Division 1 - The Cambridge Student

Transcription

THURSDAY:
penguin prostitution
CambridgeStudent
Lent 2008 Issue 3
“I expressed
my intention to
resign...As I stepped
down from the
chair, a former
officer started
to applaud. The
chamber carried on
the applause”
Shamed VP in
Union brawl row
TCS News Team
pulled back by a group of spectators.
One witness, who asked not to be
named, said: “In three years at the
Union I have never seen someone
sink so low as to physically attack
someone else during their speech.
“It was disgraceful and I was
shocked to see it”, the source
claimed.
Former Union President Michael
Jacobson condemned Robinson’s
actions. “I find this act really appalling”, he said. “People who have
to settle their disputes with fists
rather than words have no place in
the Union”.
Other key Union members have
come forward to accuse Robinson of
aggressive behaviour. It is claimed
that Robinson tried to remove Entertainments Officer elect Myles
Stacey for missing two meetings,
despite the fact that both were out
of term time.
And one member of the Union’s
Standing Committee said: “It is so
sad to see that Robinson has managed to make such an unpleasant
atmosphere.
“James has a history of bullying,
threatening and shouting at fellow
standing committee members”, the
source alleged, “and he gets away
with all of this because he has the
Vice President Robinson allegedly punched a former President in a meeting
Union chiefs are threatening to resign pending the outcome of a controversial poll this Saturday.
The move comes just days after
the Union’s Secretary Vice President
(SVP) allegedly punched a former
President in a members’ business
meeting.
James Robinson, Union SVP,
verbally tendered his resignation
in the meeting on Monday after
a string of disputes with former
Union officials. His announcement was greeted with cheers by
the audience. Robinson was then
witnessed attacking former Union
chief Ali Al-Ansari, who says that
he is considering pressing charges
for the alleged assault.
The Vice President lost his temper after a series of disputes about
appointments to the Union consitutional committee. It is alleged that
during the argument Vice President
Robinson became upset, and accused the former President Al-Ansari of lying. Robinson claimed that
Al-Ansari should leave, whilst the
latter repeatedly maintained that it
was his right to continue speaking.
Robinson announced his resignation after asking Union President Will Wearden to fine Al-Ansari for speaking over him. Union
chiefs claim his resignation is not
yet valid as it has not been given in
writing. After voicing his intention
to quit, the Vice President reportedly paused before approaching AlAnsari.
It is alleged that Robinson raised
his arm to attempt to throw a
punch, pushed Al-Ansari on to a
bench, and then punched the former president. Robinson was then
‘People who
settle their
disputes with
fists have no
place in the
Union’
News THEATRE
Sport Photo: Sven Palys
James Robinson, Union
Vice President
>>02
interview >>14
>>20
Moazzam
Begg
Ents
Revolution
>>29
backing and green light of the President who lets him do whatever he
wants to do.”
Will Wearden, the Union’s current President, pledged his full support to Robinson yesterday. He has
called a poll on whether Robinson
should be put on the Union’s constitutional committee, saying that
he will resign – along with the vice
president himself and the Treasurer
elect - if the vote fails.
Wearden told TCS: “I have the
utmost confidence in James. He has
been giving an ongoing overview
almost literally 24/7. He is the sort
of person who we would want to be
controlling the Union for eternity.”
Robinson himself said that he
had made efforts to try and reform
the Union’s apparently archaic
managerial structures and make the
society more accessible. “A lot of
effort has been put in by James to
make this a good working environment” Wearden said. He is continuing to try to make things better”.
“I would recommend to you all
that you ratify the Secretary to this
important position” the President
said in an email to all members. “If
this vote fails it will be seen as a
declaration of no confidence in Mr
Robinson as Secretary. As I have absolute confidence in Mr Robinson,
this motion is effectively a vote of
confidence in me.”
The vote on Robinson’s appointment is due to take place on Saturday between the hours of 10am
and 7pm. But Roland Foxcroft,
Union President Michaelmas 2007,
has spoken out against Wearden’s
poll. Foxcroft said: “I would like to
condemn any efforts to blackmail
the Union’s membership through
threats of resignation.”
This week’s
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POLITICISED THEATRE
Women’shockey:
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January,
02|News
News in Brief
Judge Business School
Cambridge business school
judged
Cambridge’s Judge Business School
has been placed 10th in the Financial Times MBA rankings, climbing
five places from last year.
The school was also placed 7th in
last year’s Economist Intelligent
Unit league tables for full time
MBA programmes.
Dr Richard Barker, director of the
Cambridge programme, said: “This
ranking will further enhance the
reputation of the Cambridge MBA
as a programme that sits alongside
the very best in the world.”
The Cambridge Student | 31/01/08
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
CUSU introduces
Dragon’s Den
Reggae reggae sauce
Overnight success story Levi Roots
attended a Cambridge University
Entrepeneurs’ award ceremony
last night. The event was to announce the winners of the entrepeneurial society’s 1K challenge.
Roots is best known for wowing
judges of BBC 2’s Dragon’s Den
with his Reggae Reggae sauce,
which has sold out in supermarkets across the country.
RAG in Spain
Rag Jailbreak
Two RAG jailbreak teams managed
to get exactly 1158 miles away
from Cambridge this weekend.
One team reached Tarifa, Spain,
tying with another group who
made it to Borganes, Iceland.
Jailbreakers are sponsored to get
as far away from Cambridge as
they can in 36 hours, without
spending any money.
Cambridge
Multi-millions for
health centre
A Cambridge centre for public
health has received £5 million in
funding.
The centre will conduct research
into topics such as diet and nutrition, and the effects of alcohol,
tobacco and drug use, with the
backing of a variety of charities
and the state.
THURSDAY
Next week:
CHINA
Katie Spenceley
Catherine Watts
Cambridge University Students’
Union Events (CUSU Ents) are
undergoing massive changes in a
new wave of event alterations.
Simon Burdus, who took over
the position of CUSU Entertainments Manager in December, is
overseeing the changes.
“We are launching three new
nights as part of a major overhaul
of the CUSU Ents.”
He said, “I am committed to
diversifying the types of entertainment offered by the students’
union.”
Future events will include a
brand new LBGT club night - Fusion – which will be held on Tuesday nights at Club 22.
“The format seems to have
been a little stale as of late,” said
Burdus. “I am looking to return
the LBGT night to the highs of the
past.”
A Champagne Launch will be
held on the 5th of February to
give the night a new beginning.
CUSU will also launch a Thursday night event at Revolution towards the end of the Lent term.
Details are still under wraps but
CUSU are “confident the night
would become a welcome alternative to the usual club night”.
A new partnership will also be
formed between CUSU Ents and
‘Shut up and Dance’.
And the changes will see the
introduction of a series of evening
events called Cam:live, designed
to showcase live entertainment
in a variety of venues around the
city. So far, provisional bookings already include comedians,
student bands, beat-boxers and
fashion shows.
“I am determined to bring different types of Ents to the forefront of the Cambridge mindset,”
said Burdus. “As a students’ union
we are able to organise Ents that
nobody else can, and we will be
looking for student ideas on what
Cam:live can offer and where it
can go.”
It’s going to
be £2 entry
and with cheap
drinks as well
Prices will also undergo an extra re-vamp at a selection of Cambridge clubs. All drinks at Sunday
Service will now be £1.50 until
11pm, and £2.50 afterwards.
Burdus told The Cambridge
Student (TCS): “Alcoholic drinks
are to be matched with non-alcoholic drinks, so that everything
will be reduced. This will bring
CUSU events in line with or make
them cheaper than everywhere
else in Cambridge.”
At Kinki at Ballare, drinks, all
VKs will be £1.50. And, depending on the night, student offers
will be placed on different drinks
each week.
“The aim is to make all these
nights typical student nights,”
said Burdus. “Before now they
weren’t typical - they were £4 to
get in and drinks were about £3.
Now hopefully they’ll be proper
student nights where it’s going
to be £2 entry and with cheap
drinks as well.”
CUSU will also increase the opportunities of getting tickets for
events by improving the network
of college ticket reps. Burdus described the current system as ‘adhoc’ and expressed his wish to see
a ticket rep in every college as a
point of contact for information
and ticket-buying.
A new system of college partnerships will also be trialled, beginning with giving CUSU funding
to Girton Amateur Dramatic Society’s (GADS’) production of “Oliver”, since it is to be performed at
Corpus Playrooms.
“This is a little guinea-pig,”
Burdus said. “We will give them
a sum of money as an investment
that they can spend as capital.
We’ll then advertise for them,
give them all the contacts they
need, and help with the logistics.
We can use our ticket network to
sell tickets for them throughout
the whole university and basically produce it with them.
“We’re in the position to help
as we have the contacts. We’ve
got the experience and hopefully
that will benefit them. Hopefully
it will increase the amount of
money they make, which will be
good for the college and good for
the amateur dramatics society.”
CUSU’s changes have additionally addressed issues with door
staff at some clubs. Following
complaints about the conduct of
some of the bouncers at Club 22,
Burdus told TCS that he had spoken to the manager, as a result
of which some of the staff will
no longer be working on student
nights.
“I’ve given a talk to all those
bouncers at Ballare and Club 22.
I explained that students can
sometimes be a bit cheeky, but
that they’re not actually going
to do anything and showed them
that they need to be a bit more
lenient. Hopefully it will make
other nights a lot safer and more
enjoyable.”
Other events changes are still
in negotiation. Soul Tree has also
been approached to work with
CUSU to host live acts.
Burdus was unable to confirm
details as yet, but said that he
was confident of getting some
big names involved – “at least
one this year.”
“We’ve approached other colleges as well, like Clare Cellars,
and hopefully we’ll get something
sorted,” he said.
“These events will essentially
be non-profit. But as we’re going
to be making a nice sustainable
income off the other nights, we
feel confident that we will be able
to put on something extra for
students, something that they
will really enjoy.
It will be something that is
very different from other universities.”
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
Ents Revolution
News|03
Kinki at Ballare
CUSU club nights will see dramatic
changes — new venues, new prices.
Simon Burdus will oversee this exciting
ents shake-up
Photograph: James Appleton
How do you solve a problem like the Union?
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
04|News
No ID card? No student loan
Ministers plan to make ID cards compulsory for students applying for financial aid
Government documents show that
anybody going to university in the
future will be forced to carry an ID
card.
Katie Spenceley
Deputy News Editor
Students will be forced to carry
identity cards in order to apply for
student loans, leaked Home Office
documents suggest.
The internal government paper
states: “We should issue ID cards to
young people to assist them as they
open their first bank account, take
out a student loan, etc.”
The recent crises with the mishandling of personal data in various government organisations have
raised concerns over the state’s
ability to handle such vast amounts
of data.
Figures suggest that the biometric details of over two million young
people entering higher education
would have to be collected.
The Conservative party, who have
long been opposed to the proposed
ID cards, say that the plans amount
to little more than a “blackmail” of
students in an attempt to strengthen “a failing policy”.
Shadow Immigration Minister,
Damian Green said that: “This is an
outrageous plan. The government
has seen its ID cards proposals
stagger from shambles to shambles.
They are clearly trying to introduce
them by stealth.”
The documents’ revelation comes
at a time when the government has
come under fire for plans to make
those applying for a driving licence
also carry an ID card.
‘This
dishonest,
dangerous
scheme must
be scrapped
immediately’
A leaked memo to the Sunday
People headed “Option Analysis”
states: “Various forms of coercion,
such as designation of the application process for identity documents
issued by UK ministers (e.g. pass-
ports) are an option to stimulate
applications in a manageable way.
“There are advantages to designation of documents associated
with particular target groups, e.g.
young people who may be applying
for their first driving licence.”
Andrew Watson, Cambridge coordinator of the NO2ID campaign,
criticised the government for not
making its plans public.
“These leaks expose the dishonesty of government claims that
identity registration would be voluntary,” he told The Cambridge Student (TCS).
“Only those who don’t drive,
don’t travel, and don’t go to university would escape paying to be
added to the central identity data-
base,” he continued.
“Ministers say this would ‘protect our identities’, but like all
protection rackets, the national ID
scheme is designed to benefit the
racketeers, not the public.
“This dishonest, dangerous, expensive scheme must be scrapped
immediately,” he concluded.
The proposed ID cards will cost
around £100 each and will contain
personal details and biometric data
such as fingerprints.
The documents reveal that the
cards could be introduced as soon
as 2010.
Critics fear cards will be used to
monitor the public - and now to determine who can apply for student
loans and grants.
CAREERS SERVICE ‘WORKING IN THE MEDIA’
EVENT, WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2008
A careers event with a difference ...
‘I knew I wanted to work in the
media, but didn’t know how, when
or where .... or even what kind of
media . I vividly remember attending the Careers Service’s Working in
the Media Event in 2006 and coming
home tearstained and utterly terrified that everyone else knew what
they were doing and had more experience than me.... What eventually
got me my break was that I talked
to everyone I could and put the word
out that I was looking for work as a
writer....’
(Charlotte Griffiths, magazine
news and features editor).
Meet Charlotte, and 60 other
graduates, media organisations,
course providers and student societies at this year’s Media Event
on Wednesday 13 February, 6.009.00pm, Exam Halls, New Museums
Site (no need to book). It’s your one
chance this year to meet so many
people in journalism, radio, TV, film,
media and entertainment law, media management, publishing and
science communications all under
one roof. Also, talks on all the main
media areas by industry professionals run throughout the evening.
Here’s how to be prepared! Come
to the session: ‘Media Event – How
to Make the Most of It’, Friday 8 February, 4.00 – 5.00pm, Mill Lane Lecture Rooms (next door to the Careers
Service).
Get all the tips you need: find
out what to expect, how to get focused, how to ask searching questions, and what you can usefully do
beforehand to get the most out of it.
For more details click on the Media
Event entry on the Diary at www.careers.cam.ac.uk
‘A superb event! It can save you
literally years of your life and energy, both in terms of networking and
in avoiding wrong career choices.’
(student at last year’s event).
ADVERTORIAL
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
News|05
Cambridge graduate killed
Owen Kennedy
Subeditor
A 23-year-old former Cambridge
student has died in a road accident
on Tyneside.
Paul Brady, who was a student at
St. Catharine’s College and graduated last year with a degree in physics, was killed as he cycled to work
on the morning of January 18th.
Paul had been taking a year out
working as a school lab technician
and was planning to take up a place
on a Masters Course at Durham University.
Police believe he was hit by a
heavy goods vehicle while cycling
on the A19. He suffered multiple injuries, and died at around 7.50am.
There is no information as yet regarding the identity of the vehicle’s
driver, and police have suggested
that it is possible that the driver
may not even have been aware that
they had hit anyone.
According to the Cambridge
News, Paul’s father John appealed
for information in a press conference at North Shields.
“Paul was a wonderful young
man,” Mr Brady was quoted as saying.
“He had his whole life ahead of
him. He died from horrific injuries.
His family and friends desperately
need to know what has happened.
“If you were there please, please,
please contact the police.”
‘He was a very
kind man, who
always had
other peoples
interests at
heart’
Paul was a keen sportsman, and
both rowed and played badminton
for his college. He also rowed for
the University Lightweights.
Dr. Paul Hartle, Senior Tutor at
St. Catharine’s, told The Cambridge
Student (TCS): “All of us in the College are deeply saddened by Paul’s
death.”
Dr. Hartle added: “He was a talented young scientist and his loss
is keenly felt by his many friends
in St Catharine’s.”
Lucy Moseley, his college wife
last year, said: “Paul was a devoted
college husband, a doting college
father, and a generous friend.
“He was a very kind man, who
always had other people’s interests
at heart.”
“Paul would spend hours making from scratch wonderful ‘family
meals,” she continued.
“He was the one who remembered the blankets and thermos on
our punting trips. He made such an
effort with the gatherings we held,
bringing nibbles and drinks that he
knew we all liked.
“I will look back with fond memories at all the times we shared together, and I will miss him dearly,
she said.”
Paul’s funeral will be held funeral will be at the church of Our Lady
of Mercy, Castle Chare, Durham on
Friday February 1st.
A memorial service will also take
place in St. Catherine’s college chapel this Friday at 2pm.
The Cambridge Union Society
is looking for applicants for
the role of Secretary.
Take part in our competition to see if you have what
it takes. Selected applicants will be given a budget to
make their proposed improvement to the Union, and
this will give those involved a chance to experience
the role of Secretary first hand. For more information please see “Secretary’s Corner” on our website,
or email [email protected]
Paul Brady died in a traffic collision on January 18th
President’s Committee
One of the many ways to get involved at the Union
is President’s Committee. Comment on the week
past and the week ahead with free biscuits, make
suggestions and air your complaints. Attendees can
also offer to put up posters in their College in
exchange for drinks vouchers.
Every week at 5:15pm in the Dining Room.
Member’s Business Meetings
Bar & Kitchens Committee
On Tuesday 19th February and Saturday 15th
March, there will be Member’s Business Meetings at
5pm in the Chamber. These are the most powerful
meetings of the Society and a way for members to
have a say in how the Union is run.
We’re after keen people to help redesign the
Union’s Bar and Kitchens. The Bar has improved
significantly over recent months but there is still
work to do. The project is likely to be a big one
and will require several level-headed people to
complete it.
They are also good opportunities to raise any
issues you may have.
For more inforation, please email the Secretary on
[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
06|News
The Works 2008
Want to do something with your life
that makes a real difference ?
Turned off by careers in the city ?
Motivated by more than just profit ?
Wondering what’s out there ?
Then come to THE WORKS 2008
It’s the really informal careers information event. Whatever the emphasis of an organisation – ethical
responsibility, education, creative
endeavour, social regeneration, entrepreneurship or the environment,
The Works focuses on rewards beyond profit – individual fulfilment,
challenge and a real fit between the
organisation and the individual.
Been before?
Don’t miss this one just because
you came last year. New organisations come every year – with new
opportunities!
When and where is it?
Thursday 7th February - 1 pm
to 5.30 pm
The Examination Halls, New Museums Site, Pembroke St.
Follow the link on the front page
of our website at www.careers.cam.
ac.uk
What you can find out from the
event:
•How to get into different and
unusual fields of work
•What the job opportunities are
(may be wider than you think)
•Opportunities for internships/ vacation placements/experience/jobs
Talks Programme
On relief work, corporate social
responsibility and more – see posters and website for up-to-date list
and times
Who will be there ?
90 + Organisations
•Think tanks
•Human rights organisations
•Businesses with a difference
•Civil servants from different
government departments
•Conservation organisations
•UK-based social and community
charities
•Environmental and renewable
energy organisations
•Overseas development agencies
……AND MORE !
You get to ….
•meet graduates who work for
them
•find out what jobs are really
like
•get advice on gathering experi-
ence
•find out how to locate jobs
Gather tips on how to get in and get
on from people representing organisations or fields of work …
•with differing paths into their
current jobs
•with a succession of previous
jobs
•at different levels within organisations
Will organisations have jobs to
offer ?
You can gather a wealth of information about possibilities in a wide
range of fields and…..
•several organisations do come
with jobs
•many will offer internships
•lots of students did get fixed up
with things last year
How can you get the best out of
the event ?
Be creative - people at stands
will tell you much more than their
display
•Ask about typical days in their
jobs
•Ask what most gives them a
buzz about their work
•Find out what they did before
their current job
•Get tips about using your time
ADVERTORIAL
now before applying later
•Make notes!
Students’ comments …..
