Reading University's Student newspaper • Narrow victory for Hobley • Town council rejects plans for Sibly Hall•Elections results• Gaddafi no longer 'brother leader'• 'Published and funded by Reading University Students’ Union - [email protected]. Spark* is completely editorially independent. Complaints should be made to the Editor, in the first instance, and thereafter to RUSU. All complaints should be made in writing
Monday 07.03.11 Volume 56 Issue 4 Travel JESSICA HOSMER-WRIGHT Plans to develop the Sibly Hall site have been rejected. Town Councillors have agreed that plans by the University of Reading to develop the site cur- rently occupied by Sibly Hall should be rejected at a planning meeting in Radstock Community Centre which was held on Friday 18 February. The decision by Earley Town Council was warmly received by about 100 local people who at- tended the meeting to voice their objections and criticism of the pro- posed plans to demolition Sibley Hall and build 99 houses on the land in order that the University be able to concentrate its accom- modation on campus. There was also a planning appli- cation for a phone mast on the site that the councillors also decided to recommend be rejected. The vote to recommend the plans be rejected was unanimous. Concerns for local traffic and environment Residents voiced concerns about the amount for traffic that would be created by so many new houses on already congested roads, espe- cially Beech Lane, in the area. The pressure on school places was also an issue as well as environmental concerns about the risk of flooding and wildlife. This is despite the University’s proposals to safeguard many ma- ture trees including the Redhatch Copse and a line of mature oak trees near the site. There were concerns that this many houses contravened the numbers of houses Wokingham Borough Council had agreed should be built in the area over the next five years. Many also believed that if planning permis- sion was granted the plans for the development would expand. The University had hoped to quell fears and opposition by inviting the public to an exhibition in the summer and then follow- ing up with a newsletter for local residents published in December. The newsletter pointed out many positive aspects to the develop- ment including the fact that Sibly Hall, a ten storey tower built in the 1960s, is now looking tired and the improvements to the landscape that would be facilitated by its re- placement with residential family sized houses and a play area. Sibly Hall is now looking tired However, many residents also felt that having University accom- modation in that area encouraged students to integrate more into the local community. The Vice Chancellor had pre- viously said that money raised through the sale of the land would be reinvested into the University. Wokingham Borough Council is yet to consider the applications and public comments on the plans must be submitted by Wednesday 16 March. Narrow victory for Hobley Town council rejects plans for Sibly Hall 40 20 29 7 What’s inside? Politics Arts Gaming Colonel Gaddafi no longer ‘brother leader’ Convict creations Dead Island Trailer Top travel tips VICKY WONG 2,334 students voted in the sabbati- cal officer elections, the results of which were announced on Friday 4 March. The results night, which was held for the first time in 3sixty, saw the election of the new Student Officer team and Student Trustees who will represent Reading University Students’ Union (RUSU) for the next academic year of 2011/12. The first results of the evening were the positions of Student Trustees. The election saw Fred- die Clifford, Emily Hatcher and Hannah Hayes fight off competi- tion from the other candidates after several rounds of votes. Mr Clifford, Miss Hatcher and Miss Hayes extended thanks to those who voted for them and pledged to make Student Trustees more accessible, and to represent University of Reading students to the best of their ability. The second announcement of the evening was the result for RUSU President. In a closely fought contest between Karl Hobley and Chris ‘Ducky’ Campbell, Mr Hobley was announced as RUSU President-elect, winning with 1,068 votes, and beating Mr Campbell by 64 votes. After the announcement of the results, Mr Hobley pledged to start work on the Student Char- ter, which was a key point on his manifesto. When asked on whether or not he expected to win, Mr Hobley said to Spark*: “If you want the honest answer, earlier today, probably not. But there were various points in the week when I thought I was ahead, and then I thought I was behind again, but really it was always going to be a close race be- tween two very good candidates.” Mr Hobley extended thanks to current RUSU President, Jess La- zarczyk for “her encouragement and your advice, and for listening in when things got stressful. Since I’ve been at Reading I’ve known the last three teams of sabbati- cal officers relatively well, and they’ve all really supported me and given me the inspiration to want to do it myself. So, to all of my predecessors, thank you.” Alex Slater was elected as VP for Academic Affairs, and spoke to Spark* about his commitment towards the 24-hour library. Mr Slater said: “The main prob- lem is that obviously everyone has different ideas about what stu- dents actually want, and students have different ideas about what they think they want, so we need to confront this. We need to make sure people know they’re getting their value for money and I’m go- ing to tackle this head on and not back down.” Story continued on page 3 RUSU President-elect, Karl Hobley (third from the right) with his campaign team. Photograph by Henry Twist.
Transcript
Monday 07.03.11Volume 56
Issue4
Travel
Jessica Hosmer-WrigHt
Plans to develop the sibly Hall site have been rejected.
town councillors have agreed that plans by the University of reading to develop the site cur-rently occupied by sibly Hall should be rejected at a planning meeting in radstock community centre which was held on Friday 18 February.
the decision by earley town council was warmly received by about 100 local people who at-tended the meeting to voice their objections and criticism of the pro-posed plans to demolition sibley Hall and build 99 houses on the land in order that the University be able to concentrate its accom-modation on campus.
there was also a planning appli-cation for a phone mast on the site that the councillors also decided to recommend be rejected. the vote to recommend the plans be rejected was unanimous.
Concerns for local traffic and environment
residents voiced concerns about the amount for traffic that would be created by so many new houses on already congested roads, espe-cially Beech Lane, in the area. the pressure on school places was also an issue as well as environmental concerns about the risk of flooding and wildlife.
this is despite the University’s proposals to safeguard many ma-ture trees including the redhatch
copse and a line of mature oak trees near the site.
there were concerns that this many houses contravened the numbers of houses Wokingham Borough council had agreed should be built in the area over the next five years. many also believed that if planning permis-sion was granted the plans for the development would expand.
the University had hoped to quell fears and opposition by inviting the public to an exhibition in the summer and then follow-ing up with a newsletter for local residents published in December. the newsletter pointed out many positive aspects to the develop-ment including the fact that sibly Hall, a ten storey tower built in the 1960s, is now looking tired and the improvements to the landscape
that would be facilitated by its re-placement with residential family sized houses and a play area.
Sibly Hall is now looking tired
However, many residents also felt that having University accom-modation in that area encouraged students to integrate more into the local community.
the Vice chancellor had pre-viously said that money raised through the sale of the land would be reinvested into the University.
Wokingham Borough council is yet to consider the applications and public comments on the plans must be submitted by Wednesday 16 march.
Narrow victory for Hobley
Town council rejects plans for Sibly Hall
40
20
29
7
What’s inside?Politics
Arts
Gaming
Colonel Gaddafi no longer ‘brother leader’
Convict creations
Dead Island Trailer
Top traveltips
Vicky Wong
2,334 students voted in the sabbati-cal officer elections, the results of which were announced on Friday 4 march.
the results night, which was held for the first time in 3sixty, saw the election of the new student officer team and student trustees who will represent reading University students’ Union (rUsU) for the next academic year of 2011/12.
the first results of the evening were the positions of student trustees. the election saw Fred-die clifford, emily Hatcher and Hannah Hayes fight off competi-tion from the other candidates after several rounds of votes.
mr clifford, miss Hatcher and miss Hayes extended thanks to those who voted for them and pledged to make student trustees more accessible, and to represent University of reading students to the best of their ability.
the second announcement of the evening was the result for rUsU President. in a closely fought contest between karl Hobley and chris ‘Ducky’ campbell, mr Hobley was announced as rUsU President-elect, winning with 1,068 votes, and beating mr campbell by 64 votes.
after the announcement of the results, mr Hobley pledged to start work on the student char-ter, which was a key point on his manifesto.
When asked on whether or not he expected to win, mr Hobley said to Spark*: “if you want the honest answer, earlier today, probably not. But there were various points in the week when i thought i was ahead, and then i thought i was behind again, but really it was always going to be a close race be-tween two very good candidates.”
mr Hobley extended thanks to current rUsU President, Jess La-zarczyk for “her encouragement
and your advice, and for listening in when things got stressful. since i’ve been at reading i’ve known the last three teams of sabbati-cal officers relatively well, and they’ve all really supported me and given me the inspiration to want to do it myself. so, to all of my predecessors, thank you.”
alex slater was elected as VP for academic affairs, and spoke to Spark* about his commitment towards the 24-hour library.
mr slater said: “the main prob-lem is that obviously everyone has different ideas about what stu-dents actually want, and students have different ideas about what they think they want, so we need to confront this. We need to make sure people know they’re getting their value for money and i’m go-ing to tackle this head on and not back down.”
Story continued on page 3
RUSU President-elect, Karl Hobley (third from the right) with his campaign team. Photograph by Henry Twist.
Clarke French, a founding member of new charity action4Ms, kindly spoke to Spark* to shed light on the aim of the organization.
action4Ms seeks to provide sup-port for people suffering from multiple sclerosis (Ms), and tohelp patients lead full and inde-pendent lives. Mr French and co-founder Kevin ward decided to establish their own charity whilst applying for trustee positions at another charity organisation.
“With a positive mental attitude, the world is yours for the taking”
Mr French explained to Spark* that it was their belief that more could be achieved in terms of making progress towards treat-ment (and ultimately saving lives) by building their own charity that could promote their own core values and beliefs regarding how Ms patients should be helped with their condition.
a4Ms has been up and running for two months now, with much promotional support from local media outlets such as BBC Radio Berkshire, Reading Community Radio, The Reading Chronicle, The Reading Post, and Spark*.
as a new organization with al-ready such high levels of support,
Former student takes ‘Action4MS’
sarah ParsoNs
at present, the University of read-ing is one of the many Universi-ties across the UK that allows students to submit extenuating Circumstance Forms (eCFs) free of charge to students.
however, this is very likely to change later this year as the Medical Centre reverts from being primarily a University service with some public access, to one that is fully Nhs-operated and non-exclusive, opening it to the local community.
This is happening in part due to the new government ‘pathfinder programme’, which requires more General Practices in south read-ing to be available for the wider community in order to take strain off of the royal Berkshire hospi-tal.
although the University will lose its formal affiliation to the Medi-cal Centre, there is still an under-standing between the two that will allow the Centre to be the primary clinic for University students who will not have to pay for its medical and counselling services.
however, this change in policy means that students of the Univer-sity who require eCFs throughout the course of the academic year will no longer have them signed by the Medical Centre free of charge.
There would be a £15 charge for every form
a charge of £15 will now be levied, and as a signature by the Medical Centre is required in the submis-sion of such a form, every student will have to pay each timea form is submitted.
This means that any student with recurring problems across a num-ber of months will have to pay the charge each time a form is submit-ted regardless of the situation.
Currently, the University grants exceptional circumstances to students who can prove that they have had a medical illness or mental trouble that prevents them from completing their studies to the full extent of their abilities.
There is concern amongst Uni-versity staff and student ambas-
sadors that such a change in the policy on eCFs would negatively affect students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Tommy Gilchrist, VP academic affairs at reading University’s students’ Union (rUsU), ex-pressed his concern that the change in policy on eCFs would “prevent some students from ap-plying for eCFs due to the cost or will think twice about applying”.
at the moment, eCFs are an important part of the University system, allowing students who would otherwise struggle with the workload and pressures of University life to cope, and re-take their exams at a time that is less stressful for them.
according to University policy on extenuating circumstances, stu-dents who submit their forms late will not have their circumstances taken into account excepting hospitalisation or incarceration. The Medical Centre must always be consulted, with exception to obvious health problems such as broken bones and trivial matters such as colds and headaches.
Extenuating circumstances forms may no longer be free
From left to right, Clark French, former University of Reading student and Founder of A4MS; Kevin Ward, co-founder and Research and Communications Officer for A4MS; and Will Gibson, a second year Geography student at the University of Reading, who is hoping to raise awareness for mental health
Logo from Action4MSThe winning logo from Works with Water Nutraceuticals
a4Ms has plenty of time to expand and achieve their goals for ground-breaking results in Ms supportand awareness.
still in the developing stage of their campaign, the charity’s new website: action4ms.org.uk is expected to be launched within the coming month.
Following the successful event, Ms-tival, a charity music festival that took place on 26 February, Mr French said that the proceeds from this fundraiser will be donated to a4Ms and various other chari-ties supporting Ms treatment and awareness, including the Berk-shire Multiple sclerosis Therapy Centre (BMsTC).
in addition to starting this prom-ising charity, Mr French is aiming to take on a masters degree here at the University of reading, hav-ing already pursued a degree in archaeology.
Mr French spoke to Spark* about his passion for increasing aware-ness and that it is not just lim-ited to Ms; he also hopes to raise awareness for those suffering from mental illnesses.
French believes that the work that goes into raising more aware-ness of this issue can be greatly improved by encouraging more people to talk and share their sto-ries with others.
like Ms, mental illness is an issue that many can relate to, whether they are directly or indi-rectly affected.
Mr French is also assisting will Gibson, a second year student at the University of reading, with the development of an umbrella orga-nization called changetheuk.co.uk.
Mr Gibson has also pledged to raise £700 by June 2011 for the mental health charity, Mind.
The motto of a4Ms is: ‘with a positive mental attitude, the world is yours for the taking’.
a student from the University of reading has recently achieved first place in a prestigious design award.
Georgina henshall achieved first place in the award, held by ‘works with water Nutraceuticals’. This major design award was competed for by many students from leading universities and colleges across the UK.
Miss henshall’s winning design was chosen from a shortlist of five, to be the new graphic illustration for works with water Nutraceu-ticals range of skin care products for young men and women.
“The competition has been such a great opportunity”
The competition, which closed at the end of 2010, was created not only to showcase the skills of young future graphic design-ers, but also to publicly promote the company’s product range and ethos of skin confidence and gen-eral in young people.
Currently in her final year of studying Design for Graphic Com-munication with Typography, the 21-year-old student from windsor created a design based on the brief of ‘help: your confidence’.
on a works with water press re-lease and blog Miss henshall said: “Through research, i found that
good self-confidence and esteem related back to positivity. The design is therefore focused around this idea, with the image being the outline of a positive symbol itself, created by words that encourage young people to overcome such insecurities.”
she also says, “with typography becoming somewhat of a trend at the moment, and also being a sub-ject that is a great passion of mine, i decided to take the typographic approach to my design. The tur-quoise gives the image a pleasant balance between being aimed at young men and woman.”
This trendy and positive illus-tration – meant to complement the established logo of works with water Nutraceuticals – won over a judging panel composed of representatives from the elmwood design agency, BJl advertising and youthnet (a charity supporting young people).
The panel unanimously chose Miss henshall’s design, stating that it was a “clever interpretation of the competition brief” and for its “recognition of the effect that acne can have on people’s confi-dence”.
Jules Birch, the Ceo and founder of works with water Nutraceu-ticals told Spark*: “it’s fantastic to hear that aside from clearing the skin, it also helps to build confidence and positivity, which is clearly reflected in Georgina henshall’s design.”
as a result of winning first prize, Georgina has won a four-week
Student wins design competitionplacement at the highly esteemed elmwood design agency, and her winning design will be printed on an exclusive canvas bag and offered as a free gift both with online purchases of works with water Nutraceuticals products, and at selected university and college campuses, in order to raise brand awareness.
Winning design will be printed on canvas bags
Georgina henshall said about her win: “when i had the email to say that my design had been chosen, i was absolutely ecstatic. The competition has been such a great opportunity that i couldn’t be more grateful for, especially for getting the chance to work at elmwood with professionals in the industry that i aspire to be a part of in the near future.”
Thames Valley police are remind-ing female students to stay alert on campus after two muggings occurred in a six-day period in the area around the University of Reading. handbags were snatched in both incidents, and serious harm has been inflicted on one victim, who is now recovering.
Handbags were snatched in both incidents
The first incident happened on sunday 20 February on Foxhilll Road at 1.20am. Detective ser-geant Beeny from the Thames Valley police has stated that the mugger was presumed to be a white male.
Four days later, on Thursday 24 February, a second handbag was snatched at 12.50am on the Mount near hillside court, which is a hall of Residence for the Universi-ty of Reading. Two male attackers were this time involved; one mixed race, the other white.
The victim in this incident suf-fered a kick to the head. sergeant
Beeny stated that this was to get her to let go of her bag rather than an intentional act of violence. The student is currently recovering.
steph Johnson, Vice president for welfare and Representation for RUsU, said: “people need to remember not to walk home alone after a night out. if you’ve lost your friends through the night, alays get a licensed taxi. There is a free taxi phone just outside the union box office, and on union nights licensed taxis wait outside, and also offer student deals.”
Miss Johnson added: “keep mo-bile phones hidden and calls brief. You don’t want people to see you have a phone, especially if it’s a good one.
“There is a free taxi phone just outside the union box office”
“Don’t listen to music on your mp3 player; that way you’ll be more aware of what’s going on. and, if your instincts tell you there’s trouble, there probably is.”
Rhiann Davis, security ser-vices Manager at the University
of Reading, has released a set of advice for students:
- Familiarise yourself with your new surroundings
- walk confidently and be aware of who and what is going on around you
- carry a personal attack alarm and have it to hand
- avoid short cuts and keep to well-lit/populated areas
- avoid walking home alone at night
- avoid wearing a personal stereo- if you think you are being
followed, cross the road/change direction. if you are still being fol-lowed, head for the busiest place you can find and look for some-body who can help.
RUsU and the University of Reading do not wish to cause alarm, but Thames Valley police urge students to heed advice.
Hillside Court, University of Reading. An incident took place nearby
RUSU Media unite to cover elections
ViNJeRU MkaNDawiRe
The 2011 RUsU elections caused quite the stir on campus with the announcement of our new stu-dent officers on Friday evening, 4 March.
Just as students seemed to be slowly melting into dark library corners and book shelves, all of the candidates’ different campaign tactics were more than enough to restore some life into a rather mummified student body.
