, emphasising that the supposed house price increase was “not really a true picture, look at it as

more of a fragile beast, not the juggernaut it once was.”

Meanwhile a report by the Royal Bank of Scotland highlighted that in the wider economy the private sector is also showing signs of improvement, rising “at a stronger pace than that recorded for the rest of UK.” Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at the Bank of Scotland, said: “Scotland’s recovery from recession was maintained in August with activity rising in both manufacturing and services.”

Against most trends across the UK, employment levels in Scotland have also risen mildly in the private sector, with employment growing in eight of the past eleven months. Most of the growth in payroll numbers was related

to an increase in the goods-producing sector.

However, Mr MacRae also commented: “New orders growth in both sectors [manufacturing and services] remains weak and rising costs continue to exert pressure on Scottish business.”

The Business Outstanding Index emphasised that backlogs of work during August continued to fall, as they have done since June. The pace of decline was also the strongest since April and greater than the UK-average.

Of all the sectors, travel, tourism and leisure showed the strongest performance in the service sector.

6 Local News

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Edinburgh wins international festival award TOM BISHOP

Rosalind Brown

Council to consult residents on £90 million cuts Kati Rawlins

EDINBURGH HAS BECOME the only British city to be presented with the prestigious ‘Top Global City’ award at the IFEA World Festival & Event City Awards.

The International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) is a global partnership made up of professionals within the festival industry. It is an organisation with a vision for ‘A globally united industry that touches lives in a positive way through celebration.’

IFEA President, Steven Wood Schmader, said: “The IFEA is pleased to recognise and fly the flag of those cities and markets who have worked, through concerted efforts, to provide an environment conducive to successful festivals and events.

“Through this award, the IFEA hopes to create a dialogue between events and cities around the world, at a time when each needs to be supporting the other more than ever. The quality of all the entries paints a bright picture for our industry and those cities recognized with this award are helping to build a strong foundation and example that we hope all cities, globally, will work to emulate.”

The news comes as Edinburgh celebrated its most successful festival fringe to date. It broke last year’s box office records as ticket sales increased by five per cent. An estimated 21,148 performers took to the stage this year compared to 18,901 in 2009, the majority of them comedians.

Festivals and events are vital to the economic and creative health of a city. By promoting the city to the rest of the world, it can encourage investment and drive interest in future events.

Faith Liddell, Director of Festivals Edinburgh, said: “Edinburgh’s Festivals are Scotland’s world-class cultural brand with an international reputation and appeal unmatched by any other cultural event on the globe. We are delighted that their pre-eminence has been recognised through this award.”

Festivals Edinburgh is the front organisation which maintains the running of the twelve principal festivals in Edinburgh. It enables many of the projects to be realised by dealing with the important tasks of joint marketing, programming, sponsorship, technology, environmental sustainability and professional development.

EDINBURGH CITY COUNCIL has released plans to make £90 million worth of cuts over the next three years - offering residents the chance to have their say.

Cutback proposals include the possible permanent closure of certain care homes, public toilets, community recycling centre, the cancellation of day care services and changing wheelie bin collections from a weekly to a fortnightly basis.

Laura Varney, a spokesperson for Edinburgh City Council said: “Only properties with an individual bin would receive a fortnightly refuse collection service. Most students live in either tenement flats or halls of residence and use ‘on street’ bins or communal bins so won’t be affected by the collection frequency.”

The final audited budget will be decided by both Westminster and the Scottish Government after the UK spending review announcement on 20 October.

"It is unlikely that we will be able to incorporate suggestions expressed during the process."

Council cracks down on "gas guzzlers" Al Innes

THE PRICE FOR a city parking permit could rise to as much as £320, as Edinburgh City Council bosses are set to take on the owners of so-called ‘gas guzzlers’ with new, stricter legislation.

In an effort to encourage the use of lower emissions vehicles the council intend to double the cost of permits for larger vehicles like Land Rovers and the Citroen C6. On the other hand, the cost of a parking permit for smaller cars may fall to as little as £20.

Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, Transport Convenor for Edinburgh City Council said: “As a local authority it is our duty to meet air quality standards and play our part in achieving the target of a 42 per cent reduction in Scotland’s CO2 emissions by 2020.”

Additionally, a car-sharing scheme partnered with the University of Edinburgh has decided to add a group of hybrid cars to its fleet.

The Toyota Prius T3 is a hybrid car that runs on both petrol and electricity and is seen by many as a resolution to reducing the carbon footprint of transport in the city.

Keith Stark, the manager of Edinburgh City Car Club said: “We are always looking at having the greenest possible fleet and during the process of renewing the fleet we took the decision to replace our larger vehicles with the Prius. It’s always been one of our aims to have low emissions vehicles.

“We recently launched our 100th Car Club car and over the next few months we will be rolling out thirteen of these new hybrid cars.”

Last May, Dr Sam Gardner of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Scotland released a report stating that Edinburgh would be the perfect place to trial electric cars

in Scotland. It estimated that, to meet emissions targets, Scotland would need 290,000 electric cars by 2020.

Dr Gardner said: “Support for electric vehicles must go hand in hand with a reduction in our current reliance on private vehicles. Failure to deal with the year-on-year increase we see in the number of car miles driven will really undermine the efficiency savings from new electric vehicles.”

Currently, University of Edinburgh students receive a 50 per cent reduction in their joining fee for Edinburgh City Car Club and receive their first £25 worth of driving for free.

As the cuts are set to be drastic, Edinburgh Council are giving the public a chance to give them feedback.

Officials recently set up six ‘Budget Summits’ to give Edinburgh residents the opportunity to voice their opinions.

People need to register before attending the consultation events, which offer 20 places at each of the six locations. The voting is measured with electronic pads which are placed around the city.

Council leader Jenny Dawe told The Guardian that the cuts were unfortunate, but necessary. Ms Dawe maintained that approaching the public for their opinion would “help us make better decisions.”

However, Ms Dawe admitted: “It is unlikely that we will be able to incorporate views or suggestions expressed during the process.

“The Administration, will however, listen and learn throughout the process to make sure that we get a clear idea of public views to help us identify the right Council priorities at this time.

“We have no option but to do things differently, to trim services down to the minimum where it is possible and achieve significant savings if we are to protect those frontline services that really matter and the vulnerable people who need our help most.”

The proceeding dates for the budget summit are 29 September at the Royal High Primary School, 5 October at Drylaw Church and 6 October at Drummond Community High School. It will be followed by a final city-wide meeting on the 15 October that will be based at Scotsman Publications HQ on Holyrood Road.

Local News 7

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Homeless initiative helps hundreds

Restaurant launches ‘anti-tram’ pizza in publicity bid

Award winning Edinburgh property agency ‘Pothole pizza’ created to attract attention to the negative lead the way in helping the homeless economic impact of roadworks Rebecca Low

AN EDINBURGH PROPERTY agency has introduced a new initiative to get those rendered homeless into private accommodation.

Orchard and Shipman’s Letfirst scheme is a public-private partnership with Edinburgh City Council. The scheme gives those who are on the council housing list the opportunity to access affordable rented accommodation.

Prospective tenants are paired with private landlords who agree to drop the initial deposit on a property, which typically amounts to a month’s rent. In return, landlords are guaranteed a reference from Orchard and Shipman with no upfront administration fees and an assurance that the tenants’ rent will be covered if the payment cannot be met.

“We are delighted at how successful the shop has been,” said John Taylor, Chief executive of Orchard and Shipman.

“Having a city centre presence, and a place where people can just drop in and chat to our staff has made a massive difference. Not only do applicants get instant advice and guidance but the application process has been speeded up too which means that people can

move into properties of their choice very quickly. This success means we need plenty more properties and are always searching for landlords to join the scheme.”

Since the Morrison Street shop opened in 2009, the Letfirst scheme has

"Having a city centre presence has made a massive difference." helped 250 people into housing. Due to the high demand, the shop has had to increase the number of staff working there. Initially, the scheme had just 17 properties on its books. That number has now risen to 220. As well as housing, the scheme also provides tenants with advice on welfare and benefits.

Earlier this year Orchard and Shipman were awarded agency of the year by the Sunday Times Property Awards, and their pioneering Letfirst scheme is now a model used throughout the UK.

One in 20 teenagers are gang members Study shows school children are attracted to a number of city gangs Alexandra Thompson

A REPORT BY the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow has found that one in 20 teenagers in Edinburgh claim to be a member of a gang.

As part of a study called Troublesome Youth Groups, Gangs and Knife Carrying in Scotland, more than 4,000 secondary school children aged 13, 16 and 17 were interviewed between 1998 and 2003. Students from private as well as comprehensive schools were questioned, establishing membership in gangs such as the Young Niddrie Terror and the Casual Crew.

The researchers, led by Professor Susan McVie of Edinburgh and Jon Bannister of Glasgow University, concluded that there was no “one size fits all” policy for dealing with gang violence. The most serious gang issues were found in Glasgow and the west of Scotland. Ms McVie suggested that factors like “the concentration of poverty and deprivation in parts of Glasgow” were reasons for the more intense violence there.

Researchers recommended using targeted intervention strategies such as those now successfully deployed in Glasgow by the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV). The CIRV initiative has seen gang-related violence drop by 46 per cent in the first 18 months.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, head of the Violence Reduction Unit, said: “It is not just about gangs or knives, it is about a whole range of unacceptable behaviours.

Tackling them requires a variety of methods rather than just one.”

The report uncovered that threequarters of 13 year old gang members had friends who had been in trouble with police. In one case study a youth describes carrying a hammer and nails to use as weapons to avoid being imprisoned for knife possession.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: “There is a cycle of gang culture which has been endemic in areas of Scotland for generations. We know it won’t be solved overnight but we are determined to take action to break the cycle of gang membership which has blighted Scotland.”

Melissa Wong

A WEST END restaurant has introduced a new ‘Pothole Pizza’ to signify the damages caused by the Edinburgh Tram Project to local businesses.

La Piazza was recently recognised for creating statement pizzas called the ‘Pothole Pizza’, the ‘Leith Walk Siciliana’ and the ‘Haymarket Blues’. It was seen to jester the damage caused by the City Council and Edinburgh Trams.

However, The Journal understands the real reason for the creations was to attract media attention after they felt local news outlets were not reporting the serious effect the delayed project is having on their restaurant.

Tony Pia, the restaurant’s owner

spoke of the effects that the trams have had on his business and his fellow business peers. He told The Journal: “I know people in Leith Walk who have lost their houses, their businesses, their wife, children based on the damage these people are causing and nobody’s talking about the real issues here.

“We’re talking about the damage and pain these people are causing. It’s not being spoken about. It should be. This is what gets to me. I can’t understand why nobody really prints the truth about how many homes are wrecking, how many people are left without a roof over their heads. And, if it doesn’t change, I will be one of them.”

Mr Pia describes Shandwick Place, La Piazza’s home for 13 years as a shadow of its former self with To Let signs dotted along the road. He prides

Going off the rails

himself in running a successful business and he blames the road closures for his current economic crisis. He has made numerous calls and sent letters to his MSPs, Edinburgh Trams and the council. He has yet to receive an explanation.

Gavin Henderson, a spokesman for Edinburgh Trams confirmed that support is offered to businesses. He told The Journal: “Edinburgh Trams are a regular presence at business groups such as the West End Traders Association where businesses are given the opportunity to express any concerns they may have about our programme of works and its impact on them personally. In every case we work in conjunction with businesses to mitigate against possible disruption.”

Amanda Svensson Falk

The Edinburgh tramline is to run between the airport and Newhaven, a route of 18.5 kilometres.

Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (TIE) is managing the project on behalf of the City Council, the contractor is German company Bilfinger Berger.

Construction began in 2008 with a completion date set in 2011. New estimates suggest it wont be completed until 2013 at the earliest.

The budget was originally £512 million and later increased to £545 million. Current reports suggest the final bill will be closer to £700 million.

The project has been plagued with contractual disputes and construction problems.

