Vision issue 231

THE UK’S MOST AWARDED STUDENT NEWSPAPER

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

Issue 231

vision@yusu.org

YUSU ELECTIONS 2013 - 6 PAGE SPECIAL -

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DJANGO DJANGO Spotlight

Features DOREEN LAWRENCE INTERVIEW

PARTYCLUB 20 Questions

FARSITY CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

> A SERIES OF EMBARRASSING EVENTS UNDERMINE VARSITY 2013 > WINTER LEFT FUMING AT THE DISORGANISATION - PAGE 5 NEWS

RUSSELL GROUP SEXUAL HEALTH RANKINGS PG 7

COMMENT

THE GAGGING OF STUDENT MEDIA PG 18

FEATURES

THE BATTLE FOR GAY RIGHTS CENTRE PAGES

LIFESTYLE

IT’S BREAKFAST TIME: RECIPES PG 25

STAGE

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES and GOD OF CARNAGE SCENE PULLOUT NEW

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YORK VISION

NEWS

Tuesday February 19, 2013

BY OSCAR PEARSON

MINSTER-MANIA

OVER A thousand people congregated at the Minster last week to celebrate the University’s 50th anniversary.

York residents, University alumni and current members of staff saw Chancellor Greg Dyke present honorary doctorates to five individuals who have made “outstanding contributions to York and Yorkshire in the last halfcentury,” at the place where the university was inaugurated in October 1963.

Robert Brech described his honorary degree as: “The icing on what was already a splendid cake.”

A first performance by the University of York Choir and Symphony Orchestra, specially composed by the Chamberlain of the York Minster Fund, Dr Richard Shephard, delighted a captivated audience on Tuesday evening.

Outgoing Vice-Chancellor Brian Cantor spoke afterwards, saying: “Since 1963, the University of York has inspired nearly 100,000 people to cross continents, and embrace almost every imaginable job and profession.

“We are proud to work with all our friends and partners in the city, to ensure its economic growth and prosperity. We are honoured, through our research, our concerts, and our lectures to contribute to York’s cultural life.”

YOURWEEK

Image courtesy of Ian Martindale (www.ianmartindale.co.uk)

?

rently r u c s n o ti SU posi s running for U Y h c i Wh ndidate a c o n have them?

Good Week for... Those involved with the recent production God of Carnage, which has been selected to perform at The National Student Drama Festival!

Bad Week for... Costcutter, who recently stocked sandwiches with an acknowledged typo on the sell by date.

1.23 26%

Average number of days first year students go out a week, according to a recent survey.

Percentage of students who voted “I’ll vote for the important ones, just as long as they don’t bother me in nightclubs” on our website poll asking whether you were planning on voting in upcoming YUSU Elections.

Photo of the Week: Katie Lambert shows her support for The Vagina Monologues

Got an opinion? Get involved at www.yorkvision.co.uk

YORKVISION

The UK’s most awarded student publication Editors: Sarah Cattle Georgina Strapp

Deputy Editors: Jo Barrow Dave Washington

Online Editors: Jack Bradshaw Alex Finnis

Managing Director: Oliver Todd

Scene Editors: Niamh Connolly Zena Jarjis

Photo Editors: Oona Venermo Jack Western

News Editors: Agnes Chambre Oscar Pearson

Features Editors: Zoe Biles Philip Watson

Sports Editors: James Scott Michael Thurloway

Deputy News: Tom Armston-Clarke Tom Davies

Deputy Features: Joe Cooper George Hesselgren

Deputy Sports: Caitlin Graham Al Riddell

Comment Editors: Milo Boyd Patrick Greenfield

Lifestyle Editors: Poppy Danby Francesca Martin

Chief Sub-Editors: Rebecca Cooper Mike Dunnett-Stone

Deputy Comment: Olivia Head Olympia Shipley

Deputy Lifestyle: Abigail Dickinson Dom Mckinnon-Green

Advertising Editors: Francesca Martin James Scott

Scene Editorial list in pullout Opinions expressed in York Vision are not necessarily those of the Editors, senior editorial team, membership or advertisers. Every effort is made to ensure all articles are as factually correct as possible at the time of going to press, given the information available.

Copyright Vision Newspapers, 2013.

Printed by Mortons of Horncastle.

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

BY GEORGINA STRAPP

NEWS

CONDOM-INATING

IN THE first annual measure of sexual health services in the UK Russell Group Universities, York achieved fourth place on a report card compiled by Dr Ed, an online doctor, released last Friday the 15th February.

In a comprehensive survey that measured multiple aspects of sexual health provision including contraceptive access, sexual assault service, student rating and special events, tested universities were given scores for each aspect of their sexual health provision and then a final degree class to represent how they had done overall.

This high score was of no surprise to one second-year English student, who said: “Considering how low we consistently score on university sex league tables” in reference to figures released by studentbeans.com in May, which

revealed that we have a measly average of 4.08 sexual partners throughout the course of our degree. It would appear York’s collective lack of a sex life has some benefits.

York gained full marks and an ‘A’ grade for the category ‘Special events and testing’, making this our highest scoring category.

James Porter, from Dr Ed, explained that this was “specifically for holding termly HIV testing days in conjunction with local charities, promoting the testing days well so they have good attendance, and for having societies and/or events that promote sexual health”.

As a part of this, Porter specifically congratulated the YUSU Welfare and URY run ‘Summer of Love’ campaign last year. We were also awarded ‘A’ grades for ‘Opening hours’, ‘Drop Ins or bookings’ and ‘Location’.

York’s lowest score was for

‘website ease of use’, which gained an ‘F’, due to the lack of “clearly signposted” sexual health information on the main site, as well as there being “no specific sexual health page on the main university website”, or “links out to other sexual health resources on the web where students could go for further information”.

Another low score was for ‘Campus info’ for which York got a ‘D’ despite getting full marks for availability of information leaflets which was a part of that.

What brought York down in this category was the lack of a “specific sexual health officer on campus whose role is to be available for students and to promote sexual health”, and limited “promotion of sexual health issues through regular campus publications”.

York also received a ‘D’ for the student rating which rationalises the good overall mark in the Dr Ed survey, due to the criticism University health care has received from students in the past. A third year economics student said that he couldn’t even “tell you where the nearest clinic is”, a rather negative view of university sexual health awareness and provisions that has been translated into lost marks on this league table.

IMPROVING UNI SERVICES Co-founder of the project, Amit Khutti told Vision that he hopes that this project will cause universities to “take actions to

BY AGNES CHAMBRE A HUGE amount of money was stolen from Vanbrugh JCRC after the last volume event.

The office in the JCRC had inefficient safety precautions which led to the theft.

The culprit of the theft has not been found. The money, which amounted to £550, went missing on the 2nd February and there have been no leads in the case.

Joshua Treacy, the Vanbrugh chair, spoke to Vision: “It is still upsetting that someone would steal from an organisation of volunteers who work hard for the interests of their fellow students.”

The theft was “most likely due to a faulty lock on the door, which has now been fixed, and faulty safe boxes, which have since been replaced.”

Rose Basista, who is a second year Vanbrugh student, explained to Vision: “This is really worrying.

Firstly that someone is callous enough to steal from presumably their own college.

“I am really glad that the security has been tightened up now

3

improve the services they offer”, websites, sexual assault hotlines with Porter adding that “our plan and specific counselling services is to make ourselves available and within the university for victims to work alongside universities of sexual assault, although no UK over the next year in order to im- university provided a service like prove their services. this.” York in fact got a ‘C’ for it’s “If universities want feedback ‘Sexual Assault Services’. and information from us, we will Welfare Officer Bob Hughes provide detailed feedback on ar- was pleased with the result, sayeas they did well and badly.” This ing: “It’s good to see York high will prove especially important in up for sexual health services, but light of recently announced cuts I think there is still a way to go to NHS spending on sexual health t o get better. For examprovisions. ple, central clear inPete Mercer, NUS Vice formation from President told The the YUSU and Guardian: “The University websites is Which campus hack claimed level of consistsomething we will be that Sentamu was having an affair ency in sexual working on to make with Kevin the Cow? health services it as easy as possible is already a concern, for students to access, as particularly given recent well as central campus inforsweeping changes in local health mation.” provision, and this gives all the And he further adds more impetus to developing partthat: “If you are wanting to nership and campaigning work get information and advice on to prevent a postcode lottery in your sexual health, you can visit the provision of what are vitally the Health Centre for one of their important services to the student drop-ins (Wednesdays 1-3 and Fricommunity.” days 12-2 during term time, or for Khutti explains that this score a full check up, there is the Monkcard was inspired by a similar gate GUM clinic in town.” project in the US, where univerThe expansion of the Dr Ed sities are scored annually, and score card will provide data and feedback is used to help universi- feedback for universities, but in ties improve their services. Porter future Khutti plans to “look at compares the US universities to expanding the next report to covthe Russell Group ones, being sur- er more universities” making it prised by how anecdotal evidence more comprehensive. Due to the seems to suggest that “universi- research methods used, including ties in the US do more in terms a ‘mystery shopper’ along with of provision of service for vic- surveys, he also hopes to “get tims of sexual assault. Universi- some student volunteers to help ties in the US often have separate us deliver the next one”.

VANBRU-RGLED!

but it is a shame that it took this to happen for the JCRC to recognize this issue.”

The YUSU president, Kallum Taylor was shocked at the news, “It’s massively gutting that someone would steal the hard earned money of JCRCs and societies.

“These guys really go out of their way to put on all kinds of events and services for their members and students in general.

Every pound matters.

“I can only hope that the culprits take a chance to take a look at themselves, consider the members and students who they’re stealing from, and return the money. I’m sure in future that the relevant members will take greater care of where money is being left.”

Treacy explained that Vanbrugh is currently “financially secure” but it has still worried him.

The money that is raised within Vanbrugh helps students in the college enjoy time in their college union, and without it they would not be able to put on free events, such as the famous “Vanbrugh Loves You”.

Photo: Oona Venermo

4 NEWS

BY OLYMPIA SHIPLEY THIS MONTH brings the promise of new lighting in Retreat Lane.

The move pushed by both YUSU and York councillors is in reaction to issues of safety.

The route, which runs from Heslington Road and on to the university campus, is very popular with students but has been highlighted as an unsafe area.

One Derwent second year student said: “I do feel unsafe on Retreat Lane sometimes. It is impossible to see around the bends on that particular pathway and the lighting is not always of a good standard.”

Councillor David Levene, who was heavily involved in the campaign to get new lighting, explained to Vision: “I’m very happy that after incidents stretching back as far as twenty years, we’re finally about to see some action.”

The campaign for this new set of lighting has gone on for more than 20 years, and it has showed that the concerns about the light-

LET THERE BE LIGHT

ing were not unfounded.

In February 2005, a student was raped in the early hour of the morning while making her way back to campus via Retreat Lane.

A sex attack was also reported in 2001, and there have been a number of robberies reported over the last decade. This had led to many protests about the lack of good lighting, including a “Reclaim the Night” protest in 2011.

YUSU’s “How Safe is Your Campus?” report in 2012 marked Retreat Lane as a problematic location, and the main factor for this was the poor lighting.

“REALLY NERVOUS” A second year student said: “I have to walk through it every night and it makes me really nervous. I am thrilled that there will now be better lighting.”

These worries have continued over the years, and Retreat Lane was established by YUSU’s report in 2012 as being a problematic

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

location. Another student, who preferred to remain anonymous, commented to Vision: ”It is always worrying when walking down Retreat Lane. But the fact that the new lighting will soon be in place means we’ll all feel much safer.

It’s good for the students and a win for the councillors too. It’s an absolutely vital move.”

RESPONSIBILITY The reason that the lights have taken so long to be installed is that it was unclear who the owners of the lane were.

The records of who actually owned the land had been lost, and so it was unclear whether the route was the responsibility of the University or that of the Council. A solution, however, was found with the proposal of installing LED solar street lighting, which is both low-maintenance and low-cost.

The University and the Council have also agreed to share the

Photo: Jack Bradshaw

installation costs. Though the date is uncertain, it has been confirmed that the lights will be put into place as soon as possible.

After such a long campaign, the announcement has been met with much relief by the University.

Retreat Lane is not, however, the only place that has been raised as a safety problem. In the 2012 Safer Campus Survey, Walmgate

Stray was also noted by students to be a place of concern. This pathway runs between Wentworth College and Fulford.

The University has campus security numbers available for students. In an emergency, students can call 01904 32 3333 (or 3333 on any of the phones on campus) for help, while in a non-emergency situation students may ring 01904 32 4444.

NOT GIVING A KIT COLLEGE NEIN!

BY TOM ARMSTON-CLARKE

BY JOE SOFTLEY

FOR THE second year in a row the University of York Hockey Club is without new kit. The kit supplier, Surridge, has neglected to deliver the kit, consistently delaying the date.

The current promised date of arrival is March 11th, which would leave only two matches for the team to use the kit. It was originally January 31st.

Last year the date was delayed until August, which led the hockey club to make the decision to cancel the order.

Last week York Sport Union made the decision to cancel their order again.

York Hockey President Mylo Scurr, talking to Vision, said: “Last Monday the club committee took the decision to cancel our playing and club kit order with Surridge, and obtain a full refund for our members.”

THE UNIVERSITY of York have announced they plan to financially reward those second and third year students who return to campus accommodation, amid fears that an increasing number of college rooms will no longer be filled.

The scheme will see groups of students who choose to remain in University accommodation awarded £100 cash back, after concerns were raised that the approved plans for the creation of a ninth college on Heslington East will leave the University with a large accommodations shortfall.

As revealed by Vision back in November, the college will house 650 new students, with work due to be completed by October 2014.

University Registrar David Duncan told Vision that the ultimate aim of the project was “to change the mix of students to bring back more upper years and postgraduates in the colleges so they become more rounded communities.

“We would like to change the culture and to interest groups of students in addition to individual students.

“That’s why we now have introduced incentives like the £100 cash back offer and have increased rents by less than inflation.

“We are confident we will fill the colleges in 2013-14. In the following year, when College 9 opens, we only need to attract an additional 600 out of 10,000 students to comeback.”

“THIS IS INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING” “This is an incredibly frustrating delay, and is compounded by the fact that last year we also had to cancel our club kit order as Surridge delayed the delivery date until August, making it almost impossible to distribute kit, and at which point many students would have already graduated.”

“The decision to cancel the order was not one taken lightly, creating a vast amount of admin-

Photo: Agnes Chambre

istrative work for the committee in processing the individual refunds.”

Danny Vilia, Regional Sales Manager for Surridge, responded to the concerns by saying: “The problem lies with the factory and the timing. Unfortunately due to Chinese new year our staff have four weeks off.

The kit has been made but it just missed the delivery.”

Vilia told Vision that other universities and societies have not experienced problems quite like this. “It is frustrating for me as well. I come to the university and build up a relationship and when we get let down by the fac-

tories in China, it makes me and Surridge look bad.”

York Sport Union had a deal with Surridge that stated all teams must use the company unless it is a specialised kit that they do not manufacture. This has now come to an end after three years with the sports manufacturer.

One first year Hockey player also added: “I think Mylo [hockey president] and the committee have done their best to resolve the issue but Surridge have let us down again.”

The committee is now looking to the future, with a new company that hopefully will provide a better service.

The move has led some to question the wisdom in pushing on with the increase in University accommodation if there is not significant demand.

YUSU President Kallum Taylor told vision that his position on College Nine is “clear,” “We completely support the University’s growth, but the services and infrastructure of the whole campus must grow with it too.

“The problems which students and the University have faced over there already will be magnified further if not - and if they’re wanting more students to live back on campus by taking on the private sector more then this seriously needs bearing in mind.

“The campus should feel like a home, it should feel safe, and it should also be a vibrant and attractive place to live.

“We’ll be making representations to the City Council to ensure that this is considered as part of planning permission.”

Opinions on whether the cash incentive will prove enough to entice second and third years back onto campus has been mixed.

Second year history of art student Katie Thomas told Vision: “Whilst the rents in a lot of areas in the city keep on getting higher,” there is still a bit of a “stigma” about living on campus.

“The most important thing is being able to live with your friends, and if there was a viable way of doing that on campus then it might become a more attractive option.”

YORK VISION

NEWS

Tuesday February 19, 2013

5

VARSITY 2013 IS CALLED INTO QUESTION AFTER A CATASTROPHIC WEEKEND

WINTER SLAMS VARSITY SHAMBLES

BY DAVE WASHINGTON

CONTROVERSY MARRED Varsity 2013, as organisational failures proved detrimental to the success of the tournament.

The problems were so great that this year’s champions are still undecided. York Sport President Charlotte Winter praised the performances of York’s sportsmen and women, but was critical of Hull’s management of Varsity 2013.

York may have returned from Hull on Sunday with the Varsity trophy, since they held a slender 43.5 - 42.5 lead, but their triumphs have been overshadowed, because the fate of the tournament remains unknown.

All fixtures were supposed to be completed on or before Sunday, however the clay pigeon shooting, worth 12 points and initially planned to be held last Wednesday,

team.

“Most of our team is made up of people who before university had never held a gun, whilst there are a few very experienced competitors, we are a novice team and therefore our event being the decider has put pressure on us.

“Shooting at their home ground might provide Hull a slight advantage as they will know their targets more, they will be strong competitors as they came 5th in BUCS last year - not a team to be underestimated. We will try our best, and nobody can ask more of us.”

QUESTIONS RAISED OVER ORGANISATION Questions have been raised regarding the whole organisation of the tournament, with the final

Photo: Tegan Pearce

was eventually rescheduled for tomorrow, three days after the completion of the tournament. The result of this will now decide this year’s tournament.

York only found this out late on Sunday afternoon. Thus participants from both teams had no clue as to who were the victors of Varsity 2013, even at the awards ceremony.

Commenting upon the pressure that had been placed upon York’s shooters, the club’s President, Charlotte Williams, said: “We’re a small sports club with around 25 regular shooters, we aren’t a very competitive club, more about being able to introduce people to the sport. Varsity will be the first competition for three out of the nine people in the

timetable only being sent to York on Friday night.

An infuriated Winter told Vision: “I think following this weekend we need to really look at Varsity as an event. The organisation was really poor - receiving the timetable on Friday when the event is on Sunday is ridiculous.”

Winter also pointed to the confusion regarding points allocations which constantly blighted the progress of the tournament, as teams were unaware of which university was winning overall, and the requirements for victory.

Complaints were also raised regarding the final allocation of points, which saw events such as clay pigeon shooting and mountaineering be worth more points overall than some of the higher

profile sports.

The problems were further emphasised by Hull’s failure to book the Beverley Road Baths for last Wednesday, which resulted in the proposed swimming events being cancelled before the proceedings were supposed to take place.

Toby Wong, York’s scholarship swimmer, told Vision: “I’m disappointed the event was cancelled as it was much anticipated, and we were hoping this race would prepare us for the BUCS competition the following weekend, which is one of the most important events all year.

“In addition we haven’t competed against Hull for about two or three years, as every year they seem to have pulled out last minute, so we were hoping to swim and compete with them.”

The absence of a contingent of stewards or officials to greet the influx of York students on Sunday morning set the tone for the day, as in the opinion of many, Hull failed to reach the standards that would be expected of the hosts.

York darts player Dylan Chambers remarked: “The thing that probably annoyed me the most was the complete lack of any information regarding where any sport was. We finished at three and I had absolutely no idea where anything else was.”

Possibly the most comical problems were seen at women’s football. The fixture was moved from the 3G to a grass pitch ten minutes from kick-off, hampering York’s players who had inappropriate footwear for the slippery turf. In addition, the match was also curtailed eight minutes early, with the referee, provided by Hull, having to leave to attend a christening. On this matter Winter commented: “The referee answering his phone and then leaving early from the women’s football game pretty much summed up the day.”

“IT WAS SHOCKING” The half-time interval was also shortened, and onlookers noted that the referee seemed uninterested throughout the contest. York’s President Megan Phillips told Vision: “It was shocking that the organisation of the fixture was so poor, and the ref was clearly a let down on Hull’s part too.” UYWAFC later posted on Twitter: “Questioning if our game even counts after such poor ref-ing and cutting the game short by 10mins... Still we won the cup match #varsity13.”

York’s darts players also had similar complaints about the unsuitability of their venue, Stacks, a pub which is situated off campus. On the matter, York captain

Photo: Philip Mourdijs

Photo: Jack Western

Nick Hall commented: “The darts at Varsity yesterday was, whilst a good contest, plagued by a couple of unfortunate circumstances.

Firstly the venue was a fair bit off campus which meant that any York sportsperson who wanted to support the event before or after their game could not. The justification for this was that the boards in their students union were not very good; whilst this is the case, the boards in the venue we played at were worse.

“It costs at most £25 for a new dartboard, like we provide for university games. As well as this there were a number of other unfortunate issues that affected the game. However Hull darts did themselves proud with their second ever University win and deserve to be congratulated.”

The tennis and squash events were also played at venues located off campus, making it challenging for students to lend support to their university, therefore hampering the atmosphere of those encounters. A tweet from The Hullfire, Hull’s student newspaper, referenced that only six people were in attendance at the tennis match, which was hosted at the David Lloyd in Hull.

Players and spectators alike also criticised the quality of some of the venues, with the standard of the football pitches and netball courts being questioned. With this being the first time Hull had hosted the tournament, the complaints cast doubts as to whether they would be fit to host another Varsity tournament in the future.

The problems extended further beyond the venues, as Hull’s participants were also culpable

for damaging the reputation of the event. Hull’s men’s lacrosse side had already been beaten twice by York this season in BUCS, and they entered Sunday’s contest with the added encumbrance of being drunk. Their inebriation did little to aid their performance as they crashed to a resounding defeat.

“HALF OF THEIR TEAM WERE DRUNK” York’s lacrosse captain William Chun told Vision: “We consider Hull to be one of our main rivals. Every game we play against them is usually to a very high standard and intensity.

“However, when we started we realised half of their team were drunk and drinking from the sidelines. As the game progressed this turned into Hull becoming overly malicious to a point it was too dangerous to play.

“By the last quarter most of my first team players refused to play in case they got injured. I feel like Hull players turning up drunk ruined what could of been a very high standard and enjoyable game”.

Hull’s lacrosse President has since issued an apology for the actions of the club.

Paul Harsent, Vice President for Sport at Hull University Student Union, declined to comment upon the criticisms of the organisation of Varsity 2013, but acknowledged that the actions of Hull’s lacrosse players will be investigated into as a result of Sunday’s events.

6 NEWS

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

THE SUN GOES DOWN

Photo: Jack Western

BY BETHANY PORTER STUDENTS AT the University of York have campaigned for the second time for magazines and newspapers with offensive content to be banned from YourShop.

A Facebook event titled ‘York Uni SU: Stop profiting from offensive publications’ was posted last Friday, prompted by The Sun’s widely derided front page spread

featuring the recently killed Reeva Steenkamp in a bikini.

It has called for a new referendum on selling adult publications and The Sun in the student union shop, on the grounds that the union should not profit from the victimisation of groups it claims to support.

The idea has been submitted to YUSU and is likely to make it onto the ballot. Nick Hall, Union Chair, has confirmed that it is

very likely to reach a referendum after its consideration by the student trustee board. A referendum on the same issue failed to pass in 2011. There is going to be a debate later this week which is open to all students.

Bob Hughes, Welfare Officer, was pleased that the discussion has come to light: “It is very personal for a lot of students, either side of the debate.

“I hope that students engage

nature of the copyright surrounding the character of Peter Pan, and as a result we are now working with YUSU and contacting the relevant department at Great Ormond Street Hospital to ensure any liabilities are met.”

Pantsoc continued: “If it is the case that payment is due, of course we will honour that debt.

“Where applicable, we would pay for rights to shows, but in practice that is not applicable for the vast majority of our performances.”

Chris West, YUSU Activities Officer, explained: “Great Ormond Street Hospital have been contacted, and we are awaiting a reply from them to find out

what can be done retrospectively to cover any liabilities that have arisen.”

J.M. Barrie bequeathed the entire rights for Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929. Since 1996, the European Union and British governments have upheld the copyright for the story of Peter Pan perpetually, so that the child hospital can collect the money.

A representative from Great Ormond Street Hospital explained how useful this money is to their charity: “Over the years, it has been enormously valuable – not only in financial terms but also as a symbol and icon – and has brought significant income to the hospital.”

G.O.S.H. is one of the leading children’s hospitals in the world and has a prolific media presence.

Last year, the charity took part in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. In addition to that, for 2013, they are planning to redevelop two thirds of its wards, on top of the £50 million the hospital needs to make every year to provide resources, research and care to all of its patients.

Pantsoc remains one of the University’s most popular societies, and its shows every term usually attract huge crowds and receive excellent reviews from the campus press.

with this debate respectfully, and I welcome everyone to have their say.”

The event creator, Helena Horton, told Vision: “I am not in favour of censorship and have no real problem with the presence of lad mags and The Sun on campus, but I do not think that our Union, which is supposed to help and represent us should be selling discriminatory material in its shop.”

BRASS BAND BRONZE

BY OSCAR PEARSON

THE UNIVERSITY of York Brass Band claimed third place at the national UniBrass competition on Saturday.

Last year’s runners-up, Huddersfield, took the gold medal while Manchester pipped York into second.

Cardiff finished just behind York in 4th, while Oxford and Cambridge came 12th and 13th respectively.

YUSU Activities Officer, Chris West, congratulated York on their success, while one delighted second-year student said: “I’m really proud of the team. It’s important that York’s musicality is put on the map, especially in lieu of our recent sporting achievements.”

This year saw UniBrass split into two contests; a Championship contest for Universities and Colleges, and an Elite contest for Conservatoires and Academies of music.

Founded in 2011, UniBrass is the first inter-university brass band competition in the UK. The first contest, held at Lancaster University in 2011, saw Manchester claim victory.

