Monday May 21 2012 | freeword – Est. 1972 | Issue 980

gair rhydd

Questions have been raised about student awareness of elected Sabbatical officers after only a third of students recognised them, ac-cording to a survey conducted by gair rhydd last week.

Only 32.5% recognised their faces when they were shown a photograph of them, and only 19.5% knew that they were sabbatical of-ficers of Cardiff Students’ Union (CSU). Out of those who knew that they were sabbatical officers, only 12.5% could tell us their names.

gair rhydd surveyed 200 students in and around Cardiff University campus, asking them if they recognised the faces and if they knew who they were or what they did.

Most shocking was that only 12% recog-nized the CSU President, whose job descrip-tion reads ‘the public face of the union’. Mar-

cus told us “I do not think it is particularly important whether officers are well recogn-ised by students. What is crucial is that stu-dents know what the Union can do for them and where to go for help!... Being the public face refers more towards external stakehold-ers.”

Athletics Union President, Ollie Devon, was known by the most students, as 44% rec-ognized him as a sabbatical officer, and 36% knew his name.

Head of Student Media, Oliver Smith, was one of the least well known as he was recog-nised by just 12% of students and only 4% knew his name. However, he was mistaken for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg by a number of students.

Welfare and Communications Officer, Chris Davies, who was recognized as a sab-batical officer by 40% of students, was re-membered for his ‘care bear’ campaign and

students had witnessed him in action. Fourth year City and Regional Planning student, Cheryl Morley said: “Chris Davies came to our house to warn us about our bins because there were too many and we could have been fined.”

Chris Davies said: “I am pleased to see that almost half of all people asked recognised me; however that still means there is room for improvement. I do a lot of behind the scene stuff so I’m actually quite surprised that I score higher than other more prominent Of-ficers.

“To be honest, I have such a wicked job, looking after our 29,000 students is more im-portant to me than recognition.”

Some thought that as sabbatical officers are elected by students to work for CSU and get paid an annual wage of £19,000, they should at least be recognised by the student population, but they also realised that expo-

sure isn’t everything. Second year business student Joshua Herbert said: “As long as they’re doing their job properly I don’t think it should matter if people recognize them or not. But I do think the president should be more visible.

“I also think that a lot of people don’t know what the roles stand for unless they’ve read the manifestos and, let’s face it, most of them haven’t.”

Societies officer, Harry Newman, who has been elected as next year’s President said: “Personally I’m quite flattered by my result, especially in the context of the scores of my teammates. My remit does lend itself well to becoming fairly well known, being that the Societies Officer is a particularly ‘student facing’ role.”

It’s a sabb sabb situation

Sheri HallNews Editor

Check out part two in next week’s gair rhydd to see how well sabbs stuck to their manifestos

Continued on page 4...

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Ten weeks ago, the entirety of Car-diff University’s student body was pushed, poked and prodded for the best part of a week into voting for next year’s Students’ Union elected officers. With most of the oxygen in Park Place being used for the pur-pose of extolling the virtues of the likes of ‘Captain Chris’ and ‘Gan-dhi’, students could barely breathe

for being informed about the impor-tance of making the right choice for next year’s Executive Committee.

A year and ten weeks ago, the same process had happened with this year’s officers. However, after nearly a year in office, the win-ners were recognised by only 19.5% of students. Why do students not know who their officers are? Does it matter?

While the survey was being con-ducted, some students raised ques-tions about the importance of the elected officers’ faces being known to the student population. The ar-gument was that as long as work is

being done successfully behind the scenes, it is irrelevant whether stu-dents can recognise the people who are doing it. While this reasoning is valid to some extent, it does not apply to all of the elected officers.

Roles such as that of ‘Finance and Commercial’ or ‘Academic and University Affairs’ do not require as much liaison with the average student, so it is perhaps understand-able that relatively few students recognise the officers. However, the same cannot be said for Union Pres-ident. As stated in the article above, the role’s remit is to be ‘the public face of the Union’. If only 12% of

the students being represented rec-ognise this ‘public face’, something is not right.

This is not a personal attack on the current elected officers; rather it is a questioning of a system that rears its head every March in elec-tion week then seems to disappear from view for the rest of the year. If the Students’ Union is going to pay eight elected officers an annual salary of just over £19,000 to look af-ter students’ interests, surely they should be more prominent among their electorate.

The question seems to be wheth-er the results reflect more the dis-

engagement of the elected officers or the apathy of students towards them. Next year’s President and this year’s Societies Officer, Harry New-man, has stated that his team will “not stop trying to engage and be known” until they “hit 100%”. With a decreased turnout in the 2012 stu-dent elections, breathing some new life into the relationship between student and officer will surely be one of the biggest challenges that he and his team will face next year.

04News Monday May 21 2012 s��gairrhydd�s�NEWS GAIRRHYDD�COM

Kit Scouller, third year philoso-phy and politics student, thought that the entire process of electing sabbatical officers was flawed. He said: “Voting in Union elections is not based on merit. It’s usually based on nepotism. People will vote for whoever they’re asked to, a friend of a friend etc.

“Seeing as the local council elec-tion turnout was so low, these elec-tions don’t seem very important.”

In response to the findings, the Sabbatical team said: “Officer rec-ognition is something which we have been working hard on this year.

“We have figures to prove that the Union engages with over 14,500 individual students annually which is well over half of the student body. For this reason, we would hope that at the very least, all of those stu-dents would recognise the Officer team.

“The figures from this survey suggest that there is still room for improvement and we won’t stop try-ing to engage and be known until we hit 100%.”

Next week, gair rhydd looks at what the sabbatical team have done this year and consider whether or not they have achieved what they laid out in their manifestos.

$O�YOU�RECOGNISE�THESE�PEOPLE�...Continued from page 4

The winner of Cardiff University’s Thrive competition has been an-nounced, although the contest has come under criticism from NUS.

Thrive, which offers the opportu-nity for one potential student to win free tuition for life, was won by 18 year old Chris Nation, from Somer-set. He will study Law at the Univer-sity starting in September.

Over 500 young people from around the UK and the EU applied for the scholarship, taking part in a variety of challenges over a five-month period to test their suitabil-ity. Students were required to take

part in academic tests as well as being asked to produce an online video to show their creativity.

This number was eventually whittled down to six finalists, who were invited to an assessment day at the university, where they were asked to give a presentation about their chosen subject. Chris Nation impressed the judges with his pre-sentation on why he has decided to study law.

The scheme has come under criticism because of its perceived marketisation of university selec-tion processes, especially in con-sideration of the introduction of the £9,000 fees this September. The prize of free tuition extends to any

additional courses that the winner decides to take in the future, so that there is potential for the student to take a PhD free of charge.

Luke Young, President of NUS Wales, said: "While I wish Chris and the other participants well, it is a sad state of affairs when univer-sities feel pushed to use access into higher education as a PR tool.

“Cardiff University has a strong reputation throughout the UK and far beyond. Its real challenge is to give opportunities to those with the talent, who have not had good educational chances in life. This is something that Cardiff Students' Union has worked closely with NUS on this year.

Thrive comes to conclusionMatt JonesNews Editor

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of students recognised Marcus Coates-Walker

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Science18 - 19

Societies21

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Last weekend saw over 100 students recognised for their work with Car-diff Student Media over the past year. Dozens of judges from radio, TV and newspaper publications at-tended the event at The Hilton to see the awards presented to students.

Hosted by Radio One's Adam Cat-terall, 29 awards were given out in-cluding 'Best Interview' which went to Luke Slade and Sophie Gidley for their interview with Ed Miliband earlier in the year.

The Xpress award for 'Best In-terview', judged by Chris Sawyer, Producer BBC Radio One, went to Tom Gherkin and his team behind his show 'The Sheriff and Friends' and their interview with the cast of Avenue Q.

CUTV's award for 'Best Pro-gramme', judged by Huw Thomas from BBC Wales, went to 'Pigeon-hole: The Sketchshow'.

Quench's 'Best Section' chosen by Rod Stanley Editor of Dazed & Con-fused, was awarded to Fraser Isaac, Matt Ayres and Morten Wright for their work on Quench Film.

gair rhydd's award for 'Best Sec-tion', judged by Meirion Jones Pro-ducer BBC Newsnight and the first

full-time Editor of gair rhydd, was awarded to Jenny Lambourne and Natalie Healey for their work on gair rhydd Science, Meirion added that Natalie and Jenny "have set a seriously good science agenda in their section – and executed it excellently. Outstanding." Jenny told gair rhydd upon receiving the award that, "It was a fantastic night and a brilliant way to end a great year for the paper and student me-dia in Cardiff. It is a great way to receive recognition for all the hard work that we've put in this year, and all the work that our contributors have done to help us produce the best section this year. As we see our-self as more of a niche section, it's fantastic to get this kind of recogni-tion from such a high profile judge from the media industry."

Chris Davies, Welfare and Com-munications Officer, who attended the night, told us "The Cardiff Stu-dent Media Awards are a very spe-cial event. It recognises those who throughout the year recognise the work of others. All credit must be given to those who put this excellent night together. It was the perfect way to conclude the array of Car-diff Students' Union Awards, and I was honoured to be part of it."

Cardiff Student Media Awards 2012Oliver SmithEditor

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Last week the Cardiff Students’ Union Sabbatical Officer team spent their evenings providing re-freshments for students studying late at night.

During May, many students util-ise Cardiff ’s late night library open-ing times to prepare themselves for exams.

Revision Aid, the service pro-vided by the team, visited libraries around Cardiff University campus such as the Cochrane building and the Julian Hodge building, handing out tea and coffee during late night studying sessions.

Over the course of the week, around 150 cups of tea were given out each night.

Chris Davies, Communications and Welfare Officer at Cardiff Stu-

dents’ Union told gair rhydd: "Revi-sion Aid is such a simple campaign, that’s because when you think about what’s important to students at this time, that too is simple.

Energy, a friendly face and reas-suring words go a long way. We are so pleased that this has been well received and we hope that all stu-dents know that the Student Union and the Officers are there to sup-port them."

Jo Southerd, 2nd year English Literature student commented: “It's such a great idea. I've had far too many late nights at Julian Hodge over the last few weeks, struggling to get my essays finished.

"Could definitely have done with a cup of tea and a smile from a Sabb to keep me going!”

Laura EvansNews Editor

Revision Aid is coming to the rescue

Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�OPINION GAIRRHYDD�COMOpinionA 2:1 and it's still back home to MumBreast

is best

You've just graduated with a solid 2:1, all that hard work has finally paid off, you're ready to take life by the horns and steer it in whatever direction you want, you're your own woman or man and you've got that plush graduate job in London. Well, that's the ideal but it will never be a reality for the vast majority of graduates.

A great number of graduates who have lived away at Univer-sity are having to move back in with their parents, as the financial strain of living away from home is too great to be fea-sible. The media have dubbed this the 'boomerang generation' and I'm afraid to say we're well and truly the epitome of this generation of graduates.

By contrast, if you were to read the Graduate Report of 2011 by the research company High Fliers, everything seems peachy; the number of gradu-ate jobs available in the UK is up to over 17,000, an almost 20%

increase from 2009. Salaries for graduates are on average £25,000 - £29,000 and some, more exclusive employers were pay-ing over £30,000 pounds a year to graduates.

17,000 places may seem a large number of jobs but when you consider almost 320,000 people graduated from Higher Education last summer it's in-significant. In case you're not studying maths that leaves al-most 19 graduates battling for one job and when you take into account course of study, degree classification and nepotism, your chances are dwindling fast.