Viewers at home had access to a live broadcast from RU:ON
with the campaigning in full swing right from the start, there had been a lot to look out for on campus.
From ‘Vote for slater’ t-shirts to being bombarded with millions of colourful flyers, it got pretty dif-ficult to keep track of everything that’s going on.
For those who struggled to make sense of the flash mob in the library foyer or the superman and bee running around campus, the RUsU media website was certain-ly a great place to start.
with a live Twitter feed, a Facebook fan-page and a brand new website, the University of Reading’s newspaper (Spark*), radio station (Junction 11) and TV station (RU:ON) successfully launched an online media collabo-ration covering this year’s elec-tions.
Released on 19 February, the website featured entries accompa-nied by a range of video manifes-tos filmed by RU:oN.
each candidate for the RUsU elections also had their own
Spark* interview and Junction11 podcast to listen to. Daily updates from throughout the duration of the individual campaigns can be found in the candidates’ blog sec-tion.
late Friday afternoon, as an-ticipation for the election results anticipation grew, the RUsU media team provided the ultimate Results Night build-up, which started at 3pm.
Junction11 also played a live warm up set from Mojo’s bar in the union building.
all of the night’s action was captured in the media team’s three hour live broadcast, streamed to the website courtesy of RU:ON and Junction11.
Spark* was running commentary on a live discussion application
hosted by chris Riley and lucy ponder, with Rhodri Buttrick as interviewer, those who attended the event were kept informed and entertained all night.
Viewers at home had access to a brilliant live broadcast of the results, as well as interviews with the winners and a discussion panel chaired by chris searle.
Spark* was also running a popular commentary on its live discussion application throughout the night so there were plenty of opportunities to get involved for those who could not attend.
so if you haven’t quite got with the programme yet or if you hon-estly can’t find your way out of the library, all of the elections footage is still available for viewing on www.rusumedia.co.uk
The RUSU Media logo, from rusumedia.co.uk
Continued from Front Page
Jack legon was also elected as the new Vp student activities. Spark* asked Mr legon about what more can he plans to do for sports, soci-eties and the student media.
Mr legon said: “My main push will be getting more information out to students - i think there’s so much more to do with this, with more web access and more contact with JcRs.”
The biggest surprise of the night however was the landslide victory of Vp Democracy and campaigns-elect, Ben haines, who won the position by at least 1,300 votes in the first round.
addressing the issue of voter turnout at the RUsU elections of around 2,300, Mr haines spoke to Spark* and pledged to look into the voting system and find ways of making it easier for students to vote, and also pledged to find ways of encouraging higher turnout at democratic fora at RUsU.
Mr haines is expected to lead the debate on the referendum over RUsU affiliation with the NUs which will be held next year.
Mr haines also commended the efforts of his campaign team as “the best people to ask for”, and further commended the work of the RUsU media streams during the elections period.
The final results of the evening saw the re-election of incumbent Vp welfare and Representation, steph Johnson.
VP Democracy and Campaigns-elect wins by over 1,300 votes
The only female sabbatical officer on the new team, Miss Johnson commented on the male dominant team as being a good change.
a key point in Miss Johnson’s manifesto was encouraging more integration between domestic stu-
ents with international students by incorporating an international buddy system.
Spark* also asked Miss Johnson on what she hopes to do to increase participation and representation amongst postgraduates, part- time students, students with men-tal illnesses and students with families at the University of Read-ing.
she says that she understands that such groups are difficult to target and hopes to find out what would make students from such groups attend RUsU meetings and events, and will be looking for new ways to engage with students.
From Left to right, Simon Combstock, Stenton JCR President; Rose Harvey, Co-ordinator of RUSU’s Women’s Campaign; Chris Searle, Spark* Deputy Editor and Panel Chair; Ben Haines, VP Democracy Campaigns-elect and his campaign team. Photograph by Russell Ede
RU:ON Station Manager, Stuart Wood, oversees the media coverage of RUSU elections. Photograph by Russell Ede.
The University of Reading’s atheist, Humanist and Secularist Society (RaHS) and the Muslim/Islamic Society (RUMS/Isoc) hosted a three hour debate and question and answer session in the URS building entitled; ‘atheism is the only rational option’ on 23 February 2011. The debaters were Hamza Tzortzis and Bob Churchill. Peter Barrett chaired the debate.
People started to pile into the lower lecture theatre (llT) of the URS building by about 14:00, and within 10 minutes, there were roughly 100 people in the room. Each speaker spoke for roughly half an hour, followed by a ques-tion and answer session.
The debate was titled; ‘Atheism is the only rational option’
Tzortzis spoke first and begun by clarifying what he thought atheism was. He said that it was a knowledge claim, and continued to say that he wanted to show in his argument why he was against the motion. He said that the posi-
tion of atheism was unreasonable, considering the philosophical and scientific facts we have at hand. He went on to say that his argu-ment would be an attempt to prove the existence of a deity, and it would consist of two points.
Roughly 100 people attended the debate
The first point would be that the existence of a god “makes sense of the origins of the cosmos”, and the second would be that a god makes sense of the fact that our species is permitted to exist at all. In philo-sophical terms, the two arguments were the cosmological argument and the argument from fine-tuning.
after Tzortzis had spoken, Churchill stood up to speak. He spent much of the beginning of his speech questioning the very concept of knowledge altogether. However, he proposed that the scientific method and its use of falsification could be a solution to our difficulties when trying to as-certain knowledge. He concluded that, after deciding to settle on these very strict requirements for the justification of belief, atheism is the only position that remains
after theism fails to meet the nec-essary standards.
In the Q&a there were lots of really probing questions. David Mcknight, the humanist mem-ber of the Reading Interfaith group, asked a question relating to science. He asked whether the speakers would be able to recon-cile their views with the abstract concepts that science brings to the table. In reply, both said that they would strive to.
Peter Barrett, chair of the de-abte, ended by saying that whilst there was no over-arching conclu-sion, the debaters and audience agreed on, at least we were con-nected by the fact that everyone liked pizza.
University holds atheism debate
SEETa BHaRDWa
Reading University Student Union’s Sports Development Co-ordinator John O’Brien is set to tackle the london Marathon this year, following on from his at-tempt at last year’s race.
Following on from last year, John will again be running to raise mon-ey for ClIC Sargent, in memory of a friend of his who suffered from leukaemia.
ClIC Sargent is a charity dedi-cated to helping children who suf-fer from cancer and their families. During treatment, the charity provides specialist nurses and specialist social care to provide support within the community, which includes holidays, grants and a helpline.
John is running for CLIC Sargent in memory of a friend
after treatment, the charity pro-vides sessions to help survivors as well as support for those bereav-ing.
last year John raised an in-credible £1200 but has to raise a
minimum of £1800 for his chosen charity this year.
additionally there is a sweep-stake on his race time, which costs £2 to participate in, and the winner will receive a pair of cinema tick-ets for a film of their choice.
In his first attempt at the mara-thon in the previous year, John completed it in four hours, 44 minutes and two seconds, which is roughly a mile every 11 minutes.
He needs raise to a minimum of £1800 for his chosen charity
John spoke to Spark* and says that he hopes to better his time this year and keep to four hours and 30 minutes or under.
Part of the reason for John run-ning the marathon a second time is to improve his time from last year as he was slightly disappointed by it.
To help him achieve this John has been training with boot camp fit-ness sessions once a week as well as running, swimming and cycling.
as if running the london Mara-thon was not enough, John will also be running the Finchley 20 miles (13 March 2011), the Reading
Half Marathon (20 april 2011) and finally the Croydon Half Marathon (2 april 2011).
This year the london Marathon will take place on 17 april 2011. John will be running these addi-tional races to help him properly prepare for the london Marathon.
all donations would be welcome and can be made at www.virgin-moneygiving.com/runfatboyrun-part2 for this worthwhile cause.
RUSU’s “fatboy” to run second marathon
JOE CaRTER
athletes from the University of Reading will be honoured with testing the new Olympic Stadium in East london less than 12 weeks before the Games begin.
The new stadium will play host to the 2012 British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Outdoor athletics Championships in which the University’s brightest track and field stars will be hoping to impress in one of sport’s grandest arenas.
Siobhan Burke, President of Reading University athletics Club (RUaC), said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for all those compet-ing in university athletics. There is such a high standard of ath-letic talent across Britain and it’s only right that we should be able to showcase it in such an iconic venue.”
“Not many people can stay they have competed in an Olympic stadium!”
She continued: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for many, and I hope as many of the University of Reading’s athletes as possible take it up - not many people can say they have competed in an Olympic stadium! We’re really grateful to BUCS for providing us with this chance and even though I can’t be competing in 2012 I’m not going to miss the chance to christen those brand new stadium seats!”
Reading boasts a wealth of tal-ented athletes whose skills were recently on show in the Indoor Championships held a fortnight ago at the Sheffield Institute of Sport.
Seven competitors entered the competition in events including 60m, 3000m, the high jump and the long jump with the University’s standout performance coming from high jumper Brian Flatley.
Brian Flatley reached the final of the Men’s High Jump finally finished ninth out of 12 with a
height of 1.95m. Reading student Edwin Elmhurst just missed out on the final with a jump of 1.85m, whilst sprinter Mark Robinson ran impressive races in both the 200m and 400m categories.
The BUCS Outdoor Championships remains a breeding ground for world class talent
Brian Flatley, who is in his second year of postgraduate research in Chemistry, also competed in the Outdoor Event in 2010, making the final of the 60m hurdles. He told Spark*: “RUaC is a really good athletics club; we started last year working towards building stron-ger track and field teams. This year so far we have competed in both southern England university competitions and also the BUCS indoors, with increasing numbers in both competitions.”
He continued: “It’s a really great achievement for the BUCS orga-nising committee to have landed this opportunity, all of the univer-sity athletics clubs around the Uk should be really grateful for the chance they have been given and really try to rise to the challenge by fielding really strong, well pre-pared teams.”
“I’m not going to miss the chance to christen the stadium seats!”
The BUCS Outdoor Championships remains a breeding ground for world class talent with the likes of Jessica Ennis, Perri Shakes and Montell Douglas all excelling at the event in previous years.
RUaC will be competing at the BUCS Outdoor athletic Champion-ships from 30 april until 2 May in Bedford. If anyone is interested in competing in athletics either this year or the next please get in contact with the club at [email protected]
Reading Athletes to test 2012 stadium
Hamza Tzortzis, one of the speakers in the debate. Photo-graph from essexisoc.com
John O’Brien running the 2010 Marathon. Photo from John O’Brien
The 2012 Olympic Stadium in East London. Photograph from api.ning.com
according to The Times Higher education’s (THe) latest student experience survey, The Univer-sity of reading offers the com-plete university experience. The University rose five places to 36th out of 113 in this year’s table.
each year, more than 13,000 undergraduates rate 21 aspects of university life that matter to them, from quality of teaching to the social life on campus.
The University of reading scored highly across all of the categories, though the campus environment, course structure and the high standard of teaching offered received particular com-mendation.
Moreover, students reported that they felt well supported by
the University during their life in reading.
The University’s Vice Chancellor Professor Gordon Marshall stated; “what these excellent results dem-onstrate is that reading offers the complete student package.
High scores achieved across all categories
“as well as receiving a high-stan-dard education, students receive excellent support, enjoy a wonder-ful parkland campus and have the opportunity to lead an active and varied social life.”
Professor Marshall further add-ed: “However, we are just as inter-ested to find out about the areas in which we can still improve, so will be using the results of this survey
to further improve the quality of the reading experience.”
according to The Times, sixth form students were predomi-nantly concerned with choosing a high-quality course and receiving excellent teaching when consider-ing university options, although non-academic factors play a key part in their decision making too.
students also look to find a stimu-lating course to stand them in good stead for their future, whilst simultaneously are keen to have the opportunity to ‘blow off steam’ and enjoy university life to capac-ity when not in the library.
as university tuition fees are forecast to triple, students and prospective students are now more than ever placing pressure on uni-versities to deliver high standards of academic, social and environ-mental experience.
UoR offers “complete experience”
JoN erridGe
The Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) have voted to sup-port strike action in defence of pension rights, job protection and pay.
The University of reading is expected to ask members of the reading branch of the UCU whether or not they will take strike action.
The ballot concerns a dispute about redundancy measures to be taken by the staff at University of reading.
a decision on strike action by staff from the University of read-ing is expected by the end of this week.
The proposed industrial actions by the UCU include striking and action short of a strike, (known as asos). asos can include a com-plete refusal to take part in any assessment tasks such as, but not limited to, marking of coursework and exams.
Acions taken by lecturers may delay graduation for some
The University of reading has reacted strongly to reading UCU’s industrial action proposals, with Vice Chancellor Gordon Marshall issuing a statement on 17 Feb-ruary in which he states: “This University has always adopted a conciliatory approach to handling industrial disputes.
“However, we will not be able to ignore industrial action which
targets students and threatens the effective functioning and long-term stability of the University.”
Professor Marshall further added: “The University therefore reserves its right to take legal and proportionate measures in re-sponse to strike action and partial performance of duties. These may include withholding pay for action short of strike.”
RUSU does not support strike action that jeapardises student assessement
reading University’s students Union (rUsU) has also responded with concern to UCU’s proposed industrial action, with VP for aca-demic affairs, Tommy Gilchrist, proposing at the student Voice Meeting held on Tuesday 1 March, that rUsU would not be support-ive of UCU strike or asos actions that jeopardised student assess-ment. Mr Gilchrist voiced his concern that asos actions taken by lecturers might delay gradua-tion for some students.
amendments have been put forward by VP democracy and Campaigns, Nes Cazimoglu, which was voted through by the student Voice meeting.
To see the motion being debated on at student voice, log onto www.ruon.tv
Voting on the motion is now open on the rUsU website at www.rusu.co.uk. Voting opens now and will be closed on wednesday 9 March at 3pm.
University staff to ballot on strike action
Photograph from the University of Reading
libby HolderNess
Next week, reading University’s student’s Union (rUsU) will launch its new rewards and rec-ognitions scheme that will official-ly recognise student societies.
This is a three-tier scheme, encompassing a range of progres-sively inclusive criteria. societies will be required to file all com-pleted copies of basic paperwork in the rUsU Hub, and to submit a record of any additional achieve-ments.
These will be examined by eve Nicol, VP student activities, who will decide with other sabbati-cal officers the level of work that executives have put into their societies this academic year. This will be formally announced at the
rUsU societies and Volunteers ball on Thursday 17 March.
The system is a tool to bench-mark societies, address the alien-ation of small societies and inspire improvement. This is expected to reduce the effect of negative expe-riences suffered by students join-ing a poor society as the standards each society has achieved will be indicated on the rUsU website in addition to being publicised at Fresher’s Fayre.
The bronze status recognises that societies have fulfilled the minimum requirements to be a rUsU-affiliated society. societies wishing to achieve this level would need to produce their behavioural policy, code of conduct, constitu-tion, development plan and risk assessment as well as a number of other relatively straightforward tasks.
silver status requires commit-tees to meet eight conditions that seem more closely focused towards a standard society model.
The Gold status, Miss Nicol states, “is reserved for societ-ies who go above and beyond to enhance the experience of their members and contribute to the wider student and local commu-nity.”
The system is a tool to bench-mark societies
entries will be considered along-side each other. The best five soci-eties will be awarded this status.
one of the most prominent voices against the scheme, russell ede, President of the societies Convention and the Photographic society, comments that this scheme needs to be considered more carefully before launching; “it’s good that rUsU wants to recognise the good job that some societies do, but the implementa-tion is not right.
“Having three tiers means that a lot of society presidents are worried that freshers will see this as negative marking rather than bronze being good, and Gold even better”.
He instead advocates a scheme where there is a base level, which requires successful committees to have met the minimum require-ments to be a rUsU-affiliated society, and a top level, where the “best five or so societies are awarded a star award”.
Positive move towards recognising societies who ‘go the extra mile’
Mr ede pointed out that to gain silver status, a society is gener-ally encouraged to fulfil certain criteria that it is easier for high profile activities to achieve: “For example, the Photographic society would be better-placed to give members unique opportunities than the sci-Fi society, who mainly cater for students who don’t have a traditional social life, and thus do a fantastic job at being heavily active and having a programme every week, yet do not do anything high profile.”
also, societies must send com-mittees to skills development workshops on an annual basis when many members are long-term attendees, and therefore, there is little new information for them to learn.
The success of Miss Nicol’s ranked status scheme remains to be seen. However, all signs indi-cate that this could be a largely positive move towards recognising societies who ‘go the extra mile’ and ensuring that the others meet a minimal requirement.
For more information on the scheme, visit www.rusu.co.uk
*Offer valid Monday to Wednesday only, please provide your student card.
BOOKONLINE!
BOOK YOURAPPOINTMENT
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Hey guys,
It’s been a while since I last did a blog, and there has been so much going on at Junction11 so far this term!
In week 3, we ran a Jingle Workshop for all of our presenters to attend. We had a great after-noon coming up with new ways of engaging with our audience and encouraging people to listen to the various shows we have to offer, before heading out for a drink and having a catch up! It was a really great day, and there are plenty of photos up on the Junction11 website.
This term we’ve been running a new show, ‘Live and Local’, in conjunction with RU:ON, featuring local bands and artists perform-ing live sets in the Lounge every Friday from 7-8pm. The show goes out live on Junction11, and appears on the website ruon.tv, and as a Junction11 podcast in the subse-quent week.
As well as performing a short live set, our featured artists give an interview and pick a couple of tracks that have inspired them in some way. So far this term, we’ve had Reading student Ant Henson, Junction11 chart-toppers Alloy Ark, Bournemouth-based singer Krista Green, and Didcot band Very Nice Harry – covering a huge range of musical styles!
Make sure you check out face-book.com/j11liveandlocal to stay up to date with the bands we have scheduled for the rest of term, and do not hesitate to contact me if you are in a band or are a solo artist and would like to be featured next term.