TIE is looking to part ways with Bilfinger Berger due to severe financial differences, a disagreement which could end up in court. There are only two options with the money at hand: finish the line to York place or scrap the project altogether.

Edinburgh Evening News recently reported that Princes Street might see another shutdown. This emerged after fractures under the road surface were found. The fractures will now be studied to determine if a replacement is necessary.

Edinburgh Trams recently acknowledged the possibility of re-opening Shandwick place to traffic until the tramworks are ready to re-commence.

8 Student News

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Scottish students drop out due to lack of financial support NUS Scotland report shows students leaving university due to money worries Eleanor Bailey

NEW RESEARCH FROM NUS Scotland shows student hardship levels are soaring, causing many to drop out.

The ‘Still in the Red’ report comes ten years after the last major reforms in student funding which were outlined in the ‘Cubie’ report. ‘Still in the Red’ surveyed over 7400 students across all backgrounds and types of study and found that one in three students considered dropping out with the majority stating “not having enough financial support” as the key reason.

Scotland has the lowest level of student support out of the whole of the UK along with the second highest percentages of drop outs after first year. Northern Ireland is home to the highest percentage of early leavers.

With over 600,000 students studying at colleges and universities in Scotland there are fears many will simply not get the financial help they need.

Liam Burns, NUS Scotland president told The Journal: “They are startling findings, one in three students have thought of dropping out with lack of money being the main cause and one in three actually know someone who has dropped out for this reason.

“It’s unfair that Scottish students in Edinburgh are seen as getting a free education, it is not actually free, and many are going into debt, having to access commercial credit. It has shown the HE students don’t get enough money in pocket.”

The report found that over two thirds of students frequently worried about their finances and felt the lack of money received was having a negative impact on their studies. In addition, 68 per cent were working more than the recommended guidelines of 10 hours per week.

These findings also represent a huge waste of public money as so many Scottish students continue to drop out early.

Mr Burns commented: “Studying should be based on ability to learn, not the ability to pay. Without fundamental and urgent reforms of student support, explicitly increasing the amount students receive this will never be the case.

“We hope politicians will take stock of these findings. During Freshers’ Week we have actually been getting students to sign up for the ‘Not Free Not Fair’ campaign and there will be a national demonstration called ‘Fund our Future: Stop Education Cuts’ in London on 10 November to fight against the looming education cuts.”

Still in the red 61% of students worry frequently or all of the time about finances 62% said that not receiving enough money was having a negative impact on their studies 50% had been forced to access commercial credit (credit cards and the like) to get by 68% were working more than the Cubie-recommended 10 hours per week with 47% of these said that combining work with study was having a negative impact on their studies 36% considered dropping out due to financial worries, with 89% of these saying “not having enough financial support” was a key reason for this

Students rely on parents for money New website for Edinburgh students as loans fall short launched Study claims that more money is being spent as ‘essentials’ cover new technology Sarah Purvis

STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY are increasingly having to rely on parents and grandparents to support them through their university career.

For many, student loans barely cover accommodation costs forcing them to be dependent on their parents’ support.

Extra costs are particularly high in the first year when new “essential”

items are needed such as laptops, printers and upgraded mobile phones.

A study by technology website eXpansy found that costs for these items alone can add up to £900.

Anthony Catterson, eXpansys chief executive said: “In 2010 a laptop and a smartphone capable of accessing the internet and social media are no longer seen as luxuries. They are considered essential student kit; as essential as stationery, pots, pans and bedding.”

On top of that cables, phone

contracts, TV licenses and other expenses relating to moving into a new flat are all necessary.

Liam Burns, NUS Scotland president said: “The levels of financial help in loans and grants have not been kept up, and the result is that very large numbers of students are now struggling to get by.”

To compensate for the lack of loans, more students than ever have parttime jobs. According to NUS Scotland’s ‘Still in the Red’ report 47 per cent of student workers admitted “combining work with study was having a negative impact on their studies.”

Verity Woodfield, a second year student at the University of Edinburgh, told The Journal: “ I feel guilty about the help I get from my parents but see no alternative as a job would inevitably affect my studies and my chance to make the most of university opportunities while I’m here.”

Students financial positions create worries as many resort to credit cards resulting in damaging commercial debt on top of their student loans and maxed out overdrafts.

With the run-up to the Scottish parliamentary elections pressure will be put on politicians to make a commitment to students to help improve their situation.

"OurEd" is aimed directly at students from the University of Edinburgh Lily Panamsky

A NEW STUDENT website is now available as a resource for all University of Edinburgh students helping them to get involved with the community and practice social sustainability.

OurEd, which was officially launched on Monday 13 September, is a website that strives to engage students in issues of health, development, environment, and social justice both on campus and around the city Edinburgh.

Rhys Howell, co-creator of the website, told The Journal: “OurEd is a student resource that works with all campus societies and that links with different parts of the university.”

The website serves as a rich resource that informs students of opportunities within the campus and community and that provides links to other websites within the university.

Students can visit OurEd to learn about sustainability events on campus, community initiatives, environmentally friendly shops, volunteer

work and alternative transportation among others. A range of University of Edinburgh courses dealing with the environment and sustainability are also available. In addition, OurEd plans to work with University of Edinburgh societies and to link to and from the societies’ individual web pages.

Mr Howell told The Journal: “The idea came from the university itself, which is trying to embed and embrace social responsibility and sustainability in everything that it does.”

The launch of the website coincided with the first day of Fresher’s Week.

In order to promote the website, Facebook and Twitter pages that students can follow have been created. Mr Howell and his team have high expectations of OurEd gaining popularity and becoming a valuable student resource that help students enrich their university experience.

Speaking about the university’s current main portal MyEd, Mr. Howell explained: “MyEd is personal, a place where students can find out information about themselves. OurEd is a place where students can find out information about the community.”

Student News 9

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Edinburgh Napier to lose money in sale of Craighouse NAPIER PRESS OFFICE

Edinburgh Napier looks set to make little or no return by selling Craighouse campus Pierre Thistlejohn

PROPERTY EXPERTS HAVE warned that Edinburgh Napier University faces an uphill struggle to get a return on the sale of its Craighouse campus, after it announced that it was seeking a buyer for the historic buildings and grounds.

In a statement, Napier said: “We have formally sought expressions of interest in buying the Craighouse campus through a tendering process.

“The University is now assessing a number of options and we hope that a way forward for Craighouse will be agreed upon before the end of the year.”

Speaking to The Journal, John Edwards, Chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Scotland (RICS), said: “I wouldn’t want to be trying to sell a property at the moment.”

A representative from RICS also suggested that the grade-A listing of some of the buildings on the site could put off potential developers.

Highlighting the poor state of the current property market, Mr Edwards added: “I don’t see another boom on the horizon.”

However, Mr Edwards was upbeat on the chances of Napier finding a buyer for the campus: “I understand there are a number of developers looking at the site.

“The best thing the university could do would be to form a partnership with a prospective developer, and share the profits from construction on the site.”

Edinburgh’s other major redevelopment of historical buildings, the Quartermile – where the city’s 19th century Royal Infirmary buildings are being transformed into luxury flats and office space – has run into trouble, with the city authorities being called upon to write off almost £700,000 of council charges.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Napier told The Journal: “The proceeds of any sale will go towards our £100m Estates strategy, which includes the cost of redeveloping our Sighthill and Merchiston campuses and enhancing the university experience for our students.”

“Craighouse buildings that become surplus to requirements, following the re-opening of our Sighthill Campus, will be closed in the short-term.”

The university purchased the site in 1994 at a cost of £9m, including refurbishment of buildings to adapt them for use as teaching space and offices.

As well as housing the office of University Principal and Vice-Chancellor Dame Joan Stringer, the Craighouse hosts part of the School of Creative Industries, with Creative Arts and Music courses taught on site.

A former madhouse with a warren of secret passages Pierre Thistlejohn EDINBURGH NAPIER’S CRAIGHOUSE campus can trace its history back as far as the 12th century, with the oldest surviving building on the site, Old Craig, dating back to 1528.

Old Craig has attracted a series of notable tenants, including Captain Stephen Bruntsfield, one of Mary Queen of Scots’ attendants- whose ghost is said to still haunt its hallsand William Kinninmond Burton, the pioneering architect who designed Japan’s first skyscraper.

Craighouse is best known, however, for its role as incubator of the modern treatment for mental illness in Scotland. Following the death of his friend, the poet Robert Fergusson at the Edinburgh City Bedlam in 1774, aged just 24, the Lord Advocate Alexander Lockhart, and then-owner of Old Craig began a campaign to have a new mental hospital built on his property. After 40 years of fundraising, which included a petition to parliament for £2000 in assets seized from Jacobite rebels, Lockhart broke ground on a new hospital in 1806.

In terms of conditions for its

patients – most of whom were feepaying tenants – the new institution was hardly better than its predecessor. It was only in 1878, under the stewardship of Dr Thomas Clouston, a University of Edinburgh professor and holder of the world’s first Lectureship in Psychiatry, that truly modern practices began to be adopted at Craighouse. Having travelled the world observing best practice in the treatment of mental illness, Clouston oversaw the construction of New Craig, at the time the largest and most progressive mental hospital in the world.

The Thomas Clouston Clinic was at the forefront of mental health treatment for almost a century until its closure in 1993, due to spiralling maintenance costs. It pioneered the treatment of ‘shell-shock’ following the First World War, and the development of nursing homes in the 1930s.

Today, its legacy is preserved through a number of commemorative exhibits as well as in the building’s construction: New Craig features ‘hidden’ staircases and disconnected floors, designed to allow doctors to circulate separately while limiting access to patients’ wards.

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National Politics 11

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Ed Miliband promises new era for Labour Defying initial expectations, Ed Miliband has been announced as the new Labour leader SCOOTZSX

Jonathan Baldie ED MILIBAND, HAS promised to direct his party into a new era of politics after the former Environmental Climate Change secretary was announced as the new Labour leader on Saturday.

Mr Miliband narrowly beat his brother David, the long-running favourite for the post The leadership was won by a margin of 1.3 per cent after the second, third and fourth preference votes had been accounted for.

Speaking to a packed party conference in Manchester, he paid tribute to each of his fellow candidates in turn and told the conference: “Today we draw a line under this contest and move forward united as a team.”

The Oxford graduate has had a relatively short time in political office, only joining the cabinet with the climate change portfolio when Gordon Brown moved into number 10 in 2007. He has been an MP for five years, whereas his elder brother David has been an MP since the 2001 General Election.

After graduating with a master’s in economics from the London School of Economics, Ed Miliband became a Labour Party researcher for Harriet Harman and became one of Gordon Brown’s closest confidants and eventually chairman of the Treasury’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Miliband announced on 14 May that he would stand as a candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party, and was nominated by 62 fellow Labour MPs. The other candidates were Diane

"I know we lost trust, I know we lost touch, I know we need to change."

Abbott, Ed Balls, Andy Burnham and his elder brother David Miliband.

On 23 May, former Labour Leader Neil Kinnock announced that he would endorse Ed Miliband’s campaign to become the next Leader, saying that he had “the capacity to inspire people” and that he had “strong values and the ability to ‘lift’ people”.

By 9 June, the deadline for entry

into the Labour leadership contest, Miliband had been nominated by just over 24 per cent of Labour MPs, double the amount required.

By September, Mr Miliband had received the support of 6 Trade Unions, including both Unite and UNISON, 151 of the Constituency Labour Parties, three affiliated socialist societies, and half of the Labour MEPs representing

the UK in the European Parliament.

He paid tribute to his predecessors Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, but added: “We lost the election and we lost it badly. My message to the country is this: I know we lost trust, I know we lost touch, I know we need to change.

“Today a new generation has taken charge of Labour, a new generation that understands the call to change.”

Mr Miliband hugged David after the result was announced.

As leader of the Labour party, he also holds the post of Leader of the Opposition, at the very forefront of the attack against Conservative and Lib Dem MPs in the Commons.

