Issue 5 – 2011/2012 (Wessex Scene)

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Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

Southampton University’s Student Magazine www.wessexscene.co.uk

BROKEN HEARTED Southampton Refugees

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Paradise Lost

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Narcotics Underworld

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Plus: Our Sex Survey Results; Evolving Education; Intra Mural; Growing Up Gay; Travel Nightmares; ‘Why I Hate Brian Cox’

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Editor

Mike Fisher

editor@soton.ac.uk

Graphic Designer

Aaron Bali

design@wessexscene.co.uk

Image Editor

Nicola Manuel

image@wessexscene.co.uk

Features

Nile Davies & Charlotte Harwood

features@wessexscene.co.uk

Opinions

Samuel Gilonis & Fouad Al-Noor opinions@wessexscene.co.uk

Politics

Richard Windsor & Luke Goodger politics@wessexscene.co.uk

Winchester

Emily Cotton

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

should probably start by apologising for the disheartening (...) front page. When it’s cold outside and you’re still recouperating from the January exam battering, I imagine the last thing you needed was your student magazine bringing out an issue filled with poverty and pain. So sorry about that.

But then there’s no point in shying away from the bad stuff. It’s a sad truth that you can find the desperate and the desperately poor almost anywhere: from our doorsteps in Southampton (p6) to the backstreets of glossy Los Angeles (p8). We’ve got articles on both areas as well as a superb dissection of the tragedies the criminalisation of narcotics has wrought (p20).

My favourite internet meme by a long way is the First World Problems sensation. It’s a handy reminder to put things into context when we lose our rag over life’s trivial irritations. Travel “horror stories” (p22), language embarassments (p24) and football’s sluggish adoption of technology (p28) could possibly fit into the FWP category of heart breakers but I think you’ll enjoy our coverage of them nonetheless.

Dip your mitts into our mixed bag of treats and I promise you will find some more upbeat goodies as well — efficient education (p10), spilled sex secrets (p14) and an enlightening interview with the LGBT Society President (p16) providing just a handful.

Lots of love in 2012. Enjoy the issue.

Mike Fisher, Editor

winchester@wessexscene.co.uk

International

Maja Hultman

international@wessexscene.co.uk

Lifestyle

Jo Fisher & Yara Silva

lifestyle@wessexscene.co.uk

Science & Environment

Alex Williams

science@wessexscene.co.uk

Travel

April Foot

travel@wessexscene.co.uk

Sport

Will Handley & Ellie Sellwood sport@wessexscene.co.uk

News

Emma Chappell & Ashleigh Cowie

news@wessexscene.co.uk

Involvement and Publicity Officer

Ciarán McManus

publicity@wessescene.co.uk

Pause Editor

Becci Ford

pause@wessexscene.co.uk

Online Manager

Sam Whitehall

online-manager@wessexscene. co.uk

Editor-in-Chief

Joseph McLoughlin vpcomms@susu.org

Front Cover

Sasha Spaid

Illustration: Thomas Fummo

ONE STUDENT’S CONSIDERATION TO PROPOSE THAT SUSU BAN “LADS’ MAGS” FROM THEIR SHOP PROVOKED HEATED DEBATE A CRUISE SHIP CAPSIZED OFF THE ITALIAN COAST, RESULTING IN THE DEATH OF 17 PASSENGERS 74 FOOTBALL FANS WERE KILLED AFTER A POLITICALLY MOTIVATED FIGHT IN AN EGYPTIAN STADIUM. THOUSANDS CONSEQUENTLY PROTESTED AGAINST WHAT THEY SAW AS INADEQUATE POLICING THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL RACE LIT UP AS REPUBLICAN SUPPORTERS CAST VOTES TO ELECT THEIR LEADER

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Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

Image: Dizar Angel

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Occupy Southampton is Coming...

Nile Davies

When thousands of people descended on New York City last September to practise their sacred right to protest, the world went batshit.

Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly described Occupy Wall Street as a ‘wacky hippy love-in’ and urged participants to go home, ‘take a shower’ and ‘get a job’. These ‘LUNATICS OF THE LEFT WING’ – as the headline so deftly described – accused the establishment of a conspiracy; a corrupt dictatorship controlled by billionaires was stealing food from our mouths, chaining us in capitalist bondage from the moment we entered this world, obliterating our futures.

When similar events unfolded on our own shores, news media reacted with invariably bombastic declarations of their own ignorance and apoplectic indignation. Porcine and condescending Sky News pundit, Adam Boulton, derided Occupy London as a waste of everybody’s time and money.

‘How dare this degenerate rabble of filthy, workshy, tree-huggers smoke drugs and fornicate in tents and make such an almighty fuss about nothing!’ his comments seemed to suggest, as he compared their indefinite tenancy on the pavement outside St Paul’s Cathedral to the Nazi Occupation of France.

Did he have a point?

The past 12 months has been a time of political flux and cultural strife.

At home and abroad, dissent, both popular and less so, has dominated headlines, tweets and texts. With tumult and tear gas from Tehran to Tottenham, masking up and speaking out has become the new apathy.

2011 saw Time Magazine bestow their ‘Person of the Year’ award on none other than ‘The Protestor’. Yet

this is not always an accolade to be held in esteem. In 1938, a moustachioed Austrian politician named Adolf Hitler graced the cover of the weekly mag, an influential figure in the words of its founder, Henry Luce) ‘for better or worse’.

Following in the footsteps of these various immortal occupiers, 2012 holds host to a new breed of protesters, this time around in the city of Southampton. They are a leaderless people powered movement for democracy, striving against injustice and oppression. The only problem is they haven’t started yet.

With UK camps across the country like Occupy Bristol already dissolving and protesters returning to their day jobs, is Occupy Southampton too little, too late? Bombarded with a stream of conflicting information and differences in opinion, I caught up with Known as Kenny – an Occupy member who has been involved for several months – to find out. === WS: What’s this all about then?

Known As Kenny: Basically most people know in their hearts something doesn’t fit. Perhaps you are aware of the fact that taking on huge student loans to pay massive education fees, putting you in £20k debt with no guarantee of a job doesn’t seem like the most sensible thing in the world. The one tool you need to figure this all out is to ‘follow the money’. That’s where this began for me at least, but it’s different for everyone.

Following the money is easier than it sounds. Last month, headlines buzzed with the news that the boss of government-backed Royal Bank of Scotland had been awarded a bo-

nus of £963,000 worth of shares in the company, one which (partly due to public scrutiny) he eventually rejected. There is a growing sense of the wealthy profiting exponentially at the expense of the less wealthy.

A small coterie of bankers holds the keys to an arcane world of financial capital where literally trillions and trillions of pounds are being accumulated. The rich are getting richer and richer. They are the enemy of the working classes. They are the 1%.

WS: Are you a student/graduate, and what made you want to get involved with Occupy?

Known as Kenny: I turned 30 at the beginning of this year and reached a point in my life where I thought I understood myself and this life enough to find something I am really passionate about to focus my life on. Discovering world issues like peak oil, impending climate change catastrophe, and more recently, details about our political and banking systems, has led me to search for answers, and I am now a student of something called ‘Permaculture’.

WS: What kind of people are involved with Occupy Southampton?

Known As Kenny: There are people who pioneered this in Southampton like Ania and the two Les’s, which is fantastic, but from my perspective there are no main people. We are a community who have come together as one to educate ourselves on the issues, share information, raise awareness and look for solutions. No one person is more important than any other, just as yourself or anyone else thinking about getting involved would be any less important.

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene “Suggesting that high unemployment exists because ‘young people don’t want to work’ is an insult to the very people on whom the future of this country depends.

– Anon, 2nd Year, History WS: What are the movement’s plans for the near future?

Known As Kenny: Occupy Southampton is still in its early stages, perhaps due to lack of awareness of the big issues in Southampton, or a general cautiousness, who knows? But people are slowly getting involved and plans are coming together. It looks like an Occupy camp will be set up in January after the Christmas period (some Occupiers have children) although the holidays will I’m sure be used to spread the message.

Sky News reported that only one in ten occupiers at the LSX camp stayed in their tents overnight.

Those who left were derided by some for their lack of commitment to the cause. There have already been several meetings in Southampton City Centre throughout December and the New Year, organised ad hoc through the superlative communication apparatus that is Facebook, namely a closed group of fewer than 150 members.

News stories and YouTube videos highlighting the slow decline of society and inciting encouragement are posted and discussed.

WS: How much support have you received from students?

