WesternEye Issue 3

WesternEye w w w. we s te r n eye . n e t

UWE’s Student Voice - Issue No. 3 - November 2012

BRISTOL FASHION WEEK

FRENCHAY MURALS MURAL >> Page Page X

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>> All Pagethe X

latest trends > Page 14

BRISTOL MAYORAL ELECTION

WESTWORLD ...IS BACK

> Interview with Edwin Fox Page 6

“This is where I started my career towards graphic design and creative fulfllment”

> Poetry Feature Page 7

Six poems from the UWE English Language Society Chestnuts - Running Away - Variations

> FREE POSTER

by Oliver Hamilton

Luke Caddel news@westerneye.net

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he UWESU, Annual General Meeting is taking place on 22nd November in room 2B025 on Frenchay campus. The meeting is an opportunity for students to have a direct say on the direction of UWE Students’ Union, and as the sovereign body of UWESU, it can mandate the Students’ Union and the Elected Offices to follow its direction and develop policy for the Union.

All students in attendance will have a chance to read through the UWESU Annual Report to see how the Students’ Union has spent its funds last year. Last year the principal funding sources were the Block Grant from the University of £840,800 and the

surplus generated from the Union’s trading activities with additional financial support from the introduction of Sports & Societies Passports, which raised £76,286.

The Elected Officers will let you know what they’ve done since then and there will be opportunity to ask questions in regards to the reports, which are all available to download now from the UWESU website. The Board of Trustees also submits a report so you will be able to see exactly what has been happening at your union since July 2012.

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Western Eye November 2012

News Mayoral Election - The Candidates Zoe Hatziantoniou

news@westerneye.net

Bristol Mayor candidate, George Ferguson. Picture: bristol247

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ow many times is it that students are irritated from the bus service that causes them to miss lectures? What about the uncertain job market and the fear that graduates might not be able to find the opportunities they wish for? With the mayoral elections approaching, students have the right to vote for solutions to these problems. A mayor for Bristol means that the challenges that are long overdue will be confronted. With elections approaching, it is crucial that everyone becomes educated about the candidates’ manifestos, since a mark on the ballot paper can go a long way towards improving the city and the lives of students.

The problem is that many students

that are studying in Bristol are not aware of the power that their vote has and how their educated decision can help form changes. This is why it is important to understand the major parties and their visions for the city.

The hopefuls that are chosen represent the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party. Other parties include Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts, the Birthday Party, Bristol 1st, Respect, the Greens and seven Independent candidates.

The Labour candidate, Marvin Rees supports making Bristol a world class city that inspires businesses and ideas. Students should be aware of this candidate since he proposes that there should be cheaper bus fares

WesternEye UWE’s Student Voice <<

Editor Luke Caddel editor@westerneye.net Assistant Editor Aminah Jagne assistanteditor@westerneye.net News Editor Tiffany Francis news@westerneye.net Sport Editor TBC sport@westerneye.net Comment Editor Jack Brown comment@westerneye.net

Feature Editor Joshua Connolly feature@westerneye.net Life & Style Editor Jessica Lowndes lifeandstyle@westerneye.net Arts & Entertainment Editor Georgia Boss Johnson entertainment@westerneye.net Head of Online Editor Liam Corcoran headofonline@westerneye.net Graphic Designers Monica Giunchi & Myrna D’Ambrosio

through the Brunel Travelcard and improvements in the public transportation system. He also states that Bristol should be a ‘Living Wage City’ paying at least £7.20 an hour.

Neil Maggs is the candidate from Respect, who is strongly against privatisation and the cuts at the local level. Students might find his ideas interesting since he believes that there should be employment opportunities for students when they leave college. He also supports that the council should control the buses under Quality Contracts, a promise that may be supported by students who believe that the transport system is problematic.

For Anthony Britt, an Independ-

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ent candidate, the emphasis will be placed on the creation of more activities for young people, meaning anti social behaviour is being addressed.

Moreover, he aims to meet the government’s targets in terms of solar energy and is concerned with the homeless’ access to a refuge in the cold and wet weather as well as towards water and emergency services.

This candidate might find common ground with students since he encourages businesses to employ local people.

Spud Murphy, an Independent candidate that aims to create a community hall for each ward, make better use of the parks and create activities for young people. There is emphasis on the creation of jobs which can greatly benefit students that are worried about the lack of employment opportunities when they graduate.

He is deeply concerned with the public space in front of the Hippodrome, since its enhancement should say something about the city.

For the Conservative candidate, Geoff Gollop, there should be delivery of a transport system that our city needs and making Bristol a green city.

He might appeal to students since he supports the creation of jobs and making Bristol into a vibrant place for people to live in. He will support small businesses and their growth and making Bristol the place to do business. For students that rely on their cars, their vote might be favouring this candidate since he is against the parking levy.

For Tim Collins, an Independent candidate, economic development is crucial. This candidate has stated his interest in saving Filton Airfield. He also strongly agrees with the aim of an interconnected transport system that will be integrated and available to the needs of the public. He strongly supports the use of sustainable

modes of transportation through the use of cycling and walking.

For Tom Baldwin, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Against Cuts candidate, the issue that needs to be tackled is the cuts in the spending of the public and the services, highlighting that he will defend people that are greatly affected by these, and will protect the city’s needs and services.

Philip Pover, an Independent candidate, supports the protection of green space and that development should be carefully considered. In addition, he emphasizes cycling, a reduction in pollution and a solution to the problem with the buses. This candidate might be favoured since he promises to listen to the problems of the people of Bristol, an issue that can go a long way in creating a better place to live in.

Rick Fisher, an independent candidate, supports transport and green spaces. He proposes that there should be respect towards Bristol’s natural environment and will face the challenge of the transport system by introducing new and improved cycling routes. A fourth year architecture and planning student that cycles to the university every day delightedly said that this is just what Bristol needs since there is always fear towards other vehicles on the road when cycling from the centre to the university.

George Ferguson, the Bristol 1st candidate, supports urban regeneration and creating a better city for all. This candidate is interested in an ‘Integrated Transport System’ and working in partnership with neighbouring authorities. Furthermore, he also supports the promotion of an enhanced rail, tram and bus service.

His vision includes making Bristol an accessible city for everyone in terms of walking and cycling, especially for the disabled individuals. He promises training opportunities for young

Have you got a story?

The team at Western Eye are always looking for enthusiastic and self motivated individuals to help contribute towards the running of the newspaper and it’s online counterpart.

If you have an idea, please forward it to the editor at editor@westerneye.net

Western Eye is published by University of the West of England Students’ Union, 4th Floor F Block, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol. BS16 1QY. Some elements of this newspaper are distributed under a Creative Commons License; please get in contact for more details. WesternEye is printed by Mortons Ltd, Lincolnshire. We believe in making WesternEye as accessible as possible. You can access this publication in PDF format at www.westerneye.net. If you require a different format please get in touch with the Editor (below).

The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent that of UWESU. We are all human, and sometimes we make mistakes; any problems please contact the Editor at editor@westerneye.net.

Western Eye November 2012

Continued from page 2 people and will work with universities to meet the demand for high skilled jobs.

Owain George, an Independent candidate, wants to take the opportunity to stop the expansion of bus and cycle lanes that do not work well and are dangerous. This is seen as promising since students have expressed their concern about cycling lanes that are not well maintained, causing unreliability in the time that they arrive to the university when they depend on their bicycles. He will also cut bureaucratic time-consuming processes.

Dr Jon Rogers, the Liberal Democrat candidate, has been a doctor whose work involved listening to people’s concerns. He has worked with older people and vulnerable groups in achieving the services that they need.

He aims to create more jobs and pro-

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Bristol should thrive to invest in renewable energy

vide youth employment, an important advantage for students. He will also encourage people to stop using their cars heavily and will tackle congestion and pollution.

Danielle Radice, the Green Party candidate, hopes to inspire women to aim high. Her plans include making Bristol a greener city and delivering equality. This candidate can find common ground with students studying a degree in the built and natural environment since she promotes that

Bristol should thrive to invest in renewable energy, emphasise a green infrastructure, generate employment opportunities and provide cheaper fares for transport by placing the needs of people first.

Dave Dobbs, an Independent candidate, believes in the implementation of community food production and in sustainable energy. This candidate could be in the interest of students living in Stokes Croft since the local food production in this area might be strengthened. Furthermore, students that are studying a degree in the Built and Natural Environment will find his aims favourable since he supports sustainable development.

His main aim is to seek peace, emphasising the dangers of the tension between Syria and Iran.

For Stoney Garnett, an Independent candidate, emphasis is on the developments that have not gone through, such as the expansion of the Bristol Airport, the Metro and a link road, all in order to attract more visitors. He supports a wide range of issues from sports to the better care of the elderly. He might be considered a suitable candidate since he has identified the city’s problems and has found ideal solutions that will affect the lives of people.

Even though there are many candidates and their manifestos are promising, students should aim to read each candidate’s proposals carefully and think about how their election influence their lives. The mayoral elections are an important issue in the future of Bristol since the successful candidate will deliver a better city with the support of the public.

The elections are held on the 15th of November and everyone should mark their ballot in an educated way, since every vote counts and will help shape the future of the city.

Continued from front page The Board of Trustees currently consists of five elected officer trustees, one student trustee and three external trustees. They will be asked to approve the addition of a new external trustee, James Clune during this year’s AGM. In the past year they have been responsible for the setting up of a trading subsidiary company (UWESU Services Limited); the formation of contracts of employment for the elected full time officers; recruiting new Student and External Trustees and appointing auditors.

In addition they have also agreed to a budget for 2012/13 that took account of the decrease in University funding and reduced trading income.

Louise Goux-Wirth, has put forward a motion to demonstrate how the Paralympics have challenged the perceptions of participation in Sport, and how actively involved UWE were in London 2012, by welcoming the Kenyan Olympic and Paralympics Team.

Ayan Cilmi aims to establish a ‘no platform’ policy to fight against racism at UWE, and Peter Beckwith-Wilson will outline how media representation of civil unrest, systematically demonises protesters and citizens as instigators of violence, without challenging or reporting fully on the role of the police.

Samuel Barnard will readdress a

commitment to maintain the integrity of student media at UWE put forward at the AGM in 2011. The previous motion was put in place to help safeguard Western Eye’s position as an editorially independent publication, whereby the Students’ Union’s executives cannot censor or influence the editorial direction of the newspaper.

It highlights that no executive representatives nor other individuals, be they elected or unelected, is to be allowed to use either their position and/or authority to censor or unduly influence the editorial decisions of student media at UWESU. If you are interested in having a direct say towards the direction of UWE Students’ Union, this is your chance.

For further information on the AGM and future events, visit the UWESU website (www.uwesu.org/agm). You can also access all the available reports for the meeting in advance.

If you would like to submit a motion please contact Olly Reid at vpeducation@uwe.ac.uk.

When: Thursday 22nd November 2012 Time: 17:30-23:00 Location: 2B025 - Frenchay

News 3

America re-elects Barack Obama, rejects Republican Romney Philip Mansell

news@westerneye.net

> Barack Obama returns to the White House

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round 04.20am GMT, Ohio was confirmed as a Democratic state. This was the state that ensured Barack Obama’s return to the White House, for another four year tenure in what was billed as an incredibly tight election; for periods of the night it did follow this narrative. All who predicted a close election put emphasis on the results of Ohio and Florida, and they were clearly right to do so.

Romney burst into an early 30 vote lead, with the first state’s results being projected at around 12.30am GMT. However, none of these Republican victories were a surprise – they were mainly Republican states from 2008, apart from Indiana, which was strongly tipped to be moving away from Obama in this election.

In fact, the only other state that had previously been Democratic and had moved to the Republicans was North Carolina.

However, news shortly after 01.00am confirmed that Obama and the Democrats were still in the competition, with a surge in Electoral College votes placing him in a 64-56 lead. One key hold for the Democratic Party came around 02.30am.

Pennsylvania, which holds 20 Electoral votes, remained with Obama.

This state had been one which Romney had been keen to take hold of; it appeared at this point that the swing states were all swinging towards the Democrats. The New York Times predicted that at this stage, the Republicans had 9 combinations of results which could lead them to the White House, compared with over 100 Democratic ones.

Picture: Win McNamee - Getty Images

The two parties were particularly close in terms of Electoral College votes until 04.00am when the Californian vote, which traditionally is a Democratic stronghold, arrived.

Along with California, Washington, Hawaii and Iowa, all were projected Obama victories. This pushed

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The two parties were particulalry close in terms of Electoral College votes

Obama into a huge lead of 250 to 203 (the Republicans and Romney had projected victories for Idaho, North Carolina and Missouri to ensure the lead at this point was not too great).

At 04:16am, the BBC footage cut to the Democratic Headquarters in Chicago, where the jubilant mood suggested that they believed they had triumphed as MSNBC was reporting that Ohio was a Democratic victory. This combined with the confirmation of a projection of Democratic victory in Oregon. The Ohio

result was confirmed around five minutes later, asserting that Barack Obama had reached and surpassed the golden number of 270 Electoral College votes. After 85% of the precincts had counted their votes, President Obama had only 1% more of the vote than Mitt Romney. As the joy seen in Chicago continued, it was announced that Obama had also taken Nevada and Colorado, pushing his vote number to 290. These were, in effect, by-the-by.

Whilst the euphoria settles in to those Obama supporters, the realisation that four more years of a Democratic President and Senate, and a Republican House (at latest projection, the GOP are well on their way to retaining control of the House). One aspect of the last four years of US politics had been the repeated rejection of legislature by the Republican House. This obstacle has not been removed simply by reelecting Barack Obama. Another issue is the fact that Romney slightly edged the popular vote, meaning that more people overall actually voted Romney than Obama. This could prove divisive in the development of politics in the House and the Senate.

At the time of writing, Florida still has not been confirmed as Republican or Democrat (not that this will change the Presidential election). It has been speculated that this state would be within the parameters of a recount, as the result could be within 0.25%, and therefore by US legislature a recount is mandatory. The divide in the US remains strong, and will likely only be exaggerated by this election result.

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Western Eye November 2012

The Jimmy Savile Scandal > Can we trust the BBC?

Philip Mansell news@westerneye.net

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ince the allegations of child sex abuse by the late Jimmy Savile were broadcast in an ITV documentary during late September, the scandal has implicated a wide range of people. The BBC has been called into question over both its failure to stop the abuse during Savile’s tenure at the company, as well as its decision not to broadcast a Newsnight investigation into rumours of alleged sexual abuse around this time last year.

However, the allegations seem to have brought to attention a wider issue of a sexually abusive culture during both the 1970s and 80s that, some claim, went as high as to involve governmental figures. Labour MP Tom Watson alleged last week that, during the Thatcher era, there were prominent figures who were involved in child sex rings. This story has gained speed in days, but no names have yet been published.

In the last month, over 300 people have reported abuse from the previously well-respected BBC radio and television personality Savile and yet it seems that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

The BBC’s decision not to broadcast the Newsnight documentary late last year has been extremely controversial, particularly as the reason behind this decision seems to be that the BBC did not want to conflict with Jimmy Savile commemoration scheduling. Whilst clearly this was a distasteful decision, certain media

outlets have used it as a stick with which to beat the BBC. Those that took the decision not to run the documentary should ultimately be punished, and this is a process, which has already begun to unravel, with the BBC Director General George Entwistle having faced the Commons’ Culture, Media and Sports Committee.

The BBC itself has begun to run its own internal investigation into the matters of abuse reported to the po-

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The scandal has done “terrible damage to the reputation of the BBC”

lice, to determine their own involvement in it. As well as this, the BBC did broadcast (the night before Entwistle appeared before the Committee, in fact) a Panorama investigation into why the Newsnight programme was not shown late last year. Whilst clearly the BBC has made great mistakes, both during the duration of the period of abuse, and by not broadcasting the Newsnight documentary, the company is visibly striving to hold itself to account for what has happened on their watch. Of course, this will be of little solace to those victims who are at the heart of the affair, but an investigation into the way influential broadcasters work can only help avoid future horrors.

