The Journal - Edinburgh Issue 58

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EDINBURGH’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

ISSUE 58

THURSDAY 26 APRIL 2012

Back to the ballot box: council races gather pace » Parties hit the campaign trail ahead of 3 May local government elections » In Edinburgh, SNP and Lib Dems fight to retain power on city council

IN NEWS NEWS// 4

“I just want to be misunderstood.”

Writer and broadcaster Will Self tells The Journal about new book Umbrella, opera and a burgeoning career in academia

IN NEWS /

2/3

IN NEWS / 5

Increased risk breast cancer One-horse raceoffor UoE rector among minorities, study Peter McColl will take overclaims from Edinburgh University Iain MacWhirter on researchers 1 March, say low awareness increases risk following uncontested election

Zanelli re-elected as NSA chief Incumbent president pledges to use second term to continue drive for a ‘Team Napier’ spirit

IN SPORT / 21

IN THEATRE / 17

Edinburgh Rugby’s resurrection Heineken Cup victory over Toulouse puts Edinburgh Rugby into the Scottish record books

The Rake’s Progress Scottish Opera kick off 50th anniversary programme with an impressive Stravinsky revival

IN BOOKS /

13

Regime change at Edinburgh University Students’ Association The new team set out their goals for the year ahead

IN COMMENT /

10

2 / NEWS

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

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THIS WEEK INSIDE THE JOURNAL...

ONLINE journal-online.co.uk

Back to the start Acclaimed author Irvine Welsh talks to The Glasgow Journal

£600k windfall for Napier research centre

Three-year grant to Scottish Research Centre for Women in SET seeks to encourage greater female participation in science and technology

Scottish Dance Theatre comics ‘Female’ is Female should be for not a genre respected being funny

14

2401 Objects

Analogue’s Fringe First-winning production is a tour de force

15

The company’s triple-billed spring tour is a masterful swansong for departing artistic director Janet Smith

Michael Kiwanuka

The hotly-tipped singer-songwriter fulfills high expectations with soulful style at Electric Circus in Edinburgh.

EDINBURGH’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER Editorial

Students risk denying ourselves a voice in the community Another May, another election.

This time, the parties are vying for control of local authorities across Scotland — and yet this time around the tenor of public conversation is noticeably more subdued than in last year’s Scottish Parliament contest, or the battle for control of Westminster the year before.

It’s not a great surprise: local authority elections rarely inspire much excitement among voters — but they are crucial opportunities for citizens

to have an impact on community life, and useful pressure valves for public discontent.

Even among a generally ambivalent electorate, students are especially reticent about local government. Yet we may be cheating ourselves out of a voice: the absence of much by way of student-focused policy to be found in council candidates’ manifestos is indicative of received political wisdom that students tend not to bother voting in local government elections.

But these elections do matter: the City of Edinburgh Council controls a £1 billion budget, and has perhaps the most direct impact on your experience as a student and a citizen of Edinburgh of any governmental body.

Moreover, it is a body sorely in need of some public accountability.

The trams debacle rumbles on at great expense and with no forseeable satisfactory conclusion. And a BBC investigation late last year uncovered the tell-tale signs of corruption in the city’s

property conservation department, prompting inquiries by police and independent auditors.

As ever, The Journal will not tell you how to vote. But it is important that you do: just as the student community has become a strong and invested voice on the national stage, it is crucial that our voices are heard at a local level. The low-intensity but ever-present ‘town and gown’ friction means that students risk becoming marginalised from the community at large. Students come and

go, of course, but most are here for four years or more — certainly long enough that we have a vested interest in seeing that our public services are run efficiently at a local level, that public safety is a priority, and that our local officials act in the best interest of the Edinburgh public.

If students don’t vote, we can be ignored. We may not pay council tax, but we are active stakeholders in the community and the local economy.

Councillors should be reminded of that.

SOUTHSIDE & NEWINGTON UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH Gordon Murdie

Cllr. Ian Perry

Jim Orr

William Black

Independent

Scottish Labour

SNP

Scottish Anti-Cuts Coalition

- Suggests capping rental fees for students - Makes graduate employment a high priority

- Supports the ESF manifesto - Provide more jobs for unemployed young people

- Supports reintroduction of free higher education

- Opposes funding cuts to public sector services

Cllr. Steve Burgess

Margaret Lea

Cllr. Cameron Rose

Cllr. Gordon Mackenzie

Scottish Greens - Make council meetings more interactive - Broad Green agenda against letting agents and landlords not honouring their contracts

The Liberal Party

Scottish Conservatives

Scottish Liberal Democrats

- Subscribes to broad UK campaign based on party’s published constitution

- Increase in recycling - Opposes HMO quotas - Work towards student safety scheme and landlord registration regulations

- Increase in recycling - Opposes HMO quotas - Work towards student safety scheme and landlord registration regulations

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

LOCAL NEWS / 3

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SCOTTISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS 2012

Council candidates court students The Journal ‘s quick-reference guide to the parties, candidates and manifestos in the council wards around Edinburgh’s campuses Greg Bianchi & Dominique Cottee

their defence of free tuition fees for Scottish students. The Scottish Greens have Scotland’s local authorities pledged to increase use of renewable hold their first elections since 2007 on energy and enforce stricter regulation Thursday 3 May, and students are poised on city landlords to ensure they ‘honour’ to play a decisive role, especially in wards their contracts. Both Labour and the around campuses and student residential Conservatives have vowed to improve areas. public transport in the city, and encourIn the capital, the current SNP-Liberal age safety campaigns in the city following Democrat coalition is fighting to retain a spate of attacks on students in the past control of the City of Edinburgh Council, year. Liberal Democrat candidates have and the major political parties are cam- also pledged a campaign for better public paigning on starkly contrasting plat- transport for students. forms. The SNP have pledged to uphold Students may prove crucial in this

election, with large student populations in key wards such as Southside/Newington and Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart.

Some candidates have pledged their commitment to working alongside student unions to encourage greater interaction between student, local politicians and their community.

Each ward elects three or four members who will act on behalf of their residents for the next five years in matters such transport, housing, utilities and street safety. The election is carried out using the Single Transferable Vote

(STV), in which voters rank their candidates in order of preference, with one indicating a voter’s first preference. Candidates will be listed on the ballot alongside their party name, logo and address.

Registration for voting closed on Wednesday 18 April, but students living in halls should have already been registered by their university. Any UK, Commonwealth citizen or EU national aged over 18 is eligible to vote at their local polling station.

The guide below lists the candidates in the four wards which play host to

Edinburgh’s universities, and their key positions.

Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA) have organised a hustings at 5:30pm on Friday 27 April in Teviot Row House, which will include candidates from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens and SNP for Southside/Newington. The union say it is an opportunity for students to ask questions and “find out what their priorities are for your community and ask them questions about key issues that are important to you.”

FOUNTAINBRIDGE & CRAIGLOCKHART NAPIER UNIVERSITY

MUSSELBURGH WEST (EAST LOTHIAN) QUEEN MARGARET UNIVERSITY

Cllr. Jim Lowrie

David Key

Cllr. Barry Turner

Robert Fairnie

Scottish Liberal Democrats

SNP

Scottish Liberal Democrats

Independent

- Subscribes to Scottish Liberal Democrats’ national manifesto

- Safety on the streets - Decent housing - Job creation

- Working closely with QMU to engage more young people in town - Better public services around QMU

- Standing as an independent, but supports the broader Scottish Conservative campaign

Cllr. Andrew Burns

Gavin Corbett

Jack Fraser

Katie Mackie

Scottish Labour

Scottish Greens

Scottish Conservatives

- Supports Voice Your Vote, Edinburgh Student Forum and EUSA manifestos - Subscribes to Scottish Labour’s national manifesto

- Promoting local shops - Protecting green areas - Subscribes to Scottish Greens’ national manifesto

Trade Union and Socialist Coalition - Against all government cuts - More tax for the rich and big businesses - Petitioned against the scrapping of First Buses in East Lothian

Will Searle

Tom Strode

Fraser McAllister

Cllr. Johnnie McNeil

Scottish Conservatives

The Liberal Party

SNP

- Subscribes to Scottish Conservatives’ national manifesto

- Better integrate students into the community

- Setting up an academy for students at QMU to create employment in tourism or marketing - Providing more apprenticeships in EL Council and private business

Scottish Labour - Skills and employment strategy that aims to give every young person training opportunities, apprenticeships or a job, jointly funded by Council

PENTLAND HILLS HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY Stuart Bridges

Cllr. Ricky Henderson

Bill Henderson

Scottish Liberal Democrats

Scottish Labour

- Pledge to work with ESF - Opposes HMO quotas - Work towards student safety scheme and landlord registration regulations

- Supports EUSA manifesto, hopes to implement it - Opposes scrapping of Ratho 48 bus

SNP - Looks forward to working closely with Mike Ross at HWU - Sees university as important part of constituency

- Better bus services - Stronger police presence - Combating coastal erosion

Cllr. John Williamson SNP - Setting up an academy for students at QMU to create employment in tourism or marketing - Providing more apprenticeships in EL Council and private business

Mike “Professor Pongoo” Ferrigan

Dominic Heslop

Sheila Low

Phyl Stewart Meyer

Independent

Scottish Conservatives

Scottish Conservatives

Scottish Greens

- Strong environmental focus - Pledges to wear penguin costume to all council meetings if elected

- Reduction of youth unemployment

- Increased recycling - Reduction of youth unemployment

- Make meetings more interactive - Firm action on landlords not honouring their contracts

4 / ACADEMIC NEWS

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

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Eye imaging to reduce Breast cancer risk higher in ethnic minorities, study shows heart disease risk University of Edinburgh study suggests Indian, Pakistani and African University of Edinburgh researchers hope women in Scotland may be at risk due to a lack of awareness simple procedure could diagnose disease Caroline Nguyen Staff writer

Pakistani, African and Indian

women living in Scotland are at greater risk of late-diagnosis breast cancer compared to other ethnic groups, a study at the University of Edinburgh has found.

The study, funded by the Chief Scientist Office, found correlation between ethnic groups and breast screening clinic attendance.

Dr Narinder Bansal, research fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Population Health Sciences said, “More work needs to be carried out to understand and address why there are ethnic differences in the uptake of breast cancer screening.”

The study, covering 140,000 records from 2002 to 2008, calculated the frequency of positive responses from women aged 50 and over who were receiving a first-time invitation to a breast screening clinic.

The proportion of non-attendance was 41.9 per cent for Pakistani women, 37.4 per cent for African women and 32.7 per cent for Indian women, compared with 23.1 for white Scots.

For other South Asian females the proportion not attending was 35 per cent.

It was 32 per cent for those of mixed background.

It is thought that differences may arise from a lack of awareness of breast cancer and a difference in attitudes to modesty and the NHS. Alia Gilani, a health inequalities pharmacist from Glasgow who works closely

with the South Asian community, told The Herald: “Some patients might not be able to read the invites, or don’t understand the relevance of it.

“For some people, in terms of access, it’s difficult for them to go without a family member — they can’t speak English, it’s not nearby, they’re not confident.

“I think it’s a case of raising awareness of the importance of screening.”

In addition researchers found that besides ethnicity, deprivation and educa-

tion, having a long-term illness and living in a rural area were important factors increasing the likelihood of declining an invitation to attend screening.

“Our study highlights the need to ensure that cultural sensitivities are considered in the provision of health services”, said Dr Bansal.

Data from England has also shown that the traditionally low rates of breast cancer among South Asian women is catching up with that of white Scottish women.

Kristie Wells

Jenny Kassner

A project led by the University of

Edinburgh is investigating a method that could detect heart disease by simply scanning blood vessels in the eye.

Patients will have high-definition images taken of their retina as part of the project which would detect changes in blood vessel width or unusually branched vessels, both of which are indicators for heart disease.

This method would spare patients invasive procedures such as biopsies or angiograms, in which catheters are used to identify indicators that are linked to heart disease.

“We know that problems in the eye are linked to conditions such as diabetes and that abnormalities in the eyes’ blood vessels can also indicate vascular problems in the brain”, said Dr Tom MacGillivray, a research fellow at the University

of Edinburgh.

“If we can identify early problems in the blood vessels in the eyes we might potentially pinpoint signs of heart disease. This could help identify people who would benefit from early lifestyle changes and preventative therapies.”

More than 1,000 patients who are suspected to have heart disease will participate in the project.

The project will also be part of a wider study with a total of 4,000 participating patients and aims to assess whether a CT scan, which is less invasive than currently used methods, is more efficient and effective in detecting heart disease.

The project is led by the University of Edinburgh’s Clinical Research Imaging Centre (CRIC) and is a collaborative initiative with the University of Dundee, NHS Lothian’s Princess Alexandra Eye Pavillion, NHS Tayside’s Ninewells Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

Richard Masoner

Screening is vital for early breast cancer detection

Blood vessels in eye could offer heart disease clues

New internship initiative launched for IT industry ‘Let’s Get Paid’ initiative, supported by Napier University, hopes to improve graduate prospects through paid scheme Tom McCallum Staff writer

A new initiative has been

launched urging businesses to offer paid work experience to students in the IT industry.

The project, called ‘Let ’s Get Paid’, is run by e-Placement Scotland, and is a collaboration of three organisations including Edinburgh Napier University. In the first year of its development 1,500 students have registered on the website where employers can advertise work experience placements. Maureen Ronaldson, who works on the project told The Journal: “All our placements are paid so students have the experience of a real job situation carrying out work on live projects which better places them for being offered a full-time job in the future, hence the launch of our ‘Let’s Get Paid’ initiative which we are promoting to the industry.”

Ms Ronaldson also explained that small and medium enterprises (SME’s) find it hard to become involved with students and that

Diana Crisan, who participated in the scheme

this project will improve this situation. Equally Ms Ronaldson pointed to the economic growth in the industry which would mean that employers and universities could tailor degree courses in order to ensure that graduates match what the industry wants.

Ms Ronaldson also stated that feedback from employers so far has been positive.

Companies have said that hiring students has been a very positive experience and they will be recommending the programme to other employers.

Lorraine Howard works for NN4M, a company who have recently used the project: “We had support every step of the way from ‘e-Placement Scotland’ to make sure we found the right person and were then able to integrate him into the team and give him the guidance he needed.

Our experience of working with undergraduates has been excellent because they come ‘fresh’ with no ‘bad habits’ so you can really shape how they work and fit with the ethos and culture of the company.”

Students have been widely

complimentary about the project.

Alex Macrae was hired as an Apps Developer on placement and has just been offered a full-time job.

He found the project did exactly what it was intended to do stating: “...e-Placement Scotland was incredibly important to me and has allowed me to start my career and given me an exciting opportunity. Most importantly of all it has helped me to bridge the gap between University and work”.

Although the ‘Let’s Get Paid’ initiative has received positive feedback in the short time it has been placing students in work experience roles, Ms Rolandson hopes that it can eventually benefit the Scottish IT industry as a whole: “Our hopes are that the project continues to raise awareness and gain recognition and connect with students and employers throughout Scotland on the benefits of paid placements, and for students to gain the technical and transferable skills to meet the needs of the ITC industry, to ensure companies can expand and become increasingly competitive worldwide.”

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

STUDENT NEWS// 5

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NUS Scotland launch campaign Outrage hate to improve student voter turnout over preacher Union president encourages greater student participation in local politics as part of wider ‘Voice Your Vote’ campaign ahead of local government elections in Scotland Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

students at their own peril. If they want the student vote on May 3, candidates NUS Scotland are working in part- will need to provide support for the ideas nership with student unions across the outlined in our manifestos, and provide country to raise student awareness about solutions to the issues students care most the upcoming local government elections about.” on 3 May, as part of the national union’s wider ‘Voice Your Vote’ campaign.

