LS2 Interviews The Count and Sinden, plus alternative days out

s www.leedsstudent.org

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Clubbersgo bananas at Annie Mac

Lizzie Edmonds News Editor

Revelers ran riot at Annie Mac Presents on Halloween weekend.

The all-night event, hosted by Leeds University Union, saw fire equipment being tampered with, a security guard threatened and University property stolen from the Refectory kitchen.

The Union Venues and Events team have subsequently been forced to apologise to the University.

A crate of bananas and a box of Chupa-Chups lollies were stolen from the Refectory kitchen after a group of people broke into the vicinity by going through a downstairs door that had been left

unlocked. These items were then handed

out to other party-goers in the main Refectory hall.

Bananas, which are recognised as a good source of potassium, are knmvn to prevent so-called 'guming', a common side-effect of the consumption of ecstasy and other illegal substances.

By the end of the night, banana skins were strewn across the dance­floor and numerous dubbers had fallen victim to the slippery skins.

wa:A~a~d:l apb;~~n: a~~e ;~~~\~ eat it," said Laura Bolochowecki, a third year Criminal Justice and Law student from Leeds Metropolitan.

She continued: "But I threw most of it away whilst the person wasn't looking. T saw people

slipping on the skin·s though at

va1~b~tb~ints {h~~l~~~~t." ra, a second year English stufent who also attended the event, commented: "I was really confused about the whole situation really. No-one seemed to know where the bananas were coming from.

"The floor was already soaked with beer, so the banana skins being drunkenly thrown on the floor really didn't help."

The Union confirmed that during the break ·in other food items were also taken from the kitchen. They would not elaborate on which items these were but said that no o.ther damage had been caused dunng the incident.

Union Venues and Events staff have admitted that the break-in

was due to a security breach on their part.

Leeds Student has been told that new procedures have been put in place to ensure that an incident of this manner does not happen again.

Meanwhile, a separate group of dubbers tampered with a piece of fire safety equipment, damaging a break glass' device. Though a fire alann was set off as a result the site was not evacuated as security staff fat~~lar~~ablished that it was a

Another reveler also attempted to force entry onto the premises without a ticket and became aggressive when asked to leave.

It remains unclear as to whether this person was a student at Leeds University however.

Also inside:

Student stab victim

speaks out p.8

Government to cap

tuition fees at£9000

p.5

Arc fire scare p.6

SA 'I' NO TO TBE RISE IN TUITION FEES! Tbe govenmumtplalls to raise tuition fees to as macbas £9,000 per year of study ... Stoplbeml Join lbe anarcbon the 10th of November!

02

Girl about cainpus/ I Maybe these freezing cold northern winters are over hyped? It only ever rains in Leeds.

When will Girl About Campus get a chance to try out her winter wardrobe? And will I be able to get into Crasher without screaming at the taxi driver to drop us closer to the entrance? Does he not realise the fine rain is the worst stuff? My TRESemme can't stand it.

Girl About Campus has an Otley Run this weekend too. Dressing as Pat Butcher. Fit.com. Though this rain had better have gone by then, or else I'll be looking like a drowned rat by the time I reach the I !yde Park Pub not good for attracting the fitties on show in there.

But these shorter days are great as I only stay in the library until it gets dark. Besides, Deal or No Deal starts at ten past 4. Now l have an excuse to make it home in time to join the hordes of the unemployed watching Noel in the Dream Pactory.

Though it would have been nice if Girl About Campus' flatmates had told her the clocks had gone back on Saturday night. Waking up to find Jeremy Kyle had finished proved a dismal start to Monday morning.

No need for Girl About Campus to worry about eating healthily this week either after a crate of bananas made an appearance at Annie Mac presents on Saturday. I got more than my 5 a day in the space of an hour. Though the banana skins littering the floor in Stylus made for some entertaining

p O S t s n a c k f a I l s ROFL.

As if M s Dynamite made an appearance at Annie Mac presents too. Girl About Campus had a wild time reminiscing back to her heady days as a 12 year old singing 'Dy Na Mi Tee' down the high street with her mates.

Girl About Campus is absolutely buzzing for the arrival of Jamie Archer this Friday at Fruity too. A night in the mud in Hyde Park watching fireworks sipping out of my Urban Outfitters hip flask, followed by a mediocre talent show winner sounds like the perfect night out.

Corne to think of it Girl About Campus has a habit of watching failed music stars in the surroundings of Stylus. S Club 3, 911, Five, Vengaboys. I challenge anyone to come up with a better list of cheesy pop acts they have seen on nights out.

Seeing as this column has to end with a gripe every week; why is it my fucking internet never works at home either? 20mb my arse Virgin Media. As soon as 6pm comes around the world and his wife in Hyde Park are online. r have no chance of making it onto the Asos website to order my winter boots, though I'm sure they would only get ruined in this shitty rain ..

Is this your moustache?

Get in touch with us at editor@leedsstudent.org

Friday , November 5 , 2010 n 'N eedsstud ..,t.org Leeds Student

Leaders Leeds Student's views on this week's hot topics

Return to Sender? This week another ingredient has been added to the pressure cooker that is student outrage over the spending cuts. Simmering for the past few months there have been moments of protest where the pan has nearly boiled over, but this week the Student Executive have added some much needed stock and addressed the Prime Minister himself

An 'invoice' in the form of a letter has been sent to Number 10 asking the PM to pay for the education he received, the education that the ConDem gove'rnment will now make others pay for. It seems only fair that a government that were educated for next to nothing,

should be prepared to pay along with the rest of us. However, Leeds Student predicts that he will hardly be rushing for his American Express card.

If Cameron were to pay for his university degree in the next two years, when the change in tuition fees would likely be enacted, he would be leaving uni not just with a broken toaster and a Bob Dylan poster but with a debt of roughly £32,465 hanging over· his perfectly combed head. What a way to go out into the working world. Well, it is ok if the working world ends up in one becoming Prime Minister.

And it is not just Cameron that has been targeted, but Nick Clegg

and none other than our very own Vice Chancellor Michael Arthur.

Students voted to oppose the cuts and it is nice to see the Exec supporting this. While Clegg and co may conveniently file it under 'forget,' at least we at Leeds recognise that we are fighting for a fairer system and we do not want the younger generation to pay for the mistakes of the last. We cannot accept this level of debt without a fight. As yet there has bee'n no response to the letters good or bad, come on Michael, surely it doesn't cost a stamp to put on the envelope return to sender?

Monkeying around Manners are a rarity in our society, especially within the student body. Rather than a polite 'excuse me' when you need to get past someone, it's seen as more courteous to shove past with an irritable grunt. Letting someone out of a door is an old fashioned courtly exercise.

We are living in a time when people hide books in the library, so that no one can find that fundamental article for an essay. A time that the 'friend' you met in the Union last night is not so subtly ignored in Essentials the next day. A time when you know that the

person next to you in the queue for the bar has been there longer, but you still order first.

In light of this, Leeds Student is pleased, no heart warmed, to see that students are finally going old school and embracing polite behaviour: when they steal, they share equally amongst others.

When a group of students broke into the Refectory kitchen they not only shared their 'winnings' but they conscientiously decided what goods to take. When faced with an entire Aladin's cave of potential party snacks, they chose bananas and lollies knowing that a cast

majority of those partying next door would benefit most from them.

Further, it's hilarious that, rather than stealing expensive equipment or money, the group settled on huit and sweets. Leeds Student applauds those involved for the comedy value of their objects of choice.

Finally, the image of several thousand disorderly revellers intermittently taken out by the farcical banana skin has made our week. More at the next event please, student body. Personally, we'd like to see someone try and steal Stylus' giant disco ball ..

Arc! Who goes there? This week the Arc had a lucky escape, and so did its punters.

Trapped inside what is effectively a large glass box quickly filling up with a military grade smoke bomb must have been a fairly frightening experience.

Those who went out for a few drinks in Headingley did not expect to find themselves in the midst of a war zone re-enactment or quite an exciting episode of '24'

Panicking customers ran through the smoke filled bar to various fire exits only to find th~m locked with bicycle chains. Surely no one would think that was a

sensible idea? Now, many people may get exasperated with health and safety procedures these days, often the phrase is met with a knowing eye­roll. Usually when one is required to do a course in heavy lifting when you probably will not face such a prospect in a cosy desk job.

Yet, Leeds Student, realises that sometimes these things are necessary. Definitely necessary in the case of a bar that will potentially be full of every cartoon or fairytale character in creation making their way down the Otley Run.

Minnie Mouse and Spock are not going to be checking the fire exits before ordering the next vodka redbull and nylon can catch fire pretty quickly, don't you know, Arc! Certainly, the gentleman dressed as a cow who released the smoke did not cover all his exits before causing mayhem.

It is not everyday, of course, that such a weaponised form of smoke will replace the bog standard dry ice machine of the school disco, clearly student life is not exciting enough any more.

Friday, November 5, 2010 I www.leedsstudent.org I Leeds Student 03

Climb every mountain. • • naked?

Allie Culbertson News Reporter

Students stripped off for a mountaineering chili naked calendar this month.

The shoot was to raise money and awareness for the Air Ambulance services that recently rescued a mountaineering dub member.

The shoot was inspired when Dan Roberts, a second year student, was

rock climbing without ropes on the 10th October with the Leeds Mountaineering Club in Ilkley at the Cow and Calf Rocks. He fell 10 metres straight onto his feet, breaking his back.

The Air Ambulance flew Mr Roberts to the Leeds General Infirmary where he was hospitalised forlOdays.

Having started climbing at the age of 12, Dan Roberts quite happily relayed how he refused for the

Princley prize Students in Leeds are offered the opportunity to improve their CV whilst raising money for charity

Ellen Kendrick News Reporter

Students from Leeds Metropolitan University are putting their money­makingskills to the test by taking part in a£1 million enterprise challenge for charity.

The Prince's Trust Million Makers challenge, supported by eFinancialCareers - the leading global careers site network for financial professionals - will see students from more than 25 universities competing to raise as much money as possible for the youth charity.

Enterprising students will form teams and run their own mini ­enterprises to raise £2,500 per team.

During the initial steps they must face a panel of "Friendly Dragons" to pitch ideas. Guided by these experienced minds, they can then put together their plans.

Internships at some of the world's most successful companies including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and

Morgan Stanley are up for grabs. The student team that raises the most money with their mini-enterprises will win these internships, as well as giving their CVs a major boost.

They will also win tickets to a star­studded Prince's Trust event.

Last year a Leeds Trinity and All Saints team put together a range of moneymaking schemes including a supermarket bag-packing fundraiser, raffles, selling items online and auctioning off a signed Hull City football shirt. Caroline Barker-Read from the team said, "The challenge was exciting and different. I learnt so many useful practical business skills such as networking and sales techniques. lt was a really worthwhile experience and now my CV looks great."

The Prince's trust charity aims to help young unemployed people tum their lives around. Over three out of four young people the trust were involved in helping last year either found work or went into training or education.

paramedics in the helicopter to give him nitrous oxide, after they had already prescribed him morphine because, as he said, "I wanted to enjoy the ride! It is after all, not every day that you get to fly in a helicopter!"

With nothing to do in hospital, the aerospace student had a lot of time to think. Consequently, he came up with the idea for a naked calendar to raise money for the service that saved his life.

Dan Roberts was not deterred

from his passion in outdoor pursuits, statinf,' H I will most definitely climb agam.

Mr Roberts found out that it costs £7200 per day to run the Yorkshire Air Ambulance's two helicopters. Although the calendar won't raise enough to cover this cost, he was eager to at least contribute towards the cause.

The shoot took place at Caley Crags in Otley. Five female members of the Mountaineering Club

embraced their inner 'Calendar Girl' and volunteered to strip for the cause.

When asked what it was like to strip off for this important cause, one of the models, Grace Bickmore giggled how it was only embarrassing "when a man went by with his dog and we were naked!"

The calendar will be out on November 20 with all profits going to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance services, which is an independent charity.

Grandfather headbutts student over noise row J essica Ware News Reporter

A man has been found guilty of head butting his neighbour - a former student of the University of Leeds.

The attack took place after an argument about noise levels escalated.

Grandfather John Starrs, 55, who is the sole carer of his 23-year-old son who has autism and severe learning disabilities, has been spared a prison sentence.

The Hyde Park resident used force to enter the house of Guy Prescott, 23 in the early afternoon of Saturday 31 July. He then proceeded to complain about the level of music from the house; which had been an on-going point of conflict between the two residences.

The confrontation culminated when Mr Starrs repeatedly head butted Prescott, who suffered a broken tooth as a consequence. When questioned, Mr Starrs said: "I just snapped and head butted him a couple of times. I knew it was wrong and just left the property."

Mr Prescott accused John Starrs of threatening him with a blade that resembled a sickle or gardening tool. Mr Starrs denied this claim.

Complaints had already been lodged about the group of students occupying the house, with reports of loud music playing as early as 9:15am. Mr Starrs said: "The volume and the scale of this music was unreal", to which he added "The whole house was shaking and my son was panicking and ! was panicking over the amount of noise we were getting".

Guy Prescott however, claimed he had no knowledge that there was a

problem with noise, and had never seen his neighbour until the incident.

The two men appeared in Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday 27 October, where Mr Starrs was found guilty of occasional bodily harm. Judge Stephen Ashurst said: "Sending you to custody is too dramatic a step given the impact it would have on your son."

Contrary to Judge Ashurst's belief that Mr Starrs was in fact in possession of a blade, police found no evidence of a weapon whilst searching his home.

Guy Prescott, who was "completely shocked", said: "He held a garden impliment to my neck and then lowered it towards my chest. Then he headbutted me twice and split my lip".

"J am terrified of opening the door now in case he comes around without notice. It is ridiculous."

04

-- - '"- - -

Sam Finchum News Reporter

In a renewal of campaign action, residents have asked that city council have increased powers to reduce the number of houses that are converted for student living.

The group, backed by Liberal Democrat councillors Martin Hamilton and Richard Brett, demands any landlord wishing to convert a family house into a House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO) has special planning permission granted by the council.

While not specific to students, HM Os are the most common type of student occupancy, particularly in the 'student' areas of Headingley and Hyde Park.

Campaigners point to problems that accompany areas such as these

;~~~shsifvhe Hn~i~/:~~t:,~~c~uod~:1 behaviour.

They have used other cities councils as examples, such as Manchester, which have already been granted a renewal of these powers.

The law was revoked by the Conservative government, following complaints that the system was becoming overrun with applications. However, many local councils, including Oxford, Newcastle and

Friday, Nove mbe r 5, 2010

Milton Keynes are lobbying against the changes and petitioning for their HMO powers to be returned.

If the campaign is successful in Leeds, the powers would probably not come into effect for some time, and affect only new HMO conversions, so existing HMOs would not require retrospective permission.

Paul Gold, community officer of the LUU student executive, slammed the legislation, calling it a "discriminatory and a ham ·fisted attempt at social engineering"

"With over 4000 empty student beds in Leeds, this legislation is too little, too late and there is no evidence to suggest we would see a chan~e back to family houses from HMO's.'

He also stated that students were

not the only people to use HMOs, pointing also to young professionals, and countered residents' complaints by adding "This also completely ignores the positive contribution students bring to the area."

"Instead of jumping on the band wagon of a few residents, councillors need to address the problems facing these areas practically, by working with students, not against them."

Leeds has one of the largest combined student populations in the country, at over 50 000.

A reduction in the number of new student houses available for rent may see other privately rented accommodation, such as Broadcasting Tower and iQbecome more popular.

nt Leeds Student

News in brief

Pass go and collect75 years. Monopoly is 75 years old!

The Discovery Museum is celebrating 75 years of Monopoly since it was launched in Leeds.

Visitors will be ab)e to enjoy popular board games including a version of Monopoly where the traditional London landmarks have been replaced with Leeds street names.

There will also be an opportunity to customise a Monopoly board with their own ideas and play other retro Waddingtons board games such as duedo and Ra trace.

Discovery Centre Outreach and Education Officer Liz Knight said, ''This is a magnificent opportunity for people to raid our weird and wonderful games cupboard and also to discover more than 1 million objects housed at the Discovery Centre on our behind the scenes tour

Monopoly was first produced in Leeds by a small struggling printers called Waddingtons in 1936 and was devised by an American called Charles Darrow.

It has now been played by an estimated one billion people making it the most played commercial board

:::------:;-------------:----::----------=----:====;----:=;:::~miim=iiM;;=::::=:;::;1 r;;; 6:~he:s;:!f ~~~°:c!il_to the

Leeds proves to be bang tidy Sarah Griffiths News Reporter

Leeds University has signed up to be part of Green Impact, an envirorunental accreditation scheme led by the NUS.

Both staff .and students are being encouraged to reduce their environmental impact by forming Green Impact teams. A workbook of criteria covering a range of issues including recycling, transport and energy efficiency is supplied for the teams to complete in their own time, helping to support the University in becoming more environmentally­friendly.

"The great thing about Green Impact is that it's incredibly flexible. It's open to all departments, academic and non-academic; teams are led by staff and can include students, and they can involve just a handful of people or a whole department," says sustainability officer James Dixon­Gough.

'The scheme works by encouraging interested people to sign up and form Green Impact teams. For it to really

work we need to get as many interested people to volunteer as possible. It's a great opportunity to bring together people from across the University to make a difference."

Dixon-Gough further explained to Leeds Student: "students can get involved on a number oflevels. If your department has signed up you can join their team and help out if they haven't signed up, your offer of help may persuade them. We will also be looking for people to audit departments in March; you will be fully trained and it offers great experience, as well as an opportunity to see how the successful the scheme has been."

The scheme offers a number of potential benefits to the teams and Leeds University. It provides cost savings by encouraging resource efficiency and it also reduces the amount of energy used throughout the University. It will encourage teamwork, and those who participate within the scheme will also be recognised for all their hard work at the end of year award ceremony.

For more details contact sustainability@leeds.ac.uk and www.leeds.ac.uk/greenirnpact/

Marshal matters Taxi marshals are being introduced to m aintain order and avoid disputes over the festive season

West Yorkshire Police and Leeds City Council are introducing the scheme at three city centre ranks

The marshals will be operating at the Leeds train station rank, Call Lane/Corn Exchange and the rank adjacent to Oceana nightclub.

The three man teams will monitor the ranks between 10.30pm and 3.30am to keep queues orderly. They ensure a first come first served policy to avoid disagreements during a period when the city centre is packed with late night revellers trying to get home after a night out on the town.

Chief Inspector Vernon Francis, from West Yorkshire Police and Holbeck Division, who is responsible for pohcing the city centre says, "Our city is becoming even safer and it is thanks to the many schemes which run in the city centre such as the taxi marshals"

The marshals come in addition to the recently introduced street marshals who patrol outside the city centre nightclubs. The marshals will be in effect continually, including Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and the New Year weekend.

words: Jess Elliott and Sophie Miskiw

Friday, November 5, 2010 www.leedsstudent.o ·g I Leeds Student

Goverrunent will cap fees? Government to allow universities to chmge up to £9,000

Leeds Student Exec meet and challenge Nick CJegg

Jess Elliott News Editor

Students could pay up to £9,000 in fees by 2012, ministers have confirmed this week.

In the wake of the Browne Report that recommended the government remove the cap on fees completely (see article in issue 2), David Willets, universities minister, has said the 'basic threshold" will be £6,000 with other universities charging £9,000 in "exceptional circumstances".

Universities will not be allowed to charge any more than this.

Currently the cap is £3,290 a year and Willets expressed on Wednesday a desire to keep tuition fees capped. However, if the proposals go through parliament a two-tier system could be created seeing the more competitive universities charging higher fees.

The repayment system will also change in what ministers have called a "progressive" step, raising the amount a graduate will have to earn before they start to pay back their loan from £15,000 to £21.000.

Leeds University responded to the announcement, 'lifting of the current cap on graduate contributions to between £6,000 and £9,000 helps provide the University with a sustainable financial future."

On the same day representatives of Student Unions and secondary school students from across the country were invited to meet with the deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, in London. Elliot Jebreel, Education Officer at Leeds University Union (LUU), attended to challenge degg on tuition fees.

Elliot explained, 'We were invited to meet with Clegg to discuss the government's plans, but it was clear that ministers had already decided what course of action they were going to take. degg left the announcement about raising the cap to £9,000 early to come to the meeting. This made it

difficult for us to be fu lly up to date with what David Willets had said as he was still speaking in Parliament!"

Representatives from student unions in Manchester, Oxford and Clegg's own constituency of Sheffield, among others, were given 45 minutes with the Deputy Prime Minister in which they confronted him on issues such as how much the government spend on Higher Education in total .

Before the change to tuition fees the government only spent 0.7 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the overall economic output of the country, on Higher Education. This was below average, following the changes it will be 0.3 per cent. This will leave only Chile spending less than the present government on Higher Education out of other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD ) countries which are an organisation of 33 countries whose aim is to stimulate trade and economic progress.

Elliot also tackled Nick Clegg on the issue Muslim students face that suggests taking out loans with interest is against Islamic (Sharia) law. With the prospect of tuition fees mounting up to £27,000 for a standard three-year degree at a competitive university Elliot reminded Clegg of the amount of Muslim students that attend university and asked what would happen to them.

Clegg's response was that he was unaware of this problem.

'This level of debt is unacceptable," Elliot said. "People in the meeting with Nick Clegg were not happy, secondary school students included. H

Elliot also took the opportunity to hand Clegg the 'invoice' devised by the Exec containing a request for the deputy PM to pay for the education he

· received for free (see article right). The Exec worked out that if the

proposals went through Clegg would owe roughly £42,641 since graduating. Clegg did not comment on the letter.

It has been suggested the government will put legislation through parliament before Christmas to raise the tuition fee cap and then a white paper for the other "progressive" elements including the level at which graduates start to pay the loan back and higher maintenance grants will go through at a later date.

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Alice Kelley News Reporter

The Prime Minister and the Vice Chancellor (V.C) have been asked to pay for their degrees by memben; of the Student Exec.

Letters have been sent to David Cameron and V.C Michael Arthur of Leeds University stating that they should pay the same amount of money students would have to pay should the cap to tuition fees be lifted. It also detailed the costs of the individuals' university education, including interest at 2.2 per cent above inflation, as proposed in the Browne review.

The letter, signed by all six members of the Exec, was also sent to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who, in the lead up to the general election, was in opposition to the proposed rise in tuition fees. Similarly, Education Secretary

Michael Gove and David Willets, Minister of State for Universities and Science, were also asked to pay for their degrees.

Those who attended university before 1998 had their degrees funded by the government. First year student Harriet Wilkes is frustrated by the proposed increases in tuition fees. Harriet told Leeds Student "It's unfair that the people who want to land us in so much debt have no experience of being in debt themselves"

Students voted to oppose the rise in tuition fees and campaign for a fair and progressive funding system at the Better University Forum recently. This is being enacted by LUU by making plain their opposition to the proposals laid out in the Browne review.

They have also organised eight coaches to the National Demo in London on November 10, so that Leeds students can protest the proposed increase to tuition fees

-along with students and other members of the public on national level.

Elliot Jebreel, LUU Education Officer, said, "Our students have come out strongly against any raise in tuition fees as it unfairly burdens the next generation of students with the mistakes made by both the government and the banks". Elliot also met with Nick Clegg on Wednesday.

LUU recently surveyed Leeds students about the proposed cuts to Higher Education, and found that 56 per cent of students are concerned about the level of debt they are facing. This rose to 91 per cent of students who would be concerned if tuition fees increased to £9000 a year.

There is also concern that higher fees will put off those from low income families from applying to university.

As of yet there has been no response to the letters.

Even more reasons to shop at Morrisons DaveGazet News Reporter

Morrisons, one of the lar~est food

~~~t1lr: totO ~~'shf;; ti~:l;~ peo~l~~ scheme is a joint venture between the Salvation Army and Leeds based Create which is a not-

forT{fsfi: ~~;gf~1~rge e>.P,ansion by the supermarket cha1d which aims ~~ f8iQOjclJ!:ores an to crea~e up

Those enrolled will be takmg a three-month training course leading to a level 1 ~alification in Retail Knowledge ( FC). Following this, trainees have e opportunify to take full apprenticeships in food or retail skills.

Norman Pickavance, human

~hi~r~hi~r~tf;i~~i~0~wrsh~:tt

r:~ke~~b~;aff·~p~~ i£!/~~~ fh:~ in their current period of expansion, they wished to employ people from "all sections of the community"

He voiced a hope that other supe_rmarket chams will join Momsions in this venture.

A pilot scheme is currently in

~1:ie:!~~~;eer;;~~rerrm~~e trainees at Harehills is one of the most

disadvantaged areas in Leeds. Baroness Warsi, Conservative

party chairman, said that this was an excellent example of a way for businesses to "create jobs and drive growth at a time of economic uncertainty." She went on to say that "Initiatives like this will make a real

*1~~~~d ihf~iE~ej/:~hP[h:1s~

theyJ~~~dJi~d,\'b~f~~fd~;~?~1e Big Issue spoke to Lee~s Student ab~ut the Morrisons initiative. He said: "What is extraordinary about the Morrisons proposal is tha_t it follows

~~~;1~2nu;:~~1 bl}!~ ~1lo~i~~f ili

g~1~~J fu~~~-the opportunit~ of a 'Coi:gratulations to Mornsons

~0/ ~e~~l~ ~ehsgoNigfr~?~eaF~~§

supporte~ cor~ectly will prove to be worth their weight in gold. This is a_n excellent example of riow business 1s sometimes better placed that charity to tackle pave~."

It is rioped that the initiative will be launcried nationwide in the coming months.

Stylus hosts political debate Jess Elliott News Editor

A debate took place in Stylus this Monday to discuss the future of Higher Education.

Vice Chancellors of both Leeds University and Leeds Metropolitan along with the president of National Union of Students (NUS) and University College Union (UCU) were all present.

Emily Barran, a third year Classical Literature and Philosophy student,

chaired the debate. Members of the conference

responded to the Browne Review and discussed the impact it would have on Higher Education.

Aaron Porter, president of NUS vehemently opposed the Browne Review, claiming fees would be "linked to perceived prestige of universities rather than the quality of education."

He also stated his support for Greg Mulholland, Leeds North West MP, who has stood firm on his promise during the General Election to oppose rising tuition fees.

Michael Arthur, Vice Chancellor of Leeds University stated that the public cannot go along with the ideological argument that the cuts are Tory driven. He stressed that he saw university students as "members, not customers."

Susan Price, Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Met appealed to the Micheal Arthur to recognise that there are "Two great Universities in Leeds as well as a University College"

Members of the audience were given the opportunity to challenge the panellists on the issues raised.

06

~hanger in the skies With the war on terror still raging across the globe, a student is arrested under the suspicion of sending mail bombs on a commercial airline.

Gemma-Louise Sutherland. Her 45-year-old mother was also News Ed.Hor arrested with her.

On Sunday October 31 Yemeni authorities arrested student Hanan al-Samawi. from the University of Sana'a on suspicion of sending mail bombs on two Qatar Airways aeroplanes bound for the United States of America.

Ms al-Samawi's arrest caused uproar on the University of Sana'a campus, resulting in hundreds of students protesting and staging sit­ins on Sunday demanding that she be released.

The parcels were found on Friday, located on two Chicago-bound planes in Dubai and England. Authorities searched the planes after an informant tipped off intelligence officials in Saudi Arabia.

Barack Obama's counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, said on Sunday that authorities "have to presume" there might be more mail bombs on the way to the USA.

He told CNN the bombs 'bear all the hallmarks of AQA2 (Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula)."

Ms al-Samawi, a 22 year-old engineering student was arrested after police surrounded her house in the Yemeni capital Sana' a. Her mobile phone number was found on a receipt connected to the packages deposited at FedEx and UPS offices in Sana'a

The Yemeni human rights activist Abdel Rahman Barman said that according to her university colleagues: "Samawi was not known to be involved in political activity or to have ties to Islamist groups. She had not been allowed access to a lawyer"

The Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, told <eportecs the US and UAE had provided intelligence that helped to identify Samawi However, Ms al-Samawi was released on Sunday. "Tam innocent and there is nothing against me. This is why I have been released," she told reporters.

Ms al Samawi's father further added: "I feel happy about this solidarity from the students."

The students carried banners and chanted slogans demanding the government to apologise to the woman and stop arresting people without sufficient evidence

''This is rehabilitation to Hanan, but it is not enough. We demand the government officially apologise for arresting Hanan. They do not have to arrest anybody without proof," said student Miad al Qulaisi.

Meanwhile, 14 suspected al Qa'eda militants in the province of Abyan surrendered to the local authorities, the defense ministry website reported yesterday.

Friday, November 5 , 2010 I NWW.leed.sstudent.org Leeds Student

No smoke without fire? Laura Mackenzie Editor

He.adingleywas the scene of chaos on Saturday night after a customer dressed as a cow let off a military grenade in the middle of a crowded bar.

The unidentified customer released the smoke bomb in the upstairs floor of the ARC at around 11pm.

The situation quickly escalated after the_ upstairs of the building began filling with smoke, and Halloween revelers rushed to escape what at first appeared to be a building fire.

The escape route of several students was blocked however after they found one of the fire exits locked

with a bicycle padlock. One member of the group also injured her hand while trying to exit the building.

Dave Wyatt, a post-graduate student in Low Carbon Technologies told Leeds Student that the group was then forced to retrace its steps back through the smoke-filled bar. He criticised the bar for the way in which it dealt with the incident, saying: "We were all shocked by the bar's slow response to the incident."

The ARC has refused to comment on these allegations.

The type of smoke bomb released in the bar has been described by fire officers as a "weapon" Grenades of this kind are only issued out by the military to its own personnel, and cannot be bought by members of the public.

The smoke released by military-

grade grenades can leave a person unconscious if enough of it is inhaled, and by the time that two fire engines had appeared on the scene the situation had become "dangerous"

Dave said: "My friends and I all assumed it was a smoke machine to start with, but very quickly the area was filled with a highly acrid smoke that made it difficult):o breathe."

He added: "I hope Arc have learned some lessons, as if they are happy to take our money they could at least take our safety seriously."

Leeds Student understands that the police are not investigating the matter due to the impossibility of identifying the offender in question. West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service are continuing its enquiries however.

Campus Watch Matthew Power Spanish Correspondent

Longborough

A student has been jailed for eight years after a raping a fellow student in her halls of residence.

