Edition 10: 2009

Big Brother Africa

Watch what you eat

Top DC Searches

Hockey’s wolf pack

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page 5

page 8

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25 August 2009 · Volume 68, Number 10 · 021 650 3543 · varsitynewspaper@gmail.com · www.varsitynewspaper.co.za

SRC candidates ready for polls THE SRC election process slips into high gear this week, as voting stations across UCT’s campuses opened yesterday.

The election process began last week with a launch event held in Molly Blackburn Hall.

There, outgoing SRC President Chris Ryall highlighted some of the challenges the next SRC will face, including being tasked with “representing the interests of every student, and actively enhancing the student experience of every single student.” Ryall also encouraged the candidates to look for ways to work together, and to open positive dialogue.

Throughout the week, the SRC Elections Committee held question and answer sessions in various residences and satellite campuses. The objective of the sessions was to provide SRC candidates with an opportunity to introduce their manifestos to the student body, and to provide students with an opportunity to question candidates, thus assisting students in making an informed decision when voting.

Jerome September, Chief Electoral Officer of the Elections committee, said that the residence sessions were well attended by the students. “Students attending these sessions are actively involved in the process, and engaging candidates on their manifesto’s and the potential value they would add to the SRC,” said September.

Questions focused on many hot-button issues, and students did not hesitate to show their approval, or disapproval, of the candidates’ responses.

September said that so far, the electoral process has been running smoothly. He commended the conduct of the candidates and their support teams.

All students who are registered for at least one semester are encouraged to vote. To cast their votes, students can visit voting stations set up throughout Upper and satellite campuses. Stations have also been set up at various UCT residences, as outlined in the Voter’s Guide. Additionally, a Vula tab has been set up, allowing students to cast their vote from any computer linked to the UCT network. Students can vote for a maximum of ten SRC candidates.

Voting ends on Friday, 28 August at 20h00.

Vote counting is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 29 August, and the Elections Committee plans to publish provisional results on Monday 30 August. If no objections are received, the Committee aims to release final results on Tuesday, 1 September.

Images by Simone Millward and Zakareeya Pandey

Nkosiyati Khumalo

Students are reminded and encouraged to report any irregularities and/or voter harassment to the Chief Electoral Officer, Jerome September in writing. He can be contacted at: jerome.september@uct.ac.za or via fax: 021- 650 5051 or at the SRC Offices, Level 7, Steve Biko Students’ Union, Upper Campus.

For more information on the voting process, including voting procedures and poll locations, students can consult the Voter’s Guide.

Campaign mania - at interrogations last week, supporters of SRC candidates came out in full force.

This year’s SRC race to the polls are set to be fierce as the calibre of candidates is unusually high.

With a variety of independents to choose from, UCT students now have the option of looking beyond political parties for eligible candidates to represent their diversity. Voting runs from 24-28 August.

Hiddingh bomb scare Dominic Verwey A BOMB scare disrupted lectures on Hiddingh Campus last Thursday.

The scare was called in at 12h30 and the campus was immediately evacuated, following the sounding of the fire alarm. As students and staff left Hiddingh campus they were told to return around 15h30.

VARSITY spoke to Hiddingh students, who prefer to remain anonymous: “I arrived at Hiddingh at 12:15 for an upcoming lecture and we were told to evacuate at 12:30 in the afternoon… but plenty of students stood anxiously and inquisitively on Orange Street watching the events unfold, while others grabbed a drink at a nearby coffee shop”.

Another student affirmed this, saying that “All the students from around the entire campus were evacuated and positioned themselves on Orange Street or at the Labia.”

Students became concerned when, “sniffer-dogs were brought in and a Forensic Explosives Unit arrived in a van, while police blocked off the entrance to campus, and that’s when we all realised that things were serious.”

Phone calls were being made to CPS and the Hiddingh campus from nearby telephone booths.

It is uncertain whether it was an anonymous tip-off or a hoax. A UCT statement details that, “the SA Police Service received two phone calls from different phone booths at separate locations,

warning them of a bomb threat at Hiddingh Campus.”

Students’ speculation around the reason for the scare have ranged from: someone “pulling a prank to get out of handing in an assignment or the fact that Zapiro was planning to appear for a talk on Thursday”, to the more mundane, “maybe it was someone who is just not a fan of theatre and arts.”

The incident had been brought under control within two hours and “everything was back to normal and it was as if there was no sign of a scare at all!” said another Hiddingh student.

The UCT statement ends, “the police worked with Campus Protection Services...

No explosive device was found.”

Applications for Staff writers, finance & operations managers open E-mail a brief letter of motivation & CV to

varsitynewspaper@gmail.com

Visit www.varsitynewspaper.co.za to post your comments, air your opinions and raise awareness about issues that matter to you Varsity, the official student newspaper since 1942, is committed to the principles of equality and democracy

2

News

Facebook lite: same great taste?

According to figures compiled by the Human Sciences Research Council, 18-20% of South Africans between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV positive. No statistics specific to UCT are available, but the national statistics are used as a starting point by organisations such as HIV and Aids CoOrdination at UCT (HAICU), and the Student Wellness Centre.

Why is it that students, who have access to information and are well aware of how the virus is transmitted, are still putting themselves at risk? According to HAICU, the issue is complex.

“From recent research, we can see that there is quite a lot of stress reported around academic life, which students say causes them to party more,” said Chris Mitchell of HAICU. This, said Lucina Reddy, also from HAICU, “may also lead to them taking substances which in turn may put them at a higher risk for contracting HIV.” On campus, the draft version of a recent risk behaviour survey shows that there “is a high knowledge about HIV and of how to prevent transmission”, according to Mitchell. However, this is not always enough, said Reddy: “knowledge doesn’t necessarily translate into behaviour, and that’s crucial”. Thirty-eight (38) percent of UCT students surveyed felt that they were at low risk, but that other young people—specifically, those

not at UCT—were high risk.

“The mechanism of ‘it’s not going to happen to me’ is probably driving that perception,” said Mitchell.

Despite this, the attitude to HIV/ Aids testing at UCT seems healthy. Corinne Landon of the Student Wellness Centre, which conducts the test drives, felt that the attitude to testing at UCT was healthy, stating that “60 % of students who attend our VCT [Voluntary Counselling and Testing] services have already had at least one previous HIV test”.

But Puleng Phooko of HAICU commented that students interviewed by HAICU who tested positive are often reluctant to publicly disclose their status because of “perceived stigma”.

“People haven’t actually been stigmatised, but have a fear of what may happen should they publicly disclose their status. This continues to be a challenge on campus. There’s an attitude that you’re at UCT, you’re educated, you shouldn’t get HIV, so if you do, it’s entirely your fault”, she said.

Reddy commented that one of the problems faced by HAICU on campus is that after educating first-year students during O-week, they can only work closely with students in residence and dispense information and advice, “but we need to continually get these messages out to the greater student population.”

With this in mind, HAICU will be recruiting Aids Community Educators (ACEs) in August and September.

For more information, email Lucina Reddy at HAICU: lucina.reddy@uct.ac.za

Passing of Guy Willoughby UCT joins the arts industry as they mourn the loss of novelist, playwright, columnist and UCT lecturer, Guy Willoughby, who died of AIDS related complications on 11 August.

Many media students recognise Willoughby as a flamboyant and energetic lecturer, yet many do not know that he was also an accomplished novelist. His debut novel Arkangels was published in 2002. Additionally, he was a playwright and newspaper columnist, writing for various reputable publications such as the Mail and Guardian and the Cape Times.

An Oscar Wilde scholar and devotee, Willoughby obtained a PhD in English literature on the well-known author. He was not only an expert in the literary and media fields, but also lectured History, displaying how multifaceted he was.

Tributes have poured in from many well-known names throughout the entertainment industry, including Fiona Coyne, and Baxter Theatre project manager, Nicolette Moses, who described him as “brave”.

For a short time, Willoughby wrote speeches for Tony Leon.

Helen Zille said, “He was a young, talented and engaging person who contributed greatly in many spheres. His death reminds us of the tragic loss of talent to this country by a disease which crosses all boundaries,” Closer to home, the lecturer’s passing has affected UCT students,

Applica tion deadlin e 5

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particularly media students, who were looking forward to being taught by the icon in the exclusive Print Production stream. Second year student Gosia Podgorska expressed her regret, saying, “As a print student, I was looking forward to gaining knowledge from his extensive background in media and writing. His energy and zest will not be forgotten.”

Willoughby is survived by his daughter, Beatrice.

Image courtesy of flickr.com

Sarah Jackson

THE social network giant Facebook has finally made a move to directly counter competition from microblogging site Twitter, in the form of Facebook Lite. Last week, ostensibly by accident, a test version was made available to a larger audience at www.lite. facebook.com, which has since been rolled back – but not before several screenshots were shown to the larger public.

Facebook’s official response was that “the test was temporarily exposed to a larger set of users by mistake. We have not opened up access to lite.facebook.com to all users at this time.” The above link currently redirects users to the Facebook home page. This follows last Monday’s release of expanded search features on Facebook, which included 30 days’ worth of news feeds, status updates, photos, and links – all of which points to

Facebook’s intention to expand its functionality and usage.

The features seen in Facebook Lite were relatively straightforward, with only status updates, photo viewing and comments noticeably present – not unlike the Facebook mobile site.

Facebook Lite was revealed shortly after Facebook’s surprise acquisition of FriendFeed, a service that allowed users to collate updates from their blogs, social networking sites, image or video hosting sites, and any other Atom/RSS feeds, on a single page.

One user commented on this, pointing out that the Facebook Lite layout “looks like a simplified version of Twitter with comments enabled. On second thought, it looks like a simplified FriendFeed.” Facebook recently acquired the service for an estimated $47.5 million.

While the layout is remarkably similar to Twitter’s, and seems

aimed directly at the smaller and younger microblogging service, the test audience suggests that Facebook is gearing the product specifically at low-bandwidth markets.

Facebook Lite is currently available in India, and it is thought that Russia and China will also be included in later test stages. In a statement, Facebook said, “We are currently testing Facebook Lite in countries where we are seeing lots of new users coming to Facebook for the first time, and are looking to start off with a more simple experience.”

As 72% of Facebook’s audience is European or North American, there is clear incentive to enhance the Asian market, where broadband access is harder to come by. This will obviously be good news for South Africans too – although no word has yet been given on when the service coverage will be expanded.

Zapiro muses over Maus cartoon Nyasha Kadandara LAST Thursday, Jonathan Shapiro, better known as the infamous Zapiro, gave a lecture on Maus by Art Spiegelman.

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale recounts Spiegelman’s father’s experience of the Holocaust as a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz. Zapiro discussed the images in the cartoon Maus, drawing out distinctive images and their historical representation of the atrocities of the Holocaust.

The way in which the Jewish people are displayed in Maus gives a very distinctive view of the pain and suffering they went through, as well as depicting the German military in away that resembled its mercilessness. He highlighted the style and genre, and revealed many interpretations of Spiegelman that are not obvious to the naked eye.

Zapiro also discussed how Speigelman had a great influence on him earlier in his career, and that he hoped to reach a level in his career that mirrored that of the much admired Speigelman.

The talk ended with many members of the audience debating some of the ideas present in Maus, as well as giving their personal interpretations. Zapiro then also shared his opinions with other members of the audience about other ideologies behind the cartoon art work.