For the past few months the students’ associations across the four Edinburgh universities have been gearing up for the local authority elections. In a massive campaign to try to mobilise students and get them to vote, unions have been holding special events with councillors, training students from the various universities to raise awareness of the elections among their peers and encouraging everyone who is able to register to vote.

Robin Parker, President of NUS Scotland said: “Students’ associations across Scotland have been mobilising for months for this May’s Local Authority Elections, and for good reason.

“While our impact in shaping policy on a national level can’t be disputed, whether on the issue of tuition fees, bursary support, tenancy deposit schemes or childcare, the decisions local councils make have a huge impact on students as well.”

In order to bring important student issues to the attention of councillors the Edinburgh Student Forum also created a Student Manifesto, which highlights issues that are especially relevant to students. The manifesto deals with issues such as housing, student safety, and council tax exemptions. The various students’ associations have also been holding diverse events to bring these issues to councillors’ attention.

Mr Parker explained: “In the lead-up to the May election, students are meeting with candidates from all parties, and holding hustings, to make clear that crime, housing, transport, jobs and council tax are issues for their local council to address,” Parker said. “Candidates ignore

The students’ associations are also sions crucial to student well-being. urging all students who are able to vote Students looking for more informain the local elections on 3 May. While tion about issues relevant to their authornational elections may gain more pub- ity — and the various councillors’ stances licity, local elections are widely seen as on those issues — are advised to visit www. determining who will be making deci- voiceyourvote.co.uk.

David A. Selby

Edinburgh Napier University

Zanelli re-elected NSA president Tom Zanelli looks to continue fostering a ‘Napier spirit’ following uncontested re-election

Students at Edinburgh Napier re-

elected Tom Zanelli, sole presidential candidate in the Napier Student’s Association election.

Mr Zanelli told The Journal: “I am delighted to have won the student elections for 2012 and it really is an honour to represent such a fantastic mix of students from Edinburgh Napier and in my opinion the best students in Edinburgh.

“I’d like to thank everyone that voted in the student elections as the representation for every position improved.”

Mr Zanelli’s previous term has been characterised by a drive to foster greater pride in the Napier student body, coining the phrase “Team Napier spirit” in the process.

Zanelli suggests that there has been some success, pointing to Napier stu-

dents’ greater engagement with their association during the past year, and arguing that “it wouldn’t have been possible without the changing positive attitude and representation throughout the NSA.” As well as reiterating his commitment to the creation of a Students’ Association bar [see The Journal Issue 57], he outlines “even bigger plans” for his second term in the NSA executive, including social spaces on campus, improving teaching standards, and “the biggest Fresher’s Week in the UK come September”.

Also elected to sabbatical positions were Daniel Parker, Vice President Sports and Societies and Liseli Sitali was elected Vice President for Reps and Volunteers.

In addition Tom Strode-Walton, Milos Cerovsky and David Robinson were elected as officers for Equality and Diversity, Activities and Business School and Well-Being respectively.

NSA president blasts “disgraceful” conference as university blames communication lapse Amanda Svensson Falk Greg Bianchi

NUS Scotland president Robin Parker, pictured at a recent Parliament rally

Daniel do Rosario Staff writer

at Napier conference

NUS Scotland

Tom Zanelli was re-elected unopposed at NSA

have denied that they were aware a conference held at the university’s Craiglockhart campus was to include a speech from controversial preacher Assim Al-Hakeem.

In a statement seen by The Journal, university secretary Dr Gerry Webber said that the 31 March event, organised

by Qabeela Taqwa and At-Tawheed Scotland, was “an externally organised conference, the organisers of which have no relationship with Edinburgh Napier University” and went on to state that “it came to our attention that some of the speakers at this conference have expressed views in other media which the university does not condone or concur with”.

Speaking at a protest supported by NUS Scotland outside the Craiglockhart campus Tom Zanelli, president of Napier Students’ Association (NSA), described the controversy as a “disgrace”. Mr Zanelli stated that NSA had put “huge pressure” on the university to stop the event but the university chose to continue despite the “extreme” views of Mr Al-Hakeem. Mr Zanelli also stated that the university principal didn’t know about the nature of the event but suggested that commercial reasons may explain why the event continued.

Mike Ross, president of HeriotWatt University Students’ Association (HWUSA), supported Mr Zanelli in his protest against the conference stating that HWUSA stands against homophobic views, and saw the action as an important collective event by students’ associations across the city. Mr Ross also suggested that Napier failed to consult with the students’ association stating “there’s been no discussion with the organisers or with the university about the sort of people coming along”. Mr Ross also believed that the university had tried to keep the event quiet by holding the conference at the weekend.

Assim Al-Hakeem has caused controversy for his opinions on homosexuality and women’s rights. A planned speech by Mr Al-Hakeem at Hertfordshire University was stopped and Sheffield Hallam University refused to allow a speech citing that correct procedure was not followed when booking a venue at the university. Napier also released a statement stressing that “as a university, we place great emphasis on the rights of all individuals, whatever their background, to have freedom of speech within the law”.

However, following the event Napier have stated that “we will be looking at the terms and conditions of external organisations holding events on our premises”.

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

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STUDENT NEWS// 7

ECA’s annual fashion show to be held at Edinburgh University for the first time Internationally renowned collection to be displayed at University of Edinburgh following merger last year Leighton Craig Student News editor

to ensure that our inaugural show at The ECA Fashion show is in the lead up to London’s GraduTickets for the public perthe University will be our best ever.” internationally recognised and is ate Fashion Week, held every June, formances are available from Hub Some of the pieces set to be fea- attended annually by industry insid- of which ECA is the only Scottish Tickets and are priced at £15 per The University of Edinburgh tured in this year’s show were pre- ers. The show is also a key event invitee. ticket with a 50p booking charge. is set to host the annual Edinburgh viewed in early April at the UniDavid A. Selby College of Art Fashion Show for versity of Edinburgh’s Informatics the first time following the recent Forum. ECA combined with Edinmerger of the two institutions. burgh University’s School of Arts, The event, which will take place Culture and Environment on the 1 between 23 and 25 May, will be held August 2011 to form a new division at the University’s Playfair Library incorporating Art, Design, Archisubject to licence. tecture and Landscape Architecture, Nine separate shows are planned History of Art and Music. over the three days which will This will be the first fashion showcase outfits, costumes and show since the two institutions textiles from Fashion, Performance merged and to mark the occasion Costume, and Textile graduates of the University of Edinburgh will the college. play host, whereas the event was Robert Gillan, fashion show previously held in the Sculpture director and Associate Head of Court of ECA’s Main Building. the School of Design said: “We are Five public performances and looking forward to showcasing the three schools’ performances, which exceptional range of work designed will be open to secondary school and produced by this year’s graduat- and college students interested in ing cohort in the magnificent Play- studying at ECA, will take place fair Library. The staff and students incorporating a variety of multimehave been working extremely hard dia formats.

ECA are the only Scottish invitee to London’s Graduate Fashion Week

Survey seeks to find causes of graduate unemployment Citizens Advice Scotland study follows news that one in three unemployed Scots are between the ages of 18 and 24

Leighton Craig Student News editor

A new survey on graduate employment

in Scotland has been launched in the hope of determining the reasons behind a slump in graduate employment. The survey, by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS), will run until 7 May and is open to anyone who has graduated in the last six years.

After receiving reports of financial troubles amongst graduates seeking employment CAS intend to use this survey to help understand the factors which are preventing graduates from getting jobs. It was recently revealed that nearly a third of those unemployed in Scotland are between the ages of 18 and 24.

The survey, the first of its kind in Scotland, will include a broad range of questions

Council launches new campaign to improve cycle safety in capital ‘Streets Ahead’ campaign hopes to create a safer city for cyclists Janina Engler

importance of traffic lights and advanced an attempt at educating both parties to stop lines. Key to the advertising cam- avoid the second phase having to be put Edinburgh City Council has paign was a cycling safety road show into action. The educational campaign launched a new cycle safety campaign in which toured university buildings such is planned to run for around another the city in conjunction with the Lothian as Teviot Row House and Kings Buildings. two weeks before the second phase is and Borders Police, NHS Lothian and This was in correlation with some introduced.

Borders Fire and Rescue Service. of the key messages behind the camPlans for future campaigns include In a press release the ‘Streets Ahead’ paign, such as improving motorist and city-wide advertising offering advice campaign explained that “Through a cyclist behaviour and increasing aware- about blind spots to motorists and cyclists. partnership approach, the campaign aims ness of inappropriate conduct, and the The council also plans to supply large in the hope of revealing some of the causes to reduce the number of road traffic inci- consequences of not adhering to safety goods vehicles with special ‘blind spot’ of graduate unemployment. Graduates will dents involving cyclists on Edinburgh’s precautions. lenses and cyclist warning signs on the be asked about their views on their current roads through an education and behavThe second phase of the campaign will rear of the vehicles. The Council hopes situation and what plans they have outlined ioural change campaign targeted at both take a less public friendly approach and this will encourage a more harmonious for the future. motorists and cyclists.” will involve direct enforcement of police relationship between both motorists and Additionally, it will ask how well graduThe campaign kick started with an intervention when cyclists or motor- cyclists and enable both parties to conates think their university prepared them for advertising campaign with the aim of edu- ists are not following safety guidelines. tinue using road space whilst reducing employment and how they are treated by cating both cyclists and motorists of the The first phase of the campaign is thus future accidents. job centres, the government and employers.

Acting Chief executive of CAS, Susan McPhee, said: “It used to be the case that a degree would lead to economic security.

Since the recession, however, the outlook for recent graduates has been bleak. In the final quarter of 2011 the unemployment rate for recent graduates was 18.9 per cent - more than double the national average.

Meanwhile 35.9 per cent of graduates who Cask Ale: Hobgoblin, Bitter & Twisted, & Guest Ale are in work find themselves in a lower level Addlestones Premium Cloudy Cider of employment.”

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The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

NATIONAL POLITICS// 9

SNP remain wary as Scottish Parliament wins further powers after Scotland Bill passes New borrowing and regulation powers for Holyrood, but Salmond administration say reforms do not go far enough Daniel do Rosario Staff writer

The Scottish Parliament voted

unanimously to give parliamentary consent for the UK Government’s Scotland Bill last week, which stands to enact “the largest transfer of fiscal power from London since the creation of the United Kingdom”.

The bill aims to fulfil the Calman Commission’s 2009 recommendations for Scottish devolution, and is set to give Scotland its own borrowing powers, greater control over income tax and a number of new devolved powers in areas such as misuse of drugs and national speed limits.

Some powers will be returned to

Westminster under the bill, although the decision to re-reserve the regulation of health professionals to the UK government was abandoned and will remain a devolved matter.

The SNP government initially criticized what they called a “botched” bill, claiming “it would have left Scotland £8 billion worse off had it been implemented in the last decade”.

However, despite the rejection of several of their demands for amendments, the SNP changed tack to allow parliamentary consent for the bill, which will now be considered one final time by the two houses at Westminster on 24 April, before passing into law.

The new fiscal powers will mean that the Scottish Parliament will move

from raising approximately 15 per cent of its own budget to approximately 35 per cent, which the Scotland Office, the UK government department that liaises with the Scottish Parliament, says will increase the Scottish Parliament’s accountability to the Scottish people.

The existing rates of income tax in Scotland will be reduced by 10p in the pound across the board, allowing the Scottish Parliament to set its own additional rate and giving it greater control over its spending.

The new borrowing powers will make it possible for the Scottish Parliament to borrow to finance capital expenditure and current expenditure when receipts from taxation are less than expected.

However the ‘block grant’ of £30 billion from Westminster will be reduced to compensate for the increased taxation and borrowing capabilities, and Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs will still administer the taxes levied.

While the bill may go into law as soon as next week, many of the changes it entails will be phased-in over time, with the Scottish government elected in 2015 being the first allowed to make major decisions about taxation in Scotland.

Meanwhile, the SNP government intend to hold a referendum on Scottish independence as early as the autumn of 2014, which could see the implementation of the bill being overtaken by more significant events.

/ IN BRIEF

The Scots’ new powers

• Administration of elections to the Scottish Parliament; • Power to regulate air weapons; • A role in appointment process for BBC Trust member for Scotland; •A role in the appointments process for the Scottish Crown Estate Commissioner; • Power to set drink-driving rules; • Power to set national speed limit; • Some elements of drug policy; • But regulation of health care professionals and rules relating to corporate insolvency to be reserved to UK bodies

SNP condemns ‘patronising’ Economist cover illustration The magazine’s ‘Skintland’ front cover warning of fiscal dangers of independence enrages nationalists Rory Scothorne

The Scottish National Party (SNP)

have hit back at an edition of The Economist magazine which portrays Scotland as ‘Skintland’ on its front cover.

The image on the cover of the weekly current-affairs publication’s 12 April issue shows a map of Scotland with the names of various places changed and has been described as “patronising” by the SNP. Edinburgh is renamed ‘Edinborrow’, The Shetland Islands are the ‘Shutland Islands’ and the Outer Hebrides are ‘Outer Cash’, with many more implying postindependence financial catastrophe for communities across Scotland.

First Minister Alex Salmond has said that The Economist will “rue the day” it published the cover. In a phone interview with Radio Clyde, he said: “This is how they really regard Scotland. This is unionism boiled down to its essence and stuck on a front page for every com-

munity in Scotland to see their sneering condescensions.”

He added: “This is a particular strata of London society. It’s not a very attractive strata. They’re not even funny, let’s face it.

If it was a decent joke we’d have a laugh at it.”

While many of the SNP’s senior figures and party leaders from across the political spectrum lined up to echo Mr Salmond’s sentiments, some felt the angry reactions were oversensitive.

Conservative MSP and former Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie said: “The SNP would be better advised to answer the important points made about Scotland’s future. Instead, they are manufacturing outrage at anyone who dares to question their perspective.”

The issue of how strong a Scottish economy would be post-independence has become a serious talking point amongst analysts. The collapse of the Icelandic economy during the 2008 economic crisis has been cited as a potential

example of what could occur in an independent Scotland.

The magazine contained two articles on the prospects for Scotland’s economy after independence. The articles explained that Scotland would “rely heavily on oil and gas”, “struggle to support a large financial sector” and would be “one of Europe’s vulnerable economies”.

SNP Deputy Leader and Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon disputed this analysis, saying: “Whilst The Economist blundered into the economic debate on Scottish independence, it is clear that Scotland has a strong economy – despite the global recession – and that we have huge potential for further growth and development.

“Scotland today has a highly skilled workforce, an acclaimed record of business investment, a large oil and gas asset base, huge natural resources, including our job-creating green energy industry, and an excellent export record, especially in the food and drink sector.”

The offending magazine cover

Holyrood finance minister attacks UK government’s attempt to cap tax relief for charitable donations Chancellor George Osborne’s charity proposals could deter philanthropy, claims SNP front-bencher John Swinney Jonney Rhodes

Scottish Finance Secretary John

Swinney has warned against chancellor George Obsorne’s plans to issue a cap on tax relief for charity donations, warning that the sector would be harmed by the proposals.

From 2013 tax relief for charity donations is to be capped at £50,000 or 25 per cent of the donor’s income, whichever is

higher.

Mr Osborne insists the plans are necessary to tackle tax avoidance, claiming that some of the very rich use charitable giving as a means of tax avoidance.

The plans will work by imposing a limit on the amount of tax relief a person can claim.

SNP MSP John Swinney has announced he fears the plans may damage philanthropic giving.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme: “This can create a perception that charitable giving is not welcome and that would be disastrous because there are hundreds and thousands of people right across our country that give to charities.

“I don’t think we should put any obstacles or barriers in their way or create an atmosphere that suggests charitable giving is not in some way welcome

or desirable.”

The finance secretary’s concerns echo those raised by universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, and a range of charities and philantropists from across the UK. Senior Liberal Democrat Sir Menzies Campbell told Sky News he had written to George Osborne about the impact on charities in his capacity as chancellor of the University of St Andrews.