Hyung Woo Pyo, a third-year civil engineering student, tied-up, gagged and blindfolded the 20-year-old during a viscous attack on May 18.

Pyo, 22, also stole the students laptop, camera and purse and forced her to give him her PIN number. Pyo had previously been questioned on suspicion of burglary and was tracked down by police through his DNA records.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Hammond said: "She felt a gloved hand on her mouth and.he told her to shut up. "He put a light on and produced a roll of duct tape and bound her wrists, gagged her mouth and blindfolded her with it."

"She begged him to stop, but he grabbed her throat and held her down, saying if she didn't want to die she'd better be quiet. The victim is understood to be having regular medical tests as Pyo has hepatitis B.

Pyo is expected to be deported after the completion of his sentence.

Durham

A former PhD student is suing her University claiming that she was racially abused by her supervisor.

Dr Hadil Bakir says that the ill­treatment she received from one of her tutors caused bulimia, a stomach ulcer and depression and is seeking £200,000 in compensation from the institution.

The University has denied the allegations and has suggested that Dr Bakir holds a grudge against the tutor, Dr Rumaisa Bashir.

The former student, originally from Iraq, started studying at Durham University in 2002 and completed her PhD in 2006. She claims she was regularly subjected to verbal abuse after she was told to her change the subject area of her studies and says she was labelled a "cry baby" and "international troublemaker."

The claim sent to Newcastle Country Court also states: "Throughout the time that the claimant worked with Dr Bashir, the

claimant was subject to minor physical abuse.

"If the claimant was standing in the way of Dr Bashir, she would simply walk past her, treading on her toes, knocking her out of the way or otherwise making physical contact. "She did not ask, did not apologise and did not acknowledge the contact that she made."

University of South Carolina, U.S.A

Sociology students will be given the opportunity to take a course on American popstar Lady Gaga.

The degree, 'Lady Gaga and the Sociology of the Fame' will look at the singer's life and rise to fame.

Modules will include study on gay culture, religion and culture and the cities Hollywood and New York.

Professor Mathieu Deflem, who will lead the course, told the USC student newspaper, t he Daily Gamecock, that Gaga' s success was a "social phenomenon".

The course is set to begin in January 2011.

~ ough

Friday, November 5 , 20 l 0 ww leedsstudent < g Leeds Student

Barakas told: pay £ 1500 Local restaurant faces fines due to lack of entertainment licenses

James Kililin News Reporter

The owner of a Hyde Park cafe is facing a £1515 bill after failing to ensure the proper licensing of his premises.

Mr Farooq Ahmed, the owner of Baraka on Queens Road, was found to have set up dancing facilities and employed DJs to play recorded music in his establishment without first having acquired the necessary authorisation from Leeds City Council.

Posters advertising upcoming music events had been put up inside the cafe and on.line.

Leeds Magistrates' Court heard on Friday 22 October that Mr Ahmed had ignored several warnings from the City Council licensing enforcement officers and from police officers regarding the need to obtain the proper premises licence, or Temporary Event Notice.

Mr Ahmed was also said to have intentionally obstructed the entry of a Council officer attempting to investigate the activities on his premises. He was found guilty, convicted, and fined £500, with £1000 costs and a £15 victims'

sllrcharge. The Moroccan themed cafe-lounge

is popular with students for its policy of allowing customers to bring their own alcohol to drink with meals, and for its cushioned upstairs seating area, in which customers can purchase and smoke shisha.

Entertainment licensing officers from the City Council have visited the Hyde Park establishment on four separate occasions over the past two years, beginning on 25 September 2008. After this initial inspection, Mr Ahmed obtained an application for a premises licence, but neglected to provide the completed application documents to the Entertainment Licensing Section.

The instance of intentional obstruction occurred on October 20 last year, when the owner is alleged to have verbally and physically obstructed a Council licensing enforcement officer.

Mr Ahmed told Leeds Student that, after the visit of the first officer in 2008, he ceased all live music events, but continued to play recorded music.

Mr Ahmed said, "He told me that l couldn't play any music because l needed an entertainment license. When l checked it up, because I'm a cafe bar and I don't sell alcohol, I don't need a license [to play recorded

music]." "However, the licensing official still

took me to court saying I was playing live music. It's all background music, it's not entertainment."

To play recorded music in a private establishment, a license from the Performing Right Society for Music (PRS) must be purchased, to ensure that royalties are paid to the writers or composers of songs to earn money when their music is played. Mr Ahmed assured Leeds Student that Baraka currently has an up-to-date PRS license.

When asked to comment on the charges of obstruction, Mr Ahmed claimed that an additional charge of assault, brought by the Council officer, had been dropped by the judge.

He also said that he had been approached regarding the recently constructed awning at the front of the establishment, and asked to pay £190 for planning permission.

"They [the Council] are not letting businesses survive. They're jumping on every penny they can get ... Small businesses just can't take that."

Mr Ahmed has since applied for two Temporary Event Notices, currently displayed outside Baraka. He will meet with licensing officers this week.

07

Ivy league universities a new threat to Leeds

Jane Woodvine News Reporter

Elite private schools are coaching their sixth-form student.s in how to apply to American Universities.

The new innovative comes in light of the Browne Report, which suggests that Higher Education institutes uncap fees which are currently set at £3,290 a year.

According to The Times: "Ivy League universities and lesser known institutions in the US are attracting growing numbers of pupils from leading British schools."

"Harvard and Yale charge very high fees but offer generous bursaries. If fees rise at leading British universities, these could, with a favourable exchange rate, become comparable with mid ranking American institutions."

American admissions advisers have been visiting prestigious British independent schools to try and encourage elite students to consider University places in the US.

Head Master of Harrow School, Barnaby J Lenon, said: "One factor is that about 12 American universities send admissions tutors to visit us, which no British university does.'

In response to this, the Marketing Director for Leeds University, Martin Holmes says: 'We have to recognise that the US is a real and significant competitor to universities like Leeds"

Commenting on how Leeds is

planning to compete with US Universities, Martin Holmes stated: "Leeds will seek to further develop its relationships with schools and colleges to help increase the understanding of the distinctive features of a Leeds education and our approach to research-led teaching."

Last year 26.4 per cent of full time UK/EU undergraduates were from 'independent' schools. As prospective students can only apply to five British universities, candid.ates are doubling their chances by also applying to American universities.

Another attractive feature of the American education system is the Liberal Arts degree. The Guardian has described the degree as: "a programme of study aimed at developing a student's intellect. It takes many forms and can include the sciences, mathematics and languages. It stands in sharp contrast to traditional degrees in which students focus on a relatively narrow field of study.''

Some British Universities have begun to offer the Liberal arts degree and Martin Holmes recognises that: "The implication of the Browne Review is that the breadth and diversity of provision within the Higher Education sector will also diversify. Colleagues responsible for the delivery of learning and teaching are in the process of looking at the content and nature of our curriculum to ensure it responds appropriately to the needs of our students.''

Student internet battle continues Llzzie Edmonds News Editor

Blame has been placed upon students for the poor internet services received at St Marks' Residences.

In an email recently sent to occupants, residential services stated that the internet provider Keysurf found evidence that students had "tampered" with wireless devices.

It warned: "Removing any main cabling and connection to the AP device will have a detrimental impact on all other residents trying to use the wireless system."

Residential services, however, do acknowledge that the action was taken by students to try and speed up their internet access.

Last week, Leeds Student revealed that students had began to take action against the slow and unreliable internet service provided at St Marks' halls.

A petition was posted in the lobby of F Block. Due to the amount of interest forrnal action was taken as a response.

Residential Services acknowledged that there was a problem but had done little to improve the service.

One email, sent this week to residents, stated that action had been taken and that: "we have been

working closely with the service provider Keysurf."

"Keysurf have also visited the site and have replaced some equipment in C Block.and they are continuing to monitor the service on a daily basis.''

Residential services admitted that St Marks' internet service wasn't as efficient as "some other locations" and they would "ask residents to ensure they use the internet service to support their studies; certain activities including downloading film, television or on line gaming will impact the service and we ask residents to show consideration to others.''

08 Friday, November 5, 2010 I www.leedsstudent.org I Leeds Student

Student speaks out after knife attack Adam Richardson Investigations Editor

A student has spoken out after being stabbed in an unprovoked attack in Burley.

A middle-aged woman attacked Luke Bierne, a second year Geo!ogical Sciences student, during the early evening of October 10. He was walking along Westfield Road, Burley, behind the popular Bargain Booze shop.

Speaking to Leeds Student about the incident, Luke said "She just said 'excuse me' It was just so quick."

"She stabbed my neck and just, just grazed my chin. She was still trying to get at me as ! held her off I picked her off and threw her to the ground and as l did she grabbed my t shirt and ripped that. She went to get back up and l kicked her back over and just ran for it. I didn't know what I'd been stabbed with Blood was everywhere."

He succeeded in pushing her to the ground, then kicked her away as she came back towards him.

After the incident he ran, still bleeding, into the nearby Bargain Booze.

"! knew that evening Bargain Booze would be open so I just ran in there. r called the ambulance on the way and just walked in and

asked if anyone fancied giving me a hand. Thankfully the owner and his wife were very helpful and got load of stuff for me to hold on and calmed me down until the ambulance arrived."

After being taken to hospital,

Luke was treated for a 2-3 centimetre cut to the underside of his chin. Luckily he was relatively uninjured, leaving hospital by 22.30pm on the night of the incident. He commented: "I was just so lucky it wasn't a bit lower."

Police found the knife, which had been dropped near the scene and it has been sent for analysis.

Luke was due to go a friend's birthday party on the night, but coolly called his friends from the ambulance to explain his absence

A police statement said: "His attacker was described as white aged in her mid forties, 5ft 7ins t~ 5ft Sins tall, slim, with dark hair.

She was wearing a three­quarter length black or dark blue parka with the hood up and dark bottoms.

She was quietly spoken and had a high-pitched voice. She may have received grazes falling to the ground when fought off by the victim.

When asked if he had returned to the site of the attack, Luke confidently said he had: ''I've walked back past it, on my own. I don't let it worry me too much."

Anyone who witnessed the attack, or anyone with any otber information relating to the incident is asked to calf DC Rob Willis at Weetwood police station on 0845 606 0606.

letters@leedsstudent.org Re. 'Are you being servered?' (Issue 4, p.4))

Dear Editor

Trying to do research he.re is a daily struggle. Sometimes loggmg onto the Leeds University Portal takes so long, that the page request times out

Although we have been sent fob-off emails stating that they are aware of the problems and are trying to smooth out the service, nothing has been done.

In our contract with St Marks residence, it was stated that internet was provided. This is true but upon registering for the service, I noticed that the internet speed given in thj.s contract !s 512kbps (5 Mbps). Even ,f the service was brought up to 'full' speed, we'd still be operating at a pre­broadband level.

Hi,

yours truly frustrated,

Thomas Baines

My name is Oaudia Garcia and I am an international student living in St. Mark's residence. l just read your article about the internet connection here and I have to say that the University is treating us like fools! They say that they are going to fix it but they do nothing about it. Its impossible to upload something to the VLE , or even Skype! There are a lot of international students in this accommodation who rely on the internet to communicate with their families at home and it is just impossible! We are spending a lot of money calling Key Surf and also calling

home to let them know that we are okay and that it is just the internet that is not working!

The past week we have been without internet for more than three days in Block B, and when we called them they said that a technician was fixing it, but that we have to wait until the device gets used to it! Yes .... as you read, app~rently a device has to get used to giving you internet! Also everytime you call they tell you it's your computer that is not working properly! We've sent a lot of complaints to the Residential and Commercial services, we also went there and they told us to send another complaint... its a joke and everyone its really pissedoffl!!!

Well im lucky I can email you right now! If you reply me and you do not get an answer its because i dont have internet anymore ... thats what l always have to tell everyone!!!!

Oaudia Garcia

The Unfrersity are encouraging residents to contact the Keysurf helpdesk on 0113 832 0002 to report any specific faults that they may be experiencing. [( residents are not getting satisfactory help or support from the helpdesk they are asked to contact Residential Services on 0113 3436085.

Got an opinion on something you've read in LS? Send your thoughts

into us at either the email address above or to PO

Box 157, Leeds, LS11UH.

A European is not a European until he has bought himself a bike. Thus promoting myself from Euro-lite (UK edition) to full-fat Euro, I bought my two wheels at a market in the shadow

~Fi~~~c:; ~h~o{~dli!0~

should be buying a bike rather than selling one off.

lt was only the next day that I realised just how yellow it was, this bike: a garish colour that Dulux would place somewhere betw_een 'egg yolk orange' and 'pornographK neon', all set off against a pattern that one might liken to the jizz of someone living off Skittles. But despite having rushed to buy spray paints with the intention of pimping my ride, I still haven't been able to bring myself to paint the monster one month on. The sort of colour that no one would choose, it reminds me fondly of rental bikes and family holidays Brittany.

For my bike is beautiful, I know that now. And just how many time I have returned from classes to find it at the bike stands caught up in a sort of gangbang with the other bikes - a burly mountain trekker, a handsome vintage racer and a more slender­framed model vainly enhanced with a pert basket - I could not hazard a guess.

Anyhow, the weekend after l bought my bike, four of us conceived the idea to head southwards out of town in search of a new beach, one which wasn't teeming with holidaymakers (for technically it was still summer, and the British public had not yet been rounded up and put back into their offices).

We didn't have a map, but we had ambition, and how difficult is it to 'head south'? South along the beachside promenade, south past th~ harbour, south past the industrial parks, up onto the spaghetti junction that appears from nowhere and out onto the five-lane motorway ..

Suddenly, it was looking bleak, and not only had our sea view and coastal breeze ducked behind the industrial estates, but the steady stream of freight lorries seemed reluctant to share the road with a line of swimwear-wearing cyclists (Calvin Klein, £35).

And then my flip-flops (Primark, £3) broke - simultaneously and spectacularly - and all of a sudden this other beach seemed like a lot of hard work. So, after a cursory search for a flip-flop repair shop, it was decided (by me) that we would resume our usual spot on the usual beach. It was the weekend when Manchester Utd were

Matt Hutchinson English Language and Literature Trurd year, study abroad

Location: Valencia, Spain

playing PC Valencia, and England seemed to have emptied its dregs onto the line of bars which look out onto the sea. But sometimes a beach is a beach, and the cycling can wait.

But a river is not always a river. Valencia's Jardin de! Turia occupies the riverbed of a one that once ran straight through the city. Here, deviating boldly from the urban cycle paths and dropping down into this landscaped Eden, one can weave frivolously between the tropical plants and sports fields, old statues and old people. And suddenly there is the feeling that one has left Valencia entirely and cycled to Centre Parks, albeit one with the fortunate lack of a swimming pool multiplex from which bathers will inevitably contract all manner of infections.

And then, of course, there is the occasional night where, in your post­pre-drinking state, it makes far more sense to cycle, no matter how far away the club is, in beautiful convoy. Because, friends, there is no better way to travel through the old Barrio Del Carmen when all loved-up on Spanish wine, its gothic streets smudging as you navigate them with all the elegance of an 'Oh fuck! Someone's stolen my saddle'.

Friday, November 5 , 2010

Before we begin it must be said that I am not going to present a grand, all encompassing

argument for judging a book by its cover. The point of this argument is that in many circumstances one should judge by appearance, indeed on many occasions a book should be judged by its cover. To begin with lets look to this very publication. Although every section of this mighty newspaper is fantastic there is of course an obvious split between the serious half that is LS1 and the fun half that is LS2.

As editor of LS2 I focus heavily on the appearance of the pages, and see the design and appearance of the pages as equal to the content in importance. The appearance of the page is what draws people in and makes them want to read LS2 more than LSl. When an article looks boring it is not inviting to read, and so few people will read it. No one would read a huge body of text with no design, pictures or effort put into the appearance.

The human brain works visually, it­processes images and we are drawn to colourful and beautiful things. Even in the news section you will never see just a wall of words, there will always be a picture or illustration. On the front page if there was just an ugly blanket of black and white text I doubt anyone would pick it up; there always needs to be a picture to draw people in or an interesting way of presenting the headline and the news story. Magazines put lots of time and effort into the design and layout of their pages - many people buy lifestyle magazines just to look at the pictures and aesthetic of it - in this instance design becomes even more important than what is inside the publication.

To move away from the print industry, as I'm sure your getting a bit bored, let's talk about fit people instead, everyone loves a good fittie.

When out in gatecrasher your definitely going to judge a book by its cover, whether you think what's inside a person is more important the appearance of a person in a club is the most important. That is if you don't you may have a nasty surprise in the morning, unless you haven't got any standards that is.

Once in a relationship, the emotions, thoughts, feelings of a person become important, but at the conception of a relationship it is all about the appearance. Yes, people say the main quality they want in a partner is humour or intelligence but without that person first being attractive

Leeds Student 09

ud ebya earance? We've all heard the age old debate, what's more important - beauty or personality? Style or substance? Design or content? In an attempt to solve an issue that has quizzed humans for millenia, we get our very own LS 1 and LS 2 editors, one obsessed with design, the other with content, to ask:

nowayous its cover?

it isn't going anywhere. You have got to have that spark, that initial attraction, that primitive urge to procreate with them. As 1 am in ridiculous danger of sounding completely shallow lets geek it up a bit and move onto technology.

Apple's iPod isn't the best selling mp3 player in the world because it works better than any other mp3, it is because it looks nice. The iPod is just a load of technology from different manufactures put in a shiny case by Apple. iPhones would not be everywhere if people did not judge a book by its cover.

You may have noticed that my argument is not particularly well written and that when you move onto the argument presented by the fine fellow opposite me you may notice that he has presented a much more well written, clear and impressive argument. However if my argument was amazing and better than that of Mr. Knowles I'd be contradicting myself wouldn't I really - the reason your reading this first is because its so colourful. You are probably not feeling too drawn to his because it looks so boring! So please do not consider the content of this argument just look at the appearance, judge it by its cover.

•

0

s you fllic k through the pages of this \ fine publ ication, what's bee n l.catching your eye? I'm going to take a

bet it's the stories with the best picture, or the pages with the best design, or the most inviting headline. In other words, it's the surface leve l, the style, the cover.

Should we judge a book by its cover? There's no should about it. We do judge those metaphorical books by their metaphorical covers, whether we like it or not. People, clothes, magazines, CDs, films, newspapers and indeed books themselves, everything is about catching our eye.

Whether it's walking into a bookshop or swaggering into a bar, the first thing we notice is the pretty stuff, the cover.

So if I'm defending the other side, why am I saying this? Well, I was making a point. You as a reader kept reading because you wanted to get beyond the surface level, to find out why I was saying 'yes' in the 'no' column. Or maybe you liked the first paragraph and wanted to keep reading. Or perhaps you weren't thinking either way but have still found yourself here. Whatever, you've read this far, you gone beyond the cover. There were no pretty looking stars or colours in this column, but maybe this doesn't actually matter if we can grab you with writing. See? You're all less shallow than you thought.

As LS l editor I spend a lot time making sure the content grabs you. A pretty picture may draw in a reader but if the first paragra ph is boring, the writer's lost half their audience.

But produce an article that grabs a reader by t he neck and pins them against a wall until the very end however and they will remember it for days. The article will have

Tom Knowles LSl Editor

got under their skin. . Rarely do people finish reading an article

or column piece and say: 'Man, that was some good design!', they will instead praise the writing, the content, the bit beyond the cover. Do you buy your favourite newspaper for the way their pictures are laid out or for what is written inside?

In other words, after an initial excitement from sight, everyone has a desire to see beyond, to flip the cover, we are not happy to leave our judgement of the book on its cover alone.

We can't resist turning the page and seeing what's beyond, we are never simply happy with surface. Because if we were happy with surface, then we would never go beyond that cover, never read on, never walk up to that boy or girl at the bar. Hell, if we existed on style alone, we'd never live. If the cover is good enough then why do we keep readirig? And if the cover, from books to the clothes we wear, is only designed to lead people into the 'real' you, or real story, then obviously the 'cover' is never enough from the first plave.

Say you lock eyes with someone across a bar, they take your fancy and you move up to sta rt talking to them. This does not mean your judging them by their cover because you're still talking to them , there is a wan t to go beyond the cover, to get to know them, to read them all the way to the end, or at least until the first chapter.

Even if this talk you're having is only for the most primal reason of wanting to get them into bed, that's still a want to see them naked, to remove the 'cover' of their clothes. And the ones you'll remember? The ones you want to call again? Those are the ones who have got under your skin, those who have meant more to you than style alone.

A person with substance rather than just style or 'cover value'·doesn't have to be clever, or be able to wax lyrical about Coleridge or Picasso's later years, they just have to be able to make a connection.

Two beautiful people who date but have no banter going on between each other are no thing, they are vapid, simply nice to look at and who wants to that?

But let's drift back to books. There's two types: the collector's edition of rare book, kept in a glass case, its cover never having been touched, its pages never flicked through, its spine unbent. Or there's the one that meant more than just surface, the one whose words were re-read and loved, its pages ripped and spine bent. I'd know which J' d rather be.

Don't forget to log on

and have your say at

www leedsstudent org

Comment 10 Fr iday , Nove mber 5 , 2010 I www.leedsstudent.org I Leeds Student

The irony of Quilliam By encouraging Muslims to isolate themselves from their wider religious community, the Foundation may lay seeds for the extremism it hopes to prevent

Maryam Ahmad Law Senior Status

(LLM)

Many British Muslim students have become agonisingly aware of the existence of the Quilliam Foundation, 'the world's first counler extremism think tank set up to address the unique challenges of citizenship, identity, and belonging.' The Foundation is a non religious organisation whose focus is on preventing extremism amongst Muslims by promoting liberal values in society. At first glance this aim appears commendable, but coupled with its reports, the most recent being 'Radicalisation on British University Campuses', Muslim students are becoming increasingly concerned about the consequences of the r:oundation's objectives.

As briefly outlined in Leeds Student last week, their work has caused a serious fear about the way practicing religion on campus might be perceived as a fostering of extremist values. The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (f:OSIS) questioned the credibility of the source material and determined the report to be sensationalist in its conclusion .of a link between Islamic societies and extremism, and in stark

contrast to the findings of other evidence based enquiries.

Part of the uncertainty and distrust around the Quilliam Foundation sterns from the fact that its co-founders, Maajid Nawaz and Ed Husain, arc former activists of the extremist group Hizb ut Tahrir (HT). Whilst there is no doubt that their move away from such views is nothing but sincere, their experiences are a far cry away from those of the 'average' Muslim. The fact that they both succumbed to such extreme views following their exposure to these ideas during their own days as students may have affected their perception of where the middle way of true Islam actually is; it may also have resulted in creating a perception of extremism in student Islamic Societies where there may only be religious conservatism. Muslim student politics has come a long way since Nawaz and Husain's time. Although there will be some individuals who hold repugnant views such as those cited in the report, the overwhelming majority of student societies espouse the middle way, encouraging democratic political activism and promoting interfaith dialogue and socially progressive activities.

A further fear seems to arise from the fact that through the Foundation's messages, a specific identity is being imposed onto British Muslims by forcing Muslims to disassociate themselves from the ummah, the world-wide community of Muslims, in

favour of individualistic liberal values. The Muslim community's core sense of identity as a Muslim body has been attacked by the Foundation as being exclusive, anti-Western and.separatist.

A deep connection with the world wide community of Muslims does not necessarily entail a rejection of state loyalties and values

A brief look at the life of the Foundation's namesake William Henry Abdullah Quilliam, the nineteenth century convert, founder of Britain's first mosque and the first leader of the British Muslim community illustrates that fostering a Muslim identity and deep connection to the welfare of the ummah does not necessarily entail a rejection of state loyalties and values. A supporter of the Muslim ummah and the Ottoman caliphate, a public figure

Not the final chapter We should not accept the closure of Union Books lying down, the decision was clearly undemocratic and alternative solutions should be explored

Ian Pattison Leeds University

Against Cuts Politics Masters

Leeds University Against Cuts completely disagrees with conclusions made in last week's Leeds Student editorial 'Final chapter for Union Books', which supports the closure of the last student union run bookshop in the country, Union Books.

No student has expressed support for the closure of Union Books throughout our campaigning, and we have only found support for the closure from the Student Union Executive and University Management. Students are shocked and disgusted Union Books is being closed, and rightly ask how can you have a university without a bookshop?

Last week's Leeds Student editorial did raise important questions. Where will students buy reasonably priced material, specialist books, or course packs? What will happen to the staff working in Union Books? The editorial states that if these questions can be answered we can finish the final chapter on Union Books. But, can this issues ever be solved?

In contrast to the views expressed in the Leeds Student editorial, student experience is that the price and service in Union Books is much better than other bookstores run for profit. Union Books is a service run in the interests of students. Because Amazon, Blackwells, Waterstones, and the rest are run for profit, their prices are higher and the quality of service is diminished. Because they are run for profit, they don't stock lots of the specialist books that so many students rely on. Language students in particular have found much better prices and availability of the books they need at Union Books than any other private bookshop. Many students commented on how useful they found the second hand section, which no other outlet provides. Leeds Student points out the lacking of this scond hand service, but, surely the solution is to extend this popular service instead of closing Union Books entirely? So far, various departments have failed to support Union Books as much as they could have. Course packs will not be sold in different subject department reception areas. Unlike Union Books, subject departments do not have the expertise or resources to do this.

All staff currently working in' Union Books are set to lose their jobs. Leeds University Against Cuts opposes the closure of Union Books, but if it does close, we believe the staff must be given appropriate jobs elsewhere in the university.

Unlike Leeds University Against Cuts, Leeds University Union has failed to engage with students on Union Books. The decision to close Union Books was taken over the summer when staff and students were away and couldn't voice their opposition.· It had already been decided that Union Books would

The decision to dose Union Books was taken without staff and students being able to voice their opposition close by the time the consultation period started. The consultation failed to engage with anything resembling a broad layer of students. The consultation was more about what should replace Union Books, rather than whether it should remain open.

Throughout the consultation the views of students who expressed a desire to keep Union Books open, for example in the Societies Assembly, were dismissed.

and propagator of Islam, a critic of imperial policies and yet also a patriot, the Foundation's appropriation of the image of Abdullah Quilliam as the face of British [slam does not suggest that the existence of his multiple identities and loyalties were ever problematic. However, when war broke out between the two empires Britain's Muslims were unfairly treated with suspicion by the authorities. If the alleged problems of Muslim identity were alive even then, the use of his image by the Quilliam Foundatioh is quite misleading.

It seems that if Quilliam's image is to be used to promote anything amongst British Muslims it is the opposite of what the Foundation appears to promote: that we should be proud of our communal spirit, multiple loyalties and aspects of identity and undeterred by those who will persist in treating us with suspicion.

The fact is that there is nothing wrong with Muslims having a strong sense of identity and there is credible evidence to suggest that this actually protects against extremism. Forcing Muslims to detach themselves from the ummah and labelling those who promote the concept of Muslim unity as extremists will only perpetuate the problems of real extremism. Identities and values cannot be forced on people from the outside. The more the Quilliam Foundation try to break down Muslim identity the more susceptible to extremism young Muslims will become.

In its 36 year history, Union Books has only made a loss twice. But whether it is making a profit or loss, Union Books should be kept open. The decision goes wholly against the student union motto 'not for profit, just for students'. Even if it is making a loss, other highly profitable student union services should be used to keep Union Books open. Just shy of 1,000 people signed the petition demanding Union Books be kept open, as well as 218 in the Bookshop itself. Additionally, 537 signed an online petition initiated by the UCU (University College Union), and 445 people signed during just 2 weeks of campaigning prior to the end of the consultation period.

Leeds University Against Cuts believe the UCU proposal for Union Books should be adopted. The UCU call on the university to take over and fund the running of Union Books, if the student union is unable to do so.

It is welcome that the Student Union Executive's resources have been put into building the NUS 'Fund Our Future' demonstration on November 10th. However, Leeds University Against Cuts has had an even better response campaigning to save Union Books than against tuition fee rises or education cuts. The Student Union should use this support to launch a mass campaign of students to demand more funding from the university to keep Union Books open.

Friday, November 5, 2010 I www.leedsstudent.org I Leeds Student 11 Comment

How- could you, Stephen? Condemnation of Stephen Fry's recent 'sexist' comments has exposed the absurdity of elevating a celebrity to the position of moral role model

James Killin Second Year English en09jak@leeds.ac.uk

'You don't get it, what it's like to have one of these things in your bloody trousers ... and women don't. Lucky for them."

The year is 2008, and a rather more portly Stephen Fry is ruminating on the subject of women's sexuality and sexual appetites. He claims that women don't approach sex in the same way as men; nay, they are simply incapabfe of being as consumed by the subject as, apparently, all men are. Women don't sexually objectify every man they see. They don't go cruising for sex. To borrow a phrase from the man himself, it's all "manifest nonsense."

Skip forward to October 2010, and Fry is being roundly chastised for making what are essentially the same comments in an interview with attitude, a "gay men's magazine" (let's assume, for the duration of this article, that we can classify all things so easily). The Guardian and The Observer lead the charge, like a morally inverted Daily Mail and Daily Express duo. "Stephen Fry shocks feminists" claims The Guardian's sister paper, while on its website feminist blogger Laurie Penny asks "Stephen Fry, how could you?" The explanation for the 'how' probably lies in his ability, as a free thinking

individual, to voice his o'wn opinions. I think there might even be a Human Right allowing him todoso.

It would seem that, somewhere between A Bit of F,y and Laurie and one of the various series of QI, there was a general consensus amongst the public that Stephen Fry be unofficially appointed the Lord Protector of Proper British Morality, the cuddly corduroy uncle of sensibility. At the same time, we chose to discount the fact that he had subjective beliefs of his own. Each new racially or socially offensive remark from Jeremy Clarkson splatters across our Windscreen of Indignation, and we wipe it away because, you know, that's what he does. But when Stephen Fry spouts something bigoted, we swerve the whole car off of the road. We can't cope. Stephen Fry, how could you?

Enter Laurie Penny. Her Monday opinion column on Fry hit a snag before its denouement when, having constructed a rational argument against his statements, she blurted out the phrase "mutual incomprehension" in what she deemed the "chasm of suspicion" between women and gay men. She cleverly apprehended Fry's original dichotomy with a further assertion of the same, and went on to disassemble her previous chastisement of Fry by essentially repeating his own claims.