Mr Miliband will also assume task of taking back Parliament by winning the next General Election..

SNP calls for Saltire to be flown above Merger proposal to be Union Jack at Edinburgh Castle submitted to Scottish Government Lisa Toner

THE SCOTTISH NATIONALIST Party (SNP) has put forward a parliamentary motion calling for the Union Flag to be removed from Edinburgh Castle and replaced with the Saltire.

MSPs are considering the call after a petition was lodged by campaign group Saltire Scotland.

Although the Saltire currently flies at Edinburgh Castle below the Union flag, petitioners want to see it erected in its “rightful premier position.”

Christine Graham, SNP MSP for Scotland South, said: “I am sure the majority of Scots and tourists would like to see the Scottish flag flown from the top of the castle.

“It would boost tourism and promote Scotland’s distinct national identity.”

The SNP’s Anne McLaughlin, MSP for Glasgow, makes the Union Flag’s inclusion on their preferred arrange arrangement clear: “The petitioner has put forward a compromise suggestion that would allow the Union flag to continue to be flown, whilst we are still part of Britain, but ensures that Scotland’s flag is flown from the highest point on the castle. I would support the petition.”

Holyrood Petitions Committee has suggested a compromise to fly the Saltire from a 90 foot flagpole in Crown Square and leave the Union flag in place at David’s Tower.

Mark Hirst, who lodged the petition on behalf of Saltire Scotland said: “The UK military use the Saltire for recruit recruitment. If it’s good enough to recruit young Scots it’s good enough to be flown in the prime position above Scot Scotland’s most iconic building.”

Neil Griffiths of the Royal

“It is childish to say our flag is going to be higher than your flag."

British Legion Scotland disagrees: “It is childish to say our flag is going to be higher than your flag. Most people are proud of the Union Jack, it’s a wonderful symbol.”

Historic Scotland, which manages Edinburgh Castle, did not comment on removing the Union flag, but a spokeswoman said: “We are proud to fly the Saltire at our properties. That’s why it already flies from our own flagpole at Edinburgh Castle and our other properties.”

The petitions committee have agreed to write to Historic Scotland and the Scottish Government.

They will also seek the views of the Ministry of Defence who currently own the castle.

Megan Taylor

THE UNIVERSITY OF Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) have agreed to merge.

ECA’s Board of Governors met on 21 September and agreed to the deal. Six days later, the University Court met and also consented.

The full merger proposal document will now be submitted to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Funding Council to await their approval.

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Michael Russell will receive the document, and the University expects he will open a twelve-week public consultation period with a final decision not expected until February 2011.

In a joint email to all University of Edinburgh students and staff, Principal Timothy O’Shea and EUSA president Liz Rawlings confirmed that negotiations were officially over and the institutions’ wish to merge.

The email read: “The College and the University agreed earlier this year

that the two institutions should explore ways of strengthening collaborative working arrangements, including the possibility of merger.

“The detailed proposals were developed following consultation with staff, students, and other stakeholders. The vision is of a vibrant, growing and sustainable Art College that combines the knowledge, skills, and expertise of each institution, and enhances the high international reputation that both enjoy.

“EUSA supports the proposed merger, which offers huge opportunities both academically and socially for students at the University.”

Plans for the University and College to merge were announced back in February, the earliest date possible being set in 2013.

The fact that negotiations were brought forward has led to speculation that ECA’s financial position leaves them with no alternative but to merge with the University.

If the proposal is ratified, the institutions will officially join on 1 August 2011.

16 Comment 16 Comment

The Journal Wednesday 15 September 2010 The Journal Wednesday 15 September 2010

EDINBURGH’S EDINBURGH’S STUDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER EDINBURGH’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

University of Edinburgh fines system Proposed ECA and Edinburgh University merger Proposed ECA and Edinburgh University merger

ISSUE ISSUEXXXVII XXXVI ISSUE XXXVI

JOIN OUR TEAM JOIN OUR TEAM

Financial masochism at the A marriage of convenience?

A marriage of convenience?

University of Edinburgh

Editor-in-chief Editor-in-chief Working with a large team of writers, editors,

JK Rowling MS donation JK Rowling MS donation Archaeological dig

Deputy Editor Deputy Editor Comment & features Comment &junior features With a team of three editors and reporting directly

THE CIRCUMSTANCES Of the proposed merger of the University of EdinTHE CIRCUMSTANCES Of the proIT SOUNDS TOO ridiculous to beoftrue. burgh and the Edinburgh College Art posed merger of the University of EdinThenot revelation that University of Edinare entirely fortuitous.

Earlier burgh and the Edinburgh College ofthis Art burgh administrators are levying fines summer, we werefortuitous. promised a thorough are not entirely Earlier this on teaching staff for leading classes in consultation and told that 2013 was the summer, we were promised a thorough rooms not properly booked suggeststoa earliest possible date for a merger consultation and told that 2013 was the breakdown in communications between take place.

Now, however, hear that earliest possible date for we a merger to the academic facultymay andhave the Univerfinancial expediency forced take place. Now, however, we hear that sityacceleration bureaucracy.ofOur reporting on the the these plans.

ECA’s financial expediency may have forced Jourfinesofsystem in this about issue the of The lack transparency state of the acceleration of these plans.

ECA’s the news that the School of nal includes their balance sheets has led to rumours lack of transparency about the state of Philosophy, Psychology and Language of fiscal instability lauriston Place. their balance sheetsat has led to rumours Sciences somehow managed to taken incur The negotiations thus far have of fiscal instability at lauriston Place. £3,500behind worthclosed of fines in the 2009/10 place doors, leading to The negotiations thus far have taken academic year alone.

As an illustration claims that we are witnessing a “hostile place behind closed doors, leading to of the scheme at work, it’s fascinating, takeover”. claims that we are witnessing a “hostile butThe themerger logic behind theitself, initiative is not, in a badis takeover”. hard who to fathom.

If thewith fines aare entirely idea; can argue free The merger is not, in itself, a and bad punitive, designed to discourage deviegalitarian exchange of a academic idea; who can argue with free and ance from The Grand Plan, then it’s at expertise resources?ofButacademic rushing egalitarianandexchange bestprocess, a mean-spirited scheme. If itforce is, in the and attempting to expertise and resources? But rushing fact, a serious attempt to scrape back the process, and attempting to force some small speck of revenue from the academic budgets, does this indicate that the University’s financial situation

two very different institutions together mindless of their institutions histories and their two very different together might be worse than previously stated? traditions, has the potential to prove a mindless of their histories and their The automated room booking costly mistake.

ECApotential is rightfully prouda traditions, has the to prove system is collegiate a perfectcommunity microcosmand of of its small, costly mistake.

ECA is rightfully proud anwell-respected unwieldy bureaucracy; overcomits academic stature.

Its of its small, collegiate community and plicated to use atwill thenot best ofkindly times staff and students take its well-respected academic stature.

Its and obstinately unwilling toDepartaccept to becoming the University’s staff and students will not take kindly changes. the frustration it ment of Art. But to becoming the University’s Departinspires in tutorsof- representation perhaps the most Theof question is ment Art. members of a university’s aimportant crucial one.

ECA’s student president The question of representation is teaching staff, given their position as acknowledges possibility that her a crucial one. the ECA’s student president the mostmay frequent pointas of acontact for position disappear result of acknowledges the possibility that her students - There is both unnecessary and the merger. is yet to be a frank position may disappear as a result of unwanted.

Tutors should feel that and discussion how the open merger.

There isofyet to ECA’s be a 1,600 frank their institution is doing all it can to students, with theirofdistinct location and open discussion how ECA’s 1,600 support them, not culture, swinging a punitive and representative will be repstudents, with their distinct location baton atin minor infractions. resented the new unified will institution. and representative culture, be repThis is not an be especially critical The priority must to ensure that resented in the new unified institution. issue, and it’s unlikely thatthey students’ they possess an equal voice; The priority must be to ensuremust that studies are being adversely outcast. effected not disenfranchised they feel possess an equal voice;orthey must in real terms. may But ifremain tension between The not campuses feel disenfranchised orphysically outcast. academia and administration starts The campuses may remain physically to impact negatively on teaching on any level, we have a problem. Surely the purpose of this bureaucracy is to

divided, but in spirit there can be no division. divided, but in spirit there can be no support the provision of teaching, not The Journal supports In principle, division. hinder it? To state theasobvious, £3,500 the merger - as long it is a union In principle, The Journal supports is a lot of properly money to siphon from of anda the equals, merger - as long considered as it is a union single department, especially in these carefully executed.

If money truly is of equals, properly considered and times of driving shrinking and drasthe force thisbudgets carefully executed.

If merger money forward, truly is tic cuts.

That money is simply then so bedriving it: we this must to protect the the force this act merger forward, swallowed back into the institution future of art education in Edinburgh. then so be it: we must act to protect the from it cameaccess makesto the whole In anywhence case, improved various future of art education in Edinburgh. process seem entirely at redundant. resources for students both instituIn any case, improved access to various From a logical perspective, you tions can only make their educational resources for students at both instituhave to question just how much damexperience richer. already tions can only makeThe theirtwo educational age moving a class to an unoccupied share a closericher. bond, and no reaexperience Thethere twois already andthis better-equipped room cause. son cannot continue to can grow share a close bond, and there is no and reaThe fines system is fundamentally litdevelop to the benefit of all students son this cannot continue to grow and tle more than academic pickpocketing; and staff. develop to the benefit of all students money beingis taken from departments there resentment about the andIfstaff.

- and, by extension, from students - for nature of this marriage-cum-bailout, If there is resentment about the unashamedly mundane reasons. however, wethis run the risk of endingSPPLS up in nature of marriage-cum-bailout, may be able to take a philosophically ahowever, ‘staying together for the scenario we run the risk ofkids’ ending up in attitude this ends absurd penalty, -acalm a‘staying situation thattorarely happily. together for the kids’ scenario but students must question the Uni- a situation that rarely ends happily. versity of Edinburgh’s motivation for introducing such a pedantic system.

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We hope and methodical clinical research, properly abstraction, students all over Edinexpect that the Anne Rowling Regenerfunded and supported. We hope and burgh are talking about it.make Headsa sigturn ative Neurology Clinic will expect that the Anne Rowling Regenerand thoughts are provoked, and when nificant contribution thatmake research. ative Neurology Clinictowill a sigtheMs story is told we in thelost sticky Rowling hasrevel a nificant contribution toalready that research. details.one Andtothe factHer thatcommitment it happened loved MS. Ms Rowling has already lost a right on our that doorstep makes the to ensuring others not whole have loved one to MS. Her will commitment saga that much more real, and that to is fundamentally and undeniably to ensuring that others will not have much more cool. praiseworthy. to is fundamentally and undeniably praiseworthy.

Edinburgh’s uniVErsiTY nEwspapEr Edinburgh’s uniVErsiTY nEwspapEr Publisher Devon Walshe Publisher Devon Walshe Editors (Acting) Marcus EditorsKernohan (Acting) Megan MarcusTaylor Kernohan Megan Taylor Lead Designer Dorothy Butchard Lead Designer Dorothy Butchard Deputy Editor (News) Megan DeputyTaylor Editor (News) Megan Taylor

General News Amanda S. falk Local News Melissa Wong General News Amanda S. falk National Politics Jonathan Local News Melissa Wong Baldie Features Johnston National Emily Politics Jonathan Baldie Features Emily Johnston Deputy Editor (Arts & Entertainment) Deputy Editor Marcus Kernohan (Arts & Entertainment) Marcus Kernohan Theatre Amy Taylor Art Rachel Cloughton Theatre Amy Taylor Comedy Emily Carson Art Rachel Cloughton Comedy Emily Carson

Music Kane Mumford Fashion Jessica Heggie Music Kane Mumford Food & Drink Ben Kendall Fashion Jessica Heggie Food & Drink Ben Kendall Deputy Editor (Sport) Jonny Brick Deputy Editor (Sport) Jonny Brick Photography Editor Edmund Fraser Photography Editor Edmund Fraser

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The Journal is currently recruiting. www.journal-online.co.uk/recruitment

The Journal currently recruiting.