Trust in the BBC will have undoubtedly been shaken by this scandal, something that BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten is clearly aware of (he stated that the scandal had done “terrible damage to the reputation of the BBC’’). I feel a wider debate and examination of the media’s transparency and the power of celebrities should be undertaken. How was this whole scandal allowed to develop originally? Reports say that Savile had full access to numerous hospitals due to his charity work, where he would find the young girls he would abuse. Why did nobody in these hospitals report what was going on? It seems that actually some did, but were not taken seriously.

Others who witnessed these crimes and did not report them have also

Picture: Steve Parsons confirmed that they believed nothing would be done, and they would be seen as a laughing stock. On the aforementioned Panorama broadcast, ex-BBC reporter Bob Langley claimed, “Supposing I had gone to the police or to the BBC, what would have happened? The answer is nothing would have happened. He would have said ‘it was a joke, can’t you take a joke?’ And that would have been it.” This seems to be a common theme, and perhaps the most shocking aspect. How had one personality managed to convince the majority of Britain that he was a funny, loveable, charitable, selfless individual, when really, he was a monster? There is no easy answer to that question, but it is one that must be examined to ensure that history does not repeat

itself.

The BBC has a lot of work to do to convince people that this can never happen again, as well as explaining how it was ever allowed to happen in the first place. This is a crisis that has been deemed the biggest in the history of the organisation, but it is a crisis that they can learn a lot from and will undoubtedly survive. I am sure that there will be numerous developments in this story before this article is even published, with more implications and horrors revealed (over the past two days, Freddie Starr has been arrested for a second time and The Sun has run a front page implicating Leonard Rossiter, who died in 1984). This, ultimately, is a good thing – if these things have happened then they have to be exposed.

No stone should be left unturned in any of the investigations surrounding the scandal. It will take brave individuals to speak out and reveal the true extent of the scandal, and this is the only way that those involved can even begin to repair the great problems which clearly run deep in the BBC and wider media circles.

Editor’s Note: As acknowledged within the article itself, several large developments on this story have taken place, most notably George Entwistle’s resignation as Director General of the BBC; however, I think you will agree that Philip’s point still remains valid in light of these developments.

Prisoners will not get the vote, says Cameron Chloe Anderson-Dixon news@westerneye.net

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avid Cameron has spoken out to MPs, stating that prisoners would never get the vote under his government and has pledged that Britain will continue to defy the European Court’s ruling upon this issue. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fought to legalise the vote for prisoners, stating that a blanket ban on voting for prisoners is illegal. Parliament must respond to this by 22nd November, otherwise they may face a hefty fine and further action by ECHR. David Cameron has faced a lot of backlash against his ruling. Dominic Casciani, the Home Affairs correspondent, has stated that “given that the UK has a reputation around the world for upholding the rule of law and human rights, refusing to comply with the court won’t go down well”. This refusal to cooperate with the ECHR could leave Britain with a damaged reputation, and even expulsion from the Council of Europe.

Britain’s reputation is also at risk due to the prime minister’s publically strong opinion upon this subject - he has stated that the idea of prisoners voting made him feel “physically ill”. However the Human Rights Chief, Baroness O’Neill, has argued that “it is very important for

those who serve minor sentences to be reintegrated into society”. Many support this view, as those who are serving shorter sentences should be allowed to vote as part of their rehabilitation, as well as prisoners on remand due to the fact they have not been convicted. Many believe prisoners have already had the majority of their human rights taken away from them, and they should be able to have a say in what goes on within their country, especially if it is going to affect them. In our prison system of 89,000 individuals, 1800 are released on temporary licence to work in local jobs as preparation for their re-entry into society. They have earned this through good behaviour and achieving low-risk assessments, considering them to be safe and responsible enough to be within the every day community. It would be a small yet significant step for these to be allowed the vote during their final period in prison, and it also encourages rehabilitation.

However those supporting David Cameron have argued that social rights such as voting should only be given to those who live within society’s rules - prisoners do not abide by the law, so why should they be given the privilege to vote upon

it? Many believe the prison system has already become far too relaxed in recent years, with prisoners being given more privileges than ever before. The right to vote should not be one of them, considering the fact that they broke society’s rules to have ended up in prison in the first place. It is easy to see why there is such controversy upon this matter, as the idea of convicted rapists, terrorists and murderers being

Picture: icieuser

able to have the right to vote in the way the country is ruled is a scary concept - these people have been removed from our everyday society for a reason, and giving them the privilege to be involved in who runs our country is unsettling.

The argument of whether or not prisoners should get the vote has both good and bad aspects to it.

On the one hand, it is easy to see why they should not get the vote -

they have not abided by our rules of society, therefore should have their right to a vote taken away from them.

On the other hand, many believe that prisoners who are on remand or who have earned rights such as temporary release should be given the vote, as they have served their time justly and should have some privileges, especially those that may concern them.

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Western Eye November 2012

Bristol: Greenest Women’s City in Europe? Question Time Aminah Jagne

Jack Brown

news@westerneye.net

news@westerneye.net

I Picture: John Sloman

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he judging process for the selection of the Green Capital of Europe for the year 2015 has begun and for the third successive time, Bristol has thrown its hat into the ring.

Joined by fellow UK city Glasgow, the city of Bristol will fight it out against a host of eligible cities from across Europe in order to claim the award, which was devised in 2008 and elected Copenhagen as its first winner for 2010.

But having lost out on being named as the Green Capital for 2014, finishing runner-up behind Stockholm in the announcement of the award in the summer, has Bristol made enough changes to be considered more suited for the award this year?

Bristol’s credentials as a green city are there for all to behold, and there is much to be seen around the city to succeed in each of the twelve categories on which the competition is judged, such as water consumption, green spaces and transport. It has numerous green spaces dotted around the city, such as the Clifton Downs, Ashton Court Estate, as well as many smaller parks, most notably Castle Park, situated right in the city centre.

The presence of inner-city farms at St Werburghs and Bedminster give credence to the notion of the importance of agriculture to the city, as do the many allotment sites that can be found all over Bristol. Finally, in recent years, it has been noted as one of the most cyclist-friendly cities in the UK, with its many cycle paths, including the Bristol to Bath which is a favourite among the cyclists of the city. All it takes is a trip to the Clifton Suspension Bridge to gaze across the cityscape and to see for yourself that Bristol is a beautiful city, combining both natural and man-made elements.

PAIRS Johnathan Williams

news@westerneye.net Model United Nations (MUN) is an exciting, growing concept that has swept the globe exponentially in recent years. MUN is an academic simulation of the complex, dynamic and often frantic working of the United Nations.

The first ever of its kind was brought to UWE on the 26-28th October. Hosted by the University’s Politics and International Relations Society (PAIRS), students each representing a state in the UN held the

However, there is one problem with the city, one which falls within a very important marking criterion for the award, and that issue, very simply, is transport. Despite a plethora of bus services throughout Bristol, traffic is still a very big problem in the city, particularly in and around the centre.

Rush hour traffic more often than not comes to a standstill, leaving local drivers with long waits. The bus services that are provided have been regularly criticised for their inability to provide ease of travel across the whole city, although these claims have been disputed continuously. The city council has on numerous occasions flirted with the idea of implementing a tram service, something that has benefitted cities across Europe such as Amsterdam and Sheffield immensely.

However, plans have never been followed through, and intentions to invest in ‘bendy buses’ were also scrapped.

Bristol will ultimately be judged on its vision for the future in the various categories. Therefore, can it be said that the city’s vision up to this point warrants its selection as winner? The green elements of Bristol make its place as a candidate a given, but in terms of its forward-thinking, it still has a few questions to answer. Traffic has long been an issue in the city, and one that has seemingly never received a watertight strategy to be dealt with.

Bristol finished as runner-up in the last competition, and it will need to present a very good strategy for the future, in particular regarding transport issues, if it is to succeed this and be crowned winner in June next year.

ndependent of Bristol’s City Council, ‘Bristol Women’s Voice’ (BWV) is an organisation that is geared towards serving as a voice for women and ensuring that equality within Bristol is a reality.

As part of their mission statement, BWV declares that they “Will bring together women to share ideas, exchange experiences, support campaigns and events and celebrate success so that together we can make Bristol a showcase for women’s involvement, empowerment and equality”.

BWV hosted one such event on Wednesday 31st October; ‘Women’s Question Time’ (WQT), in which members of the public were given the opportunity to ask eight of Bristol’s Mayoral candidates what exactly, they will do for them.

Key concerns included women’s safety within the city centre, the high costs of public transport (of which women in Bristol are the majority users) and cuts to local services that have impacted upon both women’s health and employment.

The event was reported to be a great success, featuring an “enthusiastic and passionate audience”, a variety of interesting questions and highly responsive mayoral candidates.

Prior to the actual WQT event taking place, BWV sent each candidate

a number of questions to answer.

When asked how she would ensure that cuts to Bristol’s budget do not further affect women and the most vulnerable, Danielle Radice (Green Party) responded: I recognise that women as a group are often more reliant on council services in our lives, and so any cuts to the Council budget will seriously and disproportionately affect us. I can only pledge to assess all cuts for their impact and not make cuts to the services that support the most vulnerable.

Whilst Marvin Rees (Labour Party), when questioned regarding changes to public transport, declared that: The high cost of public transport in this city hits women financially. I will work with providers to ensure prices do come down and that services are reliable and regular. I will give First the opportunity to work with the city to provide a bus service that focuses on public need and on cheaper provision…

When the markedly important topic of violence towards women came to the forefront, George Ferguson of the Independent Party assured that: My vision is of a city where everyone feels safe whatever they are doing and wherever they are. There can be no excuse for any violence, more especially that directed by men against women and girls. I have

signed up to the White Ribbon campaign started by men to condemn violence against women and shall be proud to champion Bristol as a White Ribbon city – a great initiative.

And in response to the topic of under-representation of women in Bristol’s City Council, Geoff Gollop (Conservative Party), declared that: I am opposed to any form of quota or positive discrimination in the selection process, as I believe this undermines the position of those who are appointed. I believe the confrontational nature of council is such that many women would take the view that they do not want to volunteer for the role of councillor. We need to change the image and the way council meetings work. We also have to demystify many of these processes. I see empowering local people to take part in their neighbourhood partnerships will lead on to them taking part in council and taking up other office.

By the time that this is published, the elections will be over and Bristol will have a new mayor. However, it appears that all can rest easy in the knowledge that as an organisation, Bristol Women’s Voice will persistently encourage the successful candidate to remain true to their claims.

To read the full responses of all of the mayoral candidates present, visit: http://www.bristolwomensvoice. org.uk/choosing-bristols-mayor .

battling for their viewpoint to become unanimous. As was to be expected, this never did succeed, despite more country-personal insults being flung around the room, however, a resolution was accepted by majority vote come the Sunday evening.

The fact that a resolution was accepted was only a small part of the overall success of the weekend. As was noted on the first day, the experiences gained through participating in an MUN cannot be gained anywhere else and so is a hugely beneficial event to partake in at any level in University. Many friendships were made, even between opposing countries, and the fever of MUN addiction has no doubt gripped many of the delegates in attendance. Above all, it was a fantastically fun weekend.

PAIRS will be continuing with MUN events throughout the academic year. The society itself will be running small, MUN style debates every other week, as well as attending other MUN conferences nationwide.

Picture: Louise Beth Williams heated debate for three days, before reaching a resolution by Sunday evening amid final day chaos of bargaining with everyone in the room.

The idea of holding an MUN at UWE, stemmed from members of PAIRS attending the biggest MUN conference in Europe, the London International Model United Nations in February 2012. Months, days and hours of work commenced and delegates registered from a whole range of different courses and countries.

The hard work and organisation culminated in this one weekend, where it was undoubtedly a huge success. Concerns of shy first time delegates were quickly dispelled, with academic debate taking hold of the conference room immediately, with more than several slanderous,

albeit humorous, accusations being thrown across the room as delegates jostled other delegates to agree with their state’s point of view.

Delegates were debating how the international system should deal with the growing threats of cyber warfare and outer space security.

To many, this may sound a touch too Sci-Fi, but as the delegates found at the weekend, the threats and concerns are by no means as out of this world as they sound, and any difficulty to understand the problem was only matched by the difficulty to come to a conclusion on a solution within the United Nations.

As the debates went on, the separate ideologies took hold of delegates, and the MUN was ultimately divided into two opposing groups,

If you would like to get involved, find out about these events or simply find out more about the PAIRS society as a whole, and the other events we do, then please either check out our facebook at www.facebook.com/ uwepairs, or drop us an email at uwepoliticsandir@gmail.com.

Finally, a huge thank you to all involved, and for all the hard work put into making the weekend such a huge success!

News 7

Western Eye November 2012

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Picture: AngelaC

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verybody loves discounts, none more so than those students recovering from the financial pressures of Freshers’ Week, with its overpriced drinks and nightly visits to, well, nightclubs. The cash from student loans, which originally seemed bottomless, has soon dwindled down to mere pennies, and the need to save money gradually overtakes the need for nights out.

Enter Groupon, literally a merger

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One of the most prolific lines of complaint is that the produce isn’t as advertised

of the words ‘group’ and ‘coupon’, a company that offers discounts on everything from cupcakes to flights to see the Northern Lights. And they’re never small reductions either – 50% off on Groupon is pretty much considered the base rate of discount, and it’s not unusual to see a product or service worth £80 on sale for just a third of its original value. So far so good. But (and there was obviously going to be a but) complaints against the company have risen dramatically in the past year and continue to do so.

One of the most prolific lines of complaint is that the product isn’t as advertised, be it due to lower quality or simply a different service given to the one expected. A high profile example of this was the catastrophe that resulted from Rachel Brown’s deal with Groupon last year. Mrs Brown runs the Need a Cake bakery which bakes cupcakes and sends them to customers. The usual price for 12 cupcakes was a pretty extortionate £26 – over £2 per cupcake

(definitely not a popular student choice)! However, through Groupon she reduced this to £6.50 per batch and was soon inundated with orders. A bakery that usually found itself baking a few hundred cupcakes per month was soon forced to produce over 100,000. Quite the rise in popularity. Of course, Mrs Brown and her team couldn’t handle the boom in orders and she ended up employing agency workers to help her, who weren’t trained to her exacting standards, and this inevitably resulted in a drop in quality. Not to mention the drop in customer service standards brought on by staying up baking every night of the month.

The story doesn’t even have a happy ending – Mrs Brown lost thousands of pounds overall from underselling and unsurprisingly called the deal “Without doubt, the worst ever business decision I have made.” This highlights one of the major flaws in Groupon’s business strategy: at the end of the day, it’s the supplier, and not Groupon itself, which supplies the finished product and inevitably not every supplier will live up to Groupon’s expectations.

Lauren Blackwell, a third year UWE student, is one of Groupon’s less satisfied customers, having bought coupons for a Reading restaurant which failed to accept said coupons. She was soon on the telephone to Groupon and stated “Although the entire incident was annoying, they were efficient in returning my money”. Two other UWE students to use Groupon are Rob Smith and Gabby Lacono, who purchased a weekend break from the website and saved over 50% off the original price. They claim the company was “Efficient and quick in handling our order”, although added “But as students we probably won’t use Groupon again as most of the deals are for expensive commodities, not something students can afford most of the time.”

Groupon is definitely a site to be used sparingly, as it’s easy to be dragged in by appealing offers that are beyond a student’s financial reach. Indeed, while researching this article I came across an offer for a remote control helicopter that boasted 58% off its price, as well as the ability to be controlled by an iPhone!

Nice try, Groupon. Nice try.

hile some of you have been partying non-stop over the last few weeks and have been getting stuck into your course, others have also been organising and building their sports teams and societies. Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE UWE) is one of those societies that has definitely been working hard to provide a great first month for its members and project beneficiaries. SIFE UWE is a social enterprise organisation that brings together a diverse network of university students, academics, and professionals. By working towards a shared mission of creating a better, more sustainable world through the positive power of business, SIFE UWE is successfully working towards changing Bristol and the World for the better, whilst developing its student members skill set.