UCT’s Gordon Institute for Performing and Creative Arts

(GIPCA) has been running the Great Texts/ Big Questions weekly lecture series throughout August.

This Thursday, 27 August, Professor David Benatar will discuss the “Meaninglessness of Life” on Hiddingh Campus at 17h00.

Following last edition’s report on the Res4Res festival, below is the list of awards given to students and residences:

res theatrics

A FREE HIV/Aids testing and counselling drive was recently conducted on campus, organised by the Student Wellness Centre.

In light of this, VARSITY took a look at the current situation at UCT.

Liam Kruger

Image by Megan Morris

What’s the HIV status on campus?

Olivia Walton

Volume 68 Number 10

Best Writer Phumzile Ngcobo (Rochester) Best Stage Design Smuts Best Lighting Design Fuller Best Realist Play Rochester Best Comedy College House Best Re-devised Play Clarinus Best Written Play Fuller Best Actor Roy Mathieu Borole (Smuts) Best Actress Noxolo Bengu (Baxter) Best Supporting Actress Asanda Majola (Baxter) Best Supporting Actor Mandisi Sindi (Groote Schuur) Best Director Thenjiwe Stemele (Clarinus) Best Cameo Lance Louskieter (Clarinus) Best Performance Baxter

Application Application Ap tion deadline a plicat c i ion ppl line deadline A 5 Au g 20 09 d e adline ead tion d a c i l App line 19 Aug 2009 19 Aug Application 2009 g 2009 u dead 2009 deadline 19 A g u A “The members of the Baxter cast put a lot of work in,” says Kate Rosholt, Head Student 5 Send in

of Baxter, “and so did the other casts. The standard of the performances were very high, and could have been presented at any commercial theatre”.

19 A“provides Organiser Alicia Price says that the event ug 20students 09 with the confidence that theatre gives, and skills” that they can use in other aspects of their lives. a brief CV and a motivational letter to Information on the next Res4Res Festival can be obtained from the cultural representative of each residence. Planning for the 2010 event will begin in February. varsitynewspaper@gmail.com

Varsity

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NEWS

UCT’s own Big Brother housemate image by Nyasha Kadandara

SECOND year Law year student Reon Cloete has been selected as the Namibian representative for Big Brother Africa, now in its fourth season. When Cloete enters the house on 6 September, he and other contestants will stand the chance to win US $100,000.

Nyashadzashe Kadandara caught up with the future housemate to find out what his plans are before he enters the house.

Big brother’s watching - Reon Cloete, a 2nd year law student will enter the Big Brother Africa House on 6 September.

Nyashadzashe Kadandara: What made you apply for Big Brother?

Reon Cloete: I just went for it. No one even knew until I had been selected.

NK: Did you ever think you would be selected?

RC: No, because on the selection day, 700 of us turned up.

NK: How do you think you will be representing UCT as a student in the house?

RC: UCT students love to party, and that is one of the things I intend to do; have fun, but responsibly.

NK: What has been the reaction from your family and friends?

RC: Shock; my mum was ecstatic, but worried about school. My

Workers’ forum attended by Vice Chancellor zerene haddad LAST week marked the first UCT workers’ forum that was attended by a Vice Chancellor.

According to Alex de Comarmond of UCTSWA, Dr Max Price was there because, “the workers’ forum has for a very long time demanded a clear channel of communication with UCT management. Before, any progress was too slow because issues were either ignored or went through third parties. However, there has been a change in how UCT management is dealing with workers.”

The aim of the workers’ forum is to “be a space for all workers to collectively organise around common issues facing them at UCT. It is not a union, but works with workers to bring together a fractured workforce of [workers

from] different outsourced companies.” UCTSWA forms the student part of the forum. The forum meets fortnightly to discuss issues facing the workers at UCT. De Comarmond emphasises that “one demand of the workers’ forum is for workers to be reemployed by UCT.” Current issues being dealt with by the workers forum A G4S security worker, Xola Ndishe, was transferred outside UCT under “unclear and suspicious circumstances”. According to UCTSWA there was no inquiry before his removal. As Ndishe was an elected worker representative, this has had a negative effect on the organisation of workers’ leaders, especially if workers feel their leaders are under “threat” of removal. At last week’s forum,

workers wanted to know from the VC if UCT was involved in this transferal, as alleged. De Comarmond said, “They wanted to know if UCT Management has the power to remove a worker form UCT. The VC confirmed that UCT does have the power to remove a worker at UCT; there is a clause which allows for this in the agreement between outsourced companies and UCT.” Murray Steyn of UCT Communications department told VARSITY that, “The VC attends a number of stakeholder forums on campus as part of his duties.

It would be inappropriate for him to disclose the details of his interactions with stakeholders in these engagements.”

No comment was available from the Vice Chancellor’s office at the time of going to print.

Make it your SRC go vote now.

Report any harassment to jerome.september@uct.ac.za or call 021 650 2090

friends are excited. Everyone keeps asking me, “Please say my name!”

NK: What is your biggest fear upon entering the house?

RC: Doing something I might regret when I leave the house. As the game goes along, my strategy will have to change, but I hope not to compromise myself at the same time.

NK: What excites you the most, going in the house?

RC: I want to know who’s Big Brother, doubt it will happen though.

NK: How do you feel about shower hour?

RC: Nervous; at some point I’ll have to take a proper shower, but I don’t want to be naked.

NK: Do you have any particular strategy going into the house?

RC: In the beginning I plan to stay neutral, no alliances. But as the game goes on this may have to change.

NK: How do you feel about intimate relationships in the house? Are you open to flirting with the other housemates?

RC: I’m open to flirting, but I’m not going into the house looking

for friends, or relationships.

NK: If you do not win the money, what else would you like to have accomplished?

RC: Leave a trademark, maybe something to do with my laugh.

NK: What is the one quality you posses that will make people vote for you?

RC: An outgoing, outspoken personality.

NK: What do you think is the attribute of your personality that would make people not like you, and possibly vote you out?

RC: I’m very argumentative.

NK: If you win the $100,000, what do you intend to do with it?

RC: Start a business, and if I’m feeling outrageous, buy the mansion where Angelina Jolie gave birth to her twins.

NK: Would you return to UCT whether you won or not?

RC: Yes, I want to get my law degree.

NK: What will you say to you fellow students to make them vote for you?

RC: Show support to a fellow student, and vote for me for as long as you want me in the house.

Go for the green ride Olivia Walton UCT’s Green Campus Initiative (GCI) has a new child: Ridelink, a car pooling database on Vula.

Add your details, fill in your schedule and bam! find yourself a lift to campus. Launched earlier this year, Ridelink is a student initiative and has already hit the 1000-member mark. As an arm of the GCI, Ridelink aims to “reduce our emissions,” says Kimon De Greef of the Ridelink team, adding that “it just makes sense for students.”

“You save petrol, meet new

people, and you can park where you normally wouldn’t park.

It’s meant to eventually cover anything—cycling initiatives, long distance and so on, but at the moment campus carpooling is the most useful for everyone,” said De Greef.

“An internet forum is going to run parallel to Ridelink, so people can organise ad hoc arrangements for festivals, lifts to faraway places and so on… People should really get excited about Ridelink carpooling. It’s like a threshold of las (sic) and then it’s easy.”

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opinions

DASO promotes a hypocritical message I READ the last edition of the VARSITY Newspaper’s “DASO emphasises ‘Positive Politics’” as well as the SRC column and realised that there is a great deal wrong with student politics at the moment, and that students have been shortchanged in terms of their political development by the ideas of the current SRC. DASO, who currently rule (not govern) the SRC, have embarked on a campaign in leading students into believing that they practice “positive” politics. The notion of “positive” politics needs to be questioned and can’t go unexamined if we are to ensure that students get the best deal in the upcoming elections.

It is astonishing that DASO is able to make the claim of practicing positive politics given the Democratic Alliance’s history of defining its campaigns in terms of organisations and personalities other than their own. This has manifested itself in a number of forms, including the infamous “Fight Back” election campaign of 1999 and more recently the “Stop Zuma” campaign, notably

supported by DASO and its UCT leadership, which was really a throw-back from the pre-1994 era.

A more positive message would have been to “Stop Poverty”, or “Stop Crime” but the Democratic Alliance had instead chosen to define its own political discourse in terms of personalities rather than the burning issues which affect South Africans.

What does all of this have to do with DASO, the SRC and UCT student politics? If this is an indication of the level of political engagement of the senior leadership of the Democratic Alliance, students should indeed be worried if DASO was allowed to return to the majority in the SRC. The SRC column in the previous edition was an indication of DASO’s intent should it make it onto the SRC. These same sentiments were repeated at the launch of the SRC elections. It is worrying that a student leader as educated and intelligent as Chris Ryall would relegate the changing of the status quo to being of secondary importance. Changing the status

quo is of paramount importance in a country in which inequality and poverty abound. This is evident even at UCT, right under our noses, where academic and financial exclusions from this institution mainly affect students from disadvantaged schooling backgrounds and workers’ rights are often disregarded by the third party service providers. My own opinion is that any “positive” messages to students should not be removed from changing the status quo – they should go hand in hand. Students should be devising solutions to change the status quo, instead of conjuring strategies to entrench and maintain it through subtle messages in public platforms.

My hope is that these SRC elections is one in which we look past the Photoshopped posters and slick campaigns in order to elect an SRC of substance – one which has both the desire and ability to change the order of society for the better.

Ajokis anguria

what the existing policy on rape was at UCT and how she believed she could better it. Her answer not only disappointed me, but also shocked me.

Lwando Maki

Yusuf Mowlana

SRC candidate evaluations Joseph Jarvis Ball Also known as ‘Jarvisness’ he doesn’t seem to be offering anything concrete in terms of what he can do for the student population. He does talk about the transformation of sport on the campus, but only mentioned this at Liesbeeck on Thursday.

Furthermore, his manifesto is very vague. I am inclined to assume that he is merely a party parrot who lacks individual thought.

Shannon Bernhardt He joins the race for the second time, claiming he has more to offer.

He has handled the interrogations rather well, but this may be attributed to this being his second time round. I am however critical of his inability to critique his own, and his quickness to list his achievements.

Siyadama Binza Almost invisible, he doesn’t say anything new at interrogations.

However his manifesto mentions two interesting points; disability and the environment. I feel it is a pity that he falls into the trap of trying to redefine his campaign to fit with his competitors.

Tara Dales She may have invaluable experience as a student leader on Campus, but she fails to bring this to the fore at interrogations.

Her manifesto is also found to be lacking, very vague. I feel my little brother could have done better.

Tara, pull up those socks, you are playing with the big kids!

Erik de Ridder Monday night killed Erik’s campaign; his answer to the international student question was not well thought out. He lacks the political acumen to ‘rumble in the jungle’.

Sumaya Hendricks She is not familiar with basic UCT policy that pertains to women on campus, though she seems to be clamouring for the female vote. I asked her on Wednesday at Graca

Saif Islam A well written Manifesto that gives good detail on his plans for his SRC tenure. It is difficult to critique Mr. Islam as he seems to be doing everything right; but then one can wonder, is he just to good to be true? I think Saif is one to watch, and if he does make it into SRC we must keep him accountable.