Visit www.journal-online.co.uk/recruitment or email us toisfind out more about joining our team. or email us to find out more about joining our team.

layout designers and photographers the editor-inWorking with a large team of writers, editors, chief of The Journal from layoutsupervises designers the andproduction photographers the editor-incommissioning final layout and It’s from a big chief supervisestothe production of proofing.

The Journal responsibility, it offers an amazing opportunity commissioningbut to final layout and proofing.

It’s a bigto take a hands-onbut approach the direction ofto responsibility, it offersin anshaping amazing opportunity Edinburgh’s independent newspaper. take a hands-on approachstudent in shaping the direction of Edinburgh’s independent student newspaper.

What we’re looking for What we’re for for making key decisions about The editor is looking responsible the paper’s coverage and and so mustabout take The editor is responsible development, for making key decisions an active interest in all areas of the publication’s coverage, the paper’s coverage and development, and so must take from newsinterest and comment to arts andpublication’s sport. an active in all areas of the coverage, from news and comment to arts and sport.

We are looking for a person who: We is are looking for aand person • a great writer editorwho: • is confident a great writer and editor with managing a large and comfortable diverse team • and is confident and comfortable with managing a large andadiverse team • has sense for a compelling and eye-catching story has a sense for a compelling and eye-catching • is passionate about both print and new media story • is passionate about both print and new media

to theaeditor-in-chief, the Deputy Editor (Commentdirectly & With team of three junior editors and reporting features) oversees thethe commissioning of(Comment informed, & incisive to the editor-in-chief, Deputy Editor opinion pieces and in-depth features that are relevant to features) oversees the commissioning of informed, incisive both ourpieces audience the key issues of theare day. opinion andand in-depth features that relevant to both our audience and the key issues of the day.

You must be: Yourelentless must be: in chasing public figures for comment, • whether politicians, academics or artists • relentless in chasingjournalists, public figures for comment, whether politicians, journalists, academics or artists • adept at writing and editing thoughtful, balanced onand tight deadlines • commentaries adept at writing editing thoughtful, balanced commentaries on tight deadlines • tuned in to current affairs on a local, national and plane affairs on a local, national and • international tuned in to current international plane

Deputy Editor Deputy Editor Sport Sport With four universities and three colleges, Edinburgh’s

Letters

student sports scene isand a busy place.

The Deputy Editor With four universities three colleges, Edinburgh’s (Sport) is responsible for ensuring that The Journal student sports scene is a busy place. The Deputy Editor continues to provide broad, interesting coverage of both (Sport) is responsible for ensuring that The Journal student and professional sport in Edinburgh and across continues to provide broad, interesting coverage of both Scotland. student and professional sport in Edinburgh and across Scotland.

ECA University set to merge You and needEdinburgh to possess: Youaneed possess: • wideto general interest in a range of sports, and a solid Sir, of what’s on in Edinburgh sports This incorrect - the 'student drawn with• understanding aiswide general interest ingoing acharter' range ofwas sports, andup a solid (particularly at of the universities) out the students and students have on to go to the SRC sports office to understanding what’s going in Edinburgh request to read it. at the universities) (particularly • good writing skills in a range of formats, from match Anon via website to interviews opinion pieces from match • reports good writing skills inand a range of formats, reports to interviews opinionand pieces Papal Visitideas • great about howand to develop enhance the publication’s sport coverage • great ideas about how to develop and enhance the Sir, publication’s sport coverage • was the ability to turn around highly readable copy his It gratifying to hear the tight, Pope finally making clear on tight deadlines views on paedophile priests.

I wasreadable appalled to see • the ability to turn aroundHowever, tight, highly copy that on he tight was deadlines not wearing a seatbelt whilst travelling along Edinburgh's Princes Street in the Popemobile.

Did he not realise that he was being viewed by thousands of Head to www.journal-online.co.uk/recruitment impressionable young people? The Holy Father, above all people, should be aware that child protection requires an holistic Head to www.journal-online.co.uk/recruitment or email recruitment@journal-online.co.uk for approach.

John Eoin Douglas or email recruitment@journal-online.co.uk for more information.

more information.

Comment 13

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Comment Education funding proposals Discussion&Debate

must put student support first As the results of the Browne report creep ever closer, NUS Scotland president Liam Burns is next to contribute to The Journal's ongoing coverage of the debate over the future of University financing. He insists students from poorer backgrounds need to be protected.

Liam Burns

I

WONDER WHAT type of student you are? Are you someone who comes from a privileged background, whose parents pay all your living and study costs? Whose parents both went to university and could give first-hand advice and support? Or are you a different type of student? One who has to work over 20 hours a week, is forced to take out thousands of pounds of commercial debt in credit cards and overdrafts.

Maybe you were forced to go parttime and now pay fees? Or maybe, just maybe, you are actually a mature student who found your way into education late because you never had the advice or support in the past.

Over the last few months, commentators and media have built a narrative of an “impending” crisis in education. For us students, there is nothing impending about it. Our most recent report on student funding, Still in the Red, found that regardless of public spending cuts or economic recessions, change in how we support students is long overdue. Our flawed funding system leaves students far below the poverty line, relying on jobs or parental support that often doesn’t exist. We often talk about our education being ‘free’ because Scottish students don’t pay fees. When one in three students know someone who has dropped out because of financial strains, education is not free and it is certainly not fair.

It would be naive to ignore the external climate of cuts and ‘austerity’ measures, and over the next two months that will become blatantly clear. We face numerous calls for a return to tuition fees, the slashing of student numbers and the restriction of student support. And the cliff edge of how universities will be funded post2012 is well within sight. Over the next

two months the scale of the challenges we are facing will become clear. We need to fight cuts as hard as we can but we must accept that we can’t hide from them or wish them away, and we can’t pretend that students across Scotland will somehow escape without being affected.

Compared to most economically developed countries, Scotland spends among the lowest amounts of public money on higher education. Decision makers must realise that there is not a single solution that would produce the upfront funding they are so desperately seeking. Protecting current levels of public spending is actually a necessity, not simply an option.

Equally, businesses in Scotland benefit greatly from access to Scotland’s world class graduates. While students are paying through the nose to study in Scotland in terms of commercial credit, overdrafts, and working too many hours, businesses currently have no structured way to contribute to higher education at all. For too long business has made all the demands while taking none of the responsibility.

But there is another option in how we increase student support to levels where financial background genuinely stops making an impact on access to education. I can confidently argue that the benefits to society of college and university graduates far outweigh the benefit to the individual- up to a point.

When we start talking about earnings of £25,000, £30,000, I genuinely start to feel uncomfortable arguing that point, especially when I know such wages will have been earned off the back of families that never sent their children to university at all, for all the reasons I discussed earlier.

Should the nurse, teacher or social worker, who is unlikely to exceed the average wage in society, pay for the privilege of serving the public good? No. But should the doctor, lawyer or banker, who also serve society - but certainly exceed the average wage - give back to ensure that others have the same chance? That becomes a lot trickier.

Let me be clear. Students will never

accept a price tag hanging over their heads before they even arrive on campus. Tuition fees are tuition fees. I don’t care if a charge is upfront or deferred, they will never be welcomed north of the border - not by students, not by gradates, and not by the current Scottish government. But since 2009, your students’ associations have been asking us to consider how a progressive graduate contribution, paid only when and if you see a genuine financial benefit, could put more money back in current students’ pockets.

We have always been clear that any contribution must be connected to the financial benefit seen, not the cost of the course studied or the university attended, as both the Scottish Conservatives and Principal of Glasgow University have suggested in proposals

for tuition fees by any other name.

We are in for hugely testing times and over the next couple of months we face some of the most extreme challenges we’ve seen for many decades. In facing up to these challenges there are two very different principles we are trying to reconcile.

The first principle is that society as a whole sees a huge benefit from higher and further education. These benefits come in all sorts of ways, not least the type of successful economy that relies on high-end skills as is the case in Scotland and the UK. The second principle is that graduates as individuals see a huge benefit from higher education. Students will not pretend that politicians, and certainly not the tax payer, are going to forget about that. But we need to make sure that

nobody is so disingenuous as to ask us to forget about what we contribute to society.

I asked at the start of this article what type of student you are to challenge those that advocate completely “free” education. When Scotland has the worst record in the UK at getting students from poorer backgrounds through our lecture theatre doors, charges fees to anyone who isn’t a fulltime undergraduate and forces 40 per cent into crippling commercial debt – don’t tell me it’s those from poorer backgrounds. It’s not. It’s enshrining university as the preserve of those lucky enough to come from the right background.

Liam Burns is the president of NUS Scotland

14 Comment

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

For a free press, how far is too far?

In light of the recurring News of the World phone hacking scandal, can illegal newsgathering methods ever be legitimate?

NINIAN REID

NSA, say - and manages to unearth a particularly sordid piece of information about that representative’s private life. A series of tawdry revelations about the hapless politician are published, causing great personal embarrassment and leaving the paper prey to an outpouring of damning criticism for its gross invasion of personal privacy.

Marcus Kernohan

D

OWNING STREET SPINDOCTOR-IN-CHIEF Andy Coulson’s ongoing phonehacking imbroglio is the kind of story that student journalists love. The sense of hacking access to power - wittingly or otherwise - is one that aspiring newshounds crave, and the dark hint of illegality and sleaze gives the saga that extra sheen of intrigue and deceit. It’s hardly ‘All the President’s Men’ - indeed, many of the News of the World’s much-trumpeted exclusives stretch the definition of ‘investigative journalism’ to breaking point. But the furore reignited by The New York Times’ recent investigation of British tabloid tactics offers a tantalising glimpse into the newsrooms many of us hope to one day work in.

The spotlight shining on the newspaper industry recently may illuminate some fascinating corners, but it also throws into sharp relief many of the cracks in the tabloid press’ brash facade. At heart, it’s the toe-curling stupidity of it all; the question roaring in the collective imagination is an obvious one - how can you build a story around quotes taken from a private message left in someone’s voicemail inbox and expect not to get caught doing it?

Great journalism often finds its roots in criminal acts. The ‘Collateral Murder’ video which catapulted confidential document emporium Wikileaks into the headlines recently surfaced as a result of an illegal leak by a member of the US military. The popular tendency is to praise or vilify a journalist’s actions based on a contextual judgement about the story’s legitimacy, but this is invariably a mistake.

To frame this question in relevant, albeit strictly hypothetical terms, consider this fictional scenario: a

How can you build a story around quotes taken from a private message in someone's voicemail inbox and expect not to get caught doing it?

reporter at The Journal discovers that the Principal of the University of Edinburgh is secretly lobbying the Scottish Parliament in favour of tuition fees. Our hack in the making comes by this knowledge not through careful,

methodical journalism but by covertly accessing the Principal’s voicemail messages. The paper runs the story, and the Principal finds himself on the receiving end of a furious outcry. The story, and the methods behind it, are

widely rationalised as an expose firmly in the public interest, or at least in the interests of The Journal’s readership.

Then imagine the same intrepid journo pulls the same stunt on a student sabbatical officer - at EUSA or

The only substantive distinction between these two cases is one of context. In one case, phone hacking yields results praised as triumphs of investigative reporting, and the reporter’s tactics are treated somewhat forgivingly. In the other, the same methods are decried as muckraking sensationalism. The problem here is that both examples are indefensible.

No matter what the outcome, the ends cannot justify the means when we are discussing criminal newsgathering techniques. Breaking the law to prove that someone else did so isn’t good journalism but hypocrisy. The mantra must be simple and sacrosanct: responsible journalism means never having to burn the evidence.

