The QH - Issue 23

INSIDE: Film • Social Media in Business • Law and Politics • Construction Projects MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014

ISSUE 23 FREE

THE

QUINTIN HOGG

Quintessential fortnightly comment from University of Westminster students.

Peak Oil? Who Gives A Frack! This issue

BY Ami Golland “Neuroscientists are discovering many things about what they call the predictable irrationality of our individual and collective thinking.”

(Jeremy Leggett 2013) For humans, in this so-called “developed” age, there are three fundamental subject areas that our social realities and political decisions have reflexive and mutual relationships with.

They are: Planetary ecosystems and environments (source of all resources and learning about life on earth); Energy production (developing technology, improving standards of living); and Economy (a by-product of our transactional and production behaviours using capital systems, often utilised as tools of socio-political manipulation via false causal arguments). This article considers what “peak oil” and “fracking” mean for our planet and future, as our energy dependent dominant societies demand ever-increasing levels of consumption. In the USA President Obama has claimed that shale gas and tar sands will lead the USA to “energy independence”. A reading of some key facts may hopefully shine some light on this desperately fallacious claim, and highlight the futility of pursuing shale gas in the UK. “Peak oil” is a contested term, but it generally refers to the point when we will reach a peak level of global oil production, and thereafter experience decline. What type of oil, how much we spend to get it, and at what environmental cost we are willing to expend to take it out of the earth, are factors that restrict consensus on a definition. M.K. Hubbert famously predicted peak US oil in 1956 and was ridiculed or ignored, but vindicated in 1970 when the US hit peak. Finding a scientifically quantified measure of remaining light/heavy crude oil deposits globally remains impossible for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the debate rages on, from arguing when it will happen, to more unreasonable fantasies such as a belief that the global supplies below the ground will last for hundreds of years, and so we should ignore the issue because “science” will find solutions to future problems. However, the seriousness of our dependency is exampled in the Oil Crisis of 1973 when OPEC embargoed the West, which immediately caused economic crises.

Concentrated energy production began with burning wood as fuel. The carbon stored in trees does not add to overall atmospheric levels when an equal number of trees are replanted as they are cut down, making wood Continued on Page 5

2014 Graduation put on hold as lecturers begin a marking boycott Film Review: Starred Up

Page 12

BY Barbora Holicka Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will begin a countrywide marking strike; boycott of the marking process of essays, exams, portfolios and dissertations on 28th of April. This drastic action will be carried out as a response to the university employers who have repeatedly refused to enter into a dialogue with the university staff over academic pay that has witnessed only 1% increase since 2009, meaning a real-terms cut of 13%1, causing academic staff to struggle to make their ends meet. This information might come to many Westminster students as a shock since so far, there was just about zero awareness-raising on the issue. Not only that, the Students’ Union has failed to inform students about the strike that for third years, means uncertainty about their graduation date, but members of SU staff did not even know about it. It was only when students specifically asked some lecturers about the upcoming boycott that the information finally got out. What does this mean for us, hopeful graduates? It means that it might take longer than we thought for us to hold a degree in our hands. It means that our job hunt, difficult as it is, might become a touch harder. It means that some of those who are applying for Masters might have to wait another year and it means that our families abroad might have to put planning the trip to our ceremony on hold. Being a third year student with blurry job prospects and a family living abroad, I count myself among many for whom the stakes are high; naturally I want to know more about why this is happening to me, so I set out to look for answers, some of

which I think should be shared with a wider audience. Quite understandably none of the academic staff I spoke to want to be named.

You might have noticed that during the past academic year we have already witnessed a number of strikes and walkouts (six in total) which all opposed one of the most pressing issues academic staff have to deal with today, which is the fact that they are desperately underpaid. While this is a fact that can hardly be disputed, it is also a fact that the vice-chancellors have been enjoying 6% pay rises on average and that the collective surplus of universities in 2012/13 was £956 million together with ‘strong cash balances and healthy reserves’2. But all of this is currently being used by the universities to finance a big expansion of capital spending in order to reshape themselves to a new competitive market. This is therefore not a question of money but priorities, where investment in academic staff is being sacrificed to a beauty contest for students further encouraged by the government’s plan to remove the cap on student number controls. While new and improved facilities are undoubtedly beneficial for students’ educational experience, a good quality of teaching itself must be at least equally important and as UCU has repeatedly expressed, there are feasible ways to fund both3. However, we are currently faced with a desperate situation where academic staff find it very difficult to sustain themselves. Our university is no different. Like many others, Westminster relies largely on contractual staff. We know them as visiting lecturers, many of them PhD students, who are currently paid for just a fracContinued on Page 2

Construction Projects Page 6

Social Media in Business Page 7

An Inhuman Journey to Humanity Page 9

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THE

QH

Contributors Ami Golland Anastasia Voznesenskaya

Barbora Holicka Bianca Bryan Dayena Monteiro Fungai Ndunduma Gemma Smith Holly Boorn Kate Brown Maahin Akhlaque Daniel Jordan Arts editor

Christopher Hughes Music editor

Callum Farrell Sports editor

Olga Bednarek Copy editor

Ibrahim Khalil Editor in chief

The QH - UWSU @THEQH_

Continued from page 1

tion of the actual time they spend on their work. Their pay includes only the hours in the classroom, at a ‘comprehensive-rate’ which is expected to cover for 2.5 hours each. This supposedly covers for the amount of preparatory readings for seminars, and apart from the hours teaching, it also allegedly covers for marking as well as all related administration and student support. Within London, Westminster ranks among better paying universities. In reality this means somewhere between £2.80 and £5.30 per student per week4 depending on the number of students in a seminar which at Westminster is capped at 30 students. However, lecturers spend anything between 4 to 8 hours each week preparing for a seminar. Student support, marking and other related tasks are on top of that of course: ‘Clearly everybody exceeds these comprehensive-hours. But well, no more ranting for it! It is still a very enjoyable way of living, and most of us are in this because we indeed believe in the idea of sharing knowledge, so we should keep the happiness up, too!’ 5 To top the fact they are critically underpaid, the visiting lecturers contracted for the current academic year live in constant insecurity not knowing whether they will be able to keep their job next year. Pay slips normally stop coming in May or June and new contracts are not offered until mid-September.

While it might be necessary for the university to determine student numbers before hiring new staff, higher and fairer pay together with a greater availability of research funding for those doing their PhD might, for the visiting lecturers, mean greater financial security during the times of job insecurity. However, currently they are working many more hours than they are paid for and the situation is not much better for permanent staff. Despite their pay possibly being ‘sufficient to meet their needs’ it certainly does not reflect the fact that it generally takes about 9-10 years to become a qualified lecturer. In other industries such a long career would surely be greatly rewarded but that is not the case here. While vice-chancellors can now earn £250,000 on average6 the figure for lecturers is £34,3987. Add the 12% gender pay gap and you are just about beginning to see the grim picture of UK higher education.

However, talking numbers does not reflect everything that is going on here. The refusal of University and College Employers Association (UCEA) and individual universities to enter into a dialogue with UCU and unionised higher education staff signifies an attempt to discredit the union and render it useless, sending it years back in its work to fulfil the role of a credible representative of higher education staff. The employers know they can afford to do this since for every fed up lecturer who decides to leave there are dozens eager to grab the job on the same exploitative conditions. In addition to that, strikes do not cost them a penny. In the UK even legal strikes involve docking up to a 100% of the salary which means that you might have a right to go on strike but it is going to cost you. The calculation used for docking however means that the actual amount deducted from the pay slip will be 150% not 100% of the potential earnings. So every day of strike costs the staff about one and a half day on their salary. On the days with busy timetables, this can mean literally hundreds of pounds for visiting lecturers who are paid by seminar. Since a number of them simply cannot afford this, all the employers need to do is to wait for them to cave in allowing the university to impose the conditions they want to. The university also largely relies

on the fact that the lecturers are positioned on the front lines, being the ones having to face the students angered by yet another cancelled lecture. ‘Holding students at ransom’ became very popular rhetoric of UCEA. That is not a pleasant position for people, majority of whom actually do truly care about the students. I mean, when you look at the numbers it is quite clear they are not in it for the bucks.