I feel that local music is something student media should really be promoting
It’s proving to be a great collabo-ration between Junction11 and RU:ON. It’s something I’m really passionate about as I feel that local music is something that student media should really be promot-ing, as it gives unsigned acts a platform, as well as making sure we’re in touch with the local music scene.
We’ve obviously been involved with the exciting project of joint media coverage in the RUSU Elections – after what seems like a million or so meetings, I think it’s all ready to go, and it should be a really exciting night! With Junction11 DJing in Mojo’s from 3pm, in 3Sixty from 7pm, as well as streaming the election results live, it’s going to be hectic but I’m confident that student media can deliver first-class coverage.
I’ve also discovered some hid-den technological abilities - I can now navigate my way around rusumedia.co.uk all by myself (to the surprise of a more tech-savvy member of student media!) in order to moderate blogs. There is hope for us all!
POLITICAL [email protected] POLITICAL COMMENT 7Spark* Monday 7 March 2011
Do you have passion for journalism and an interest in the world of politics? And do you understand the importance of being able to inform, educate and enternatain student readers?
Then why not apply to be the next Political Comment Editor?If you believe you have something to bring to the section, a creative side, or a natural talent for com-
munication, or even if you don’t necessarily think you do, just apply. Should you be successful, you will learn a lot, and you will gain valuable experience and skills in communication.
Please submit an application of no more than 250 words, explaining what you feel you would bring to the section, by Friday 11 March 2011.
The successful applicant will be eased into the role of Politcal Comment Editorjust in time to allow him/her to play a part in editing the last edition of
the spring term, which goes to print on Friday 18 March.Good luck!
For more information or to apply please contact Sarah Rana at [email protected]
JEssICA REEs
As the domino effect of revolution-ary activity across the Middle East reaches Libya, Gaddafi is the latest leader whose position has been rocked and threatened by anti-government protesters.
After gaining control of Libya over 40 years ago in 1969, Gad-dafi is the world’s longest ruling non-royal head of state. since 1969, when 27-year-old army of-ficer Muammar al-Gaddafi staged a
coup d’etat against King Idris with the help of other junior military officers, Gaddafi has headed one of the two branches of government, the branch known as the ‘revolu-tionary sector.’ Unelected, and in power simply because of their involvement in the 1969 revolu-tion, these officials cannot be voted out of office, thus are unrepresen-tative, undemocratic and unconsti-tutional to the wider democratic world. Upset with political cor-ruption and fueled by the success
NATE sAUNdERs
I remember when I first heard about david Cameron’s “Big soci-ety”. The concept gained main-stream attention in the lead up to the last election and seemed, in principle at least, to be a good and noble idea - one that would have perhaps been more acceptable in the fifties than in 2010. How-ever now, approaching a full year since the election, the Big society is coming under criticism from seemingly everyone who has ever had a political opinion.
People can’t understand how the idea works in the wake of the mammoth cuts
Now I can understand that people can’t understand how the idea works in the wake of the mammoth cuts that appear to be happening left, right and centre. Objecting to something for reasons of financial impossibility is completely logi-cal. However, to do what many on the left seem to be doing, and doubt the logistics of empowering people to take more responsibility in the community perhaps sums up exactly how Britain went so wrong under their leadership for the past decade.
I am not making a passionate demand that we all sit under trees making flower necklaces
The Independent columnist, Johnann Hiari, got himself worked up into an over-excited frenzy on the incredibly non-biased and impartial Ten O’Clock News on Channel Four News (if you have never seen the show, you have to watch it to understand I say that
in complete and utter insincerity). Hiari basically questioned whether people had the capacity to open a local school or set up volunteer groups. His objection was nothing to do with financial implications (although he did allude to them), his objection was simply that Cam-eron was a naive out of touch Tory politician who has no idea how ordinary people are.
It is perhaps very revealing that modern day Brits are seemingly incapable of understanding how an empowered volunteer culture would work. We now see ourselves as incapable people, absorbed in our own lives so selfishly that the wider words of community and society no longer mean anything to us. I am not making some passion-ate demand that we all revert to the ways of Communism, or all sit under trees listening to acoustic guitars and making each other necklaces out of flowers.
The truth is, DC probably cannot finance the big society
I just think it is high time that we in Britain throw away the shack-les that have been put on society over the past few decades of big government (yes, I am not simply alluding to New Labour) and re-vert back to post-war fifties-esque spirit that we hear so much about.
say what you want about whether dC can finance the Big society. The truth is, he probably cannot. Not yet anyway. But to question whether such a good idea would work, in a time of moderate hardship (hardship that, bear in mind, is nothing compared to the post-war days of the late forties and early fifties) that we ourselves could contribute to society rather than just leaving it in the sweaty palms of politicians is undermin-ing the core principles that used to mean Brits were able to bounce back from hard times.
Big Society shows us the stiff upper lip
of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt, Libyans have now staged their own uprising and demanded the stepping down of Gaddafi in Libya. Taking over Benghazi amongst other eastern cities, protesters now pose a serious threat that could topple the regime.
Gaddafi has branded those against him “rats and cockroaches”
Echoes are heard of totalitarian rule with talk of press censorship, wrongful imprisonment, punish-ment for speaking out against the regime amongst other fac-tors, echoes which are simply too loud now for Libya, as well as the rest of the world, to ignore. With Obama declaring to Gaddafi that “the world is watching”, alongside the UN threatening to impose
sanctions on Libya, the world hopes Gaddafi will step down, not that his actions so far for the past two weeks are anything to go by. stating that he himself is a fighter, with “no position to resign from”, Gaddafi has branded those against him “rats and cockroaches”, and has boldly declared he will die a martyr before he witnesses the day his regime is defeated.
However, events in Libya are not only having an effect in Libya. As Libya is one of the world’s oil suppliers, analysts are predicting a rise in the price of oil, declaring they are likely to hit the ‘danger zone’ and peak in the next few weeks if the situation in Libya is not resolved soon.
In addition, the stranding of UK citizens in Libya has sparked much criticism of the British govern-ment, with Cameron and Hague rushing to apologise for the delays whilst Clegg ‘forgot’ his duties.
Now that the UK, Us, and other foreign nationals have left Libya, foreign intervention is unlikely to stop there as the media brings to attention the poor conditions that Libyans have been facing under a brutal leader with first hand ac-counts from Libyans crossing the border. Whilst Gaddafi claims he has his “gun and rifle and will fight for Libya,” as more time passes, it becomes more and more apparent that Gaddafi is now fighting for himself, as Libya now fights him and holds high the pre-revolution flag.
I have to admit, when Reading FC hired Brian Mcdermott as man-ager last season, I had very little clue who he was. His appointment made huge sense at the time; a dedicated scout for the club for al-most a decade, it is highly unlikely anyone knew the club as well as he did. On looking into his history, it turned out Mcdermott was prob-ably the best man for the job in more ways than one. A former football player, his career started at Arsenal and took him as far as Sweden for IFK Norrkoping. He is also a Berkshire man, born in Slough. Before taking over the vacant position that Brendon Rodger’s departure created, he had been a scout for the club since 2000, and in that time he has seen the club rise from the fourth-tier of English football right up to the highs of the Premiership.
At the time of this interview, Reading were gearing up for the big FA Cup clash with Everton, which ended a 1-0 victory for the Royals. This means that, for the second season running, Mcder-mott’s Reading side will appear in the quarter finals.
You drew with relegation-threat-ened Crystal Palace last weekend. Do you still believe you can reach the play-offs this season?
“There’s still twelve games to go, and so we have to take every game as it comes...”
I was disappointed with the result to be honest because we have drawn too many games this year, but with the nature of the way the game went you’re 2-0 and then 3-2 down and you get a point, the boys had to show the determination to do that. So on this occasion I would say it was a good point away from home because it’s not been an easy place to go to this season, Crystal Palace have not lost a game at Selhurst Park since No-vember. But if we want to make a play-off push, which I still think we can do, we need to cut out draws like this and finish off teams that are lower down in the league. I would love to sit here and claim we can win all of the remaining games but it would not be help-ful to do so. There’s still twelve
games to go, and so we have to take every game as it comes We still have a big game against Ever-ton to get into the Quarter Finals of the F.A. Cup so right now our focus is on that.
Reading students would love to have a Premiership team on their doorstep again, and you tasted promotion at the club in 2006. How do you feel another promo-tion to the top flight would affect the town?
Well it’s the place to play, everyone wants to play football in the Pre-miership. We had two good years in the league. That first victory [against Middlesbrough] when we were two goals down at half time and went on to win 3-2 was huge, it picked up the players and helped the supporters to believe we could have a special season and we did. We ended up only a few points outside of the European positions which for a team such as Reading, and where we have come from in such a short time, it was quite a great achievement. The fans enjoyed watching us in the Premiership and we certainly felt that we should not have gone down when we did. It gets people
excited to watch a team play and to see those opponents week in week out so of course I think it is a huge boost to everyone in the town.
“I love it here at Reading; I love the fans, the staff and the players”
You spent almost a decade as scout for Reading before becoming manager. Was the transition into management something you had always planned on?
Not really, it was circumstantial to the club basically. After the decision was made on the previ-ous manager, I felt that as I knew the players and the staff so well it would create the stability at the club that they needed at that time. But while it was not something I had necessarily planned does not mean I did not feel I could take up the challenge. Now I just take each day as it comes and try to do the best I can. I love it here at Reading; I love the fans, and the staff, and the players so I think for me to take this job when I did was ideal and hopefully the fans would agree with me when I say it’s go-ing OK so far.
If you had the luxury of a blank cheque book in the world of foot-ball, is there one particular player you would sign?
It is hard to single out one player, but I would say probably Christia-no Ronaldo. But I doubt he would want to come to Reading!
You started off your playing career at Arsenal, do you have a favourite moment or time from your playing career?
Playing in teams that won tro-phies. At Cardiff I won a champi-onship and the Welsh Cup, Exeter I won a championship, Oxford I won a championship, and then play-ing in Europe for Arsenal was a particular highlight. I was at Arsenal for eight years and I was very fond of my time there, but I would not say there is one memory that stands out above the rest.
Do you have any heroes in the footballing world?
Nobody in particular. Obviously people have favourite players and players they admire, and this is certainly the case for me with my playing career.
And finally, you may or may not be aware of the game Football Manager - recently voted one of the most popular computer games for students - but it definitely has quite a following. Do you have any professional managerial advice for students who are playing the game?
A decent get-together in a social area like a pub is often more than enough to change one’s mood from a stress-induced semi-murderous rage to a much happier complexion
Perhaps we even respect people more for having the self-confidence to live life without alcohol; they can do things sober that we can only do drunk
Against ToM puDDy
Let’s face it; drinking is the only way to have fun. Well, the best way anyway. Why else do so many people brave the inevitable drivel, debauchery and awful, awful hang-overs? Without alcohol, why the hell is anyone going to enjoy somewhere so God-awful as a club? The only reason that these nights out are tolerated is entirely down to the availability of alcohol. Without it we’d all be wondering what on earth we were doing in such places, and complaining to the staff to turn the music down. Sport also is infinitely more fun to watch with a tipple or two. The lowering of social inhibitions and the general buzz that it gives makes it much easier and enjoy-able to shout out in celebration, or hurl the most heinous of abuse at the television. It even makes some of the smug, scruffy, overpaid presenters seem slightly less insufferable. That drink makes sport more fun is true across the sporting spec-trum, from darts, to cricket, to Formula 1. Even in the less presti-gious area of “sport” such as WWE wrestling, the otherwise stale prancing and melodrama suddenly becomes entertaining... even if it is still nowhere near believable. Alcohol can even improve a per-son’s performance in sport. Cer-tainly in darts and pool, a pint here or there always helps to steady the aim. Most strikingly, in golf, a couple of pints in the clubhouse to cool down the frustration of some ruddy water hazard or another always makes the back nine far more enjoyable, and much less soul destroying. Then there are the quiet events with friends. Meeting up with a few friends in a bar or a decent pub is for many the highlight of a week. It may not be the most thrilling of events, but a decent get-together in a social area like a pub is often more than enough to change one’s mood from a stress-induced semi-murderous rage to a much happier complexion. This near miraculous cure seems, how-ever, to be significantly lacking
whenever there’s a corresponding lack of drink. There was of course also a time when drinking wasn’t just fun, but also just about the only way of pre-venting death from cholera. With no other efficient way of purifying water it wasn’t so long ago that pretty much everyone spent pretty much all of their time pretty much sloshed. Some of the worst for acohol were the Romans, who despite their sozzeled way of life, brought the aqueduct, sanitation, roads, irrigation, medicine, educa-tion and law and order to much of the world. on top of this, if ever there was a civilization that knew how to have a good time, it was the Romans. But what about the people who don’t drink? The ones who say that they have a perfectly good time off the booze and wouldn’t touch the stuff even if it was bought for them. Well, yes, I’m sure these people are enjoying themselves, but from what I’ve gathered from these people, I’m normally enjoying myself a hell of a lot more. yes, hats off to those of you who stay teetotal, feel free to keep your opinions, thoughts and cash as far from drink as you like, but it is this writer’s humble opinion that the drinkers are hav-ing the most fun. I’m not condoning the dangerous and frequent binge drinking that so often goes on amongst students. on the contrary, it’s entirely that which leads to a night out becom-ing a very, very bad time, and makes a morning become a living hell, but instead to the ever vague “responsible drinker”. It’s simple; drinking too much is a bad thing and can have truly dreadful side effects, and if some of us keep up our high intake for too long then rough mornings will be the least of our worries. But let’s not deny it, almost all of us like a drink and almost all of us have a much better time when we do.So to the ones who know their limits and their boundaries but like me have a slightly Bacchian nature, I say, ‘cheers! Here’s to the good times.’
LuCy ponDER
Being at university, it’s hard to imagine or remember a time when going out didn’t include alcohol. As students it is part of our culture to drink alcohol; it’s cheap, it’s pro-moted everywhere and everyone is doing it. We drink before we go out and we drink during. It is very rare to ever meet a student that does not drink alcohol; they are an anomaly in our culture. But are these people missing out? Do they still have fun whilst not having to endure the agony the next morn-ing? For loads of us it is difficult to comprehend, but for others it is part of everyday life. For them, drinking isn’t the only way to have fun and sometimes it can actually impair the quality of a night. Everyone has fun in a differ-ent way; not surprising as we are all so different. For some, it comes from playing FIFA with your housemates, and for some it is never-ending whilst shopping. Maybe it will come from getting a tattoo or reading a novel. often peer groups will reflect what you enjoy doing. If you are friends with like-minded individuals then your passions and enjoyments can be encouraged. Fun then, can be found in these ways. For example if you are a climber, going for a hike with a group of friends and gaining a natural high of the endorphins may be really good fun. or, if you are a huge movie fan, going to the cinema will be fun. This is probably an example of one of those situa-tions where alcohol would actually impair your enjoyment; you don’t want to pay £6 for a blurry film. Socialising doesn’t have to equate to being drunk. Being surrounded by people you enjoy spending time with and can laugh with can be really good fun. There are a hun-dred different activities you could enjoy without alcohol and many where it would just be futile. Many people have to stop drink-ing for medical reasons. Most antibiotics cease to be as effective when mixed with alcohol and if you are pregnant you are advised not to drink. Does this mean that your life stops being fun, or that
you are counting down the days when inebriation can be achieved once more? of course not. you enjoy life with everything it has in and out of it. When forcibly unable to drink, the possibilities of having fun without alcohol are opened up much more, and you realise how much fun you can have without drinking. of course some people choose not to drink for social, religious or moral reasons. Do we then, as the drinking majority, presume these people have less fun in their lives? Again this seems absurd. We think no more of someone choosing not to drink than someone choosing not to smoke or take narcotics. We appreciate that for that person having fun doesn’t need to include alcohol. perhaps we even respect them more for having the self-con-fidence to live life without alcohol; they can do things sober that we can only do drunk. perhaps then, alcohol is too normal in our lives. We all know how bad it makes us feel after-wards, and how much money we can spend on it, not to mention the dreaded deeds we do under the influence. How many have looked at our phones the morning after and cringed? And we have all experienced having fun without it. Think of the last time you were in uncontrollable laughter with your friends whilst sober. Was it any less fun than when you did it drunk? I’m guessing laughing whilst sober was just as much fun but you remembered why you were laughing. perhaps what you’re laughing about will even be funny! I think drinking can help you to have fun, but we are all aware that it is not the only way to have fun. Individually, we each find differ-ent ways to enjoy ourselves and it certainly doesn’t have to have a dependency on alcohol. It could even be said that the fun times we have whilst sober are even better, as we are being true to ourselves under no influence but our own personality. We should all find an inner confidence that means hav-ing a laugh doesn’t need to include alcohol.
When i graduate this year i am going to miss the atmosphere of university and being on campus, the hive of activity and never ending events. i will miss being involved with Spark* and look forward to nabbing the odd copy to keep updated!
luCy ChAMlEy
i’m definitely going to miss the clubs and societies. Sure, i’ll miss my friends, but i’ll see them again. On the other hand, i’ll probably never again dance on stage, have my own radio show or feel so proud when i read the newspaper that i’ve helped to edit and see my name in print.
lOu pruCE
i’m going to miss my housemates the most. After my best friend Madi left for Oklahoma as part of her course, i somehow ended up living with four boys. yes, my small feet and i have often ended up at the sink whilst they watch football, but i wouldn’t change them for the world!
lizziE pOlliNgTON
university is a place for learning, stressing and writing essays. But that’s not all it’s about. My favou-rite parts of my university life are the extra-curricular activities i do. When i graduate, i am going to miss most being the president of Tap and Modern Club and editing on the Spark* team.
STuArT WOOd
i will probably miss ru:ON the most out of my time here at read-ing. it was a crazy idea in my second year but it has turned out rather successful and i wish the new Station Manager good luck for next year! Another bit i’ll miss about reading is the campus.