Reviving our 'dead parrot' democracy The Liberal Democrats' parliamentary candidate for Edinburgh Central tells The Journal why voting reform is necessary - and doesn't hold back

Alex ColeHamilton

D

EMOCRACY IN THE UK is stone dead. Democracy is no more. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. It is bereft of life. It rests in peace. If we didn’t engage in the charade of voting every five years it would be pushing up the daisies. Its metabolic processes are now history. It has shuffled off its mortal coil, and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible! This is an ex-democracy.

Anyone who tells you that the way in which we elect our MPs at the moment is fair or democratic is either deluded, has something to gain from the current system or is just plain lying to you.

We live in a Britain where under the current voting system in 2001, Labour were returned to power with just 23 per cent of the support of all registered voters. 77 per cent of people registered to vote in this country did not vote for a Labour government. Yet, because of the voting system, a Labour Government is what they got. In that election 23 per cent of the votes up for grabs netted the Labour party 63 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons. Is it just me or does that totally stink?

On that screwball mandate Labour took this country into an illegal war against the wishes of the majority of British people and ignored the outrage of millions, like me and many of you who took to the streets of Glasgow and London in 2003. And despite that outrage, this system gave power and an overall parliamentary majority back to Labour in 2005 with the backing of just 2 out of every 10 registered voters.

Put simply, the cost of our broken democracy can be measured out in lives, hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi lives.

We now have a once in a generation opportunity to bring this broken democracy crashing down, and to build in its place, a better, fairer way

Is it just me or does that totally stink? of electing our Parliamentarians. If we secure a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum for the Alternative Vote system next may, every MP in this country will need to secure the support of at least 50 per cent of the voters in their constituencies. At a stroke this will obliterate the idea of a ‘safe seat’ (places where one party has such a strong vote, it is in fact the local party that chooses the MP rather than the voters). It will mean

that MPs have to work harder and listen more attentively. It means no more duck houses, no more expense fiddling and no more illegal wars.

Most importantly it means that every single voter in this country can go to the ballot box in the knowledge that the preferences they put down on the ballot paper will count towards the shaping of this country and its future.

Democracy is dead, but voting reform is the crash cart. The paddles are charging and in May we all get the chance to shock it back to life.

Alex Cole-Hamilton is the Scottish Liberal Democrat’s parliamentary candidate for Edinburgh Central

Comment 15

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Sins of the fathers?

In the wake of the Pope's state visit to the UK, Matthew Macaulay draws on conversations with members of the clergy and argues that despite negative media attention, the Catholic Church has a lot to offer ALL IMAGES BY MATT DALE

A

S A CATHOLIC, my feelings towards the Pope are not black and white. While I respect him as a spiritual leader, I have deep concerns regarding his handling of child abuse in the church. For many Catholics, the Papal visit was coloured more by a sense of relief than euphoria. We had expected mass protests and a poor turnout but it was actually a relative success.

Police in Edinburgh did not report any large demonstrations and there were no arrests. A student organisation calling itself Protest the Pope Edinburgh only attracted a crowd of around 150 people.

At the heart of the animosity towards the Pope is the Church’s appalling track record on child abuse.

Monsignor Donal Lucey, a parish priest told me of the Church’s failings: “Central to most of the media attention has been the church’s failure in the area of child abuse. But that has now been acknowledged, late admittedly, but there has been heartfelt acknowledgement. The church has apologised and has put a process in place to ensure that it does not happen again.”

The Church is finally facing up to its responsibilities. During his visit the Pope met with five victims and has condemned the abuse saying it “seriously undermines the moral credibility of the Church”.

The media too frequently deals in stereotypes. Whilst it is right that we hear about the child abuse scandal, there is virtually no coverage of the good work done by the Catholic Church and its adherents. It would appear that the BBC’s foreign correspondent, David Willey, agrees with me. He said the Papal visit caused him to”sit up and think about how stereotyped the view of the Vatican from afar can become”.

Monsignor Lucey believes “there is a tendency to tar the whole organisation with the same brush”, when in reality “overall the church is a force for good in spite of all its failings and mistakes.”

It should not be overlooked that the Catholic Church is heavily involved in dealing with issues such as poverty, education, health and climate change.

In November 2006 the Pope bought the first Immunisation Bond, a UK led initiative. To date the bond has raised over $1.6 billion to spend on health and immunisation programmes in 70 of the world’s poorest countries.

Father Tim Swinglehurst, Dean of Wakefield and Pontefract, told me the

chief benefit of the Papal Visit was that “we were able to hear the voice of the Holy Father unmediated by a largely indifferent or even antagonistic other.

We were able to hear where he places the emphasis rather than where others think it is”. The British people got to see the real Pope, not a caricature created by the media. Many realised that, as well as being the Pontiff, he is a profoundly insightful and compassionate human being.

Monsignor Lucey accepts that the Catholic Church like all big organisations “is prone to corruption and imperfections. It is after all, run by human beings. There is an historic vendetta against the Roman Catholic

Church. Some of that is historical but some we our created ourselves. In terms of the Pope we have personalised Christianity into one person, hero-worshipping one man. It is healthy to question that”. It is right that the Catholic Church is held to account but the media also has a responsibility to highlight the good that it does.

"In terms of the Pope we have personalised Christianity into one person, hero-worshipping one man. It is healthy to question that."

16 Arts & Entertainment

The Journal On the horizon Music MUSIC Music Like a Vitamin Friday 1 October HMV Picture House £7 Scots alt all-stars showcase products of hermetic jam sessions.

Tony Allen Saturday 2 October HMV Picture House £15 Legendary Afrobeat pioneer brings his amazing sound to the capital.

Charlatans Friday 8 October HMV Picture House £26.50 Them and them only, indie perennials visit yet again.

Mudhoney Saturday 9 October The Arches, Glasgow £16.50 Nirvana’s messy contemporaries - unmissable for grunge aficionados.

Theatre THEATRE Orland Thursday 30 September Saturday 2 October Traverse Theatre £14 (£10) Cryptic bring Virginia Woolf’s voyage of selfdiscovery to the stage by fusing live music, performance, visuals and technology.

In the Pipeline Until Saturday 2 October Traverse Theatre £12 A Play, a Pie and a Pint continues with Gary Owen’s new play, following three residents of Milford Haven as they’re caught up in a catastrophic liquid gas leak.

Punk Rock Until Saturday 2 October King’s Theatre, Edinburgh £14.00 - £26.50 Simon Stephens’ latest play explores the lives of a group of A Level students, as they prepare to face the big bad world.

The Importance of Being Earnest Friday 22 October - Saturday 20 November Royal Lyceum Theatre £12.50 - £28.00 Continuing with their Autumn of Love season, the Lyceum present Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners and mores.

Comedy COMEDY The Edinburgh Revue Thursday 30 September The Pleasance (Cabaret Bar) £1 Edinburgh Uni student comedy troupe's flagship stand-up show returns for the new academic year.

Wicked Wenches Tuesday 5 October The Stand £6 (£5/£3) A star-studded lineup at The Stand's all-female night, featuring Shazia Mirza, Maeve Higgins, Jay Laffery, Caroline Robertson and host Susan Calman.

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Feature

The Art of Comedy Martin Creed provokes laughter, as wit and wisdom collide in his collection of 'Works'

Greg Davies: Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog Tuesday 12 October The Stand £10 (£8) Davies releases his solo show into the wild after an impressive run at the Fringe.

Josh Widdicombe & Adam Crowe Tuesday 12 October The Pleasance £5 Award-winning rising star Widdicombe and eightyear circuit veteran Crowe should provide a nicely balanced show.

Art ART James Hugonin, Friday 1 October - Saturday 20 October Ingleby Gallery Free A major retrospective that celebrates the British abstract painter.

Starting Points, Saturday 9 October - Saturday 23 October St Margaret's House Free A group exhibition from edge: textiles Scotland.

Giles Round: The Form of the Book Until Saturday 10 October SWG3, Glasgow Free Round presents an installation of bronze and light sculptures drawing upon the forms of phonetic letters.

Rhubaba's 1st Birthday Friday 1 October, 7-11pm 25 Arthur St, Edinburgh A celebration for the opening of the art collective's first studio in Dalry.

Clubs CLUBS T.R.L The Liquid Room Thursday 30 September, 10:30pm-3am £2 (£1) Night of indie, pop and dance Confusion is Sex The Bongo Club Friday 1 October, 11pm-3am £6 (£5 fancy dress) Glammed-up twisted techno Signature Ghillie Dhu Wednesday 7 October, 11pm-3am £5 (£4 guestlist) Elegant red-carpet partying

Rachael Cloughton

M

ARTIN CREED TAKES pleasure in the simple things. His (omni)presence during the Edinburgh Art Festival celebrated basic systems and sequences, presenting them in permutations that left him and us - grinning from ear to ear. The Martin Creed Ballet, Work 1020 at the Traverse shaped up to be both Creed’s most hedonistic contribution to the Festival and, as if to hammer home the point, his most restricted. Playing only with frustratingly simple musical s cales, bathetic equations (“take n from none, get one”) and limiting his five classically-trained dancers to five basic positions, he deliberately imposed constraints upon his work that served to heighten the extraordinariness of the scenes that unravelled.

At one point Creed sings out the alphabet, the lyrics quite simply “a, a, a, b, b...” and so on. It was a bit like Vic Reeves’s club-style renditions of pop songs in Shooting Stars, and the effect is much the same: the familiar becomes ambiguous and simultaneously funny. Later, Creed sings about loneliness with a close-up shot of a nipple as a backdrop; again the very ordinary body-part morphs into something strange, even uncomfortable to view, but the mood is lightened by the humorous frankness of Creed’s accompanying lyrics: “pass your problems on to someone else”.

The Ballet’s catharsis features a joyous Creed squealing his monosyllabic

‘Fuck Off’ song to a film of someone excreting and dancers rolling around the stage. Perhaps this is why Creed has established artistic credibility where most of us would have been institutionalised elsewhere; out of the most mundane ingredients he creates captivating chaos.

Although only shown for a week during August, elements of Work 1020 continue to thrive at the Fruitmarket Gallery, where Creed’s solo show Down Over Up is exhibited until the end of October. The simple ideas of stacking, ordering and categorising mundane objects remain prevalent, while common, ‘low-art’ objects such as Lego bricks and felt-tip pens are elevated by Creed to the lofty avantgarde domain. A film of a chihuahua trotting comically in front of a massive, unkempt Wolfhound directly overlaps with the Ballet, where it was used as a backdrop for dance. With this in mind, the expansive space in front of the film at the Fruitmarket becomes loaded with performative potential and the stacked chairs and tables beside it; props for action.

Our own simple movements are a case for attention elsewhere in the exhibition, with a musical staircase, ascending and descending in scale depending on approach, pinging at each footstep that treads on it. The audience are forced to engage in this performance to reach the upper floor of the gallery, or else take the lift where scale is played with yet again through an audio of elevating chords.

Equally funny, both works disrupt the unspoken rules of the white cube, thrusting the disembodied eye back in its socket and making us extremely self-aware of our physical presence

in the gallery. In this new context, the rows of cacti appear anthropomorphic whilst the prints of broccoli assume a human form, relationships to the viewer are forged from the most unlikely beginnings.

The kind of laughter such self-consciousness prompts flows nervously through Creed’s equally honest and simple descriptions of his work. “I want to be liked, that makes my life better - if people like me and like my work. I want to be loved, that’s another reason why I work,” he claimed in an interview with BBC’s Front Row during this year’s Festival, his uncommon directness prompting giggles from both sides. The same frank nervousness binds the spine of his recent monograph Works, that reads, “I fear this book, I don’t think I want to make a book of any work, I’m scared to make a book of any works in case I don’t like it…”

Alexander and Susan Maris’s current show at Stills Gallery, reviewed in this issue of The Journal, is titled The Pursuit of Fidelity, with the two artists claiming to seek “truth, faithfulness and accuracy” through their work. But where they pursue, Creed attains, for his contributions to the Art Festival have been reduced to the most basic elements to produce honest, truthful works and, as a repercussion, laughter. For Creed’s works subscribe to one of comedy’s oldest clichés; they are funny because they are true.

