Issue 25 - University of Surrey Students` Union

The Stag
FR
EE
The University of Surrey Newspaper
Editor: Mariam Nasir
NEWS p. 3
Tuesday 18th January 2011
FEATURES p.7
SCIENCE & TECH p.14
Editor-In-Chief: Chris Whitehead
SOCIETIES p.16
ARTS p.17
SPORTS p.23
Surrey Students Snowbound
TOM GOULDING
Courtesy of Nicholas Elia
News Editor
U
University of Surrey students’ Christmas holidays start early
New Year’s Resolutions You Me At Six
CHRISTINA WEBB
Literature Editor
H
aving just received a
friend’s text stating:
‘My new year’s diet has
now begun so prepare to watch
me disappear!’ I was inspired
to write this article on active
responses to 2011’s supposed
‘new start.’
It’s that time of year when
plenty of people promise to
diet or swear they’ll eat less
chocolate, others plan to stop
procrastinating and most
students
(story cont. page 8)
niversity of Surrey
students
attempting
to travel home for the
Christmas holidays last month
were faced with treacherous
weather conditions. Both UK
and international students
who attend the University
of Surrey were affected by
heavy snowfall, which led to
the cancellation of flights and
gridlock on major roads.
The South East of the country
was hit particularly hard on the
18th and 19th of December over
one of the busiest weekends
of the year. Flights in and out
of Heathrow and Gatwick
remained suspended, while
the airports themselves were
virtually closed as the severe
weather showed no sign of
relenting. A limited number of
flights were authorized during
an extensive operation to clear
the runways manually, but this
was little consolation to the
estimated 400,000 passengers
who had made plans to travel
for Christmas.
British Airways confirmed
that food and blankets
had been provided for
stranded passengers while
some had been put up in
alternative accommodation.
A spokeswoman for BA said,
“we are in the hands of the
weather”, while London Mayor
Boris Johnson was far more
critical of the delays. He asked
whether the British Airport
Authority had been efficient
enough in preparing to prevent
the potential crisis.
“I stressed the huge
economic
importance
of
Heathrow.
(story cont. page 4)
LORNA SALMOM
Music Editor
Y
ou Me At Six are a poppunk band born and bred
in Surrey. They shot to fame
in 2008 on with their debut
album ‘Take Off Your Colours’,
which included the well played
singles ‘Save it for the Bedroom’
(cont. page 22)
You Me At Six
Issue 25 | The University of Surrey Students’ Union | thestagsurrey.co.uk
Editor’s Letter
First of all, Happy New Year to everyone! This year is all about making those resolutions stick. No more doing work last minute, biting
nails or missing lectures. 2011 is all about change and this year, The
Stag’s resolution is to provide better and more interesting news. See
the rest of the team’s resolutions in the Features section.
It feels amazing to be back at university. The holidays were good but
exam stress and coursework made it difficult to enjoy them. I know
most of us can’t wait till this month is over. For those of us graduating this year, only 6 more months and then it is time to enter the
‘real world’.
For those of you bored of revision, the games page is back! Have fun solving the soduku, cross
word, maze and word search. On a different note, don’t forget to read out celebrity interviews, in music – You Me at Six and in sports – David Schneider.
If you have any comments, questions or articles, send them to [email protected].
Good Luck with your exams!!
Mariam
Your Stag Team
Comms Officer | Chris Whitehead
[email protected].
Editor | Mariam Nasir
[email protected]
Deputy Editor (Design) | Bakita Kasadha [email protected]
Design Team | Zoe Kitchener, Rowan Ling, Amrin Lokhandwalla, Jack White, Stacey Hunter &
Charlotte Clarke
Deputy Editor (Marketing) | Eunice Njag
marketing@the stagsurrey.co.uk
Marketing Officers | Harriet Drudge , Imogen
Jones & Kristel Tchamba
News Team
News Editor | Tom Goulding
[email protected]
Team | Jack White
Apology
The Stag would like to apologise to Vice Chancellor Christopher
Snowden for the headline of issue 24, should have read “Vice
Chancellor Questioned over “Poorly Built” Accommodation” as the
built quality of Manor Park was an opinion.
Features Team
Features Editor | Jyoti Rambhai
[email protected]
Science & Tech Team
Science & Technology Editor | Helen Finn
[email protected]
Team| Rachel Lismore-Burns & Emma
Cooper
Societies Team
Societies Editor | Utkarsh Sharma
[email protected]
Team | Jahir I. Rafiq & Apoorva Sondhi
Your Saabatical Team
President | Malcolm Hunt: [email protected]
VP Education | Stef Jones: [email protected]
VP Welfare | Georgina Hancock: [email protected]
VP Sports | Trung: [email protected]
VP Societies | Osama Salih: [email protected]
The Stag is an editiorially independent newspaper and is
published by the University of Surrey Student’s Union.
The Views expressed in the paper are those of the individual
authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the
educational team, the Students’ Union or the University of Surrey.
Surrey & Berkshire Media Ltd.
8 Tessa Road, Reading
RG1 8NS
The Stag reserves the right to edit all submissions and the right to
decide which articles are published.
Please direct all enquiries to the relevant section editors.
Arts Team
Dance & Theatre Editor | Rachel Gildea
[email protected]
Team | Lucy Al-Zoghbi, Sian Goldby &
Alex Sutton
Film Editor | Ollie Sim
[email protected]
Literature Editor| Christina Webb
[email protected]
Team| Demitri Levantis, Miranda Sullivan
& Hollie Rowe-Roberts
Music Editor | Lorna Salmon
[email protected]
Team: Liam Conroy & Mike Sherlock
Sports Team
Sports Editor |Marisa Guerreiro Da Costa
[email protected]
Copy Editors | Emma Armitage, Vijay Bhaskar,
Yemi Dipeolu, Nicole Vassell & Faha Zahid
[email protected]
Webmasters | Ankur Banerjee & Andy Smith
[email protected]
[email protected]
The Stag
NEWS 03
Sex Crime Sparks Racial Controversy
are not religiously-motivated
offences but crimes carried out
by men for their own depraved
sexual gratification. He added
that “These people think that
white girls have fewer morals
and are less valuable than our
girls”. Another commentator,
Manzoor Moghul, chairman of
the Muslim Forum, agrees. “Offenders are under the misapprehension white girls are easy
prey. The way they dress, their
culture, makes them easy pickings,” he said.
But other experts in the
field believe it is wrong to suggest that child sexual exploitation is solely perpetrated by
Asian men against white girls.
Sheila Taylor runs ‘Safe and
Sound Derby’, a group that was
instrumental in persuading
girls to give evidence against
Siddique and Liaqat said “This
model of street-grooming is going on in many places. It is just
that the recent spate of prosecutions against Asian men in the
north of England and Midlands
makes it look like it is concentrated in these communities,”
She says that the issue is not
race but the overall increase
in sex crimes over the last few
years should be addressed. The
‘Derby Safeguarding Children
Board’ has formally requested
that the Home Office carry out
research into the backgrounds
of those involved in sexual exploitation.
The Home Office said: “We
are working to ensure local police and children’s services are
well placed to respond to child
sexual exploitation, including supporting dedicated child
abuse teams and specialist officers in every police force.”
Andrew Markland
“
“
Your crimes can
only be described
as evil
four counts of rape, as well as
two counts of false imprisonment, two of sexual assault,
three charges of sexual activity with a child, perverting the
course of justice and aiding
and abetting rape. Judge Philip Head told Saddique: “Your
crimes can only be described as
evil,” adding that he was a con-
tinuing danger to young girls.
Six other men have also been
sentenced for their part in
the abuse. Many of the gang’s
victims were given alcohol or
drugs before being forced to
sault, aiding and abetting rape,
have sex in cars, rented houses
affray and four counts of sexual
or hotels across the Midlands.
activity with a child.
The crimes have attracted
Saddique was convicted of
a lot of controversy, and there
is one controversial factor
Student Health Care now provides a FREE,
that many of the experts
CONFIDENTIAL contraceptive drop-in service for all in the field are often not
under 25s
happy to discuss freely:
the race of the abusers.
EACH FRIDAY 1pm-3pm DROP-IN
The string of convictions
in cities such as RotherStudent Health Care, University Court. Ext 9051
ham, Preston, Blackburn,
Rochdale and now Derby
have more often than not
involved Asian men, specifically men of Pakistani
origin, and mainly Muslim.
In this case the judge said
“the race of the victims and
their abusers was coincidental”, but there are con-
“
T
hroughout November
last year there were
many incidents of rape
and sexual assault carried out
in the Derby area by a gang of
Asian men. There were 26 girls
involved in the case, all between the ages of 12-18. The
ringleaders of this gang have
been given indeterminate jail
terms.
Mohammed Liaqat, 28, and
Abid Saddique, 27, were found
guilty and have been jailed for
8 and 11 years respectively.
Liaqat was found guilty of one
count of rape, two of sexual as-
cerns within Asian communities about the problem.
Mohammed Shafiq, head
of the Ramadhan Foundation,
a Muslim youth organisation,
“
These people think
that white girls have
fewer morals and are
less valuable than our
girls.
became the first community
leader to speak out on the issue. “Although there have been
some cases of white men being
involved in this sexual exploitation of young girls, most of the
perpetrators are Muslim. There
are some Muslims who think
that as long as these sex gangs
aren’t targeting their own sisters and daughters the issue
doesn’t affect them... but the vast
majority of Muslims find these
actions abhorrent and disgusting,” he said. He stresses these
The Stag ‘Wanted’ Competion Winner!
My name is Pierre Barnouin and I took a picture
of myself and The Stag at
home, in Costa Rica. Although it might not be the
furthest away from Guildford, my The Stag probably traveled the most.
I was supposed to leave
 New and repeat contraceptive prescriptions, from Heathrow when we
had the large amount of
 EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION,
snow just after university
 Pregnancy testing and pregnancy advice,
finished, but found out
that my flight had been
 Free condoms,
 Chlamydia testing and all general sexual health cancelled. The only option
my airline gave me was
advice
to wait 6 days until after
Christmas to fly or to take Pierre Barnouin with The Stag abroad
a plane from Birmingham in 2
days time. I opted for the latter and found myself taking a
train up to Birmingham, staying the night and flying out
the next morning to Frankfurt
in Germany. Once in the German city, I changed plane for
one bound for Washington
D.C. I spent Christmas there
and continued on to San Jose,
Costa Rica flying via Houston,
Texas. This copy of The Stag
has traveled thousands of
miles by car, train and plane
through snow, wind, rain and
shine.
thestagsurrey.co.uk
04 NEWS
Students’
Snow Stress
(story cont. from front
page.)...If there was a war on
we’d surely be able to sort
this out,” he said. “Most people
realise that it has not snowed
at Heathrow for some time so
it is vital everything is done to
get the aircraft and passengers
moving again.”
One international student
who faced delays at Heathrow
told The Stag, “It was worrying
as I wondered if I would get
back in time to be with my
family. Luckily I managed to
get on my flight the next day
so I guess it worked out okay
in the end. It’s really annoying
Courtesy of Faha Zahid
The Stag
[email protected]
but sometimes you can’t help
these things.”