Fry is, amongst many things, a prolific writer, broadcaster and actor, one of the most high profile openly gay and popular figures in the public eye, and a director of my beloved Notwich City FC. Personally, I do think that his views are spectacularly chauvinistic. He not only issued an

The only w-ay in?

indictment of heterosexual women's perversions by flatly denying their existence, but pathologised men, both gay and straight, insinuating that our minds are perpetually obsessed with imagined sex and the pursuit of casual sex. If anything, being unable to conceive of women as people with expressive, ravenous sexual appetites, probably has something to do with a fair few centuries' worth of a patriarchal denial of this very notion. But just becau·se the prevailing heteronormativity in society propagates this myth doesn't make it true. I'd like to think that we should have confidence enough in ourselves not to feel threatened when diatribes such as Fry's surface. As for his neglect to consider a culture of casual sex within the lesbian community, there are doubtless scores of people across the country that would be more than willing to step forward and school him. But can they deny him his opinions? Well, no.

By and large, to see so many prominent voices leap upon his sorry rhetoric and confront it was fantastically inspiring. Unfortunately the anger, and in some cases hatred, shown to Fry himself was not and

Regulations to prevent exploitation could transform unpaid internships into a fair and exciting route into the job market

James Huckle Fourth Year Education

and Development Studies ipi6jcdh@leeds.ac.uk

University is looking quite a bit bleaker than it did two weeks ago. Fees are threatening to more than double, the graduate-laden public sector is set to shrivel, and the cold snap is making the walk to campus a bitter, bitter experience. But it's alright, at the end of it we'll get a good job, one that's fun or well-paid, or maybe even both. Oh, oh wait no, that was just the marketing. All we're actually doing is putting ourselves in with a chance.

And of course when it's all done, when you've donned your gown, doffed your cap and picked up the certificate, there awaits .. the unpaid internship. Week after joyous week without a pay cheque.

Not so long ago they were well-hidden. 'Interning' was something American that must've sunk on its way across the ocean -with a name dreamed up by someone who plainly missed both the Second World War and the 1980s. Now it's starting to look like a strange new purgatory between university and work - penance for three hedonistic

years. In progressive circles, there are two basic

arguments against them. Either, we ban unpaid internships because they're an amazingly exploitative hiring practice that somehow wriggles past minimum wage legislation. Or, we ban them because they're

Rather than crush them, we should be looking to spread internships, beyond London and beyond the middle classes a middle class barricade that shuts out the poor and permits richer parents to buy their kids a career. The idea of not banning them doesn't really come up.

But it should; because internships are, with a few progressive tweaks, an innovation worth keeping. They can break the

experience trap the catch-22 of needing to have done a job to be able to do it. As an intern you can step into an organisation and get skilled-up, while employers offset any losses with a reduced wage bill

It's not unreasonable for businesses. to reject the productivity-sapping inexperience of school or university leavers. But it does leave plenty of young people struggling to get into anything other than unskilled work. Internships are finally creating a route into something more adventurous. Rather than crush them we should be looking to spread the idea, beyond London and beyond the middle classes.

They do something else pretty nifty too. Internships can get you into organisations way beyond your CV. Exciting, bustling workplaces that usually require highly­qualified people will sometimes admit volunteers. It allows them to take risks, and lets you dip into the kind of thing you'd never otherwise consider.

The trouble is, a lot of internships aren't like this. Many report back on how unfair and unfulfilling they can be. And yet demand continues to outstrip supply. Not many can afford to spurn one because it might be dreary. The prize is too precious. This is why regulation is needed to help prevent abuses Oong hours, short breaks, etc), and promote on-the-job training.

Regulating affordability is somewhat

never could be constructive. I probably won't stop watching QI or, heaven forbid, supporting Norwich, because I can consciously delineate between my own beliefs and those of another, regardless of how ridiculous and offensive I find them. It's my prerogative to be a hypocrite in matters like these. The moment we start telling others that people like Stephen Fry have a responsibility not to hold these opinions, or should change them simply because they are invalid, is the moment we become the oppressive, patronising intelligentsia. It's the moment we crown ourselves the guardians of morality.

lllustration: Dan I Rster

ENJOY '5EX

trickier. If employers were compelled to pay their interns it would probably lead many to drop them. And we don't want that. There are a couple of things we could do though to let the unpaid eat. Firstly, we could guarantee the right to intern part-time, so you can earn on the side. Since this would prompt firms to hire a pack of interns, it would also expand supply. Second, interns could become eligible for unemployment and housing benefit - for, say, a 12 month period Although that might encourage some to bump their admin staff, it might also get middle class opportunity spilling down the income spectrum.

Too idealistic? Well, probably. Yet there's nothing inconsistent with the claim that cuts are aimed at something-for-nothing welfare. If the Coalition really is committed to a 'Big Society', it has to find ways to create space in people's lives and cushion the losses for low earners.

Tn the end, voluntary work can only ever be part of what we do. But seeing as the Chancellor was, shall we say, 'unconvinced' by arguments for stimulus-led job creation, a volunteering boom could stop many people from slipping into long-term unemployment. It might sound like a poor substitute for real jobs, but unless someone can arm Paul Krugman with a point of-view gun, we'll just have to be slaves to the non­wage.

Online 12 Friday, November 5, 2010 I www.leeclsstudent.org I Leeds Student

leedsstudent online www. leedsstudent. org

......................................................... ~blog of the week. ~ ~";. leeds tu t : Blog from Beirut • Good grace in the Middle : East . : What fascinates me every day here is • the culture conflict that you • experience in the Middle East as a • westerner. What I find particularly : interesting is how different etiquette • is here compared to back home. • Although this sounds like a • disgustingly English remark to make, : I know how easily this cultural • contrast can be construed as • rudeness and, if allowed to, can • manifest into hate and the prejudicial : darkside. • To give you an example, in • Lebanon if you hold a door for • someone, don't expect to be thanked : for i~ as it only happens on rare • occas1ons. Initially this really irritated • me but what l have had to come to • understand is that you shouldn't : interpret this as rudeness because • etiquette simply exists in d_jfferent • forms here. One of the most biz.arre • of which takes place after having a : shower; it is commonplace to hear

yur friends say, 'naeen a aleck' (a blessing for your shower). Can't imagine that one catching on in the UK

What makes the contrast of cultures here so fascinating is that it is common for westerners to be seen as rude as well. In the Arab world it is regarded as extremely disrespectful to show the soles of your feet to people and this is something you have to be constantly mindful of as even crossing your legs in a cafe or in a lecture can offend people.

Although I have always been told to be tolerant of other cultures I must say that some customs here are very difficult to come to terms with. Not crossing your legs in public places is a rule that is easy to abide by but I fear that the Arab concept of queuing, or lack there of, is something l will never adjust to! To put it another way: picture queuing for a drink in a rammed club in Leeds; you're hot, you're disgruntled and let's face it you're sweaty. Now picture having to go through that wherever you are, be it the student affairs office on campus, the flight centre or even just the local supermarket!

The funny thing is though that : apart from this, people here are • incredibly friendly. After all, they say • that hospitality is a currency in the : region. For example, in the Arab • world, when people drink water from • a bottle they do it in such a fashion • t~ut their lips will never touc.h the : nm. The reason for this is that m the • Middle East, water has always been a • commodity that is shared hence why • it is still engrained into society today. • This shows that even though certain : aspects of life here seem • discourteous, you have to remember • that in some cases we in the West • have different views on manners and : you just have to come to terms with • this. On the other hand though, how • difficult is it to simply wait your tum • in line. Seriously! • .

William Denselow • . To read more biogs, head over to : www.leedsstudent.org

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I) Act as though you're doing them a favour

The only thing worse than a. guy who loves himself 1s a guy who thinks everybody else loves him too. Anyone who's been watching The Only Way is Essex will know what I mean when I say Mark Wright. So. according to them, they're probably way out of your league and shouldn't really even be seen talking to you. But today's _your lucky day, he's. feeling charitable and dec1.ded to make you his pro1ect - She's All That style : n:iaking you cool by assoc1at1on.

The only tiny glitch is that it's unlikely that anyone e!se actually shares his views. and 1t 1s usually hatred rather than love th_at everybody ends up feeling.

2) Try and get with their friend and then when rejected try the same thing with them

It surprises me how often men try this And 1t surprises me how often they get away with it. Sussing out a group o f gi rls they aim for the one they deem fittest. But when scorned by their first victim, instead of accepting defeat and moving on, they turn to number two on their fit list and recycle their 'moves·. I've seen this continue until they've been filtered down to the 'scraps'. Usually by the third girl, it's fairly obvious what is going on and Mr Shallow is 1eft all alone.

3) Cheesy chat up lines "I miss my teddy bear, would you sleep

with me?" Yes, I will admit, some of the lines I've come across in the past have made me ch~ckle but ~my guy who uses them as a serious, genuine _attempt to get a girl_ to go home with him 1s clearly taking pu lling lessons from Jay from The lnbetweeners. Not cool.

3) Puns Most people don't ·get' puns anymore

That hazy branch of humour is loosely grouped with irony. and nobody knows what that even means anymore. BuL

Vintage is sexy now. And puns were cool in the 1800s. I 800s vintage is way more retro than 1950s vintage: that's how history works. Following this. puns are sexy again! So pun away: it shows how clever you are! Have no fear. Tell girls that atheism is a non- · prophet organization, and as long as that girl at the bar doesn't have raisins, then why not ask for a date? It can't fail.

What? She said no? 'Pretentious loser? How curious.

4) Talking about work This is just a common interest topic.

Everybody has to w ork, either academical ly or as ... w hatever it is that yo u do w hen you're not a student anymore. A nd because of this they love to hear about other p~ople's work lives. It's a bonding experience. You don't have to be a bullfighter or Maverick from Top s;un to have an interesting conversation about what you do: modules she doesn't care about and so on. You can still be cool.

A lright, so I suppose_ it's a little smug. Boring'? Well that's fair: you must be pretty tedious as a person.

5) 'Feathery stroking' Th is is ... not alright. To explain: a

'feathery stroker' is a man w ho .hugs like he has live eels for arms, w hich then w riggle up your back. Maybe he smells your hai r too. A limp hug basically. There 1s no_t hing more repulsive. You cannot hug like this and not be a simpering tool. l~'s a hug that wants to say 'Tm a good listener. A gentle ~oul'_', but instead says, ''I'm like. a wet wipe 1n bed.-" It's a hug that rem1r:ids you of moist things.

I've t,:-1ed to help you, alright? But enough 1s enough. Just stop 1t. Stop 1t now.

I) Winking A winker is a man who can effortlessly express his

charisma and masculinity through a mild facial twitch. The winker knows that there is no better way to attract attention than a brief, cheeky spasm. It recalls a better time.

~ !~~:; ~~ed o:em:~:~o~~~~~~;_eth~~.~a11;~~f ;~hb~~\y something. Everybody knows France is the capital of romance.

All those people avoiding your shutter-eye gaze are probably just ashamed that they too haven't mastered this social grace. Keep it up. It's definitely not creepy.

2) Man points The importance of man points can never be

underestimat~d. Ev.eryone knows that they are t he only valid manner 1n which a man's worth may be numencally asses~ed and calculated. Of course, s~me N egative Nanc1es th.ink they're stupid and puenle: they forget that there's a direct correlation betw een man po ints and sexual prowess. That's just sc ience. And science does not appreciate being cal led stupid. '

So, the next_ time a girl tells you that you're imm~ture, respor:d by telling h~r to go and make you a sandwich. If sooal interaction 1s like chess. then that's checkmate. Chess isn't stupid either. All guys will ?e .impressed. and all girls who aren't are Just sexually int1m1dated. Probably ...

"Mike Row/e . s, King of the M

"Wh y does every1H err-people!"

anti-sex campagn'" mg you say sound lik · e a teenage

low down

We Will March IO I Bit prssy that th - · I . / 0 k . ose greasy Mp

ma. e universities unsuitab/ fi s are trying to again? Get your march on t~ f~i~:; people

Sparklers Pruof that even the most macho of men have a lrttle comer of camp in them. Gosh they're fabulous!.

The hood of the U . . For a long time I thou h . nr h.oodres of f:1Y head, but then f t ~ was Just the size their hoody on was ba r:ea/f e? everyone with mouth. sica Y Just a nose and

The toliets in the Great H~~liverstit Anything that fc~h3;~Y,!eu:7i~~nb~Jom. But y is like ~easvoemn eopimp-\ike tiles and you lose me. throw ,n

The receptionists at the Gym 1 No one aske? you to work in an environment where there 1s a constant smell o[ sweaty balls. For goodness sake treat us like humans.

GOING DOWN

"I'~ sup~osed to be meeting a friend now but ma e-ups much more important." '

One thing I have noticed as a student coming from a developing country is the shift in mindset one's surroundings can instigate in people. And not just on a basic level - yes, 1n a country

where most people rarely go a day without food, no one's wonying about how to make a I OOg sack of maize last a week. Unless trying some celebrity diet destined to leave one mildly unconscious between morning and 5pm.

This is expected and no one is blaming the developed masses for being blessed with benefits, medical aid and accessible education. But whilst this has made this side of the world a better place it has also begun to eat away at something crucially important. Human beings in this country have forgotten how to strive for more than what they are obligated to. And yes of course there is a huge chunk of the population who are out there living their dreams and utilizing all the talents (e.g. Take That the band that now has a huge mid-forties-female following).

But most students have no time to enter X Factor, instead they have pen to paper, pushing through the urge to vomit when they look at their lecture slides. So 'Find

As l'm frequently told by racists, homophobes and cowboy tradesmen, we live in a time of political correctness and health and safety gone mad. In light of this, many of the Bonfire night traditions we still hold dear are refreshingly old school and a hark back to simpler times.

A prime example being that the main event of the celebration involves assembling large groups of people around a massive pile of stuff that gets set on fire. That's right: actual real fire. Put that in context of the fact that public swimming pools in Dorset were banned in 2007 from lending infiatable armbands or rubber rings. Seemingly, the risk posed by germs spreading from user to user easily outweighed the argument for small children ( or adults who are amusingly crap at swimming) not drowning. The fact that we still really love nationwide, local council sponsored pyromania is a welcome antidote to such tales.

Another pleasantly old school tradition that Bonfire night keeps alive is the mass burning of effigies. Whilst this traditional public demonstration of ire is still all the rage in South Central Asia, we seem to have rather lost our lust for making big scarecrows, torching them before whacking them with big sticks. Considering the furore in recent times involving the BA check-in worker who was suspended for wearing a crucifix smaller than a ten pence piece around her neck, the ritual burning of a religious effigy in Guy Fawkes represents a pleasantly backwards step in my view

Also thoroughly at odds with our current obsession with safeness (arid I'm not talking about wearing high tops a lot and listening to genres of dance music that haven't even

your dream' becomes a term you only hear in Disney films and advertisements for conspicuous bedroom performance drugs. In many developing countries, the mindset is shifted, the perseverance to do more that what your resources may provide is something that lives in almost everyone. Maybe not having the rare commodities leaves one with a different kind of desperation for life.

This country is a minefield of opportunities, and I don't care how cheesy that sounds - it's the truth ('Chariots of Fire' plays in the background). The reality is that if students spent as much time fostering their talents as they did trying to get the right shade of m-ange to their tans or the right Beyonce-weave neatly plaited into their hair - most of their lives would be different.

And although the world is filled with talentless pathetic souls, the world has proven to us over and over and over­again that even those people succeed. So here's to going for one's dreams even if they seem unattainable. Because if Justin Seiber had spent the minutes between high-pitched songs doubting his voice and thinking it actually sounded like he was on hormone suppressants, the lives of teenagers all over the world would be deemed purposeless.

The world really is waiting to fall in love with your talents, even if it is making animal noises or your ability to do a convincing Dolly Parton impression, the point is to do it like it means something.

been invented yet) is the wide availability of big, pretty, weapons.

FUN FACT' Fireworks in the hands of idiots are mildly dangerous. I definitely include students in this all-encompassing term, having watched a housemate fire several aesthetically

Winile Nzalo

pleasing explosives into the night sky. Having misread how many times the firework would go off, to his surprise he then launched several green bolts of death at low level towards neighbouring houses. No one was hurt and we all had a ruddy good chuckle about how horrible his face would have looked if he had been pointing it at himself. But seriously, the chances are that you too may live with complete a dunce.

And finally traditional Bonfire night food is a fantastic two fingers to all this Jamie Oliver-induced healthy shit that 'experts' keep blithering on about. What's better than a delicious apple? A delicious apple that's been asphyxiated with liquid sugar, that's what So enjoy bonfire night I'll be floating about somewhere with a banana doused in bleach and lard

Pete Starr

1111; ~ ! 1 LIJ H ~ Could you lie to thirty men in one evening? This was the challenge taken on by LS2's Ellie Brown when she decided to spice up an evening of casual speed dating with a few white lies and tall tales ... "So ... where are you off to tonight love?'' I'm asked whilst getting into a taxi. ''Oh just.to \fv'.alkabout'' "Ah, busy night tonight then?" he replies. "Erm ... kinda. I'm JUst meeting some mates" - Boom! F_irst lie of the evening. unless by 'mates' I meant thirty blokes I ha.d never seen before. and by 'meeting' I was refemng to the most unnatural way to ever approach someone since 'club penguin' chat­room for the under I Os was invented.

d~d~~~g~~1n~~~~~n~~~~f~~l~~~· ~a1i~~4 wasn't doing wrong because I was manied, or that I had a kid. .. 1n fact rt was because I didn't and every word from my mouth that evening would be dripping with deceit. Instead of worrying whether J would be able to hold conversation, instead I just had to make sure that I could tell an absolute. stranger (within two and a half minutes of meeting him) that my mum was a porn star, and keep a straight face.

Was it a bad thing to do? Pe~aps, but to be honest how many times do we he to someone of the opposite sex to make ourselves seem a teeny-weeny bit more compatible? Fibs such as claiming you really can play that guitar that sits in your rvom purely to look cool, or that you had no idea that 'Lockett' was the last name of said­boy/girl, despite having stalked them on Facebook for the past month.

Lies are everywhere. "Nothing's wrong ·- I'm fine", "Sony. . .my phone had no srgnal", "Oh, I'm

just on my way now·'. So what was the harm in expanding ~he truth a lrtl:le bit ir:1 a dating scenario? Obviously hke all exercises 1n life, one must learn to walk before running, so below is my ladder of Ires, frvm the 'rnnge-worthy' Green, to the 'I shouldn't be allowed out in public' Amber .and finally the 'I wish I could excuse myself by saying I was drunk when I said this' Red. I found that with speed .dating, g_uys tend to take one of two routes after 1ntrodu~1ng themselves.

Route A: Involves .saying someth_1ng completer obscure or askin~ a stupid question,

~~81~\~/fk~ ~:ebe~'~u~;-,:; !;!~jr d~~ care, just anyone with size F boobs and a pancake flat stomach will look better than me in a leotard. But of course you reply with son:ething equally eccentnc to this 'quirky' conversation starter like 'Poison Ivy'.

Then there is rvute B: the polar opposite of being quirky and instead resorts back to that dreadful time in first year when you couldn't even ask someone where the toilets were without being asked "Oh, so what do you study?"/ "So where are you from?" ( "How a_re you enJOying Leeds?" We all know it's annoying, but will we ever stop?

Fully expecta_nt of experiencing Route_ B throughout the night I decided to begin the hes with som.ething relevantly easy to coerce into conversation.

The Lies: mild to extreme

"I'm studying medicine" . . .. When asked the fully anticipated qu~1on What do you study?" I replied with med_ione. (I study English). Although relieved I had delrvered my first lie, I wasn't out of the woods yet l wasthe:1 ~sk~d

----- -~-.- -------1 "I enjoy pole clanang . · · made me 1

~ l wasn't too keen on this he. It JU!hen asked I I look hke a desperate r~· t1:' do for fun?', 11 I "Oh_ so w_hat do you I . e The boy must I \ replied with po~e (da) nc;~~;re1' Or (b) ')ee': \

. ~,. . . . . ... • Im ~lated_ to Tony Blair'' • • • • • • • • • • I thought thrs would b . • • speofied how exactly e easy seeing as I never• : expan~fod on past taletoef ~~re related. ! simply: • Downing Street u//in nstmas .lunch at ro . • the fat old tur1,}' n g cracker.; ~d sn:tlng ruund • • actual turkey) Ge~ ( ft.Ken L1v1ngston but the • ! untif I wa~ asked if~~[ rt ~as all going smoothly, :

h t kind of medicine I wanted. to speoahse in. ta~ic! Could I really reply w1~h, "\ wa_nt t.o specialise in Ca\pol?"_ and pul_l it off as ironic humour? No. best to stick to basics .... , 'Well \ want to be a GP" (Phew, good save!). though for all. I knew about medicine GP could stand for Garlic Press'. Nevertheless speed date number one seemed satisfied wrth this answer and tvvo and a half minutes later we were moving on.

1 have ?nly thoug t . a ss me \ am God .1 I this gtrl wan~ ~o im~~uestio~s, to which I~ I Instead he as e . mo - m for fun _wrth 1 ~ replied ~hat \ did d1th1; ~o~ded attentively. , I some fnendds,fal n Id ever do it in public, \ I 1 When aske I wou hen drunk - 1 I admitted. only on the tube, w_ I

• my ambitions in jour~a~tted to Tony helped . • something along the lines ~-.. ! Just mumbled • • reads Cosmo.,, d .0 ' We!/ unless Blair • : look · · an received an unimpressed •

;h'I got to the finals of S-Oub Junior.;" 1s lie nearly caught

proceeded to ask, "So me ?ut as the bloke singerthen?". "Yes" 1 bayou~.~ pretty go_od rt all my life" oa,,.; asted Ive been doing insisted I sing ·a line fo~ ~y ~~ckiness. He then Fu/Jy aware that / posse~;~ v:; what here?', that of a possible love-child of Pari ~~;:e than a c~t J mumbled someth. s hLOn and noisy and was thankfully ~~c~~id~ rt being too

- -- --~~--- ------1 ( "I've been mamed . 1 was actually 1 I This was the first\t.~m~bi\rty. "Really?" he1 I questioned .over my Y'I rdeodedtodlDpthe \ \ replied looking do~bfu ·Las Vegas with my I I whole, , l elope o , story and instead I I childhood sweethe;Jevable, "Well I g~,t l I opte? for a more b two years ago . ~ ~ rnarned at ~\aston '~h that's not a re~\ I I Furious at his ~~p\y, outed off that for_ his , I wedding then. 1. sp been th1Dugh a painful I I information \ had JU st . fact yes it was a real I ~ divorce procedure, sol in it was ~ver going to ~ I wedding. Well, as rea as I

~~- ------------------~

I though this was only so:; ~f ! ~:.. __ - - ' , _________ _

"My unde is Stephen Fry'' Deeming Mr Fry as possibly one of the coolest men on the planet there was .no way l thought I was going to ~e a.ble to pull this_ one off. l steered the conversation into the direct.1on of audio book recordings and waited t~ pounce. · 'Yeah I always try to listen to the audio books of my c?urse books, actually you know Stephen Fry ... hes my uncle!'' Again, '!ery exerted reactions and I saw a scribble on his form reading "RELATED TO STEPHEN FRY". It was only later when th1.s gentleman discovered the truth that I was.n t related to Stephen Fry, (Top Tip to speed dating \iars: never boast of your successful fibs UNTIL you have left the premises) ~hat he seemed shocked and slightly miffed. Again, I am sorry.

0

"I h O O 0

: ave a two Y~ old son ca11ed s;v:r,~ • • • Finally afterthis lie I understood what S • was on about wh h , _noop Dog . • As I released this n~ ~ su_ng Drop it hke it's hot'. • • a burning hot coal into h~rrht as rel! have tossed .

: qui~kJy r was droppe~ from :s ~in~o~~ ~ee how: • a prcture, and if a prcture's worth. h ce was • • words then I'm tty a t ousand • : ''Shrt, get me out ~7riere~.~;€ those words were : ....................... ·

. . . . . . . . . . . : · ···········

. scrabble" "My granddad in~~ of the ni~t which

Possibly my favount h pure tmprornptu, came about throug . kl , \fvhen asked spur-of-the-momenJ th; ~~lish I enioyed if as_ a student stu yin where word vomit

playing Boggi~~~; ~~t really, but hey, yo~ blurted out.. S~rabbie? My grandda know the ga1:;1;nce I had declared .myse[ invented that! bble fortune, ~1s chap the heiress of a\) sc;;i A\\ I can say ts sorrt got rather ex~1te . d this. scrabble boy - if you ever rea

- star'' "My mum used to be a po":''Oh tell us an

When ~omeone asks yoi~rself', they are interesting fact about y did a Gap Year generally expecting thJ1 :~et not that your in Afnca, or that you o_ d strY Toen again, Mum works tn the s~x.tn. u p0nse: "Oh is I wasn't really expecting his~~. Gross. Not she anyone I would know. irl you've only really the way to charn;f ';,,~nutes, but the" known _for two and ~!~for mentioning rt I guess It serves me no' ,

Ellie went speed-dating for RAG (Raise and GiveJ.

; ~:1 LIJ ,1 ~~-­A day in the life of the Union From radio shows to refillable misc soup, LS2's Dan Lester sees if he can spend a entire day in the Union. As someone who spent the majorrty of their childhood growing up in a small, sleepy suburb on the outskirts of London, stepping into the union for the first time was quite the thrill. With it's own pub, bar and three separate clubs (sort of) the building had more to offer than my entire town.

But since coming to Leeds, and particularly since living in Headingley, the idea of the Union has become less exciting, and. I've wound up o_nly really ever going in for The Essentials (The Guardran, 99p sandwich) and The Terrace (Pint and nachos). Like a person living in Buckingham who has never found time to visit the Palace. the Union, which had been such an exciting prospect when looking around universities. had become a place I rarely visit. With this in mind, a friend and I set off to see if it was possible to spend a day in the union with sanity and wallet intact.

With I Oam signaling what you'd consider as the beginning of.a 'student's day', we arrived at the union, fresh from a long

journey on a packed 95 down Otley Road. Our first destination took us straight down the stairs to Old Bar for a leisurely all day breakfast. Clearly superior to The Terrace's overpriced Jenga chips, the food at Old Bar never fails to offer a meal for sore, hungover heads.

After our hearty breakfast we hit the

Im various shops. As if in some sort of passive protest to it being shut down, we wander

down into the Union Bookshop. A topic of contention, the upcoming closure of the bookshop seems to have provoked conflicting feelings amongst students. Wandering around the store it's clear how useful the shop is to students. yet at the same time. I can't recall the last time 1 actually bought a book from here. We discuss this anger and indifference over tea at The Hidden Cafe, which isn't as hidden as it sounds. and should really have been named '.The Hipster Hangout' .with it's 'quirky' mismatched antique furniture and crockery. along with the Urban Outfitters-esque menu. Handily. I'd worn a vintage jumper for the occasion.

Next we head into the Leeds Student Radio Office, where we host our radio show (Match of the Decks. Saturdays at

2pm) which kills an hour rather nicely. then we headed back downstairs for some more food. For late lunch we have a choice between Jaldi Jaldi, The Pasty Shop, and the school canteen Refectory. However, a properly cooked meal is a luxury only afforded by professors and the on-campus catered. Instead it's back downstairs to Sesame, tucked away

next to the aforementioned Jaldi Jaldi. £ 1.50 gets you a miso soup, which when you facto1- in free refills is a bit of a bargain, particularly when you've got the day to spend in the Union.

Back down .to the shops. Being a guy,

ra it's. hard to get excited.by the prospect of the beauty salon / hairdressers downstairs.

Being someone who doesn't have glasses, the opticians doesn't appeal either, whilst Santander only served as a painful reminder of overdrafts, bills and bad experiences with the Student Loans Company. Instead we settle for a look around the cutesy but admittedly excellent CATS, which I'd probably visit more if the Facebook wall post hadn't more or less replaced the birthday card in uni life.

On to a room that I haven't visited since Fresher's Week

~ (where me and every L:J:D other music fa~ across campus bought 1dent1cal

OK Computer posters in the poster sale) - it's into the Games Room. Here, to the disdain of various onlookers waiting for their turn on the table. we demonstrated our ineptitude at playing pool, before resigning ourselves to sink into the chairs. As we settled down, checking Facebook on our phones and flicking through The Gist, it became apparent that we'd more or less run out of things to do. The problem with much of the union is that whilst there is a vast amount of things to do tucked away, many of them seem reserved only for members of various societies. I have no idea what goes on in the Peanut Gallery, whilst the darkroom and Union Music Library are both hidden away up a stairwell in a strangely old schoo! corridor that's more than a little spooky and far from welcoming.

As the evening drew on we did what any good student would do when starting to get bored, and returned to the trusty Old Bar to see out the rest of the day with a pint or three. Between here and The Terrace, the question becomes not 'can you spend an entire day in the union' but 'can you spend an entire day drinking in the union?'

So is it possible to spend an entire day solely in the Leeds

r:-t::nlstudent Union.? Cl_early. L:J::Dthe more LUU cliques

you're 1n with, be it peanut. music,. newspaper or radio related, the easier 1t becomes to pass the time in the building. The Terrace and/or Old Bar can never fail to entertain for hours post-lecture, but the shops barely compare with those a few minutes walk away in the town centre. So yes, it is possible to spend a whole day in the union. But would you really want to?

photos: Daisy Jordan

111] 1l :I1] :ti: [I] 1tll-i8:I] ~ t Taurus

Climb Everest using only your lips. Remember Chapstick.

Cancer Ironically. you'll get crabs.

Aries You'll start finding short people

attractive - what's wrong with you?

Aquarius You'll wonder, 'is this really worth

doing?' The only way to find out is try.

A If lectures are boring, rebel and teach ~ them yourself.

Gemini You'll be hypnotised into thinking

you're omnipotent - only true for one of you.

Pisces Shave only one leg to see if it really

makes a difference.

Scorpio Listen to the voice inside your head,

compared to you. he's sane.

0 Leo

You'll find out how flammable Leeds Student really is.

Capricorn A dog will eat your homework - you should never have

cried 'wo!f.

Virgo How do you know

you can't fly?

Sagittarius Please give first aid to a dumb Virgo.