Zamantungwa Khumalo Another vague manifesto, no concrete plans, just rhetoric.

Ms. Khumalo seems more of a talker than an engager, the latter being important in any student governance position. Her ‘talk to’ rather than ‘talk with’ attitude may cost her votes, as no one wants to be told what their needs should be. An attitude like this makes me wonder how she plans to work in a diverse team such as the SRC.

‘Doc’ , I might just give you a chance. One of the few students who has been consistent with his campaign, I see someone who might be remotely interested in the students. Question is: will the Doctor be able to make sure the rest of the team follows through on the right course of medication?

Uhuru Malebo I’m not sure where I stand with this candidate; he hasn’t said or done anything interesting. Advice: Break out of your shell, your campaign is becoming boring.

Wandile Mamba An interesting campaign, I welcomed his response to my question at Rochester; A true leader, I enjoyed his ability to converse with the various students who may have approached him to have a word. However, I am disappointed that he chose to use one of his responses to campaign for Zama. A minor lapse in judgement I hope.

Melvyn Lubega

Gary Kopo Mapila

MIB, as he is known to many fans, appears well-rounded. In interrogations he offered some good practical examples of how we could make it better. I am still neutral on this candidate, he hasn’t disappointed me, nor has he put me over the moon.

He claims to have been apathetic until a few months ago, that worries me. Why then is he running for SRC? Is this just a satisfaction of his power craving or does he really care?

Lubabalo Luyaba

I am glad that Mbali has gotten off the fence, however, I am unsure whether she has joined the SASCO five or she is still an independent.

Mbali, please clarify. If she has, is this how she plans to spend her time in SRC, hopping between the various groupings depending on the amount of noise they make?

A great speaker, who keeps his answers short and to the point.

My only critique is his lack of emotion, he lacks the ability to show any passion for the subjects he speaks on. Which makes me wonder how much he really wants this.

Siphosethu Makananda I am surprised she can still sit down, considering she hasn’t gotten off the fence yet. Her inability to define where she stands on major issues is dismaying. I was initially excited about her, but my patience is waning as I wait for her to become ‘real’.

Mbali

Richard McLaverty He seems to have a political shrewdness to him; Calm down Richard, you are not contesting nationals yet. He appears to be one of the more engaging DASO candidates right now, if he keeps it up he might get SRC. Continued on page 5...

Volume 68 Number 10

Editorial If you are sitting on Jammie, or are in some or other public space, look up and see if there are any SRC candidates in your vicinity. If there are, go up to them and ask what it is exactly that they plan to do for you – the student.

I ask you to do this because, as usual, there was a relatively poor turnout at interrogations last week. While this was expected, the quality of the candidates speaking and fielding questions was unusual. For one, there was far less mud-slinging than there has been in the past and dare I say it, there seemed to be some sense of cohesion and unity between the candidates. For the first time in three years I saw a group of students standing in front of me who were more focused on what they could do to better the student cause than they were with making their opponents look bad. Talk about a breath of fresh air. Maybe I have just been seduced by their campaigns.

On the topic of fresh air, there seems to be a murmur of support for the lads and lady (who as far as I know did not attend a single interrogation session) from FUCT. While the foul language and so called “straight talking and blunt speaking” makes me giggle just as much as the next guy, and at the same time I agree that student leadership could do with something new and exhilarating, I doubt that the anarchical antics of FUCT are what we need right now (check out Reasonable Doubt on page 7 for Tatenda Goredema’s views). Their policy ambitions seem to be shrouded in a cloud of smoke, but good on them for challenging the status quo.

The independent candidates have a lot to offer. The likes of Sizwe Mpofu Walsh, Saif Islam, Melvyn Lubega, Wandile Mamba and Siphosethu Makananda have a combination of experience, passion and intelligence that could only take the Students Representative Council to new heights. Party dominance needs to be replaced with student independence.

Londeka Mkize and Tara Dales, the two female presidential candidates for SASCO and DASO, both have what it takes to run a potentially successful SRC, but they need to look beyond their party allegiances and learn to work with ALL of those around them. If either of these talented young women were to rise to the top, they cannot allow their own voices, or the voice of the students, to be lost in the hollow caverns of party rhetoric. You are leaders for a reason.

VARSITY’s own leadership has changed. Congratulations to Remy Ngamije, Tatenda Goredema and Nkosiyati Khumalo who will be taking over as Editor, Deputy editor and Chief sub editor respectively towards the end of September.

Enjoy the edition, Seamus

newsgathering next newsgathering Thursday 27 August 2009, meridian, in LS 2C

2009 collective editor Seamus Duggan deputy editor Zerene Haddad chief sub editor Maciek Dubla sub editors Cayleigh Bright, Jackie Zvoutete, Jonas Kane, Louise Ferreira dtp editor Wei Mao dtp assistant Tiisetso Mngomezulu operations manager Tina Swigelaar images Simone Millward photographers Marco Balducci, Zakareeya Pandey, Jade van Blerk, Ghia du Plessis, Bianca Kramer news Brian Muller news team Olivia Walton, Tonbara Ekiyor, Sarah Jackson opinions Tatenda Goredema features Remy Ngamije & Tara Leverton sport Daniel Freund & Dominic Verwey finance & advertising team Megan Lyons & Desmond Manyatshe marketing & brand manager John-Ross Hugo, Mathabatha Sexwale, Celeste Adonis IT manager Irfaan M Imamdin website manager Yue Mao staff writers Kerryn Warren, Moss Matheolane, Tiffany Mugo, Calvin Scholtz, Gugulethu Hlekwayo, Tariq Desai, Liam Kruger, Nyasha Kadandara, Nkosiyati Khumalo, Gerda von Benecke, Sentlenyana Machaba external contributors Berndt Hanweg, Boniswa Mdebeku, Dylan Thomas, Martin Mendelsohn tel 021 650 3543 fax 021 650 2904 email varsitynewspaper@gmail.com website www.varsitynewspaper.co.za location 5th Floor, Steve Biko Student Union Building, Upper Campus advertising email Megan Lyons on megan@meganlyons.co.za or fax her on 021 650 2904. Rates and other information available upon request.

disclaimer The Varsity Opinions section is a vehicle for expression on any topic by members of the University or other interested parties. The opinions within this section are not necessarily those of the Varsity Collective. The Opinions Editor reserves the right to edit or shorten letters. Letters should include the name and telephone number of the writer, and must be received by 5pm on the Wednesday before publication. They should not exceed 350 words, and will not be published under a pseudonym, or anonymously.

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opinions

Busting the organic food myth IF YOU’RE a student, there’s a good chance that as such, you’re already living on the shoe-string budget that full-time study allots you. Enter the recession. Times are even tougher, and we’re all having to make concessions. However, if you feel guilty about cutting corners with regards to your formerly healthy lifestyle due to budgetary constraints, then there is good news. Recent reports have shown that expensive organic foods are not, in fact, healthier than their evil commercial counterparts.

The entire organic foods industry is merely proof that as consumers, we are just waiting to jump on the next health bandwagon. Retailers such as Woolworths are growing food in the pesticide-free environment and genetically unmodified manner in which food was always supposed to be grown – and yet we pay almost double the price for it. We have become a passive nation that believes that if the health section of YOU magazine says so, then it must be true, whatever the real health and economic implications might be.

Case in point – organic food. It’s not, as one might imagine, grown on an idyllic farm somewhere in a valley of green fields. Instead, the

Photo courtesy of wordpress.com

Sarah Jackson

Healthy living - organic food may be pricy, but is it really better? industry has become big business in places such as America, which is ironically exactly the opposite of the holistic, natural image that is created for us. Organic food has

been touted as the way to save us from inexplicable environmental horrors that are the result of overgrazing, and yet commercial farming allows us to make the

most out of the limited space that can yield produce. Alarmingly, switching to organic farming would mean having to cut down an additional ten million square

Michell Mpike

Gerald Neves

political machine”, but I believe he is just plain greasy.

I am thinking “Barbie”. I am tired of hearing carefully constructed answers from this candidate; I want to know, what’s up with the plagerism. Another thing, Michell where are you? You don’t seem to want to talk to us, very quick to go to the huddle at the end of interrogation. Are you going to run to mother-ship each time it gets to hot?

I am not sure why this individual has chosen to run for SRC; his campaign seems bland and doesn’t really speak to current issues affecting students. I wish him luck but I am afraid he needs to up the game if he thinks he is going anywhere.

Advice, start preparing next year’s campaign, I don’t think you will make it this year.

SRC candidate evaluations continued...

Brian Müller Initially the underdog, Brian has stuck heavily to his guns of integrity and effective service delivery. Another candidate who didn’t redefine his campaign to fit his competitors. He appears to be more grassroots based, which I believe now is what we need from an SRC, let’s hope he can keep it up if he gets the job.

Kwezi Ngukana

Espoir Tambo He comes on to strong, as if he wants it too much. Calm down Espoir or you will end up scaring off the electorate.

Manono Thusi

One of the Cope boys, Kwezi doesn’t do it for me. He seems very plastic, everything just seems ready-made. Will he be able to debate issues in real time?

This may be Manono’s year if she carries on keeping it simple.

However I would advise Ms. Thusi to think about the people she surrounds herself with; they might just bring her down.

Tsepo Serakalala

Tumi

A little boy, who seems to scare easily. If you plan to get into SRC my boy you may need to grow up quickly. SRC is tough and you can’t let a few rowdy students put you off; wait till you meet the academics and management.

I have never seen someone who lacks so much intelligence. I hope this guy does not get into SRC. His responses to the questions posed at interrogations have been embarrassing to say the least. He describes himself as a “well-oiled

Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh Like many other candidates Sizwe chose to Africanise his campaign early on in the race. I liked it! This youngster may be destined for greater things, however I hope that the power doesn’t get to his head.

Londeka Mkize She started with a bang and seems to be carrying through. Out of all the candidates she is the only one who was able to return back to me with an answer when she failed to answer my question at Liesbeeck.

She may be spouting party lines at each opportunity, but at least we see hope for her.

Kebone Lehulere I had not seen her until Thursday at Liesbeeck, can’t make a thorough judgement. Advice; Work hard

miles of forest.

Apparently organic farming also produces far less food, with agricultural scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug stating, “You can’t feed more than four billion people on an all organic diet.” Additionally, modern pesticides have advanced to the point where they are largely biodegradable and practically harmless to the environment, while the Environmental Protection Agency has described the natural pesticide pyrethrum as a human carcinogen.

And forget the idealistic ethos of supporting the little guy in a world of interminable consumerism – it is smashed by the knowledge that big business has jumped on the organic train, with companies like Kellogg’s owning organic industries such as Morningside Farms. As Dr Alan Dungour, the principle author of a study on organic food, states, “Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionallyproduced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”

So, next time you walk past a Woolworths store and into Pick ‘n Pay to do your grocery shopping, don’t feel guilty - you’re almost definitely doing the environment a favour.

Kebone, lest we forget about you.

Free UCT • Peach Very average candidate. Please go home.

• Sebastian That beat-boxing stunt just didn’t cut it, say something!

• Sven Less weed and poetry, more engagement with student issues.

• James He just might make it.

• Taryn Who are you?

• Alex I liked your passion for worker rights, however think about the students too.