The last month has seen SIFE UWE hold an array of socials, training events, project development workshops, and topic forums. Our main event ‘Project October’ was a series of workshops aimed at developing project ideas based on solutions that were derived from a ‘Needs Analysis’ workshop held in week 1 of October.

During the Needs Analysis workshop new and existing members conducted a need analysis into communities

within Bristol, the UK, and the wider World. The ideas underwent a project planning process leading to a ‘Dragons Den’ style-pitching event to Bristol Business professionals in the ‘Project Den’ workshop. The best projects from Project Den then had the opportunity to travel up to London on 4th November to present their projects to a panel of SIFE Alumni at the Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) office. The trip was a great success and the project leaders and members gained some expert feedback from SIFE UK Alumni from Royal Bank of Scotland and Centrica.

The amazing opportunities continue! On the 16th to 18th November, 15 SIFE UWE members will go to Grantham, Lincolnshire for SIFE UK’s yearly training weekend, where 51 SIFE University teams (around 400 students) from around the UK will enjoy expert training, amazing banquet dinners, and fun team building outdoor activities. They come away with transferable business skills, a better understanding of how a project works, and a having met amazing like minded students from across the UK. SIFE UK staff and alumni run the event and top business leaders attend to provide support and training. It will be a lot of hard work for the team that is representing UWE,

but an exciting and worthwhile experience.

SIFE UWE is planning an enterprise launch event for their SIFE UWE café at the new Bristol Sports Centre (BS2 8SF) on the 15th of November from 10 am to 2 pm. The day will play host to inspiring speakers, an indoor market and a preview of some of the UWE sports clubs that use the venue. Come and check it out!

SIFE UWE is still keen to get more UWE students involved in projects.

There are numerous projects ranging from teaching local college students basic business and life skills to empowering Kenyans to build and maintain renewable energy ‘Biodigesters’. Management positions are also available for Corporate Relations Executive, Human Relations Executive (Secretary), and a Project Director (who oversees all of the projects we run).

Are you interested in getting involved with SIFE UWE? Please send an email to: sifeuwe@hotmail.co.uk Follow us: Facebook.com/sifeuwe Twitter.com/sifeuwe

UWE student reaches new heights > Sarah scales Mount Kilimanjaro for Childreach International Sarah Hudson news@westerneye.net

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n 21st June 2012, after around a year of holding fundraising events including sponsored waxes and many a cake sale, I began my journey leading a team of 20 UWE students to the top of the ‘Roof of Africa’ – Mount Kilimanjaro.

At 5,895 metres, not only is it the highest point in Africa, it is also the highest free-standing mountain in the world, rising above the glistening heat of the Savannah.

The challenge was on behalf of children’s charity Childreach International, whose Challenge Events give students the chance to take part in an exciting adventure and raise money for children in the developing world, improving their access to healthcare, education, child rights and child protection. Since 2004, Childreach International has been working with local communities in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania, and opened their Tanzania office in April 2009.

Initially the £2450 fundraising target sounded like a lot of money to raise, but it proved much less daunting than it seemed. Having an amazing award-winning fundraising team continuously support me throughout the year was enormously helpful, and suddenly my team had reached their target and we were ready to set off. We raised a total of £51,287, ex-

ceeding our target by over £2,000!

Before we started the climb, we were taken to visit Mrupanga Primary School, one of the schools reached out to by Childreach International’s School Improvement Programme.

Almost 400 children at the school have benefitted from the project, and it was fantastic to see an example of how the funds we’d raised were helping. With the reinforced knowledge that our fundraising efforts and the physical efforts we were about to make were all for a very good cause, my team were fully determined to begin the challenge.

On the first day, we trekked through the Cloud Forest, a rain forest at a high altitude that is home to elephants, monkeys and tropical birds. The second day presented us with a steeper ascent, but emerging from the Cloud Forest allowed us to experience different scenery – the volcanic expanses of the Shira Plateau, which boasts of some of the best views in Africa. The landscape and climate continued to change the nearer we got to the summit, with crater-dotted rocky ground morphing into a bed of snow. Getting to Uhuru Peak was tough, but seeing the sun rise over Tanzania was incredible – the perfect setting for the triumph of climbing Kili!

True to its name, the event was

challenging, but we had a brilliant team who helped keep each others’ spirits high for the whole 6 days. Ask any member of the group and they’ll say that, above all, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives and they had loads of fun.

I’d like to say a massive congratulations to the whole team for all their hard work and perseverance – and to Childreach International for giving us a trip of a lifetime, one which I will never forget.

If you are interested in signing up to a Childreach international Challenge Event this year please email infomeeting@childreach.org.uk or visit www.childreach.org.uk/get-involved/challenge-events.

To find out more about Childreach International’s work in Tanzania, visit www.childreach.org.uk/our-work/ tanzania.

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Comment

Western Eye November 2012

Comment

Don’t let Arts & Humanities become the latest victims of ‘Eton Style’

Dan Kiddle & Sam Barnard comment@westerneye.net

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bunch of crazed and over privileged adolescents have taken the country by storm, although I am not here talking about a viral internet sensation on youtube (well not entirely), I am of course talking about the part theatrical debacle and part apocalyptic power struggle between the eton school friends Boris Johnson and David Cameron. These two, along with seat dodger George Osbourne, viral apologist Nick Clegg, the omnishambolic Teresa May and the Tory in red Ed Milliband are waging an economic war on us. None of them are like you and me, and none of them could dance their way into our affections using a youtube video (but that is not for want of trying is it Nick?)

Privilege begets privilege and what is happening to those of us without it is ideological; as in our role is being society is being changed. In October 2010, when

the most recent student movement began, Universities Minister David Willetts prescribed that all subjects but science and Maths should have no state funding whatsoever and should be funded only by tuition fees. Martin McQuillan the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at Kingston University London replied to him ‘There are no workarounds, no accommodations to be made, no temporary crisis to be endured; this is the nuclear option, total irreversible wipeout. . . . This is culture war in which critical thought is threatened with extinction.’ The reason for this is the privatisation of our education. When these parts of our academy, the parts that led to the enlightenment, to individual rights and freedoms, to cultural movements, to egalitarianism and the university model itself are turned into a commodity to be bought, a direct arrangement is produced. The student plays the role of customer, consuming the product, and the student does this entirely at its own cost and therefore is taking an economic risk. The university becomes

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There are no workarounds, no accomodations to be made, no temporary crisis to be endured; this is the nuclear option

the purveyor of the product, so our entire university culture changes.

No longer is it the refuge and heady ideal of the underprivileged, it is now an economic risk, and applications drop, and social mobility for arts and humanities thinkers and doers is almost completely extinguished. No more dreams of academia for those who come behind us if we allow this to happen.

The government is utilising compliant vice chancellors to implement this model of education. All universities outside of an elite group are destined to become business schools. As we undertake studies in the interests of the private rather than the public we find our choices and freedoms diminish. We become tradespersons, concerned only with the operation of the market, unable to benefit society. That is left to the elites who benefit greatly from an even more unequal society. All of this is happening alongside a great privatisation of intellectual property, that can be understood as an attempt to strengthen the position of those

with the most power in our society, who are undertaking a quite complex economic and cultural experiment, all of this coming from a government that did not even win the election.

Not that we can reserve any sympathy for the ineffectual and guilty opposition whose leader was booed by his parties bread and butter during the anti austerity march of the 20th October. There truly is nobody left in the party political process that can be trusted to stop this.

That is why we must take immediate and radical action to make our voices heard. No matter what you opinion on the style of protest we saw in 2010 doing nothing would be a cataclysmic measure akin to allowing the burning of books on the arts and humanities. What happens now will have everlasting consequences so what is needed is another round of large protests that do not stop until these damaging policies are rescinded. The first of these demonstrations takes place on the 21.11.12.

Comment 9

Western Eye November 2012

Frenchay Murals > What’s the general consensus?

Tristram Gay

comment@westerneye.net “Dream Big, Then Live It” is the slogan sprayed up one wall at Frenchay; it frames some whacky image of a boxing rhino which is obviously some sort of bohemian metaphor that’s completely lost on the average Joe like myself.

To say that opinion is divided on the murals would in fact be wholly inaccurate; they are pretty much unanimously despised. Personally, if I take the above example, it highlights a very bleak side of university regardless of what message was intended. Its unadulterated optimism at it’s very worst. There is one thing that I’ve learned about university that is unavoidable and undeniable.

When you start in your first year, you genuinely believe (at least I did) that you will live out some sort of Marks and Spencer’s endorsed middle class life in a South Somerset cottage with a lovely spouse and well pampered kids with names like Howard or Agatha. In reality, if you’re VERY lucky you may, MAY, end

up working as a receptionist in your Dad’s mate’s sister’s Accountancy firm for the rest of your life until you die alone at 45. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t make an ‘empowering’ image. I can picture it now, the slogan would be “Dream big, because reality sucks”.

To be fair, I did have one person say something that you could call slightly positive. I forget their name but they simply said, “Well it’s better than a blank wall, surely”. Is it?

I think a blank wall would be a more realistic representation of employment prospects for today’s students.

No one is going to be a boxing rhino.

Or Ghandi.

The Ghandi one is a nightmare as well; it completely contradicts the boxing rhino. It’s something like “Its not reaching one’s goal that is important, but the journey”. Don’t quote me on that but it’s along those lines. So the rhino wants you to live out your “BIG” dreams and Ghandi would rather you just tried your best.

Picture: UWE Students’ Union It seems to me that the two of them combined are like conflicting love interests in a low budget Ben Affleck film. “This Summer, Ben Affleck stars in the rom-com that critics are calling ‘acceptable’ and ‘not as bad as some films’. His long time girlfriend, Boxing Rhino wants him to live out his dreams, but he meets a new girl at work; Ghandi is a free and easy party-girl who opens our hero’s eyes

to a world of mediocrity he never knew existed. Ben Affleck is ‘A Confused Student’”.

I’d understand if this article makes you think of me as a raging pessimist, but I like to think of myself as a realist. Admittedly some of you will have a bright future, but the majority will end up living with your parents for the unforeseeable future. These are facts. My advice to all of you

wide-eyed impressionable Freshers would be that enjoy your time here because, for most of us, you only get to do this once. However, don’t let your outlook be corrupted by ambiguous murals that make less sense than Scientology.

What happens when SFE get it wrong? > So, your student finance application went in on time. Evidence has been assessed and everyone else seems to have had their loans, surely there can’t be a problem?

Marc Secco comment@westerneye.net

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f you have a problem (and maybe if you can track them down), you could hire the ‘A Team’ - that’s the Assessor team at Student Finance England.

My name is Marc, I’m what you might call one of those ‘mature students’. I decided last year that I wanted to go back to school. It was probably when my eldest son, Alex, was flicking through our local university prospectus when I spotted the course that interested me and thought “You know what? I’ll give that a go!”

I am 41-years-old, now enrolled at UWE in my second year, transferee from Plymouth Uni on a Bsc (Hons) Forensics degree. I am an ex-Royal Navy Nurse who, after leaving the Navy, became involved in the legal profession as a private enquiry agent and process server for the Courts with the South West’s premier detective agency.

It was a brave decision to embark on a full time degree programme because I have several little people that depend on me. However, with my previous background in medicine and various legal, civil and witness roles, Forensics seemed to be a good way of consolidating those ‘life experiences’, as well as a personal and career-led motive for further self-development.

Having been through the process of applying for student funding last year and knowing what had to be assessed, I did not think that my application for 2012/13 would be too much of a problem.

Well, how hard is it? In April I handed in my application - the only difference is I now study at UWE, not Plymouth. A question of geography, surely? My application should be easy to assess shouldn’t it? They know who I am from last year...Perhaps not!

I have been at UWE for a month now. I live in my car.

Okay, it’s a fairly big car now I’ve removed all the rear seats and built a bed in the back. The upside is I’m near to campus, and I’m free security to all those overnight stayers in Car Park 20. The downside is that it might have appealed 20 or so years ago when I lived in Newquay, Cornwall but it’s wearing a bit thin now - must be my age!

Yes - I still have had no money from Student Finance. Conversations, once finally getting through to the call centre operatives, have only evoked repetitive answers: “Keep an eye on your online account”, “It’s being dealt with” or my absolute favourite, “It’s being assessed and a decision should be made in the next X days”.

It was only when I insisted that I would like to talk to a supervisor, who could perhaps tell me what is really going on, that I got my favourite piece of really helpful and decisive news.

It went like this: “Okay you have passed the security checks, my name is ******, how may I be of assistance?”

“Well, hello ******. I’ve had no choice but to sleep in my car, I can’t pay for a permanent term time address, or indeed the commute from my house to Uni. I have not received my loan/grant etc. As you can imagine it’s a bit hard deciding, on my very limited budget, whether to go to Uni - for which I am liable for the tuition fees - or to feed my kids this week. As it turns out I can feed my kids but I am forced to stay overnight four nights a week in my car so I do not miss any of the education I will be paying for at some point. This is not ideal as you can imagine and not conducive to a happy student. Please can you tell me when I might possibly get the money? Pretty please?” In my most polite and non-condescending, adult manner.

The reply: “Well sir, it’s in fast track.”

“Oh great, how longs that then?” A hint of hope in my voice.

“Anything up to 6 weeks sir.”

“Ah the same fast track I was told about 3 months ago? Please can I talk to a supervisor?” My voice now betraying suppressed frustration.

“Well no, he’d only tell you the same.” Scripted response, methinks, again…

“Is there any way, anyone, anywhere in your building could give me the full explanation as to what’s go-

ing wrong here? This is affecting my life and that of my family. I can’t express how important this situation is and I need some resolution.”

“No sir, we are just a help line.”

It was at this point, somewhere in my head and deep down inside I started laughing manically. John Cleese and a certain Basil Fawlty image of beating a broken down Austin 1100 came to mind, or Blackadder trying to explain a simple concept to Baldrick.

No, sir we are just a help line?

Well, I am so relieved to know that, I would hate to have thought that I’d be ringing an office that would not be of any help!

As the weeks go by, you can find me in the big, green car I have dubbed the ‘Mystery Machine’, Monday to Friday, Car Park 20. I’m there, wondering when I might be able to budget for a room local to UWE, and to keep my kids happy and healthy whilst I live in my car 130 miles away four nights a week. We live in hope!

My mission statement, my campaign, my raison d’etre, is there should be a mechanism in place when things go wrong at SFE. I understand they have a lot to process, but I know I am not alone when it goes very wrong.

Last year, a returning single mum of two had to drop out of higher education because she could not get any one at SFE to make a decision in time.

Today, I learnt of two students who cannot eat and are within an inch of dropping out of full time education because they are still waiting for this mystic, often erstwhile, person at SFE to press the ‘GO’ button. I’m lucky I can survive sleeping in my

car for now. I climb mountains and escape to Dartmoor often, but SFE need a mechanism in place that lets the buck stop with someone and not at the cost of the student.

I would like to hear from anyone who has had or is enduring a similar problem with Student Finance England. My aim is to petition for a ‘next level’ emergency response when SFE, by their own guidelines and policies, have failed to assess and pay out to students - young and old, single or in a family situation - on time.

There currently is no mechanism in place at the ‘help line’ in Darlington, to get past the call centre reps, who are reading off a script, and can only say “Computer says no! Thank you for calling.“ There has to be someone who can say yes!

I have asked for the NUS to help me get behind the campaign to make SFE more accountable, more helpful and more willing to get things on track when the process has obviously gone very wrong. I am petitioning to get this discussed at a national level.

Thank you to Hub radio for broadcasting my plight on Thursday 18th October.

I would also like to say that Student Services at UWE have been the height of efficiency and most helpful in arranging short term loans and financial assistance, special thanks to James and the rest of the team there.

I can be contacted via email msecco@me.com or SMS 077991682948

10 Comment

Western Eye November 2012

The True Value An influx of technology of a Business Degree Thomas Smith

comment@westerneye.net

Alexander Walls comment@westerneye.net

U

WE prides itself on its esteemed business school, and with its high focus on the ‘power of partnerships’, claims it has a high rate of employability after 6 months of graduation. But how valuable is a business degree from UWE? In fact, how significant is business knowledge in today’s world at all?