MAT grEENfiEld
i’ll miss the chances for a good lie in! Nowhere except univer-sity can you wake up at noon and still have time to snooze for a bit before you have to so much as think about getting up. Nine to five every weekday sounds dreadfully monotonous!
University - every day begins with the snooze-button
ViCky WONg
Cafe Mondial. Every week since my second year myself and two of my classmates would go to Cafe Mondial to grab a coffee and muf-fin after our seminars. We tend to chat about anything and every-thing, but most of the time we do just talk about nuclear wars and espionage.
BEN fOx
What i’ll miss most about universi-ty are the opportunities. Nowhere else are there so many different societies and sports clubs to get involved with. My time on the committee of kickboxing and the chance to be an editor of Spark* have been some of the most re-warding things i’ve been a part of.
I will miss using the excuse ‘I’m a student’ for everything
AilEEN lAThEEf
it’s hard to just pick one thing, but one of them would be walking to classes with my friend whom i’ve known since first year now. it’s always great having a chat on the way to class, although he probably won’t miss me making him late to everything all the time.
AluN WhEATlEy
After leaving university i am going to miss the unique learning environment the most. Where else in the world do you have the ability to find experts on any number of subjects; where else are there libraries that stock texts and journals as in depth as those found in a campus library? But at least i won’t have to write essays then.
JACk BOWyEr
The thing i’ll miss most about university is seeing all the people i have got to know every day. despite living near to some of my university friends, i still won’t be able to see them anywhere near as regularly as i do now. Another big miss will be having most of my days free, the world of work won’t be quite so kind.
I’ll miss girly nights in watching movies
ruTh kEEBlE
i’ll miss seeing my housemates everyday. Especially the girly nights in, watching movies and eating takeaways. i don’t want to leave my university bubble and venture out in to the ‘real world’. i will also most definitely miss using the excuse ‘Well, i am a student’ for absolutely everything.
TOM STuTTAfOrd
i’ll miss the amount of free time that i can spend with friends; be-ing able to go out any night of the week and not worry about getting up early in the morning.
JESSiCA rEES
gone will be the days of the oh-so-beautiful NuS card and Topshop discount. gone will be the union, living with your best friends and sleeping during the day. gone will be late night essay writing on the fourth floor, Spark* and Mojo’s.
MArk WhilEy
definitely not the degree itself, al-though working may be something i miss for other reasons! i’ve had so much fun here being involved in student societies: campaign-ing with friends (nearly getting chucked off Bulmershe) and socialising with people i’d never have met if it wasn’t for university.
EMily ShAW
Travel Society has been a massive part of my time at reading. i am going to miss nights filled with fairtrade chocolate, impossible travel quizzes, hearing members’ travel tales and so on. Travel Soci-ety 2010-2011 has been an unfor-gettable adventure.
World of work won’t be quite as kind
rAChEl BEddEr
i’ll miss the comfort of always being surrounded by people who are in the same place in life as you. if anything gets to serious or hard you can always hide away in your student house and fall back on friends and grants.
BEN rOgErS
university has been a great time of my life and these have definitely been three years that i will never forget. i will sorely miss the sense of community that is found on campus and the close friends i have made during my time here.
SOphiE BlACkMAN
i will miss the long open-ended days that we students can fill as we wish. As an English finalist, i only have four hours per week, and de-ciding exactly when to eat, work, sleep and chill is a university luxury. i doubt the 3pm power-nap will go down well in a 9-5 working environment.
MATT hArriS
i guess what i’ll miss most about university are the friends i’ve made here. i know with facebook, it’s much easier to keep in touch than it was for our parents, but it won’t be the same when everyone spreads out all over the country!
What will you miss most after you leave university?
MuNA hAMdE
i will miss the two ducks. The library alarm. Trying to find a table at Mojo’s during lunchtime. The big clock in palmer building. Sitting in the sun in the summer term. SifE! SifE! SifE and SifE! - a society that completely changed me for the better!
NABEEl AfzAl
university life - where every day begins with the snooze-button. Af-ternoon naps, takeaways and hours freely burnt with people i truly love. Countless stories, some that i dare not share, the happy and the hard times, i will treasure the memories til my dying day... uni life, i will miss you.
riO MAziNO
i’ll miss the bagel shop, the colours at the union, all my friends be-cause i don’t think we’ll ever be together like this again, and i’ll miss education (mad i know).
What I’ll miss most are the opportunities
liBBy hOldErNESS
Approaching the end of my ter-tiary education, i am aware of the challenges, support and friends i have made over the seven years. Being partly based in the ‘real world’ now, it won’t be that much of a jump. however, the memo-ries etched on my mind will last a lifetime.
AdAM hArTlEy
What i will miss the most is getting involved in student led activities. Whether that be sports or societies. Most of all i think i’ll miss the noise on campus and the likelihood of bumping into people you haven’t spoken to in weeks.
It has finally come to the end of our time editing the Com-ment and Debate sections. Next week our two new edi-tors Lucy Ponder and Kerrie Black will be taking over and we have full confidence that they will look after you well.A massive thank you to all of the awesome articles we have received from all of
you. Editing them has always been great fun and extremely interesting. We hope all of you carry on writing more in the future and make Lucy and Kerrie’s job as fun (and easy) as ours. Thank you very much again and don’t forget to keep read-ing Spark*. Bye guys!
What are YOU looking forward to the most after graduation?BEN fOx
I am excited to finally begin my career after so long in education. Many are worried they won’t find a job but I’m feeling pretty optimis-tic. I was fully set on a graduate career; you know – work your way up in an organisation, maybe be a manager one day and earn six figures. But I realised that my real passion is being a personal trainer – and I’ll forge my career in that industry any way I can until I stop loving what I do. In my humble opinion – if you always do what you love, everything else will fall into place.
LIBBy hOLDErNEss
The release from education her-alds a new era. for the first time, there won’t be essays to write or exams to take. Evenings will be more visible as they no longer include last-minute deadlines, but will also be devoid of an extraor-dinarily wide range of societies. I will have to pay full fare for train tickets, no longer have ‘free’ money from the bank, and be excluded from student discounts and deals. There will be frequent dilemmas of whether to reduce the number of late night sing-a-longs or risk instant dismissal.
jON ErrIDgE
After I graduate, I would love to walk straight into the job of my dreams; who wouldn’t? Unfor-tunately though, there’s every possibility that won’t happen. so I must be prepared for the worst. I must be ready to stack shelves, sweep floors, clean toilets... OK maybe I’m going a bit far, but you see what I’m saying.
so I will enter the ‘real world’ in a state of mild pessimism, knowing that jobs are few and far between, and knowing that there are many other graduates in the same posi-tion. so come on, all together now: “We’re all in this together!”...
ChrIs rOBErTs
Being a second year, gradua-tion seems an small event in the future which I can safely leave in the back of my mind. In reality, it’s a much more relevant occa-sion which isn’t too far away and represents moving onto the next stage of life, one we’re constantly advised to prepare for; full-time employment. Despite the rather scary notion of moving out into the ‘real world’, it’s something I look on with optimism, although I’m certainly in no hurry to rush through the next year and a half of my university experience.
LIzzIE POLLINgTON
graduating isn’t quite round the corner for me, but with all the talk about my dissertation at the mo-ment, it is definitely on my mind! I think what I am looking forward to the most about life after univer-sity - the distinct lack of exams. As much as I love what I study, and although I will miss reading university like crazy when I gradu-ate, I am looking forward to having money in the bank, a job I love (thanks to a degree I love) and a life free of revision, but hopefully still full of friends, fancy dress and fun.
LUCy rIChArDs
I am most looking forward to reading what I want to read. As an English student, I am enslaved to compulsory reading lists. for once, I can trawl through Water-stone’s ‘3 for 2’ offers and, ide-ally, buy 12 for 8... to start with! The few times I have read a book for pleasure at university have been followed by an awful sense of guilt. The coming months (and probably years) will include various commutes. The thought of dipping into untouched paperbacks during these journeys makes this an exciting opportunity. This will be the best of times, not the worst.
rAChEL BEDDEr
I have no idea what I’ll do after university, but it’s not a case of me lacking in ideas! In some ways I’m looking forward to being com-pletely lost in the world with the freedom to do anything or live any-where. Although youth unemploy-ment rates are frighteningly high, I always figure I could stop-gap as something romantic like a wait-ress or teaching assistant. I have an idea that I want to change the world one way or another, doing something like designing prisoner rehabilitation programmes utilis-ing literature and art or becoming a Dj.
AILEEN LAThEEf
for me, life after university is all about choice. One of the biggest decisions is deciding if I want to try and find a job in England or go back to the Maldives. After having lived in England for almost five years, it is not an easy deci-sion, and once decided (given the stricter visa regulations), it might be irrevocable.
having said that, I am hoping to do a Masters course, so further studies beckon. Who knows what will happen in the future after that? But that’s part of the excite-ment.
A mature student’s thoughtsrIChArD MCKENzIE
Leaving university when I fin-ished my first degree seemed like a step into the dark. It took me from 18 years of education into a new unknown world of finding a graduate job, buying my first flat, and after a series of disastrous relationships, meeting the woman of my dreams, getting married and having children. sounds a bit mundane written down, but that description hides a series of ups and downs that were infinitely more difficult and exciting than anything I saw at university.
Finishing my first degree was not a full stop, it was a brief comma
It hides amazing my colleagues with my fluent russian, losing a baby through miscarriage, exploit-ing new business opportunities and getting my name on a patent. My average-sounding post-university experience camouflages the time my family became homeless, fantastic holidays, the occasional huge salary bonus, breaking my
leg so badly I will limp for the rest of my life, exciting business meet-ings and being made redundant three times.
After university, I have lived abroad, stood for Parliament, spent far too many nights work-ing beyond midnight, and most recently studying for a PhD.
Post-university life is infinitely more difficult and exciting
finishing my first degree was not a full stop, it was a brief comma on the way to a future far richer, tougher and more varied than anything I had seen or believed possible when I was an undergrad thinking about the future.
Be inspiredAILEEN LAThEEf
sometimes, it isn’t not easy to look on the positive side of things. We might face job rejections and many more hurdles. There are days when, no matter what anyone else says, it is just hard to remain optimistic. The glass is just half empty!
however, I believe that with the right attitude and mindset, any-thing is possible. As young gradu-ates, we have the whole world to experience. The opportunities are endless. We just need to be able to open our eyes and find them. There’s good in everything. It’s up to us if we decide to look out for it or not. All of us seem to have the same fears about leaving our protective bubbles and stepping out into the ‘real world’.
I leave you with a couple of quotes on aiming high and setting goals.
“Even if I don’t reach all my goals, I’ve gone higher than I would have if I hadn’t set any” - Danielle Fotopoulis
“If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin” - Ivan Turgenev
underused that he is basically non-existent, and his gang are not quite what you’d expect either. Further-more, one or two scenes that put you on the edge of your seat would have been nice; although the film thankfully isn’t totally lacking in this regard. The genre itself is also something of a limitation. After all, one could rightly argue that True Grit is little more than a film about macho guys riding
around the desert on horses, light-ing campfires whilst comparing their skill with the phallic symbols that are their pistols – but it does it so well. If you like Westerns, you should like this film, but even if you don’t, there’s still plenty in the way of sharp dialogue and memo-rable characters. Coming on the back of some remarkable films, True Grit has unfortunately brought up the rear
in terms of Oscars this year, but certainly not in terms of entertain-ment. By now, we know who won what, but I really think history should have repeated itself and seen Bridges win Best Actor for playing Cogburn, just as Wayne did. As for Steinfeld, Oscar or none, she’s definitely a future star.
FILM NEWS IN BRIEF - No prizes for guessing who won all (or at least many) of the Oscars. Yup, The King’s Speech stole the show. Big surprise!
Never let me GoDirector: Mark RomanekStarring: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira KnightleyRunning Time: 103 MinsGenre: Drama/ Sci-FiHAyLey GARWOOD
Never Let me Go, Mark Romanek’s first film since One Hour Photo, has been somewhat overlooked, both by awards and its general re-ception, by Tom Hooper’s BAFTA winner The King’s Speech or Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. This is not a film to be neglected, but could certainly be compared to the other Oscar nominees, and deserves acclaim for the sheer
risk taken in developing Kazuo Ishiguro’s astounding novel into a feature film. From the shoes of Cathy H we are told the story of her life and friendships, or what is actually more of a love triangle between herself (Mulligan), Ruth (Knightley) and Tommy (Garfield, The Social Network).
Set in an alternate 1970s Brit-ain, Cathy starts her scene in the seemingly respectable Hailsham House School, where they sing hymns of a ‘dreamland’ and the headmistress (Charlotte Ram-pling) discourages smoking. What is so different about this? Well, director Romanek makes no secret about the plot; these students are ‘special’ and will only live very short lives.
Miss Lucy (Sally Hawkins) puts her career on the line to tell these children that they are being deceived and were born as clones, with the purpose of donating their vital organs. Despite this seem-ingly science fiction twist to the narrative, the film is portrayed with absolute realism as we travel with Cathy, Ruth and Tommy through their tragically short lives.
The film is less concerned with
the idea of cloning, and more so with how the characters spend their remaining time with each other. The British sea-side settings of Norfolk and Devon definitely deserve a mention here, providing a beautiful and unchang-ing backdrop to aid the natural aspects of the plot.
This film deserves acclaim for sheer risk-taking
Mulligan’s stunning performance as a concerned and kind-hearted friend adds immensely to the gentle subtleties of the film. She handles her fate with a composure that starkly opposes Garfield’s boyish fits of rage; fits that are enough to make even the coldest heart ache. The award-winning score by Rachel Portman hovers in the background, only rising in emotion at the points when we see Tommy, not as a clone or a donor, but as a young man robbed of life.
you can’t help but wonder why these characters remain so passive after discovering their betrayal, and simply resign themselves
to their ‘purpose’. Perhaps it would be better for a little rebel-lion against the security tagging authority, whoever they may be. But wouldn’t that undermine the intent of Ishiguro’s novel, which is to parallel the characters’ lives to our own? Whilst we as viewers are expected to live a lot longer than Cathy, we are united in that “maybe none of us really under-stand what we lived through, or feel that we had enough time”.
Although the film, and its mes-sage are philosophically poignant, you can’t help but feel emotionally distant from the world of Cathy, Tommy and Ruth. There is sad-ness, not in the mourning of a real situation, but instead for the film’s relevance. It is hard to find this fictional concept truly moving, as this solution to cancer would, real-istically, never be used in today’s society.
I think what Never Let Me Go is really getting at is that, however far fetched the fictional concept may seem, if it were real, would mankind passively accept this injustice and just pity the ‘poor creatures’?
True GritDirectors: Coen BrothersStarring: Jeff Bridges, Hailee SteinfeldRunning Time: 110 MinsGenre: WesternMARK GRAHAM
The Coen brothers now seem to be part of the furniture at awards season, and it is little surprise that their latest offering, True Grit, a remake of the 1969 classic starring John Wayne, is one of several films this year to have been showered with Oscar nominations. The Coens (No Country for Old Men), Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) and the marvellous newcomer Haillee Steinfeld have each received nods, as well as the film receiv-ing nominations for Best Picture and Screenplay – both hallmarks of a great film. But is all the hype justified?
Mostly yes, I believe. True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross (Steinfeld), a feisty 14-year-old girl seeking to avenge the cold-blooded murder of her father by a notori-ous criminal (Brolin). Inexpe-rienced in such matters, Mattie hires the help of Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Damon) and a seem-ingly washed-out drunkard of a US Marshal named Rooster Cogburn
(Bridges). Cogburn is the sort of cop whose ‘shoot first, ask ques-tions later’ attitude would give the IPCC of today nightmares, but this makes him precisely the sort of man that Mattie needs. Much to the initial annoyance of these ‘old timers’, the wilful and stub-born girl is eventually allowed to accompany them on their perilous journey to capture Brolin – dead or alive. On the way, all three have to prove their grit in one way or another.
The first thing the filmmakers have done right here is the casting: Steinfeld, Bridges and Damon are all fantastic in their roles. Bridg-es, for one, dons the character of the charismatic Cogburn with as much ease as his cowboy boots. The real star, though, is Steinfeld, who dominates every scene with her hilarious and touching por-trayal of Mattie. Content-wise, the film has some good shoot outs, great cinematography of the Wild West landscape, as well as a truly wicked sense of humour – as all good Westerns should. you soon find yourself rooting for the heroes in more ways than one as their friendships outgrow their initial premise and Mattie finds a new father figure in Cogburn.
However, True Grit would definitely have benefited from a more genuine sense of threat from its villains. Indeed, Brolin is so
FILM NEWS IN BRIEF - If you haven’t had enough of Toy Story yet (who has?!) then look out for a new short; Hawaiian Vacation, out before Cars 2 ...
This Fortnight at the RFT...SPECIAL EVENT!
Tomorrow night, an absolute classic of the silent era comes to the RFT in Palmer G10. Don’t miss Nosferatu (1922), a movie about a vampire with an eerie, gothic feel, that will be accompanied (as it would have been in the old days), by a live orchestra. This is
one cinematic experience not to be missed! Apart from that, head on down to watch Oscar favourites True Grit, Black Swan and The
King’s Speech ...
Tuesday 8 March (20.00): SPECIAL EVENT: Nosferatu (PG)Thursday 10 March (19:45) True Grit (15)Tuesday 15 March (20:00): Black Swan (15)Thursday 17 March (19:45): The King’s Speech (12A)Prices:
Members & Students £4.00
Non-members £5.50
Annual Membership £9.00
PaulDirector: Greg MottolaStarring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Sigourney Weaver, Jason BatemanRunning Time: 104 MinsGenre: Adventure/Comedy/Sci-FiLIzzIe PoLLINGToN
Paul is the story of two lifelong friends who go on the holiday of their dreams; San Diego’s Comic-Con, followed by a tour of all of the alien conspiracy-related sites America has to offer. on this tour they meet Paul, a real living and breathing alien, and they set out
to help him on his mysterious mis-sion.