He said: “The proposals the chancellor has made could easily hit the kind of targets we need to seek out ourselves in order to persuade people, such as former graduates, to make generous donations.”

The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations has estimated that voluntary grants and donations make up 10.7 per cent of Scotland’s voluntary sector income, equivalent to £470 million in 2010.

10 / COMMENT

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Greetings from your new EUSA sabbatical team Edinburgh University’s newly-elected student executive team for 2012/13 discuss their plans to help students James McAsh, Hazel Marzetti, Max Crema & Andrew Burnie

Hello from your new sabbatical team!

We are James McAsh (President); Hazel Marzetti (Vice President Societies and Activities); Max Crema (Vice President Services) and Andrew Burnie (Vice President Academic Affairs).

Thank you to everyone who got involved in the elections. We’re all very excited to work with students, regardless of whether you’re elected or not, in all of our campaigns. Want to change how your school does its assessment or feedback?

EUSA can empower you to do that. Think that international students are treated unfairly? Then we will support you to start a EUSA campaign on the subject. Feel that EUSA lacks focus in a particular area? Ask a question in our online referenda.

James’ role will focus primarily on dealing with senior university management and representation of Edinburgh stu-

dents to external bodies like the National Union of Students and governments.

Hazel will be working to ensure that societies’ day-to-day running is as simple as possible and activities, such as volunteering, run smoothly. She is also responsible for working to improve student support and pushing for greater involvement of under-represented groups, like black and minority ethnic students, LGBT+ students, disabled students and women. Max will have an overview of all of the services that EUSA provides; like Teviot, Pleasance, Potterrow and KB House. He will also be pressuring the university to improve the services that it runs, like the library café.

Andrew’s role will concentrate on the academic side of your university experience including developing the DoS system, improving University services for postgraduate students and tackling course costs.

Here are some of our personal priorities for the next year:

James – President I want to see a fundamental shift in how our University is run. I believe that universities are essential to society and should be about learning and knowledge above all else. That means that every student should be part of decision-making at all levels. This could be on a school-level with open forums where students can question their school management, or it could be more University-wide like having student representation on the University’s Investment Committee. It also means that the University should prioritise education and student welfare before its other interests.

Hazel – VPSA This year I hope to focus on strengthening the sense of community at the University and improving student support.

As Edinburgh is such a huge university it is easy to feel lost amongst the thousands of students which is why I want to make it easier for students on all campuses to get involved in societies, charitable groups

and volunteering. To achieve this I’ll be working to improve our formal support systems and informal support networks.

Max – VPS A student-led union means something very specific from a services point of view.

It means engaging more people in our services, not just through our representative structures such as the Trading Committee, but also by developing a more communal approach to how our services operate.

That’s why my keyword for next year is collectivism. I want to work to get space for a student run food co-op on campus and to switch our retail wholesaler over to the Co-operative (Scotmid). I’m going to use the skills of our local community, but also of our student body, to put on more events for students and support our artists by revamping performance spaces such as Teviot Underground for them to use.

Andrew - VPAA I want our education to be at the heart of our students’ association’s work.

My time at University has shown me the power of campaigns built from the student body up. Last year, such action fought off the shortening of the exam period and won a free bus service to our campus at Easter Bush but there is still lots to do. Firstly I want to make it easy for students to run their own campaigns supported by EUSA, with open forums in schools and a EUSA petitions website.

Over the summer I’ll be working with postgraduate students on the issues they raised during the election campaign. I’ll also be ensuring undergraduate students’ voices are heard in the shaping of the new Personal Tutor system which will begin to replace Directors of Studies from next year.

Email us: James - McAsh.James@gmail.com; Hazel - H.L.Marzetti@sms.ed.ac.uk; Max - M.T.Crema@sms.ed.ac.uk; Andrew - A.Burnie@sms.ed.ac.uk.

L-R: James McAsh (president); Max Crema (VP Services); Hazel Marzetti (VP Societies & Activities); Andrew Burnie (VP Academic Affairs)

... and farewell from the outgoing sabbatical officers Ours was a year of progress for EUSA, say the incumbent union leaders at the University of Edinburgh Matt McPherson, Emma Meehan, Philippa Faulkner & Mike Williamson

We had a vision of more students

actively participating and shaping the direction of EUSA. In October we put this vision to you in an online vote to change EUSA’s constitution.

You agreed with us and 3,000 students took part in our referendum.

When the Scottish Government introduced £9,000 fees for English, Welsh and Northern Irish students we responded by organising one of Scotland’s biggest anti-fees demonstrations and delivered almost 1,000 letters from Edinburgh students to Marco Biagi MSP. These are just some of the successes we have had as a team but we have also had many individually.

Matt - president

My principle aim as President was to hold our Union together, and focus on campaigns we believed in and could win.

I’ll shortly be writing a full report on everything I’ve done this year for the EUSA website, but below are a few things I am particularly proud of.

I led a campaign with vet students to make transport for them free. I also negotiated for more student support and funding, lobbying successfully for hundreds of thousands of more pounds in bursaries for our poorest students, with increased funding for postgraduate study.

We fought for science, medical and vet students to have their books in the main library; delivered oneto-one feedback for every student on every course; expanded our volunteering and community work,

and won NUS Community Relations of the Year Award 2012 as a result; forced the University to publish the cost of your course on the University website; reversed Accommodation Services’ decision to make you pay more for energy - saving every fresher hundreds of pounds a year; and took tough but necessary decisions to make EUSA a more financially robust organisation.

Emma - VPSA I’ve made liberation campaigns a priority, delivering better representation and support for women, LGBT, black and disabled students. I introduced the first women’s leadership training into EUSA to get more women running in elections and starting campaigns.

Students can now get free contraception from Pollock Halls, and the ‘c:card’ scheme will extend further

next year. I’ve put mental health on the agenda for the University, who alongside EUSA, are now signed up to the ‘See Me’ pledge which aims to get rid of stigma around mental health.

Philippa - VPS I wanted to this year to expand our service provision to be more than just our venues. I helped develop a soon-to-be-launched online swap shop, worked with train companies to get Edinburgh students a cheaper deal and forced the university to provide free water in the library café.

I am disappointed I couldn’t deliver you a EUSA letting agency but what I did instead was campaign for fairer housing through EUSA’s first ever housing charter. Five agents have already committed to improving standards.

In the union, there’s a new

cocktail bar in the New Amphion, the Pi in the Sky café at KB has an improved menu. From September there will be a new Wednesday club night, student promoters will be programming a large number of our events and on May 25th Teviot will host EUSA’s first end of year Garden Party festival.

Mike - VPAA The first and most prominent commitment that I made was that I would campaign against fees and cuts. I also promised to have the Main Library open on Sunday mornings, which we achieved almost immediately. Perhaps the most significant achievement of this year from my perspective was the overhaul of academic and pastoral support (or the scrapping of the DoS system), which EUSA had been demanding for a number of years.

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

COMMENT// 11

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

Drudgery: A long but worthwhile road As the 1000TT charity cycle sets off on its thousand-mile journey across Europe, we should be encouraging people to do undertake such feats not solely for charitable ends, but for the challenge of overcoming adversity Jonathan Baldie Comment & Features editor

The 1000TT is an ultra endurance

event that will see six men undertake the gruelling challenge of cycling a thousand miles in ten days from Turin, Italy to Tiger Bay, Cardiff, Wales. The route will take in four of the steepest inclines from the Tour de France, involving varying terrain and climate along the way. In an age of fitness fads and global charities, such masochistic challenges seem fairly common, but the individuals involved are far from it.

One of the cyclists is an Olympic Torch Bearer. He and his brother have previously undertaken an ultra endurance challenge in America for charity, when they ran two thousand miles in 2010 from Boston to Austin. Local Edinburgh resident Kris Lindsay will be taking part in this gruelling challenge, and all of the men are doing so in memory of Mavis Millar, a Scot who died of cancer last December, and in aid of two cancer charities. Procurement officer Kris has never completed an ultra endurance event before, but is keen to show off his cycling bravado – he claims to cycle a hundred miles a week.

In spite of a thrown-together blog with some quite novel ideas about grammar, the team’s PR machine seems to do them credit, with several business sponsorships and a growing social media following. This is a very good thing for both the sport and the two charities involved (Dumfries and Galloway Endowment Fund (Alexandra Unit) and MacMillian Cancer Support).

The 1000TT guys’ efforts will hopefully inspire further über-cycles, for charity or otherwise. Indeed, I have planned for a year now to do a longhaul cycle across Spain and Portugal.

I’m not sure about cycling a thousand miles, but these guys have certainly inspired me to have a worthwhile stab.

They could perhaps set a precedent for British charity endurance sport on a larger scale – beginning in June, it’s well-timed to coincide with the Olympic season in London. However, my own cycle haul will not be in aid of charity. I simply want to do it because I can.

Charity is a wonderful thing, but need it always be the be all and end all for such endurance events? Indeed, it is plain to see that men and women of all ages ought to be encouraged to take up such gruelling tasks for their own sake.

Character, inner strength and physical fitness are three things sorely scarce in modern society, particularly in a Britain full of complainers, weaned off the teat of entitlement culture.

A passage from a favourite book of mine, The Cardinal Virtues by William De Witt Hyde, puts this point across better than I can. Hyde’s point is that the experience of pain in our lives helps us to become stronger: “Endurance of pain, in the name of wisdom and justice, to secure order for our own future comfort and the comfort of our family and friends, is courage. On the other hand, to leave things lying in confusion around us; to let alien forces come into our domain and encamp there in insolent defi-

ance of ourselves and our friends, is a shameful confession that things are stronger than we.

“To be thus conquered by dead material things is as ignominious a defeat as can come to a man. The man who can be conquered by things is a coward in the strict ethical sense of the term; that is, he lacks the strength of will to bear the incidental pains which his personal and social interests put upon him.”

Its words sound a little cheesy nowadays, but this hundred-year-old book ought to be a modern staple. Another text I enjoy reading from time to time evokes the profoundly lacking notion of character-building gained through pain as a means to an end. ‘The Gains of Drudgery’ from The Making of Manhood by William James Dawson, is a similarly old text, but the English poet’s grim-sounding book ought to be up there with The Cardinal Virtues.

The length cast aside, these two paragraphs have always stood out to me.

“When a man grumbles about the drudgery of his lot, then I am entitled to conclude that he has not learned the discipline of work, and that it is native indolence rather than suppressed genius which chafes against the limitations of his environment. Browning, in his poem of The Statue and the Bust, has laid down the doctrine that it is a

prize which he covets; but he cannot help being the gainer in himself.”

Do not think that I seek to lambast the 1000TT team, far from it. I applaud their efforts and cause. I only seek to question the notion of charity as an imperative for endurance events such as these. The clear benefits of supporting such marvellous charities are clear and unarguable, but they should not be seen as exigent. All the same, I hope

that such charity events as 1000TT continue to thrive in the modern world.

The experiences and accomplishments of overcoming extreme adversity are beneficial and numerous. Be it climbing a great mountain, sailing across the world, or indeed cycling a thousand miles across Europe – such events develop skills and traits that the world has missed for many years.

I would much rather see a Britain

with character and toughness, taking responsibility for its own journey rather than the moaning, complaining one I see today.

The team have created a website at http://1000tt.co.uk and have created a Facebook page at http://facebook. co.uk/1000tt along with the Twitter account @1000TT.

1000TT

“Charity is a wonderful thing, but need it always be the be all and end all for such endurance events?” man’s wisdom to contend to the uttermost even for the meanest prize that may be within his reach, because by such strenuous contention manhood grows, and by the lack of it manhood decays.”

“But the gains of drudgery are not seen only in the solid successes of life, but in their effect upon the man himself. Let me take in illustration a not infrequent case. Suppose a man gives up his youth to the struggle for some coveted degree, some honour or award of the scholarly life. It is very possible that when he obtains that for which he has struggled, he may find that the joy of possession is not so great as the joy of the strife. It is part of the discipline of life that we should be educated by disillusion; we press onward to some shining summit, only to find that it is but a bastion thrown out by a greater mountain, which we did not see, and that the real summit lies far beyond us still. But are we the worse for the struggle? No; we are manifestly the better, for by whatever illusion we have been led onward, it is at least clear that without the illusion we should not have stood as high as we do. So a man may either fail or succeed in gaining the

Marco Biagi MSP Constituency Office: 77 Buccleuch Street EH8 9LS Tel: 0131 668 3642 MSP for the Edinburgh Central constituency

Constituency office surgeries every Tuesday 5pm (other times by arrangement)

marco.biagi.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

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Bedrooms Monthly Rent Location

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Liberton Braefoot Terrace, 800, 2, 2D G PG, 0844 635 4820 Malbet Park, 725, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 9424 Kirk Brae, 695, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9234 St Katharine’s Crescent, 660, 3, 2S 1D G CG O, 0844 635 3332

Little France Craigour Drive, 590, 2, 2D, 0844 635 1312 Craigour Drive, 550, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 4820 Craigour Drive, 500, 2, 2D P, 0844 635 9592

Marchmont Marchmont Road, 1200, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9324 Brougham Place, 1200, 3, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9390 Spottiswoode Street, 950, 3, CG Z, 0844 635 9352 Marchmont Street, 950, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 8696 Spottiswoode Road, 925, 3, 1S 2D 1B G CG, 0844 635 9245 Strathfillan Road, 900, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9316 Spottiswoode Street, 895, 3, G CG Z, 0844 635 3780 Blackwood Crescent, 695, 2, 1S 1D G O, 0844 635 6450 Roseneath Terrace, 695, 2, 2D 1B E O, 0844 635 9324

Meadowbank Wolseley Terrace, 1100, 4, 4D O, 0844 635 9314 Parsons Green Terrace, 1050, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Parsons Green Terrace, 1050, 4, 2S 2D O, 0844 635 9314 Queen’s Park Court, 700, 3, 3D CG P, 0844 635 9448 Lochend Road, 700, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 3330 Royal Park Terrace, 695, 2, 0844 635 9338 Queens Park Court, 675, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 9332 Royal Park Terrace, 650, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 2418 Marionville Road, 650, 1, 1D G O, 0844 635 4820 London Road, 575, 2, 2D, 0844 635 1312 Abbey Lane, 560, 2, 1S 1D G Z, 0844 635 9560 Lochend Road, 560, 1, G CG O, 0844 635 7774 Dalgety Avenue, 500, 1, G CG O, 0844 635 4475 Dalgety Street, 475, 1, G, 0844 635 9384

Morningside Morningside Road, 2100, 5, 5D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287 Comiston Road, 1800, 5, 4D CG O, 0844 635 9314 Thirlestane Road, 1495, 4, CG Z, 0844 635 9308 Morningside Road, 1450, 5, 2S 3D Z, 0844 635 9314 Morningside Road, 1400, 5, 5D Z, 0844 635 9314 Morningside Road, 1260, 5, 3S 2D Z, 0844 635 9314

Morningside Road, 1250, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 2267 Morningside Road, 1200, 4, 4D Z, 0844 635 9314 Morningside Road, 1200, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700 Woodburn Terrace, 1100, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Morningside Drive, 920, 2, 2D G PG O, 0844 635 9362 Balcarres Street, 900, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Rattray Crescent, 900, 2, 2D 1T G CG P, 0844 635 4820 Comiston Road, 895, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700 Millar Crescent, 875, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9478 Abbotsford Court, 850, 2, 2D 2T G P, 0844 635 2418 Falcon Avenue, 830, 2, 2D 1B G Z, 0844 635 9478 Maxwell Street, 610, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9560 Balcarres Street, 580, 1, W O, 0844 635 9362 Millar Place, 579, 1, E CG Z, 0844 635 1127 Springvalley Terrace, 575, 1, 1D G CG, 0844 635 2418 Maxwell Street, 565, 1, 1D, 0844 635 9560