‘’I just wanted to say that the
Works careers event last week was
fantastic! There were lots of organisations I’d never heard of but was
really interested in, and it would
be great to see more of this kind of
event. It quite often feels like the
only non-science career available to
Cambridge students is in law / finance / consultancy or some other
corporate job, so the event was really
a breath of fresh air’’
“….I spent six weeks in Dharamsala, India, working on two projects volunteering at the Tibetan Centre
for Human Rights and Democracy
(TCHRD) and at the Department of
Education (DoE) of the Tibetan Government in Exile. … My work at the
TCHRD involved extensive research
and the writing of a report on ‘Torture of Tibetan Political Prisoners
since 1987’. I also assisted with a report on ‘The Death Penalty in China’
and … monthly ‘Human Rights Update’ newsletter. I produced an information brochure on ‘Education in
Exile’. I had the opportunity to work
closely with the Secretary of the
DoE (the position below the Educa-
tion Minister) in order to refine and
make the language of the Education
Policy Document more fluent, whilst
retaining the meaning of the original Tibetan version. I hope that my
work for the TCHRD might go some
small way to raising international
awareness on torture - and that my
work for the Department of Education might form part of the effort
towards the provision of free, high
quality education for all Tibetans,
enabling them to keep abreast with
the developments of the modern day
and to simultaneously sustain their
unique cultural heritage, language
and values…..”
What to do next
•See The Works website at www.
careers.cam.ac.uk - follow “The
Works” link
•Register with CLICK emails - For
More Than Profit - for up-to-date
info
•Choose half a dozen organisations for your ‘must see’ list
•Note ‘must go to’ talks
•Read The Works 2008 Handbook, available at the event.
•DON’T MISS IT !! – enjoy the afternoon - meet up with friends
in the free coffee bar.
a Cambridge University Careers Service event
Thursday 7th February 2008
1pm-5:30pm New Museums Site, Pembroke Street
BE CREATIVE WITH YOUR CAREER
in conjunction with One World Week 2nd- 8th February 2008
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
News|07
Fake Trinity student exposed
Alex Coke-Woods
Jennifer Shaw
A man masquerading as a student
of Trinity College has finally been
cornered by the College authorities following a string of alleged
incidents involving a fake identity,
abuse of college facilities, and possible computer hacking.
Tarique Akhtar, who continues to
maintain that he is in fact a Trinity
graduate student, was apprehended
by porters in the college library. He
was then ejected from the grounds
and warned not to re-enter the college in future.
Sources within the college have
told The Cambridge Student (TCS)
that Akhtar’s alleged lies were only
exposed late last week when, having been asked for college identification, he could only produce another student’s buttery card.
But some Trinity students say
that Akhtar had been seen in college on a regular basis for some
time before this, making free use
of the graduate common room (BA
Room) and other college facilities.
“I first saw him at the beginning
of this term, but friends who were
resident over the vac were already
complaining about him using the
BA room facilities,” Trinity student
Levi Roach told TCS.
“I think he first appeared at the
beginning of the vac,” Roach went
on.
Initially believing him to be an
undergraduate trying to exploit
MCR privileges, students’ suspicions
were first alerted when they found
he had no pigeonhole at the college.
“We became much more suspicious when we couldn’t find his
pigeonhole, but had nothing to
do with him finally being caught,”
Roach said.
Trinity’s Senior Tutor, John Rallison admitted that the college had
suffered a security breach on Friday by email, warning students, via
email, to be on their guard.
“He is not a member of the College and has been asked not to enter the College again,” the message
read.
“If you should encounter this
man in Trinity please inform the
porters,” it continued.
Rallison also added concerns that
Akhtar had hacked in to a student’s
email account. “Circumstantial evidence suggests that he may have
been making unauthorised use of
the computer account of a Trinity
student who has already been informed,” the Senior Tutor said.
He was ejected
and asked not
to re-enter the
college
The fact that Akhtar has a Facebook page on the Cambridge network, which can only be obtained
through use of a Hermes webmail
address, may appear to support
these suspicions.
A blog, entitled ‘Experience Cambridge’ and attributed to a ‘Tarique
Akhtar,’ can also be viewed online.
In the online journal, the author
describes his experiences of studying as a foreign student in the city.
He also speaks of a longtime fascination with the idea of hacking.
“Thirteen years and one fateful
college application later I ended up
at CAMBRIDGE [sic], where hackers
of all kinds come to live, learn, and
play,” he writes.
Akhtar initially agreed by phone
to discuss these issues with TCS,
but then failed to turn up to his arranged interview.
Trinity College
Tarique Akthar was caught out when
all he had for identification was
another student’s buttery card.
Photograph: James Appleton
His Facebook profile describes
how Akhtar was born in India and
moved to the U.S. as a small child.
He claims to be a Harvard student
studying mathematics and functional psychology. But, when contacted by TCS, Harvard officials
were unable to find any record of
a Tarique Akhtar either as a current
student,or former student within
the faculty of Maths and Sciences.
Akhtar has also created his own
Facebook group campaigning for
the “better behaviour” of porters,
in which he criticises members of
Cambridge staff who ejected him
from Trinity.
“I find the behavior of porters
hostile if not offensive. They behave like they are some kind of
guardian of a great treasure and
you are a thief who is determined
to steal it.”
The affair has raised concern
amongst Trinity students regarding the ease with which members
of the public can enter the college
grounds during the day. Further
questions have been raised about
the security of buttery cards as a
means of identification. Lost cards
cannot be cancelled, only replaced,
and continue to allow access to otherwise secured areas of the college.
When contacted by TCS, Senior
Tutor John Rallison refused to provide any comment as to whether
Akhtar posed an ongoing safety
risk to Trinity students.
Cambridge offers students more financial help
Catherine Watts
News Editor
Up to a third of students in Cambridge will be eligible to apply for
bursaries in the next academic
year.
The University is set to raise the
upper limit of both the full and
tapered bursaries on offer by thousands of pounds, so that more students qualify for financial help.
Cambridge’s bursary scheme has
been in effect since before the introduction of top-up fees.
But both the value and number
of bursaries on offer has expanded
since 2006, and will see a signifi-
cant increase for the year 2008-9.
Previously, the ‘low income’
threshold – at which students qualify for a full Cambridge bursary of
£3,150 – was £18,000. But in 2008,
‘low income’ will cover parental salaries of up to £25,000.
Above this threshold, the cutoff point for financial help offered
on a tapered basis will increase by
more than £20,000. Students with
home incomes of up to £60,000
will be able to receive monetary
aid in the next academic year – a
dramatic leap from the former limit
of £38,500. Mature students will be
able to receive a maximum bursary
of £5,250 per year.
As in previous years, there is no
fixed number of students at Cambridge who are eligible for financial
assistance. All students who qualify
are offered the extra funding.
The director of the Isaac Newton
Trust, said:
“The University has advertised
a guarantee of support to students
who meet certain conditions and we
will pay whatever it costs to meet
that guarantee, wherever possible
using contributions from alumni
and others.”
“We will continue our efforts to
ensure that no student need be deterred from studying at Cambridge
on economic grounds.”
Total cost of
bursaries
Number of
benefitting
students
2004-2005
1.2m
1,595
2005-2006
1.3m
1,675
2006-2007
2.1m
1,977
2007-2008
3.2m
2,014
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
08|Bursting The Bubble
United Insecurity
but without a new settlement the
chances of it ever doing so are vanishingly small. But, for all its manifold failures, the UN still remains
the most plausible forum for addressing global issues.
Only the UN is sufficiently institutionalised and sufficiently able to
draw upon global expertise to deliver global leadership. The history
of the UN is one of latent but perennially unfulfilled potential.
If carried out under the right cir-
Belarus
Bike man smuggles Parrots
Finland
Mouse head in hospital food
England
Man hides castle in haystack
Germany
Naked flights are all right
Belarusian border guards have apprehended a man who was attempting to smuggle some 277 parrots
into the former Eastern-bloc state
on a bicycle.
The birds, which had been
crammed into just six cages, were
left abandoned by the side of the
road as the would-be smuggler he
fled back across the border into the
Ukraine. Finding the birds packed
tight, 40 to 50 to each cage, border guards handed them over to
vets. The birds will now be given
new homes through pet shops in
Belarus.
A patient in a Finnish infirmary
was not best pleased to find the
head of a mouse grinning up at him
from a plate of his hospital dinner
this week.
Nurses at the Northern Karelia
Central Hospital in Joensuu, eastern Finland said that the severed
head was most likely to have come
from a bag of Belgian vegetables.
The health of the patient was
not said to have been compromised
by the hospital’s unusual choice of
condiment.
The whereabouts of the rest of
the mouse are still unknown.
A former farmer who hid a castle
behind an enormous pile of straw
went to court this week, fighting
council demands for the structure
to be torn down.
Robert Fidler, 59, concealed his
dream home, ramparts and all,
behind a huge stack of hay bales
for four years, believing he had
thwarted planning regulations by
doing so.
But when he finally uncovered
his hand-built edifice in 2002,
shocked neighbours immediately
called up local authorities, demanding demolition.
Baggage allowance too small? That
could be the least of your worries
if you’re flying with OssiUrlaub.de,
the East German travel firm now offering customers the chance to fly
in the nude.
Starting this Friday, 55 lucky
passengers will be able to book
themselves on to a special naked
flight from the German city of Erfurt to the Baltic holiday resort of
Usedom, where they’ll be able to let
it all hang out.
And while tourists must board
the plane fully clothed, once they
take to the skies, it’s frocks away.
Tom
Hammond
solace on the world stage.
So there was something of the inevitable about Gordon Brown’s recent
call, whilst on a trip to India, for
the country to be given permanent
membership of the United Nations
Security Council.
Facing questions over his competence and a worsening economic
climate, one can see why Brown
might have succumbed to the
temptation to play the statesman.
But do his proposals actually have
any merit?
It is undoubtedly true that the present structure of the Security Council, which reflects the geopolitics of
1945, is untenable. Such legitimacy
as it has will simply drain away if
newly powerful nations are able to
portray it as an anachronism.
The UN might never truly have
fulfilled its role as global arbiter,
O
ne
of
the more
telling
criticisms
made of
Tony Blair was that,
when faced with a setback at home, he was
too often ready to seek
Mad World
cumstances, Security Council reform might be the catalyst for the
regeneration of a UN which has, in
the wake of allegations of corruption, recently lost many friends.
If it is easy to recognise the merits of Security Council reform, the
practicalities are, as ever, more
complicated. Every claim to membership on an expanded Council
will be contested.
A claim by Germany, which, as the
world’s third biggest economy and
one of the motors of the European
Union, might be considered essential to an expanded Council. But
it will be resisted by Italy, which
argues that it too ought to have a
seat.
Given that one of the principal
purposes of reform of the Council
ought to be to acknowledge the
diminished importance of Europe,
such claims cannot be admitted.
But Italy has the means at its disposal to frustrate further change.
If countries cannot be made to see
that a reformed council, however
upsetting its omissions, is preferable to the present body, then
Brown’s worthy gesture will have
served only to offer the comfort
of statesmanship to a beleaguered
politician.
And another chapter in the UN’s
history of untapped potential will
begin.
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Bursting The Bubble|09
Gazan exodus across frontier
Noor Al-Bazzaz
Deputy News Editor
Photo: shedrinkstea
Thousands of Palestinians poured
over the Gazan-Egyptian border after Hamas militants broke open an
Israeli blockade with explosives last
Wednesday
Palestinian militants set off 17
separate explosive charges to destroy the Israeli-built southern
border wall, which had been closed
since June 2007. Police tried to
close the breach, but militants reopened it with a bulldozer the following day.
Throughout the week, the flattened barricades were flooded by
people crossing on foot or by bicycle to stock up on goods which
had been hard to come by in the
Gaza Strip.
Able to travel across the border
freely for the first time in seven
months, Gazans used the opportunity to stock up on basic goods
such as food and medicine that
have been either unavailable or too
expensive at home.
“We passed freely and we are
happy here,” Samir Samiri, (30)
told Reuters, adding that his visit
to Egypt was the first time he had
ever left Gaza.
The blockade was imposed by Israel on the Gaza strip after Hamas
gained control of the city in June
2006 following a conflict with forces loyal to President Abbas’s party.
The humanitarian crisis escalated further after Israel completely
sealed the borders on January 17th
in retaliation for a sharp increase
in rocket attacks from Gaza, which
have wounded 82 Israeli civilians in
the last six months.
Despite coming under international pressure from Israel and the
US to reseal the border, the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, allowed the border to stay open for
several days.
By Friday, Egyptian security
forces had begun the process of
closing the border with Gaza and
re-imposing the Israeli blockade.
But the blockade did not stay in
place for long.
Following confrontations at the
frontier, the security forces pulled
back and the mass exodus from
Gaza resumed.
Now, before the border can be
brought back under control, Hamas
(the ruling party in the Palestinian
parliament) and President Abbas
have to agree which of them will
have control of the crossing.
Israel has blockaded the Gaza-Egypt frontier since June 2007
Italy in crisis: Prime Turkish Pres backs
Minister forced out uni headscarves
Jennifer Shaw
Deputy News Editor
The Italian government has been
left in crisis after the resignation of
Prime Minister Romano Prodi last
Friday.
Prodi, who was leader of the coalition L’Unione, was forced to step
down after losing the support of the
small Udeur party.
Prodi was forced to call a vote of
confidence, his 32nd since he came
to office on May 17th 2006.
Although he won the support
of the Camera (equivalent to the
House of Commons), the following
day, Prodi was crushed at the Senate
(equivalent to the House of Lords),
when members voted against him.
Prodi lost the Senate confidence
vote by just five votes.
He was forced to submit his resignation later than evening.
The president of the Republic,
Giorgio Napolitano, in collaboration
with the presidents of the Camera
and the Senate will now have to
decide whether a general election
needs to be called.
Former Prime Minister, leader of
the Forza Italia party and general
tycoon, Silvio Berlusconi is thrilled
at the news.
Known in Italy as ‘Il Cavaliere’ or
‘the knight,’ Berlusconi is currently
developing a new party, Popolo della
libertà. But this would not stop him
from going on to fight an electoral
campaign to reclaim his former position as the leader of the Italian
Republic, he claimed.
In fact, he has already begun his
electoral campaign.
“The title of our electoral campaign with be ‘liberty’” he said,
setting out his political stall before
the electoral starting gun had even
been fired.
“We would never pass a law or a
provision that could reduce even by
a shred the liberty of citizens,” the
former Prime Minister continued.
Many are campaigning for electoral reform before the elections go
ahead.
Prodi, who has received ongoing
support from his Democratic party
(il PD), has said that he does not
wish to be involved in the reforms.
Responding to questions about
what he will do now he is no longer
in power, he replied: “I’ll be a grandad.”
Leader of the party and Mayor of
Rome, Walter Veltroni, is a likely to
be a leading left-wing candidate in
the proposed elections.
Alex Coke-Woods
International News Editor
The President of Turkey has backed
controversial plans to lift a ban
preventing female students from
wearing Islamic headscarves in universities.
President Abdullah Gul’s ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP), which has roots in political
Islam, has struck a deal with the
nationalist MHP party. Together,
the two parties have enough votes
to overturn the ban in Parliament.
“Universities should not be
places of political controversy; beliefs should be practised freely at
universities,” the President told a
press conference in his hometown
of Kayseri, last week.
Although the majority of voters
in the constitutionally secular state
of Turkey support the proposals, a
vocal minority remain fiercely opposed to removing the ban, which
is regarded by many as a symbol
of the separation of state and religion.
And while Turkey’s ceremonial
head of state is supposed to be a
neutral figure standing above the
political fray, few are surprised
that President Gul has chosen to
support the AKP in overturning the
ban, which has been in place since
1989.
Under ordinary circumstances,
measures such as this would normally expect to receive a Presidential veto for being unconstitutional.
But when Mr Gul’s candidature
for the presidency was announced
early last year and half a million
secularists took to the streets in
protest, it was partly due to the
fact that his wife chooses to wear
a headscarf.
On that occasion the army,
which sees itself as the defender of
secular Turkey, issued coup threats
on its website. At present, the military has yet to make its position
clear on the current proposals.
Cambridge University Islamic Society has welcomed the news. Suhel
Mistry, Islamic Soc President commented: “We are pleased to hear
of this new move to give this right
back to women.”
“The headscarf ban is an unnecessary barrier to those women who
wish to continue their education
but feel they are being forced to
compromise their religious beliefs.
Some simply compromise their education instead.”
World News
Thursday 24th
The biggest fraud in banking history the headlines, as Société
Générale, France’s second largest
bank, admits that a single junior
trader has cost them €4.9bn. Jerome Kerviel has caused five times
as much damage as those of Nick
Leeson, whose rogue trading led
to the collapse of Barings Bank in
1995.
Friday 25th
A huge fire engulfs the Monte Carlo casino and hotel complex in Las
Vegas, USA. The entire length of
the Las Vegas Strip is sealed off as
fire fighters attempt to tackle the
blaze raging across the roof and
top floor of the 35-storey building. Guests and staff are forced
to evacuate the 3,000 room gambling centre as debris and burning
embers fall to the street below.
Saturday 26th
Barack Obama wins the Democratic Presidential nomination in
the US state of South Carolina by
a huge margin. With 55% voting
for Obama, the man who hopes to
become the first mixed-race President of the USA comes away with
twice as big a share of the vote
as his arch-rival, Hilary Clinton
(27%).
Sunday 27th
Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat Party (CDU) fails to win state
elections in Hesse, Germany, following a political campaign widely
criticised by opponents for being
‘xenophobic.’ Roland Koch of the
CDU only manages to win 35.7%
of the vote, against 37.5% for the
Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Monday 28th
George Hinckley, President of the
Mormon Church dies in America.
At 97, Hinckley had been the oldest ever spiritual leader of the organisation officially known as the
Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints.
Tuesday 29th
The gang responsible for Britain’s
biggest ever cash heist, in which
some £53 million was stolen, is
sentenced to a total of some 70
years in prison. The five men are
convicted of offences of kidnapping and robbery - or what the
judge called “organised banditry.”
Some £21 million is still missing.
Wednesday 30th
The US Federal Reserve slashes interest rates by another half a percentage point today – just days
after cutting the cost of borrowing by three quarters of a percent
in a desperate bid to fight off a
recession. a century.
This latest move by America’s
central bank marks the one of the
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
10|Comment
America divided
Hillary Clinton is the only candidate with the experience and intellect to retake the White House for
the Democrats
Elizabeth
Davies
Emmanuel
F
irst of all, let’s dismantle some stereotypes.
Supporters of Hillary
Rodham Clinton are not
women who are so narrow-minded as to be unable to see past gender. Nor do they
want her to win the Democratic
nomination because they hold some
kind of deep abhorrence of the idea
of ‘change’, whatever, exactly, this
wonderfully meaningless piece of
rhetoric is meant to imply. They are
behind her because the decision is a
clear one – today’s America is in dire
need of competent leadership and
tangible results, and the one person
who can assuredly supply these is
Senator Clinton.
People have
discovered
that she is not
the calculating
battleaxe they
expect
The media is often vilified for its
focus on ‘personality politics’; but
in this case there is little substantive difference to dwell on.
Hillary would perform well in a
general election. Yes, to many that
seems counterintuitive, as she is
often portrayed as divisive, corrosive, and apt to send innocent voters running straight into the arms
of the nearest Republican – but the
reality is actually the opposite. To
win in November Democrats must
retain the states they won in 2004,
as well as winning a key swing
state, and the popular options here
are Florida or Ohio, both areas with
traditional Clinton support.
It is also untrue that a Clinton
nomination would turn off the
highly-prized swing voters. Yes,
Obama has been performing slightly better with Independents in
primaries where they are involved,
but it’s all up in the air if McCain
wins the Republican nomination or
Bloomberg gets in the race as an
independent. Clinton not only has
a stronger appeal to the Democratic
base and performs well in debates
but has exhibited a remarkable
ability to bring sceptical voters to
her cause in the past. Upstate New
York is not Clinton Country by any
stretch of the imagination, but her
Senate campaign performed well
there because she took the time to
talk to voters and persuade them.
From all across the 2008 campaign
trail come stories of surprised
members of the electorate who
have talked to the candidate and
discovered that she is not the calculating battleaxe they expect, but
someone who actually cares about
their concerns.
Which, of course, brings us to
the biggest problem many have
with her – the “vast, right-wing
conspiracy” that will jump on her
as soon as she wins the nomination. Journalists paint gloomy pictures of a campaign characterised
by never-ending Swift Boat-ing,
tawdry jokes about blue dresses,
and virulent Ann Coulter fans pouring to the polls in hordes, frothing
at the mouth.