After perusing the Unistats website for a good 15 minutes, I found a few interesting facts about the UWE Business Studies course, of which I am in my third year. Apparently, 62% of graduates are in a professional or managerial job within 6 months of graduating. Indeed I remember by second year, UWE was already greatly encouraging students to go on placements, claiming it pushed this figure up even higher. I say high, but only in comparison to many other universities who report figures far lower, often around 25%.

Upon first glancing at that figure, I feel pretty good. I do fairly well in my degree, and surely I must be one of those 62%, especially seeing as we are constantly bombarded by the media about the problem of jobless graduates. UWE are always demonstrating their excellent postgraduate opportunities and connections with medium and large businesses. I’ll be laughing when I leave.

That’s one side of me. The other side is yelling; ‘62%? You spent TWENTY THOUSAND POUNDS! I want 100% minimum!’. For the next bit, I’m going to remind you that this is a comment article, I do understand that its just what I think. There, done.

I can honestly say that the primary thing I have learnt from studying my degree is how little I enjoy it. To me, it is as boring as watching paint dry.

Actually, sometimes paint sizzles just slightly and dries at different speeds.

I try to find it interesting, but mostly, I just don’t. I frequently joke about my degree, claiming it was ‘the wrong choice’. Indeed I often wonder if I should have chosen something more enjoyable...Horticulture is cool, isn’t it?

In all fairness, I could probably get a good job at the end, earning lots of money (£19,000 after 6 months) and slowly climbing up the corporate ladder. But over these last couple of years, I have asked myself one burning question more and more: What for? I knew it would put me in good stead, as UWE frequently flaunts its postgraduate opportunities and events designed to show you off to the employer (the recent event ‘Venturefest’ a particularly good one). But I slowly became disinterested with that kind of success. I highly respect the person that works hard on their business degree, secures a good job after graduation and goes on to live

a comfortable and enjoyable life. But the concept of that doesn’t scratch a particular itch of mine. Mother Dearest laughed at me when I said I didn’t come to university to get a better job at the end, and now, I am reaching the stage where I’m spending more of my time researching how to live sustainably and independently of money in a caravan in the woods than I am ‘Porter’s Five Forces’ or ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’.

I must say, however, there are some parts of the course that have been very useful. I have become truly fascinated by business ethics, and I

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This course is too big; my heart sinks when I have a seminar

have met a couple of friends that will stick with me forever, one of which cofounded a social enterprise with me.

That is a great achievement of mine and I do try to apply as much from the course as I can to it, but for the most part, everything I read seems terribly vague and disconnected from the real world. This course is too big; my heart sinks when I have a seminar, knowing that yet again, I’ll be put in a group with people who more than likely haven’t done the reading, and nobody can be bothered to speak.

Perhaps I just can’t see how much I have learnt? I just wish the 20% of what I find interesting was actually the 80% I believe it should be.

It would also appear that over 25% of my fellow students agree with me (Unistats). My degree has provided me with very little in comparison to how much university as a whole has provided me with.

That said, the effort I have put in this year has been rewarded. I look at life in a different light, my opinions and subjectivities being one in a sea of billions. Thank you interpretivism.

Some lectures I sit there totally fascinated, upset when they end (nearly).

For those who want a secure, well paid job after graduation, welcome to Bristol Business School. Enjoy our selection of abstract art. But for those like me, who have trouble sitting still, I think you can get use out of the business degree. This I try to do, but I think there is a lot more to it that just getting a well-paid job at the end. Its bloody useful if you want to analyse the world around you, and that is what keeps me going.

Picture: XXXXXX

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ith the holiday season fast approaching, leading gadgetry manufacturers are vying amongst themselves to get you to swap your hard earned cash for their latest and greatest devices.

As well as the iPhone 5 and a new iPod range, Apple is pushing their new super -light, super –thin iPad mini to compete in the 7-inch screen tablet market. Google enter the fray with two new devices; the Nexus 10 tablet and Nexus 4 smartphone, both possessing top of the line specifications and sporting the latest android 4.2 operating system (a.k.a ‘Jelly Bean’) right out of the box. £400 can get you the new Microsoft Windows Surface tablet, which features a thin touch sensitive keyboard dock and a functional office suite.

Every year, new models of smartphone and tablet are released. Do we need these technological extras, and if not why do we buy them? It has to be said, I’m a geek for tech.

The spare money I have had over the last few years has gone towards a HTC Desire smartphone, an iPhone, an e-reader, a slick little tablet that converts into a netbook, and a Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

There is no doubt in my mind the general direction in which consumer technology is moving is a good thing.

I have found map applications invaluable, particularly when travelling to unfamiliar cities. I can email and be emailed on the go and access to cloud storage has meant that as soon as I see a job application in a shop window, I can send my CV and covering letter in seconds, or just snap a photo of the advert using my phones camera. More recent innovations include virtual assistants, which although may be dismissed as a gimmick, I have unexpectedly found extremely useful in a variety if situations e.g. converting between fahrenheit and centigrade while I’m preoccupied with cooking a new recipe. Recently I had deadlines looming, and was almost living in the

library. I believe my productivity was actually enhanced because when I needed a break I could go down to Core 24 and shut off for an hour while I watch TV on my smartphone with a coffee and a sandwich.

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Do we need these technological extras, and if not why do we buy them?

I am excited to think what future technological advancements may have in store for consumer technology.

So are this year’s devices worth shelling out for? My answer is subjective, but I can explain why I won’t be emptying my bank account on these devices this Christmas.

In my experience, a dock-able tablet is no replacement for a laptop or even a netbook. I found menial tasks such as word processing and referencing extremely laboursome on my tablet.

In my studies it has been invaluable to have the access to office applications, but also statistics, graphic design and animation software. There are no comparable analogues of these software packages on android or iOS, and you would have to trust that Microsoft makes Windows RT optimised versions of the software available through their app store if you intend to use the surface tablet as a laptop replacement.

With regard to 7-inch tablets, while obviously more portable than their 10-inch counterparts, does owning one add anything to someone who already owns an android phone or iPhone counterpart? I would absolutely buy the LG Nexus 4 smartphone if I didn’t already own the galaxy nexus, Google have taken a very pocket friendly approach of commissioning a really incredible device and aggressively competing with Apple by selling it at a budget price through their online Play Store. For me personally the technical differences between my smartphone and the Nexus 4 don’t amount to a good reason to spend the money on the upgrade , but if anyone is set on a new phone this Christmas I’d recommend looking at the Nexus 4.

In reality I don’t think there is an absolute answer for whether any device is worth buying, it depends on you and your requirements. I would say that no one needs a modern device, but I honestly believe owning a modern smartphone has been as useful to me as owning my own computer or laptop. All I would urge is not to waste money by buying new products because they are new, have better specifications and therefore must be better. Do your research using independent reviews and question if the device is proven to fulfil the role that you want from it.

12 Comment

Western Eye November 2012

Contemporary Capitalism and the Privatisation of Democracy > There has a been a trend of declining voter turnout > Dan and Sam invesitigate ‘Democracy 2015’ Dan Kiddle & Sam Barnard comment@westerneye.net

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t’s easy, when studying a subject at an academic level, to become absorbed into a comfortable mindset. Both in the way you approach your subject (the focus of what you study and the analytical approach that you use) and subsequently the way in which you think other people should approach your area of interest. This is no less true with the realm of politics. It is easy to become aloof towards people who do not talk on the matter with the same level of sophistication.

However, on a topic such as politics, which involves a process people engage with and are effected by on a daily basis, often the fact that people come to different conclusions is because their life experiences and socioeconomic conditions are so varied, rather than an inherent lack of knowledge on the matter. To illustrate, a refugee escaping political persecution will have a different attitude towards immigration compared to someone born and bred in rural England.

Often, through engaging with a systematic approach presented by academia as a normative truth, we lose perspective of the fact we are engaged within a prescriptive process which reproduces and reinforces a dominant ideology which manifests itself in subtle ways.

So when someone says “politicians talk rubbish, my vote won’t change anything” there’s much more to be understood from such a statement than to be able to dismiss it as symptomatic of “fear” and misunderstanding from some less educated masses. Indeed to

Picture: Wraxalls

skim over such a statement ignores the fact that for the vast majority of people it is true: we are governed by millionaires who, even at the time of election, were supported by a meagre 23.5% of people eligible to vote.

There has been a trend of declining voter turnout. Mainstream political parties disengage with the electorate as they embed themselves into an isolated milieux where they ignore election pledges or talk only to themselves at rallies.

But the broken nature of party politics doesn’t exist purely on such a superficial level. The money driven into lobbying government; special relationships between politicians, police, and the media (as we can see from both the Hillsborough and Leveson inquiries); MPs voting in ways which aren’t coherent with the mandate given from their constituency, and so on.

The contradictions and confusion which arises from our first past the post electoral system, the question of whether you pace your vote for you constituency MP; preferred party for government; or favourite for Prime Minister, should not be downplayed. The entrenchment of corruption, nepotism, and arrogance within Parliament is representative of a deeper rot within the political and economic structures that party politics exists within.

The claim that the Democracy 2015 campaign would be reclaiming politics for the voters is in itself a dishonest retelling of history: the idea that in some bygone age politics was open and accessible to all.

It is true that there was a post-war period where politics was less dominated by the Oxbridge, PPE elite.

Yet this comes in a backdrop where as recently as two hundred years ago 3% of people had the vote, concessions of suffrage have only come in the face of mass unrest or attempts to machine political influence, women’s suffrage was not won until 1928, parliament remains dominated by white men, and the undemocratic influence of big business and old money has never been excised from our political system.

We can see from the policies of the Tory-Liberal government and Labour’s insistence that cuts remain necessary (all of which place the burden caused by the failure of the bankers on the shoulders of working class people, rather than reclaiming taxes from the super rich and big businesses such as Starbucks) the influence of big business on parliamentary politics is very real and very powerful.

However the target of Democracy 2015 is not to resolve these inherent, structural problems but instead to focus solely on attacking the party political structures which exist in their current form as a result of these deeper institutional flaws. It is akin to changing the a flat tyre while the car’s engine is on fire.

Despite Democracy 2015 making grandiose claims that it will end the formal party structures to return legitimacy and trust to the political system, it instead will achieve the decentralisation and privatisation of a system which has only ever maintained an engineered, rather than true, legitimacy. Through being a product of thes same economic conditions, the campaign destines itself to recreate the problems it claims it will resolve.

An example of how this functions

is, in an article from the 10th of September, the campaign laments that only 23% of respondents are women. This matches closely with the representation of women within parliament, just short of a quarter within the House of Commons and even lower at a fifth in the House of Lords, and highlights the inability of

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Without party strutures people from outside the economic elite don’t have access to the finanical backing to campaign

Democracy 2015 to critically analyse the root cause of this.

With the dual burden imposed by society women today are expected to both take on the carer-role within the household as well as compete in the employment market, there are no provisions for child care to be shared as a social responsibility, and a socialisation that encourages men to be proactive and assertive in changing their lives while women are raised to be passive and nurturing, it is no surprise that within electoral politics women are no more encouraged nor accommodated to participate in an already male dominated mainstream political sphere.

Without having structures to understand and affect participation; the people who have the social position (free time, financial security, education, socialisation, and community and business connections) to engage with electoral politics remain predominately white, middle class, often “entrepreneurial,” men. For a single mother, or a working class person who has to hold down two jobs to make ends meet, Democracy 2015 just isn’t a viable option.

Through reproducing another route to political power we simply

see a reproduction of the same political class but with a different rhetoric tailored towards “ethical” politics. Yet still these people lack real engagement with the people who are disaffected by electoral politics today. It is no coincidence that the campaign was started by Andreas Whittam Smith, founding editor of the Independent, rather than a worker in a council care home facing closure.

Without party structures people from outside of the economic elite don’t have access to the financial backing to campaign. There remain no institutions to facilitate the ability to recall MPs should they breach election promises, and what’s more is there is no greater body through which a voter can gauge the intentions or allegiances of an independent candidate for the vast majority of matters which are not campaigned upon.

There is also no express intention to introduce new laws or structures through which recall can be performed. Neither is there a manifesto suggesting an investigative body which could act as a watchdog to prevent, for example, the expenses scandal and nothing to prevent independent MPs from engaging in the same corruption and simply stepping down before they get caught.

As a continuation of the cultural logic of contemporary capitalism, Democracy 2015 subsumes itself to presenting the facade of choice, challenging the mainstream system with campaigning adverts that seem new and exciting. When looking under the surface we can see that this idea of choice is a lie. The campaign simply drives towards a very slight expansion of the ruling elites, with an even more nebulous and hard to challenge form of nepotism, rather than recreating the system entirely to bring in a new form of radical democracy.

For the majority who are not lucky enough to be a part of the ruling class or economic elites, it remains through workplace organisation that the policies of the governing elite can be challenged and changed. It is in the act of engaging in disputes over wages, working conditions, equality within the workplace, and support for workers who have childcare concerns or disability, that real democracy happens.

Through challenging the system in these battles much more can be achieved than working as unpaid interns for an entrepreneurial business man’s election campaign.

Comment 13

Western Eye November 2012

How much is too much ? > Tickets for Rolling Stones start at £106 Elliot Leaver comment@westerneye.net Ask me what the single greatest experience in the world is and I will give you the same answer every time: seeing your favourite band live in concert. I am a massive gigfreak: nearly 100 different bands seen in the last five years, several of them more than once. But recently, the opportunities to see the bands I love have decreased due to a lack of personal funds, and I have discovered that, more often than not, this is down to the price of the tickets themselves.

As you are reading this, the Rolling Stones will be preparing for their two dates at London’s O2 Arena at the end of November. Tickets for those concerts started in price from £106 and rose to £406, including booking fees, depending on the quality of the seats. However, if you wanted to guarantee a place standing in the ‘tongue pit’ (an area right in front of the stage shaped like the band’s famous logo), you would have to purchase a special VIP hospitality package that, including VAT, would set you back £1,140. To put that into a little more context, each member of the Stones was paid around £88 in today’s money after their first gig back in 1962, less than the price of the cheapest O2 Arena seats. In 2012, each member will pocket around £486,000 per HOUR from the two dates in London and two in New Jersey.

To me, that’s pretty extortion-

ate, and it begs the question: should bands be allowed to charge high prices for gig tickets based on name alone? People will obviously argue yes – given that this is

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Should and be allowed to charge high prices for gig tickets based on name alone?

their 50th year in the music business, the ‘Stones have amassed quite the fanbase, and people will be more inclined to spend more if it gives them the chance to see their heroes one more time.

Secondly, despite Mick Jagger’s strict fitness regime and the fact that they all looked in good health at the launch, inevitably there is

the threat of these dates being the last ones they will ever do. Couple this with the news that the show is meant to be a huge spectacle, with many special effects, pyros and (apparently) interactive tongues, you can quickly see that the gigs are to be seen as an occasion above all others, an event that you can tell the grandchildren about on a quiet evening around the fire.

To achieve that experience, a higher fee is needed, to add to the exclusivity of it all and to give the special effects companies their desired cut of the profits. Thirdly, there will be the people who will say “It’s the Rolling Stones. THE Rolling Stones – surely they’ve earned the right to charge whatever they want for tickets?” And, given that tickets sold out in SEVEN MINUTES on the morning of October 19th, one could say that nobody really cared about the prices in the first place.

However, I do, and I didn’t even

attempt to buy a ticket. Why do I care so much? Because I’m thinking of the newer generations of ‘Stones fans. Even now, people will be discovering the band and becoming fans of their music, and many will then want to see them live before they eventually call it a day. For them, charging a minimum of £106 for a ticket is heartbreaking, in part because you don’t know when the chance will come around again, but also because they simply can’t afford that sort of fee in these unstable financial times – it’s probably caused problems for many older fans too, who will want another concert to savour.

To add insult to injury, tickets are currently being sold on ticket resale websites for as much as £12,500.