Musselburgh North High Street, 810, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9478 Watt’s Close, 650, 3, 1S 2D G, 0844 635 9245 Kilwinning Terrace, 600, 2, 2D G PG P, 0844 635 9594 Millhill, 595, 2, G CG O, 0844 635 9328 Hercus Loan, 550, 2, O, 0844 635 9532

New Town Dundas Street, 2000, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 4820 Randolph Place, 1800, 4, CG Z, 0844 635 9308 St Vincent Place, 1795, 2, PG P, 0844 635 9308 Dundonald Street, 1750, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9390 North Castle Street, 1750, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9300 Broughton Street, 1700, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9300 Eyre Place, 1650, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 4820 South Lane, 1550, 3, 3D E P, 0844 635 6450 Moray Place, 1500, 3, CG Z, 0844 635 9308 Henderson Row, 1495, 5, 5D G CG Z, 0844 635 9334 Barony Street, 1400, 4, 1S 3D G Z, 0844 635 9688 India Street, 1400, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Dundonald Street, 1350, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Dundas Street, 1300, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Fettes Row, 1300, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 4820 Cumberland St North West Lane, 1275, 3, 3D G PG Z, 0844 635 9446 Scotland Street, 1275, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 4820 Ainslie Place, 1250, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Barony Street, 1200, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9460 Coates Gardens, 1200, 3, 3D G PG Z, 0844 635 9362 East London Street, 1100, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Claremont Crescent, 1100, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 4820 Fettes Row, 1100, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Fettes Row, 1050, 2, 1S 1D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Great King Street, 1000, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Huntingdon Place, 1000, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 6872

Bedrooms: Heating: Garden: Parking: Furniture:

Brandon Street, 975, 3, G, 0844 635 9390 Broughton Market, 975, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9300 Albyn Place, 950, 2, 2D, 0844 635 4820 East London Street, 940, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 9316 Heriot Row, 925, 2, CG Z, 0844 635 9308 Buckingham Terrace, 895, 2, 2D G O, 0844 635 6450 Dublin Street Lane North, 875, 2, 2D G PG P, 0844 635 4820 Brunswick Street, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 9316 Brandon Street, 850, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 4820 East London Street, 850, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 4820 Gloucester Lane, 850, 2, 1S 1D G Z, 0844 635 4820 East London Street, 825, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 9320 East London Street, 825, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 4820 Huntingdon Place, 800, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 4820 Barony Street, 750, 2, 2D W CG Z, 0844 635 9688 Cumberland Street, 750, 2, 1S 1D, 0844 635 8696 Gayfield Square, 725, 2, Z, 0844 635 9352 Claremont Crescent, 700, 2, 1S 1D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Henderson Row, 575, 1, G CG, 0844 635 4475

Newhaven Newhaven Road, 750, 2, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 4820 Western Harbour Midway, 750, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9245 Bathfield, 650, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 6604 Lindsay Road, 600, 2, 2D 1B G CG O, 0844 635 2418 North Fort Street, 600, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9332 Hawthornvale, 595, 2, O, 0844 635 9308 Newhaven Road, 595, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9679 Prince Regent Street, 595, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 2418 Newhaven Main Street, 590, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9245

Newington Nicolson Street, 3600, 8, 8D G Z, 0844 635 9679 Clerk Street, 2250, 6, 6D G CG Z, 0844 635 9679 Nicolson Square, 2000, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 9679 Nicolson Square, 1600, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9679 Nicolson Street, 1600, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9679 Rankeillor Street, 1600, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9679 Clerk Street, 1500, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9679 Mayfield Terrace, 1375, 3, 1S 2D G PG P, 0844 635 6872 Marchhall Road, 1250, 2, 2D G PG P, 0844 635 9300 Montague Street, 1200, 4, 4D Z, 0844 635 9314 Dalkeith Road, 1175, 4, 4D G O, 0844 635 9446 Mayfield Road, 1150, 4, 4D E Z, 0844 635 4820 West Nicholson Street, 1125, 3, 3D Z, 0844 635 9314 West Savile Terrace, 995, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 3920 West Newington Place, 900, 3, 1S 2D Z, 0844 635 9314 Dalkeith Road, 895, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9324 Oxford Street, 800, 2, 2D G CG, 0844 635 9245 St. Leonards Crag, 800, 2, 2D P, 0844 635 9320

S Single D Double T Twin B Box G Gas Central W White Meter E Electric PG Private CG Communal Z Zone O On-Street P Private UF Unfurnished

Grange Court, 750, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9558 Oxford Street, 750, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 6450 Upper Gray Street, 750, 2, 2D W P, 0844 635 1887 Haddons Court, 725, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700 Lord Russell Place, 695, 2, 1S 1D G Z, 0844 635 9558 Parkside Terrace, 695, 2, 1S 1D G PG P, 0844 635 9558 Ratcliffe Terrace, 650, 2, 0844 635 9338 Causewayside, 575, 1, 1D G P, 0844 635 2418 St Patrick Square, 565, 2, 1S 1D G Z, 0844 635 9434 East Parkside, 500, 1, 1D E P, 0844 635 9320 Sciennes House Place, 500, 1, 1D E CG Z, 0844 635 9679 St. Leonards Street, 500, 1, P, 0844 635 1312

Old Town Ramsay Garden, 2000, 4, CG Z, 0844 635 9308 Old Assembly Close, 1250, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 4820 High Street, 1050, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 4820 High Street, 1050, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 4820 Old Tolbooth Wynd, 800, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 4820 Sugar House Close, 575, 1, 1D, 0844 635 4820

Polwarth Polwarth Gardens, 1650, 5, 5D G O, 0844 635 9446 Polwarth Gardens, 1300, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700 Harrison Road, 1200, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 2418 Polworth Gardens, 1100, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 9332 Polwarth Gardens, 950, 3, 3D P, 0844 635 4820 Polwarth Gardens, 950, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 4820 Polwarth Gardens, 895, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9592 Harden Place, 875, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9592 Merchiston Avenue, 850, 3, 3D 1B G CG Z, 0844 635 2418 Watson Crescent, 795, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 2418 Watson Crescent, 795, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 2418 Watson Crescent, 795, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 2418 Watson Crescent, 795, 2, 1S 1D G P, 0844 635 2418 Polwarth Gardens, 715, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9592 Harrison Road, 700, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9478 Tay Street, 650, 2, 2D 1B Z, 0844 635 4820 Temple Park Crescent, 650, 2, 2D W CG Z, 0844 635 9688 Fowler Terrace, 630, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 4644 Watson Crescent, 595, 2, 2D E CG O, 0844 635 9558 Watson Crescent, 535, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 3330 Watson Crescent, 475, 1, 1D G Z, 0844 635 9560

Portobello Portobello High Street, 695, 2, 0844 635 9338 Westbank Place, 600, 2, 1S 1D E CG P, 0844 635 3872 Marlborough Street, 595, 2, 2D W CG O, 0844 635 9334 Seafield Road East, 575, 2, 2D 1B G CG O, 0844 635 3872 Fishwives’ Causeway, 500, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 3768

Roseburn Russell Gardens, 800, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 4820 Roseburn Maltings, 775, 2, 2D G PG P, 0844 635 9320 Russell Gardens, 750, 2, 2D P, 0844 635 4820 Roseburn Maltings, 725, 2, 2D, 0844 635 4820 Roseburn Place, 675, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 3780 Roseburn Street, 650, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9679 Roseburn Street, 620, 2, 2D W CG O, 0844 635 9688

Tollcross Gardners Crescent, 1095, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 4820 Fountainbridge, 995, 2, 2D P, 0844 635 9314 Brougham Street, 930, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 2267 Drumdryan Street, 900, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 2267 Spittal Street, 695, 2, Z, 0844 635 9308 Lauriston Street, 580, 1, 1D, 0844 635 3700 Home Street, 500, 1, 1D E, 0844 635 9560 Chalmers Buildings, 475, 1, 1D, 0844 635 3700

West End Coltbridge Gardens, 2750, 3, CG, 0844 635 9308 West End, 2500, 3, Z, 0844 635 9308 Buckingham Terrace, 1850, 3, 1S 3D G PG Z, 0844 635 4820 Haymarket Terrace, 1500, 5, 5D Z, 0844 635 9314 Eglinton Crescent, 1500, 2, 2D G PG Z, 0844 635 9390 Morrison Street, 1340, 4, 4D Z, 0844 635 9314 Castle Terrace, 1250, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 4820 Drumsheugh Gardens, 1250, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 9362 Eglinton Crescent, 1200, 3, Z, 0844 635 9308 Cornwall Street, 1000, 3, CG Z, 0844 635 9308 Grindlay Street, 1000, 3, 1S 2D Z, 0844 635 9314 Buckingham Terrace, 999, 2, E CG, 0844 635 4475 Atholl Place, 995, 2, 1D 1T G Z, 0844 635 9320 Buckingham Terrace, 995, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9320 Walker Street, 795, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9362 Eglinton Crescent, 750, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 4820 Randolph Place, 725, 2, 2D E Z, 0844 635 6450 Palmerston Place, 700, 2, 2D W Z, 0844 635 4820 Werberside Mews, 675, 2, 1D 1T G P, 0844 635 9320

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The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

A&E / 13

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

David Selby

Will Self: “I just want to be misunderstood.”

Writer and broadcaster Will Self delivered an alternative Good Friday sermon at the University of Edinburgh’s Literary Society earlier this month.

John Hewitt Jones talks to him John Hewitt Jones Literary editor

Will Self appears larger in the flesh

than he does on television; a tall, hulking figure with a lope that gives him the air of something between a stern uncle and university professor. He’s just delivered an ‘alternative Good Friday sermon’ to the University of Edinburgh’s Literature Society, a thought-provoking dialogue with the audience that ranges from discussions of what constitutes ‘high art’ to the future of the book.

Before we go for a drink, he patiently answers questions posed by members of the audience; there’s a sense that he’s heartened by the multitude wanting to accost him with various philosophical and literary queries. Even during the debate, his replies to those who present credible alternative answers to questions are more encouraging than confrontational.

Audience curiosity satisfied, he strides down to the Teviot Library Bar and orders a Virgin Mary (Self has been teetotal for over ten years).

He seems comfortable surrounded by students, unsurprising perhaps, given that he’s just taken up the post of Professor of Contemporary Thought at

Brunel University in London. Behind the visceral cynicism reserved for politicians and unsympathetic TV hosts lies a certain avuncularity; a real desire to enthuse people with his own sense of curiosity. When asked about his new appointment, his reply is surprisingly candid: “Well, I have a deep and overriding sense of my own bogosity, there’s no doubt about it.

A bit of it involves, at least theoretically, teaching people creative writing, which I think is a bit of a solecism. I don’t really think it’s possible to teach that.” Making the point that creative writing is largely about process, his main concern is that it seems our generation can be very audacious, a characteristic he fears may have an adverse affect on the quality of writing: “one thing they say about people of your generation is that they don’t suffer from the anxiety of influence. If you have aspirations to write, you don’t feel intimidated by what’s gone before you. When I was wanting to write at university and in my early 20s, I was incredibly intimidated by other published writers. Speaking to some of my MA students, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case now.”

Self also shows concern about the way that the current generation in university interact with electronic media, in particular our ability to read deeply, and we talk about the development of the ebook “It’s my suspicion that you take in less from the electronic format.

There’s something about having a physical analogue; it’s almost as if you are conscious of the other pages because they’re physically there…

For you guys it’s probably more difficult because conceptually you know that the page isn’t there.” Whilst he is interested in technology, and has an acute understanding of how it’s used by people who have grown up with the computer and the internet (what he refers to as the ‘digital native’), Self tells me he has worked on a typewriter since broadband internet became mainstream in the early 2000s; “there’s no ultrasonic whine and there’s also no distraction. You can’t suddenly be looking at somebody thrusting something unsuitable up an orifice or buying a pair of reindeer-covered oven gloves that you don’t need or just, you know, pissing about. Broadband was a real problem.” The author is adamant that having to type it out correctly first time forces you to find the right words in your head instead of “thinking on the screen”.

Following discussions in the lecture about the roles of different art forms, we talk about the short story he’s recently written for English National Opera: ‘A lot of my problem with theatre is trying to suspend disbelief in it. You go to the theatre and some-

body stands up and says that they’re Anne Boleyn and you think “no you aren’t, you’re Imogen who’s just graduated from RADA. What I like about opera is that it’s so preposterous that you don’t even try to suspend disbelief in it.” As we talk about character and representation, I question him over his feelings on being cast in Sam Mills’ debut novel The Quiddity of Will Self which provokes a fairly clear response: “Well I just want to be misunderstood; it doesn’t bother me. I’ve seen some things in the press saying ‘obviously he’s media-savvy and he thinks it won’t harm his reputation’. I don’t give a fuck about that. This young woman approached me a couple of years ago and said ‘here’s a couple of chapters, will you help me out’. I looked at them and thought ‘you’re never gonna get this published’, because it didn’t seem terribly good to me to be frank. You know - who gives a shit?”

Self places a tobacco pouch on the table in front of us and begins to roll a smoke; one of his few remaining vices, having abstained from all drugs except caffeine and nicotine for over ten years. It happens that today the ban on displaying cigarette packaging in large supermarkets comes into force.

He talks about the impact of such legislation and drug addiction in general: “Measures like this have been good for me. When the smoking ban came in I went from smoking all the time to smoking about an hour a day. A libertarian argument constructed around smoking is pretty pathetic; like any other drug habit it doesn’t really make

a great deal of sense.” He talks positively of the recommendations made by the Rolleston Committee in 1926 recommending drugs be made available to registered addicts, with a focus on gradual reduction. Self speaks passionately about the tendency of societies to try and repress substances to the extent that they seem attractive; gesturing around the bar, he asserts that it forms part of a fallacious approach to viewing the problems that drugs create in terms of rational choice.

“Part of the problem with alcohol in Scots society is that it’s a negative ritual; on the one hand you have essentially puritanical Scots who are completely opposed to intoxication, and on the other hand you have pathological Scots who are ill with alcoholism, and there’s very little in between. It’s the same with smoking, it’s the same with marijuana, it’s the same almost with any drug that can be seen to have a positive social function. Our society tends to look for a one-size-fits-all, pontificatory analysis of it.”

Our time is up, and as I direct him towards the National Museum of Scotland I can’t help remarking on the wax Barbour jacket he’s wearing. It plays the role of solitary companion to the central figure in his last book Walking to Hollywood. By his own admission he eschews the class symbolism; it’s apparently more about the garment’s practicality than anything else.

Will Self’s latest book Umbrella will be available in August (Bloomsbury, £18.99)

14 / A&E

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The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

“Female comedy” is not a genre Female comedians should be respected just because they’re funny — no caveats attached

Comedy Anna Corey

I think that I may have just started

a feminist uprising. I was all set to get riled up on the topic of women in comedy when all of a terrible sudden, I realised that I am only one person with one set of experiences. So I called upon my excellent female associates (or ‘friends’, if you will) over at the Edinburgh Revue (the University’s comedy society) for a little insight. And it all came pouring out. It’s something we’re all constantly aware of.

As a bunch of female sketch and standup comedians we’re viewed as a strange class — but we’ve not discussed it before, at least not whilst sober. It turns out the sexism we’ve all experienced isn’t just a part of the ‘job’ (in the loosest sense), and something which we get secretly tetchy about but quietly accept — it is relentless and disheartening.

The world of stand-up comedy in particular is a very competitive one, and with it comes a very ‘laddish’ sort of culture. “It feels like, being a girl, you actively have to make an effort to be taken seriously”, says one member, “it’s not just assumed of you.” Having to work so hard just to reach a level playing field — and to not always achieve even that — can really wear you down.