And this year, 14 bands entered from all across the county, with Huddersfield returning home victorious with the UniBrass trophy.

York’s Brass Band rehearse once a week in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall on campus, and have at least one concert per term.

UNWITTINGLY CHARITABLE

BY AGNES CHAMBRE PANTSOC HAVE apologised after neglecting to pay for the rights to their latest production of Peter Pan. The money for the show’s rights was meant to go to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Simon Lewis, head of Pantsoc, explained to Vision that this was simply an oversight and that “Where applicable, we would always pay rights for shows.”

After being made aware of their error, Pantsoc are now rectifying their mistake: “Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We were not previously aware of this due to the unusual

YORK VISION

NEWS

Tuesday February 19, 2013

FIRST YEARS FAIL TO GET GRADES BUT STILL OFFERED PLACES

NOT A-LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

BY DAVE WASHINGTON DATA ACQUIRED by Vision shows a startling rise in the number of first year students who failed to attain their required entry grades to study at the University of York.

Statistics suggest that at least 18% of the current first year undergraduates did not meet the standards that were set out by the University, a significant increase on previous years.

The figures for the Department of History were particularly alarming, with at least 78 students being accepted to the department despite failing to meet their initial required grades. The figure may well be higher than 78, as dual-honours students only count as half a person.

Indeed the previous academic year saw only ‘12.5’ history students fail to attain their A-level or equivalent grades, as set out by York (the 0.5 derives from the fact that dual honours students only count for half a person in that department). Thus a colossal 524% rise can be accounted for in the number of first year students failing to acquire the required grades in the last 12 months.

For straight History, the published entry requirements are AAA, while the required grades vary for dual-honours students.

There are roughly 290 first year history undergraduates who are attached to the University, and

statistics show that roughly onein-four failed to meet their entry requirements.

18 % FAILED TO ACHIEVE ENTRY GRADES Significant rises can also be noted for Psychology, where the number of students not meeting their entry requirement increased from 18 in 2011 to 44 in 2012, and mathematics where there was a 240% increase.

First year Mathematics student Andrew Lister remarked: “I think the University should be more strict in deciding on entry requirements as they surely must have good reasons for asking for these particular grades.”

Indeed the pattern of increasing numbers of students being unable to attain their required grades continues throughout the majority of subjects, with only management showing a decline in figures between 2011 and 2012, and that being by only a single student.

ASTOUNDING RISE Overall a minimum of 768 out of the 4,325 current first year undergraduates failed to attain their required entry grades; that amounts to 18% of all first year

Tweets of the Week York Uni Football @UYAFC

Contrary to the @HUFC chat last night the ‘underdogs’ SMASHED the inbreds at Hull today with a whitewash. Get us out of Hull #UYAFC ----- University of York Football Club

HUFC @_HUFC

17 Feb

17 Feb

@UYAFC wrong HUFC chaps, we are Huddersfield. We prefer to do our talking on the pitch unlike Hull from the sound of it #gotwhattheydeserved In response from Huddersfield University FC

Overheard @OverheardYork

9 Feb

Outside the Minster “Yeah fairplay it is quite a nice church” #understatementofthecentury Parody Account

Alex Finnis @AlexFinnis

13 Feb

In a pitch black @NandosUK in York due to powercut. Already got my chicken so don’t even care. Eating by phone light.

Third year English Student

Mike Anstey @Mike4nstey

14 Feb

Mohammed Ansar @MoAnsar

14 Feb

To all of you who didn’t receive Valentine’s cards or presents time for a long hard look in the mirror!

YUSU International Students Officer

I’m almost entirely sure, a Russian woman poisoned me with a dodgy fried from a chippy in York. #GurgleGurgle #StillSuffering High #FLI Political Speaker, visiting York this week

students. The figure is likely to be higher, since there is no data for the Philosophy Department and the school of Social and Political Sciences.

Figures for previous years are much lower, and in general there had been a stagnation in numbers of first years failing to meet their entry requirements from 2008 to 2011, before the astounding rise in 2012. In 2008 the total figure was 467, whilst the data received

by Vision shows that in 2011, 305 students did not meet their entry grades, although that figure will be higher since data is missing for a third of departments.

ing in Higher Education.

Simon Willis, Director of Recruitment and Student Admissions at the University of York told Vision: “Last year was an anomaly for a number of reasons resulting in the number of admissions like this being higher than usual. It was the first year of the new fee arrangements so there were fewer gap year students holding offers from the previous cycle and more places available in-year; it was the first year of a new government policy removing quotas on universities in recruiting students gaining marks above AAB; and, nationally, there was an unexpected drop in the marks awarded by national exam boards.

“All these things combined resulted in a capacity to be more flexible in admitting strong canSecond year history student didates during confirmation in James Pemble told Vision: “I Au gust, with more stuthink it’s good that these students dents than usual are still given such a good opattaining an unportunity as they had met expected profile the original criteof marks.

Which former college chair had so ria to be offered “We are confident much sex in his office that he recoma place. It’s good that the students we mended burning the sofa? for them that one admitted will neverbad day doesn’t ruin theless be strong perthis chance.” formers and make a sigGrade requirements did not nificant contribution to the change significantly from 2011 to University and their depart2012, but one explanation for this ments.” could be the current economic cliAnother consideration is the mate and the hike in tuition fees, intake of disadvantaged students, which has dissuaded some stuwho are offered special dispensadents in the country from partaktion.

“IT’S GOOD STUDENTS ARE STILL GIVEN THE CHANCE”

GET OUT

BY ROSE BASISTA IT HAS been revealed that third year students are going out more than freshers.

A recent survey has found that since the three-fold rise in fees, first year students are averaging 1.23 days out a week, less than the 1.57 average for final year students. With the opposite usually presumed to be true, these surprising numbers suggest a monetary reaction to the higher cost of university.

Spending on nights out has also dropped to an average of £19 a week. This is considerably lower than figures from a similar survey by the NUS that last year revealed students spent around £28 a week on going out.

Yoshika Colwell, a first year York student studying TFTV said: “We still go out but we save money by pre-drinking. It’s impossible to go out as much as we want to, because we are spending so much money on fees.”

Camilla Byles, second year

History of Art and English student spoke to Vision: “Although work load has increased, my friends and I still try and go out as much as we can.

“It is still an important part of University life and I feel lucky to have missed the bump in fees. I definitely would not be able to afford to do nearly as much if I was paying triple what I am now.”

This increase in financial awareness is reflected in the survey finding that a third of an average student’s budget for a night out is spent on cheap alcohol, before leaving the house.

“This news does not necessarily mean that students are drinking less”, said Owen Burek, founder of Save the Student. “It may be that the typical student is becoming more price sensitive to pennies spent at the bar”.

“It’s clear that students are responding to the pressures of having to save and budget.”

It remains to be seen whether this trend is here to stay, or if it is a temporary response.

7

Vision's Tom Davies rounds up the highlights of student news from across the country

student press

WE’VE ALL had a few nights out that have got a bit out of hand. You know, the ones where you wake up in the morning thinking, “Why oh why did I do THAT?” Or perhaps, when you don’t remember anything at all and have to use the help of your Facebook pictures.

However, I’m sure most of us have never had a night out quite like the one Oxford students had in The Bridge nightclub last week.

The club’s manager reported that two students were seen setting off fireworks in the crowded club smoking area.

This prank gone awry prompted a call out from the Thames Valley Police at 12.20 am on Friday 8th February. Luckily no one was injured, although the police report that a 20 year old man was given an £80 fixed penalty notice for his actions.

Meanwhile students at Cardiff have been bugged by the news that their halls of residence have been plagued by an infestation of small, wingless insects.

These insects, believed to be of the bizarrely named, non-aquatic Silverfish variety, have been an ongoing menace for students and are proving difficult to remove.

One student has reportedly had her fridge fumigated twice.

The Silverfish have reportedly been spotted in a series of bizarre places including shoes, beds, sinks and kitchen cupboards. The University administration claims to have acted on this using its official pest control contractor, but the problem continues to persist year on year, and it looks as if the residents and their Silverfish neighbours may have to coexist for a while yet.

In lighter news, a postgraduate student at Imperial College has broken the World Record for most kisses given in one minute. Sarah Greasley managed a staggering 127 kisses in just 60 seconds, at a rate of more than two kisses per second.

This is not the only time Sarah has found her way into the record books. She has previously broken three Guinness World Records; most sticky notes on a body, most CD’s flipped and caught in one minute, and most champagne bottles opened in one minute. An impressive series of accolades by anyone’s standards.

Finally, the Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA) has served an interim interdict to its newspaper Student, preventing it from publishing its first issue of the term. EUSA reportedly took legal action against the paper for an article consisting of anonymously leaked documents which it feared would harm its ability to recruit staff.

Here’s hoping for no such draconian antics from our own Student Union.

8 ELECTIONS SPECIAL

JO BARROW

I

t’s that time of year again. Since yesterday, hoards of fresh-faced students have been approaching you as you rush late to a seminar with the polite insistence of a Jehovah’s Witness to inquire as to who you’ll be voting for in the upcoming YUSU Elections; cardboard costumes and posters litter the campus walls, and you might hear impassioned discussions in the queue at Costcutter over the motivations of so-andso, or the track record of someone else. And yet most students won’t be voting, have any idea of the positions being run for or be aware of the importance of YUSU in general.

I think this is particularly sad, because it’s a well-known fact that political engagement and enthusiasm peaks at university.

After that, the drudgery and realism of adult life slowly eats away at that oncecherished flame of idealism. So while you aggressively avoid eye contact and wave them away en route to the Courtyard, spare a thought for what it is they’re actually trying to achieve.

Student politics are a way of engaging a huge community of disparate students, of allowing each and every member of the university to feel equally valued, and have a way to have their voice heard. You might not be keen to the extent of running for a position for yourself, but those who are willing to dedicate a massive amount of time to make our lives even marginally more convenient deserve more respect from us than they get. It takes a matter of moments to listen to someone explain why and how they can help you, and just a few minutes to log on and vote. Who knows, you might effect some change, you might make a difference, you might even start to give a shit. And don’t forget, the option to ‘RON’, or ‘re-open nominations’, is always there.

The uncontested roles are not necessarily definite, use your judgement.

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

B

efore the campaigning had even began, things were far from calm ahead of this year’s YUSU Elections.

As the original list of candidates were published, there were comments everywhere about the lack of women in the running, a problem with the elections that has been complained about in recent years. This was a real blow, as was the emergence of no candidates for the Racial Equalities role.

We have already have five people drop out of the running. Georgie Du Mello Kenyon and Carrie Hellens have left the running for RAG officer, Jack Baker has pulled out of the position for Academic Officer, and Miheala Nemes was first to exit the race for Students Activities Officer, when she discovered that it was a full time position. Finally, yesterday morning Craig

Hodgkinson, the only man standing for Mature Students Officer stepped down, leaving the part-time position empty.

Last year saw a record vote count of 5,720 votes cast by students at the University, and with fewer candidates to choose from this year, the battle will be on to keep voting numbers so high.

After Kallum Taylor saw off huge challenges from the likes of Zahra Latif and Nacho Hernando in last year’s elections, he now faces competition from his successor as Vanbrugh Chair, Matt Stephenson, and relative unknown, law student Thomas Banks.

With battlegrounds set out in policies ranging from a YUSU Club, the holding to account of officers, or to napkins under garlic bread at the Courtyard, this year is set to be one of the most diverse cam-

paigning seasons in years, despite the smaller number of candidates.

Both the Academic Officer and Student Activities Officer have drawn five nominations, while there is strong competition in both the York Sport President and Welfare Officer positions.

This year’s YUSU Elections will face a struggle to match up to the huge expectations of last year, but if it can come close to it, we are set to be in for a treat come results night on Friday Week 8. This special edition of Vision should provide you with everything you need to know, from who the candidates are, to what they want to do to affect your university experience.

So have a read through, make up your mind and get voting throughout Week 8 - Who will represent you in the coming year at York? It’s up to you to decide!

Your current Sabbatical Officers.

How well do you think they have done their jobs at YUSU so far this year?

From right to left: Bob Hughes - Welfare Officer, Kallum Taylor President, Charlotte Winter York Sport President, Graeme Osborn - Academic Officer, Chris West - Student Activities Officer.

Photo: John Houlihan- www.johnhoulihan.com

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

YUSU PRESIDENT

THOMAS BANKS

ELECTIONS SPECIAL

9

MATT STEPHENSON

KALLUM TAYLOR

“I am a 3rd year History student. I was Vanbrugh Chair from 2011 to 2012, and this gave me a lot of experience in working with University staff as well as fighting for the students in the college as well. Being Chair of a JCRC gave me a really good background in what students at York want, and the knowledge of how to get this done by working with the people alongside me. I believe that I can lead the Union to provide better opportunities for students at York, both in their experience at university and after graduating.”

“I’m from Vanbrugh College, a former Politics with IR student. I was Vanbrugh College Ents Rep, Vanbrugh College Chair and Vanbrugh Football 2nd Team Captain.

I’m standing because I feel like I’ve made an overall good and necessary impact on YUSU since July 2012.

We’ve made our work more visible than ever, standing up to the University, and others, for our students. We’ve actually won campaigns both big and small. We’re now more than just an events company. But there’s still so much to do. “

“My main policy is to improve the opportunities that students have at York, and to increase their employability by extending and developing the careers service.

York has been slipping down the university league tables for the past few years largely owing to poor graduate employability and this has to stop right now.

“It takes more than a year to change the culture of a once slow, inefficient Students’ Union and a university which is only just starting to listen to students.

With a new Vice Chancellor on the way; this is a huge window for change and we need a President who will make the most of that .

- Have a YUSU bar or club in town.

- Channel more money into helping JCRCs put on events to perpetuate college spirit among second and third years.

- Fight on behalf of students who are in disputes with their landlords.

- Increase attendance of students at Assemblies so they know what is going on at university more.”

- More emphasis on ‘wellbeing’ and not just welfare,!

- Completely overhaul of how students can hold officers to account and have their opinion heard. It needs to be easier.

- Need to start embracing the potential of the internet, and get out ‘to’ students more in some basic, and some creative ways. Having a meeting once a week is so outdated .

Who do you think you are?

“I’m a third year Law student with a passion for mediocrity. I once starred in OMD’s Walking on the Milky Way music video. I really love garlic bread but hate the napkins underneath them. I also likes music, books and life in general.

I want to make your life slightly more comfortable, from your trips to the courtyard right the way through to your everyday library experience. These are the things you REALLY care about.”

What’s Your Vision?

“I’ll make changes from top to bottom, up to down, left to right, inside to out. I’ll make sure you can read whatever you like in the newspapers on campus, or buy whatever publication you like. I’ll make sure the library is an adequate temperature and not too bright. I’ll make sure there’s no more pesky napkins underneath the garlic bread in the Courtyard. I’ll do my best to get bendy buses back to York. I’ll introduce a sorting hat to decide your college when you come to University. And if you’re already here, we’ll reassess your college immediately upon my election.

My vision for York is one that makes your life comfortable. You came to university to study hard, so the least you deserve is a comfortable surrounding.

That’s my plan. I want you to be able to relax, enjoy yourself and do the best you can.”

York Student Opinions...

Lizzie Lynch, History and Politics, second year “Tom looks like a funny guy. I mean, I don’t know much about his campaigning. It will be interesting to see how his moustache goes with his policies.”

AGNES CHAMBRE

W

ell, what an eclectic mix.

With three strong candidates running, I would have loved to automatically side with my college, but it seems that two out of the three candidates are from Vanbrugh, so that won’t help narrow it down much!

This means I am going to have to analyse their policies rather

Emma Baldwin, History, third year “Matt is really enthusiastic and his policies are brilliant. I’m really excited about the up-coming election actually.”

than depend on biased allegiances.

So, it makes sense to start with Kallum considering that he is already in office. Kallum has made an impact on me personally, as opposed to the last YUSU president - whose name I’m not even sure I know. As for Kallum’s policies, the bus from Hes East to West has ensured that my gym membership is not entirely futile.

His promise to improve wellbeing as well as welfare is enticing: he makes an interesting point about the difference between feeling fine and needing counselling being so vast, with little provi-

sion put in place for it. Because of that he looks like a pretty good candidate. However, I’m not sure how I feel about the plans to embrace the Android. As students we spend pretty much all of our time looking at a screen, so I really dislike the idea of more technology encroaching on our lives. However, I can see its appeal.

Now, Tom’s policies jumped out at me as soon as I saw the word ‘Courtyard’ because I spend just far too much time there and so I must be a target demographic.

While it may be open to interpretation, his policies seem far from humorous to me. And maybe, I

Catherine Wragg, Economics, second year “The only one I know of is Kallum, and he is doing a pretty good job at the moment so I can’t really complain.”

would spend less time in Courtyard and more time in the library, if dimmed lighting really was introduced and I could enter without the constant danger of being referred to as the ‘make-up-less tramp’ on Spotted (hasn’t happened yet, but who knows with that page). In addition to this, were Tom to get the winning position, and Kallum’s buses were still ensured, I could travel to the gym in style, a genuine bendy bus, circa London 2003.

The promise of employment after university makes Matt look incredibly appealing, not because it’s a bribe, but actually because

he wants to extend the careers service which is getting right to the heart of what a lot of students’ main concerns here at York University are.

My main problem with the candidates is that they were all asked to provide a funny joke, or a weird fact, and as you can see from above, they just weren’t hilarious enough to be featured.

And as you all know at Vision, we definitely love the punny jokes.

Nonetheless, they are three great candidates and I am very much looking forward to the next two weeks of campaigning. May the best man win.

10 ELECTIONS SPECIAL

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

FULL TIME CANDIDATE PROFILES

ACADEMIC OFFICER

Nick Hall

Nick is a third year Archaeology student, who has played an active part in the societies York has to offer. Having already been on YUSU this year as Union Chair, Nick has also had several roles in societies such as Darts, Vanbrugh JCRC, Democracy Committee and many others.

He’s passionate about representing students and genuinely cares about student experience. His most prominent policy is improving and increasing study spaces on both ends of campus. He would also like to lobby for more student friendly assessments, better representation for students and an improved provision of transferable employability skills.

Jason Brandwood

Jason’s a fourth year Masters student, having studied at York as an undergraduate and being an active member of Langwith as Vice Chair. He’s noticed a different attitude of YUSU and a fighting spirit which he’s never seen during his time at York, and hopes he can drive forward further positive changes. His main policy revolves around employability, in his view the priority for an Academic Officer. He’d like societies and activities to work more closely with academic life, so individuals can have well rounded CVs alongside top grades, and wants to introduce employability weeks in order to increase the percentage of successful job applications.

Emma Brownbill

Emma’s in her last year of a Masters in Computer Science here at York. She started off on James JCRC and has already been part of YUSU as LGBTQ Officer, using this experience to campaign for health and equality issues at other universities, giving her experience in seeing that all students are treated fairly and dealing with the university and NUS. Her flagship policy is gaining value for time as well as money, and her other policies include cutting through the lengthly process that puts off students from getting their concerns heard. An interesting fact that Emma told Vision is she was outgoing Welfare Officer Bob Hughes’ STYC rep!

Matthew Kilcoyne

Matthew’s a third year PPE student from Vanbrugh and an active society member, involved with the Caledonian Society, United Nations Association and York Tories to name a few. Matthew also pushed through with Alex Wilson a record breaking referendum last year. He believes York needs to solve the disjunct between academic excellence and employment, and thinks his policies are believable yet achievable. He’s calling for equal resources throughout campus, the alumni service to work more closely with the career service, and a Wednesday afternoon time for societies, volunteering and employment to increase university spirit.

Daniel Whitmore

Daniel is a third year Maths student, a keen Vanbrite and a member of popular campus band, Dandy and DeLions.

He has been on Vanbrugh JCRC as Ordinary Member, Tech Rep and Treasurer, and is Secretary for UYBB. He believes the University is failing students in key areas and needs to do more, insisting the University can be a barrier to learning due to poor provision in some areas.

His key policies are to get better value for money: more key texts, electric submission of essays, subsidising of print costs, one to one dissertation feedback, more study and IT space on Hes East and making seminar rooms bookable for student group work when not in use.

WELFARE OFFICER

Jordan Lloyd

A third-year English Literature student, Jordan Lloyd is a former Langwith Welfare Representative and Vision Scene Editor and current member of the Norman Rea Gallery committee. He describes welfare as being fundamental to his whole university experience and says getting involved has made him realise all the good it can do to all students at the university.

His main aim is to put across a new idea to all students of what welfare is and what it can achieve. He stresses how welfare should be improving the student experience of everyone at the University and wants to give a clear and concise definition of how it can benefit every individual student.

He hopes to develop college approaches to Welfare through new strategies, events and wants to plan for each college as appropriate. Jordan seeks collaboration between YUSU and each college to ensure that the two-way relationship is maintained and that welfare is working to the same level in each college. If elected, Jordan wants a more collaborative effort,which increases partnership between societies and welfare related institutions.

He aims to work with Welfare institutions like the ‘Open Door’ team, seeing how these can be put across on a college level to make them more accessible. He wants greater transparency, making the role of JCRCs and the Liberation Welfare Committee, which is attended by all people involved in welfare provision, clearer to those outside of the committees in order to prevent a backlog of issues and bureaucracy. This greater transparency is one of his major goals as he believes the first step towards improving welfare is to inform the student body of what it actually is.

An interesting fact that Lloyd told Vision is that when he was six or seven, he was cast as Santa in the school play but had to have an operation before the play started, meaning the role had to be rewritten so that Santa was in a wheelchair that year.

George Offer George Offer is the former President of Halifax and dealt with services, events and welfare provision in his role.

He achieved an 80% satisfaction rate in Halifax, up on 40% from 2011 and worked with the York University Families Network, based in Halifax, subsidising small events, days out and more. If elected as Welfare Officer, his aims include increasing the welfare provisions in line with the student population. He says students deserve 24 hour staffing in all colleges, and believes in the need for re-development of cramped, out of date accommodation on Hes West. He wants to set up a campaigns network to better coordinate, publicise and increase effectiveness of campaigns at York. He thinks students deserve value for money and simple, easy access to decent housing, and says the University should extend its guarantor service to all students, where appropriate. If elected, he will work with City Of York Council to bring in an accreditation scheme for all student housing and wants to see an annual University Housing Fair, with property agencies, landlords, University accommodation services, and student support services to help in, and ease house hunting. On the health front, George says students deserve a Health Centre and Student Support Centre capable to deal with the needs of everyone, and he believes together we can remove the stigma from mental health. He wants to help improve the health centre by focusing on opening times and the length of time that people wait, as well as having more of a YUSU presence on Heslington East. He wants to start an annual housing fair, set up a campaigns network to increase effectiveness in campaigns at uni, introduce compulsory supervisor training for all new supervisors, and work with security and police to improve campus security.

FULL TIME OFFICERS, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS SABBATICAL OFFICERS, ARE FIVE ROLES (INCLUDING PRESIDENT) REQUIRING THEM TO TAKE OUT AN ACADEMIC YEAR TO FULFIL THE POST. THE SABBS MAKE UP THE PUBLIC FRONT OF YUSU.

YORK VISION

ELECTIONS SPECIAL

Tuesday February 19, 2013

YORK SPORT PRESIDENT

James Ashrafi-Tari

James Ashrafi-Tari is a third year History student who is an American Football enthusiast. His passion for sport extends as far as writing his dissertation on it!

He thinks it is important to represent the needs of the students in the University, in particular regarding sport at York. He hopes to continue with the success York has been seeing recently as well as improving on a few fundamental issues that sport has raised.

His main goal is to increase participation in sport: greater success will come with greater participation. He will take part in a bigger push for involvement in college sport as well as developing disability sports. He wants to encourage more post-grad students and international students to involve themselves. His second main aim is to increase funding. He believes sport is underfunded compared to many of the universities that York competes against, and he hopes to improve that either by pushing for funding or attaining more sponsorship. He also wants to extend the strength and conditioning program, he knows the team with access to it have benefitted from it and he would like to make it available to other clubs who have shown interest too. He’d also look into the possibility of linked programs, such as physiotherapy.

He juggles and likes magic, but thinks his hands are too big and clumsy to be any good at it himself !

George Richards A third year studying History and Politics, George has held a variety of positions throughout his time at York. He was James College Sports rep, Hockey Social Secretary and First Team Captain, as well as a Tournament Secretary on the York Sport committee. This involved organising such events as Roses ’13.

According to him, sport allows people to move in different and exciting social circles, and to make friends that help create the important memories that are an inextricable part of university life. However, according t o him, with high fees and finite resources it is important that the university strives to enhance its sport provisions and broaden its appeal; to ensure that it is more efficient and smarter. He wants better sport and more sport.

His main policy is integrating sport. He thinks York Sport exists largely in its own self-contained bubble. He wants to strengthen the relationship between sport and other areas of the university. He wants to foster a sense of unity and raise money for charity by joining sport with other societies, in activities such as a RAG cabaret, where sports teams would perhaps perform alongside the more traditional candidates for such events. He believes he can help to harness the capability for sport to bring people together off the field of play, and he wants to use it to the advantage of the university.

Cassandra Brown

Cassandra is a third year who has been College Sports Rep for two years. She won Langwith sportswoman of the year as a fresher due to her commitment and dedication to college sport. She also captained the Badminton mixed team and has been the club’s President. She’s standing for YUSU because of her passion for sport, and her desire to represent every sport equally.

Her policies follow a simple formula. Maintaining performance by lobbying for an in-house physio in order to prevent injuries more; improving performance by worki n g with the York Sport committee to obtain a sponsor in order to fund cheaper facilities and sustaining performance by lobbying for a training day for social secretaries and captains. The social secretaries would receive training in welfare and sponsorship, and the captains would have the same for motivational advice.