Meanwhile, Transport for
London battled to stay on
top of the snow that settled
across the capital on Saturday
morning, using an arsenal
of 38 gritters to spread over
500 tonnes of grit throughout
the region. Southwest Train
services were still operating
between
Guildford
and
Waterloo, however motorists
attempting to leave Surrey
via the M25 were diverted
when a tanker carrying
liquid petroleum overturned,
closing the motorway between
junctions five and six.
For many Surrey students
who succeeded in leaving
Guildford, it was this diversion
that caused several hours of
delays, with some choosing
to postpone their journey
until the roads had cleared.
Undergraduate, Elliot Miles,
currently in his second year as
a chemical engineering student
at the university, made the
decision to wait, “The A3 and
M25 were blocked on Saturday
18th, so I couldn’t drive back
until the Sunday. By then, the
A3 was clear but the M25 was
still blocked so I had to take a
different route to avoid it.” One
student union representative
said it took “seven hours” to
travel to Suffolk on the M25,
a journey that would have
usually taken “two and a half
hours at most.”
The transport secretary
Philip Hammond has ignored
accusations of complacency,
and has confirmed that
government consultations are
being made.
In a survey conducted by
the University of Surrey to
establish whether students
had benefited from the
various snow alerts sent via
text and email during the
adverse conditions throughout
November and December 65%
rated the Student Union’s
communicative performance
as extremely good. Students
were said to be satisfied with
the clearing of roads and
pathways on campus, but 24%
were very dissatisfied with the
availability of public transport.
Of the 105 undergraduates and
postgraduates who responded,
Mayhem UK
Students’ Ignorance Causes
Andrew Markland
I
t
is an image that
characterises a time of
unrest: Parliament Square,
in the aftermath of serious
civil disorder, scattered with
charred
debris,
mangled
barriers and broken glass. The
roll-call of injuries, the cost of
the damage inflicted on central
London’s
infrastructure
- all prompted the swift
condemnation from the home
secretary and the National
Union of Students alike.
However
if
drawing
attention to their cause
was the protesters’ aim, the
wreckage proved effective.
Every newspaper front page
and TV bulletin used images of
the chaos to illustrate the anger
unleashed among students by
the government’s plans.
Few would approve of
hurling a fire extinguisher from
the roof of a tall building, yet in
between such behaviour and
peaceful protests, lay direct
action and civil disobedience
which target property, rather
than people.
This lineage stretches
back to the Suffragettes,
who smashed windows, set
fire to letterboxes, chained
themselves to railings and
defaced paintings in the cause
of women’s right to vote - and,
ultimately, prevailed.
Of course, advocates of
peaceful protest say violence
of any kind undermines
the moral authority of the
protesters’ cause, but in the
last few years the assumption
that
British
democracy
guarantees everyone a voice
has been undermined by
both the ineffectiveness of
the Iraq demo (the largest
demonstration in the history of
Britain, which went unheard)
and now the sense of betrayal
felt by students who voted Lib
Dem because of the party’s
pledge to vote against fee
increases.
Many condemn the act of
throwing a fire extinguisher
off of a roof, but there is a
solemn understanding that
the majority of those involved
in the protest had no other
means of articulating their
frustration. As New Statesman
columnist Laurie Penny says,
“An act like smashing windows
of tax avoiders is not a cause
of social breakdown, it’s a
symptom of social breakdown.”
Chris Moyles Brings Show to Surrey
News Editor
R
adio 1 DJ and presenter,
Chris Moyles provided
an evening of festive entertainment at the University
of Surrey student’s union last
month.
The event, which took place
on 21st December during the
first week of the Christmas
break, saw Chris Moyles and
his Breakfast Show co-hosts,
Dom, Aled and Comedy Dave,
bring their Christmas themed
‘Karol-oke’ night to the Rubix
stage in an evening of singing
and dancing.
Aled Jones had been broadcasting live from Surrey Sports
Park the week before, where he
announced he was giving away
free tickets to the invite only
Karol-oke night. This prompted over 500 listeners to arrive
at the site in order to get their
“
TOM GOULDING
hands on one.
In total, an estimated 1,000
people attended the Karol-oke
night. Moyles admitted he had
“never been to Guildford before” but said the town was
“
We let you pretend for three minutes only that they
are rock stars.
easily accessible from London
and was “very excited” to be
there.
When asked what people
could expect from the evening,
Dave explained, “They’re going
to volunteer to come up and
sing with our live band and
pretend for three minutes only
that they are rock stars.”
thestagsurrey.co.uk
Courtesy of Surrey Students’ Union
[email protected]
The Stag
NEWS 05
Buses fail To Arriva On Time
Tom Leeder
H
Andrew Markland
M
Ps have voted to raise
tuition fees in England
to up to £9,000 a year,
but Ministers have proposed
that students from disadvantaged backgrounds could have
one year paid by the state, plus
another year paid by their universities.
Three days before Parliament decided on the government’s controversial plans,
ministers announced they
were looking to use a £150m
fund to provide a year’s free tuition for poorer students. This
would then be matched by the
university to provide another
year’s study free of charge.
The proposal was thought
to have helped persuade some
Lib Dem MPs to support the
government. Under the plans,
universities charging more
than £6,000 a year could be
forced to pay such students’
fees for a second year. Ministers
believe up to 18,000 students
could ultimately benefit, significantly increasing the numbers
of children from poorer backgrounds going on to higher education. Cash for the new fund
- set aside for pupils who were
eligible for free school meals would come from the National
Scholarship Programme already announced. Free school
meals are available to families
claiming certain benefits and
are given to around 80,000 pupils in each school year.
This new scheme has already come under fire by Universities UK chief executive, Nicola Dandridge, who said that
in practice the government’s
proposals would be “difficult
and counterproductive”. She
also feared that the scheme
would hit some institutions
harder than others. The Labour
party have also been quick to
criticise, with Shadow Business Secretary, John Denham,
saying that the government’s
scheme was “falling apart”.
One prevailing criticism of
the initiative is the disproportion in budget between universities nationwide. The payout
may not affect highly established universities, such as
Oxford, endowed with a £3bn
budget per annum, or even
Surrey (£47m per annum),
but could entail difficulties
for many other Universities
around the country. With this
comes the consideration that
the initiative does not cater
for poorly funded universities,
and could increase the financial strain placed on the UK
education system.
past two or three weeks, so
something has clearly changed
but we need to ascertain
what the problem actually is.”
Students are growing frustrated with buses that fail to arrive
within their allocated time slot
leaving no other option but to
wait for the next bus. Harmer
insists that any bus failing
to turn up does so for a good
“
I have lived in five
countries and I have
never seen a bus service anywhere that is
of such low quality.
reason: “Some days we do encounter problems and the last
resort is to pull a bus from a
specified route, but sometimes
it is better to cut a bus to ensure
that the service for the rest of
the day continues on time.”
To compound Arriva’s woes
Surrey students have been reporting incidents of drivers
being ‘rude and sharp’ towards
them as they try to board the
service. A second year student
said after boarding an already
late bus: “I found the driver to
be extremely rude towards me
and the rest of the paying passengers.” Arriva have responded strongly to any misconduct
by drivers with members of
Editor’s View
Having lived in Manor Park
for a year, I have had some
experience of the Arriva
buses. The unreliability of
the buses was an additional
stress for me since I had
to be at the bus stop 45
minutes prior to the time I
had lectures or work since
buses had a habit of not
turning up at all. This was
frustrating as even when
I was at the bus stop 45
minutes before, I ended up
“
Education Initiative
Is “Falling Apart”
undreds of students
have been left out
in the cold waiting
for University buses – causing
them to be late for vital lectures.
The Arriva bus service has
been criticised by students for
continually failing to deliver a
punctual service and now The
Stag can reveal that the Students’ Union has been inundated with complaints about
buses that are severely late
or failing to turn up at all. On
numerous occasions stranded
students have had to seek out
alternative modes of transport
in order to reach University.
One Psychology student said:
“I have lived in five countries and I have never seen
a bus service anywhere
that is of such low quality.”
Arriva has provided transport
to the University for 14 years
and has only in recent months
experienced problems with
the service it provides. It’s
an issue the Students’ Union
has been attempting to bring
to the attention of Arriva for
some time, and it seems the
company has finally taken notice, although when The Stag
spoke to Graham Harmer, Surrey Regional Manager of Arriva, he blamed the issues on
the town itself. “Guildford is a
very difficult town to run a reliable bus service because of the
traffic. There are a lot of problems coming from the gyratory
system and heading up to the
University. We have to make
allowances for that, it is part
of our job as a bus operator.”
James Newby, Director of
Traded Services and Business
Support for Surrey University
said: “We are aware the issue has got a lot worse in the
being late most of the times.
Arriva has to take some
drastic steps to improve
the quality of their service
since students have deadlines and timetables which
they need to consider.
I think the Student’s Union, VP Welfare Georgina
Hancock in particular, has
been working hard towards
making Arriva see the
students perspective and
staff being disciplined and
several being dismissed.
In recent months Arriva
have increased the frequency of buses that run during
peak hours and they have also
introduced double decker
buses to accommodate significantly more passengers
and help to ease congestion
at troublesome bus stops.
Harmer moved to reassure
students by saying: “Overall
I feel the level of service we
provide is very good and we
are looking to build upon that
and develop our relationship
with the university further.
I agree we have to do a bit
more work on the reliability
issue and I feel we can achieve
that sooner rather than later.”
This view was echoed by Newby: “We are very confident
that there will be a significant
improvement by early 2011.
If there isn’t an improvement
then we will not stop until the
service does become more reliable.”
SU President Malcolm Hunt
said: “I’m glad we have managed to bring this to the attention of Arriva and I’m pleased
to see action is taking place
to resolve the issues students
have told us about.”
making a change. As for the
attitude of the bus drivers,
I think a smile goes a long
way, do your bit and see
how it goes. If you have any
comments or complaints
about the Arriva bus service, please do let us know.
You can email The Stag at
[email protected].
Share your experience,
good or bad, and we’ll print
it in the next edition.
thestagsurrey.co.uk
06 NEWS
The Stag
Students Reluctant
To Accept Defeat
On Increasing Fees
[email protected]
Off Campus!
Jack White
Bluefin Tuna
TOM GOULDING
News Editor
Students protest against fees
A
s 2011 settles in, students across Britain are
preparing to stand fast
and continue the valiant fight
against the Government’s rise
in tuition fees and cuts to University budgets.
Demonstrations have been
called for Saturday 29th January: a mass event in London
and a smaller Manchester protest. The demonstrations have
been backed by the two largest
student campaigning groups –
the National Campaign Against
Fees and Cuts and the Education Activist Network – as well
as the NUS and the UCU and
PCS trade unions.
In a recent poll by The Student Panel and London Media,
93% of students supported the
protest at Conservative Party
HQ in November.
The National Campaign
Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC)
will be holding an open conference at University College London on 22nd January. The conference will discuss how best
to bring the national student
campaign closer to defeating
the Coalition Government.
NCAFC specifically invites
those students who represent
a local campaigning group or
who would like to set one up.
Since Parliament narrowly
passed the legislation to increase fees, the student movement has increasingly taken its
cue from cases where concerted public pressure has defeated government initiative. Most
obviously, the widespread riots of 1989/90 caused Parliament to repeal the Poll Tax and
led directly to the downfall of
Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s
controversial Prime Minister.