"~

:tf~

I egg SSg but­

ter 200mlmilk I IOgcaster

sugar I I 0g goklen S)'TlJP

225g sef~ng flour I teaspoon ground ginger

I teaspoon bicaroonate of soda If you want a more traditional ve(Slon, you con

also 1ndude I I Og of oatmeal and 25g afblack treode.

Preheat your oven to I 500300F/gas marl< 2 and grease an 8 inch tin.

. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a large bowl, then add the sugar and oatmeal. Heat the butter, syrup and black treacle

Alternative Days Out

Student

4. Gradually pour the syrup mixture into the fiour mixture and stir it The mixture

at this point should be qurte thick. 5. Beat the egg and the milk together and

add to the mixture. Stir it until smooth. 6. Pour the finished mixture into the tin and

bake for an hour.

words and photo: Daisy Jordan

d the tranquillity I an 01r an

11 you mOY

enJoy1ng theu~d1ngs Qccas1o~~e{ who will afthe surro a fellow wa 'hello be passed btu with a friendly tdaars the likely grel et~ of the great a~ a welcome

For ave d Molham torn i

Being 1he eco dictator in our house has led to a fevv squabbles, such as when I was told to 'g;:, hug a tree you fanny flap', whilst com­p@ining about the astro­nomical increase in price when the tumble dryer was on.

Putting these few quar-rels aside, my housemates have even pulled me_ L!P on a few of my energy consuming act1vrt1es.

This week, the two major devices I have kept a watchful eye on are our televisions and laptops. It was a sho~k to learn exactly how much each of these increase the output by, so we've been having a lot more cordless com­puting and generally_ only have the television on if there's something decent on (and yes Jenemy Kyle counts!)

We're starting to shiver in our house now as the tempeta!-ure begln:5 to drop but we've agreed no ~eating until rt 1s 'truly winter', meaning mid November onwards.We can

~e:h~~~u~ hi! ~~:a:tr~e~/k around

walk oroun city hfe curved 11rne break from Cove is a !arg~ volley The

Malhorl1 overlooking t e the cove is stone cliff t the toP of 1imestone 1andsca~e b~ the well-know~ly accurnng

en~~~!nt which 1s a 0:~~~nt h 0

~~rface s1m1~:e~os ~Ye w1th1n1;~sx ~~~fored All of theseer ond could eos1 one onoth day out is free, so as part of a all of these oreos our petrol

Access to to worry about is y all you neep~cked 1unch1 V A// and your /"~

words and photos: Rebecca Rowlands

sur­pnse thene had been no noticeable increase in our total out-put maybe I'll lay off the authoritarian attitude. After all there's no I in team. or in OWL for that matter.

I have also noticed aft.er being at home for a few days that a student home uses far more energy than a family home. Generally this is because students_all operate individually. for example by cooking and wo~ng separately.

in a small sauce . an on th,~_e;;h;;o~b;;;uii;n;itil;;m;;e;;lt~ed;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;.. __ ..,....;;.._;;;;;;;;;~~;;;,I

I also left. my housemates alone for a few days th!s week and returned expecting to see all the lights on with no one home. But to my

Families often do these things together so it's easy to see why there is such a difference in energy output Ive used this as an excuse to sugg~st that we all eat together as often as possible. Sunday Roast will start us off nicely I think!

11_:11; ~!1 LIJ ;~ tJ.....-----------

He finally texted, like he said he would! Girly gigglin& and screaming ensues- until we realise, five minutes later, that we now have to text back. With an appropriate response. In an appropriate time frame. Earlier excitement is now dead; the bubble has well and truly been popped. Worry not! This i?sue has beE:n highly over­complicated, but still, there is a dilemma in hand for many. My take on the issue? As a general rule, texting back should take place no sooner than I 0 minutes after receiving the text: no later than an hour. Texting. too early. with a.n over-enthu~iastic reply is .likely to cause the v1cti~ to mystenously vanish into thin air. whilst taking too long to reply suggests that you are playing too hard to get (boys are lazy: don't make them chase TOO hard!) Perhaps most easily forgotten 1s that they texted YOU first. It's more than likely that they're interested­don't let te~ing time frame games ruin a potential relationship for you.

words: Jenny Reddiough

You pick .up your phone, click compose message, write out a 'breezy' text and Just before choosing the send option you save it to your drafts. Why? You don t want to look too keen

It's been two hours since you received his text but when is the right time to respond? In my opinion th~se rounds of text tennis are completely stupid but completely necessary.

Everyone knows that the chase is th~ most important part of a new relationship and without this Juvenile game in place the other

pai;~~~~~~1b~~s~~!~~~ back is never straightaway but after a decent enough period of time that means he won't be put off by your eagerness

Of course both of you know that the other one is playing a game but, if the game is played well, neither will back down until rt's game set and match.

words: Ella Mayne

First let us remember that guys, as a rule, ar-e lazy and forgetful. So at the beginning of a relationship when time between texts comes into play, this should be kept in mind. I'm not saying th_at there should be different rules for each gender, just that this male trait should be remembered.

Personally an hour is the t ime that I'd leave between texts, it shows that your life doesn't revolve around waiting for texts but that you are actual ly interested. Obviously don't_ text back exactly an hour later, that's Just weird.

But should the guy not reply as soon as you like, don't fret he's probably forgotten. And this in itself is the difference between boys and girls over periods between texts.

•••• • ••••••••• • • • • II • • ••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • Ill • • Ill

• Ill • • • • • • • • • ••••••••• ~··········· . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •••••• • • • Ill • . . ..... ~ . ---~····· . . . . • • • • • • • • •••••••••••••• • • • • • • •

Texting is one of the integral social developments of our generation._ It has made otherwise awkward conversations and of course fiirt ing a great deal easier.

Ba~k wh~n you were 14, you didn't want to be calling a girl to as~ 'wanna go do":""n onema_j?' We have all expenenced that sitting there 1n anticipation waiting for a lady friend to text back and getting frustrated when she hasn't

There's also that all important male factor of forgetfulness, leaving it to long to text back and destroying a p_otentia!ly be~utiful relationship.

But when 1s the nght time to text back? All things considered I'd say anytime between four hours and two days is good amount, do it before then and you will seem not quite a keena but to interested (girls don't like that) and leave it to long and you will seem to disinterested

words: Tomas Jivanda

T.he girl is going to be t~inking this through, d1scuss1ng this with herfnends, creating a plan of action

Boys? Well they'll get the text appreciate it greatly and then the short attention span that they have will move onto something else.

But that's not to say they don't care, because when they finally do remember that they've got a text to reply to .there will be. a mad panic to respond. It' ll still take ~ while because the phrasing of the text will be a struggle for guys, well they don't want to appear to keen.

words: James Green

Clues Across

I . Baby whale 4. Marsupial 7. Montagues vs. 13.GB 14. Shelley's 15. Sixth 17. Capital 19.T raditional 22. Accomplice

My friend waits thirty seconds: I take a day. She has a boyfriend: I don't

Yet despite her success rate, I refuse to believe that immediate 1-eplies are the way forward.

I would hate to be glued to my phone all day to a) receive text and b) answer text until the conversation n.Jns out

I have better things to do. I think make them sweat

Isn't it exerting to wait, your heart just skipping a beat whenever you receive a text, ?esperat~ly hoping it's from him, and then a smile creeping over your face when you eventually do?

Giving them the same treatment puts you in control and anyvvay you're always far more alluring when you're aloof, take Darcy for an example.

Whatever your texting habits though, don't ask a girl for her number, repeat several times that you'll text her tomorrow and then not text for two weeks.

There's playing it cool, and then there's just not.

words: Sophia Goodall

Down

2. Highest-grossing film. 3. 50 years of marriage matenal 5. State of America (5,6) 6. Enough 8.The English Patient (5,7) 9. Croatian currency I 0. John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd (5,8) I I. Childrens illustrator (Hint:Dahl) (7,5) 12.Perplex 16.Angry outburst I 8. Practical Joke 20.Not 21 .Therefore

creatoc Bex Gillam

Interview· an Le ac & Scroobius

LS: 'The Scroob.ous Pip' is a nonsense verse poem left U!lfinished by Edward Lear, does this imply that Scrootius Pip defies genre or classificationr

Pip: That's why I chose it, I liked that poem because it wasrit about cons:iouslytryingto defy clas;jf,cation or genre, rut realising that its OK to not fit into one area

IS: Do you think that as a hmd you're living up to that assertion!

Pip: That's a tough one. W e're not

~~~at~t~:~~\~,:~~ = been like "lets try not to make this songthat g=nre", we've Just made the song:; we've made.

IS: When you're makingrrusic, do you ever aim towards a specific style to try something new>

Dan Tha!'s how I Jeam I love learning how to rru><e music by parroting st~ that I clorit unrerstand There was a tra:k I was working on the other day that was Just me trying to work out F1ying Lotus' thoug,t process, because it's kind of tizarre in places. You listen to it, you pi::k certain ideas from it and then you forget about it. Six months clown the line, youll be writing and it 'll be indirectly influencedbywhat you worked out.

Pip: I remember early on when I heard Daris stuff, what I really liked was that it didn't ooundli<e anythingin parti::ular. W eve learnt these thing;: if something fits it can be exploited

IB: So when you are writing song:;, does Dan m*e a track and send it to Pip?

Dan Yeah, or sometimes it'll be lyrics first, I think that's the most common way, we'll be both working on something and then it Just ... P": .. .g,ls together.

LS: Is there goingto be another alb.un!

Pip: Not immediately, rut there will ha one further clown the line. It's weird how rt all works the album kind of feels old for the pliliic, rut we haven! finisied touring)"!.

Dan: To a certain extent we've not even finisied writ ' it .. Pip: Yeah, st~ is developing live the whole trrre. Dan You start with having an audieru:e, and without them knowing it they become like a focusgoup. Pip: This is our last tour of this record and two nrj,ts ago, Dan was changngthe drum pattern on 'Si::k T onrj,t'. I think that's a good thing because otherwise you would spend too longJust nursingthe same record

LS: So what do you do when you're not beingScrootious Pip>

Pip: I Just walk anoundandfindnewthingsfor me to preach al:x:mt. Darr A t the end of the festival season we had two or three weeks before the tour was starting and I helped my mate clecorate his house. It was nice to kind of step b3ck into a nonnal world

LS If you weren't Dan Le Sac vs &:roohous Pip, what would you be doing

Pip: l'dstiilbeworkingHMV I reckon. Dan: I wouklhave sok:lmysoul to Microsoft. I was doing some ~ conununication desig1 work, graphic communication. Not long before 'Thou Shalt' came out theyd offered me a stuq:,idly well paid JOb. I didiit take it because I got some idea that I could write music forever.

LS: W hat would you like to be atie to say about yourselves in 20 years time/

Pip: Anyone that gets to do this for 20 """5 is really lucky, Dan: Yeah, rut )'OU wouldn't wanna turn out like Leonard Cohen. O r Bono'

words: Matthew Hardy

Young Guns Weight of tfie Wor ld Live Forever Reco rds

Liars Proud Revolution (Thom Yorke Remix)

Wegit of the World is a powetful !:last of g.ritars, drurrs, and \<lea& HC>Wel.<!r, whilst the rnusrilrsil) of the oorgcoukl rot l::efaulted, the oongitsslf is urmignal. But it's catchyres.ethelees, and with SJch an anthemi:: chorus it's l::ound to l::ecorre a fcM:>urite at re 910\11/S. I

3/5 words: Lindley

The Bluetones Golden Soul CIA Records

In 'Golcai Soul, the Bh>etores rrara;ia the irrpreB'"' feat. of e\<Jkirg the heylay of cla$ic reventies rock, without comng = ll<e retro-ol:Baead nostag,cs without an oajnal thoaj,t l:e:weet them Whi::h, to be fiark, is the fate that befalls rrost l:mrls atternptirg to hark 1iru~r-11e, l::w: to thrs sound . . Sweet and SIIT!'le. JI~ 1'1")' r,I

3/5 won:E Thomas Daocasl:er

Mute Records

Not everythirg Thom Yor'ke touches turrs to g:,kl. it S:BnS. His remix of Liais 'Proud oohmori is, at !::est, an unlistenal:ie tra:k. It's prolBl:iy ssfe to say that Yorkes Macbook Pro had a few techni::al errors his remix turns a fairly clecent oorginto a rig,t mess that literailysoUild; ll<e a l:roken reco:rd

1/5 words Charlie Ensor

! Esben & The Witch

Marching Song Matador

An eerie spiral from trucgrgdrurrs to al:Bilite bedlam, 'Man:hirg

:~ ~~:1o~!;~~.e:J~~=~~ poetically pes:.irnsic:. ln spite of the ever­present feedback, the song remains -urcluttered, """'as a giosly~hone pans a:.ross the ::pea<ers. The cornl::ire:i effect is plEasantlycisoIBllatirg

4/5 won:E Peter Hufton

Uffie Difficult

Ed Banger

Anythirgfrorn or"""' v,g.,e!yrelated to Ed Banger Records is a1vaysworth atry. Uffiesunquel:xandof pop l'l> takesasg,tly diTerent clirectDn to the labels dirty electro, rut still has an Ed Banger vibe. Produced by SebastiAn, this upbeat, tI:iJpy number is rure to clalig,t Uff:e fans ancl educate the unirtit:ia:tecl. into VV'hat can onlybeda9::rit:edas Uff:e-pop.

3/5 words DavidScuire

Constellations Winner!

org:ctualti:>m to Paola ,ororro, who has won the new Local N atil.<:s alb.nn and a pa,r of ti::> els to this,..,rs, omtellati::msfe;tival.

t I ead over to www.consteDati:msfestival.com for m::>Ie irto and ti:J ets.

Featured Album: Magnetic Man Magnetic Man circumstance SUrTOUnding the album ~lease to focus on the mus1~,

. rt isn't actually all that bad. The opening track 'Flying Into Tokyo' 1s Columbia Records pure Scandinavian dream pop and rt sets the tone beautJfully. all

On paper, the Magnetic Man pro1ect is actually pretty enticing. Three of the leading exponents of dubstep in the UK have unrted their production skills and their.name value to try and crack a larger market. They've got all the pedigree they need: in Artwork they have one of the founding fathers of dubstep. whilst Skream and Benga's work wrth La Roux and Katy B respectively has taken the sound to a level of fame and mainstream acceptance that few before them had managed. How could they possibly fail if they unrted their considerable powers?

The reality of the situation 1s, of course, somewhat less romantic. Then~ is a powe1ful argument that even now, in the very hour of its commen:ial tnumph, dubstep as a genre has already reached rts creative zenith. That 1n fact the sort of material wrth which these producers have been breaking into the mainstream 1n the past 24 months, the sort of material to be found on this album, 1s not dubstep at all, only a pale imitation strung onto chart songs and basic hooks in order to sell. The PR myth that this 1s the album that could really ignite mainstream inter-est in dubstep is just that a myth.

If that cm be accepted and one can look past the pomp and

Lucky Shiner Ghostly International

Londoner Derwin T Panda first turned heads I with truncated exotic samples layered over hip hop beats on the tantalisingly brief 'Quitter's Rag. Opener 'You', featured on the EP Make Mine is definitely in the same vein as his first single; it's enjoyable, but perhaps has too many kitsch ethnic twinkles.

fro~h~~~~1:1%\/~~~~s ~~~:~~e~~k~~n~~~~kfri~nF~~~1=~~n1

Caribou's latest dance-orientated evolutions, and is followed by a charming interlude of vocal snippets of Panda's grandmother and a fumbling strum solo that finds the ngh.t balance between m~lancholia and contentment. Upcom1n~ s1ngl: 'Snow & Taxis' makes heavy refer.-ence to The Field s glacial repetitions, but replaces the stoical beat patterns for Jumped-up snares approx1ma.t1ng UK Funky. The influence of UK bass music, perhaps inescapable for electronic music being made in London, can also be seen elsewhere 1n the syncopated glitch of 'Before We Talked'. Closer 'You' returns to the sound of the first track of the same name. ending in the album's wispy evaporation of a conclusion.

Lucky Shiner continues to demonstrate Gold Panda's engagement with a refr:-eshing palette of. styles, and there are touches of genuine sent1mental1ty to be found throughout. In places the wistful meandering doesn't quite cohere: 'India Lately' stai1s well enough with a subdued marching beat. but eve~tually tangles itself .into a maelstrom of samples crashing into each other at different tempos. Althoug~ he isn't being cited as 'chillwave' or 'glo­fi' as often as artists such as Toro Y Mo1, Memory Tapes and Washed Out, there could now be an unfair pressure on him to play down the sound of rose-tinted daydreams in the future. Nonetheless, a very impressive debut.

words: lshraaq A dam

xylophones and bittersweet stnngs. In the context of the album, this song grmvs to sound curiously (and welcomely) tasteful. But only for a moment. The bounding Miss Dynamite collaboration 'Fire' sees the group establish the form that will dominate the rest of the album --synth hooks, guest vocalists and swampy bass.

There aren't many deviations from this bied-and-tested format. but there are highlights. Noticeably darker, 'The Bug' marries apocalyptic lyrics to the sort of monochrome swagger that Benga perfected on tracks like '26 Basslines', whilst 'Ping Pong' introduces a pulsing techno beat to the equation. Sadly. however, most of this record sounds like all three men are on autopilot, as though the dumbing down of their music has come at the expense of their passion for the business. If you heard Skream's remix of 'In For The Kill' or the Benga-produced 'Katy On A Mission' and enjoyed them, then this ts for you. If that stuff bores you stiff. .. well, who could blame you?

11\l~f.u

2/5 words: Jack Ready

Lisbon Bella Union

The Walkmen's latest offering Lisbon is a refreshing new take on the band's unique style. With their other albums previously rec1t1ng stories of mournful reJect1on. Lisbon pleasantly seems altogether more optimistic. To some extent, the new album still retains the seemingly

aggressive qualities of previous albums. However the more distinctive sounds introduce a welcome enthusiasm. Overall the simplicity of Lisbon ensures some easy-listening as seen on the effortlessness of 'While I shovel the Snow·: but there a still a few more surprising tracks on the album.

Hamilton Leithauser's warming vocals add resonance and sensitivity throughout, per-haps exposing the front man's awareness of our very British seasonal affective disorder. The sonic template of American lndie Rock means that Lisbon has it all: epic build-ups, rousing choruses and charming riffs, and despite apparent influences from the all Americana Beach Boys. The Walkmen still manage to achieve a unique summertime vibe

Lisbon has a great sense of diversity. In particular the trumpets in 'Stranded' add a marching band feel and the strings towards the end of 'Blue as Your Blood' create an atmospheric contrast to the echoes the song's guitar melodies. Overall, the band retain the 01-iginal quality of their ea1-lier albums, charming the listener whilst showcasing an impressive musical matu.rity. It would be difficult for The Walkmen to compete with their previous album's successes, but this new direction is certainly enioyable.

words: William Woodward

Wake Up! Columbia

4/5

Wake Up.I 1s the collaborative. cover album between R&BArtist John Legend and Hip Hop band The Roots, featuring songs by Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, Curtis Mayfield and more. Drummer and producer of The Roots Questlove stated that the album was inspired by Barack Obama's

presidential election campaign of 2008, and the mood of Wake Up! does sometimes seem feel like an Ode to Obama.

This 1s a cover album through and through, with the exception of the closing track. 'Wake Up!' is a beautiful blend of 60s soul and hip hop, whilst the reggae track 'Humanity' is a welcome change of pace. Questlove applies beautiful production throughout, modernizing the get-up­and-dance jams; and John Legend's vocals just 'rip out your heart. as the Bill Withers songs goes. The Roots' musical skill also gives the album a distinctively. immediate feel, achieving the kind of atmosphere one might find at a hip hop gig

There are several featured ar1ists lending their talents here: long-time collaborator of The Roots. Common, raps on 'Wake Up Everybody', and C.L. Smooth makes an appearance on the energetic 'Our Generation' possibly his most mainstream offering since I 992's hip hop classic 'They Reminisce Over You' This album just goes to show how talented the musicians are, adapting the original song­writing into something very contemporary. One imagines Obama would be proud to hear the effect his presidency has mad on music. Wake Up! will certainly make its way onto 'Best Albums of 20 Io· lists.

words: James Holland

Warpaint/ Brudenell Social Club

26/ I 0/ I 0 4/5

There's always been a m1sconcept1on about girls and gurtars. Mainly that they can't play ~hem convincing!y, D1sappo1ntingly, Bar-b1e never did seem to come wrth a Gibson SG And wrth the recent he1-d of Florence and Goulding types whose hair seems to spea~ volumes louder than their actual music, Warpaint are a much needed breath of fresh air.

Wth the Bnudenell be,ng packed to the pool tables. rt was clear 'J'.at the hype hadn't been missed. Much to the disappointment of ~he hipsters in the crowd. the lack of space meant that no shoe­gazmg moves could be pulled out of the bag. Tracks 'Elephant' and 'Warpaint' wer·e the perfect combination of grungey undertones with melodic hatmonies. which unsurprisingly went down a storm with the crowd, who (male or female) progressively became more and more in awe of the girls. The band's attempt to sing, play and effo1tlessly whip those p1-eened side-fnnges in time to the music, a talent worthy of putting Willow Smrth out of a job, whilst, 'Undertow' and 'Composure' created a setting frtting for all the members of the crowd who felt it apt to dose their eyes, as if they wer-e really ''feeling the music''.

Admittedly, the mellow ambience at times seemed to descend 1to monotony, ·with the songs flowing into one another a little :oowell. However, wrth such haunting vocals and stining lyrics the mrls really couldn't do any wrong.

Putt.mg well established acts to shame with their faultless vocals and harmonies, they regrettably made all those memories of murdenng 'living on a prayer' on karaoke come flooding back All ofth1s and not a hair out of place. Jealous, us? Maybe just a little ..

words: Anna Conrad

Carl Barat/

Cockpit 22/10/10

It's fair to say that Carl Barat's skeletons in the

·~ ~~!~\;J:wa~~a{~ri)~~~f of his own. Flanked by far less debauched contemporaries these days ( ~ello, double bass a~d piano players all dad 1n surts), Barat didn't qurte shake off the shackles of his past but rather clamped them firmly back on, and threw away the key.

Lapses between songs were :;o littered wrth calls for his previous Libertines output that Ba.rat couldn't help but duly obhge. 'Man who would be King', 'Up the Bracket' and 'D~ath on the Stairs' 1nduced_Just as much ~ed Stnpe-fuelled hystena and adoration as they did at the Reading and Leeds festivals this summer. In contrast, new sin~le, 'Run with the Boys', debut album highlight 'What have I D-=:ne, and set opener, 'Je Regrette. Je_ Regrett~·. were left sounding decidedly tame. Barat even had time to slip 1n Dirty Pretty Things' classic, 'Bang Bang You·,-,, Dead'.

For a man so full of SVvagger and c~arm, once a part of th.e land's most exerting and forward thinking band. the lack of faith in his own new material was plain for all to see. There were even a few faint boos from the front of the packed crowd when Ba.rat ended his set with a forlorn acoustic track of his own.

H_owever, upon returning to the stage and tearing through rendrt1ons of early Libs demo, 'France', and fan favourrt.e. 'Time for Heroes', Barat had the crowd in the palm ofh1s hand once me re. Vvhen he asked the crowd if they wanted to end things with another Libertine's song (~e anSVver, of cou~e. a resounding "yes'') things were beginning to verge on a c_nnge-worthy karaoke. Proceedings were eventually wrapped up with 'Don't look back into the Sun', but ironically, that"s exactly what Carl Barat spent an evening doing tonight

words: Patrick Young

Interview: The Count & Sinden/ LS? .. 1 th d UP

LS: How wou ld you describe the sound of the Count and Sinden?

~aunt That'_s always difficult We touch on lots of different ~ounds: rts dubstep, rt's drum and bass ... rt's somewhere 1n the middle of

everything really Sinden:_We're j·ust taking on board all our favourite sounds and Putting rt through our filter.

Count We try not to do "genre music" unless we're making up a ne.v genre. The aim is really to make your own_ sound, and mak,e Your mark on the art that you're 1nvotved 1n: 1n our case thats ~us1c and production. We try and steer away from _f;la~ing a dubstep" record or a "deep house" ~cord. Sometimes rt s difficult

because people really aren't ready for rt. and then a year later they start to get rt We've done stuff with like Kid Sister, way before she

got signed to a major [ record label] and then wrth Katy B on the album - we did that track nearly a year and half ago. Somf'time• 1t work ag inst us but we can't really help doing wha, we do.

LS; There is criticism of Mega Mega Mega that -

Sinden: There's what?! Qaughs]

LS: There was plenty of positive criticism! But it's been argued that Mega Mega Mega deals with so many different genres that it never quite achieves a real cohesion.

Count: I'd disagr-ee with that. All the good r-eviews, whether they've given us a good ma1i< or a low mark understand that the music isn't particularly for them. The. ones .that do understand the album under"Stand that rt has a beginning, middle and an end It's not a concept album, but it has moods and_ changes. Maybe we're wrong. maybe 1f we did twelve 4-4 tracks rt would sell more, but rt wouldn't make us happy. People say there's a lot of dubstep on the album and there isn't We actively didn't do that because we've been friends with people like Skream and Benga for a .long tme, and we thought 'why bother'7 They do rt so well. and rt stoppOO e 'Crting us as a genre.

LS: Do you think dubstep has been commercialised?

Not really, rt's just a successful format The same ~ house, two­step, drum and bass, techno. They all became ass1m1lated into the mainstream and now ~·s dubst_ep. It'll evolve. But I do find the stuff cntics have been saying a brt ignorant they wrote about the weirdest things.

The Black Keys/

02Academy 21/10/10

An appetiser of The Walkmen followed by The Black Keys. What could be more delicious? The Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser, .was putting his lungs to th~ test 1ga1n on Sunday night,

~it1~;Js ~k~t ·fh~s~~~~

well as choice cuts of meat rrom their latest offering

1 bon. Most of the admirable energy of the band was lost on the

uninspired crowd, however, who were clearly hungry for the main course.

Jf ever a contemporary blues rock band meant business. it would be Dan Auerbach and Patrick Camey. The boys didn't disappoint, getting straight to the point with. the dniy .g1uoves of 2003 track 'Th1ckfreakness'. much to the delight of their drunken fans. Considering this was just two men from Ohio standing in onstage, the noise they managed to o-eate was incredible.

The sheer force of their sound reminded the crowd at once of

~~~i~~i~i Jiomb~\~i~~~nth~f ::ic~s~ ~-f.~irl~ Ont~~ ~~nd~ with a passion that ~oul.dn't have been out of place 1~ a chun:h on tracks like 'Everlasbng Light'. The boys certainly did Justice to the brilliance of early material, wrt:h the murdemus blues standard 'Stack. Shot Billy' .coming at the crowd like old Stagger Lee himself. pistol 1n .hand. Midway through the song Auerbach played _a gurtar solo while Camey attempted to fix his high hat. to no ava1 , so he chucked it away and continued with the song

This is the kind of primal energy that was lacking in the band's recent gig supporting Kings of Leon at Hyde Park But clearly. ~e Blac.k Keys know what they're doing, and they do rt with the kind of dirty urgency that you might find 1n a M1ss1ssip1 barn 1n the 1920s. Who could help wanting to worship at the church of blues when The Black Keys make it sound so damn sexy?

words: Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura

Sinden: It's really vastly inaccurate, the descript one:. )f the tracks rt makes you to ask what kind of knowledge they hJve about it. Sometimes as a listener, to listen to something that you're fam11ar wrth !'., a bit of an easy nde. Count That wasn't what we set out to do. We'r-e a Bntish act and

:i~nf!1rr{~~~~~;~th:;rl~~=:ni~~le~~rb~n~: ~i:~~~ in London. There's Span·+ c:.inging O" '1 lcimam€' for example, but

Sometime c It because people really c. -.:n 't r, dy for it, and then a year lucer th'"'y start to get it .. people didn't really pick up on that And the closing track is like, My Bloody Valentine meets deep garage.

LS: What would you say are your influences, then? You mentioned My Bloody Valentine.

Count Everything really. South Ainencan music, Afncan music. gl!itarmusic, British rave music. But all of them together, ratherthan rt JUst being rave music

words: Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura

BO',:': Carrot fit jeans are the lnbetweene~ of the Denim world. It's a halfway JOb between skin.ny and comfort frt. jeans and, in all seriousness, they JUst do ~y head in. They are neither coo! nor stylish; instead they are unflattering to both guys and girls. It looks completely ridiculous and uncomfortable and, to be frank I think that the idea of basing a style on a vegetable should not have been entertained in the first place. These jeans encourage poor taste and style, never mind the fact that they give a whole

GIRL: When I fi rst heard that ca1TOt frt. Jeans were in existence, I had to ask for clarification. Are these really yet another addition to the outrageously extensive range of 'saggy bum' trousers which. unless you are 'blessed' with very short legs and a really long lower body, just don't look good. I read further. the popular description of the calTOt frt. is 'low in the crotch and frtted from the lower thigh.' Now I get the super-low rude-boi crotch­between-the-knees look and the resulting hobbling swagger which have gone hand in hand for decades, so no shock there. And I get flattering skinny cigarette pants on girls and their male counterpart

Lanvin for H&M collaboration Polish up those debrt cards ladies, because H&M has another surprise in store for you, and just in time for the holiday party season too!

Last month a teaser was released by H&M via Youtube promoting the upcoming collaboration with the esteemed Parisian house of Lanvin. The Swedish company announced the partnership back in September, with Alber Elbaz as the chosen guest designer for this season's winter collection. Aside from the short video. Elbaz aims to leave everything to the imagination until the collection is previewed on line at www.hm.com on November 2, 20 I 0.

Being the latest fashion label to collaborate with H&M, Lanvin joins the rank of fashion's most prominent names, including Roberto Cavalli, jimmy Choo and Viktor & Rolf. As far as creative vision goes, Elbaz definitely puts the

haute in haute couture, so it will be interesting to see what the outcome of this collaboration will be. Known for its ornate artistry and flair, one can only imagine how the prominent label could translate its iconic looks for the regular high street jane Doe.

If the successes of the past collaborations give any indication of how Lanvin might fare with the British public, it's safe to say that H&M has another hit on their hands and Elbaz's masterstroke is set to be a sensation.