She would lobby the university for more funding, work closely with York Sport to make sport more accessible and increasing the availability of ‘Get into Sport’ days. She would also work to improve participation in college sport. In order to get the best from the guaranteed upcoming developments in university facilities, she will lobby the university for quick and efficient completion of the promised progress, including refurbishment of the tent, more storage and more new builds on Hes East.

11

STUDENT ACTIVITIES OFFICER

Anna McGivern

Anna is a third year Social and Political Sciences from Halifax. She was Campaigns Officer for her college in second year and the Student Development Assembly Chair in third year. She wants to improve access to societies for all students, increase the numbers and variety of students involved in action on and off campus, and help all students recognise the skills they’ve obtained throughout university, and how to apply them successfully in the future. Her flagship idea is to create an Activities app that students can use for information or giving feedback.

Chris West Chris West is current Activities Officer, his specific aim is to help societies have a goal at the end of their time at university. He wants students to develop the employability aspect of their extra-curricular activities. It’s a broad focus on all societies in general and he hopes to encourage all students to engage in the full experience of university. He wants more storage and space for activities, especially when college nine is built. He’d also like to ensure that a higher proportion of the grant is spent on societies.

Sam Malone

Sam is a third year Chemistry student from Vanbrugh college who has been Societies Committee Chair, Treasurer of MuggleSoc and Capoeira, as well as Welfare Rep for Vanbrugh JCRC and Head Styc for his college.

He believes that having been active in all three areas of Student Activities, he has the right experience to be the right candidate. His policies include making campus more exciting and full of opportunities for activities.

He wants to look into how these opportunities can be advertised in a way to increase students’ awareness of activities.

Sebastian Odell

A third year Philosophy student from Halifax, Sebastian has been involved in People and Planet, Amnesty International and the Philosophy society. He’s standing because he’s passionate about society life at York, he wants to help people to create new societies and lessen the bureaucracy and detachment of the SA office.

He wants YUSU to be more receptive to students. His flagship policy is increasing support for up and coming new societies and groups, with drop-in sessions for people with new ideas.

Gabrielle James

Gabrielle James is a third year English and History student from James College. She has enjoyed working on the committees of PantSoc and Happily Ever After.

Her main aim is to make it clear to societies who they need to speak to about issues, and specifically to make it better known what a Student Activities Officer does.

She wants to create a handbook for creative fundraising ideas, and make it easier for societies to increase their employability. She’d also like to make RAG and Volunteering more appealing to a wider audience.

12 ELECTIONS SPECIAL

YORK VISION

PART TIME CAN Tuesday February 19, 2013

Sabbatical positions may receive the majority of attention during the YUSU Elections, but there are also a series of other positions up for grabs, all of which play a

STUDENT TRUSTEE Bethan Evelyn Forrest

Chris Robert

Second year Law student Bethan Forrest aims to make sure that the university is properly providing public benefit and value for students of all disciplines and backgrounds. The skydiving and ukulele playing student wants to make sure that the education provided by the university is the best it can be, and not just in academic terms. Improving all aspects of student life is a priority.

Chris Robert sees becoming student trustee as a natural progression from the roles he has previously held. The second year is an English course representative and Vanbrugh block representative, who wants to oversee the on-going growth of YUSU and ensure that it continues to function as an efficient and reliable student led Union, which is representative of the interests of the student population.

Vision Says: Ukulele playing is definitely impressive and entertaining. Is this skill a vote winner?

Vision Says: Where will the natural progression end, YUSU President next year? What do you

Matthew Taylor

Lee Cook

VOLUNTEERING OFFICERS

Octavia Elphick-Smith & Sanjna Shah

Octavia and Sanjna are first year students who want to encourage volunteering within the university and raise awareness for volunteering as a whole. They’re particularly interested in environmental volunteering and want to use YUSU to inspire students to volunteer.

Vision Says: Hopefully their Green Passion will pass on to others during their campaign.

CAMPAIGNS OFFICER

Leon Morris

As a first year History student from Langwith, Matthew Taylor plans to act in the best way for both the students and YUSU. He wants to give back to YUSU however he can, and having already run for the Langwith JCRC. He would like accounts to be made clear and r e a d - ily available to students, as well as for York to maximise it’s relationship with charities in the area so all output reaches its full potential.

Current secretary and former merchandise officer of Langwith JCRC, Lee Cook wants to bring some of the flair and individuality from his own college to YUSU. Electronic Engineering student Lee’s flagship policy is to attain openness and accountability of himself and YUSU to the university, and most importantly to the students to boost students’ trust in YUSU.

Second year PPE student Leon Morris has previously been YUSU LGBTQ Officer, and now aims to become Campaigns Officer. His flagship policy is to integrate YUSU campaigns by working with other YUSU o f ficers, and he believes that his previous experience campaigning with YUSU will serve him well.

Vision Says: Fun fact! His mum was in pre-natal with Tom Daley’s mum.

Vision Says: We all love flair, we all love individuality, don’t we?

Vision Says: Let’s send all the YUSU committee to everything, from drama to every sports match.

13

YORK VISION

ELECTIONS SPECIAL

NDIDATE PROFILES Tuesday February 19, 2013

a fundamental role in allowing the student union to function at its full capacity. They’re representing you, and this is your chance to stamp your authority on YUSU.

UNION CHAIR

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ OFFICER

Mike Anstey

Yvoni Efstathiou

Lloyd Wallis

Current International Officer Mike Anstey is rerunning for a second term, and wants to continue the changes he has already implemented. The third year Law student seeks to increase the employability opportunities of all students, and push for fairer fees for international students.

Greek student Yvoni-Stefania Efstathiou is an active member of MUN where she has had to represent policies that she doesn’t agree with. Her flagship policy is to promote different cultures in order to make students feel at home here at the University of York.

Lloyd Wallis is acting deputy chair of the Student Development Assembly and assistant head of computing at URY. The Halifax JCRC member believes that YUSU can have a big impact upon the University and student population, and that so much more can done to make it simpler and more accessible.

Vision Says: University is a costly business for international students with hefty fees, is that fair?

Vision Says: Settling in is always a challenge for international students and this

Vision Says: Can I be Union Chair, it sounds like an important job. But seriously making YUSU more accessible would be a step forward.

b e

RAG OFFICERS

LGBTQ OFFICER

Madeline Boden & Conor Roche

Beth Campbell & Beth Greenwood & Kate Elliot Barbara Grant

These second year students have been involved in LGBTQ throughout their time at York. Both are current interim chairs of the LGBTQ committee and aim to improve LGBTQ’s reputation on campus and in the media.

Second year Archaeology students Beth Campbell and Barbara Grant, have both been involved with Alcuin JCRC and want to create ‘RAG the brand’ moving away from solely RAG events expanding into other areas.

Kate Elliot and Beth Greenwood aim to make the impossible, possible.

They want to raise one million pounds and have looked at different RAG institutions across the country, for inspiration to develop RAG at York.

Vision Says: LGBTQ has an important role to play on campus, and raising the profile of the group would help its progression.

Vision Says: Branding RAG would be an interesting one, what’s the best way?

Vision Says: If only Vision had a million pounds.

Can RAG raise a million? We’ll have to see...

WOMEN’S OFFICER

SENATE REPRESENTATIVE

Saskia Papadakis & Josie Field

The two Second year students from Derwent and Goodricke respectively have held positions in the Women’s committee and in YUSU as women’s officer before. 56% of York’s students are female and they believe it’s time it was reflected in the student union.

Vision Says: It looks like these two have the statistics to back them up and experience behind them to make a difference.

Cadan ap Tomos Daisy Hale

First year Daisy Hale is head course rep for WDP, Chair of the LGBTQ social society and LGBT R e p on the Langwith College JCRC. Now the Writing, Directing and Performance student aims to continue the development of York’s unique courses and departments, whilst preventing them from becoming sidelined.

The current YUSU Senate Representative, is re-standing with the intention o f continuing and furthering his work.

He aims to ensure this year that decisions are fed away from the YUSU core and closer to ordinary students thereby getting a wider variety of student voices heard on key matters.

Vision Says: Last April Daisy climbed Vision Says: Cadan almost per- Mt Snowdon in a very heavy giant red diformed with Aled Jones once - almost! nosaur costume for charity. Impressive?

Vision Says: Having danced at Sadlers Wells and London Palladium will he dance to success this year?

The first year Politics student from Derwent is already the chair of the Community Assembly at YUSU. He wants to ensure there’s a strong voice standing up for students at York. He wants to help improve communication and ensure students know about decisions that affect them, and promises to consult them on said decisions.

DISABLED OFFICER

Maddy Kirkman & Alix Penn

Harry Toynton

Thomas Ron

ENVIRONMENT & ETHICS OFFICER

Alexandro Rizzo

Nick Devlin& Jamie Elliot

Jamie is chair of the Vegetarian and Vegan Society and Nick is chair of the Green Party. They aim to create more of an E&E network, to see the Uni getting its electricity from a green supplier and to continue work on getting the Uni to switch to a more ethical bank.

For these two second year students met one another through the Disabled Students Network.Their main goal is to increase the participation of disabled students in this and student life in general as well as improving campus accessibility and providing college specific support.

1st year PPE student Thomas Ron, is the current Disabled Officer of the York Labour society, and aims to provide an extensive support network for disabled students. He plans to devolve power on such issues to colleges and encourage others into student politics

A second year Biochemistry student, Alexandro Rizzo, who helped found the Spanish society this spring, hopes to raise awareness among students about the power they hold to make a change in the world and in the University through small daily changes.

Vision Says: Increasing accessibility would surely help students to settle in.

Vision Says: Politics is key to integration in any society.

Vision Says: Food issues may win Vision Says: Their three-pronged over people’s stomachs, but votes? game-plan may prove effective.

14ADVERTISEMENT

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

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YORK VISION

COMMENT

Tuesday February 19, 2013

COMMENT

15

www.yorkvision.co.uk/comment comment@yorkvision.co.uk

THE BIG OPINIONS

It’s that time of year again. On 18th February at 9am, two weeks of campaigning began for the YUSU election and Vision has asked four active members of the student population what they think the deciding issues will be in 2013.

SARA BIANCHI BAZZI U23 ITALIAN HEPTATHLETE

A key issue is the environment. York is lagging behind most other universities in this respect and this is something that needs addressing. If just being green isn’t enough then the economic benefits of going green should make you think. A related issue is on-campus accommodation. Rent prices are going up year-on-year and they have reached a worrying level. And what is the reason for this? Well, in part, very un-environmentally friendly practices and buildings (especially on Hes West) which lead to high running costs. These are then passed on to the already tight-on-cash residents. This year then, students should vote for someone who will be able to put these issues in the spotlight and go some way to becoming a friend of the environment and of their pockets!

BOB HUGHES YUSU WELFARE OFFICER

Now is a vital time for students to be demanding more, and so students should really be considering who will be able to win the arguments and bring innovation into this fast-moving University sector.

In my mind, this should be well thought-through policies that go beyond “making X bigger and better” and look at detail and strategy.

Although this can be difficult to express on posters or in speeches, it can become evident during campaigning how clearly they’ve been thought about. Also, there are many courses we’re traditionally poor at reaching, and I would love to see candidates really looking at barriers to engagement and representation, and it going beyond lip service. With each candidate, I think we need to ask ourselves and them, “do they represent me, and would they be able to hear me out if I didn’t think they were?”

WHAT ARE THE DECISIVE ISSUES IN THE YUSU ELECTIONS? MARIAN LALLY PRESIDENT OF HALIFAX COLLEGE

Accommodation is hugely important to students- you want bang for your buck not just in terms of your degree but with regards to where you are living and what choices you have in it. The quality of porters is also vital. People living on campus should have support whenever they need it, none of this ‘one porter for the whole of Heslington West over the holidays’ nonsense! 24 hour porters in all colleges is key. Finally, with £9k fees we need value when it comes to teaching. Contact hours, helpful supervisors and accessible tutors are a must. Employability is a huge issue at the end of the day and graduates want jobs. Good teaching is key to our post-graduation success and we want more confidence in our job prospects at the end of our degrees.

MISA D’ANGELO SECOND YEAR STUDENT

One of the key issues is safety on campus. Many students stay late at night in the library working and, from my experience, walking on campus at night with very few lights can be extremely scary. Our campus is open to anyone, and is a risk. There needs to be more encouragement to get involved with student life. I love the idea of the assemblies and the referenda but the only reason I heard about the elections is because a friend of a friend heard about it. It’s not well publicised and it’s a shame because I’m sure many students would love to participate. The last issue I would like to mention is academia. There must be strongers link between the students and teachers and it will be interesting to see how the future academic officer can help.

Y U SU POINTLESS?

WHY ARE YUSU ELECTIONS FALLING BACK INTO A SLUMP AFTER LAST YEAR’S PROGRESS?

OLIVER TODD

W

ith the YUSU election campaigning period underway once again, campus is awash with battered cardboard signs proclaiming ‘change’ and ‘progression’ for York’s students.

However, this year just 39 candidates are standing for election - down from 55 in 2012 - with seven positions uncontested and one, the Racial Equalities Officer role, drawing absolutely no nominations. It begs the question: are elections steadily losing importance? Do we care anymore?

Last year’s campaigning period was something of an anomaly. Seven candidates for President was the most YUSU has ever seen and this brought in the highest number of votes ever. Don’t expect that trend to continue though - with fewer candidates, more students will see the irrelevance of the elections and voting numbers will inevitably decline.

For the 2013 elections, the favourites are obvious - with two incumbents re-running,

as well as a couple of college chairs spreading themselves amongst the full-time positions, there are obvious candidates who your money should be on. The number of ‘truly’ contested positions is fairly limited.

By no means should you vote for these candidates because of this, but the point still stands.

Meanwhile, most of the part-time roles either have just one candidate running, or are held for positions that barely provide the student representation that YUSU promises.

Sheffield’s SU is currently considering the option of introducing an ‘Ethical and Environmental Councillor’ position; an idea that was swiftly opposed due to doubts about who the officer would be representing. YUSU should be adopting a similar attitude to their part-time roles, and the lack of competition seen in many of the positions shows this.

The odd lazily placed poster should see even the most average of candidates through their election and as long as the student population is not widely insulted or disgusted by them, you can pretty much guarantee having a Part-time Officer role on your hands.

Sadly, last year’s First Impressions Survey chose not to question students about their knowledge of YUSU’s part-time team,

but it is safe to assume that, notwithstanding the increasing acknowledgement of Sabbatical Officers by newcomers, students still simply do not know, or care, about most of the functions that YUSU aims to fill. Only 64.8% of new students believed that they were even a member of their union – and if you are unaware of even being a member of an organisation designed to represent you, what chance do you have of

We have a toxic environment – one in which candidates standing for roles with little real influence or representation are likely to be stuck in the same old rut of carrying on as their predecessors have. voting in its elections?

Hollow pre-election promises from candidates who do not need to prove their worth in the absence of opposition, aside from the unpromising image of Ron Weasley on the results’ night screens, are not what students at York need, and are unlikely to have an impact on the majority of

York’s student body. Comparing this year to last, we have a toxic environment – one in which candidates standing for roles with little real influence or representation are likely to be stuck in the same old rut of carrying on as their predecessors have.

Of course, the worst thing any new employee can do is to simply continue the work of the person before them.

Unfortunately, this year’s elections look set to be less interesting as well as potentially producing some disappointing results in the long-term; although, I very much look forward to the candidates proving this view wrong, both in terms of vote counts and their own abilities to live up to their claims.

Students still have their chance to save this year’s vote by getting involved with the various hustings events, helping out with candidates campaigning and challenging them all – even the unopposed – on their claims and policies. The structuring of YUSU and the representation it does or does not provide can only be blamed so much.

Ultimately, this year’s elections have a lot to live up to, Taylor’s triumph in 2012 alongside the high voting numbers set the bar high. The increased marketing and promotion can only do so much. Change is needed, and with so many candidates promising it on their posters, one can only hope it comes sooner rather than later.

16 COMMENT

THE VOICE OF

YORK VISION

I

Vision says...

t’s been a tricky few weeks for student volunteers. Money has been taken from Vanbrugh JCRC funds and there’s been chaos in the organisation and support of Varsity - a tournament that had huge potential for wide support and participation. The late arrival of sports kit to our teams and disappointing organisation from hosts Hull made this display of commitment a lot more difficult than it should have been.

Becoming involved in university life is undeniably as important as a degree is, both for immediate fulfilment and longterm gain. It is devastating for many when their efforts to make the most of opportunities and work with fellow students appears to be undermined and made overly difficult by a lack of care or effort. Yet it’s hard to see any students getting too disheartened. Sunday’s Varsity tournament is testament to our students’ ability to keep the challenges we face in perspective. The eagerness of students to pose half-naked for Vision to illustrate the lack of sports kit, is testament to both the awareness of students and the positive spirit that they can draw from any situation.

Thumbs up to...

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

IS IT TIME FOR YUSU TO SEPARATE FROM NUS? PATRICK NO YES MILO GREENFIELD

W

hen my parents were at university, being a student meant something radically different. National student solidarity played an important role in determining the key political issues and furthering the progression of British civil rights. My mother’s involvement with the student feminist movement helped forge her future career, and whilst my aunt’s political drive has mellowed with age, she has never been able to shake off her Trotskyite indulgences.

Simply, students demanded a better world in which freedom, equality and fairness were prioritised. Contemporary Britain, however, has no desire to stimulate students of the big ideas.

Hordes of moronic public school students desperate to hone their financial service skills take precedence and, lamentably, the University of York now derives an unnerving amount of pride from the quantity of vapid ‘lads’ who realise their dream of working in the HR department of KPMG. Therefore, the composition of student solidarity must be seriously reconsidered to accommodate this depressing revolution in aspiration. Simply, what is the point of the National Union of Students?

Notwithstanding their stag-

Thumbs down to...

S

ports suppliers for delaying their deliveries for our hockey teams’ sports kit for the second year in a row. This is totally unacceptable. For the money spent, the team should have their new kit on time and ready for use in all upcoming matches, not just the last few matches of term. The supplier has apologised and cited Chinese New Year as the main reason for the delay, which is unsatisfactory - they should have been prepared for this beforehand.

We agree with the Committee’s decision to ensure reliability of chosen suppliers in future, so that no-one feels shortchanged or disappointed.

nant structure and their bureaucratic inadequacies, can the NUS continue to justify their mandate? Is there a need for national student solidarity anymore? Student politics is quickly dismissed nationally and university is increasingly becoming an opportunity reserved for Britain’s middle classes. Certainly, the NUS has done little to halt the relentless attack on student life over the last 20 years, and they also preserve incestuously close relationships with the governmental institutions that perpetuate the corrosion of the student experience. Eye wateringly high fees, socially inaccessible institutions and a crushing debt are commonly accepted parts of student life. Thanks for all the hard work NUS, you have really done a great job protecting university education.

So what would leaving NUS mean for YUSU? Students would benefit from a York-centric Union that solely acts in the interest of students that go to the University of York.

Several hardworking members of YUSU have made incredible progress in the provision of student services but there is much more that needs to change. With a more powerful mandate, who knows what they could achieve?

T

he National Union of Students has, in recent times, come under fire.

Described by York’s own Free Lunch as an organisation “drenched in bureaucracy” and having been fractured by the secession of Universities such as Imperial and St Andrew’s, its position is increasingly unstable. With the mood of 2010’s student protests rapidly fading into a mere memory, uncertain times are inevitable for the UK’s university population. The NUS is an invaluable body. Despite being best known for the irresistible NUS card, the roles they perform slightly behind the scenes remain as important as at anytime in their 80 year tenure.

Working in co-ordination with the European Union of Students, they offer both a national and international platform, channelling the political and social malcontent of an intellectually active area of society. Were it not for this outlet, the student voice would carry considerably less clout and likely be lost in melee of media noise. This platform is, for some, as much a hindrance as it is a help. The age-old criticism of unions resonates around their inability to voice the concern of everyone; the power of one unified statement necessari-

ly clouding the diversity of opinion present within its members.

This is a flaw, but one which the NUS looks to overcome with its democratic election process and constant interaction with Universities. To those who argue that the NUS detracts attention from immanent and changeable university issues, I would suggest this is a product more of the current student apathy than of any fault of the NUS. The NUS is not a perfect institution. It is a union which can, much like Unite, be suspect of being too money focused and a convenient graduate employment program. The cosy relationship it holds with the government is, to many, equally unattractive. We should be careful, however, of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

By taking a keener interest in the NUS, applauding its successes as well as chastising its misdemeanours and pushing for reforms, we can mould our union into a union that represents us.

The NUS offers a chance to unite under a common ideal, to tap into the core of the intellectual sector and be part of a body that can make real, significant and much needed changes in a society divided.

SOME HOME TRUTHS

Y

USU and the York Council for finally managing to gain street lighting on Retreat Lane, a key route for students between campus and the city centre of York and student housing. The lane is casually referred to as ‘Rape Alley’ by many students - a nickname the route has gained after several robberies and sexual assault incidents on the lane, stretching back for about twenty years. This move is clearly long overdue and, despite new lighting installed in 2003, there have been incidents such as the rape of a female student in 2005 which left many feeling shaken and increasingly nervous about travelling down the route.

This agreement between the Council and YUSU is a step in the right direction towards increased student safety, and hopefully this move will result in fewer incidents on the lane in the future.

BOYD

LISTEN UP SOCIALIST SOCIETY, YORK CITY COUNCIL IS HERE TO STAY

DAVID LEVENE

T

here has recently been a lot of debate amongst students regarding housing.

Quite apart from serving on the City Council’s Cabinet and representing the ward containing both University campuses, speaking as someone who’s lived in rented accommodation for over 10 years, this discussion can only be a good thing. Saying that, I wanted to clarify some of the issues raised.

The issue first caught my eye when Nouse ran an article on the York Student Socialist Society’s campaign, and The Yorker has since followed suit. As neither the Socialist Society nor the two news outlets contacted either the Council or any Councillors to allow them to respond to their claims, I decided to go along to their public meeting in Week 5. I think it is fair to say I was not the most popular person in the room, but since when were politicians bothered about being popular?

The boldest allegation is that as a result of landlords requiring planning permission for new student house conversions, we are on the verge of hundreds of student evictions.

Fortunately, this is not true. No students to date have been evicted due to the new rules.

It is also incredibly unlikely that a new enforcement notice served when a landlord has not obtained proper permission (accidental-

ly or otherwise) would result in an eviction.

If a landlord took the disgraceful decision to re-let a property after it was served with a notice, there could potentially be a problem, so the Council has been working with landlords, YUSU and the University to try and ensure this doesn’t happen. If there is a threat to student welfare, it comes from a small number of landlords who are trying to dodge the rules - not from the Council throwing students out on to the street.

There are also calls for a compulsory landlord accreditation scheme. I personally agree that there are limits to the current voluntary schemes - usually it’s the responsible landlords who sign up.

York is one of the most expensive places outside the South East Nonetheless, the law dictates that the Council has to have an evidence base that shows the voluntary system is not working before this can happen. We are working closely with the Student Union to build up this evidence and get an accurate picture of what’s needed.

Concerns were also raised about the affordability of accommodation for students and we are in complete agreement on this.

The housing charity Shelter found that York was one of the most expensive places outside the South East for rented housing – not just for students, but the whole of the private rented sector. The main underlying cause of

high prices in York is lack of supply, which is why this administration – despite opposition from every other political party – has committed to increasing the number of new houses through our Get York Building programme. We have already announced a £1 million investment in new and existing council houses, brought new developments forward, and overseen the building of the first new council houses in York for 20 years.

The other major way of increasing the supply of affordable student accommodation in York is the future of on-campus accommodation. Both the Council and I have lobbied the University to provide more on-campus housing with proper communal facilities that provide value for money. Recent problems in Langwith highlight how far the University needs to come on this and, as ward Councillor, I have been in close contact with YUSU – particularly President Kallum Taylor and Welfare Officer Bob Hughes – to offer support in any way I can.

The Socialist Society Chair has been “decrying the ideological motives of the Labour Council” and another representative claims that “nobody else is talking about this, we are!” (I’m not sure what he means by this.)

They are not the only ones talking about this.

Instead of accusing the Council of various terrible things, I have suggested to the Socialist Society that if they want to achieve their aims, they might actually want to talk to us.

We will continue to tackle this very important issue, and are prepared to do so with anyone and everyone who wants to work with us.

YORK VISION

COMMENT

Tuesday February 19, 2013

17

THE RISE OF GAY EUROPE SERGIO MARIN ZAPATA

I

This is not a sexist joke.

Patrick Greenfield

FEAR-FREE FEMINISM

MEN AND WOMEN EVERYWHERE SHOULD IDENTIFY WITH FEMINISM

FREYA

SYDNEY-SMITH

B

efore I came to University, I spent seven years of my life taking feminism for granted. I went to an allgirls’ school and left believing I was an independent woman who could do anything I put my mind to. Moreover, I was surrounded by peers who thought exactly the same way.

I was shocked and confused when, in recent conversations, I found myself labelled as “the feminist” amongst both male and female friends. Nobody seemed bothered and some even laughed at me because I dared to stand up for women’s rights. Accustomed to always being in the presence of friends who were much more vocal about the importance of gender equality, I was flummoxed at being on my own in such discussions. And when my best girlfriend turned around to say ‘don’t you think it’s just so aggressive?’

I went from flummoxed to speechless! I am certainly neither confrontational nor aggressive by any standards, far from it; yet I would still consider myself a feminist.

There are many different approaches to the word, some of which are more exaggerated then others. Some members of university women’s campaigns take raising awareness of gender inequalities to a new level. The idea of a ‘vagina party’ (complete with a welcome gift of ‘cunt cupcakes’) certainly does not float my boat. But so what if it entertains others?

You don’t have to be a bra-burning,

men-hating, lesbian-loving woman to be a feminist - contrary to what some people may think. Most people, including myself, dislike the misandry which comes with some feminism ideas. Caitlin Moran recently paved the way for younger women wanting to approach feminism in her book How to be a Woman. She did this without hating men or preaching her beliefs in an aggressive manner.