Whilst there is an indication that this is just the first step before an extensive tour to celebrate 50 years in business, nobody can really say how many dates will be

done in the UK, where they will be done or if it will even HAPPEN. Furthermore, if it DOES happen, how much are tickets likely to be then? Rumours are also high that the band will be headlining next year’s Glastonbury Festival, which could well be their only UK appearance that year, at an already soldout event. What of the fans then?

Regardless of what has been said though, the fact still remains that the Rolling Stones shifted about 40,000 tickets costing a minimum of three figures each in less then ten minutes. You cannot deny, from a business perspective they have done very well for themselves.

But do they really need to earn an hourly rate of nearly £500,000 per member? From a music perspective, maybe they should take a good look at themselves in the mirror and questions the ethics of the ticket prices being charged.

Bonfire Night - The After Effects

> Remember, remember the fifth of November

Picture: gasheaduk

Tiffany Francis comment@westerneye.net

I

hope Bonfire Night was to everyone’s satisfaction this year. It’s a jolly pleasant time of year, with fizzy sparklers and burnt eyes, and an enchanting chorus of howling dogs on every street. Every year, my evening consists mainly of coaxing my dog to sleep with numerous biscuits, or forcibly tranquilizing the Jack Russell next

door with a special injection, leaving me feeling like I’m in a surrealist painting of a narcotic party with all my dog friends. I don’t really mind helping the dogs chill out, but it does call into question the well being of domestic and wild animals during this most autumnal of celebrations.

Bonfire Night began on the 5th

November 1605, when a naughty fellow named Guy Fawkes was caught guarding a set of explosives designed to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Since then, the UK has celebrated the event with fireworks, bonfires and the burning of a Fawkes figure, and the festivities have spread across the globe. The Gunpowder Plot itself has influenced literary figures, with the belief that John Milton’s Paradise Lost is haunted by the event, and has also proven popular in modern culture, such as the comic series and (excellent) film, V for Vendetta, created by Alan Moore. I think it’s fair to say that the majority of the nation’s citizens have some form of nostalgic attachment to this tradition, but how far should it be taken when it often endangers the environment, animals and people?

Last year, the London Fire Brigade was sent to 114 out of control fires in the short space of 8 hours (Source: BBC). Despite the countless adverts and warnings to be careful with fireworks, bonfires and sparklers, some people just cannot seem to cope with the responsibility of the flame, and every year many are injured or even killed. Many countries and states have banned fireworks to certain age

groups, and Chile have banned the use of fireworks altogether for anyone without a special license. But should people be forbidden to use pyrotechnics, or is it their own prerogative if they choose to misuse them and cause damage to themselves? The real victims may be the thousands of innocent domestic and wild animals that are injured, killed or traumatised every year by the festivities.

Some of the main victims of Bonfire Night include small animals, rodents and hedgehogs. Bonfires provide the perfect home for hedgehogs, as they will curl up into the dried leaves and wood and find it a suitable place to sleep during the cold winter months.

Every year, thousands of small animals die during bonfires. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society suggests moving a bonfire pile before lighting it, to give animals a chance to escape the blaze. Alternatively, they recommend lifting the bottom layer with a broom handle and shining a torch around, to scare the animals into detectable movement. As bonfires are an activity for the seasons ahead, please do always check for small creatures, and contact the BHPS with any problems (01584 890801).

Yet it isn’t only wild animals that are in danger: every year, household pets can become anxious, traumatised or even vicious if they are scared of loud noises. Animal Friends says ‘small animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, and birds if outside, should be brought in and placed into a quiet area. Horses and livestock should be properly stabled...and fireworks should not be set off too close to them.’ Bonfire Night may be over, but fireworks are popular throughout the winter months, so always prioritise the health and happiness of your pets before lighting up.

Everyone loves the roaring fires and dazzling fireworks of Guy Fawkes Night, but will we soon reach the point when the number of deaths and injuries exceed sparklers and toffee apples? Perhaps all it needs is a dash of common sense? Here are some rules to help you enjoy the coming months with ease: Don’t eat the sparklers, don’t allow your cat to strike the first match, and ALWAYS check the bonfire for tiny hedgehogs.

14 Feature

Western Eye November 2012

Feature

Bristol Fashion Week > Western Eye’s fashion correspondent Hannah Rankine reports on the event as it unfolded Hannah Rankine feature@westerneye.net

E

mbarking on a degree means we subside ourselves to have a devastating bank account for a while in aid of investing in our future. However expanding our minds shouldn’t mean our wardrobes diminish. After all this is the time before suits takeover that we can go for it in the style stakes. It is up to us what we put on our backs and when fashion is extremely accessible it seems unfair and unreasonable to think that we, as students, should be exempt from embracing high fashion trends.

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It seems unfair and unreasonable to think that we, as students, should be exempt from embracing high fashion trends

Cribbs Causeway agrees with me that the fabulous looks seen on the runway shouldn’t stay there. Oh no! They need to get off the catwalk and grace the corridors of UWE and the pavements of Bristol. Cue Bristol Fashion Week!

The event itself was held at Cribbs Causeway and took over the majority of the ground floor what with eyebrow stations, manicurists, and make up stands galore. The atmosphere among all was to feel and equally look fabulous. Having pottered about for a while we finally headed to the spectacular tent that housed the catwalk. Greeted with champagne and chocolate cupcakes, the sweet tone of the show was set. Presented by duo TV Stylist Mark Heyes and Celebrity Hairdresser Andrew Barton there was plenty of funny-fashion commentary. Their approachable attitude to fashion was a perfect way to make the trends accessible rather than intimidating. All of the looks came from the high street so that everyone in the audience can emulate the styles.

As the lights dropped the theatrics started and we were presented with Scene 1. Debuted here were trends from Marks and Spencer, a brand that has truly hit the nail on the head this winter. Key pieces worth acknowledging are matching print suites, pencil skirts, baroque trousers, lace and a sprinkle of sequins. In true Marks and Spencer style there were models of all ages and sizes. The older generations stuck with sophisticated silhouettes but embraced the berry trend that is one of the most prominent colours this season.

Then there was a shift to a more youthful vibe with clothes from NewLook. The models broke into dance, busting their moves adorned in sparkly leggings. Crosses seem to have taken over every high street store and student wardrobe alike so if you’re feeling left out NewLook can help you. Sequin, burgundy and lace are three trends shown here worth noting for the upcoming festive season.

Although some of the looks shown were aimed at an older audience the colours used can be worn at any age. Namely emerald green created an elegance and romanticism perfect for dark evenings. The men wore velvet jackets from Austin Reed which is a great way to transform casual looks into night time.

John Lewis took centre stage and presented more wearable but exquisite looks. The floral trend from last summer has been transformed to work for winter too. The difference is that a winter floral has a darker background behind the print and overall palette. Thankfully this makes it more flattering and so here’s the chance to try trousers at full bloom and still keep your pins

Picture: Grace Kingsley looking slim. Choose one colour from the print to work with on top or keep it black for a sultry take on the trend.

Clothes aren’t the only way to show your sartorial skill. At Bristol Fashion Week they proved their worth by debuting hair trends too. Embellished hair bands seen at Louis Vuitton shows are a great way to update your look easily and get in the mood for the festive season. Prada showed the overwhelmingly popular dip dye hair. This proves that there are no rules in fashion and now, if ever, is the best time to be experimental. If brightly coloured hair isn’t your thing try the more sophisticated style sweeping the fashion world. Inspired by the 40s carefully constructed vintage rolls will finish off your festive look with a demure finish.

Ann Summers continued the vintage feel with long black sheer skirts and kimonos keeping the model’s modesty. French music enhanced that nostalgic feeling for 60s fashion icon, Bridgitte Bardot which was mirrored in the show.

Fat Face collaborated with the Disney Store to give a comic portrayal of the western theme. If riding around on a horse a lá Woody from Toy Story isn’t your thing, you can get involved in the look with western accents through a modern cowboy style boot and aptly decorated button up shirts.

I’ve already mentioned the berry hue that is hugely popular this winter. The other colour that has taken over is purple, Cadbury purple to be specific. This colour-of-the-moment was seen in Christopher Kane’s collections, Erdem, Sportmax and House of Holland’s too. Expect to see it everywhere from your wardrobe to accessories and even interiors.

After a summer of adoring Britain it is only right we have a look that is quintessentially British for winter. This is the heritage trend. Cable knit dresses, shearling, tweed, brown leather and fur accents encompass this style. The palette is literal autumnal shades; browns, burnt oranges and deep reds which are all less harsh on majority of skin-tones than black. Burberry in

particular did this look well and it was here that the owl jumper came about and has filtered down into numerous high street stores.

The penultimate look to feature in the afternoon show was that of the romanticised goth or “glamorous goth” as I like to refer to it. Karen Millen and Somerset by Alice Temperley at John Lewis both showed wearable takes on the look. Sheer black fabric over nude slips or jet black blouses with deep red skirts all alluded to the same tantalizing vampire style.

Finally River Island debuted the futuristic style that included metallic pieces and an interesting take on layering what with an array of hemlines. Their styling had a youthful and urban edge that kept the opportunity to interpret the pieces to work with an individual’s personal style.

BFW acknowledged all the key looks for this winter and best of all proved it is easy to look great without a designer budget.

Visit me at www.hanjanran.com and follow on twitter @hanjanran

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After a summer of adoring Britain it is only right we have a look that is quintessentially British for winter

Feature 15

Western Eye November 2012

Education Apps > UWE Mobile App and website developed by IT Services at UWE Bristol join a haul of Education related applications. > Liam Corcoran investigates Liam Corcoran feature@westerneye.net UWE is stepping gradually further into the digital era. As part of this transition, they are introducing more apps for students in order to enrich the university experience. This year UWESU have teamed up with Oohlala, an app that will provide a new platform for students, societies, sports and networks to interact.

The service will be integrated into their website, allowing for messages to be easily sent and received and events announced and publicised.

The free app features a campus map, a staff directory, the latest news and events, help contact numbers, the Student Union’s Hub Radio, images and videos about life at UWE Bristol, information about the UWE’s social media channels and the chance to feedback experience of functionality. Students can log in to access to students’ personal my UWE account, a library search, a mobile version of the Blackboard learning environment and more.

UWEmobile was launched last year to provide a more userfriendly method of accessing your myUWE information from a smart phone. UWE recently ran a press release earlier this month about myUWE, and are clearly working towards gaining a higher profile to increase general use of the app and the mobile website. However it’s questionable why they have only just started promoting the app, considering that it has been available for the last year now.

Should the Students’ Union be spending time and effort on introducing new apps? Well, the short answer, yes. According to Ofcom research earlier this year, 50% of 16-24-year-olds have a smart phone, which is the highest for all the age ranges. 63% have also downloaded an app.

This change has been a long time coming though. Back in 2010, Wired magazine published an article titled “The web is dead. Long live the internet”. More and more people are avoiding

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Should the Students’ Union be spending time and effort on introducing new apps?

web browsers such as Safari, Mozilla and Google Chrome and using apps to get to information quicker instead. This is because apps are “less about searching and more about getting.”

Mostly, we use apps for gaming, social media and music. But the app universe is huge and diverse, covering a multitude of topics and genres. So what apps, as university students, would be interesting and useful?

Well for starters, don’t limit your phone email app to just your personal account. As students, a lot of emails are sent to our

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It [Soundcloud] is essentially a voice recorder, but it is unique in the fact you can upload the files to the cloud

Picture: UWE UWE account. Some students either miss these completely or receive them late. Adding the extra account to your phone is an easy way of keeping on top of all the emails from multiple accounts.

Another platform that students should be involved with is Twitter. Now, you may be wondering why you should put time and effort into a second social media site, when Facebook is the norm.

The key is not to think of it as social media as such. As university students, we should all be expanding our horizons, making industry contacts and preparing for the future. Twitter, and the very good app it provides, allows just that. Through it, you can interact with people from the industry you study within and begin making connections with professionals.

One of the trickiest things about university can be keeping on top of all the paperwork. There is just so much of it. That is where Evernote comes in. With Evernote, you can create new notes on any platform and it is automatically saved to your account. From here, you can access it anywhere. Evernote also allows you to use folders to keep only relevant notes in certain sections. Great if you are writing multiple essays at once or for keeping on top of four different modules.

Lectures at university can be extremely frustrating. You try

jotting down everything on the lecture slides and think you have it all. But then the lecturer starts saying something more interesting and you can’t keep up.

Soundcloud eliminates that problem. It is essentially a voice recorder but it is unique in the fact you can upload the files to the cloud. From here, access and download them anywhere meaning it won’t take up space on your phone or kill your battery by forcing you to listen back to it on your device.

We all know how frustrating it can be to carry precious documents around on a memory stick, and emailing them to yourself just fills up your inbox and you lose track of the newest version. To get round this, try Dropbox. It provided you with some online cloud space. Just drop your document in, access it anywhere. This can come in really handy when moving an essay from one computer to the next.

As students, we all have different interests and like different news. Rather than sorting through tons of different websites for your particular interests, try Flipboard. It allows you to set your own news agenda and follow topics that are just of interest to you. It will search a multitude of news websites and provide you with the best news whenever you check in.

However, that is limited to news organisations. If you are looking for something more academia based then try TED. They regularly hold conferences and debates on topical issues in certain areas. These videos go straight onto their app and allow you to expand your learning beyond your lectures and lecturers.

Finally, the biggest problem that all students face: procrastination. Every student does it. We have a list we need to get through but it soon gets abandoned. Wunderlist provides the perfect platform to get round this. It allows you to set a number of tasks and finish dates. If you run over the deadline it lets you know or when you finish a task, the sight of it disappearing is a real boast. If you put in a task as soon as you think of, you won’t forget it when it comes to the crunch.

The UWE Mobile App and website was developed by IT Services at UWE Bristol in partnership with Blackboard Inc. The UWE Bristol team coordinated the design and content and Blackboard Inc. designed the framework. The UWE Mobile App has also been designed to be viewed on iPhone®, iPod® touch and Android™. A website version is available for Blackberry and other smartphones at http://mobile.uwe.ac.uk. You can download the app and sign up with your UWE address for free.

16 Life & Style

Western Eye November 2012

Life & Style

eBay reveals this year’s Freshers are sitting on a potential gold mine Georgie Everrett

lifeandstyle@westerneye.net

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oing to university has and will always be a brilliant experience, although you never quite realise how much of an effect it has on your wallet. Pete Mercer, NUS Vice-President (Welfare) said “With the gap between government support and the cost of living widening for many students and with jobs scarce it is more important than ever that students are financially aware”.

So, I ask the question, how do you ease this inescapable strain? eBay has the answer, new research has shown that the average 18-24 year old has £1587 worth of unwanted stuff! Now our fellow peers have been utilising this little tactic to ease their finances; and in the process have perfected the art of getting maximum profit and therefore changing the balance of a low if not non-existent student income.

The National Union of Students

(NUS) claims that the average cost of living for university students has risen by a budget busting 22% in the last three years. On average students need to fork out £98.99 per week on accommodation alone.

So how about cutting yourself a little slack, follow these simple tips on how to get the most out of your unwanted items, and they will have you on route to becoming a professional seller.

Game consoles, video games, DVDs, mobile phones, books, jewellery, comics, clothes, shoes, the list of opportunities is endless. Rifle through your belongings and put anything you don’t need, use, like or want in a pile and then begin checking your items. Look for any damage or faults as you will need to list these and make sure the item is as well presented as possible, think about what you look for when you buy things!

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Always attach a clear picture, sales are always more succesful when buyers can see what they are purchasing

Once you are finished you can begin listing and the easiest way is to use your mobile, the eBay app is free and takes no time at all but a laptop works just as well. The first step is to think about your title, make it punchy and informative, and include details like colour, size and brand.

Now, when you get to the description section, give it everything! All students are used to writing essays or coursework, so now is the time to harness those skills. Write persuasively whilst including all the vital details, but don’t hesitate to encourage buyers, for example, if you are selling a woolly scarf use the ghastly British weather to your advantage!

Always attach a clear picture, sales are always more successful when buyers can see what they are purchasing. The next step is setting a price, now if you start your price 99p there is no listing fee and you

will attract more buyers. Another thing to look out for is promotional weekends; eBay will have weekends of free listings even if the starting price is over 99p, so keep an eye out for them particularly if you have an item that is worth more.