But the point is, we know all of
this already. That’s why Clinton’s
negatives are sky high; people have
been fed scare stories about her
for years. While this undoubtedly
makes people dubious about her,
it does also mean that new stories
are likely to have far less impact.
Obama, on the other hand, is extraordinarily attackable. Republicans want to keep the Presidency,
not just beat Hillary Clinton, and
this is a point all-too-frequently
overlooked.
While Obama is certainly no simpleton, Clinton’s incredibly sharp
mind must be acknowledged after
eight years of folksy Bushisms. Regardless of whom she married, she
was always going to be the kind of
person who ran for public office
and blazed a trail for others to follow.
There is nothing wrong with
stressing your record of achievement and experience in a campaign, particularly if it is as valuable as Clinton’s. There is equally
nothing wrong with acting as if
the Presidency is what you’ve been
working towards all your life – it
is, after all, a respectable goal and
one that you really have to be prepared to toil for. From her election
as Wellesley College’s first-ever student commencement speaker (a
role which got her profiled in Life,
no mean feat for a college student)
to her achievements as New York’s
junior Senator, Clinton has been a
role model about what you can accomplish if you put your mind to
it, not just to young women but to
anyone.
On entering the Senate Clinton
surprised everyone by becoming
a ‘workhorse’, not the ‘showhorse’
many had expected, earning respect from her colleagues for her
ability to get things done and willingness to co-operate with those
on the other side of the divide.
She has made
mistakes, but
that’s what
happens when
you have
experience
The controversy over her Iraq
vote is a non-starter, despite how
often it is brought up. I never
supported the invasion, but I do
not put much faith in the statements an as-yet-unelected Senator
Obama made about it. He wasn’t
in office, he was beholden to nobody, and his statements would
manifest no results. Pessimistic it
may sound, but it’s not ludicrous
to suspect that Obama would have
been talking quite differently had
he been holding his Senate seat at
the time.
Clinton has made mistakes in
her time, but that’s what happens
when you have the experience she
has, and she at least takes the opportunity to learn from them. Look
at the contrast between the disastrous healthcare task force she
chaired in the White House and
her campaign’s current healthcare
proposal. Obama likes to bring up
his environmental speech to car
manufacturers, but he doesn’t have
a monopoly on political courage
– Clinton did the same thing with
Arkansan teachers’ unions fifteen
years ago.
Any candidate, and most definitely any Democratic candidate,
represents ‘change’ in this election
cycle. Overblown rhetoric can bring
people together, but it can also be
used to mask problems – something we have seen far too much
of recently. Yes, it would be nice
to think that you and the leader
of the free world could be pals, but
that isn’t an appropriate reason to
48 Delegates
elect someone to the post.
Capability and accomplishment
should be the guiding motivations
in a post-Bush world if Americans
wish to see real change.
I appreciate a good speech as
much as the next person, and I do
not doubt Obama’s sincerity in his
rhetoric, nor the commendability
of his goals. His attempt to involve
many young people in his campaign is undisputedly admirable.
But America needs a President with
a proven record of accomplishment
and obvious ability to cope with
the ever-mounting current challenges. Give him eight years, and
Obama may show himself to be that
person. But look past the inspiring,
empty, words and the Democratic
nominee is obvious, as it was right
from the beginning – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Elizabeth Davies is a 2nd year SPS
student and Editor of The Berry.
The CV
1947 Born in Chicago, daughter
of a housewife and businesman
1963 First student to deliver commencement address at
Wellesley College
1973 Graduates from Yale Law
School
1975 Marries Bill Clinton
1979 Becomes First Lady of
Arkanasas
1992 Becomes US First Lady
1994 Put in charge of the administration’s Healthcare plan,
which is defeated by Congress.
1998 Stands by her husband
during the Monica Lewinsky
scandal.
2000 Elected to the US Senate
2006 Reelected with 67% of
vote
2007 Launches campaign for
the Presidency
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
Comment|11
The power of words
Clinton might make a competent president, but only Obama has the potential to change America
63 Delegates
The CV
1961 Born in Honolulu to a
Kenyan father and American
mother
1967 Moves with family to
Jakarta for 4 years
1991 First black president of
The Harvard Law Review
1990 Graduates from Harvard
Law School
1992 Marries Michelle Robinson
1995 Publishes autobiography,
detailing his alcohol, marjuana
and cocaine use during you
1996 Elected to the Illinois
State Senate
2005 Sworn in to the US
Senate
2006 Publishes bestseller The
Audacity of Hope 3 weeks before
the 2006 midterm election
2007 Launches presidential
campaign
Every so
often a leader
emerges
who shapes
the politics
of the next
generation.
Hillary’s not
going to be one
but Obama just
might
ts
tics of
individualism that
has dominated since Reagan.
Yes, says Obama,
the American Dream
is important, but so is
Society. In the speech he
gave to the 2004 Democratic
National Convention, the speech
that first brought Obama to the
fore, he reminded the nation that
‘we are connected as one people.
If there’s a child on the south side
of Chicago who can’t read, that
matters to me, even if it’s not my
child…I am my brother’s keeper, I
am my sister’s keeper - that makes
this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual
dreams, yet still come together as a
single American family. “E pluribus
unum.” Out of many, one’.
Someone once said America is
an idea; Obama reclaims this idea
from the grasp of conservatives
and refashions it into something
progressive: Hope. Not blind optimism, but an audacious hope that
America can be changed for the
better. And just as Civil Rights was
right for the ‘60s and unrestrained
individualism for the ‘80s, so this
message is right for America now.
America has a greater gap between
rich and poor than it did fifteen
years ago; more people are killed
in gun crimes; more men (mostly
cra
‘W
ords are not
actions.
And
as
beautifully
presented,
and passionately felt as they are they are
not actions’. These words, probably
not passionately felt and certainly
not beautifully presented, spoken
by Hillary Clinton in a televised debate before the New Hampshire primary, and referring to the candidacy
of her rival, Barack Obama, encapsulate why he, and not Hillary Clinton
offers the brightest future for the
United States of America. Hillary
Clinton would probably be a perfectly
competent president, an administrator-in-chief
competently
steering
competent
legislation
through congress whilst competently repairing
America’s global
reputation, meeting other competent leaders. She would no
doubt accomplish plenty
of competent ‘actions’.
Yet every so often, usually about once a generation, a leader emerges
who shapes the politics and
ideas of the next generation. Ronald
Reagan was such a leader, so was JFK
with civil rights and FDR with the
New Deal. Hillary’s not going to be
one, but Obama just might.
All these leaders had two things
in common. First, they had a philosophy; something greater than
the individual sum of their policies.
This philosophy was always strong
and distinctive, it also had to be
right for the time; Reagan’s freemarket individualism, for example,
came after a period of deep economic gloom. Second, they all had
the ability to win the argument.
The argument that their idea was
the right one for the nation, not
just among their fellow politicians
but with the voting public as well.
These leaders were all charismatic,
some were orators. All of them
knew that words, as well as actions
were essential for their cause.
Obama, unlike Clinton, has
both these qualities and so the po-
De
mo
Fitzwilliam
tential to be a historic President.
His overarching philosophy looks,
at first glance to be disappointing.
It seems vague, unoriginal and full
of platitudes. He talks of the importance of inclusive politics, of
the need to bring people together
outside of traditional party politics
(a line used with varying degrees
of believability by everyone from
Gordon Brown to George W. Bush)
and of the need to heal a divided
nation. So far so Motherhood and
Apple Pie.
But, putting aside our heard-itall-before cynicism, underlying all
of this is a strong
and coherent challenge
to the
poli-
black) are in jail. It is Obama, not
Clinton, who has recognised, what
Martin Luther King called ‘the
fierce urgency of now’.
Of the candiates, both Democrat
and Republican, only Obama is advocating this vision. Only Obama
could advocate such a vision. His
vision would be inauthentic without his story; graduating near top
of his class at the best law school
in America before eschewing corporate law and the seven figure
salaries of his peers to work as a
community project coordinator in
New York and Chicago. As the successful son of an immigrant father,
he’s the American Dream personified; and who better to unite a
nation scarred by racial conflict
than someone who has first-hand
experience of it?
So Obama’s got the vision,
and it’s authentic. He’s also got
the wherewithal to persuade the
American people that it’s the right
vision.
Who better to
unite a nation
scarred by
racial conflict?
US
Tom
Lyttelton
The self-styled ‘skinny kid with
a funny name’ has got charisma by
the bucket load and is easily the
best orator of any potential president since JFK. Youtube his speech
to the Democratic National Convention if you don;t believe me.
Much has been made of the fact
that Obama comes from the first
generation of black politicians not
to have matured in the crucible
of the Civil Rights struggle. He’s
not an Old School Jesse Jackson or
Al Sharpton, thank God. But he
shares with them a rhetorical tradition forged in the Black Churches:
soaring rhetoric, an ability to invoke ideals without loftiness; morality without mawkishness.
Above all he has the ability to
impart an almost damascene zeal.
He can persuade people that voting
for him is not just voting for any
old candidate in any old election,
but that it is the Right and Necessary thing to do at a crucial point
in the history of a nation. Only
Barack Obama can change America
with the power of words.
Tom is a 2nd year History student at Fitzwilliam.
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
12|Comment
The X Factor?
Do we really want charismatic politicians? Or is being boring not what we should be worrying about?
Emma
Lough
I
Churchill
’ m not asking Britain’s politicians to set parliament
alight with renditions of
“hit me baby one more
time” (though it would no
doubt boost viewing figures for BBC Parliament) but a little
animation from the faces of British
politics shouldn’t be a lot to ask.
Charisma is a much misunderstood concept - sociologist Peter
Worsley was probably not far off in
condemning the term as a “soggy
sponge concept” - but it is nonetheless crucial to leadership success. Yet without getting lost in
academic debate, it is clear the grey
landscape of British politics has
been sapped of the spirit and vigor it once had. Churchill was undoubtedly a figure of his time, and
perhaps better suited to retrospective admiration than a model for
the likes of Brown and Cameron.
Yet the fact he is even spoken
of in the same breath as Cameron
and Brown - and the immediately
stark disparities - should make us
shudder with embarrassment at the
state of the current state of affairs.
(And we wonder why we’re battling
a growing problem of apathy?)
Across the pond, where the US
primaries are galvanizing Americans and drawing the global media,
the presidential race is unfolding as
a clash of personalities. The reason the Republican contest is still a
four-horse race, no candidate consistently able to secure more than a
quarter of the popular vote, is that
while each are able to appeal to a
specific locality in Republican support, none are winning the hearts
of the nation. In the Democrat
camp, by contrast, policies are taking a backseat. “Experience” and
“change” are terms banded round a
lot, but we all know it’s a case of
Team Clinton vs Team Obama. The
difference in America is that the
candidates are clearly aware of the
need for personal appeal.
The problem we have in Britain
is that the traditional practice of
cabinet government has been gradually superseded by a pseudo-presidential system. So in an age of increasingly leader-centered politics,
we find ourselves led by Brown, a
man without the magnetism or
rhetoric to animate his government.
While it is not important for voters necessarily to like their leaders,
they must at least feel
they can engage with
them - and hence (if
all goes to plan) their policies. So
while charisma is an intrinsic quality someone either has or lacks, a
little humanity and animation are
not too much for an apathetic nation to ask. To make an emotional
appeal to voters, it is essential to
show some kind of emotion (forgive me for stating the obvious, but
Brown seems to have missed the
point). Being chancellor was clearly
a very serious job, but now he’s in
the top job, a different approach is
needed; he needs to come across as
a man of the people.
But while Brown continues to
impersonate a gorilla with a hang
over, Cameron is in stark danger of
being seen by voters as too slick.
While Blair was verging on authoritarian, Brown lacks authority, and
Cameron sets this off helpfully by
lacking credibility. Inevitably it’s
a fine line, and I would hardly espouse the cult of personality that
drove supporters of Hitler and Mussolini, nor even push the British
public to the point where they only
see a party through the lense of its
leader. But it would be a breath of
fresh air in British politics to actually have some leaders, or at least
leaders with the confidence to offer more than an expertise in spin.
Especially in the aftermath of
Iraq, and amidst unprecedented
levels of scaremongering sparked
by 9/11, the paranoia and anxiety
of the British public needs to be
off set by a charismatic central figure – or at least someone with the
capacity for basic communication.
The question of policy is an entirely separate debate. With “New”
Labour and “New” Conservatism
heading for collision (or, worse,
mutual acceptance) the notion of a
political spectrum in Great Britain
holds less water than it once did.
But while the policies may be empty, and the likelihood is we won’t
trust what they say, we
want to hear it said
well, don’t we? If
we’re voting
on personality, let’s see
some.
Emma
Lough is a 1st
year historian.
Daniel
Heap
I
Fitzwilliam
happen to be quite attracted
to Iain Duncan Smith.
Reminiscent of a balding
hamster though he is, he’s
the sort of guy who would
never forget your birthday,
or stand you up for a date. Blair or
Churchill, on the other hand, would
almost certainly leave earlythe following morning, and not return your
calls for days.
Boring Politics?
In the US Senate, members can
block bills by ‘talking them out
of time’. In 1957, Strom Thurmond spoke continuously for 24
hours and 17 minutes..
President Calvin ‘Silent Cal’
Coolidge was famously tightlipped. At a dinner party, a
woman told him she had bet
a friend that she could make
him say more than 2 words. He
quipped in reply: “You lose”.
There’s a
limit to how
interesting
politicians can
be if they’re
arguing about
minutiae
The John Majors and Iain Duncan
Smiths of the political world are, in
my view, vastly underappreciated.
That they were ‘Grey Men’ cannot
be denied (though news of John
Major’s back-bench fumblings with
Edwina Currie did give him something of an injection of colour),
yet this does not mean they
didn’t play, an important role
in public life, and they can
still do so.
Churchill was of
course a brilliant
Prime Minister
who almost
certainly
saved Britain from invasion during
the war, but his more staid predecessor Clement Atlee did far more
to fundamentally change Britain
for the better, and is consistently
at the top of ‘Best Prime Minister’
surveys.
John Major was not a great Prime
Minister, or even a good one, but he
personally did much less to damage
the country than did Thatcher or
Blair. Most Prime Ministers would
have struggled with a slowly dwindling majority, a divided party and
sluggish economy, none of which
were a direct result of John Major’s
personality. Similarly, Iain Duncan
Smith is a good politician, and was
simply the wrong leader for the Tories at that time.
Charisma can certainly help politicians, but it is by no means critical. A quiet, diligent (read: boring)
leader such as Germany’s Angela
Merkel can be successful: She has
managed to revive Germany’s economy, while heading a ‘grand coalition’ government composed of two
completely ideologically opposed
parties.
For better or worse, a politician
is not ‘one of the people’, and we
shouldn’t deceive ourselves by calling for him to present himself as
such. If politicians sat down, shut
up and got on with trying to make
a difference rather than worrying
about their public appeal, we’d
make much more progress than we
are doing now.
People think politics is boring
because politics is boring: As Emma
argues, there is no meaningful distinction between the two parties,
and nothing to argue about. Our
politicians are products
of our politics: There’s
a limit to how interesting politicians can be if
all they’re arguing about
is minutiae rather
than making profound
changes to how Britain works. The issue
of policy is inextricably
linked to the issue of levels
of political engagement.
The way to improve political participation is not to
make politicians more interesting, but to make politics
more interesting. We need a
system in which the issues
are genuinely important,
where there is more genuine
disagreement between parties. Politicians and political life as a whole will only
become more exciting when
there is something to become excited about.
TCS Comment Editor Daniel Heap is a 2nd year SPS
Student at Fitzwilliam Coilege.
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
Interview|13
Guess Uzbek in Town
by asking his opinion of the product of the Bush-Brown relationship,
following the departure of Tony
Blair, an issue heightened by the
recent six year anniversary of the
Guantanamo Bay prison.
“Sadly there doesn’t seem to be
any genuine distance between the
Labour government and the Bush
administration since Brown came
into office. I can’t see any particular sign of Labour wanting to adopt
a more independent foreign policy
again – which is a great loss because many of us were hoping that
after Blair went we would be able to
move further away from our American cousins.
“It is very difficult to talk about
a British foreign policy because we
do seem to have mislaid our foreign
policy and become an adjunct to
American foreign policy [which]
shows no signs at all of having
learnt its lessons.
“It just seems to be a constant
drumbeat of aggression, and the
basic philosophy is effectively Imperialist. To have a Labour government buying into that seems to be
very strange indeed.”
His views on the forthcoming US
Craig Murray, Human Rights campaigner and former Ambassador to Uzbekistan, talks to Katie Spenceley and Jennifer
Shaw about governments, torture and the War on Terror
elections display his deep mistrust
of a nation, which he believes has
failed to deliver on many important
world issues: “All of the Presidential candidates seem pretty awful.
Certainly I think the Democrats
3 courses for £10
Student set menu deal
Sunday to Friday
go to www.tcs.cam.ac.uk for the full interview
F
ormer Uzbek ambassador, Craig Murray was
famously removed from
office after speaking out
about alleged human
rights abuses in the USsupported Karimov administration.
His complaints highlight the
growing concerns of many, who
find the US government’s endorsement of interrogation methods
such as “water boarding” (simulated drowning) a disturbing double
standard in the fight to protect individual liberty.
Since his removal from the Foreign Office in October 2004, Murray has become a political activist
– criticizing both the Iraq war and
Western policy in the Middle East.
He has also recently been in the
public eye as the inspiration for
a West-End musical, The Ambassador’s Bellydancer, written and
performed by his 26 year-old Uzbek
partner, Nadira Alieva.
In an interview with The Cambridge Student (TCS), Murray explained his worries about the policies that dominate Western foreign
policy and his concerns for the future in the Middle East. We began
would be a bit better than the Republicans but there doesn’t seem to
be a major change in terms of consensus on Iraq or on major foreign
policy.
“Nobody’s saying America should
sign up to Kyoto, nobody’s saying
they should sign up to the International Criminal Court - those issues seem pretty bipartisan unfortunately.”
Murray also had little positive to
say about the current Labour government. His criticism is based on
what he sees as the misinformation
gained by the Intelligence services
from torturing suspects:
“The misinformation is an ad
hoc justification for the Iraq war
– they say, ‘Well, we have to invade
these countries because, look, these
Muslims keep blowing us up.’ It’s a
rather crude mechanism that justifies an aggressive foreign policy. It
makes a foreign policy, which consists of invading other countries,
suddenly defensive – even though
no one’s actually invaded us.
“We’re in a culture now where
people in the Civil service and the
Intelligence service have the idea
that if you tell the story that the
government wants to hear, even if
it’s not accurate, then that’s the
way to advance your career.
Two weeks ago Jacqui Smith announced that the term ‘War in Terror’ would now be dropped from
governmental rhetoric. We asked
Murray whether he was convinced
that it amounted to any real change
in foreign policy:
“Any cooling of the rhetoric is
welcome. Though while of course it
helps not to use such inflammatory
language it doesn’t help that at the
same time, Jacqui Smith is pressing ahead with these arbitrary increases for detention without trial.
So there seems to be some better
rhetoric but even worse tactics.
“People always raise the argument that torture is justifiable if
it saves lives, that the ends justify
the means – but of course that’s a
rather Hollywood scenario, because
in fact most of the people who actually get tortured are completely innocent. And even those people who
aren’t innocent - Khaled Sheikh
Mohammed for instance, who was
undoubtedly an Al Qaeda man
– confessed to goodness how many
things. He confessed to everything
from the murder of William Rufus
to, I don’t know, shoplifting from
the supermarket. He confessed to
every known terrorist atrocity more
or less, most of which was almost
certainly not true at all.
Aside from commenting on the
war on Iraq, Murray has been a
prominent figure in the campaign
to stop Tesco from selling Uzbek
cotton procured through child
labour. He believes that modern
technology like the internet and
weblogs is crucial in tackling modern injustices:
“I think the internet has been
absolutely crucial in the campaign
on Uzbek cotton. It’s enabled us
to spread information and to recruit activists who might otherwise
might have difficulty meeting each
other.