Admittedly, I was a tad grossed out by her graphic description of her wrinkled hands when she discovered masturbation but hey, that’s not going to put me off standing up for human rights! You can call yourself a feminist if you hold egalitarian principles; don’t think that it’s a dirty word because you don’t agree with extreme forms of feminism.

Yet, it seems that the more radical elements of the movement are now overpowering its key tenets. An article published in The Telegraph last October revealed that feminism is considered outdated by a third of women. The research also showed that feminists were becoming ‘too aggressive towards men.’

Another study on the subject conducted

by Netmums showed that out of 1300 women questioned in the UK, only 1 in 7 self-identify as a feminist. An article in The Guardian last year also revealed similar antipathy towards the feminist cause. They look to the example of a lecturer who asked students to put up their hands if they considered themselves to be a feminist - only 1 girl in a class of 20 did.

In the face of such female ambivalence, we must ask ourselves why. The Oxford Dictionary definition of feminism is, “The advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” What is so radical about that?

The stigma attached to the word is overshadowing its fundamental simplicity. I honestly don’t see the problem with such a basic principle. Surely anyone would agree with its aims? Moreover, why should it provoke laughter? One of my housemates recently joked, ‘Freya you’re not a feminist, stop pretending.’

When I say I am a feminist, it is because I am endorsing the ideas at the heart of the term. Does a Netmums survey mean that 6 out of 7 women do not want equal rights with men? Sitting here at my desk in the 21st century I find that difficult to believe.

To me, feminism is about the empowerment of women. If you want to be a stay-at-home mum then great, good for you. You shouldn’t be pooh-poohed by die-hard feminists. Equally, if you want to be a hard-working, career-driven woman, then nothing should hold you back other than your ability.

In the modern era, feminist problem areas have changed. We must now consider gender equality in relation to issues such as maternity leave, average wages and rape convictions. Notwithstanding the many historical victories of feminism, it is certainly still something, at the very least, to respect and believe in. I am a student from a fairly privileged background and I cannot complain of any personal hardship. Nonetheless, I can comment on the attitudes to feminism which I come across, and there are far too many which reek of mockery and fear.

We need to dispose of the stigma that feminism is a ‘tough badge’ to wear and something to be ridiculed. ANYONE can be a feminist, and everyone should identify with the word. It simply means endorsing equality and fairness, and what’s so bad about that?

n pro-European circles, Europe is thought of as a modern, forward-looking entity that aims to fortify intra-European relations and modernise the lives of its citizens. Integration is a fashionable word used in said circles and the European Union is certainly trying to shift its image away from a group of associated nations towards a united global federation. Therefore, it is fairly shocking how something as modern, forward-thinking and fashionable as gay rights in contemporary societies has been left to the will of national lawmakers.

Countries like the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain have already passed bills allowing same-sex marriage. The Lutheran Church of Sweden has performed same-sex marriages for a few years.

However, other states like Italy have not even contemplated changing their marital law and the Polish government actively restricts the use of the word ‘marriage’ to a union between a man and a woman.

Nonetheless, change is in the air. On February 5th, the House of Commons passed a bill to legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales. A similar bill was also passed by the French Parliament earlier this week.

As I see it, the change in attitudes stems from two different things. Firstly, a shift in norms and values in the ongoing process of modernisation in our contemporary societies is certainly driving change. Former taboos have ceased to be problems, and people are starting to accept romantic relationships between two people of the same gender as a perfectly normal and healthy expression of love. This change is also

It is fairly shocking how something as modern, forward-thinking and fashionable as gay rights in contemporary societies has been left to the will of national lawmakers. demonstrated by the recent passing of same-sex marriage laws in a few US states, such as Washington.

In which case, how can we explain the massive demonstrations that have occurred in France over the past months demanding that the government withdraws such proposals?

In the UK, where a more laissez-faire mentality prevails, just a few people went to Parliament to protest against the passing of the law. Many more, in fact, celebrated the passing of the bill. In France where the state rigorously guards its paternalistic role, demonstrations both for and against the legislation have been much larger. Indeed, this disagreement could be explained by behind the scenes pressure from the European Union.

The EU is undoubtedly struggling through its greatest test: financial collapse, a crisis of legitimacy, secessionist movements in Catalonia and Scotland, the forthcoming British membership referendum and a general feeling of distrust. With this in mind, the EU must provide a case for membership and the emphasis on modernisation obviously plays an important role in their argument.

As such, in the same way it imposes austerity measures, it could be imposing the upholding of certain values like the legalization of gay marriagein order to maintain their modernisation agenda.

In any case, EU or not, the approval of samesex marriage is an important milestone for civil rights, and is something to celebrate as it provides greater equality to all Europeans, whether British, French or any other European nationality.

18 COMMENT PAPERING OVER THE CRACKS? MARK GIBBARD

M

any graduates obtain their first job by impressing an employer whilst on a summer internship. However, civil service internships are limited to applications from students who meet criteria biased towards ethnic minorities and poor applicants. The policy of positive discrimination aims to address the hegemony of the white, middle class male in our nation’s bureaucracy.

But does this equality agenda result in a more cohesive society? Or, by using a policy which differentiates between those of different races and socio-economic standing, is the government just perpetuating social divisions?

In March 2011, 5% of the senior civil service staff came from minority backgrounds.

This is clearly an unacceptable proportion, especially considering the multicultural nature of Britain. The civil service’s official strategy in addressing this issue is simple and sensible, they concentrate on “giving every employee the same opportunities, whatever their background.” It makes sense, as by providing equal opportunities for all, proportionate numbers of employees from every background will be encouraged to achieve. Moreover, this framework promotes a meritocracy in which every employee has the same opportunities.

However, the Civil Service Diversity Internship does not adhere to the principle of equal opportunities for all. It is open specifically to applicants of a certain ethnicity.

Despite the government’s official stance on providing the same opportunities to all, it limits the scope of its student work experience based entirely upon the racial and socio-economic background of applicants.

This is simply oxymoronic.

In separating a potential applicant’s racial identity from their ability, they are placing emphasis upon recruitment which values race over skill. This is also demonstrated by ethnicity related quotas of staff population. In regulating ethnicity, the civil service is dividing society into racially separate sections.

The civil service should be a social entrepreneur, instigating reforms which encourage a more cohesive society. One way of encouraging a greater number of applicants from under-represented groups is through targeted advertising. By increasing the awareness of a group to a particular opportunity, you can engage with a segment of society that may have previously been unaware or unwilling to participate. However, this should not overrule the basic principle of a meritocracy - the best candidate should get the job. Quotas and restricted applications do not adhere to this, and result in a simplistic, unfair, patronising and ‘hollow’ variety of diversity.

I am not arguing that the target of equal representation is unimportant; conversely, I believe it is essential. In altering selection policy to discriminate against those who are well represented, the civil service is displaying behaviour which is hypocritical and counter-productive. Artificial manipulation of its workforce may show an empirical advancement towards diversity, yet, without a change in perspective, the government is continuing to be part of the problem.

CENSORED

YORK VISION

GAGGING STUDENT MEDIA UNDERMINES THE INTEGRITY OF BRITAIN’S YOUNG JOURNALISTS

ALEX FINNIS

O

n the front page of Edinburgh University student newspaper, The Student, where there should be a great splash – a big exposé concerning scandal directed at Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA), there is just one word – “CENSORED.” It is clear that they have a great story on their hands, one that student journalists have spent hours of their voluntary time and effort putting together, because the Union have gone to similar lengths to gag them, to take out an interdict on the story which also bans them from publishing “any material purporting to suggest that the pursuer is an organisation which is poorly governed and whose management are inexperienced and unaccountable.”

The story was due to include details of the suspension of Max Crema, vice-president for services at the Union. EUSA claim he is out of office for “personal reasons” but it is rumoured that, in fact, his absence has more to do with a breakdown in relations with the Union.

The ban came when the paper had already gone to print, and The Student are now left with 4000 useless newspapers sitting in their office. EUSA will know how many hours of hard work go into creating

each issue of the paper, but what the students involved will care about far more is that a big story in the interest of the public, the sort of story which makes their jobs valuable and indeed worth anything at all, has been censored for nothing more than self-preservation.

If student media outlets are not allowed to criticize their students’ unions and hold universities to account, then what are they but hyped up marketing tools? If the unions had their way then the papers would be nothing more than PR machines.

Whilst the Leveson enquiry has called for more regulation of the national press, for student journalism exactly the opposite is needed. There have been high profile cases of the media being gagged across universities nationwide. Sheffield University’s

If the unions had their way then the papers would be nothing more than PR machines.

Forge Press were recently banned from distributing to accommodation by the University because they wrote a story about the University allegedly using a loophole to cut staff wages, and the University did not want the negative press reaching freshers so early in their university careers. There is no ethical reason behind this curtailing of the media; Forge Press were doing nothing illegal, they were just doing their job, and for doing it well, they were punished.

Similar issues have occurred at Leeds and Loughborough in recent times. At UCL, a major story about a union officer suspended for offensive tweets about missing child April Jones was pushed backwards in the paper and turned into a story so small it did not even look worth reading, simply because the Union had the power to do so.

Unions and universities will do everything they can to cover their backs and make themselves look good. If student media is threatening their image then they will not be afraid to gag them and even, as in Edinburgh’s case, take legal action against them.

A students’ union is, by definition, a group who’s sole mandate is to work for the good of its students. However, when it comes down to it, far too many will put their personal reputations, and the image of a small clique above the rights of its student body to hear news in its interest. Whilst it may seem natural to protect oneself against potentially damaging criticism, as a union officer, if what you are protecting yourself against is something that is for the good of the student population to know, this is undermining everything you supposedly stand for.

Student media is an extreme case of what too much regulation of the press can cause – powerful organisations at times picking and choosing what the people are allowed to know, based not on interest, but on potential harm caused to the organisations themselves. We would not accept this on a national level, so nor should it be acceptable at university.

MASTERING THE NEXT STEP WHY ISN’T MY DEGREE ENOUGH ANYMORE?

NINA PULLMAN

M

aking the decision to apply to a Masters has been a long time coming. I have stood by while others have struggled through applications, considered funding, locations and courses. I thought I was going to be different; standing alone and doing it the hard way while everyone else took the shortcut route, and clung on to the hypnotic cycle of education.

Oh how things have changed.

The course in question, the one that has lured me in against my will, annoyingly has many things going for it. It is in my home town (cheap accommodation with the parents), it will give me a set of hands-on skills I can use in the sector I would like to work in and, most tellingly, 100% of last year’s graduates from this course are now employed.

So why am I so averse to the idea? Well, partly money. Masters students are not eligible for government student loans, although you can take out an ordinary career-related bank loan if you so desire. But coming to the end of your degree reminds you of what you have tried to shrug off by claiming “we’re all the same” and “at least we’ve got it better than the poor 9k-ers”; it is an undeniably uncomfortable feeling to begin your life in debt. It is understandable to be hesitant about putting off earning it

back for even longer.

Then there are the grad scheme applicants. The clambering mass of students desperate to get a place on a ‘Big Four’ graduate scheme in London is seemingly never-ending. And who can blame them?

Three years of paid training in which you supplement your learning with a nice little income. It is the polar opposite to taking the scary step of a Masters, which requires you to live, eat, study for another year on sweet fat nothing. It is the curse of the humanities student who does not qualify (or want) to be in any sector which actually has a budget to fund trainees.

Scientists are in a similarly profitable

We have been told for years that jobs are more and more competitive and you need something to set you apart position; a PhD in science, I recently found out, can often be the equivalent to a paid job for three or four years, doing interesting research in something you enjoy doing whilst being paid a salary. Or, alternatively, science can also attract enough funding to advertise bursaries and grants to the budding Masters student, which must surely help to make the decision easier.

That is not to say that you will only get your dream job if you complete a Masters.

But strangely, you rarely hear of the option

of simply applying for a job and seeing how it goes. Of course, this does happen but I can’t help but feel the emphasis is on the need, or perhaps the strong advantage of having some kind of post-grad qualification. We have been told for years that jobs are more and more competitive and you need something to set you apart. There is even the tenacious theory that without a 2:1 you are pretty much at the bottom of the pile already. But as the time to decide draws closer, I realise that I have been hoping that everyone has just been a bit pessimistic and with the right attitude and a fair amount of work experience, you can make your way in the world with a mere undergraduate degree and a good dose of perseverance. Sadly, this may not be quite true.

There is one more reason why I am hesitant to embrace a Masters as my next step in life. I can’t help but feel that by accepting the fact I need a post-grad qualification to take me further, it in some ways devalues my hard-earned English undergraduate degree. Some part of me wants to ask, why isn’t the money, the effort, and the grade enough?

There are, it must be reiterated, many options open to the newly graduated young person, and it certainly pays to take some time to survey all the possible next steps.

Avoid a narrow approach to the next application or the next qualification available.

For me, despite my misgivings, a Masters may soon be looming. Let’s just hope that one day we can stop aiming higher, ticking boxes and ultimately reach a point when we can say we’ve made it.

19

FEATURES

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

FEATURES

www.yorkvision.co.uk/features features@yorkvision.co.uk

JUSTICE FOR STEPHEN Agnes Chambre speaks exclusively to Doreen Lawrence, British campaigner and writer.

“I

feel like a part of me is missing. Parents want to see their children grow up, and go through all the stages of their lives and I have missed out on that with Stephen.”

On the 25th January, a bitterly cold winter morning, Doreen Lawrence was awarded an honorary degree from the University of York. She received this degree because of her tireless campaigning and a university spokesman described her as an “exemplar of dignity in the face of adversity for students and staff.”

Doreen Lawrence is the mother of three children, Stephen, Stuart and Georgina. Twenty years ago, Stephen was murdered in a brutal, racially-motivated attack.

After an abhorrent lack of justice, which demonstrated huge cracks in our judicial system, Stephen’s killers walked free, causing Doreen to devote her life to finding justice for her son.

Ms Lawrence has actively campaigned to obtain justice for her son’s case, as well as many other racial attacks ever since. In 1999, another investigation into her son’s murder meant she was able finally to feel some closure. This was the investigation commissioned by Jack Straw, working in the home office at the time, who described his decision to reopen the case as, “the best thing I did in office.”

Last year, the outcome of the case was changed, and two out of

Stephens’s five killers were finally sentenced to life in jail.

As she tirelessly campaigned, Doreen set up the Stephen Lawrence Foundation, which enables young adults to be able to afford to study at university to become architects.

This foundation is now branching out to other professions, but Doreen explained that Stephen’s dream was to design houses and so she chose to honour him in this way.

“Stephen was doing his Alevels, he hadn’t got to the point where he choose universities but he planned to study architecture.”

As the foundation flourished and took off, Doreen spoke about how proud she was: “For me, seeing the first students graduate under Stephen’s name was quite an occasion. When the first students graduated, I went to their graduation ceremony.”

Doreen didn’t originally go to University, commenting that “going to university was something I always wanted but sometimes things don’t work out.” However she started a humanities degree when her children had grown up, and she was studying at Greenwich when her son was murdered.

“I didn’t stop when Stephen died you know, I think because of how things were. Nothing was happening around Stephen’s case and I felt like I needed to do something, so I carried on with my degree.”

Doreen Lawrence has been awarded an honorary degree from the University of York Ms Lawrence has shown great strength and perseverance through all the work she has done.

She is recognised across the world as someone who has changed lives.

At the Olympic opening ceremony last year, she carried a flag to the cheers and applause of the entire population. In 2003, she received an OBE as well as the honorary degree from York a couple of weeks ago.

She arrived on York campus with a friend to keep her company, and as she sat on the stage awaiting her award, her face looked rather stoic and sad. This was not the life she chose. As she stepped

onto the podium to receive her honorary degree, she uttered her words and her voice shook. She explained later that she had been thrust into the public eye: “I didn’t set out to do any of this, it was never a plan, and it was something that I had to do.

“It’s quite emotional for me actually. I listen to people reading stuff about me but I always get very emotional. I often choke when I get up to speak as well. It’s being recognized for the work I have done over the years.”

Rowland Atkinson commended her achievements, explaining to the crowd celebrating her grad-

“quite an honour to be in such a selection of people this morning, for those who have done a PhD and stuff, to be in their presence.”

She added with a smile, “I think Steve would be laughing at me, saying Mum, I can’t believe this. I think he would be proud, I think all my children are proud of what I have been doing over the years.”

Doreen feels that “all the work I have done over the years has truly been recognised and that is very special. “I think what I seem to have done is made a difference and highlighted what a lot of people would like to say for themselves…I

It’s the way in which the country is turning, they think they have done race, done disabilities... If we are not careful, all the good work we have done will be wiped away.

Stephen Lawrence, who was only 18, was murdered in a racially motivated attack in London in 1993

uation that Doreen had spent her life devoted to social justice and equality: “Doreen’s campaigning has brought changes to policing, civil rights and attitudes to race to allow people to live without fear and discrimination. Doreen’s work has challenged prejudice and promoted the vision of a positive community in her son’s name. She has fought a tireless campaign against racism and inequality and guards against complacency.

It takes great courage to condemn such behaviour.”

In her acceptance speech, Doreen thanked the University of York, “for bestowing this great honour upon me. I see education as the most precious gift that we can give our children.”

She described the occasion as

feel like the work I have done has been great.”

When I asked her whether she thought that enough had changed, she hesitated before responding: “I think some things have changed 20 years on, but in this time, especially in this climate, I feel like things are beginning to roll back, people are worried about their finances and that.”

As our conversation came to an end she explained that she would not be able to stop campaigning for change: “It’s the way in which the country is turning, they think they have done race, done disabilities, people seem to think, they don’t need to do anything more.

If we are not careful, all the good work we have done will be wiped away.”

20 FEATURES

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

GAY RIGHTS: THE B

PHILIP WATSON reviews the recent legislation on same-sex marri

T

he legislation allowing samesex marriage in the UK has been a long time coming. The Civil Partnership Act, that came into affect eight years ago, promised to be the first step in the rapid stride towards total equality for gay men and women, and indeed in the last eight years we have seen major progress made in equality for homosexuals.

No longer are they categorised as second-class citizens, or ostracized to the fringes of society. Anyone can talk about homosexuality; young or old, male or female, whitevan-man or high powered city lawyer, in any pub or bar in the country without fear of violent or offensive repudiation.

Gay people can pretty much get married without anyone batting an eyelid and, of course, can give blood no questions asked.

In case you’re blind to sarcasm, I’m being ironic. This ‘rapid stride’ towards equality for gays has rather degenerated into more of a slow crawl, and there is certainly no shortage of volunteers who would quite cheerfully kick us while we’re down there. Don’t mistake me for being needlessly cynical; I think it’s terrific that the Same Sex Marriage Bill has recently passed through the House of Commons but, let’s face it, this has not happened unhindered or nearly as quickly as it should have.

We are in 2013, and an issue which essentially affects only the gay community, positively at that, is still causing an uproar. In Britain we pride ourselves on being a progressive and liberal society, but

when a de facto issue, gay equality, shows signs of becoming de jure, then people and politicians show their true colours. And very few of them are the colours of the LGBTQ rainbow.

The Same-Sex Marriage Bill passed through the House of Commons with a majority of 400 ‘Ayes’ to 175 ‘Nos’. A landslide victory, right? Not quite, if we stop patting our Parliament on the back for being, as Nick Clegg puts it “very strongly in favour of equal marriage”, and take a slightly more dispassionate look at this result. We have 575 votes cast in total and so we have a percentage of 70% ‘For’ versus 30% ‘Against’.

Seems like a strong majority, but surely the thought that more than a quarter of our elected MPs are still opposed to same-sex marriage seems mildly worrying? Of the 175 votes against, a staggering 136, 78%, of these were from Conservatives, including the Environment Secretary Owen Paterson and the Welsh Secretary David Jones. In fact, if we take the Conservatives in isolation, they as a party actually voted against the Bill rather than in favour, with the 136 ‘Nos’ beating the ‘Ayes’ by 9 votes.

Now I speculate here, but it strikes me that there is an opportunity to be seized by the ‘progressive’ parties of our country. With the Tories so obviously split about the Gay Marriage Bill, the liberal Labour and Liberal Democrats could use this very convenient platform to showcase their ‘progressive’ beliefs to the general public by voting in favour of this Bill which has so

divided the Tories. They may as well be saying ‘Bloody Tories, look how backwards they are! Vote for us, we want to let you drink cosmopolitans and pretend to be unicorns or do whatever it is you gays do, not like the Big Bad Tories!’

When talking about politics, there is very little other way for a member of a minority group to be other than cynical. It’s a politically savvy manoeuvre and, ultimately, Labour is cashing in on this very obvious demonstration of outdated conservatism by the Tories, in a bid to monopolise on Tory hate and reclaim the power that was snatched from them in the last general election. I’m sure there are some MPs who generally believe in the Gay Marriage Bill, but anyone who says there isn’t any political agenda to be fulfilled by voting in favour of it in the Commons is either being very idealistic or just lying.

Ultimately, though, a statistical perspective is not the right way to view the ramifications of the Gay Marriage Bill. It is primarily a symbolic gesture, and as such we can see responses to the Bill as symbolic of attitudes towards homosexuality in the UK. In perhaps the most selfless and masochistic act I have ever undertaken, I decided to watch the two minute and 43 second-long interview with Tory MP Sir Roger Gale on the BBC, regarding his views on the passing of the Bill.

With his eighteenth century opinions quite congruent with his eighteenth century appearance, no bright young buck is old Roger. He describes how “there are a huge

A poster in support of the number of people very concerned indeed” about the Bill and somehow suggests that gay marriage features on the same stratum as incest.

He suggests an abolition of the Same-Sex Marriage Bill which would be replaced with a vague ‘Civil Union’ bill of some kind which would allow everyone ‘currently excluded’ to be joined in a civil union, such as gay people and

tually ‘to do with property and legal rights.’ Sorry? What does that even mean? Oh yes, because the idea that two people of the same sex should be able to marry because they love each other is exactly the same as a brother and sister marrying for some ambiguous ‘property rights’, presumably rights for a property in which they can breed and raise their gene-deficient, mutant spawn.

When we look at the amount of opposition the Same-Sex Marriage Bill has, we uncover in the House of Commons a microcosm of a very antihomosexual- in fact, homophobic, feeling

The results of the Gay Marriage Bill are announced at the House of Commons

brothers and sisters, and therefore presumably humans and animals, because these are all certainly part of the same issue.

He insists that this would begin to satisfy the opponents but, realising that he has just likened homosexual matrimony to incest, Gale quickly tries to backtrack on this, saying that this type of union is ac-

What really struck me about this, is that one of the main arguments against the Gay Marriage Bill is that it would set a ‘dangerous’ precedent. If the gays were allowed to marry, then it would pave the way for incestuous marriages, marriages of bestiality, marriages to inanimate objects, and so on.

While this argument is obviously

YORK VISION

FEATURES

Tuesday February 19, 2013

21

BATTLE CONTINUES

iage in the UK, and how we still have a long way to go to equality. their homosexuality ‘in their face’ and will respond with violence, while it is quite alright for two sweaty heterosexual people to dryhump each other furiously on a sofa in the corner of a club without fear of reprisal, then we are still a long way from acceptance.

There is more to equality than just passing legislation; feelings and attitudes need to change before real progress can be made.

Anti-homosexuality is not always direct and obvious as it is in the case of the Same-Sex Marriage Bill; the lethal strain of ignorance about homosexuality has spread even to the NHS. Incredibly, gay men are still not allowed to give blood, and there seems to be no evidence of this changing any time soon.

Last time I checked, my blood wasn’t poisonous black sludge and as far as I’m aware nor is the blood of most gay men and so, with blood stocks so critically low, can the NHS really afford to be alienating an expanding sector of the male population?

Of course, the NHS’s reasoning for this is, predictably, that gay men have a tendency to be riddled with the dreaded AIDS, an association which has been brought up with gay men so much that it’s almost a joke.

Yes, Freddie Mercury died of AIDS, and it was all very sad, but Mercury was a rock god and therefore, unsurprisingly, he was extremely reckless. To most gay men, contraception may not be particularly ‘rock-and-roll’, but most are able to hold in check their un-

e gay marriage movement filled with so many flaws that I would need an entire separate article to adequately name and unpick them in, Gale’s proposed ‘Civil Union Bill’ would actually legalise the very unions that he and the Bill’s religious opponents claim to fear so much, all in aid of protecting the semantics of the word ‘marriage’.

It is quite obvious, then, that the issue here is not that gay marriages would devalue marriage and set this precedent, but rather that opponents to the Bill such as Gale, who would use this argument are using it instead as a transparent veil to cover the fact that they just plain don’t like gays.

When we look at the amount of opposition the Bill has, we uncover in the House of Commons a microcosm of a very anti-homosexual, in fact, homophobic feeling that, if we are honest with ourselves, is not so difficult to find in the ‘real world’ outside of the Commons.

There is no doubt that homosexuality has become far more widely accepted in the past decade or so, especially among the younger genera-

tion, and tolerated among the older generation. I say ‘tolerated’, as ‘accepted’ suggests that something is considered a part of the norm and therefore where one wishes to place their genitals no longer matters to anyone, which is certainly not the case with the older generation currently.

This may be a generalisation, but it is a generalisation with basis.

Acceptance can never replace tolerance until, to be blunt, the older generation die out and the excuse “It was just how I was brought up”, that is often used as an ‘explanation’ for someone’s homophobia, no longer holds currency.

That is not to say that homosexuality is entirely accepted within my generation- I myself am no stranger to homophobic verbal abuse, and several of my gay friends have experienced homophobic violence for things as harmless and unobtrusive as holding hands in public.