• Buhle Your forthrightness at Liesbeeck showed your opponents that you mean business • Simon You haven’t said anything that could get my vote.

6

opinions

Volume 68 Number 10

Train travel, mission impossible IT WAS a Monday morning, and it was miserable - not only because it was Monday, but also because of the weather. It was cold, the wind was howling and dark clouds hung over Cape Town. To make it even more miserable, I’d just discovered that most of Metrorail’s workers had gone on strike as of midnight. I heard Shrek’s sage words echoing in my head: “Why’s it always midnight?”

I live down Simon’s Town way, and so I commute to Rosebank and back each day by train, and have done so for the past four years. It’s about an hour’s journey, and despite everything that people say about the lack of safety on the trains, the only incident of crime I’ve ever witnessed during that time was an attempted robbery.

Generally, though, my experiences have been good, except for a delay every now and then.

On this particular Monday morning, however, I arrived at Glencairn station only to find the car park empty, the ticket office closed, and the platform devoid of any of the usual commuters.

Eventually, an announcement was made on the public address system: “Due to Metrorail strikes, trains will be running on a Sunday timetable.” This was followed by their usual disclaimer: “We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.” Yeah, right.

Now, being the little boy scout that I am, I had a copy of the Metrorail timetable with me: I bought it almost 4 years ago for R5, and the times have not changed since. It’s missing its front and back covers, as well as the map of all the train routes and

Photo courtesy of buffalocity.gov.za

Calvin Scholtz

SRC COLUMN

Man-made disaster - The recent Metrorail strike negatively affected unsuspecting patrons stations, but the rest of it is intact.

I took it out and examined it, but soon realised that, even following the Sunday service time, the next train was already 30 minutes late.

Other commuters started to appear on the platform. At last, a train arrived after an hour of waiting, and I was finally on my way northwards. So engrossed was I in reading the rather aptlytitled Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, that I failed to notice that more and more people were piling on.

When we reached Wynberg, angry voices made me look up and see that the train was now overloaded and that still more people were trying to force their way on.

“Stop pushing me!” said one woman. “Is it because I’m black?

Are you a racist?” The other commuters just laughed at her.

Then, as we were approaching

Rosebank, I realised with sickening certainty that the train was so jampacked with people that I wasn’t going to be able to get off. I tried saying “excuse me”, or “sorry” and even did a bit of pushing myself, but all to no avail. I took my seat again and watched as we left the station behind.

I finally disembarked in Cape Town, but by then, my one lecture of the day had already started and I was never going to make it in time. Fortunately for me, it was something I could afford to miss; hardly a matter of life and death. But, what about those people who depend on the public transport system for their jobs, their livelihoods? That’s another matter entirely. What did I do?

What could I do?

I took the next train home, of course.

This year’s SRC has been objective-driven. This means that we have measured our success or failure not by the number of headlines we’ve grabbed, but rather by the results we have achieved. There are a lot of projects and issues that we have championed over the course of the year that are still ongoing, so I thought it would be good to give you an update on the progress we have made. Below is an update on just three of these issues/projects.

24 hour library: SRC after SRC has tried, without success, to find a solution to the problem of limited library hours. This year we have taken a slightly different approach to try and speed the process up. Dylan, the Academic Chair, is currently working on a proposal to open “study zones” that will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hopefully this will assist students with late night studying.

Student recruitment: One of the goals of this year’s SRC was to initiate a “feeder school project” that would help the university to recruit talented students from disadvantaged schools. The Khula project, as it is now known, is well underway.

Khula will bring UCT, schools and private companies together to recruit these students and prepare them for tertiary education.

Several companies are interested in supporting the project and Khula is even in the process of being registered as a nonprofit organisation.

Secondhand textbooks: At the beginning of the year Pimp my Books and Eurobooks were told that they were not allowed to sell secondhand textbooks to students on campus because the university had entered into an exclusive contract with the Campus Bookstore, which gave them the sole right to sell textbooks on campus. We have negotiated with the Registrar and we are hopeful that the issue will be sorted out before the end of the year.

It has taken a long time to sort out, but if we manage to secure this deal it will mean that secondhand textbooks will be readily available for students next year. In addition, we are meeting with the Deputy Vice Chancellor this week to ensure that the SRC is represented when the university negotiates contracts with service providers in the future.

The elections for next year’s SRC are well underway.

Residence interrogations took place last week, and I was very impressed with the quality of all the candidates that have put themselves up for election this year. The SRC needs a decisive mandate in order to properly represent student interests, and so I hope that you all respond positively to the candidates this week, actively engage in the election process and VOTE for the candidates that you feel will best serve you on the SRC. Chris

Human cost must not be ignored in right of defence NOAM Chomsky once said that he specially tried to sound boring so that the people who listened to his arguments would be swayed by the facts, not fancy oratory or rhetorical skills.

Clearly, Professor Norman Finkelstein, of De Paul University in the United States, took the comment to heart.

Professor Finkelstein debated the Honourable Judge Dennis Davis at UCT’s Kramer Lecture Theatre on Tuesday 18 August on the topic “The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Misuse of AntiSemitism and the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering”. Professor Finkelstein opened the debate by arguing that before the June 1967 war, the Jewish Holocaust received scant attention from academics and the broader public.

He said that it was only after the Six Days War that there was a greater intellectual and emotional investment in this tragic phenomenon. Finkelstein maintains that the Holocaust and the issue of Jewish suffering have generally been fashioned into a weapon used to silence those who are critical of Israeli foreign and domestic policies. He further argued that there is no rise of “new anti-Semitism” in Western Europe; rather the scope of the criteria used to identify anti-Semitism has been broadened to such an extent that one cannot condemn Israeli action without being branded an anti-Semite. Professor Finkelstein also found fault with the unique categorisation of the Jewish Holocaust amongst other historical events. He cited several sources for claims, namely the eminent

Jewish historian Raul Hilberg.

Finkelstein erred on one point - he claimed that nothing can be learnt from the Holocaust in the way that it is currently being taught (my emphasis). As surely he should know, blanket statements should be used cautiously. Whether he actually believes this assertion is doubtful, but over-generalisation like this could compel some to discredit his otherwise excellent scholarship.

Photo courtesy of Bill Eppridge.google

Kyle Blumberg

“ ...well-educated people believe that Israeli policy in the occupied territories is just, broadly speaking, and thus morally unproblematic... ” L’CHAIM - Peace in the Middle East is achievable if compromises are made by both parties Judge Dennis Davis spoke second. After admitting that he disliked debates and “would rather have been at home watching the English Premier League”, Davis did not seem to counter Finkelstein’s argument in any clear way. They were mismatched.

Finkelstein has written and researched extensively on the topic under discussion; whereas it seemed as if Davis’s only qualification regarding the Holocaust Industry was to receive several items of “hate mail” from the Jewish community for

his courageous opposition to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in December last year. It was also not altogether clear whether Davis had substantive material differences to Finkelstein’s general thesis. But Davis did feel as if he had to distance himself from Finkelstein’s “radical” stance, so he digressed and spoke of more general topics. He focused on the tendency (I assume amongst a minority - this is certainly not applicable to the mainstream) towards “making Israel the enemy”, i.e. focusing solely on its crimes while neglecting the

far greater atrocities that occur in other regions of the world. He cited Darfur and Burma as such places. He repeatedly called for a degree of “moral equivalence” and not “moral prejudice” when discussing Israel.

Finkelstein responded to Davis’s assertion by saying that there is little opposition amongst rational people that rape and murder in Darfur is wrong - no one sane believes that such crimes are legitimate. But this is not true in the case of Israel. Many “enlightened”, well-educated people believe that Israeli policy

in the occupied territories is just, broadly speaking, and thus morally unproblematic. And many of these same people can exert considerable influence on Israel to change its policies. Therefore, it is of even greater importance to debate these issues and draw attention to them. Finkelstein thinks that it is hypocritical for those who assert liberal, progressive values to support a state that flagrantly contravenes international law and is responsible for gross human rights abuses.

Continued on page 7...

7

opinions

Photo courtesy of photos.pcpro.co.uk

Shut your Face(book) Liam Kruger I HATE Facebook. I’m sorry, but I really do. It’s huge, it’s obnoxious, it throws advertising in my face, and it changes features with very little regard for what its users actually want. How many times have you been asked to join a “One Million Against The New Facebook” group? How many times have the powers-that-be at Facebook actually done anything about it?

They don’t have to change, of course, because they are social networking giants, and we are ants scuttling around their feet. If this sort of attitude sounds familiar, see Microsoft and Windows Vista – or Windows 7, in which you can pay even more money to get a system sort of like Windows XP, the system from years ago that you could use without being driven into a murderous rage.

While I abhor their business practice, I have to point out that I don’t hate Microsoft all that much – I mean, it’s a dinosaur of a system, but it’s a system with which I can largely avoid dirtying my hands. Rather than MSN, or Yahoo, I can use Google; rather than Microsoft, I can use a Mac (which comes with its own pretensions, true – but it’s fast, and it’s pretty).

But Facebook is something I can’t get away from. Huge chunks of my social life are made easier via Facebook – because let’s face it, people are lazy. It’s easier to post on somebody’s wall than it is to actually wish them a happy birthday. I’d have completely lost contact with dozens of people by now if it were not for Facebook.

So I wade through the “suggested friends”, and the irritating adverts, and the endless torrent of quizzes for the sake of keeping in touch

Reasonable Doubt

Are you FUCT kidding me?

Tatenda Goredema

The takeover of social networking sites Facebooking has substituted face to face interaction – which is a necessary evil that I accept, grudgingly. But when Facebook announces a product in direct competition with Twitter – Twitter, the sleek, straightforward darling of the hipster set – and rolls out a search functionality that’s clearly designed to compete with the likes of Google, I get a little concerned.

Remember Netscape? No? Yeah, it was a popular webbrowser in the early 90s, but then Microsoft copied it to make Internet Explorer, after which it became redundant and got swallowed by Bill Gates and his crew. I don’t think the monolith Google has much to fear from Facebook at this point in time, but in the past six months, everything that could be done by Facebook to eat up Twitter’s market has been done, culminating in Facebook Lite (see page 2). I’d be infinitely upset if Twitter went the way of Netscape, and my updates started getting Superpoked.

Volume 66 Number 8

CRAZY season is upon us and as I write this piece, you are considering who to vote for in the SRC elections, or if you are a keen bean you have already done so. Last week at the unveiling of the SRC candidates, I was surprised at how many of them stood up and spoke about the same issues in their allotted time.

It seemed to me like everyone had been reading from the same script with things like UCT needing effective leadership, Jammies that ran on time, residence food issues and transformation featuring prominently in a lot of the stump speeches. Amidst the fanfare and shouts of “Amandla!” I laughed and scowled at the sad attempts of some of the candidates but the only thing that considerably upset me at the unveiling was the introduction of FUCT. I have written a lot about the petty nature of politics at the university and my strong views against political parties on campus, but nowhere in my wildest rants could I have imagined that a group of misdirected miscreants could arise to assume the mantle of “liberators” of the political system at the university. It’s all well and

good to want to improve the lot of the students and help them have more of a direct say in the way the University is governed, but the anarchic suggestions that FUCT proposes in its manifesto are an insult to all those who have entered their name on the ballot this year. These sadly misguided people obviously have no grasp of the severity of the business conducted by the SRC and have no grasp on what it means to be a part of the body.