Lastly, choose the time you place your listing wisely. In the middle of the night or at 3pm is not a great time to sell things as most people are busy! Always schedule them to finish in the evening, after 6.30 is best as everyone is usually at home or able to get on the internet. Don’t forget to communicate with the buyer and give positive feedback as this will build your own reputation, encouraging others to buy from you!

Now that you are equipped with the details, attack those bedrooms and make some extra money!

Bristol Club Night Review

Chantelle Bibby

lifeandstyle@westerneye.net

B

ristol is well known as a city of diversity and its clubbing scene is no different. There are events going on almost every night, so there will always be something to suit everybody. Whether you prefer dancing to the top 40 or raving until 6 in the morning, Bristol’s nightlife can accommodate. Many of the clubs are open six nights a week, providing the perfect retreat from all that studying!

The recent opening of Dorma, open 5 days a week until the early hours, promises to provide ‘industrial glam with urban vintage’, creating a unique experience for all its visitors. Its flagship nights are Thursday and Saturday’s ‘The Social’. Ladies are guaranteed free entry before 11pm on a Thursday, however in my experience; it can be quite difficult to get from predrinks to a club before 11. Although it does leave you with an extra fiver to spend!

Tuesdays tend to be a bit quieter; the places to head for are Thekla, or Po Na Na. Thekla has been labelled the most unique clubbing experience in Bristol, for one thing, you’ll be partying on a boat! The downside with this club is that it is very small and capacity can be reached quickly, so your experience may depend on how comfortable you are cuddling up to fellow students…not so much of a bad thing

when heading out in winter!

A firm favourite with every student I have spoken to is Bunker on the triangle! It’s open six nights a week, and always provides full capacity and the best music. The feel of Bunker is great; the underground grungy scene is perfect for anyone that wants to party to loud music and Bunker boasts the biggest sound system in the South West, so you will always leave with a buzz. I was very happy to discover that my favourite club night Propaganda, the best indie night out, had moved to Bunker from Syndicate.

The scene at Bunker is far more fitting to the music!

Syndicate, another massive contender on Bristol’s club scene is a bit like marmite; you either love it or you hate it! The last couple of times I have been there, Syndicate hasn’t felt quite the same as it used to. You have to queue for an eternity at the bar and although this is commonplace in clubs, judging by the size of the Syndicate you would expect quicker service! Its key nights are the new ‘Killer Disco’ on Wednesday and Friday and Saturday’s events. However, with the variety of choice at other clubs, unless there is a specific event I wouldn’t make Syndicate it your first point of call.

For all the second and third years

that miss the infamous pound a pint nights at the SU, no need to panic.

The Anchor on Gloucester Road is the perfect alternative; a pint will cost you £1.20 making it the cheapest place to drink on a Monday and Thursday.

If you want a quiet game of pool, a catch up or a few pre drinks to start your nights it’s ideal for either.

Picture: Love Bullets

Another club night which I feel cannot be excluded from this article is Motion. With its cobbled courtyard and warehouses it always provides a unique night accompanied by some of the best DJs and bands to rave along to. However it does come with a price tag as tickets start at £15. Motion is not for faint hearted clubbers, as you’ll

be partying until the sun comes up… literally - it closes at 6am, but you will still have such a buzz, that it’ll take a few hours to wind back down! When asking about Motion, I never hear a bad word; the general consensus is that Motion one of the best club nights in Bristol!

Life & Style 17

Western Eye November 2012

Christmas party fashion

UWE Marketing Society

> Look your best this yuletide

Helen Pugh

Eric McFarlane

news@westerneye.net

news@westerneye.net The festive season is fast approaching and as a result, your social calendar is probably getting quite hectic. But don’t let the cold, wet and windy weather dampen your style this season. With a range of designer inspired looks across the high street, there’s something for everyone’s budget this Christmas!

For the style conscious males amongst you, the best capsule winter collections can be found in Urban Outfitters, Reiss and alternative retailer ‘Size?’ . My favourite piece if you’re more of a modern man, is the Camo jacket with a Sherpa fur lined collar for £135. Styled with dark denim jeans and a pair of neutral toned Airmax trainers, this would look casual yet cool.

Alternatively try a Denim gilet over a hoody and patterned shirt (Topman have a large selection), paired with dark chinos for another day look. For the more sophisticated events this winter try a classic crisp white shirt under a Navy velvet blazer and tailored trousers.

Throughout the winter months the high street becomes saturated with sequins, they’re everywhere and on everything! For the ladies; if you’re looking for a sequinned dress to

stand out in this Christmas, there will definitely be one for you out there! In order to find the best ones, take a look at my top picks; River Island and Gorgeouscouture.com. To differentiate from the masses, try a shirt underneath or go for a light knit thrown over the top to add a sophisticated yet practical edge. It’ll save you from freezing and looks on trend at the same time – win win!

If you’re really strapped for cash but still want to look fabulous, head to OMGfashion.com where their sequined body con is on sale for 99p, no that’s not a mistake it really is on sale for under £1 -which means more money for presents or another mulled wine!

“

XXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX

If you’re looking for something more reserved but still want to show off your fashion credentials, rich jewelled colours such as sapphire blues and aubergine were seen at Preen, Lanvin and Isabel Marant A/W shows. These offer a great alternative to the safety of black, try a peplum top in these shades built up with a statement necklace and a pair of tailored trousers and voila! - You’ve nailed the Christmas luxe trend! Alternatively tap into the baroque look and pair a chunky knit with some heavily embroidered trousers and a pair of mid heel boots, both great looks for day and night.

A Christmas treat for you all comes in an ASOS shaped box. The online retailing giant has 3 campaign stars for this year; Ellie Goulding, Azealia Banks and Charlotte Free. Each of these super stylish ladies has a look book film for the Christmas campaign and everything you see the girls wearing you can buy for yourself at ASOS prices! Top of my Christmas list is Azealias jewelled bralet which would look amazing with a pair of disco pants and hi-top trainers.

So get searching the high street for those festive pieces and have a very fashionable Christmas!

The UWE Marketing Society is one of this year’s official new societies of the UWESU . With over 50 paid members since the beginning of term, we have had a motivating start. We look forward to providing students with practical marketing experience to complement their degrees and interests, while providing the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge which will enhance future job prospects.

This month we have provided our members with the opportunity to network with local business leaders and attend guest speaker lectures. We are also liaising with other societies, such as UWE Racing, to provide students the opportunity to work on real projects which will make an impact on the University.

Last Thursday, our members attended the National Placement Exhibition at the NEC Birmingham where they were able to talk to business professionals from IBM, PSA Peugeot Citroen, McDonalds and RateMyPlacement to discuss placement opportunities.

The social’s have all been a success so far and have set the

bar high for the following social events. Last Saturday our members attended Thorpe Park to experience the horrors of Fright Night. We have lots of exciting upcoming socials, such as a rubix cube night and a Christmas social, so keep your eyes on your emails for all the details.

The UWE Marketing Society gives you the opportunity to gain real-life marketing experience and will give you the competitive edge you need when applying to jobs or placements. Our aim is to make all of our members more employable, as a degree on its one nowadays is simply not enough. We also have a number of current voluntary positions, so if you would like further information of how to get involved then do not hesitate to contact us.

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/UweMarketingSociety Twitter @uwemarketingsoc E-mail uwemarketingsoc@live.co.uk

18 Life & Style

Western Eye November 2012

Winter warmers

> Charlotte Bibby offers insight into her favourite winter treats, which are sure to entice your tastebuds > What food should you stock up on during the cold season?

Chantelle Bibby lifeandstyle@westerneye.net

I

t’s that time of the year again when darkness falls before you’ve even finished uni for the day, the ice cream man has disappeared into hibernation, and getting out of bed every morning into a freezing cold room becomes one of life’s most arduous challenges. It’s pretty clear that winter has arrived in Bristol and with it, the need to eat warmer food than ice cream and beans straight out of the tin.

Of course, with assignments and placements already using up most of students’ time, it’s often difficult to find the time to actually cook food.

Because standing there watching potatoes slowly and monotonously boil is, after all, time that could be better spent playing on the Xbox, or going to Sainsburys to buy alcohol, or doing uni work…obviously.

A good way to solve this problem is by sharing out cooking duty between you and your flatmates. As a house with seven people, this is pretty easy for us as one person cooks each day, meaning that for the price of one seven-person meal (usually about £10) you get 6 more meals, one every

evening. And on top of that there’s the fact that you don’t have to waste time cooking every day.

Another advantage of this is that, if the person cooking cleans up on their day, the flat is always relatively clean.

Definitely solmething that should have been tried in first year, during which our flat resembled the aftermath of a catastrophic food fight.

In terms of which foods to buy during winter; it’s always handy to have tins of tomatoes, beans, and soups to survive on throughout the day before the evening meal. Freezing bread is also a good option, as most people won’t go through an entire loaf by the time it takes said loaf to go stale.

And if anyone is lucky enough to know somebody with a car (or lives in Fishponds), then Tesco usually has a packed refrigerated reduced section in the evenings, although a lot of people already know about this so it does sometimes resemble a market stall with shouts of “Two pizzas, please!” coming from the assortment of bargain hunters that congregate there.

Sometimes there are literally £3.50 pizzas going for around 30p which

can be frozen and eaten any time, perfect for students.

Of course for those that prefer to cook for themself, a slow cooker is always a good idea, and can be left throughout a busy day at uni, as well as being relatively cheap (For example, ours dates from around 1970 and still works fine).

“

It’s pretty clear that winter has arrived in Bristol and with it, the need to eat warmer food

>Here are some tasty, simple recipes to help you through this winter:

Honeyed Winter Salad

(Serves 4)

Sausage Casserole

(Serves 4)

The good thing about this meal is that it can be served with pretty much anything. Rice, pasta, mash, vegetables or bread are good choices though. Also, the longer you leave it to cook the better it tastes, and it can be refrigerated overnight and reheated the next day (although make sure it’s heated properly so you don’t get food poisoning).

Picture: Epicurean Ramblings

Ingredients: 1 Butternut squash 2 Red onions 4 Parsnips 3 Tablespoons olive oil 2 Tablespoons clear honey 1 Small ciabatta 1 Tablespoon sunflower seeds 225g Leaf spinach 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard Picture: ant217

Ingredients: 8 pork sausages Olive oil 2 garlic cloves 1 red pepper 2 tins chopped tomatoes 1 onion 1 tablesoon sugar 1 tablespoon mixed herbs 1 cup of beef stock 1 small glass red wine 5 sundried tomatoes

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 1-4 hours

Method: - Chop the sausages into around 6 pieces per sausage then fry them in the oil until slightly browned (around 5 minutes).

- Add the onion, garlic, pepper, sundried tomatoes. Continue to fry for five minutes.

- Add all the other ingredients and leave to simmer, mixing every now and then, for at least an hour. Add a lid to the pan while doing so.

This is taken from the BBC Good Food website and is a brilliant way to combine a healthy summer salad with the warmth of winter food. You can also add feta cheese or mozzarella to it, or even fried chicken for a more robust salad.

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 1-4 hours

Method: - Heat the oven to gas mark 7 (200˚C) Put the vegetables into a large roasting tin and drizzle with half of the oil. Roast for 20 minutes, turning every now and then until softened.

Then drizzle with the honey and scatter the ciabatta over the top, along with the sunflower seeds. Return to the over for 5 minutes.

- Put the spinach into a large bowl and add the contents of the roasting tin. Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and the rest of the oil and add to the bowl. Toss the salad until the spinach leaves have wilted.

- Serve warm.

Life & Style 19

Western Eye November 2012

Bristol, a home for international students

Christian Öhman

Madalina Ciobanu

lifeandstyle@westerneye.net

news@westerneye.net

S

tarting university is both an exhilarating and daunting process for young students. Moving away from home and adapting to the new academic challenges is a lot to take in over such a short period of time.

The process of adapting is much more difficult for International students coming to the United Kingdom, since most of them have not had the chance to experience the British culture before making the permanent transition. UKCISA statistics for the 2010-2011 academic year showed a total of 428,225 International and EU students applying to and attending undergraduate or postgraduate courses in British universities. Out of these, 22,965 chose to study in the South West region, where Bristol is the most populous city. Carman Yuen, a third year undergraduate student says: ‘I asked many people before coming here and they all said Bristol is a big city, provides everything you need and is also a fantastic location for students.’

The other reason young students seem to take into account when coming to Bristol is the opportunities it provides, both academically and professionally. Yuliya Kosharevska, a first year Journalism student confesses : ‘I had the feeling it was the place for me. I was amazed by the cultural scene and the career opportunities provided. It promised to be a home for many students and the course sounded fascinating.’

Bristol is considered by many a ‘smaller’, more affordable London.

‘Most of my UCAS choices were in

This is Sparta!

Oops, no wait, give us a sec’... LingSoc!

London, but I didn’t want to live there. I felt Bristol would be just as great because it’s a very large city’, says Ernest Balili, a first year Business and Law student. Perhaps one of the most important things to consider when choosing to live and study in Bristol is the fact that it’s home to two of the largest and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom: UWE and University of Bristol. Fatme Feradova, an International Relations Masters student at University of Bristol confesses she did not choose to study here because of Bristol itself. ‘I knew about Bristol University’s worldwide reputation and that was the most important thing for me. But as it turned out, I can mix studying with pleasure and I don’t regret having chosen Bristol.’

It’s important for students to be integrated in the society and get involved with their community and course. The Bristol International Student Centre (BISC) takes this mission seriously and provide students with all sorts of events that allow them to engage both with the British culture and other International cultures. Their events range from guided tours around Bristol and themed nights to daily meals at affordable prices, and are present in UWE’s Octagon every Thursday at noon. One of BISC’s biggest annual events is the International Reception, which took place on October 27th. More than 550 students from 60 different countries attended , which makes it clear that BISC is not only offering a socialising platform to students, but also a community.

T

he Linguistics Society at UWE is a young society, which when founded, won the Best New Society of the Year Award. We are friendly and welcoming to all, whether you have past interest in languages or not. Strictly speaking, ‘linguistics’ is the scientific study of languages, however fear not, it really isn’t as terrifying as it first sounds, and you’d be surprised how important it is for pretty much anything in daily life!

LingSoc has pushed itself from day one, with a spiffing first trip to the British Library in London and further LingTastic opportunities for our language-loving members on subsequent trips such as our Oxford University Press trip. This provided an excellent LingSight into the painstaking detail and effort put into the Oxford English Dictionary from its very creation and later ended with a scrumptious dinner in a pub once frequented by the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien himself!

Furthermore LingSoc’s events have even reached out to an international audience, with LingSoc’s core involvement and organisation of the ULAB 2012 conference, which specifically catered for undergraduate linguistics students, by undergraduate linguistics students. UWE ULAB 2012 was born from our founder’s unwitting but enthusiastic decision to nominate UWE for the next conference at the previous Edinburgh ULAB 2011. This proved to be an awesome proposition as eventually became evident from the 13th to the 15th of April earlier this year. The eight

A message from UWESU Annabelle Turner

lifeandstyle@westerneye.net

Y

our Presidents have been hard at work fighting for your rights as a student. On 21st November we will be heading to London to join the thousands of other students marching towards a better future, and we would like to invite you. Feel put out that you have to pay £9000 fees? Does the 20% youth unemployment rate scare you? Wondering why your fees have been tripled when the teaching budget has been cut by 79%? Then do something about it and get a ticket to the demo, after all you can’t complain about something if you haven’t done anything to stop it in the first place!! Tickets

are only £6 for travel both to and from London; this gives you the chance to really make a difference to not only your own education and future, but your younger friends and relatives who are treading the line to be hit by this huge debt and risk not being able to go to uni at all.

You know it’s the right thing to do: h t t p : / / w w w. u we s u . o r g / c a m paigns/demo/ UWESU #demo2012

months of preparation achieved us the Best Event Award 2012 and saw many great young, aspiring linguists travel from worldwide to present and take on board numerous LingSpiring presentations. Lastly to top the lot off, our guest speaker was none other than the world renowned, David Crystal.