Fair amount of teaching eliminated by strikes is delivered in a form of extended lectures and seminars. Why then would the employers bother? There is a great gap between the motives of a profit-driven institution for which the students are reduced to mere numbers and motives of academic staff who collaborate and interact with the students on a daily basis giving them support for which they are inadequately rewarded. As a result, any sense of an intellectual community is being driven out of our universities. This problem is something that goes beyond any strike and can only be addressed by lecturers together with their students, challenging the educational institutions that are redefining the meaning of education today by giving a way to marketisation and allowing it to be driven solely by profit.

Marking Boycott: FAQs Why don’t the lecturers just do something else that would not affect the students so radically?

This is a tough one for lecturers who, despite what we, students, might be thinking, do not forget that it is us who suffer as a consequence of their strike rather than the employers. This is the main reason behind the two-hour walkouts that we have witnessed happening, which were organised in order to disrupt our timetables less than a full-day strike would. However little disruption means little impact and according to some lecturers the message that the walkouts gave to the employers was: we are giving in. I went around asking how else academics can put pressure on the university and what are the alternatives to a marking boycott. The answer is that there aren’t many. Actually, the only one that seemed slightly plausible to me was for the academics to refuse to continue their research.

However, such an action only really makes sense for the permanent staff of course, i.e. the minority of the staff. Apart from that the employers wouldn’t really be worried about that at the moment since the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) is not scheduled until 2020. The marking strike seems to be the only remaining option for the lecturers to make themselves heard but it is also cause of much anger among students. Of course, this situation is exploited by the employers who take advantage of the fact that the lecturers are the ones who have to face the students and are therefore at the receiving end of their frustration, a place where the employers, the party prolonging the conflict by refusing to negotiate, should be.

What can we do to support our lecturers and how to do it?

I personally feel that in the past three years I have received tremendous amounts of sup-

port from the staff in my department which I struggle to put a price on. I owe much of my personal as well as professional development to the dedication of Westminster academic staff, to whom I’m truly grateful for their continuous support and encouragement. Interestingly enough, now that I’m thinking of this, I genuinely cannot remember ever hearing ‘no, that can’t be done’ from them. If you have similar feelings you might decide to stand with your lecturers and challenge the changing notion of education. The best way to start is channelling the frustration over the upcoming strike in the right direction. You might want to send a complaint to the head of your department copying the dean of the faculty and ask them to pass it onto the management. You might also want to send an individual or joint letter to the UCEA (just google ‘UCEA contact’) or start a petition (AVAAZ. org is good for that). It is a good opportunity to make the employers and UCEA realise how their actions are going to impact individual students. Mention to them what troubles their unwillingness to enter into a dialogue might cause you, your family and your future plans!

You might also simply talk to your colleagues to raise awareness about the issue because, whether you agree with my arguments or not, it is without dispute that, since nobody can predict with certainty the scale and impact the strike will have on our university in particular, it does have the potential to cause disruptions to our near-future plans. Finally, it is important not to forget that whether the strike in the end hit or not, whether we are badly affected by it or not, the underlying issues will persist and will require students’ attention if they still want to call themselves members of an academic community.

For more information and/or to take an action visit: Petition: www.fairpayinhe.org.uk Facebook: Westminster Students Support Your Lecturers and Staff Campaign 1. UCU, University graduations at risk as union gives green light to marking boycott, February 2014 2. HEFCE, Financial Health of the Higher Education Sector: 2012-13 financial results and 2013-14 forecasts, March 2014 3. UCU, ‘Sound Overall and Stronger than Projected’ HEFCE’s Judgement on the Financial Health of the English University Sector, March, 2014 4. Calculated based on information given by anonymous members of academic staff 5. From an interview with anonymous member of academic staff 6.

UCU, The Marking Boycott: A Briefing for Students 7. UCU, UK academics paid less than lecturers in other English-speaking countries, February 2014 Barbora Holicka is a third year student at the University of Westminster studying Development Studies and International Relations

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STUDENTS Rounding Up a First Year Experience – The Journey so far

BY Gemma Smith If I could have predicted where I would be five years ago, never would I have imagined being a student at the University of Westminster. University was always on the horizon for me as a child but the dream felt so big, and so far, far away that I almost gave it a second thought. Questioning myself constantly at college, as many of us would have done, whether or not I would be bright enough to be accepted for university. In my vision I always pictured the students at university to be a lot smarter than me, and that I would stick out like a sore thumb in society.

Jumping back into the ‘learning-life’ has been difficult, I cannot deny the fact, but it has been enjoyable too. After deferring my entry to university for the year, I gained an awful lot of independence; and a lot of people can doubt you and say you won’t be able to motivate yourself to submerge yourself back into education, but they were wrong about me.

You find that when people do misjudge you, it makes you stronger, and it gives you the determination and driving force we all need to chase that dream and make it a reality.

Challenges are great, they keep the human brain functioning and thriving, and gives it the ammunition is often needs to operate with full throttle. That is one of the reasons why most of us work best when we are under pressure; the adrenaline circulates our mind and body and gives us the underlying strength we didn’t know we had.

One of the main things I can pick up on and that I have learned about myself whilst beginning my university adventure in September last year, is that you have to learn to adapt and compromise with the people that surround you, and you find yourself making friends with people you never would have previously associated with. You come outside of your box, and it opens your eyes up to so many different angles in life. Not only that, but the conversations you have with people can be so inspiring and captivating, the most

precious thing you can give any one person is your time.

University halls can be tough, especially when you are living with people that have completely different rituals and values to you.

All of the hardships that I have come across have been worked at, and you do get through them all step by step.

It’s not always easy, but it is a heap of fun, and when you look back you realise how far you have come; and how much you have grown up – it’s almost unreal.

I would recommend university to anyone on the planet. It can be very frightening, especially when you move back to the UK for university after living abroad, but it is 100% worth it. Not only do you gain an educational asset that you can keep with you for life, but also you build such a strong contact base with connections that will stay with you forever.

I was stunned when I joined at the start – when the people who are on my course had similar career intentions to me – and it was so exciting and thrilling to share those beliefs with like-minded people. You seem to find yourself at university, and it has only been one year so far! It is definitely your time to be selfish and completely put yourself first, after all: it is our time to shine and do what we love best.

Rounding up my first year at university, it has literally flown by. It is quite scary when you sit back and reminisce, thinking about how quickly time flies and how much more knowledge you are left with. Your whole life changes in an instant, and before you know it you are taking on-board one of the biggest, yet rewarding encounters of your life; and I personally don’t think I could have chosen a better place to do so. The University of West-

Active Music Group Musician? Want to make use of your skills?

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wide range of musical traditions. Under the direction of maestro Miguel Teixeira, we explore musical genres ranging from classical to film to musical memes. We perform at least once every semester. For example, at the last concert we played six works including Kanon (Pachelbel) and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart). AMG has a truly International membership with a wide range of musical abilities. If you would like to join us or have a look at what we do, or have a question about AMG, then contact us through our website.

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minster has definitely offered me the academic stability I was looking for, and the friends I have made along the journey so far are priceless.

Gemma Smith is a first year Journalism student at the University of Westminster

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FEATURE

Looking back at London...

BY Kate Brown

3000 march from London to Aldermaston in CND Protest1958

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was created in the tense climate of the Cold War years. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans at the end of WW2, development of nuclear arms became a top priority for the US and Russian governments. Many objected to the idea of nuclear weapons and the dam-

age they could cause, and so the CND movement was born. The group formed in 1958 and at Easter they embarked on their first march from Trafalgar Square in London to Aldermaston where the Atomic Weapons Establishment was situated (the members had to walk an incredible 52 miles to reach their destination!). The movement grew substantially in the 1970s and 80s, although membership started to decline once the Cold War ended.

However, the movement is still going and the group campaigns against various issues, such as ‘Trident’ and other nuclear weapons programmes.

Poll tax introduced-1990

The poll tax is one of Margaret Thatcher’s most decisive policies in her 11 years in office.

She undoubtedly changed the British economy forever, as well as making huge alterations to British society, the legacy of which can still be felt to this day. As the first and only female Prime Minister, there was a lot of pressure on her and many feared that she may have ‘too soft a touch’ when dealing with important political decisions. However, shortly after she came into power it was clear that this was

definitely not the case. Thatcher introduced many policies that angered large parts of the public throughout her time in office, however, the Community Charge as it was officially called, is one of the most memorable. The policy was designed to abolish the old ‘Rates’ system, and before it was introduced, people were charged tax based on the value of their property, so the higher the value of your property, the higher rates you would pay. The new system imposed a flat rate charge on everyone, so every person paid the same. The result of this was that lower income families saw their tax go up substantially, whereas higher income earners saved money, which

appeared to many as if the overall financial burden was being placed on the poorer in society. It had already been implemented in Scotland in 1989, and in April 1990 it was to be rolled out in England and Wales. On 31st March, there were mass demonstrations in London against the poll tax where 340 people were arrested, 45

police officers and 68 civilians were injured.