The SRC, for all its flaws and petty politicking, is still the voice of the students and is necessarily and properly the highest student body that communicates with the administrators in Bremner.

For these people to run on a platform of “freeing UCT” would be to connote that UCT needs freeing from something. There are legitimate ways of proving a point and helping students and then there is this way, a sad joke that hopefully will backfire on these students who obviously have a lot of time on their hands and very little to do with it. I have never been one to defend the SRC or unnecessarily promote the body, but even I took offence when I read the FUCT manifesto.

The use of profane language and

promotion of a cartoon zebra with the name “Simon” was just too much for me. Whether or not Simon is a person or a cartoon is still a mystery to me, this is just an example of how serious FUCT are about running for high office.

In future the student electoral body should rather consider a screening process to prevent students who are not serious from being allowed to participate in SRC elections. Of course democracy is important and all those who want to run should be allowed to, but I feel a standard of seriousness must be attached to these elections if we as ordinary students are to receive a fair deal.

How can you trust people who take the election process as a joke to look after your interests should they assume office and have the duties of projecting your concerns to the Registrar, Vice-Chancellor and other senior officials?

What on earth will FUCT accomplish if they are elected to sit on the seventh floor of the Steve Biko building? I for one do not even want to imagine such an outcome. I cannot technically advise you on who not to vote for, but I think you know who I’m certaintly not aiding this year.

Human cost must not be ignored in right of defence Continued from page 6 Davis also mentioned that Israel is a bastion of democracy in a sea of oppressive governments.

He spoke of Israel’s free press and how we should commend Israel’s commitment to selfreflection and the maintenance of a critical stance. He cited Israel’s leading newspaper Ha’aretzs as an example. Finkelstein responded by saying that we need to be careful about glorifying Israeli democracy and fairness and freedom of its press. This is because if Israeli

newspapers report truthfully on the issue of the occupied territories then Israelis can have no excuse for supporting horrendous crimes there. As Finkelstein said, at least in totalitarian states the population has the excuse that they did not know. Davis replied by accusing Finkelstein of arguing speciously and using underhanded debating tactics. I was not aware that logical implication is a dirty trick. I can only assume that this was also news to Professor Finkelstein.

At one point during the

questions and answers section, Judge Davis accused Finkelstein of not taking facts into account.

That he made such a statement was absurd. What catapulted the debate deep into the land of Orwell was that Judge Davis was applauded.

Perhaps by facts he did not mean “events that actually took place”, or “events that can be corroborated with sufficient evidence”. Perhaps by facts he meant constant appeals to “international responsibility” and “peace” and a “better world”.

In that case, there is no doubt as

to whose content was more factfilled.

Appealing to the facts is exactly what Professor Finkelstein wants people to do. He asked simply that supporters of Israel read the reports emanating from mainstream organisations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the United Nations; and then decide for themselves if what Israel is doing in the occupied territories is just. As mentioned previously, Judge Davis has been vocal in

his support for a cessation in the crimes that Israel commit in the occupied territories and has strongly denounced the recent bombardment of Gaza. Finkelstein has also said that it is difficult being a Jew and trying to support the state of Israel (reversing the common assertion that, being a Jew, it is difficult not to support the state of Israel) because the facts lead us to compare Israel to “states that should remain nameless”. I agree entirely.

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8

Features

Volume 68 Number 10

Top DC searches (31 July - 22 August 2009)

43% Movies

1. Bruno

The most-searched film on DC is none other than Sasha Baron Cohen’s demented and at times nauseating comedy, Bruno. Cohen brings a new meaning to candid camera, with the dirtiest humour and the most sickening acts ever.

And you thought Borat was bad...

2. Harry Potter

The Harry Potter franchise comes in a close second in the searches count. Though still on cinema circuit, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has yet to be leaked onto the UCT network.

World wide, Harry Potter is the most profitable franchise.

3. The Proposal

The romantic comedy of the year so far stars Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock as a couple forced to get hitched.

Predictable storyline...predictable search pattern.

5. Transformers II - Revenge of the Fallen

What is DC++?

DC++ is a free peer-to-peer sharing programme that allows users to share music, pictures, programmes, movies and any other form of computer media over a hub network.

DC++ comes in many versions, of which Strong DC and Apex DC are the most popular. These programmes, although not illegal, are banned in many corporate and educational institutions because the software shared across the hubs is done without proper licensing. Despite movements to ban such peer-to-peer networks, hubs spring afresh wherever a computer connection is available.

The growth of peer-to-peer networking, revolutionalised by NAPSTA and Limewire is perhaps a prominent example of globalisation in action. The need to share information over a large network, freely and quickly seems to have taken precedence over legal procedures such as maintaining

copyright laws.

Currently, within UCT, there are over 400 connected users on the DC network, spread amongst staff and students alike.

Approximately 60 TB of information are shared between users. The latest films, series, music, pictures and programmes can be found on this network. Not only geared towards entertainment, educational resources can be found and accessed within the DC community.

A gaming platform is also supported on the DC hub network, Dota and Counterstrike being the most popular platform games.

A whole sub-culture exists amongst DC users, with operators controlling the network hierarchy. Ops, as they are more commonly known, control the content that is shared as well as the rules that govern the hub.

35% Series

1. ENTOURAGE

2. TRUE BLOOD

Do not let the critics fool you. This is a very entertaining film. It has robots, a nerd, a hot girl and more robots...what more could you ask for?

Which is why everyone is still clicking, waiting for a good quality version to come out.

4. The Hangover Hailed as one of the best comedy films ever made, The Hangover is surprisingly...not that good. If you drink, you will have no problem relating to it. If you don’t, you might wonder what all the fuss is.

Some scenes do make you laugh though...like the tiger in the bathroom.

G.I. Joe - Rise of Cobra Everyone will tell you that “it is not like the comic books or like the stories”. In which case you should tell them that they must take their comic books, paste them onto a television screen and watch those.

The film is action packed and just like Transformers II, just as you start to get bored, there is a cool robot, or a hot girl that walks onto the screen. If you are looking for spirituality... go to church!

To watch out for

3. SO YOU THINK YOU 4. DIRTY SEXY MONEY CAN DANCE 4. WEEDS

5. BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT

7. TOP GEAR 6. TWO & A HALF MEN

9

Features

“What students search in the ‘privacy’ of their homes and computer labs. Big Brother is always watching.”

8%

Top Tweets

M Irfaan Imamdin & Remy Ngamije

Assorted media 2. Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D Still circulating the airwaves, The Black Eyed Peas’ single, “I Got A Feeling” is a perennial search topic amongst the UCT student body.

1. Cobra Starship - Hot mess

1. Best sex song 2. Facts 3. District 9 4. Inglorious Basterds 5. Shoutout 6. Famous Excuses 7. How many people 8. Music Monday 9. Usain Bolt 10. Follow Friday 11. Hurricane Bill 12. Project Tweet 13. Ronaldo 14. Fashion 15. The Veronicas 16. Jay-Z 17. Windows 7 18. Demi Lovato 19. Goodnight 20. Maxwell Searches courtesy of twitter.com

13%

The latest single from Cobra Starship, “Good Girls Go Bad” has the most hits.

3. Calvin Harris - I’m Not Alone

4. Sean Paul - Imperial blaze

5. David Guetta & Akon - Sexy B***h

6. Usain Bolt With two new world records in the IAAF Athletics Championshipsm, Usain Bolt is the Most Searched Person on DC.

After Arsenal banged six past Everton, it became the most downloaded team on DC.

10. BBC Planet Earth 8 . Pitbull - room service

9. itunes 11. Manga Bleach, the most searched manga.

Coming in a close second is Naruto as the most searched anime cartoon and manga.

Porn Top word searches 1. XXX 2. Hentai 3. Bangbros 4. Squirt 5. Onion booty 6. Booty 7. Boob 8. Gay porn 9. Girls 10. Hung 11. Milf 12. Sex tape 13. Mandigo 14. Lex 15. Brazzers

7. Arsenal v everton

12. Google Chrome Google Chrome has increasingly become the choice internet client.

Though Mozilla’s Firefox is still a student favourite, Chrome could soon replace it.

13. McAfee updates

Images courtesy of www.cduniverse. com, www.albumart.org, www. skins.be, www.flickr.com, www. bleachexile.com, www.bbc.co.uk, www.photobucket.com, www.twitter. com

15. Trailers Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. Alice In Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp District Nine, produced by Peter Jackson Ninja Assassin Blood, The Last Vampire, from the director of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp Despicable Me My Sister’s Keeper, starring Cameron Diaz

One of the most popular documentaries in the world, BBC Planet Earth’s series documents the world in clear, captivating footage.

The documentary has won numerous awards world-wide for its insightful and factual display of the natural environment.

It is an entertaining and relaxing way in which to take in one of mankind’s greatest assets, a feature that is endangered more and more everyday.

14. Girls Wallpaper Megan Fox, the hottie from Transformers II still pulls in the hits on DC, currently the most searched.

Other hotties of note: - Natalie Portman, - Scarlett Johanssen - Alessandra Ambrosio - Karolina Kurkova - Keri Hilson - The Veronicas - Kate Winslet - Adriana Lima - Leighton Meester - Ashley Teasedale - Rachel Weisz - Colbie Caillat

10

Features

Measuring the geographical fluctuation of the Rand’s value across UCT’s Upper Campus.

M Irfaan Imamdin WHAT is a Rand worth? Sit down and think about it for a bit; what is the actual value of a Rand?

Kind of hard to answer simply, eh? The difficulty in assessing this “value” lies in the fact that a Rand already is a benchmark against which the values of other things are compared. So, foreign currencies aside, a Rand is a Rand is a Rand.

This premise – that a Rand is the same wherever we are – allows for the reasonable extrapolation that, in a competitive economy – say Upper Campus, UCT the “law of one price” should drive the economic principle of Purchasing Power Parity. The idea behind this is simple: one product – let’s say a 330ml

can of Coca-Cola – should in theory be sold at the same price everywhere on Upper Campus.

The reasoning behind this is largely boring, but boils down to the fact that the higher demand of a lower priced can of Coke would increase its value, whilst the higher priced can decreases in value through lower demand, and through the see-sawing of demand and supply forces, some kind of equilibrium in the two prices is reached in the long run.

Very nice.

A 330ml can of Coca-Cola, a 30g packet of Simba chips, and a standard Lunch Bar chocolate should then, given this model, be about the same price everywhere on Upper Campus; they are goods being sold by vendors between whom customers can freely

switch in a competitive market, and information about prices is, largely, freely available.

Taking an hour to traipse along Upper Campus and survey the prices of these items proves that this isn’t necessarily the case.

Deviations in competitor prices of up to 33% (or a difference of R2 for a 330ml can of coke), between vendors who are a two-minute walk apart, highlight the presence of very complex dynamics in what would otherwise appear to be a very simplistic economic system.

Without delving into the reasons why, the survey conducted highlights the complexities of geo-social and cultural factors which exist along the simple stretch of University Avenue.

Photos by Simone Millward

The student pocket

Volume 68 Number 10

11

Features

Counting pennies Boniswa Mdebuka

So you have R200 and as a student you need to budget, but you obviously also need stationery. The best way to get change after your shopping is to compare prices from the shops that sell stationery.