Known as Kenny: I don’t know if we have much student involvement yet, but I do know that nearly every major revolution in history came from students. You guys are vital! Life can beat you

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down, but when you are young you still care, and you can still see the bullshit! It has been a tough journey for me to reach 30 without being sucked into that bullshit world of mortgages and thinking a new car is more important than the millions starving in Africa or the systematic destruction of our planet.

sand, but that’s okay. A network is building of those who have woken up, and the more people involved, the more that support network will grow amongst us.

WS: What do you hope to change and what tips would you give to people interested in finding out more or taking part themselves)?

In the streets and online, those involved say they are protesting against a corrupt system that has failed the people, not the alleged ‘socialist nirvana’ that right-wing agitators have suggested. It would be short-sighted to say that nobody’s seen this coming. The AntiCuts Demonstration in March last year was the biggest display of public discontent since the 2004 protest against the Iraq War. More than 250,000 people turned up, a group bigger than the population of Newcastle.

Known as Kenny: My involvement with Occupy is due to the possibility of an amazing change in the way humans see and live on our planet. Right now I see education on issues and potential solutions, and of valuable input of ideas from all as being the biggest plus. I am not involved to demand change, I do not recognize any authority to change anything for us. I believe that if we want to be treated like adults then we need to start taking responsibility like adults are meant to.

“They’re standing up for what they believe in, and fair play to them. I stopped giving a shit a long time ago” – Anon, 2nd Year, Medicine

Known As Kenny: There is also a feeling that the country is going downhill, and that things don’t change no matter who we vote for. Why is that? Big questions, but there are answers. Just to have people asking those types of questions is my primary aim, because when they find answers the Occupy movement will suddenly make perfect sense!

WS: How much support have you had from your family and friends?

Known as Kenny: I have no support from my family. Everyone I know has their heads in the

Everyone has their own reasons for being involved, and every single one is valid and important! I rate knowing oneself as one of the most important things is life and I would encourage others to get in touch with themselves, to see how they feel about the information they will learn, and to find their own reasons for taking their own actions that are right for them.

“I’d wonder what they’re occupying and if they haven’t got anything better to do. Southampton isn’t exactly a financial centre of the world” – Anon, 3rd Year, Geography

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Refugees in Southampton: Part One. Charlotte Harwood

Southampton has long been in benefit payments for gas an important city for those and electricity’. Later in the both arriving in and leaving month it emerged that the the UK. As a major port on letters were in fact forged by the southern coast of EngGary Tumulty, a local BNP land, it has seen millions Organiser for Salford. These of refugees from all ‘so-called’ asylum seekThere are over the world ers are in fact those an estimated pass through, who have been clasmany of whom sified as authenticly 42 million have stayed and seeking refuge from displaced settled here. extreme dangers at people in the home, a fact the BNP world.

A refugee is someconveniently ignores. one who has had to flee their country due to a The definition of an asylum ‘well-founded fear of being figure is simply one who has persectuted for reasons of lodged an application for race, religion, nationality, protection, on the basis of the membership of a particular Refugee convention. In the social group, or political UK during 2009, the governopinion’. Persecution often ment received over 24, 486 translates into imprisionapplications for protections, ment, torture and even death. with an extra 6,000 dependThe reasons for their jourents alongside this number. neys are often sharply differOf that initial number, only ent from those of immigrants. 17% were recognised as refuAlthough immigrants can be gees, less than 1% granted looking for a better life due humanitarian protection, to hardships at home, the with a further 10% granted vital difference is that asylum discretionary leave. 72% seekers have no option but were refusals. to leave their countries, or to remain in grave danger.

For all the vitriolic rhetoric of the right-wing, four out These differences between of five refugees are housed asylum seekers and imin the developing world. migrants are often ignored, Most are dispaced by war, especially by political parties and the countries which such as the BNP. Only last produce the highest number November they reported of refugees, which includes that ‘tens of thousands of Afhahnistan and Somalia, are impoversished British penall ones which have recently sioners will die from cold in expereinced conflict or have the coming months’ whilst histories of well-documented ‘so-called asylum seekers human right abuses. An even will get hundreds of pounds more shocking statistic is

that where Pakistan annually takes in around 1.7 million refugees, the entirity of the EU only takes in 1.6 million.

Southampton itself has seen its fair share of immigrants and emigrants.The Pilgrims on the Mayflower initially left from Southampton, remembered in the name of the Mayflower Theatre. Unfortunately, due to Plymouth being their second calling point, and the naming of the Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts as a memorial of the journey, this part of Southampton’s history is often unknown to locals as well as Americans.

In more modern times, even with the decrease in ships for transportation, Southampton has continued to provide shelter to asylum seekers. In 2004 an act was introduced with the aim of dispersing refugees, and relieving London and the South of housing shortages.

However, there are still refugees living within Southampton, making up an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 of our population here. And several charities have come into existence with the aim of working with refugees.

The Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group, or SWVG for short, have over sixty volunteers, and work with the ethos that ‘every asylum

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

seeker deserves respect and compassion and that applications for asylum should get a fair and proper hearing’. They began after visiting asylum seekers in Winchester Prison in 2001 as a small group of seven who aimed to befriend and aid local refugees. Over the past ten years around 150 locals have worked with over 250 refugees, providing both long and short term support.

One issue which SWVG is focusing on is the establishment of new detention facilities, designed to replace the system of routine detention of child attention seekers.

One particular facility is ‘Cedars’ near Gatwick airport, and is designed to replace a centre closed a part of a gov-

Spanish children were shipped out of the Republican held Bilbao in 1937 to protect them against Nationalist bombing and artillery attacks on the city. Here they arrive in Southampton on the liner Habana.

ernment pledge to end child detention. Barnado’s, the children’s charity, has been put in charge of overseeing the care of children at the centre, and has promised SWVG it would ‘protest strongly if families are referred there as a matter of routine’. Chief Executive Anne Marie Carrie said they would speak out if the accommodation becomes a ‘revolving door’, meaning families would end up staying longer than the maximum of one week which many campaigners were worried about. However, several organisations, such as End Child Detention Now, object strongly to the centre and are part of a growing movement saying that children should not be detained at all.

CLEAR is another charity working in Southampton, aiming to reduce the isolation and marginalisation of refugees. Working with the Red Cross and St Andrews United Reform Church on the Avenue, they provide access to specialist legal advice and guidance on life in the UK, and their applications for Asylum status. Many of those applying for Asylum status have little time to speak with lawyers, and to ensure that the full truth is assessed by the courts. The charity also operates a mentoring scheme and English classes, as a number of the refugees who come to Southampton cannot speak English well, leading to very obvious difficulties in integration.

The need for fair representa-

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tion in court is an issue which these charities are working towards. Although much has been done, especially over the last decade, there are still stories of what in any other instance would be seen as gross negligence within courts. One Bosnian man applying for asylum status first did not have his lawyer turn up - a common problem in many cases like this. It was then discovered the official deciding his case only had a case file on Kosovo, and the man in question had to make a considerable fuss to postpone his case until the official could be given the current background information.

Thankfully, in the last few years officials have received new training, although there is still more work to be done.

In countries such as Germany the officials deciding have to be highly educated and hold a law degree, which is what the British system is hoping to move towards. SWVG has been nationally recognised for its work in getting fair legal representation, and this movement will hopefully continue.

More information on SWVG and CLEAR, including volunteering opportunities, can be found online.

Part Two will feature in the next issue.

image courtesy: Wikipedia

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

The Darker Side of Paradise Why LA is not all it’s made out to be.

Amy Sandys Think of L.A. What image does it conjure up? A beautiful exotic paradise, laden with beaches, bikinis and board walks, the sun high in the sky and cocktail bars lining the white sand.

To be honest, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. LA is just like any post-modern city, except on the coastline; sprawling, urbanised and ultra-modern.