They were the worst riots in London for over a century. A movement swept across the country which encouraged people not to pay the charge and hundreds were fined and arrested for not paying it, including MP Terry Fields who was imprisoned for 60 days for refusal to pay. The poll tax undoubtedly led to her downfall later that year when her leadership was challenged and John Major took over as leader of the Conservative Party. Her death last April was met with both sadness and celebration, with many towns holding street parties, as well as a national campaign to try and get the song ‘Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead’ to number one in the music charts.

It nearly worked, and it was only beaten by Duke Dumont and A*M*E with ‘Need U’.

These events illustrate that even over 20 years after she left office she stirred up strong feelings and her impact affected the lives of several generations.

Did you know?

• The legendary director and producer Alfred Hitchcock who was responsible for films such as ‘Psycho’, ‘Rear Window’ and ‘Vertigo’ died in April 1980.

• In April 1985 the government planned to ban alcohol from ‘problem’ football grounds in England and Wales.

Kate Brown is a second year student at the University of Westminster studying a BA in History.

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ENVIRONMENT Continued from page 1

burning potentially “carbon neutral” (assuming we do not reduce tree populations globally), and theoretically renewable. Wind and water mills soon became obvious ways to generate mechanical energy long before the industrial revolution, and so humans have used sustainable, renewable energy production for most of history. This changed when we began burning coal, which is more energy dense than wood, allowing us to develop production and technologies, and causing city-dwelling populations to grow rapidly.

We entered the industrial revolution in the 19th century, which created a “virtuous cycle of consumerism”. Coal is not renewable like wood; it takes thousands of years to form deep underground. It is not sustainable; even without considering the heavy pollution and damage it causes to our environment. This problem is compounded when considering oil, which takes millions of years to form, and is more scarce than coal.

In the 20th century, we have torn through the “easy access” oil, generally known as “sweet-light crude”. This is found in relatively shallow fields usually under desert sands, easy to process, almost ready to burn in our engines. The energy return on investment (EROI) is around 25:1 for “sweet-light”. This means 1 unit of energy is consumed to create 25. Most identified fields are located in Saudi Arabia and the southern USA. Other grades of oil require processing as they are impure, creating more poisonous by-products, and less efficient; both mining and processing consumes more energy, water and capital expenditure (capex). For example the current tar sand mining in Canada produces useable oil from “bitumen”, a thick sludge which sinks in water (making it much harder to clean when spills occur). The EROI for tar sands can be as low as 3:1, so mining it does not at first make sense; until we realise that the constantly declining rates in existing oil production means that the industry as a whole must seek around 3 million barrels per day extra production, just to “stand still” and maintain current global output.

Of course Saudi Arabia still has oil reserves, but remaining levels are a state secret, estimated by external researchers. The oil price is gradually rising globally; exceptions come during financial recessions (such as 2008) where demand temporarily falls. Nevertheless an increasingly scarce resource will continue to rise in price in real terms, even when adjusting for inflation, compared to a “basket” (average) of currencies – or more crucially, observed through average rising costs of living. Contrast new avenues of exploration to a background of global oil production where there has been a 12% increase in global oil production, costing a 200% increase in capex, between 2000-2013, according to the Transatlantic Energy Security Dialog (a 2013 panel of energy and other experts set up by various military generals in order to assess energy security for future military operations).

At the same time the TESD measure a 13% increase in global oil consumption, between 2000-2010. Globally, 70% of existing oil fields decline at 6.2% per year. This is close to a 50% reduction over 10 years. Therefore, new exploration must be constant, to maintain supply. To understand the scale of investment, the capex of the top 200 fossil-fuel companies in 2012 alone was over $670 billion.

We can see much disinformation spread in the media regarding the future of petroleum supplies. For example, a recent oil discovery in the Irish Sea was heralded in the some UK

media as evidence that the oil economy is healthy, and will “save the Irish economy”. The estimate is around 1.5 billion barrels (although it is impossible to extract 100% of a reserve; on average the pressure in an oil field allows for 30% extraction before the pressure drops and must be artificially increased with gas or steam, at great expense, and further reducing the EROI). This will certainly bring some wealth to Ireland, although the oil will be sold on the global market by trans-nationals, who will take much of the profit; and Ireland will certainly not become “energy independent”.

More worryingly, consider what 1.5 billion barrels means for global consumption. Does this mean a secure future for the global oil economy? Not at all; in 2007 the global consumption was around 1 billion barrels every 12 days and it grows each year. In Northern Kenya, a recently discovered field has an estimated 600 million barrels in seven oil wells dug as of January 2014, which would cover about eight days of global consumption. The Irish Sea and Kenyan discoveries, lauded in the UK mainstream press, are merely drops in the ocean (no pun intended).

For short-term profit seeking trans-national corporations (TNCs), they are giant assets to liquidate. For the rest of us and our long-term futures, they are mostly irrelevant. When new oil field discoveries only buy a few more days of consumption, it’s no surprise that mining operations are being conducted in increasingly expensive and dangerous regions either in deep ocean (consider the extreme BP Gulf of

Mexico spill where the environmental pollution is yet to be understood), or Arctic regions where capex is much higher, and the ecosystem is far more fragile. This is an accelerating problem, where increasing consumption demand meets a dwindling supply. To meet demand and maintain supply, highly expensive alternatives to “sweet light” oil have been entering the market, as we can see in the Figure “Global Oil Production”. The dilemma is neatly summarised as follows: “…every act of interference with the course of nature changes it in unpredictable ways …

In solving problems, technology creates new problems … to have to keep running faster and faster to stay where we are.” (Alan Watts, 1969) The solution to energy shortages proposed by our political regime in the UK is “fracking”; the hydraulic fracturing of rock holding natural gas, trapped in microscopic pores.

The process has been around for decades, but only recently used in large-scale production.

Wild speculative promises have been made

by David Cameron and his ilk about the benefits to be gained; recently in Davos the PM has claimed it is “flooring” UK energy prices and “boosting” the economy (although energy prices are rising and both the wealth gap and poverty are actually increasing). He is urging deregulation to pave the way for the industry, claiming it could bring 75,000 jobs and billions of pounds to the economy.

The same policy has been pushed for years

by UKIP, who now claim they are “steering” Conservative policy from the right. Various energy giants are now investing in exploratory drilling and promising further incentives to local government, while the PM in January 2014 “bribed” councils by offering them 100% of shale gas business rates. He claims that people’s desire to protect the environment from drilling will be “assuaged” once they see the economic benefits, suggesting that moral concern for environmental protection can be “bought”. It appears that our David is ignorant of the controversial history of fracking across

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ENVIRONMENT the pond.

In 2005, the US Congress exempted shale gas production from environmental regulation (the now infamous “Halliburton loophole”); the practice has since expanded massively in the US resulting in widespread pollution in ground water, documented thoroughly by a growing number of local/national campaigns. A common result is flammable tap water because the steam injections used to “frack” release fossil-fuel compounds into underground aquifers in an uncontrollable fashion (around 16% of US wells). Toxins known to cause cancer and infertility are present in the chemical “brew” added to the steam pumped in (around 40,000 gallons of chemicals per frack). These are secret mixtures, although geology.com explains: ‘…chemical additives used in [fracking] fluids… include: dilute acids, biocides, breakers, corrosion inhibitors, crosslinkers, friction reducers, gels, potassium chloride, oxygen scavengers, pH adjusting agents, scale inhibitors and surfactants. These chemical additives typically might make up just 1/2 to 2 percent of the fluid.’ [3] Companies claim they pump all liquid back out of the ground but complete extraction is totally impossible; wells are drilled horizontally kilometres underground, the mixture spreads through the shale and is absorbed, and often cross paths with aquifers.

The economic viability of shale gas wells has been greatly exaggerated by investing companies; promises of 10-20 year output life-spans for strong wells have been made, however the TESD estimated that on average a frack well has an 89% drop in production in just 3 years, and that US production will peak in 2016.