When two people who love each other cannot hold hands because a homophobe deems it as ‘shoving’

bridled animal urges that strike whenever another gay man comes in close proximity just long enough to realise that they should probably put on a condom.

Incredibly, being gay is not actually a pre-requisite for contracting AIDS, one contracts it from unprotected sex, not by having an affinity for the same sex’s genitalia. The AIDS scare of the 80s and 90s died out a long time ago in the UK, yet for some reason the gay community

lar society is beyond me. I am not an anti-theist at all, but the notion that conservative religious views condemning gay marriage should still be considered to carry more currency than that of gay people, and those who are pro-gay rights is quite frankly insane.

What I shall further never be able to understand, is why anyone should discriminate against someone based on who they decide to have sex with or even marry. It af-

This ‘rapid stride’ towards equality has rather degenerated into more of a slow and palsied crawl, and there is certainly no shortage of volunteers who would quite cheerfully kick us while we’re down there. is still feeling the residual effects of this in the form of the NHS’s ludicrous and, quite frankly, backwards policy.

I may have began this article saying that the legalisation of the Same-Sex Marriage Bill was a long time coming, but unfortunately anti-homosexual feeling both inside the House of Commons, and outside in the collective consciousness of the British people and even in institutions such as the NHS, is an even longer time going.

It has taken eight years to reach the point of so-called marriage equality, which only came when the government finally began to realise that the gays couldn’t be bought off indefinitely with the compromise of the Civil Partnership Act. Why we aren’t yet a non-secu-

fects them in literally no way at all.

I mean honestly, what are the consequences of allowing gay people to get married?

I’m fairly confident we’re not all going to degenerate into pigshagging Satanists or spread a plague across the country, let alone ‘devalue marriage’, so why is the need felt to impose outdated views somewhere where they are neither needed nor wanted.

The Same-Sex Marriage Bill is not even out of the proverbial woods yet, as it comes to face the House of Lords shortly.

Luckily for the gay community, however, those with seats in the House of Lords have a reputation for being enlightened and forwardthinking liberals, so there should be nothing to worry about!

Religious anti-gay protestors demonstrating against gay marriage

22 FEATURES

YORK VISION

BLIND INSPIRATION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

DAVE WASHINGTON interviews Mohamed Khatri, a blind student undertaking a huge challenge.

O

n 5th September Mahomed Khatri will be amongst a party of York students embarking upon the significant challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Ascending almost six thousand metres is a colossal test in itself, but 22 year old Mahomed faces the added difficulty of being blind. The ascent to the 5,885m peak of Kibo, the highest point on Kilimanjaro, will test Mahomed’s courage, fitness and both his mental and physical strength.

However, it is all for a good cause, since Mahomed is raising money for Hope for Children, a charity which helps to cater for underprivileged children in Africa, Asia and Europe.

Mahomed told me: “I was initially hoping to raise money for guide dogs, but unfortunately that wasn’t on the list of charities we could represent. I’m happy though to help Hope for Children, and the money is for a really good cause. It will help children in Africa by giving them food, water, medical supplies and an education. I can relate to that, I’ve got family who live in Africa and I’ve been to India and seen how poor some people are, so I thought why not do something that can help them and at the same time have an experience of a lifetime.”

When you read the description on Mahomed’s donation page (www.hopeheroes.org/khatri), you realise both the enormity of the challenge that Mahomed is facing and, more importantly, how inspirational a man he truly is.

His page reads: ‘Walking over 50KM through inhospitable terrain... Extreme weather conditions from 30C to -25C in a matter of hours... Climbing Africa’s biggest mountain is not for the weak hearted... Now try doing it with your eyes closed! Scary? You can

count on that. Being blind is not easy. However I will not let my disability stop me climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro this September.’

Mahomed, who studied PPE during his undergraduate years here at York and is currently completing a Masters in philosophy, lost his sight when he was 16.

When asked about how problems with his sight arose he responded: “I lost my sight through numerous retinal detachments, starting from when I was eight or nine, and it slowly got worse until I eventually had no sight by the age of 16. It took a while to get used to and I’m still learning to cope with it today.

Every day you find something different, something that you don’t expect which can throw you. But I’ve got some good friends around me and family, so that’s always useful.”

It is no surprise that the Guide Dogs charity is so close to Mahomed’s heart when you see his beautiful dog Vargo, a seven year old Labrador cross Golden Retriever.

Vargo has helped to change Mahomed’s life for the better and he told me: “Having Vargo gives me a level of independence, so I can go to seminars or classes by myself, or go back home to Leicester myself.

Anyone can go to the places they know, but with the dog you’ve got the added advantage of being able to explore unexplored places”.

Sadly though, Vargo won’t be accompanying Mahomed on his journey to Tanzania, Mahomed commented: “I just don’t want to be the first person in the world who leaves a dog turd on the summit of Kilimanjaro.”

The whole challenge, which lasts from 5th-23rd September, and incorporates six days of climbing, simply came about by picking up a RAG calendar, and quickly Mahomed was inspired to climb Kili-

Photo: Jack Western

Mohamed Khatri is the inspirational blind student who will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for charity manjaro this September.

In his words, “I looked at it and thought it’s something different and I don’t know anyone else who’s done it. Here you go with the university, it’s a bit of an adventure and you have the fun of raising money; I might never get an opportunity like this again.

“I contemplated it for a couple of months and finally decided in January that I was going to do it.

I just thought that for once being blind I could do something by myself, and I reckon that it would be a big step towards gaining confidence.”

Indeed Mahomed is an extraordinary individual. As well as taking on this enormous challenge, he is a keen sportsman, who has represented England’s blind crick-

Kibo, the highest point of Mount Kilimanjaro, is a staggering 5,885m above sea level

et team and plays for Leicester blind football club. His story is one of how he has refused to allow his disability to hold him back, and hopefully it will serve to inspire others. “I want to show people who’ve got a disability that it’s not going to stop you doing something, if you want to do it.

“I wouldn’t have got this far without doing the initial things.

You’ve got to start somewhere, even if it’s something little such as using your cane for the first time or going to the shops. It’s about

ing the fundraising target. We’re required to raise £2650, and so far I’ve only raised a fraction of that.

I’d love people to donate, because at the end of the day it doesn’t have to stop at £2650, that’s the minimum, everything we raise will all go towards a good cause.

“After the trip I’ll be going to the actual village in Kenya or Tanzania where the money has gone, to see how it has helped. It’ll be an experience.”

An experience it will be most certainly be, and one that Maho-

“I just don’t want to be the first person in the world who leaves a dog turd on the summit of Kilimanjaro” little steps, and you eventually achieve something bigger. Nothing is impossible as long as you realise that there’s always someone that will help you, and it could come from the most unexpected place.

There are loads of charities and networks at universities, schools, colleges, job centres and if you really want to do something, you’ll find a way of doing it.”

It is that attitude and determination, which stands Mahomed in strong stead ahead of his test in September and will help him to overcome any tribulations on his journey up Kilimanjaro.

When I enquired as to what he thought would be his greatest challenge he answered: “I’m probably still underestimating how hard it will be. I don’t know whether it will be the amount of walking we do, the incline, the altitude or whether I’ll be able to do it quite easily. I guess I’m only going to find out when I get there.

“The only thing that I’m a little bit concerned about at the moment, and focusing upon, is meet-

med and all of those who make the trip to Tanzania will not forget.

Mahomed truly is an inspirational figure, proving that you really can achieve anything if you have the right attitude.

When I asked him if he’d done anything like this before, he amusingly replied: “Well I’ve walked up to Heslington East once before, there’s a bit of a hill there. I guess the hardest part will be the vertical bits, but at least it’ll make me walk the dog more.”

In the future Mahomed desires to become a teacher, and has applied for a PGCE and is currently waiting for a response. Before all of that he has his masters to complete, and then of course the mere task of climbing one of the most formidable mountains on the planet.

If you want to help Mahomed and his charity, Hope for Children, then you can make a donation to this wonderful and inspirational cause until the end of August at: www.hopeheroes.org/khatri

YORK VISION

LIFESTYLE

Tuesday February 19, 2013

LIFESTYLE

FEBRUARY HITLIST

Francesca Martin shares key pieces to update your Spring wardrobe

FINAL TOU CH :

1

OFF DUTY UPDATE: THE BOMBER JACKET

C AD P I

A SE

2

POP-ART PARTY

3

4

THE FUNGLASSES

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Illamasqua, £14.50

ASOS, £18, £12, £15

YE A SN R O AK F T E S HE KIN Zara, £59.99

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6

DO THE BRIGHT THING

7 COMING TO A SCRUNCH

Zara, £39.99

10 STRIPE UP

5

SPECKLED NAILS

Topshop, £58

Motel, £38

Topshop, £18

Marc Jacobs, £40

Topshop, £29

River Island, £40

THE MIDI BLACK DRESS

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24 LIFESTYLE

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

bokwa buzz Rachel Thompson tries out the latest fitness craze sweeping the country...

Y

ou may have heard of Zumba, it seems all gym bunnies are at it these days, but have you ever tried Bokwa fitness? All you fitness gurus, new year resolution enthusiasts and those amongst us who think exercise is just too tedious and dull, here is a new fitness class to get you inspired again. It’s a new dance fitness craze that is storming across the pond, so must be worth a try.

I bet you’re wondering what the class entails. The exercise combines cardio conditioning, strength training and flexibility.

So, in simple terms, one class combines a run, a gym weight session and yoga, three for the price of one in my opinion. The class also has the fun factor, incorporating customary African dance moves - so after a session, you can bring some newly learnt moves to The Duchess on Phat Fridays!

The music in the sessions is energetic and upbeat, including Latin, African, House and Dance. The class’s name comes from

the combination of light boxing ‘Bo’ and traditional Kwaito dancing ‘Kwa’.

I personally love fitness classes. I think they’re a great way to stay healthy and are far more sociable than a cross trainer. However, my coordination levels are nonexistent which, in most exercise class situations, can be problematic. However, my coordination issues are not really an issue with Bokwa Fitness, as steps have been specially designed using numbers, letters and words.

It might be a physically challenging workout, but it can be adjusted to meet the fitness levels of anyone. A certified fitness instructor and dancer, Paul Mavi, created Bokwa Fitness in 2000. Mavi claims “The magic of it all is something called click-click. Click-click is a two-step that you do that actually changes in the next step or

move forward. It allows you to know where you’re going.”

Fortunately for us, Bokwa Fitness is not an A- list or personal instructor exclusive new fitness craze. And it doesn’t just happen in your local gym either: sessions have been conducted on beaches (as some rather hilarious YouTube videos can testify), and a Bokwa DVD will soon be available to purchase.

Instead of reading about this new class here, I’d recommend putting this paper down, getting on to Google, searching for your local Bokwa class and joining the body toning brigade.

You can feel the energy in the classes just by watching. Bokwa is definitely a lean, mean, exercise routine, and you’ll be dancing yourself into shape in no time at all.

HAIR BOW HYPE

Ella Boner shows you to how to give your hair a twist this February...

Fancy trying something new with your look? Bows aren’t limited just to clothing. The hair bow is a quirky and feminine style inspired by Kawaii culture in Japan and loved by celebrities such as Lady GaGa, who sported the bow in her ‘Poker Face’ music video. It is also surprisingly simple to achieve.

The following steps will show you how to create this eye-catching look...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Straight hair works best for this style. If your hair has a natural curl, straightening it beforehand will help for the finished product to look neat and polished.

Tie your hair onto the top of your head, pulling it half way through the last twist of the hair-tie, creating a loop. The little tail of hair left out of the loop should ideally be at the front, rather than behind, by your neck.

Secure this tail to the top of your head with a kirby grip, near to the base of your hairtie. This will later be used to create the middle of the bow Next, split your loop in half, ensuring each side is equal. Pin the base of the halves to the side of your bobble.

Next, pull the tail back between the two halves. You should be able to see the structure of your bow now. Fasten it with another few clips to the back of the bow, tucking away any loose hairs.

Lastly, some neatening up will be necessary. Making sure your bow doesn’t have too many flyaway hairs (a little hairspray on the ends of your fingers can solve this) will create the finishing touches.

Step back and enjoy your new, Japanese inspired look!

Paul Mavi, creator of Bokwa Fitness

LIFESTYLE

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

The

Hangover

Aid:

The

Healthy

Option:

English Breakfast (Serves 1) Feeling downright terrible after the night out? Along with drinking plenty of water, the best way to replenish your health and get rid of your horrible hangover is to enjoy a good hearty breakfast, however hard it may seem to stomach.

Tropical Fruit Salad with Greek Yoghurt (Serves 10+) This fresh fruit salad can easily be made in advance, and then you can help yourself to a portion each morning. Use whatever fruits take your fancy, but here’s a pick of my favourites.

2 Rashers of Bacon (50p) 1 Free Range Egg (23p) 50g Mushrooms (30p) 100g Baked beans (20p) 2 slices of Wholegrain bread (18p) A Tomato (17p) Twinings Peppermint Teabag (6p)

1 Avocado (£1) 1 Kiwi (35p) 1 Mango (£1.50) 1 Lemon (30p) 1 Lime (30p) 1 Papaya (£1.50) 1 Pineapple (£1) 500ml Tropical Fruit Juice (70p) 500g Greek Yoghurt (£1) Glass of skimmed/semi-skimmed milk

1) First of all, I’m hoping that everyone actually knows how to make an English breakfast, so this should be irrelevant!

2) Grill your bacon (it’s healthier) and grill the tomato.

3) Cook your egg as you choose: fried, poached, scrambled - whatever you can stomach with your splitting headache and possible nausea.

4) Fry your mushrooms, heat up your beans, put your toast in the toaster or under the grill, and boil the kettle for your tea. It’s that easy.

How does it work?

Eggs and tomatoes provide you with glutathione, which helps counter the toxin causing your hangover and mushrooms provide you with selenium and vitamin B, which aid the liver in the detoxification process. Added to that, the carbohydrates from the bread will give you the energy for the day of lectures ahead. Finally, the peppermint tea helps to relieve the feeling of bloating, and the bacon will not only replenish your depleted salt levels, but also tastes good after a heavy night.

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1) Peel and chop the avocado, kiwi, mango, papaya, and pineapple, removing any seeds or stones where necessary.

2) Grate the rind of the lemon and lime onto a plate, and extract as much juice as possible from them.

3) Pour the fruit juice into a large container, and add the lemon and lime juice.

Throw in all of the chopped fruit and stir together.

4) Add the grated lemon and lime rind to the Greek Yoghurt to enhance the flavour.

5) Serve a portion of the fruit salad with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt.

Why is it healthy?

Fresh fruit contains a multitude of different vitamins and minerals, which will be beneficial for your eyes, skin and body as a whole. Consuming this first thing in the morning is a perfect way to start the day, and help you on your way to your five-a- day. The glass of milk meanwhile will provide you with an effective form of protein and calcium for strong bones and teeth, and since it is semi skimmed or skimmed it will be lower in fat.

Breakfast

Time

Dave Washington cooks up some delicious reasons to never skip breakfast again...

The

Bright

Start:

American Pancakes (Serves 3-4) A perfect way to start the morning is by indulging in some delicious American pancakes, topped with whatever tickles your fancy. Cheap, tasty, and easy to make: three brilliant reasons to treat yourself to a beautiful breakfast.

135g Plain Flour (10p) 1 tsp Baking powder (n/a) ½ tsp Salt (n/a) 2 tbsp Caster Sugar (5p) 130ml Milk (15p) 1 Large Egg (30p) 30g Butter (18p) 1) Melt the butter in a pan, and meanwhile sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a mixing bowl, and stir together.

2) In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg, add the milk and then gently whisk together, before whisking in the melted butter.

3) Combine the contents of the two bowls and stir together with a fork until the mixture resembles a smooth batter. Leave to stand for a few minutes.

4) Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add a little butter. When it’s melted, add a ladle of batter.

5)Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm thick.

6) Repeat until you’ve used up all the batter and then serve.

What to serve them with?

This is where you can be creative, and it’s really down to you and your personal preferences. The traditional accompaniment is a drizzle of maple syrup or honey, but you can alternatively serve with jam. Another appealing option is to serve it warm with some fresh berries, a delicious combination which can provide you with one of your five-a-day. If you fancy something heartier, then you can always serve them with crispy bacon, or if you’re feeling more upmarket, then how about cream cheese and smoked salmon? The beauty is that it’s up to you.

The

Posh

Nosh:

Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon (Serves 2-4) Sometimes you have to spoil yourself or someone else, and this is definitely the breakfast or brunch for a special occasion. Much more upmarket than your normal bowl of cereal, this is a perfect way to treat a loved one to breakfast in bed.

4 Eggs (92p) 2 tbsp White wine vinegar (9p) 2 English muffins (40p) A little butter for spreading (n/a) 100g of Smoked salmon slices (£3.69) Chopped chives (10p) To make Hollandaise sauce: 2 tsp Lemon juice (2p) 2 tsp White wine vinegar (3p) 3 Egg yolks (69p) 125g Unsalted butter (75p) 1) Start off by making the Hollandaise sauce. Put the lemon juice, vinegar, and egg yolks in a bowl and whish together until light and frothy.

2) Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and continue to whisk. Dice and then add the butter gradually, season and whisk until thickened.

3) Boil a pan of water and then add the vinegar. Lower the heat until the water is simmering gently, then stir until you have a small whirlpool. Add the eggs and poach for about four minutes.

4) Halve the muffins and lightly toast before buttering. Place a couple of slices of smoked salmon on each half, and top with a poached egg. Spoon over the Hollandaise and then sprinkle with the chopped chives.

Why go to the effort?

The question is whether I’m giving culinary or relationship advice. In culinary terms, this is quite simply a tasty breakfast made from fine ingredients, which will hand you a perfect start to the morning. It may seem like a lot of effort, but if you’re making it for a loved one, then it’s time to spoil them. This is a breakfast which is perfect for birthdays, anniversaries or any other special time of the year.

26 LIFESTYLE The moment my grandmother hobbles into a shared location...

Kealey's...

I

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

BLIND DATE

s n o i s Tom Armston-Clarke flutters in with his bow and onfes

C

decided to get out of York for a few days, escape the depression vortex of finals and a year group that has MASS PANIC emblazoned in their expressions, and enter into Real People World.

In this brighter space, where people pay for central heating and can afford meat, the worst thing that can happen to you is being asked about next year...

This morning however, I was working on an essay, (I was actually thinking about Call the Midwife and wondering if I should become a nun so I can avoid living at home), when my mum morphed temporarily, refused to help my Grandmother get dressed, and decided it was my turn to do it.

Getting semi-immobile people dressed is unbelievably complicated. Every limb needs a different number of supporting tourniquet/ bandage/strappy lace up thingy bobs, to be raised above the head, supported by arms and fingers you don’t have, and eased over swellings with these weird blue bags the NHS give you, that smell like fisherman’s waders.

Half an hour later she was dressed, and happily explaining how her failed lymph nodes and leaky cellulose dissolve various parts of her body. We had some lovely elderly-relative-bonding when suddenly she turned. “How’s the boy Helena?” I told her he was fine, employed (the bastard) and generally fine. Fine. Please don’t ask me any more questions. “I’ve been thinking”, she continued, “If you get married, I’ll buy your wedding dress. And if you don’t get married, I’ll buy you a horse.”

“You’ll buy me a horse?”

“Yes. A horse. Or a leg of a horse. I don’t know if I can afford a whole horse. I don’t want to put you under any pressure to be married you see.”

“Oh right, I see. Thanks Gran.

That’s really nice.”

“Because you see, I’ve been thinking, what are you going to do next year?”

“I’m not sure Nan. Try to get internships. Make a lot of coffee.

Panic, panic, turn into my mother.”

There’s a small silence. My grandmother looks disappointed, “Because, Helena, I have a friend whose daughter didn’t get employed OR married when she left university.

“I think she could really do with a horse. I could set the two of you up. You could have horses together.”

“Yes. Thanks Gran. I don’t really want to get married for some time.” At this point, I began sweating.

I didn’t really know what to say, so in the end I finished the conversation with, “I have to tell you Gran. I’ve decided, I’m going to become a nun.” And left for York.

arrow to matchmake...

History student Heather and Economics student Nish!

I

t appears that couples are all around me, and I swear if I see one more ‘so-and-so is in a relationship’ on Facebook, I will book the next flight to America and frape Mark Zuckerberg (okay, maybe not). The Yorkshire weather is depressing enough without the post-Valentines day blues. In order to try and spread some joy, through the medium of Vision and with the help of the Rose and Crown I brought two individuals together to hopefully become one... It was a cold Friday night but I had high hopes that there could be love between these two students. Let’s see what happened when wannabe-BNOC and first team hockey player Nish Selvakumar and History student Heather Gregg met for some pub grub.

Heather on Nish...

Nish on Heather...

Hopes and fears before the date?

I didn’t really have any hopes or fears, it was all for fun really.

Hopes and fears before the date?

I had no hopes or fears.

What did you chat about?

My date was very nervous. Due to the awkwardness we struggled to find something to talk about, we didn’t have anything in common at all really.

What did you chat about?

The courses we do and our interests. I was there so thought I may as well enjoy the food as well.

Their best feature?

His best feature is that I copied what he chose on the menu. It was a good choice of his.

Their worst feature?

The lack of conversational skills and his distraction although that could have been due to nerves and the awkwardness.

Their best feature?

She was a good listener.

Tell me something interesting about Nish you found out at the blind date?

He plays hockey, not a sport I expected him to play.

Tell me something interesting about Heather you found out at the blind date?

She has a pet giraffe called Reginald.

Have you stalked him on Facebook since? If not, why?

No, that would just be weird.

Have you stalked her on Facebook since? If not, why?

No, my list is long enough as it is. I’m only kidding - no I don’t Facebook stalk girls.

Would you go on a blind date again?

Maybe in the future, but for now I want to concentrate more on my studies.

Would you go on a blind date again?

Depends. I’m waiting to get an answer from Megan Fox about a date. Fingers crossed, eh boys.

Do you think real love exists?

If it exists, I congratulate the people who have found it. I believe a true love is someone who can make you laugh and smile while at the same time drive you crazy!

Do you think real love exists?

Yes, My favourite film is The Notebook so I hope so, but since the housing market has gone through the roof (eh boys) and the recession I don’t think I will be able to buy a house and paint it anytime soon!

Do you think they would be good in bed?

The way the date went, it never would have gone down that route.

Would you meet them again?

No.

Their worst feature?

Her lack of sporting knowledge.

Do you think they would be good in bed?

Probably not.

Would you meet them again?

No.

If you had to describe them in three words what you say?

A bit arrogant... erm, short? And as the locals described him when he left before me in the pub as “a bit of a dick.”

On a scale of one to scrummy, how scrummy was the food?

Quite scrummy, I would definitely eat there again.

Do you think they wear dirty underwear or go commando if they run out of clean ones?

Probably commando, he seemed like that type of lad.

If you had to describe them in three words what you say?

Different to me.

On a scale of one to scrummy, how scrummy was the food?

I was really hungry, so it was quite good.

Do you think they wear dirty underwear or go commando if they run out of clean ones?

Definitely commando.

It turns out that I am not only very bad at finding love for myself, but I am also very bad at matchmaking. Maybe I should have stuck to being a chef...

Blind Date is kindly sponsored by

The Rose & Crown Pub and Restaurant

on Lawrence Street.

If you or a friend would like to participate, enjoy a free meal and the chance to find true love, please email your name, year of study and course to:

lifestyle@yorkvision.co.uk

YORK VISION

LIFESTYLE

Tuesday February 19, 2013

27

DUBLIN UP Edward Shannon gives his guide to a student friendly getaway...

W

hen you think of a student holiday, then the likes of Kavos and Ibiza spring to mind. Think again. For those of you who are not stereotyped caricatures, Dublin is a great place to explore.

Situated on roughly the same latitude as Liverpool and Manchester, Dublin is not a place to visit for the weather, but it is worth making the trip for the people, nightlife and scenery. With the Guinness factory, Trinity College and a thriving nightlife boasting a great mix of locals and tourists, Dublin is certainly well worth a visit.

is the Guinness factory. Costing a mere £13 for students, and situated within an easy, short walk of the city centre, there is no excuse not to visit. For £13 you not only get to see the evolution of the brewing of Guinness, but also you get a free pint of it in the Gravity Bar. The Gravity Bar hosts the best views of Dublin, with sights that include Croke Park, Trinity College and the rest of Dublin. What better way can there be to sit back, relax and take in the best views Dublin has to offer, than with a pint of the best Guinness in hand.

Guinness is ubiquitous. It is not too far off the mark to say that it is the blood coursing through Dublin. Doctors for many, many years prescribed Guinness for ailments such as influenza, insomnia and lethargy.

It’s from this that the advertisement campaign, Guinness it’s “Good for You”, arises.

However, it is nothing like the porridge sludge we drink here. It’s smooth, the colour a sort of reddish black and it goes down easier than Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s moreish nature perhaps explains the gaiety and jolliness of the Irish, who are a friendly people, as long as you resist the impulse to imitate an Irish accent.

However, once the free pint had been emptied, I would suggest moving on to other bars, since the pints of Guinness in the Gravity Bar are quite expensive. For this there is Temple Bar. This area is one of the prime hot spots for a night out. Although again, pre-drinks is a must in Dublin as most drinks are quite pricey, with a pint of Guinness ranging from five to seven pounds, and a spirit and mixer around seven to nine. Temple Bar is a great place to have a few drinks though, before you move onto the nightclubs. Most bars are pretty good, and there are plenty of sale reps on the street dishing out deals.

With this in mind, no trip to Dublin can be complete without a trip to the church that

Once you are suitably steaming, the place to move onto is Harcourt Street, which con-

tains the best nightclubs.