So go on, admit it, now you’re interested! This year LingSoc has an all time high of 34 members and has already visited London once, where we attended ‘The Language Show Live’ and will be visiting London again to explore the wonders of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s House, the author of the first recognised dictionary of English. If you’d rather stay warm and comfortable in UWE though, we also invite UWE and guest linguists to lecture for the benefit of our LingSocees, the last of which was ‘You Campaign In Poetry And You Govern In Prose’ by UWE’s own Professor Jonathan Charteris-Black. This talked governed (ha! see what I did there?) the way in which politicians poetically ‘woo’ through language when campaigning and then ‘do’ through language when governing, effectively ditching the ‘sweet talk’ after transitioning from campaigning to governing. For up-and-coming talks, check out our Facebook page - UWE Linguistics Society.

Alas, on the social side of things we are even cooler still. For example, if you want to go LingBowling, LingiGolfing or any other LingThings you can think of, we regularly have socials organised for these cravings!

We also had a successful Scrabble

tournament last year, which we may be repeating this year!

To sum up, LingSoc is all about getting people together who love language (monolinguals and multilinguals alike!) to learn more about the beauty of language and provide opportunities to get involved for a bit of self-development on the old CV! Finally, then, we reach the end of this brief biographical article, and all we have left to ask of you is, would you like to help us grow and become even better ? Because you said yes, please find details to contact us below...

Email uwelingsoc@gmail.com UWESU www.uwesu.org/soc/linguistics Facebook www.facebook.com/uwelingsoc Twitter www.twitter.com/uwelingsoc Follow @UWELingSoc

20 Arts & Entertainment

Western Eye November 2012

Arts & Entertainment

For Those About to Rock Elliot Leaver

entertainment@westerneye.net once more from a lack of bands

>Heavy metal lives

H

eavy metal has been a constant in music since the late 1960’s and battled through many different genre phases. But as we draw closer to its 50th anniversary, the future is once more not as rosy as it could be.

Ever since Steppenwolf coined the phrase ‘heavy metal’ in their 1968 song ‘Born to Be Wild’ and Black Sabbath released their debut album in the same year, heavy metal as a music genre has been around in one form or another.

From its rise through the 70’s with bands like Motorhead and Judas Priest, its explosion in the 80s spearheaded by Iron Maiden and Metallica and its current masters in Slipknot and Rammstein, the love/ hate sound of distorted guitars, screaming vocals and double bass drums has been a delight to many, and a pain to many more. For me, it is most DEFINITELY the former.

But now, in 2012, whilst Maiden and co are still around to light the path, the band members are fast approaching their 50’s and 60’s, and will not be around in 10-15 years time. To make things a little more bleak, the genre is suffering

stepping up to the plate to receive the flame from the old guard and be the next big names. Now this needs a little explaining: I could give you at least ten bands off the top of my head who are really powering forward and keeping metal alive, but acts who are hot prospects for headlining arenas and festivals?

That’s not so obvious Take Bullet for My Valentine.

Gatecrashing the scene with debut album ‘The Poison’ in 2004, they quickly rose through the ranks and in 2010 headlined their first arena tour of the UK. However, it sold poorly, and they needed metalcore outfit Bring Me the Horizon in support to bring the attendance up and avoid the humiliation of downsizing venues. A new tour announced earlier this month saw them back to playing academies and venues with a capacity of less than 5,000. Not exactly the stuff of legends.

Another example is Machine Head. A huge tip for stardom, their 2007 effort ‘The Blackening’ is regularly regarded as the finest metal album of the past decade, but their arena tour last year suffered the same fate as Bullet’s – Bring Me the Horizon were on the bill again to boost attendance, but even that didn’t help: a picture circulating the internet of their concert at Wemb-

Ben Howard

> Colston Hall, Monday 5th November 2012 Lydia Gilmour entertainment@westerneye.net Ben Howard attracted a diverse crowd to Colston Hall this Bonfire night, thanks to his indefinable sound which has risen to fame in the last 12 months. Ben doesn’t conform to just one genre, instead his music spans folk, alternative, blues, acoustic, rock…the list goes on. iTunes decided to settle with ‘singer/songwriter’ which is probably the best definition we are going to get.

Ben released his debut album ‘Every Kingdom’ in September 2011. The 10 tracks quickly became a word-of-mouth success as he balanced upbeat songs such as ‘Keep Your Head Up’ which radio one labelled as a ‘self-empowerment anthem’ with darker, slow building records like ‘Black Flies’ and ‘Everything’.

His different sound and enchanting performance style resulted in a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize, a tour of America and a sold out UK tour, of which Bristol was one, before a string of European gigs next month. With all this in mind, Ben Howard has been the name on everyone’s lips for a while

now, so the crowd at Colston Hall was nothing short of an adoring one.

The esteem in which Ben is already held is reflected through his support act Willy Mason, who has been on the American folk music scene for years. Mason warmed the crowd up perfectly with the folksy sound of his guitar and the charming stories behind each song told in his American lilt. He surprised some members of the audience playing familiar songs they never knew he sang, including me. Ben has supported Willy in the past, and noted to the crowd how it was nice to have him ‘return the favour’.

Despite being one concert of many, Howard’s one night in Bristol still felt special because, although appearing somewhat shy, Ben spoke to us with a down to earth approach which was endearing and gave the night that special, unforgettable feel. Opening the set with the title track of his new EP ‘Burgh Island’, a very chilled, yet downbeat song, gave any unsuspecting ears a chance to appreciate the haunting side to his voice. Being so newly-re-

ley Arena shows the band playing to a half empty venue, many audience members leaving after …Horizon had finished their set. How the mighty hath fallen.

Not that it’s a serious worry in the long run, mind you. Metal’s closeknit, fiercely loyal fanbase has ensured that the genre has battled through adversity and threats from other movements. Punk, New Wave, grunge, techno, house, garage – all were at one point, and all have either died completely or faded since their heyday. But metal, never trying to be at the forefront of popular music at all, has managed to soldier on despite popularity waning in the wake of new styles and movements, and its this refusal to subside which will no doubt live it live on for another fifty years.

There’s also the chance that the next big name will pop out of nowhere. It only takes one album or stroke of fortune to catapult a band into stardom. Whilst Bullet and Machine Head may have failed to capture the opportunity, there are plenty of other bands in the wings who will be given the chance - names that come to mind are Parkway Drive, While She Sleeps, Rolo Tomassi and Animals as Leaders, all who are very hot prospects for the future. Another band, Lamb of God, were announced as headliners of

leased, some fans felt it an underwhelming opening in their anticipation for the familiarity of ‘Every Kingdom’.

The crowd’s attention was not lost at all, as straight away he launched into ‘Only Love, his highest peaking single on the UK chart.

Any shyness from Ben disappeared, it felt as though every voice in the room shouted back the title refrain as he asked the audience ‘sing to me!’

Half the crowd were seated in stalls, whilst eager fans crowded round the stage, standing. Ben jokily took a chair that was offered to him and said to the audience how he thought it was ‘only fair’ to join in with those sat down ‘for a little rest’. He aptly took the opportunity to play some chilled tracks such as ‘Diamonds’ at this point, really taking us through the emotions that clearly inspired the lyrics.

Howard is such a gifted guitarist; the bafflingly complicated songs were played so effortlessly and naturally. Being so close to the front, I got a perfect view of his playing and can safely say that I was more than impressed! The band were not far from brilliant either, perfectly working together, even as Ben seemed to spontaneously jam full-throttle in response to the high spirited crowd.

Perhaps his most well known songs ‘The Wolves’ and ‘The Fear’ completely energised everyone.

The entirety of the hall instantly recognised the acoustic beginnings which accelerate into upbeat cho-

Picture: Machine Head Bloodstock earlier this month, the UK’s biggest metal festival. If they can prove that they are capable of turning in a big performance there, who knows what the future holds for them.

In short, rumours of heavy metal’s demise are once again being greatly exaggerated. But maybe the genre will have to wait a little while before a new name arises to lead the way once more.

Picture: XXXXXX ruses, causing an animated stir from those standing at the front, to the audience seated at the back of the hall. The energy in the room reached a climax with ‘Keep Your Head Up’, with its inspiring lyrics and Ben’s spirited performance.

Those sitting down stood up, the audience clapped and sang back to Ben who stopped playing and joined with us all in momentary a cappella.

Personally, I felt it was a memorable and fantastic evening of music. It’s probably obvious that I’m a huge fan of Ben, I even bought a poster! Nevertheless, I can agree with those who felt he could have

interacted with the audience a bit more. However, he stayed true to himself as a person and an artist in this way. He isn’t famous for being extrovert or constantly buzzing.

Instead, his music and honest lyrics have bought him fame, he doesn’t put on an act, a quality which I find admirable. If he did fail to connect with the crowd, no-one really seemed to care as the music took over and I’m pretty sure everyone was loving it.

Arts & Entertainment 21

Western Eye November 2012

Swedish House Mafia Rosa Sherwood

entertainment@westerneye.net

T

hey are dubbed the dons of house music, but they are better known as The Swedish House Mafia; producers of electronic dance music. Comprised of disc jockeys and producers; Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Gross make up the group that officially formed late 2008. In addition to the top earning trio, each member also has their own labels. Individually these guys are incredibly talented, and will sell out any Ibiza club, so when together they bring years of experience, talent and skill to create shows you will never forget.

Earlier this year to much disappointment Swedish house mafia announced their split. The faces of progressive house music announced their split on their website in June 2012, “Today we want to share with you, that the tour we are about to go on will be our last” they thanked their fans for their support with; “We came, we raved, we loved” a phrase me and many other fans will not forget.

I was lucky enough to witness one of their phenomenal tour dates in Ibiza. From the beginning of July to the end of August, Swedish

house took over the white isle every Wednesday where they performed their set ‘One Last Sunset.’ To many swedish fans, this was thought to be the last time the trio would perform together, so of course they made it a night to remember. Playing host at Ibiza’s most exclusive hotel resort on the island, SHM transformed Ushuaia into their arena, and if there was a roof, oh it would have been off – there really is no other cheesy cliché to describe it! Despite the music needing no assistance, inspiring visuals, fireworks, confetti, acrobatics, fireballs and loads of floating bubble blowing eye candy were added affects that made this a night I will never forget.

Swedish House Mafia have recently become victims of criticism with insults of being ‘mainstream’ and too ‘poppy’; a criticism that many artists progress to face at some point of their career. Their huge success of becoming commercial dance producers is due to their strong passion, and incredible talent as producers. Recently yes they have expanded their audiences, collaborating with artists such as Tinnie Tempah; Miami 2 Ibiza

Picture: XXXX can undoubtedly be blamed for attracting a broadened audience.

However I’d argue they have taken dance and electronic music to a whole new audience, in particularly bringing this genre to the UK and making it successful; this should be appreciated and not in any way disrespected. Their current expanding fan base which has been created is a reflection of how talented they are as DJ’s, the ability to appeal to a mass audience and as a result become hugely profitable should be seen as a positive.

In September 2012 Swedish House surprised their fans one last time, announcing a final tour. Twenty five farewell shows have been announced across the globe with the first show starting off in Dubai in November. Unfortunately no UK dates were added to the tour – I don’t think they can quite top their Milton Keynes finale that 65,000

Swedish fans will live to remember.

However Amsterdam, Paris, Belgium and Germany are among the Europe dates. The tour sold out almost instantly, with extra dates being added due to the high demand.

There isn’t many artists that can prove their success through worldwide sell out tours. I will see you in Amsterdam Swedish House!

To prepare for their final goodbye, October 22nd saw the release of their final ‘Until Now’ album, the follow up to the previously successful ‘Until One.’ The album is structured almost identically to their recent main stage sets, making the album somewhat nostalgic for me but also psyching me up for what’s to come.

Until One served as an introduction to the trio, whilst Until Now proves to be an introduction to dance music presently; serving as a great bookend to America’s first commercial dance phase.

With mash ups being a popular creation within dance music this album has fully embraced this, there are no less than nine mashups on the mix CD, including several cuts with up to three tracks interspersed between them. This new compilation disc has found Swedish House Mafia at the height of its powerful commercial powers featuring collaborations with R and B star Usher, Coldplay and the indie/ alternative Florence and the Machine; demonstrating their indulgence into the pop culture through varied genres. The album features recently released ‘Don’t You Worry Child,’ a song which reached the top of the charts, consequently proving they have achieved and perfected the balance between credible house music and raving pop.

Despite already revealing the track list for their tour, many would suggest this ruins the surprise, we already know what songs are going to get dropped. However, hearing it live in an arena, whilst buzzing along with 1000’s of other fans; there’s your surprise and adrenaline rush right there.

Undoubtedly Swedish House Mafia’s strength will always remain in their live acts. Nothing quite justifies or explains how good this trio are when they perform live. The sell out success of their final tour is proof SHM have maintained their reputation for being three of the world’s best dance DJ’s whilst still crossing into the UK pop chart at the same time. They came, they raved, and they loved.

22 Arts & Entertainment

Western Eye November 2012

Winter Movie Preview

> John Williams is back with another seasonal movie preview

Johnathan Williams

entertainment@westerneye.net

H

aving been bombarded with advertising for the latest James Bond adventure Skyfall, it was a pleasure to find the movie was excellent and deserving of the hype that surrounded it.

Daniel Craig deserves the status of best Bond of the franchise, and anyone who can’t see it is crippled by nostalgia for the ridiculous gadgets and cheesy one liners. Other films still on release and worth checking out include Argo, Ben Affleck’s latest proof of his ability to do any job in Hollywood and make it look easy.

The tension, authenticity and even comedy of this political thriller make it a contender for Best Picture come awards season, by which time Ben Affleck will be head of Universal. On the Road has not been receiving the critical acclaim it was expected to, with most considering it an average adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s most famous work. Personally I found it to be an enjoyable drama with an excellent cast, although not being familiar with the source material may mean it could have been totally savaged and I’m none the wiser.

Moving on to films being released in the near future, the final part of the Twilight saga arrives on our screens on the 16th of November, a series that lead actor Robert Pattinson has admitted he would “mindlessly hate” were it not paying him millions of dollars. Still, considering

a colleague of mine saw the first Twilight film ELEVEN times in the cinema, the popularity and success of these films is something to be admired. If you’re a fan of the actors, check out Robert Pattinson in Cosmopolis and Kristen Stewart in

“

The final part of the Twilight saga arrives on our screen on the 16th November

Adventureland for more impressive displays of their acting abilities. On the same day, Sony pictures are re-releasing Lawrence of Arabia after a new 4K restoration to celebrate the film’s 50th anniversary.

This film won stacks of awards and is widely regarded as one of the most influential films of all time.

On 23rd of November two very different but equally appealing films are released nationwide. The

first, End of Watch, is an action film written by David Ayer in just six days that is currently doing very well in America. The story focuses on LAPD officers Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Michael Peña) who get in over their heads with a drug cartel and battle to take them down.

Having seen the trailer the action scenes are brutal and cleverly shot and I don’t think Gyllenhaal has ever starred in a poor film. Also released on that day will be Silver Linings Playbook a drama based around the psychologically fragile Pat (Bradley Cooper) attempting to win back his wife with the help of the equally damaged Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). This is the latest film from David O. Russell, who has built up an impressive catalogue of work including Three Kings and The Fighter, and it has also received strong critical admiration.

The latest adaptation of arguably Charles Dickens’ finest work Great Expectations will arrive in cinemas on the final day of November, by which time the charity moustaches would have reached Dickensesque proportions. Mike Newell has managed to tempt the cream of contemporary British acting into his picture, with Ralph Fiennes playing Magwitch, Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham and Jeremy Irvine as Pip. Any fans of period drama should book themselves seats to Great Expectations, but if the last DVD you bought was The Transformers trilogy I’m not sure this will be your sort of thing.