There are high-end districts as well as the normal style ‘cityscape’ you would expect to find, while the residential, social and economic patterns emerging in this industrial paradise are not too dissimilar from other rapidly expanding cities. But do you know the story behind some of these districts? And why are certain areas within the gridlocked wasteland of downtown LA among the more impoverished and desolate in the modern world? In particular, why has nothing to been done the help the ‘lowest of the low’: the people in the place called Skid Row? Skid Row‘s official name is Central City East, and occupies a homeless population of approximately 3000 out of a total population of around 17000 (although this can vary according the season). Skid Row harbours the problems the rest

of LA have swept there: street years. The number of permacorners house drug dealing and nent residencies has increased, taking, open prostitution, homesocial service facilities have less disabled and mentally ill expanded and improved, and citizens, as well as high levels of many schemes are underway to unemployment and around 40% improve healthcare and decrease of its inhabitants still living unalcoholism/drug addiction. der the poverty line. For a global hub such as LA, with a prime loWhilst the problems of Skid cation for trade along the Pacific Row were at their most promicoast and one of the most wellnent throughout the 1980s and known industries in the world, 1990s, during the 21st Century poverty to this extent should a number of initiatives and charinot be occurring. These ties have set up premise people – ex-Vietnam along the dismal streets Around War veterans, in order to help the 55% of the single mothers, forgotten people homeless disabled people there along to a who have been population suffer clean, fresh start on shunned by sofrom three or more life. There are faithciety and mostly based organisations, disabilities. black African or such as Volunteers Latino - have defor America, as well as scended into a cycle of outhouses for women and depravation: a lack of jobs children and organisations such means lack of money; the lack as Alcoholics Anonymous. of money means turning to informal or illegal industries such Skid Row is one of the forgotten as prostitution; illegal industry places of the Global South. There leads to misery; misery leads to is still a long way to go, both in an escape, and an escape is takterms of renovating the area and ing hard and illegal drugs. And helping all those affected by its then a job prospect becomes abuse. However, raising awarevirtually impossible, and the ness is one of the main ways in cycle starts all over again. which the people of Skid Row can be helped.

However, as with many stories of misery, there is hope and evidence suggests that Skid Row has improved in recent

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

What’s wrong with education?

Fouad Al-Noor

As students are starting to despair about the amount of debt they will go into after their university career, it has become apparent that the way we are currently organising education is becoming ever more important.

Now that the university fees have reached an all time high of £9,000 a year, students are much more concerned about what they actually get out of their investment and are increasingly treating education as a service provided by a company, instead of a right that they have inherited from their grandparents after the Second World War.

There is a very interesting view about the way we should be educated that was put forward by Salman Khan, an MIT graduate that founded “Khan Academy”. Khan Academy is a not-for-profit educational organisation that have now provided around 115 million free lessons through its large selection of online video lectures (mostly created by Mr Khan himself). He is advocating a complete change in the way we learn by having students watch video lectures at home, do lots of practice questions online and then go to the lesson in order to do get help from their teacher or their peers.

He backs up his claims by doing several experiments with local schools whereby he replaces a subject’s curriculum with his own and then tracks how well the students perform. From his talk at TED, ‘Good Experience Live and LinkedIn’, it seems like he really has done his homework when it comes to the effectiveness of his approach. His method of “humanising” the classroom and making lessons much more interactive seems to go a long way in solving the problem that is often faced by teachers and lecturers when it comes to the “one size fits all” way of teaching. We all know how difficult it is to learn

Salman Khan: Creator of Khan Academy from a 45 minute lecture while being too embarrassed to ask the lecturer to go back to what he said at the start, Khan solves these issue by letting students learn at their own pace through his videos and then once the main idea’s have fermented in the student’s mind, they can start to get help with the trickier parts of the concept. Experimentation is rewarded and exams are completely taken off the table. Instead of a snapshot exam where a student is assumed to be proficient when getting 90%, he wants the student to only move on when they have mastery over the subject.

This ensures that there are no gaps in their understanding (and as any student already knows, those gaps do indeed add up).

Some critics oppose this way of teaching, by arguing that it is not as effective as a normal lecture-based system, and is better as an add-on. I think that the opposition seems to have very hollow arguments and are probably more scared of changing the teaching system and of the potential profit losses.

As students I believe we should take this approach much more seriously and consider experi-

menting with it to see how we can make university education more efficient. If we stop for a second and just imagine how much better education would be if we were taught in a workshopbased system, where making mistakes is accepted, but eventual mastery is expected, instead of the current system where you are penalised for making mistakes and your understanding is measured by an exam that only reflects some parts of your knowledge.

Currently you will get a firstclass degree and move on to the next stage if you score 70% in the exam, but we are completely ignoring the 30% of the material that you did not understand.

Speaking from personal experience, we really don’t need amazing Powerpoint presentations or better looking buildings to learn. What students probably need the most is more one-toone time with their lecturer, where each student’s specific problems can be addressed, and I think Salman Khan has provided us a way to achieve this.

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Questions for FemSoc, Laur Evans Samuel Gilonis and their detractors At this point there have been three articles written across two websites (the Wessex Scene and the Soton Tab) discussing an internal memo sent by a member of FemSoc proposing a ban on ‘Lad’s Mags’.

The first article, written by the Wessex Scene’s Jamie Chadd, led to an online vivisection of a second hand account of Ms. Evans’s proposal that set a new record for comments on the website.

That this was an overreaction is a point ill made by my contribution of a fourth article to a tired conversation, but there are so many unanswered questions and bad arguments orbiting the debate that it seems like there is still meat on “Do you that bone yet.

have to be had under the colours of freedom of speech even when we are really talking about the simple enjoyment of obscenity, but this particular proposal does seem to have a real freedom of speech dimension to it. It is hard to imagine a definition that Evans might come up with for a ‘Lad’s Mag’ that wouldn’t also incorporate a newspaper like The Sun, with its soft pornography and reactionary content, but The Sun is also a news source and represents a position on the political spectrum which must make it wholly unacceptable to deprive students of their right to read it unless the University should be open to accusations of and believe censorship political bias.

men and women

Most of the arguThe worst face should be equal? of these kinds of ments from those opposing the ban magazines must If so, you’re a have been eibe Mr. Danny Dyer feminist!” ther that students who, in the pages don’t rape, or a of Zoo magazine, recomplaint that there cently advised a man is a double standard to cut his girlfriends and that the Union shop face so that no one would also stocks magazines featur- want her any more. Researching ing topless men. The first is un- Mr. Dyer for five minutes is not knowable and the second isn’t time wasted, his other proclamaan argument in opposition to tions in clude: ‘there are aliens... the ban at all, just a suggestion Who the fuck are you?’ (From that we should ban more publi- Danny Dyer: I Believe in UFOs); cations. The ban is premised on on not being taken seriously as the idea that ‘Lad’s Mags’ lead an actor by Mark Kermode he to rape and given that ‘Lasses’ said, “But our paths will meet, Mags’ couldn’t have any such one day, and there won’t be no equivalent effect there would talking. It’ll probably just be a be no reason to remove them. head butt straight to the fucking nose, and then he can go off and Without ever having heard di- do his impressions with a broken rectly from Laur Evans on the nose… That’d be good, wouldn’t matter it is difficult to know how it?” He has also stated that he is substantial her proposal really worried about being type-casted was; can she justify the notion as a ‘hard man’. The role he has that there is a rape ‘culture’? Or chosen to avoid this image? “I the claim that this soft smut con- play this serial killer who likes to tributes to a rape culture? Can kidnap women and abuse them she provide us with a definition and then kill them.” Some of this of a Lad’s Mag that is neither so may be explained by a final Dyer narrow that it is useless nor so quote - “’I’ve always taken drugs cumbersome that it applies to and I probably always will”. This more than she intended? As Tom man is either a self-satirising genLehrer knew, these arguments ius or a burnt out, psychopathic

cocaine addict who I would wager could not spell or say ‘misogyny’. But either way, Mr. Dyer has been stripped of his journalistic career and roundly and publicly mocked so what need is there for the further measure of banning these publications?

The feminist society has divorced itself from Laur Evans’s proposal and stated repeatedly that her opinion is hers alone and does not represent the opinion of the society. In this regard FemSoc is living up to its own definition of what a feminist is. The FemSoc website has, tattooed across its homepage, the words: “Do you believe men and women should be equal? If so, you’re a feminist!”

This raises the question: should there be a conflict in being a devoted advocate of the death penalty, a habitual consumer of Nestle products, believing that the people should have the right to watch pornography, thinking that there may be innate differences between the genders, believing that abortion is wrong and being a feminist? Out of civil rights movements, few have had to restate and re-justify their case for so long and in the face of so much derision as the movement for advancing the rights of women and it seems that this work is undermined by constant dilution and confusion of the original, simple idea - that men and women should be treated as equals.

It may well be the case that the feminist society does think that there is a contradiction in thinking that women and men are equal and thinking that abortion is wrong or that men and women are not exactly the same.

Their positions on these ideas are ambiguous and the steady flow of campaigns and proposed bans that appear to come from the feminist society (even if unofficially) makes me, and perhaps others, want them to clarify the aims of FemSoc and what their role should be when such campaigns are brought before the Union Council.