I recomm e n d Copper Jacks, although all seem pretty good. Do not be put off by the entrance prices, despite costing roughly a tenner, it is well worth the money. In spite of the generic club music, which you have to expect in nightclubs, there is a great atmosphere inside, with the Irish really knowing how to party. One of the particular Irish quirks is the extent to which the partying continues beyond those who are in their twenties, with there being nightclubs dedicated to only those aged thirty and over.

Ireland really does offer it all for those of varying tastes.

Hungover, and with little money left, I would suggest visiting Trinity College campus, situated near the centre of Dublin. It’s like falling into the set of a Harry Potter movie, since there are magnificent buildings of great architectural beauty.

There’s nothing quite like gawping at beauty to banish the remnants of the previous night’s excursions. If you are feeling really sick I would not suggest going however, since they take the maintenance of their lawns very seriously...

So, when looking at student holiday destinations, do not be a sheep and choose the obvious places.

Dublin is the place to go.

ManCrushes : A Confession Dom McKinnon-Green considers the complexities of the platonic crush...

A

particular highlight of my brief sojourn to France last September, was the sight of Barcelona centreback and all-round-hero Gerard Piqué’s sock-less adornment on the back of a Parisian bus. Upon voicing my view that he is fantastically skilled in nigh on every avenue of existence, I was promptly reprimanded for expressing my admiration of the man, and have been a number of times in the past for similar such offences. I mean, World XI three years running, fathering a child with Shakira, that beard...I need not continue for fear of restraining orders. And yet I find myself not alone in this (entirely platonic may I add) hero-worship of another similarly heterosexual man.

Urban Dictionary defines a man crush as “when a straight man has a ‘crush’ on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him”. These crushes vary from aspiring to emulate the man’s achievements, being in awe of his talent, to

irrationally wanting him in any, and every possible, non-sexual way. Have you ever experienced this phenomenon? Have you ever craved the attentions and affections of another man, or developed a passion based on a man’s ability to play guitar, or their sweet right foot? Well, my fellow gentlemen, you are not alone.

Tom Hardy, Ryan Reynolds, Emile Heskey, Simon Cowell, this appeal needs not be purely based on looks. DJ Christian O’Connell admitted in 2008 to having had an intense man crush on Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling, to the extent that Stelling’s dulcet tones recounting the football scores left him “giggling like a teenage schoolgirl”. Stelling is an esteemed man and a national treasure, but upon his own admission he isn’t exactly Bradley Cooper. Similarly to more conventional crushes, of which there are a degree of more quirky ones, (Alan Rickman springs to mind) man crushes come in all shapes and sizes. Upon quizzing my housemate on

any of his potentially idolised figures, the owl-like figure of David Mitchell appeared as an early contender. And what a man he is. The sexual orientation of the mancrush-interest is also totally irrelevant, and why should it matter anyway?

The growth of the social acceptability of the man crush is a relatively recent breakthrough. The word ‘bromance’ was only first termed in the 1990s by skating magazine Big Brother’s editor Dave Carnie, in reference to the intimate homosocial bonds shared between skating buddies. Even more recently, the ‘brocomedy’ genre, spearheaded by the Judd Apatow generation of films, has made it positively fashionable for bros to get their guy-love on. Films such as I Love You, Man and Anchorman have made it even more acceptable to embrace this love that previously dared not speak its name.

Not that buddy comedy is anything new; comedic double acts such as Laurel and Hardy, Morecambe and Wise, and even Fry

and Laurie clearly show a long-standing pedigree, but this slightly obsessive dimension is new.

Heck, even my own father, upon recently watching Norwegian thriller film Headhunters admitted that Nikolaj CosterWaldau was an absurdly beautiful man, and he’d happily let the man take him out for dinner. That my own father, no less a man than any other, would openly and casually admit a pseudo-disturbing attraction to this Danish actor, goes to show quite how far the man crush has come. In his defence, Nikolaj is a handsome man, and a very good actor too.

Quite honestly, men want to be everything their man crushes are. They are our ambitions, our hopes and our dreams, incarnate. We can’t actually be them, we don’t actually want to be with them, but we still want them in our lives. In loving these men, we admit our inferiority to them, and yet we still don’t mind.

28 LIFESTYLE

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

Pop the Question Georgina Strapp asks the questions that you can’t...

Girls ask Guys :

Guys ask Girls :

Q) What do you think of a girl making the first move?

Q) Do you actually care about the state of our bikini line?

Q) Do you tell us the real number of people you have slept with?

Q) Do you actually find balls attractive? If so how and why?

Second year Derwent Biology student: A) I appreciate girls ‘making the move’ as this is an indicator of strong will and determination. It shows the girl is gutsy which is attractive.

Third year Langwith English student: A) Obviously it’s nicer if it’s neater, but a full Hollywood isn’t necessary and I suppose at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter that much.

Second year Vanbrugh Philosophy student: A) It depends, if I want to sleep with them I’ll say less than the real number, but if I want to sound more like a lad I’ll increase it a bit.

Second year Vanbrugh English student: A) They are less attractive, more oddly fascinating, hypnotically swinging like a pendulum in the breeze. I just can’t help myself. Is that weird?

Third year Alcuin English student: A) Girls making the first move? Brilliant.

I’m all for equality, and it only seems fair that both teams get to bat.

Second year Derwent History student: A) I’m not that bothered by it, it’ll take more than a bit of hair to put me off the eventual objective.

Second year Halifax English student: A) Yes always, it’s important to be honest with people so you’ll always know where you stand.

Second year Goodricke History student: A) No, they are soft, squishy, hairy and round, too weird a combination.

First year Vanbrugh Management student: A) It puts you on the spot a bit and can be awkward but if you find the person attractive there’s no need for it to be.

Second year James Economics student: A) I can just about cope with a bit of hair if its very well trimmed or groomed: for example a nice landing strip, but otherwise, its got to be all off. I keep myself tidy.

First year Derwent English/Politics student: A) I always have been honest, but then no one has asked me since my number was a lot lower so as much as I’d like to think I’d still be honest I’m not totally sure.”

Fourth year Derwent Politics student: A) Well... no in the sense that it isn’t something I would judge a guy’s looks by, and I don’t think of them as something attractive, but when you’re at that stage it’s not really an issue is it?

FUNNY WOMEN Zena Jarjis laughs in the face of gender stereotyped humour...

A

few years ago, Christopher Hitchens wrote a ridiculous, misinformed article for Vanity Fair magazine entitled ‘Why Women Aren’t Funny’. He explains to his readers that men only need to be funny to impress women, whereas all women are attractive enough to not have to be able to make people laugh. He also says that humour is a sign of intelligence but that, in order to attract a man, women have been taught by their mothers to not appear too clever.

Hitchens isn’t the only man to make the sweeping declaration that no women are funny. Jerry Lewis has also spoken about this apparent major weakness of an entire gender, and online blog AskMen wrote a similar article more recently claiming that humour is “just another area where men win”. The article cited a study by the University of Mexico, which concluded that “humour ability” is higher in men than it is women. The test separated 200 men from 200 women, and gave them a cartoon-caption task to complete. The participants had to write as many funny captions as they could for 10 minutes, and were then graded anonymously by the judges.

Why do so many men seem to think that it’s impossible for women to be funny? Why, with women like Tina Fey, Miranda Hart, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Lena Dunham, Sarah Millican, Kelly Oxford and Ju-

lia Luis-Dreyfus out there, is a stereotype like this even being discussed?

Maybe certain women, such as Tina Fey, are seen as representing all female comedians. If someone doesn’t like these supposedly representative women, they will conclude that by association, no women can be funny. Every time the ‘can women be funny?’ issue is debated, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Rachel Dratch are used as examples. You would be forgiven for thinking that all funny women work on Saturday Night Live. Admittedly, I personally love Fey, Poehler and Dratch and find them all hilarious, but so many of my friends simply don’t find them funny, no matter how many episodes of 30 Rock I show them.

Most of my friends prefer Miranda, who, despite the success of her television show, has never been one of the women constantly held out to us as an example of a talented female comedian when this debate arises.

Or perhaps women have only recently begun to be perceived as funny. Hitchens’s article was written in 2007, before the release of Bridesmaids, a film praised for the hilarity of it’s mostly female cast, and before Miranda started airing. However, Lucille Ball was around long before Christopher Hitchens even started writing, and there’s no doubt that she managed to make people laugh. Speaking to Vogue, Lena Dunham says that “I feel like every few years there’s

some big announcement that women are funny. I don’t feel like it’s a news item! And I’m always like, ‘this is not shocking to me!’” Funny women have been in the media spotlight for years. Why is this issue still being discussed?

Maybe it’s simply the fact that men and women just find different things funny. In her book Humour’s Hidden Power: Weapon, Shield and Psychological Salve, Nichole Force wrote that “while women tend to share humorous stories and take a narrative approach, men more commonly use

one-liners and engage in slapstick.” In her book, Bossypants, Tina Fey writes in response to men who claim that women can’t be funny that “it is an impressively arrogant move to conclude that just because you don’t like something, it is empirically not good. I don’t like Chinese food, but I don’t write articles trying to prove it doesn’t exist.” So perhaps the men writing the articles dismissing female humour, are simply expressing an opinion which only applies to one gender.

But, to claim that men and women have completely different senses of humour would be to stereotype. There are plenty of men who women find funny, like Russell Howard, and there are plenty of men who other men don’t find funny- most people who have tried to sit through an episode of Two and a Half Men will be able to tell you that. Similarly, there are plenty of ‘girly’ things which men laugh at, such as Mean Girls, a film starring and written by mostly women which was incredibly well-received by critics, many of whom were male.

Sweeping generalisations cannot be made about either gender’s sense of humour, there are plenty of things which people of both genders find funny. Humour is subjective and, while your gender is likely to influence what you laugh at, it is not the only factor which determines a sense of humour. It depends entirely upon the person.

SPORT

YORK VISION

sport Tuesday February 19, 2013

www.yorkvision.co.uk/sport sport@yorkvision.co.uk

SPORTING EYE

BY DAVE WASHINGTON

WHAT’S THE POINT?

A WIDE variety of sports is always beneficial in university sports competitions such as Roses or Varsity, since it showcases the wide-ranging sporting ability of institutions such as the University of York, while also allowing a greater number of students to participate in these fabulous tournaments.

However, the current points scoring system in place for both of the above mentioned competitions is rigid, frustrating and completely bemusing to many. Of course it’s great for people who do mountaineering or debating to get involved in such tournaments, but surely it is not right that victory in such events would lead to the same reward as prevailing in a high profile event such as football or rugby 1sts.

Instead of such a rigid scoring system, which sees points allocated by virtue of whether it is a first, second or third team fixture, a more fluid method should be used, which places greater importance on the flagship sports, such as football, netball and lacrosse, which have higher participation numbers, a greater reputation and attract more interests and spectators. By focusing a larger proportion of points on the more high profile sports, the result of the competition would be more reflective of the true comparative sporting abilities of the two institutions.

Indeed you only have to take a look at this year’s Varsity, where the sport offering the greatest opportunity to rack up a significant number of points was Clay Pigeon Shooting. Thus victory in obscure sports such as this, mountaineering and trampolining can lead to a result which is not truly reflective of the nature of the tournament.

In Varsity, there were 98 points available, and more than a ninth of these could be attained by winning the clay pigeon shooting alone, an event which would win over the hearts and minds of only a very small segment of the population. Meanwhile the Men’s Football 1sts, MMA and Netball 1sts all drew large crowds and received a lot of student attention, yet the trio of them com-

IT IS a shame that while the university continues to go from strength-tostrength in BUCS competition, college sport participation does not seem to have been boosted. Amongst the mainstream college sports, only football sees all colleges consistently put out full squads. Some colleges even have unofficial 4ths and 5ths teams. The same can’t be said for other sports.

College netball sees Alcuin, James and

#TOP40 ON COURSE

BY MICHAEL THURLOWAY

Photo: Jack Western

bined were still worth less points than the Clay Pigeon Shooting.

Thus it is no surprise that people have voiced their discontent with the current system, and called for a more comment sense system, which would see a certain number of points awarded to a game depending on its importance. The fate of the tournament should be decided predominantly by the major sports which are most

heavily participated in and supported, not those that are just given an inordinate number of points because of the way the rules currently stand.

Sports such as mountaineering, trampolining and so on undoubtedly still have a role to play in these major tournaments, but a tweaking of the system used to allocate points would definitely be a step forward for the future.

Halifax dominate, though this year Derwent have also risen as a legitimate challenger. Perhaps, then, it is understandable that other colleges, which struggle to put out a team, prefer to play 2nds matches and concede 1sts ones, giving themselves more of a chance of victory.

College rugby, a new college sport for this year, is dominated by Derwent, though James gave them a tough game earlier this term. Yet Derwent are often forced to donate players to their opposition just to make a 15 a-side game possible, and even

the merged forces of Goodricke and Langwith have found a full team hard to muster.

While it is not ideal when matches are conceded, it is surely preferable to no games at all. By all accounts, college rugby ran more smoothly when it was unofficial, but in the long term it, and other college sports, are sure to benefit and overcome the initial teething problems. Certain colleges, not known as sporting powers, must work to improve their publicity of college sports; working with York Sport, in time these problems are sure to dissipate.

COLLEGE SPORT: A WORK IN PROGRESS

BY MICHAEL THURLOWAY

29

IT WAS a statement of ambition from York Sport Union, and its President Charlotte Winter, to claim that their aim for the year was to move York into the top 40 sports universities in the country. It would be fair to say that, whilst not a weak sporting establishment, the university is not counted amongst the national elite.

While that is still the case, progress has clearly been made. Even Winter herself must be pleasantly surprised by the position that the university is in. The futsal team have been the trailblazers, becoming the first university club to win a BUCS Premier Division title earlier this year.

On Sunday they take on UWE (Hartpury) or Middlesex in the BUCS National Championship quarter-finals. Their last 16 clash against Leicester was one for the ages. They showed great resilience to win, having trailed for most of the match. The atmosphere at that game was unlike any I had experienced at a university sporting event.

For a match outside of Roses, it was incredible.

But they are not alone in surpassing expectations. The women’s fencing 1sts have also reached the BUCS National Championship in their sport, and after a first round bye will take on Cardiff this week in the quarter-finals. After only marginally missing out on winning the Premier League, they too are in with a strong chance of glory.

Other flagship sports are also succeeding. The men’s rugby have had a tremendous season, with good form on the field, and off-field recognition as well. Both men’s and women’s lacrosse 1sts go from strength to strength, and both 1sts football teams also sit atop their leagues.

The men’s and women’s badminton 1sts have proven hard to beat and both challenge for promotion from Northern 2B. Meanwhile, less mainstream sports such as squash and water polo have also experienced impressive results.

Speaking to Vision about the unprecedented success, Winter said: “I’m incredibly happy with how the Top 40 campaign has gone so far.

We’ve had some exceptional performances from the teams this year- not least futsal and their league win.”

30 SPORT YES/NO: LOWER LEAGUE CUP SUCCESS VISION ASKS WHETHER THIS YEAR’S SPATE OF CUP UPSETS IS GOOD FOR ENGLISH FOOTBALL AS A WHOLE?

MICHAEL THURLOWAY

YES

WHO DOESN’T enjoy a cup upset?

Sure, it’s irritating when it is your team who are on the wrong end of it.

However the big teams often deserve to be taken down a peg or two, and it’s most satisfying when it happens like this.

Fans of clubs like Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool insist on complaining about their current predicaments. But compare them to sides like Bradford City and Luton Town, and their problems pale in comparison. The fans of these lowly clubs have remained loyal through thick and thin, and are now being rewarded for this.

This year has been a vintage one for Davids triumphing over Goliaths. Who can begrudge these sides the success they’ve had in this year’s cup competitions. One of the best things about English football is its strength-in-depth, and this can only benefit the game in the long term. No other nation has such a high quality league pyramid, as proven by the competitiveness of cup ties. Premier League teams are complacent at their peril.

For neutrals, there are few things more inspiring than a cup giant-killing.

This can only reverse the disillusionment many feel with the modern game.

JAMES SCOTT

NO

THE SPATE of cup upsets has no doubt provided some interest and variety to cup football, but it’s a novelty that will wear off as the FA Cup reaches its climax.

All the upsets denote is that the big teams are not taking the cup competitions seriously. Most of the leading teams started with under strength squads as the league is their clear priority.

This is a symptom and facilitator of the seemingly terminal decline of the prestige of the FA cup, which for a variety of reasons, primarily financial, is a shadow of its former self.

The bonanza of money from the sky television deals, has made the Premier League a monster that obliterates all other competitions in terms of the club priorities. Although most teams would love to win the FA Cup, they wouldn’t sacrifice this for their league campaign.

Finally as the tournament continues I ask the question, who would you rather see in the final, Arsenal v Tottenham or Manchester United v Millwall. For all the spiel about the ‘magic’ of the FA Cup being rediscovered, the ‘allure’ of an uncompetitive final is more akin to a faded end of pier show than a showpiece event.

YORK VISION Tuesday February 19, 2013

BIG INTERVIEW: BOBBY CRUTCHLEY TOM ARMSTON-CLARKE SPEAKS TO PLAYER-TURNED-COACH BOBBY CRUTCHLEY ABOUT HIS LIFE IN HOCKEY

LESS THAN seven months ago, the whole world was Olympics crazy. You couldn’t go to work without seeing a poster, an advert, a story in the paper or on the radio.

As a hockey player I was lucky enough to catch up with Team GB men’s assistant hockey coach to discuss the Olympics, coaching and the future for Great Britain.

Bobby Crutchley won 80 caps for Great Britain and England, during a playing career that included winning a Commonwealth Games bronze medal. Today he concentrates on assisting Jason Lee in coaching the GB men’s hockey team.

His time with the team has coincided with fifth place at the 2008 Olympic Games, 4th in the 2012 games, England’s run to the semi finals of the World Cup in 2010 and the 2009 European Championship title. In that time, GB have risen from eleventh to fourth in the FIH World Rankings.

Before we discussed the Olympics, I asked about his proudest moment to date as a coach, to which he responded: “Winning the Europeans in 2009 stands out because it was unexpected and the first major tournament England had won since 1908.” However the proudest moment of his career was beating India in the final of the qualifying tournament in Chile in 2008. He added: “It was a highly pressurised tournament and winning it set the team up for the next 4 years.”

The Olympics carried the hopes of rejuvenating sport in the UK, and bringing the lesser-known sports to the public’s attention. In response to whether Hockey in particular had benefitted from the Olympics, he commented: “Hockey has definitely seen a growth in participation with the help of the Olympics. A number of initiatives, such as Quiksticks (a game for primary schools) and Rush hockey (an informal game for adults similar to 5-a-side football) have also enabled more people to play.” He appreciates that the real challenge is to keep this momentum going, and retain people in the sport.

The men’s team had been given the target before the Olympics of picking up a medal.

He honestly admitted he was gutted to miss out: “Our aim was to win a medal and obviously not achieving this was a major disappointment. However, in 2005, when London won the bid for the Olympics we were ranked 11th in the world. For the team to make the semi-finals in 2012 and be ranked 4th in the

world is still a major achievement.”

Looking forward to the next Olympics in 2016 in Rio, he has some reservations. A large number of the squad from 2012 have been playing together for up to seven years, and thus a large turnover of players will inevitably occur in the coming years. “In the short term, there will be the challenge of playing with a more inexperienced team. I am confident we can be in a position to challenge for a medal in Rio, but there will be some challenges on the way.”

On a daily basis we read about the pay footballers receive, and the lucrative sponsorship deals other athletes sign. Hockey very much lags behind in this respect, with a very limited amount of sponsorship and funding. Although in recent years the situation has somewhat improved. He is fairly sanguine about the disparities in pay and revenue between sports, stating that “it honestly doesn’t bother me.” He recognises that other sports are in a worse position than hockey, a fact which has been highlighted in recent weeks with many sports losing some, if not all, of their funding. Table tennis, handball, basketball, table tennis and wrestling have lost all of their financial support.

When asked what his thoughts were on the current Hockey set up in England, he responded relatively positively but realistically saying: “I think we can be proud of the England Hockey at the moment, but (we) appreciate the system could always be better.”

Being a hockey player, I have worked with a variety of coaches of all different temperaments. When asked whether it is better to be loved or feared as a coach he responded: “A coach should not aim to be either. I would hope that players respect me and appreciate I am committed to the success of the team.”

As a player and now a coach Bobby has seen and played against many great players, giving him a great insight into what goes into creating a great player. One coach told me that the difference between a good and great player is “when a good player has a bad game you can tell, but when a great player has a bad game nobody notices.” I asked Bobby what three things he thinks make a great player stand out from a good player, to which he answered: “The great players are all unique so there is not one thing that makes them different. However, there is a consistency of performance and will to win that is recognizable in them all.”

NOT TIME TO PANIC, YET

BY MICHAEL THURLOWAY WITHOUT A win since New Year’s Day, York City are being forced to look over their shoulders for the first time this season.

But disaster has not yet struck. York’s solid first half of the season, when they were looking up more than down, means that the current blip has not yet dragged them into a relegation battle. York sit seven points clear of Aldershot and AFC Wimbledon, who currently occupy the relegation places.

Defeat on Saturday against lowly Barnet at Bootham Crescent made it eight league games without a win. However in fact, they remain closer to a top half finish (five points behind) than to a place in the bottom two.

As a newly promoted side, such poor runs of form are to be expected. York were a very difficult side to beat, especially away from home, in their last season in the Conference.

In fact from 27th September 2012 to 19th September 2013, they went nearly twelve months without losing an away match in England (with their only defeats coming at the hands

of Wrexham and Newport County). Naturally League Two is a significant step up.

But it is understandable that die-hard fans would be concerned. In 2003-4, York’s last season in the Football League before relegation to the Conference, the side sat in

mid-table after the first half of the season, before a run of 20 games without victory at the end of the season saw them comfortably consigned to relegation.

It is still too early to be calling for the head of manager Gary Mills. Mills has masterminded the club’s rise from mid-table ignominy in the Conference into the Football League, along the way seeing his side triumph twice in two weeks at Wembley last year, in the FA Trophy Final and Conference Play-Off Final.

Mills has also worked well on a small budget. It is never an ideal model, and whilst Michael Coulson had a bright start, his season was curtailed by injury, while loan signings have tended to be only short-term.

Should the run of bad form continue, then obviously the situation must be reassessed. But considering the impressive efforts, both this season and last, which York City have put in, any decision to sack Mills now would definitely be in the category of ‘knee-jerk’. At a club like York, continuity is crucial and any big decisions must be made with the utmost care.

SPORT

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

SPOTLIGHT: TRAMPOLINING AMY BALLARD AND MICHAEL THURLOWAY SPRING INTO ACTION WITH THE UNIVERSITY TRAMPOLINING CLUB

AFTER DANCING, water polo and much more, it was time for Vision’s finest to once more return to action, with Michael Thurloway and Amy Ballard making the trip for a spot of trampolining.

MT: “TRAMPOLINING? Isn’t that just bouncing up and down?” A phrase I’m sure those who compete in trampolining are tired being told. While to a certain extent you would be correct to say it is, it is no more or less true than saying that football that is only about kicking a ball. In order to be good, it is necessary to do far more than just bounce up and down.

AB: Trampolining is much harder than it looks! After spending the last two years just thinking my housemate simply bounced up and down on a trampoline a couple of times a week I went to give it a go. The first challenge was getting on the trampoline,

Photo: Philip Mourdjis

BY JAMES SCOTT

which definitely required an element of grace. We went through some simple moves, with the President, Rachel Bates coaching on the sideline.

The members of the club bounced about double the height I did! Whilst it was fun, and I got the hang of most of the moves, it was a lot harder to connect them and make it into a consistent sequence.

MT: It may sound straight-forward, but it was the bouncing up and down which was the first skill that a beginner like myself would have to master. We learnt that it was important to get the right swing in the arms to bounce most effectively.

Soon we were asked to try out some moves. The seat drop came first, and we gradually developed this until I was able to do the swivel hips, essentially a seat drop followed immediately afterwards by another one, but the second facing the opposite way to the first. By the end, I’d even tried a back drop (which wasn’t as easy as the name makes it sound).

AB: My favourite part was bouncing as high as possible and doing an assortment of jumps. My least favourite part was the seat drop; I found it really difficult to control my hands, which seemed to chaotically fly around in contrast to the neat routines of the others. You could see the club working continuously on their routines for Varsity, so I hoped they’d do well!

MT: I got the impression that the individual moves in trampolining are quite straight-forward. It is stringing them together into a routine that is the difficult part, though of course, we were not expected to do that in a first session.

The tips and instructions that I was given in the session were highly useful. After a little practice, the muscle-memory from secondary school P.E. lessons kicked in and, all of a sudden, I began to remember how to

IT SEEMS that every week sees a new scandal in the world of sport. Last week saw the publication of a report which uncovered widespread doping throughout Australian sport. The same week Europol announced that they had uncovered a huge match fixing ring in football covering an estimated 680 matches throughout the world. This came hot on the heels of the Lance Armstrong scandal, so can we believe anything we see in the sporting world anymore?

The last few months have been particularly bad for the sporting integrity. Scandal after scandal has raised questions over the integrity of sport, its athletes and governing bodies. The narrative, as a result, is unsurprisingly negative, sport is rotten and morally bankrupt.

No doubt these scandals are a blow to our trust in sport. However, in many ways the unravelling of these scandals should be viewed positively, as it shows that the authorities are attempting to get on top of the problem, and are having some success.

A case in point being cycling, which was riddled with drugs for years with the governing bodies either unaware of the problem or unwilling to act. It took the Festina Affair in 1998 to at least bring the issue to attention, and it was another eight or nine years before the cycling authorities really started to get tough on the problem, when the weight of evidence became too great to ignore.