Checkers Till Slip

Pick n’ Pay Till Slip

Shoprite Till Slip

2 exam pads, 100 page: R9.99 Ruler: R1.39 Eraser: R2.99 Sharpener: R7.99 HB pencils (3 in pack): R14.99 Pens (5 in pack): R7.99 Highlighters (4 in pack): R19.99 Pencil case: R9.99 Hardcover book 192 pages: R12.99 Folder (expanding file): R49.99 Ring binder: R11.99 Stapler with staples: R34.99

2 exam pads 100 page: R9.99 Ruler: R3.99 Eraser (2 in pack): R11.99 Sharpener: R7.99 HB pencils: R10.99 Pens (3 in pack): R10.99 Highlighter (1 each): R14.99 Pencil case: not there.

Hardcover book: R29.99 Folder (expanding file): R59.99 Ring binder: R16.99 Stapler: out of stock.

2 exam pads 100 page: R6.99 Ruler: R4.99 Eraser: R2.99 Sharpener: R7.99 HB pencils: R16.99 Pens: R8.99 Highlighters: R14.99 Pencil case: R7.99 Hardcover book: R12.99 Folder (expanding file): R49.99 Ring binder: R11.99 Stapler with staples: R9.99

Total: R195.27 Total: R187.89 Total: R163.87

H-one-N-1

By Che Mauritz

Pinky: Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?

Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky...

“Swine flu is the first sign of the Aporkalypse.”

Lightning Bolt

by Che Mauritz

John-Ross Hugo

Heading up Kloof Louise Ferreira OF COURSE you’ve been to Long Street (you live in Cape Town, don’t you?), but have you ever visited its smaller, quieter and altogether less obnoxious cousin?

Your intrepid reporter hit the pavement and discovered what Kloof Street has to offer.

Food, as it turns out, and lots of it. But before we get there, we’re going to cheat a little and start at the Labia cinema on Orange Street. There’s one on Kloof too, but you can’t beat Orange for atmosphere. In a nutshell: art and foreign films, as well as fantastic popcorn, wine, coffee and other comestibles, all of it cheap. They also do great specials with Kauai and Societi Bistro.

Walking down, turn left onto Rheede Street. On the right, in the middle of the block, is Mabu Vinyl, which stocks CDs, some tapes and DVDs, and an impressive collection of vinyl records in every genre. The prices are reasonable and you can even get empty record covers (you know, for retro décor). Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s fun to browse and there’s a small library to consult if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. They also have some second-hand books and comics.

Turning right onto Kloof, you’ll find Depasco Café and Bakery at the bottom of the street, which has delicious-looking, reasonably priced food and free redbutton wi-fi. Otherwise, there are some businesses and a few clothing shops of the edgy and expensive kind that always intimidates me. Back up the road we go.

This side of Kloof, things are looking more promising.

On the right there’s the Lifestyle Centre, which has several interesting shops and restaurants; Caramello’s deserves a special mention. Avoid the food – neither the quality nor the portion size justify the price – and head straight for the utterly amazing bakery section. They have the most heavenly pecan tartlets I’ve ever tasted.

Up the street, on the left-hand side, you’ll find Chinamuse. They have lovely clothing and décor items – alas, it’s pricey, but fun to look around. Smells nice, too. The staff are exceptionally friendly, which makes a pleasant change from some other places I’ve visited.

Next up is the Salon 91 art gallery, which I loved (and I’m not generally an art person). The space is peaceful and the works on display are immensely intriguing.

Getting to food, Tokyo Sushi Bar and Eastern Cuisine (next to Mr Video and Scooters) offers great specials every day except Monday. The sushi is good, although I recommend that you make your order absolutely clear to the waiter. There are also other places that serve sushi, and on one block you’ll find several different types of Asian cuisine: Indian (Raasoie), Vietnamese (Saigon) and Thai (Yindee’s). Beneath Saigon is the well-known Da Vinci’s, which offers tasty fare of the type the name would suggest at equally satisfying prices.

Staying with Italian gastronomy, some way up the road lies Zucca Lounge and Ristorante. They do halfprice pizza and pasta Monday through Saturday between 12pm and 6.30pm. Can you say “bargain”?

Near the top of Kloof Street, tucked into a corner next to Buzz, is the Heartworks African décor shop. Yes, they do the typical beadwork and there are many, many things made from wire and tin, but they do have items that are truly beautiful and original. They only stock locally made products (some of them made right there in front of you) and everything is exceptionally colourful and cheerful. On my wish list: one of the gorgeous embroidered throw pillows.

If you’re planning on walking up and down the entire street, wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be grateful.

Sunglasses are useful, and the usual safety rules apply: Don’t carry large amounts of cash and don’t display valuables such as jewellery, cameras and phones. If you’re a tourist, try to blend in, or shop assistants and potential muggers alike will think “foreign currency”.

If you don’t have access to a car, take the Jammie up to Hiddingh Campus and walk across the road. It’s that simple.

Contact details and other info:

Saigon 021 424 7670/2 Reservations: 021 424 7669 saigoncpt@iafrica.com Labia Theatre Orange St. / Lifestyle Centre, Kloof St. 021 424 5927 www.labia.co.za Heartworks (98 Kloof) 021 424 8419 Mon. – Fri. 9am – 5pm, Sat. 9am – 3pm

12

features

Volume 68 Number 10

Laughs from London ARISE Cape Town Fashion Week

You see, a group of us had been drinking before the show – it was the Grahamstown Festival after all – and I was worried that the slight inebriation had made the show that much funnier and that the second time round I wouldn’t be laughing as hard. I’m happy to say that this wasn’t the case, and Martin Davis in London Calling was simply downright hysterical.

Now Martin isn’t your typical comedian who gets onstage with a repertoire of jokes that he’s practiced for hours in front of the mirror and recites them as if reading from a script. In fact, it seems that Martin has a particular reluctance to sticking to material and a hefty dislike for structure.

Martin’s joke is the audience and from the moment he gets on stage, no one sitting in front of him is safe, not even the person who refused to make eye contact with him and who he promptly used in a number of his antics. I only remembered this when the show began and I had flashbacks to Grahamstown and of sitting in front. This time I was right in the back, nevertheless, I still avoided eye contact of any kind just to be safe.

Martin didn’t fail to deliver.

While the show may have seemed a lot longer for those who had been chosen to unwillingly take part in his act, in about an hour Martin managed to be as politically incorrect as possible in the most politically correct way, and make more friends than enemies.

Surprising, considering he called just about every audience member a “fucker”.

This comedic genius is by

Catch Martin in London Calling at the Obz Café in Observatory from 19 - 23 August to 2 - 6 September at 8:30pm. Tickets cost R40 each and for bookings and details regarding the show, call 021 448 5555.

Mika Reddi and Jess Gouws

THE first show of this year’s Cape Town Fashion Week started fashionably late - the one o’clock show was pushed to after three - much to the irritation of those attending. The upside, if you can call it that, was the unlimited supply of Vitamin Water available.

There was no food, of course, as this was Fashion Week and, who’s not satisfied with liquid for a period of five hours?

The show itself consisted of the work of young designers from the Design Academy of Fashion, Cape Town College of Fashion Design and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The majority of the designs were appealing and wearable with the exception of only a handful of Piet Smedy THE star of this summer’s trend parade is undoubtedly colour, and the designs at this year’s ARISE Cape Town Fashion Week were out in all their iridescent glory. Craig Port showcased a combination of hard lines and geometrics with primary greens and purples set against crisp whites. “Shape” is the word on everyone’s mind; bold cuts and blocks of colour dominate. Dax Martin, Tracey B, and Southern Sun swimwear are undoubtedly the kings of neon as lumo moves from dirty indie clubs to sunny Clifton. The Eighties hangover lingers.

The front row at Craig Port’s show were such personalities as ELLE’s fashion editor Chris Viljoen, comedian Marc Lottering, former Miss Universe Michelle McClean and Lindiwe Suttle.

Haven’t heard of her? Most people haven’t. She’s Felicia MabuzaSuttle’s daughter, with her first solo single out in December. The show was titled Faith, Hope, Love, and after 20 minutes of watching perma-tanned models in barely-there swimsuits, everyone was feeling the love.

Feminine yet edgy, from design to production the Miss Port collection was a perfect

collections. However, nothing seemed exceptionally out-of-thebox or unique. After the two hours, the repetition in trends was evident – tights were used in almost every sequence, the flapper girl look of feathers, sequins, tiered dresses and headbands was prominent, and harem pants are clearly making a comeback. Fringing details and the biker influence in the form of leather jackets (even paired with flowing evening dresses) and gloves were also shown.

In terms of colour, metallics appeared in many collections.

Colour was often used in a comical way to give an almost clownlike appearance, as shown by Lameez Claarsen, among others - for example purple sneakers with orange tights. The masculine trend showed in many oversized shirts,

dungarees, shoes and general schoolboy looks. However, mostly feminine creations were shown, for example, Roxanne Marx showed a stunning collection of pleated garments with accessories such as pearl necklaces and gold flower headbands. Another notable collection was that of Michelle Smit from Cape Peninsula of Technology.

The looks were anything but subdued – so get yourself something sequined, metallic, try harem pants if you’re daring or just carry on wearing tights, biker jackets and headbands to fall into trend.

By the way, Dragonfruit Vitamin Water is definitely the way to go.

union of international style with local influence. Port’s affinity for the quirky had us watching dogs grace the catwalk in geometric mini mutt-suits, and our gift bags featured, amongst other things, Cesar’s entrée filet mignon dog food. Bitch, please.

Whether it’s because of the name or the price tags associated with it, the spectators at Arie Fabian’s show were almost as glammed-up as his models. There was a definite air of anticipation in the foyer before the unveiling of the new collection, and thankfully the hype was justified. Fabiani’s collection featured plenty of bold colour, but also favoured this summer’s other big influence: Capri circa 1950.

This meant whitewashed blazers and lightweight linen pants, finished with bursts of pattern and layered motif. It’s about luxury that lasts. Stark white bowler hats and suspenders a la A Clockwork Orange contrasted with bright paisley cravats and coloured suits, a showcase of Fabiani’s sartorial skill and a justification of the brand’s place at the top of the list.

My more cynical friends call it “Fashion Weak”, followed by jaded explanations that fashion just isn’t what it used to be. Perhaps I’ve missed the point entirely, but isn’t change what fashion is

all about? Every season trends go out and come back, designers become dépassée, and we’re met with a new host of models de jour.

Fashion is an industry caught in a constant flux. To all my oh-solast-season friends, I say that if change is the only constant, then fashion’s here to stay.

Photos by Pieter Smedy

THE first time I saw Martin Davis perform was three years ago at the Grahamstown Festival and he was – for lack of a better word – unique.

He definitely stood out for me as one of the signature performances at the festival in 2006 so I was partly excited but to be invited to see him perform again at The Obz Café, but apprehensive too...

no means a one-trick pony. Not only does he deliver perfectly timed quips - and has done so all around the world and at numerous festivals - but he has several years of acting experience behind him, having appeared in numerous BBC TV productions. And if there’s anything that his rather odd-looking appearance tells you it’s that he has been there, done that, and got almost every t-shirt imaginable.