With these factors in mind, I decided to talk to two recent-ly graduated friends of mine. Ffion graduated with a 2:1 in Welsh from Bangor and has earned an internship with BBC Wales and Duncan graduated with a 2:2 in Computer Science from Stirling and is currently unemployed. I knew both of these people through A Levels and would personally deem them to be of equal intelligence and capability.

Ffion is a paragon of happi-ness and sociability, she can talk to anyone and about any-thing and is fervent once she has her mind set on a goal. Dun-can, on the other hand is quiet and reserved and his time at University has made him semi-dependent on cannabis. Within minutes of talking to them it be-comes apparent why one is em-ployed and the other isn't.

Ffion is living away from home, with a flatmate in Car-diff and Duncan has had to

move back with his parents. When I ask them how I feel about their living situations, Duncan seems content, he isn't a big fan of change. In juxtapo-sition, Ffion can imagine noth-ing worse than having to move back home.

When asked about their ex-periences at uni, Ffion can pro-duce a litany of extracurricu-lar activities, sports and work placements. She was in-volved in societies, shows and SU pol-itics, she tells me that "A lot of the time, I just agreed to go along to things out of so-cial awk-wardness but ended up staying because I loved it" she's the sort of per-son who will find the best in any situ-ation. Duncan, howev-er, responds with "I just played a lot of Xbox and smoked a lot of weed" in a dour monotone.

I asked Duncan why he feels he didn't get a graduate job or a placement after finishing uni and he's quick to address the same issues I pointed out at the start of this article, he claimed there was nothing out there. He expressed an interest in work-ing within the Video Games industry but it seems develop-ers and producers weren’t in-terested in anything less than a 2:1, which he claims he wasn't

capable of achieving.I asked Ffion if she thinks

she 'lucked out' with her intern-ship and she looks borderline offended. "No, I always knew what I wanted and I went for it" she went on to relate every-thing she'd done while at Uni to her internship.

These two people are not representative of the entire graduate population but there

are glimmers of fact in their stories. The

more proactive you are in

your degree and your extracur-r icular a c t i v i -t i e s , the bet-ter you look to employ-

ers. The more jobs

you apply for and the

more diverse the field you're willing to

work in, the better your chanc-es are of getting a graduate job and making it on your own without having to move back in with your parents.

And this is possibly the one, overarching truth surrounding graduate jobs, independent liv-ing and not relying on mum and dad; it's a jungle out there, if it's 19 people to every one job, you need to make sure you're better than every last one of them, in every possible way, you need to stand out by any means neces-sary.

Opinion editor Nick Evans in-vestigates why so many graduates are facing the pros-pect of moving back with their parents, using two recent graduates as case studies.

“you need to stand out by any means necessary

Ellie WoodruffOpinion Writer

‘Breast is best’, or so we are con-stantly told by doctors and mid-wives who hail the benefits of breastfeeding and claim that it is one of the most important things you can do for your baby. Early re-sults of the 2010 Infant Feeding Sur-vey indicate that more than eight out of ten newborn babies in the UK are initially breastfed. Yet, why is it that seeing a woman breastfeed-ing in a public place, such as a shop-ping centre, is still a rare sight?

First of all, there are ridiculous claims that exposing the breast in this way is a sexual act, or unsuit-able for the eyes of young children, and this is where the problem lies in our society. Breasts are only sexual objects if we present them in such a way, such as pushed-up and plas-tic on page 3 of a tabloid newspaper with a model in an overtly sugges-tive pose. The biological function of the breast is to feed our offspring, and there are few things more natu-ral than breastfeeding. If our chil-dren were brought up in a society where breastfeeding in public was the norm, they would be less likely to view breasts as sexual objects and young mothers would perhaps be more likely to breastfeed their own children. We do not object to our children watching a cow feed a calf, so why are we so opposed to it when it comes to our own species?

The real reason breastfeeding in public is so often scorned at is that as a society, we are far too prudish and concerned about the opinions of others. Mothers are often scared of breastfeeding their children in public because it’s not the “done thing”, or they’re worried they’ll at-tract the unwanted attention of oth-ers. Breastfeeding horror stories, such as that of Miriam Gwynne in 2010 who was made to breastfeed her four-month-old twins in a hos-pital store cupboard, do nothing to encourage new mothers that people’s attitudes towards breast-feeding in public have changed.

But with more mums than ever now breastfeeding their babies, it is vital that attitudes change rap-idly in order to give women the necessary confidence to feed their children in public without attract-ing unwanted glares and ludicrous comments. People who are drunk and disorderly in public have a far more detrimental affect on young children than women who breast-feed. More mothers need to breast-feed in public to encourage others to do so and to break the taboo once and for all, while the rest of us onlookers shrug our shoulders and get on with our days: big deal.

08

Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�OPINION GAIRRHYDD�COMMonday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�OPINION GAIRRHYDD�COM 09Opinion

A couple of days ago I watched ‘Man v Booze’ video on YouTube, more specifically, ‘Man V rainbow wine.’ This inventive and exotic bever-age sounded like a more civilised version of the student favourite: skittle vodka, or perhaps a fairly tame dirty pint. However this deli-cacy was merely three cheap bot-tles of wine - red, white, and rose, chugged back consecutively by a steel-stomached guy in a balaclava with poetic tendencies (“I’ll break the seal, to show its real, that’s the deal”…catchy).

A range of emotions filtered through my mind and also my stomach, once I had observed the consumption of this drink (which would have challenged the most hardened alcoholic). The first was repulsion at the sheer quantity of liquid and the rapidity with which it disappeared. The second was pity, not just for him and his body, but also for the people who share a bathroom with this guy, or poten-tially a kitchen floor.

If I’m being 100% honest, part of me felt a small spark of respect. Why? I’m not quite sure; perhaps because I know that I would have failed somewhere in the first third of the first bottle (which was con-sumed from a vase). However, one thing I definitely didn’t think was: “Now that looks like a fun way to spend my Friday night.”

Of course, some people will watch it and think ‘I can do that’ and saunter off with their mates to the off licence. But these are the people who already binge drink on a regular basis.

The reason the video has had so many views and so many likes is ul-timately because it contains some-one doing what the viewer wouldn’t want to do themselves: the same reason the programme ‘Jackass’

has an audience. I should mention that both Jackass and the Man Vs Booze videos have ‘do not try this at home’ warnings attached.

There are many illegal activities depicted on the Internet, television and film, which pass unmentioned. Your standard action film, for ex-ample, usually includes at least one car being stolen, with incredibly dangerous driving. Does this en-courage crime and risky driving?

Probably, but it is unlikely these scenes will be replaced with the hero driving a Volvo, explaining to his partner in action: “Sorry mate, can’t catch the bad guy, or I’d have to break the speed limit.”

Ultimately, downing three bot-tles of wine is not illegal. It goes against the government’s recom-mendations but it doesn’t break the law. Therefore I put the video in the same category as the footage from the Guinness world record attempt for swallowing knives, or someone surfing a 70-foot wave. Surely the man who demolishes all that booze is showing off his super-human or-gans and science-challenging abil-ity to take his drink?

Although his insides are proba-bly in a sorry state, he undoubtedly has a better chance of survival than the person who tried to drive his car over five double decker buses, because ‘he saw it in a film’ and if you attempt to swallow a knife after watching a YouTube video then, quite frankly, binge drinking is the least of your worries.

In total, the ‘Man v Booze’ video has far fewer views than all the websites warning against the dan-gers of alcohol. Banning car chases in films won’t significantly reduce dangerous driving.

Likewise, banning an entertain-ing video of an idiot drinking a shed load of alcohol won’t have much ef-fect on binge drinking in our cul-ture.

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Charlotte WaceOpinion Writer

During Monday night’s episode of Made In Chelsea I watched the drama unfold as Louise Thomp-son ‘hooked up’ with ex- boyfriend Spencer Matthews in Dubai, while her latest beau, Jamie Laing, wait-ed for her at home. After the epi-sode aired Louise received a huge public backlash on Twitter, an-gry fans branding her a ‘slag’ and that she should die in a car crash.

While I, of course, don’t condone death threats, I was shocked to find myself cheering Jamie on when he called Louise a ‘f****** bitch’ upon finding out what had happened. The extent of how much I cared hit me, but why? What is it that makes us believe it’s okay to involve our-selves with the lives of people we don’t know just because we watch them on TV for an hour on a Mon-day night?

Apparently, since the birth of Twitter, it’s become socially accept-able, encouraged almost to let some-one know your opinion of them, even if you think they’re the worst life form on the planet. I’m pretty sure most of us wouldn’t approach a stranger and heckle them for their behaviour, but there is something about Twitter that seems to make

this okay. In fact, the producers of ‘reality’ shows like Made In Chelsea are almost inviting us to do it. The temptation begins when the hash-tag ‘#madeinchelsea’ appears on screen, already encouraging us to have our say on their affairs. These seemingly innocent little hashtags

allow us to interact with celebrities like never before, but for reality stars more often than not this takes the form of abuse.

Why is this? Because we genu-inely care for a stranger we hap-pen to watch on TV? I think not. At school it was common knowledge

that a playground bully is the way they are, due to their own personal insecurities and jealousy of others. This case is no different. By criticis-ing someone else’s life we can avoid dealing with the issues in our own. The cast of Made In Chelsea being portrayed as glamorous and ultra

rich is bound to trigger a niggling feeling of jealousy in the average person sat at home watching. This makes them the perfect target for sniping commentary, as soon as they dare put a foot out of line we jump at the chance to condemn them for their ‘sins’. The Twitter bullies are not angry with Louise because they care for her lover’s feelings, they’re angry because she possesses a lifestyle they can only dream of. We have to ask ourselves, would we care this much if we were watching the lives of John and Mary in ‘Made In Scunthorpe’? I highly doubt it. It’s time we put things into perspective as to why we care so much, and perhaps get back to focusing on our own problems be-fore we judge those we don’t know. Louise’s real crime? Having a privi-leged lifestyle and a pretty face.

Abbi TantonOpinion Writer “-OST�OF �US�WOULDNgT�APPROACH�A�STRANGER

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Poor little rich girl: Made in Chelsea drama moves online

YouTube brings us Man vs. a very bad idea

Columnist Monday May 21 2012 s��gairrhydd10

Silver Linings

By Lydia Davies

Dear All,I usually write my articles from

one of the three coveted booths in the Lounge. I sit like a queen, my back cushioned and my ego soar-ing. I stare triumphantly at passers-by as if to say, “Yeah, look at me. Run along now, peasants.” I am the Gollum of the Students’ Union. It won’t be long before I start eating fish raw and stroking the tables with suspicious affection. But my reign has been usurped by Exam Season. After crawling up to the third floor of the Union, I head on over to the booths to discover that they are filled, each and every one, with people that I instantly assume are the most hateful beings ever to populate the earth. I didn’t know I could feel hate like this. So strong, so potent: something that cannot be soaked up by binge-eating.

Finding a working spot is cru-cial during Exam Season. I take my hat off to anyone who manages to work in their bedroom and resist the duvet’s siren call. And to those who work in libraries – what is this madness? I can’t think of anything more painful than being divorced from food and fizzy drinks at such a crucial time in my life. Even hid-ing a packet of gummy bears under something that vaguely resembles work is dangerous: the ominous rustling of the packet is bound to at-tract attention. If it’s not librarians frowning disapprovingly at you, it’s the dead-eyed gaze of your fellow students, salivating over your open tub of Pringles.