“At one stage we had sixty of
seventy people blogging on the
same day on the need for the boycott of Uzbek cotton. There are so
many people who would have never
connected up if it weren’t for the
internet.
“We’re only beginning to see the
very, very start of the political uses
of new media – I think it’s going to
be quite an important way we can
help outwit the establishment and
get non-traditional ideas over to
the public.”
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M
oazzam Begg was
one of nine British Muslims who
were held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp in
Cuba. Begg was first detained in a
detention facility in Pakistan for a
year and then transferred to Guantanamo Bay for a further 2 years of
imprisonment.
Begg, a father of four, was released after three years of mental
and physical torture on January
25th 2005.
He told The Cambridge Student
(TCS) of his horrific experiences as
well as his opinions on some of the
most pressing political questions
facing the world today.
How did you react to 9/11?
Were you worried about what
might follow?
“I was in Afghanistan on September 11th…so I didn’t see pictures or
anything and didn’t understand the
full scale of it…it didn’t really hit
me until the Americans began the
invasion of Afghanistan and I saw
the other side of the consequences
of 9/11. I saw people being killed
as a result of these attacks. When
I arrived in Pakistan I did see pictures of what had happened, and it
was then that I realised the magnitude of it all”
How would you define the
term terrorist?
“There are many dictionary definitions of terrorism…all of them
recognise that it’s not just individuals who carry out terrorism but it’s
also states and governments. Terrorism in my understanding is the
use of terror on anybody through
the use of violence or threat of violence.
‘I was
terrorised
when I was
taken from my
home at gun
point, in front
of my wife and
children’
“I believe I was terrorised during
my period in detention camps. It’s
not just individuals who run into
cafes and bars and tubes to blow
themselves up: terrorists can be
B52 bombers as well. I believe that
I was terrorised when I was taken
from my home at gunpoint, in front
of my wife and children.”
So how have these events affected your family?
“Well when I returned back from
Guantanamo, I returned to a family
that was 3 years older.
Interview|15
They
call me a
terrorist
Former Guantanamo Bay inmate Moazzam Begg
speaks to Noor Al-Bazzaz about his experiences of
torture in the Cuban detention centre
“My youngest was almost 10 by
the time I returned, so I couldn’t
throw her in the air and catch her
like when she was younger.
“I had to re-introduce myself to a
family who had carried on without
me for three years. It’s also really
difficult that I made a conscious
decision to campaign about it all,
which of course has to be done very
publicly”
Have you ever found out what
the charges against you were?
Were they ever proven?
“Charges, proof, evidence and
explanations are luxuries that are
not offered to people in Guantanamo Bay. I did not know what I
was charged with through all three
years. I never saw any legal records.
“I think the charges against my
captives are very provable, like torture and cruel treatment, unlike
the charges against me which have
never been made available, and
have never been codified in law.”
Were you exposed to torture
throughout the three years of
being detained or did you wit-
ness any other captives being
tortured?
“The greatest torture that I have
seen? I’ve seen people tied up with
their hands behind their heads, being punched and kicked. That had
happened to all of us including me.
“In my own experience I’ve been
tied up, poked in my back and legs,
punched and kicked, shouted at,
stripped naked, threatened with
being sent to Egypt.
“I’ve been shown pictures of my
wife while a woman screamed in
the room next door. And been tied
and put in a room that was 3 ft by
2ft.”
What was the attitude among
those who worked in Guantanamo Bay like?
“It’s strange because they sometimes spoke to you normally and
when they found out what was
going on in Abu Ghraib they were
disgusted at what their colleagues
were doing.
“Most of the guards, I think were
decent people who were put in extreme circumstances. In some cases
the guards would speak to me and
smile and at the same time they
would be screaming and shouting
at another detainee who had just
been abused.
“They often talked about how
they got their orders to kill and torture people”.
Can institutions like Guantanamo Bay be justified, do you
think?
“Yeah, it can tell us what our
dark side is like. It can show us how
we can descend from being the protectors of democracy and freedom
to being the complete opposite of
that.
“To know what is meant by
good, you have to first know what
is meant by bad, and that people
in the West are capable of doing
stuff like this. And as a result of
all of this the opinion of the average American is growing resentful
towards Guantanamo Bay.
“Now you see somebody like Colin Powell say that he would close
down Guantanamo this afternoon if
he could. The tide is turning very
sharply against Guantanamo, because everybody, even including
the neo-cons, is beginning to think
that it’s turning people against the
country which should have sympathy instead”
So what are your goals now?
‘The charges
against me
have never
been codified
in law’
There are immense numbers
of people out there who are not
Muslim but sympathise with what
is happening. This makes me feel
that there is hope with trying to
get people to understand what is
going on.
“If we can’t have an accepting
society we can at least have one
which tolerates.
“My goals are to help eradicate
people’s ignorance about what is
going on.”
Moazzam Begg is speaking at
The Cambridge Union on Wednesday
February 6th from 7pm—9pm.
Phobias
|16-17
The sum of all fears
Hayley Edwards & Sarah Smith
Investigations Editors
T
he prime age for developing a phobia is
twenty. Couple this
with the overwhelming
stress that constitutes
a Cambridge degree
and you have a recipe for irrational fears and intense anxieties in
students across the university. The
Cambridge Student looks at the
sometimes devastating effects of
phobias in the student population.
It’s estimated that one in every
ten people in the UK are living with
some sort of phobia. These range
from common fears of blood, flying and mild claustrophobia, to
anxieties about some more unusual
things, such as mushrooms and toilets. For most people, phobias are
mild and will not impact on their
daily lives.
However, being forced to confront their fears, for example, if it
is medically necessary to go to the
dentist, can provoke illness, even
violence. Symptoms include a dry
mouth, lump in the throat, palpitations, flushing, sweating, trembling
and dizziness, through to more se-
WEIRD FEARS
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - Fear of
long words
Bogyphobia - Fear of the
bogeyman
Genuphobia - Fear of knees
Pogonophobia - Fear of
beards
Coulrophobia - Fear of
clowns
Arachibutyrophobia - Fear
of peanut butter sticking to
the palate
Deciophobia - Fear of making decisions
Alektorophobia - Fear of
chickens
Caligynephobia - Fear of
beautiful women
Consecotaleophobia - Fear of
chopsticks
Oenophobia - Fear of wines
Pteronophobia - Fear of being tickled by feathers
rious chest pain, panic attacks and
fainting. One student described
coming into close contact with her
phobia; “I feel sick, my pulse races,
I get sweaty and tense up, as if I’m
trying to make myself as small as
possible.”
PHOBIAS IN A LIBRARY NEAR YOU
“I suffer from ichthyophobia, the fear of fish. My fear used
to be so intense that I couldn’t watch documentaries with
fish in them. I couldn’t go near the fish counter in a supermarket. I’m much better now, but I still can become shaky
and nervous around fish. I know it’s irrational, but I can’t
help myself.”
‘Panic attacks
are like you’re
squeezing all
the air out of
your body, but
not able to
stop it.’
Panic attacks are often interpreted by sufferers as heart attacks,
which heightens a person’s state of
terror, to the point where they ‘depersonalise,’ and feel that they are
outside of their body and helplessly
detached from their experience. “I
started having them just after my
mum died” says a sufferer. “Rather
than allow myself to grieve, whenever I thought about my mum I just
got so anxious that I started sweating and found it incredibly hard to
breathe. It’s horrible, like squeezing all the air out of your lungs,
yet at the same time you can’t stop
your own body from doing it. It
took months to get them under
control.”
Phobias are, essentially, anxiety
disorders, and while the majority of
students here will feel stressed at
least once during their time here,
this is tension on a different level.
Statistics show that 16% of 20-24
year-olds have suffered a neurotic
episode, while another 4% have
suffered a depressive period or from
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and
these figures are, worryingly, on
the rise.
A sufferer of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder stressed the need for
friends, not just therapy, to help; “I
had a major problem with compulsively repeating certain things, like
cleaning the kitchen, to the point
where I couldn’t leave if someone
else had been in it since. I wouldn’t
still be studying here if it weren’t
for the support of my friends, who
helped me understand what was
wrong in the first place.”
Social phobias, or fears of interaction of any kind, are a major
problem. Social anxiety has been
ranked as third most common mental health problem in the Western
world after depression and alcohol
abuse.
“I hate lifts, I will actively avoid them, wherever possible. I
worry that it will break down. I think it’s quite a common
fear, but I find it hard to deal with nonetheless.”
“I have an illogical fear of breakfast cereals. Something
about pouring milk on cereal makes me feel nauseous and
faint. Sometimes I will skip breakfast entirely, which means
I feel hungry and unsettled during my morning lectures.”
“I hate eggs. I think it stems from being made to eat them
as a child. I know my parents had good intentions in making me eat healthily, but I would actually gag. Now even
the smell makes me heave.”
‘I couldn’t
leave the
kitchen if
someone else
has been in it
since I cleaned
it.’
“Solitude scares me.
It makes me think
about love, death,
and war. .”
- Brigitte Bardot
In terms of specific situational
fears the National Co Morbidity
study data ranked fear of public
speaking as the most common at
30%, followed by fear of talking
to strangers 13%, fear of going to
a party or social outing at 10%
and fear of eating and drinking at
4.6%. Research at Plymouth University found 83% of students felt
serious anxiety about seminar presentations, while 24% experienced
irrational panic at least once over
a period of 6 months, and 55% reported stress. 12% of students are
“There would be
no-one to frighten
if you refused to be
afraid.”
- Ghandi
classed as having generalised social
anxiety, or GSA.
These figures are more than likely underestimating levels of stress
and anxiety disorders in Cambridge, particularly approaching
exam term. Social insecurities like
these can lead to Body Dysmorphic
Disorder, or ‘imagined ugliness syndrome,’ causing the sufferer to perceive defects in themselves, often
unnoticeable by others.
Agoraphobia, while being one
of the most common fears, is still
potentially life-changing. One stu-
‘I made
excuses to stay
in my room
where there
was no danger
of feeling
trapped.’
“Men fear death as
children fear to go
into the dark”
- Francis Bacon
83%
of students
felt serious
anxiety about
seminar
presentations.
dent told us of a clear case of agoraphobia within her college, “Whenever you walked past his window,
whatever time of day or night, he
would be sitting in his room, in
front of his computer. I spoke to
him a few times in the kitchen and
on that basis, he was completely
normal. He just never left those
few rooms.”
On the other hand, claustrophobia can work in strange ways;
sufferers can feel safe in some
well-known small spaces, but feel
trapped in a crowd of people. One
“Am I afraid of high
notes? Of course I
am afraid. What sane
man is not?”
- Luciano Pavarotti
sufferer told us how he avoided
crowded places as much as possible,
which, in Cambridge, is no mean
feat. “I would make excuses to my
friends not to go out, I felt much
safer in my room, where there was
no danger of feeling trapped.”
Since 2005, a new phobia has
been brought to our attention: toilet phobia. The National Phobias
Society claims that 4 million people
in Britain are affected by the phobia, which can range from a disliking of public toilets to the inability
to leave the home. Some sufferers
may even deny themselves fluids to
prevent them needing to use public
toilets, which can seriously damage
the kidneys.
The phobia becomes particularly
dangerous when individuals refuse
to give urine samples in a hospital environment. Professor Paul
Salkovskis claims the problem may
be derived from the way society
views toilets, as “around the world
we use a lot of humour and euphemism to describe what is a basic
human function”. Nicky Lidbetter,
manager of the National Phobics
Society, postulates that people
will avoid admitting this particular
phobia: “to admit that they have a
toilet-related phobia is rare because
of the obvious embarrassment and
humiliation of being laughed at or
not being taken seriously.”
Individuals displaying ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder behaviour are
particularly prone to toilet phobia,
which can arise out of an intense
fear of contamination. Toilet pho-
bia can also manifest itself in the
shape of Paruresis, or shy bladder
syndrome, the fear of urinating in
front of others, as well as Parcopresis, bashful bowel syndrome, fear of
defecating in public toilets.
The general public understanding of cures seems to be limited.
Christopher Jackson, from the University Counselling Service, says
that there is a serious problem in
curing phobias, not because people
refuse to acknowledge they have
them, but because they refuse to
seek treatment for them.
“The evidence suggests that
people with a phobia rarely seek
therapeutic input. Why is this? We
don’t know for sure, but it’s possible that people tend to find a way
to live their lives around their fear,
and they simply teach themselves
to put up with it. It’s also likely
that they find the prospect of addressing their fear quite intolerable
– they might simply be too scared
to ask for help, and that’s very
sad.”
Avoiding the object of fear is
something many do on a daily basis. While women are statistically
twice as likely as men to have some
sort of phobia, experts believe this
is because they are more open to
the possibility of admitting they
are scared of something.
Regardless of what your phobia
might be, or how embarrassing you
might think it, Cambridge Counselling Service is there to ensure that
students do not need to deal with
their fears alone. Visit www.counselling.cam.ac.uk for advice.
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
18|Editorial
Editors
Volume 10 Issue 12
Old Examination Hall, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RF
Tel: 01223 761685
Have fun,
go mad
[email protected]
Amy Blackburn
Sven Palys
Thursday Editor
[email protected]
Everybody’s idea of fun is different. All students
have to head out of the library at some point, and our
extra-curricular activities can come to define our time
at Cambridge as much as our degrees.
Take for example the Cambridge nightclub scene.
There will inevitably be some students for whom a
night on a heaving dancefloor is one spent in heaven,
and others who find the prospect of cheesy tunes, crazy moves and the late night chip run totally unappealing. Still, the number of Cambridge students who want
to let off some steam at the midnight hour cannot be
ignored, and they should be delighted to hear about
the recent overhaul of CUSU Ents.
The extra-curricular lives of students can come to
characterise not only the individuals concerned, but
also the landscape of Cambridge University as a whole.
Some of the University’s most visible and compelling organisations are run predominantly by students,
with the Cambridge Union Society being one obvious
example.
The Union’s forbidding reputation is perceived to
many to be one of its largest problems; even its current
leaders acknowledge that it may appear to the wider
Cambridge population as a secretive and corrupt entity,
where success can seem to be largely dependent on
connections.
The current executive have stressed that they are
attempting to make the Union more accessible by providing a number of opportunities for new blood to be
attracted to a society which has become a fundamental part of Cambridge life over the past two centuries.
We can only hope that the accusations of corruption
and personal grievances that have plagued the Union
in recent years do not destroy this essential aspect of
Cambridge for many students.
The Union is a fine institution with a great history,
and hopefully a future to match. But it is what one
former Union President described as these “petty student politics” that can make Cambridge life seem suffocating.
While the third week of term is perhaps rather early
to be thinking about the vacation, this week’s Australia-themed edition of Thursday gives you the chance to
briefly escape to the sun-drenched land down under in
this dreary British winter.
The extra-curricular life of a Cambridge student is
certainly not restricted to term time, and seeing the
wider world is an essential part of exploring life outside
the notorious bubble.
Our intense eight week terms can mean that the
hours of toil in labs and lecture halls seem endless.
Every student should take some time out every once in
a while to eat, drink (in moderation) and be merry, in
whatever way they wish.
Ryan Roark
Assistant Editor
[email protected]
Jonathan Laurence
Subeditor
[email protected]
Owen Kennedy
News
[email protected]
Catherine Watts, editor
Noor Al-Bazzaz
Alex Coke-Woods
Carly Hilts
Jennifer Shaw
Katie Spenceley
Design
[email protected]
Marsha Vinogradova, editor
Dmitriy Myelnikov
Comment
[email protected]
Daniel Heap
Anthea Thompson
Investigations
[email protected]
Sarah Smith, editor
Hayley Edwards
Interviews
[email protected]
Caroline Organ
Features
[email protected]
Jess Banham, editor
Olivia Wilkinson
Your Letters
Cambridge Union poll
Dear Sir and Madam,
On Saturday the Cambridge
Union Society will be holding a
poll upon the motion “This House
Would ratify the appointment of
Robinson, J. P. as a member of
the Constitutional Committee”.
We the President, Secretary
and Easter Term Treasurer, believe
that the Secretary’s role in the
constitutional process is vital.
Furthermore, we believe that this
motion is a vote of confidence in
the Secretary and thus in the direction that we have been fighting to take the Society. Therefore
while the poll on Saturday will
be upon the initial motion it will
be a vote of confidence in the
President, the Secretary and the
Easter Term Treasurer and if the
motion fails we will resign.
The recent advertising campaign “How do you Solve a Problem like the Union?” has been
run to open up the Society to
members from all regions, backgrounds and ethnicities. The
recent battle over removing the
electoral bar to getting involved
in the Society was one that we
believe was worth fighting. Instead of past practices, we believe that attempting to open
up the Office of Secretary to the
best candidates is a good thing;
and that we would relish the opportunity to continue fighting
similar battles for and on behalf
of the Members of the Society.
Union Society politics and priorities cannot be personal and
petty. They must be principled,
professional, and progressive.
In less than a month the Union
Society will be celebrating its
193rd Anniversary and as a result is suffering from many years
of neglect and has only recently
begun to be transformed.
We seek to accomplish the following:
• The complete rewiring of the
Society.
• Reopening the Society’s 19th
Century toilets.
• Fixing the Society’s central
heating system.
• Renegotiating our long term
tenancy agreements.
These issues are neither personal nor petty. They must be
addressed if the Society is to
survive to its third centenary. We
hope that you have enough confidence in the direction we are
fighting to take the Society to
vote in our favour on Saturday.
William Patrick Wearden
President
King’s College
James Philip Robinson
Secretary
Christ’s College
Dominic Geoffrey Eric Benson
Easter Term Treasurer
Christ’s College
Fashion
[email protected]
Population debate continues
Dear Sir and Madam,
Theodore Hong (Letters, vol 10
issue 11) claims that high house
prices have almost nothing to do
with population growth. While
the other factors he gives also
have an effect, he is mistaken.
His only evidence is that house
prices increased by 250% in the
past decade but population only
by about 4% (58m to 61m).
But this is what we should
expect: the rise in house prices
caused by increasing population
will be over-proportionate, because people cannot do without
a home.
Consider the reverse scenario:
population falling to 1997 levels.
A decrease which sounds small
when given as a percentage is
a decrease of 3m people. That
would make the bottom fall out
of the housing market, as about
a million dwellings would no longer be needed. A million empty
houses and flats will have an effect on house prices far greater
than its proportion of the population.
It is true that people living
apart has also increased demand
for housing, but I don’t see what
the government can or should do
about social trends.
His claim that immigrants contribute “positively” because they
tend to live in shared properties
is bizarre. They contribute to the
problem less per person, but not
“positively”.
Erika Blomerus, editor
Verity Mackenzie
Amy Mulvenna
Lili Sarnyai
Hugo Hadlow
St John’s College
[email protected]
Former HUS Officer Responds
Dear Sir and Madam,
I am writing as an ex Homerton
executive member in response to
the condemning article featured
in the last edition. I was disgusted
to read members of the exec who I
know on both a personal and professional level accused of “Machiavellian actions” and described as
“backstabbing.” Such claims could
not be further from the truth.
The vice president internal, Sam
Hinton was an invaluable asset to
the exec and it is a great shame this
conflict has resulted in the loss of
such a highly regarded and hard
working exec member. I have every
confidence the team will continue
to provide Homerton with a quality
student service under the guidance
of two very capable individuals.
Hayley Ford
Homerton College
Corrections & Clarifications
The Cambridge Student endeavours to be as accurate as possible in its reporting. It is possible for inadvertent errors to
creep in and we are very happy to
issue corrections. Please e-mail
us at [email protected].