You truly do believe that there is an alien riding in an RV
The film is the brain child of British comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Although their two previous writing endeavours, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, were also of the “buddy film” style, there is something a little bit different and utterly entertain-ing about Paul. of course, it is a completely different plot and sub-genre to their prior films, but it definitely seems to be the next homage in the series. There
are moments that feel like truly personal praise for their much-loved childhood television and film experiences.
The characters that Pegg and Frost play are very endearing, despite the potentially off-putting fact that they are seriously hard core comic book geeks whose only aim in life is to meet their favourite science fiction novelist. Although they seem quite pathetic at the start of the film, you can’t help but love them and get carried away with them on their bizarre adventure.
There is something a little bit different and utterly entertaining about Paul
The casting of Seth Rogen as the title character is inspired, and he brings the CGI creation to life in a way no-one else could. His really quite unique brand of comedy works incredibly well with his extra-terrestrial character and makes Paul the kind of alien you would love to meet. The special effects are very convincing and you truly do believe that there is an alien riding in an RV, and are, in fact, jealous that it isn’t your RV he’s riding in.
The plot, which I won’t spoil, is slightly predictable. The main events of the film are nothing new
and you pretty much know what is going to happen within about 20 minutes of the film starting. Hav-ing said that, there are a couple of titillating twists and turns to keep you occupied, and this con-ventional plot is far from boring. The comedy in Paul is genuinely fantastic. Ranging from the witty to the sarcastic, and visiting the downright ridiculous along the way, it keeps you laughing from start to finish.
The characters are very endearing
Some of the more specialist sci-ence fiction references may go over some people’s heads, but they
are couched in a way that is still entertaining for those that are not a part of that world. As a sci-fi geek it is that little bit more enter-taining, especially one particular scene that re-enacts a very famous Star Trek moment in a gloriously funny way.
Although Paul is not likely to win any awards for cinematography or outstanding acting, it is thoroughly entertaining and definitely worth seeing.
It is brilliant to see British writ-ers collaborating with such well known American actors. The humour might get a little bit silly for some tastes but for me, Paul has it all.
Sky AtlanticPATRICk RyNNe
Those of you whose television package includes Sky Atlantic are likely to have already benefit-ted from the exquisite viewing experience it provides. The latest addition to Sky’s endless portfolio of channels rises head and shoul-ders above the rest in the quality stakes, simply because what they have done is to select the shows at the very pinnacle of modern American drama, buy the distribu-tion rights and fuse them together into one colourful and brilliant concoction of compulsive viewing. There is no room for mediocrity or the banal reality shows that poison other networks, because this chan-nel is exclusively for American drama and comedy.
Sky Atlantic has acquired the rights to some of the latest, excit-ing new dramas such as Board-walk Empire, Blue Bloods and Treme, all of which have had huge success, but the true strength of this new channel is the access to the entire back-catalogue of Home Box office (HBo)– the US cable giant. In some ways, HBo is the American sister of the BBC; they both charge an annual fee; they don’t show adverts; and respect for the audience precedes cynical
money-grabbing (Simon Cowell take a bow).
But the similarities end there because the quality of the drama that HBo produces is both pre-eminent and prolific; members of the emmy panel have only half-jokingly suggested that a separate awards ceremony be set-up just for HBo because they were wrap-ping up almost every statuette. Ironically, the recent exception to that rule is Mad Men, a product of AMC, but fear not, because Sky has also bought the rights to this programme; whilst the scheduling is dominated by HBo shows, Sky has cleverly selected the other net-works’ magnum opuses, or the best of the rest.
The centrepiece of Sky Atlantic’s aggressive advertising campaign is Boardwalk Empire, a wonder-fully deep and mesmerising prohibition-era drama produced by Martin Scorsese and star-ring Steve Buscemi. The critical response has been hugely positive and the show recently won two top awards at the Golden Globes.
Whilst such new shows may initially entice viewers, the real test of the channel’s endurance will be in its ability to continuously broadcast high-quality television every night of the week, a battle it is likely to win as the acquisition of the HBo back catalogue in-cludes shows such as The Sopranos
and The Wire. Mad Men is also considered by many as a competi-tor in waiting for that particular distinction.
In a nutshell, Sky have made an incredibly slick move; gain-ing some of the best programmes on television and simultane-ously nicking previous terrestrial broadcasts Mad Men (BBC4) and Entourage (ITV2). The impact of this has apparently been an initial rush of subscriptions for the full Sky package, but the full implica-tions will not be understood for a while to come.
But what about the repercussions for British drama? The likely as-sumption is that subscribers will not be snubbing Boardwalk Em-pire for Downton Abbey reruns, so where does that leave homemade drama? Perhaps the more direct competition will encourage British producers to up their game, or perhaps they will lose viewers. Sky has increased its own drama budget, but will it be enough to genuinely compete?
The reality is that Sky Atlantic is the result of a ‘golden-age’ in screenwriting that has seen the US pull far ahead of the rest of the world in the quality stakes; and a look at the huge numbers of British actors, writers and produc-ers working within the American television industry is both proud and worrying.
FILM NEWS IN BRIEF - More Superman rumours! Kevin Costner and Viggo Mortensen may join the cast as Supe’s adoptive father and villain respectively.
Human PlanetDirectors: Nicolas Brown, Mark Flowers, Tom Hugh-Jones, Tuppence StoneStarring: John Hurt (narrator)Episode Length: 60 minsGenre: DocumentaryTHoM DIxoN
The BBC’s fantastic line in globe-spanning natural documenta-ries has finally reached what is probably the most intelligent and diverse species on Earth; human kind.
Human Planet looks into the lives of those communities of hu-mans which live on the brink, right alongside mother nature, where every day becomes a battle to sur-vive. From the horse-taming clans of the Mongol Steppe, to
the Dorobo hunters of Kenya who must face hungry lions in order to feed their families, this series is epic in its proportions. It tells the stories of its subjects with both compassion and respect, allowing the viewer a glimpse into the lives of those who live a million miles away from Facebook and Star-bucks, those who get by on their wits and their instincts, whose sole aim each day is to provide for their families and communities.
HH
EpisodesCreated by: David Crane, Jeffrey KlarikStarring: Matt LeBlanc, Stephen Mangan, Tamsin GreigGenre: Comedy/DramaJaMES FITzGEraLD
Depending on just how deliberate-ly you believe Episodes satirises the disparity in British and ameri-can comedic tastes will govern your perception of its success. The irony that its american writ-ers, Friends masterminds David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, do not quite nail ‘our’ sense of humour, makes for a comedy which is more likely to alienate all parties than to entertain.
on paper, Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan (both of Green Wing) do make an extremely funny British couple – especially if that couple also writes sitcoms. Sum-moned by the Hollywood bigwigs to remake their hit show stateside, the Lincolns collide with an alien culture of decadence and hedo-nism in the television industry they enter.
The plot smacks of ricky Ger-vais’s Extras, but unlike Gervais’s shows, Episodes is not about to
be remade anywhere soon. No, the show has been contrived to reconcile rather than aggravate anglo-american comedy rela-tions. Pucks!, the unsympathetic, americanised remake of the Lincoln’s classy comedy-drama, parodies all the comedic losses in translation through the years. But in quite carefully patronising the Brits with a laboured, unwittingly mocking, and – yes - americanised pastiche of their style, Episodes is rather a confused hybrid. It is one that timidly laughs at everything else - on one side, the Lincolns’ ac-cents (but of course), on the other, the airy-headed TV executives – but never enough at itself. Caught in the middle of the culture clash is Matt LeBlanc, cast in the lead role of Pucks!, much to the Brits’ horror.
Too often stagnates
The more purposeful ironies which he allows work nicely. LeBlanc is warmly teased by just about everyone about his Joey days, with plenty of ‘how you doing’s. The usual groans are emitted from LeBlanc - a fictionalised version of his real self - for he isn’t that same typecast, aging lothario/actor... is he? Well, after those heady,
million-dollar paydays of Friends, real-life LeBlanc lives Joey’s dream to the full: to not have to do anything unless he really feels like it. His enthusiasm for Episodes is a little confusing, then, given his desire to shake the spectre of that infamous TV alter-ego. In fact, LeBlanc has all but been asked to reprise the role of Joey.
Joey, that is, with a new compen-dium of swear words to relate his transgressions. The unnervingly slow pace of Episodes milks every
last moment of crudeness, of drunken sexual misadventure, all in the name of ‘revealing’ the de-bauchery of Hollywood. Nothing particularly new here – and rather than dig into that Hollywood psyche, the earthy humour is left lingering pointlessly. The perpet-ual British sarcasms of Greig and Mangan become equally tedious, as the couple are devoted an ex-cess of attention at the expense of a characterful supporting cast, many of whom are written well.
The impression is of uncertainty, of a want of ambition as potential-ly funny territory goes uncharted. Had its pace and drama been consistently at the level of its win-some final episode, Episodes might truly have captured the Hollywood whirlwind it purports to satirise. as it is, it too often stagnates and dwells on which side of the atlantic it should unconvincingly ridicule more.
The series is split into eight hour-long episodes, each focussing on a different environment in which humans have managed to make a life for themselves against all odds. Whether it be the parched desert or endless ocean, human-ity has carved a niche for itself in every environment on the planet.
Technology may be wiping out what was truly beautiful about our species
among the highlights of the series so far have been the treetop dwell-ing Korowai of Papua New Guinea, who are filmed as they build a huge treehouse some 30 metres up from the jungle floor. another highlight is the Bajau, who live on houseboats in the South Pacific. some of their people will never set foot on land. and they have the ability to free dive for two and a half minutes, up to 20 metres deep, on a single breath.
Such a series, of course, could not follow the lives of humans without inevitably filming those other species which they both live alongside and compete against.
The Kazakh hunters, for example, catch golden eagle chicks and train them to aid them in hunting foxes in the mountains of Western Mongolia, while children in the jungles of Venezuela take on goli-ath birdeaters, the world’s largest spiders, which they cook over a fire like marshmallows.
The impact that our own lives have upon the lives of those who live in the wild places is also a ma-jor point made by this series. The dying art of igloo building and the ever-dwindling traditions of the Masai are shown in sharp relief as a reminder that globalisation and the advance of technology may be wiping out what was truly beauti-ful about our species in the first place: the fact that we once had no real need for computers or cars, only our primal instincts and the basic skills that we are so close to losing altogether.
Thie series is nearing its end on BBC1 right now, so catch it on iP-layer while you can; as this second term drags onward, we could all use a little perspective, and this is an excellent way of getting some. More than this: it just makes you feel proud to be human.
HHHHH
Steven HowSe
on the biggest night in the Hol-lywood calendar, it was the British smash hit, The King’s Speech, that ran away with the the spoils - four in total. whilst being an ultimately predictable night, it was a triumph nonetheless, as almost all the awards were presented to the most deserving performances.
The King’s Speech was the night’s big winner, beating off hot rival The Social Network for Best Picture and Director. the only suprise of the night was when The King’s Speech beat Chris nolan’s masterpiece Inception to Best original Screenplay.
the hosts didnt disappoint either; Hathaway and Franco injected a fresh sense of youthful exuber-ance into the proceedings, taking the reins on an altogether fabulous evening.
Best Picture: The King’s Speech
Best Actor in Leading Role: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
Best Actress In a Leading Role: natalie Portman, The Black Swan
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Director: tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Best Original Screenplay: The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Cinematography: Inception
Best Editing: The Social Network
Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland
Best Makeup: The Wolfman
Best Score: Social Network
Best Original Song: Toy Story 3
Best Sound Editing: Inception
Best Visual Effects: Inception
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Best Foreign Language Film: In A Better World
Best Documentary Feature: Inside Job
Best Documentary Short: Strangers No More
A note from Rosi and LouIntroducing our new Film Editors! Yes, after a whole year of editing the film section of Spark*, we are moving on to new pastures. Don’t be too sad though, we are leaving
you in the capable hands of Steven Howse and Thom Dixon. I’m sure
they’ll do an even better job than we have, although we will miss you all! Good luck to our two new editors.
FILM NEWS IN BRIEF - Prince of Persia star Jake Gyllenhaal is interested in taking over from Matt Damon as the new star of the Bourne series...
Top Ten Oscar Snubs
Steven HowSe
1) Stanley Kubrickone of the greatest directors
ever, Stanley Kubrick made a perfect film in every genre. while
he may have missed out to such great films as One Flew over the
Cuckoo’s Nest and The French Con-nection, the Academy seriously missed the boat with this one.
2) Pacino, Duvall and Caan How was it that Joel Grey’s
minimal supporting role as the singing emcee of Cabaret could be considered to outact the jug-gernauts that are The Godfather
supporting cast is a crime against film?
3) Saving Private Ryanthis Spielberg epic lost to pos-
sibly the worst film ever to win Best Picture, Shakespeare in Love, rounding off a decade of bad oscar
choices.
4) Martin ScorceseHad he not won in 2006 this
would have been the biggest blem-ish on the oscars reputation ever. It took Scorcese 26 years before the Academy finally bowed and
gave him an award.
5. Taxi DriverDespite creating one of the most recognisable movie scenes ever, not only did this film fail to earn Scorcese a nomination for Best
Director, it lost out on Best Picture to Rocky.
6. The Dark Knightwho could deny that The Dark
Knight was the best film of 2008? while Slumdog Millionaire de-
serves respect, The Dark Knight was superior, yet failed to even
receive a nomination.
7. The Shawshank Redemption
one of the most hotly contested years in the history of the oscars, The Shawkshank Redemption lost out to Forrest Gump despite being
no.1 on the IMDb top 250 best films ever.
8. Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark estab-
lished the legendary character of Indiana Jones and cemented its place in film history, yet did not get the recognition it deserved.
9. Amélieone of the most well known
foreign films of the last 10 years this film missed out on the Best
Foreign Language Film gong, in a year it was almost certain to win.
10. Leonardo DiCaprioover the last 20 years, has there ever been a more hard-working and oscar-deserving actor than Leonardo DiCaprio? Hopefully the Academy have learnt their lesson from Scorcese and will
soon reward DiCaprio’s incredible contributions to cinema.
This fortnight atAfter the circus that was the awards season, Vue is returning to the classic thrillers and action flicks
that draw in the viewers. Battle: Los Angeles explodes onto our screens on 11 March, and Liam Neeson is back with Unknown (4 March), carrying on from the buzz created by last years smash hit Taken. For something a little more light-hearted, Owen Wilson teams up with the Farrelly Brothers
for Hall Pass (11 March). Finally, there is a special screening of the hit dance show Lord of the Dance
in full 3D on 13 March and 17 March.
Prices:Student: £5.15 (Mon- Thurs start times before 5pm)
£6.25 (Mon- Thurs start times after 5pm, Fri start times before 5pm)
£6.95 (Sat and Sun, Fri start times after 5pm)
(must provide NUS card)
Teen (13-18): £4.85/ £5.80/ £6.50 (must provide proof of age, e.g. passport)
MUSIC NEWS Peaches Wainman questions the diversity of Glastonbury’s headliners
PeaCheS WaInMan
Most people are probably aware that U2, Coldplay and Beyoncé have been announced as the main headline acts for Glastonbury 2011. after Jay Z headlined Glastonbury a couple of years back, and successfully won over the crowds, it should come as no surprise that the eavis’ would want to repeat that runaway suc-cess. however, I was left feeling slightly puzzled after reading that emily eavis booked Beyoncé to keep Glastonbury “diverse.” I just couldn’t disagree more, and this is why.
Firstly, why do we need an R&B star to keep Glastonbury diverse? For the record, I’m not exactly a fan of Beyoncé but I would argue that there are plenty more diverse forms of music out there besides R&B. I can’t seem to recall any metal acts in Glastonbury’s history (although I may be wrong about this) being booked to headline the festival.
Secondly, for an R&B star it is perhaps fair to say that Beyoncé is an obvious choice, especially as she also bides her time as Mrs Jay Z. In this respect, Glastonbury could have done much better by booking rising star and Diddy pro-tégé, Janelle Monae - now this is someone who really is doing more
for R&B than the usual posturing, booty-shaking workouts that serve to turn R&B into a pastiche of it-self. and there’s also another link to Jay Z in the form of Coldplay, with their pogo-hopping piano-led balladry who collaborated with Jay Z on the track Lost. now that U2 have been booked as the next ‘safe’ headliner - surely this has sig-nalled the death-knell for a more ‘diverse’ Glastonbury?
There are plenty more diverse forms of music out there besides R&B
Lastly, has anyone actually con-sidered that the furore caused by booking Beyoncé will probably serve no justice to acts headlining the other stages? For those of us who can’t make it down to Worthy Farm, you can just predict that coverage of Glastonbury this year is going to be dominated by the same old Radio One DJs taking up too much time yakking on about Beyoncé headlining.
But essentially my point is this - hiring Beyoncé certainly isn’t go-ing to make Glastonbury diverse. If you want to do that, Michael and emily eavis, perhaps you should start looking beyond people imme-diately connected to Jay Z.
TOM DOP
Rock. Jazz. Pop. We all know what these words mean, and more importantly, what they sound like. But what about Chillwave? Djent? Witch house? In a world where new sounds are being made every day and music is becoming more and more diverse, the words we use to describe these creations are becoming increasingly convoluted.
The words we use to describe new creations are becoming increasingly convoluted
Take the ever-evolving world of dance music, for example. The output of the UK electronic music scene is becoming increasingly harder to categorise. By fusing el-ements of dubstep, garage, techno and more, artists are determined
not to be restricted by any bound-aries imposed by genre, ensuring that no two musicians sound the same.
This has forced music critics to categorize the UK low-end-heavy music scene under the umbrella term ‘bass music’, which begs the question; if categorising music doesn’t provide the prospective listener with any idea as to what it actually sounds like, then why bother?
however, the opposite could also be said of the genre. Whilst wide umbrella genres such as ‘metal’ and ‘reggae’ are used to describe a large array of music, niche labels exist to identify sub-genres within those genres. Within the broad spectrum of jazz exists hot-jazz, cool-jazz, free-jazz and many more. Whilst all technically ‘jazz’, each exists in their own sub-cate-gory.