The Liberal-Democrats have
borne the brunt of student displeasure over the education
funding crisis. Students voted
for them in droves (48%) at
the General Election, but by
the end of November, support
slumped to 15%.
Labour has picked up much
of the support – 43% of students now say they would
vote Labour, putting them first
amongst the university population. However the Labour Party has yet to formalise its policy on education funding and it
remains to be seen whether or
not it will continue to support
high fees, or return to the more
social policy of free education.
Keep up-to-date on the
forthcoming protests at www.
anticuts.com.
thestagsurrey.co.uk
I
n this issue, birds are falling from the sky in America;
medicine with compulsive
side effects in Italy and an almost endangered fish is sold in
Japan…
Happy New Year! In the last
Off Campus!, complete and utter
nuclear annihilation seemed
imminent, but now Kim Jong-il
is putting his ‘holy war’ on ice
for an aptly timed global freeze,
it seems there’s no need to do
anything too brash, like, say,
spend £250,000 on a fish.
Ricky Cheng doesn’t think
so. Owner of a Hong Kong sushi restaurant, Mr. Cheng has
bought a 342kg bluefin tuna
for a record-breaking 32.4m
yen. When asked what could
have possibly possessed him
to pay so much for what is, at
the end of the day, a fish, Mr.
Cheng said, “Good tuna is really selling to people in Hong
Kong and China, and this is a
really good fish.” Unfortunately for the bluefin tuna, the UN
decided earlier last year that
it wasn’t quite good enough to
make the protected species list,
leaving it open to the whim of
the Japanese fishing fleets. It is
thought that 80% of the Atlantic and Pacific bluefin tuna is
consumed by Japan, meaning
that an average morning down
the Tokyo marketplace could
probably put Jesus out of a job
several times over.
WWF has warned that if the
rate of fishing continues as it is,
the Atlantic population of the
bluefin tuna will be virtually
extinct within three years. Japanese champion of sustainable
fishing Hideyuki Komatsu has
said it’s time to start butchering other forms of sea life, such
as the minke whale. “While the
minke whale has a green light
above it, the fin whale has a
yellow light. But a red light is
flashing over the bluefin tuna.”
Still if Mr. Komatsu is a
reputable fish sympathizer,
he probably won’t like what’s
been going on in the United
States this month. In two separate incidents, over 100,000
drum fish have washed up
along a 20-mile stretch of the
Arkansas River, and 5,000
blackbirds have dropped from
the sky. Weirder still, in neighbouring Louisiana, 500 dead
blackbirds were found littered
across the city of Laberre. This
of course begs the obvious
question, is the Earth’s core
slowing down and if so, will
Aaron Eckhart be needed to
jump start it through a series
of tactical nuclear explosions à
la 2003 blockbuster The Core?
The answer is thankfully
no. Experts have theorized a
dull and depressingly plausible explanation for the strange
avian behaviour seen by hysterical suburban residents.
They concluded that the birds
probably suffered “internal
trauma” caused by fireworks
that could have startled them
on New Year’s Eve. A believable idea, but what about the
fish? It doesn’t take a lecture
from Mr. Komatsu to know
that for all their shortcomings,
fish are unlikely to be driven to
commit Hitchcock-esque acts
of terror by the offset of Catherine Wheels. Could Obama be
to blame? Or BP? The Stag is
placing its bets on Kim Jong-il.
Finally, a retired 70-yearold Italian man (not Silvio Berlusconi but watch this space)
is suing his doctors for prescribing a medicine, which he
insists, made him gamble away
€300,000. Paolo Chisci had
been taking dopamine since
1999, but says he was not informed about the compulsive
side-effects of the drug which
led him to buy 500 instant lottery scratch cards a day until
his family finally discovered
the addiction.
Compulsive behaviour has
been linked to dopamine before, and in 2008 research carried out in America found that
13% of 3,000 patients who
were on the drug suffered from
at least one form of addiction.
Mr. Chisci should probably be
thankful that he didn’t spend
the money on a bluefin tuna.
That’s all for this week,
make sure you pick up The
Stag for the next issue of Off
Campus!
The Stag
[email protected]
What Does the VAT Increase
Mean for Students at Surrey?
Price before
increase
JYOTI RAMBHAI
Features Editor
E
© altogetherfool 2009
verybody should now be
fully aware the VAT has
gone up from 17.5% to
20%. It’s all well the government saying that it is necessary to help bring down the
UK’s high budget deficit, but
it’s not going to be easy for us
students trying to budget all
the costs, especially as we do
not get extra money from the
Students Loan Company.
Against All Odds
FEATURES 07
Price after
increase
Medium Latte from Starbucks
£2.45
£2.50
Pint of Foster at Chancellors
£2.40
£2.45
Breakfast toast at Hillside
£0.55
£0.75
Breakfast roll at Hillside
£1.50
£1.70
Pair of Standard Peep-toe Heels from
£19.57
£19.99
New Look
Standard Men’s Cardigan from Burton
£29.37
£30.00
Trains: Off-Peak Return from Guildford to
£15.70
£16.80
London Waterloo
Unleaded Petrol from Shell
123.9p/litre 127.9p/litre
Increase in petrol adds minimum of £1.50 extra to fill up a small tank.
So after the rise in tuition
fees going through in 2010,
it really isn’t a great start to
2011. Although basic food
bought at supermarkets such
as, bread, milk, butter, etc, chil-
dren’s clothing, newspapers
and magazines, which are not
subject to VAT, the small increase in prices makes a big
difference to our budget. Just
take a look above.
Facebook to Get New Features
FRAN WHITE
© David Spender
Camera Left: Nick Clegg is continuing to push his party’s progressive line on universities
MRS B
Features Team
T
uition fees are going up – that was decided on the 9th December to be precise. It’s made me think a lot about
my education, almost as if it is a burden. I’ll
have this great omen behind me constantly
reminding me about the great sum I have to
pay back when I’ve finished university, each
time I sit down at every lecture.
The underlying issue is that university is
not supposed to be a burden. Simon Hughes,
the new deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, agreed with this saying: “Our position
has been that in a tight economic situation
we need to think about university in numbers, we need to make sure there's value for
money but it would be wrong to put more
financial burden on students by way of tuition fees”.
There is still hope though. Mr Clegg said
in a message to Liberal-Democrat partymembers that they have “developed a plan
to phase out tuition fees over the course of
the next six years to ensure this vital policy
is affordable even at this time of economic
crisis’. He is aware that ‘Ending tuition fees
would cost billions of pounds every year.
We need to be certain we can afford it before
we make any promises.” There is hope when
he lets us know that. “But I can make this
pledge: at the next election we will have the
best, most progressive package for students
of any mainstream party: that is my guarantee to you.”
Whilst the increase of tuition fees might
leave students feeling like there is just no
hope, Nick Clegg reassures students with
this promising pledge.
Recent views saw Stella English win the
apprentice on Sunday 19th December. The
mother of two left school at age 15, worked
in Japanese Bank for 10 years, pursued the
Apprentice and went on to win it. If that
doesn’t speak for itself I don’t know what
will. We can’t all be Stella English but we can
be who we are with no limitations.
O
fficially launched in 2004,
Facebook was created in a
dorm at Harvard University by Mark Zuckerberg, before
going straight into competition
with the like of MySpace. In July
2010 it had 500 million users,
although it is determined to
reach the 1 billion mark.
It is the world’s biggest photo
site, beating Flickr and Photobucket and what Facebook
didn’t have, it is about to get.
Mark Zuckerberg is in plans
to create Facebook e-mail.
This means you can have an
e-mail address along the lines
of [email protected].
It is promising to be quicker,
less formal and to hopefully cut
down on the amount of spam we
often get on our current email
addresses.
Alongside this new revelation, Facebook has had some
new investors, Goldman Sachs.
Why? In order to allow the rich
users of the site to be able to
invest in Goldman Sachs to be
able to buy shares.
“In any 20 minutes, Facebook typically sees 1m shared
links, 2.7m photos uploaded and
10.2m comments.
Facebook
also records 7.7m "likes" every
20 minutes, generated not just
by users on facebook.com but
on more than 2 million other
sites across the web that have
embedded Facebook's commenting tools.” (Jemma Kiss,
Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg
© Jason McElweenie
Features Team
The Guardian)
Facebook is starting to be predicted as a site that will overtake
Google. If you type Facebook
into the Google search engine
the first ten links to appear are
directing you to login into Facebook – they are getting you there
as quick as they can. Facebook
can be set as your homepage
just like Google.
The latest rumour is of allowing users to shop from within
Facebook and to give reviews
of the products to others on our
site. Facebook will then be able
to study shopping patterns and
sell them back to the retailers.
thestagsurrey.co.uk
The Stag
08 FEATURES
New Year’s
Resolutions
The City that Never Sleeps:
5.
6.
7.
8.
will work better. Writing
these things for a set day
in a diary is also helpful –
which leads onto my next
point...
Set separate deadlines!
Accepting that something
will be done by the end of
the year usually doesn’t
work.
Write resolutions in stages.
Helpful, as many things
can’t be blitzed or begun
all in one go. For example,
instead of ‘get a job/work
experience’ try: contact
‘specific workplaces/companies’/update CV/write
cover letters/send etc.
Be positive – rather than
state things that you plan
not to do, state things that
you plan to do.
Keep it somewhere you
won’t forget so that you
look at it reasonably regularly, treating it as a sort of
long term to-do list (I find I
get short term things completed but never long term
things). It becomes more
likely that you will achieve
your resolutions.
Stag Team Members’ Resolutions
“To get work placement sorted out, to work harder for my
exams and to sort of my finances in terms of savings.”
Christina Webb (ME)
“To travel... starting with Amsterdam and Brighton!”
Bakita Kasadha
“Just to be better this year than last year. You can really take
that as something different for each person.”
Jack White
“Stop biting my nails.”
Mariam Nasir
“To get a 1st this year at University.”
Jyoti Rambhai
“My new year’s resolution is to wake up for at least 5 days of
every week, by 9AM and to eat healthily (no junk).”
Utkarsh Sharma
thestagsurrey.co.uk
© Effervescing Elephant
New York
...cont’d from front page
...will promise they’ll prepare for exams much better
than before.
Some stay true to their new
rules for an acceptable time,
others stray, whilst many tend
to know right from the beginning that the latter is going to
happen even before February
begins. I am particularly familiar with this! However, I have
found that in the last couple
of years, I have found some
simple things to stick to when
aiming to achieve the majority
of things that I want to when
writing a New Year’s Resolutions list, and on the whole, it
can work:
1. Keep the list short and
sweet. Don’t try to promise
yourself too many things!
2. Be realistic.
3. Number the list, therefore you will feel a sense
of achievement even if you
only accomplish one and
you can attempt to achieve
each of the goals separately.
4. Be specific – actions over
words. I found this most
important
as
nothing
changed when I scribbled
things down such as ‘be
more organised.’ Also, ‘exercise’ or ‘join the gym’ may
seem specific, but ‘read up
on membership details/
phone gym/buy a pilates
DVD/go for 3 runs a week’
[email protected]
FRAN WHITE
Features Team
Y
ou may have seen the skyline, Statue of
Liberty and Times Square on the silver
screen, however it is only by standing in
the hustle and bustle amongst the thousands of
tourists does fascinating city comes to life.