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Wessex Lifestyle Se

Imagery: Nicola Manuel Words: Jo Fisher

Wessex Lifestyle recently set out to find out about bedroom (and out). We asked your opi

45%

of you have NEVER had a one-night-stand

“I consider myself to have had an average amount of sexual partners for a uni student of my age. I do think that had I not have come to university, I wouldn’t have slept with as many people as I have. Uni has changed me in that respect. I now have the attitude that I should have fun now before I settle down so I know what I want and don’t want. “ Female, 2nd Year Psychology Student,

Do you carry contraception on a night out?

“Yes, I do, as it is just silly not to really, even if you don’t think anything is going to happen, the one time you do will probably be the one night you need it and I wouldn’t want to be in that situation. “ Male, 3rd Year Environmental Sciences Student Do you see sex as something casual, or something special?

“It’s special. I’m not one of those people to preach and say it’s sacred and shouldn’t be done before marriage or prescribe my views on anyone else; it’s a lot of fun after all. But personally I think you make quite an existential connection with someone when you sleep with them. I think that’s got to be worth something. “ Male, 3rd Year Philosophy Student

Who provides the contraception?

“We both do. Gay community gives free condoms to all.”

Male 2nd Year BSc Applied Social Sciences student “I am a Christian, and believe sex is a gift from God for marriage. There is a much more laid back approach to sex here - “no strings attached” seems to be the norm, and that’s sad.”

Female, 1st Year BA English student Has university changed your attitude towards sex?

“Uni has made me care less about it. Before uni I was going out pretty much exclusively to try and have sex, now I go out to have fun and whether I go home with a girl has little effect on how ‘successful’ a night it was” Male. 3rd Year MEng Electronic Engineering Student

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Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

e x u a l H e a lt h S u r v e y

t what Southampton Students get up to inside the inions, and here’s what we found out...

Explain how being in a relationship has affected your attitude towards sex.

“Being in a relationship has opened my eyes for the emotional aspect of sex. Before I approached it as a competition of sorts, a fun and exciting one but a competition nonetheless.

I felt the need to be in control and never completely open up.

I would not let anyone see me have an orgasm because I felt it was something too personal, a moment of vulnerability, a loss of control. But now I’ve learned that it’s wonderful to let go and share something so special with another person” Female, 3rd Year BSC Psychology Student

How can the university improve sexual health awareness?

“Talk about it more! It’s not a taboo, people need to get over it. More screening for STIs in the union, more union events with free condoms, tests etc.

Awareness days, sexual health guidance in halls...”

Female, 3rd Year BA English Student

91% are sexually active

Watch out for further results on our website www.wessexscene.co.uk

only

7%

of people asked ever admitted to having had an STD Has university changed your attitude towards sex? In what way?

“When I first went to university at 18, it felt as if sex was a competitive field in which my self-esteem was totally in the hands of sexual partners. So at first, it damaged my attitude towards sex.”

Female, 2nd Year BA English Student

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

“It’s not easy growing up gay”

Interview with LGBT soc President, Tom Smith

Yara Silva

How long has the LGBT soc been running?

We’re not entirely certain (as the original founding members are long gone), but from what we can discover it’s been going since before 1986 and was originally two separate societies that combined in the late 90s.

Do you hold regular events and socials?

We meet at least once a week (generally Tuesdays) for Lunch on campus, and then on Thursdays for films. And pretty much any Wednesday you’ll find society members out at the Edge, regardless of whether or not we have an official social running.

Do you accept heterosexual members?

Yes, though our notion of membership is fairly hazy – we’re not allowed to keep a formal list of members, so we advertise events via our Facebook group and mailing list, which are open to all. At the beginning of the year we had a fair number of people approach us with this question at the Freshers’ Fair,

For more info: www.lgbt.susu.org Visit the Facebook page at SUSU LGBT 2011-2012 Follow the society’s activities on Twitter @SUSULBG

and members often bring friends and housemates to our films and the Edge.

How do you deal with those who are unsure of their sexuality?

One of our main aims is to support people who aren’t certain – coming to Uni often gives people a chance to redefine themselves, and for some people this involves exploring the idea that they may be interested in others of the same gender. We’ve got two Welfare officers on the committee, and part of the idea behind the Lunches we hold are that they give people an opportunity to drop in informally and chat. We also meet people individually occasionally in order to answer any questions they might have and ensure that there’s at least one person whom they’ll know already if they want to come to other events.

Do many members have problems coming out at university?

Occasionally people do. Coming out is not guaranteed to be a simple straightforward process. In general I think we see that people find it easier to come out at Uni though, where they are surrounded by new friends and the environment is largely positive, but sometimes are more worried about coming out to their parents and friends back home. Certainly a fair few of our members have come out before they arrive at Uni, but by no means all. Often we find that people are more comfortable coming out here, and wait until they develop a supportive group of friends before telling parents.

Can you tell us your coming out story?

I was fairly lucky, and things went smoothly for me. The

first person I came out to was a good friend in year 11, and it happened impulsively; he asked me who I fancied and I

“Coming out isn’t a single event, but a process that has to be repeated every time you make new friends”

decided to answer honestly.

Gradually I came out to the rest of the people I felt deserved to know (friends, parents etc. - my mother already knew, apparently), including the guy I’d named – who was fortunately very nice about the whole thing, but also completely straight. It’s not so easy growing up gay in a very rural area where everyone you know is straight – there’s no opportunity to experiment with flirting, dating or making out, so I arrived at uni a little naïve.

Like I said though, I’ve been lucky: I never had any problems with homophobia, and my parents and friends were accepting.

Any advice?

Come out first to people you trust, and build a supportive group around yourself. That along with the practice will make it progressively easier to come out to people in the future, especially parents. Sadly, coming out isn’t a single event, but a process that has to be repeated every time you make new friends, as the default is still to assume that everyone is straight. Fortunately, the more comfortable you are about it and the less of a big deal you make it, the less of a big deal it will generally be, so don’t build

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

it up in your head as something to be afraid of. And remember that there are always people to talk to: especially at university, chances are there will be many people who have gone through similar experiences, and if you don’t want to talk to us, then the uni runs an excellent Nightline listening service on 023 8059 5236, or (78)25236 for Halls.

What made you want to become LGBT soc president?

When I came to uni, I discovered the society about an hour before the first social. I wasn’t very confident in my first year, but I decided to go, and had a great time. Throughout the year I got involved with a bunch of things the society did, and it really encouraged me to find friends and become more confident in myself. I ran for president because I felt I owed something in return – it’d help me, and I hoped I could do the same for incoming Freshers.

What are the aims of the society? How do you achieve these?

Well, the brief answer is that we aim to support and represent LGBT folk at the University, as well those questioning their sexuality. So we run social events, do showings of LGBTinterest films, and have a hand in organizing things like LGBT History Month on campus in February, and trips to events like Student Pride.

Do you make any attempts to increase sexual health awareness?

We run a Safe Sex talk at the beginning of each year, and advertise GCHS (Gay Community Health Service) courses to our members. This year we’re also working on supporting people going to the GUM clinic in Southampton, as people often haven’t been to one before coming to uni, and are a little apprehensive. GCHS and volunteer Peer Educators (including some of the society’s members) also run a Community Room at the Edge

which gives out free advice and condoms for the LGBT community.

How many members do you have?

Again, that’s a tough question because we don’t have any formal membership. At our first social this year there were easily more than a hundred of us, but we see fewer than that on a regular basis, obviously. We do a range of things, each of which appeals to different groups. At the lunches and films we tend to get up to 15 people, sometimes more, and at the Edge on Wednesdays we regularly have around 25-30, though it changes each week as people are free.

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think Southampton’s pretty okay.

How many female/male/ transgender members?

For the first time in a couple of years, we’ve got a slightly more even female-male ratio than we used to, though the guys still outnumber the girls a little. We’ve a couple of trans members too, though strictly they shouldn’t be counted separately: if they identify as male then they should count as male, and ditto female.

(Side note: trans doesn’t relate to sexuality, so each of our trans members will also be straight/ gay/lesbian/bi etc).

“In general, people at our university are fairly accepting”

Are people at university usually accepting or discriminatory?

The vast majority seem to be accepting, certainly once they’ve been at uni for a while and gotten used to the huge variety of people that are here.

Do you mind that The Edge is a popular nightclub for heterosexual and homosexual students alike?

Not at all, in many ways I prefer it like that: I’ve taken my housemates there (one of them loves it), and occasionally see nonLGBT course mates there too.

Have you experienced much homophobia since coming to Southampton? Any stories?