The only solution is to keep drilling a deposit, thousands of times over, at huge cost in terms of capex, energy, and water, in order to find the limited number of “sweet spots” that produce significant quantities of gas. It seems that to solve our energy problems with shale gas will require massive expense in terms of our environment as well as the price of energy as this industry looms forward.

Interestingly, Exxonmobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson has gone to court in 2014 against a fracking water-tower near his home because it would “reduce his property value”. The hypocrisy is blatant; Exxon’s natural gas production drills many fracking wells in the US, reducing property values everywhere, but are not held liable. Rex attacks anti-fracking campaigners for trying to hold back economic recovery.

But would falling property values not result in negative equity? How would that help “economic recovery” for the average American homeowner? Never fear, the people are well compensated for this assault on their water and land by gas companies; for example after a Chevron-owned fracking site exploded

in Dunkard, Pennysylvania, alarmed residents were given $10 in pizza coupons, one per household! Pennysylvania alone has over 6000 wells.

A greater fracking threat may not come from our buddy Rex or any individual gas company. There is a pending trade agreement between the US and EU known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and also the “Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement” (TAFTA). The trans-national corporations preparing this radical corporate agenda for global deregulation are urging politicians on both sides to push it through legislation (Obama is attempting to obtain “Fast-Track” authority in Congress specifically for this purpose). The document is highly secretive; only unofficial leaks have provided insight, raising alarms across the political spectrum; EFF has called it a “Trojan Horse”. The agreement goes far beyond trade; it would lock sovereign states into being accountable to private international corporate tribunals. For example, under TAFTA, Exxonmobil could demand vast compensation from an EU country banning fracking, for “lost future profits” which would be purely speculative and highly lucrative. In this scenario, a TNC wins either way; gaining the gas profits, or an easy pay-out. The people receive either deregulated environmental standards and increased pollution, or a drain on their public

taxes. No wonder TTIP/TAFTA is such a wellkept industry secret! It is the time honoured tradition; when the people will never agree to your demands, bypass democracy and sovereignty altogether behind closed doors. When we consider the trillions of dollars invested in fossil fuels instead of renewables, the words of Alan Watts in 1969 should haunt our politicians as they consider what to sacrifice for the short-term vision of maintaining the arbitrary figure of GDP, seemingly at any cost to our environment: “The hostile attitude of conquering nature ignores the basic interdependence of all things and events… and will end in destroying the very environment from which we emerge and upon which our whole life depends.”

References: [1]: Watts, A. (1969). The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. London: Sphere Books [2]: TRANSATLANTIC ENERGY SECURITY DIALOGUE. London - Washington, 10 December 2013.

[3]: Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids – Composition and Additives. <geology.com/energy/ hydraulic-fracturing-fluids/> Ami Golland is a student at the University of Westminster studying BEng Electronic Engineering and is a Study Support Assistant

Are construction projects only as good as their supply chain?

BY Bianca Bryan The efficiency of UK construction projects are plagued with overrunning costs, late completions and contractual claims; but what is at the heart of this dysfunction and can lack of good supply chain principles be attributed to this.

What is a supply chain?

Supply chains are a process of interlocking organisations with a view of improving production, operational and logistical outcomes.

The main aim is minimising wastage through an integrated network of organisations driven to perform at the optimum level. This principle could be likened to the concept of lean construction. Lean construction involves design development and efficient manufacturing principles with the aim of reducing costs and maximising value.

Supply chains are a network of organisations conjoined together to achieve construction outputs. The origins of supply chain management were derived from the initiation of

partnering, which began around 1991 when construction firms realised that partnering offered improvements. Bovis Lend Lease was the first company to implement partnering with Marks and Spencer. Around this time the 1994 Latham report suggested partnering as an option for better practices within construction.

The management of the supply chain by construction companies is detrimental to the project process since it impacts upon time, value and cost.

The benefits Supply chain management offers procurement leverage over extended periods. For long standing relationships most companies can secure lower outrun costs. Supply chain management can help reduce the number of suppliers and thus avoid high contraction costs associated with procurement and administration. Contracting firm Mace has stated that they spend £30 on average for each transaction. A fee that would be much higher if sourcing was on off.

How do construction projects utilise it?

For contractors that use supply chains,

quality and speed of operation are enhancements for construction projects.

Utilisation is achieved through extensive research into supply chain markets, this is known as operational research, through strategic planning processes in which the sourcing option is derived. The sourcing option is the means by which a firm may choose to procure a product or service. A contractor can obtain the appropriate sourcing option from analysis into available spend profile for the product and the demand profile, the selection criteria. The next process the firm may take is to understand the specific market in which they wish to source from, an example is; a housing contractor wishing to buy boilers would conduct research into the market environment. This process enables the contractor to assess the distribution of power between them and the supplier. The contractor would then need to assess the risks attached to the selected sourcing option.

Successful projects have a history with supply chains implementation The successful construction projects often demonstrate extensive roots with suppliers, in many cases utilising frameworks to cope with leading times.

The Central St Giles mixed use development achieved a practical completion two months before required. The project faced numerous logistical and operational issues because of its location and proximity to the Crossrail route. The project achieved 92% rate of recycling waste through close working with its waste management supplier. Delivery accuracy averaged 97% within 15 minutes, the industry norm is 40% within 30 minutes. It

was the integrated project approach and deployment of various suppliers from logistics to waste operators.

The delivery of London 2012 Olympics on time received much praise from the industry and has been used as a prototype for future construction projects. Early engagement with suppliers in the project enabled innovative ideas for materials and products. Contractors used industry sector days to provide suppliers with briefs and project challenges, giving the suppliers opportunity to present solutions to meet them. The project also used liaison groups and events to network with suppliers to increase collaboration between parties.

Crossrail is at the forefront of collaborative working with suppliers, with many sites meeting contractual schedules. Crossrail is successfully utilising supply chains to meet the challenges faced. The success is being achieved using hi-tech resources in e-procurement, supplier portals and work package databases.

At the heart of construction projects is the issue of supply chain management, the efforts of which promote coordination of project processes. There are numerous examples of successful projects, many of which attribute it to good supply chains.

Bianca Bryan is a third year student at the University of Westminster studying Construction Management BSc

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BUSINESS Use of Social Media in Business: Privacy

BY Dayena Monteiro, Fungai Ndunduma and Anastasia Voznesenskaya-Spyropoulos The Office for National Statistics conducted a survey on UK businesses about their use of social media. In 2013, their findings estimated that 43% of businesses used social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, 24% used a blog such as Twitter and 15% used multimedia content sharing websites such as YouTube, Flickr and Instagram.

The main reasons why businesses use social media were found to be as follows: • To developing their business image and to market their products • To respond to customer opinions, reviews and questions • To involve customers in the development and innovation of goods and services • To recruit employees 5 Tips on managing your profile online It has become more apparent that businesses now do a more in-depth search of potential employees, as the business image could easily be affected by an employee’s social media presence, such as their Facebook profiles.

It is advisable to watch what one publishes on such media, as careless behaviour could have consequences several years later. Below are some general tips on how to manage your online identity.

• Be careful with any comments you share online.

Remember that what is said online, stays online. Sometimes you may remove it, other times it may be beyond your control. While sharing a new comment, you are advised to consider who will be able to view it, and whether they may misinterpret your words.

You may want to ask yourself whether you’d be comfortable with someone from your office reading it now or in 10 years.

• Treat others in a positive manner.

Being positive online may help you and your friends to stay positive and your potential employer to view you as an enthusiastic candidate. This includes treating others the way you would like to be treated, being respectful and polite.

• Do not waste your precious time.

Facebook was found to be one of the most addictive forms of the social media.

Time-management and prioritising are the essential skills for successful online identity management. Some people prefer to separate a specific time-slot during the day dedicated to social networks, rather than using them throughout the day. This helps them to stay focused and efficient.

• Consider separating your personal and professional profiles.

Microsoft’s safety and security centre advises using different screen names, email addresses, websites, and blogs for each profile. Do not link your real name (or sensitive personal information such as your home and email addresses, phone numbers, or photos) with other profiles that you create. Add personal information to your professional profile judiciously and only as it reflects well on that image. Avoid cross references to personal sites.

It may also be beneficial to use the right web-sites for the right purposes. For instance, Linkedin profile may still include your friends as your connections, however, the professional and sophisticated approach makes it easier for some people to communicate on LinkedIn

rather than Facebook.

• Be aware of the privacy issues.