Science
Mico Tatalovic
Arts & Literature
[email protected]
Amina Batool
Memoona Khan
Food & Drink
[email protected]
Stefan Porter
Theatre
[email protected]
Hannah Fair, editor
Jessi Savage-Hanford
Film
[email protected]
Emma Dibdin, Editor
Nick Day
Fred Rowson
Music
[email protected]
Elizabeth Dodd
Saul Glasman
Sport
[email protected]
Ali Jaffer
Faisal Nasim
Tom Woolford
Photo Editor
[email protected]
James Appleton
Board of directors
[email protected]
Robert Palmer (Chair)
Simon Burdus (Business)
Adam Colligan (Services)
Amy Blackburn
Sven Palys
Catherine Watts
Matt Horrocks
THEATRE
|19
A little bit too sweet
Jenny
Kenyon
ADC Theatre
29 Jan - 2 Feb, 19:45
£6/£8, £7/£9
T
ag lines are notoriously difficult to
come up with; after all, how can an
entire
production
be reduced to a single sentence? But director Anna
Marsland’s: ‘Two brothers. One girl.
A lot of ice cream’ really does miss
the point. Superficially an amusing
play about two brothers competing
adverse effect on the depth of some
of the characters’ relationships. Ed
Martineau as younger brother Lino
needs reining in; his relationship
with Lulu (Jess Crawford) is largely
unbelievable as he presents Lino
as a pre-pubescent teenager. David
F. Walton, as older brother Rocco,
on the other hand, would benefit
from deeper exploration of both the
Thatcherite in him – who we first
see breaking down his garden wall
to sell on as the Berlin Wall – and
as a person totally lost in his times,
alienating himself from his family,
so much so that he descends into
talking about himself in the third
person. Contradictory and confusing, it was unclear whether his actions towards the end of the play
were the final twist of the knife for
his wife, Bernie (Becky Homer), or
a long awaited redemption. Homer
Photo: Simon Bateman
All the Ordinary Angels
★★★☆☆
for their retiring father’s ice cream
business, Marsland’s production has
bought wholeheartedly into the gelato gimmick, with a colourful (if
at times cumbersome) design. You
could be fooled into thinking that
you’d stumbled into a rehearsal of
Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker and
that a Mr Whippy character would
spring onto the stage at any moment.
All the Ordinary Angels, however, has the potential to be far
more engaging if returned to the
original context: Manchester in the
12 months between the fall of the
Berlin Wall and the fall of Thatcher.
There is a more serious, personal
message here too, of two brothers
viciously pitted against each other;
a conflict which causes serious reverberations around them.
This interpretation has had an
Has director Anna Marsland serves up one sickly sweet scoop too many?
is woefully overlooked, the unmentioned second women but the most
engaging of all in her attempt to
protest, to stand apart from the
times. With further focus on the
physical difference between Bernie
and the other characters, Homer’s
performance has the potential to be
truly and utterly heart-breaking.
All the Ordinary Angels somehow misses the mark. It shouldn’t
be a play about just ice cream; it
shouldn’t slide smoothly down your
throat. There should be grit and
rubble, making you stop and gag
and think just what it is you’re consuming. Marsland’s interpretation is
a little too sweet for my tooth.
Spinning straw into gold?
Elizabeth
Davis
The Grimm Tales
★★★☆☆
Corpus Playroom
29 Jan - 2 Feb, 19:00
£4/£5.50
Photo: Emily Wright
C
Imaginative ideas spring forth
arol Ann Duffy’s
reworking of the
Grimm Tales, on
which the script for
Miranda HowardWilliams’s production is based, is a treat of a book:
writing from the perspective of a
poet, Duffy luxuriates in language
creating an individual and exciting
retelling.
It follows that any play which
attempts to reproduce the spirit of
these adaptations must be quirky,
creative, playful yet professional.
Howard-Williams’s does a good job,
on the whole, and largely manages
to prevent the production resembling a GCSE drama practical: a
common pitfall of storytelling theatre.
The tales are brought to life by
the five cast members: Eve Colliss,
Marion Durand, Katie Nairne, Juliet Shardlow and Chris Webb who
simultaneouwsly narrate and enact
the tales.
The rather slow beginning to the
show can be at least partly blamed
on the script itself (by Tim Supple)
which contains a rather peculiar
selection of the Tales: beginning
with ‘The Mouse, the Bird and the
Sausage’ and ‘Clever Hans’, two of
the more bizarre offerings from the
Brothers Grimm. These tales get
the production off to a rather sluggish start and it is only with the
arrival of Rumpelstiltskin that this
production comes into its own: the
cast seemed more comfortable and
confident telling this tale and, as a
result, the audience found it more
engaging. Katie Nairne as the eponymous sprite was sinister and mischievous in equal measure creating
a Rumplestiltskin in tune with the
original.
The highlights of the production, though, sprung from moments
of unexpected creativity: the scene
in which Rumpelstiltskin spins gold
was a visual feast for the audience
and displayed just the sort of flair
needed to pull off a show of this
kind. ‘Rumpelstiltskin’ was followed
by ‘The Bremen Town Musicians’,
probably the most enjoyable tale of
the evening. Music, whether singing, drumming or playing an instrument, had played an integral role in
the production from the start and
it was a joy to have it finally in
the fore in this tale, resulting in a
funny and touching story.
The weak points in this production: the awkward, unexpected adlibbing, or the uncomfortable ending, seemed caused by the cast’s
lack of confidence. For this style
of theatre to work, the actors must
appear not only to be enjoying
themselves immensely, but also not
to care what the audience thinks of
them. In short, they should be having fun and whilst this production
intermittently rose to the challenge, the cast often appeared as
flummoxed as their less intelligent
counterpart, clever Hans.
Flickers of Footlight talent at ADC
Jon
Andrews
Smoker
★★★☆☆
ADC Theatre
29 January, 23:00
£5/£6
A
s the lights fell on
Tuesday night, the
first Smoker of 2008
began to trundle
its way through a
collection of pre-
dominantly solid, rarely bad, and
occasionally inspirational performances.
Ill-advised subject matter sometimes dragged this show down,
noticeably with an “Anti-America
Club” sketch which managed, in the
space of three ponderous minutes,
to shoe-horn in gauche references
to Columbine, suicide bombings and
the late Heath Ledger, drawing tired
intakes of breath from a audience
who’d heard it all before. Similarly,
hearing of a dog-in-heat’s exploits
with a three year-old rather took
the shine off Chris Lander’s likeable
energy and raconteur’s good sense
of timing. Such moments were,
thankfully, few and far between,
the Committee showing their experience with some good pieces, notably Sam Sword’s delicately emotional rendition of a dour ‘what a
year 2007 has been’ circular letter:
“Dear Friend/Relative ... Laura lost
her virginity in October... so glad ...
we were worried she’d turn out a
frigid little Catholic.”
The evening was undoubtedly
ruled by the monologue. Alcock
Improv’s Nate Dern lead the way,
giving the eccentric justificatory
speech of a tattoo-less tattoo artist
(“Did Michelangelo paint his own
ceiling?”), whilst ethereal Katy Bulmer gave an excellently, flickeringly
disturbed poem about the woes of
being “serial-killer doppelgänger”
to Myra Hindley. Two talents in particular, however, far outshone the
rest. Firstly, on walked the virgin
Smoker wit of the unassumingly
apologetic, disarmingly funny Keith
Akushie, whose incisive single-line
observations - (“As a fan of bestiality, I was disappointed when I first
read Zoo Magazine”) - were far more
hilarious than his timid arrival and
hard-clutched prompt-sheet initially heralded. The supreme - the best
by far - came in the towering form
of Tom Evans, whose chameleonlike snap transformations between
diverse characters extolling the vir-
tues of their favourite magazines
- (“I read Living ... it’s relevant
because it’s kind of what I do”) displayed an immense talent whose
authenticity, brilliant wit and commanding presence deservedly won
tumultuous applause.
The show ended with a cripplingly bad pun, prompting the actors to high-tail it off stage-left to
escape the groan they knew would
surely come.
All in all, not a bad start to 2008:
it’s not their best and - as their
hasty retreat shows - they know it,
but their confidence and smatterings of excellence were enough to
get away with it.
THEATRE
Willing to try something a bit different? Ed Kiely convinces us that political
theatre’s not all wooden staring faces and boring, moralising men with beards
Ed Kiely
P
attempt to challenge the audience.
As hammer blow after hammer blow
rained onto the pizza boy’s skull,
and blood and teeth fired upwards,
violence and dark motives were
not lightly implied but explicitly
sprayed over everything.
Unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that political theatre
can be bearded and boring and,
when it is, it is very boring. It would
be disingenuous not to confess that
possibly
the
worst piece of
theatre I ever
sat through
(barring my
school’s Year
10
production of Richard
III, featuring
a
wheelchair
bound Richard,
and a strawberry
Politicising
theatre
Brecht has a
reputation for
mind-numbing
dullness
If
politics
is the
gin,
then
humour
is the
tonic
fight) was a production of Brecht’s
Mother
Courage.
A mere three and
a half hours long,
and featuring no
less than two intervals, the director’s sole intention
seemed to be to
turn Brecht’s thirtyyear-long epic into
real time – a sort
of 24 for the Middle
Ages. Combined with the
cast taking verfremdungseffekt to mean ‘talking
woodenly’, and the somewhat blunt device of jets
flying overhead at intervals (‘Hey
look everyone, war’s still rubbish’)
the production was messy, confusing, and as a whole, much like listening to a three hour conversation
between a suicidal funeral director
and George Galloway.
The men-with-beards who devise political theatre of this sort are
unfortunately neglecting a salient
ingredient of Brecht’s theatrical
style. In German, Spass. In English, literally, fun. Brecht’s political
theatre was intended to poke fun
at and satirise authority figures. If
the darkly comic potential of the
closing scene of Mother Courage
is recognised, then it suggests all
sorts of questions about the ethics
of war and the difficulty of poverty.
On the other hand, if it is played
by a group of stony-faced, staring,
wooden actors moving like marionettes, then it suggests that you
may never want to see another ‘political’ play ever again. If politics is
gin, then humour is the tonic (and
Images: Daniel Strange
olitical
theatre.
There, 90% of you
have already lost
interest just from
those two words.
It probably doesn’t
help the cause that the granddaddy
of political theatre, Bertolt Brecht,
has a reputation for austerity and
mind-numbing dullness in equal
parts. Somewhat unfairly I might
add. The cause is helped even less
by the fact that the abiding image
of political theatre is an austere,
mind-numbingly-dull show filled
with people with beards telling you
how to live your life. And the cause
is finally held down, shot through
the head and buried by the fact
that most people view the theatre
as a means of escape from their everyday life. Fame, anyone?
But political theatre can be fun
too! No, really! Look no further
than last term’s Mr Kolpert. Okay, so
the nudity was a major attraction,
obviously. But while the clothes
were on, this extremely black comedy had some powerful things to
say about modern society and attitudes to death and violence. What
was even better about Kolpert was
the way it elegantly overshot standards of taste and decency in an
this metaphor works equally well
with any spirit/mixer combination). Humour takes the grim edge
off, makes it easier to swallow and,
above all else, makes you feel like
there’s still hope left. If you can’t
laugh at the state of things, you’ll
only end up crying. Plays that effectively utilise humour as a device
can often have the effect of disguising their true political nature.
Hammer blow
after hammer
blow rained
onto the pizza
boy’s skull
Next week, American Eagle, the
Corpus Playroom early show, makes
political meet funny. Chris Amos’
award-winning play takes a look
at American politics over the last
fifty years, and offers a critique of
interventionism, nationalism and
nihilism. But this critique features
a host of superheroes and supervillains, and compresses fifty years of
history into under a hundred minutes. And it’s fun. Enjoyable, political theatre? Don’t tell the men with
beards.
GETTING POLITICAL
Next week (5-9 February) American
Eagle is at 19:00, at the Corpus
Playroom, whilst dark comedy
Dinner is at the ADC at 19:45. Plus
Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane
comes to the ADC from February 19
|20-21
Sondheim shines
Theatrical Thoughts
Beyond the glitz and glam: Hytner defends the merit of musicals
Joe Hytner
T
his term people seem
to have gone a little
Sondheim-crazy, and
frankly, I don’t blame
them. With the recent
release of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny
Depp a.k.a Captain Jack Sparrow as
the twisted barber whose precision
with the shaving knife isn’t always
what it should be, it’s no wonder
that Sondheim’s on the lips.
But Stephen is probably patting
himself on the back at the moment
for altogether different reasons
– the ADC Theatre’s Lent Term season offers punters a choice of not
one, but two Sondheim musicals. If
fairytales are your thing, then Into
the Woods is bound to delight you.
If it’s beautiful showgirls, on the
other hand, you’d be well advised
to get stuck into a bit of Follies.
“No, no! Not that meaningless
filth!” I hear you cry (though it
pains me to listen). “We don’t want
Prince Charmings. We don’t want
glitter and jazz hands. We want
the opposite of that, in fact.” Well,
you just trapped yourselves, didn’t
you?
Nothing in Sondheim is what it
seems: Into the Woods is a fairytale
that goes very wrong, and in which
the only character who tells the
truth is the (consequently Wicked)
Witch. She sings “I’m not good; I’m
not nice; I’m just right.” Follies may
kick off with a song called ‘Beautiful Girls’, but it’s sung by a bunch
of aging showgirls who’ve started to
go a bit cuckoo.
to divide the two meanings of the
word ‘folly’ at this point.
The characters aren’t the only
butt of the joke, though – Sondheim’s also taking down the entire
genre in whose style he so seamlessly composes.
Not the ‘DohRay-Me’ genre
of musical
theatre
In some ways the musical is a
celebration and nostalgic commemoration of the Follies, in all
their extravagance and gaiety, but
in more ways it is about how their
ideals were inherently flawed and
deceptive. It’s a musical that effectively sends up musical theatre,
and all it stands for.
So, Patrick Kingsley, and all the
rest of you self-confessed “culturally elitist bastards”, perhaps Stephen Joshua’s worth a shout. He
hates musicals as much as you do.
This is not the ‘Doh-Ray-Me’
genre of musical theatre; for me, at
least, Sondheim proves that musical theatre is simply a medium – no
more, no less – rendering generalisations and stereotyping impossible
(if you’re not him).
I feel remarkably confident that
he’ll be able to cater for the Beckett
enthusiast every bit as much as the
needle-pulling-thread variety of
theatregoer. Time will tell.
T
heatre can be a dangerous game. As an actor
there’s a veritable obstacle course: you have
to try not to trip up in those shoes, fall over
in that costume or choke on that ribena/
cold instant coffee/ ice cream you have to
consume on stage. The audience, however, is
usually a little safer. Ok, you get spat on a bit, you might
get a hard-boiled sweet chucked at your face or even – if
you’re really lucky – a long metal pole in your ribs.
Never before, though, have an audience been teased
with the opportunity for spontaneous combustion…
Watching the first night of any production, there are always going to be things that the cast and crew aren’t used
to, props that haven’t been used much. Such as deodorant. It was a little tense when one character at the ADC
began to release liberal amounts of spray-on deodorant
into the audience. (“Global warming’s great for ice cream
sellers so keep spraying those CFCs!”) As the overpowering Blue fragrance lapped against my face, I contemplated
that the worst thing that could happen next would be
for someone to light a cigarette on stage. At which point
two ASMs brought on a table on which flickered three lit
candles.
Visions of “I Scream Arson as ADC prepares for Renovation” flashed before my eyes but luckily no flames followed. I have to admit that there was a bit more dramatic
tension than there might have been otherwise, which resurfaced later in the play as one of the characters contemplated striking a match in a run-down, ramshackle factory
and is told, “Don’t light that! There’s gas!” One of those
moments when the line between theatre and reality gets
hazy.
Having gone to great lengths fireproofing props for
productions in the past, I know how seriously the theatre
takes its fire safety. In fact, I’ve probably inhaled so much
that it’s a good job I don’t like smoking. Perhaps, though,
this flame checking should be extended to the audience?
Just a little squirt for those in the front three rows as you
show your ticket at the door? Please don’t be put off your
theatre going this week, though, there’s lots to see: All the
Ordinary Angels, After the End, The Grimm Tales and The
Gnadiges Fraulein; after all, how much damage can some
chilli, a giant pelican and a couple of stoned clowns really
do? - A THEATRE DOGSBODY
GIVING IT A TRY?
Prepared to challenge your prejudices? Make a song and dance
about musical theatre through
checking out Follies, ADC Theatre,
23:00 6-9 February and Into the
Woods, this year’s ADC Lent Term
musical, 19:45 11-22 March.
Sondheim is a
pisstaker
Photo: Damian Robertson
Sondheim is, at heart, a pisstaker, and he does it very stylishly,
too. The expected is not only turned
on its head, but is also positively
ridiculed. ‘Follies’ refers both to the
frivolous and light-hearted entertainment that used to be served up
between the two wars (which is, after all, the context for the reunion
of these ex-performers), and to the
foolishness of indulging in such artificiality.
At the climax of the piece, the
four central characters, realising
the naivety of their past and driven
ever-more-crazy by it (‘folly’ is as
much a synonym for ‘madness’ or
‘lunacy’ as ‘foolishness’), each perform their own folly. Though it’s
done in the style of a mock-Ziegfeld theatrical revue, the subject
matter is the futility of their own
lives, and it’s increasingly difficult
A glance at the dark side of musical theatre: Sondheim’s Assassins
COMING NEXT WEEK
ON THE WEB
A review of Dinner, a
sordid feast served up
by the Alcock Players.
We immerse ourselves in
Arthurian adventure with
Rex Futurus in the Round
Church.
We get a dollop of the
funny and satirical with
American Eagle at the
Corpus Playroom, followed
by an hour of hispanic
magical realism with the
Two Marias. Plus the ADC’s
first late show musical, the
bitingly satirical Follies.
See how Annabel Banks
gets on with intoxicated
clowns and carnivorous
birds in Tennesse Williams’
The Gnädiges Fräulein.
Agree or disagree with TCS
theatre this week? Why
don’t you write your own
‘theatrical thoughts’ -just
post your comments on
our website: www.tcs.cam.
ac.uk/theatre
Thoughts & suggestions to
[email protected]
FILM
Heath
Ledger
1979-2008: Looking back on the highs
and lows of an all too brief career
Emma
Dibdin
Photo: wikipedia
A
t Sunday’s Screen
Actors’ Guild awards,
Daniel Day Lewis
dedicated his Best
Actor prize to the
late Heath Ledger.
In a emotional but dignified tribute,
he recalled some of the actor’s most
iconic roles, calling Ledger “unique”
and an inspiration.
It’s just one example of the reaction from the industry that followed the discovery of Ledger, 28,
dead in his New York apartment
last Tuesday. The emotive response
seems to stem, more than anything,
from the loss of a talent rather than
the loss of a celebrity. Looking back
through Ledger’s fifteen-year career, it’s easy to understand why.
Although early work at home
in Australia earned him localised
success, Ledger’s Stateside breakthrough came with ‘10 Things I Hate
About You’, a modern day retelling
of Taming Of The Shrew. It’s fluff,
to be sure, but witty and heartfelt
fluff, and Ledger serenading Julia Stiles with a rendition of ‘Can’t
Take My Eyes Off Of You’ remains a
classic pin-up moment for a legion
of teenage girls. After a turn as a
young peasant boy determined to
become a knight in the eminently
rewatchable ‘A Knight’s Tale’, Ledger took a brief but powerful role in
‘Monster’s Ball’ playing a tragically
neglected son.
But it wasn’t until 2005 that
Ledger struck gold with a truly
great script, an intelligent director
and a role as emotionally complex
as it was challenging.
That film, of course, was Ang
Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, the
universally acclaimed adaptation
of Annie Proulx’s short story in
which two ranch hands meet, fall
in love, and spend the rest of their
lives struggling with their responsibilities and the pressures of society
in the face of their overwhelming
feelings for one another This is,
above all, the role Ledger will be
Heath Ledger moved audiences with his sombre screen presence.
remembered for, and rightly so.
While Jake Gyllenhaal excels in his
more extroverted part, Ledger’s Ennis is all self-contained stillness, a
character defined by all the things
he doesn’t show. It’s an endlessly
subtle and frequently gut-wrenching performance, and earned Ledger not only an Oscar nomination,
but a new level of esteem in the
industry.