Not personally, and in general I think people in and around the uni are fairly accepting, though we do occasionally hear about intolerance among new students.

One of my non-student friends had a bit of trouble, but largely I

Tom Smith. President of the LesTom Smith. President of bian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenthe Lesbian, Gay, Bider Society sexual and Transgender Society

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Higgs Speak

Soton student Alex Williams talks about what the Higgs Boson means for everyday conversations The Higgs Boson is this generation’s General Relativity.

That is, everyone who owns a plug is at least slightly interested. And there are a number of press rumours about whether the theory will turn out as useful as the physicists say it will. And it has become that special thing.

An amateur curiosity. A big Sunday baseball game of global science that the budding non-scientist can follow and cheerlead. There is just one difference. While our greatgrandparents had talked their ducktails off over Einstein, today’s generation have stayed comparatively silent over Higgs.

from summary. It is like a 50s Rothko. You can understand it from the first glance, and if you never look at it again then you will always understand it.

The Higgs Boson, however, is pure Thomas Pynchon.

happily go weary a pub, spoil a lunch or doom a date with his practiced opinions and knowledge concerning the raw-edge of physics. These days, the only people left alive who are able to talk with any conviction about new physThe mathematics that stretch- ics are all in Switzerland, unes out behind the Higgs Boson derground, talking about it is so calligraphically cubist, to each other. Chatting Higgs so succinctly verbose, so per- Speak over tepid canteen pizspective-wreckingly mega- za and Styrofoam latte-cups, dimensional, it has almost while the hottest object in the started solving the scientists. solar system hums away next The theory itself can only be door. visualised as series of Feynman diagrams, which are all And so what? Why should schematic, and it can only be we care to talk about the unsolved using variation calcu- known in the first place? Why lus, which is God’s Sudoku. should we not just shut up But without a proper under- and live? Well, the unknown The senior reason for this is standing of the maths and doesn’t only hide in Higgs that the Theory of Relativ- the diagrams the Higgs Bo- Theory. We can also find it ity is much, much easier to son is a myth, a hype. There floating in our wineglasses

talk about than the are no great facts or and shuffling on our iPods.

Higgs Theory. Mensnippet equations. Tripping down our catwalks tion two trains “The unknown No E equals MC and lurking in our librarand a fixed ob- is the only thing squared.

The ies. Crying at our funerals server, and you’ll that has ever been Higgs Boson talks and laughing between our have impressed in abstractions. sheets. The unknown is the worth talking a few of your And so the non- only thing that has ever been about” friends. Also menscientist studying worth talking about. And at tion that the speed the interrogation this moment people just like of light is constant, and from behind the mirror you and me are looking for a you’ll have passed a Solent is hazed with a cipher of in- tiny, unseen scalar boson berelativity module. Everyone comprehensible Higgs Speak. neath a Swiss mountain range. has picked up enough broken They deserve a little progress.

Relativese from high school This is all bad news for this Here’s a big shout. and Horizon and Wikipe- generation’s rising autodia to at least put together a didacts and smoking-area decent question. And it is a bores. In the old days, a man theory that rewards a quick - always a man - could geek-up look. Relativity loses little on Maxwell’s formulae and

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

Why I Hate Brian Cox

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Fictional Californication womanizer Hank Moody gives his view on PhD physicist and TV presenter Brian Cox

Only a few things are certain in this world: trains will never run on time, I will always have a bad night in Sobar, England will never win a football tournament in my lifetime and in any situation only one Kleenex Mansize tissue is needed.

In science, quite a few things are certain. The atmosphere will remain pretty constant, certain elements will react with each other and the Sun will heat the Earth. However perhaps the most certain thing in science is this: Brian Cox is rubbish.

Whoever gave this man free licence to reign on television should be sent to Siberia.

Pronto. Brian Cox would probably love Siberia, all that cold stuff everywhere. That is one of the reasons why he is to be hated.

Another reason is that he is omnipresent on our screens, popping up on chat shows, quizzes and regularly promoting his snore-fests, always with his silly haircut, impish grin and bland northern accent.

Last week I had the misfortune of watching his new programme about stargazing, where a bunch of lunatics get all excited about Space and dream of a life when they can be transported away into another Galaxy from Kingstonupon-Hull or Wrexham. Brian stands there getting all semianimated and talking quickly.

Everyone nods along and all seem to have a jolly good time.

For some unexplainable reason the Irish guy who presents Mock the Week (which was once funny in 2006) comes along for the ride. Even more outrageous was the presence of Jon Culshaw the impressionist geeza gurning alongside always on the brink of a bad impersonation of some former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The whole affair was so vomit inducing that I voluntarily switched over to ITV4, an absolute train-wreck of a channel, to watch Queens Park Rangers v MK Dons. And enjoyed it.

One more thing that really grinds my gears about Brian Cox is the view that he is somehow trendy and a modern day cult hero. There is of course only one cult hero from northern England. He prefers to reside in Los Angeles these days. I have no idea if Morrissey likes star gazing, but I am certain that the great man dislikes Brian Cox.

On the theme of music, Brian Cox was once in a band. This naturally makes him wicked and cool in the eyes of people who enjoy The One Show. You may also think this makes Brian Cox cool. I respect your Brian Cox has also presented view. However, I wonder if those dull middle-of-theyou still think he is cool after road Sunday night affairs like hearing the name of his band: Wonders of the Universe.

D:Ream. It was spelt that way For anyone who has not seen as well. Before you go and this programme, each week Google this giant of music, Brian spoke at length about allow me to tell you that their something complicated that most famous song is “Things is supposed to have some Can Only Get Better”. The relevance. It usually pop industry since ended with a long 1997 for a start.

“Brian panoramic shot of Cox would something vaguely So next time Brian probably love Cox appears on interesting and Siberia” Brian telling us your screen, turn how very imporoff your television tant an obscure atom immediately. Go outis. Yawn. side and observe nature, make an experiment, learn the No doubt the geeks will say Periodic Table. Science can be that I am an uneducated, rude, fun. But in the same way that ignorant man. Well, let them.

Lloyd Grossman has ruined Brian Cox is as dull as Thurssimple domestic pleasures and day. These people will cry “oh Simon Cowell has ruined your but he is so interesting and life, Brian Cox is trying to ruin informative”. Bore off. science, and thus the world.

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

The Narcotics Underworld

The criminalisation of narcotics has encouraged a lucrative, expanding underworld as murders evolve in brutality and efficiency whilst rival gangs battle for territory, power and dominance.

Words: Jack Henton Illustration: Marcello Gibezzi

As the red light illuminates, a Range Rover, caught in the bustling London traffic one humid October afternoon, stops. A rogue motorcycle slithers through the congestion before unleashing a hail of bullets alongside the car, killing Otkay Erbasli, a Turkish heroin gangster. With vengeance held in their hearts, two men barge into a snooker club three days later; spraying a semi-automatic weapon, they chop Cem Duzgun down. Callous murder: the assassin’s trademark – gangland Inc. The correlation between gang violence and the narcotic distribution industry are inextricably linked as police estimate that of the 2,800 known gangs operating within the United Kingdom, over 60% are heavily involved in the drugs trade. With the Home Office valuing the illicit drug market in Britain at an alluring £6.6 billion a year, ruthless gangs unremittingly annihilate rivals to command the 3,000% profit margins. As youth unemployment soars to a despairing 1.2 million, many are seduced into the profit-

his fatal shooting. His death last year was the premise to widespread looting, arson and rioting across England.

able and lucrative underworld of the narcotics business to provide a sustainable income.

Police Commissioner HoganHowe has also set out his new “Total Policing” plan which has adopted many of the ideas from the much heralded Boston Ceasefire Project and William J. Bratton’s zero-tolerance policy.

However, according to the Confederation of Head’s of Young People’s Services, youth projects, particularly those with the ethos to inhibit gang violence, have been abolished by the savaging government prescribed cuts. More than £100 million was slashed from local authority services for young people last year as some authorities were forced to cut youth services by as much as 80%.