No, cafés and open spaces suit me perfectly. No one judges you for the weird forms of procrastination that inevitably evolve. After Facebook and iPlayer had dried up, I found myself watching footage of people nearly being flattened by trains. Try getting away with that in the Humanities Library.

I’d thought my White Booth would always be there for me, a ha-

ven of sorts. Like Quasimodo in the bell tower, except that I bring apples and chocolate to the party. Now, on the other hand, I have to balance on a plastic white stool, my back framed only by air and the constant fear of leaning back too far. I’m forced to listen to such witty repar-tee as the following:

“You know, by that bagel shop.”“That’s not a bagel shop. It’s a ba-

guette shop.”“Oh… do they sell bagels?”

Oy vey. My new seating ar-rangements place me closer to the table football table (who put that monstrosity there?) and mean I’m forced to listen to constant pant-ing, groaning and choruses of “Oh yes” from the players. I kid you not, it’s like watching Game of Thrones with your eyes closed. Just now, for

example, “My back hurts.” – “Yeah, that’ll be the bending over.” The immature 14-year-old boy in my head is killing himself laughing, at the same time as my anxious 20-year-old female self is inwardly hyperventilating. You’ll find me sometime next week, curled up in a corner, staring mutely ahead and swaying back and forth like an anx-ious rocking horse.

But if you think you cope badly with exam pressure, think again. Students at Xiaogang High School in Hubei, central China, are hooked up to intravenous drips in prepara-tion for the country’s infamously tough college entrance exam. Every year there are reported incidents of suicides before and during the exam, and last year 44-year-old Li-ang Shi attempted the paper for the 15th time, in order to fulfil his life-long dream of going to university. I can’t seem to find out whether he passed, but with a third of appli-cants being turned away, I want to send the man a fruit basket and a cuddle.

Although news stories of ex-treme exam pressure are brushed off as rare, students don’t have to take medication to let things get

the better of them. Everyone calls your teens and twenties the “golden years”. We have less responsibility than we will at any other point in our lives. We’re rarely encumbered by families, mortgages and a gruel-ling nine-to-five office job. But with all this assumed freedom the expec-tations upon us mount incredibly quickly.

When I was in my early teens I had a very clear idea of how I want-ed to be at twenty. I won’t go into too much detail (I embarrass myself enough here) but let’s just say that the fantasy was less Susan Boyle, more Scarlett Johansson. I assumed I’d have everything – the grades, the figure, the endless social circle and a sunny personality to boot. But, on the cusp of twenty-one, I’m still the same anxious, desperate-to-please thirteen-year-old that I was then.

I’ve spent so long chasing goals, academic or social, that I’ve risked side-lining my own personal enjoyment. During this bi-annual hibernation period, it’s important to re-member that as far as life goes, there is no glorious golden fu-ture. There is only the present, fractured and imperfect, but significant all the same.

Over the past few weeks I’ve encountered students sur-viving on four or less hours of sleep per night. One of my friends told me he couldn’t re-member the last time he’d en-joyed a hot meal, and shut me down mid-motherly-lecture by pointing out my own meagre diet of clementines and Milky Stars (so good, though).

Exam pressure or not, there is never any excuse for letting your physical and emotional health come second. “It’ll be different after this year, I can relax a bit then,” you may say. But didn’t you say the same thing about GCSEs and A-Levels?

There will always be a higher goal, a further deadline; some-thing monstrous looming on the horizon. And, believe it or not, life goes on after nearly failing oh, say, the Grade 4 flute exam that some of us lost weeks of sleep over. The world doesn’t stop spinning if you fail something. The whole of your life will rarely pivot around a single moment. You’ll feel terrible for a few days, maybe eat your weight in pizza crusts. Then you’ll get up, get dressed and get on with it.

I handed in a bunch of essays last Monday and, to celebrate, took to Live Lounge with a few friends. It was great! I did the one hand in the air, swaying hips thing like I was born for that sole purpose. I walked home in the cold, and felt genuinely young for the first time in a good long while.

My friend and I made rice at 4am and went for a stroll as the sun came up. Town was silent; everyone had cleared out. Apart from the two of us, the odd pool of vomit and mobs of scavenging seagulls, Cardiff was silent. We sat on the museum steps for a few minutes, just “being”.

In fact, it was sickeningly poetic. It was almost a relief to see the heavens open, spilling thick rain, and turning to see the look on one other’s faces as we realised we’d have to walk back in it.

I realise I'm coming across as the kind of motherly-type figure you'd rather swat away with a ten-nis racket than listen to. Just take some time out to breathe. Then get takeaway from Kama Lounge

Lydia x

Note: I am not sponsored by Kama Lounge. Unless they are of-fering. In which case, I'm available. No pressure, but... please.

)NTERESTED�IN�BECOMING�A�COLUMNIST��3END�AN�E�MAIL�TO�EDITOR GAIRRHYDD�COMÐ

“You'll find me curled up in a corner, star-ing mutely ahead and swaying like an anxious rocking horse.

“I was watching foot-age of people nearly being flattened by trains. Try getting away with that in Humanities.

“You'll feel terrible for a few days, may-be eat your weight in pizza crusts.Then you'll get up and get on with it.

“Hats off to thestudents who resist the siren call of the duvet.

Politics12 Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�POLITICS GAIRRHYDD�COM

It seems these days that you can’t turn on the TV or open a paper without being inundated with news of economic depression and fiscal woe. As students we can empathise: who better knows the bane of try-ing to balance the books on a very limited budget? An overspend here or there means tightening our belts a little, or a lot in other areas, and whilst obviously it’s not ideal, it’s just what has to be done. However, this concept of basic economisa-tion seems to have alluded ‘the pow-ers that be’ in some countries who have failed to keep themselves in check. In Greece, they’re far beyond asking for an extension on their overdraft, and with street riots and without a government they are on the brink of being ousted from the Eurozone.

The recent Greek elections and events that have ensued reflect the current economic situation that plagues Greece: disastrous. With no one party managing to acquire enough votes and take power, the Greek President, Karolos Pa-poulias, invited the four parties with the most votes on the May 6 election to talks in the hope of forming a coalition. This was an attempt to bring stability to the country and escape a return to the polls, which would bring further

economic strain. However, not all parties were willing to participate; the far left group, Syriza, refused to attend the talks. Despite only three parties attending - the centre-right New Democracy, the Socialist Party, and the moderate Democratic Left – they have failed to produce a co-alition. On Tuesday, May 15, after nine days of failed talks, President Papoulias announced a provisional government would be established on Wednesday, May 15, which would remain in power until a return to the polls the following month. He also announced that the date of the election would also be known then.

Many are viewing the second election as a referendum on auster-ity, with economics being the main factor preventing a coalition from being formed. New polls suggest Syriza, which placed second in the last election, as the favourite for the next election. As the far left, they are refusing to join with another party and create a coalition while also refusing to meet the austerity conditions of the economic bail-outs. This is an increasing trend amongst the Greek political parties, even including the conservative parties, who do not want to accept the tough austerity measures im-

posed by the European community. One cannot help but question their intentions, many political parties cater to the interests of the people purely for the purpose of election and then default on their prom-ises once they have power. Syriza, however, have made very strong statements on rejecting the auster-ity measures imposed, and their refusal to engage in coalition talks, suggest that will remain steadfast with their promise. Leader of the party, Alexis Tsipras, has said that “if austerity measures continue, then there will be no social stabil-ity,” claiming that this imperative to Greek recovery. However, failure to meet the austerity conditions of the bailout will bring a new prob-lem for Greece, bringing a likely de-fault from the single currency and the Eurozone.

Of course there has been much speculation on the potential event of Greece dropping out of the Euro and returning to the Drachma; none of it is promising. Political instability has already seen the Euro decrease in value against the World Reserve over the past week as Greece remains without a per-manent government. However, the default of Greece from the Euro-zone would have much lengthier and much deeper effects than just a reversion to the Drachma, which initially would be devalued by 50%. Greece would have to re-establish

itself as a country, rather than a cog in the increasingly united states of Europe. The entire legal system currently in place would be void, as it is based on European Union law, the banking system would collapse, unemployment would increase in-stantaneously, and inflation would be rife. Two of Greece’s main sourc-es of income, trade and tourism, would be heavily affected for years to come.

Though what we need to con-sider as another member of the EU, and perhaps more poignantly as citizens of Great Britain, is whether it is fair that we are ex-pected to continue giving money to a country when we too are in debt, especially if they are not willing to meet the conditions of the bailout? Should we constantly be providing bailouts to a country that has failed to be financially responsible in the past? Or should we accept the vast amounts of money, time and effort that have been poured into keep-ing Greece have ultimately been a waste and that Greece now has to default ultimately for it's own good, and for the good of the European Union? Perhaps the seemingly in-evitable exclusion of Greece from the Eurozone at this time will be the first marked step towards the failure of the EU super-state and, as I hope, the return to state responsi-bility and sovereignty.

Rhys ClaytonPolitics Reporter

Rebekah Brooks, the ex News of the World editor, has been charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, along with her husband, three of her staff and the News International security head. The charges have arisen from the phone hacking inquiry, which so far has lasted 18 months. Mrs Brooks, her husband and her staff are the first to be charged, with another 40 peo-ple remaining on police bail.

Mrs Brooks said: "I can't express my anger enough that those closest to me have b e e n

dragged into this unfairly." Mrs Brooks, 43, is charged

alongside her 49-year-old husband, Charlie, personal assistant, Cheryl Carter, chauffeur, Paul Edwards, security man, Daryl Jorsling, and News International head of secu-rity, Mr Hanna.

The charged will appear on June 13 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Their offences include hid-ing computers from police and concealing documents. The couple claim Mrs Brooks has been the victim of a "witch-hunt" and that

Mr Brooks has been used as a "scapegoat" to "ratchet up

the pressure" on his wife.

Mrs Brooks was chief executive of News In-t e r n a t i o n a l , owned by me-dia tycoon

Rupert Mur-doch, from

July 2009 until July 2011 – the s a m e m o n t h that the

p h o n e h a c k i n g s c a n d a l hit, and the paper was

closed down. Mrs Brooks has de-nied that she had anything to do with the phone hacking, and that it did not happen under her watch. She became editor of the News of the World in 2000 and became the youngest editor of a British nation-al newspaper. She was also married to her first husband, TV personality Ross Kemp, during this time. When she was 31 she took up the same role at the Sun in 2003. It was during her time as editor of the News of the World, that voicemails on murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's mobile phone were allegedly intercepted.

Appearing at the Leveson In-quiry, Mrs Brooks said that prime minister David Cameron sent her a "keep your head up" message when she quit News International and it has emerged that he signed text messages to her with LOL, which he believed to mean lots of love. Mrs Brooks said he stopped when he learnt that it stood for "laugh out loud" not "lots of love."

These developments were likely to be "highly embarrassing" for Mr Cameron. The prime minister has a close relationship with the couple, having attended Eton College with Mr Brooks and developing a friend-ship with his wife.

The Prime Minister has been trying to distance himself from the investigation but this has proved hard. His advisor, Andy Coulson,

resigned following allegations of involvement in the scandal last year – he held shares in News Inter-national worth £40,000 but did not declare them, leading some to ques-tion whether he was influencing de-cisions surrounding the company to benefit himself. Mr Coulson said he only considered a possible conflict of interest over the shares after he quit. More recently there have been calls for Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to resign following allega-tions of improper practice when dealing with the Murdoch empire. It emerged recently that Jeremy Hunt sought "private advice" from News Corporation over the phone hacking scandal. Mr Hunt’s special advisor, Adam Smith, resigned fol-lowing allegations of improper con-tact. He claimed that any exchanges between Jeremy Hunt and News International occurred without Mr Hunt’s knowledge.