In my experience (admittedly limited to Edinburgh), line-ups are dominated by men. Ladies do crop up, obviously, but it’s by no means an equal distribution. Women seem to venture into other forms of comedy a little more often, but

it’s still mostly a man’s game. And a very scientific study I conducted today (went through iPlayer and 4oD, counted people) revealed that on TV and radio the average male to female ratio is about four to one.

And yet in the most recent Edinburgh Revue show there were just ten men to seven women.

There’s a 50/50 split in the standups that are going to be representing the society at this year’s Fringe. There are actually more female actors than male actors in the Fringe sketch show (an unprecedented situation). And beyond student comedy, the female-only competition Funny’s Funny had 200 entrants last year; Funny Women put on showcases over once a month; the Stand hosts a monthly all-female night called Wicked Wenches. These women are out there, I promise.

So maybe it’s this tiring, competitive and sometimes humiliating atmosphere surrounding a career in comedy that stops a lot of women taking it further.

Those that choose to do so have to tackle the hurdle of promoters and producers who are too scared to put their faith in them because, after all, the public don’t find women funny, do they? You might be tempted to bring out the science at this point (and by science I mean what you’ve heard on QI) – “Women don’t laugh at women as much as they do at men. It’s just science.” No, it’s internalised misogyny.

Women are brought up in a world where to buck feminine trends is seen as attention-seeking and embarrassing. When a woman says, “I don’t find women funny, and I am a woman!” she is apologising for these females who go against the norm, and making it clear that she doesn’t agree

with their behaviour, just so men will acknowledge that she is one of the good ones; someone who doesn’t pose a threat.

While women are underrepresented in comedy, this will continue. And while this continues, women will be underrepresented in comedy. It’s a vicious cycle.

During the conversation with Revue members it was mentioned that it would be nice if people wouldn’t specify “female

comedians”, as if they’re a different species. One day, I hope, this will be the case. But right now, we’re not equal, and referring to that inequality should not perpetuate it. We need our own competitions and comedy nights in order to make “being funny” an acceptable thing for women to want to spend their time doing. I think sharing our experiences has made us realise how much we want

to be accepted. For people to stop saying things to us like “You do stand-up? But you’re a girl!” and “I really enjoyed your show – even though you’re a woman.” It’s also made us a bit angrier than we were earlier. So you can greet this with the hilarious retort, “Stop whining and make me a sandwich”, but we’re not listening.

We are female comedians, and about that we are unapologetic.

The Rake’s Progress Scottish Opera’s fiftieth anniversary programme arrives with a bang in this mesmerising Stravinsky adaptation

Theatre Jonathan Goat

As Scottish Opera prepare to celebrate

their fiftieth anniversary this year, they offer us David McVicar’s production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, which is as joyous and accomplished as one could hope for.

Deserving the highest of praise, the show hopefully forecasts a confidence and professionalism we will continue to see from the company. The material of The Rake’s Progress is, quite simply, that of a masterpiece. It’s one of those rare works that exists at an entirely original nexus of style and execution.

Stravinsky and W.H. Auden’s excavation of Mozart and Da Ponte reveals the latter’s trilogy as startlingly relevant to the modern age, exposing how these comedies contained a dark anxiety for a world that was unravelling. You can still feel how fresh the idea is: Stravinsky’s trademark rhythmic virtuosity electrifies the sounds and forms of Opera

Buffa into a sleek and keen knife of music, at once amusing and affecting, celebratory and cynical, free and yet weighted with history and tradition. And then on top of this vibrant

uncertainty, we have the dynamic relation- sense of displacement and wonderful aes- ate it. Altogether, the effect is hard and singuship of Auden and Chester Kallman: their thetic strangeness. Like the music it is set to, lar. And, at points, totally hilarious. libretto walks the line between the sublime the text raids one’s cultural and linguistic The upshot of this is that if you get it and the quotidian to produce a constant memory in order to re-organise and invigor- wrong, it will most likely be unbearable. The careful juggling of these disparate elements can, in the wrong hands, look like a confused Scottish Opera pastiche of bad jokes. But no - the company nailed it. Conductor Sian Edwards had the orchestra sounding better than ever: taut and machine-like around those wonderful angular rhythms and heartbreakingly sensitive in the final lullaby. They had it all. It was the kind of playing where you forget there are people with instruments at all and the auditorium seems to fill with the shape and colour of sound.

Edgar Montvidas was at the top of his game in a beautifully lyrical portrayal of the gormless Tom Rakewell; a performance that was offset perfectly by the dramatic didacticism of Steven Page’s sinister Nick Shadow.

This show is wholeheartedly recommended.

It will have you buzzing for long after the final curtain — go and see it.

VENUE: FESTIVAL THEATRE DATES: TUE 27, THU 29, SAT 31 MAR, 7:15 PRICE: £15.00 - £29.00

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

A&E / 15

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

2401 Objects

An innovative staging of the often-forgotten relationship between memory and self

Theatre Rebecca Tamás

2401 Objects is the Fringe First

winning play from the exciting young company Analogue. Written by Hannah Barker, Lewis Hetherington and Liam Jarvis, the play tells the story of Henry Molaison, who in 1953 emerged from the experimental brain surgery that attempted to cure his epilepsy, unable to make any new memories. The play moves between this and the 2009 work of Dr Jacopo Annese in which 400,000 people watched live as the brain of Molaison, often simply referred to as ‘patient HM’, is dissected - the world’s most important neuroscientific case study.

We meet Henry before the surgery, a 30-year-old man forced to live quietly at home with his parents because of his illness, unable even to take up the invitation of the pretty girl next door in case he has a fit in front of her. Both Henry and his doting but frustrated parents are desperate for escape, desperate for him to be able to achieve something and fulfil his potential. So they agree to the surgery that freezes Henry as a young man forever, that traps him in an eternal present and yet which also makes him into the person who will teach scientists more about the brain than anyone else.

The three skilled actors in the production, Paul Hassal, Simon Yadoo and Alexandra Maher, move between all the

characters of the play, innovatively using nurse has to tell him again that his mother projection and sound to slip fluidly across is dead, then see him sob in despair, wipe time and place. Through this we build his eyes and forget, knowing she will have up a fragmented yet intimate picture of to put him through the same agony every Henry, at home with his parents, in the day. hospital re-watching the same old film In taking us through Henry’s life over and over and thinking it’s new, his in this way Analogue not only restores precious brain in a box being carried by humanity to the depersonalised speciDr Annesse for experimentation. Espe- men that is patient HM, they also lyrically cially affecting is the scene where Henry’s illustrate the deep importance of memory

that we so often take for granted. In telling Henry’s story, this beautiful and moving production shows us that it is our memories which allow us to move forward, and that our past creates our future.

With his very own brand of Ameri-

can blues and folk, Pokey LaFarge and his three-piece band could be seen as somewhat of a niche market. Tonight, however, it was his personal charm and mass appeal that set him apart from other musicians. Pokey has two albums under his belt and this was his second time playing in Bongo. Even so, the diverse Edinburgh crowd still seemed uncertain about what to expect, making the anticipation even greater.

On stage Pokey is instantly comical and likeable, and dedicates one of his first songs to “all those hardhitting Scottish women out there”.

Although the whimsical nature of his music combined with the skill of his band is effortlessly fun and entertaining, the crowd is initially reluctant to dance. Through the night instruments range from washboard to kazoo, and

Visual Art

DATES: FRI 30 - SAT 31 MAR, 7:30PM PRICE: £17.00 (£13.00) Andreas J. Etter

Zoe Valery

*EELS opens with Luke Martin’s oil

LaFarge & co. make Americana cool again

Ben Filmer-Sankey

Up-and-coming Edinburgh artists exhibit their work

VENUE: TRAVERSE THEATRE

Pokey LaFarge and the South City Three MUSIC

*EELS

there is even an acapalla trumpet solo from the guitarist. It is hard to know whether to laugh or dance. Eventually, each song makes things get a little sweatier as people embrace the 1930s swing, reaching its height at the finale of the dirty ‘Garbage Man’ and the frenetic ‘In the Jailhouse Now’.

Highlights of the night include the hugely crowd-pleasing ‘La La Blues’ and a bit of solo guitar from Pokey himself, cooling the crowd down so they are ready for more enthusiastic attempts at the Charleston.

For a band that looks like it walked straight out of the 1930s it might be hard to see them as authentic, but the sheer entertainment of Pokey LaFarge means he transcends the overused ‘vintage’ or ‘retro’ label his music is often given. The mutton-chop laden, old-time Americana that they create is lovable, and with the charisma of Pokey at the front they charmed the socks off every person in the crowd.

Paul Nordmann

painting Curtains, then gives way to Holly Prentice’s projection Tide In / Tide Out. The latter resonates throughout the gallery with the rhythmic ebbs and flows of a Super-8 projector. The next limelight displays Sarah Birch’s sculpture Satis House no. 2, a hanging cotton shirt that has been frozen in motion by an alum solution. Light soaks this ‘floating’ piece with textures, materialising what could be a castaway’s garment into our oceanic journey through the gallery. The following luminous charge is provided by the oily halo of Kate McAllan’s work, although here the centre is eclipsed by a charcoal moon.

The ‘tunnel’ that cuts though the gallery sucks the viewer into the disconcerting depths of Owen Ramsay’s Dark Flow installation. A drop of liquid light dripping amidst complete darkness is mesmerising. We resurge and plunge into the second section of the show, in which Justine King’s Pencil on Paper draws the eye and mind into a meandering experience. In the centre of the space, two televisions face each other as a white circle travels from one screen to the other, describing an orbit that must be completed with the mind. Daniel Hill’s Loop Video Installation 2010 seems to reveal the driving force of the show - an eel-like creature - as it flounders around the viewer in this virtual whirlpool. We finally arrive to Stephen Kernaghan’s Brikow Pier to find in his intriguing game of reflections a punch line that turns us upside down. *EELS is an electrifying Pre-Degree exhibition that promises a grand sequel from these emerging Edinburgh artists.

VENUE: THE OLD AMBULANCE DEPOT DATES: UNTIL 8 APRIL PRICE: FREE

VENUE: BONGO DATES: 23 MARCH PRICE: £10

Martyn Mackenzie

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The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

The reading list The Invisible The Journal’s guide to the best new entries into the world of literature this fortnight Book reviews by John Hewitt Jones Literary editor Dot Tour Alternative comedy hits the mark

Comedy Matthew Howard Comedy editor

The Invisible Dot are true masters

of alternative comedy, which shouldn’t suggest ‘bad’, as it may if you’ve seen Fringe ‘alternative’ comedy. Rather, Invisible Dot offers comedy distinct from ordinary stand-up. With three different performers — Sheeps, Nick Mohammed and Johnny Sweet — the quality varies, going from enjoyable to excellent.

First up is Sheeps, who, like many professional sketch groups, have a high quality of acting but weaker writing.

Some of their sketches confuse, relying on the ‘baa’ sheep sound to indicate when a sketch has ended, which interrupts the flow slightly. Next on is Nick Mohammed, who gently mocks with his characterbased comedy. Here, the humour comes less from jokes and more from Mohammed’s ability to take on other personae with simple body language (a rather difficult task).

Finally Johnny Sweet takes to the stage in the finale. Another characterbased comedian, he is eerily convincing as a boyish yet grotesque lecturer as he tries to drag the audience through his cringe-inducing talk about the HHS Nottingham. On paper it sounds strange but in person, it may be odd but is also completely brilliant. The charm comes from watching a painfully bad presentation and the embarrassment of watching an over-enthusiastic teacher talk about a boring subject. It’s hard to imagine an hour-long talk about a decommission boat being a brilliant piece of comedy; but seeing is believing and judging from this show, Invisible Dot is worth keeping an eye on.

PHILIP LARKIN — POEMS SELECTED BY MARTIN AMIS

BLACK CAT BONE

Faber, £14.99

John Burnside Jonathan Cape, £10

Over his lifetime Philip Larkin only ever put forward four slender volumes for publication. Since his death this body of work has steadily grown, with the addition of quantities of unpublished letters and poems. It’s a breath of fresh air, therefore, to have a hundred-page volume that draws together a selection of the best poems from Larkin’s collections. In an illuminating introduction, Martin Amis seeks to draw a line under the challenges posed to the poet’s reputation over the years, and explore the complex character behind the UK’s most memorable poetry.

Larkin’s poetry is unforgettable because it yokes images of the everyday with the metaphysical; as a result, famous lines which have carved their way into the national consciousness: ‘What will began/ In nineteen sixty-three’. If there’s survive of us is love’…‘They Fuck you up, one volume of Larkin to have on your your mum and dad’…’Sexual intercourse shelf, this should be it.

This publication from Scottish poet and University of St Andrews professor John Burnside has the feel of a disquieting set of folk songs.

Opening with a potent monologue anchored in a mythical, nightmarish world, much of the dark collection focuses on the associations of death and religion.

Burnside presents a primordial vision, often obscuring the reader’s view with chilling imagery and setting up moments of real epiphany: ‘love divulged is barely love at all:/ only the slow decay of a second skin/ concocted from the tinnitus of longing.’

The book’s icy poise is aptly Black Cat Bone won both the encapsulated in the opening poem T.S. Eliot poetry prize and the as: ‘a net of dreams/ and phantoms’. Forward Prize for poetry in 2011.

The Civil Wars

VENUE: BEDLAM THEATRE DATES: FRIDAY 2 MARCH PRICE: £12 (£9)

MUSIC Duo dazzle with Southern-infused folk and charm emphatic band — with their stripped back aesthetic of guitar, piano, and immaculate harmonies — are a breath of fresh air.

The Queen’s Hall is one of my favourThe American South is voiced in their ite Edinburgh gig venues; big enough music and laced through the songs of to hold a decent sized crowd, but small their debut album, Barton Hollow, named enough to maintain that air of intimacy. after a small town just above the TennesIt’s exactly the kind of place to see an act see line. There’s something nostalgic and like The Civil Wars with their enchanting charming about the way that Williams’ blend of country, folk and bluegrass. This 1920s-style dress swishes about her knees duo, comprised of Joy Williams and John as she sways to ditties like ‘I’ve Got This Paul White, are already huge in America Friend’ and a jazzed-up cover of Michael and it’s not hard to see why. In a land- Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’. These lighthearted scape of over-processed pop music, this songs are interspersed with others like

Anna Hafsteinsson

Ella Bavalia

‘20 Years’ and ‘Poison and Wine’ which evoke a beautiful melancholy that tugs at broken hearts and kindles memories of lost loves. With lyrics like ‘there’s a note underneath your front door that I wrote twenty years ago, yellow paper and a faded picture’, it’s hard not to start feeling just a little bit sentimental. However, the onstage rapport between the pair buoys the crowd. Although not romantically involved, the chemistry between these two could rival June and Johnny Cash.

White’s interaction with the audience is laid back and endearing asking, as he

sips casually on his Bourbon, if anyone in Scotland ever says ‘Y’all?’. White’s appeal probably isn’t damaged by his uncanny resemblance to Johnny Depp. With their upcoming appearance on The Hunger Games soundtrack the success of this Southern double act can only increase.

They’re back on British soil in the autumn.

Nab your tickets now.

VENUE: THE QUEENS HALL DATES: 23 MARCH PRICE: £15

The Journal Thursday 26 Apri,l 2012

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Mussels without muscle The subjectivity of taste is all too clear this week as Rudabeh Moghadam offers a dissenting view on the Grassmarket establishment Mussel and Steak Bar

Food & Drink Rudabeh Moghadam

When I first came to Edinburgh

of disbelief and it was not until a quarter of a kilo of mussels later that I realised I could not deny the acridity resounding in my mouth. I had thought the unusual addition of the whisky would lend the sauce a smoky depth however all it in fact contributed was an unappetising bitterness. On top of this, the molluscs were small and overcooked; most of the ones I ate contained short but un-chewable remnants of musselbeard. Walking out, I had to check whether the menu had the word ‘mussel’ on it. I discussed my disappointment with Sidekick One, who generously responded: “Well, maybe it just wasn’t to your taste. You chose an unusual sauce.” However, in an episode of Masterchef , the mighty John Torode unequivocally pronounced: “I’ve never had whisky and fish before and I would please ask the rest of the world never to do it because it doesn’t work!” (Episode 8 of the current series). I believe I cheered on my bed.