The collection wil l be available for shoppers on November 23, 20 I 0 across 200 stores worldwide. Happy shopping!

words: Czar Ventura illustrations: Aine Callaghan

REVIEW: Heroes and Heroines, Fashion from Film at Leeds City Museum

This charming exhibition bnngs iconic costumes from the silver screen to the general public of an area renowned for its pivotal role in the textile industry. An injection of style and glamour into the Leeds cityscape certain ly helps to b1ighten a dull November afte111oon

Greeting visitors is one of Madonna's eighty-five costume changes from 'Evita': a stunning fuchsia floor-length gown inspired by Christian Dior. One can also peruse one of Judi Dench's adorable outfits from 'Cranford' and the classic tweed two-piece worn by Rene Zelleweger as 'Miss Potter', amongst others. There are original designs from corresponding eras to complement the big screen numbers which makes the exhibition almost educational and also shows how authentic the costumes really are. In the virtual wardrobe you can pretend you are Elizabeth I or Will T umer and even snapshot yourself trying on various period

and high end threads. The exhibition is a little small, and

unfortunately copyright has prevented the museum from showing clips of the costumes in action. However we felt it was definitely worth the l 1.50 ent1y fee (with Student ID) especially as the costumes provide welcome inspiration for current trends, particu larly with the vintage vibe that is so present this Autumn. Our favourites included a sumptuous velvet 20s coat, and we would have begged to be able take home Darcy's riding boots, preferably including their previous owner.

The exhibrtJon is open until January 9th 20 I I at Leeds City Museum ar1d is perfectly suited to anyone interested in fashion, textiles, history or film, and serves as a perfect injection of glamour into daily student life.

words: Hannah Townsend and Polly Durrance

new meaning to the phrase 'thunder-thighs'. So unless you want to walk arou_nd looking like you are sporting a nappy under your Jeans, I suggest you run the other way and never look back Carrots should stay in the supermarket where they belong, not T opman or New Look and certainly not your wardrobe.

words: uarVentura

of indie boy skinny jeans; but a .cross between the two? I have. equal parts frustration and admiration for any danng fashionista or fashionisto who can dare Justify the weanng of such a cunous garment not to mention blithely tolerate the constant taunts of 'nappy smuggler.' And I can't eve~ imagine what a brouhaha a pair would cause at airport security, who knows how many printer cartridges one could hide in there?

words: Imogen Roy left: Carrot frt 1eans, Topman, 00

Paper Scissor Stone A/W Fashion Show For those of you in the dark tucked quietly behind the Market and Com Exchange sits the effortlessly cool Paper Scissor Stone. After being redesigned into a catwalk, the shop was the ideal location for their annual Autumn/Winter fashion show. Champagne on arrival, professional photographers and modem art emblazoned on the walls created a chic atmosphere perfect to showcase the key looks from the new collections.

Beginning with Wood Wood - the shop's best selling label - the female models strolled down the runway in striking black metallic make up. What followed were an assortment of feminine dresses, tailored trousers and a contrastingly interesting mix of boyish parkas and vests. YMC stood out with their gorgeous, although slightly pricey, l 950s inspired silk frill dresses.

The other brands showcased were Won Hundred's sophisticated collection of bang on trend winter coats. as well as Rittenhouse, Dr Denim, Neurotica. Mini For Many and Libertine Libertine.

It was the trendy duo Emily&Fin that really stole the show. Whether silk classic flora! print or raspberry and whrte polka dots, there was a dress to cater for day or evening. and for all tastes. Quirky, colourful and simple, the brand demonstrated that designer dresses can be wearable for students and ranging from £ 45-£55, at more affordable prices.

The boys were certainly not forgotten. Artist and designer Henrik Vibskov portrayed an understated style wrth simple tees and crisp shirts, adding subtle detail on the buttons and pockets. Rittenhouse also added a splash of colour with bright cord shirts. Other designers included Sixpack, B­Store, Luke Simon and Garbstore, giving the male fashion an overall relaxed feel.

''We have different inspirations and people feel comfortable in different clothes, we do not buy into one trend'', clarifies Sarah Harding. buyer and owner of the store. This philosophy explains the eclectic mix of 50s, 60s, classic British and modem trends that made the designs a treat to watch. As the show illustrated, the Autumn/Winter trends incorporate fashion !abets from around the world in addition to locally based designers, and consequently the store has bnll1antly bridged the gap between high street and high end.

Offering unique clothes that will not leave you bankrupt Paper Scissor Stone's new collections.will add something that little brt special to every student's wardrobe.

words: Louise Donovan photography: James Shilton

Director. John Landis Starring: Simon Pegg, Isla F,sher, Andy Serkis, Tom Wilkinson Released: 29th Oaober

Burke and Hare is a morbid rom-com 'based on a true story, except for the parts that are not'. William Burl<e (Pegg) and William Hare (Serl<is) who are first introduced as failing Donnegal moss-touting. charlatan quacks from Northern Ireland, discover a 'business opportunity'. Having received a handsome sum forthe conveyance of the corpse of Hare's late lodger. O'Donnell to Dr. Knox (Wilkinson), principal of one of Edinburgh's two medical academies, the duo set out to acquire cadavers by any means. Sixteen counts of murder later and Burke swings for it He is the fall-guy whom we are supposed to like because he occasionally voices moral doubt, falls in love wrth the fresh-faced prostitiute-turned­actress Jenny (Fisher), and ultimately takes the blame in the scandal-avoiding, Establishment­rocking cover-up. in order to save her life along with that of Hare and his wife. Had more emphasis been placed on Burke's moral ambivalence in the conflict between providing Jenny with a11 she desired (namely the financial support to put on an all-female production of Macbeth) through pecuniaiy advancement and the moral turpitude of serial murder, we might like Burke more. But inner torment has no place in a fast-paced comic romp and he simply comes across as an indefinite character.

The comedy in the film comes from the contrast between the moral baseness and unbridled ambition portayed convincingly by a star-studded cast and the ideal of the scientific advancement of medical knowledge in order to save lives. The film is set in 1820s Edinburgh during the Scottish Enlightenment and the acerbic exchanges spat between Munroe (Tim

Director. Lisa Cholodenko Starring: Annette Bening. Ju/1anne Moore, Marl< Ruffalo Released: 29th Oaaber

It's not surprising that Lisa Cholodenko struggled to provide funding for her new film The /(jds Are All Right. No studio wanted to take on the extremely difficult challenge of presenting a new kind of American family life of a same sex couple and their children. Made with a low budget. The Kids Are All Right succeeds in presenting both its conventional and unconventional subject matter without being patronising and with a great deal of delicacy.

The film tells the story of a lesbian couple, played by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, who have two teenage children by artificial insemination, a fourteen-year-old son named Laser Gosh Hutcherson) and an eighteen-year­old daughter ready to leave for college. played by Mia Wasikowska (last seen in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland). Trouble ensues when Laser puts pressure on his older half-sister to get in touch with their spe1TT1 donor Paul, a middle-aged bachelor (Marl< Ruffalo). Paul is surprisingly more than willing to step into his ready-made father figure role and provides difficulties for Bening's character Nie, who finds it hard to adjust to the new member of her family. When asked by Laser why he donated sperm, Paul points out that 'it seemed a lot more fun than donating blood.'

All Tive main roles are portrayed with a great deal of skill, Bening has generated Oscar buzz for her moving performance as the uptight, slightly alcoholic Nie, Moore effortlessly fills her

Curry), principal of the other medical academy. and Knox, both of whom are entered into the King's competition for exemplary medical advancement, play out this comedic contrast with the upmost efficacy. Knox employs the services of a French pioneer photographer in his project of mapping the human body. The collection of anatomy photographs (or 'map')is ultimately confiscated as evidence in the serial murder investigation by the comically diminutive Captain McClintock (Ronnie Corbett) whose Dad's Army-esque bumbling incompetence of his underlings raises a smile of familiarity.

Laughter also proceeds from the physical humour in the film. An hilarious incident involves

role as the hippy, carefree Jules and Ruffalo is brilliant as the cool, charming and laidback restaurateur Paul. It does however seem a little odd that Jules, as one half of the contemporary couple, is portrayed as bisexual. Her character therefore seems a little diluted as she is not the strong lesbian role model that the film set out to produce.

The kids in question are brilliantly casted and prove that. as in the title, it's not the kids that need worrying about but the adults. Various issues are explored such as the hardships of marriage. family life, bringing up children and running a business yet none of these take away from the humour of the Cholodenko's script The audience should be able to relate to

an upper-class drunk played by Paul Whitehouse, who, in Burke and Hare's first attempt at murder, appears to break every bone in his body when launched down a long flight of stone steps. His exit from the scene, apparently unscathed. singing in cunously fruity tones, adjusting his voice to attain the correct note, delights. Also amusing was Burke and Hare's nonchalance as they suffocated a weak bewildered Christopher Lee. His muffled protestations ring out as Hare assures Burke that Lee'scharacter(one of Hare's lodgers) would have wanted to die comfortable, 1n his bed, surTOunded by his friends.

The sense of nineteenth century Edinburgh is evoked well in the cinematography. The creation

moments in their own family life, which is probably the reason why the film is so endearing. Of course considering the subject matter, not every teenage boy will have asked his 'moms' why they are watching gay male porn, but the awkward situation strikes an identifiable chord. Despite the good amount of wit and humour in the film, the plot is bittersweet. Heartbreaks occur and the family has to deal with trying times.

Cholodenko, herself a lesbian, has clearly used her own personal experience to write a believable contemporary family, as she was pregnant using a sperm donor whilst writing the screenplay. Her co-writer. Steve Blumberg, had donated sperm earlier in his life and

of darkness, cold and mist is well executed and seems to compound the sense of moral degradation, morbidness and uncertainty. There is a distinctly gothic feel to the general visual aspect Joby T a!bot's score, using both tradrtional Scottish and orchestral music creates mood, and is effective in evoking a sense of place.

Overall the film doesn't work that well because it tries to be too many things, but there are some good moments of humour. That we don't really like Burke indicates that perliaps director John Landis ought to have made an historical drama without comedy, instead.

words: Daniel Potts

therefore both were perfectly equipped to create a convincing story. The cast f1uently brings the script to life and treats it with exactly the right amount of humour and sadness.

The American box office has showed a great deal of interest but I just don't see the same effect happening in Britain. The witty portrait of family life, albeit a slightly different one to the usual conventions, has clearly captured the hearts and minds of many yet the film already seems a little clich€d. The optimistic ending was rather saccharine but ultimately it should be credited for refusing to obey the usual Hollywood ideals.

words: Becki Carr

Dugout Theatre Company Stage One, Stage@Leeds Until Saturday 6th November

Dugout Theatre presents a revival of Noel Coward's Hay Fever directed by Ed Smith and produced by Er:nily Ba11ar:i, The play focuses around The Bliss', a family that consists of eccentric individuals functioning within an unconventional family dynamic, which gives life to the sheer hilanty of the play.

Working with comedy is a tricky business, and always runs the r·isk of falling short on laughs if not done right. This play is nothing less than hilarious. At times you may think you are about to see the play treading on the edge of something potentially serious. but then a completely outlandish event occurs and we ar-e brought back to the play's favourite taste of simply laughing at life.

Hay Fever follows a day in the life of the Bliss's and sees their interaction with the unfortunate guests who have been invited over. They learn the invaluable experience of what it really means to be a Bliss. What does it mean? Mayhem! Gemma Wilson, who plays the charismatic yet curious mother Judith as an incredulous flirt, is outstanding. She literally embodies an aged woman who thrives off of her glory days; her comic timing is perfection. Her two children Sorel and Simon, played by Cressida Bonas and Ollie Forsyth, capture the complete essence of a brother-sister relationship. Their ability to frustrate and provoke one another is so believable; one empathises with Sorel and the perils of being the youngest sibling.

Outside of the Bliss's we have the guests who really didn't know what they were getting themselves into by entering the Bliss household The actors' ability to convey the sheer awkwardness of their situation whilst highlighting the complete ridiculousness ofit all

is brilliant. From the somehow endearing arrogance that oozes from every inch of Myra's body (Ellie Gibbons). to the adorable Sandy (George Chilcott), who chases after Judith like a sick puppy, the personalities of the characters are completely brought to life on stage.

Even if you've never heard the name. chances are you have heard the music of Ludovico Einaudi. The Italian composer's works have been used on shows such as Ho/by City and Top Gear, and film soundtracks !ike Th1s Is England, and I'm Still Here. Einaudi counts his favourite childhood band as The Beatles and suggests that 'my music is rooted in popular music. When I started to compose I wanted to have a relationship with this language. It is a mother language that is available to everyone'

There is an interesting blend of classical and pop melodies in Einaudi's music that makes his compositions easily accessible. Most recently, his work was used in the c_ritically acclaimed television series This Is England '86. The meditative piano compositions add drama and gravitas to the more emotionally fuelled parts of the programme. Einaudi talks of the 'twist' 1n his pieces that 'connect the notes to something more mysterious and unpredictable'. It was a few years earlier, however, that he first collaborated with Shane Meadows on the film This is England: 'he (Meadows) listened to my music and couldn't remember my name. A few months later he discovered who I was. and got in touch with me. He said my music had made him decide to make the film'.

Einaudi currently lives on a vineyard in Piedmont and comes from a wealthy background. His grandfather Luigi Einaudi was the President of the Italian Republic between

The en-atic personalities of some characters jam together with the less outgoing personalities, to make a perfectly balanced display of comedy. The music too, cannot go without mentioning. Used to add texture to already awkward situations. along with introducing and finishing the play, it enhances

1948 and 19'55. But such is his passion for music that he hardly has time to enjoy such comforts: 'I don't have time to relax, if I stay at home for a while I get depressed'. Instead. he is constantly working on new music. His most recent album Nightbook is, in his own words, a 'more dramatic and introspective voyage through light and darkness', and has been receiving rave reviews. However, if you are working in a music shop and are wondering under which genre to put it, beware. 'I don't describe my music in one word, if you do then

you put it in a cage'. The classically

trained composer is now playing a series of concerts in the U.K. and Europe, including Leeds Town Hall on November 25th. Einaudi claims that this section of the tour is special to him, since England is a 'second home, so many things that belong to my history are rooted here'.

and because audiences with a 'great cultural and musical education', whom Einaudi attributes to 'giving me notoriety', are commonplace. He will also be playing the piano at these performances. something he only bega'.1 d~ing at the age of thirty-five. 'Composing rtself was not enough', he explains, 'I wanted to see the world, I needed some stress and adrenaline from concerts'

Einaudi re~ains focused on composing music that is aligned with his creative vision, stating 'I have to be emotionally connected to what I do·. When asked about the potential of more work in the field of film and television, he

the overall atmosphere. Hay Fever exposes some seriously talented musicians and an exceptionally talented cast. This play captures comedy to its upmost and exploits it all over stage@leeds.

words: Danielle Sheridan

replied by speaking of his composer residency in the Auditorium of Rome: 'I have a lot of music to write' Einaudi, then, is a man of classical tastes whose music is often a welcome escape from the pace of modern life. Check it out.

words: Patrick Ibbotson

Ludovico E1naudi is performing or Leeds Town Hall on November 25th.

REVIEWED ONLINE

~~wed by Emily Coen

Wrttank Reviewed by Lizzie Edmonds

Blood Wedding Reviewed by Anna Richards

The Arbor Reviewed by David Hayes

LS2 talks to ... Tim Crouch Tim Crouch's ploy The Author is being staged at the Workshop Theatre on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th November. It was recently performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festrval, where it won the Total Theatre Award for its sell-out run at the Traverse Theatre.

Leeds Student I believe that in The Author there is no stage and the actors sit amongst the audience. I was wonderi ng if you could elabo"rate on how this works.

Well there is a stage, but we [the actors and audience J are it. if that makes sense. There are two banks of seating which face each

other, and within that audience are four actors. We talk to the audience, it would be impossible not to when you're sitting right in the middle of them. And that feels profoundly involving, rather than s~anding on a stage with the audience plunged 1n the dark talking to the middle distance.

LS: And what ideas are you attempting to explore through this set-up?

Often I think in theatre there is a passive gene that exists in the audience, they don't feel that they are responsib le for what is happening. By placing the audience right in the middle of 1t. I'm exploring the idea of audience responsibility. The idea that when we go to the theatre we opt out of the

Leeds Grand Theatre

For those willing to experiment with something a lihle different and those who love to dress up. sing, dance and shout, The Rocky Horror Show at Leeds Grand Theatre is definitely worth a trip .into town.

The world's favounte Rock musical has come to Leeds and tells the tale of young sweethearts Brad and Janet who seek help at a house after their car breaks down. Unknown to them. they have arrived at the Frankenstein place, home to crazy transvestite Frank'n'Furter and his bizarre servants. Their innocence slowly disappears as they are sexually liberated by the occupants of the house through risque songs and adventures

As a Rocky Horror virgin, I was unsure what to expect. I'd heard stories about the audience dressing up and. not wanting my virginity to be exposed, decided to wear high heels. stockings and a corset I arrived to find the majority of women (and men) in the audience wearing this outfit A few avid fans even dressed as their favourite characters from the show.

As we excitedly took our seats, I was disappointed to discover that two of the lead roles were to be played by understudies. However, the performances were fantastic. David Bedella's performance as Frank'n'Furt.er particularly stood out. His powerful voice and

everyday seems ve1-y wrong to me When we are together as a group of people in the theatre. the same sort of ethical rules apply,. and so I'm bringing the fiction very close to reality.

LS: The play has caused a certain amount of controversy, I've heard people have walked out in the middle before. Was it your intention to shock and disturb?

No. no, it's my intention to ask the audience to think. There is a huge morality to the experience of the play, almost an old­fashioned morality. But to achieve the power of that argument I do not skirt around the issues. The play goes into the flame, and some peop le find that difficult. I'm not a

masculine features made the perfect comedy transvestite and he was truly captivating on stage. Michael Stark was also impress!ve as the narrator and even joked about his career being over after fifteen years on Brookside.

However, despite the fantastic performances, costumes and set, the best thing ab_out the show was the atm.osphere_ in the audience. The show is filled wrth exciting songs including 'Sweet Transvestite', 'Damn it Janet' and the famous 'Time Warp' and the audience were on their feet dancing and singing to all their favourite.s. There was not

one single audience member seated during the 'Time Warp'. Some fans also heckled the actors, which added to the comedy, but this was too. much at moments. There was one woman 1n the stalls who had memorised the entire script and shouted out repeatedly which was annoying, especially if you are a newbie trying to follow the plot

If you are able to ignore hecklers and put up with butch men in drag then Rocky Horror is for you. The show is

not just a trip to the theatre: it's a great night out and is definitely nothing like anything you'll have ever seen before.

words: Emily Ansell

The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be on at the Leeds Grand Theatre until 6th November. Tickets ore [ 14.50 - £33.50 and ore available from the Grands website and box office.

revolutionary, I just push things as far as I think they need to be pushed.

LS: You took this play to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where you've performed before. Is it an event you enjoy returning to?

No, it's a fucking nightmare [laughs]. It's an amazing experience, but if you want to make a piece of work that is thoughtful, an.d questioning, and place it within what 1s without question a meat-market, it's really difficult. Having said that I am hugely energised by Ed inburgh every t ime I go there.

words: Tim Gallagher

Mezzanine Galle ry, Leeds Art Gallery until 2 Janua ry 20 l l

The Henry Moore Foundation is currently hosting 'A Rough Equivalent', an exhibition of sculpture and ceramics, he!d in Leeds Art Gallery. The exhibition was curated by Dr Jeffrey Jones in collaboration with the Henry Moore Institute. and brings together sculpture and pottery from the 1940s to the 1970s. This is just one of the many exhibitions and events going on at Leeds Art Gallery, which is definitely worth a visit. especially if you haven't ventured there yet.

In this small exhibition, the works are curated with a co"mmon theme of rough textures, uneven and distressed surfaces. Sculpture and ceramics from the Post War period are brought together in order to highlight their similarities especially in relation to the time period in which they were created. Generally the collection is

The next stop on the National Theatre's two month tour of The Habit of Art is our very own Grand Theatre. The play by Leeds' finest Alan Bennett is in its second epoch after a critically acdaimed debut n.in in 2009.

The play is a multi-faceted portrayal of the nature of artistic compulsion and inspiration. It takes place in a rehearsal for Caliban's Day, a fictional play about an imagined meeting

very cohesive: lots of mechanical shapes and colours juxtaposed with natural curves and warm tones. The work is dark and industrial, showcasing a combination of experimental abstract sculpture. distorted figurative work and pottery.

The stars of the show are two pieces by famous post war sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi. 'Forms on a Bow' and 'AGS' and also a huge stoneware pot by Hans Coper. For me however, the more interesting works were that of the later period, particularly the pieces by Bryan Newman such as his stoneware 'Relief. These small pieces showed the industrial themes of post war sculpture while retaining a sense of intricacy and beauty.

As the name suggests. 'A Rough Equivalent' brings together post war sculpture and ceramics, grouping them together stylistically for the first time. Both the ceramics and the sculpture show a shared sense of the post war 'pessimistic'

between W.H. Auden and Benjamin Britten whilst the latter is writing Death in Venice. A!so present in the scene is Henry Carpenter, a well-known biographer, amongst other minor characters. With references to multiple artistic genres and including plenty of inter-textual allusions. the play is very much art about art and a reflection on what it is to be an artist.

Matthew Cotter who plays Henry Carpenter tells us a bit about his experience working on the play.

L~ds Studerrl: What is the play ab?ut in your opinion. what issues does it deal with?

~atthew: It's about art really, growing old, biography and homosexuality. It's got so many layers you have to see it really, people like to see it and analyse it.

LS: Did you notice anything interesting playing a biographer; was it tempting to portray Carpenter through Auden and Britten to an extent?

Matthew: Well my actor (playing Carpenter) is slightly stroppy and is always coming out of character and trying to prove to the audience

artistic mentality 1n their distressed and distorted nature. Post War style is also primarily shown through dark rough textures, as well as through the use of industrial and mechanical shapes. The works convey a common concern with new ways of manipulating materials. Contrasting mediums like bronze and stoneware are used in interesting ways- much of the work is given an imperfect finish. This makes the exhibition as a whole. texturally rich and therefore fascinating to look at. This exhibition is probably one for the art buffs. If you're into sculpture and ceramics already, (or if you're an art student), get down to the ! lenry Moore Institute. But if you're not already into art, this isn't the most exciting of collections to start your interest with. However it is free, and well worth spending a quiet afternoon at the exhibition.

words: Harriet Sheppard

that Carpenter has more strings to his bow, that he isn't just a biographer.

LS: Have you acted in any other of Bennett's plays?

Matthew: No I haven't but I'm really enjoying it. Alan has been to a few of the rehearsals and I had to audition in front of him which was terrifying. He's a really lovely man, but quite shy. He was a lot more involved in the play's first n.in I think. but it's exciting to have him there.

LS: Is there much excitement amongst the cast about playing in Bennett's home town?

Matthew: Yeah there is actually. He is very popular here as you would imagine. I think it'll sell pretty well and we'll get a good audience.

With a delicious back-catalogue and a history in Leeds, Alan Bennett's The Habit of Art has the makings of a great play that you can tn.ily sink your teeth into. It n.ins from the 9th to the 13th of November at the Grand Theatre on New Briggate (flash your student card for a discount.)

words: Georgia Watton

LOOKOUT POST

The Suicide, a play by Nikolai Erdman Stage@Leeds, Stage One /0th- 13th November, 7.30pm

Beady Eye Productions presents 'The Suicide,' a comedy once banned by Stalin. When Semyon's dream of achieving success as a tuba soloist fails, he contemplates ending his life, but in view of what? Watch and laugh as this hilarious comedy unfolds. Tickets available from the Stage@Leeds Box office £8.50 I £6.50 ( £5 for first year students).

Chris Addison West Yorkshire Playhouse 5th November. 8pm

BAFTA Award-winning comedian of 'The Thick of It' and 'Skins· performs his critically acclaimed show at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Go along for a night of daftness and funt! Described by The Observer as "one of the most accomplished live acts you are likely to see this year." Tickets available £ 15.50 -£17.50

My Love Has An Exquisite Corpse: Elemental Film Leeds College of Art & Design 6th 21st Nov ( I Oom-Bpm, Mon-Fn)

Curated by Leeds and Bradford based Cherry Kino, this exhibition brings together works of an elemental nature, revealing the matenality of the medium of film. The exhibition will feature a filmic 'exquisite corpse' collaborative creation from students at Leeds College of Art as well as detailing how the five elements affect the film material, revealing texture, colour and form. Cost: Free

Short Film Oty Leeds Town Hall 8th November. 7.30pm

Short Film City 20 IO officially opens with an unmissable selection of some of the most entertaining new shorts of this year. In addition, historic British Pathe news clips will be shown, revealing sides of Leeds you've never seen before. Clips will include footage of the city centre from 1926 and the Golden Acre Park steam train in 1935. Tickets available £6.50 I £5.00

Sweeney Todd: H is Li fe, T imes and Execution The Camageworks - Main Auditorium I 0th November 7.30pm

Roll up, roll up, and witness a brand new, fiendishly funny adaptation of Sweeney Todd. Meet the monstrous murderer, hear his tefTible tale and then watch him hang horribly for his ghastly and gruesome crimes. Described as a deliciously depraved black comedy of slapstick humour, grotesque characters, physical storytelling, live cabaret music and puppetry. Tickets available £9 - £ I I

words: Lena Hesselgrave

Could Your TV Improve Your Degree? Chris Morrogh looks at the pros and cons of getting a shared TV license.

Second year: so many hard choices and unexpected costs arise - bills, internet, the overdraft you maxed out when you decided to jump out of a 'open· window at your friends house party .. None, however, can cause as much head scratching and heated debate as an argument over sorting out a household television. A group of my friends had this problem at the start of term. with the ladies of the house craving the comfort of Corrie and the boy (see where this is going?) that lives with them just not wanting to be bothered with the expense. Two and a half months into term the nagging still hasn't eroded this chap's hard shell; our living room still remains unused and unloved much to the girls' sadness.

Now as a responsible, sensible student (don't roll you eyes just yet!), I argued that a television would only cause inevitable distraction: with second year actually counting for something maybe we should avoid the temptation of watching Cash in the Awe instead of going to that economics lecture. Then I found out the new series of Spooks was about to start. It was unavoidable; I gave in and forked out the forty pound for the dreaded TV license. My concerns as I found out were in fact very misplaced because, quite frankly, nothing helps stimulate essay writing better than hearing the dross of Jeremy Kyle: I can hear my mother taunting me in the background about how this will be my inevitable future if I don't lay off the

What we think you should be tuning into this week.

Spooks - 9:00pm - Mondoy 08 November - BBC 1 The gripping MIS drama comes to a thrilling close this week with a fiery showdown betlf.leen the head of the counter terrorism department Harry Pearce, and his section chief, Lucas North. In last week's episode, viewers found out Lucas' true identity was in fact John Bateman and subsequently John/Lucas has gone on the run, leading Harry to instruct the team to find him at any cost This obviously is quite a challenge; not only TV PICK because Lucas is a highly trained MIS agent but he also has nothing to lose and becomes increasingly desperate to locate the mysterious Albany file. Lucas being a

close friend to the team means Harry is forced to bring in a former internal affairs specialist to help track him down. However, rt: soon becomes clear that Ruth is in grave danger meaning Harry must up the ante on this deadly game of cat and mouse. The programme sports fantastic acting from Peter l"irth, Richard Armitage and Nicola Walker, to name just a few. As ever, this superbly written, if not a little far-fetched. drama is definitely worth staying in for.

words: Harriet Ambroziak

Bladerunner - 11 :45pm -Saturday 06 November

First released 1n 1982 as a vision of the future, you would expect people to be living in

jetson-like sky houses or for humanity · to have been wiped out by a virus; but

no, director Ridley Scott creates a dystopian master-piece that creates a

1-ealistic ailing society and puts forvvard some tangible points about society (and not a silver jumpsuit in sight). Harrison Ford is surprisingly apt at portraying a morose hitman that hunts down robot 'replicants' that haunt humanity a far cry from his escapades in Pick. Deckard is a fiawed anti-hero wrt:h a lot of meat to get into; troubles of his own

identity plague him. later tackled by stunning film-noir dream sequences. To those who have seen the ong1nal get excited as Saturday's showing is the 1992 director's cut wrth a bleaker ending. (slightly) less dodgy special effects and no more voiceover. Scott's vision manages to successfully tum the gleaming Los Angeles of the 1980s into the acid rain drenched bleak future of 2019. A must watch.

words: Melissa Welliver .. ___ _

basics cider and take off that soiled wife beater. I mean if a life on the dole doesn't frighten you into writing those 1500 words you have very little hope; buying a TV licence was the best thing I ever did for my degree.

EASTENDERS: A double wedding in the square ends in a kidnapping ...

CORONATION STREET: The street says a fond farewell to Jack Duckworth. with a cameo from his 'little swamp duck' ...

HOLL YOAKS: In the aftermath of an explosion in II Gnosh, not everyone surYJVes ...

EMMERDALE: Desperate Holly Barton sells her body to pay for her next hit ..

NEIGHBOURS: Diana visits newly awakened Paul and begs him to clear her name ...

HOME AND AWAY: Angelo quickly gets himself into a sticky situation after giving a lift

I to sexy newcomer. Shandi ... .. __________ _

Channel Clash Where do your loyalties lie?

Well, what a week for Cher! Simon rendered her goose-pimple-producing rendition of Stay: "The performance of the entire season" - proving that she isn't just a one trick pony. At only 17 years old. she has the stage presence of a multi-platinum star. and with Cheryl as her mentor there is no doubt that she will make it. Cheryl is the only mentor that has managed to cling on to all four of her acts. It seems her epic song choices and impeccable styling are really paying off this year- - although her running victory nearly came to an end this week when Louis putting Katie Waissel and Belle Amie into deadlock. But the public pulled through for Katie, and Belle Amie were sent packing. Rebecca Ferguson, another of Cheryl's acts, also stole the limelight this week with her effortless performance and unique tone. However. the award for loving-life-the-most definitely goes to Wagner. What a legend!

words: Kat Park

This week's 'Strictly' was a Halloween treat -the set and dancers dressed up especially for the occasion and the standard of dancing showing yet more improvement In terms of outfits, professional dancer Brendan Cole's bald wig has to be the highlight closely followed by what can only be described as an all-too-round pumpkin outfit sported by Ann Widecombe. The show was also worth watching simply to see all the boys wearing eyeliner! The first ten's of the series were awarded on Saturday night; w~h both Scott Maslen and Kara Tointon earning them for their Viennese Waltz and Pasa Doble respective ly. Scott earned himself an impressive score of 39/40, building upon the expectation on him to reach the final of this year's competition. The entertainment factor, however, has not been lost and those of you seeking a brt: of conflict would have enjoyed the shouting match between Brendan Cole and Head Judge Len Goodman regarding the dance content of Michelle William's Jive - with both getting extremely irate and looking as though they fancied a b~ of fisticuffs' Feisty 'Stnctly' keeps the entertainment coming.

words: Sarah Harding

The Woman I was Born fo Be, Susan Boyle.