The News International paper closed in July 2011 as a result of the scandal. It included an apology and signed off with headline "Thank you and goodbye."

It has emerged that more than 4,000 people have been identified by police as possible victims of phone hacking by the News of the World, including relatives of dead UK sol-diers and victims of the 7/7 London bombings.

2EBEKAH�"ROOKS�CHARGED�OVER�PHONE�HACKING�SCANDALHelen Louise CoxPolitics Reporter

%UROPEAN�ECONOMIC�CRISIS�IS�ALL�'REEK�TO�ME

Mrs Brooks’ DiaryDear diary, Dave keeps texting me. I thought we were getting along but lately he just keeps laughing at everything I say. Even when he is being serious it is almost impossible to stop him from just laughing out loud.

I think there might be some-thing going on at home with Sam. He might even be going slightly mad. At least it is not as bad as when he was in opposi-tion – that was at least 12 texts a day. I mean, I had better things to do than talk to him and he must have had better things to do.

How many times do I have to drop the hint that I’m not interested in him. I told him, when he finished the leadership debates, that I thought he wasn’t very good.

I’ve been trying to cut my ties with him for so long. I mean, he’s married, I’m married. And his face is unnaturally smooth. I just don’t think I’d want to wake-up to that every morning.

He wanted to give my number to Nick the other week - I told him no, because I shouldn’t have too many connections with poli-ticians (really, I just don’t want to have to listen to him blather-ing on about things).

Rupert’s the only guy for me. At least you know what you’re getting with him. He is so sim-ply transparent and a wonderful role model.

Sorry I must stop for now - my phone’s just gone off...As conceived by�,UKE�3LADE

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Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�POLITICS GAIRRHYDD�COMMonday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�POLITICS GAIRRHYDD�COM Politics135.�CLIMATE�CHANGE�TALKS�SET�TO�BE�A�STRUGGLEClimate talks are desperately need-ed. Current pledges on climate aid run out at the end of the year and the European Union (EU) is yet to establish what happens next. The UN climate talks have opened in Germany but the EU is struggling to continue its position as a global leader with a prominent role in the talks. Smaller developing countries have linked with the EU last year, in an effort to commit to tougher emis-sion cuts and more finance.

Despite the positive intentions of most developing and EU nations, they have not yet negotiated these deals with Poland, who will most likely be unhappy towards further carbon cuts. Poland’s economy re-lies heavily on the major coal pro-ducing and burning industries and attempts to constrain them will be met with defiance. For 2020, the EU is currently attempting to negotiate the target from 20% to 30% below 1990 levels but it is unclear how willing Poland will be to adhere to these tougher restrictions.

The talks follow up from the last annual UN climate summit that took place in South Africa in December of last year. This led to a coalition between the EU and at least 80 smaller nations, including small island states and least devel-oped countries. Dubbed the new ‘rainbow coalition’ they pressed for tougher restrictions for all nations.

The Alliance of Small Island states (Aosis) in particular have urged the EU to adopt the 30% target as soon as possible.

The EU doesn’t appear to be step-ping up to its role in the coalition, however. Tony de Brum, Minister in Assistance of the Marshall Islands, a part of the rainbow coalition, said "There was agreement that it's got to go up to 30% [...] We don't want to be intrusive or over-reaching, but we said 'we don't think the dis-agreement in your group is so overwhelming - when 26 say yes and one says no, we think you could probably bring along the dissident.'"

It is obvious that these talks will undoubtedly cause friction within the climate coalition. To further the EU’s issues, EU Climate Com-missioner, Connie Hedegaard, said moving to a 30% target this year would “be very, very challeng-ing.” It is not merely Poland who is defiant against the tougher emission cuts, but perhaps the brave few who are

willing to admit their dislike to-wards the new scheme.

Understandably, some Aosis members and other rainbow coali-tion states, such as the least devel-oped countries, are confused as to why the EU cannot simply find a way of committing to further re-strictions on climate change, without one of its

member states, given that it re-cently agreed a new fiscal compact that excludes two. It appears that the EU is more willing to hide be-hind Poland’s disagreements than stand up for climate change. Should they desperately seek these new climate restrictions and challenges

they would simply exclude Poland from the deal. The EU’s show of solidarity is merely an excuse to

continue operating on the 20% target.

The talks, which last two weeks in total, will take place at the head-quarters in Bonn, Germany. It is the annual UN climate convention (UNFCCC) and is planning to work towards a new global deal in 2015, known as the Durban Platform. Furthermore, the discussions will focus on developed countries, in-cluding those within the EU, com-

mitments to cut emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Kyoto protocol al-ready has the 20% target of emissions; one of its key demands. Yet devel-

oped countries aren’t big

fans of the Kyoto protocol: Japan and Russia have already stated they will not take that route, whereas Canada intends to leave the protocol at the end of the year. The US isn’t even currently part of the protocol, leaving roughly a decade ago. It means that the EU and the rainbow coalition will be looking to keep re-maining developed countries part of climate agreements.

The EU, Norway, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand have already submitted plans to the UN climate convention, detailing how they might turn their existing vol-untary commitments into the legal form required by the Kyoto Proto-col as opposed to joining the actual protocol. This is a step in the right direction for these countries, by bringing a legal element to their climate change concerns. Yet this will make little or no difference to the actual emissions the countries are producing; they already are environmentally efficient enough to take these steps without making significant changes to their current emission standards.

In addition to this, a number of major developing countries includ-ing China and India are not too keen about these new restrictions. In the light of these issues it ap-pears very little progress will be made in Bonn within the next two weeks. It doesn’t look to bright for the annual end of year climate sum-mit in Qatar this year either.

Max EshraghiPolitics Reporter

“The EU is negotiating its target for 2020

“AOSIS members are confused by the EUs actions

The Shadow Welsh Secretary, Pe-ter Hain, has resigned from front-bench politics following 16 years in office.

Since his election to the constitu-ency of Neath in a 1991 by-election, Mr Hain has held positions in the Foreign Office, the Department of Trade and Industry and as Leader of the House of Commons, as well as spending time as Northern Ire-land and Work and Pensions secre-tary. However, he is best known for his recurring role as Welsh Secre-tary, as which he fought for welsh voices to be heard in Westminster politics.

Mr Hain will continue to serve Neath as their MP, but he has with-drawn from frontline politics, to concentrate on local issues and campaigning. The first issue he is focussing on, is the campaign for

a tidal barrage across the mouth of the River Severn, stretching be-tween Wales and England to pro-vide a source of renewable energy.

He told BBC Radio Wales: "I want to make a different contribution. I want to take forward the vital proj-ect, the biggest investment ever in Wales, £30bn investment, for the Severn barrage, and also the biggest single source of renewable energy in Europe and one of the biggest in the world. That's what I want to do and you can't really do that as shad-ow secretary of state. It's a post that in government I've done for nearly eight years and in opposition for two years and I think it's the right time to make this change."

Tributes have been paid to Mr Hain’s career from across the politi-cal spectrum. Current Welsh Secre-tary, Cheryl Gillan, said: "…I was very sad to hear that Peter Hain is standing down from frontline poli-tics because he's had such a long and distinguished career over many

departments... I shall certainly miss him but hopefully when his succes-sor is appointed, I shall continue to work constructively with them."

Welsh First Minister, Carwyn Jones, has joined many figures across the regional and national Labour Party in thanking Mr Hain for his role in delivering the excel-lent result for Labour, particularly in Wales. "Peter has a played an important and prominent role in Welsh political life for many years. I'm sure whatever role Peter choos-es to pursue away from the front bench at Westminster, he will bring to it his great skills as a communi-cator and campaigner.”

Mr Hain’s resignation has prompted a minor reshuffle in the Labour Shadow Cabinet, with the position of Welsh Secretary falling to former Treasury Minister, Owen Smith, MP since 2010 for Ponty-pridd.

Ed Miliband has also taken this opportunity to move Catherine

Mckinnell into the Treasury, Tom Harris into the environment office, and former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis into Trade and Indus-try.

The biggest change however, is the replacement of Blairite Liam Byrne, who previously had respon-sibility for Labour’s policy review initiated back in 2010, with Jon Cruddas the influential backbench thinker. Dr Cruddas is seen as a leading left-wing intellectual with strong links to the Trade Unions, leading many commentators de-scribing this as a leftward step for Mr Miliband’s frontbench team.

Labour supporters are clearly hoping that this minor rejuvena-tion will only help them build upon their success at the polls on May 3, but there is still a long way for them to go if they are to over-turn the massive defeat they suffered in 2010, and make this current Coali-tion a one-term government.

Hain resigns prompting shadow cabinet reshuffleThom HollickPolitics Reporter

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What lengths will you go to to get by at university?

Like most girls, I am clothes shopping ob-sessed. And like most girls living on the student loan, obsess-ing is exactly what I

spend most of my time doing, be-cause there is no way I can actually go to Hollister and buy everything I want on the amount of money the government are kindly lending me – at least, not without being stuck eating Lidl’s 17p supernoodles ev-ery day. But it seems I’m not alone in wishing that student loan would stretch a little further each term, as a growing number of students around the UK seem to be turning to more extreme methods in order to bring in the cash.

Recently, the Daily Mail pub-lished an article describing the trend of the growing number of young women who have been join-ing “Sugar Daddy” dating sites, where affluent (and, more often than not, old) men date young, at-tractive and well-educated women for hefty sums of money. The girls are not necessarily expected to sleep with the men; many just go on dates and provide companionship. However, some enter into what the site call “mutually beneficial” rela-tionships, where they are a conven-tional boyfriend and girlfriend - except the girl-friend can earn about £2,500 a month. The article re-p o r t e d

t h a t many of

these women were graduates,

who had chosen to take part when faced with the daunting task of paying off their student loans. It even ranked the universities that had the highest number of sign ups, with Not-tingham, Kent, LSE and Cambridge getting the top four places respec-tively – somehow I don’t think the Times will be in-

cluding those figures in their “Good University Guide” this year. And on an even more worrying note,

reports suggest a growing number of young women are going one step further, taking jobs as escorts and in strip clubs in order to pay off the bills.

It’s not just the girls that are at it either. Apparently,

there has been a signifi-cant rise in gambling

amongst men recently. I’m not against Casinos, I think provided you leave your bank card at

home then spending £20 or £30 for a night of en-tertainment is fine, and if you win, then it’s a bonus. Plus ev-eryone likes a casual bet on

the sport now and

t h e n , m y -

self includ-ed. However, some people are resorting to it when they are already hard up, quite literally a dangerous game. I had one friend (who inci-dentally you may have seen running round dressed in a jungle costume recently, al-though I won’t name and shame him!) who found himself with only £10 left in his account, two weeks left of uni and a football social that

night. Undeterred, he took himself off to the casino, won over a hun-dred quid and went and got ham-mered with the rest of the Klaw boys that night. That’s not his big-gest win either, as he holds the re-cord amongst my male housemates for winning £360 in one night. Now that’s not really the same thing (and it’s quite funny) but it is still a wor-rying trend when people risk the little they do have, in the hope of getting more, especially when they lose.

And, unfortunately, it seems in the midst of a recession, there are many who wish to capitalise on the growing number of people struggling with money and debt. Quick c a s h

compa-nies such

as Wonga and QuickQuid have sprung up everywhere, with interest rates so astronomical you are guaranteed to end up losing money if you use them, and with the government now raising tuition fees and the recession entering a

double dip, things are only likely to get worse.