Martin Creed’s Expo Fund project on the Scottish Steps will be unveiled later this year. Down Over Up runs at the Fruitmarket Gallery until 31 October.

Arts & Entertainment 17

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Comedy

Theatre

Josie Long: Be Honourable!

Romeo & Juliet

The Fringe veteran takes her optimistic new show on the road

Katie Chapman ON ARRIVAL AT Josie Long’s show Be Honourable!, the audience are given an endearing, hand-drawn programme detailing everything from the show’s playlist to accounts of Long’s attempts to talk to strangers. While this could have left the show seeming contrived, Long’s skill at befriending audiences of varying ages means that it retains spontaneity and momentum. Then, with little aplomb, Long takes to the stage to introduce her guests for the evening.

James Acaster presents the most straightforward stand-up routine of the night, his relaxed but cheeky manner giving his observations a subtle edge. An early mention of his love of in-jokes provides a useful comedic reference point for the

(admittedly rare) later instances where only a minority laugh. Musical guest Johnny Lynch - performing as The Pictish Trail - leads with a series of somewhat bewildering 30-second nonsense songs, before displaying his true talent in what he calls “a proper song”. Lynch’s brilliant vocals captivate the audience, but somehow manage to reduce the energy in the room. Sensing this, The Pictish Trail responds by embarking on his regular crowd-pleaser; a rap song entitled ‘My Fizzy Bits’.

Finally, Long takes the stage and demonstrates the true range of her talent. Adopting the persona of an aggressive “nail technician-cumastronaut” who goes “up space”, what follows includes an internet slideshow, an insight into Long’s consciousness - affected by her divorced parents and desire to be a better

A refreshing new production of one of theatre's great tragedies opens the Lyceum theatre's Autumn of Love season.

Amy Taylor

person - and a critique of modern society from Tories to disappointing London hippies. Once again Long’s variety, likeability and optimism ensure a positive reception for her whimsical sociopolitical commentary. This evening may not follow the

classic standup show formula, but Long nonetheless amply demonstrates how she’s earned her place as an award-winning Edinburgh Festival veteran.

The Stand | 14 September | £8

MILO ZANECCHIA

Music

The Futureheads Veteran indie-kids drop in on Edinburgh to entertain the freshers

Sophie Alexander

LOOKING AT THIS year’s Freshers’ Week lineup, it’s best to focus on The Futureheads and support act Angry vs. The Bear as the potential diamonds in the rough, encrusted as they are, amid a host of X Factor rejects and Radio 1 DJs. Angry vs. the Bear are the picture of contemporary electro pop, sauntering onstage, a coolness at odds with their ceiling-scraping hair-dos.

These guys prove to be as fun as they look, even if their infectious energy at times washes over the timid crowd – with lead singer, the 80s styled seductress Mizi, belting out their catchy tunes and making the fresher boys blush with her glittering eyes and rock attitude.

The Futureheads take to the stage amid much rapturous hooting and free-whistle blowing, but

this energy is short-lived and the crowd do little to reciprocate the band’s attempts at getting them on side. Awkwardness soon becomes the theme of the night, with the youngster crowd loitering uncomfortably; clutching at their freshers’ pass, nodding and smiling at their new corridor buddy, wondering when the madness of sex and drug fuelled Freshers’ Week 2010 is to begin. Not at this gig, that’s for sure.

Tough crowd notwithstanding, The Futureheads do manage to cause at least a ripple of interest with catchy anthem ‘Skip To The End’, while ‘Decent Days And Nights’ was a perfect rendition of an old favourite.

Their set was technically faultless, but seemed to be choreographed down to the last hoot and holler from frontman Barry Hyde. They made seamless transitions from track to track, all whilst the mandatory smoke machine (de rigueur for any Potterrow night) pumped plumes of

white smoke over the band and lifeless audience.

From tonight’s show it’s slightly sad to see that The Futureheads, despite their name, are not a band of tomorrow - or even today. Once

fresh and exciting, their sound has now become background music for the uncomfortable mumblings of the latest generation of students.

Potterrow |14 September | £7

LOVE AND HATE are at the heart of the Lyceum’s new season opener, the time-honoured tale of Romeo and Juliet. Directed by Tony Cownie, this revival of one of the world’s most performed plays stays true to the text while managing to give the well-worn tale a new lease of life. Shakespeare’s classic tale of young love set against a backdrop of violence and retribution follows the eponymous leads, Romeo (Will Featherstone) and Juliet (Kirsty Mackay), as they embark on a passionate affair that will eventually overpower them, and lead them to a tragic end.

The Lyceum’s decision to open their Autumn of Love season with Shakespeare’s best-known play may seem a relatively safe decision after the excesses of the Festival, but while Romeo and Juliet may seem like a disappointing start to the theatre calendar, Cownie’s production is a pleasantly surprising and thoroughly thoughtful revival of the Bard’s classic tragedy. Combining a sustainesd onstage energy with an intimate understanding of the script, the themes of first love and social stigma are presented with care and understanding in a production that rejuvenates the somewhat over-performed script.

By focusing on the intensity of that first love affair, and combining it with some familiar surges of sheer teen angst, Cownie’s Romeo and Juliet becomes a refreshing and relevant tribute to the power of the original work.

With its issues of loyalty, religion and dedication, the real message of this revival is one of nostalgia; the longing to once more be young, reckless and full of hope. Relative newcomers Featherstone and Mackay captivate as the doomed couple in a play that boasts such theatre heavyweights as Liam Brennan, Cara Kelly and Steven McNicholl.

With its impressive sword fights choreographed by Raymond Short and Neil Murray’s timeless set and decadent costumes, this is a welcome example of the Lyceum’s ongoing contributions to Scottish theatre.

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh | Until 16 October | £14.00-£28.00

18 Arts & Entertainment

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010 MANUEL HARLAN

Theatre

Comedy

Black Watch

The Stand: The Thursday Show

John Tiffany's revival of the award-winning war drama is grimly thoughtprovoking Amy Taylor “THE SECC? WHAT pish are you going to see there, then?” demanded our taxi driver when we informed him of our desired destination. But he quickly fell quiet once he heard the words ‘Black Watch’; such is the power of the National Theatre of Scotland’s multi-award winning Iraq War drama.

Now revived after a two-year hiatus with a new cast and the original creative team, including director John Tiffany at the helm, Gregory Burke’s play returns to tell the story of the rich history and recent difficulties of the British Army’s most famous Scottish regiment, the Black Watch.

Moving between a pool hall in

A forgettable performance from the venue's midweek lineup Fife and the battlefields of Iraq, Black Watch sees Writer (Keith Fleming) interview former and current soldiers, including young squaddie Cammy (Jack Lowden), as he records the experiences of those involved in the Black Watch’s controversial deployment to Iraq, while exploring the consequences of the real-life deaths of three members of the regiment in a 2004 suicide bombing. First performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006, Tiffany’s Black Watch has since achieved the type of international notoriety in the theatre world usually reserved for much older and more established plays.

But while Burke’s award-winning play retains its enviable place at the pinnacle of contemporary Scottish

theatre, its story of modern warfare is undoubtedly universal and painfully relevant. Briefly touching upon the reasoning behind the regiment’s deployment to Camp Dogwood in the Babel Province in 2004, Black Watch quickly casts aside the well-worn political issues that surround the ongoing War on Terror, and instead focuses on the lives and the traditions of the men caught in the war later dubbed a “Western foreign policy disaster”.

Intertwining issues of legacy and tragedy, the message at the core of Burke’s piece is a sense of pride in the soldiers’ commitment to their job and, ultimately, to their comrades.

But while pride is a theme present throughout the play, a strong sense

of betrayal at the needless suffering of multiple generations of young men lurks just underneath Black Watch’s celebrated plot. The new cast, brought together by Tiffany’s original creative team, create a moving depiction of both the art and the spoils of war that manages to be simultaneously entertaining and heartbreaking. Combining song, movement and Burke’s trademark acerbic language, Black Watch is an utterly mesmerising tribute to the men that fight for our country in one of the most controversial wars in modern history.

SECC, Glasgow | Until 9 October | £27.50 (£15.00)

LESLEY DILL

Art

3D 2D: Object and Illusion in Print A playful exploration of the role of the three-dimensional in our visual culture

Hannah Knights

BRINGING TOGETHER WORK from Bristol’s Centre of Fine Print Research this show at Edinburgh Printmakers is a comprehensive introduction to 3D printing. As these fine artists begin to explore a new printing process, the exhibition arrives appropriately at a juncture where the three-dimensional is rapidly being incorporated into our visual culture. The illusion of object and image is proposed as the conceptual drive of the exhibition, but this isn’t a conceptually driven display: it is an education in process.

Much of the work is playful and almost naïvely eager, in a way that one would expect from this relatively new use of a printing

technique. Sandammeer’s Flying Fish Pigs has a Jeff Koons-like aesthetic and a culturally acute form alluding to factory generated toys, which is interesting, having been borne of a modern technology. Standing apart as the most recognisable name, Richard Hamilton’s The Typo: Topography of Marcel Duchamp’s Large Glass is a work that demands engagement, a re-working of the infamous Duchampian piece which holds wit and intellect for those who offer their participation.

Reid likewise brings humour to the foreground, relevantly unravelling the formulation of imagery. This is where the exhibition is at its strongest, in avoidance of being more obviously and predictably derived from research. The work varies greatly in subject and accolade but in medium these artists are united. 3D 2D won’t

change your perceptions on art, but it most certainly will on the breath of the printed medium and the new possibilities within the reach of its expanse.

3D 2D: Object and Illusion in Print | Edinburgh Printmakers | Until 30 October | Price: Free

Hannah Clark

SEX IS ON the brain at The Stand this Thursday with talk to rival anything in the Mills and Boon bibliography. The venue lends itself to great comedy, with an intimacy that creates both reaction and atmosphere, but this is repeatedly wasted tonight by a collection of comedians who can’t handle participation, even when they ask for it.

Host Susan Morrison proves herself an exception to the reliable compère archetype, with an overwhelmingly intimidating set that is apparently designed to leave the audience more on edge than warmed up.

After this shaky start, first into the breach is Stephen Callaghan, an unassuming character whose deadpan approach lacks the necessary charisma to pull it off. Despite the absence of punch, his jokes are solid and give promise of better things. Callaghan occasionally loses his stride, but on the basis of potential alone he in fact outshines everyone else on the bill. Ben Verth’s self-indulgent set about image and dating quickly makes clear his total disregard for the audience’s desires, resulting in a disappointing performance. A lack of charm or approachability, coupled with jokes about Robert Mugabe which might have been topical ten months ago, leaves Verth facing a restless crowd.

David Longley comes as something of a relief with an assured, witty and desperately wrong set which toys with the cute and the crude throughout. Controversial he may be, but with his use of physical comedy ringing reminiscent of a ‘70s variety act there is an element of affection in his nostalgia that allows him to get away with almost anything. Longley is an efficient, professional comic - qualities sadly absent from the evening’s headliner Bennett Arron. Despite concerted attempts to involve the audience, Arron’s rebuttals often prove painfully uncomfortable, and his material’s reliance on the fact that he comes from Wales leaves his comedy feeling predictable and malnourished. Though tonight’s show possesses its enjoyable moments, there’s a generally inescapable sense of being trapped inside the mind of a 14-year old boy; and not a very witty one, at that.

The Thursday Show | The Stand | 23 September | £8 (£7)

Arts & Entertainment 19

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

BECKY SIK

Art

Meat Force

RSA: New Works

An insipid presentation at Embassy's new show

Five very different artists contribute to an enjoyably varied exhibition at the Academy

Beth Crowe THE NEW WORKS Exhibition presents the work of five very different contemporary artists. So different, in fact, that with such distinct styles one often feels that as they walk from one artist’s corner to another they are entering a completely separate exhibition. Some may find this disconcerting; a little untogether, perhaps, but is arguably all the more

Jennifer Owen

engaging as the viewer is forced to consider the inter-relationships of diverse works within a limited space.