Susan Boy le's autobiography, a seemingly cringeworthy read. reveals the woman behind the Britain's Got Talent spectacle; a w oma~ whose life changed dramatically under the world's watchful eye. Susan describes this transition with a childlike naivety, fr-om the monochrome of her Scott ish childhood, to the rainbow of Simon Cowell's fame circus.

The first chapters which document her earlier life paint an important picture of Susan 's

upbringing, her life-before-fame, often stalling over trivial details such as her favourite children's television programme an endearing. but not always welcome, detail. Despite how dull these fine points may be, they provide an enl ighten ing insight into Susan's life a life free of t he complications and stress fame carries with it.

Susan's story, or rather her life's journey as she likes to see it, shows her overcoming many obstacles; from bul lying

and be1-eavement. to her underlying disabi lity and spel l of depression. But also how she br.lieves Catholic faith, and the teachings of her late Mn: her ,, , ,oired her to continue on in the face of ',( nbstac !v, I .--.r frankness and openness about such per·sor 1c1I issues ;1llow the reader to real ly connect and offer an empathic view, a breath of fresh air compared to the me< id's portrav I of Susan.

Susan's story shows her overcoming

ln contrast. the latter half of the book shows a radically different story from her earlier memones. many obstacles· Catapulted into 1

the world of from bullying and fa m e, the

memoirs JUmp bereavement to her from country-to- ' country and underlying disability pe r formance-to performance, and depression. detailing not only her momentous experiences across half of the world. but also her (understandably) yo-yo-ing temperament in the

School Blues, Daniel Pennac.

.. -...

Daniel Pennac's School Blues is a finely crafted memoir in which, for Once, and excuse the non­PC word choice, the 'dunce' is celebrated. Hooray! It w ould seem hard to believe that the award-winning writer and acclaimed essayist w as once himself dubbed a 'cancre' (the French archaic word for useless student) when his latest novel, Chagrin d '€cole. which has recently been released in Engl ish as School Blues, is an insightfu l auto biographica l delve into schoo l. and teaching in particular.

once was. He anecdotally recreates how it took him a whole year to master the letter A, causing his own father to wryly remark that wrth 25 more years perseverance he might eventually learn the entire alphabet. W hat makes Pennac's stories so unique is his upbringing; coming from a well educated background, his parents were shocked by his failings at school - a factor he neatly uses to explain the universality of those academically challenged.

Before reading it would seem totally unrealistic that the young Pennac was a dependable 'no hoper' at school, given t hat he has been a consistent best seller across much of Europe, and cynical ly I half expected it to be fictitious hyperbole to excite laughs. But the narrator's conversational voice is subtly erudite, allowing the linguistic playfulness to shine through in abundance whi lst adding a true sense of authenticity.

The writ er's perso nal experiences are om nipotent

throu_ghout the book, w ith Pennac seldom suppressi~g his autob1ograph1cal tendenoes to anatomise the dunce he himse!f

He's highly complimentary of teachers, not ing how "all it takes is one- JUst one to save us from ourselves". In the final section What It Means To Love'. Pennac's own teachers are humorously rhapsodized ranging from Miss Gi "a tornado t hat wrenched us out of our straitjacket of laziness, dragging us into the tumultuous tunnel of History'' to the egg-shaped maths teacher Mr Ball. In the book he's not criticizing the school system but instead celebrating it

The pseudonymously written / Am Number Four, the first instalment of a new thriller series entitled The Lorien Legacies. is yet another teen novel trying to attain the same levels of success as the Harry Potter or Twilight series. Already being made into a Steven Spiel berg-produced feature film, the book feels rushed and lacks imagination and depth.

Number four, a member of a race known as the Lorie, has been in hiding on earth since his home planet was sacked by another race of aliens known as the Mogadorians. Eight others escaped with him and are

I Am Number Four, Pittacus Lore. being hunted by the Mogadorians; three have been killed and our protagonist is next. The book appears initially promising, but is poorly written. The dialogue is bland, filled with action flick one-liners, which were almost certainly written with the film in mind. The characters lack depth and you fail to connect with their plight. The writer does manage to build suspense during action scenes but still leaves inconsistencies and gaps. Despite being so one dimensional, I can see the novel being popular with many youn_g readers, simply due to 1t

following the same predictable blueprint as other teen novels. The book has clearly been written for the silver screen, which is the obvious cause of the novels fiaws

I am Number Four 1s nothing new or original. Most of the novel appears to have been made up on the fly; very little effort appears to have been spent on the back.story. It is the kind of novel you will read to dispel the boredom of a tedious train journey; it will be quickly forgotten and never picked up again.

Words: Louis Gill

Graham Swift is an author well recognised by the writing community, having won a host of prizes and awards for his eight novels. Making an Elephant is his first step into non-fiction,

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face of an ever-ravenous paparazzi cult ure. A lthough, dragging in some areas, the book 1s not

without comedy. Some episodes are quite Bridget Jones­esque, when Susan speaks "squeezing" into Spanx (the infamous elasticated Bridget Jones suck-you-in pants!) and her skidding onto the stage in a pair of bronze high heels. It seems this ability to make light of things. and to laugh in the face of adversity is what Susan Boyle wishes readers to take most from her book.

Do not m istake th is autobiography for an intellectual read on any level. which it certain ly is not. However, it's an easy read, definitely recommended to those with a penchant for the sentimental autobiography (which it certainly is!). It panders to the affections of Susan Boyle and Britain's Got Talent fans al ike.

Despite it's fi uffy exterior, The Woman I Was Born To Be reveals more than just an insight into Susan Boyle's childhood. it opens the door into the mindset of a talented, ordinary woman sucked into the whirlwind of pop-star culture. It wi ll t ug on your heart-strings and make you think before criticisng t hose thrust so ungainly into the public eye.

Words: Sarah Plant

using his own teachers as examples, despite comparing them to "pnson guards chained to (their] desks until the end oftime". Yet, it's not all fiattering as, although complimentary to teachers, individually he's still haunted by memories of his own turbulent time in the classroom, and offers up a more scathing analysis of how young people are often failed by the education system.

Understandably, given the translation the themes aren't transcendent ly universal and some of the examples are foreign to a British ear, given its intended French readership. Sarah Ardizzone's translator's note explains t hese refe rences to a different school system whilst managing to retain the French flavour of the book no mean feat. There's also a foreword by former Children 's Laureate Q uentin Blake, illustrator of Roald Dahl's childrens' classics books (he also illustrated the front cover), wh ich picks out nicely the important themes of this book However, the episodic structure of the book and its scant regard for chronology is mildly irritating and it's certainly not worth the l 16.99 price tag. given that it's not a read you'd frequent more than once. In short, the wrtty writing style is amusing yet thought provoking even if the subject matter doesn't immediately engross.

Words: Emily Coen

Making An Elephant, Graham Swift. and is essentially a collection of his articles, interviews and poetry, placed 1n a vaguely chronological order to sequence his life through his work.

The book is a bit of a mix-match in terms of interest. Some essays are genuinely poignant and moving Swift's memories of his father, for instance -but equally, several fee! irrelevant and dull, making some sections of the book a bit of a struggle to plough through. A particularly painful part is the large chunk of poems - perhaps, if scattered through the text, they could be

insightful, but as forty straight pages of poetry, they're just a little daunting and very hard work to read! The many interviews with other writers also feel a little pointless, providing nothing about Swift himself at all.

Although there are moments in Swift's book which show how he has become such a successful writer, these are scattered between large sections which are slow moving and, honestly, a bit of a dull read. Worth dipping into for the sections of interest, but certainly not a must­read.

Words: Rachel Bowen

By the time you read this our games blog will be live, but I probably still won 't have managed to think of a better name for it than 'Games blog' . So leave a comment on one of the posts or email tech@ le edsstudent.org with any better suggestions. I know I ask for em ails every week, but currently I don't get many, and I'm lonely.

App: VideoDownloadHelper http ://www.downloadhelper.net/

This little Firefox app is definitely worth checking out. It lets you quickly download and convert videos from most video streaming websites. You can now download videos from You Tube to put them on your phone or iPod. You can also use it to download musjc videos, strip the audio, and create an mp3 with it. Thus creating a quick, easy, and most importantly, free way to get singles for your music player (not that we condone such actions, just saying that it would be possible to do it if you were so inclined).

Another nifty feature of the app is a database of streaming websites that the app works for. Simply click the icon in your browser to bring up the list and then double click the one you want to go to. Also on the list are sites that stream television programmes and films. You can finally catch up with the new series of House without running out of Megavideo minutes halfw~y through an episode and being left wondenng whether 1t was lupus or

not

Game: Happy Wheels http://bit.ly/ adtf Pl

If you aren't a fan of violence then Happy Wheels will not be for you. (f, on the other hand, you aren't a fan of toddlers than this 1s the game for you.

As a natural evolution of physics based platformers such as Elastomonia and N, Happy Wheels combines ragdoll physics with Rambo IV inspired gore. The objective is

This week Google announced that it had been surprised by objections to Street View (http://bit.ly/97MeQd). Me too. The vast majority of objections seem to be based on privacy concerns, though I personally wouldn't say the view of the front of your house is private (and neither, l believe, would the law). Those who argue that it makes life much

simple; get from the start of the I eve! to its end with your character alive. To make it that little bit easier they don't even need to be in one piece! So long as the head is still attached to the torso then it's counted as a win. Between you and your goal are landmines, spikes, swinging demolition balls, and spinning fans. You will see a lot of blood in this game; intestines. bone, and brain all make an appearance too.

You have a selection of characters to choose from: a war veteran in a wheel chair, an office worker on a Segway. an irresponsible dad on a bike with his child i~ a seat on the back, and an obese woman on a mobility scooter. My favourite is the irresponsible dad: he can let go of the bike, grab onto his son and fling him towards the finish (or landmines)

I have devised a simple test to see if this is game for you. Watch this video (http://b1t.ly/9EuvdR). If you laugh try out the game; if you don't then please forgive me.

Site: The Phonograph http://bit.ly/bKREEB

I am forever trying to find new music and for the past few months The Phonograph has been my first port of call. The blog is maintained by a core group of writers who all have wildly different tastes in music and writing styles. This is a massive plus as I've been introduced to music I would never have come across without them. There are also pretty frequent posts from guest writers, so the writing never becomes stale and subsequently even more genres are covered.

There's usually a new post every few days so you 're never without new bands to hear. Recently the blog has

easier for burglars are perhaps missing the point that it makes life easier for everyone else as well. After all, crowbars and large sacks are useful tools for burglary, but I've yet to see calls for them to be removed from sale.

words: Mark Sellick

become quite a bit more organised. You can now search by author, or use the tag system to follow your interests to similar music.

With so much new music becoming available through the internet it is excellent to have people whose taste in music you can trust., The Phonograph writes about music intelligently and with style. Certainly wort0 a pei:--u sal because, at the least you should find something to listen to that you would never have heard otherwise.

words Jules Benson

Thomas Edison and his early phonograph. Wikipedia says he invented it. and it's probably true -we hear he was quite a smart guy.

Gymophobia

Jasmine Andersson Studying: English Language and Literature Favourite Place: Gamla Stan in Stockholm Guilty Pleasure:A good pint of Guiness!

I suppose my aversion to part.1opating in any form of sporting activity began the day my mother, instead of. passing me the 'ole family netball, decided the better idea would be to throw it in my face. Since then. I have partaken in a series of sporting failures; from being invited to my school's remedial 'multi-skills' club, to being told that I would have to attain 89% in my PE theory paper to even attain a C because of my tragic GCSE practical (I ended up with an E. if you're interested). As my friends and family frequently tell me, sport is just 'not my thing- and you wouldn't be you otherwise!' If so, then why did I end up attending an Edge induction session last week?

Admittedly, I am riddled with gym preconceptions. The immense pressure of an atmosphere purposefully orchestrated to improve the physical appearance of someone seems to me a tool that can only promote inadequacy and obsession. I have never desired to be involved in a weekly Judge-a-thon in which league tables are used to rate the best gym users. and where the mean and the beautiful judge me as I fall off the treadmi!I for the third time in five minutes. Even through typing "fear of the gym" into Google I can see by 204,000 results that I am not alone in feeling fearful. Advice is offered from vanous sites to make the "normal" feel "accepted," even to the extreme of people suggesting that people wh°: are 1ntim1dated by the gym should consider not attending a gym at all. This advice in fact reminded me of the summer mornings I had spent indoors haphazardly completing yoga and jogging exercises on the Wii Fit for the fear of being judged, and made me feel somewhat sad that over the years l had been made to feel incapable of something that I had never even tried. Sick of being so self deprecating, I decided to attend an induction to see what I was really scared of.

It would be a lie to say that I didn't find the gym atmosphere as daunting as I expected. Immediately hit with the fear of communal changing, I finally entered the fitness suite after five minutes of standing by the door feeling like a lemon in my attempted gym attire. Saliva inducing male bodies worked the weights, bronzed goddesses worked the treadmills, and I sat there in a pale and lumpy daze. When the induction finally came I was thankful that I was aware of what half the machines were as well as the solace of an in built TV screen which would (hopefully) distract me from the paranoid clutching of my stomach. Did I take up the offer of using the gym for the final half hour to look like a treadmill's fool? That I did. I just have to say, for all of you other physically inadequate souls on campus, you will be sure to see me at the other side of the room in solidarity, mouthing "it's okay, I'm just trying it out too."

"'Fast' food. 'Speed' dating. I'm starting to think it would be acceptable now if I kept the dog for Christmas, then gave it the boot!"

Not a bang, a whimper!

Sam Knell Studying: Politics and Parliamentary Studies Favourite Place: My shower Pet Peeve: Sockets without plugs in them!

It's that time of year agam! Following on from a 405 year-old tradition, the whole nation is preparing to send health and safety checks into overload as billions of pounds worth of rockets, Catherine wheels and roman candles across Britain will. literally, go up in smoke. For the vast majority of us, this is all just meant to be a bit of fun (though perhaps not harmless). Childr·en of all ages will delight in trying to write their names in the air using their sparkler, schools will charge extortionate prices just for people to gain entry to a firework display, even though they could just stand on the roof of their car outside and still get a good view, and canines, great and small, are in preparation to deafen us with their howls of fright as the first bang goes off.

Now. I won't deny, I love firework night. Meat-less burgers from dodgy catering vans, tacky glow sticks that lose their illumination after a few minutes. and over­priced fairground rides are all part of the excitement that is the British Firework Night, but this really ,s a million miles away from what really happened the first time this evening was celebrated. We all know the story of the gunpowder plot: Guy Fawkes and his team are angry with king, they load gunpowder under the Houses of Parliament. and then just before they light the fuse. guards come and a1Test him. Hip hip hurray, the King is saved and everyone lights a bonfire with a burning effigy of the Guy to celebrate etcetera, etcetera and so forth.

The problem is that this near act of terrorism is being used to commemorate the continuity of what was then a barbaric absolute monarchy where freedom ofreligion was not allowed, hence the plot taking place.

What's more, the resultant prisoner, Guy Fawkes, found himself on the wrong end of a very tight noose, and then as an unrequested final wish, was allowed to see his own intestines, as his stomach was cut open just before his final breath. And it is this, ladies and gentlemen, that we spend an evening of neck-craning and violent shivering celebrating every year!

An interesting point that I noticed in the Times last week was that we have been getting rid of Christian symbols from Christmas left, right and centre for fear of offending other faiths, yet burning a straw replica of a 17th century catholic is not even considered to be offensive to those in the Vatican.

Now whilst I'm not suggesting a national boycott of Firework Night. unlike the Fire Service. it is important to remember why we are actually commemorating this event, otherwise it's true meaning will become long forgotten like with so many other 'special days' this country celebrates, but which for some people. they're not sure quite sure why.

Nowism? Pah!

Imogen Roy Studying: English and French Best Album: Seventeen Seconds Best Night Out: SubDub, without a doubt!

Remember when they told us the end of print journalism was nigh? That newspapers, magazines, music stored in pieces of plastic, even the cinema would dissolve into dust. life as we knew it would change, and everyone would gladly cast aside those ancient forms of media in exchange for having their face and ears surgically attac;hed to an iPad? Well that was a couple of years ago, in the hysteria of NOWism.

To be fair, Nowism in all its digital ubiquity has been givmg the print presses a bit of bullying. The London Lite disappeared and I remember vividly the morning I read that I.D. had gone under and gave my laptop an Earl Grey shower. With much phewing I read on to discover it was not our eternally winking i-D but International Design magazine. but the fact I even found i-D's demise plausible says much about the supposedly shaky future for magazines as anything else. Not to mention the fact I was reading this news not from a newspaper but from a website.

However the reality of Nowism isn't the end of the world by any means. Once upon a time magazines were the only source of cutting edge and style. They were, in effect, the internet. They showed us what was new, what we needed to wear, listen to, and know about. They were our bibles. Granted. pre-internet, my magazine bible was probably Sugar magazine, but you get the point. Now, I can check out Hypebeast, The Selby, The Hypemachine and any number of Sartorialist-style biogs several times a day, and not only know what is new this very cyber-second but potentially also what is so disgustingly hip as hell that it will probably never even skim pop culture

And of course, all this information is free. Statistically, global consumption of print journalism is probably in freefall, but look at your average magazine selection in a supermarket and I say statistics are wrong. The magazine industry has absolutely exploded in the last 5 years. Nowism hasn't killed print. it's merely encouraged it. The printing presses are churning out brightly coloured. weekly now-zines like Look and Grazia like there's no tomorrow, and the Independent have just this week launched a baby paper called I.

As for the glossy monthlies which we fools pay anything from three to thirty pounds for: they're art now! The magazine shouldn't think of itself as a feeder of culture so much as a shrine. It's crafted, polished and pored over by a team of highly talented editors. Vogue, Dazed. Wallpaper, I 0: they're all distinct voices we respect and listen to. They're our achingly cool yet reliable friend who tells us about the world in ways we'd never imagined. They're an environmentally unfriendly luxury, but one which we'll be poring over long after the blog bubbles have burst. Nowism? Pah!

"If a lecturer mentions the word 'sex,' are we too old to start sniggering?"

"Daylight saving is anti-student!''

"I can't believe people eat pasties filled with fruit! And there was me thinking cheese cake was the limit. I'm scared that one day I'll bite into a scotch egg and find it filled with custard."

Vicki Mortimer Tomas Jlvanda Jaz Munroe

Friday, November 5, 2010 · ~- leedsstudent.org Leeds Student

Contrail and climate change research warms up Catherine Scott

Researchers from the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds have helped to quantify another of the impacts that humans are having on the environment. In addition to the emission of greenhouse gases, air travel has been shown to have a further warming effect on the Earth's chmate.

th~ thc~n,~~~r~;f!~le~~:i~=~i~~ "contrails", which are thin clouds dearly visible from the ground. With the volume of air traffic continually inc reasing, the impact of these contrails on the global climate has become a matter of some interest. All clouds have an effect on the climate;

S~7; ~~:~flec~;ro::rr ::a~he~f ~g: surface of fe Earth, or by trapping the energy that the Earth emits. The

~ri~d1 ~:

0r~:!f~:0 ~hf~tu~ft~fc~ dominates, in the case of contrails it has b een shown to be the latter, resulting in warming at the Earth's surface. It is this balance between the incoming and outgoing flows of energy that governs the greenhouse effect and the concept anthropogenic climate change.

After the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York, commercial air traffic was grounded over North America for three days, giving scientists the rare opportunity to study a cont rail free sky. Initially

observations from weather stations across the USA

h~,estet~:~ ther:

significant change in the d ifference between the highest daytime temperature and the lowest night time temperature, also known as the

,__,,. 7 '

diurnal temperature range. Since then, other studies have concluded that the

... changes observed were within the range of natural variation and could not necessarily be attributed to the lack of contrails; highlighting the need for further research to clarify the issue.

In collaboration with the UK Met Office, researchers from the School of Earth and Environmen t at the Unive rs i ty of Leeds have been involved in a project aimed at resolving the matter. To do this, they have developed a method of estimating the amount of contrails that will fo rm under given weather conditions. In a study published earlier this year, the team estimated that in the year 2002, contrails covered an average of 0.11 per cent of the sky. This estimation method has been incorporated into current Met Office simulations to explore the impact that these contrails are having

on the climate. In a study recently published in Geophysical Research Letters, the team observed that there was very little impact on the diurnal temperature range; contrary to the initial post 9/11 results. The work also showed that, perhaps surprisingly, there seemed to be no geographic correlation between the formation of contrails in the sky and the locations of temperature changes at the surface. Significantly, the researchers were able to estimate that aviation induced contrails are about one third as effective at inducing

~\~~d;ac~~!na:r~~:;~~~chrt~~ than the only other estimates currently available. Despite this downwards revision, the climatic impact of contrails will continue to increase for as long as growth in air travel persists, thereby becoming more and more important.

13

Annual skiers risk osteoarthritis Nicole Timms

Annual skiers risk osteoarthritis Expertise from Professor Phil Conaghan at the University of Leeds has suggested that people taking annual ski holidays may be at increased risk of osteoarthritis. The condition, characterised by joint pain and stiffness, currently affects 8 million people across Britain. It has been suggested that without proper preparation people undergoing physical activity, skiers in particular, may be putting themselves in danger.

Osteoarthritis is thought to occur naturally in many cases but experts now believe that many cases could be due to an old sporting injury. Arthritis UK, for whom Professor Phil Conag~an is the spokesperson, are advising that skiers partake in several weeks training before their

holidays to ensure adequate muscle strength in the legs. Clearly, it would be wise to prepare correctly for any physical activity as the percentage of people that have suffered from an injury such ligament damage or broken bones through sports is as high as 50%. Half of these sufferers will go on the have osteoarthritis.

With Arthritis UK and The Institute of Sport and Exercise Medicine calling for more research funding into this area of study there is no doubt that the understanding of the link between sporting injury and osteoarthritis will increase, however for now the message is clear. Reducing sporting injuries could ultimately greatly reduce the number ·of osteoarthritis suffers across the UK. With the

amount of excellent sports f a c i 1 i t i e s availab le at the University of Leeds it is important to always remember to follow the correct trammg program to avoid injury and reduce the risk of pain later in life.

Eureka!! Invisibility Cloak?! Yes please.

New £4 million facility to put Leeds at the forefront of scientific research

picoleTimms

i All Harry Potter fans will know i:hat the invisibility cloak is a pretty Special piece of kit. They are rare, ~ and spun from the pelts of the Demiguise, a magi.cal herbivore found in the Far East. But shott of ,.using your own herd of Dem.iguise howfarazewe from getting our hands on an invisibility cloak? Surprisingly, not far at all.

There are currently two invisibility edmologies on the market. The first, pticalcamouflage, involves wearinga hite cloak and projecting an image of

f,'hat's going on behind you on to it. fhis way you become invisible by iillr. owing _the onloo~er to see what is

appenmg behind you. The echnology here is very similar to the blue screens used by weather ~orecasters. However, the overall rtfect of this technology isn't faultless and you can't just spontaneously put

on the cloak, you need to set up the recorder and projector.

The second technology may therefore be most exciting. Scientists have now been able to mask an object in 3D. The 'carpet cloak' works on the principle that by covering an object you can no longer see the object just a bump, by then refracting light around that bump in a certain way you can make the bump appear not to be there. Whilst this has only been done on an incredibly small scale theoretically there is no reason why the same principles couldn't be applied to an object as big as a house.

So whilst we probably won't all be getting invisibility cloaks for Christmas this year it's not to say that there isn't hope for the future. With proof of principle studies showing tiny objects can be rendered invisible, and optical camouflage techniques improving. we are edging ever closer. Putting aside the Harry Potter world,

take a moment to consider the consequences of such a discovery, what would you do with your own invisibility cloak? Or perhaps more importantly what would some of the prominent world leaders do with a couple of hundred miles of invisibility material? I can't even bring myself to think about it.

Sophie Morley

The announcement of a brand new £4 million facility at Leeds has been making recent headlines in the science and technology world. It is called an electron­beam lithography (EBL) system and allows researchers to create nanometre scale electronic devices. It uses a tightly focussed beam of electrons to create patterns such as wires, dots, rings and more sophisticated features but on tiny scale. It is capable of features less than 10nm in size, which is more than 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

The project is a joint co ll abora t ion between The Uni vers it ies of Leeds, Sheffield and York; h owever, t he facility will be located he re at Leeds, replacing an older system. The new system as well as allowing much smaller structures, is a lot more flexible and reliable. The upgrade will immediately start to benefit current students. The majority of the funding came from a research grant of £2.7milllion which was awarded by the Engineering and Physical

Need more?

Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). EPSRC " a governmental agency for funding research and post graduate training. It invests around £850 million each year into a range of broadly scientific research areas. The project is also supported by a strategic investment from The University of Leeds and industrial partners.

The Yorkshire universities have a strong background in research and teaching in the nanotechnology field. It will immediately create 10 new PhD studentships over the next five years with over half of these involving collaborative industrial partners such as international companies Seagate, Toshiba and Hitachi. All this investment hopes to attract and retain the highest calibre of students and staff to the region, and further interest and investment from other industrial bodies.

It is also paramount at a time of frozen government funding to prepare, with foresight, the state of UK research facilities. Dr Gavin Burnell, from the School of Physics and Astronomy said, "The new

system will be the best research and development tool of its kind in the UK, and one of only a handful of similar systems worldwide. It's very important that in a time of severe cutbacks in UK public spending, that the UK continues to keep its research facilities at the cutting edge for the lon~ -term health of British science. The applications of such an internationally competitive piece of equipment are interdisciplinary; spanning the physical, biological and clinical sciences. The capabilities of the new EBL will lead to advances in medical diagnostics, super ·fast electronics (with the recently Nobel prize winning material, Graphene) and plans for a full computer on a single chip! Currently being built by the company JEOL in Japan, it hopes to be up and running in the 2011/12 academic year.

All the science and society articles are now avaliable online, and in more detail, at http://www.leedsstudento,g/catego,y/lsl-news/sdence-and-society. Why notvts1t us there and add your comments to any of the stories?

14 Friday, November 5, 2010 I www.leedsstudent.org Leeds Student

Reform, repair, re-educate At last month's Conservative Party Conference, a state school teacher called for serious reform of the education system. LSl investigates the reaction to these claims amongst the teaching staff on campus and asks, is the system truly "broken"?

Last month, a formerly unknown state school teacher stood up and told the country that the rurrent education system established by Labour was "broken" and in need of serious reform. She has since been forced to resign.

Former deputy-head teacher Katherine Birbalsingh told the Conservative Party Conference that she had been carried along with many teachers' blind loyalty to the Left and now denounced this ideal in favour of "right-winged thinking" to "rid the classrooms of chaos by unshackling heads and setting our schools free." Her speech received a standing ovation.

She went on to say that the educational culture "created by politicians, bureaucrats, theorists" encouraged what she called a "dumbing down" of standards in a system where even the pupils were aware that recent exam papers were easier. She called the current system a "grotesque illusion" claiming that children are being betrayed by the "destructive ethos" that promotes low expectation, indiscipline and lack of academic rigour witrun the classroom.

Following this she argued that the current education structure is a facade used to cover up the inadequacies within the system in favour of presenting seemin9,ly improving grades and pass rates. 'If the system is so good, then why do universities and employers complain so bitterly about

low levels of skills, numeracy and literacy?"

Birbalsingh, who is of mixed racial heritage, also controversially claimed that black underachievement was due

"Right-wing thinking is needed to rid the classroom of chaos"

partly to "the chaos of our classrooms" and "to the accusation of racism." She defended the statement by saying, "if you keep telling teachers that they're racist for trying to discipline black boys and if you keep telling heads that they're racist for trying to exclude black boys, in the end, the schools stop reprimanding these children."

Despite Ms BirbaJsingh's attack on the failure of the Labour education system, last year 47, 600 students accepted University places through clearing. But with the window of

opportunity narrowing year on year, students will soon be forced to scramble for places. The current University minister, David Willets admitted to the BBC earlier this year that it " ... is going to be tough. There are young people who sadly are not going to get a place, including perhaps some young people who really have got good A-level grades, and for them there is a whole range of options."

In an effort to try and gauge the level of support that lecturers would give to these views, Leeds Student interviewed a number of teaching staff on campus. Surprisingly, there was no great sense of betrayal but rather a feeling that the flaws in the system had been exposed.

One member of staff went further, however, saying that she thought a sense of responsibility for learning could transform society. I-ler reasoning for this lay in the belief that if students were encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour in the classroom, it would spill over into all other areas of their lives.

This same lecturer agreed that our system is too bent on getting students through exams and that at level 1 she is dealing with students who have just emerged from four years of learning

in which "nobody wants to pay attention" and "even the most inspirational teachers don't have time to help students to develop their own viewpoint."

When questioned on whether she thought that those who arrive at

university with an ability to express their opinion tend to have come from private school, she admitted that it is "a different world" to the state sector, but that students who have this ability have usually learnt it from their home environment, not through the schooling they have received.

Regardless of changes needed, the first year at university should still be reserved for teaching students a new way of thinking, she finished: "In the next one hundred years we must change our education system" she says, "it places too much emphasis on academic ability, which

"The current system is a grotesque illusion"

is a reflection of a society in which only those with good degrees are valued. There may be many students who will.go on to become outstanding parents, nurses and carers but they are ignored by the system."

It would seem that rather than

From right to left: students ata

private school; Katherine

Birbalsingh speaking at the

Conference; students at a state school

there being a need for more support for students from low income households and ethnic minority groups, it needs to be questioned as to whether or not these groups even have the desire to continue into higher education. If anything, it is the lower-middle class students who are neglected during the university application process, as the current system does not provide much support or encouragement for their continuation into further education.