These disclosures have resulted in a culture shift in cycling and in drug testing. The

TIPSTER

REELING AFTER RECENTLY INVESTING IN THE BEEF INDUSTRY

sure thing MANCHESTER UNITED TO WIN THE PREMIER LEAGUE

Photo: Philip Mourdjis

do the moves. Yet, for a move like the swivel hips, which I remember struggling with at school, the advice I got from a specialist who actually competes and knows what they’re talking about, rather than the all-rounders that are school P.E. teachers, was invaluable.

AB: I would definitely go to trampolining as a casual member, the club were all very helpful and nice, though I ended up with more bruises than when on the Ziggy’s dance floor!

MT: For sure, I didn’t come near to perfecting anything as a stand-alone move, but I felt much more confident with it than I ever had done, and this was after less than two hours of practice. It’s a lot about confidence: once you know you’re not going to be sent flying across the room by the trampoline, then there’s no limit to what you might be able to do.

DRUGS ARE BAD, KIDS most notable development was that of the biological passport to track long term changes in physiology. Moreover it is no longer expected that young cyclists enter the doping side of the sport. Although we can never say that cycling is completely clean, it is clear that significant progress has been made, and that could not have occurred without the scandal.

The Armstrong scandal has resulted in a cascade effect of soul searching in many sports, notably tennis where there has been much discussion over lax testing procedures, and prominent players such as Roger Federer have called for the introduction of biological passports. It appears that the scandal has woken up many previously complacent sports from their slumber, and that can only be a good thing The worst mistake to make is for authorities to sit idly by and assume that their sport is clean, because there have been no positive tests or uncovered scandals. Many of the greatest scandals such as Lance Armstrong or Marion Jones were uncovered without so much as a positive test, but were fuelled by a healthy dose of scepticism towards there unbelievable performances.

What we need is a new era of hyper-vigilant sports administration, where instead of sitting back and waiting for the scandal to come to them, officials proactively investigate anything that looks out of the ordinary in terms of results and performances. This may create a culture of suspicion, which may be unfair to certain athletes, but its certainly better than the alternative.

Even more importantly, there needs to be

THE

31

No matter how many times the pundits tell you that, “you just never know with football,” and how “we thought it was over last year,” this title race was won last weekend at St Mary’s Stadium. City’s 1-3 capitulation to Southampton represented the dying throes of a challenge that never really looked like materializing. The relentless goal scoring power of RVP, and City’s inability to get any sort of run going has meant the title race is over earlier than anyone really deems polite. Forget last day of the season madness, this year we’ll all have to settle for another tiresome scrap for the unbridled glory of 4th place, and wondering whether Harry Houdini can once again drag a seemingly doomed QPR from the ignominy of relegation.

TIPSTER'S ODDS:

1/20

long shot OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER TO WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIPS

While many naysayers of the up-and-coming NBA powerhouse that is the Oklahoma City Thunder believed that the trading of Sixth Man of the Year James Harden to the Houston Rockets would rule them out of challenging the Miami Heat for the ultimate prize in basketball, they have been proved categorically wrong. In the form of Kevin ‘the Durantula’ Durant, they have a legitimate MVP candidate while All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook is providing him with more than adequate support.

The biggest challenge facing the Thunder lies waiting in the Finals, when they will inevitably face off against LeBron James and his Miami Heat. Whether the Thunder can overcome The King and his formidable Heat team remains to be seen but at 7/1 odds they are definitely worth a shout.

TIPSTER'S ODDS:

7/1

absolute madness ITALY TO WIN THE SIX NATIONS

serious deterrents to dissuade people from cheating. Mandatory lifetime bans instead of the paltry two years (often less) is a must, and I would argue that the criminalisation of doping, as has been done in France, should be a precedent carried forward. This won’t stop cheating, the potential rewards will mean it will always be with us, but it would be a start.

Most importantly though, the focus should be on preventing young athletes from falling into this world. One common denominator of most sporting scandals, is that most athletes become immersed in a culture of cheating at a early stage of their careers, often coerced by older competitors. All the regulation and testing in the world will pale into insignificance if authorities can break the chain of corruption before it infects the next generation.

Pre tournament everyone was certain the battle for the Six Nations wooden spoon this year would be between Italy and Scotland. In the last round of matches Scotland thrashed the Italians by 24 points, putting four tries past them in the process. This is Scotland remember - they don’t score tries.

Doesn’t really sound like the Italians are made of Championship winning stuff, but The Tipster would put his (smallest) house on them defying all the odds and taking home the crown for the first ever time this year. The way Sergio Parisse led his side to a well deserved 23-18 victory over the French was truly gladiatorial, and if they can do that to the French, a country known for their no surrender attitude, then just imagine what they’ll do to the likes of England and Ireland now they’ve got their little slip up out the way.

TIPSTER'S ODDS:

200/1

32 SPORT

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

MAGIC OF THE CUP FOR UYWAFC

BY AL RIDDELL

IT’S CRUNCH time. York Womens Football 1sts are gearing up for what is sure to be a hotly contested encounter with Central Lancashire, in the semi-final of the BUCS Northern Conference Cup. The ladies in black and gold have looked impressive of late, causing many to brand the current crop of players the most promising in recent times. However, this description will be put to an intense test tomorrow, when they take to 22 acres against a well-drilled University of Central Lancashire 2nds.

The cup journey began for York in a breathless 7-4 away victory over a spirited University of Sheffield 2nds. Buoyed by such a comprehensive win, a cup run was certainly on the cards.

However, a much tougher test awaited York in the next round, being drawn against a tricky and dangerous Hull 1st team. In a feisty game, in which neither side were able to dominate for long periods, home advantage eventually told and York ground-out a deserved 2-1 victory.

The quarter final stage saw York drawn against Leeds Met 2nds. As anyone who has played university sport would attest to, a Leeds Met side should never be underesti-

mated and despite a few shaky moments, Vicky Decamp and company made sure complacency didn’t become an issue. On a snowy afternoon on 22 acres, goals from Jess Craig, Ellie Whittaker and a brace from midfielder Sam Barker made sure of a 4-2 win.

Speaking of the cup run, captain Decamp was thrilled with the “annihilation” of previous opponents, saying that “it would have been easy to take our foot off the pedal but instead we’ve managed to move from strength to strength.”

Speaking of York’s semi-final opposition, Decamp was keen to underline her sides’ underdog status: “UCLAN 2nds are the equivalent of two leagues above us, so I’d be lying if I said we weren’t nervous. But we’re ready for the challenge.”

UCLAN have beaten some big hitters to reach the semi-finals, including Newcastle firsts and Sheffield firsts; showing why they are the initial favourites to reach the final.

Despite this, home advantage may prove decisive and York have more than enough firepower to emerge victorious.

Decamp cited team-spirit as a major factor in how well her team will fair, and stated that “if we play as well as I know we can we have every chance of reaching the finals.”

TIME TO PUT CARD

BY DAVE WASHINGTON

Photo: Emilien Tortel

SERVING UP A TREAT

ALTHOUGH MUCH of the campus media spotlight has been placed upon the success of the Men’s Futsal side in qualifying for the quarter-finals of the National Championships, the same achievement has been attained by the women’s fencers. Tomorrow they host Cardiff 1sts, as they look to seal their progress through to the semi-finals, and take a significant step closer to becoming this year’s na-

BY JAMES SCOTT

THE WOMENS’S 1sts volleyball team have a huge fixture on Wednesday when they meets Leeds 1sts in the semi-finals of the Northern Conference Cup in the tent.

York got to this stage last year. and will be hopeful that that they can go one better this year. They have good reason to be hopeful, as they approach the fixture in decent form as a 3-0 victory over York St John in the quarter finals attests.

However their league form has been a little inconsistent this year, as they currently sit 4th in the Northern 2B with 12 points. They recently enjoyed a comfortable win against league leaders Sheffield, but followed this up with a 3-0 loss to second placed Newcastle

raising some questions as to which York side will turn up on the big day.

The match promises to be a tightly fought affair as the two sides currently sit third and fourth in the table, and both will have high hopes of progressing to the showpiece event of the competition.

Cristina Sechel told Vision: “I don’t expect the fixture against Leeds will be an easy one because we will be missing some of our regular players and playing in the tent in cold weather is always very difficult. But we have beaten Leeds before in three straight sets and we have a strong team spirit, so i’m optimistic about us playing a good game and having a good shot at winning.”

tional champions.

With five wins out of eight, York’s fencers finished second in the Northern Premier Division, being pipped to the title by Edinburgh 1sts. Their success provided them with a bye through to the quarter-finals, where they meet Cardiff, who placed third in the Southern Premier Division behind Imperial College and Cambridge.

The contest is settled over three disciplines, sabre, foil and epee, and whilst York have struggled in the sabre so far this year,

CAN YORK

BY OSCAR PEARSON

Photo: David Hoffman

YORK 1STS meet Leeds Met 2nds in the Northern Conference Cup semi-final tomorrow afternoon.

For the first time in their history, York squash club have the opportunity to make a BUCS cup final, with tomorrow’s winner facing either Manchester Met 1sts or Lancaster 1sts next month.

York saw off Durham 2nds in the quarter final, after winning by default against Hull 1sts - who were unable to field a team - and emerging triumphantly from an encounter with Durham 1sts in the last 32.

Meanwhile, Leeds Met beat Durham 3rds in the quarters after seeing off Sheffield 3rds and Huddersfield 2nds, all by a comprehen-

SPORT

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

33

DOUBLE LACROSSED

BY MICHAEL THURLOWAY

Photo: Jack Western

DIFF TO THE SWORD which is their weakest event, they have excelled in both the foil and epee.

Indeed Imperial College, who meet Birmingham tomorrow, appear to be the favourites to be crowned BUCS National Champions. So far they have won all eight of their league contests this year, as they aim to retain their title they secured last year by defeating Edinburgh in the final.

Last year York crashed out at the last 16 stage, as they suffered a resounding 55 point defeat at the hands of Cambridge 1sts. This

season though the team appears significantly stronger, and hopes are high of progressing through to the semi-finals, something which would be a significant achievement for the university.

If they are to attain this, then much will depend upon the form of Louise Highton and captain Sophie Mason. The two have proved to be the starlets of the York side, and together with Sofia Henneberg and other notable contributions, they have enabled York to record a series of fantastic victories.

sive 3-0 margin.

The two sides met in a league fixture just a fortnight ago, when York agonisingly lost out in a terrific contest. However, York currently top the Northern 2B table and are well on course for promotion, while Leeds sit in fourth place.

The power and pace of Ed Shannon will provide a stern test for York’s local rivals, while David Potter’s aggression and Matt Lewis’ never-say-die attitude could prove to be key in the contest.

Shannon, who often features as Seed 1 for York, said: “This is a big game for us. We had a good win last week against Sheffield, and that has set us up nicely for this really important match.”

York’s work ethic has been marvellous this campaign, with each player giving their all in league and cup games. The squad will have their eyes on Chris Baird and Lewis Doughty, who might well be labelled as Leeds’ weaklings. The two were easily beaten when the sides met last month, but will no doubt be at the top of their game in this all-important winner-takes-all contest.

The men in black and gold are playing excellent squash and have the shots in their armoury to outrun Leeds in rallies, and to outgun Leeds in determination. The visitors definitely have the upper hand after the narrow victory in the latest head-to-head encounter, but it’s York who are likely to emerge victorious in this contest.

THE UNIVERSITY of York Lacrosse Club enters one of the biggest weeks in its history, as both men’s and women’s 1sts compete for a place in the finals of their Northern Conference Cups.

Both sides were forced to battle through the blizzards as they came through their quarter-finals, though in vastly different manners. The women had a fairly easy progression as they outclassed Manchester Met 26-2.

The men looked to have their match against Durham 2nds thoroughly sewed up, albeit not as convincingly as the women, as they led 10-6 in the final quarter two weeks ago. But a fight-back from the visitors brought the sides level, requiring captain William Chun to step up and score a last minute winner.

For the men, that game was their biggest test. Durham 2nds had won the cup last year, beating York 13-3 in the final. The rematch was every bit the spectacle which was hoped for, and ended with York avenging that defeat from last year.

For the women, however, it is this week’s game which is the attempt at vengeance.

They face Northumbria 1sts tomorrow on the 3G, knowing that Northumbria are the only side to have defeated them this season. That defeat was a close-fought 14-11 reverse in November.

York will take heart, however, from the ease in which they have overcome most of their opponents this year. They have consistently dominated matches, and demonstrated that they deserve their place towards the top of the league.

The defeat against Northumbria early in the season may mean that winning the league is out of their hands, but the cup rematch, to be played on home soil, is a big opportunity for the club to control their own chance of glory.

Alex Whitehand, women’s 1sts captain, told Vision: “We have had a terrific season and I couldn’t be prouder of the girls perform-

ance week in week out. Wednesday is going to be some what of a grudge match, having our last game against them being our only defeat.

However I know we are more than capable of pulling it out of the bag now that we are on home soil.”

The men must consider themselves favourites for progression. They avoided Lancaster and Liverpool, both undefeated in Northern 2A, and instead face the more lowly Chester 1sts in the semi. A win will set up a potential Roses preview clash in the final, though the team would be confident whomever they might face if they reach that stage.

Durham 2nds were the thorn in York’s side last season, but this season they outplayed their rivals in a match which could have been secured long before the last minute winner. York have won every game they’ve played this season, though in league play they still have to face Durham both home and away. Those matches will essentially determine which of the two wins promotion from Northern 2B. But league games must wait for another week. The main focus tomorrow will be to deal with the long trip and do away with Chester.

Hopefully, come Wednesday night, UYLC will be celebrating a double victory which would place both men’s and women’s 1sts just one win away from cup glory.

Men’s captain William Chun told Vision: “Since the start of the season, we have grown so much individually, and more importantly as a team. We are not the same team we were last year, where we won games based on individual brilliance. I believe if we carry on like this then we will end the season with the cup and league title, and get promoted.

“Next Wednesday we have Chester in the semi-finals, a team we have never played before so have no knowledge on how they play.

They beat our rivals, Hull, in the quarter-final so I think next week will be a very good game. However, if we play like we have been so far in the season I am confident we will come back with a win, and reach the final in cup.”

K SQUASH LEEDS MET?

Photo: Adam Green

34 SPORT BASKETBALL 1STS ARE COURT OUT

BY KARL TOMUSK

WHAT STARTED as a moment of hope and excitement soon turned sour, as Hull thoroughly dominated York’s men’s 1sts. Throughout the game, York were relentlessly outperformed both defensively and offensively.

The first quarter began with a very even match up: both teams scoring their first points through free throws, both had quite a number of turnovers, and both played with an emphasis on offense.

York even pulled ahead momentarily with a 10-9 lead, as Matt Gosden successfully blocked shots and the first threepointer of the game was made. However, Hull retaliated and brought the quarter to a close with a 12-11 lead.

Sadly for York, it was downhill from there. Hull’s spectacular defence refused to let any players past in the second quarter. Despite very solid teamwork and an emphasis on passing the ball, York were unable to manoeuvre through the wall of people guarding them. They were often forced to take shots they could not feasibly make, and even open shots rarely went in.

Hull, on the other hand, quickly sank three consecutive points.

They used York’s unfortunate turnovers and porous defence to rack up points with astonishing speed and precision, while their defence was developing the habit of effortlessly stealing the ball. It was a vicious quarter that put them ten points ahead, with a score of 24-34.

It is no wonder that when York returned for the second half, they were fired up and ready to play with more ball movement, teamwork, and defence. Within the first minute, they had scored and rebounded the ball twice. They were now working much more cohesively as a team, putting up shots and making them.

For the first time, Hull seemed to be lagging behind. They were missing free throws and turning over the ball. They scored a few points, but overall, York outscored them in this quarter, narrowing their lead to 42-37.

But by this point, it was too little too late. The fourth quarter was a replay of the second as Hull definitively sealed York’s fate in the swiftest manner possible. Right away, they scored two field goals and two three-pointers, easily sliding past all of York’s defensive efforts.

There was a string of unanswered points as York turned over the ball and Hull put their incredible speed to good use.

There was very little York could do, as Hull’s speed and accuracy overpowered their defence and teamwork.

Reflecting on the game, Boedt commented, “We played well. Everyone filled their potential today,” adding that it was their shooting accuracy that let them down.

He also mentioned Hull’s team, stating, “It was an unlucky game.

They got us on the quick breaks,” however adding, with pride and optimism, “on a good day, we would thrash them.”

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

MIXED DAY FOR NETBALL

BY TOM ARMSTON-CLARKE AND CAITLIN GRAHAM

YORK WON three but lost two netball matches on a day of mixed fortunes. The university 3rds led from the front with an opening victory, emulated by the 2nds afterwards. But the 1sts could not replicate their success, against their higher ranked Hull compatriots.

The college teams had mixed fortunes, Alcuin recording a strong victory, but James coming up short.

York 1sts, blighted with injuries, played fantastic netball with battling spirit but unfortunately Hull, two BUCS leagues above, were too strong, winning 63-21.

York made a fast-paced start, to the surprise of Hull, scoring some early goals.

Nina Pullman started on the bench due to an injury, which meant the team had to start without her vital command. York also lost Charlotte Ferris to a suspected broken finger. Yet York coped well, with Amy Moye scoring some early goals with her usual composure. Bronwen Dalley-Smith worked hard in mid-court, interlinking beautifully with Moye who scored more goals for York.

But Hull came back after their slow start with some slick moves across the court.

York’s frustration started to show in the latter stages of the first quarter as they went into the break 15-4 down.

In the second period York came back strong and defended well, with Lucy Daymond intercepting Hull’s attacking passes with ease. At the half-way stage York trailed 25-13. though could have scored more goals, especially due to their fighting spirit.

In the third quarter Nina Pullman came on in spite of her injury to a roar from the crowd. She provided an instant impact with some great quality deflections at the back.

Regardless of York’s relentless work-rate ,Hull started to pull away scoring several points back to back as York looked flustered.

Throughout the game there were some questionable decisions, but they did not affect the final result. With their greater strength, Hull appeared to be scoring two goals to York’s.

Captain Nina Pulman said: “I’m very very proud of the girls today, it was a tough game in more ways that one. Hull are two

BY TOM DAVIES

Photo: Helen Leech

leagues above us and I’m so pleased the team kept their morale up and played some fantastic netball.”

With probably the most tense netball match of the day, York 2nds secured a 34-32 victory over a Hull side, who are a BUCS league above them.

The first quarter was tight, with multiple turnovers from Ellie Bell-Jones and aggressive centre court play from Elisa Bryan, who showed her agility. Along with the fantastic pairing in defence, York edged away slightly with a 9-5 lead.

Hull fought back at the start of the second quarter, and with miscommunication

by York they brought the score back to 1212. However, Grace Clarke won numerous rebounds and York began to take the lead again. With the excellent shooting and play-

ing partnership of Sarah Pickup and Amy Moll, York created a lead and the quarter ended 20-13 to York.

With changes made for the third quarter York stayed calm and tried to keep Hull quiet, with the hosts doing everything to get back into the game. While York maintained a lead, Hull did pull back th deficit as the quarter ended 25-22 in favour of the visitors.

A very close and tense last quarter was in store. York went out storming with a quick turnover, and three goals bringing the score to 28-22. However, Hull weren’t going to give up that easy, and with the overheads not working into Sarah Pickup, Hull capitalised bring the score to 32-30 at one point. York had the edge and, with Amy Moll’s glory shots, York won 34-32. A fantastic game played by all and an even better win.

three out of four to take the victory.

The University of York Shooting Club has traditionally enjoyed little attention from the sporting elites of the University and indeed also by the sports writers of both Nouse and Vision, and they seem to have been glad for it. Whilst the club’s commitment and knowledge of its sport is faultless, it is not a super competitive outfit, with their Wednesday shoots being fairly relaxed, sociable affairs, traditionally ending with a drink in the Deramore Arms. To then find themselves in the knowledge that the University sporting establishment, many of

whom are so often used to being in this kind of limelight, depend on them to secure the Varsity crown, is certainly an unenviable position.

UYSC social secretary and star shooter Jordan Gillies said of the situation: “We have never been a particularly competitive club and have mainly concentrated on getting more people involved in the sport. Many of the team members have not shot a great deal and for a lot of them this is their first competition. There are a couple of talented individuals though and we will of course try our best to bring the trophy home.”

A SHOT AT VICTORY

YES, IT looks as if it all comes down to this. After a bizarre Varsity contest ends on an anti-climatic note with York ultimately failing to put Hull to bed, the outcome of the tournament hinges on one event. Clay Pigeon Shooting. Wednesday.

The circumstances and events which led us here are already shrouded in controversy, and many question why an event was to be played half a week after the supposedly “one day” tournament had finished, and indeed why the event was worth so many points, a whopping twelve, more than all football combined.

However the number of points proved to be academic in the end, with York only managing to stake out a lead of a solitary point over their Hull rivals. The fact remains that it will be the niche sport of clay pigeon shooting which ultimately decides who gets to take home that trophy for real.

The event itself with be split into four composite parts, each of which will be worth three points. York’s narrow lead means they only need to win two or more to retain the Varsity trophy, so effectively a draw is all the shooters need. Hull will be looking to win

SPORT

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

FOOTBALLERS MAKE IT FOUR

BY DAN JONES, TOM DAVIES AND KARL TOMUSK

YORK’S FOOTBALLERS completed a memorable day as the 2nds, 3rds and college barbarians sides all recorded wins, in addition to the 1sts win which ensure a 100% record in Varsity with four victories out of four.

A last gasp goal from Andy Fernando gave York 2nds victory, after Hull had twice fought back from a goal down.

On a treacherous pitch, Hull immediately put the visitors on the back foot, striking the post early on. York responded well, however, and began playing the better football.

The breakthrough eventually came courtesy of the referee who awarded York a soft-looking penalty for a push on Tom Day. The impressive Jon Gill duly dispatched.

Hull equalised right on half time after a counter-attack down the right. The winger’s cross found their captain, who’s looping header floated over Luke Bradley.

A great period of play midway through the second half saw York re-take the lead.

First Freddie Ferrao hit the post, before sub Fernando found Josh Spurling in the box who coolly finished in the bottom corner.

Hull soon equalised again after a period of sustained pressure, their captain again heading home, this time from a corner.

There was still time for late drama as York got the winner their overall play deserved. Deep into stoppage time, a long throw from Connor McCoy found Fernando, who volleyed past the keeper, sparking wild celebrations from the sidelines.

York 3rds won a hard fought contest against their Hull counterparts 3-2. A brace from winger Tom Parish, after David Kirk’s opener, sealed the deal barely halfway through the second half.

York dominated the first half with a slew of chances before a scrappy goal against the run of play put Hull in front.

A searching corner met the edge of a Hull boot, as the ball agonisingly trickled into the corner of the York net.

With the score standing at 1-0 at half time, York had due cause to feel a tad cheated by their one goal deficit . York came out revitalized in the second half and kept the pressure up until striker Kirk finally got on the score sheet with a goal just after 60 minutes when he managed to get on the end of a lofting Joe Mann cross.

Barely two minutes later a second cross from Mann found Parish to put York in front. Less than ten minutes after this Par-

Photo: Philip Mourdjis

ish added his second to the tally, masterfully chipping the ball over the keeper to make it 3-1. A late Hull consolation proved of no consequence, and York held on for a hard fought victory.

After a shaky first half, York’s Barbarians soared past Hull 4ths (Scarborough) with an impressive 5-2 victory.

The game began much like it ended; York being on top form and keeping Scarborough on the defensive. They were outpacing and outmaneuvering their opponents, skillfully keeping the ball on one side of the pitch. Within minutes, Joe Mann scored the team’s first goal and set a solid rhythm for the rest of the players.

However, Scarborough soon answered this with two quick goals of their own, one of them a penalty (a “dubious” one, York’s Mark Kearney later added), and pulled into a 1-2 lead. Stunned, York had trouble getting back into the game for the rest of the half.

In the second period, though, the Barbarians, spurred on by Johnny Grout’s pep talk, went on a brutal attack. Andrew Jopson, Joe Mann, and Andrew Lewis each scored a goal within minutes of each other, while Scarborough also contributed an own goal.

From there, the match became a casual game for the Barbarians. The last fifteen minutes were spent carelessly kicking the ball around, since both teams knew who had won. Not bad for a team that had only played together for two hours.

SUCKER PUNCH

BY JOE PETHER

AN INTENSE atmosphere surrounded the suitably named nightclub “Asylum”, as hundreds of people gathered to watch Hull defeat York 5-3 in Mixed Martial Arts. The start was postponed due to a shortage of gym mats, but this only allowed for the crowd to get rowdier and more pumped up for the bouts that would follow.

It was a great start for York, as Nettie Borrill won the first match of the series via a unanimous judge’s decision. The first two rounds seemed to go in the favour of the Hull fighter, who seemed happy to perform most of her work on the ground.

An excellent flip from Borrill in the third round turned the tide, however, and her dominance was rewarded with the victory.

The next two fights went in favour of Hull, as Conrad Greiner-Bechert and Adam Lewis both lost by judge’s verdict. This sent the Hull faithful into a torrent of cheers and shouts, adding to the already tempestuous atmosphere of the venue.

Both York fighters could justly feel unlucky, as the two matches were very close to call. Again, the Hull fighters worked best on the ground, and their arm work was a particular highlight, but they struggled to cope against kicks and a standing opponent. These two matches could have defi-

nitely gone either way, and a roaring Hull crowd may have influenced the judge’s decisions.

Dimitri Kyriakou stepped in for the following fight as York’s original combatant did not make the weight class, but managed to win through a unanimous verdict. Kyriakou was dominant, and even a ball shaped missile thrown from the crowd could not ruin what was an intense and competitive fight. This tied the scores at 2-2 and it was obvious that both teams were well matched.

York’s Reda Bouchaib was closely defeated in the next fight, one that was entertaining due to its significance, and the fighter’s acknowledgement of the crowd.

It was followed by a win for Jonathan Coe, whose dominance could be seen through the lock he had his opponent in throughout the match.