Visit two: Sidekick Two orders the mussels in a shallot, white wine, garlic and cream sauce; a ‘usual’ sauce. I taste them. Sidekick Two tastes them. The conclusion is unanimous. They are small. They are bland.

They are beardy! In other words, I had been vindicated. Now, if it were called the Haggis, Crevette and Steak Bar I would go easy on it, but as it is, this eatery will attract good people who want big, beautiful, beardless mussels but will only get dissatisfaction. The Mussel and Steak Bar has broken the cardinal rule of restaurants: if you’re named after it, you’ve got to do it well.

as a romantic sprog, I took long walks exploring the setting for all the eating, drinking, fighting and sex to come. I was instinctively repelled by the Mussel and Steak Bar. It was not until three years later, when a particularly pro-mussel friend was taken on a date there by a hunky Canadian boy, that I was reminded of this establishment. She reported the mussels to be very nice.

In hindsight, it is clear that the only mussels she was focusing on were the Canadian’s. Spurred by my friend’s recommendation and other vague but approving words of mouth, I dined there twice. I came away from my visits bearing two lists. The first was of the things that this eatery did well. Fresh, sweet crevettes (big prawns), moreish deep-fried haggis, and a juicy steak summarise the culinary pearls of my meals. The Touraine sauvignon blanc, Bailey’s cheesecake, efficient service and general underwater glow, coupled with the white candles and the seagreen highlights of the décor, gave the dining experience a certain shine.

These achievements, however, only served to deepen my disappointment with my main course.

Thus we come to the second list, or The Naughty List, and it has but one unforgiving item: bad mussels. Visit one: I ordered mussels in a whisky, bacon and cream sauce. The first black shell-fulls left me in a state 110 West Bow EH1 2HH

Christina Planetina

Edinburgh: Scotland’s food blog capital Thanks to websites like Yelp and The List, anyone can voice their opinion about restaurants, recipes, and food in general. Heather Taylor tells us who is worth your time

Food & Drink Heather Taylor

There’s only one thing better than

eating a delicious meal, and that’s bragging to all your friends about it afterwards. Apparently several of Edinburgh’s residents share this view, because the food blogging community in the capital is thriving. Whether they’re swapping recipe ideas, hyping up a new restaurant, or searching for the perfect flat white, Edinburgh’s culinary scene has been painstakingly documented by hundreds of enthusiastic bloggers.

You could easily stumble across a food blogger attempting to take a picture of their cappuccino in their local café, but which ones are really the city’s culinary eyes and ears?

Whilst there are some very informative and interesting blogs around, it can be difficult to navigate the mass of irrelevant stuff online in order to find them, so I’m hoping to offer up the city’s best blogs to you on a plate (pun intended).

When you’re going to part with your hard-earned cash and eat out, it’s vital to spend it wisely, so for an up to date opinion on the city’s best lunch time spots, visit LunchQuest.co.uk. They promise to search far and wide on your behalf and really take the reviews seriously, with good photos and a range of cafes and restaurants included. This honest and objective blog is updated regularly, always relevant (it was the first place to publish a review of the newly opened Rosehip restaurant on Thistle Street, for example) and obvi-

ously written by obsessive foodies.

Although this is more of a commercially-minded website than a blog, MyMonkfish.com is written by a wellestablished Edinburgh food writer and is great for keeping up to date with foodie events, giveaways and general gastronomical happenings. It also profiles some of the city’s best artisan producers, including Manna House Bakery and Mahon’s cheesemongers. For all things baking related, check out EdinburghEats.co.uk, a blog dedicated to ‘cakes, bakes and reviews’ written by ‘self-confessed greedy guts’ Katey.

Whether she’s reviewing the best spot for afternoon tea or sharing her own recipes, the posts are beautifully photographed, original, and easy to read. It’s obvious she lives and breathes food.

Similarly, the baking adventures of Fiona on http://madebyfi.wordpress. com/ are a joy to behold, with stylish photographs and unique baking ideas.

The Edinburgh Cake Ladies are a group of talented and passionate cake bakers who have frequent ‘baking meets’ and blog about their amazing creations. It might all seem a bit W.I., but who could turn down the idea of trying more than twenty types of cake in one night?! This blog is a must see for anyone obsessed with cake.

If reading about the foodie goingson around the city has made you keen to get involved, dive into the incredible world of secret supper clubs with Aoife Behan’s MyHomeSupperClub.co.uk.

This brave culinary enthusiast invites ten lucky diners into her home every month, where she transforms her living room into a bistro serving delights such

as pickled herring with herb remoulade on rye and carrageen moss pudding with rhubarb compote – in other words, dishes you’d expect from an acclaimed restaurant’s menu. Aoife is also involved with BurgherBurger.co.uk, a ‘guerrilla dining’ experience in which top chefs leave their established restaurants to cook in a greasy spoon that’s been transformed into a pop-up restaurant. It’s a great way to sample food from the city’s best chefs in a unique setting and for a fraction of the price.

For the voice of an experienced food writer, have a look at LeilAppetit. com. As Bite magazine’s ‘Gourmet Girl’, Leila includes all of her features for the free food magazine on her blog, as well as well-photographed accounts of her culinary adventures. The only downside is how jealous you’ll feel reading it! Finally, delve into the world of the Edinburgh food and drink writer with TotalFoodGeeks.com, which aims to bring together the food writing community online and face to face. Each month sees a different culinary theme which writers respond to through blogs, discussions, and culinary creations. They also hold regular meetings aimed at bringing the food loving folk of Edinburgh together, so it’s a great place to connect with others who share your geeky passion for eating! http://lunchquest.co.uk/ http://mymonkfish.com/ http://edinburgheats.co.uk/ http://edinburghcakeladies.wordpress.com/ http://www.myhomesupperclub.co.uk/ http://www.leilappetit.com/blog/ http://totalfoodgeeks.com/

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The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

Fashion Unearthed: St Andrews FS 2012 St Andrew’s FS 2012 provides an impressive local alternative to the international fashion weeks Louise Stolt-Nielson Holten

With London Fashion Week at

a close, editors, bloggers and celebrities alike barely had time to catch their breath before jetting off to Paris Fashion Week. Thankfully there exists a more local style community who have instead brought the fashion spectacle to their University’s front steps. At the University of St Andrews, a group of thirty students orchestrated the twentieth annual St Andrews Charity Fashion Show (FS 2012), taking place on Saturday 25 February. Some 1,400 guests attended the event, with the show starting promptly at 8 pm followed by the after-party, Four On The Floor, featuring DJs Round Table Nights, Moodroom, We Go Hard, and B-Sides.

The venue stood apart from the idyllic, coastal town. In the University’s St Salvator’s Quadrangle, the marquee erected contained a larger room for the show itself with a juxtaposing smaller area for Four On The Floor. FS 2012 took inspiration from the idea of “fashion unearthed” in the production of the show. “We have decided to explore ‘fashion unearthed’ in three different themes: the first is unearthing our past, the second is fashion unearthed and the third is unearthing our future,” said FS 2012 Director, Laura Fisher. FS 2012 was extended into a tenmonth campaign culminating in the final show night in February.

A spokesperson of FS 2012 said, “Beyond simply being a fashion show, FS is a lifestyle experienced throughout the year. The St Andrews night culture combines with a passion for design to create an unforgettable evening.” FS 2012 is active throughout the year in various mediums. Novel to the organisation this year, ‘TeamFS’ was a campaign created to invite students to engage with the organisation at all levels. 230 students from St Andrews entered the project to assist in photo-shoots, fundraising, front of house set-up, and more. Fisher commented, “This year, our team has placed an emphasis on our collateral outside of the fashion event itself. This is to encourage an engagement with FS as something beyond a night of entertainment.” In an effort to elevate their cyber presence, FS 2012 designated bloggers, writers, and photographers to constantly update their online media. Fisher added “What is unique about FS is the shared experience across a vast number of the student body. Thousands of people attend our event, even more consume our media and everyone is brought along throughout the journey.”

The show celebrated its twentieth consecutive production and boasts having raised over £180,000 in the past ten years for various charities. This year they chose to support the Muir Maxwell Trust. The Muir Maxwell Trust, founded by Ann and Jonny Maxwell in 2003, offers support

to children and their families suffering with severe epilepsy. FS 2012 has further increased their fundraising efforts from previous years with an initiative called the ‘Big Give’. This was a five-day period in which people were asked to donate £8 and further share the video with eight people. From the ‘Big Give’, FS 2012 raised over £36,000 for the Muir Maxwell Trust. Further unique to FS 2012 was an event hosted in partnership with the Muir Maxwell Trust in which charity members, sponsors, and guests were invited to an evening coined ‘The Secret Garden’ in Edinburgh’s Mansfield Traquair. In a press release from the charity, “The Muir Maxwell Trust, in conjunction with The St. Andrews Charity Fashion Show has raised over £150,000 with two outstanding events over last weekend. (24 and 25 February 2012).”

Another facet of FS 2012 involves car designer Alfa Romeo, who partnered up with FS 2012 following a successful previous year of the Alfa Romeo Young Designer Award. In October, FS 2012 invited young designers to apply with the chance of winning £1,000 from Alfa Romeo and present their fashion line to a panel of judges including the PPQ design duo, Amy Molyneaux & Percy Parker, as well as Britain’s Next Top Model Winner Alex Evans.

The winner this year, announced at the Edinburgh ‘Secret Garden’ evening, was young designer Janine Clark.

Meanwhile, back in Edinburgh...

The Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show took over Summerhall on 29/30 March to raise funds for the Children’s Hospice of Scotland.

Edmund Fraser

Opera.

Worth a second look.

Get £10 tix if you’re under 26. Any seat. Any performance.

Tosca 4 • 6 • 8 • 10 • 12 May Theatre Royal Glasgow 0844 871 7647

23 • 25 • 27 • 31 May | 2 Jun Festival Theatre Edinburgh 0131 529 6000

For more info, visit scottishopera.org.uk Registered in Scotland Number SCO37531 Scottish Charity Number SCO19787

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

SPORT// 19

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Bernie, Bahrain and bloody money F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is playing a dangerously bullish game in restive Bahrain Sean Gibson Sport editor

Thank goodness Formula 1 is pro-

ducing the goods on the track at the moment. We are currently enjoying one of the most exciting and broadly competitive eras in the history of the sport. There are six world champions on the grid for 2012, and those challenging for maiden titles number the likes of Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg among their contingent; the supreme Red Bull has been pegged by McLaren; Ferrari are underperforming and Sauber are overperforming; ailing giants Lotus and Williams are beginning to rouse themselves.

Technically the sport has finally hit upon a formula that has legs, that will not lose novelty value as drivers and engineers become accustomed to the settings, and thus we should avoid the potential folly that comes along with such random stabs at increasing Formula 1’s entertainment value.

Times are good, and the sport’s followers are in forgiving mood. That’s handy for Formula 1’s grand overlord Bernie Ecclestone, who even by his own ruthless standards has been pushing his luck at the negotiating table recently.

In the latter half of 2011 he was casting doubt on the American race in Austin, Texas, which is new for 2012. There were then rumblings through the off-season about the costs paid by each circuit to host a Grand Prix; Korea were unhappy, Valencia too. And with the German race already being alternated between the Nurburgring and Hockenheim it wasn’t all that surprising to hear about the very real possibility of the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium sharing what would surely become the European Grand Prix, in light of Valencia’s demise, with the old Paul Ricard track in France. All this before Ecclestone even deigned to cast a glance at the looming Bahrain storm.

We have all come to terms with the fact that nothing gets Ecclestone’s gorged, bloated green heart pumping if it doesn’t ooze dollars; surely, though, he has crossed a line in Bahrain. That token gesture, the charade, the illusion that Ecclestone has some respect for the sports’ traditions and institutions – it does mean something. The mask is slipping, however, and might soon be dispensed with entirely.

If the sport was enduring a boring phase and people were fishing around for sticks with which to beat Formula 1’s top dogs, there be a lot more knives out for Ecclestone by now. Forget the human rights issues, you’d have people pointing out that we shouldn’t even be in Bahrain in the first place, because the circuit is an uninspired, dusty nonentity. Ecclestone’s ambitions might be equally greedy worldwide, but at least in India and America there is less of a feeling that the sport is the private plaything of royalty or top businessmen – those

countries promise interesting track layouts in more dynamic surroundings (leading circuit designer Hermann Tilke clearly took out his mistakes on the Bahrain and China circuits) and greater potential for expanding the mass popularity of the sport.

Perhaps, though, the situation is exactly the same in the USA and India as it is in Bahrain. In those former places at least, we tell ourselves, Ecclestone still condescends to hide that savage beast of avarice in the shadows. But money is money to Ecclestone, no matter its location; so it follows that civil unrest would simply be civil unrest, no matter its location. But would Formula 1 have followed a different course had we been in the US last weekend? Ecclestone could well have set himself up for a fall now, by trampling the sensibilities of one people he now has a precedent to follow or overturn if similar circumstances should arise anywhere else in the near future.

FOOTBALL — CHAMPIONSHIP

Counting the cost of a Ham-fisted promotion push If West Ham are to face the play-off lottery, they desperately need to get it right Sean Gibson Sport editor

These are uncomfortable, uncer-

tain times at Upton Park. There has been a lot for West Ham fans to enjoy this season — breaking the 80-points mark, a fresh and often free-scoring team led by a dynamic new manager — but the only achievement that could make the 2011/2012 season anything other than a failure is slipping through their grasp. Promotion has been more of a likelihood than a possibility for so great a part of this season that only now are Hammers having to consider the playoffs with any real seriousness.

West Ham seem almost to have got a little too stuck in that rhythm of trading places which is so particular to the Championship, that when they surrendered the automatic promotion spots to Reading and Southampton a few weeks ago it was a shock to discover that that pair were actually inclined to keep hold of them.

It is times like these when the fearful questions begin to crop up once more — what if West Ham don’t get promoted this season? Or the next? Would it be the beginning of a bigger slide?

West Ham were not one of those Premier League teams that budgeted for relegation each season, but since their return to the Championship the transfer policy has largely been lean and prudent.

Henri Lansbury, David Bentley and George McCartney were all signed on season-long loans in the summer, while John Carew and Abdoulaye Faye came to the club on free transfers. The £8 million received from Tottenham for Scott Parker will have gone a great deal of the way

towards financing the deals for Matty Taylor and Kevin Nolan, while a net spend of around £3 million in January on forwards Ricardo Vaz Te and Nicky Maynard is all you might expect of any team chasing promotion to the Premier League.

However, should this season’s promotion bid fail, even this diligence might not be enough to plug the leaks left by last season’s lack of a contingency plan.

The likes of Robert Green, Carlton Cole, Mark Noble, Gary O’Neil, Frederic Piquionne and Papa Bouba Diop are all on contracts paying Premier-League wages, having been retained despite relegation last season. A grave indicator of the mag-

nitude of Cole’s salary came last summer when his proposed transfer to Stoke came unstuck on that very issue. Piquionne has been replaced, and has just returned from a month-long loan at doomed bottom-club Doncaster, while Bouba Diop and O’Neil have managed only 14 league starts apiece as yet. Moreover when Kevin Nolan was bought at the start of this term, the dotted line on which he signed was at the foot of a five-year contract. Said Matty Taylor upon his own signing: “I don’t expect to be playing Championship football for more than one season if I am being totally honest.” He is surely not the only one.

It is impossible to say from the outside just how great a gamble the club has taken this season, but it is not unreasonable to speculate that it is on the large side.