This is particularly useful for listeners in identifying certain
tastes and finding similar artists. however, with so many small sub-genres scattered around the place with only very subtle differ-ences, are these really unique and necessary offshoots from the main music scene? Or just pretentious musicians trying to carve their own niche in order to get their art noticed?
If music categories don’t give listeners any idea what the music sounds like, why bother?
Despite this, at the end of the day all these various niches exist for a reason. In a culture where the amount of music being made is increasing exponentially, and exciting new variations are being concocted every day, some of
OPINION Tom Dop assesses the process of music genre evolution
these seemingly obscure genres push their way into the main-stream. after all, the dubstep phenomenon started as a variation on two-step garage.
So who knows, perhaps avant-garde ethiopian jazzcore might be the next new fad to top the charts... but don’t hold your breath.
New ArtistAlert
cocknBullKid
nIa ThOMaS
CocknBullKid has been one to watch for almost two years now, but instead of bowing to the pres-sure of hype she has taken her time to record and perfect her debut album Adulthood, out this april. Co-writing with Joseph Mount from Metronomy, Peter from Peter, Bjorn and John and Primary 1, it promises to be a high-ly-listenable display of leftfield pop. her latest single Hold On To Your Misery is an upbeat piano-heavy song about needing the bad elements of life to give perspec-tive to the good parts. She recent-ly supported Kele and Marina and the Diamonds on tour, and live she has flawless vocals, punchy songs and real stage presence.
Reading Gig Guide 04 March – Limehouse Lizzy – South Street arts Centre
LIVE: Pop darlings The Saturdays go Higher at the Hammersmith Apollo
The Saturdays17 February 2011HMV Hammersmith Apollo, LondonLaUrenCe Green
Live gigs are a very mixed bag; their vastly unpredictable nature meaning you never know quite what you are going to get. But I can safely say that the London date of The Saturdays’ latest tour has secured itself a place amongst some of the best live shows I’ve ever experienced. The sheer sense of energy and emotion on of-fer at the gig was incredible. Standing six rows back from the stage, the connection with the girls
was incredible. I’ve been to many gigs at the Hammersmith apollo and the bands always seem to feed off the prestige and richness of the setting; and here, amidst the ornate, gilded arches and chande-liers, the Saturdays seemed to fit so well – British pop royalty.
The theme of fun and glamour was well established from the start ,with an inspired intro to the night; to the tune of the recent dance hit Barbra Streisand the girls call out the names of friends, family and fans in the audience – I’m not go-ing to lie - I was more than a little chuffed when they called out my name!
Leading on from this, the girls’ launch into a frenetic trio of up-
beat tracks that encompass some of their finest moments; their most recent single Higher, the fan-fa-vourite One Shot and the anthemic Up. The set-list serves as a re-minder of just how consistent The Saturdays’ output has been.
The sheer sense of energy and emotion on offer was incredible
In a previous age, pop bands would churn out new albums in a con-veyor belt-like system. Quality was by-the-by; all that mattered was quick sales. But the Saturdays belong to a more discerning age. Listeners demand a better stan-dard of music, and The Saturdays are more than up to the challenge of producing some of the best pop out there. and most importantly, it is distinctly British. In an age where so much of the charts are full of american import, the girls continue to fly the flag high for the UK.
as the band perform some of their older tracks, you get a real sense that The Saturdays now have their own legacy; a proper place among contemporary pop culture. For Died In Your Eyes Una pulls out her guitar and strums along, testament to her years as a bud-ding singer-songwriter in Ireland. each girl brings something unique
to the band, their personalities shine through both individually and as a collective group.
Whereas previously, The Satur-days perhaps occupied a relatively niche position, drawing crowds of in-the-know pop lovers, now their appeal is universal, and the crowd encompasses the whole spectrum of society from young to old. With their delightful ITV2 documen-tary series The Saturdays 24/7 and extensive press coverage spurred on by Frankie and rochelle’s high-profile relationships, they have well and truly found themselves in the centre of the public eye. With that said, The Headlines Tour seems a particularly apt name for their current run of shows.
The theme of fun and glamour was well established from the start
Halfway through the gig the girls pull out a brilliant rihanna medley – the chorus of Love The Way You Lie showcasing just how strong their vocals are, while What’s My Name sees rochelle and Frankie working some seriously sexy dance moves. The costumes are equally attention grabbing - from sparkly, glittery dresses that are the very essence of pop, to street-
smart denim and day-glo hoodies, the clothes complimented the songs perfectly. Switching into sultry black leather skirts for the encore, they deliver the defiant Ego.
Throughout their career, The Saturdays have remained reso-lutely upbeat and positive. It’s part of their charm. Up, Higher, Work – the message conveyed in their singles is there for all to read. This is the band who’s ambi-tion and passion for what they do has carried them forever onwards and upwards in an increasingly competitive industry. Tonight, The Saturdays were on the finest of forms – they gave it their all, and so did the audience. They are the headline-making band for a head-line-defined age. and you know what? We Just Can’t Get Enough of them. an amazing night.
Me with The Saturdays’ Rochelle Wiseman
Mogwai 25 February 2011 Brixton Academy, London rHyS WILLIaMS
With the excellent return to form on their seventh studio album, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, it was about time the Glas-wegian quintet hit the road again. Taking in a handful of dates, to-night it was Brixton academy that would play host to one of the finest live acts around today.
Sounding like a band rejuve-nated, they kicked off proceed-ings with the Battles-esque White Noise. The skittering yet anthemic opener to their latest release, the song took a very different form live. The guitars, alone, so simplistic yet layered upon each other, sound so dense and viciously distorted, the bass so pounding you can physically feel the sound waves hitting your face and rum-bling your internal organs. The stage was adorned with a huge projector screen filled with trippy patterns and astral animations, the music took on an almost ethereal quality pouring out of the speakers into the crowd like a mushroom cloud; devastatingly brutal yet strangely serene.
Mogwai’s quiet-to-loud dynamic trademark, whilst still apparent in later releases, is best displayed in older fan favourites such as Christmas Steps. Starting with a delicately picked, simple yet rather unnerving riff, it slowly builds. Brooding and menacing it has the audience transfixed, the guitars so quiet you could hear the slightest of mumbles, yet when the music finally builds to its powerful climax it’s so overwhelmingly loud it’s almost as if the ceiling was about to collapse and the building disintegrate. The band, playing with such force and an almost telepathic understanding of each
other, seemed more focused than ever and although rarely interact-ing with the audience, they ap-peared to revel in the moment.
Mogwai had the audience transfixed
effortlessly swapping instruments between members, the band just as easily change pace, slowing things down to give the audience some respite from the aural onslaught that had just occurred, the band go through some more subdued tracks from recent records.
They seemed keen to showcase their latest material and very few of their earlier, best known songs were played, not that it’s a criticism as newer songs such as Bat Cat and Rano Pano easily filled the void as encore treats. If anything, it shows they’re not just a one trick pony who rely on past glory, rehashing the same album every three years, instead they have enough conviction to play a set largely devoid of fan favourites letting the newer tracks speak for themselves. Mogwai have grown and adapted into quite a different band from the one that released Young Team back in 1997 and, on the strength of tonight’s perfor-mance, I can see them sticking around for quite some time yet.
Harrys GymThe Oakford Social Club, Reading17 February 2011MeLIz GoKTUrK
The oakford is a fairly small music venue, not visited enough by the student folk, but full of men and some hipster types. However Harrys Gym, neither middle-aged men nor hipsters, seemed at home in this reading gem.
Hailing from norway, Harrys Gym transcend the usual Scandi-navian, goth, death metal stereo-type. Their lead singer anne Lise Frøkedal looks like Patti Smith, but punk poet she ain’t. Her voice
has ethereal lightness, but noth-ing too cutesy, like her Swedish counterpart, Lykke Li. Without knowing their songs they can sound all a bit samey, but this isn’t a bad thing.
Stand-out of the night was Old Man, a song that creeps into your soul with all its paradoxical inten-sity and dreaminess. This has led critics to label them an equally confusing description of ‘prog-pop’. Their second LP, What Was Ours Can’t Be Yours is more of a grower than an attention grabber. However, live, you immediately get entranced by their music into a nordic field, surrounded by organic and electronic sounds - it’s a beautiful place.
ALBUMS Radiohead are back, but can the new album justify the hype?
RadioheadThe King of LimbsXL ReCoRdS
JaMeS FItzGeRaLd
the world’s most contrary, most mysterious, and most ingenious band does not phone far ahead be-
fore handing down its latest prob-able masterpiece. the low-key release of Radiohead’s The King of Limbs - which appeared quite suddenly on 18 February - behoves a surprisingly understated, though typically complex record; one that it is easier to warm to through repeated listens than to fully enjoy immediately.
How exactly to follow 2007’s In Rainbows – a readily-approach-able, bulky, alternative rock album, which recalls the band’s breakthrough nineties output? If you’re Radiohead, a u-turn is in or-der: The King of Limbs is an often inaccessible, sparse and offbeat offering likely to snooker even the fanatics. at a pithy eight tracks, the formal terseness of the album belies a loose, experimental, jam-lead style – one which eschews rock in favour of minimal piano, vocal and guitar melodies washed over frenetic Amnesiac-era elec-tronic beats. The King of Limbs is more a ‘sound’ than a traditional rock album bearing particularly outstanding tracks.
Indeed, the results are mixed; probably most appealing either to Radiohead newcomers - who come without the preconceptions of those vainly hankering after more Johnny-Greenwood-led, Paranoid Android-esque guitar rock (as rekindled by In Rainbows) – or, of course, the diehards. It is often thus, perhaps, but rarely will an album prove as divisive amongst both veterans and newbies as The King of Limbs. the detractors are conscious that they have had to wait so long for so short a record, while the web gossipers suggest there is to be an imminent succes-sor which will issue some perspec-
tive with which to regard The King of Limbs: an Amnesiac to its Kid A.
the brevity is only an issue when tracks fail to justify their place on this long-awaited album. In its confounding rhythm and appar-ent lack of direction, Bloom is a disappointingly skippable opener which fails to state an agenda in the same purposeful manner of those enticing Radiohead opening salvos, Planet Telex, Airbag and Everything In Its Right Place. But through the frantic funk guitar of Morning Mr Magpie, the menac-ing plod of Little By Little, and the lilting dubstep of Feral, the incremental improvement through the first half of the album rewards those who are willing to ‘open their minds’ to the creativity on offer.
Surprisingly understated, though typically complex
the grooves instigated by these early numbers, which exhibit a strong world music influence, are deceptively captivating if not entirely groundbreaking. It’s an album of two halves, as we rarely say, and those who patiently hope for a stronger end than start to King of Limbs are vindicated as the album starts to plateau with Lotus Flower and Codex: both of
the ‘vintage’ Radiohead variety (whatever that is), both centred on frontman thom Yorke, both stun-ningly beautiful. the eerie drifts of piano in that latter tune, which echo - almost literally - Amnesiac highlight Pyramid Song, lead nicely into the reserved acoustic effort Give Up The Ghost. definite improvement.
More a ‘sound’ than a traditional rock album
It is the final track, Separator, which best nails the distinctive rhythmic sound of King of Limbs: Phil Selway’s drums ticking away in agitation, Colin Greenwood’s bobbing bass threatening to break out into funk at any moment as his brother Johnny and ed o’Brien languidly fiddle away with their guitars. this infectious closer stands up magnificently for a dar-ing record, and with it the bold (if quite natural) decision from Radio-head to keep doing what they do best – that is, what is not generally done by rock bands. The King of Limbs may not be perfect, but then Radiohead’s standards are high. and, as Yorke teases at the last, “If you think this is over, then you’re wrong.” Keep your eyes peeled for that follow-up, then.
HHHH
Chase & StatusNo More IdolsMeRCURY ReCoRdS
tIM CoMBLeY
the highly anticipated No More Idols is the second album from drum and bass two-piece Chase & Status. In recent months the duo have been at the forefront of the dubstep and drum and bass explo-sion and earned critical acclaim for their debut album More Than A Lot. No More Idols is packed with impressive collaborations from high profile acts such as dizzee Rascal, Plan B and Cee Lo Green.
the album is a great representa-tion of the new wave of drum and bass being produced in this coun-try. Listeners are given the gift of
some of the best beats and filthiest drops around at the moment and there is no doubt that the songs will have people skanking in clubs up and down the country. there’s a little something for everyone, as heavy guitars are infused with grimy vocals and fast beats. No Problem, Blind Faith and Brixton Briefcase are faultless and tempa t’s aggressive vocals on Hypest Hype are nothing but infectious.
But sadly, there is the irritation of some tracks being obvious fill-ers; Flashing Lights and Embrace are easily forgettable compared to the other tracks. Hocus Pocus sounds like anything an amateur could produce in their bedroom, and Hitz will have drum and bass purists running for the hills. Had a couple of tracks been shaved off the edges, this record would be one big punch to the ear drums.
the familiar guitar chords of the single End Credits, featuring Plan B, introduce the final track of the album. It all ends on a high note with a brilliant showcase in genre crossing skill. It’s drum and bass for the masses but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. on the whole it’s a great album and a true reflection of the production skill of the duo.
HHHH
Gruff Rhys Hotel Shampoo tURnStILe
PeaCHeS WaInMan
Since 1995, Gruff Rhys has been busy collecting miniature bottles of shampoo and other freebies from hotels around the world. So what does one do with a couple of hundred bottles of shampoo? Well, as the title of this album suggests, Gruff hasn’t let all those bottles go to waste. In fact, the ultimate disposable mod-con has inspired a whole album’s worth of songs. What else would you expect from the lead singer of the Super Furry animals, who for the majority of their career have been pushing the boundaries of music in their own strange, curious ways?
Whilst Hotel Shampoo could have been a bit of a bit of a soapy side project, Gruff manages to use the humble bottle of shampoo as an entry point to evoke memories of life on tour, especially the fizzled out romances as evidenced on songs such as Vitamin K and Space Dust #2.
What does one do with a couple of hundred bottles of shampoo?
For the most part, this album succeeds because it is able to take something as throwaway as a bottle of shampoo and turn it something far more meaningful.
However, one is left with the feel-ing that Gruff is stuck in a bit of a musical comfort zone of whimsi-cal sixties psychedelic pop - fans of Nuggets might just recognise that Shark Ridden Waters bor-rows heavily from the Cyrkle’s, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore.
Hotel Shampoo is mostly a pleas-ant listen but for the casual lis-tener, Gruff’s frequent lapses into musical whimsy probably won’t get you in too much of a lather.
HHH
The Megaphonic Thrift Decay Decoy CLUB aC30
RHYS WILLIaMS
Certainly one of my most antici-pated releases of early 2011, the norwegian noise rock quartet have not disappointed at all. Following on in the same vein as last year’s promising eP A Thousand Years of Deconstruction, they have once again produced a record that bleeds distortion out of every crevice. an album that twists and turns in every direction; you’re never quite sure what’s com-ing next. one thing’s for certain though, it’s going to be loud. the guitars in parts, intricately woven, in others solid walls of feed-back noise, sound like months of tweaking at pedals and tireless rehearsing were devoted to achiev-ing this potent and heady sound. the rhythm section supplies the perfect accompaniment to the chaos with the drummer provid-ing enough bombast in heavier sections to counteract his largely metronomic style. I sincerely hope this band ride high on the re-surging wave of shoegazers tipped for big things in 2011.
An impressive debut from The Naked and Famous plus another Tinie Tempah duet
CultsGo Outside In The naMe Of/COlUMbIa
KaTe allen
nYC duo, Cults, are the next in a rapidly growing line of boy-girl sixties pop-inspired double acts. like Summer Camp before them, after anonymously posting a few tracks online last year, the hunt for the authors of such idyllic sunshine dazed perfection was on. With their mystique adding to an avalanche of hype, they were finally unveiled as a girlfriend-boy-friend outfit (Madeline follin and brian Oblivion) with a penchant for leslie Gore shaping their take on lo-fi pop.
now signed to lily allen’s In The name Of label, Cults release Go Outside in the UK, after already having it reached sold-out status with family forest Records. With twinkling glockenspiels, breathy vocals and a heavy helping of reverb, Go Outside is three min-utes of chill wave escapism. but don’t let the childlike percussion fool you – there are dark forces at work with Cults, as shown by a spoken sample of mass murdering People’s Temple leader Jim Jones prefixed to this dreamy gem. Go Outside gives just a glistening hint of what Cults album (scheduled for release in May) will hold; dreamy with nightmarish touches.
HHHH
The Naked and Famous Young BloodPOlYdOR lTd.
MaTheW dI SalvO
exciting new five-piece indie electro rock band from new Zealand, The naked and famous, are re-releasing their 2010 single Young Blood. This single gives the listener a taste of the jubilant, moving, synth-based music this cool new band has in store.
A very addictive debut single
although very simple – nothing more than a recurring keyboard motif, distorted guitars, and a very repetitive drum beat with female lead singer, alisa Xayalith’s beau-tiful echoing voice over the top, Young Blood is very addictive.
a great debut single to say the least. One may be reminded of MGMT and maybe even The xx when listening to this dreamy little gem, however, there is nothing quite as exciting as this at the moment. Most definitely one of the top alternative bands to keep a look out for this year.
HHHHH
The Agitator Say No! POInTleSS eXCITeMenT
RhYS WIllIaMS
It’s a rare occasion that I listen to a record and am so unenthused that I feel compelled to turn it off before it’s even finished, unfortu-nately this was the case for The agitator. In fairness sake I did finally muster up the motivation to struggle through this one track single with very little enjoyment and unsurprisingly my opinions were not changed one iota.