In December 2010 the government launched its new drug strategy, “Reducing demand, reIn the six months from April stricting supply, building to October 2011 there recovery.” Yet, flagrantwere 4,335 incidents ly blinded “Gang of serious youth viowith naivety and lence – stabbings, violence and delusion, crackgrievous bodily downs on cannaharm and other the narcotic bis-grow factoviolence – which marked a 10.6% distribution industry ries have proved futile. increase from the are inextricably year before. To Nearly 7,000 illinked” coerce the inexolegal farms and rable ferocity of the factories were uncovviolence David Camered in 2009/10 alone. eron has belligerently In 2010, two “gardeners”, declared an “all-out war on gangs and gang culture.” Special- Khach Nguyen and Phac Tran, ist teams from Operation Trident were kidnapped and taken to a will lead a new joint gangs task- remote, disused and derelict barn force alongside Operation Con- before being sadistically tortured nect. Operation Trident, a Met- and beaten to death after a South ropolitan Police Service unit, was London street gang stole £30,000 established to investigate black worth of cannabis at gun point. gun crime, with special attention Over the past five years at least being placed upon shootings re- four Vietnamese farm owners lating to the illegal sale of drugs. have been murdered as a result It was Trident officers who ran of raids by rival gangs. Most rethe operation to intercept Mark cently, in January this year, police Duggan last August, which led to seized 321 cannabis plants with

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

a potential yield of £60,000 from a grow-house in Southampton.

held for Ucal Chin – murdered by the Gooch Gang just a year before – when shortly before midnight a In addition to the unbridled ex- car drove past with its windows pansion of these cannabis fac- down, firing a number of shots tories, it appears evident that in indiscriminately into the crowd spite of government efforts to of mourners, one of which stem them uncontrollable penetrated Tyrone violence, Britain conGilbert’s heart and “Police tinues to be ravaged killed him. by the acute brutalseized ity of gang warThe “militaryfare. style operacannabis plants tion executed worth £60,000 from Manchester’s nowith precision” torious Gooch draws distinct a house in Gang have led a and desolate Southampton” parallels to the criminal syndicate which has involved atrocious situation the execution of two in Mexico as the dismen believed to be riparity between British val gang members, building a gangs and Mexican cartels drug-dealing network and using becomes increasingly blurred. guns to enforce their criminal In January this year eight peoactivities. The gang have been ple were massacred in Guerrero, involved in the supply of heroin, Mexico, whilst attending the fucrack cocaine and guns as far neral of victim from a shooting back as 2004. Street dealers are just a week prior. charged protection money as the gang patrol their territory armed Since Mexican President Felipe with sawn-off shotguns, 9mm Calderon launched his crackhandguns, machine guns and re- down on the drug cartels in Devolvers. cember 2006, 47,515 people have died during the blooded An impromptu wake was being

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rampage; 12,903 of whom died last year.

Human appetite for intoxication cannot be appeased by criminalisation. Criminalising drugs for which there is a large, insatiable demand does not make them disappear; instead it transfers power from legitimate authorities to armed criminal gangs.

Government crackdowns fail to address social issues such as poverty and instead are inevitably flawed and generate more violence. Every time the police eradicate one gang, the ravenous greed is never reduced; a power vacuum is created to which the other gangs battle for control: violence breeds violence.

Since 2006, 47,515 people have died...12,903 of whom died last year

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Ecuador

Whilst on my gap year, I spent time volunteering in Ecuador. It was hard work, but we had the weekends free and we would often go to the beach as a group. It was here that I had my nearest-death experience to date. Climbing on the rocks, looking for crabs in the rock pools, I managed to slip and ended up hanging by my fingernails from a rocky ledge, a few metres above some more jagged rocks. Luckily, some of my friends in the group heard me shouting and came and pulled me to safety. As if that wasn’t enough, when we got home I realised that there was mud embedded under my nails from where I had been scrabbling at the rocks. It was so painful trying to get it out that in the end my friends had to pin me down and use a sharp object to dig it out whilst I screamed. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life!

Alice Feltham

Prague

We arrived in Prague with walking directions to our hostel. After walking for about an hour in what we thought was the right direction, we realised we were well and truly lost, so we decided to try and find a taxi driver to either direct us, or to drive us if we were too far away. Eventually we found a big group of taxi drivers – about 10 middle-aged men. We asked them how far it was to our hostel and how much it would cost us to get a taxi there. They said it would be a 20 minute drive and that they would charge us 1000 koruna (about £30).

As the price was ridiculous for a 20 minute drive we decided not to get a taxi. As we turned to leave, the taxi drivers asked us how much we would pay for a 20 minute taxi ride in England, to which we answered about £6. Although we clearly said ‘six’, the taxi drivers told us that we could pay with ‘sex’ if we wanted. Of course, we started walking away fairly quickly but then the taxi drivers began throwing full bottles of water at us (this may sound pathetic but it really hurt!). We ran away and decided we didn’t like Prague taxi drivers very much.

Yara Silva

Tattoos, Tears and Terri Southampton S

Travel Stor

Ljubljana

On the train from Ljubljana to Zagreb there were no seats available. It was a very long night-time train journey and so we didn’t have much choice but to lie down on the floor and try to get some sleep. Unfortunately the only floor space left available on the train was by a toilet door. We had just managed to get comfortable when the toilet door slid open unleashing a smell that could make your dinner re-emerge from your stomach. The toilet was overflowing and the contents were spilling out onto the floor, very close to where we were lying. There wasn’t much we could do about it other than try to block the toilet door shut

>

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

Spain

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One of my earliest memories is going on holiday to Spain with my parents when I was about four. We were in the swimming pool, when suddenly there was a commotion around us and everyone starting running for the exits. My mum dragged me out the pool and told a very disappointed, four-year-old me that we had to leave. It turned out there was a suspected bomb in the hotel, possibly planted by ETA. As we were leaving, I slipped on the steps, cracked my head open on the bannister and ended up going to hospital for stitches!

On the upside, it turned out there was no bomb, and we were allowed back into the hotel by the end of the day to carry on with our holiday.

Tom Garrett

Berlin

ible Toilets: Welcome to Students’ Top 5

Horror ries

and try to keep our heads off the floor. We thought we’d managed to avert any diseases, until the next morning when my friend woke up with a bad eye infection which still flares up every so often two years later (yep, disgusting!).

Yara Silva

Image: Sasha Spaid

My friend had spent the morning watching the sky, so she drunkenly decided to get a flying bird tattooed on her foot. We decided to let her – she seemed sober enough in the morning to make an informed decision and the flying bird sounded like a nice idea.

We went to the tattoo parlour down the road with her design on a piece of paper which the tattoo artist obligingly tattooed onto her foot. As soon as it was finished, my friend decided she didn’t like it. I liked it (we named the bird Tweety). Anyway, Tweety didn’t actually look much like a flying bird. More like a mysterious symbol.

We spent a long time convincing my friend that it was a nice tattoo, and she seemed to be feeling better about it until we were walking around the city centre. A group of Japanese tourists started staring and pointing at Tweety, looking shocked. Looking back, it was actually very funny but at the time my friend was terrified that she had some sort of political symbol tattooed on her foot and spent the rest of the holiday feeling ashamed of poor Tweety. Two years later, Tweety has been transformed and now looks like a flying bird, but honestly, I preferred it before just because of the pure comedy value of the mysterious symbol. I probably wouldn’t have found it so funny had it been my foot though…

Yara Silva

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

A Lingustic Journey From Barcelona Alba Gallardo Escudé

Alba arrived as an Erasmus student to Southampton last semester. This is her story of living in a new country, speaking her third language.

20th September 2011 This time tomorrow, I’ll be on my way to Southampton. I wonder what next year has in store. It might be the time of my life; it might not.

At the moment I’m not sure if I made the right decision when I decided to go on an Erasmus exchange at the University of Southampton.

I’m excited: I’ll

discover a new city, I’ll meet new people and I’ll discover a different culture with its own habits and traditions. I’m nervous: who knows what I’ll find

there. What if I don’t like what I find and I don’t adapt to my new surroundings? I’m sad: I know I’ll miss my family and friends. I’m happy: I’m lucky because I’ll have an experience that is not possible for everyone.

But the best thing is that I’ll improve my English. It is my third language since I’m bilingual in Catalan and Spanish.

20th January 2012 After having lived in England for four months I can say that it’s a home from home. But the arrival wasn’t easy. It was difficult to find student accommodation, to get used to the different weather (here a sunny day is

Look Before You Leap I am about to take the plunge and delve into the mayhem of idioms.

Have you ever tried to explain an idiomatic phrase like ‘look before you leap’? A native speaker knows what it means and how to use it, but it is almost impossible to directly translate such a phrase into another language. Here’s a quick guide to a few English, French and Spanish idioms which might come in handy.

A glance out of the window in Southampton will often give rise to a sigh and the remark that ‘it’s

raining cats and dogs out there’.

If you were to be confronted with a downpour in Lille, you might say that ‘il pleut des cordes’. This literally means ‘it’s raining ropes’. Is that better..?