1iA!hether or not the ideas of those in the education sector with a new approach to learning will be accepted, remains to be seen. It does seem that there is a fear amongst staff that any new idea that could be construed as rightist should be kept quiet. Until teachers put aside political allegiances and prioritise the development of students' skills -academic or otherwise - change does not seem to be possible.

What is clear however is that Ms Birbalsingh' s speech has signalled an era ofhf;'ated debate in regards to the reformation of the education system. Now that these views have been publicly expressed and accredited by a small, yet significant number in the education sector, it is clear the current arrangement cannot continue.

Nor however, can it return to the way it was before. Change in the education system is inevitable and only time can tell if the "broken" pieces of the existing structure will remain in disrepair.

words: Rehema Figueiredo and Mel Rideout

Friday , November 5, 20 IO I V I Le eds Student 15

'Religion is a way people identify' One of the most important religious leaders in the UK, Cheif Rabbi Lord Sacks , sits down with Tom Knowles to discuss religion, university l ife , and wheth er Europe is killing itself ... As I sat discussing spirituality and education with one of the most important religious leaders in the country, I could not help but think had his life gone another way, Cbief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks would have made a great late-night DJ.

His low and slow, considered voice produced a great feeling of peace as we sat in the empty ARC conference room, later to be filled with members of the Jewish Society who had come to see Sacks' speech on faith in modern Britain. Despite the burly bodyguards and university security standing outside the door, a meditative air filled the room.

But then, commanding a presence probably comes pretty easily to Lord Sacks. As Chief Rabbi of the UK, Jonathan Sacks is spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the UK He is the official spokesman for the Jewish community, basically the Jewish equivalent of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and makes regular media appearances, as well visiting and supporting the Jewish community across the country.

This includes the student community. Getting in touch with the Jewish student population is evidently important to Rabbi Sacks. On the day he visited Leeds, he had already been to another university earlier in the morning and would be heading off to see students in Liverpool straight after his talk at our Union.

It was clear that university life was deeply influential in shaping Lord Sacks's outlook on life and he often fondly referred to his days at Cambridge University during our interview. He was taught there by the principled atheist and famous moral philosopher, Sif Bernard Williams. Beliefs were never mocked in William's class, but nor were they ever let off without standing them to trial. "l was being taught by the world's greatest atheist when I was very religious and that for me was a tremendous experience. Never made fun of my beliefs, all he wanted to know was could I express them lucidly and defend them compellingly." Lord Sacks said of Williams. "I learnt a great deal from him", he added.

Religion, Rabbi Sacks says, is back on the agenda for today's students. "I think faith is much more in the public square than it used to be when I was a student, people would not really discuss religion, and today, of course, they do. We have the first time in over two centuries when the younger generation is more religious than its parents, that's after two centuries of decline."

I ask why this might be. "Two :easons: the weakening of national identity and the general waning of secular political ideologies. All of this search for meaning and there's no

L; longer re y anyw ere e se to go an I think that's why religion has come back for so many people."

According to Lord Sacks this new found student allegiance to religion is due to how we now define ourselves in multi-cultural Britain where geographic identities are no longer so important. "It's a way people identify, so for instance, a generation ago you would get immigrant groups in Britain saying we're East Asian, we're Indonesian, we're Caribbean, where as now they're more likely to say we're say we're Sikh, we're Hindu, we're Muslim. That's a huge change. Of course the reason for it is that groups do seek to maintain their identity and a mere geographic identity doesn't speak to a generation born in Britain. So we find that religious identities survive whereas those geographic

University is a place where something very sacred happens identities tend to peter out after one or two generations."

However, Lord Sacks made it clear that that those who do adopt religion seriously, whether it be Jewish or Christian, Hindu or Muslim, must be willing to defend their beliefs in a clear and intellectual way, and they must be willing to listen to other points of view.

This is most important at university where it is possible to challenge our most cherished beliefs whilst separating the person from the

VIews, says i a But there is a danger that this is no

longer becoming possible, that extremism is taking place of balanced debate especially in the sense of religion becoming politicised. "University, for me, is the place where everybody gets a hearing and I think we're beginning to see speakers who take certain views being shouted down and that is veiydangerous.

"What we're hungry for right now is respect for balanced debate that does justice for both sides. We have real clashing narratives here and neither side really understands the fears of the other side, and what a situation like that cries out for is real active listening and only that can alleviate the situation."

I ask whether such a situation is possible any time in the near future when the-clash of views on Israel's actions is so strong. I am answered with a firm shake of the head.

"I don't think it's possible today on British campuses and it's becoming difficult on some American campuses and that is appalling because there has to be protected space where arguments can be heard and you can be challenged on your most cherished beliefs in a way that is respectful of you while challenging your views.

"You have to separate the person from the views, and that, for me, is what university is about, it's a place where something very sacred happens, namely the collaborative pursuit for the truth."

He mentions this phrase, 'the collaborative pursuit of truth', many times again in our discussion on the role of higher education in our society. It is, he says, the reason why university is the most important

institution in a ree society. T e second that pursuit of truth becomes political partisanship then the university abdicates its commitment

"I think we are beginning to see speakers with certain views being shouted down and that is very dangerous"

and then l worry for a free society." As we move on to other topics, it

becomes clear that the Chief Rabbi of the UK is worried about society a lot in general. He fears for Europe which is apparently slowly killing itself by not re-·populating enough and reams off statistics to prove it: "Not one single European country is reproducing itself demographically because to have stable population there has to be 2.1 children per woman in the adult population and there's not one European country which has a rate of 2.1 children, Europe is failing to reproduce itself"

I ask whether this is necessarily a bad thing when the world is rapidly over populating and resources are finite. Obviously this hits a nerve however, as the late-night DJ voice is interrupted, and a sharper edge comes into the Chief Rabbi's voice as we begin to disagree.

"Absolute nonsense", he replies to my suggestion of too many people

and not enough resources. "Europe is depopulating, it is not a country that is over populating."

Yeah, but across the world it is, I reply.

"Across the world it is yes, but that is not why people are not having children in Europe. So the argument that Europe is about to disappear just so we can make space for Africa just doesn't play, that's not a serious argument."

I continue regardless. But what with people living longer, l begin ... "What will happen in a country suffering demographic decline is that more and more weight is placed on a young generation to support a generation over the retirement age.

"That's bad news for your generation. I don't think we have the right to impose that, so all I'm saying is that Europe is undergoing demographic decline and that tends to be a sign of civilization of decline."

So Europe is suffering from bum out you'd say?

''Yeah. Two world wars, a massive effort to create a European Union that wouldn't cause world wars, and it is today a tired continent in comparison with South East Asia for instance."

Shouldn't we accept this and let South East Asia have their tum, I ask him.

"Well that's what you say when you're tired."

By now the calm tones have returned to the rabbi's voice and a subtle endorsement of Cameron's policies has become the driving force behind his answers.

Society, according to Lord Sacks, needs renewal, it needs a 'Big Society' in fact. "I think we're in need right now of civic renewal, by which l am not advocating we all become religious but I do think somewhere underneath the vagueness of the phrase the 'big society' is actually a challenge to Britain to renew itself locally."

He continues with a guarded celebration to our time as an Empire, when philantrophy flourished. "ln the 1850s for instance Britain was full of charities for any need, and that really was a Big Society, so can you have it without Empire? I hope so. Altruism always renews society, because the truth is happiness is always linked with concern with others, not with yourself."

And with that, I am told by an aide that we need start wrapping up. I feel it is the end of an interesting seminar with a university tutor rather than an interview we are concluding. But perhaps this is what Lord Sacks wants. Perhaps religion can be enligtening reflection. Perhaps there is space for two conflicting views, however cherished. Perhaps, whatever religion, we too can follow Lord's Sacks example and become a calming. not conflicting. voice.

16 Friday, November 5, 20 I 0 Leeds Student

The firey nature of Bonfire Night With Bonfire Night upon us, Leeds Student investigates the problems for Leeds hospitals caused by irresponsibly sold fireworks . Remember, remember the fifth of November ..

As the annual event commemorating Guy Fawkes's attempt to blow up Parliament comes around, the population of the UK goes into a firework frenzy as an ever increasing range of bright, loud, colourful options become available.

Many people choose to attend organised displays, such as the one held in Roundhay Park, while others have a back garden display with family and friends.

Whichever option the students of Leeds decide on, there are risks. Despite the appealing outer appearance, they are at the end of the day explosives.

Although the government introduced new legislation in 2004 which has increased in severity gradually since then, these measures so far seem to have been somewhat toothless, as the screams and bangs of rockets being let off can be heard for weeks either side of Bonfire Night itself, and many residents of areas in Leeds both outside and including the student-led zones of Hyde Park and Headingly

"Leeds teenagers murdered a 93 year-old woman, they set a firework off in bin"

complain of gangs of youths aiming fireworks at cars and pedestrians.

Bonfire Night is notorious for

injuries, with the A&E departments in Leeds hospitals having to deal with many extra patients on November 5. Across the country the number of injuries around Bonfire Night skyrockets and is consistent year on year. In 2005, there were 990 reported injuries while in 2008 there were 1,141, with over half of those involved being between the ages of five and 17.

The most commonly seen burns, range fr9m sparkler injuries to the fingers to third degree facial burns, which often result in the loss of an eye. The majority of incidents reported occur at home displays. The safety precautions and space

" b ... urns range from sparkler injuries to the fingers, to third degree facial burns"

between spectators and fireworks is much greater and has higher standards of regulation at organised events.

Misuse of fireworks can also result in death; in 2009, three Leeds teenagers were convicted of the manslaughter of a 93 year-old woman after they set a firework off in a bin and blocked the woman's front door with it. She died due to severe smoke inhalation. In 2005, six people were injured in a bar in Harehills,

an inner-city area of east Leeds, when a man threw a firework into the building, causing extensive damage.

Fireworks have a legal scile restriction of age 18.and over, with under 18s banned from even being in public possession of fireworks.

In many reputable shops, such as Sainsburys, ASDA, Morrisons and Tesco, these age restrictions are upheld, and proof of age is always required if there is any doubt regarding the age of the buyer. The fireworks themselves are usually behind a counter, out of reach of children, and so must be specifically requested. Furthermore, large chains such as these will only stock the regulation category fireworks for use at home, which bear the number BS 7114, and are categories 1-3, with category 4 only for use in professional displays.

However, there are several shops and market stalls in Leeds which have appeared just before the Halloween weekend which are more lax in their approach. A group of young teenage girls in Woodhouse who were setting off fireworks in the street this week explained that that they had bought the firecrackers and rockets they were using unsupervised, and unquestioned from a local corner shop. They also stated that there was no request for identification, and that they had deliberately selected a friend who appeared older than them to purchase the fireworks on their behalf.

The breach in regulation following the sale of fireworks may account for many of the accidents that occur on Bonfire night. Despite the toughening of laws on the sale of fireworks in 2003, there is still a need for stricter adherence to regulation in order to avoid the irresponsible sale of these recreational explosives.

It is important to have fun and enjoy Guy Fawkes Night, celebrating with friends in the glow of a communal bonfire. In order to ensure that students in Leeds have a safe and enjoyable evening, make sure that whatever you decide to do in honour of Guy Fawkes's failure to destroy Parliament, that you follow the guidelines and stay safe so you can enjoy the displays without ending the night in hospital.

Remember, remember the fifth of November. .. fo r all the good reasons.

words: Corinne McAlary

"If you're going to play with fire, then your gonna get burned ... "

Lilly Allen

Being Responsible with Fireworks: • Only buy fireworks from a licensed retaJier. Unlicensed sellers may have poorly made products which do not comply with UK or EU safety rules.

• Only buy fireworks that comply with the British Standard BS7114:1988 or the European equivalent. Instructions should be available in English.

• Always make sure that you buy fireworks in full packs. Avoid loose fireworks or packs that have been opened or where fireworks have been removed.

• Full display packs are recommended by the RoSPA, as they contain all the fireworks you need for a great home display, as well as full instructions and safety guidelines.

• Make sure you wear gloves if using sparklers -they can get hotter than cooking oil!

Friday, November 5, 2010 I www.leedsstudent.org I Leeds Stud e nt 17

Black History Month: Leeds University Legends In celebration of Black History month LS celebrates Leeds University Alumni's NgCtgT Wa Thiong'o and Wole Soyinka. Looking back on their inspiring lives and recognising the profound literature they produced ....

NgugTWa Thiong'o • Bom in Kenya on January 5th, 1938 , Literary and social activist formerly wrote in English, now in Gikuyu. , Founder and editor of Gik.LlyU language journal , Published his first novel; Weep Not, Child, in 1964. •NgUgT narrowly missed out on Vvinning the Nobel Prize for Literature to Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa

Ngug'iWa Thiong'o Ngugi wa Thiong'o was born James Ngugi

in colonial Kenya, the fifth child of the third of his father's four wives. Ngugi's family belonged to the Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Gikuyu. At that time Kenya was under British rule, which ended in 1963.

During these years Ngugi became a devout Christian. However, at school he also learned about the Gikuyu values and history. His family suffered the consequences of the Mau Mau rebellion in which he lost his stepbrother, and his mother was tortured.

The Kenyan author's connection with the University of Leeds began in 1964 when he came to the University to take an MA in English. It was here that he wrote and published his first novel 'Weep Not Child' It was the first novel in English to be published by an East African author

Studying under the eminent Marxist scholar, Professor Arnold Kettle, and in company with other radical African and English students Ngugi credits his time at Leeds as a profound influence on his life and writing.

He subsequently renounced English, Christianity, and the name James Ngugi as colonialist; he changed his name to Ngugi wa Thiong'o in honour of his Gikuyu heritage, and began to write in his native language. This move was groundbreaking and ridiculously brave. His decision to take this stand came as he wished to express himself in a language that his mother and ordinary people could understand.

He argued that literature written by Africans in a colonial language is not African literature, but "Afro-European literature."

After his return to Kenya in 1967, Professor wa Thiong'o campaigned to transform the 'English department' at the University of Nairobi to the 'World Literature' department, of which African writing would have been at the centre of literature.

In 1977, writing in his native language, Gikuyu, Professor wa Thiong'o openly criticised the corruption and neo-colonialism in Kenya and his uncensored political writing received huge popular acclaim. It was the infectiousness of his stories, their accessibility in Gikuyu and swift absorption into popular culture that frightened the authorities. When then-president Daniel arap Mai heard that a man called Matigari was wondering around Kenya asking difficult questions, he gave orders for his arrest. On the realisation the man was in fact one of Ngugi's fictional characters, copies of the book were seized and destroyed In the same year he held a ground breaking theatre production in the Gikuyu language ~nvolving hundreds of part_icipants from his native village which re~ulted in a year m prison with no trial. Whilst imprisoned he wrote his novel 'Detamed' on pnson toilet paper.

In 1982 further radical community-based theatre resulted in Professor wa Thiong'o being forced into exile in the UK for ~is outspoken political views. Since the late 1980s he has taught at several prestig10us Umversities. He has continued to work creatively and politically for democratic change in Kenya and throughout the world.

On August 8, 2004, Ngugi ended his exile to return to ~enya. as part of a month-long tour of East Africa. During his.tour robbers broke into his apartment: they brutalised the professor, and raped his wife. Since then, Ngugi has returned to America and in the summer 2006 his first new novel in nearly two decades, Wizard of the Crow, was published translated to English from Gikuyu.

Professor Ngugi wa Thiongo recently missed o~t winning the N?bel Prize for Literature to Mario Vargas Llosa. The reason for this was the panels concern that African-language publishing is facing difficult ~imes. . . . . If Ngugi had won he would have been the firs_t author _wntm~ pr_1marily in _an indigenous sub-Saharan African language to wm the pnze. Wmnmg the pnze would have signalled a change in African-language literature. . .

Professor wa Thiong'o has maintained a strong affect10n for L_eeds Umvers1ty, returning to give guest lectures. He was awarded an Honorary DL1tt from Leeds m 2004.

words: Amy Nickell & Mel Rideout

Wole Soyinka • Bom in Nigeria on July 13th, 1934 • The first African writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature back in 1986 • Newly elected chairman of the Nigerian Political party: The Democratic Front for a Peoples Federation (DFPF). • UNESCO Ambassador for the promotion of African culture • Published his autobiographical novel 'The Man Who Died' in 1972.

Wole Soyinka Wale Soyinka is a Nigerian Nobel literature laureate, human rights activist and more recently, the unopposed, elected chairman of the Nigerian Political party The Democratic Front for a Peoples Federation (DFPF).

He is best known for being the first African writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature back in 1986. Soyinka is a prominent political activist and as an outspoken critic of dictatorships, both in Nigeria and around the world, he has faced imprisonment and numerous threats to his life. He has been hailed as having been instrumental in bringing back democracy to Nigeria, helping to end the murderous regime of General Abacha in 1999 aiid reinstalling civilian rule.

Soyinka was born in a small village in south­western Nigeria in 1934, where his father was the headmaster of the local primary school. Although brought up in a colonial English -· speaking environment, his parents balanced his formal education with a traditional upbringing. This would later become an important influence on his work, in particular his endorsement of native culture and the social order it embodies, culminating in his nomination as UNESCO Ambassador for the promotion of African culture.

From an early age Soyinka displayed an impressive talent for creative writing. This helped him to earn a place at one of Nigeria's most prestigious university's, the University College of Ibadan which has been responsible for educating many of Nigeria's best-known writers such as Chinua Achebe. He came to the UK in 1956 and studied English Literature at The University of Leeds, after which he remained in the city for a number of years and became an established playwright.

Soyinka's turbulent political troubles would begin following his return to Nigeria in 1960. He spent the next few years writing a body of works which openly criticised the Nigerian government, calling for a new path for the country based on combining modern technology and traditional values. Finally, in 1967 he was imprisoned after being accused of helping the Biafran secessionists during the Nigerian Civil War and spent the next two years in solitary confinement, an experience he recounts in his autobiographical novel The Man Who Died. Following intense international pressure he was eventually released and went into voluntary exile.

Soyinka would later return to Nigeria during dictator Achaba's brutal rule, but after a death sentence was placed on him he had to secretly leave the country. He spent the next few years abroad, lobbying governments around the world to impose sanctions on Nigeria and setting up an independent radio station which gave hope and information to political dissidents campaigning for democracy.1999 saw Soyinka's heroic homecoming as he was greeted in the streets of Lagos as civilian rule was finally restored.

Thursday, 9 December 2010, the day that marks the international day of anti-corruption and the eve of the UN declared World human Rights day, is also the date scheduled for The Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award. It is part of the registered not-for-profit, non­governmental organisation which aims to encourage the development of an investigative tradition in the Nigerian media by exposing corruption, regulatory failures and human rights abuses within the country. The centre is named after Professor Soyinka in recognition of his life-long work in support of the freedom of expression, freedom to hold opinion, and freedom to impart them without fear.

Following years of political activism, Soyinka has recently been elected as chairman for Nigeria's newest political party DFPF, which, when first set up in 2002, was denied legitimate registration.

In a speech following Soyinka's election, he said the DFPF intended to promote democracy, improve conditions in health and education as well as combating corruption and inequality within Nigeria. In order to achieve this DFPF are seeking to cooperate with other political groupings.

"Above all, the DFPF is a party for frustrated youth." Soyinka acknowledges "the idealistic, committed young people of integrity" within a Nigeria described as a "living nightmare." The DFPF, he said, was a party for the youth yearning for change. Despite strong support from the Nigerian population, as of yet it is unclear whether Soyinka will run in this year's coming elections. These are exciting times for Nigeria and our former Leeds University student, as we look towards the future with expectation and anticipation for a country leading democratic change within Africa.

words: Paul Haydon & Mel Rideout

18 Frid ay, November 5 , 2010 Leeds Student

Trials and Tribulations of a Triathlete Adam Grice has enjoyed a multitude of accolades for his performances in cross country running for both Leeds University and Great Britain. However a change in attitudes has seen him turn his back on cross country running, to take up triathlon. LS Sport's Jocelyn Payne talks to Adam about the motives behind his decision, and the difficulties of combining an elite sporting career with University life.

Jocelyn Payne Athletics Correspondent

Adam Grice is a fourth-year medic student at the University of Leeds. But that isn't the only string to his bow - he was the top-ranking U23 British male in 2008, represented Great Britain in the 2008 World Student Cross Country Championships and ran for England in the 2007 World Mountain Running Championships.

He spoke openly to LS Sport about the difficulties facing young semi -elite athletes, including time­management and funding, as well as the exciting new Triathlon squad.

Adam began his sporting career quite late in life, having not seriollsly taken up running until he was 17 years old, and he expressed some regret at not taking up the sport he now enjoys so much at an earlier age. "I was definitely at a disadvantage compared to other athletes who had been competing since they were young.

Sometimes I think if I had have started earlier and experienced the same rapid improvement, I could have a career in sport, but this is all hindsight." The fact remains, it seems, that there is no single 'right' way to become an athlete, and no way of predicting what factors influence how and when to get into

sport. Adam stresses the importance of

running clubs in advancing his enthusiasm. "They are imperative! I wouldn't have started nor improved like 1 did if it wasn't for my first running club. At LUU CCC (University of Leeds Cross Country Club), training feels like going out and socialising, you are meeting people and being encouraged. It really was the environment of the clubs that made me come back for more.

He lists some of his proudest moments, such as representing England and Great Britain, running an astounding 14.08 over 5000m "just because I had struggled all season and finally I had a personal best again" - and winning the BUSA 10,000m.

"It's another title I am glad to have, because [ was proud to represent Leeds University."

He fondly recalls his 'break through' race, the North of England Junior Cross Country Championships in 2006, where he placed second. This was the first time that he felt "properly competitive".

Having now closed a door on this part of his career, Adam explains the difficulties he experienced in the comparatively unglamorous sport of cross country running: "You have to make sacrifices everywhere. My sporting performance has affected a lot of my decisions. l have missed or cut short so many nights out because

of training or the need for rest. Training and competing can have an adverse effect on my uni work, and vice versa. As far as funding is concerned, this has been extremely difficult, since 1 had to finance my own kit and physiotherapy." Trying to balance a degree in medicine, two part-time jobs, a high performance sporting career and a normal social life clearly took its toll. "Non-running friends and family suffered since my sport was so time-consuming, and having a girlfriend was virtually impossible.'

Since funding was such a problem for Adam, and ultimately forced him into his decision to quit, Adam elaborated on why teenaged footballers or triathletes, among

other sportspeople, are able to secure such substantial sponsorship deals. "Because they are sexier sports! Everybody plays football in the country and everybody follows it, it is an exciting sport with so many variables.

There is so much money in it and I think there always will be. For triathlon it's mainly bike sponsorship, bikes can be extremely expensive so there is a large incentive for financial gain in riding specific brands, if you are of an elite level."

Is this why he has now switched to triathlon? "There were a number of factors. I had lost my love for running due to UK Athletics

reshaping the endurance section, among other reasons. I did an interview for the Marathon Talk podcast (available at www.marathontalk.com) back in March and I talked about my interest in Triathlon.

I was able to get some tips for swimming and cycling from World Champion Alastair Brownlee who is based in Leeds, and The Edge have helped me tremendously with coaching and training facilities, and by inviting me to the new Triathlon squad."

Adam is clearly enthusiastic about the new venture of Leeds University's Triathlon club. "I see huge things! For me it's all about improving the swimming. My cycling is already quite good and l am working my way back to a high level of running.

I'm very excited for competing next season. For the club it's equally exciting, our squad includes The World Senior and U23 Champions, and the World U20 Silver Medallist this can only inspire.

We have a great training structure with experienced coaches at fantastic facilities such as The Edge, Carnegie Sports Centre, John Charles Centre for Sport and the Yorkshire Dales on our door step for cycling, it's a recipe for success!"

Watch this space; it seems, for the future of both Adam himself, and for Leeds University Triathletes.

Leeds suffer loss on miserable day Men's Tennis Leeds lsts 4 - 8 Sheffield Hallam lsts

Next fixture: Leeds Met 2nds (h)

On a miserable day across the North in general, all were exceedingly glad to be playing on the indoor acrylic at Sheffield Hallam. A prompt arrival by the away side meant a swift start to the match could proceed.

With Oli Sellers making his debut for the Leeds Uni side he and his partner were keen to stamp their authority as early as possible in the 2nd pair doubles match, to try and obtain an early lead and boost their confidence for the singles.

Consequently this appeared to be the case as the Leeds Uni pair dispatched of their Sheffield

Hallam opponents efficiently and professionally, playing some

sublime tennis and executing that much desired one two combination of serve and winning volley for a high percentage of the match. The final result a resounding 6-2 6-0, a well deserved and priceless bagel the reward for the pair.

The same could not be said for the Leeds Uni 1st pair against an exceptionally strong Sheffield Hallam pairing. The home side were calm and composed, serving to the Leeds players weaknesses and capitalis i ng on any opportunity to finish the point at the net.

The away side had no answers to their solid tactical play and the match soon came to an end with the Sheffield Hallam 1st pair decisively dismissing their opponents 6-16-1.

Onto the singles section of the match and this proved to be quite a different story for all involved. The battle of the 1st seeds went in favour of the home side as the

visiting player struggled to discover a rhythm on the rapid acrylic courts.

Despite evident flashes of excellence from Leeds' Yann Idelsen, he seemed frustrated that he couldn't piece it all together with his consistency ultimately letting him down.

However this is by no means a negative reflection of his opponent, who never ceased to apply the pressure, beating the battling Belgian 6-16-0.

The th ird seed match being played next to the 1st seeds match, was an odd encounter to say the least. After a dominant display in the doubles Mark Boyes looked set to continue his consistent play into the singles. This assumption however did not come to pass, however, as the Sheffield Hallam no. 3 seemed much more relaxed and capitalised on the numerous errors his opponent produced from the forehand flank. Afte r a

6-0 first set loss, the next set was more promising for Boyes with two breaks of serve going his way. This moment of progression however was short lived and the second set came to a close 6-3.

With the 2nd seeds and the 4th seeds digging deep to carve out a victory on the other two courts, it was just within the balance with the overall score 6-2 in Sheffield Hallam's favour.

The singles perfo rmance from Oli Sellers was a much more nervy display of tennis in comparison to the doubles.

The Leeds no. 4 found it increasingly difficult to maintain his prior fluency he struggled to stay in control in the second set after a comfortable 6-1 victory in the first.

Ultimately however, this did not affect the end result with the Leeds no. 4 winning 6-4 in the second, a very impressive effort from the debutant.

With the overall score set at 6-

4 to Sheffield Hallam, it was left rather unfairly on the shoulders of the Leeds no. 2 to scrape a draw out of the tie.

Out of the four singles matches this was the finale of them all and it did not disappoint, with both players serving exceptionally well throughout the dura t ion of the match and creating some masterful angles.

To add to this. Henry Courtier put the first set loss behind him to rise to the challenge and take the second set tie break in a tense but truly tremendous effort on his behalf.

His dominant sty le of play continued into the thi r d set where he took the opening game with ease.

This was however the only game to be won by Henry Courtier as his opponent t hen took the next six games to fin ish the fiercely competitive match 7-5 6-7 6-1, a valiant effort from the Leeds no. 2.

Friday, Nove mber 5, 2010 Leeds Student

CATCHALL THE REPORTS FROM THIS WEEKS BUCS FIXTURES INSIDE

19

Media circus rolls on W

hy is it that the English media always find a way of getting themselves

involved in matters that are best left alone? The FIFA World Cup 2018 has been seriously jeopardised by a Sunday Times investigation into the bidding process, and as a result the English bid now has to make huge efforts to convince FIFA we should host the event in 2018.

away from British shores. And it is not just the World Cup

bid that has been harmed. Features on the Man City squad this week have stated rifts between players and management that prompted ~a1;,cini to rubbish such reports as hes . Yet these claims appear to be

English press attempts to unsettle a team widely condemned for their big spending attitude.

their football overseas, something that will severely damage the quality of the Premier League.

premature, despite the obvious talent that he possesses. It is testament to Bale being a level headed character that he has come out this week insisting he will remain at Tottenham for the duration of his contract.

were superb, he is yet to provide an assist in the Premier League this season and talk of a £50 million price tag with interest from Inter Milan and Real Madrid is a case of excessive hype from the English newspapers.

In a week where Gareth Bale tore Inter Milan to shreds, the press have hyped up his performance to unparalleled levels. Comparisons to Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronalda appear

For Bale's performances over the two legs against Inter Milan

Whilst Bale sadly doesn't qualify to wear the three lions, how can we expect our rising English stars to remain level headed in an age of media hype?

Sepp Blatter, for all his faults, produced an accurate assessment of the British media in the wake of the Sunday Times investigation. "It is a deep rooted problem with the English media," he claimed and this attitude is widely felt throughout FlFA following the accusational investigation.

It appears the English newspapers want to see City fail as they continue to undermine Mancini's attempts to maintain order. What motive do their quality stars have to stay in England if the English media regularly persecutes them?

London 2012 organisers faced similar worries that the media would jeopardise their bid when it was in its early stages. It seems the media cannot unite behind major sporting events that showcase British sport at its best, and as a result force such competitions

Wayne Rooney's reluctance to sign a new contract with Man Utd must also be in part attributed to the English media circus that surrounds our top players. The England star is rumoured to be attracted to a simpler, less analysed lifestyle on the continent. And should Rooney be forced away, our young stars may choose to play

A Major success? L

ee Westwood's meteoric rise in world golf seemed complete last week as he claimed no.l spot in the rankings, ending Tiger

Woods' 281-week run at the top, and becoming the only Englishman since Nick Faldo to be able to call himself the greatest golfer on Earth.

Yet Westvvood's promotion to the select band of golfers, including Woods, Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros will be under threat from critics as well as fellow professionals in the coming wee~. The man from Nottinghamshire has yet to wm any of golfs four Major Championships, a second place finish in both the Masters and the Open the closest he has come, despite impressive tournament winners in other events. True, Westwood is one of a minority of golfers to \Nill tournaments on every continent, but his failure ~o tum his glittering ability into tangible rewards is s~mething he could come to regret, much like Colin Montgomerie twenty years ago.