Having celebrated this new freedom with a bleak but fascinating
role in the Australian indie ‘Candy’,
Ledger next joined Cate Blanchett
and Christian Bale in playing an
incarnation of Bob Dylan in Todd
Haynes’ ‘I’m Not There’, a unique
take on the modern biopic.
The casting of Ledger as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s Batman
sequel met with some suspicion
from die-hard fans of Jack Nicholson’s legendary 1989 performance.
But the first trailer offered glimpses
of Ledger, almost unrecognisable
beneath layers of face paint, so
disturbing and utterly original that
many doubts were assuaged. The
film was in post-production by Ledger’s death and is still scheduled for
a July release, but the creepy allure
of the Joker will now have a morbid
new significance for audiences.
At the time of his death Ledger was filming for Terry Gilliam
(a.k.a. the unluckiest director in
Hollywood history). While the circumstances of his death remain
mysterious, there can be no doubt
that he will be sorely missed by the
industry and audiences alike.
Family Strife in Real Life
Steve Carell struggles with life, love and brotherhood in this slight romantic comedy
Lottie
Heales
Dan In Real Life
(12, 98 mins)
★★☆☆☆
Photo: picselect.com
I
Binoche and Carell give better performances than this movie deserves
t was with cautious optimism that I went to watch
‘Dan In Real Life’, penned by
Peter Hedges of ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape’ fame. The
prospect of Steve Carell taking another dramatic turn after his
compelling performance as the suicidal Frank in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’,
coupled with the eternally delightful Juliet Binoche further inflated
my hopes that this might turn out
to be a hidden gem. Sadly the film,
while far from terrible, is nothing
special.
Most of the characters are
written in a predictable fashion,
something I hadn’t expected from
Hedges. Carell’s character is an
advice columnist, widower and father of three teenaged daughters.
He is put upon and weary, forever
prioritising the needs of others
before his own and in the process
has lost sight of what it really is to
be a parent. He has also lost sight
of what it is to fall in love. During
a trip with his daughters to their
annual family reunion, Dan meets
Marie (Binoche), a clichéd exotic
French woman, and immediately
finds himself smitten. A spanner
is of course thrown into the works
when we find out that Marie is in
town because she is Dan’s brother’s
girlfriend, who he’s brought along
for the reunion. It’s this that sets
the film in motion and forces Dan
to make decisions about the priorities in his life.
The acting of Carell and Binoche
cannot really be faulted; both turn
in original and nuanced performances in spite of the often formulaic material. But the tension
between Dan and his brother is
never really examined, and the father-daughter relationships, which
could have provided some ground
for emotional development, are
brushed over while much of the film
is wasted watching the protagonist
brood and pine over Marie.
While the film has its faults it
isn’t entirely without redemption;
the pairing of Carell and Binoche
works incredibly well, yielding more
chemistry than one might have expected. It doesn’t cave to the pressure to become just another ‘Knocked
Up’ style rom-com and does, on occasion, make some pertinent points
about whether some form of personal selfishness is in fact necessary.
But while the film isn’t awful,
the real shame is that it’s being mediocre when it could have been so
much more. The cast and concept
were such that it could have made
a real attempt to say something
about the nature of family relationships and the consequences of consistently ignoring one’s own needs.
As it is, the film does nothing more
than add to Hollywood’s pile of tepid
romantic comedies. As films go, it is
a pleasant diversion and if you want
something with a guaranteed happy
ending then it may be for you. If
you’re looking for a romantic comedy with a little more substance,
then perhaps give it a miss.
|22-23
Meat Really Is Murder
Johnny Depp goes straight for the jugular in this successful musical adaptation
5
Revenge
Films
It’s a dish best
served cold, and
it’s never been
sweeter than in
these films
Point Blank (1967)
Lee Marvin is Walker, a supposedly dead man who will stop at
nothing to get his money. John
Boorman’s
pseudo-masochistic
tale of revenge pulls no punches
when it comes to screen violence,
but beneath the surface is a surprisingly authentic attempt at
turning a wholesome American
thriller into a psychedelic dreamscape.
Photo: image.net
Get Carter (1971)
Following 2007’s summer of
British film, Get Carter has become acknowledged to be not only
one of the greatest Brit flicks ever
made, but one of the greatest films
in the history of the medium. Michael Caine stalks the urban jungle
of post 1960s Newcastle in search
of his brother’s killer. As close to
a perfect revenge tragedy as a film
can get.
Razorlight: Alan Rickman gets a close shave from Johnny Depp’s deranged barber
Emma
Dibdin
Sweeney Todd
(18, 157 mins)
★★★★☆
T
his sixth Burton-Depp
collaboration does
not exactly scream
“audience friendly”.
It can’t have come as
much of a surprise to
anyone that a story of a serial killercum-barber who makes pies out of
his victims – while singing – failed
to pull in much of a pre-Christmas
US audience. But critics loved it, and
with good reason; this is Burton in
his macabre element, and while at
times he revels in his material a little too much this still emerges as a
successful and, more to the point,
hugely enjoyable endeavour.
The plot is pure dark melodrama:
a mild-mannered barber (Depp) is
deported on false charges, and returns years later under the pseudonym Sweeney Todd to find his
once-happy life in ruins. His wife is
dead, driven to suicide by his jailor,
the corrupt Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), who has also claimed Todd’s
daughter as his ward. Understandably less than thrilled by this turn
of events, he sets up shop above the
besotted Mrs Lovett’s (Helena Bon-
ham Carter) pie shop, and begins
plotting revenge.
Things get a lot more complicated, of course, and after various hindrances including an underwritten
romance subplot and a near-cameo
from Sacha Baron Cohen as flamboyant rival barber Pirelli, Sweeney
discovers a novel mode of anger
management, and the bloodletting begins in earnest. It’s in these
slaughter sequences that the striking use of colour is most noticeable, the splashes (read: torrents) of
claret standing out against a palette
of greys and browns, as drained of
colour as Burton’s Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory was saturated.
The idyllic gold hue of flashbacks,
contrasted with the worn bleakness
of the present day demonstrates
that Burton’s visual flair is as sharp
as it ever was.
As far as the music goes, this
is about as naturalistic as a genre
that requires characters to intermittently break into spontaneous song
can get. Fans of the original have
bemoaned Burton’s removal of the
opening ‘Ballad Of Sweeney Todd’
number, vetoed for being too theatrical. It’s this kind of showstopper flourish that the film strives
to avoid, opting instead for a matter-of-fact tone that frequently sees
dialogue and conversation taking
place through songs, rather than
being interrupted by them.
That’s not to say that there’s
anything down to earth about much
of what goes on. Half the joy of
the film is seeing a larger than life
character (Todd’s plight is at times
almost on the level of Greek tragedy) trying to exist within a recognisable reality, alongside characters
like Mrs Lovett who are so grounded
in the mundane and the everyday.
The brilliantly realised ‘By The Sea’
sequence, which paints an idyllic picture of Mrs Lovett’s happilyever-after fantasies shows Sweeney
hilariously at odds with the world
around him, and should assuage
any accusations of the film taking
itself too seriously.
Depp seems
established
as the De Niro
to Burton’s
Scorsese
The question on everyone’s minds
is, of course, can Depp sing? Yes. Yes
he can. His voice isn’t Broadwaycalibre but soulful and steeped in
emotion, with a raw quality entirely
befitting his ravaged character. It’s
also a brilliant performance, every
swagger and snarl counterbalanced
with moments of quiet passion.
Depp emanates misery to such an
extent that it’s impossible not to
feel sympathy for him, though he
never attempts to soften or make
amends for his character’s ruthless
savagery.
But Depp’s isn’t the only noteworthy performance here. Bonham
Carter brings a much-needed tenderness to the proceedings, her earthy
character grounding and softening
Sweeney’s sharper edges, while Alan
Rickman is at his villainous best as
the man responsible for just about
every bad thing that happens. It
doesn’t all work; there’s a slight
sense of missed opportunity in the
young lovers’ plot in particular, and
the two roles of Sweeney’s friend and
his long-lost daughter might both
have provided some insight into his
equally long-lost humanity, but the
film’s inevitably tragic climax offers
no such resolution. There also seems
to be a point where Sweeney’s thirst
for vengeance morphs into a rather
random bloodlust, the motivation
for which is never entirely clear.
But these flaws aren’t enough
to detract from the enormous entertainment value, or from the fact
that Depp now seems established
as the De Niro to Burton’s Scorsese.
This is Burton’s darkest and most
satisfying film in years, a bloody,
brooding, unabashed and ultimately magnificent venture.
Carrie (1976)
Putting a rather different spin
on the time-honoured “high school
prom” climax, Sissy Spacek’s performance as the mousy, tormented
telekinetic with a religious fanatic
for a mother who finally gets
pushed too far and exacts bloody
vengeance on her classmates is as
memorable and haunting as the
film’s jarringly nightmarish final
scene.
Memento (2000)
Christopher Nolan’s signature
mixture of ambiguous narrative
and a claustrophobically introspective central character is never
used to better effect than in this
mind-bending thriller. The concept of a man incapable of forming new memories is interesting
enough; add an intriguing neonoir mystery and a backwards narrative, and the result is a wholly
original take on the revenge tale.
The Life Aquatic With Steve
Zissou (2004)
When asked exactly what the
scientific purpose of killing the
rare Jaguar Shark would be, Steve
Zissou’s answer is simple: revenge.
The Life Aquatic hangs its Hergé
styled ruminations on family, film
making and fish on a simple tale
of vengeance against a (quite possibly make believe) giant shark.
Sheer, comic book joy.
MUSIC
The return of the Go! Team
Charismatic frontwoman Ninja talks to The Cambridge Student about the Go! Team’s take on dance-rock.
Interview with the
Ninja
T
he Go! Team is no ordinary band. It started out of mastermind
Ian Parton’s kitchen
in Wales, where he
recorded the debut
album Thunder, Lightning, Strike
from samples. The band then snowballed into a live entity, picking up
members left and right until Parton
had the line-up to match his samplerific recorded material.
There’s a terrific hotchpotch,
bratty energy in the band’s work,
driven forward by brash sirens and
immense percussion, and reproducing it on stage takes two drummers,
several guitars, a keyboard, and a
hell of a lot of stamina.
“There are songs where someone
in the band would need a rest before the next song,” says the band’s
frontwoman, freestyle rapper Ninja.
“For me, when you’ve got three
mad songs together, it’s killer with
all the singing and dancing. But if
you’re in the Olympics and you’re
running a race or something, just
because you’re tired it doesn’t mean
you’re allowed to stop.
“You have to keep going, like I
started at this level, so I have to
continue at this level till the end
of the show. I’m not allowed to
be tired, I’m the gang leader and
I’m leading the crowd into having
a great time. When they see me
dance, they want to dance.”
Ninja was declared the fifteenth
coolest person in the world by NME
a few years ago. And cool she is;
her speech is fast, extremely confident and articulate: a lot like her
onstage rhymes. Her enthusiastic
voice draws you into the conversation just like it draws you into
the Go! Team’s music. Just like the
music, she’s vibrant and boisterous.
And just like the music, she defies categorisation. Born to a strict
middle-class family and expected to
train as a doctor, she shocked her
relatives by becoming a musician.
If she had to classify the band,
what would she say? “I used to call
every week and be like, ‘Hey, I’ve
got a word! How about... rainbow
pop funk!’ ‘I’ve got another one!
Okay... Electrunk!’ I used to call up
every week with these crazy terms
and everyone was like ‘You’re being
silly.’... I think a lot of people just
take elements of what they liked
when they were growing up and
turn it into what they like now.
“We take elements of a lot of different decades, but it’s been made
into something completely new. It’s
not music from the 80s or 70s or
60s, but because of all of those influences, and because of the world
we’re living in and the technology
we have now, we’re making something completely unique.”
She prefers performing at uni-
versities to playing at bigger, more
open venues. “I think we’re quite
well known within the uni crowds,”
she says. “And in America, as well,
college students seem to love us. I
think we just have a lot more fun
- older crowds, you come out and
you feel like they’re waiting to be
impressed. But young people just
want to be carefree and have a
great time, and it’s going to be a
great crowd. If it’s all uni stops on
our next tour, then it’s going to be
great.”
‘I’m not
allowed to be
tired, I’m the
gang leader
and I’m leading
the crowd ’
Last year the Go! Team’s uni gigs
included the May Ball at Trinity
college. “Oh yeah!” Ninja exclaims
delightedly when we mention it
to her. “I remember! It was really
strange, like, I don’t know, I’m a
North Londoner, and I feel like as
a Londoner I’m normal. The Cambridge ball was like another world,
it was just loads of posh kids who
were all like ‘oh my gosh, you guys
are so fantastic’. We went to the
food table, we were going around
in our jeans... A couple of us went
up to the fruit table and this lady
came up to them and went ‘What
are YOU?’ They came back to the
dressing room with, like, half an
apple, and told me and I said ‘Oh
my god, I swear, if I was there and
she said that to me...!’
“She looked at them as if they
were travelling monkeys or something, because they were in jeans
and stuff, and she shooed them
away from the food table like squirrels.
“Quite rude, but we saw stagediving and people there in really
expensive ballgowns flying above a
sea of hands, it was hilarious. When
you just walk in there you can smell
the privilege. I mean, we saw it at
Warwick university as well, you
could make the privilege into a fragrance and spray it on yourself and
walk down the street and people
would turn their heads.”
Creative force Ian Parton is also
behind the Team’s videos, which
are as kaleidoscopic and chaotic
as their music. “Ian used to make
documentaries and he’s really into
Super 8 cameras,” says Ninja. “He’s
mainly in control of the videos.
He’s got loads of ideas about how
he wants things to be seen.
“And just like the music is kind
of quite choppy and cut-and-paste,
the videos are like that as well. It’s
got quite a vintage, retro feel to it,
because we don’t go for the glossy
videos.”
And that’s the Go! Team’s aes-
thetic in a nutshell: no gloss, just
Frankensteinian, unconstrainable
mayhem. Long may it continue.
The Go! Team are playing at the
Junction on Feb 25
MUSIC NEWS
- Hollywood writers have agreed
to an interim arrangement to enable staff to work on the Grammy
Awards. The Hollywood Writers
Guild has been on strike since
November.
- The Arctic Monkeys are leading
the way in the NME Shockwaves
awards, with a record seven
nominations. The Cribs and Klaxons are alto tipped to do well in
this year’s awards.
- 3 major record labels - Warner,
EMI and Universal - are denying
reports that they have signed up
to free download service, Qtrax.
Qtrax provides free downloads
to customers, covering copyright
fees with advertising revenues.
- Radiohead played a surprise
gig in central London hours after
announcing the concert on the
band’s website. The gig was originally to be held in a local Rough
Trade store but was moved,
apparently because of police concerns, to venue 93 Feet East. The
band played their new album, ‘In
Rainbows’ in its entirety.
Photo: Tylerc083
Saul
Glasman
|24-25
REVIEWS
Indie
THESE NEW PURITANS
Beat Pyramid (Domino)
Out Jan 28
Saul Glasman
Prog Rock
THE MARS VOLTA
The Bedlam In Goliath (Island)
Out Jan 28
Jason Cleeton
Jazz
PAT METHENY TRIO
Day Trip (Warner)
Out Jan 28
Ripe for a dose of strident, cocky
new-rave hip-rock? Then step right
this way, ladies and gentlemen. Beat
Pyramid is bizarre, enigmatic and too
postmodern for its shirt.
Hyped indie four-piece These
New Puritans, being barrier-breaking
types, have today blurred the line between legitimate experimental production and self-indulgent
electronic noodling. Not content with that, they go on to
challenge the long-held idea that excessive repetition isn’t
necessarily a good thing, followed by thoroughly debunking
the music industry propaganda that is rhythmic variation.
Take that, fuddy-duddies! Tomorrow the world!
It’s a pity that every song is dominated by Jack Barnett’s
monotone vocal delivery, reminiscent of Mark Smith drugged
up to the eyelids on paranoia juice. If this weren’t so, we
could appreciate the occasional interesting instrumental
turn, like the first fifteen seconds of Swords Of Truth or the
whole of album highlight Infinity Ytinifni. The synthed-up
basslines and tribal drums ooze foreboding and menace. But
instead Barnett’s deadpan draws your attention to the lyrics,
which are nothing other than embarrassing.
“What’s your favourite number? What does it mean?” he
raps over the opening of single Numbers and repeats ad nauseum, before launching into a list of numbers and their interpretations. “One: is the individual! Two is duality!” he barks.
No, really?
You can’t help but feel there’s supposed to be some kind of
Pynchonian narrative running through the record. But if so,
it doesn’t show itself after several listens. On another track, 4
pounds, the only lyrics are “Four of your pounds!” I can only
guess they want me to buy their singles. The album curls
deeper and deeper into itself as the tracks progress before
swallowing its own tail in a flash of pointlessness as the end
of the last track becomes the beginning of the first. These
New Puritans could have made a decent dark synth-rock record, but they decided to wallow in pretension instead. An
album to be avoided.
Since their headspinningly brilliant
debut Deloused In The Comatorium,
each subsequent release from The
Mars Volta has seen the band slowly
disappear guitar-first up their own
rear ends. The Bedlam In Goliath is the
faintest of shuffles in the right direction, but ultimately does too little to
buck the trend. The concept behind the album (apparently
something to do with the band’s misfortune with an ouijaboard) is as indecipherable as ever, and essentially an excuse
to fill 76 minutes with effect-laden guitar noodling, restless
time shifts and complex Latin drum patterns, albeit with the
addition of a more Eastern sound than before.
The album benefits from being heavier and more direct
than its predecessors, evident right from the promising opener Aberinkula. The best moments are consistently the most
hard-hitting tracks, such as the frantic Ouroboros, or the
relatively streamlined two-and-a-half minutes of single Wax
Simulacra, and at least half of the album carries a pleasing
sense of urgency. Much of the album’s remainder, however,
could at best be described as silly. Their worrying affinity
with horribly processed vocals continues with the likes of Ilyena and the frankly absurd Tourniquet Man, as if Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s increasingly muppetesque vocals aren’t irksome
enough. There are moments that sound genuinely cheesy: the
otherwise excellent Goliath opens with the sort of wah-guitar
you would expect from a 70’s American cop show. Even when
they do stumble upon something brilliant (the lush eastern
strings and eerie chanting on Soothsayer) they almost invariably drown it out with needless guitar-wankery.
For all the Mars Volta’s technical prowess and supposed experimentation, there’s very little here in the way of innovation. The musical scope on this album is narrower than anything they’ve done before: the range of sounds they showed
on earlier releases is conspicuously absent. The result is an
album of all too similar sounding songs, which considering
its length, makes for one tough and not particularly rewarding slog.
Right from the opening notes of the
first track, one feels safely wrapped
in Pat Metheny’s silk blanket of interweaving melodies that float tranquilly
around the room, his unmistakable
gentle tones and flawless improvisation. Day Trip, composed of all original
tracks, is the culmination of five years
of on-and-off touring and one day in the studio, and the
comfort within the trio comes through on the record beautifully. Drummer Antonio Sanchez is considered by some to be
the best of his generation and bassist Christian McBride plays
with a remarkably controlled fervour.
The vast musical diversity of the album keeps the listener
interested at all times. A traditional easy-going groove can
be heard on Dreaming Trees, which conjures up daydreams
of pixies playing by a stream as only a track called ‘Dreaming
Trees’ could. The harmonically humble Is This America?, an
elegiac folk-jazz number, reaches profound levels of lushness.
No matter how high one turns up the volume, these tracks
will never be loud.
Throughout the swinging Calvin’s Keys, on the other hand,
the audible influence of Wes Montgomery combined with
catchy bluesy riffs make an impromptu Jimmy Smith cadenza
seem imminent. Son of Thirteen and Let’s Move, two of the
most rhythmically and harmonically intricate tracks, show
that the trio can also push the boundaries, and they do so
with a thrilling dynamism.