You tear your eyes away from the window and try to concentrate on your work again. But you’ve got your ‘head in the clouds’ today. ‘Estás en las nubes’ when you should be concentrating on your Spanish.

(Ah! Say the Spanish speakers.

But it’s almost the same! Yes, more or less, but the French are on the moon – ‘être dans la lune’ - when

they are daydreaming.)

You’re supposed to be collating a group project which is due tomorrow and there is one person, a friend of yours, who hasn’t done their part. Do you nag them or risk missing the deadline? You could say that you’re ‘stuck between a rock and a hard place’. A Spaniard would say that you are ‘entre la espada y la pared’, between the sword and the wall. Maybe that one’s a remnant from the old courtly era of knights and damsels in distress (damas en apuros).

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

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to Southampton

unusual, in Barcelona it’s the norm), to live with complete strangers with different cleaning habits, to find out that olive oil is barely used in cooking, to change euros into pounds.

But the most important thing I’ve realised is that despite taking English lessons at school since I was ten years old, I wasn’t actually fluent. I arrived at Southampton and, when talking to my classmates, all English-native speakers, the only things that I understood were some words in between sentences, to which my answer was always a half-smile to make it seem that I had understood them.

However, the lessons at the university – where I was warmly welcomed by both teachers and classmates from the beginning – together with several events and par-

ties organized for Erasmus students, at which I met new people, helped me to improve my English. Now, as time has passed, I can hold a conversation without having to focus on what the other person is saying in order to understand them. I’ve started talking with more fluency and I think that my pronunciation is not unintelligible anymore.

It’s time for dinner. Two of your housemates have said they’ll help you cook but you’re not sure – the kitchen is quite small and ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’. But at least we’re not in Spain this time, where ‘la mucha gente sólo es buena para la guerra’. Lots of people will not only spoil the food but might start a war!

The next morning your head doesn’t feel so good. You know that you might be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire but you decide to go for a bit of the hair of the dog in an attempt to find your

What is more, apart from improving my English, living in a new country for a year - far away from family and childhood friends - helps one to mature, grow personally and professionally, take your own decisions and have an open mind.

Now I can say it: I wouldn’t change a thing about my experience in Southampton!

Tricky Language Tales “I was supposed to get the tongs for a dish, but I accidentally asked for thongs.”

“My German friend looked horrified when I told him to ‘break a leg’ before an important exam.”

“In an Australian hostel everyone showered naked in the communal showers with the rule to wear thongs. We luckily realised that it meant flip-flops.” feet again. Still, who says the grass is greener of the other side of the fence? You are definitely on cloud nine right now!

Jessica Killaspy

Next you head to the pub. As you’re waiting at the bar someone near you catches your eye. You glance away but then look back - it’s ‘un coup de foudre’, ‘love at first sight’. Also known as a bolt of lightning to the literal-minded...

Imagery: Amy Harwood

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Image by Piero Regnante

Roseanna Clare

Reused, Forgotten, 2D, Discarded and Value. Five words to welcome you into the world of Roseanna Clares’ art work.

Many people go about their daily life not thinking about how the dregs of coffee or the usage of bleach could affect the way that art is shaped. This is where Roseanna thrives, making a statement on the everyday. The importance within her work, so beautifully shown, is bringing value to things that may not necessarily have value already. It is about finding the abandoned and making it into a statement.

For a recent sketchbook project she filled the pages with fascinatingly simple stories which people had told her. Those kind of stories that you listen to, but do not quite know how to respond because they are, to say politely, rubbish. By taking a select few stories she collaged her way into illustrating them, creating a humorous feel to the book.

Overall it shows Roseanna’s way of taking parts of collage to create a final image, one that is created from anything and everything.

well as collage and photography.

It is through these mediums that she is able to create “her own surreal world”. From day to day photography plays a huge role in her life, but it is really the collage which features in the majority of Roseanna’s work.

Once she has come to find the correct objects to work with she also enjoys manipulating them through screen-printing. “I love it for its simplicity but also for the end effect. I just generally think it looks smooth and finished, like a piece of art show look.”

“Art is automatically a high value thing.” a statement that really sets Roseanna’s way of working.

When the word ‘art’ is thrown As well as skills and practice out, automatically a lot of people within university, Roseanna has will connect it to the links of also developed a collaborative work found in museums dotted exhibition with three fellow around the world. But really there students: Rosie Brown, Graham is a lot more to it, and Read and Lily Rossiter. people are really The exhibition ran in becoming aware the early part of last “Art is of that in present year, being part of the automatically ‘More Arts Campaign’, day. You could literally work with a high value bringing more arts something that has to Wokingham and thing.” been thrown down surrounding areas. They on the street, and showcased and successfully through manipulation sold a range of work from and depiction you can create paintings to photographs a piece of high value. It is by and posters to screen-print. choosing something that has little or no value, to progressively It was here that she came up working with it and finding that with the idea of creating a point where it meets that stage in zine at the end of every year which holds the uppermost value. to document her progression.

It is recurring questions that keep We agreed earnestly that is was Roseannas work fresh, pushing an amazing idea, rambling in the limits within her work. art chatter for a while longer.

Questions such as ‘How does it get its value, is it what people perceive If you would like to see Roseanna’s of it and does it have value?’ artwork, then get online and visit www.roseannaclare.tumblr.com Found objects are a common structure in Roseanna’s work, as Written by Nicola Manuel.

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

Plog magazine will be a familiar sight to many of the students at the WSA campus. With four issues being released a year it provides students with the opportunity to have their work published and distributed to many areas of the art world. The Wessex Scene has caught up with founder and editor Son Emirali to get an inside look into how this high quality, creative magazine is brought to our doorsteps.

Who prints Plog and why did you choose them? We’ve got a great relationship with our printers in Cambridge called ‘Ex Why Zed’.

I found an advert of theirs in another magazine, took a look at their portfolio and thought they might be ideal for us. They do a great job and what made my final decision to go with them was the man behind it all, Mike. He was very understanding in trying to help me decide on the best format, the best binding and any other queries I had.

How much does it cost to produce and distribute an issue of Plog?

Each issue costs about £2 to print, and each one costs me 55% of the cover price to distribute. So as my cover price at the moment is £3, it costs me £1.65 to distribute and £2 to print. So I actually lose

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65p on each issue I sell. I suppose thats a prime example to prove it’s all out of love, and that no, I’m not rich. This is why we mainly rely on sponsors and advertisers to help us out. So that we can still deliver a quality issue at a great price for students.

Who can submit their work?

Anyone can submit their work, whether they’re studying, or in industry already. If they’re not a student then the work would be considered for a special feature rather than just a submission piece.

How do you select work to go in each issue? I try to involve everyone in the team to have their say about what work should be selected and why. Normally Ben and I would go through the majority of it, and occasionally the others would get involved as well. We try to take in a lot of considerations when selecting work, just because it might not be so appealing to one of us, doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be to others. It’s actually really hard. But we always try to make a fair judgement.

Is it being sold in the Tate Modern shop now? And how did you set that up? At the moment it’s being trialed in the Tate, we’ll have to see how it does before I can guarantee them as a stockist. Fingers crossed it does well! I managed to get the mag distributed with Comag.

They do a great job, sending out samples of the magazine to many stockists, offering them the chance to stock it. I found out about Comag through a university that was interested in stocking it, but

explained to me that they use that particular distributor, then it was just a case of giving them a call and sending them a mag.

Anything new around the corner for Plog? As well as working on the next issue, we’re also thinking about holding and curating an exhibition soon, but I can’t say too much about that as it’s all a bit up in the air at the moment.

Other than that, we’re still trying very hard to end up in more universities, and we’re working on improving the site content too.

Any advice for people thinking about starting their own publication? That’s a hard one!

I suppose I would say: start off small. Test your idea in small numbers, see how it does before you fork out all your money. Also, keep seeking advice from others, especially your target audience, so you can tailor your publication to what your audience needs. Other than that, keep pushing yourself, keep setting yourself realistic as well as optimistic goals.

Check out Plog’s website at http:// plogmagazine.com

Written by Sarah Benson

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Fifa Need to Understand when Tradition has Crossed the Line Is it time for FIFA to move with the times and get goal -line technology?

Jack Winter

One day I plan to leave university and become a real person who has a house, a car, a job and in all likelihood an unhappy wife who cheats on me. A particular sticking point for me in all this however is the house.

An old Victorian town house in London with a library and leather armchairs that I could make my own would be perfect.