For example, if you are using instant messaging linked to your phone number such as WhatsApp or Viber, keep in mind that anyone who has your phone number may have access to your picture, status and information.

Facebook buys WhatsApp and Instagram: The user’s privacy.

The social network Instagram was bought

by Facebook in a $1 billion deal in 2012. Subsequently the social network giant bought the messaging platform WhatsApp in a $16 billion deal. According to the Guardian, Bill Gates said Microsoft was interested in purchasing WhatsApp before Facebook, but he thought the price for WhatsApp would have been lower.

The technology industry is very innovative, especially in the area of social media.

This is gradually merging into one group: FACEBOOK. In April 2012, users of Instagram saw its acquisition by Facebook. Instagram has more than 30 million users which in turn upload more than 5 million pictures a day, a great advantage for Facebook as it is mainly based on the number of users it can generate. Recently, WhatsApp, with more than 450 million users, was bought by Facebook as well.

It has become more crucial to be aware of the issue of user privacy than it has been in the past. Facebook’s Terms of Service state that not only do they own your data (section 2.1), but if you don’t keep it up to date and accurate (section 4.6), they can terminate your account (section 14). From the very beginning of Facebook’s existence, there are questions about Mark Zuckerberg’s (Facebook CEO) ethics. According to BusinessInsider. com, he used Facebook user data to guess email passwords and read personal email in order to discredit his rivals. This is unproven, but it may be a concern for some Facebook users.

Facebook has connections to many different sites and applications, with which it shares user information. Although many users are asked to approve of the information sharing, they are becoming a bit concerned about this.

Social platforms WhatsApp and Instagram were a lot more secure than Facebook; now users fear that the personal data shared on Facebook may extend to WhatsApp and Instagram.

WhatsApp is mainly based on text messaging, and it is based on the user’s personal mobile number.

Reasons for selection of WhatsApp: • Private messaging service • No storage of data The main reason some users stopped using Facebook was found to be as follows: • Facebook on a regular basis collects all data it can from its users for advertising purposes Instant messaging is a sensitive issue. It is more private than a status message on a social networking website.

Both Facebook and WhatsApp know this and hence have tried to allay the fears over privacy.

Therefore, when announcing

the deal, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, made clear that “WhatsApp will continue to operate independently within Facebook”. The important question that arises is, can users trust this statement?

Some WhatsApp users are now worried about their privacy and don’t trust Facebook when it comes to handling private and intimate information in their chats.

Matt Marzuki, a WhatsApp user, said, “I guess it’s time to move on and uninstall WhatsApp now that Facebook is buying it. I don’t like the idea of one company controlling social media and online chat app, it feels too much like Big Brother is watching me.”

The Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) is unsure of this merger and asks the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “initiate an investigation of the proposed acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook specifically with regard to the ability of Facebook to access WhatsApp’s store of user mobile phone numbers and metadata”.

In February 2014, during the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that in relation to privacy, ‘users have nothing to fear’ and claimed that ‘WhatsApp doesn’t have stored messages, messages are stored locally in the phones of the users and hence Facebook doesn’t have access to it’.

However, this has not convinced EPIC. This regulatory organisation claims that

“Facebook has regularly collected user data from companies it acquires”. It used the acquisition of Instagram as an example: “When Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012, Instagram users were not subjected to advertisements based on the content they uploaded to the site,” notes EPIC in its complaint to FTC. “Like WhatsApp, Instagram’s Terms of Service included a provision that in the event of acquisition, users’ information such as name and email address, User Content and any other information collected through the Service may be among the items sold or transferred.

After the acquisition, Facebook did in fact access Instagram users’ data and changed the Instagram Terms of Service to reflect this change.”

Although the CEO of Facebook denies this, it contradicts what the terms of WhatsApp service say about users’ data.

Facebook’s take-over of WhatsApp, however, has not yet been approved by many regulatory institutions around the world due to users’ privacy issues. This deal is still under way, but has not been completed. Whether users will have to deal with this acquisition or not … time will tell.

Dayena Monteiro, Fungai Ndunduma and Anastasia Voznesenskaya-Spyropoulos are first year students at the University of Westminster studying Business Management BA

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LAW “When the Facts Change, I Change My Mind. What Do You Do, Sir?” – Less spin to win?

BY Holly Boorn Frozen fuel prices, guaranteed jobs for the unemployed: just as with all the main parties, the gloves are coming off and the political promises are flying about. It seems these people will say anything to get in power. In recent years we’ve seen promised EU referendums denied, cigarette advertising allowed for a cash donation and “yes but we’re in a coalition now so it’s different.” These promises are nothing new, and we are now in a state of questioning whether today’s political promises are, for want of a better phrase, ‘a load of hot air’.

Look to the case of American presidential hopeful, Walter Mondale. During the 84 election the politician boldly announced that he would be implementing a tax hike, assured that his opponent, Ronald Reagan, would be guilty of the same displeasing prospect. Subsequently however, Reagan declared he would not and predictably won in a landslide, - only to renege on the promise thereafter. The same accusation could be made of the Lib Dems.

Aside from the synonymity of coalition and compromise, the Lib Dems have obsequiously supported Tory policies, enraging their loyal followers. Must it be that the politicians who tell the truth lose elections? Certainly this is a frightening thought and one that our political system never intended to facilitate. Maybe the problem is not with the politicians after all it’s the electorate!

Though with so many promises being offered in the run-up to the 2015 general election, how can we be sure that there is value in our vote? There is one answer that ensures

effective results: the law.

If manifestos were legally binding, then government promises would no longer become tenuous ideas but contractual obligations required to be performed by a specified date. In doing this, such ideas would have to be properly researched and tested to ensure their workability. The opposition would identify breaches by the government; in turn, these would be examined by the Supreme Court or a judicial panel. Of course, there is the Parliamentary process to consider; prospective legislation can potentially be voted-out by opposition in the Commons. In the interest of democracy these voices cannot be silenced, but governments must at least attempt to pass their manifesto legislation. Not doing so would result in judicial review, and if unlaw-

ful, censure could follow.

The most obvious issue with binding promises comes from changing circumstance.

Looking to the law, the definition of misrepresentation, an untrue statement of fact which induces a party to enter the contract, (Misrepresentaion Act 1967) carries a common law exception inferring that if a party at the time of contracting honestly believes in a statement, then they could be absolved of liability (With v Oflanagan 1936). The manifesto would need to be true at the time of publishing - that the policy is plausible and capable of being implemented and the court having consideration of the reasonability in disregarding the promises.

Having this system in place would encourage politicians to keep to their promises

through fear of legal sanction, whilst instilling a sense of confidence within the electorate.

With the preparations for 2015 gearing up, there still seems a distinct air of undecidedness amongst voters. Political trust has been heavily eroded. Whilst the UK electorate can be somewhat fickle in its scrutiny and impossible to please, one cannot help but think that the majority of such negativity is spawned through a lack of faith in our politicians. It’s time for them to pick up trust or go bust; the road to hell is paved with good intentions…

Holly Boorn is a second year student at the University of Westminster studying LLB Law

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INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY PROJECT What is the International Community Project?

The International Community Project was established at the University of Westminster, as part of the Centre for the Study of Democracy. London’s diverse and multicultural nature and the University’s position within it, provides a perfect environment for collaboration between London’s many international communities and its longstanding and prestigious academic institutions. The project aims to develop an interactive and experience-based learning environment which focuses on direct community engagement.

The 2013/14 academic year saw a launch of the first two issues of the International Community Forum, the Project’s magazine, which serves as a platform to share and debate topical issues relating to migration, identity, multiculturalism

and the rights of international communities. A number of successful events have been held including a panel discussion on institutional racism titled Stop and Search: Know Your Rights and a film screening of a documentary The House I Live In followed by discussion of the so-called war on drugs in UK and US and the issues of racial segregation and persecution tied to it. This month the ICP in cooperation with the Amnesty International Society have held a conference titled: ‘Identifying Contemporary Refugees: Global Crisis of Movement’ addressing the causes and effects of the rapid increase of displaced people from across the globe.