As I venture out into the extremely cold,
crisp air and head towards Times Square I
stand amongst the tourists, who are posing,
photographing or simply staring in awe at the
features which surround them. It is commonly
known as the “Crossroads of the World”. It’s
no surprise really – the traffic barely stops unless the traffic light is on red, but then that only
stops one lane. It is a constant buzz, the gaudy
billboards and glittery marquees are almost
captivating. There are in total, a staggering
sixty mega-billboards and forty miles of neon
lighting. It’s astonishing and mind boggling to
even think about how it was all set up.
As I am tired after my flight, I retreat back to
my hotel, The Hotel Rodger Williams on Madison Avenue, and decide try the lavish hotel
restaurant. New York is host to thousands of
glamorous restaurants. Of course if fine dining is not to your taste there are many low-key
places to eat and a McDonalds on every block;
these, with it being America, have huge portions where small translates as big and large
translates as… well, you get the picture.
The next morning, a Sunday coincidently, I
wander down to Central Park, about a twenty
minute walk from my hotel. The park is an
oasis from the insanity: the perfectly mowed
lawns, meandering wooded paths, provide the
bit of nature which the New Yorkers crave. The
blooming cherry blossoms and crisp crimson
leaves help to bring the park to life – they set
the scene. There is an ice rink on which many
are having fun.
You cannot leave without visiting the tearshaped garden, the memorial to John Lennon
and the Strawberry Fields, situated just across
from the Dakota building. It is the most visited
spot of Central Park, and it receives a yearly
$1m grant from his widow Yoko Ono to maintain it. This peaceful spot contains a grove of
stately elms and a tiled mosaic. The mosaic is
so intricately designed, yet it just simply reads
“imagine”.
For a full three hundred and sixty degree
view of the city, make your way up the Rockefeller Centre. The views are spectacular.
Standing that high up is a great place to be in
the city, as it can feel crowded after so long you
can start to forget that open space exists. The
air is fresher and the city looks like a whole different place from up here.
Of course you must see the Statue of Liberty. Some prefer to go onto the island itself
however, I feel that the best way to see it was
by the Staten Island Ferry. Although this is just
a commuter’s ferry, it is free and gives great
photo opportunities: the view of the statue is
perfect as is the view of Downtown Manhattan.
By staying on the ferry there and back you can
do the trip in around 40 minutes for free.
The city is host to many clubs, bars and restaurants, and it doesn’t take long at night for
the nightlife to ignite. Its reputation precedes
it, as it really is the city that never sleeps. It’s
energy and unrestrained attitude never dips or
slows down. So why should you.
The Stag
Fashion
T
his week our student
buy of the week comes
from the forever faithful
Topshop, who also offer a 10%
discount to students all year
round. We have chosen this
on-trend camel blouse with a
Peter Pan colour. While camel
is a huge trend for this season,
the Peter Pan collar as a finishing detail is fast becoming
a hot trend itself, showing up
in the ready-to-wear catwalk
collections of Miu Miu and can
already be seen all over the
high street.
This versatile blouse is easy
glamour at its best, pair with
black shorts and cute flats for
a chic day outfit or pair the
blouse with your favourite
skinny jeans for an equally
lecture chic outfit. Visit www.
topshop.com to snap up this
blouse before it sells out.
H
ture on tights – showing how they can be worn as both a fashion
statement and as a stylish cover up as we transition between
seasons. We hope that you enjoy this issue and as ever if you
have any feedback, comments or ideas we would love to hear
from you. Email us at [email protected]/na00107@surrey.
ac.uk
Nisha and Christie
Fashion Tights
A
lthough the world of fashion is constantly changing, with new ideas
and old trends returning, tights are
a faithful friend to everyone in the fashion world. They cover pale legs, allow us
girls to wear dresses and skirts throughout the cold season and above all they are
comfortable. Their popularity has lead to
a variety of fashionable designs for both
daywear and eveningwear, helping to
spice up your outfits.
These suspender style tights are perfect for a night out, it is best to team them
with a simple and straight cut dress as
frills or patterns may look a bit too fussy.
These particular tights are House of Holland. You can pick them up from John
Lewis, Selfridges or www.houseofholland.co.uk for £12. Be careful when putting them on as the sheer part at the top
of the tights is very delicate.
Pretty Polly hosiery produces a vari-
Best-Dressed of the Week:
Kim Kardashian in Tadashi Shoji
I
n the past month we have
seen some outstanding
outfits on the red carpet,
and with Christmas and New
Year having just passed there
has been no shortage of events
for celebrities to attend. So
many events, so many looks
to choose from! However this
week none other than the
beautiful Kim Kardashian is
our pick of the week. If there’s
one thing that Kim knows how
to do, it’s how to work her
killer hourglass figure in a gor-
“
Student
Buy of
the Week
i guys, welcome to our first issue of 2011! We hope that
everyone had a fabulous Christmas and New Year! Another year has come and we hope it will be a fantastic
one for fashion, and by the looks of the sensational outfits we
have already seen so early in the year and with awards season
just around the corner we’re sure we won’t be disappointed! In
this issue we bring you three mini features – we have our regular
best dressed and student buy of the week features and a fea-
geous dress. While attending
her family Christmas party,
Kim chose this sparkling, oneshouldered dress by Tadashi
“
Kim knows... how
to work her killer
hourglass figure
in a gorgeous
dress.
Shoji (Fall 2010) and while
Christmas may be over there’s
FEATURES 09
ety of fashionable tights and socks. These
dazzling pair of sheer diamond tights are
really classy and help to lengthen the legs.
It is better to wear sheer tights like these
when wearing a longer dress, no shorter
than just above the knee. You can find
these tights at www.legsandstockings.
co.uk/brands-brand~Pretty Polly.htm or
at Debenhams, Boots and Wilkinson for
just £8.45.
These opaque Pretty Polly diamond
tights are great as they can be worn on
a night out with a dress and heels or in
the day with boots, pumps or dolly shoes.
These tights are also available in pink for
just £6.45.
no denying that a little sparkle
can add an element of fun to
any girls wardrobe.
The dress is a perfect mix
of gold and aubergine colours
and is completely on trend as
purple is a key colour this season. However for us the one
thing that makes this dress a
knockout is the cut and shape:
the one shoulder and length of
the dress provide an elegant
touch while the deeper aubergine colour gives a hint of
drama.
Kim has also chosen to cinch
in her waist with a black waistband, making the fit perfect
for her body shape. This dress
is an all round winner suiting
both Kim’s personality and approach to fashion, we love it.
© David Shankbone
[email protected]
thestagsurrey.co.uk
The Stag
10 FEATURES
[email protected]
Games
Answers in the next edition of The Stag. Send your answers to [email protected] to get a mention in the paper.
Sudoku
Wordsearch
2
1
3
8
6
7
1
7
E
S
I
C
E
X
E
E
F
9
8
F
P
E
W
N
E
F
X
B
5
C
R
T
D
E
D
G
E
E
3
1
4
O
O
D
U
I
D
W
R
G
9
8
6
D
M
L
G
L
E
H
C
I
6
5
7
2
P
I
S
D
N
O
T
I
N
2
1
R
S
B
E
G
G
S
Z
S
9
7
O
E
G
M
A
X
E
E
G
S
M
A
X
E
A
D
D
R
6
2
8
4
1
3
The words to find are:
Crossword
1
4
6
1
3
2
3
PROMISE
DIET
NEW
BEGIN
EXERCISE
COLD
EXAMS
Maze Mania
2
5
4
ACROSS
1. Hidden, also means witchcraft
2. Controversial BBC business man
3. Screen parameter you’ll never keep
4. Out with the old half and in with the new
DOWN
1. German mountain of sugar on the Internet
2. Week starting 7th February
3. Kardashian’s figure and timepiece
4. English woman likes Sugar
5. Negative German
6. Famous American biscuit
thestagsurrey.co.uk
Relive your childhood and
guide our stevie home!
New Student
6 Month Membership
Just £105
(FULL YEAR £195)
SIGN UP FOR MEMBERSHIP TODAY FOR
• Use of a range of Surrey Sports Park facilities
including the swimming pool, classes, health
and fitness centre, squash and tennis courts
• Access to Student Sports Clubs
Find out more at surreysportspark.co.uk
18 SCIENCE & TECH
The Stag
@thestagsurrey.co.uk
thestagsurrey.co.uk
[email protected]
thestagsurrey.co.uk
The Stag
SOCIETIES
21
14 Science & Tech
The Stag
[email protected]
That’ll Do, Pig That’ll Do
RACHEL LISMORE-BURNS
In Ontario, Canada, a small
farm has been home to a
controversial and revolutionary scientific project called
‘Enviropig’.
The pigs here have
undergone drastic genetic
modification so that they
now contain genes from mice
and E.coli bacteria, and may
become the first GM animals
to be licensed for human
consumption.
GM foods – foods that have
had their DNA deliberately
altered
through
genetic
engineering - have been on
sale to the public since the
1990s. However, these have
only ever included foods such
as corn and rice and some
vegetables. Typically they are
modified to be pest resistant
or to increase their seasonal
growth. The first vegetable to
undergo genetic modification
and go on sale was the tomato
(given the name ‘FlavrSavr’),
which was altered to reduce
softening
after
ripening.
However it did not produce a
profit and removed from the
market in 1996.
Other than crops, one of the
only GM animals to go on sale
was the ‘GloFish’ which was sold
for pet purposes. This brand of
zebrafish was modified to grow
into fluorescent red, green and
orange coloured fish.
Controversy has always
surrounded the idea of
selling GM animals for human
consumption over worries
that it may have unforeseen
dangers and consequences.
Whilst studies have researched
the foods and found them
to be safe, many people still
remain unconvinced – mainly
because the studies are often
carried out by the companies
looking to sell the product.
However, with more and more
developments being made in
the GM market and global food
demand growing, it is looking
like it may become increasingly
difficult to hold off what many
scientists are calling a miracle
technology.
The alterations to the
‘Enviropig’ for example mean
that it can digest phosphates
more easily. Naturally, pigs
cannot digest these chemicals
and they end up polluting and
damaging the environment.
With the alterations however,
it seems that the pigs may be
‘greener’ and cheaper to feed.
In a similar situation in the
U.S, a GM salmon has been
engineered so that it will
grow twice as quickly as it
would naturally. The Food and
Drug Administration (which
regulates food consumption
in a pair of trainers and make
nature your gym by going
jogging. Exercise doesn’t have
to be a separate part of your
daily routine either, it can easily
be incorporated; by climbing
stairs instead of using the lift
or walking rather than taking
the bus.
Calorie intake. You should
be eating 2500 calories if
you’re a healthy male and
around 2000 calories a day if
you’re a healthy female. We
often don’t realise how much
we are eating so if you’re trying
to lose weight, be responsible
and start a food diary.
When you have a meal,
write down exactly what you
have eaten, even if it’s part of
a salad, i.e. the salad dressing.
It’s often the small bits that are
the most fattening!
Invest in a blender. It was
recently found that when you
eat the same amount of food
and water but pop it in a food
processor before you eat it,
basically making it a soup;
it fills you up more than an
ordinary meal and a glass of
water.
This is the case because
once the water is absorbed,
your stomach shrinks quite
rapidly. Whereas if the food is
in soup form it stays in your
stomach for longer, making
you feel fuller for longer and
thus lose weight.