With the score 4-3 in Hull’s favour, the concluding fight saw Herbert Litsenburg defeated by the Hull fighter, in what was an epic clash that epitomised the evening of bouts and confirmed the fight in their favour. Herbert seemed aggrieved by the judge’s decision at the end of the match, as he did seem to be on top for greater parts, using his strength to dominate his opponent.

It was nice to see the two combatants discussing their fight over a pint afterwards, leaving any grievances they may have felt within the ring. True sportsmanship.

Photo: Tegan Pearce

RESULTS ROUND-UP

BY MICHAEL THURLOWAY

Photo: Philip Mourdjis

35

HULL ESTABLISHED an early advantage in the fixtures completed before Sunday’s packed day of action. They had entered the day with a 14-3 lead.

York’s only points came from victory in the archery event. All three matches in the upper category were won by York’s archers to claim the three available points.

But Hull had greater success overall in advance fixtures, with victories in all three categories of mountaineering ensuring a total of six points on the board. They also claimed two from the lower category archery event.

In the golf competition, Hull completed a 4.5-1.5 victory over York to claim the three available points in that event.

With Hull Sharks and York Centurions already scheduled to meet in BUCS play two weeks ago, the Varsity points for American

football were awarded to the winner of that contest. This meant neither team had to rearrange fixtures from this weekend.

This arrangement worked to Hull’s advantage after they won a close-fought match. The undefeated Sharks were restricted by the Centurions’ defence, but still managed a 14-6 win and claimed the points.

On Sunday itself, there were two sports which were played off-campus. The tennis proved a mixed bag with the eight points on offer shared equally. York triumphed in the men’s 1sts, and Hull in the women’s, for three points apiece. The men’s 2nds, worth two points, ended tied and so the points were shared.

Meanwhile an understrength York squash team was consigned to two defeats in men’s 1sts and 2nds on Sunday afternoon, and in so doing another 5 points were relinquished to Hull.

36 SPORT

BY MICHAEL THURLOWAY VARSITY LACROSSE provided a remarkable, entertaining, but at times baffling spectacle, as York ran away with two dominant victories. In the midday fixture, the women’s 1sts streaked out to a large early lead which they never looked likely to relinquish, ending 21-5 victors. While in the afternoon, the men’s 1sts made easy work of their inebriated opponents from Hull.

It was the women’s 1sts match which provided the tightest contest, though it was certainly not ‘close.’ The first few minutes provided a glimpse of what was to come, as York quickly broke into a comfortable lead. The end of the first quarter saw York already in an unassailable 8-1 lead, with Katie Barrett providing four of the goals.

Barrett put in a commanding individual performance, which the Hull girls were completely unable to deal with. Her quick movement meant she regularly beat the opposition defenders, finding the space to unleash her characteristically accurate shots on goal.

The problem Hull faced was that Barrett was ably supported by her team-mates.

Sacha Greane was also in fine form, and kept up with her teammate in the scoring stakes for most of the match. In the second half, Izzy Mattick and Alex Whitehand saw more onfield action and they too excelled.

The second quarter was not as dominant from York. Hull gradually found their feet throughout the match, and although never in with a chance of challenging for victory, they started to restrict York more as the match went on.

Nonetheless York did manage to score

WHAT THE HULL?

six goals, conceding only one just before the half-time break when the Hull player sneaked in from behind the goal and scored.

Greane and Barrett both added to their tallies for the day, though the best move of the match ended in disappointment for York, a free flowing move which involved a number of players culminating in a shot which hit the post and went away from the goal.

The third quarter was the quietest, as the score moved from 14-2 to 16-3. This was mainly thanks to the Hull goalkeeper.

Mattick embarked on a mazy run only for her shot to be pouched by the keeper, and Greane and Barrett were also denied. In the final quarter, the keeper made three incredible saves in the space of a minute, which prevented York extending their lead.

Hull scored two more goals of their own by the end of the match, which ended 21-5.

The goal of the game came from ambidextrous captain Whitehand who turned inside before unleashing a powerful shot into the net.

The men’s game was a vastly different encounter. Hull’s team turned up in body but nothing else. They seemed to have thoroughly misinterpreted the meaning of the ‘spirit’ of the game. To their credit, York did not let it affect their game, however, and completed a 17-0 whitewash.

The game started quietly, but before the end of the first quarter York burst into life with goals from Andy Thomas, Chris Menon and William Chun. Thomas was the star performer, chipping in with goals throughout and ending the match with five.

But there were also other big performances, Andy Chalmers standing out as both a contributor to others’ goals and scorer himself.

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

Photo: Tegan Pearce

York ran riot in the second period, the pick of the goals being a trademark thunderbolt from long range by Chris Menon.

It was from here on in that Hull’s ill-discipline started to show, with a number of players being sent to the sidelines by the referee for one or two-minute penalties.

York were duped into a few fouls of their own, by virtue of frustration at their opposition’s efforts.

Sensing the game had descended into farce, York’s keeper Billy Rooks provided a rare moment of excitement as he went on a mazy upfield run. By the time he was dispossessed he was inside Hull’s half, but it

did not matter as play was pulled back for a penalty after one of the Hull players had thrown his stick at Rooks from 10 yards.

That incident summed up Hull’s attitude to the match. By the end, York took the opportunity to give experience to some newer players. They still extended their lead, to 17-0 by the final whistle. The match itself took over two and a half hours to complete, being very stop-start due to Hull’s performance.

Though both captains felt they could have scored more, they were satisfied with their performances, and ensured six more points to the York total.

SPORT

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

UYAFC HAVE BRILLIANT DAY

BY DAVE WASHINGTON

YORK’S MEN’S 1sts footballers were in inspired form, as they marauded their way to a 5-2 victory over a Hull side, who consigned them to relegation on the last day of the season last year, with Tom Day putting in a man of the match display.

The victory was made all the more impressive by the fact that York were missing numerous first team regulars, as the side had played the previous day, winning 1-0 to reach the final of the East Riding Cup. Hull, who led 2-1 at one stage, finished the feisty encounter with nine men, as two red cards helped to hand York the initiative. Regardless of this, the performance of York’s players was admirable, as the whole club enjoyed a day of resounding success.

In general the opening stages were scrappy, with very little of note occurring. That was until York opened the scoring with 17 minutes on the clock. Tom Day drove down the left wing and excellently picked out Jamie Trant, who drilled his finish into the top left hand corner from 20 yards, leaving the keeper with no chance.

The opening goal completely altered the nature of the contest, which immediately sprung into life as both sides began to play free-flowing football, Day being the primary instigator of York’s chances.

On 27 minutes however the home side were level, as a turn and shot from the left hand side of the six yard box left York ‘keeper Dom McMahon with no chance. A fumble

by McMahon then almost allowed Hull to immediately score again, but the keeper recovered quickly to rescue the situation.

At the other end Ralph Gill looped a header over the bar from a wicked Ash Daly freekick, but Hull soon led, as McMahon could only push a shot from an acute angle into the path of an onrushing striker, who tapped home from less than three yards out.

The two goals could easily have deflated York, but instead the visitors displayed great desire and mental strength as they quickly carved their way back into the game. Only three minutes after falling behind they were back on level terms, as Day’s shot was blocked by a York hand leading to the award of a penalty. Jon Gill confidently stepped up and stroked his penalty into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

The glut of goals did not end there, as a fifth goal put York in the lead at half-time.

VOLLEYBALL PROVE A SMASH

BY JOE PETHER

Photo: Philip Mourdjis

A surging run by Graham Kimber down the left wing caused havoc amidst the Hull defence, and his cross found Gill, who notched his second of the game.

The tempo of the second half did not quite match the frenetic nature of the closing stages of the first, but there were still glimpses of brilliance apparent from both sides. Daly and Joe Easter were performing admirably in midfield, whilst Dave Belshaw and Dan Jones stood strong in defence.

A moment of inspiration almost brought Hull level, as a 25 yard volley rattled onto the bar with McMahon beaten. However it was a moment of stupidity which all but ended Hull’s chances with fifteen minutes remaining. Their substitute right back had already been booked for one cynical challenge, and when he lunged into a two-footed tackle there was only result, as he saw red.

A minute later it was 4-2 to York, as Dalton Harris shrugged off his marker and unleashed a thunderous left footed drive into the bottom corner. The two goal advantage boosted York’s confidence, and both Trant

and the impressive Tim Earnshaw both had efforts narrowly off target.

Hull could have pulled a goal back with two minutes left, as their striker rounded McMahon, but shot wide from a narrow angle with the goal gaping. There was still time for York to grab a fifth, the ubiquitous Day setting up Trant for his second of the game.

Hull’s day got even worse during injury time, as a scuffle in the centre circle saw the home team reduced to only nine men, as the game ended in acrimonious fashion after it had promised so much for Hull.

York captain Matt Mawdesley told Vision: “Following the 1sts semi-final win yesterday, we came into today with very weak squads and lots of injuries. However the strength and character from all the teams was exceptional and far exceeded that of Hull, in both technical ability and fight.” The football 1sts were later awarded team of the tournament and he added: “Winning team of the tournament summed up our performances, so on the whole I am extremely impressed and a great weekend in general.”

BADMINTON ROUND-UP

BY TOM ARMSTON-CLARKE AND TOM DAVIES

YORK COMPLETED an unbeaten day of badminton with comprehensive victories for both men’s 2nds and 3rds teams.

The 2nds brushed aside their Hull counterparts with ease with a 7-1 victory. York won every doubles match, and only lost of match in the singles.

Starting off with the singles, Johnny Tam struggled to find his normal form as he lost early points. After several long rallies he eventually lost the first game 21-10.

His head appeared to drop, and he lost the second game and thus lost the match.

After composing himself, Tam came back to destroy his next opponent in two ends.

John Sinclair and David Gardner recorded the men’s first victory. Gardner stayed composed at the back, as Sinclair scored some great points with some hard kills. York won two relatively easy games In their second match of Varsity they continued their great partnership against a faster paced twosome, but they responded solidly to win 21-13, 21-18

37

Photo: Jack Western

Jay Lee only had to break a sweat in the second of his matches, comfortably winning the first. The second came down to a decider,

but Lee thrashed his opponent around the court and let out a shout of delight as the shuttlecock hit the floor.

The second doubles team of Jamie Fulton and Marc Dickinson never looked like they were going to lose despite playing tough opponents. Jamie provided great smashes to help the pair to win both matches.

In the 3rds, Hull were hopelessly outclassed by their York counterparts with an 8-0 rout securing the points for York. The match started with a pair of easy wins for doubles partners Li-Chi and Piers Whipp, and a convincing singles victory for Rolf Choutan against a beginner opponent, reportedly recruited last minute by Hull due to a lack of players.

The next four matches consisted of wins for doubles pair Mike Taylor and Mike Holmes, and singles player David Hamilton.

Hull conceded their seventh match against Choutan, as one of their players was forced to leave the contest early, adding to the uncomfortable afternoon for the Hull team.

York rounded off the slaughter in a tougher three game match in which Li-Chi and Whipp eventually emerged as victors.

A VERY impressive performance from York was justly rewarded with a decisive victory against Hull in the morning fixture of Varsity.

Despite late injuries to key first team players, Chris Stent, the York team captain, was feeling “quietly confident” ahead of the fixture. And it was a confidence that resonated throughout the team, as they displayed great camaraderie in their overall play to emerge victors.

The Hull Sports Centre had recently refurbished its floor, and will need to do so again after the York volleyball team set it alight with an electric display.

The first set was a fairly scrappy affair.

It seemed difficult for both teams to gauge each other’s style of play, yet York managed to grab an early lead and went on to run away with the game. The link up play between the team was a particular highlight, with Hull struggling to cope. York’s play was initially more fluid, and this increased throughout the match, as impressive displays from Christina Sechel and Sven Sabas were wholly captivating.

Hull were willing to put up a fight, and were often unlucky with the way the ball fell in their own court. So many of the early points could have easily gone their way, and if they had, it may have been a different game.

There was a slight resurgence from Hull in the second set, as they took a 5-2 lead, and seemed to be cutting out the mistakes that had cost them dearly in the first set. After a few long, hard earned points though York began to establish their dominance once more, and pulled the set back into their favour.

Stent’s serving was excellent with an arm like a traction engine. Midway through the set, Hull brought on an extra male player due to a nasty looking finger injury to Vaz, who had to sit out the remainder of the match. A similar incident soon happened to York however, so the teams were again balanced.

York went on to win the set, matching the earlier score, and it was definitely shaping up to be their day.

York maintained their focus and intensity, and dominated the third set winning 25-8. Their decisiveness at the net, and power along the baseline proved too much to handle, and helped the side to pick up three points for the University of York.

Stent and his team were delighted with a well-deserved win, and left the court in great spirits.

Photo: Helen Leech

38 SPORT

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

A TRYING VICTORY

BY KARL TOMUSK IN A game that was too close for comfort, York women’s rugby 1sts completed a 2417 victory against a ruthless and dynamic Hull side.

Going into the match, York’s were feeling confident. Having recently earned promotion, they are now in a league above Hull. Despite this, they faced a number of challenges from a well drilled Hull side. Whereas Hull had already been accustomed to playing together, York had a very new team that had barely had a chance to play this season. Still, they brought their very best and gave us an exhilarating match.

From the very start, it was obvious that York meant business. They put immediate pressure on Hull, with Morven Robertson moving effortlessly through tackles, scoring the opening try in the opening minutes. Although they failed to convert, the play still handed York an early 5-0 lead.

But Hull were keen to show that they were not finished in the match yet. On the contrary, they soon began to show a startling amount of aggression, putting more pressure on York than the visitors were prepared for. They evened the score within minutes and manoeuvred around the defences with very little effort. Even though York did manage to score against the run of play and take a 12-5 lead, it was obvious that Hull were the dominant team at this stage.

In a breathless end to end match both teams found it difficult to gain a meaningful foothold. The moment York scored, Hull would retaliate with a try of their own. By the end of the first half, the score was a fairly equal 12-10, with York holding a narrow lead.

During the second half, Hull were showing no signs of slowing down or tiring. Their offence zoomed past a shaky York defence, pulling into the lead with a score of 12-17, and at this stage they seemed unstoppable.

While fans were wondering if York were being too nice, the scene on the field was rather one-sided.

Luckily, this did not last long. In a sudden burst of speed, Mollie Staples pushed through the defences, ending a stalemate in the centre of the field. She reached the try line, levelling the score and putting York back in the game.

From then on, the match resembled a war of attrition. What Hull showcased in defensive prowess,York matched with sheer speed.

Thulany Kimbugwe, Mollie Staples, and Mor-

ven Robertson all showed an ability to get the ball out of a tight spot, and into the open to exploit any vacant space.

But it wasn’t easy. Hull’s strong forwards time and time again tackled players seconds away from scoring. Yet, those same players kept coming back. In the last quarter, the question no longer was which was the dominant team; the question was which team had more endurance and stamina.

That team happened to be York. Robertson, in particular, led the team with her agility and speed. She gave Hull’s defence a run for their money, darting past them for a game-changing five points, with an additional two from a conversion from Elaine Flynn.

It was clear at this moment that York were in the ascendancy. They were making plays together; they had figured out which positions worked best for which player; and they were not going to let Hull breach their defences.

The final result, 24-17, was an appropriate one for the match. Both teams played to their strengths, and clearly had the upper hand at various points in the game. However, York’s speed and endurance is what brought them the victory.

After the game, captain Lucy Davies remarked that she “couldn’t be more proud,” adding that in the wake of a significant loss and the cancellation of many games this was a testament to how well the team was playing. Indeed, this comeback was a terrific showcase of talent and a sign of what this new team can achieve in the future.

BADMINTON 1STS

BY TOM DAVIES & TOM ARMSTON-CLARKE

Photo: Jack Western

YORK CAME away with one win and one draw from the badminton 1sts encounters at St Mary’s College during Sunday afternoon’s Varsity encounter.

York and Hull shared the points in what proved to be a dramatic men’s 1sts contest.

York got off to a disappointing start in the first game with Jinglun Tang suffering an unfortunate defeat. However, York struck back quickly in the second match with club president Baillie Watterson effortlessly dispatching his opponent to level the score line.

Hull edged back in front, as doubles partners Thomas Dainty and Andrew Henderson lost a bitterly contested match-up by a slim margin. York levelled the score line when

captain Dan Hirst and partner James Davies made a valiant comeback to win 2-1.

This was followed by another comprehensive victory for the unstoppable force of Watterson, who was later awarded ‘Player of the Tournament,’ to put York’s nose in front.

Despite this success York’s fortunes soon began to sour, as Tang was again unlucky being closely defeated in a test of stamina.

Things went from bad to worse as another tight, lengthy contest was ultimately lost by Davies and Hirst, setting the stage for a climatic finale. Dainty and Henderson, reeling from their earlier defeat, found themselves 17-20 down in the deciding game, needing to win to keep the points from Hull. Fighting back the pair dragged themselves 21-20 in front. A seemingly match saving shot from

YORK JUMP CLEAR

BY JACK GOODFELLOW

TRAMPOLINING AT Varsity was once again a close affair and a battle well fought by both sides but, once again, York came away victorious.

Divided into ‘lower’ and ‘higher’ ability categories, gymnasts of all skill levels showed off their best shape bounces, seat drops and somersaults to achieve the highest score possible, determined by their form (neatness) and tariff (difficulty).

All in all, the standard of routines shown by both squads were high and bode well for both teams in future competitions. There were some crash landings and disqualifications from both squads (as are natural in a competitive trampolining environment), but overall the performances were strong and consistent and the few that weren’t, just didn’t get it quite right on-the-day.

The best scores from Hull and York, throughout both ability levels, were then taken and averaged to created a final University

score in which York scraped victory with an average of 47.0 whilst Hull came in at 46.8.

The top performers for York in the lower category were Heather Thomas and Rachel Bates with scores of 44.7 and 44.6 respectively. In the higher ability category, the only two competitors who were able to compete at that level, and perform consistently and to a high level were Peter Hicks and Sarah Elliott who recorded scores of 49.6 and 49.1 respectively,.

However, hats do-go-off to John Danks who competed for Hull, and with an extremely impressive and difficult voluntary routine recorded a total score of 50.2 coming first in the higher category.

So, at the end of the day, York came away with the victor’s share of the 5 points available adding 3 to cumulative York total, and, Hull took the remaining 2, deservedly, after only missing out by 0.2 points. That small margin of victory could have proven crucial considering that as things stand the two universities are separated by just a solitary point.

Photo: Jack Western

SPORT

YORK VISION

Tuesday February 19, 2013

BY JAMES SCOTT

HULL FOILED

YORK’S MEN’S 1sts Fencing team got Varsity off to a flying start with a commanding victory, taking a 135-98 win, largely thanks to a dominant performance in the sabre, which was supplemented with narrow victories in the épée and the foil rounds.

The match began with the foil round.

York started brightly with Ed Gunnell taking York into a 5-1 lead. However immediately Hull pegged York back with Dan Cornwell easily defeated in the second match to give Hull a 10-9 lead.

From then on in the round was a cat and mouse affair, with little separating the two teams. Jack Warman was narrowly defeated before Hull opened up a 25-20 lead.

However the crucial turning point of the round and perhaps the match was a stunning performance from Cornwell, who went on the rampage, going through periods of absolute invincibility complete with guttural roaring, turning a five point deficit into a 30-29 lead.

From then on York started to steadily exert some control over the round. and they gradually started to move away from Hull, Dan Cornwell still needed to hold his nerve to seal the round which he did, York coming out 45-41 winners of the foil.

However the sabres quickly changed that.

As predicted the team of Gunnell, Bairong Huang and Tom Jones quickly dispatched

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the Hull trio in a display of superior power, skill and poise, they were simply on a different planet. York won the round 45-15 to effectively put the tie beyond any doubt. York won all of their games in this round, and all but one of them comfortably.

The épée round was simply a matter of managing the score for the York squad consisting of Cornwell, Bryan Herling and the heroic Gunnell in his third fixture. York needed to score only 10 points to win the tie and that they did with relative ease, Herling having the honour of scoring the winning point.

However the battle for the épée round was actually a very close and tense affair with both teams separated by virtually nothing for the duration of the round, although with victory assured York may have somewhat taken their foot of the gas.

It was Herling who, through very aggressive performance, turned a 38-40 deficit into a 45-42 victory for York, and under other circumstances would have been the hero of the hour.

Captain Bairong Huang was understandably “very pleased” with the performance.

However, he admitted that the fixture went “pretty much as we expected as we were missing many of our top players, in the foil and epee rounds but our top players were available for the sabre round, so for us to win the fixture in the sabres was pretty much what we expected.”

Photo: Jack Western

NET MORE POINTS Hull was returned and after clipping the net, in a heart in your mouth moment, the shuttlecock just fell on the Hull side of the net, ending the match in a 4-4 tie.

The women’s 1sts found it much easier going as they hammered Hull 7-1. Captain Rachael Farrington got York off to a wonderful start, by smashing Hull’s confidence in two easy matches. Her first opponent was inconsistent despite some good smashes, and Farrington took her opportunities to win. Her second match was won far easier 21-16, 21-6.

In the doubles, Alison Connor and Lucy Rogers completed yet another double win with only the first match going to a deciding game. The second match was far more convincing with 21-12, 21-11.

Heather Robertson began her efforts with

a rematch against her nemesis from Varsity 2012. Losing to her opponent last year, Heather had a point to prove. Heather battled through winning the final game 26-24. In the second match Heather could not complete a double of wins losing in a tough contest, and finding a new nemesis for next year.

In the second doubles matches of the day for the ladies, Bonnie Walsh and Charlie Porter stormed to a double win. They made the first match a bit tricky for themselves, but won nevertheless 21-7, 24-22. In the second they were taken by Hull to a third game in a close match. Winning the first game convincingly 21-8, they fell short to Hull in the second 15-21. They dominated the final game, though, running out 21-9 winners to cap an excellent afternoon.

BY JACK BRADSHAW

midfielder crashed an effort onto the post, as goalkeeper Megan Phillips desperately hacked the ball clear.

But on the quarter hour, Hull found the breakthrough. A mad scramble inside the York area resulted in the ball falling kindly to a Hull player, who tapped the ball home.

York were clearly struggling since most of the team were forced to wear astro shoes after the match was moved from the 3G pitch onto grass due to another mix-up. However, the match could have turned just a minute later, as York were offered an equaliser from the penalty spot when a Hull defender was accused of handball. However, the opportunity was squandered as Ellie Whittaker’s kick flew straight into the gloves of the ‘keeper.

The match entered a lull period with neither side able to regain the initiative. Shortly before half time, though, Hull doubled their advantage, this time after a well-worked move. A neat one-two between the striker and midfielder allowed the latter to surge into the box and deliver a fierce low drive past Phil-

Photo: Jack Western

UYWAFC HAMPERED BY DODGY REF

HULL CLAIMED a controversial 3-1 victory in the women’s football match which lasted only 82 minutes. The home side, a division above York in BUCS, established a 2-0 lead at half time, before York hit back early in the second period with a strike from substitute Rohanna Nilsson.

York piled on the pressure searching for an equaliser, but Hull broke away on the counter-attack to put the result beyond doubt at 3-1 with eight minutes remaining.

But to everyone’s surprise, the referee blew the whistle for full time, curtailing the match because he had a christening to attend at 1pm. The bizarre circumstances drew complaints from the York players but nothing was done and the result stood, as Hull picked up three important points.

The match began scrappily, but Hull missed a decent chance after seven minutes when the striker dragged a shot narrowly wide. They came even closer when their right

lips into the net.

Nevertheless, a rousing half-time team talk from Amy Johnson fired the York girls up, and within a minute of the restart, they were back in it. Nilsson saw the ‘keeper fumble her initial shot before following up and making no mistake with the rebound, knocking the ball into the corner to bring York to within one goal of Hull’s lead.

The Hull ‘keeper was treated to a barrage of shots as York searched for an equaliser, and on one occasion a defender was forced into a headed goal-line clearance following a mix-up from a corner.

But Hull had the final say on a rare counter-attack to make the score 3-1, a difficult but by no means impossible scoreline to surmount, before the referee controversially brought the game to a close.

Women’s football President Phillips said afterwards: “It was a really good match, even though we didn’t have our usual team. Not everyone had studs and it showed in our performance, as there was a lot of slipping and

Photo: Jack Western

BUCS PREVIEWS

SPORT

V

SPOTLIGHT: BIG INTERVIEW: TRAMPOLINING BOBBY CRUCTHLEY

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NOT WON YET

BY MICHAEL THURLOWAY AFTER AN enthralling day’s action, neither York nor Hull can be assured of Varsity victory. With all fixtures completed except for clay pigeon shooting, the trophy is still up for grabs.

York led 43.5-42.5 after all Sunday’s events had been completed, but with four categories each worth three points to be played for at Wednesday’s shooting event, both sides could still be crowned Varsity Champions 2013.

Charlotte Winter was presented with the trophy at Sunday’s closing ceremony by virtue of York leading, but should Hull win three or more of the shooting events then it is they who will keep it for the next twelve months.

Sunday was a successful day for York as they fought back the deficit built up from the fixtures played earlier in the week. The men’s football teams all won, with the 1sts being awarded ‘Team of the Tournament.’

There were also key victories in women’s rugby, mixed volleyball and men’s tennis. The badminton club recorded three wins and one draw, resulting in men’s 1sts player Baillie Watterson being recognised as ‘Player of the Tournament.’

Reports on pages 34-39

> YORK FIGHT BACK AGAINST HULL TO CLAIM 43.5-42.5 LEAD AFTER SUNDAY’S VARSITY ACTION > AFTER FIXTURES MIX-UP, WINNER TO BE DECIDED BY WEDNESDAY’S SHOOTING Photo:Philip Mourdjis

Issue 231

@YorkVisionSport

Tuesday February 19th, 2013

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12 pages of sport