I suppose there is an old traditionalist who sits in his armchair at the back of my brain scowling at certain aspects of the modern world. He does not, however, have the final word when it comes to sport…

Frank Lampard had a goal controversially dissallowed at the World Cup 2010

Other sports manage to hold tradition whilst opening their doors to change. Football could also learn a thing or two from Football its estranged brother: There is a balRugby Union. Technolis no longer ance that needs is used to deterto be found bejust a game or a ogy mine tries when the tween respectpastime, it is big referee is unable. It ing tradition and happens quickly and business. change in sport. would certainly take At the moment less time in football. Crickfootball is struget has also benefitted from gling to persuade the reactionary lord of the manor change both in the structure of the to get electricity whilst he in- game and in introducing hawkeye technology. Stalwarts of cricket sists on lighting the house with are dismayed to see that the test candles. Debating goals amongst match is faltering in the shadow of friends is part of football, but it is a part that would not be missed. its flashy new brother: Twenty20.

The image of Frank Lampard’s goal against Germany in 2010 being disallowed is one that sparks outrage inside me even two years later. These events just make the game look like a shambles, human error with regards to goals does not enhance, but merely defiles the sport. Goal-line technology is a necessary change for the better.

In a world where people rarely bother to read something longer than 140 characters, the Test match is struggling to keep its place. The introduction of technology in both sports and many others to aid referees and umpires has minimised error. In all sports, fans demand the highest standards of adjudication, Cricket and Rugby Union responded to these demands

and are surviving as a result.

Football has incredible amounts of money riding on every touch of the ball; clubs invest millions in individual men for a taste of victory, sponsorship deals fetch more still whilst FIFA sit in the middle with revenues exceeding one Billion dollars. Football is no longer just a game or a pastime, it is big business.

You wouldn’t run a bank without computers. You wouldn’t light your house with candles. The referee will always remain; however, people don’t watch football for the referee. They watch it for the skill and athleticism of the players, the display of physical and mental exertion, and ultimately the hope of shared victory.

The sport is blighted by human error and wrongly disallowed goals. FIFA are warming to the idea but if the margin for error is not closed with the aid of technology, the sport could become an old man in a young man’s world. The world has changed, the game must change with it.

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

Southampton ACCC in SESSAtional form

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Southampton’s athletes get into gear in the build up to the BUCS indoor championship.

Southampton track athletes showed good early-season form for the Southern England Student Sports Association (SESSA) meet at Lee Valley Stadium in London. In a warm-up for February’s all-important BUCS indoor championships, our eight-strong team claimed two impressive silver medwhom she had beaten in the heat. als amongst numerous In the men’s 60m sprint, perother encouraging formances were good; Dan Our performances.

Bray, Dan Rebolledo and Malcolm Gledhill all fineight-strong Tyson Oladokun team claimed two ished in second place and Emily Bon- impressive silver in their heats, with nett both got silBray and Gledhill qualimedals vers in the 400m fying for the semi-finals. held over two laps on Rebolledo was unfortunate the shorter 200m indoor not to make the semis, with his track. Late surges from both 7.5s equalling several athletes saw different results – in probwho did qualify. In the semis, Gleably the two best races of the dhill finished second and Bray day, Tyson moved from fourth fifth, but neither were quite fast to second over the last lap while enough to qualify for the final.

Emily was forced to overtake on the outside round the final bend, The 3000m saw Jake Bradmissing out on gold by millimeley run a strong time of 10.05 tres to a Portsmouth athlete finishing in sixth, while in the

Indoor Track at Lee Valley

Malcolm Gledhill

Olympic Stadium in London

same race Gervaise Turbervill coming home in 11.50. In the women’s 800m Nadia Papasidero finished eighth in 2.49.

All this bodes well for the BUCS Indoor championships, which is to be held on the weekend of the 24th February at the National Indoor Arena in Sheffield.

It’s likely to be one of the biggest events this year, with athletics across the country gaining valuable experience before the event on everyone’s mind – the BUCS Outdoor competition at the Olympic Stadium in May. The Athletics Season kicks off at the BUCS Indoor Athletics Competition on Saturday 25th/ Sunday 26th February 2012, at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield Then Southampton’s finest Athletes head to The BUCS Outdoor Championships on Friday 4th-Monday 7th May 2012 at the brand new Olympic stadium in London!

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012

Intra-Mural

With the Finals fast approaching for the Rugby, Football and Netball Intra-Mural Teams, the Scene catches up with some of the Captains...

RUGBY

The main attractions of intramural rugby are that it caters for those of all abilities and is flexible enough to fit around other commitments. Most teams train once a week and the matches are held on Sunday mornings and afternoons.

I can’t speak for the details of other inter-mural rugby sides, but the Glen Lost Boys have their own traditions in running the side. The by-weekly socials are a messy affair but are always in Illustrations: Zahra Warsame good spirits.

By training, playing and boozing with the team We accept FOOTBALL you end up being part As with most of the hundreds of anyone of any of the Lost Boys who intra-mural footballers here, my ability into the grow in numbers year affiliation with my team began on year. team as a fresh-faced first-year. Weary

With the exception of friendlies, all the matches are organised by the University including the referees and the pitches at Wide Lane, with the results from these matches going towards the annual tournament.

The tournament itself is as serious as you want to make it. No team wants to lose, but most people who join intramural rugby aren’t looking for a serious competition, rather one they can enjoy without pressure.

The lads who have left the University return once a year so they can challenge the current team on the pitch and in the bar, so even after University, your Lost Boy days aren’t over.

As previously mentioned we accept anyone of any ability into the team as long as you’re enthusiastic and up for a laugh.

Jamie Davies: Glen Eyre Captain If you are interested in joining the team Jamie’s e-mail address is jd22g10@soton.ac.uk.

The Glen Eyre Lost Boys

from Freshers’ week and the associated necking of booze, I remember struggling to make it to the trials held at the home of football: Wide Lane. But now – after dozens of games, countless socials, a wealth of stash and an unforgettable tour to Prague – the decision to join ARFC seems one of the best of my time at Uni.

Intra-mural football has given me several memorable moments, mainly because we did pretty well last year, but it is more than just the playing side which makes being a part of the squad so good.The mates, the nights out and the banter are second to none. I would urge any football fan to get involved in intramural sport (so long as your subject/ halls have actually been allowed entry to the league!) after all the whole idea is that it’s not as intense as Uni sport, but it is surely just as enjoyable.

Tom Greenwood: Archers Road I’m currently in my 4th year as the team's goalkeeper and

Issue 5, 2012 | WessexScene

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second as captain. This year we've got together a great bunch of lads who get on well and enjoy a few socials too. Before the shake-up this year we found ourselves getting a few maulings by the Halls teams in the top division (12-1 to Glen Eyre stays in the mind!), but this time around we've enjoyed some great results, including an 8-0 win over ECS.

Getting involved is worth it for the fun as well as the competition - there's a great sense of camaraderie between all the teams involved and everyone gets on.

Interested in joining? Our squad is full for this season, but there will be a few spaces next year!

Marcus Bearpark - Q Pi R (Maths) Captain

NETBALL With the netball finals only a few weeks away it saddens me to say that I don’t think we will be in with a chance of qualifying for either.

EngSoc started the season strong with the A Team enjoying scores such as 13-3 against the Monte Marvels and the B team winning by equally impressive margins

such as 11-1 against Hurmost cases) genuine sportsmanricanes. Unfortunately it was ship, as you can lose a game not to last, the team was hit by but still have a chat with the illness, deadlines and injury. A opposing team on the way out. difficult concoction to As I have said already, there have work with which been some fantastic matches, resulted in a which whether they The plummet down resulted in a loss or a win the league provided us with the attraction tables. Howof intra-mural satisfaction of working ever, both the hard and improving our is the friendly netball.

A team who have played atmosphere on Monday and It’s been a season of Thursday and fancy kits, (which don’t the B team who necessarily equate to fancy have played on Wednesplay), rumours of broken colday and Sunday have put in larbones and legs in aggressive some fantastic performances. play and lots of fun. I wish all the teams the best in the finals.

The attraction of the Intramural netball league is the Ellie Sellwood: EngSoc (English friendly atmosphere and (in Society) A + B Captain SEE ALSO Wessex Scene also work in collaboration with other Union media outlets such as SUSUtv and Surge Radio.

Whether you are an enthusiatic sports writer or a member of club looking to tell us a story, get hold of us at: sport@wessexscene.ac.uk

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WessexScene | Issue 5, 2012