If you decide to go see him – which you most definitely shoulddon’t worry about where you sithe’ll find you, and unless you are seriously boring, you’re just fair game like the rest. But if you don’t care about being “heckled” and can laugh at yourself, then make a night of it; have dinner at the restaurant and make sure you have a bottle of wine waiting for you in the theatre, it can only make the night funnier. But be warned - going to the bathroom may just make you the centre of attention as Martin takes you apart effortlessly and with absolute comedic precision.

Image courtesy of www.wordpress.com

Maciek Dubla

Spinning decks and churning crowds THERE’S nothing that will pour cold water on a party erection like a poor DJ. One minute you’re on the dance floor, three seconds away from proposing marriage to whoever is spinning the decks, practically making a whore of yourself, and then next you are all but swearing at his or her family ten generations back, finding out that the self-proclaimed “master of the decks” is nothing more than a disco virgin who couldn’t find the mixer with a map.

The feeling of disappointment is comparable to the one you get when you rock up at a girl’s house thinking that, “Tonight might be the night! Yes! Tonight will be the night! It’s been three months, and tonight will be the night!” So you make sure that everything is on point; you exchange your favourite Spiderman underwear for the “tighty-whities”, you put on some Hugo Boss (just a spray here and there) and then it’s off to the “lucky lady’s” place. The feeling you get when you find out that “tonight is the night” did not mean “tonight you will get some” but “tonight is the night my parents meet you (so do not come naked to my house.)” is sort of the same you get when a DJ

does not know what he’s doing; you feel sad, and then you get pissed off... and then you want your money back.

This is perhaps why, when you’re told to come to a Leo Large gig at Club Chevelle for an Arise Cape Town Fashion Week afterparty, you’re a bit sceptical. You’ve heard the name

“ ...It is an around-theclock schedule that requires energy and commitment... ” before, but you haven’t seen the man. When you find out that Leo Large is actually a small, German, white boy you almost flip... until he spins the decks.

As one track flows into another, the look on your face changes from scepticism, to “Okay, you are a bit fresh, just a bit.” About an hour later, when you are tired and sweaty, you acknowledge the truth - “This white boy jams!”

Leo Large, as already mentioned, is from Germany, a

place synonymous with electro and trance parties. It thus comes as a surprise when you hear that Leo has been in the hip-hop industry since he was sixteen. “I always liked hip-hop. I started out small, collecting music, listening to the old-school mixes from Grandmaster Flash and the likes,” he says, reflecting on how he got into the industry. “It has always been a passion of mine and after I finished school, with the help of a few contacts, I found myself on this side of the world.”

When asked why he didn’t stay in his home country - after all, South Africa is bristling with local hip-hop talent - he responds that “the adventure was as much a driving factor as the chance to play in front of a new crowd. I am always trying new things and South Africa presented that for me.”

Breaking into the DJ business isn’t easy. Within every person, there is that little tape master that thinks he can rock a party and be the next Timbaland, but with all the talent around, only a select few make it in the business.

Asked why, Leo outlined the influence that more established DJs have on the club market, having it in a near-choke-hold.

“At first they are all friendly with

you, and when you start posing a real competitive threat, they slowly start to push you out of the game.” Leo was quick to point out that no matter how tough it is, if you bring something that people don’t normally see or hear, then your act will be recognised and respected. “It is all about taking everything to the next level. All the DJs have similar music, but each one mixes or orders their songs in a different way. My talent is reading the crowd and playing off their energy, and I do it all ‘in freestyle’. I do not prepare a track list at home; I just come into the club and do my thing. That is what differentiates me.”

Fatigue, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment are almostconstant factors in any job, so it comes as no surprise that being a professional DJ has its ups and downs. “The thing that people do not understand is that being a disc-jockey is a job. I enjoy what it is that I do, but the late nights and sometimes the poor gigs can get you down.” It is an around-the-clock schedule that requires energy and commitment, two attributes that Leo points out are needed in any job.

Diversifying one’s portfolio is another important aspect of

success. It is a fundamental Darwinian characteristic that filters down to every aspect of human life. “It is important to make sure that you diversify your portfolio. I am enjoying being a DJ, but I also want to move into production.” Leo has helped produce hits such as “Kholwa” and “Hold It Down” for, Skwatta Kamp’s front man, Slikour Ventilation Mixtape #2 (SAMA Nomination: best Rap Album ‘08). Leo also teamed up with Proverb, Maggz and Morale for the track “Truth Or Dare” on Proverb’s latest Album, Write Of Passage.

Like I said...this white boy jams!

Photo by Remy Ngamije

Rémy Ngamije

APPLY FOR A SANRAL BURSARY and build your road to tomorrow.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is offering full bursaries to candidates who are currently studying civil, electronic, electrical, transport or computer engineering at university in the year 2010. Consideration will be given to South African students who are in second, third or fourth year of undergraduate study and those currently registered for postgraduate studies.

Interested students must submit a comprehensive CV with certified copies of matric results, recent academic records, confirmation of registration, South African identity document, proof of parents’/guardians’ income and motivation by 31 October 2009.

Send applications to SANRAL Corporate Services Executive, P.O. Box 415, Pretoria, 0001, attention Ms. H. Harper.

If you have not been contacted by 31 January 2010, please accept that your application was unsuccessful.

For further information, please contact Ms. P. Makhubu on 012 426 6000.

SANRAL is an independent, statutory company, registered in terms of the Companies Act. It was established in terms of the South African National Roads Agency Limited and National Roads Act, Act No. 7 of 1998. The South African Government, represented by the Minister of Transport, is the sole shareholder of SANRAL. The mandate of SANRAL is to develop, maintain and manage South Africa’s national road network. www.sanral.co.za

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Varsity

15

SPORTS

Basketball: sport or culture?

Dominic Verwey explores the realms of UCT basketball with Afua Wilcox and Mohammed Diatta

How many women’s/men’s basketball teams are there at UCT? AW: There were two women’s teams at the beginning of the season, the 1st and 2nd teams, but unfortunately the 2nd team fell away soon after the season began. There were also two men’s teams to begin with and a third team formed just before the season began.

How many teams participate in the league?

AW: Well, in the women’s league

Mohammed Diatta there were initially 50 teams from around the Western Cape who were invited to join the league this year. During the registration procedures and organisation of the league during pre-season, about half of these teams were left to compete in the league. Only about 25 are in the league at the moment, and the others either didn’t have the players, time, or drive to carry through to the beginning of the league.

AW: We have sponsors (Champion) who help us promote the sport at UCT, and also have starting money from UCT itself to help run the club. What we do to make sure the sport is engrained into the youth of the country is the setting up of an outreach programme called “Rookies”, where we show our skills and train the young kids – usually in Nyanga – to show them that basketball is a sport that should grow and it is enjoyable.

If they get into it at a young age, then the sport would continue to grow and they could progress in the sport as they mature.

And when exactly does the league occur and how long does it run?

AW: It runs from April until October each year.

When are matches played and when and how frequent are practices?

AW: Matches for the women’s teams are played either on

A comeback denied Berndt Hannweg

THE greatest driver Formula One has ever seen, Michael Schumacher, has been prevented from a much-awaited return to motor racing, as a result of the neck injury sustained during a superbike test earlier this year.

Following his dazzling career in racing, in which the German broke numerous records (including the most Driver Championships and the most race victories), Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 season and was taken on as a race advisor

by Ferrari.

During the qualifying laps for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa

crashed into a tyre barrier after being hit on the head by a suspension spring that fell off opponent Rubens Barrichello’s car. Following drastic surgery, he was ruled out of the majority of the remaining race season.

Ferrari then announced that Schumacher would act as a replacement driver until Massa’s recovery. Ferrari made an appeal to allow Schumacher an opportunity to test drive the Ferrari race car (something not allowed under the rule forbidding in-season testing) before the Valencia Grand Prix, but was opposed by F1 teams Red Bull, Williams and Scuderia Toro Rosso. After various mudslinging between all the teams concerned,

Schumacher paid out of his own pocket to test drive previous models of Ferrari’s race cars.

The point became moot, however, when it was decided that it would be too dangerous for Schumacher’s existing head and neck injuries (as a result of a motor bike crash in Spain in February) to be subjected to the intense g-forces sustained by the race drivers during the Grand Prix. On 10 August he announced that he would not be able to step in for Massa.

Massa’s place would be filled in by Ferrari reserve driver Luca Badoer, who is expected to act in this capacity for the remainder of the European season, and possibly the year.

Afua Wilcox MD: Of course the sponsors help and the starting money kick-starts the campaign each year, but it is never enough in order to use the funds to advertise and market the club in order to get it recognised.

Champion sponsor us two kits (Men’s and Women’s teams), but the other two have to be bought by the players. Sometimes the money from UCT can help pay for this, but otherwise the money has to come out of each individual player’s pocket.

UCT might recognise basketball as a sport, but to these players it’s a culture, a way of life. Something more than just a practice and a game on the weekend. To these players, they know that there is no such thing as a culture for basketball on campus and in South Africa, for that matter. Truth be told, there aren’t

enough courts around the country in order to enjoy the sport, even on a social level. And the Sports Centre at UCT is not dedicated to basketball alone – others sports also take preference at times.

Advertising might speak for itself, but motivation cannot be imposed on those who aren’t as interested in the sport as the basketball players themselves. In my opinion, I find when one has a passion for something, then that inspires me to appreciate their passion. If someone has hype, whether it be about something one knows about or not, then that hype can be infectious. We, as UCT students and sportsmen and - women, should take note of the respect these players have for the game.

The basketball club and teams are open to any players willing and keen to play. Any passion at all is enough. Unfortunately, the season has begun which means no new additions can be made to the current league teams. However, plenty of teams play week in and week out in the Internal Basketball League of the university. Anyone can join these teams at any time.

And it’s free. 7pm on Fridays at the Sports Centre.

And if one is contemplating joining the UCT league next year then here are the details: R300 joining fee for the year; practices at 6pm on Tuesday for the men, and Monday at 6pm for the women.

Photo courtesy of www.flickr.com

MD: I am the captain of the 1st Men’s Basketball Team at UCT and the vice chairperson of the club.

MD: Matches, for the men’s teams, are only played on Sundays.

Practices are vigorous and quite frequent - early on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

We do it because we love the game and wouldn’t be able to do it without a passion for the culture that is basketball.

Basketball, as a whole, doesn’t grasp the attention of the majority of the students on campus and is not necessarily well established around the whole of South Africa.

This could be that it is not well known or maybe because the overall culture of the students at UCT and the public of the country might not accept basketball as an enjoyable pastime. What do you or the club do to rectify this or attempt to make sure that the sport gets out there and becomes recognised? And what means are needed in order to do this?

Varsity: What is your position on the team and the UCT Basketball Club as a whole?

AW: I am the chairperson of the club and the captain of the 1st Women’s Basketball Team. I am also a board member of the WCBA.

Sundays (usually), Mondays, or Wednesdays.

Photo by Remy Ngamije

Photo by Remy Ngamije

A VARSITY sporting community is nothing without a bit of variety.

Diversity in campus sports brings about an array of different cultures.

Isn’t that one of the defining characteristics of a university, and UCT in particular? “University” implies bringing diversity into one place. And that’s exactly what we, the students, are about.