There are few weak points on the album, but The Red One
simply feels out of place. The dirty grittiness of this sinister
gallimaufry of rock, reggae and funk ingredients comes off
as a little forced and it is a relief when the sexy bossa-nova
Snova starts, a territory where the trio feel much more at
home. Pat Metheny tries a similar trick on When We Were Free
when he introduces harsh synthesisers six minutes into what
would otherwise be one of the most melodically invigorating
tunes on the album. These, however, are but minor defects on
an inspiring and engaging album that bubbles over with both
vigour and cool.
OUT THIS WEEK
Indie Pop
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Vampire Weekend (XL)
Out Jan 28
Peter Simmonds
TCS surveys the albums currently hitting the shelves
JACK JOHNSON
Sleep Through The Static
SHERYL CROW
Detours
The tranquil Hawaiian singer-songwriter is heard for the first time
playing electric guitar on this fifth
studio album. Full of gentle harmonies,
easygoing choruses and endearing
little touches of funk, this will hold no
surprises for longtime fans.
HOT CHIP
Made In The Dark
The sixth album from the country-rock
singer features political themes and
cathartic songwriting, and has been
heralded as an explosive return to
form.
AVANTASIA
The Scarecrow
Avantasia, basically a vehicle for German power metaller Tobias Sammet’s
soaring voice, can be relied on to produce pure symphonic cheese. Sounds
like the cream of 80s hair metal, but
unfortunately takes itself seriously.
Expect the usual full-beam geek chic
from the London synth-rockers. The
new album runs the gamut of pop
music, from R&B-influenced ballads to
rolling dance anthems like first single
Ready For The Floor.
LENNY KRAVITZ
It Is Time For A Love Revolution
America’s number one funk-rock star
returns with his most awkwardlynamed effort yet. It will feature singles
Bring It On and I’ll Be Waiting, lots of
funky guitar pyrotechnics, and plenty
of classic rock glamour and flair.
BOB MOULD
District Line
James Wan
Ex-Husker Dü punk-rocker Mould has
mellowed considerably over the years,
and his solo career has consisted
mainly of pretty middle-of-the-road
alt-rock stuff. This album features more
of the same. Fun fact: Mould used to be
a pro wrestling scriptwriter.
There’s lot to dislike about New York
band Vampire Weekend. Their MySpace
page describes their music in the most
pretentious terms - ‘Upper West Side
Soweto’. The band met at Columbia
University and they happily flaunt
their Ivy League history, peppering
their lyrics with references to campuses and sophomores. So
far, so reprehensible.
Despite this, they’re currently the subject of some stratospheric hype. Music industry insiders have been tipping them
to conquer the world and this month the BBC placed them
sixth on their hotly contested Sound of 2008 list. Riding upon
this wave of expectation comes the band’s eponymous debut,
and thankfully, in an era of homogeneous indie groups, the
album is a breath of fresh air. Each track skilfully blends sophisticated melodies, catchy lyrics, jaunty guitars and African percussion. At times it brings to mind Paul Simon’s classic
Graceland but still manages to sound incredibly fresh.
Mansard Roof is a strong opener that sets the tone for
what’s to follow. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa was voted one of
the songs of 2007 by Rolling Stone magazine, and it’s hard to
disagree. However, Oxford Comma, an attack on pseudo-intellectuals, is by far the best track on the album and should be
a dead cert for the 2008 list. Towards the end of the album,
just as you’re getting used to the Afropop, there’s a further
surprise in store when the songs begin to feature a classical
string section that lifts the experience to new heights.
While listening to Vampire Weekend you are whisked away
to a sunnier place and any music that can do that on a cold
January afternoon is worthy of some space on your iPod.
MUSIC
Metal Madness
The Kerrang! Most Wanted tour comes to the Barfly
tenor. Bottles shattered behind
the bar. That aside, the reason it’s
a real shame that the tour didn’t
get more publicity is because the
abovementioned direness was
sandwiched between two hefty,
satisfying blocks of metal.
Openers Malefice have a
thrillingly hyperactive, warpspeed
progressive style, reminiscent of
Sikth with all of the whimsical
jumble taken out and replaced
with pure relentless steel. Their
ambition just about exceeds their
technical proficiency for now, with
drummer Craig Thomas slightly
losing track a couple of times, but
they still provided the highlight
of the evening in the aggressive
Dreams Without Courage.
American headliners Darkest
Hour themselves are an innovative
Saul
Glasman
It’s an unwritten law that hype
isn’t as ubiquitous a phenomenon
in the world of metal as in certain
places elsewhere. So while a
comparable tour in the indie genre
(let us invent one, purely for the
sake of hypothesis, and arbitrarily
call it the NME Awards tour) might
sell out huge venues within hours,
the Kerrang! Most Wanted tour is
essentially a few bands gigging up
and down the country in basements
to inquisitive but noncommittal,
small audiences.
This year, the ragtag trio of
bands comprised techy prog-death
ensemble Malefice, metalcore
headliners Darkest Hour, and
emo-mongers Glamour Of The Kill.
So began the quest of the three
groups, which in due course took
them to the Cambridge Barfly.
Glamour Of The Kill played second,
but I’m going to talk about them
first. This is because they were,
apparently, actually pop-punk
band Busted after listening to an
Iron Maiden CD, deciding they
wanted to play metal and changing
their names to Chris Carnage and
Mikey Massacre. The result sounds
almost like Alexisonfire while
drunk and wearing handcuffs; this
is no doubt what the band are
shooting for, but they don’t quite
make it, especially when vocalist
‘Davey Death’ raises his tuneless,
whining voice to the top of his high
Photo:Frenkieb
Malefice + Glamour of
the Kill + Darkest Hour
metalcore band with a huge live
presence. “I’ve seen them before,”
a man said to me at the bar. “Their
performance is so energetic... I
walked in and when I saw the pillar
on the stage I worried on of them
was going to injure himself.” While
the band have some very nice riffs
and some clever, unorthodox chord
progressions, it’s in the immense
energy of their performance their
attraction truly lies; vocalist
John Henry leaps onto speakers
and scowls like a monkey, baring
his ferocious metal teeth to the
audience.
If future Kerrang tours are as
good as this one, maybe it’s time
for new metal bands to receive
the same sort of raving media
hype injections as their indie
counterparts.
Over The Bridge
University a capella group hosts a night at the ADC
Liz
Dodd
Photo:Eldar
Not much of a classical aficionado
myself (unless you count, say, the
string arrangements on Cradle Of
Filth albums) it would, typically,
take something special to get me
out to your standard a capella concert. That said, a night that mixes
comedy with musical proficiency,
that affords over an hour of ‘name
that tune’ related joy, and that
takes place within walking distance
of the ADC Bar will have me running for a ticket.
I wasn’t alone: by the time I arrived A Night With Over The Bridge
had all but sold out, a riotous mix of
friends, classical music fans and the
curious. The gonzo professionalism
of the group – an all male lineup
of 9 guys from across the university
– rendered the gig, a combination
of relaxed camaraderie and flawless
recital, enjoyable from the start,
while a setlist drawn from previous
gigs and sets at college balls made
the most of this unique opportu-
nity: where else could you leap effortlessly and with musical aplomb
from Teddy Bears Picnic to cover
Whiter Shade of Pale?
The group, many of whom are
members of college choirs, are a
talented lot, carrying off complex harmonies – their rendition
of Hallelujah was incredibly moving - with flashes of drama and,
in the case of Disney’s King of the
Jungle, interpretive dance. A supportive audience meant that the
group could stop half-way through
the concert to sing Happy Birthday
to a few friends, could run Daniel
Bedingfield into Bob Marley in the
final medley, and guaranteed the
standing ovation that the guys so
richly deserved.
Over The Bridge could take
themselves incredibly seriously
but to do so would rob the ensemble of their remarkable charm.
What made this night all the more
enjoyable was the diverse audience: from the pashmina-clad to
the punk, it seems that few in
Cambridge can resist the lure of a
capella S-Club 7 covers.
Danny Asks:
What... do we want
from rockstars?
Danny
McMillan
It can’t really be said to have been,
by any stretch of the imagination,
a good week for Amy Winehouse.
One minute you’re out enjoying
yourself, the next there are pictures
plastered all over the tabloids, videos doing the rounds on the internet, the possibility that the much
anticipated Grammy appearance
won’t go ahead, and no comfort
from hubby since he’s banged up
inside - and to top all that your
own old man pops up on the radio
to tell listeners that he thinks his
daughter needs sectioned.
Now, I am in no way condoning
the use of illegal drugs, especially
not in the quantities that it seems
everyone’s favourite beehived
songstress appears to be indulging
in. I think it is imperative that
someone steps in to seriously help
Winehouse before she goes one better in recalling the ghosts of Billie
Holiday and Janis Joplin by joining
the ranks of the great tragedies of
modern music.
Yet there are two uncomfortable
things that strike me about the latest turbulent rock and roll lifestyle
saga to grace our newspapers and
airwaves. The first is the scurrilous
attitude of the press: our media
needs to realise that it sometimes
needs to put its insatiable desire
for celebrity on hold and learn to
be more socially responsible. Often
we just don’t need to see the latest
drunk at four in the morning splattered with blood photos – they only
perpetuate our desire for more salacious material, and we often get it.
The other is the relationship which
fans have with their idols and what
we come to expect of them. A lot
of us have the impression, enforced
by the behaviour of many an artist
in the past, that drink, drugs and
all the rest of it go hand in hand
with rock music. Yet whenever this
is exposed we do a U-turn and cry
foul. So when Amy Winehouse is
snapped walking home in a stupor,
or George Michael is caught in the
act, the reaction of many of us occasionally borders on the puritanical. As fans I don’t think we can afford to be that hypocritical, to have
our cake and deny it to the artist.
What we need to do is balance
the reality that rock music comes
with its share of bad behaviour,
whilst at the same time making
sure that stars stay on the right
side of hedonism. Personally I love
that Amy Winehouse is a bit wild;
I don’t think we would have great
tunes like ‘Rehab’ if she lived a bit
more like, say, Chris Martin who
probably spends most of his nights
at home chatting to Gwyneth about
macrobiotic food. There’s no doubt
a quiter lifestyle would help her
and she clearly needs help. Yet in
Winehouse we have a rare talent;
someone who can channel pain and
suffering into music like very few
others, who mixes soul, jazz and
Motown into a heartfelt concoction,
and who even makes the bloody Zutons sound decent.
Plenty of musicians down the
years from Robert Johnson to Kurt
Cobain have led reckless lifestyles
and off the top of my head I can
think of three great songs (by Eric
Clapton, Jackson Brown and Old
Crow Medicine Show) about cocaine.
However, a clear dividing line needs
to be drawn between hard living as
an artistic influence and serious,
life threatening addictions.
So we need to decide what it is
we expect from our favourite musicians. What is it we want to see
in our newspapers and see on the
television? For a start I want to
hear about the music rather than
aspects of somebody’s personal life.
I think we should be grown up and
learn to accept the fact that people
in the limelight will engage in behaviour that you wouldn’t exactly
be happy catching your little brother at. Only when it gets extremely
out of hand do I think we, as the
music buying public, have a duty
to comment. This is why I think,
despite a turbulent lifestyle having
inspired some cracking tunes, that
it’s finally time for Amy to say ‘yes,
yes, yes’.
Local Bands
Are you in a band?
TCS Music want to help out local talent, so whether you’re in a
band or you foster a secret desire
to be the next Lily Allen, let us
know.
If you send us an EP, let us
know when you’re rehearsing or
email a link to your MySpace,
we’ll do our best to get you in an
edition of TCS this term.
LISTINGS
FILM
Depp slices the screen in Burton’s
latest.
31
Thu
01
Fri
02
Sat
03
Sun
04
Mon
05
Tue
06
Wed
|26-27
THEATRE
MUSIC
OTHER
Scoop of the week: does All the
Ordinary Angels impress?
Epic stadium rock in the U2-Coldplay vein with Athlete
West African kora meets the strings
of CUCO in The Malinke Medley
No Country For Old Men(15)
★★★★★
Arts Picturehouse, 1.30, 4.00, 6.30,
9.00 £5
Sweeney Todd(18)
9.00 £5 ★★★★☆
Lust, Caution (18)
Arts Picturehouse, 12.00, 9.30
The Grimm Tales
Corpus Playroom, 19:00, £4/ £5.50
ADC Theatre, 19:45, £6/ £8
After the End
The Gnädiges Fräulein
ADC Theatre, 23:00, £4/ £5
No Country for Old Men (15)
8.45, £5 ★★★★★
Sweeney Todd(18)
9.00 £5 ★★★★☆
Alice in the Cities (PG)
9.00 £5 ★★★★★
The Grimm Tales
ADC Theatre, 19:45, £7/ £9
After the End
ADC Theatre, 23:00, £5/ £6
Lightspeed Champion + The Semifinalists @ The Barfly
8.45 ★★★★★
Sweeney Todd(18)
9.00 £5 ★★★★☆
9.00 £5 ★★★★★
The Grimm Tales
ADC Theatre, 19:45, £7/ £9
After the End
ADC Theatre, 23:00, £5/ £6
Her Name is Calla + Transitional @
The Man On The Moon
The Broken Family Band @ The
Barfly
Cambridge natives preach from the
altar of broken dreams and betrayal.
In the tradition of all great evangelists, Steve Adams laughs out lyrics,
belts out philosophy and yodels
prophecy.
Complex harmonic pop from one of
the most tipped artists of 2008.
Armaan: CU Pakistan Society
Break dancing, Cambridge Guildhall
19:00
CUSU LBGT Bowling Night
Cambridge Leisure Park,
20.00
Film Screening & Talk: “A Strange
Kind of Freedom”
Law faculty, Sidgwick Site, West road,
19:00
Left Tea Party
Rm 9, Memorial Court, Clare College,
17:00
Post-rock band.
CUSU LBGT Meet the Exec
Graduate Union, Mill Lane,
20:00
Cambridge University Chapel Brass
Ensemble Play Pictures @ Trinity
College Chapel
The Malinke Medley
West Road Concery Hall,
20:00
Arts Picturehouse, 5.30, 8.30
★★★★★
Sweeney Todd(18)
9.00 £5 ★★★★☆
9.00 £5 ★★★★★
Nine Black Alps + Kong @ The
Barfly
8.45 ★★★★★
Sweeney Todd(18)
9.00 £5 ★★★★☆
Battle for Haditha (15)
Arts Picturehouse, 2.30, 4.30, 6.45
£5
MV/EE + The Golden Road + The
Doozer+ Fuzzy Lights @ The Portland Arms
Soon to follow up on one of 2005’s
most stunning debuts, Everything Is,
Nine Black Alps already have more
tunes and energy than most bands
manage in a lifetime.
CUSU LBGT Film Night
Winstanley Lecture Theatre,
Trinity College.
20:00
Homerton Awareness Bar Bop
20:00
CUSU LBGT General Meeting (AGM)
Know Shaw Room, Sydney Sussex,
17:3O
CU Wine Society presents Austria’s
Brundlmayer.
Book online at: www.cuws.co.uk
Arts Picturehouse, 3.45, 6.15, 8.45
★★★★★
Sweeney Todd(18)
9.00 £5 ★★★★☆
Arts Picturehouse, 2.30, 4.30, £5
American Eagle
Rex Futurus
Round Church, 23:00, £5/ £6
Dinner
ADC Theatre, 19:45, £6/ £8
Two Marias
Athlete @ The Corn Exchange
8.45 ★★★★★
Sweeney Todd(18)
9.00 £5 ★★★★☆
Arts Picturehouse, 2.30, 6.45 £5
American Eagle
Rex Futurus
Round Church, 23:00, £6/£7
Dinner ADC Theatre, 19:45, £6/ £8
Two Marias
Follies
ADC Theatre, 23:00, £4/ £5
Robots in Disguise @ The Barfly
Band return to Cambridge with their
own brand of U2-Coldplayesque
stadium-sound.
Hotly tipped electro-dance from the
Mighty Boosh’s House band.
RAG Blind Date
Powaqqatsi-Life in Transformation
Film Screening
Winstanley Lecture Theatre, Trinity
College,
19:00
CU Marrow Street Collection for the
ANT
Rag Office CUSU building at the New
Museum Site
10:00-18:00
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
28|SportOmnibus
Round 1
5th & 7th February
Round 2
12th & 14th February
Quarter-Finals
19th & 21st February
Semi-Finals
26th & 28th February
Caius
Peterhouse/Selwyn
Hughes Hall
Bye
Final
12th March 2008
MEN’S RUGBY CUPPERS
Hughes Hall
Robinson
Sidney Sussex
St. Edmund’s
Bye
St. Edmund’s
Fitzwilliam
St. Catharine’s
Magdalene
Bye
Magdalene
Queens’
Churchill
Downing
Bye
Downing
Clare/Corpus/King’s
Emmanuel
Jesus
Bye
Jesus
Trinity
Pembroke
Girton
Bye
Homerton
Bye
Trinity Hall
Bye
Christ’s
Bye
St. John’s
Bye
Girton
PWC FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIV 1
Homerton
Trinity Hall
Christ’s
St. John’s
THE WEEK AHEAD
THE WEEK GONE BY
men’s football
cuppers round-up
Round 1
Division 1
Caius 2 - 0 ARU
Downing 2 - 2 St. Catharine’s
St. John’s 4 - 2 Cambridge
City
Thursday 24th January
Round 2
W/e 26th/27th January
Girton 9 - 1 Queen’s
Darwin 2 - 0 Pembroke?
Jesus 2 - 2 Downing
(Jesus win 4-2 on pens)
men’s rugby
Division 1
Tuesday 29th January
Jesus 81 - 5 Magdalene
Girton 0 - 46 Downing
Division 2
men’s FOOTBALL
men’s hockey
Sunday 27th January
university golf
Saturday 26th January
Blues 7.5-4.5 Royal
Worlington & Newmarket
Be The Pundit
Cuppers
TCS wants to publish
your sporting views and
experiences. If you have
an insightful prediction,
a witty comment, an
amusing quotation or an
exciting anecdote send
them through to sport@
tcs.cam.ac.uk
Trinity v Selwyn
Stymies 4.5 - 5.5
Hunstanton
CULWPC 2 - 4 Emmanuel
Sunday 27th January
ARU v St. Catz
Caius v Jesus
Christ’s v Fitzwilliam
Churchill v Darwin
St. John’s v Trinity
Division 2
table tennis
water polo
Peterhouse 18 - 12 Pembroke
St. Catharine’s 40 - 0 Caius
Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd Feb
Churchill II v Selwyn
Downing v Pembroke
Girton v Long Road
Homerton v King’s
Sidney Sussex v Trinity Hall
Blues 1 - 11 Sunningdale
Division 2
Division 1
Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd Feb
Sunday 27th January
Thursday 24th January
Thu 31st January
Cuppers - Group Phase 2
If your favourite sport
is not being covered in
Sport Omnibus please
let us know and we will
endeavour to
accommodate it .
Fitzwilliam II v Newnham
Christ’s v Peterhouse
Robinson v Emmanuel
Magdalene II v St. John’s
Fitzwilliam I v Pembroke
Trinity III v King’s
Churchill I v Wolfson
Peterhouse II v Downing
men’s hockey
Division 1
Sun 3rd February
St. Catharine’s v St. John’s
Caius v Cambridge City
Mon 4th February
Corpus Christi v Jesus
Division 2
Mon 4th February
Fitzwilliam v Queens’
Wed 6th Feb
Emmanuel v Robinson
women’s netball
Division 1
Wk. Commencing Feb 3rd
St. Catharine’s v Emmanuel
Downing v Trinity Hall
Trinity v Jesus
Girton v St. John’s
mixed netball
Division 1
Wk. Commencing Feb 3rd
Downing v Magdalene
Corpus v Emmanuel
Trinity v Jesus
St. John’s v Downing II
The Cambridge Student |31/01/08
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
THE COOL-DOWN
WOMENS’ HOCKEY
Blues’ coach James Waters and captain Tash
Fowlie reflect on league title-winning season
T
he ladies Blues hockey team have enjoyed
an excellent season
with their latest win,
3-0 over Birmingham University 3rd
XI, confirming them as champi-
ons of BUSA division Midlands
1A. This means an exciting few
weeks ahead with playoffs to
earn promotion to the National
Premier division alongside the
likes of Loughborough, Birmingham and Bath being added to a
Sport|29
fixture list on which the Varsity
match already looms large.