Our work is grounded in organising community visits, open to all students, through which we hope to enhance students’ understanding beyond the confines of the academic

paradigm and develop a relationship with community organisations. We strive to uncover the human face of migratory politics, and the impact of top-down impersonal policy making within our communities. The project itself offers students the opportunity to develop a diverse range of activities and relationships with communities, with a flexible and democratic structure through which students can develop their own individual interests and skills with the full support of project members’ own experience, resources and the facilities of the Department of Politics and International Relations. All students are welcome to join! To find out more information about ICP and/or to get involved please visit: www.icpweb.co.uk

An Inhuman Journey to Humanity

BY Marta Cioci Images portraying exhausted migrants pressed-up on precarious boats are by now familiar to all of us. The coverage of these events by the mass media in this regard is not comprehensive and too often filters, misrepresents and homogenises the image of the migrant, perceived as an infiltrator and as a burden on society. We play the part of the spectator to the screening of migrants docking onshore.

Once migrants have been rescued, their case is archived in bureaucracy and their voice lost.

That which is hidden beyond that shapeless and undistinguished bulk of humans emerging from the sea is the inhuman journey every single migrant undertakes to reach decent and bearable living standards. What are the untold individual stories of that human bulk? What of their identities?

The 3rd October 2013 marks what newspapers have broadcasted as ‘the Lampedusa tragedy’, where only one-hundred and fifty-seven migrants survived from the sinking of a boat overloaded with more than five hundred. It is yet another, the latest in a long line of tragedies, involving African migrants drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. The overwhelming majority of them came from what is one of the most repressive regimes in the world. Eritrea, currently ruled by a dictatorship which had been established after its 1993 independence from Ethiopia and following a legacy of Italian and British colonialism, is not for nothing called ‘Africa’s North Korea’. According to the UN, three thousand Eritrean refugees flee Eritrean soil every month, but the CIA estimates this number to be five thousand. This is because approximately two thousand Eritrean refugees do not get registered as asylum seekers, remaining ghosts without an identity.

The Eritrean human rights activist Meron Estefanos is the cofounder of the International Commission on Eritrean Refugees, an advocacy organisation for the rights of Eritreans refugees, victims of human trafficking and of torture. During an interview with the International Community Project she spoke of how Eritreans escape from a nation-state where freedoms of expression and of movement do not exist, where the private media has been banned since 2001, and where arbitrary arrest and disappearances occur on a daily basis.

Neighbouring countries are the first taste of freedom for Eritreans fleeing their country, but getting access to them is far from easy. In fact, the implementation of a shoot-to-kill Policy at the Eritrean border is well known. It is also well known that the chances of crossing the border with neighbouring Sudan are just 60%, with a 40% chance of being arrested. During

the process of crossing the Sudanese f r o nt i e r, around half of the refugees are kidnapped.

Prospects are even w o r s e along the Ethiopian b o r d e r, where the 70% of Eritreans are shot and only 30% of refugees manage to get across the border into relative sanctuary. The above statistics demonstrate that living conditions in Eritrea are so unbearable that Eritreans are ready to move into what embodies the historical enemy of their country, i.e. neighbouring Ethiopia, facing the prospect of kidnap, rape or worse. Still Eritreans are ready to face death rather than remain within their country.

The journey of Eritrean refugees is an endless and risky process across state borders, throughout which the violation of human rights such as kidnapping, extortion, rape, forced slavery, human trafficking and torture are known to occur. Meron Estefanos tells the stories of men and women who have been blackmailed and, in case of where payment was not received in time, sent to Sinai, where torture is practiced. Detainees are forced to call their parents while superheated melted plastic is poured onto their backs, or subject to electrocution, where an electric discharge is activated at the extremity of a wet chain to which a number of people are tied together.

The practice is systematically repeated for twenty hours per day, sometimes as frequently as every 5 minutes, until the perception of the body vanishes. Once released, Eritrean refugees are asked to pay thousands of US dollars to be transferred to another state, where the whole process of kidnapping, arrest, torture and extortion is reiterated. Death is often felt to be a preferable option under such conditions.

It is only following all of this that the Mediterranean crossing takes place, marking the final (but by no means the least problematic, as the Lampedusa tragedy has displayed) stage

of an inhuman journey towards salvation. The sea crossing itself involves restricted probabilities of success, in that boats are crowded and overloaded, and safety measures non-existent.

Provided that refugees land safely on European soil, they soon have to deal with a strict bureaucracy which makes the attainment of a temporary visa and of asylum a slow process.

In the meanwhile, the allocated shelters and living conditions, meant to provide a temporary solution, become permanent.

Thus, migrants and refugees find themselves in psychologically uncertain circumstances and in socially peripheral positions: they are non-integrated and excluded from society, unemployed, settled in structures containing two or three times the number of people they should host, and tired of not receiving answers about their status. Such tensions escalate, and result in migrants’ blockade of streets, protests through hunger strikes, and revolts, such as the 2011 fire set in the reception centre of Contrada Imbriacola, Lampedusa, where thirteen-hundred people were hosted, after migrants had repeatedly requested to be transferred from the island to the Italian peninsula.

The unpreparedness and unwillingness of the European Union to receive sustained flows of migrants and refugees is mirrored in the constant and enduring tragedies occurring offshore. Once landed in what is supposed to be a safer country, migrants are often neglected and not offered adequate support: a fact that represents a major failure for the European Union. As Meron Estefanos told us, after having gone through hell, after having lost much of what makes us human, migrants and refugees should deserve heaven, not to be

buried in the Mediterranean.

Marta Cioci Interview with Meron Estefanos was conducted via Skype at the University of Westminster, London, on 1st November 2013.

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ARTS

Four Surreal Summer Reads

BY Daniel Jordan

The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) by G.K. Chesterton

“The book ... was not intended to describe the real world as it was, or as I thought it was, even when my thoughts were considerably less settled than they are now. It was intended to describe the world of wild doubt and despair which the pessimists were generally describing at that date; with just a gleam of hope in some double meaning of the doubt, which even the pessimists felt in some fitful fashion.”

– G.K. Chesterton on The Man Who Was Thursday The Man Who Was Thursday is fantastically absurd, so much so that it is vastly surprising it is written in 1908; it seems to single-handedly point to the surrealist movement ready to explode all over Europe.

The novel opens with two poets debating the nature of anarchy and swiftly moves onto a secret society of anarchists, all named after days of the week. The society wishes to recruit a new Thursday, and the results are a surreal and farcical chase taking the reader from Edwardian London to France and back again.

Chesterton employs eloquent language, and devouring the rich prose is a mental treat. The novel is often given the somewhat exalted, if apt, description of a ‘metaphysical thriller’.

The work is overtly religious and contains many biblical allusions but without too much of a serious agenda and so the message is communicated without being oppressively ideological. The novel still manages to be fantastical and humorous and reaches a climax of equal clout and tranquillity. It evokes that rare feeling of both finality and openness often found in rare literature of a certain calibre.

Nadja (1928) by André Breton

“Beauty is like a train that ceaselessly roars out of the Gare de Lyon and which I know will never leave, which has not left. It consists of jolts and shocks, many of which do not have much importance, but which we know are destined to produce oneShock, which does...The human heart, beautiful as a seismograph...Beauty will be CONVULSIVE or will not be at all.”

– André Breton, Nadja Nadja deals with the narrator’s multiple encounters with the books eponymous enigma. It is rooted in reality and is semi-au-

tobiographical: the narrator is called André; other prominent figures of surrealism are present in the text, and 44 mysterious photographs of Paris are included.

As a whole it deals with the idea that if something becomes tangible it somehow becomes unappealing, and so the mystery of Nadja herself is the main proponent of the tale. Often in surrealist thinking the absence or intangibility of something can be more meaningful than the presence or understanding. It is often Nadja’s absence, rather than her presence, that provokes pleasure in the narrator. Literature does not deal with concrete facts, but, rather, deduced conclusions rooted in evidence. It is the looseness and flexibility of interpretation that makes it so appealing. We are often happier wallowing in ignorance, often perversely so, as the narrator is in regard to Nadja.

The book is beautifully written, discussing surrealist philosophy romantically with its abstract structure, and achieves the desired effect of evoking a sense of dreaminess in the reader. This leaves the reader grasping at not just the meaning of the story, but the story itself, like smoke.

Candide or Optimism (1759) by Voltaire

“Optimism,” said Cacambo, “What is that?”

“Alas!” replied Candide, “It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.”

– Voltaire, Candide Voltaire’s Candide is a parody of popular fantasy and adventure stories and is a riveting critique of 18th century philosophy.

Gottfried Leibniz’s optimistic philosophical assertion that ‘this is the best of all worlds’ was deftly challenged by Voltaire in this satirical masterpiece.