The diversity is shown all around the campus, and in one aspect is represented through our sport.

Almost there - Green Point stadium is on course to be completed on time for its handover date on December 14. If you have R20 to spare, pop into the Visitor’s Centre for a peek at the stadium from the viewing deck, a virtual tour and a brilliant contemporary performance on the history of Green Point Common.

Internal league standings Taru Madangombe

IN 2008, Steinhoff committed a huge sponsorship to the UCT Internal League. The League has grown rapidly ever since and has seen the Cobras side representing UCT in the national Coshioas League. Since UCT is wellendowed with talented young players, not all of them make it into the UCT Rugby Club teams as a result of academic and other commitments.

Thus the driving force behind the instigation of the Internal League was to allow those nonclub members an opportunity to hone their rugby skills and enjoy the game that they passionately love. Credit must go to the organisers of the league, notably Clement le Roux, who has worked tirelessly to make sure that the league is a success.

Over the past decade the Nadoes (Rondebosch old boys) have been dominating the Internal

League. It is generally considered a good performance by any opposition if they do not allow the Nadoes to get a bonus point.

This has not been common, with the Nadoes getting a full house of points in almost all their games in the past seasons. Other traditional powerhouses in the internal league included Ubumbo, Barbarians and Wildboys, to mention a few.

However, lately there seems to be a resurgence in power from the Cobras who won the league last year.

The balance of power in the League seems to have shifted among these heavy-weights. It’s worth mentioning the renaissance of the Spanners side in the past two years. In 2008, the Spanners rose from being the underdogs of the league to being highly feared, with a brilliant display of character and determination, thanks to strong leadership.

The Cobras currently lead their group and are looking strong again

this season. Their dominance of the league was confirmed last week as they beat the Panthers 620. The Nadoes also lead the group of death which includes Wildboys (second) and Ubumbo who are uncustomarily last in the log. It would be quite a disappointment to most rugby fans if the crowd favourites, Ubumbo, don’t make it to the play-offs. Leo Marquard are also doing well in their group and are well positioned to make the play-offs.

In club rugby, the UCT 1st XV seem to have regained their winning mettle this past weekend after convincingly beating Helderberg 34-17. A lack of consistency has been their Achilles’ heel lately as they seem to be vacillating between a win and a loss week in and week out. However, against Helderberg, they played an impressive game under the dreadful weather conditions, with debutant Sam Peter capping the match with a brace of tries.

Group A

P 2

W 2

L 0

D 0

Pd +/33

P 9

2

1

1

0

4

5

2

1

1

0

-25

4

Steinhoff Turtles

2

0

2

0

-12

2

Group B

P 3

W 2

L 1

D 0

Pd +/9

P 9

3

2

1

0

4

9

3

1

2

0

-67

6

Steinhoff Shebeen Boys

3

1

2

0

-5

6

Group C

P 2

W 2

L 0

D 0

Pd +/80

P 10

2

1

1

0

0

5

2

1

1

0

-6

4

Steinhoff Panthers

2

0

2

0

-6

1

Group D

P 2

W 2

L 0

D 0

Pd +/32

P 8

2

1

0

1

7

6

2

0

1

1

-17

2

2

0

2

0

-22

1

Steinhoff Marquard Steinhoff

College House

Steinhoff University H.

Steinhoff Ikhaya Steinhoff Kopano Steinhoff Spanners

Steinhoff Cobras Steinhoff Clarendon Steinhoff Barbarians

Steinhoff Nadoes Steinhoff Wildboys Steinhoff Smuts Steinhoff Ubumbo

UCT hockey: the three-man wolf pack Andrew Ehmke

social side are definitely the key.

Ask our coach, “The Semenator”.

YOU may not know them as well as you know the rugby players, but these three unsung heroes do their bit to represent UCT too.

Meet Mike Heyink, Brendon Solik and Sean Fielding: part of the UCT hockey 1st XI, and part-time comedians.

Did any UCT players make the side?

on the field hey {laughter}.

BS: At first it does, but you learn to find a balance. Just like most things in life.

SF: The Dean’s List says no.

MH: I landed on my side.

BS: No, unfortunately not.

What’s the best thing about playing in the 1st hockey team?

So… How long is your stick?

MH: 37,5 inches with a big bow.

BS: 36,5 inches.

MH: {laughter} BS: On a cold day…

What position do you play?

MH: Up front.

SF: Behind Mike.

BS: I’m captain.

I understand that the South African Universities tournament is a kind of trials, whereby players compete for a spot in the South African University side. How was this year’s SAU tournament?

BS: SAU’s was a bit of a disappointment this year on the field.

We came 5th overall, but we definitely won the jol.

MH: Uh, drawing a blank, sorry.

SF: Some think it’s about the hockey but the fines meetings and

“ ...At Rondebosch, the hockey team scored more goals than the rugby team did points... ” Is your kit sweet?

MH: Fines meetings.

BS: The women.

SF: My fan club.

What is your greatest hockey achievement?

MH: Well, the Bushies asked me to play the other day. Unfortunately I was injured.

BS: Playing for the blue team.

SF: Back in school I made the U16 South African team.

What do you have to say to the rugby jocks that bullied you in school?

BS: Ya, we are sponsored by New Balance and Russian Bear Vodka.

Together they managed to organize some good stuff for us.

SF: Obviously. I look good in a beater.

MH: Sssh, they might be listening.

BS: At Rondebosch, the hockey team scored more goals than the rugby team did points. So I never really got bullied.

SF: I was a rugby bully.

Does playing 1st team hockey affect your academics?

Thank you for your time. Good luck with the rest of your season.

MH: Ya well I find I learn more

Varsity, the official student newspaper since 1942, is committed to the principles of equality and democracy

Almost there - Green Point stadium is on course to be completed on time for its handover date on December 14. If you have R20 to spare, pop into the Visitor’s Centre for a peek at the stadium from the viewing deck, a virtual tour and a brilliant contemporary performance on the history of Green Point Common.

Internal league standings Taru Madangombe

IN 2008, Steinhoff committed a huge sponsorship to the UCT Internal League. The League has grown rapidly ever since and has seen the Cobras side representing UCT in the national Coshioas League. Since UCT is wellendowed with talented young players, not all of them make it into the UCT Rugby Club teams as a result of academic and other commitments.

Thus the driving force behind the instigation of the Internal League was to allow those nonclub members an opportunity to hone their rugby skills and enjoy the game that they passionately love. Credit must go to the organisers of the league, notably Clement le Roux, who has worked tirelessly to make sure that the league is a success.

Over the past decade the Nadoes (Rondebosch old boys) have been dominating the Internal

League. It is generally considered a good performance by any opposition if they do not allow the Nadoes to get a bonus point.

This has not been common, with the Nadoes getting a full house of points in almost all their games in the past seasons. Other traditional powerhouses in the internal league included Ubumbo, Barbarians and Wildboys, to mention a few.

However, lately there seems to be a resurgence in power from the Cobras who won the league last year.

The balance of power in the League seems to have shifted among these heavy-weights. It’s worth mentioning the renaissance of the Spanners side in the past two years. In 2008, the Spanners rose from being the underdogs of the league to being highly feared, with a brilliant display of character and determination, thanks to strong leadership.

The Cobras currently lead their group and are looking strong again

this season. Their dominance of the league was confirmed last week as they beat the Panthers 620. The Nadoes also lead the group of death which includes Wildboys (second) and Ubumbo who are uncustomarily last in the log. It would be quite a disappointment to most rugby fans if the crowd favourites, Ubumbo, don’t make it to the play-offs. Leo Marquard are also doing well in their group and are well positioned to make the play-offs.

In club rugby, the UCT 1st XV seem to have regained their winning mettle this past weekend after convincingly beating Helderberg 34-17. A lack of consistency has been their Achilles’ heel lately as they seem to be vacillating between a win and a loss week in and week out. However, against Helderberg, they played an impressive game under the dreadful weather conditions, with debutant Sam Peter capping the match with a brace of tries.

Group A

P 2

W 2

L 0

D 0

Pd +/33

P 9

2

1

1

0

4

5

2

1

1

0

-25

4

Steinhoff Turtles

2

0

2

0

-12

2

Group B

P 3

W 2

L 1

D 0

Pd +/9

P 9

3

2

1

0

4

9

3

1

2

0

-67

6

Steinhoff Shebeen Boys

3

1

2

0

-5

6

Group C

P 2

W 2

L 0

D 0

Pd +/80

P 10

2

1

1

0

0

5

2

1

1

0

-6

4

Steinhoff Panthers

2

0

2

0

-6

1

Group D

P 2

W 2

L 0

D 0

Pd +/32

P 8

2

1

0

1

7

6

2

0

1

1

-17

2

2

0

2

0

-22

1

Steinhoff Marquard Steinhoff

College House

Steinhoff University H.

Steinhoff Ikhaya Steinhoff Kopano Steinhoff Spanners

Steinhoff Cobras Steinhoff Clarendon Steinhoff Barbarians

Steinhoff Nadoes Steinhoff Wildboys Steinhoff Smuts Steinhoff Ubumbo

UCT hockey: the three-man wolf pack Andrew Ehmke

social side are definitely the key.

Ask our coach, “The Semenator”.

YOU may not know them as well as you know the rugby players, but these three unsung heroes do their bit to represent UCT too.

Meet Mike Heyink, Brendon Solik and Sean Fielding: part of the UCT hockey 1st XI, and part-time comedians.

Did any UCT players make the side?

on the field hey {laughter}.

BS: At first it does, but you learn to find a balance. Just like most things in life.

SF: The Dean’s List says no.

MH: I landed on my side.

BS: No, unfortunately not.

What’s the best thing about playing in the 1st hockey team?

So… How long is your stick?

MH: 37,5 inches with a big bow.

BS: 36,5 inches.

MH: {laughter} BS: On a cold day…

What position do you play?

MH: Up front.

SF: Behind Mike.

BS: I’m captain.

I understand that the South African Universities tournament is a kind of trials, whereby players compete for a spot in the South African University side. How was this year’s SAU tournament?

BS: SAU’s was a bit of a disappointment this year on the field.

We came 5th overall, but we definitely won the jol.

MH: Uh, drawing a blank, sorry.

SF: Some think it’s about the hockey but the fines meetings and

“ ...At Rondebosch, the hockey team scored more goals than the rugby team did points... ” Is your kit sweet?

MH: Fines meetings.

BS: The women.

SF: My fan club.

What is your greatest hockey achievement?

MH: Well, the Bushies asked me to play the other day. Unfortunately I was injured.

BS: Playing for the blue team.

SF: Back in school I made the U16 South African team.

What do you have to say to the rugby jocks that bullied you in school?

BS: Ya, we are sponsored by New Balance and Russian Bear Vodka.

Together they managed to organize some good stuff for us.

SF: Obviously. I look good in a beater.

MH: Sssh, they might be listening.

BS: At Rondebosch, the hockey team scored more goals than the rugby team did points. So I never really got bullied.

SF: I was a rugby bully.

Does playing 1st team hockey affect your academics?

Thank you for your time. Good luck with the rest of your season.

MH: Ya well I find I learn more

Varsity, the official student newspaper since 1942, is committed to the principles of equality and democracy