It is so bad it’s easy to mistake the band for a comedy act
The song is so bad it’s easy to mistake the band for a comedy act; sadly for all of us though, they are deadly serious. The lyrics are so clichéd, so unambitious and so shallow that it’s difficult to really judge what the hell it’s all about. discovering it’s actually supposed to be a “political rally cry created to inspire the masses” makes it
Wonderman is Tinie Tempah’s lat-est single from his award winning debut album, Disc-overy. Tinie is riding high lately after winning two brit awards, including best breakthrough act, and this single also features the vocal talents of fellow brit winner ellie Goulding.
Tinie raps about how he rose from the gutter to become a star, in a sort of rags-to-riches story. The lyrics are sadly similar to some of his other songs, but Wonderman does manage to blend several styles of music into one, mixing rap, dance and electronic sounds together very well. ellie’s beautiful voice belts out the cho-ruses, and is the most enjoyable and memorable part of this song. In fact, it’s quite easy to think that sometimes Tinie’s rapping is just leading up to ellie’s vocals; how-
Caitlin RoseOwn Side naMeS ReCORdS
PeaCheS WaInMan
You might be forgiven for think-ing that Caitlin Rose is older than her 23 years after listening to Own Side, which sounds as if it has been written by someone who has spent a lifetime documenting life’s up’s and downs: ‘I’m on my own side now… who’s gonna take me home? Cause I don’t wanna go it alone/ who’s gonna want me when/ I’m just somewhere you’ve been?’
and it is precisely this intro-spective take on life which makes Caitlin stand out from the rest of the country ‘lite’ acts, such as Sugarland and lady antebellum,
HurtsSundaySOnY MUSIC
RaChel PIlCheR
following the success of previous singles Wonderful Life and Better Than Love, hurts are back with Sunday, the fourth release from album Happiness. With the album gaining them the title of 2010’s fastest selling new band in the UK as well as going gold, hurts seem to be unstoppable.
Another Hurts winner
Sunday is an upbeat offering from the band, heavy with synths and a beat that is nothing short of infec-tious. There’s an interesting con-trast between the upbeat melody and lyrics like ‘please come back, don’t you leave me’ and ‘it’s just another lonely Sunday,’ which works strangely well. Perhaps this is just the charm of Hurts, as a similar contrast can be found on Wonderful Life, where uplifting lyrics meet with downbeat synths. There’s a short breakdown during the track, where the beauty of the piano starts to breakthrough, giv-ing a quick breather to the track - not that it’s needed at all.
Sunday is another winner for this synth-pop duo. There should be no doubts for their future success.
HHHH
KassidyI Don’t KnowveRTIGO
RaChel PIlCheR
new band Kassidy pride them-selves on ‘doing what feels right,’ rather than doing what people think they should. This is echoed in their live shows where, as band member lewis admits, they ‘confuse’ the audience by going against their conceptions. With acoustic music rising in popularity and status by the day, there’s no question of how they’ll fit in in the music industry.
I Don’t Know combines all four members’ vocals in an acoustic piece, with a country feel that
surely appeals in a time where bands such as Mumford and Sons are forever gaining (well-de-served) popularity. With acoustic guitar and drums leading the melody, there can be focus on the vocals and lyrics. The vocals are harmonised perfectly, with lyrics like ‘do you think that I’ll still be strong without you,’ and the repeti-tion of ‘I don’t know,’ both during the chorus. It’s a perfect example of how sometimes, simple is much more effective.
Kassidy don’t need any special effects to showcase their music, as their instruments and vocals are a perfect match. Watch this space.
HHHH
ever, repeatedly asking whether Tinie Tempah is ‘the wonderman’ or not can get a little tiresome. but Tinie obviously thinks he is, and has taken the role of ‘the won-derman’ to the extreme, making a music video that pays homage to The Six Million Dollar Man super-hero series.
although the lyrics are, in places, not brilliant, it’s the coupling of Tempah and Goulding that makes this track everything it is. not wonderful, but still very good.
HHH
even more laughable. I somehow feel the likes of bob dylan and The Clash can still sleep easy in their beds.
With the chorus repeating the an-noying phrase ‘say no’, it’s almost a bastardised cover of the Grange hill anti-drugs song of the eighties and could really apply to any hot topic of the day, be it drugs, the environment or just being ‘anti’ because you’re so cool.
The production sounds cheap and the music just really isn’t worth mentioning, but think something along the lines of the Ting Tings covering vanilla Ice and you won’t be too far off.
H
who are endeavouring to open up audiences to the world of country music beyond nashville.
Caitlin Rose is the best thing to happen to country music right now - watch your back, Taylor Swift
however, Caitlin isn’t pulling any wool over people’s eyes on Own Side - her lyrics are as sincere and as heartfelt as any of country’s big shots - Gram Parsons, Townes van Zandt. even Caitlin’s admission on her Myspace page that she has “all the time in the world” suggests she also has country music’s self- as-sured confidence to match.
On this premise alone, Caitlin Rose is quite possibly the best thing to happen to country music right now - make sure you watch your back, Taylor Swift.
Review of Art Exhibition Inside ArtNational Gallery, London Spring 2011JACK COOpeR
The Inside Art exhibition at the National Gallery is an exhibition of artwork completed by juvenile convicts aged between 15 and 21, who presumably have had limited life experience, as in the short time they have been alive they have spent a significant proportion of that time in prison. This begs the question: what will they draw and paint? The crime that put them there? Their life in prison?
Introduced to allow the troubled inmates to be self-aware
When I visited the National Gal-lery it was an incredibly dreary and grey day, and this got me thinking about what it must be like for the exhibition’s artists. Grey and drab surroundings, such as a prison, hardly inspires a creative flair, so what is it that has got these people drawing? As you enter the gallery, however, there couldn’t be a bigger contrast. You are faced with grand ceilings, marble, and vivacious colours. As you walk
through the gallery you are met with very classically decorated halls strewn with legendary works such as Monet’s bridge and Van Gogh’s sunflowers. As you reach the back there is a modern room housing the Inside Art exhibition.
As you walk in, you can see some comparatively humble artworks. There are several pictures of a drama studio, models on a table, and reproductions of classic works. The exhibition is essen-tially broken down into four areas: ‘Light Fantastic’, ‘A Different perspective’, ‘Drawing Inspira-tion’ and ‘Making Sculpture’, all designed to allow the inmates to explore their own personal feel-ings and communication skills.
It would be wrong to assume that the purpose of this course run by the National Gallery is to create great artists from convicts: the real motivation is much larger and more important. It was introduced to allow the troubled inmates to be self-aware in a way that they would have never been before.
The different aspects of the collection have made the inmates look at themselves and question their beliefs. Whether it is how the facial structure affects your interpretation of someone through molding clay heads, or realising that your way of seeing things is not always the whole picture by participating in a group project, it
is clear that this course is not only improving the inmates knowledge of the world around them but also of themselves.
A lot more rewarding to witness than the works of art in the neighbouring rooms
It was surprising that this was a lot more rewarding to witness than the awesome works of art in the neighboring rooms, because it truly had an affect on some of these artists’ lives. John Costi told The Guardian that had it not been for this project he “doubt[s] that [he] would be leading a law-abiding lifestyle. I would have come out and turned to all I knew, which was crime.” He says, “That was really my saving grace."
While art experts profess that it is the moment captured in art that holds the beauty of the work, I maintain that this is not so. The purpose of the prisoner’s art was not to create the greatest artistic work but to allow them to grow and develop as individuals. When we compare this to the purpose of the works of Van Gogh, for example, whose art’s purpose was to reach out to humanity to be accepted after being outcast, we have to ask, what is so different?
Convict creations reach National Gallery
Photographs courtey of the National Gallery, London
SARAH BROOKS
Lust; envy; greed; indulgence; pride; wrath; adultery. On 10 March 2011 at 8pm join 11 RUSU dance clubs, societies and profes-sional soloists on a journey of sin as The Bellydance Society returns to bring you the second University of Reading Dance Show.
Based on the Seven Deadly Sins, let yourself be enticed into the excitement as the likes of Capoeira Martial Arts, Breakdance, Circus Arts, Bhangra, Lyrical Ballet and many others deliver a diversity of acts based on the Sins. Indulge in over two hours of upbeat enter-tainment, with everything from graceful depictions of lust and longing to glowing displays, flips, and serious stick-wielding!
With tickets at only £4 with an NUS card, let temptation lead you and your friends to the box office where tickets are now on sale for an evening that promises to be a myriad of splendour and mischief!
Dance cocktail with a twist of sin...
Logo designed by Tom Castle
Please join the Facebook group ‘Seven Deadly Sins Dance Show’ for updates and further information
Review of Art Exhibition The Autonomy of Women: A retro-spectiveReading University Art DepartmentJeSS HOSMeR-WRigHT
“Well, i think it’s a futuristic ret-rospective”, i explained casually and distractedly as we navigated our way round the unfathomable Art Department of the University of Reading.
“A futuristic retrospective?” re-plied my friend. Once located, this was a tricky concept to get one’s head around.
Picture the scene; it is February 2056, not too far into the future, but huge advances seem to have been made in the efforts to lessen
gender inequality. The Huxley Foundation present an exhibition, The Autonomy of Women: A Retro-spective. A nostalgic documenta-tion of the development of women’s ‘freedom’ from 2002-2032. For, in this futuristic world, the decade of the 2030s was a pivotal turning point for feminism but also our culture as a whole. From 2015, the media and the press were be-ing seen as ‘a catalyst for gender inequality’ with The Autonomy and gender equality Bill being proposed by the government in 2029, and being passed in 2032. This piece of legislation prohibits the public display of the female form and with this, “women were finally equal and gender politics were a thing of the past.” Utopia then! Well, no, because what this exhibition largely focuses on are
the protests against this piece of legislation, and despite this, much of the culture appears to have become more sexist over the past/next (however you want to look at it) half century. The moves towards greater equality appear to be more top down rather than bot-tom up as opposed the two previ-ous waves of feminism.
A nostalgic documentation of the development of women’s ‘freedom’
One wall of the exhibition is en-tirely dedicated to protests largely with placards used on the demon-strations and still photographs.
The placards are brightly painted with varying slogans, “Porn is my life”, “There is no freedom through slavery”, “Burn the Bra”, “Objectify me”. These placards are shown in the still photographs of the protests with female dem-onstrator’s bras visible under open jackets.
On the opposite wall there are ar-ticles displayed from various news websites - print media perhaps obsolete now we’re in the future. A Mail Online article points to the violence and immense scale of the opposition, the legislation largely from the porn industry. Patrick Moore is quoted in a Times Online article arguing that a greater female workforce at the BBC has lead to a dumbing down of the cor-poration and a BBC website article
reports the case of Monika Cydzik losing her ageism claim.
in the centre, life drawings and pictures of a nude model, although admittedly gender specific parts covered with tape, suggests that female nudity was still accept-able for art, and therefore most of the cannon of Art History would remain safe!
Afterwards, our conversation revolves around the likelihood of such legislation and its practicali-ties; even a more high-brow men’s magazine like GQ has scantily clad ladies on its glossy pages. Not likely we think, but casting my mind back to last term’s student voice motion to ban “lad mags” from the University shop and Jacqui Smith’s upcoming docu-mentary on the porn industry not impossible, perhaps.
Women’s liberation in a futurist world...
Review of Of Mice and MenProgress Theatre, ReadingSpring 2011LUMA ABDULLA
One of the most popular plays studied at gCSe level, Of Mice and Men wrtten by John Stein-beck, finally came to the Progress Theatre; its warm-hearted story would make anyone want to see it. The plot is set in the 1920’s and the American great Depression: two men travelling around ranches to earn enough money in order to pursue their American dream. Lennie Smalls (Peter O’ Sullivan) is mentally disabled, acting in a child-like manner, but very strong physically. He is very dependent on one man who is the only one that can control and understand him, george (Stuart Merrall); george is an intelligent man who is very aware of his surroundings. Many of the ranch workers have one thing in common - loneliness.
Throughout the story george and Lennie stay together in their strange friendship although Len-nie’s child-like ways both help and hinder this companionship. Their dream also sets george apart
from the other workers because it means that he and Lennie have a future and something to anticipate. Lennie’s naive personality is ex-tremely loveable, yet he is danger-ous in his adult strength. it is this that crushes the friends’ shared dream, resulting in george becom-ing just like his fellow workers.
Lennie’s naive
personality is
extremely loveable
There have been many adaptations of this novel yet, in the intimate setting of a local theatre, the ac-tors and setting made you feel as though you were part of the story. Transforming the small stage of the progress theatre to the times of the American great Depres-sion was created successfully with no elaborate props or costume changes, which was especially the case when it came to the animals - the pup represented by a cloth and Candy’s dog just a lead, a clever creative technique on the part of the director.
Lennie was brilliantly played with a perfect American accent for his character, bringing the character alive - i personally think that this is one of the hard-est characters to play as, in his mind, he is just a big kid. george’s performance became increasingly powerful as the show went on and his American accent improved. in the finale he touched many a heart with an overwhelming emotional scene, when his friendship with Lennie comes to an end. Through his other characters Steinbeck explores controversial themes of racism, sexism and loneliness - the actors who play Crooks (Steve McAuley) and Curley’s Wife (Me-lissa Tanner) perfect their roles as the secluded characters in the play - the people who have to face these controversial issues.
Vivid production aroused emotion
The vivid production aroused the audience’s emotions with the help of the phenomenal performances which were conducted with integ-rity and sincerity.
With ‘granny chic’ at Henry Hol-land, sophisticated brights at Jonathan Saunders and sparkling sequins at Christopher Kane, Lon-don truly led the way when it came to setting trends for the autumn/winter season.
From Mary Katrantzou to er-dem, an abundance of colourful prints walked the London catwalk (finally colour isn’t just reserved for spring) but most noticeably,
London Fashion Week: The ones to watch
Mary Katrantzou a/w 2011
Meadham and Kirchhoff a/w 2011
James Long a/w 2011
New York Fashion WeekMArGAux BASSet
February 2011; New York city; kick-off of the autumn-winter 2011/2012 ready-to-wear fashion week.
One thing we can say is that de-signers have been in pursuit of the softer shape of the female body. Some of the trends for next year that were seen are velvet, mustard and burgundy, fur and hats. As to models, we will mostly remember the unstoppable Karlie Kloss, who opened and closed the Oscar de la renta and donna Karan shows, and also closed three other shows including Jason Wu and tommy Hilfilger.
don’t forget Freja Beha who opened two shows and closed Nar-ciso rodrigez, Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang. We will probably see them both in London, Milan and of course Paris. For most people, New York fashion week is
the more commercial event, and is really about selling clothes to real girls. Maybe that is why it is in New York that we can really find inspiring outfits that we can imagine ourselves wearing in a few months.
For most people, New York fashion week is the more commercial one and it is really about selling clothes to real girls
One of the most talked about shows was Marc Jacobs. As you can see in the picture, the abso-lutely amazing collection is really refined and dressed up which is reminiscent of what Marc Jacobs does for Louis Vuitton, yet we are more used to more casual collec-tion for the Marc Jacobs brand.
Let’s see what he will bring to the show in Paris! As far as I’m concerned, I would tell you to look at Olivier theyskens’ collection, but also 3.1 Phillip Lim and the Al-tuzarra show where models looked like old movies stars belonging to another time, and as usual, Proenza Schouler for the always awesome accessories!
News flash! MArGAux BASSet
John Galliano suspended
You have probably already heard the news: dior has suspended John Galliano after he had been arrested for alleged anti-Semitic remarks. the police are still investigating, but there are no eye-witness account of the events.
While the fashion world is wondering what will happen to the Paris show, and will Galliano resume his functions, others are debating the fairness of dior’s decision. It is right that dior could have lost several contracts by doing nothing? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Wait and see what happens next...
Blog spotJeSSICA reeS
www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/lara-bohinc
Vogue: the Mecca for fashion, is home to Lara Bohinc’s latest blog. Named as the most ‘covetable’ jew-ellery designer to have emerged, no wonder everyone wants to hear what Bohinc has to say. She allows us to shadow her every movement as we follow her around the world, promoting her jewellery and ac-cessorising the stars - this lady knows her accessories, and is most certainly one fashionsta to start following.
longer hemlines took centre stage as a flurry of designers opted for trousers and below-the-knee skirts for a sensible winter collection. London is never one to disappoint, and with Simone rocha, daughter of John, showing her debut collec-tion with Fashion east, it was the fresh, new wave of designers that stole the show, and here are the leaders of the pack.
London truly led the way when it came to setting trends for the autumn/winter season
Mary Katrantzou
Structured silhouettes, hyperbolic prints and bold (not to mention, brave) uses of colour have be-come synonymous with the name Mary Katrantzou. the Greek phenomenon’s use of prints and architecture in her last collection were undoubtedly intimidating, however, for autumn/winter 2011, the designer paired her trademark eccentricities with billowing skirts and longer hemlines to incorpo-rate separates into her collection. Satin and silk garments adorned with vivid images, reminiscent of Faberge eggs and oriental artwork, evoked connotations of royalty and grandeur within Katrantzou’s collection, as did the absence of jewellery; the clothes were luxuri-
ous enough. even tights got the Katrantzou makeover as nothing was left uncovered.
Meadham and Kirchhoff
In a show that lasted only four minutes, Meadham and Kirchhoff received a unanimous reaction of pure shock, despair and an urgent need to see more. Press and buy-ers flocked backstage to see the Gothic schoolgirls and boys up close, after they marched, single-file, up and down the catwalk twice, and then disappeared.
the eerie models donned folk-loric black pinafores with cream peasant-like blouses, dresses with embroidered detailing and pointy witch-like hats as well as versatile pieces such as cute red jackets and preppy knitwear. Whilst the boys had worn knitted jumpers with witches in love-hearts printed on them. With a palette chieflycon-sisting of red, black and white, with multicoloured minute detail-ing, the duos catwalk success was down to their simplicity, serious-ness and unconventional ideas.