Drink plenty of milk. It was
also found that drinking milk
helps you lose weight because
An Enviropig in its pen
Top 6 Scientific
Ways To Lose Weight
EMMA COOPER
We all may have indulged a little over Christmas so here are
some tips to help trim that
waistline.
Don’t crash diet. Crash
dieting can lead to you craving
more sugary foods as your
body needs to have instant
gratification. So the best thing
to do is eat three standard
meals a day with healthy
snacks in between.
Exercise may be boring
but it is an essential way to
lose weight. By reducing your
calorie intake and exercising,
you are toning as well as losing
fat. If the Sports Centre is out
of your money league, invest
thestagsurrey.co.uk
in the U.S) has ruled that the
‘AquAdvantage’ salmon are
safe to be farmed and eaten.
A decision has yet to
be made over whether the
salmon are to be sold in the
food market and the fate of the
Make nature your gym
it fills you up more than water
but is better for you then
fruit juices and high calorific
smoothies. Semi skimmed
milk is the best option as it’s
healthy but tasty as well.
Protein is your best friend
whilst trying to lose weight.
Cutting out carbohydrates in
Enviropig is still unsure but it
certainly seems that the idea of
GM food is losing its stereotype
and we may be seeing the
beginning of GM animals’
becoming commonplace in the
supermarket.
favour of protein can help you
lose weight easily.
The whole idea is that
the protein keeps you fuller
for longer by producing a
particular hormone which
when sent to your brain
turns off the hunger in your
stomach.
[email protected]
The Stag
IMAN MAJID & JAHIR RAFIQ
W
ho
would
have
thought
programming
is that much interesting
before actually attending a
workshop called “safe sex”....
Don’t be scared! It’s just one
fun way of learning safe and
defensive conduct in our world
of programming. That’s what
CompSoc is all about - fun &
learning.
In all, CompSoc delivered
an amazing year for all of
us - be it through variety in
programming or just playing
around with creativity.
In the last year, CompSoc
achieved a number of fairly
massive
milestones.
Not
only will it increase the
employability of members in
the near future but also it has
successfully wiped out the
wrong notions of computer
fun - especially programming,
which some would presume
to be boring. Computing
is actually all about practice
and mutual transport of data.
Last year we completed C++
101. It’s great to see that people
actually have interest in such
things like C++. The members
of Surrey CompSoc voted C++
as an interesting language to
learn that may create more
opportunities
for
future
employment.
A “Not-a-Lecture” series
of talks and code challenges
was on action to address
this need. The lectures were
absolutely brilliant and member
attendance increased as the
days progressed.
However, our main intention
was to learn through fun - and
people really did have fun as
they started to raise different
issues and couple of guys
actually turned up with new
ideas.
We however tried many
other things as well. One of
the most popular one was the
“splat” challenge which seemed
to have provided fun as the
suggestions showed we could
go ahead with this again.
I must also mention the
windows “GUI” code writing
with the specification. We also
designed for a game of Tic-TacToe for Windows. It’s quite
surprising how we managed
to do all sort of things in just
three hours.
We have lot of plans for
the upcoming semester. It’s
always a terrifying job to
balance between lecture and
maintaining societies like this
which obviously require a lot
of thinking and collaboration.
But we’re all out there
to utilize the best possible
opportunities and together
we can really make a huge
difference.
“London at Night”
The london eye is a ferris wheel located at the south bank of the Thames river. It will be officialy
known as the EDF Energy London eye fron the 20th January 2010. It was opened on the 31rst of
Decemver 1999 by Tony Blair, but was made available to the public on 9th march 2000.
BruSurrey – The
University Of
Surrey’s Bruneian
Society first event
DALINATUL AHMED
S
aturday, 8th January 2011
- The University of Surrey’s Bruneian Society
which is better known as BruSurrey kick-started its events
calendar with a brief but first
ever ‘eat and get together’
ceremony on the 8th January
2011. The function was held at
a renowned restaurant in the
heart of Guildford, Surrey.
Around 26 Bruneians attended the social event which
was considered a way for the
members of the society to meet
each other and strengthen relationships amongst them. More
events and activities will be organised to bring together the
University of Surrey Bruneian
students in the future to form
long-lasting relationships.
The lunch was hosted by the
President of BruSurrey Society,
Abdul Muiz bin Hj Muhd Hasbi,
whom took the opportunity to
congratulate everyone on the
establishment of the society
and expressed his gratitude
and appreciation for the support given by the members of
“
“
Computer Society
Societies 15
The society will
endeavour to promote the Bruneian
culture, customs
and tradition in order to demonstrate
multicultural value
of Bruneian people
internationally.
the society for making its first
social gathering a success.
He added that various activities and events have been
planned and will be held
throughout the year. The ‘doa
selamat’ (prayer) was read by
Muhammad Saifullah bin Haji
Chuchu, appointed the male
religious representative of the
society.
Following that, members
of the society had fun walking
around the town and enjoying
the scenery around the Castle
of Guildford. The society has
gained ratification from the
University of Surrey as an official society in November 2010.
Currently, the society is in
the midst of building up their
structure as Bruneian representation in Guildford. The
main aim on the establishment
of the society is to unite previous, current & future Bruneian
students from University of
Surrey.
Through the society, it is
hoped that the current and
future members of the society
will foster a good relationship
in supporting each other in all
aspects, be it in terms of social
issues, student welfare, academic studies or religious understanding. In addition, the
members of the society will be
supporting and being actively
involved with any festivals and
national celebrations held by
the Brunei Student Union and
Brunei High Commissioner
(both Bruneian establishments
based in London) as well as
various events held by the University of Surrey. The society
will endeavour to promote the
Bruneian culture, customs and
tradition in order to demonstrate multicultural value of
Bruneian people internationally.
With its excellent academic
reputation and fantastic student life, University of Surrey
has become one of the top universities of choices for those
Bruneian students whom like
to further their studies abroad.
There are currently over 30
Bruneian students studying at
Surrey in a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate
degrees including Computing,
Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Human Resources
Management, Business Management, Microbial Sciences,
Nutrition and Food Science,
Politics and Nursing.
thestagsurrey.co.uk
16 SOCIETIES
The Stag
[email protected]
T
urn your calendar back
to 2007 and the Dance
Music Society of today
was merely a bunch of guys
with a little idea in their minds.
The idea to bring an underground genre of music loved
by the masses in London and
other cities around the UK to a
cheesy and commercial based
Guildford.
As you all most definitely
know, a night out in the Students’ Union, Flares, Dusk
or Casino all share the same
traits, but what a lot of you
don’t know is that so much
more is on offer, right here in
the heart of our campus.
So moving on 3 years what
has this idea evolved into? Society is a bad label - event organizer / promoter is more along
the lines - but that’s something
we can leave to the Students’
Union to quarrel about.
The introduction of The Living Room’s new minimalist decor has opened so many doors
for us as well as other event
organizing societies. Its vibe
creating attributes and crisp
sound system has provided a
platform to throw some truly
legendary parties as well as
creating some unforgettable
memories.
Just over a year ago we
kicked off our fortnightly Living Room residency, at first
experimental but momentum
was quickly gathered. 27 successful events later we find
“Filtered” where it is today. By
bringing guest DJs from some
of the best UK clubs (Fabric included), our profile has risen
in Guildford but also to a point
where promoters in London,
websites and independent
magazines have started to take
notice. The sound, predominantly deep house accompanied by an array of dubby
techno has brought the same
faithful crowd back week after week, not just students but
Guildford town goers with the
majority of them sick of the
Baywatch theme tune being
drummed into their ears.
As well as our flagship Filtered night, we’ve tried and
succeeded on occasions to edu-
thestagsurrey.co.uk
cate people in what we do. The
DJ school was a new addition
last year providing a hands-on,
fun and cheap way to learn the
basic skills of beat matching,
analogue mixing as well as the
theory behind the construction of a DJ set. After a few trial sessions we find ourselves
with a full program ready to be
sprung into action.
Shortly after exams we will
be back into it again. With a few
big dates already organized,
next semester is set to be one
of our best. Space Ibiza’s Lewis
Ryder is one of the treats already in the February party
bag. We also have something
big, fun and rather outrageous
planned for the Union towards
the end of term. Make sure you
keep your eyes peeled for that
one.
For more information on
The Dance Music Society, Filtered, upcoming parties or feel
like you have something you
could offer to us feel free to
visit:
www.facebook.com/wearefiltered.
See you guys on the dance
floor.
d
-
od M o o d
o
G
Good
EDWARD B
Fo
o
Dance Music Society
five pieces of fruit and veg a day you ‘re helping you body and mind.
If you eat
Eating well stops you feeling sluggish and helps aid your concentration,
giving you all the energy you need to stay awake through the last ten
minutes of your Friday afternoon lecture...
For more advice on staying healthy in body and mind, contact Student Health Care.
If you feel troubled and want to talk to someone, try the Centre for Wellbeing
Student Health Care - T: 01483 68 9051 E: [email protected]
Centre for Wellbeing - T: 01483 68 9498 E: [email protected]
[email protected]
The Stag
Entertainement: Dance & Theatre 17
DANCE & THEATRE
Dance Against The Cuts Stripped Down,
Loved Up Ballet
his year sees English
National
Ballet
present their tenth
interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s
classic The Nutcracker. The
beautiful score is weaved into
Eagling’s choreographic fabric;
some of its most iconic excerpts
provide musical landmarks for
an eagerly awaiting audience.
Eagling
opens
the
performance with artistic
ease. A warm, inviting scene
prevails with skaters whizzing
about the stage and families
walking in the crisp, white
snow. Characterisation is well
developed and quite realistic.
A detailed set and Edwardian
period costume support this
charming scene.
In keeping with the original
story, Clara’s dream is key to
the performance, evoking a
variety of characters. Mice
fester the performance with
their mischievous ways whilst
the Sugar Plum Fairy radiates
the stage, and sparkling with
elegance she epitomises the
ballerina image. The corps
de ballets are strong; the
simple choreography follows
a symmetrical form, resulting
in some stunning visuals.
The dream is cut short when
the characters amalgamate
on stage, circling around and
around into something like a
whirlwind. At once they are
gone and a young Clara sits up
in her bed, startled, and runs
to tell her brother. A clever
ending that resolves the tale’s
disorder.
English National Ballet
present good technique and
performance throughout the
piece but I was not convinced
by
the
characterisation
of the principal dancers,
Erina Takahashi and James
Forbat. Similarly, some of the
transitions between Clara and
supporting male characters
were a little laboured,
sometimes clumsy particularly
during lift work. These small
discrepancies did not instil my
confidence in the performance,
and I was not overly at ease
whilst watching.
Traditionalists
might
regard Eagling’s restaging to
be stripped down or untrue
to the original story but this
version seems to capture its
essence: young love and the
spirit of Christmas.
moment requires some level of
self reflection.
This idea of self-reflection
can also apply to imaginings
of the future. It is also very
‘human’ to live your life in the
future, where self-reflection
is only gained through a
fantastical image of what you
‘will be’. Quentin Crisp strikes
a good point when he claims
that living in the future is the
death of happiness.
He also claims that
happiness is about living in
the present. ‘The essence of
happiness is its absoluteness.
It is automatically the state of
being of those who live in the
continuous present all over
their bodies.’