The rise in tuition fees is proving particularly difficult for young people. And

it’s not just the black cloud of fees hanging over us, but it actually affects people’s life decisions. Many young people will decide against university in favour of apprenticeships or jobs that provide a decent salary without racking up the debt. Those who do decide to go to university will also be affected. I myself am currently doing a sand-wich year as an unpaid geneticist, and as I have to pay half fees to university to be employed else-where, it’s been pricey. However, in my case, it will have been worth it, as I am in a much more employable position in a climate where jobs are few. However, if half fees had been £4500, there was no way I would

have even thought of doing it.Even a paid placement has less

attraction, as the £9000 or so you earn won’t last long when half of it goes straight on fees a n d

the o t h -er half c o v e r s l i v i n g and travel expenses. I also

c o n s i d e r e d applying for a medical degree following uni-versity, but with the rise in

fees this would have given me a student debt worth

around £90,000 and that is just too much money to

reasonably consider. I’m not alone in this, with a

growing number of stu-dents rejecting doing

additional courses on the grounds of too much debt. Equally, I know several sib-lings of friends who are taking gap years rather than taking insurance or second choice offers: do-ing a second degree is a luxury most can’t afford and so they want to get it right first time.

Then those of us that do come to university, seem to be finding that we could still

use a little extra income, hence the rise

in sugar d a d d y

sites. However, before you all start signing up to Abigails, there are some less extreme

ways to raise the cash: Blackwells will buy all

those textbooks you bought in first year

and only used once, back off you for a

40% return rate, which is better than nothing. Or there are multiple ways to earn money online, such as completing

surveys that pay a quid a time (an

hour a day doing that could earn you

£50+) or agreeing to test products you then

get to keep afterwards. And of course, there are many university bursaries and funding schemes available for those finding them-selves in dire financial straits. Plus, don’t forget you don’t actually have to start paying the debt back until you are earning a reasonable enough salary to get by. Take a look at the tamer options before consid-ering the slightly more adventur-

ous ones, because

a spoon-ful of sugar

might help the medicine go down, but I don’t think sleeping with

old guys is quite what M a r y

Poppins meant.

This week, Features writer, Cathie Lunn discusses the ways students are

making ends meet in light of the upcoming tuition fee rise.

Monday May 21 2012 s��gairrhydd s�FEATURES GAIRRHYDD�COM Features15

“Reports suggest A�GROWING�NUM-BER�OF �YOUNG�WOMEN�ARE�GO-ING�ONE�STEP�FUR-ther, taking jobs AS�ESCORTS�AND�IN�STRIP�CLUBS�IN�ORDER�TO�PAY�OFF �THE�BILLS�

From May 7 to 11, peo-ple across the UK took part in Live Below the Line. The challenge? To live on a pound a day for five days; rais-

ing awareness about the 1.4 billion people in the world living below the poverty line, as well as raising money for the charity Global Pov-erty Project.

Day 1. Monday is the first day of the Live Below the Line challenge, and guess what? I forgot to buy my food for the week on Sunday. So on a rainy Bank Holiday Monday morning, with an empty stomach, I head out, armed with my fiver, to Albany Road.

I come back with�����HJJV�²�����������J�IUR]HQ�JUHHQ�EHDQV�²������NJ�ULFH�²���S��3DFN�RI �3DVWD�²���S��-DU�RI �SDVWD�VDXFH�²���S���NJ�SRWDWRHV������7RWDO�������During my shopping trip, I learnt

the importance of a few things while living on a tight budget. First and foremost being the need to shop around. I went straight to Iceland, thinking eggs were cheapest there, but found later, to great devastation, WKDW�7HVFR�VROG����HJJV�IRU�WKH�SULFH�,�KDG�JRW������7KH�ODFN�RI �PHDW�RQ�WKH�list isn’t a problem for me, I’m a veg-etarian anyway, however the lack of flavoursome ingredients worries

me, and there is no fruit, chocolate or coffee on the list, things I need to JHW�PH�WKURXJK�WKH�GD\�:LWK� P\� UHPDLQLQJ� ��� SHQFH� ,�

decide I’ll save it to spend on a few pinches of seasoning and a dash of oil here and there, for cooking.

Brunch consists of an over-microwaved baked potato, with two eggs scrambled on top. Weird yes, bland certainly, but by now I’m starv-ing. I can’t help thinking it would go down a lot bet-ter with a cup of coffee, but alas, cof-fee is a luxury I can’t afford this week. Wa-ter it is, then.

I was hoping I could get away with not cooking until dinner, but by two my stomach is gnawing

away, so I have some pasta with a bit of tomato sauce. Later a friend comes round to “Dine below the Line” with me, so I make us egg IULHG� ULFH� ZLWK� JUHHQ� EHDQV� ²� LW�tastes okay but it would be so much

better with some seasoning. He po-litely says it’s very nice. After that

we go and meet a group of friends at the pub to

catch up. Everyone else is drinking wine and beer... I sheepishly ask for a glass of their finest tap water. 'D\����7KDQNV�

to my sober eve-ning last night, I

don’t have a hangover from the night before, but

man I’m craving caffeine. Break-fast consists of cold egg-fried rice

left over from the evening before. I also prepare my packed lunch IRU� ODWHU� ²� SDVWD� DQG� WRPDWR� VDXFH�again. I hastily stuff it into a Tup-perware and then rush into uni to prepare for an exam I have at noon.

After the exam, some friends and I head to The Kitchen in the Union to celebrate our temporary free-dom. Never has a Panini looked so magical. But no, I’ve got some dry pasta and water to enjoy. Luckily we go and sit in the park to eat, and the sunshine makes me think ev-erything’s not so bad.

For dinner it’s a jacket potato, baked beans and green beans (why did I buy two types of beans? That ZDV�VWXSLG���)RRG��VRPHWKLQJ�,�QRU-mally enjoy thinking about and cooking, is becoming fuel. 'D\����3RWDWR�DQG�VFUDPEOHG�HJJV�

again... it’s getting pretty boring. A coupon has been put through

the door for a free coffee at Greggs, which is just down the road. I am sorely tempted. My flatmate chides PH�� ´VWDUYLQJ� FKLOGUHQ� LQ� $IULFD�don’t have coupons for free stuff.”

She’s right, of course. Sigh. I put

the coupon down. Pasta and sauce again for lunch,

and for dinner I open the tin of beans and have some on a baked po-tato. The beans are weirdly chewy and salty... I will never buy value beans from Home Bargains again.

Day 4, and I’m starting to feel ill. The problem with living on one pound a day is not the quantity of IRRG� ²� ,� HDW� HQRXJK� WR� IHHO� IXOO� DI-ter each meal. However there is no room for variation. Not only does this get extremely boring, it also means I’m not getting a balanced set of nutrients. The only vegetable I’ve been eating all week is green beans, whereas normally I make

sure I get my five a day. The lack of fruit and veg in my life is making me feel tired, and slightly queasy.

In an attempt to add some interest to my limited ingredients, I make a weird curry for dinner, with boiled potato, green beans, a few spoonfuls of baked beans, a spoonful of pasta sauce and a pinch of curry powder. I eat it with rice, and surprisingly, it WDVWHV�RND\��$OWKRXJK�P\�VWDQGDUGV�for what is “tasty” may be slipping. 'D\� ��� P\� ILQDO� GD\�� ZKLFK� LV�

probably for the best as I think I’m starting to get ill. Climbing the stairs I feel faint, and my flatmates are worrying about it. But it’s prob-ably partly the stress of the essays ,·P�DOVR�KDYLQJ�WR�ZULWH��0RVW�RI �P\�food has run out by this point.

Dinner is plain eggy rice. I can’t wait for Saturday.

On Saturday morning I celebrate my freedom with pastries and a big mug of coffee. I reflect on the challenge. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it also made me realise that things I thought were essential to my lifestyle, (cof-IHH��P\�GDLO\�EDU�RI �FKRFRODWH���DUH�actually extremely unimportant. However a lack of money means a lack of choices. All I had to spend my money on was food. I couldn’t go out with friends or do anything so-cial. People below the poverty line in Africa are forced to make more serious choices... feed your child or send them to school? I often com-plain about my limited student bud-get, but Living Below the Line has made me realise just how easy we have it here in the UK. I’m so glad I took the challenge and raised some money for a cause that is so worth-while.

Visit www.livebelowtheline.com/uk to find out more.

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,IVING�BELOW�THE�LINEThis week in Features, Rosey Brown challenges herself to live on £1 a day

to raise money for the Global Poverty Project.

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@GairRhyddFeat

A newly developed type of touch-sensitive technology has been un-veiled by researchers at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, Pennsylva-nia. The innovative system, dubbed Touché, makes it possible to use virtually any surface as a touch in-terface.

In recent history, touchscreens have transformed the way in which we interact with modern technol-ogy. From mobile phones to super-market checkouts, most comput-erised objects we encounter on a day-to-day basis feature the ubiqui-tous tactile interface.

However, just as we were starting to take the technology for granted, Disney Research entered the scene with a revolutionary new piece of technology – and in one fell swoop, the American lab has managed to make contemporary haptic inter-face technology appear cumber-some and out-dated.

Touché is based on a modified version of the existing technol-

ogy already used by most modern smartphones – capacitive sensing. Unlike conventional touchscreens however, the upgraded system – re-ferred to by Disney as Swept Fre-quency Capacitive Sensing (SFCS) – allows touch input to be detected on any surface of any object ca-pable of conducting an electrical charge, as opposed to a specifically constructed screen.

SFCS works, by embedding a small electrode, attached at its other end to a microprocessor, into the ob-ject which is to be made interactive. The electrode applies a minor elec-trical charge over the surface of the object. When the object is touched, the electrical signal undergoes mi-nor changes which the computer is able to detect and analyse.

Unlike a smartphone, which de-tects touch input on a binary basis – it’s either being touched or it’s not - SFCS is able to detect a variety of pressures and grasps, and measure the area across which they are ap-plied.

The spectrum of possible uses for such a system is vast. Disney Research detailed a selection of ex-ample applications of the technol-ogy in its research paper, available online. In the first, the system was used to create a “smart doorknob” – for example, closing the door with a tight grasp would lock it, to only be unlocked with a sequence of specif-ic grasps of the doorknob. Another application described was a smart-phone of enhanced sensitivity, able to infer and respond accordingly to the exact configuration of fingers on the screen, adding another di-

mension of intuitive input to the device – for example, adding “right click” functionality in response to a middle finger tap.

In the most striking example, a vessel of water was used as a com-puter interface, with Touché using the position of the user’s hands in the water to control a computer.

These sample uses can be scaled up or adapted to other objects – for example, electroconductive toys could be given an extra element of interactivity, intelligent beds could

control lighting and house appli-ances depending the users’ posi-tion, or swimming pools that could sound an alarm in response to the uncoordinated movement patterns of a child who cannot swim. Thanks to the ingenious system, almost any object – or even biological tis-sue – can obtain an unprecedented amount of interactivity.

The team at Disney Research, a collaboration with the Walt Dis-ney Corporation and a number of research institutions, said the tech-

nology could eventually be used to control smartphones or other de-vices by simple handgestures or by touching a part of their body.

"One day mobile phones could have no screens or buttons and rely exclusively on the body as the input surface," explains the video demon-stration posted online.