Fans of Lee Westwood will have much cause for optimism. His form in the last three years has suggested. a major championship win is not far away. He has finished second or third in all four majors at least once since 2008, and has adde~ two European Tour and a PGA Tour tr_ophies to his collection in that time. Of course his record pales in comparison to that of his predec~ssor at number one spot, but Tiger :oods lS a prodigy, as fourteen Major wins and 7 overall 11tles will attest to.

th Wes~ocxi owes much of his recent success in e r~gs to the decaying form of one of the

,~es greats; Tiger Woods. The American has ~ed to produce anything near his best game

since revelations about his private life surfaced

last year, though an impressive Ryder Cup showing ensures he is one of a chasing pack keen to depose Westwood sooner rather than later. This includes Woods' compatriot Phil Mickelson, who seemed destined to end Tiger's reign himself before slipping behind Westwood with some poor tournament golf. Martin Kaymer, the young German who won this year's PGA Championship after a three-hole playoff with Bubba Watson, will also have his eyes on top spot.

Woods should not be written off as a challenger to Westwood, but the quality of golf is so high now that any number of players could aspire to be no.1 in the coming years. As well as Kayrner, youngsters Rory Mcilroy and Dustin Johnson are ones to watch in the future. Mcilroy, the 21-year-old from Northern Ireland, led the Open after day one this year, surrendering his lead the following day amidst blustery winds and rain, and Johnson is trained by Butch Hannon, the renowned golf coach who oversaw Tiger Woods from 1993 to 2004.

Brits will fervently hope Westwood can hold on to top spot amidst this fierce competition, beginning with the HSBC World Golf Championship in Shanghai t~is week. Victory would be the perfect start to his reign as No.l, as the expectation for a major win will build up ahead of the Masters next April. lf Lee can hold on to top spot until then, he may be in with a real chance of ending his barren spell at the top level by doing what it is true number ones do: winning major golf championships.

Jamie Presland

As celebrity status can be gained overnight, the media have a responsibility to protect young stars. We complain that we suffer from a dearth of young English talent, yet the press continue to over-hype players and analyse their private lives.

The English media must change, for if its attitudes remain the same, we risk forcing the best footballing talent as well as premier sporting events overseas.

Jonathan Brewer

Derby day delight T

he greatest football match in the world is not the world cup final, it is not the FA cup final, and it is not even the

Johnson's Paint Trophy final. lt is in fact a derby. Any derby will do, Old Firm, Merseyside or the Grimsby-Lincoln derby, they're all great. Not necessarily for the quality of the football they produce, which is often poor to say the least, but for the emotions and tension they provide.

They remind me of a time before football became all about the money, when fans were allowed to stand throughout the game, when the teams hero came were local boys and when a pint at a game didn't involve you forking out your entire student loan.

Action in these games is often brutal with a lot of the interest coming from how many players will still be on the pitch at the end of the game. But the local pride that comes from the victory, the fact that the fans are able to brag in the workplace and down the pub until the next game that provides the game with such a strong tradition and place in the hearts of football fans.

Last Sunday football was treated to two derby games, bitter in how they are contested and huge in what they mean to large areas of the country. The Midlands derby between Aston Villa and Birmingham encompasses for many the football of the Midlands.

While this season's match was by no means a classic, a nil nil draw, the handbags and aggression shown amongst some of the players encapsulated the derby spirit. It

showed many fans that their players do actually care about the team they are playing for.

The derby and game of the weekend, perhaps .even decade, was the Tyne and Wear derby between Newcastle and Sunderland. This is the most important match in the North East and the passion in the players and fans showed why the derby fixtures are so great. Newcastle's complete demolition of their much weaker opponents also highlighted another reason why derbies are so great, when your club is dominant over its local rival.

This feeling of superiority protects you from almost anything that football can throw at you. Your team lose? But you won the derby. Your best player ·injured? Well you did win the derby. You got relegated? ... So maybe there are some things that a derby victory can't protect you against but on the whole the feeling is pretty special.

But one thing that is not cleJ.r is how much a derby victory can affect a team. It clearly is great for the supporters but what does it mean for the players. With Birmingham having put stop to the six loses in a row they had suffered to Villa and Newcastle reasserting their dominance after their year in the wilderness, the results this weekend and beyond while show how important those derby results were for these clubs this season.

James Green

,,

20 Friday, November 5 , 2010 Leed s Student

BUCS round-up Alongside the usual league fixtures, fourteen teams competed in BUCS Championship cup competitions this week, five progressing to the next round. The outstanding team of the day was the men's hockey 3rds, who beat Northumbria 11-0 in their cup fixture, Harrison Davies hitting a magnificent hat-trick and Luke Warren bagging a brace in the rout,

seeing the Gryphons safe ly through to the next round. Elsewhere, the Gryphons netball sides suffered mixed fortunes, the lsts and 3rds narrowly beaten whilst the seconds overpowered Teeside 79-14, whilst it was a miserable day for the Gryphons men's and women's football teams, all four sides losing. The rugby union 2nds sealed their cup progression with a

comfortable 14-6 victory over Birmingham, and the tennis 3rds are also through, cruising Yock St John 12-0. In the league, wins were harder to come by, with the badminton women amongst only four victories all day, defeating UCLAN 6-2. Gryphons men's basketball 1sts were amongst the unluckiest losers of the day, eventually going down 62-57.

Uni enjoy home support Cross Country Leeds Men's 5th overall Leeds Women's DNF

"'1t·x~ c xture : ,i .rn,t- rk, I ed. (,)

The West-Yorkshire Cross Country League is an annual series of four races, in separate locations across West Yorkshire throughout October, November and December. Due to a clash of fixtures Leeds University was unable to send a team to the first race, at Nunroyd Park, Leeds on 10th October, and so the second race at Fartown, Huddersfield was the first one attended by the Uni.

The fresh, bright weather made for pleasant, if a little warm, race conditions. The atmosphere was increased by the supportive spectators, including some previous LUUCCC members, who now run for

other local clubs. 'The support really helped,' Secretary Adam Brown said after the races, 'A great day out!'

The women's race was a 5.6km course, won by Holmfirth Harriers' Katie Walshaw in a time of 21 minutes and 3 seconds. Leeds University's first finisher, women's Captain Jocelyn Payne finished in 12th position in 23.11, with Sophie Cowie's 24.47 placing her 28th. Special mention must go to Jessica White, in her debut race for Leeds University, who placed 67th in a commendable time of 27.40. Unfortunately due to injwy to Linda Evans Leeds were one member short of a full team and were not given a finishing place as a result.

Longwood Athletic Club's Andrew Pearson won the men's 9.9km race, although the top positions were dominated by Leeds City Athletics Club Leeds University's top four male scorers of

Men's Captain Alex Bellew, Freddie Slemeck, Thomas Powell and Glenn Phair in the top 60 places. This placed the Uni 5th in the team competition.

Highlights of the race included an exhilarating cat-and-mouse chase between Men's Captain Alex Bellew and fellow Leeds University student Adam Grice, who was running for Leeds City AC. The pair raced close together, one overtaking the other throughout, but despite a sterling effort from Bellew, it was Grice who triumphed, finishing 14th. 'I knew he had me by the fourth lap,' said Alex, 'it was just a case of trying not to let him get on top of me.'

There was a similar race for Women's Captain Jocelyn Payne, who was part of a three-way push to the finish. Although she managed to beat Keighley and Craven AC's Elisa Wolfenden, she was pipped to 11th position by Holmfirth's Claire Leaver by less than a second.

Gryphonssuffercuploss Gryphons

Men's Football Leeds Gryphons 3rds 1 2 Northumbria 4ths

Next fixture: LC'cds Met 2nds (h)

The men's 3rds crashed out of the cup on Wednesday after suffering an agonising 2-1 defeat at the hands of Northumbria. In a gut-wrenching performance both teams refused to let the weather put a dampener on their first knockout game of the season as they treated spectators to a dazzling display of solo goals, cut throat challenges and nail biting moments.

Opening at a furious pace the game had it's first goal as early as the second minute when the

Northumbrian number 9 found enough space in the Leeds box to force the ball beyond keeper Josh Knight. Going behind so early on in the match seemed to knock the Leeds team sideways and they struggled throughout the first half to regain any sense of momentum in their play.

Resorting to tactics of hit and hope, the game was mostly focused around the strength and agility of strikers Mike Manches and Chris Jackson. Manches stood out with an impressive first touch and skill in holding the ball up around the final third. Nevertheless, a severe lack of midfield support in and around the box meant Leeds were often outnumbered and therefore rarely able to gain a dear sight on goal.

Northumbria, on the other hand, seemed buoyed by their early breakthrough and capitalised on the pace of their wingers to cause Leeds problems on the break.

Despite the Leeds coach's half time assertion that his team were "still In it," there was little improvement in the team's opening passage of plq.y and ten minutes into the second half some sloppy passing in the Uni midfield handed Northumbria a second goal.

Breaking through on the right, a

high cross from the Northumbrian winger was converted by the forwar~ diving header. Disaster for Leeds and 1t did not seem like things could get much worse for the team. They could.

Moments later Manches was tugged down in the penalty area under pressure from a Northumbrian defender and the ref rightfully pointed to the spot. Up stepped the Uni number 8 and the ball sailed over the bar. Not quite the turning point spectators had been waiting for, however, the incident definitely spurred the 3rds on.

Only moments later Manches was able to take the game into his own hands again when he dribbled past three defenders and slotted the ball into the bottom right hand comer of the net. Although Leeds were unable to convert any of their subsequent chances, they put immense pressure on the Northwnbrian back line right until the final whistle.

1his positive end to the game was reflected in the Leeds coach's assessment of the defeat at the end of the match, arguing "lt's the performance that matters . They're from a higher division than us and we matched them. The players won't be too disheartened by the defeat"

Wednesday 3rd November

Badminton

Leeds University Men's lsts 2 6 Liverpool Uni lsts Leeds University Women's 6 2 UCLAN lsts

Basketball

Leeds University Men's lsts 57 62 Bradford Uni 1sts Leeds University Men's 2nds 75 112 Teeside Uni lsts

Fencing

Leeds University Men's lsts 86 131 York Uni lsts

Football

Leeds Gryphons Men's lsts O 3 Birmingham Uni lsts Leeds Gryphons Men's 2nds 1 3 Durham Uni lsts Leeds Gryphons Men's 3rds 1 2 Northumberland Uni 4ths Leeds University Women's 2nds O 1 Newcastle Uni lsts

Hockey

Leeds Gryphons Men's lsts 4 0 Durham Uni 2nds Leeds Gryphons Men's 2nds 5 - 0 Leeds Trinity lsts Leeds Gryphons Men's 3rds 11 0 Northumbria Uni 3rds Leeds Gryphons Men's 4ths 1- 7 Bradford Uni lsts Leeds Gryphons Men's Sths O 1 Leeds Met Carnegie 2nds Leeds University Women's lsts 3 0 Durham Uni 2nds

Lacrosse

Leeds University Women's lsts 7 14 Durham Uni 2nds

Netball

Leeds Gryphons Women's lsts 40 - 45 Northumbria Uni lsts Leeds Gryphons Women's 2nds 79 -14 Teeside Uni 2nds Leeds Gryphons Women's 3rds 35 - 38 Sheffield Hallam 3rds

Rugby League

Leeds Gryphons Men's lsts 16 24 Liverpool John Moores lsts

Rugby Union

Leeds Gryphons Men's lsts 11- 38 UWIC lsts Leeds Gryphons Men's 2nds 14 6 Birmingham Uni 2nds Leeds Gryphons Men's 3rds 15 19 Leeds Met 4ths Leeds Gryphons Men's 4ths 24 -17 Northumbria Uni 4ths Leeds University Women's lsts 57 - 0 Liverpool Uni lsts

Squash

Leeds Gryphons Men's lsts 0-5 Newcastle Uni lsts

Tennis

Leeds University Men's lsts 4 - 8 Sheffield Hallam lsts Leeds University Men's 2nds 4 - 8 Hull Uni lsts Leeds Gryphons Women's lsts 6 - 6 Leeds Met Carnegie 2nds Leeds Gryphons Women's 2nds 4 - 8 Durham Uni 2nds Leeds Gryphons Women's 3rds 12 - 0 York St John lsts

Volleyball

Leeds University Men's lsts 3 -0 Leeds Met 2nds Leeds University Women's lsts 2 - 3 Lancaster Uni lsts

Friday, November 5 , 2010 Leeds Student 21

the Following the recent Ballon D'Or shortlist, in which no English players, and only three players registered to English clubs were nominated, LS Sport asks:

Jamie Pn!Sland

The Ballon D'Or nominations last week confirmed what all except the most blinkered patriots have long feared -

the inevitable demise of the Premier League. The contested and somewhat self-awarded title of "best league in the world", whilst backed up by UEFA's European league coefficient, can no longer reside on British shores amidst the overwhelming talent amassed by the rest of Europe, not least Spain's La Liga.

Whilst England's lack of representatives in the prestigious shortlist may be due to a muted World Cup display rather than domestic performance, the facts speak for themselves : four players from Italy's Serie A, five from the German Bundesliga and a staggering 11 La Liga representatives make up the 23-man list, along with Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal, Chelsea's Didier Drogba and surprise choice Asamoah Gyan, who now turns out for Sunderland, but spent last season at Rennes in France.

Admittedly, the shortlist concentrates mainly on last season's Champion's League and the World Cup, which may explain the baffling inclusion of Bayern Munich's 6-goal forward Miroslav Klose, and to a lesser extent Gyan. Wayne Rooney's omission following his 34-goal season for Manchester United is a surprise and in my opinion an error, but the line-up illustrates the growing influence of overseas leagues. La Liga boasts the talents of the last three Ballon D'Or winners, Cristiano Ronalda, Lionel Messi and Kaka, who between them have amassed 116 goals since the start of the 09/10 season.

Historically, England and English players have had great success in the Ballon D'Or. Englishmen have captured the award on no fewer than five occasions, with four seperate winners (Kevin Keegan twice victorious in the prestigious award whilst at Hamburg), a record bettered only by Germnay, the Netherlands and France. English-based players have claimed the crown six times, including Ronalda in 2009.

In many ways, the Premiership has

contributed to its own downfall. Of the current shortlist, six players have Premiership histories, including 2009 winner Ronalda, Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben and Uruguay forward Diego Forlan. Our division has certainly been the best in recent years, but the title must now be relinquished in recognition of Spain's talent, even more so now that the charismatic Jose Mourinho has made the switch from Milan to Madrid.

Whilst we still head the UEFA coefficient, it a surely just a matter of time before we slip down behind Spain, Italy and even Germany, whose youth products were devastatingly effective in South Africa this summer.

It is not all doom and gloom however, the money of Man City and newfound competitiveness of the league reason for optimism.

Players like the Ivorian frontman Drogba, Rooney and prospects such as Jack Wilshere and Josh McEachran could lead England's top flight back to the top of the rankings in future years, whilst Gareth B a I e ' s glittering form in recent weeks has drawn

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UEFA, European football's governing body, officially recognises the English Premier League as the greatest in its continent. Lately however, people have been questioning the League's status as 'Kings of Europe' thanks to a 'poor' performance in last year's Champions League and only three nominations for the coveted Ballon D'Or.

Looking firstly at the 2009/10 Champions League campaign, it is fair to say that, by their high standards, the English clubs underachieved. In 2009, England had three out of the four semi-finalists - despite the trophy heading back to Catalonia with an unstoppable Barcelona learn. Uaving said that, a year later England still had the most representatives at quarter-final level and all the subsequent semi finalists were from

different, supposedly 'stronger', leagues.

That is for me what separates our

championship from that of our continental

neighbours, the consistent quality of the 'big' teams.

• Many feel as if La Liga, the Spanish league, is the best league in Europe as it boasts flair,

the best players and the

best teams - but for years now it has

been dominated by Barcelona. Real Madrid

may have lured away Cristiano Ronalda away

from England but this does not point towards weaknesses in the League as a

whole: Ronalda had achieved everything possible at Manchester United; he didn't like the English climate and was lured away by the promise of obscene sums of money and demi God-like status.

So what of Madrid's prestige and glittered history? This might be deemed blasphemous but I see it as overrated. They had a great team in the late 1950s/early 1960s. This is no different to Liverpool two decades later when arguably they had even greater competition

So on to the Ballon D'Or shortlist of 2010. Admittedly La Liga is very well represented with 11 nominees. This however is largely due to the performance of the players at the World Cup, which explains Wayne Rooney's omission and Asamoah Cyan's inclusion.

With regard to the German Bundesliga, they have five ambassadors but the fact that they all play for Bayern Munich highlights its one-dimensional tendencies. A similar situation occurs in Italy with all the Serie A representatives playing their football for fnter Milan. Therefore, despite the Premiership's biggest stars failing to light up South Africa (which means nothing just look at Lionel Messi), this has no overall reflection on the league as a whole.

In England we have the best stadiums across the board and our average attendances are only surpassed by those of the Bundesliga, many of which still have terraced stands. The football played is also second to none - the athleticism of Chelsea, the fluidity of Arsenal, the speed of Manchester United, the power of Manchester City and even the good old­fashioned grit of Blackburn.

The players in the league are also, on balance, the best in Europe. Cesc Fabregas decided to stay at Arsenal this year because of the Premiership's excitement and with Sheikh Mansour's riches, Man City are looking to become the new Real Madrid. As regards the Ballon D'Or, I challenge anyone to name me a better left-back in Europe than Ashley Cole.

The fact that he isn't included just undermines the whole award. And as regards recent European performances- England still came joint first, along with Germany, in last season's UEFA coefficients league and where our giants failed to shine, at least there was Fulham.

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22 Friday , November 5, 2010 Leeds Student

Sheepish performance ends in defeat Gryphons

Men's Rugby Un ion Leeds Gryphons Men's lsts 11-38 UWIC lsts

Next tixtur~: Notttingham 1 'l (h )

On a damp and dreary afternoon, a weakened Leeds Gryphons could n o t halt an impr ess iv e We lsh In s titute s ide who ra n ove r s ix tri es to record a we ll earned vi ctory in th e BUCS Championship Cup.

The visitors ' first points came just six minut es in a s a well worked line-out was turned into a maul and forced over the line by the strong Welsh pack. The visitors continued to pile pressure

on th e Gryphons, forcing numerous errors from the home side.

The Cardiff based team scored their next try through consistent penalty offences by Leed s , resulting in the referee awarding a penalty try underneath the centre of th e posts. This was duly converted giving the away team a 14 point gap.

Rallying, the Gryphons pushed their way back into the match providing consistent possession and pressure. On the 25th minute a missed tackle from the Welsh backs and a good run from Leeds wing, resulting in Milsom going over in the corner. A difficult kick five metres from the sideline was narrowly wide from the Gryphons fly - half, Smith, This left the

AlITUMN:The Gryphons look to stop another Welsh attack

Gryphons trailing 5 - 14 as the referee blew for half time.

A resurgent home side came out for the second half battling and two quick successive penalties, converted by Smith four minutes into the second half, meant the visitors lead was narrowed to just three points. Institute responded well, however, and a stolen line-out was

photo: Mark Mckay

subsequently converted into five points through a strong, driving maul.

Four minutes later and an excellent run from the Welsh backs meant that Institute further extended their lead with a try in the corner. A fantastic conversion from the sideline all but finished the Gryphons off.

The visitors' fifth came on the 60th minute as a kick to the corner was caught and converted, and the last came with ten minutes left as resilient defending from the Gryphons was finally broken down with a clever pick and go, from the Welsh team's forwards, finding a gap.

After the game Nike Hyde, Gryphons' head coach commented, "obviously we are disappointed" but also looked at the positives, saying, "12 of the 22 in the squad are first or second years and UWIC are playing in a high level Welsh league"

Whilst the defeat ends Leeds' cup ambitions, the resilience of the defence and a strong 20 minutes either side of half-time bodes well for the Gryphons' next fixture against Nottingham.

Gryphons brush aside Teeside Gryphons

Women's Netball Leeds Gryphons Women's 2nds 79-14 Teeside University 2nds

Nexl fixt u re : Durham 2 n ds (h )

At the impressive Gryphon Centre hangs a banner which reads 'Dream, Compete, Achieve', and this is exactly what Leeds' 2nd

Netball squad would accomplish against Teesside 2nds on Wednesday afternoon.

They dreamt of a place in the next round of the cup, they more than competed with their visitors from the North East as they achieved their goal with a dominant display that saw them run out 78-14 winners.

From the outset, the Gryphons made their intentions clear as they raced into a 5-0 lead courtesy of their goal shooter, who subsequently gave a masterclass in shooting throughout the course of the afternoon.

With the whole squad sporting huge grins, it was clear that they were enjoying their netball and this shone through in their performance. Quick, hard passing

combined with sharp movement and clever pivots meant that Leeds created several scoring opportunities. These opportunities were invariably converted by the deadly attack as the home side ended the first quarter with a 19-5 advantage.

In the second quarter, the stark contrast between the two sides came to a head in all areas of the field. Fresh legs in defence combined with belligerent marking meant

Teesside were restricted to three scores. In the middle, the Leeds centre was utterly dominant showcasing an array of passing abilities in comparison to the long, looping, risky passes of her opposite number. The Gryphons' goal shooter continued to impress scoring freely to leave the score at

37-8 at the half-way stage.

Every attack seemed to result in a goal. It was clear there was only going to be one victor

Teesside University claim to be all about inspiration and at this point they needed it by the bucketload. However, Leeds were in no mood to let up and maintained high levels of discipline at the back whilst continuing to attack with

bl istering pace. Every attack seemed to result in a goal and despite the odd score from the visitors, it was clear there was only going to be one victor.

The formality of the final quarter ran a very similar course to the previous one. Leeds oozed class in all areas of the field and were headed by their brilliant goal shooter who was to rack up 69 of her team's 78 points. In all fairness to Teesside they continued to push on those rare occasions that they had the ball, but it was plain to see that in comparison to their opposition they simply weren't good enough. When the final whistle blew, Leeds' sheer ruthlessness meant they had triumphed by the huge margin of 78-14 and they march on to the next round of the competition.

Friday, November 5, 2010 Leeds Student 23

Comeback not enough for Leeds Gryphons

Men's Rugby League Leeds Gryphons Men's lsts 16-24 Liverpool JM lsts

Next tixture: Sheffield Hallam lsts (a)

It was understandable that Gryphons ' coach Neil Harman cut a frustrated figure as this fierce BUCS encounter came reached its conclusion. .

His team had dominated much of the second half, recovering from 18-4 down to trail by just two points, before a late lapse in concentration allowed Liverpool John Moore's to seal victory at Weetwood.

The visitors began the brighter, twice being denied just feet from the line in the opening 15 minutes, although Leeds had reason to feel aggrieved when they- eventually broke the deadlock.

A penalty was awarded deep into Leeds territory for a knock­on, despite the ball appearing to hit a Leeds shin rather than a hand, and from the resulting play LJM went over in the corner. Within five minutes Leeds trailed by two converted tries and it should have been three after half an hour, only for a forward pass to deny the visitors when a try seemed certain.

Two substitutes, Rob Johnson and namesake Richard, gave Leeds greater impetus and the deficit was reduced before the break. After a brilliant catch and run from Richard Johnson, Leeds earned a penalty deep into LJM territory for holding down, and from the play, Johnny Sloanne went over.

Leeds' task was made harder just after half-time, after a sloppy pass allowed the visitors to break away and add another converted try to their tally.

Leeds fought back swiftly, that man Sloanne again the scorer after just wrestling his way over· the line under heavy pressure, with Andy Calcutt applying the conversion.

Things boiled over soon after, a melee seeing Leeds' Matt Hammond and an LJM player sin binned, but in the hooker's absence, Leeds scored the best try

of the game . A clever kick from scrum-half Adam Fairhead found Calcutt behind the line, and the scorer then converted himself to reduce the deficit to just two.

Yet, after hauling themselves back into contention, two more mistakes condemned the Gryphons to defeat. First the visitors swiftly restored their eight point advantage after Leeds needlessly surrendered possession, and then the hosts failed to take advantage of a clear run to the line, dropping the ball under Ji ttle pressure.

How Leeds, who were rarely subjected to sustained pressure from their opponents, conceded four tries was mystifying, the point not lost on Harman. "We made too many mistakes today. We've gifted them the game rather than them winning it."

"You only have to look at set completion, 60% compared to last week's 80%. Won last week, lost this week. It proves it's the little things that cost you."

Harman was pleased with the contribution of his substitutes and that returning scrum-half Fairhead made it through unscathed. Positive emotions were in short supply though, after a terrific comeback eventually yielded nothing.

Champions still looking for first win Gryphons

Men's Football Leeds Gryphons lsts O - 3 Birmingham University lsts

Next fixture: Loughborough lsts (a)

In a t esting tie on a rainy afterno on at Weetwood, the men' s lsts fell to a 3-0 defeat a?ainst a cl i n ical Birmingham side. Two well taken first half g_oals saw the vis itors go in at half time with a two-goal lead before a slotted third in the final fifteen minutes co n demned the Gryphons to an undeserved third straight defeat. . The men's lsts were looking to

kick-start their league campaign, having taken no poin ts from their fir_st two games. They s t a r ted brightly with le f t-winger Mark

Claremont looking particularly dangerous, making several direct runs at the opposition left-back and working hard to win the ball back. Attacking wing play resulted in a corner, which was swung in deep from the right hand side, only to evade the two unmarked Leeds attackers arriving at the back post.

Birmingham grew into the game and the contest became a tight affair. Craig Wood, Tom Kelly and Will Turl soon took control of the midfield with

Birmingham's effectiveness in

front of goal became evident

before the interval

intricate passes and combative tackling. An accurate final ball was the only aspect missing from what was an assured first half display

C) Nyong

e) Boyle

Kawaguchi

(:) Turi

C) Doyle

w Wood(C)

Hirst

Keating

C) Kelly

~ Claremont

~ Vernon

from the midfield trio. Twenty minutes in to the

game, Leeds' confident start took a huge knock as Birmingham took the lead against the run of play. A cross from the wing was met with a powerful volley that went past the outstretched goalkeeper and in to the top corner from 25 yards out.

The goal only served to spur the home side on. Two snap shots from outside the box were gathered by the goalkeeper and lone striker Andy Vernon headed wide from an inviting Jamie Doyle cross.

Leeds' task was made more difficult as ·Birmingham's effectiveness in front of goal became evident five minutes before the interval. A free kick was pumped diagonally into the box towards the on-running attacker who rifled home to double the away side's lead with only their third chance.

After the break the contest continued in the same fashion with Leeds dominating possession in the midfield but with little reward up front. Craig Wood was impressive in the holding role of midfield. The Leeds captain consistently, won challenges, was

calm in possession and switched the play with much aplomb.

Craig Wood was impressive in the

holding role of midfield

His display could not inspire a comeback and his side's hopes of claiming their first league point were dashed 15 minutes from time. Birmingham, who had threatened on the break throughout the game, launched a swift attack. The ball was played through to their substitute striker who beat the offside trap and finished coolly to put the game beyond the home side.

Player of the Match CraigWood

Craig Wood-A fine display of ball­winning, simple passing and

switching of play despite picking up a yellow card.

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Disastrous day for Uni rugby

photo: Mark McKay ATTACK; Another attack against a bedragled Leeds defence

With the men's lsts in both codes losing and with the men's 3rds crashing out of the cup Wednesday was a day to forget for University of Leeds rugby. As the University of Leeds is aiming to move up the ranks of the BUCS standings, the much coveted BUCS points that come from reaching the quarter finals of the cup competitions are

much needed and the men's lsts and 3rds in rugby union have not helped this cause at aU. With the rugby league lsts only having won one game all season and the men's rugby union lsts having the same win percentage, the next few games will be crucial for the rugby teams seasons. A couple of wins and a shot at success is still possible. Another string

of loses and a relegation battle that no one wants to see could be what the rest of the season has in store. But the 3rds are undefeated in the league and with a game at home to Bradford next, your support at Weetwood next Wednesday could see the 100% record extended. Look inside for the full reports on these games.

Coal becomes diamonds in cup Gryphons

Men's Hockey Leeds Gryphons 3rds 11 - 0 Northmbria Uni 3rds

Next fixture : York St John lsts (a)

Leeds Gryphons men's hockey 3rds cruised into Round 2 of the BUCS Northern Conference Cup, as a rainy afternoon at the

Weetwood astro paid host to a rout for the home side.

The 3rds received a relatively kind draw at home against Northumbria and coming off the back of a 3-2 win against Sheffield confidence was high in the Gryphons camp.

With fluid play from the off Leeds almost immediately found themselves a goal up. A superb back stick shot from Luke Warren found the bottom corner and a flamboyant celebration showed the player's delight.

Th e s core was s oon 2-0 as Edward Sykes flicked in a well ­re hearsed short corner. A third soon followed as Harrison Davies scored his first goal of the season, sending the bench wild.

Leeds ran riot over their weak Tyneside opponents and it soon

became a question of how many Johny Tetsle banged in another short corner, while Harrison added his second to make it 5-0.

Northumbria caused few problems to the Gryphons defence and a commanding performance from captain Sam Carne kept their strikers at bay.

However, Carne will surely regret not scoring a penalty flick, hitting it straight down the middle for the keeper to save.

Tetsle soon made amends for his captain's error, though, as his c ross was deflected in by a Northumbria defender to make it 6·- o to Leeds as they went in at the break.

More goals followed as Leeds were keen to add to their lead as well as keeping an elusive clean sheet.

A fine display of stick control by Robbie McDonald was awarded with a goal and a defensive error presented a one­on-one for Angus Stewart whose classy finish put Leeds 8 -0 up early on.

Northumbria really struggled to get into the game and even their bolshie No. 8 could not break down the Gryphons line.

A long range effort gave Warren his second and Carne duly followed with a tap - in, making up for his first-half miss.

But the eager Davies was still out for his hat trick. Stewart did the hard work and presented his fellow striker with a beautiful chance. He duly delivered, giving the triumphant Gryphons an 11-0 victory.

This was no doubt a powerful

Leeds display and the boys rightly earned their place in the next round.

As the players left the pitch Carne mused, "Under great pressure coal becomes diamonds. And today the 3rd XI became diamonds." All at Leeds wish them good luck in the rest of the Cup.

Player of the Match Harrison Davies

Scored a brilliant hattrick as he terrorised the Northumbria defence

allgame.