Obviously having four more years on the contract of a player as potentially vital as Kevin Nolan is a massive positive if West Ham are kicking off a Premier League campaign come August. But if promotion is not achieved then expect to see almost as wholesale a squad turnover as that of a year ago. Just how wholesale, how cheaply the prize assets go for, and the quality of the replacements should give us a much clearer idea of how big West Ham have been gambling.

Ben Sutherland

SPORTS SHORTS

by Sean Gibson

Edinburgh’s Stewart grabs fourth for GB at World Uni Cross Country Champs THE 18TH WORLD University Cross Country Championships were run in Lodz, Poland last week, with Team GB’s best result scored by Emily Stewart of Edinburgh University.

Her fourth place helped the women’s team – three times defending champions – to an overall eighth place, and Stewart will be satisfied that she pressed the three medallists right to the wire with a tremendous final-lap push.

Battle to banish lifetime bans nears end IT SEEMS A formality that the Court of Arbitration (CAS) will rule unenforcable the by-law of the British Olympic Association (BOA) which precludes selection of convicted drugs cheats from selection to the British Olympic team.

Last week Chris Hoy – goldmedal-winning track cyclist of Beijing fame – joined the long line of British Olympians who have publicly supported the BOA by-law. However, former Olympic triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards has asserted his satisfaction at the prospect of the by-law’s demise. Supportive of giving athletes a second chance and regarding the whole affair as “a bit of a non-issue,” due to the continued participation elsewhere of convicted cheats such as Dwain Chambers, he qualified that two-year bans were “simply not enough.”

F1 stars tyre-ing of Pirelli?

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER’S DISPARAGING post-race comments on the Pirelli tyres illuminated a problem with potential to grow through the season. The German multiple-champion complained that high degradation required that he drive at an extremely slow pace: “It’s unsatisfying and not what an Formula 1 event should be.”

Jenson Button stopped short of criticising the Pirelli tyres but claimed that the problem was the unpredictability of the tyres so far this year, rather than specifically the high degradation. Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery retorted: “Everyone has exactly the same opportunities and challenges with the tyres. It is down to them to make the best of it.”

Puzzled: West Ham ponder the possibility of a second season in the Championship

20 / SPORT

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The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

RUGBY UNION

Super Rugby not so super in 2012?

The Journal takes a look at the lacklustre season currently trundling on in the world’s other club rugby competition William Pakianathan Staff writer

Eight weeks into the 2012 Super

Rugby season and it still does not feel as if the competition has really kicked into gear. Granted, there are still ten rounds left to be played, followed by the playoffs, but so far most teams still appear to be finding their feet, as if Southern Hemisphere rugby is still nursing a World Cup hangover. Some of the game’s biggest names, Richie McCaw and Quade Cooper, have yet to enter the fray, while other stars such as Schalk Burger, Drew

Mitchell or even Jerome Kaino have been out injured since the second week of the season and Dan Carter is still being gently eased back into the Crusaders squad, still recovering from the groin injury he picked up during the World Cup. Most teams have also lost a wealth of experienced players to the Northern Hemisphere or retirement. A number of young and exciting players have stepped up to fill the void, but teams are still adjusting to the new status quo. Some established players, only a few years older than the young guns coming through, are feeling the pressure, scrambling to

secure overseas contracts. Piri Weepu and Jimmy Cowan, two halfbacks who were part of the All Blacks’ World Cup squad, have surprisingly been mostly relegated to the bench this season in their respective franchises. Cowan, who up until now has been a marquee player for the Highlanders as the only regular All Black in the team, has only started once this season and recently announced that he would be leaving for Gloucester next year. Similarly, Weepu, along with other Blues players Kaino and Ali Williams, are thought to be negotiating moves overseas.

CM Kong

HORSE RACING

Fallout may include remodelling of tricky Becher’s Brook fence

Concerns have been raised

by animal rights groups after two horses died in this year’s Grand National. Both horses suffered fractured legs and had to be put down in a race which has a long history of equine fatalities. Several changes were made to the track after two horses died last year, and calls from the RSPCA this week are for further amendments to be made.

Synchronised and According to Pete both died in a race which was finished by only 15 horses out of 40.

The Paul Nicholls trained Neptune Collonges, ridden by Daryl Jacob, won in a photo finish which saw Richie McLernon on Sunnyhillboy piped to the post by a whisker.

Katie Walsh on Seabass was leading throughout but ended with the highest-ever female jockey ranking of third.

Aintree managing director

too happy to brandish a card for simply lifting an opposing player, only to wave play on when a jumper is taken out in the air.

The new white card, although it has been used sparingly so far, has merely added to this confusion. A white card was issued by the referee last week following a massive brawl between the Hurricanes and the Sharks. Several punches were thrown in the fracas, with the Sharks’ JP Pietersen, emerging with a bloody face after having been punched multiple times by an unidentified Hurricane’s player.

Yet the citing commissioner was content to issue a retrospective yellow card to Jannie Du Plessis for a rather tame slap on Karl Lowe. The other players got off without so much as a slap on the wrist.

However, the most controversial use of the white card was made during another match that same week, when two Bulls players alleged that they had been eye-gouged by an unidentifiable Crusaders player at the bottom of a ruck. The referee issued a white card, but the citing commissioner failed to find any evidence of foul play after viewing the television replay. Suspiciously, the Bulls management chose not to give any evidence to support their players’ claims (normally eye gouging results in visible injury to or around the eye). An irate Todd Blackadder, the Crusaders’ coach, criticized the claims as a ploy to unsettle his players during the game, and also described the system as having the potential of being exploited by players throwing around unfounded accusations.

Whatever problem the white card system was supposed to resolve, it is clear that rather than offer a solution, it has merely created an additional headache for referees.

Charles Roffey

Two fatal falls at Aintree renew Grand National safety concerns Sean Gibson Sport editor

The Blues’ abject performance this season has perhaps provided an added impetus for these players to move abroad.

Despite a squad littered with All Blacks, the Aucklanders have looked pedestrian at best, especially their forwards; their performances marred by sloppiness and ill-discipline. Having lost seven out of eight games, their failures have caused a minor controversy in New Zealand, with coach Pat Lam reduced to tears when trying to defend his players from raciallycharged criticism.

For now the Chiefs lead the competition, closely followed by the Stormers and the Brumbies. All three teams have unearthed a number of young and hardworking forwards, with the Stormers trio of Steven Kitshoff, Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi all looking very much like future Springboks, despite all being only twenty years of age. However, the season is far from over and with the top ten teams all being within ten points (i.e. only two bonus-point victories) of each other on the overall table, the situation at the top could change rapidly. Expect the Reds and the Crusaders, who are still lingering in mid-table, to be back in contention at the top once their playmakers return.

Inconsistent refereeing has also contributed to the sense that the competition is not yet in full swing. Instructed to crack down on dangerous play this year, it seems that not all referees are on the same page with regards to rule interpretations; two yellow cards for marginally high tackles, which ordinarily would not have even been penalized, were issued

by Chris Pollock in the Crusader-Stormers clash last week. The policy on spear tackles and other dangerous play remains vague and controversial, some referees all

Julian Thick has said new safety measures could be on the cards: “The course has been in a constant state of evolution since the race was first run. If we deem it necessary to change for the safety of horses, we won’t stand still.”

The Grand National has seen 20 horse mortalities from 840 runners in the last 22 races from 1990. After the deaths of Ornais and Dooneys Gate last year changes were made to the circuit. The fourth fence was dropped by two inches and the landing side of the first fence was levelled off. The infamous Becher’s Brook fence, which caused this year’s deaths, was modified with a reduction of the landing side drop.

The entry requirements were also raised, and a new post-race cooling off area for the horses was created.

These changes have been criticised by animal rights groups as being too small to prevent this year’s casualties. The RSPCA described the deaths as “totally unacceptable” and called for “an

urgent examination” of the race.

Synchronised was the first horse for 78 years to be vying for the double after winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup this year. The Jonjo O’Neill trained horse had a shaky start, unseating jockey A.P.McCoy on the way to the start line and causing an eight minute delay. After being cleared by the Aintree vet the horse fell at Becher’s Brook on the first circuit, deposing McCoy once more and continuing to the 11th fence where he fractured a leg.

According to Pete also fractured a leg after falling at Becher’s Brookthis time on the second circuitwhen On His Own fell in front of him.

Five casualties at the Cheltenham Festival this year mean that authorities will take future race safety very seriously. Possible modifications to the Grand National circuit include reducing the number of runners and dropping or scrapping the Becher’s Brook fence.

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

SPORT// 21

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

FOOTBALL — SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Hampden to host all-Edinburgh cup final

Class Act

by Ruth Jeffery

The Scottish Cup will be heading to the capital on 19 May — but will it be in the hands of Hibs or Hearts?

Gary Paul Staff writer

outside of Glasgow. Many have already hailed this upcoming final as the biggest match in the history of the derby; given Last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi- the 116 years since that last final, and the final results have set the scene for an Edin- incredible 110 years since Hibernian last burgh derby in the final of the world’s oldest won the trophy, this may well be the case. national cup competition. The derby itself Most recently, in 2006, Hampden is also one of the oldest rivalries in football, played host to a semi-final between the pair first played on Edinburgh’s Meadows on and with second-division Gretna waiting Christmas Day in 1875. Despite this, May in the final, the winner had a great opporwill be the first time the two sides have tunity to get their hands on the trophy. A met in the final since 1896 when Hearts vintage Hearts side featuring Paul Hartley, ran out 3-1 winners at Logie Green in Edin- Steven Pressley and Craig Gordon romped burgh- the only time the final has been held to a famous 4-0 victory, captain Hartley

with an inspiring hat-trick that took them to the final and set up a seventh cup win.

It is often said that form goes out of the window in derby matches, and that anything can happen in a cup final. Hibs will surely be hoping this rings true on 19 May as they look to end Hearts’ unbeaten run, which stretches back three years, and avenge the three derby defeats suffered this season. With a squad branded one of the worst in memory by some fans, manager Pat Fenlon has done remarkably well to steer his side clear of relegation; add a national final appearance to this, and the Justin Green

Irishman has much to be proud of in his short tenure in the capital. Ending Hibs’ 110-year-old hoodoo, especially against their city rivals, could secure legendary status for Fenlon and his players. Strikers Leigh Griffiths and Gary O’Connor are returning to form just in time for a spectacular end to the season.

However, Hearts will be confident with such an impressive record over Hibs, together with the boost of an impressive and deserved semi-final win over Celtic.

New signing Craig Beattie has brought more attacking options to a side which had been overly dependent on goals coming from midfield. After a tricky start in the competition where junior side Auchinleck Talbot almost staged a famous upset, the boys in maroon have faced a long route to the final. They required a replay, a 95thminute equaliser and extra-time to get past St Johnstone, as well as a replay against St Mirren. Celtic manager Neil Lennon raged about the penalty that saw Hearts eliminate his team last Sunday but the character shown by the capital side to come back from Celtic’s late equaliser and grab a place in the final commands respect.

Edinburgh is poised for a month of escalating hype, as its two premier sides get ready to face-off in the final for the first time in over a century. It promises to be one of the most exciting finals in recent memory and could serve as a fantastic advert for Scottish football outside the Old Firm.

RUGBY UNION

Easter brings resurrection for Scottish rugby The toppling of Toulouse by Edinburgh brings great promise as topsy-turvy season comes to a close Jamie Timson Sport editor

Scottish rugby delights are few

and far between, indeed the delights fans do have tend to be reserved for the ‘shambles’ south of the border, as former world cup winning coach Graham Henry recently deemed the English Rugby cohort. However, Edinburgh’s 2011/2012 Heineken Cup campaign has been a resurrection of sorts for a nation whose representative side has fallen fast down the world rankings following disasters in both the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the 2012 Six Nations. Regular readers will know that Edinburgh’s league form has not matched the dizzying heights of their European campaign, but the topsy-turvy nature of their season has done little to dissuade supporters from following the side in their home European encounters.

The new initiatives set up by the capital’s side in an attempt to make Murrayfield an attractive environment for rugby have been an unqualified success.

The pitch-side access for supporters has enabled them to get closer to the action than ever before, while the prices for tickets to see some of the northern hemisphere’s greatest club sides have been their lowest in years. These initiatives have seen an increase in attendances off the pitch whilst the performances on the pitch have been nothing short of fantastic in Europe’s premier rugby competition. Edinburgh this year became the first Scottish side to win their pool and secure a home quarterfinal in the history of the tournament. This pitted them

against the formidable Toulouse, one of the giants of European rugby, however perhaps it was fitting that on the eve of Easter Sunday, the Gunners performed a resurrection of their own. The French goliaths were dispatched 19-14, in front of a boisterous crowd of 37,881 fans, the highest mark ever recorded for a Heineken Cup quarterfinal held in the United Kingdom.

“The crowd was a critical factor in our victory,” said the Edinburgh head coach, Michael Bradley. “We could have faced Toulouse in front of just 14,000 and they would not have felt any pressure. The quality of our support was such that in the last 20 minutes you felt we were not going to lose.”

Toulouse it seems fell victim to the classic underdog sting. Edinburgh produced rugby far from befitting their second-from-bottom place in the RaboDirect Pro12 whilst Toulouse could muster little to vindicate their position at the head of French rugby. The key it seemed was the confidence the crowd gave Edinburgh to allow them to play the game on their own terms. The fourtime Heineken cup winners were rarely allowed to control the speed of the ball at each breakdown whilst the Edinburgh side were continually varying their point of attack, sometimes kicking, sometimes spreading it wide. The outcome was a Toulouse team unable to take a vice-like grip and assert their dominance.

Edinburgh however, had to contend with being behind for much of the game, a dazzling broken play try from wing Timoci Matanavou gave Toulouse a 14-7

lead and it looked as if the French side would canter to an easy victory when Edinburgh went down to 13 men as Allan Jacobsen and Ross Rennie were sinbinned. However, it was at this point that the Scots showed their maturity, handling what captain Greig Laidlaw later described as “the toughest ten minutes of my career” with consummate ease, kicking when necessary and keeping the favourites in their own half – even landing a drop-goal to make it 14-10 at the break.

From that point onwards it played

out like a fairy-tale for the Gunners, with Laidlaw sealing the deal in the final minute with a difficult penalty that sent the crowd into delirium. Edinburgh’s Heineken Cup dream lives on in a season of many firsts as they face Ulster this Saturday in the first semi-final for a Scottish side since the tournament began. Again the Scots go into the game as underdogs and there will be far more Ulster fans in Dublin than Edinburgh, but following the toppling of Toulouse, there is a feeling that this year beyond all others, anything is possible.

Craig Marren

Luca Brecel Youngest-ever Crucible debutant SNOOKER HAS BEEN treated to a record-breaking World Championship already as 17-year old Luca Brecel becomes the youngest-ever Crucible debutant. The Belgian has broken the record held previously by Stephen Hendry, the latter having been 17 years and three months on his debut. Brecel has beaten that at 17 years 45 days.

His entry into the Betfred. com World Championships came after he beat Mark King 10-8 in the final round of qualifying, his fourth win of the week. His other three wins came against high-ranking players Ian McCulloch, Barry Pinches and Michael Holt.

He has impressed due to his ability to look equally comfortable playing either right or left-handed, as well as his composure in front of the table. He made his first 147 break at the tender age of 12 and won the European Under-19 title at 14.

Brecel has been tipped by many senior players to be a future world champion, and has confidence in his own abilities.

He has said “I feel absolutely fantastic. I didn’t expect this to happen this week. I didn’t think about becoming the youngest ever at all, although I knew about the record. I believe I can be a future world champion.”

In losing his first-round match 10-5 to world number seven Stephen Maguire, Brecel demonstrated his lack of tactical nous as well as his ability to make impressive breaks. But as the victorious Maguire aptly put: “In all honesty you don’t want him getting a safety game just yet, you want him scaring the life out of people.”