It was a difficult start to the
season, with the side being forced
to play 2 league games prior to the
start of the academic year. Unsurprisingly the Blues did not collect
the points from these games that
they would have liked.
However, once they hit their
stride a run of 7 consecutive victories followed, including wins over
Nottingham University and both
Birmingham and Loughborough
2nd teams. This propelled the Blues
to the top of the BUSA league and
up to 3rd place in the East Premier
A League (Saturday league). Although a run of frustrating draws
has seen the side slip to mid-table
on a Saturday, Cambridge have sat
proudly on top of their BUSA division ever since the second round of
matches.
Half this year’s side consists of
returning Blues, with the remainder coming from the core of last
years Nomads (2nd XI). It has been
the development of these players
into confident, capable Blues players that has been the most pleasing
element of the season so far. Lucy
Stapleton returned at the beginning
of the season as a totally different
goalkeeper and has made the position her own. Tash Close and Flick
Hughes, captain of the Nomads last
year, have been transformed from
second team midfielders into mainstays of the Blues back line. Lisa
Noble has been a revelation on the
left side of midfield, improving her
defending dramatically and earning
the accolade of our most improved
player over the first half of the season. Hannah Rickman has played
right across the midfield and even
at left back and has performed with
energy and drive throughout whilst
Jenny Stevens has recently hit top
form, scoring a goal a game since
mid November.
This is not to take away from the
contribution made by those returning from last year either. The defence is marshalled by Rosie Evans
and Tash Fowlie has been outstanding as both a leader and an attacking right back. Alex Workman never
takes a backwards step in the heart
of the mid-field whilst Emma Goater and Tash Barnes have provided a
creative and potent force down the
right hand side. Vice captain Anna
Stanley has offered a cutting edge
up front, scoring many of our open
play goals.
In recent times the fresher intake has also begun to make an
impact. Jenny Hall, having sustained a broken thumb early in her
freshers term, returned to the BUSA
side with a bang by netting all 4
in the win over Loughborough 2nd
XI. Charlotte Brearley and Sarah
Baggs have become key members
A WEEK IS A
VERY LONG TIME
IN BANKING.
of the Nomads and have performed
strongly for the Blues when given
their chance in recent weeks.
The success of the team has
been built around an outstanding
team ethic, work rate and commitment from all the players. With
new coach James Waters, the team
has been transformed tactically
and the players have benefited
from his enthusiasm and openness.
Credit must also go to captain Tash
Fowlie for creating an environment
in which players feel confident and
able to enjoy their hockey. The season has also been a great success
for the Nomads and Bedouins. Both
these sides currently sit in the top
4 in their league and the success of
each team has helped maintain the
positive atmosphere and a healthy
competition for places that has
kept everyone on their toes.
With Blues Varsity approaching
on the 4th March, and Nomads and
Beds on 11th Febuary, this is a key
time in the hockey season. All the
teams are looking to establish a
winning streak to set them up for
the big game. For the Blues, Varsity
has been a hard match for the past
few years, with Oxford fielding a
very strong side. This year, we have
confidence that we can give the
best team performance Cambridge
has seen in years and look forward
to taking revenge and putting the
Tabs back on top.
Our spring week programme offers a
surprisingly comprehensive introduction
to the world of investment banking.
You’ll spend some time with each of our
five business areas, watching what we do,
understanding how we do it and learning
what roles graduates play in the bank.
We pack a whirlwind of new experiences
into the week, such as interactive seminars,
work shadowing, interview skill workshops
and social events with our business
representatives. For an experience that could
be your first step into a career in investment
banking this is where you need to be.
The spring week programme is open to students
from all disciplines who are in their first year (or
second year of a four year course).
Apply by February 10, 2008.
jpmorgan.com/careers
JPMorgan is a marketing name of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its subsidiaries worldwide. ©2007 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All rights reserved. JPMorgan is an equal opportunities employer.
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
30|Sport
THE WARM-UP
Mixed Lacrosse:
legalised domestic
violence?
Michael Ostheimer
L
acrosse is often associated with Enid Blyton and well-mannered public school
girls. In fact this is
a serious misrepresentation, the girls’ game is
fast paced and brutal. The men’s
game looks like police riot training. This year I felt the need to
increase my sporting repertoire
and for no particular reason decided to start playing mixed lacrosse. It can be a highly social
game, if anyone turns up, and
could at first instance seem like
a relatively casual sporting flirt.
It’s not. It’s insane.
Gopal Rao (C.U. Mixed Lacrosse) said, “Mixed lacrosse is
a subtle blend of fun, exhaustion and mild recreational violence.” Men and women cannot
often hack each other to pieces
without either social services or
the police being involved, but
mixed lacrosse managed to find
a gap in the market. Intercollegiate matches rarely omit some
sort of blood injury and a chorus
of screams and shouts throughout. Some teams have even been
seen sporting war paint. The
rules at college level do differ
from the university standard in
that at college level there is the
requirement that a grand total
of 3 unspilled passes are required before a team can score,
and there are no goalkeepers. It
sounds easy to score, but with
sticks slashing about all over
the place, players ‘accidentally’
bumping into each other and no
pitch boundaries, it can prove
rather difficult.
Anybody can give it a go. The
games aren’t riddled with the
most rigorously trained individuals, except when a blue or international is on a team. They,
of course, have a tendency to
catch quite a lot of passes; an
infrequent occurrence in their
absence. The sport isn’t as violent as the above may make out,
and the men’s game is a big stepup in terms of potential injury.
The mixed game is, in theory,
non-contact and of course with
some guys well over six foot tall
alongside much shorter ladies
the game cannot be allowed
get out of hand. If they’re not
careful those girls can really do
some damage.
The attraction of the game for
many is the relaxed approach
to play; something I believe is
helped by the mixed environment. Training seems to loiter
around the one day per week
mark for the keenest of colleges,
and there’s no limit to substitutions in the game. Few college
teams take the whole thing too
seriously and the sport provides
a great outlet for those who always fancied running in circles,
but wanted to take a step-up
from athletics and catch a ball
with a net on a pole whilst doing it. Many games invoke a
strict ‘jumpers for goalposts’
rule which is rarely a problem,
except for Queens’ whose greencoloured stash makes the goal
hard to locate. Such low-scoring
games still provide vast amounts
of entertainment.
The games
aren’t riddled
with rigorously
trained
individuals
For guys it provides a good
route to extra CV points if you
want to join the police, for girls
it’s a chance to continue a long
tradition of inaccurate stereotyping. If nothing else; tourists will probably stare at you
for hours while you’re playing
and often come up to you and
ask “What’s this game called?”
You can say whatever you like:
“Mega-air-cricket-tennis”, perhaps. But if you have any decency you’ll be honest and reply: “This is mixed lacrosse.”
SPORT IN BRIEF
FOOTBALL
GIRTON TROUNCE
QUEENS’
Queens’ were on the receiving end of a 9-1 drubbing by
Girton to send them crashing out
of Cuppers in round 2, despite
overcoming Peterhouse 28-1 in the
first round. Girton go on to meet
Darwin who beat Pembroke.
RUGBY
JOHN’S ON BRINK
St John’s seventh successive rugby title is expected to be confirmed this week when
Homerton confirm the two remaining matches as 40-0 walkovers. One
drawn match with Jesus prevents a
100% record. They are still looking
to add the Cuppers title.
The RBS Six Nations Championship
2 February - 15 March
Tom Woolford
Sports Editor
T
he pick of the
clashes in the opening weekend of this
year’s Six Nations
is England hosting
Wales at Twickenham
on Saturday. For England the
match represents the dawn of a
new era following another successful world cup campaign. The
retirements of Dallaglio, Robinson, Corry and Catt will dent
England’s reserves of experience.
Arguably their more pressing
concern is a lengthy list of injury, fitness, and form worries.
When the team was announced
on Tuesday, Nick Easter and
Joe Worsley were conspicuous by
their ill-timed absence. As the
World Cup demonstrated, England’s power in the pack is still
a match for the best of teams.
Despite a plethora of talent, getting the right players into the
right positions on the back row
will be a headache for Brian Ashton. Pundits and fans have been
baying for Danny Cipriani to
be installed, but Ashton wasn’t
brave enough to leave out the
popular (though no longer world
class) Wilkinson for a player
whose kicking prowess was in
doubt after a poor display for
Wasps over the weekend. England’s lack of a top kicker could
see them on the wrong side of final scores in tight games. Lesley
Vainikolo, tipped by Jason Robinson as a future international
sensation, could make a massive
impact when introduced to the
FENCING
DOUBLE VICTORY
FOR BLUES
CUFC beat Bath and Bristol in a
double fixture which saw them
strengthen their lead in the BUSA
Premier. Record performances for
the Sabre squad and Epee master
Greensides puts them in good stead
for the Varsity match on 23rd Feb.
side. England should have the
strength to deny Wales a first
Twickenham victory in 20 years
and, with a win over France on
23rd February, will be in the mix
on the final weekend when they
host Ireland.
Gatland will field an improved
Wales side. Ospreys have given reason for optimism on the national
stage, thus providing 13 of Wales’s
starting XV. No8 Ryan Jones will
captain the side. Expect him to show
his class when given an injury-free
run in the team and the added responsibility. Wales have undoubted
class in the back row. Mike Phillips
is a distinctive and winning scrum
half, while the exciting James Hook
is at last preferred to the recently
disappointing Stephen Jones. The
return of Gavin Henson could be
inspired or naïve. Gatland says he
wants a team ethic, and Henson is
a risk. As a Welsh fan I fear that
the best the team can hope for in
Twickenham is a heroic loss. They
will lose out to stronger forwards
and will continue to lose line-out
ball. Beating Scotland and Italy at
home will see them finish 4th.
O’Sullivan’s job at Ireland is under threat: the appointments of new
backroom staff have been delayed
until after the Six Nations. Ireland
simply didn’t turn up at the World
Cup: if they are to mount a serious
challenge again this year, it will be
because of the continuity of their
squad. The starting XV against Italy could look very like that which
failed against Argentina. Whether
that is an advantage remains to be
seen. Brian O’Driscoll, anonymous in
the World Cup, may be the catalyst
to an Irish revival if he hits his top,
CANOEING
SHED HAPPENS
CUCC will be evicted
from their shed on Robinson
Crusoe Island on 1st May as its
punt-tour owners relocate. This
threatens to undermine the club’s
recent canoe polo success in BUSA
competitions. President Ian Dumulo is seeking new premises.
scintillating form. They will need to
beat England on the final day by a
significant margin if they are going
to overturn France’s points advantage taken from a likely victory in
Paris on the second weekend.
Scotland are everybody’s dark
horses, and may have their best
squad in years. Frank Hadden will
have been buoyed by the attractive
and successful rugby Edinburgh
have been playing lately. A favourable draw which sees Scotland at
home to France and England gives
them a chance at causing an upset.
But Scotland still lack the creativity
to break down the better defences,
and a dogged, negative style of rugby paired with the lack of gametime
for stalwart Chris Patterson will not
be enough to lift Scotland into the
top half of the final table.
Italy didn’t show enough signs
of improvement at the World Cup
for them to be considered anything but wooden spoon contenders. France, then, are the deserved
favourites to retain their title. The
guile, speed and skill of debutantes
Trinh-Duc, Parra and Malzieu alongside a core of experienced Toulouse
players should be enough to penetrate even England’s solid defence.
But the French side are rebuilding
under new coach Marc Lievremont;
a costly process made necessary by
a disappointing World Cup that has
seen class acts such as cult hero
‘Caveman’ Chabal left out in the
cold. Their front five could lack
any experience at test level. If the
French pack gel, they will be in
the hunt for a final victory against
Wales to lift the trophy. Predicted
final table: France, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy.
RUGBY
CHRIST’S TAUNT
JOHN’S
League 3 Christ’s College have
taunted St John’s ahead of their
Cuppers clash. “We have a tactic,” boasted their captain, “to
make them so angry they make
mistakes”. The No7 has scheduled
his funeral for 80mins after KO.
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
Faisal Nasim
Sports Editor
T
he recent controversy
over alleged racist remarks made by the
Indian cricketer Harbajan Singh raises a
number of interesting
and controversial issues. Though
it is undeniable that levels of overt
racism in professional sport have
dropped significantly in the last
few decades, it is clearly still a recurrent problem.
The case of Singh, who reportedly called Australian cricket player Andrew Symonds a ‘monkey’, is
particularly interesting as he is an
Indian Sikh, rather than a person
of Caucasian origin. This fact may
have initially surprised a number of
people across the world. However,
on a closer inspection of the social
situation within India, Symonds’
accusations begin to sem much less
far-fetched.
It should be noted that no conclusive proof of Singh’s guilt has
been forthcoming, and he has recently been cleared of all charges
due to a lack of evidence; I am
simply saying that, in my opinion,
his alleged insult reflects the widespread feelings that a number of
Indians hold towards black people
NEXT WEEK WARM-UP TO AFRICA NATIONS’ FINAL
The reflection
of racism
in general. I recognise that this is
a controversial statement and inevitably a generalisation of sorts,
but this does not mean the problem
does not exist. I have witnessed
these attitudes first hand, and I’m
sure a large number of others from
the Subcontinent have as well. I
believe they are to a great extent
a reflection of the caste system,
which is still prevalent in areas of
India.
Singh’s alleged
insult reflects
the widespread
feelings of
a number of
Indians
I raise this recent example simply to ask whether the attitudes
of professional sports players and
fans are indicative of realities within their respective societies as a
whole. Although I’m sure the vast
majority of readers would not identify themselves with a bunch of racist thugs in the terraces, I think the
question is still pertinent on more
general level.
Relative to its European neighbours, England has an excellent
reputation in terms of dealing with
racism within professional football.
This is mainly due to a concerted
campaign by the government and
the FA over the last few decades
combining zero tolerance with a
comprehensive programme promoting social education and raising
awareness. The situation of ethnic
minorities within England, though
not perfect, is correspondingly
much better, in terms of racial discrimination and abuse, than in the
vast majority of European coun-
tries.
If we look at the situation in Italy, where black football players are
frequently racially abused, or even
Spain, where English players Shaun
Wright-Philips and Ashley Cole were
subjected to racial taunts, it seems
that the attitudes of fans are reflective of deeper social problems, with
both Italy and Spain facing significant difficulties in dealing with
immigration and the integration
of ethnic minorities within wider
society.
The problem is accentuated in
certain Eastern European countries
Sport|31
The attitudes
of fans is
reflective of
deeper social
problems
where racial abuse of black football
players is almost a given.
I am by no means saying that
the attitudes of select groups of
football fans are exactly representative of their respective societies
as a whole.
However, I do believe that their
behaviour is often indicative of
social problems that extend well
beyond the turnstiles. The good
news is that in England, and other
countries, there exists a precedent
for successfully dealing with these
issues.
The responsibility now lies with
national and international sporting bodies to act on this precedent,
whether it be in India or Italy.
If you have any comments, questions or criticism, feel free to email
[email protected]
Just another day at the office for a high performer.
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Sport
INSIDE
The Cambridge Student |31/01/08
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 761 685
THE WARM-UP: RBS 6 NATIONS
PLAYER RATINGS
DOWNING
Photos: Matt Doughty
Griffiths
Marsh
Snowden
Carter
Winward
Ackers
Isaacs, S
Leung
Hanslip
Bartelds
Isaacs, A
Mark Baxter
JESUS
DOWNING
L
2
2
(pens. 4)
(pens. 2)
ast Sunday, Jesus
College travelled to
Downing pitches to
take on the Division
2 leaders in what
was billed as the tie
of the round. With both teams
fielding a number of university
players, spectators anticipated
a game of flowing football, but
instead were treated to a tense,
physical encounter.
With nothing to separate the
teams after 120 minutes, the
game was ultimately decided by
the lottery of a penalty shootout.
From the first whistle, the
physical tactics employed by
the Downing team were evident,
with a number of heavy challenges coming in from the midfield three of Matt Leung, Ben
Hanslip and Sam Isaacs. Indeed
it was from one of these challenges that the first chance of
the match came, with the ball
breaking to Hanslip who volleyed wide from 25 yards.
After this initial scare, Jesus began to adapt, with striker
Michael Johnson in particular showing some neat touches
in holding the ball up. And it
was Johnson who set up Jesus’
first shot on goal with a lovely
flighted cross, which was nodded towards goal by James Williamson only to be cleared off
the line by a Downing defender.
After 20 minutes, Downing left-back James Winward
whipped a beautiful ball into
the Jesus box, which was met
by Matt Ackers at the back post.
His header crashed back off the
bar and from the resulting Jesus
attack Downing went 1-0 down.
Williamson was fouled on the
edge of the box and Johnson
stepped up to curl the ball perfectly into the corner of the net
leaving the keeper stranded.
This spurred Downing on,
and supported by a large home
crowd they began to put pressure on the Jesus backline. They
finally got their breakthrough
after a long ball down the middle of the pitch was met by the
lively Isaacs, who finished well
from 15yards in off the post.
With the score 1-1 at halftime, the game was there to
be won by either side, but neither seemed to want to take a
chance. This reluctance was
demonstrated in the second
half, when only two real opportunities were created, both in
the space of a minute.
The first came on 62 minutes. Downing’s number 9, Dan
Bartelds, played a perfectly
weighted through-ball to his
strike partner Alex Isaacs who
knocked it past the on-rushing
Chris Ellis. Isaacs then appeared
to think he had scored and left
the ball to trickle past the left
upright, much to his and the
home support’s dismay. From
the resulting goal kick, the ball
was flicked on to Johnson, who
broke free, and seeing keeper
Brett Griffiths off his line, tried
a lob, which only just went
wide. The second half continued
much the same as the first, with
both defences dominating in
the air and on the ground, marshalled well by captains James
Wyatt (Jesus) and Ollie Carter
Downing
pay the
penalty
as Jesus
progress
Jesus hold nerve in tense affair
to knock Downing out of Cuppers
in round 2.
JESUS
7
7
7
7
6
6
7
6
6
7
6
Ellis
Canavan
Treseder
Wyatt
Saloojee
Laakso
Taylor
Avers
Farrell
Willamson
Johnson
7
6
7
8
6
6
6
6
6
7
8
(Downing). With the game all
square after 90 minutes, it was
agreed that 30 minutes of extra
time would be played. Downing
kicked off and almost straight
away created a great chance.
Bartelds and Isaacs again combined well, with the number 9
flicking the ball on for Isaacs
to outmuscle the Jesus defence
and evade the keeper. Unfortunately, he was to be denied a
goal again as the ball seemed
to take an awkward bounce off
the surface and roll out of play
before he could reach it to tap
it home.
That was the only real chance
of extra-time until the award of
two very generous penalties at
either end in the final two minutes of the game. The first came
after Jesus’ David Treseder was
taken down by what appeared
to be a very fair challenge from
Ackers. However, to the shock of
all watching, the referee pointed to the spot. Johnson stepped
up and slotted the ball home to
put Jesus 2-1 up with seconds
remaining.
With one last roll of the dice,
Downing punted the ball into
the Jesus box and the excellent
Ellis collected it safely. Expecting to hear the final whistle,
the Jesus players were shocked
to see the referee again point to
the spot, for what was described
as an ‘off the ball incident’.
When the ensuing commotion
was eventually stopped, Leung
coolly slotted home the penalty
to equalise with what was to
prove to be the last kick of the
game.
Jesus won the resulting
shoot-out 4-2, with Johnson,
Imran Saloojee, James Taylor all
scoring. Downing were successful with their first two attempts
from Carter and Hanslip but
missed their next two, securing
victory for Jesus. The man of
the match was James Wyatt.
Jesus will now play the winners of Selwyn v Trinity in what
is sure to be a mouth-watering
quarter-final encounter.

Division 1 - The Cambridge Student

Transcription

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