To watch the video, check out the Disney Research website, and for the paper: http://www.disney-research.com/research/projects/touchechi2012.pdf

Monday May 21 2012 #gairRHYDD�s�SCIENCE GAIRRHYDD�COM Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�SCIENCE GAIRRHYDD�COM18Science

A team of researchers at the Na-tional Taipei University of Tech-nology in Taiwan have developed a new high-speed wireless network, which utilises widely available la-ser pointers for data transmission.

The new system, capable of transmitting data at speeds of up to 100 megabytes per second, is surprisingly simple – and can be as-sembled for as little as $600 (around £370).

Han-Hai Lu, who headed the research, told New Scientist that "hobbyists could do this at home."

At the basis of the system lie two humble laser pointers – one red and one green. Both are coupled to 500Mbps data streams (hence a total transmission speed of 1Gbps, or ap-proximately 100 megabytes per sec-ond) and a power source capable of turning them on and off up to 500 million times per second.

The laser streams are beamed onto light receptors and the result-ing signal is amplified. The data, when received, is of a very high quality – it contains less than one error per billion bits, an infinitesi-mally small fraction of the error rate found in rivalling “conven-tional” radio Wifi and Bluetooth systems.

The inventive network – being based on light – offers the addition benefit of zero radio interference,

making it a useful for wireless data transmission aboard environments such as aeroplanes.

However, the system is highly directional – much like other light-based communications such as yes-teryear’s infra-red. Because of this, both the transmitter and receiver need to be precisely aligned in or-der to function – whilst the proudly proclaimed 25-metre range is also somewhat underwhelming.

The network also cannot be used outdoors – any precipitation or physical object would impede or even interrupt the data flow.

In spite of these flaws, the Tai-wanese technology does have an interesting range of potential ap-plications.

In the near future it could serve as a method of high speed data transmission between portable computing devices, and could of-fer interference-free short distance, high data flow communications so-lutions in hospitals.

Alexey UnderwoodScience Writer

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Alexey UnderwoodScience Writer

“The system is surprisingly simple and can be assembled for as little as $600 from the humble laser pointer

“The researchers described using the technology to close doors, answer phones or control other devices

- Winner 'Best Section' 2011/2012

News1 - 5

Politics12 - 13

Feature15 - 16

Opinion8 - 10 Science

18 - 19

Societies21

Listings22 - 23

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Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�SCIENCE GAIRRHYDD�COM

4HE�AVIAN�mU�CONTROVERSYAlexey Underwood DISCUSSES�THE�DEBATE�OVER�THE�PUBLICATION�OF �(�.��RESEARCH�THAT�SOME�EXPERTS�HAVE�CLAIMED�COULD�BE�A�gRECIPEg�FOR�BIOTERRORISTS�

19Science-

Two leading journals – Nature and Science - are set to publish two highly controversial studies believed by many to be poorly dis-

guised recipes for global disaster.The studies – one led by Dr. Ron

Fouchier of the Erasmus Medi-cal Centre, the other by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wis-consin-Madison – detail the proce-dures by which the avian flu virus H5N1 can be genetically modified into a highly transmissible strain lethal to humans. News of their im-pending publication sparked many months of fiery public debate, cov-ered previously in gair rhydd.

Hearing about Ron Fouchier’s study, the more controversial of the two, the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) strongly advised the team of researchers not to publish their data.

The NSABB, alarmed by the po-tential biosafety implications of re-leasing such an article to the public, helped highlight the issue on a glob-al scale and bring about a pensive pause to the research. However, the unprecedented move raised con-cerns among the scientific commu-nity about possible censorship.

The H5N1 virus is known to kill 59% of the people it infects, and a highly transmissible version of the disease is the dream weapon of many a potential bioterrorist.

Furthermore, any security breach at a lab working on such a project – unintentional or malig-nant – would expose the unsuspect-ing public to the lethal disease.

However, many scientists believe that is necessary to anticipate an analogous evolutionary succession occurring in nature – and that with-out the research, if such a virus were to ever evolve naturally, we

would be completely unprepared for it. Parallels were drawn to the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which is known to have killed tens of mil-lions of people across the world.

"We need as scientists and health officials to stay one step ahead of the virus as it mutates and changes its capability," CNN was told by Dr Anthony Fauci, the head of the NIH agency funding the research. "To anticipate that would be important to determine whether the countermeasures we have available, such as antivirals and vac-cines, would actually be effective against such a virus,” he added.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out whether the vi-rus could possibly mutate in such

a way was for scientists to attempt to create it them-selves.

After raising a glob-al furore, the research was thoughtfully paused and debate fol-

lowed. After two sum-mits held by the World

Health Organisation (WHO) and NSABB, the US security board overturned its earlier decision and advised in favour of publishing the study. The decision was not unani-mous – one third of the panel still voted against it.

The story is still far from over. Having received the all-clear from the NSABB, Fouchier now has to joust with the Dutch government – who are threatening a prison sen-tence of up to six years if he sub-mits his work without the required

export permit. Fouchier is adamant that this is

censorship on their part. “We sim-ply will never apply for an export permit on a scientific manuscript for publication in a journal,” he told Nature. “We might end up in court indeed if they insist on cen-sorship,” he went on to add.

So what are the implications of the study being published, now that it has received the lukewarm ap-proval of reluctant international security experts? The global debate has raised a number of interesting points.

Firstly, it is nigh-on impossible to release a scientific article to specifi-cally chosen parties without com-promising the peer-review process. An article must either be published worldwide in its entirety, or not published at all.

Furthermore, if some articles were to be circled confidentially amongst a closed community of in-stitutions, it would most likely not remain confidential for long. This reasoning helped give the publish-ing of the Fouchier and Kawaoka articles the green light.

Inconsistencies in biosafety stan-dards have been highlighted over the past months, which can only be a positive. In response to the debate, the WHO plan to issue updated guidelines on the standards for in-ternational biosafety, which must now be adhered to – helping prevent a viral leak.

The positive impacts of the re-search upon the scientific commu-nity cannot, in my opinion, be over-stated. Publishing the research, and indeed carrying it out in the first place, is undoubtedly a risk. How-ever, the benefits of the studies, the debate surrounding it, and the les-sons we can take away from the re-sulting discussion and polemic far outweigh the dangers.

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Researchers at the toxicology lab at the University of Leicester, have published a paper in Nature detail-ing how they stopped brain death in mice suffering from prion disease. There is hope that future trials will lead to a similar success rate for human patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

A $1 billion dollar ghost town is be-ing built in New Mexico for scien-tific research. The town, which will not be inhabited by humans, will be used as a testing ground for a num-ber of different scientific and tech-nological experiments in the fields of energy, internet connectivity, new sewerage systems and traffic control amongst others.

Microsoft have revealed an aug-mented reality system which allows users in different locations to hold tabletop conferences and share ob-jects which they can both handle. Creators said the system can "fool the eye" into making users think they have a shared working space. More developments are needed be-fore it hits the public market.

Data from the Dawn probe has sug-gested that the asteroid Vesta is the only remainig example of the origi-nal materials that made up Mars and Earth. The findings, published in Science magazine, suggest that Vesta has an iron core, similar to Earth and Venus amongst others, that measures 220km across, worth about 18% of its entire mass.

A study of some of the largest sub-way networks in the world has con-cluded that the majority of them are mathematically similar. The study, conducted across 14 of the world's largest underground sys-tems, found that each eventually conformed to a common structure regardless of when or where they were constructed.

KX_PRESS_ADVERT_CARDIFF.indd 1 10/05/2012 16:30

SSAGS Society Ball1.00pm - 1.00am, Clare Colledge Cambridge

21SocietiesMonday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�SOCIETIES GAIRRHYDD�COM

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Politics12 - 13

Feature15 - 16

Opinion8 - 10

Science18 - 19 Societies

21

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7ED����-ARCHWales Psychiatry AGM 8.00pm - 1.00am, The Heath Pub

3AT����-ARCHSSAGS Society Ball1.00pm - 1.00am, Clare Colledge Cambridge

4HIRTY�YEARS�LATER���AND�STILL�IN�FULL�SWING�

The Cardiff Students' Bellringing Society (CSBS) saw their 30th Anniversary this year. And so, in true celebratory style, it has been an even more active year for this small society, both at home and abroad. Despite being one of the smallest, if not the smallest, society in the Union, this one can certain-ly make some serious noise!

It is thanks to the timely appointment this time last year of Jessica Arnold as ringing ‘Master’ (a role equivalent to that of a President) that the society has had a bumper year. She shared her thoughts on the past year with gair rhydd, com-menting that ‘This year has been a really enjoyable year to be Master. It has not only been the run up to the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, but it has been the 30th active year of CSBS’. Ringers all around the country are play-ing an important part in the 2 landmark British celebrations of this decade: a ‘Belfry Barge’ laden with 8 bells named af-ter the members of the Royal family will lead the Jubilee flo-tilla down the Thames (the bells later to be hung and rung in commemoration) and 8 weeks later all the bells in Britain will sound simultaneously for 3 minutes at 8am to mark the launch of the Olympics. Bellringing, especially at a time like this, certainly makes you feel part of the local community – something reflected in CSBS itself, which is merged with the group of local ringers.

“In general celebration of this year’s occasions, Jessica

said, ‘we’ve had a tour to Shropshire, where we stayed at a beautiful Youth Hostel in the countryside, rang at 8 different

towers, broke 2 bell ropes, drank many pints and had a thor-oughly enjoyable time!’ This tour over a weekend in October included a ring at the awe-inspiring tower of Hereford Cathe-dral – the climb up to those bells is certainly an experience to be remembered!

Touring is a unique quality of this society and of the art of ‘campanology’ (to use Bellringing’s technical name): visit-ing other people’s bells affords the society a warm welcome wherever they go to ring. As well as receiving visitors of their own, towards the end of last year they also travelled to Bath and toured the city’s bells, meeting up at Bath Cathedral to ring with a group from Exeter University, as well as the Cathedral ringers themselves. The society has also toured to London this year with the Welsh Colleges Society, to which every member of CSBS is automatically affiliated. And of course, they never tour anywhere without their trusty mas-cot, Rhys the Sheep.

Ringers throughout the UK often rove around like this – it offers the chance to develop skills and gain experience on bells of different weights to the ring of their home tower (theirs is St. Johns by the Castle), which is invaluable experi-ence for any learners. As well as this, tours also provide the opportunity to ‘sample’ the local hospitality in beer form – a welcome change for the taste buds. On that note, the society has also paid its respects to the Real Ale and Cider Festival with enthusiasm, and to the fabulous Barry Island with beers and a BBQ.

A large part of Jessica’s work this year has been involved in the on-going work of raising the profile of this often mis-understood society in our student population. University is the perfect time to venture into new experiences, and Jessica is very aware that the unfortunate misconceptions under which this society labours need constantly dispelling: ‘Musi-cal ability is not necessary to join our group! Religious belief is not necessary either and you don’t even need muscles like the Hulk to ring the bells!’ (And let’s consider this for a mo-ment - if any such things were stipulations, they would be running something more like a religious sect than a society). The facts are, nevertheless, impressive: the heaviest bell in St. Johns weighs in at just under 1.3 tonnes - but it is the way the bell is fixed onto a wheel in the belfry which means that, as Jessica says, ‘not too much effort is required to ring’ as the

bell’s own momentum does the hard work of swinging it. The art of the idea is that the set of bells (the ‘ring’) be rung in continuously changing patterns, known as ‘change ringing’. There are many different defined sequences or ‘methods’ that can be rung in ‘peals’ and ‘quarter peals’ (which, as the name suggests, are a quarter of the length of a peal). For this 30th Anniversary year, Jessica set a target for the society to ring 30 quarter peals, and one of these was an impressive spon-sored ring in full-blown fancy dress, which raised over £300 for Children In Need. And, believe it or not, the method they rung is actually called ‘Pudsey’. Jess has certainly been ‘ring-ing in the changes’ in this society.