So perhaps what is needed
is knowledge of the past as well
as potential futures, in order
to develop as people as well
as retain our aspirations. But
an enjoyment of the ‘present’
without being over-analytical
in reflection, I would say is the
closest that anyone is going to
get to fully living in the here
and now.
LUCY AL-ZOGHBI
Dance Reporter
English National
Ballet
The Nutcracker
London Coliseum
2.30pm 17th
December 2010
RACHEL GILDEA
Dance Editior
A
s
the
seriousness
and extent of the
government’s
recent
cuts to reduce student tuition
fees sinks in around the UK;
and the media continues to
focus on the violent nature
of recent protests, students
in Brighton and London have
found a new way to shake
things up (and down,and move
it all around) – DANCE!
Last month, students at
Sussex University and UCL
posted videos on You Tube of
dances they had made during
occupations and ‘sit ins’ in
protest to higher tuition fees.
Whilst this is arguably just a
bit of fun to pass the time, the
videos are getting more and
more hits each day and other
such facebook groups are
popping up all over the place.
But this isn’t all song and
dance, the facts are utterly
spine chilling and the dance
carries a grave undertones of
a gloomy future for students –
the new government proposes
an 80% cut in university’s
teaching budget and estimates
that students will graduate
with an average of £50,000
debt.
But 2011 holds hope: At
New Year, students at UCL
launched their ‘Dance against
the Deficit – Having it Peaceful’
campaign which hopes to
host a dance event this month
outside the Bank of England in
London and describes itself as
‘playful with purpose’.
All students those who
work in the arts – in any form
are welcome to join. They are
requested to bring their own
moves, music, good spirit and
boogie en masse to inspire
change. The event hopes
to ward off violence, and
‘celebrate and showcase how
valuable the arts are in this
country’.
Dancing against the cuts
is fun, peaceful, powerful and
conveys a potent message – we
will not stand by whilst this
happens. Let us dance.
For more information on
Dance Against the Cuts and
to find out how you can get
involved at Surrey please
contact me at rg00081@
surrey.ac.uk.
buy less Starbucks.
So instead I’ve invested a
little thought into the nature of
this time of year, and how it is
a perfect example of human’s
struggle to fully live in the
present. It is an integral part
of human nature to reflect
on the past, without such we
would never learn from our
mistakes and therefore never
move forward. A want to
challenge the past is equally as
useful. For example, without
the modernists we would not
have had the post-modernists
– a certain degree of revolution
from the past is essential in
order to expand the human
experience and stretch the
boundaries of human thinking.
However in these instances the
past is never forgotten.
Perhaps reflection is the
only attainable way to realise
our place in the world. If
we try and pin down our
consciousness in the exact
present moment, we are
immediately already reflecting
on the past. To be self-conscious
and regard ourselves in the
T
Thought Night – New year-new you?
SIAN GOLDBY
F
irstly,
happy
new
year one and all! It’s
a strange reflective
time of year, during which
the entertainment industry
inundates society with those
‘best of...s’ or ‘coming up...s’
applicable to each year as it
rolls on. I was going to be one
of the contributors to that, and
bang out some kind of hilarious
new year’s resolutions, which
to be honest would probably
comprise of various efforts to
thestagsurrey.co.uk
18 Entertainment: Film
The Stag
[email protected]
FILM
The King’s Speech
(12A, Dir: Tom Hooper)

f 2010 was to be any actor’s
I
year, Colin Firth is certainly
up there. In The King’s
Speech, he is engrossing as
“the stammering King George
VI”. Every single struggle to
blast out a syllable is painfully
communicated and in many
aspects, personal.
What makes The King’s
Speech a cut above the prestige
picture is that it is about the
triumph of an individual who
gradually improves, albeit with
subtlety.
Geoffrey Rush is obviously
having a great time playing the
King’s speech therapist, Lionel
Logue, who forms an offbeat
relationship with George. The
correlation between the two
is the entertaining and often
heartbreaking basis of The
King’s Speech. The therapeutic
Tron: Legacy
boyhood teasing seems to be
the crowd-pleaser and the
growing pressure on George to
be the next ascent to the throne
on the eve of a second World
War is even more reason to
commiserate with him.
The underdog aspect of The
King’s Speech is apparent, but
the production value, writing
and acting (particularly Firth
and Bonham-Carter) does
make the film an enjoyable
two hours.
It could have spent more
time on the monarchy it is
portraying and Timothy Spall’s
stodgily characterised Churchill
is somewhat distracting, but it
is easy to see why it is getting
the nominations for the
upcoming awards. If anything,
Firth’s time is now. And The
King’s Speech is a delightful
film on the mechanics and the
struggle for speech.
(PG, Dir: Joseph Kosinski)

he distant sequel to Tron
T
(1982) takes off twenty
years later. Kevin Flynn
(Jeff Bridges) is reported as
being disappeared, while his
son Sam (Garrett Hedland)
is a tearaway who is told
about a mysterious computer
laboratory. He is soon captured
and entered into a computer
program where his father is the
controller of a grid comprising
of many retro games.
It is such a shame because
it seems like a reboot worth
reviving. Unfortunately, it lacks
the razzle-dazzle at an epic
scale in which should be an
entertaining couple of hours. It
quickly begins to be a visually
impressive bore. Only with
possible exception of a stodgy,
wax-like Jeff Bridges for which
the youth technology seems to
be lagging behind the rest of
the film.
It is temporarily engaging
and the score, as much as it is
fittingly techno, it seems to be
headache after a while. As with
much hyped up promises; it is
not bad, just disappointing.
thestagsurrey.co.uk
Meet The Parents: Little Fockers
(12A, Dir: Paul Weitz) 
I
cannot help feeling Robert
De Niro is giving us more
reason to urge him to
retire. In Machete, he was
terrible as a Texan senator and
each year he seems more tired
and could not care less about
what he doing now. There
must be quite a nest egg he is
saving up, because having an
erectile dysfunction while Ben
Stiller pokes a needle through
his…well, it just seems a long
time ago since his finest role
as Rupert Pupkin in The King
of Comedy.
So Meet The Parents:
Little Fockers is pretty much
a meaningless, crude, lame
attempt to remember how
funny that ‘Focker’ joke was a
decade ago. The basic gist is
pretty much the same. Greg
(Ben Stiller) is
gradually
earning the respect of Jack
(Robert De Niro), who wants to
make Greg “The GodFocker”.
There are unfortunate
coincidences that lead Jack
to suspect that Greg is not
to be trusted. Greg has an
embarrassing family and he
also wants to prove to Jack that
he provide for his new family.
No surprises. No reason. No
laughs. We’re focked.
[email protected]
The Stag
Entertainment: Film 19
127 Hours Dir: Danny Boyle
I
f the Saw series has
anything to learn, it is that
just losing any bodily part
ten to twenty times an hour
is not really a big deal. Who
cares? It is boring. To ratchet
up the gore is all the Saw
creators know how to do.
It is like someone getting an
oversized inflatable hammer
from a fair ground and bashing
it over your head repeatedly
while you walk on. It is
annoying and after a while, it
gets tiring.
However, to go all out in
spending time with characters,
sensitising
the
audience
in order to anticipate the
inevitable takes skill. And the
culmination is unbearable,
like imagining a rich tea
biscuit scrape off the skin of
your teeth. 127 Hours is a 15
certificate and Saw is an 18.
And yet, even for a horror fan
that has seen countless buckets
of gore over the past years, the
scary ones always seem to hold
back. 127 Hours does just that
until breaking point (no pun
intended).
Danny Boyle directs this
true story based on Aron
Ralston’s book Between A Rock
and a Hard Place. James Franco
is commanding as the arrogant
Aron Ralston who suddenly
dislodges a boulder that pins
his lower arm against a canyon
wall. No one knows he is there
and he has not told anyone
where he is going. Aron leaves
video diaries while trying to
find a way to free himself from
the boulder.
In many ways, 127 Hours is
the small film you make after
cleaning up the Oscars. What
Danny Boyle manages to do is
tease us in what we already
know. There is a point where
Aron is going to have to do
the unspeakable act and many
times there are hints that, “this
is it! Or is it?”.
It is a trembling feeling left
by hindsight such as United 93
or the more relevant Touching
The Void, which has closer
similarities in the surreal
accounts of madness and
hallucination.
Sound takes a more central
role and the overpowering
tension is accredited much
towards the sounds of grating
pain coming from “that scene”.
What is also fascinating is just
gazing into James Franco’s
convincing performance as
someone who knows what
mess he has got himself into.
He is the face of humanity,
while the rest of the film
is
mocking.
From
the
Koyaanisqatsi-esque opening
(where the titles does not turn
up until fifteen minutes or so
later) to Scooby Doo. This is
the more adventurous title this
week, but no one would blame
you for seeing The King’s
Speech instead.
Top Film Picks
OF GODS AND MEN

127 HOURS

THE KING’S SPEECH

CATFISH

THE WAY BACK

thestagsurrey.co.uk
20 Entertainment: Literature
The Stag
[email protected]
LITERATURE
Can A Book Save Your Life?
Literature Editor
P
utting an annual book
review in an arguably
pragmatic and distinctive
new light, Tom Shillue presents
a video on behalf of Electric
Literature, investigating which
books can really save your life.
And, as he states, ‘that’s not
metaphorical, that’s reality.’
Yes, he gets a gunman to do
the deed, to see which book
would be most practical to
shield oneself from a bullet. So,
not a video on self-help books
at any rate. Shillue asks, ‘of all
the big books that came out in
2010, which would be the most
likely to protect you in the
event of a shooting?’ Without
further or do, he declares, ‘let’s
shoot some books’ as he puts
on protective headphones.
‘Okay, let’s see how some of
these books fared...’ He goes
through David Mitchell’s new
novel The Thousand Autumns
of Jacob De Zoet – ‘you’re not
gonna live with that one’ –
Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom,
dismissing his book award as
the book is ‘still dead’ and then
moving onto the Kindle.
Against
presumptions
regarding the hard surface, the
Kindle fails miserably in this
task, its only consolation being
that ‘you’re gonna die quickly
with a Kindle.’
After
unsuccessfully
checking Rick Moody’s The
Four Fingers of Death and
The Instructions by Adam
Levin, the ultimate winner of
the most protective book was
Joshua Cohen’s Witz.
This video can be found on
Youtube.
Renowned Authors Come
Out Of Copyright In New Year
CHRISTINA WEBB
Literature Editor
A
s soon as the New Year
began,
on January
1st
many
famous
artists, including authors F.
Scott Fitzgerald, Isaac Babel,
Nathaniel West and
John Buchan came
out of copyright.
Making their work
more
accessible
and widely viewed,
as well as less
expensive, this will
interest in their work
and achievements.
As a result of
‘Public Domain Day,’
which celebrates the
role of the public
domain
in
our
societies,’ the list was
formed.
Look forward to
more books about
them in the near
future, such as new
audio books and e
books from F. Scott
Fitzgerald, who is
one of the most
anticipated authors
to join the Public
Domain list.
At Duke University,
the Center for the Study of the
Public Domain keeps track of
the authors who have entered
the public domain each year.
This year the work of 661
authors and artists became
entitled to be entered, join the
Public Domain Works List for
thestagsurrey.co.uk
European countries.
The copyright laws of the
United States have prevented
any books added to the public
domain in 2011. CSPD writes,
"Sadly, we will have nothing
to celebrate this January 1st.