While Becky Šik’s obscure sculpture may leave you searching for deeper meaning in its structure (at first glance it looks not unlike corrugated cardboard), Anthony Schrag’s photography and multimedia works inject an endearing element of humour. His short film ‘Health and Safety’, wherein the artist climbs, hangs from and clambers over town

council signs and lampposts evokes the viewer to drift back to their childhood when it was acceptable to endanger oneself in simply ‘having fun’.

Both Frank Pottinger, with his organic and raw pieces from the Isle of Lewis, and Patricia Cain’s large scale depictions of more industrial structures remind us to observe the smaller details in places we may not usually look. Cain’s intelligent use of colour in Highlights and Reflections

is particularly appealing. Similarly, James Lumsden’s use of neon and pastel blues and greens create haunting and elegant images as part of his Liquid Light sequence.

Well worth a visit, the New Works exhibition is a ringing testimony to the diversity of contemporary art currently being made in Scotland.

New Works | Royal Scottish Academy | Until 10 October | Free

EDMUND FRASER

Music

The Vaselines

Cobain-influencing Scots indie legends kick off their grand renaissance

Rebecca Monks

“PERHAPS WE SHOULD tone down the smut?” suggests Frances McKee - an unlikely task for the proud creators of Sex with an X. Five minutes into their intimate set at Bongo Club and alternative supremos The Vaselines have already bantered around such subjects as dry humping, homeopathic glasses of wine and the not so rampant sex lives of their support act. Tone down the smut?

Absolutely not. Vaselines virgins, welcome to a baptism of fire.

With their new album drawing in fans seemingly by the day, the band’s original followers remain unrelenting in their support. The result is a mixed crowd which embraces the old and new with equal enthusiasm, Red Stripe in hand, creating an overwhelming atmosphere of encouragement and sheer fun. It

Art

must be gratifying for the band after all this time. After a mellow support from Haight-Astbury and Foxglove, the dirty jokes and quick licks that the band are famous for kick off their excitable set. Old classics ‘Son of a Gun’ and ‘Dying for It’ keep the crowd happy, whilst upcoming hits from their new album don’t disappoint, the highlights including ‘The Devil inside Me’, ‘Turning it On’ and ‘Such a Fool’.

The Vaselines are legendary amongst Nirvana fans worldwide as key songwriters and close cohorts of Kurt Cobain. They were so important to Cobain, in fact, that he named his daughter Frances Bean after McKee. Almost twenty years on, the same raw sexuality and energy that was so important to the band and Nirvana is still very much alive, and likely to be claiming Vaseline virginity across the UK. The Bongo Club | 16 September | £10

EXASPERATION AWAITS AT Embassy. While this was undoubtedly the intention of Meat Force, the real irritation lies with the sheer laziness of its production. The majority of the works transmit a patronising arrogance, while those which succeed in eliciting a more positive response from the viewer are let down through careless presentation.

Hayley Mathers’ ‘Parenthesis’ exists only to fulfil its title, as one could remove the work and not affect the overall exhibition. The haphazardly placed plain objects appear to aspire to conceptual art, but without any semblance of a concept the work is impotent.

‘Dead Cool’ by Alexander Storey Gordon has some visual impact, yet there is nothing tangible to sustain interest. Black text on a white sheet connotes mindless t-shirt slogans, and arouses only indifference in the audience.

Black text on a white sheet connotes mindless t-shirt slogans, and arouses only indifference in the audience.

Fortunately, Alex Tobin’s ‘Korean Ghost from Nose’ warrants some pondering, if only for the enticing soundtrack of his video playing in the darkness at the top of the stairs. However, the insubstantial presentation of the accompanying drawing and photos reduces their content to a flimsy, unfinished state. Finally, Lara MacLeod’s works prove that simplicity is hit or miss. Both ‘Shoulders’ and ‘Paper Line’ are almost absurdly literal, yet while the former creates some interesting tension (featuring some suitably art-school cardigans), the latter insults with the pointless emptiness of its gesture.

This is not an engaging exhibition. Meat Force has looked at possible engagement, passed it through the filter of condescending pretension and blu-tacked it to the wall.

Meat Force | Embassy, Roxy Art House | Until 3 October | Free

20 Food & Drink

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Eating

Drinking

O' food of bonnie Scotland...

The Bow Bar Caroline Bottger

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The Journal samples some of the best Scottish produce on offer at Clackmannanshire's festival of food Ben Kendall

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HE 21ST CENTURY, much like its antecedent the 20th, lacks the spirit of community once treasured by our forebears.

This, it seems, owes greatly to how our attitude to food has morphed over the intervening decades. Instead of being rightly considered the sublime coalescence of protector and lover – soulful life-giving mother; pleasure-bound and passion-raising seductress – food has been relegated to the office of medicine, or worse, fuel. With this relegation has come the ever-depressing stratification of consumption: eating is over with as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Porridge is endorsed as brilliant breakfast fodder because it is ‘filling’, not because it is delicious. Dietitians advocate mackerel and salmon for their brain-boosting oils, not their sumptuous soft-bellied scrumptiousness. Avocados, walnuts, cranberries - all delicious and all paradoxically belittled by their superfood status.

Nobody lingers over dinner any more, and certainly nobody wants to do it together. Food has become detached, a pathetic nonentity in the swirling

cosmos of our days, taking up space and wasting our time.

Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong. Food was, is and forever will be about life, about people, about society. It keeps us alive and cements us together. It is the very thread by which the fabric of life is held in place, the culinary cross-stitch of community. Thankfully, there remain institutions that remind us of this. ScotFest, Alva’s celebration of Scottish food and crafts, is one such.

The sense of interwoven community was raw, rural and fraternal. Unlike those battling with trolleys in Tesco or shuffling along the Subway queue, these people were alive with the hearty fervour of revelers enjoying good food for its own sake. And what an educative revelry it proved.

Perhaps this constitutes an unfair precedent, but it surprises me that Scottish produce can be so various and so good. Further, that Scotland can superbly deliver its own take on culinary classics. Hitherto it seemed incongruous for terrines and blue cheeses to belong anywhere outside French gastronomic territory, but the Sunnyside Farm and Choc ‘n’ Cheese company have seen to that fallacy.

The veal, pork and thyme terrine was gutsily rustic and headily aromatic

with that great king of British herbs; the meat was grainy and dense with a sweetly silken jelly, cracking on good bread. The Strathdon Blue was the best blue cheese – perhaps bar the most majestic Gorgonzola dolce – I have ever had the fortune to taste: smooth like velveteen cream, pungent as the sharpest, spikiest lime, sublime tanginess.

Caseic perfection.

Turning analogically to the West Country, Scotland does damn good fudge and cider too. The Galloway Fudge Company begets morsels worthy of comparison alongside the finest of Cornish offerings. The Really Raspberry Ripple is just that, thickly luscious vanilla fudge packed to the rafters with the zingiest of Scottish raspberries, the first raspberry-ripple concoction I have ever tried to taste of real fruit. I bought almost a kilo.

Alcoholically speaking, the Scottish repertoire reaches far beyond whisky to the Somersetian land of cider-ville.

Almost wincingly sharp and sparklingly quenching, the offerings of Thistly Cross Cider are the answer to any Scotland resident’s cideric dreams.

This could not be known were it not for the communal success of the food festival. Eat, drink and live together.

Simply put, revel in the glory of food.

HIS A LITTLE nook in the cranny of Victoria Street, is the old-man pub you have always dreamed of but never believed you would find. Leave the electric madness of South Bridge behind and go in search of the Bow Bar. As you walk down to the Grassmarket, pay attention to the left-hand side of the street because this place is gone as quickly as your dignity during Freshers' Week.

There is the delicious feeling that you are trespassing on sacred ground at the Bow Bar; as if you have stumbled upon your parents’ secret collection of expensive alcohol, housed in what you previously believed was an unprepossessing cabinet. The interior is reminiscent of a ship captain’s quarters, with its simple decor of oak chairs and tables. The atmosphere is distinctly old-world without being old-fashioned, and it definitely helps that the bartenders are all in their mid-twenties. One

of the downsides of the old-man pub is the feeling that it is an old-man pub, and that the young folk should stick to their clubbing or bopping or whatever they do these days. The Bow Bar never makes the younger client feel unwelcome or out of place, as most of the clientele, like the staff, are in their midtwenties. Of course, the older clientele figure heavily, but the two factions seem to coexist in harmony.

The Bow Bar serves a fine selection of whiskies, a better-than-average collection of ales and a good range of international beers. This establishment will certainly serve up old favorites like Tennent’s and Magners, but it is also not afraid of proposing something more adventurous, like a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from the United States. So, if you’ve tired of Edinburgh’s seemingly endless procession of cocktail bars, pay the Bow Bar a visit for its comfortable, calm atmosphere and fine drinks, and play at being grown-up for the evening.

80 West Bow, EH1 2HH

Clubs

Cloak X Dagger The Caves' new grime night is set to become a welcome fixture Rebecca Monks

T AVLXYZ ON FLICKR

O HEAR THE phrase ‘Cloak and Dagger at The Caves’, you could be forgiven for mistaking it for a questionable episode of Midsomer Murders. Alas, it is not crime, but grime. Describing itself as offering ‘the best in Scottish music’, it takes down genre boundaries and offers an unusual mix of grime, rap and dub.

Competing with other high profile nights on The Cowgate at Cabaret Voltaire and The GRV, The Caves were taking a risk with their new trimonthly Friday night venture. With £7 entry, one might expect the quality of a Cab Vol Sugarbeat event with the

freshness of The GRV. When it comes to the lineup, The Caves can certainly deliver.

Securing big names such as Scratcha DVA alongside upcoming names LuckyMe heads, Simba and Joe Acheson, the guestlist was as innovative as its unusual yet highly successful genre mashup. Although it was a bold, and arguably, exaggerated statement to suggest that it played the best in Scottish music, it does demonstrate a great range of new sounds.

The very name Scratcha has been making waves on the grime scene for years. With such quality acts and an equally dedicated crowd of followers, Cloak X Dagger definitely hasn’t murdered grime.

8-12 Niddry Street South, EH1 1NS

Fashion 21

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Something old, something new...

Welcome to Godiva, Edinburgh's hottest vintage and retro boutique Jessica Heggie

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OCATED IN THE Grassmarket, Godiva is one of a kind.

A perfect combination of old and new, Godiva offers vintage treasures, reworked retro, and more recently a bespoke dress making service.

Fleur Macintosh, creator of Godiva, is most certainly visionary. When she opened the first Godiva store in 2003, her dream was far more than that of yet another vintage store to be lost in Edinburgh’s abundance of secondhand and vintage shops. Instead she hoped to “strive against the soul-sucking monotony of fast food fashion to create a truly unique alternative” and she has done just that.

Through creating the delightful mixture of well-chosen, vintage pieces of exquisite quality and giving local talent a stage to perform on, Macintosh has created a haven, perfect for a unique and exclusive fashion fix. The reworked range makes sure of each piece’s individuality by taking vintage pieces and giving them a modern twist, ensuring you won’t turn up at the party and suffer every girl’s nightmare – finding that someone else is wearing your dress.

Vintage shopping is most certainly not for everyone. In fact some may actively avoid the musty smell and mothballs which are often plentiful in the depths of vintage stores. But Godiva does vintage like no other, and you’re sure to find a musk-free bargain.

Model: Maxine Philippa Makeup: Rubina Azizi Stylist: Julius Colwyn Photography: Edmund Fraser Dress: Louise Holsgrove 9 Westport, Old Town

The Godiva store is split into two: the front room is full of graduate designs and up and coming designers, and the back room a wealth of vintage riches. Macintosh encourages the best of Edinburgh’s graduate talent to display their designs in the store. One designer whose dresses and fabrics are particularly fantastic is Louise Holsgrove whose graphic print dress is featured. The print is completely handdrawn and was designed and made by Holsgrove herself, and she says that the design came about from her spontaneous doodles.