In the tale, the philosopher Dr. Pangloss (an allusion to Leibniz) consistently asserts that this is the best of all possible worlds to his young protégé, Candide. His philosophical argument is constantly usurped by the obvious suffering inherent in life as Candide is constantly flung from one trouble to the next: earthquakes, exile and other over-inflated but humorous disasters on his adventures looking for his love, Cunégonde.

The book is so strong because it starkly contrasts extreme tragedy with comedy, employing a sarcastic tone throughout to devastating effect. Voltaire exceeded his purpose to “bring amusement to a small number of men of wit”, as he once said of Candide.

Although the oldest tale on the list, this short novel, with its criticism of organised religion and optimistic philosophy (topics often satirised, even today), will resonate with a modern reader, possibly even more so than an 18th century one.

The Chairs (1951) by Eugene Ionesco

‘Things can be said about this play which are contradictory yet equally true’

– Ionesco on The Chairs This piece of absurd drama, drawing heavily on the philosophical ideas presented

by Albert Camus in his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, deals mainly with the apparent meaninglessness of life and the vacuous nature of language.

We are often treated to passages of nonsensical mutterings from the two central characters: a grotesque old man and old woman. The two decrepit central characters inhabit an old lighthouse, talking of the destruction of Paris and awaiting the arrival of ‘everyone’ to whom the old man will reveal his message to. The message is never explicitly described but it is presumed to be the meaning of life, yet as is the case with the drama of Ionesco: anything is possible.

One key aspect to note about language here is that although the audience may find the characters’ ramblings difficult to follow the characters themselves understand each other implicitly. People often wrongly critique the play as suggesting language is impossible to which Ionesco argues: ‘writing and presenting plays is surely incompatible with such a view. I simply hold that it is difficult to make oneself understood, not absolutely impossible, and my play The Chairs is a plea, pathetic perhaps, for mutual understanding’.

Ionesco’s ideas regarding language are extremely interesting in our modern world of abbreviations and online communication, relevant today, over 60 years after initial publication. The plays hard-hitting climax will not fail to make you, fittingly, speechless.

Daniel Jordan is a second year student at the University of Westminster stufying English Literature BA

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MUSIC

Music in theatre Review

BY Christopher Hughes Theatre. It’s an interesting art form, and one that – like music and film – has the power to stir a cacophony of emotions from within. You can go and see a toe-tapping musical one evening, yawn your way through a Pinter the next, and be confused yet inexplicably enthralled by Shakespeare a day later. It’s a wonderful medium. It is no surprise then that the two have often been combined. From AC/DC’s glory days of bells and giant buxom women named Rosie, through Kiss’s often ridiculously cheesy yet hugely entertaining pyrotechnics and makeup, to the contemporary mask and boiler suit combo adopted by Iowan nutjobs Slipknot, theatre in music can add that special something to a live show or music video. Both art forms are kindred spirits, natural artistic soul-mates.

Yet sadly, these soul-mates seem to be growing apart. There’s a new breed of artists, one who doesn’t seem to want to engage their audiences. One who shuns the art of ‘performance’, and this is a crying shame. During rock’s heyday, you could expect to see a Kiss show and have your eyebrows singed by pyrotechnics. You could see the Rolling Stones and come out squeaky clean, having been in a bubble bath during the band’s set. One could argue you don’t need props, fire, insane costumes or a python to put on a show, and up to a point you’d be right: the basis of any performance is indeed the musicianship of the artist on the stage. I’d argue that you need at least one other thing though. Charisma. Without it, it’s nigh on impossible to engage a crowd.

Some of the best shows I’ve been to have been absolutely ruined by the person with the microphone not even bothering to even speak to the crowd. Engaging an audience is the first step to a successful performance.

And besides, theatre can add so much to a performance. Would Rammstein’s live show be as intense without the face melting, Great Fire Of London-esque pyro?

I very much doubt it. A classic example would be Marilyn Manson: a man synonymous with bible burning, stilt wearing, government baiting live shows. Theatre is weaved within the very tapestry of his music. Sure, he may have lost some of his menace in recent years, but you’ve got to hand it to the guy; he can still put on one hell of a live show. Pick up the ‘Guns, God and Government’ tour on DVD, you’ll see what I mean. GWAR, as well, a band whose stage antics in their twenty something year spanning career have included spraying all manner of (fake) bodily substances over audiences and disembowelling a representation of the biblically stupid and five times as false Paris Hilton on stage. Shock for shock’s sake? Sure, but who cares when it’s this much fun. Not to mention the walking legend that is Alice Cooper; a man famed for his penchant for performing with massive pythons draped about his person.

And what has all this been replaced with? Bands who shove their guitars further towards their armpits than Simon Cowell’s trousers, don’t know how to tune guitars and have drummers who know one pattern and like to play it on biscuit tins. Not to mention a s*** attitude and even s*****r haircuts. It also seems they all have to dress entirely from charity shops. Open the pages of weekly hipster NME and I guarantee ninety per cent of the bands contained within will conform to this template. Razorlight, The Kooks, Mumford and Sons, take your pick. It’s not exclusive to indie either. Take god awful Sheffield based noiseniks Bring Me The Horizon and Welsh bores Funeral For A Friend. What unites all

of the previous examples is self-indulgent lyrics about partying and getting dumped. These guys are not musical visionaries. Every last one of them seems to suffer from an ill-advised case of ‘musician’s ego’, an unfortunate affliction which has the effect of making them believe they are better than God. That’s not to say every band requires lyrics about partying hard or explosions in a live show in order to be good performers. Rock legends the Foo Fighters are proof of this. Dave Grohl has charisma oozing from every pore yet is still impressively humble (check out any live video on YouTube) and songs like ‘Breakout’ (about somebody driving you absolutely insane) ‘The Pretender’ (calling somebody out for being false) ‘Monkey Wrench’ (being in a relationship and realising you’re the problem) prove neatly that you can be in touch with your emotions and still rock. But still, there’s something amazing about seeing a band that

takes the time and puts in effort to create a performance rather than just a show.

There are of course the stalwarts out there that are still flying the flag for theatre in music. I’ve mentioned a few of them already and there are many more out there, but please, if you’re reading this, support this few alongside your usual listening habits. Go to concerts if possible, and revel in the experience. Hell, go and see a Take That show. If Lady Gaga’s recent SXSW performance is anything to go by too, the ‘ARTrave’ tour later this year promises to be quite a spectacle. Maybe we can stop these artists’ gradual extinction and keep the soul mates of music and theatre together.

Christopher Hughes is a second year student at the University of Westminster studying English Literature and Creative Writing

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FILM

Starred Up

Review

BY Maahin Akhlaque

Starring: Jack O’Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend, Sam Spruell Directed by: David Mackenzie Going in, I had no idea how the title, Starred Up, related to what seemed to be a prison drama and so I looked it up beforehand. For those who don’t, the term is sort of explained early on in the film. Being ‘starred up’ is when a teenager is upgraded from a Young Offenders’ Institution to an adult prison because they are considered too much of a risk, and this is the basic premise of David Mackenzie’s latest film.

Starred Up depicts the experiences of Eric, played by Jack O’Connell (of Skins fame, and more recently 300: Rise of an Empire), as he is moved to an adult prison, where his estranged father is also imprisoned. This is no soppy father-son drama though. It is based on true experiences screenwriter Jonathan Asser witnessed while he spent time volunteering as a therapist with some of the country’s most violent criminals at the HM Prison Wandsworth.

The success of the film depends entirely on how its audience relate to the character of Eric and the performance of it. Not only is the character brilliantly written, but Jack O’Connell gives an incredible performance, one you’d expect of an actor much older than his 23 years. While the role couldn’t have been played believably by anyone older, any actor who might have done the role of Eric more justice hasn’t been discovered yet. O’Connell might struggle with roles that take him more outside of his comfort zone, or ones that require a more neutralised/RP type accent (the 300 sequel being proof of that), but this kind of role suits him, and he’s so good in the film, I think it should establish him as one of the best British actors in his generation.

The other central characters of the film are Neville, Eric’s father, played by Ben Mendelsohn, and Oliver (Rupert Friend), a volunteer therapist, who I assume Asser based on himself. Both Mendelsohn and Friend provide good support to O’Connell and his character, but the film is rightfully more focused on Eric. The film explores the issues Eric has with his father, and then subsequently with other male figures who could be a substitute father-figure, but it does so without forcing drama out of those moments, nor does it make everything out to be black and white.