Not a single published work
is entering the
public domain this
year. Or next year.
Or the year after.
Or the year after
that. In fact, in the
United States, no
publication
will
enter the public
domain
until
2019."
The
public
domain issue is
complicated by laws
governing orphan
works, books and
art that could be in
the public domain,
and the author
cannot be located
or contacted.
For
Canada,
Australia, England
and
European
countries,
the
works in the public
domain will be
flourishing
with
new words.
The Henry
Root Letters
MIRANDA SULLIVAN
Literature Repoter
T
his
book
should
definitely be more
famous than it is. In
1980, under the pseudonym
of Henry Root, author William
Donaldson compiled a book
of satirical letters he wrote to
politicians, prime ministers,
monarchs,
lawyers,
TV
personalities, ensuring a reply
by enclosing a £1 note with his
letter. There is no escape from
being caught in Root’s trap.
Those who reply are subject
to ongoing ridicule in the form
of career advice, or offering to
turn up at someone’s doorstep
to discuss the matter further
(a scare tactic used on James
Anderton, the Chief Constable
of Greater Manchester Police
at the time). He sets a date and
time, and encloses his pound
note to help cover costs, asking
“
CHRISTINA WEBB
Anderton not to go to any
trouble, requesting only Indian
tea and rock cakes.
Occasionally people see
through the irony, as did a
senior tutor at Cambridge
“
Im going to
write a strongly
worded letter
university when Root sent a
letter beginning: "Yours is a
college at which brains are
neither here nor there, I'm
told … This being the case, I'm
prepared to send my boy to
you … He's 15 now and shows
every sign of needing all the
advantages that money can
buy.”
This effortless read takes
the classic British tagline
“I’m going to write a strongly
worded letter…” to a whole
new level.
[email protected]
The Stag
MUSIC
Entertainment: Music 21
This Is Surrey 2011 - The Mod Culture Revival
LORNA SAMLON
Music Editor
Y
outh culture essentially
defines music and has
done for years. Groups
of youths take bands and solo
artists under their wings, and
literally live the music: they
become the lyrics and the
beat through their clothes and
attitudes to life.
This way of life proves
welcoming for teenagers, as it
gives them a sense of belonging
and something to believe in.
MOD culture (originally
known as the ‘modernists’) was
a sub culture that originated
in London in the 1950s, and
peaked in the early to mid
60s. Mod culture revolved
around their sense of style,
with the ‘Teddy Boy’s’ leading
the way with their vanity and
narcissism. These young ‘Mods’
cared for their Ben Sherman’s
(founded in 1963) and tailormade suits as a mother would
a newborn baby.
Another hallmark of a Mod
was Italian motor scooters,
such as Lambrettas and
Vespas.
Significant elements of the
Mod lifestyle included bands
in the music scene such as The
Who and The Kinks. The latter
even wrote a song to parody
the sudden fashion obsession
that had erupted among the
Mod scene with ‘Dedicated
Follower of Fashion’.
The Mod scene was also
associated with drink, drugs
and clubbing; a scene not too
dissimilar to that we see in
society today.
The culture itself developed
when British teenagers began
rejecting the dull, timid, oldfashioned and uninspired
British culture surrounding
them.
From the mid to late 60s,
the media used the term ‘mod’
in a wider sense, relating to
anything popular, fashionable
or modern.
There was a Mod revival in
the United Kingdom in the late
1970s to early 1980s, and this
has been artfully captured in
the recent film ‘This Is England’,
based in 1983, followed up
with the T.V. drama ‘This Is
England ‘86’.
These fantastic creations
from the mind of Shane
Meadows put the darker
side of this youth culture
into the spotlight, revealing
the emotional and political
struggles
behind
the
superficiality of the scene they
had revived
During the 80s, Mod culture
fell from grace once more;
though with the release of ‘This
Is England’, there has been yet
another revival. You can hardly
walk two minutes around the
University without seeing a
Fred Perry polo and a pair of
winklepickers.
I have also been shocked to
see numerous girls with half
their hair shaved off, another
fashion throwback from the
60s, taken on by even the
prettiest ‘Topshop’ girl as a
statement.
What is sad is that when
the Mod subculture first
lost its touch, it was due to
a lack of vitality; it had been
commercialised, artificial and
mass produced.
I feel now that the This
Is England
hype will be
short lived; an unavoidable
inevitability when
a
fashionable subculture gains
popularity among the masses.
For those that enjoyed the
music and the fashion before
the recent hype, it’s a great
shame.
You have to wonder, really;
have these fashion victims
with their statement haircuts
and supposedly ‘vintage’ shirts
even heard of Toots & The
Maytals? ...Nah. I didn’t think
so.
The Vaccines: A Cure For The Indie-itch?
MIKE SHERLOCK
Music Reporter
A
fter a rocky couple of
years for indie music,
London based four
piece band The Vaccines
are set to make a big impact
in 2011. From the summer
of 2010, people have been
gossiping relentlessly about
the new 'cool' indie band.
While keeping their identities
relatively
unknown
they
managed to build the hypest
hype around the capital, and
everyone wanted to talk about
them and their early nineties
rock n' roll style... Or so it
seemed.
In reality, the reception
has been shallow and varied.
NME have hallmarked the band
as being the big thing of 2011,
but the following is evidence to
the contrary: One reply posted
under an article on the NME's
website reads: “The Vaccines
- The worst Indie band in
London.”, the sort of comment
that a 'real' music lover would
post every time. Not to say that
their released tracks so far are
not catchy, 'Post Break-Up Sex'
is a stereotypical indie track;
and to all fans of the genre, it
is pleasing. The chorus: “Post
break-up sex, that helps you
forget your ex. What did you
expect from post break up sex?”
does exactly what it says on the
tin. As has become associated
with the genre, the simplistic
lyrics reflect the experience
of the 'normal' life lead by the
band. The song itself is catchy
and danceable, easy music to
chill out to.
Non pop/indie fans are
unlikely to enjoy this band.
They conform to most rules
of the genre, and admittedly
are very good at what they do.
The song 'Wreckin' Bar/Ra Ra
Ra' is a 90 second quick paced
song that experiments with
reverb and choral vocals. It is a
fun song, that I could compare
to the work of The Libertines,
without the clever lyrics of
Pete Doherty, the former junior
poet laureate, or the fame and
fortune.
'Blow It Up' is more of the
same. An enjoyable guitar
ensemble with a quick and
consistent drum track; together
with some more happy go lucky
song lyrics about wanting to
lead the single life and a chorus
that repeats the song title over
and over.
The album is due for release
in March, and I will definitely
give it a listen. It won’t be for
everyone, but if you fancy an
album that is fun and light
hearted, similar sounding
to The Cribs or Dirty Pretty
Things then give it a go.
After all, if the New Music
Express says it is going to
be big, then who are we to
disagree...
thestagsurrey.co.uk
22 Entertainment: Music
The Stag
[email protected]
You Me At Six Interview
(Continued from Front Page)
and ‘Kiss and Tell’. With the
end of 2010 and the New Year
now here, it’s clear that they
have no intention of slowing
down. Along with the release
of their most recent album
‘Hold Me Down’ (January
2010), with strong backing
from Radio One, the YM@6
hype is unwavering.
On the 10th December,
I got the chance to catch up
with rhythm guitarist and
backing vocalist Max Helyer
prior to the Doncaster Dome
gig.
This is the last tour for the
‘Hold Me Down’ album- what
venue are you most looking
forward to playing at?
I’ve enjoyed playing the
Manchester Apollo before, but
I’d have to say Hammersmith.
It’ll be our first time performing
there, and I can’t wait. It’s cool
because it brings back a few
childhood memories for me. I
saw Green Day perform there
in 2006 and that was amazing.
‘Underdog’ and ‘Liquid
Confidence’ are the two
stand-out tracks from ‘Hold
Me Down’, but what are your
personal favourites?
I’d say three stand out for
me. ‘Stay With Me’, ‘Contagious’
and ‘Hard To Swallow’. I feel
I had a good input into these
tracks; but the main thing is
that it’s the type of music I like.
If I was to just sit and just listen
to music, it’d be something like
that.
You grew up in Surrey, so
what memories do you hold
of your home county?
I definitely had some good
times growing up in Surrey.
But obviously being in a band,
I have many memories of the
music scene. Our first show
was at the Guildford Backline,
and funnily enough we were
the last to play there before it
shut. I hear it’s recently been
reopened and rebranded
though.
What is your opinion of
the Guildford music scene?
How do you feel it could
improve?
I think the beauty of the
Guildford music scene lies in
the small, intimate venues.
Places like Backline and The
Boileroom are what makes it.
I think its improving all the
time; the Surrey music scene
is powerful, although I feel
some larger venues wouldn’t
go amiss one day. Guildford is
home to ACM too- so obviously
there’s going to be some
brilliant talent around.
You recently did the Vans
MIRANDA SULLIVAN
‘Skrillex’ and began work as
a DJ. As with the Fun Lovin’
Criminals, Skrillex provides
an interesting blend of genres,
merging metalcore and posthardcore with both dubstep
and electro-house music; and
trust me- it works.
1. ‘The
Fun
Lovin’
Criminal’ – Fun Lovin’ Criminals
(A-sides, B-sides and Rarities)
2. ‘Inhaler’ – Miles Kane
(Inhaler)
3. ‘Kill EVERYBODY’ –
Skrillex (Scary Monsters and
Nice Sprites)
4. ‘We Used To Vacation’
– Cold War Kids (Robbers &
Cowards)
5. ‘Bleed American’ – Jimmy
Eat World (Jimmy Eat World)
5-A-DAY
Literature Repoter
This fortnight’s 5-A-Day
showcases the ‘Fun Lovin’
Criminals’. Formed in 1993,
The New York band have had
four top twenty hits in the UK.
They produce a rhythmic
mix of blues and hip-hop,
creating effortlessly catchy
tracks. The band are made up
of Brian Leiser, Frank Benbini
and the possibly ‘too cool’
front man Huey Morgan.
Also featured is a new
exciting
artist
‘Skrillex’,
otherwise known as Sonny
Moore of ‘From First To Last’.
Having left the band in 2007,
Moore took on the alias
thestagsurrey.co.uk
Warped Tour- do you have
any plans to do it again next
year?
Going on the Warped Tour
is an amazing experience;
we’ve done it for the past two
years, so I think next year we’ll
be giving it a miss and come
back to it in 2012. The best
thing about it is the American
publicity we got, but you have
to work hard for it. You have
to wake up early and power
through all the gigs in the
blazing heat, but despite all the
tough times it’s all so worth it.
Literally, it was a dream come
true. Now, we’re through that
doorway into America and
hoping for more success there.
In Summer 2011 you’ll be
touring with Blink 182, how
does it feel to know you’ll be
performing with them?
Another dream come true.
As a band, we’ve always been
fans of Blink. We’re obviously
all psyched about it and can’t
wait to just hang out with
them all. A few years back we
toured with front-man Tom
Delonge’s other band ‘Angels
and Airwaves’, so it’ll be great
to see him again.
So, what can we expect to
see from your next album?