Stephen Davis, six-time former champion, believes that Brecel is trophy material.

He has said: “Regardless of what happens, next year he’ll come back stronger, stronger, stronger, and in five years’ time? World Champion. That’s realistic.”

22 / SPORT

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

WATER POLO

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

ARCHERY

Napier archers aim higher Edinburgh’s Increasingly popular university club has hit the bullseye this year water polo women wrap up fine year Ruth Jeffery Assistant editor (Sport)

Most students don’t know

about the university team which exists quietly alongside football and rugby. The Napier University Archery Club (NUAC) has its eye firmly on the target, however, and is having a very successful season.

One visit to see this mysterious club in practice brings home the noiseless intensity of the sport, soon shattered by a shrill whistle and the thuds and thumps of the team’s arrows hitting the bulls-eye. The archers themselves are enthusiastic and passionate, eager to demonstrate the techniques required to make it in this highly competitive sport.

For a sport it certainly is; Napier archery is a far cry from Robin Hood and his merry men. The club has two tiers of ability - novice and experienced. This set up means that everyone, no matter their level of skill, has a chance of competing.

Stewart Barclay set up NUAC in 2004 after being inspired by the Edinburgh University club of which he was a member. He told

The Journal that one of the biggest obstructions was people’s perceptions: “I think probably the hardest time was right at the beginning, convincing people that an archery club would work, getting enough people.

A lot of people think: ‘archery, I’ve never tried that before, I’ll have a go at that.’ Hopefully we retain enough of them to keep going.”

The Napier Students Association (NSA) were at first sceptical but helpful about the new club. Barclay says: “They didn’t give us much money because obviously it was a start-up club and seeing it from their point of view it was quite a big risk to give money to a club in its first year, but they gave us some money.”

Barclay was then able to borrow equipment from contacts at his previous club, and had a helping hand from the archery societies the Fellowship of the Bow and the Royal Company of Archers.

This year has been a particularly successful season, with recordbreaking scores and consistent good form. Barclay says that this is down to increasing members: “We have broken a ton of club records this

year and some of them by quite a lot.

[This is] by far our most successful year in terms of being consistent.

We’ve been second in all our Scottish University matches this year which is something we hadn’t done before: we’ve always been up and down.

We have much greater depth in the squad this year.”

NUAC plays against six other Scottish universities, as well as in occasional British competitions.

Edinburgh University are the dominant team in the Scottish University Sports competitions (SUS). Barclay says they intend to keep up the pressure: “We hope to continue what we’ve done all this year which is to come second: we got quite close to Edinburgh who are usually the most dominant team in our league, so we’ve come quite close to them a couple times over this season, and we want to continue with that.”

The few outdoor competitions over the summer will see Napier archery firing on all cylinders. This is a club which has much to offer those willing to give it a chance - just leave all jokes about men in tights at the door.

Ruth Jeffery

Hannah Killoh

Both first and second teams contribute to club’s “most successful year” Sean Gibson & Sally Abernethy

coach of the Edinburgh women’s teams, described as “immense” – The curtain is coming down on was a particular highlight of the a momentous year for Edinburgh team’s journey to securing their University Swimming and Water place at the BUCS semi-finals.

Polo Club’s (EUSWPC) women’s Docherty made clear to The water polo squad. A post-Christmas Journal: “In all the years I have fixture pile-up knocked neither the coached the girls water polo this first team nor the second team out year has been the most successful of stride and season was concluded so far.” in the same strong form with which “The new Sports and Condiit began. tioning Programme and increased The first team have consolidated funding have seen the players get their dominant position in Scottish stronger and fitter, and with the help university water polo while making and support of my assistant coach, waves in Scottish Swimming Clubs Dave Armstrong, and both team National events, winning the Scot- captains, Marlies Nicholls (firsts) tish National League in only their and Siobhan Walshe (seconds), both second season and the Scottish teams have achieved more than I Cup at the very first attempt. The had hoped for.” girls also went one better than last Docherty also paid tribute year to claim third place in the 2012 to players Claire Gambles, Julia BUCS finals, only marginally beaten Rutherford and Dana Photiou, who out of second. will be leaving the team when The second team has seen the they graduate this summer, and most marked improvement, though, reserved special praise for departdeveloping a bigger squad around ing captain Marlies Nicholls, “who the core players already present. has improved so much that I would Wins over the first teams of Glasgow put her down as one of my best and Dundee – which Derek Docherty, achievements.”

Edinburgh Napier Archery Club: winning round the sceptics with every shot fired

The Journal Thursday 26 April 2012

SPORT// 23

@EdJournal / journal-online.co.uk

ATHLETICS

Glasgow edge Edinburgh to SSS outdoor crown Glasgow see off Edinburgh’s challenge to claim the bragging rights at in showdown at Grangemouth Sean Gibson Sport editor

On a day of such intense competi-

tion, it was fitting that events should conclude with a tour de force by the Glasgow 4x400m men’s relay team. Their time of 3 minutes, 32.44 seconds was the last of a total of 12 championship records broken at Grangemouth Sports Stadium, and Glasgow’s athletes had to maintain that high standard from the first event to the last in order to beat back the charge of a depleted yet spirited Edinburgh team.

The ultimate demise of Edinburgh’s hard-fought challenge was well summed-up by the misfortune which befell John Eicher in the men’s 4x100m relay. Though Edinburgh were only sparsely represented at the sharp end of the men’s sprints their relay team had looked set to snatch a dramatic victory before Eicher, running the anchor leg and rapidly bearing down on leaders Stirling, went down with a nasty hamstring injury a mere 50 metres from the line.

Though the crown goes home with Glasgow, many of the universities with smaller squads turned in equally strong performances. Stirling may have been a distant third overall, but their lack of depth in the women’s events masked the significant achievements of their men’s team.

Strathclyde and Edinburgh Napier were well amongst the medals, both in the track and on the field, impressively securing ninth and eighth place respectively.

The scope of Glasgow’s achievement is only enhanced in light of the fact that five championship records

were broken by four Edinburgh athletes. Kirsty Barr, Julia Siart, Claire Taylor and Courtney MacGuire were part of by far the strongest women’s team on the day. MacGuire set the new standard of 3.30 metres in the Pole Vault, while Barr followed-up her record High Jump of 1.60m with another gold in the Long Jump, and a race-winning anchor leg in the 4x100m relay.

Claire Taylor was part of that relay team, having earlier run a record 15.56 in the 100m Hurdles final, won gold in the 200m, and nar-

rowly missed out on the medals in the Shot Put. Julia Siart was arguably the most successful athlete of the day, however; she brought Edinburgh three golds, in the Hammer Throw, Discus and Shot Put, and a silver in the Javelin - achieving two new records of 12.90m and 54.53m in the Shot Put and Hammer Throw respectively.

Other outstanding performances came from Elish McColgan of Dundee University, who took both the 1500m and 3000m champion-

ship records in times of 4:26.01 and 9:15.72 respectively, and Edinburgh Napier’s Donald Tod. Tod took gold in the Long Jump with a championship-record-breaking distance of 6.58m, having earlier taken silver in the 100m behind his Napier teammate Oliver Lawson. Lawson himself went on to take silver in the 200m as well, while Holly Belch was similarly strong in the women’s sprints to earn Napier another 100m gold and 200m silver.

Edinburgh continued collecting points, particularly through the

admirable 400m exploits of David New (gold), Claire McNicol (bronze) and Steph Lawrie (fourth), but Glasgow roared on. Sam O’Kane’s sequence of three golds in the men’s Discus, Hammer Throw and Shot Put - not to mention his fourth place in the Javelin - secured a vital stock of points; strong runs in the steeple chase from Lewis Renton (bronze) and Rhian Dawes (silver), added to that 4x400m relay win, meant that even Edinburgh’s own remarkable relay exploits could not sway the final result. thatonemoment.co.uk

Championship result SUA Track & Field Championship

Holly Belch of Napier (centre) wins the women’s 100m final, ahead of Jennifer Dunn of St Andrews (left)

M

W

Pts.

1

Glasgow

142

115

257

2

Edinburgh

82

140

222

3

Stirling

124

32

156

4

Dundee

57

70

127

5

St Andrews

42

38

80

6

Robert Gordon’s

23

43

66

7

West of Scotland

39

23

62

8

Napier

37

15

52

9

Strathclyde

46

4

50

10 Aberdeen

22

21

43

11

Abertay

0

23

23

12

Glasgow Caledonian

14

0

14

13

Queen Margaret

0

8

8

14

Highlands & Islands

3

2

5

15

Heriot-Watt

0

0

0

Excitement builds for BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championship Qualification concerns fail to mire the competition that has captured the imaginations of the country’s student athletes Sean Gibson Sport editor

Excitement is mounting ahead

of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Outdoor Athletics Championships, set to take place in London’s Olympic Stadium from 4 - 7 May. BUCS has embarked on the tricky logistical challenge of using the Championships, usually hosted by Bedford International Athletics Stadium, as an official Olympic test event.

Despite the Championships taking place during the peak of Edinburgh’s exam season, the University’s athletes have joined thousands of their peers in the surge for a chance to compete at this exceptional competition.

There has been a great deal of ill-feeling directed against the newly-strict qualification rules, which have been necessitated by the massive increase in demand for competition places. For the majority of events each institution can enter only one athlete, with any spare places thereafter handed out on the strength of athletes’ personal bests. Guarantees could not be given to relay teams, however, with per-

sonal bests alone determining entrants.

Edinburgh has a team good enough to put on a strong performance, yet compact enough that only a few athletes will suffer the disappointment of missing out. However, students of the particularly sporting institutions, such as Loughborough and Brunel, are not so fortunate.

Nicci Chapman, Edinburgh women’s captain, told The Journal that she was “absolutely delighted” that both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay teams had made the cut, having originally been placed on the reserve lists. “The only real disappointment for us is that our men’s 4x400m relay team haven’t been accepted.”

“We’re sending down as many people as possible, and more people than I personally ever anticipated and I can’t wait.

We’ve had 23 individuals guaranteed a place for 28 events so I think it’s worked out pretty well for Team Edinburgh.”

Although many among the Edinburgh contingent have exams which clash with the Championships, Edinburgh University Sports Union (EUSU) has liaised with the University of Edinburgh on their behalf with a view to rearrangement.

The chasnce to compete at the Olympic Stadium has prompted a surge in entries to the BUCS Championships

SPORT /

Hacker:

The F1 chief’s handling of GP tensions in the troubled Arab state has proven controversial

Bernie bullish in Bahrain

19 Stu Stretton

BUKC: Pedal to the medals

Heriot-Watt glory in third place as Edinburgh lament missed opportunities at Round 2 of the Rookie Championship

Sean Gibson Sport editor

Heriot-Watt claimed the final

place on the podium in Round 2 of the British University Karting Championship’s (BUKC) Rookie Championship at the Buckmore Park circuit in Kent, while Edinburgh endured a frustrating day on the way to a final 14th place.

In the overall championship standings Heriot-Watt placed well down the order, having missed the previous round, while Edinburgh inevitably fell to eighth from the impressive fourth they had achieved in Round 1.

Two race wins for Heriot-Watt out of four races – one apiece for Neil Halliwell and Tony Strachan – were backed

up by the two 12th-place finished of David Jordan and Ian Sutherland and helped secure third place for the team on the day.

By contrast, Edinburgh could only manage ninth, 10th, 11th and 19th in their races for Calum Hughes, Gary Brown, Felipe Pinzón and Sean Gibson respectively – results which failed to reflect their competitive pace.

Where the Heriot-Watt drivers brilliantly exploited their opportunities, a mixture of carelessness and misfortune ultimately cost Edinburgh. Race 1 saw debutant Gibson epitomise everything that can possibly go wrong for a driver in the BUKC; unlucky to be spun around on lap 3 after a clean start, Gibson misread the marshals’ warnings and made an unnecessary pitstop. The Edinburgh man could not recover his rhythm and contrived to

spin several more times before the end of the race while attempting to unlap himself.

Similarly troubled was Heriot-Watt’s Ian Sutherland, who dropped as low as 22nd after a spin and a penalty. However, he staged a spectacular recovery to 12th with some notably slick overtakes on the final lap.

In Race 2, Heriot-Watt’s Jordan enjoyed a much more successful debut than Edinburgh’s Gibson. Punted off at the start, he stormed through from 27th and last to 12th place. Pinzón put in a similarly strong race to 11th for Edinburgh, himself recovering from a first-lap accident, but was fortunate not to emerge unscathed from a collision with two leaders at the bottom hairpin.

Heriot-Watt’s Halliwell had taken the lead by turn 2 of the first lap of Race

LEAGUE TABLES

ONLINE journal-online.co.uk

FOOTBALL

P W D L F

A GD Pts

8 7 1

0 20 6

14

22

Heriot-Watt 1st

7 5 0 2 20 8

12

15

Stirling 2nd

8 3 1

4 19 17 2

10

Glasgow 1st

7 2 0 5 9

16 -7

Edinburgh 2nd

8 1

26 -21 3

0 7 5

6

RUGBY

EDINBURGH - 14th Sean Gibson

19th

Felipe Pinzón

11th

Gary Brown

10th

Calum Hughes

9th

HERIOT-WATT - 3rd

BUCS Men’s Premier North B P W D L F

Check the website for full coverage of the EUSU executive elections, as Anna Donegan, Kirsten Chung and Michael Henderson-Sowerby face off for the sports union presidency

Glasgow edge Edinburgh to SSS outdoor athletics crown Glasgow claim bragging rights in showdown at Grangemouth

BUKC Rookie Championship, Round 2

Edinburgh 1st

A GD Pts

Nottingham 1st

14 11 0 3 349 225 224 33

Durham 2nd

14 10 0 4 415 221 194 30*

Birmingham 1st

14 9 0 5 340 237 103 27

Loughborough 2nd 14 9 0 5 333 242 89

27

Edinburgh 1st

14 8 0 6 344 279 65

24

Manchester 1st

14 6 0 8 325 263 62

18

Nottingham 2nd

14 1

0 13 119 548 -429 3

Worcester 1st

14 2

0 12 139 447 -308 3*

spooked into a spin by a daring feint entering the tight right at the foot of the hill. An enthralling race-long tussle with Swansea followed, as the pair cut swathes through the field. They were parted only on the final lap as Hughes, dropping back on the previous lap, failed with what Edinburgh team captain Brown called “an absolute bandit move” on an innocent backmarker into the first hairpin; both spun out.

By contrast, Heriot-Watt’s Tony Strachan progressed from eighth on the grid to first in the opening three laps and proceeded to build a solid lead. A largely uneventful race became suddenly tense in the final laps as the University of Fatteldon eroded Strachan’s lead. The Heriot-Watt man held his nerve, though, to win by just under a second and secure third place overall.

IN SPORT / 23

KARTING

BUCS Scottish Conference Men’s 1A

New president for Edinburgh University Sports Union

3, fully exploiting his fifth-place start and execute some smart manoeuvres on his rivals. Rebuffing the advances of secondplaced Nottingham, Halliwell eased clear to secure the victory and an eventual winning margin of nearly 20 seconds. Just behind, Brown of Edinburgh also enjoyed a positive start and held fourth place for a number of laps. However the leading three broke clear and, with a queue fomring behind, Brown spun wildly through the fast downhill S-bend, recovering to a final 10th place.

A troublesome shower of rain blew in as evening loomed and Race 4 got underway. Edinburgh’s veteran driver Hughes moved from third to second in the opening exchanges, but his run was at the front proved even shorter than that of his teammate Brown. Only a few laps in he was

Ian Sutherland

12th

David Jordan

12th

Neil Halliwell

1st

Tony Strachan

1st

IN SPORT / 21 Hampden to host allEdinburgh Scottish Cup final The cup is heading to Edinburgh — but in whose hands?