The bespoke dress making service has separated Godiva from the rest, being one of only a handful of bespoke services in Edinburgh. Starting with a plain white sample dress, you can choose exactly how it will turn out. You meet the designer, choose the detail, the fabric, and the fit, and all for a very reasonable prices starting at £250.

The fashion is all home-grown, with the in-house designer and dressmaker working just downstairs.

As of this week Godiva is also launching their online store that will feature unique accessories, meaning we can all continue to indulge in a bit of internet shopping.

Macintosh’s dream is certainly coming true. From a small vintage shop to a hotbed for new talent, Godiva is undoubtedly well on it’s way to becoming Edinburgh’s number one boutique.

If the last few years are anything to go by, Godiva is set to continue its growth: with the expansion of the website and a men’s bespoke tailoring service on the cards, this is definitely one to watch.

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14:26:34

Sport 23

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

You should be wearing your cap...

With an Ashes hero and the ashes of a Spurs striker in the news this fortnight, Jonny Brick launches a call to diminish excess in the post-Sky Sports era

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HE SPURS AND England forward Bobby Smith, who died on 18 September aged 77, was a prolific striker in Spurs’ glory days who could well have played in the ’66 World Cup side had he not been so outspoken in the press. To quote his Guardian obituary, Smith’s ’61 FA Cup winning medal vanished from his house and sold at auction for £11,000, with Smith remarking on the figure: “I think it’s disgusting. It’s only football. How can prices like this be justified?”

Fifty years on, money has changed sport for both the better and the worse, but the gradual Murdoch encroachment on English top-tier football, the resurgence of Kerry Packer’s idea of cricket-on-speed and the true meaning of the Olympic Games (sponsorship and brand endorsement, that is) are not what concern me this fortnight. My thesis focuses on excess; on too-muchof-too-muchness signalling that something has to change in the world of sport. One should recall the days when English footballers, drilled by an old-fashioned English manager, went back to work the week after winning the World Cup and had to wait several years for any honours from the Queen; by comparison, the Ashes heroes were awarded instantly, though that doesn’t make their triumph less brilliant. Ashley Cole would likely commit hara-kiri, never

LANCASHIRE EVENING POST

mind swerve off the motorway, if he does his research on salaries and lifestyles before George Best, who

provides a neat link between Then and Now. Two Men of the People whose careers in professional sport are all but over carry on the spirit of Best. One of the finest five cricketers (some, belonging to a non-militant group of beer swillers called the Barmy Army, would place him at the pinnacle) in the post-apartheid era has just retired at an age where most of his age group are settling into middle management. Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff did, in Terry Hall’s words, “too much, much too young”; irregardless of the pedalo incident, his infamous off-field conduct went hand-in-hand with on-field genius, fifers and centuries and matches in which he bowled, batter, slip fielded and captained the England side. Often he carried innings alone, usually with the leg, foot and back injuries which curtailed his career. With a talent for thwacking and chucking leather long and hard, he is without question the finest all-rounder since Ian Botham, who is now a match commentator and philanthropist. A one-club man for Lancashire who dabbled in Twenty20 cricket and has served as a contributor to the BBC Sport Relief effort in the past, Flintoff may well become a coach to the England cricket team and spread his bonhomie to young

all-rounders, especially with the winter’s Ashes series looming. England fortunately have ample cover for the dear departed one, even if Kevin Pietersen has hit a batter’s block over summer and has an ego the size of the country he plays for.

In the world of pugilism, another Lancastrian and son of the Mancs Ricky Hatton put his nickname to incorrect use this fall. The News of the World, fresh from its scoop on the spot-fixing Pakistanis, ran a front page on The Hitman hoovering up some white powder - and not the kind he puts on his hands before a fight.

The video on the paper’s website clearly shows Hatton snorting an illicit class A drug, with a menacing voiceover adding moral sobriety to chide the famously large-living boxer.

True to his roots, Hatton was very much in touch with his fanbase with his fatty diets and binge drinking right up until a fight loomed, when he would train intensively and miraculously make the weight so that he could knock someone senseless for lots of money; at least, we now know to what end some of that money was used. Rehab will do him good, even if a comeback is actually less likely than a Muhammed Ali revival back before the Age of Celebrity.

Much has been written about the

world’s finest young footballer (who isn’t called Messi, Fabregas or Ozil), but the adulterous conduct of father/ role model/good-hitter-of-roundthing Wayne Rooney ties in with his international teammates John Terry and Ashley Cole. One can explain this behaviour as a spillover from the star system in 1990s England which elevated Paul Gascoigne to sainthood as he battered himself and his family by means of drink, drugs and mental illness. I don’t suggest Rooney has the same inner turmoil as Gazza, of course, and it is a testament to Mr Rooney that at time of writing he and his wife - a product of the WAG brigade who were blamed for the underachievement of the 2006 World Cup squad - are dealing with the situation in private, sheltered by PR guru Max Clifford, who makes his living apologising on behalf of morally-dubiousbut-in-the-public-gaze human beings.

Note that Hatton and Flintoff are both elevated beyond their names to the aforementioned monikers, and sociologists can field all the usual identity/brand/reality conundrums.

Perhaps the lone Wayne-ger story is a sad metaphor for sport today: young kid scores goal, kid scores on England debut, kid marries childhood sweetheart and becomes man, man keeps scoring but takes his eye off metaphorical ball, newspapers leap on story and enter Max Clifford. Rooney’s personal life, like it or loathe it, is intertwined with his public profession. MPs have the same problem, but the Archers, Oatens, Aitkens, Hamiltons, Griffins and Profumos of the political world don’t get hearts moving as much as the Beckhams (remember Rebecca Loos?

And the sarong?), Crouches (remember when he used to do the robot dance?) and Rooneys. Remember the long Wayne effort which went in off the cross bar, and the ITV commentator squawking “REMEMBER THE NAME: WAYNE ROONEY!” when he was sixteen? Kids had their idol, but what is Rooney to them now? What is Hatton to a young fighter, Flintoff to a young Lancastrian? Our high hopes and dreams quashed and squished by excess, on their parts and ours.

It is us, therefore, who are both the main culprits and chief victims of all this, deeming it right to judge our lives as students and professionals, with our modest incomes and little luxuries, alongside the Bentleys of people our own age scoring goals for fun, as the phrase goes. Whither morality, and whither the future of British sport and its followers? Bobby Smith’s medal is worth much more than eleven grand.

24 Sport

The Journal Wednesday 29 September 2010

Sport

PY3MDWG ON FLICKR

Dizzy new heights The Journal reports on the World Youth Climbing Championships

Jonny Brick

IT’S FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 10, day two of four. I gaze out from a room recently made redundant by the bankruptcy of a snowsports company, and thank global warming for the view I have. To my right is a huge quarry; a cliff face with thick grooves down the middle.

Below it is a self-decreed ‘picnic area’ which, despite the September monsoon at noon, provides smokers with a place to puff and weary competitors a place to munch on their sandwiches.

Be they Kazakh, Slovenian, Australian or locals representing Britain, there’s a happy atmosphere emanating from what stands before my gaze, built into the quarry like a twin conjoined with nature.

Edinburgh’s indoor climbing arena, the largest in the world and featuring the only speed wall in the United Kingdom, has opened its doors to the finest climbers under the age of nineteen.

Every climber’s ascent is a drama, with triumph and disaster letting boys be men even when they fail to top out, and girls wishing Rudyard Kipling had written a poem for them too. Every outstretched hand which doesn’t find a hold, the hand seizing air rather than the share of a prize and Homeric glory is an act of hubris, avenged suitably by whichever gods rule these sculptured infernos.

Simon Barnes, the sports and nature writer for The Times, wrote that when on safari spotting tigers, the first spot is thrilling but the subsequent ones less so. I feel this way about climbing; it shouldn’t be less exciting to see a climber from the Ukraine finish her run than to later see a Polish competitor one do it just as proficiently, if not more. Rather than watching a ball sport, climbing is like chess; as if the spectator is a watcher of art, of skill and tactical prowess, commending a great move with their heads rather than chanting with their heart. One slip and you’re out, just as in slalom skiing or snooker, letting the opponent or the rest of the field in even though your ability should win you a gold medal. All the athletes are fearless; some castigate themselves when they come off the wall, but most are content to accept their fate, put it all down to experience and try to fail better next time.

The waiting is the killer. For an average time, it seems, of half a minute on the speed wall and six on the lead wall, with the commentators giving you a 60-second warning as they encourage you in your native tongue (for Australians it’s “Come on!” and for Americans “Keep it going!”) For the watcher, up to six climbers scale the two lead walls at once, making it something like the Sky Sports show that allows you to watch eight games at the same time on the highlights screen.

Except this is live, living, breathing sport, not a digitised view thereof. Man becomes ape as they swing upwards and onwards, placing foot over hand like some perverted three-dimensional game of Twister played against themselves. Most of them are multidisciplined, the announcers boasting how many climbers play other sports or ski, suiting their mountainous upbringing in the Rockies or the Alps. A lot of them top out in the lead climb, clipping their quickdraws onto the highest clip, using their teeth as an extra to hold the rope as they move their hands and attention to the next and the next.

Tobi Pret, who organised the event as part of his degree in marketing and event management at Edinburgh Napier, told The Journal: “I did enjoy the atmosphere during the speed wall; it’s a bit faster. I felt quite sorry for the climbers in tears by the wall, though.”

At seventeen minutes to nine, the last male junior hits the top in 10.07, bringing the day’s action to a close. The lights are turned out and all one can see is orange shirts and fatigue. Competitors will rest overnight, if their adrenaline levels let them. One final word of praise should go to the lottery player; because the climbing arena is lottery-funded, it stands as a fine ambassador for John Major’s plans for the public to fund sports venues such as this and attract the world’s best so soon after the Fringe and the International Festivals did it for the Arts

Scottish Cup First Round UofE 2 - 2 Brora Rangers Jonny Brick AN AFTERNOON WHERE tempestuous fouls forced the referee into a red card he needn’t have given and two very, very late goals brought fireworks to the final few minutes of a great advertisement for the Scottish Cup. If a neutral were in attendance, they’d have got their money’s worth in the last few seconds alone.

With strong support at the back from Mark Cathcart and captain Ally MacKinnon, the home side went ahead through Colin Cameron’s close-range header after Calum Murray’s centre.

A few minutes earlier Brora’s Ali MacDonald hit Mark Tait’s crossbar as a warning, but otherwise Edinburgh had to deal with some pressure down the right. Struan Scott-Woodhouse kept his

discipline among bad tackles, but right on half-time dived in for a tackle in the penalty area and was adjudged to have made a professional foul. Liam Baxter, who was one-on-one twice and ought to have done better, scuffed his penalty but Tait still did well to palm it behind for Edinburgh to go in 1-0 at the break, but a man down.

Fifteen minutes into the second half Nigel Mackenzie, the veteran number seven for Brora, moved inside and unleashed a thirty-yard stunner, with excellent torque; it was in the moment it left his boot, arcing and arching away from the keeper. A matter of moments later his teammate Ronnie Jones had a goal ruled out rightly for offside, but it was end-to-end with little between the sides save for their indiscipline.

Ten minutes from the end, Murray was

withdrawn for club secretary Benji Antoni for Edinburgh. Tait rolled the ball short short, Cameron played the ball through, and Antoni found himself one-on-one with Dan Bell, and found the net. 2-1, one minute from time, and all Edinburgh had to do was hold on.

But, of course, they didn’t. Mackenzie got the ball from the restart, swung it hopefully into the box and there was Danny Mackay, unmarked, heading magnificently across Tait right into the side of the goal. 2-2, and a long trip up to Brora on 2 October. As coach Neil Irvine had told the players at the whistle: “You’re still in the Scottish Cup, you’ve not lost.”

For a full match report, interviews and player ratings see journal-online.co.uk