An absent, criminal father is probably a major part of what leads Eric to this point but it can’t be explained away so easily, nor is there a simple solution.

The film is written extremely well - the narrative flows so naturally that it doesn’t feel at all constructed, despite not being based on experiences of one real person. What probably also helps is that it was shot in chronological order, which is incredibly rare because it isn’t usually the most efficient way of shooting a film, this was shot entirely on location in former prisons in Belfast though, which allowed Mackenzie to do so.

It is difficult to fault a film when the main components (i.e. writing, direction and performances) have been executed with such skill, that any shortcomings in other areas seem too insignificant, and almost unfair, to

mention. Starred Up certainly isn’t an easy watch, and if it had been it would have been unjust to the people whose experiences writer Jonathan Asser based his screenplay on. It is an important film to watch however, not because it’s telling us something we don’t know

or need to know, but purely because it’s that good.

Starred Up is out now.

Maahin Akhlaque is in his final year of English Literature, and also writes on his own blog: maahinandfilms.wordpress.com

The Quintin Hogg

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SPORTS Interview with members of the Gibraltarian National Team

BY Callum Farrell

Although football in Gibraltar has been around for more than a hundred years, the experience of participating within the UEFA football community is very much new. In a few months the Gibraltar Football Association will celebrate the first anniversary of Michel Platini, finally bringing to an end their long battle to be accepted into the European body and begin a journey towards a professional national team who will compete with some of the world’s best teams in the European Championships.

Fans have been able to watch their national team play a number of times over the past decades against other unrecognised teams but their new set of opponents have started debates within the nation about the makeup of their sporting representatives, their future development, the introduction of domestic European competition and increased expectations for footballers in Gibraltar.

All of this is debated by the team at GibFootballTalk in their blog and podcast, which is made up of players from the Gibraltar Premier Division, the vice-captain of the national team and a domestic team manager. In this interview, Julian Fortuna, Aaron Payas, Sean Mascarenhas and Ryan Gonzalez kindly gave up their time to give an insight into the ever changing footballing community in Gibral-

tar and their thoughts on the hot topics. If you want to find out more, visit their blog at http://gibfootballtalk.wordpress.com/ where you can also find their brilliant podcast.

What lessons have been learnt from Gibraltar’s first three friendlies against Slovakia, the Faroe Islands and Estonia?

In each game, a different lesson was learnt.

The Slovakia game, we learnt that even the smallest nation can get a result with hard work, passion and determination. To be honest it was an unexpected result. A defeat of around 2 to 3 goals would have been very credible and probably was what was expected prior to the game. It showed that Gibraltar had the talent mix up at the International level.

The Faroes game taught us that complacency at this level can cost you. Even though we beat the Faroes 3-0 in 2011, it could be argued that this went through the players’ minds as soon as we went 1-0 up in the game two weeks ago. It was a big reality check as many of the players, staff and fans were expecting to win this game.

The Estonia game showed us that the team has the character to bounce back after a disappointing performance in such a small space of time. The back to back friendlies is something that players in Gibraltar are not used to when it comes to games for the national side, so this double header would have served them in good stead for the qualifiers come September 2014. We were unlucky to lose this game and a 2-0 score line slightly flattered Estonia.

A draw would have been a deserved result.

Have these recent results made you adjust your expectations ahead of the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifying campaign?

Even the most diehard fan is realistic when it comes to Gibraltar’s chances in the qualifiers. The recent results don’t really impact on expectations. Despite Allen Bula coming out on Sky Sports News and saying he will aim for a playoff spot, realistically everybody knows this will be a steep learning curve for Gibraltar. We have been handed one of the toughest groups possible so it will be very difficult for the players. Despite the results, everyone will be backing Gibraltar. Just having the opportunity to finally compete at this level is Gibraltar’s victory, at least in this maiden qualifying campaign.

Would you be against a tiered qualifying system for international competitions, in which the continent’s lowest ranked nations

hold a separate competition to decide who enters qualifying against the bigger nations?

I think the majority of people in Gibraltar are opposed to this scenario. Perhaps those in the other smaller nations as well. The margin of score line achieved by the bigger nations against the ‘minnows’ should be irrelevant.

The only way the small nations can develop their football is by playing against the very best. If the smaller teams compete against each other, then there will less room for development. Football is not just about the big

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SPORTS

nations and the big name players. Football is about the global footballing community, so if you segregate small nations to play amongst themselves, these nations will remain minnows forever.

Do you think UEFA should be bowing down to pressure from Spain and indulging their wish to keep them and Gibraltar apart in qualifying? Doesn’t this go against their rhetoric about keeping politics and football separate?

Absolutely not. Spain are the World and European Champions and should not be entering into these political shenanigans at a sporting level, especially against such a tiny nation. For those who are unaware of the political climate between Spain and Gibraltar it may seem very silly that such a large and powerful country (at least in footballing terms) should bring these off the field matters onto the field. There is no room for politics in sport, and if UEFA should entertain these wishes from nations, it should only be based on player and fan safety during a possible encounter between both nations. I don’t envision such a problem between the two. At a local level, the harmony between Gibraltarians and Spaniards is largely very good. Gibraltarian football fans also support Spanish football, so there would be no potential harm inflicted onto the players from Gibraltar fans, so I don’t see how UEFA could accept this request from the Spanish FA. What is the general opinion in Gibraltar about the inclusion of foreign based players in the national team squad? Should the team represent the domestic league or should the best team possible be chosen?

This is a subject where opinion is divided.

There are those who believe that those players who have been playing locally and have represented the national team throughout the last few years should be given the opportunity to play now that we are UEFA members. The biggest question from locals with regards to ‘overseas Gibraltarians’ is, “Where were these players when Gibraltar wasn’t a UEFA member?” This leads them to believe that their passion to play for Gibraltar isn’t as strong as a local Gibraltarian.

On the other hand, there are also those who

believe that we must do what we can to help the local players in this transitional period from a completely amateur game, to a more semi-professional structure. The experience players like Danny Higginbotham and Scott Wiseman bring to the camp is invaluable and will only help Gibraltar’s players as they adapt to playing at a higher level.

Another talking point locally is the level of scouting performed by the national manager on these overseas players. Some fans question their selection as “just because he is eligible and playing in the UK, the locals are overlooked.” Players like Adam Priestley and David Artell who play for Farsley AFC and Wrexham respectively, are not well known to fans over here, so their inclusion is questioned. However once they are on the field of play, the fans’ level of support for the overseas players is unquestionable. They are supported as if they had lived in Gibraltar all their lives.

The race for the Gibraltar Premier Division title is extremely close this season, with a number of teams aiming for the newly available European places. What impact do you think the money and experience of European competition will have on football in Gibraltar?

The title race here in Gibraltar is as close as I can remember.

In the last decade or so Lincoln Red Imps usually had the title wrapped up by now, so to see at least two other sides challenging for the title is a breath of fresh air. I remember discussing the season’s outlook in September before it got underway, and I mentioned that Lincoln may win it again this year, but it won’t be as easy as it

was before. Now, all clubs have the objective to challenge for a European spot, so that has increased the level of effort, commitment and ability of the other teams.

Once the two sides qualify for next season’s Champions league and Europa League, the money will not only benefit those clubs specifically, but the league as well. I suppose, more foreign players will be attracted to our league as it’s an easier route into European competitions, thus raising the competitiveness of the league. One may argue however, that this could come at a detriment to the national team in a few years’ time.

Is the rush for Europe the reason why players have been given less time to spend with the national team by their clubs?

Yes that’s correct. Before, the national team met 3-4 times a week for training. Now all the clubs have agreed that due to the prize at hand of European competition, it is also important for them to have their players as much as possible.

Is there a worry that the money from

European competition will quickly create a lopsided Premier Division in future in which the wealthy teams run away with the title every season?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, Lincoln has been the dominant side of the last decade, winning the league in 11 consecutive seasons.

So we are already used to a prolonged period of dominance by one team. It will be interesting to see what teams qualify for Europe next season and how the financial rewards aid them for the future. However, seeing as the league is quite small and there are two European places up for grabs, external investors have already approached some clubs and injected funds into them. Notably College Europa and Lynx, who have been proverbial 2nd Division outfits in their history, are now challenging for European Places. It will be an interesting Premier Division next season.

Callum Farrell is a third year History student at the University of Westminster and a writer for HITC, SoccerSoul and The Positive