A notable characteristic of ringing groups is their open-ness – indeed, having one’s activity based in a bell tower rath-er necessitates this outlook, and Jessica stresses that anyone is welcome to visit them at their practice on Thursdays at 7pm in St. John’s Church (in the City Centre very close to the Castle), and would also be very welcome to join the group be-forehand or afterwards in The Gatekeeper pub on Westgate Street.

So, what’s in the air next year for these campanologists? Jessica hopes that under the leadership of newly-elected Master Alex Hannam, the society, among other things, shall ‘continue to train new ringers and that more students will take the opportunity to ring at other towers in the Cardiff area such as Llanishen, Whitchurch and Llandaff Cathe-dral’, where the Queen began her Jubilee tour of Wales in April. I wish next year’s committee all the best, and hope that this small but feisty society has just as memorable a year in 2012/13.

If you would like to join a society, or see a full list of opportunities, visit: http://groups.cardiffstudents.com/societies/home

The heaviest bell in St Johns weighs in at just un-der 1.3 tonnes.

Vanessa PlattSocieties Writer

Listings22 Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�LISTINGS GAIRRHYDD�COM Monday May 21 2012 s��gairrhydd�s�LISTINGS GAIRRHYDD�COM

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The Complete

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What's On in Cardiff

Feb 13th- 19th 2012

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Still the best night for students on a Tuesday night, Revolution combines its well know classy interior with a wide variety of drinks and shots to choose from. Cocktails to choose from include Vodka Moon-shine, Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri, the Rev Bull and also the Bison Grass Mojito.The queues can get rather long so its advised that you turn up nice and early to avoid waiting for half of the night. If you can't make a tues-day "Shotgun Wednesdays" run every week and offer a similarly cracking night.

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With 150,000 music video views, 600,000 plays on MySpace, a video premier on E! News, a debut show on MTV, a performance at the 2010 Official Pre-Par-ty for the VMAs as one of LA's Breakthrough Art-ists, radio call-ins, and 3 sold-out headlining Roxy shows under their belt in about 6 months.Judging by this resume, It Boys! are counting down the days until they are household name. With bright blonde hair, a wide plethora of musical talents and a passion for the ladies too, this are a band set for big things.

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)�$REAMED�A�DREAMNew Theatre, 7:30pm, £14.50

Susan Boyle will make a guest appearance on the New Theatre's stage in this new musical that charts her extraordinary story.Starring Elaine C Smith, best known as Mary Doll in BBC TV's Rab C Nesbitt, the musical follows Susan Boyle's meteoric rise from hum-ble beginnings to a global icon and features signature songs from her multi-platinum sell-ing albums including a performance from Su-san herself.

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The Sherman Theatre has put on a range of productions this year, that have ranged from fantasy dramas to soap operas, and this week they will be running with yet another fine show that focuses upon a landlady who once got in trouble with a monkey Phil, the local celebrity, had a couple of drinks, and following some erratic behavior was left with quite a few regrets. Laughter, betrayal, and blood follow to unfold a dramatic and at times hilarious show at the Sherman.

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There are not many Lashes left this year, so head on down to the Union to enjoy 5 hours of the usual blend of cheap drinks and main-stream music. There will, more than likely be a theme, so be prepared to splash out on a fancy dress costume of sorts, or do what most people do and head down to Primark and ruin a few T-shirts to get that unique look. Plenty of bottled water will be supplied around the venue, to ensure every-one has a responsible and enjoyable night. �

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Described in the Nashville press as the “Scottish Songbird,” Jill Jackson is a singer songwriter from Paisley, whose versatile musical and vocal abilities stretch across genres as diverse as pop, rock, folk and the country music that's in her heart.As a solo artist, her work is far removed from the music she made as the front-woman of rock band Speedway, with whom she enjoyed three top 40 hits, including a top 10 in the UK Charts with ‘Ge-nie In A Bottle’.From rock chick to alternative country girl Jill has been gigging and recording as a solo artist since 2005.

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The Olympic Flame is coming to Cardiff, so join in and get involved with the celebrations.The Flame will arrive on the outskirts of the city at 5.25pm on Friday, May 25, with the first Cardiff torchbearer starting off on Newport Road in St Mellons. It will then travel down Newport Road to Roath, along Dumfries Place and Boulevard de Nantes, onto Kingsway, Duke Street and Castle Street with a brief stop at Cardiff Castle.

$ANE�"OWERStigertiger, 9:00pm, £5.00

Dane Bowers, rose to fame in the hit British boy band, Another Level, one of the most success-ful boy bands of the 90's, and notched-up several platinum-selling albums and singles. Their celeb-rity fans included singer Janet Jackson, whom the band toured with in the late 90's. Following the split of Another Level, Dane went on to pursue a solo music career which included the smash-hit duet 'Out Of Your Mind' with Vic-toria Beckham. Dane also wrote for Kelis, Jay Z, Ghost Face Killa, TQ, Wyclef, Rodney Jerkins and Dallas Austin.

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Jean-Marc Vallée returns to French-language filmmaking with this intense and unconventional love story between a man and woman, and between a mother and her son. In 2011, Antoine is a successful club DJ in Montreal living with his two daughters and doting girl-friend, however, he’s still infatuated with his ex-wife Carole. It is a chilling drama that has received praise for its cinematography and script and who's actors will be sure to progress to great things.

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Empty Lungs play passionate, angry and catchy music that draws influence from punk, folk, country and post-hardcore. Relentlessly energetic live shows have gained them a reputation as the ones to watch. The band are currently working on their next release, which is in the pipeline, but in the mean time they are giving away their first EP 'Identity Lost' for free on www.emptylungs.bandcamp.com.

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Holy Walsh, one of the finest female comedians on the UK circuit will be supported by a fine group of talented stand ups. The one that has received the most praise of late however, is Chortle Award nominee and BBC New Comedy Award Finalist, Steve Williams.Steve never fails to surprise and engage audiences with his hybrid of bizarre stories, larger than life physicality, spontaneous improvisation and his off-the-wall take on everyday life.

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He’s eaten piranha, dived into freezing bogs full of animal remains, and huddled in sheep carcases for warmth. Recently having left his job working for the Discovery Channel United Kingdom. Throughout the night, the former SAS member will be sharing all of his crazy and wonderful experiences with the audience and providing entertainment throughout the night for those who want to know how best to survive in a desolate area.

#OME0LAYSolus, 9:30pm, £4.00

Very little changes in the Union on a Saturday night and there is nowhere you will find on the weekend that will let you drink and dance away for 6 hours and spend so little money. Similarly to Wednesdays there will be the usual selection of the Kitchen seating area, the booming box that is Solus and also the indie/alternative music room if you want something a little more chilled out.

News1 - 5

Politics12 - 13

Feature15 - 16

Opinion8 - 10

Science18 - 19

Societies21 Listings

22 - 23

Taf-Od24

Sport26 - 28

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Empty Lungscatchy music that draws influence from punk, folk, country and post-hardcore. Relentlessly energetic live shows have gained them a reputation as the ones to watch. The band are currently working on their next release, which is in the pipeline, but in the mean time they are giving away their first EP 'Identity Lost' for free on www.emptylungs.bandcamp.com.

Holy Walsh, one of the finest female comedians on the UK circuit will be supported by a fine group of talented stand ups. The one that has received the most praise of late however, is Chortle Award nominee and BBC New Comedy Award Finalist, Steve Williams.Steve never fails to surprise and engage audiences with his hybrid of bizarre stories, larger than life physicality, spontaneous improvisation and his off-the-wall take on everyday life.

4HE�/RZIC�4ENTACLES�Clwb Ifor Bach, 7:30pm, £14.50

Ozric Tentacles (also known as The Ozrics) are an instrumental rock band from Somerset, England, whose music can loosely be described as psyche-delic or space rock. Formed in 1983, the band has released 28 albums as of 2011, and become very successful, selling over a million albums world-wide, despite never having major label backing.Having been through good times and bad, this band have a wealth of experience and know how to work a live crowd.

Taf-od24 Monday May 21 2012 s��gairRHYDD�s�tafod@gairrhydd.com

27ain Mai. Cwis. 8yh.

Y Mochyn Du, Treganna. £1

3ydd Mehefin. Gwyl Nyth - Cre-

ision Hud, Trwbador, Cowbois

Rhos Botwnnog.

Gwdihw Cafe Bar. Mwy o fany-

lion i ddilyn.

16eg Mehefin. Al Lewis, Paper

Aeroplanes.

Snails, Caerdydd.

23ain Mehefin. Ffair Tafwyl.

Cerddoriaeth, Llenyddiaeth,

Celf, Bwyd a Diod, Comedi a

mwy. 12yh-8yh.

Castell Caerdydd. Am ddim.

23ain-26ain Mehefin. Tafwyl.

Lleoliadau amrywiol o gwmpas

Caerdydd.

13eg Gorffennaf. 'Sneb yn Becso

Dam.Cwmni theatr ieuenctid

yr Urdd.

Canolfan Sherman Cymru.

£13.50.

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Cyngor Caerdydd yw'r

gorau ymysg cyn-

ghorau sir de Cymru

yn ei gefnogaeth i'r

Gymraeg tra mai

Merthyr yw'r gwaethaf, yn ôl

arolwg a gomisiynwyd gan

Gymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg

yn ddiweddar.

Yn gynharach eleni, holwyd

cyfres o gwestiynau i 12 awdur-

dod lleol yn ne Cymru ynghyl-

ch gweithrediad y cynghorau

mewn perthynas â’r Gymraeg

megis gwasanaethau Cymraeg,

addysg, a sgiliau iaith staff gan

aelodau'r Gymdeithas. Casnew-

ydd a Merthyr Tudful a sgori-

odd waethaf gan dderbyn marc

o 20% yn unig, tra oedd Caerdy-

dd ar y blaen gyda 64%.

Fodd bynnag, nid oedd un

o'r cynghorau wedi cyrraedd

y safonau a ddisgwylir o dan y

Mesur Iaith newydd, yn ôl yr ar-

benigwr iaith a chyn-gadeirydd

Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg, Marc

Phillips:

‘Teg dweud bod yna amry-

wiaeth sylweddol o awdurdod

i awdurdod, ac er bod un yn

dangos perfformiad cryfach

na’r gweddill mewn sawl ag-

wedd, does dim un yn cynnig

perfformiad sydd yn debygol o

fodloni’r safonau newydd y dis-

gwylir iddynt gael eu gosod gan

y llywodraeth, trwy’r Comisi-

ynydd, maes o law.’

‘Roedd 6 o’r cynghorau wedi

anfon ymatebion penodol i’r

holiadur. Dewisodd y 6 arall

peidio ag ateb yn uniongyrchol,

ond yn hytrach i anfon copi o

adroddiadau monitro eu Cynl-

lun Iaith, fel y’i cyflwynwyd i

Fwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg.* Mae

ymateb yn y dull yma yn golygu

nad yw rhai o gwestiynau’r

Gymdeithas wedi cael eu hateb,

ac anodd iawn yw sicrhau

cymhariaeth deg a chyson rh-

wng y gwahanol awdurdodau

yn yr un modd ag oedd yn bo-

sibl gyda’r 6 arall.’