Basically, I feel that ‘Hold
Me Down’ has defined us;
You Me At Six Performing on the Vans Tour
our new album however will
show our maturity. We’re
progressing and working on a
fresh, new sound. What’s great
is that kids seem to get us;
they understand where we’re
coming from, so we’re hoping
to give everyone what they
want. Right now, we’re trying
to find ourselves the right
producer. A few names have
been thrown around, Rich
Costey (Muse, The Mars Volta,
Jimmy Eat World) being one of
which.
Finally, there have been
a few internet rumours
concerning a single with
Chiddy Bang- can you shed
any light on this?
Well,
potentially
yes,
potentially not... All I’ll say is
that it could be in the pipeline.
They’re great, so I’d be stoked
if we did.
In the weeks following the
interview with Max, it was
revealed online that the single
with Chiddy Bang was no mere
rumour. After a few teaser
videos to tempt the fans, on the
3rd January, the track ‘Rescue
Me’ was played on Zane Lowe’s
Radio One breakfast show, and
is due to be officially released
on the 13th February.
So, there you have it. Watch
this space in the New Year- I
can say with confidence they’ll
no doubt be providing the
backing track for our Summer
break.
MIKE SHERLOCK
on iTunes.
His musical upbringing
certainly shows true in his
tracks, with melodic Dubstep
wobbles and Drum ‘n’ Bass
synths throughout.
He also shows off his talent
to remix existing tracks;
making them even better.
Have a listen to his remix of DJ
Fresh's ‘Golddust’ to ease you
into Prime, which takes you on
an emphatic journey from Dub,
to Dance, to Drum Step.
The EP has some epic
tracks that can’t be found on
Youtube, so it is definitely
worth for the small asking price
on the iTunes store, especially
if you have any unused iTunes
vouchers lying around.
New Talent
Prime
Literature Repoter
(c)daMusic.be
Huey Morgan leading a rendition of ‘Scoobie snacks’ which
charted at twenty two in the
UK charts and featured on the
album ‘Come Find Yourself’.
If you are clued up in the
boisterous
intricacies
of
Dubstep then you may have
stumbled across Prime on
Youtube or Soundcloud. If
you are a more casual listener,
however, then you probably
haven’t.
The lad from Dartford
has over 250,000 views on
Youtube and nearly a thousand
subscribers. After producing
nearly a hundred tracks, Prime
finally signed his first contract
with ‘Stupid Fly’ records.
The first release is a four
track EP called ‘Unity’; which
is now available to download
[email protected]
The Stag
SPORTS 23
An Interview with..... David Schneider
LATOYA ANDREE KESSIE
Seeing as it’s the start of the
new year, The Stag sports
team wanted to do something
different and introduce you
to Guildford Heat’s Number 9
Player David Schneider. Here
is what he had to say:
Do you want introduce
yourself to the readers?
I’m David Schneider. I’m a
6’3 point guard professional
basketball player for the
Guildford Heat. I am twentythree years old and was born
in Toledo, Ohio, but currently
live in Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina. I am a graduate of
the College of William and
Mary and have been playing
basketball for twenty years.
How did you get into
basketball?
My basketball journey
started when I first learned
how to walk. My grandfather
played at Winston Salem,
my father played at Virginia
Tech, and my older brother
played at Hawaii Pacific. Both
my grandfather and father
coached college basketball for
over twenty years.
What would you say has
been the highest point of
your Basketball Career?
My biggest success was
making 2 CAA Championship
games the only two times ever
in school history, to sell out
Kaplan Arena, and make the
NIT only the second time in
school history. Now my biggest
success is playing professional
basketball.
What would you say has
been the lowest point of your
career?
My biggest failure was
never making it to the NCAA
tournament while playing
college basketball.
So how have you been
finding the Guildford Heat
Team so far?
I am fortunate to be playing
professional basketball this
year, because I thought my
basketball playing days were
over after college. The team
has very experienced players
such as Dean Williams, Mike
Martin, and Julius Joseph to
help me grow as a player and
handle the transition.
Could you tell us about
your obligatory training
and nutrition schedule as a
Guildford Heat player?
I try to train daily, but also
know my limitations. Some
days you just have to put your
feet up and watch movies all
day. Since I have been here, I
have started a diet, but every
now and again I love a good
cheeseburger and coke.
Is there anything that you
do in addition to this so that
you gain a special advantage
on the court?
Personally, I just like to
relax and have a good time out
there on the court. This game
is supposed to be fun and it’s
not every day you are in the
spotlight. So to me it’s show
time.
If someone was to say they
were interested in playing
basketball, what would you
recommend that they do?
Come to a Guildford Heat
Schneider on the attack
game at the fantastic Surrey
Sports Park.
Do you see motivation as
key in sport? If so, how do
you keep yourself motivated?
What sports philosophy do
you always live by?
Success is peace of mind
which is a direct result of selfsatisfaction in knowing you did
your best to become the best
you are capable of becoming.
To me motivation is going all
out and putting all your cards
on the table. My philosophy
is: “Trust your heart if the
seas catch fire and live your
life through the stars walk
backward”. It is about taking
chances.
Who is your idol?
Its a bit of a strange one
but I think it has to be my
older brother. My parents got
divorced in 2001. I was 13
years old. For my entire life
I grew up in the shadows. I
was either Jeff Schneider’s
son or Kevin Schneider’s little
brother.
There was no David
Schneider. Growing up, Kevin
was the superstar; everyone
thought that he would be the
unbelievable college basketball
player. After the divorce, Kev
just wasn’t really the same. He
did play college basketball; on
a team that didn’t appreciate
him and where he rode the
bench his entire career. Kev
dreamed about being a college
basketball player his whole life
and after his senior season,
his dream was gone. And then
you have me, who exceeded
expectations.
With the type of career I
had, Kevin could have been
jealous, cold-hearted, bitter,
and completely turn his back
on me. Instead, after the
divorce Kevin took me under
his wing and protected his
little brother.
I am able to live my dream
because of him, but we are
living my dream together. I
would not be the player or
type of person without my
older brother.
What do you like to do in
your spare time when you
are not playing Basketball?
I surf, go to the beach, play
guitar, and go dancing with
friends.
Do you have any New Year
Resolutions?
To be a great son, great
brother, and great basketball
player.
As a post-exams treat don’t
forget to watch Schneider and
other Guildford Heat Players
play against the Milton Keynes
Lions on 30th January.
thestagsurrey.co.uk
24 Sports
The Stag
[email protected]
Sports Round-Up
SAM LIMBERT
Football
As usual, the hectic festive
period threw up many
surprise results as the Premier
League continued to intrigue.
Manchester United continued
their unbeaten run and sit top
of the table with games in hand
on their rivals, whilst Arsenal
and Manchester City’s draw
meant the two didn’t make the
inroads on the leaders they’d
hoped for, with them sitting in
third and second respectively.
The Gunners did however
contribute to the demise of
Champions Chelsea who were
comprehensively beaten 3-1 at
the Emirates in their worst run
of results for over ten years.
Arsenal secured the win with
goals from Alex Song, Cesc
Fabregas and Theo Walcott.
At the bottom, there are
seven teams within two points
of each other as the fight for
survival intensified.
Four
Premier
League
managers found themselves
under immense pressure over
Christmas. Carlo Ancelotti,
Gerard Houllier and Avram
Grant all had their futures
questioned, whilst Englishman
Roy Hodgson left Liverpool by
mutual consent with the Reds
12th in the league. Anfield
legend Kenny Dalglish will
take charge for the rest of the
season and attempt to salvage
something from a forgettable
season for Liverpool.
Rugby Union
After the Christmas fixtures,
Leicester Tigers sit at the top of
the Aviva Premiership, mainly
thanks to a 27-15 win over
second placed Northampton
Saints.
Harlequins, who train
at Surrey Sports Park, will
play their LV=Cup game with
McCoy before his grand national win
London Wasps on Sunday 30th
January in Abu Dhabi as the
two sides will play in the first
competitive English game to
be played abroad.
Welsh dancing supremo
Gavin Henson made his return
to competitive rugby following
18 months away from the game
as he appeared for Saracens in
their 13-6 win over London
Wasps at Wembley.
Henson almost scored a try
with his first touch but was
denied by a last ditch tackle on
the line.
Cricket
All winter, cricket headlines
have focused on England’s epic
efforts to win the Ashes for
the first time in Australia for
24 years. However that series
has got a dance craze to sweep
the nation; the sprinkler was
thestagsurrey.co.uk
first aired by Graeme Swann
on his online diary and was
then performed by the team
after retaining the Urn at the
MCG. Look for cricket lovers
continuing to perform it in the
coming weeks.
Away from Australia, South
Africa and India drew their
three match test series 1-1. The
great Sachin Tendulkar scored
his 50th and 51st test centuries
in the series for India
Golf
Even though Lee Westwood
became world number 1
before Christmas, it has been
Northern Ireland’s Graeme
McDowell who has scooped
end of year awards. Both
Westwood and McDowell
missed out on the BBC Sports
Personality of the Year;
however McDowell has made
up for that disappointment
by being awarded an MBE in
the New Year Honours after
a great year saw him become
the first European to win the
US Open for 40 years. US and
European golf writers also
voted McDowell as player
of the year. To cap it all off,
McDowell’s birdie putt on the
16th in his deciding Ryder Cup
singles match was voted as
the European Tour shot of the
year.
Darts
In
the
PDC
World
Championships at Alexandra
Palace, Adrian Lewis won the
event for the first time with a
7-5 win over Gary Anderson.
Lewis also became the first
player to ever complete a ninedart finish in the final of the
competition, doing so in the
first set. He is now in second
place in the world rankings
behind Phil Taylor, who had
been surprisingly eliminated
in the quarter finals of the
tournament.
Sports Personality
In the traditional end of
year BBC awards ceremony,
this year held in Birmingham,
jockey AP McCoy was named
Sports Personality of 2010.
The British public voted for
McCoy ahead of darts legend
Phil Taylor in 2nd place and
athlete Jessica Ennis in 3rd.
Other winners on the night
included Tom Daley as young
sports personality of the year,
Sir Frank Williams collected
the Helen Rollason award,
Lance Haggith was the unsung
sports hero, Rafael Nadal
received overseas personality
of the year,
Colin Montgomerie claimed
the coach of the year with his
European Ryder Cup awarded
team of the year and David
Beckham received a lifetime
achievement award.
Chess Boxing
MARISA DA COSTA
Sports Editor
Ever heard someone
questioning the intelligence of
athletes?
Well that may be about
to end. Invented by Iepe
Rubingh, Chess Boxing is
aiming to combine the most
intellectually challenging
game, Chess, with one of the
most physically demanding
sports, boxing. Now, that’s
a combination hard to
imagine! Played in 11 rounds,
6 of Chess and 5 of boxing,
victory is claimed either by
checkmate or knockout.
The first official chessboxing
fight happened in 2003 and
since then the sport has grown
The world of Chess Boxing
and now the World Chess Boxing
Organization (WCBO) aims to
organize 3 to 4 championships
a year. Its practice is spreading
worldwide
and
amongst
the biggest training centers
are London, Berlin and Los
Angeles. So what does it takes
to become a chessboxer?
Chessboxing fighters must
be proficient in both aspects
of the sport as they cannot
win solely in one discipline;
potential athletes should have
a background in either boxing
or other martial arts and
chess skills. Can Chessboxing
represent a new generation
of sports challenging both the
body and mind to its extreme?