Squeezing money out of parents across the country on December 7th will be Rise of the Guardians,

the latest DreamWorks animation that sees Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher as badass versions of Jack Frost, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy. When the children of Earth are threatened by Pitch (a boogeyman type figure voiced by Jude Law), the Immortal Guardians team up for protect them. Animated family films have become a respected and successful business venture for studios in recent years, and Rise of the Guardians looks to continue that trend. As the essay deadlines start to pile up, personally I feel this is the perfect kind of movie to take a night off and see. Entertaining, endearing and in no way challenging.

One film that has been on every critic’s ‘most anticipated’ list since the start of 2012 is Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

This film will make up the first part of a trilogy of films adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s other most famous work.

The story follows a contented and unadventurous hobbit called Bilbo who finds himself on a quest for buried treasure with an unusual bunch of dwarves, finding a golden ring along the way… After the enormous success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy it is hard to imagine The Hobbit to be anything less than a billion dollar franchise.

Martin Freeman has already shown incredible promise as an actor in the BBC series’ The Office and Sherlock, with this first lead role as Bilbo being quite a mountain to climb. Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis reprise their roles as Gandalf and Gollum respectively, but I suspect there will be quite a few

LOTR characters making an appearance throughout this picture. The Hobbit is released on the 14th of December, so give yourself an early Christmas present and check it out.

tant. Naomie Harris equally deserves praise for finally playing a Bond Girl with personality. She is not simply reduced to an object for Bond’s preying eyes, which is something the franchise has been criticized for in the past.

savvy and geeky graduate figure. The intellectual quips between his character and the older, more mature Bond create fantastic screenplay with Bond remarking at his new colleague ‘You still have spots.’ But Whishaw’s Q is undeniably cool. With his colourful, indie cardigans and his scrabble mug and framed glasses, he is a modern man. In a way this rejuvenation of Q is significant and symbolic in the film.

No longer are the days where there are exploding pens and gadgets. The future is clean, simple, and based all around computers. This is the new age for 007. A new age he perhaps is not quite comfortable in.

Sam Mendes directs this beautifully, through the cinematic scenes of the cities, with blazing lights and sharp, glass covered building, to the stunning wild moors, overcast, grey and brazen. The scenes of gloom and desolate spaces have matched the dark return of the past in the plotline to a tee. The plot at times seems loose, allowing attention to focus on scenes and characters, which for the first time in the franchises recent history, allows us to get into the heads

of these characters that we know and love.

The impact of this being that there were scenes in which the pace was somewhat restrained, in contrast to the usual mad rush towards the dramatic end sequence. However, as a result of this there were moments that could perhaps seem slow going.

On a personal level, I found this refreshing for a Bond film. That said for those expecting constant gunfights and car chases, they are plentiful and though spread apart, they are definitely worth the wait. I’m no diehard fan, but I could appreciate Skyfall as a modern take on the traditional Bond film.

The end credits give a wry hint that we may see the franchise again in the future. The question is… what state will he be in when we find him? Will the emotional backlash of Skyfall have an effect on the country’s most loved hero? Whatever happens, I’ll certainly be returning.

“

Considering the bizarre subject, the adaptation is being critically lauded

The final film to watch in the dying weeks of 2012 will be The Life of Pi, released on December 21st and directed by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Ang Lee. This magical adventure story follows the eponymous son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel, as he becomes shipwrecked with a selection of zoo animals.

Amongst this selection is a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker (wasn’t that SpiderMan’s dad?) who develops an unexpected connection with Pi. Considering the bizarre subject, this adaptation is being critically lauded and holds a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. Complex fantasy adventures like this aren’t known for their commercial success, but perhaps Life of Pi will break this trend and appeal to the masses as well as the Academy.

Skyfall review

> Is Skyfall the best Bond movie ever?

Sophie Seddon entertainment@westerneye.net

I

t is 50 years since Ian Fleming’s beloved James Bond first appeared on our screens, his numerous transformations bringing the glamour of British intelligence to generation after generation. Under the current guise of Daniel Craig, who in some sense has honed the role since his first appearance in Casino Royale back in 2006. As such Skyfall joins the franchise as perhaps Bond’s most mature outing to date. It still follows the usual formula: guns, fights, cars, women and gadgets. However, in this particular incarnation we don’t simply see him in no holds barred action sequences there is a point at which his emotions come into play.

Setting the scene in Istanbul with Bond and his fellow agent, Eve, a dramatic chase ensues involving motorbikes on roofs, fisticuffs on a train and, in true bond style leads to all manner of revelations, twists and intrigue. In turn, this weaves the way for a worn-down, vulnerable and mentally weak Bond to pit himself against a new and futuristic kind of villain, and villainy doesn’t come better than the deliciously sinister Silva, played chill-

ingly by Spanish-born, Javier Bardem.

It also marks Judi Dench’s seventh return as M. Though she has always impressed as the cold-hearted head of MI6, we have in the past only seen her come and go, officiate and perhaps make a sly remark or two to Bond. Skyfall finally allows the audience to meet the boss as never before. Judi Dench soars as we see under the cold cloak, and witness her in action, up against the past with the haunting Bardem, who’s blond locks and laser-sharp eyes are eased with a slight flamboyance and camp-ness to his character. I suppose Bardem’s character is so extraordinary because he is not physically strong, but disturbingly brilliant in his mental agility.

Craig continues to impress as Bond.

His portrayal of a physically and mentally weary Bond is masterful and his pained struggle to return to action, has a resonance with that of Christian Bale’s take on Bruce Wayne in the recent Dark Knight Rises.

Ralph Fiennes makes a noteworthy appearance, giving some depth and warmth to a character that could otherwise have seemed dry and dis-

“

A real treat however came in the casting of Q, played by the enigmatic Ben Whishaw

A real treat however came in the casting of Q, played by the enigmatic Ben Whishaw, as a younger, tech-

Arts & Entertainment 23

Western Eye November 2012

101 Things I should have been taught at Business School > UWE graduate releases new book Ashley Sandeman entertainment@westerneye.net

Picture: XXXXXX

Picture: XXXXXX

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few months ago a friend said to you me “I woke up this morning and it was the first time I didn’t want to go to work. And then I thought: Is this how everyone in my team feels?” I didn’t have the heart to tell him it probably was.

Our early years are spent working towards qualifications we hope will secure us a job. We spend our middle years working. It’s only at the end of our lives that most people have the financial freedom to live as they choose. I think things should be different.

I hold a business degree from Bristol Business School. I’ve always enjoyed business and have found the companies I’ve worked for fascinating as well. Who wouldn’t find something of interest working for an aircraft manufacturer? But what I also enjoyed was the idea of mini retirements so I could enjoy adventures that would be inaccessible to me later on in life.

For this reason I now work in business for half a year on a contract basis, and spend half a year doing whatever I want. I find this balance gives me the best of both worlds.

The idea of mini retirement isn’t new. Tim Ferris wrote about it in “The 4-hour work week” where he proposed starting a small business that generates passive income to allow you more personal freedom. It’s a catchy idea, but I think people have difficulty finding the time to start and so stumble before they begin. If their idea fails, they still have to go to work. Others have no interest in not working and just want to increase their effectiveness, or change roles.

So how do you start? On a contracting basis you can work as long or as little as you like across a variety of businesses. I’ve had a lot of fun over the last ten years. I’ve travelled to most countries in Asia for extended stays. I’ve written a novel, a short story collection, and a business book. I’ve sold my own pho-

“

tographs. I’ve looked into starting numerous businesses, tried a variety of languages, and lived in Canada.

I live on whatever money I make in

If their idea fails, they still have to go to work

6 months, and don’t draw job seekers allowance when I’m not working.

After all, I’m not seeking work, I’m seeking experiences. Often I learn so much when I’m not working it leads to greater income when I pick up the next contract.

The trick to constantly securing contracts, even in the current economic environment, is to know your strengths and the value added service you can provide the client. Your reputation is only as good as your last contract so you need as many tricks as possible to make yourself indispensable during that time.

If you maximise your service, and keep a steady standard of living you can still contribute 10% of your income to a pension and save for a house. If you also maximise your hourly rate with every contract that’s a sound formula for success.

I’ve captured those 10 years of advice into a book called “101 things I should have been taught at business school”, and am developing more content on my blog http://101thingsforbusiness.blogspot.com. If I’d known back then what I know now I could have started my adventures a lot sooner.

Hilary Mantel wins the 2012 Man Booker Prize > Mantel becomes the first woman in history to win the prize twice Katy Saunders entertainment@westerneye.net

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ilary Mantel wins the 2012 Man Booker Prize by Katy Saunders “Bring up the bodies!” was the chilling order for prisoners at the Tower of London to be brought up for trial during the tyrannical reign of Tudor monarch King Henry VII. And it is this bloody and turbulent period in British history which provides the inspiration and title for Hilary Mantel’s latest novel Bring up the Bodies, which on the 16th October was announced as the winner of the prestigious Man Booker literary prize.

The Man Booker, which is arguably the world’s most high- profile literary prize, aims to encourage the widest possible readership for the best in British fiction by awarding a £50,000 cash sum to the finest novel of the year. This year’s panel made up of five judges, including Downton Abbey actor Dan Stevens took a rigorous two hours and sixteen minutes to unanimously select Mantel as the winner from a shortlist of six novels which included work by Will Self and Deborah Levy.

Their decision has made history as it means Mantel becomes the first woman to win the prize twice, having already won it in 2009 with Wolf Hall. Wolf Hall, like Bring up the Bodies charts the life of Henry VII’s right hand man Thomas Cromwell, the son of a Putney blacksmith who rose to become the Monarch’s closest and most powerful aide. But whilst Wolf Hall dealt with Cromwell’s slippery accent to power Bring up the Bodies instead focuses on Cromwell’s role in the the nine months of 1535 which lead to the execution of Henry’s sec-

ond wife Anne Boleyn.

A master manipulator, who was unafraid to dispose of anyone in his way, Cromwell is often described as a Tudor bogeyman with author Charles Dickens even labeling him “a most intolerable ruffian, a disgrace to human nature, and a blot of blood and

“

Bring up the Bodies ‘utterly surpassed’ the achievements of Wolf Hall

grease upon the History of England”.

However Mantel’s interpretation of Cromwell as a nasty, yet extremely charismatic and able politician has managed to fascinate readers and critics alike. With many observing that he would not be out of place in today’s government.

However, for head Booker judge Sir Peter Stothard, editor of the Times Literary Supplement it was not just Mantel’s ability to bring the shadowy figure of Cromwell to life which made the book so appealing. He also had praise for her ability to retell one of the best -know stories in English history, the fall of Anne Boleyn and “bring it to life as though for the first time”. He later added that she

had “rewritten the book on writing historical fiction” and that Bring up the Bodies “utterly surpassed” the achievements of Wolf Hall.

Upon hearing she had become a winner for a second time Mantel said she was “completely surprised” joking “You wait twenty years for a Booker and then two come along at once”. Mantel’s success has certainly not been over night. Born in Derbyshire in 1962, she studied Law at the London School of Economics and Sheffield University before becoming a social worker. During the 1970s she lived in Botswana and Saudi Arabia where she began writing her first novel and when she returned to England in the mid 1980s she worked as a film and literary critic. Her first novel was published in 1985 and before her success with Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies she had had eleven other books published.

The author is now working on a follow up to Bring up the Bodies titled The Mirror and the Light which will depict Cromwell’s fall from grace.

There has even been speculation that she may be able to pull off a hat trick, something which Mantel herself is skeptical about. She told reporters “It’s hardly possible that it will go on to win the Booker and if it doesn’t, will it be considered a failure? It will in some quarters.”

However whether or not it equals the critical success of its predecessors The Mirror and the Light will certainly be hotly anticipated by readers.

Western Eye November 2012

Sport 24

Sport

Hockey team raise £1400 for Children in Need

UWE Golf

> The team took part in a 24 hour fundraising event on spin bikes in OneZone and Core24

Daniel Ginn

Luke Caddel sport@westerneye.net

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t midday on Monday the 12th November, a group of UWE Hockey players began a 24 hour bike ride in aid of Children in Need. Using spin bikes kindly loaned to the group by the Centre for Sport, and based in OneZone on Frenchay campus, the group entertained students throughout the day with their fancy dress costumes

and fundraising tactics. Having already raised over £350 in online fundraising before the event even started, by Tuesday afternoon the group had managed to raise over £1000, completely smashing their original fundraising target of £250.

Harry Warren, VP Hockey, who was taking part in the overnight section of the cycle, said “It’s been a long 24 hours, but it definitely makes it worth it when we see how much money we’ve managed to raise. Students, staff and academics on campus have

donated a lot of money to us through bucket collections, and we can’t thank them enough for helping us to reach such a massive fundraising total. It’s all for a good cause, and it’s been a lot of fun even though we’re all exhausted now and ready for bed!”

This fantastic achievement really shows what groups of students can do when they put their minds to ita big congratulations to everyone involved, and well done for making it through the entire 24 hours in one piece!

> Brand new soceity up and running for 2012 > In parternship with Kendleshire Golf Club

sport@westerneye.net

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hether you’re into Golf or not, it is fair to say that it’s a sport that everyone can get into! A couple of months ago, a group of us decided that UWE needs a Golf society; after hours of work we have been able to finalise the logistics and get UWE Golf Club up and running.

However, it has come to our attention that we are probably the most unrecognised sports society currently at UWE!! Golf can always be taken into a commercial environment, but more importantly, a lot of fun. After deliberation with the Kendleshire Golf Club, they have been generous in working with us in providing you with a couple of invaluable, cheap deals.

Featuring 27 holes, high quality long/short game areas and open all year round, it is rated one of the best clubs in Bristol. While membership gives full use of all three courses, each member will also receive discount on food and drink in the bar.

Full Membership costs £250, allowing unlimited access to Kendleshire Golf Club at any time between 1st October and the 30th June 2013 If you would prefer to play on a less regular basis a Social Membership for £65 entitles you to pay per session.

We are currently in negotiations with the Hambrook Golf Centre located opposite UWE’s Frenchay Campus!

The society is looking for members who are willing to have a bit of fun and is welcome to all. You can contact us at Uwegolf@gmail.com if you have any queries.

For more information, please visit: www.thekendleshire.com

November Fixtures

Luke Caddel

This table shows a selection of home matches featuring teams from UWE. There are some times still to be confirmed and there is a possibility that fixtures will be called off, re-arranged or the venue switched. For a more comprehensive list, please visit www.bucs.org.uk and click on fixtures & results.

sport@westerneye.net

TEAM

DIVISION

LEAGUE/CUP

OPPOSITION

VENUE

POSTCODE

TIME

DATE

Men’s Badminton

1A

L

Southampton Solent

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

14:30

28th November

Men’s Badminton

2A

L

Bath Spa

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

17:00

21st November

Women’s Basketball

1A

L

Gloucestshire

SGS College

BS34 8LP

15:30

21st November

Women’s Basketball

1A

L

Aberystwyth

SGS College

BS34 8LP

TBC

5th December

Men’s Basketball

1A

L

Bristol

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

13:30

5th December

Men’s Cricket (Indoor)

1A

L

Bath

Merchant Academy

BS13 9BL

12:00

17th November

Women’s Fencing

1A

L

Bristol

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

TBC

28th November

Women’s Hockey

2A

L

Bath

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

17:00

21st November

Men’s Hockey

1A

L

Exeter

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

15:30

21st November

Men’s Hockey

4A

L

Plymouth

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

14:00

21st November

Men’s Hockey

4A

L

Bristol

Coombe Dingle

BS9 2BJ

16:15

21st November

Women’s Lacrosse

1A

L

Swansea

St. Matthias

BS16 2JP

14:00

21st November

Women’s Netball

1A

L

Cardiff Metropolitan

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

17:30

21st November

Women’s Netbal

6A

L

Bath Spa

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

15:30

21st November

Men’s Squash

1A

L

Plymouth

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

15:30

21st November

Men’s Squash

1A

L

Cardiff Metropolitan

Centre for Sport

BS16 1QY

17:30

21st November

Women’s Tennis

2A

L

Exeter

David Lloyd Club

BS10 6AZ

12:30

21st November

Men’s American Football

1A

L

Bath

SGS College

BS34 8LP

13:00

25th November