Yn siarad am yr arolwg a

gomisiynwyd gan ranbarth

Morgannwg-Gwent Cymdei-

thas yr Iaith Gymraeg, dy-

wedodd Ceri Phillips, llefarydd

hawliau'r mudiad, bod y can-

lyniadau yn dangos bod angen

gwelliant sylweddol ymysg cyn-

ghorau yn gyffredinol:

“Mae angen gwelliant sylwed-

dol ymysg y cynghorau hyn yn

dilyn yr etholiadau. Mae'r arol-

wg gan ein haelodau yn y De yn

amlygu'r gwasanaethau amry-

wiol iawn a ddarperir gan aw-

durdodau lleol. Caerdydd yw'r

gorau ac ar y trywydd iawn, er

bod gyda nhw ffordd bell i fynd

eto, tra bod Merthyr yn hollol

sylfaenol ac yn annerbyniol.

“Mae prosiectau cymunedol

nifer o gynghorau yn galonogol

– maent yn cydweithio gyda

mudiadau eraill ac mae nifer

o'r gweithgareddau ar gyfer

pobl ifanc sydd yn beth da – a

Chaerdydd yw'r sir sydd yn ar-

wain ar hyn ac a strategaeth glir

ar weithredu a sicrhau hyn.

“Yn gyffredinol, mae cyn-

ghorau yn cynnig darpariaeth

arwynebol ac yn disgwyl fod

hynny yn ddigon – mae hyn

yn enwedig o ran eu delwedd

i'r cyhoedd. Mae'r mwyafrif o

gynghorau yn cynnig darpari-

aeth sylfaenol o ran brandio,

ateb ffonau ac yn y blaen ond

ychydig iawn o wasanaethau

pellach sydd ar gael. Mae yna

fethiannau sylweddol mewn

gwasanaethau a ddarperir gan

drydydd partïon a'u gwasan-

aethau ar-lein newydd.

“Wrth edrych i'r dyfodol, mae

angen gweld sefyllfa ble mae

gwaith mewnol y Cyngor yn dig-

wydd yn gynyddol yn Gymraeg

yn hytrach na chyfieithu iddi

yn unig. Mae cyfleodd staff i

ddysgu Cymraeg yn amrywio'n

fawr ac mae polisi nifer o'r cyn-

ghorau wrth recriwtio staff yn

wan. Mae'n ymddangos nad yw

mewn gwirionedd yn cael ei

ystyried ac nad oes strategaeth

ar gyfer cynyddu'r niferoedd.”

Perfformiad Cymraeg 'anfoddhaol' cynghorau sir y de

Y graddfeydd:

Cwbl anfoddhaol, neu dim gwybodaeth perthnasol ar gael = 0. Anfoddhaol = 1. Yn is na’r disgwyl ond yn

dangos arwyddion o gynnydd = 2. Yn dangos cydymffurfiaeth â’r Ddeddf = 3. Gwell na’r disgwyl = 4.

Arloesol ac yn dangos arweiniad = 5

Mae’r atebion a roddwyd yn dangos sgôr fel a ganlyn (y sgôr mwyaf posibl yw 55):

1(i) 1(ii&iii) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 CYFANSWM

Pen-y-bont 4 3 2 2 2 0 2 3 2 2 3 25

Torfaen 4 2 4 2 3 0 1 2 1 2 2 23

Mynwy 0 0 2 1 2 1 1 2 0 2 1 12

Caerdydd 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 35

Merthyr Tudful 2 0 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 11

Rhondda Cynon Taf 3 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 32

Caerffili 0 0 4 2 4 0 2 2 1 3 0 18

Abertawe 3 2 2 2 4 2 3 2 3 4 0 27

Nedd-Port Talbot 0 0 3 2 4 2 2 3 3 3 4 26

Blaenau Gwent 0 0 2 3 4 2 4 2 3 4 3 27

Casnewydd 3 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 0 11

Bro Morgannwg 0 0 3 3 3 0 2 4 0 3 3 21

A mere few weeks ago, we were told that the Premier-ship race “was over”. And with nine points be-

tween Manchester United and Man-chester City, everyone believed Ro-berto Mancini.

We believed him less when the gap was reduced to five points. Then the gap was three points, and the smirk across Mancini’s face when he continued his claim of a title al-ready over told its own story.

The finale was befitting of a cra-zy 2011/12 campaign. The quality of the football might not have been the best, with arguably Chelsea, Ar-senal, Liverpool, and Manchester United fielding their weakest teams in many seasons, but this lead to leaky defences, and some high scor-ing classics.

In fact, a record 1,066 goals were witnesses by 12 million fans, and billions more watching on televi-sions worldwide. Included in that 1,066 were some absolutely stun-ning strikes. The logic defying Cisse swerver, the beautiful Bale whipped-chip against Man City, Crouch’s wonder volley, Robin Van Persie’s poetry in motion volley against Everton, and I never got tired of seeing Ben Arfa’s amazing run from inside his own half. Per-sonally, I’d say that Suarez’s mes-meric loft over John Ruddy from just inside the Norwich half is the pick of the bunch, simply because it required pin-point accuracy, sheer

audacity, and the fact that he is one of very few players that would at-tempt and pull off such genius.

For a league often touted as the best in the world, where “anyone can beat anyone,” it is easy to forget that there is 19 points between sec-ond and third. Many pundits were starting to believe that Tottenham could be genuine contenders for the title before eventually slipping away. Arsenal recovered well from a shocking start, mainly thanks to Mr. Van Persie.

Whilst Chelsea endured a tumul-tuous season with another change of manager, but by the time you are reading this, we will know if they have achieved a historic double. Should Chelsea win the Champions league, they will take Spurs’ place in next season’s elite competition. It will also continue a trend of par-allels with the 09/10 season, where Bayern Munich came runners up in the Champions League, Chel-sea won the FA Cup, Manchester United were just piped to the title, Spurs finished fourth, and Atletico Madrid won the Europa League.

Alan Pardew won the LMA Man-ager of the Year and Robin van

Persie won every player award go-ing, and Kyle Walker won the PFA Young Player of the Year. Norwich were praised for their fantastic first season, and Swansea won unre-served admiration for their beauti-ful style of play, and picked up the prized scalps of Arsenal, Liver-pool and Manchester City. Wolves, Blackburn and Bolton bit the dust, and somehow, Wigan put together a remarkable final quarter of the sea-son to once again defy the drop.

One team that I felt deserved more credit was Fulham. Martin Jol has gone about his business with his usual decorum, and their team included one of the player’s of the season in the form of Clint Dempsey. After losing their pre-

mium striker in Bobby Zamora, Jol will be desperately hoping to start next season with Dempsey, as well as Pavel Pogrebnyak, the quickest player to five goals in Premiership history.

After a hard 10 month slog, it all went down to the last weekend. Along the way, there were terrific highs – fantastic games, 6-1, 8-2, wonder goals; intense drama – Te-vez sulking, anything Mario Balo-telli did, Capello resigning, Harry Redknapp’s requital all in the same day, which meant ‘Arry would be the next boss... or so we thought; as well as some awful lows – racism allega-tions, the tragic passing of Gary Speed, and the illnesses of Fabrice Muamba and Stiliyan Petrov.

It looked for so long like it would be United’s day yet again. But per-haps the two most important min-utes in Manchester City’s history ensured that their name would be forever etched on the famous tro-phy. As Gary Neville put it, Fergie will “absolutely hate losing the title on goal difference,” and the fact that City won it in “fergie time,” which was added thanks for the idiotic ac-tions of Joey Barton, will make it an even more bitter pill to swallow.

With their unlimited resources, it could be a long period of blue domination, and it may not be long until we are pining for a decent challenger to emerge.

26Sport Monday May 21 2012 s��gairrhydd�s sport@gairrhydd.com Monday May 21 2012 s��gairrhydd�s�SPORT GAIRRHYDD�COM

“Cisse's logic

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The Cardiff Blues have agreed a deal to make a permanent return to Cardiff Arms Park from the start of next season, having spent just three years at the new Cardiff City Stadium in Leckwith.

Cardiff Arms Park, with its history dating back as far as 1881, has played host to a wide variety of sporting events, from boxing to cricket, and of course rugby.

The team had been suffering from poor home attendances, par-ticularly in domestic competitions, prompting a move back to the Arms Park for two games in February. The move proved popular with fans and has resulted in the club being released early from their agreement to play at the City Stadium.

When the Blues followed Cardiff City FC in their move to the £46m

City Stadium in 2009, they were tied into a 20-year contract that would see them play up to 18 games at the 27,000-seater ground.

This season however, has seen them bring in an average of just un-der 7,000 spectators to each game, only reaching five figures on two occasions.

Despite dwindling attendances, Blues chief executive Richard Hol-

land described the original move to the City Stadium as being “for all the right reasons,” but con-ceded that returning to the Arms Park was “important for our future sustainability,” particularly when money troubles affect all clubs, as demonstrated by the introduction of the regional salary cap.

This return to the Arms Park will be a welcome one for Cardiff rugby fans, due in no small part to the stadium’s location, close to the centre of town and Cardiff Central train station, resulting in better infrastructural links. Students liv-ing in Cathays and Roath will also be pleased as Blues games will now be within a reasonable walking dis-tance.

For games with an increased de-mand for tickets, however, the Blues will still have the option to move matches to the City Stadium.

News1 - 5

Politics12 - 13

Feature15 - 16

Opinion8 - 10

Science18 - 19

Societies21

Listings22 - 23

Taf-Od24 Sport

26 - 28

Sport27 Monday May 21 2012 s��gairrhydd�s�SPORT GAIRRHYDD�COM

Tom Parry-JonesSports Writer

“Richard Holland conceded a return to Arms Park was imprtant for sus-tainability

Blues back to Arms Park

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Between the 4th and 8th of May, the

BUCS Outdoor Athletics Champi-

onships took place at a venue that is

set to be one of the most important

venues of the summer.

But before the likes of Usain Bolt,

Mo Farah, Dai Greene and Jessica

Ennis get the chance to compete at

the London Olympic Stadium in

August, University students from

all over the country – and including

Cardiff - participated in the stadi-

um’s first competitive event.

Speaking to gair rhydd sport, civ-

il engineering student Corin Bowen

said "the whole event was really

cool, considering it was the official

opening of the Olympic stadium, it

was an amazing opportunity to be

one of the first people to run on the

flawless track.

The facilities were first rate, and

the team was outstanding. Most

of us were carrying injuries, but

none of us were going to give up the

chance of running on the Olympic

track.

Rachel Underhill for example,

ran an incredible race in the

10,000m, smashing her personal

best, despite being on crutches the

day before.’’ Corin competed in the

5,000m, and ran a terrific time of

18:12.

It was a great opportunity for

the athletes, but also for spectators

– just £10 for a day at the Olympic

Stadium – a bargain compared to

prices for the games itself, for those

lucky enough to receive tickets in

LOCOG’s ballot. The cold weather

may not have portrayed the Sta-

dium in the best light, but the high

quality of it cannot be denied – with

eight BUCS records broken over the

course of the event.

The Saturday also saw crowds

of up to 40,000 in the evening – an

unprecedented amount for such an

event, with some being drawn by

the prospect of a Vernon Kay led

‘2012 hours to go’ celebration event.

As it turned out though, the Athlet-

ics was the more high quality event

of the evening.

Sport

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“The facilities

were first rate

and the team

was outstand-

ing

Above: The 4 x 100m relay

Cardiff get a taste of the Olympics

Above: BUCS pole vault

Above: 4 x 400m relay

Premier League

round-up

<< Inside

Marc John

Sports Writer