From Mary Katrantzou to Erdem, an abundance of colourful prints walked the London catwalk
James Long
Inspired by the capital’s polluted air and foggy wintry atmosphere, menswear designer James Long showed a beautiful collection full of twisted and frayed knits, loose cardigans and chunky crombies. Pairing raspberry tweeds with patent black leather trousers, the designer’s use of pale shades jux-taposed against dark and dreary colours perfectly embodied the stereotypical British winter. Crafted to perfection, models took to the catwalk offering a range of
different knitted jumpers; from tight humble knits, to oversized, grungy compilations, there’s something for everyone. Aside from the knitwear, a variety of polka dot shirts appeared on the catwalk (apparently a staple for the coming season) worn under feminine mohair coats, whilst later in the collection tie-dyed trousers made an appearance – scary? No. Quite extraordinary really, for the designer managed to successfully mix punk with english heritage without making a complete mess of things.
The history behind fast fashion is not as glamorous as you might think. When you select that dress off the rail, do you ever wonder where it came from, who made it and why it is so cheap? Business retailers such as Primark and Pea-cocks are particularly attractive to students because of their low price tags. Consumers that cannot afford designer labels are able to keep up with the seasonal fashion trends by shopping at mass pro-duction retail companies and snap up copycat high fashion pieces for under a tenner.
However, someone, somewhere, is suffering because of this. It was announced in December by the charity, Fashion Victims II, that
the workers producing clothes for Primark in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, earn as little as seven pence an hour, for up to 80-hour weeks. Although forced overtime is illegal in Bangladesh, employ-ees said they were made to work extra hours even though it is often unpaid. Workers complained that in the fast fashion rush to produce the latest styles, many of them suf-fered verbal and physical abuse as they struggled to meet unrealistic targets.
recently, a group of 150 students from Central St Martin’s College in london stripped down to their pants in support of Fair Trade and to raise awareness of a new report which details the struggles of Afri-can cotton farmers. Furthermore,
students from Cardiff university took part in the labour movements to protest against reports of Top-shop’s slave labour conditions.
Fast, cheap fashion has taken Britain’s high street by storm and that is why university students are uniting and protesting to raise awareness of the fatal and damag-ing effects fast fashion is causing Britain and the world. Students can be part of the solution in supporting better practice and Fair Trade fashion. Shopping by charity shops should not be under-estimated either; it is a cheap and ethical way to be fashionable. reading university Student union (ruSu) has hosted vintage fashion fairs which are another great way to take advantage of recycled clothing.
Check out also former ruSu President rhiannon Horsely’, blog regarding the ethical issues of fashion:http://humanrightswardrobe.word-press.com/
Red carpet style...Cheryl Cole
Britain’s very own gem, Cheryl Cole, shines brightly in a dazzling black, sequined Stella McCartney gown at the Brit Awards, working harmoniously with nude Christian louboutins evoking the impression of endlessness.
lAurEN BrEWEr
Jessica Alba
The stunning Jessica Alba el-egantly electrifies at the Grammy awards in a striking blue Atelier Versace number, red hot lips and pretty plaits combine to elude pure glamour.
Camilla Belle
Camilla Belle stays loyal to her acclaimed hosts, in a bold, chic and sharp rainbow suit at the Grammy pre-brunch party. Emerald green, shocking orange and rich purple shout style.
Emma WatsonHarry Potter star Emma Wat-son casts her elegant magic in a minimalistic, cream, ruffle-clad Valentino gown at the BAFTA awards. Her slight features and pristine pixie crop juxtapose for quirky simplicity.
Campus style
rEBECCA lOrD
Name : Thomas Sidney Degree: German and International relationsYear of Study: Part 2Style Icon: Ed Westwick (Chuck Bass)
Favourite shop in the Oracle:Zara. It has a good mix of casual and smart clothes
Fashion necessity: Cricket-style cardigans
Describe your style:My style is casual-preppy, but I like to keep my wardrobe varied
Favourite online store:Asos. All the clothes are priced fairly, and there is a good choice of brands. Especially when they have 20% student discount!
Tell us about your greatest fashion faux pas:Wearing double denim to a Ger-man seminar, I went ballistic!
Outfit:Polo Shirt: PrimarkCardigan: ralph laurenTrousers: Gap High top plimsoles: Burton
Fashion rant: OnesiesrHODrI BuTTrICk
I am no fashion expert, but one-sies? Come on! Even I, with my Primark attire, can feel safe to condemn these as the worst fash-ion statement since ugg boots.
For those unfamiliar with these ludicrous garments, a onesie is essentially a unisex romper suit or babygrow, the only difference being that they are aimed at a slightly less mature clientele; we students.
Having perused the wastelands of the internet, I found many com-
panies selling these all-in-one idiot suits and soon spotted a pattern. The more these companies seemed to be targeting students, the more expensive the onesie became. One site was selling them for between £90- £110!
I’m pretty sure fashion design-ers systematically try one daft idea after another in the hope that one will catch on. In a flamboy-ant act of desperation, somebody has struck lucky with the onesie. We are now so highly evolved as a race that we will pay vast amounts of money simply to look ridiculous.
There are so many cost-effective ways of looking a numpty; the cheapest being to turn up at lec-tures nude.
So much of our time seems to be spent looking back on previous fashion fads and scoffing. “Denim jackets, lycra, camouflage, animal print; the nineties were ridicu-lous!” But look how far we’ve come. We’ve advanced so much; we’ve gone backwards to what we used to wear before we could speak. It makes me wonder what is going to be fashionable next: nappys?
Some of you reading this will be thinking, “What right does this sanctimonious son of a sausage have to judge my fashion sense and bludgeon my freedom of expression? If I want to wear a onesie, I will, SO THErE!” Fair point. Yet I feel when you look back at photographs of yourself, romping in your expensive play suit, you’ll wonder why you didn’t listen to the sound advice from the pages of Spark*.
Cinique Skin Supplies for Men Post-Shave Healer, around £17.00
This rich cream encourages healing of minor nicks and cuts post-shaving; it soothes redness and doesn’t leave your skin greasy. Awarded a Men’s Health Groom-ing Award, and shortlisted for the Men’s Grooming Awards, this product comes highly recommend-ed for all skin types.
Dove Men + Care Daily Purifying Shower Wash, around £2.44
dove Men + care has been spe-cifically designed to leave men’s skin feeling refreshed and soothed, with none of the tightness or ir-ritation normally associated with men’s products. Perfect for men who don’t have time to moisturise in the mornings, as the combina-tion of a lightly exfoliating grain and the micro-moisture technology will keep your skin supple.
Cleansing gelL’Oréal Men Expert Hydra Ener-getic Cleansing Gel, around £6.63
This anti-tightness foaming gel cleanses and purifies the skin, yet remains gentle enough to use twice a day. Enriched with cyro-tonic™, the formula wakes up the skin without drying it out, leaving comfortable and fresh feeling skin. l’oréal Men Expert also offer personally tailored regimes for a variety of skin complextions.
Shaving gel
Original Source Kelp Oil & Zinc Ore Hydrating Shave Gel, around £.2.69
Men’s favourite, original Source, move away from invigorating shower gels and into the competi-tive shaving gel market, creating a splash with their naturally en-riched range. Grown in nutrient-rich underwater forests, the sea kelp’s oceanic detoxifying proper-ties are put to good use rehydrat-ing and protecting the skin.
Hair waxFudge Fat Head Firm Hold Hair Wax, around £10.16
This long-lasting paste creates root lift and provides volume, with a satin finish. Moderately priced, and as application only requires a small amount, the tub will last for up to six months. Fudge’s popular-ity in the UK in the last few years has soared, and although previ-ously exclusive on the internet, some ranges can now be found in the larger cosmetic stores.
How to: Smoky eyesKATiE BowErS
Smoky eyes are the ultimate way to create the perfect party make-up, turning your everyday look into a dramatic smouldering evening one. once the technique has been mastered, it’s easy to cre-ate, and Benefit’s Smokin’ Eyes kit, for around £28.50, contains all the tools you need to perfect this look.
Firstly, sweep a light layer of the pale pink shadow over the entire eyelid, going up to the brow line. Next, the lighter grey eye shadow should be applied over the eye-lid, then take the darkest colour and brush in the outer corners of the eyelids. Ensure the darkest colour is used quite heavily, as it will help to build sizzling, sexy
Trend: PonytailNAiMA KhAlid
The ponytail of this season is sleek and pulled tight to the crown. A simple up-do that just oozes under-stated glamour!
Take inspiration from the catwalk with Marc Jacobs-esque domina-trix themed hair, as seen at New York Fashion week.
For the less brave, the ponytail is a versatile look that can be worn loose and nonchalantly for those lazy days walking in the park, re-defining the meaning of ‘swish’.
Alternatively, for the trend-set-ting fashionistas dress it up pret-tily with cute slides or a statement headpiece to add instant chic and make it your own. Voila! Polished and practical have never been easier to achieve! Hair at Marc Jacobs
SArAh-JANE STENSoN
if you’re tired of mundane, lacklustre, commercialised hair products, head straight down to reading’s first-class hairdressing salon; Electric hair.
Electric have recently launched a new range of exciting products, which have proven to fulfil the salon’s guarantee of supreme quality. invest in Electric hydrate Shampoo (around £17.50) and Elec-tric hydrate conditioner (around £18.50) to reinvent your hair, tackling dryness and transforming your luscious locks. The formula is enhanced with meadowfoam seed oil and sugar beet extracts, which create super moisturising qualities, encasing your hair in the nourishment that it deserves.
The result? Super shiny, revital-ised hair with the added bonus of a deep, seductive smell.
Product review:Electric Hair
Our pick: Grey metallic nails Splurge Spend SavecollETTE NAdEN
Metallic greys are proving popular for nails this season. chanel’s ‘Black Pearl’ is a personal favour-ite. Just two coats provide an in-tense colour that seems to change depending on the lighting. Apply two or three coats of ‘Maddox Street’ from Nails inc to give your nails a strong gun metal grey look, that is chip resistant. on a budget? Go for a grey colour by Barry M. Chanel, around £17 Nails Inc, around £10.50 Barry M, around £2.99
eyes. once all three shadows have been applied, blend together with a make-up brush to prevent any tell-tale stripes between the differ-ent colours. line the upper eyelid with a liquid eye liner, and use a pencil liner for the under eye. Fi-nally, coat the lashes in mascara to complete the smoking effect.
Endsleigh has just launched a great new graduate internship initiative that will help you boost your career potential.
Our internship initiative is structured to add valuable weight to the CV’s of all those selected. A competitive salary will be offered too.
Enhance your CV with real business experience, specialist training and access to our exceptional on-site facilities.
About EndsleighYou’ll hopefully know a bit about Endsleigh from university days. Originally founded in 1965, we remain the UK’s leading student insurance provider. Endsleigh has also expanded to provide a specialist insurance service for graduates and professionals.
Endsleigh Insurance Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. This can be checked on the FSA Register by visiting its website at www.fsa.gov.uk. Endsleigh Insurance Services Limited. Company No: 856706 registered in England at Shurdington Road, Cheltenham Spa, Gloucestershire GL51 4UE.
Wisdom of the Week: ‘The part can never be well unless the whole is well’ - Plato
HAnnAH WynnE
Students have to make difficult de-cisions whilst at university. These can include deciding what modules to take, who to share a house with, and which career path to pursue. Choosing whether or not to take a nap never requires much thought.
Towards the middle of term most students are starting to feel tired and jaded. Whether this is due to stress and deadlines, or having one too many nights out on the lash, a midday nap always seems like an appealing option. And why not? napping can lead to a healthier heart and a longer life.
We tend to feel our most drowsy by mid-afternoon, especially dur-ing a long lecture or after a late night out. Researchers have said that an afternoon nap of at least 10 minutes can enhance mood, mental performance and alertness. This makes it easy to see why hot coun-tries in the Mediterranean take daily siestas.
Scientists from the University of Athens have also discovered that people who nap three times a week for 30 minutes or more have 37% less risk of heart disease and strokes. This can result in having
Napping is good for you!
AiLEEn LATHEEF
Exams and deadlines are fast approaching, and for a lot of us, this spells out endless days in the library, cramming in as much information as we can. On top of this, most final year students are also trying to decide what they should be doing next year. Stress levels tend to be high during this time of the year even before we put pressure on ourselves to obtain good grades.
A common description of stress is ‘the emotional and physical re-actions we get due to the pressures we face internally and externally.’ in many cases stress can lead to loss of appetite, too much worry-ing, headaches/migraines, sleeping problems and so on. We cannot re-ally cut out stress completely from our lives. To do so would mean our lives would suddenly lack that extra level of excitement and the adrenaline rush. A healthy dosage of stress can actually motivate you to do more revision. The trick is to not let it get out of hand. try not to reach the point where you are
panicking so much that you can’t actually concentrate on anything. There are certain steps you can take to minimise stress levels and ensure that you are in good mental and physical health when facing exam pressures.
1. Talk to someone: Make sure you talk to someone if you find yourself constantly worrying. The university has an excellent coun-selling service if you need to talk to them. Or perhaps even sit down with a friend and go over the areas that are worrying you. Rather than sit in a room and spend hours trying to understand something you just don’t get, perhaps email your lecturer and arrange a time where you can meet him/her and ask them to explain it to you again. There are always outlets for our worries, we just need to find them.
2. Maintain a healthy diet: This is something a lot of students (including myself) are guilty of not doing. i doubt many of us are eating enough nutritional food. Rather than reach out for that
extra packet of chocolates, try to find healthier snacks that give you more energy. A balanced diet will help you feel more energised and ready to tackle your work, and hopefully avoid the ‘drained out’ feeling we all get too used to.
3. Adapt your body to a good sleeping pattern: One of the worst things we tend to do is procrasti-nate too much and then cram in late night revision to make our-selves feel better. This, in turn, impacts on our sleeping patterns as we go to bed late and either wake up late or have to wake up before our body had the sleep it needs. Try to get a good nights sleep every night; lack of sleep can make your body feel tired, and therefore affect your productivity levels the next day.
4. Take regular breaks: Too much work and not enough time to chill out doesn’t help exam stress. When you take breaks, ensure they are not just an hours break, but long enough that you feel refreshed and ready to tackle your
Exercise of the weekSupine triceps ex-tension with EZ bar(skullcrushers)BEn FOx
in my opinion there are few exer-cises for the triceps better than supine triceps exensions - better known as skullcrushers. By adapt-ing the number of repetitions you do, you can use this exercise to achieve anything from toning the backs of your arms to adding some serious bulk. Though girls, don’t worry, you won’t get big muscly arms - women’s bodies don’t have the required hormones for that.
To perform this exercise, load up an EZ bar (see picture) with enough weight so your arms will reach failure at the appropriate repetition range. For example, if you want to build size in your arms, add enough weight so your triceps will fatigue at 10 repeti-tions. Lay down flat on a bench or on the floor gripping the bar shoulder-width apart, and posi-tion it above your chest. Push the
work again. (Obviously don’t let your breaks last the entire day or week). Different people have different patterns. i aim to work hard five days a week and take a couple of days off as it helps me relax and compose myself before facing my workload again.
5. Exercise: Some of the best ways to relieve stress levels is to work it off. Hit the gym or perhaps go running with a friend. Find out
what exercise you enjoy and try to stick to it. This can be a healthy outlet for the stress that tends to get built up (and other negative emotions) and will ensure you are energised an ready to face exams.
Most importantly, don’t forget that we are all in the same boat. Feeling that you are the only one struggling can cause more anxiety and panic to set in. Plan your time well and keep reminding yourself of your goal.
a longer life. Obviously, having a healthy diet
and regular exercise are impor-tant ways of living longer, but as students, napping is a much easier and more tempting option. How-ever, be aware not to nap in the evening because this may result in not being able to sleep at night. Also, remember to always set an alarm before you nap; i have per-sonal experience in running into a seminar late with messy bed hair,
needless to say i was given a few odd looks.
napping can feel like the per-fect solution to that hangover, and when it has such profound health benefits, no excuse is necessary. it could give you the energy boost you need to finish that essay or to party the night away. So when you’re feeling tired, ditch the en-ergy drinks and ProPlus and take a midday nap instead and you’ll feel better in no time!
bar up so your arms are straight, and keeping your elbows in the same position, lower the bar down slowly to your forehead, keeping your elbows pointing up towards the ceiling. Just before you reach your forehead, extend your arms with your elbows still stationary until your arms are straight again. Repeat until failure. To increase the difficulty of this exercise, set the bench to decline, which will increase the range of motion or bring the bar to your chin rather than your forehead.
Start with a light weight to en-sure you have perfect technique and slowly increase it in small in-crements. it’s much safer (there’s a reason they’re called skullcrush-ers) and much more effective.
Wisdom of the Week: ‘All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast.’ - John Gunther
EMiLy FisHEr-sMiTH
Pizza is probably one of my fa-vourite foods; the only problem is that i am intolerant to basically everything that makes up a pizza; wheat and dairy. so going to Pizza Express normally wouldn’t be my first choice of places to eat out. However, i read on a review website that if you take your own wheat-free pizza base with you, they add whatever toppings you want, so i thought that i would try it out.
When i went to the restaurant i was a little bit nervous about bringing in my own pizza base in case i got laughed at or nobody
would know what i was talking about. The waiter who greeted us was extremely welcoming and friendly, and when i explained about my home brought pizza base he knew exactly what i was talking about and didn’t make me feel embarrassed. We went to the restaurant about 6pm so it wasn’t very busy, which meant that we got our drinks and had ordered our food all within 10 minutes of sitting down.
My friend ordered the Padana pizza which was goats’ cheese, spinach, red peppers and carame-lised onions and garlic oil. if you make your pizza “romana”, the base is thinner, bigger and crispier and it’s not much more expensive
than the classic so you do get quite a bit more for your money. Order-ing my food was made very simple by our waiter who explained that any topping that i wanted on my pizza base would be £1.50 each, so i chose the Etna which was spicy sausage, roquito peppers (sweet but quite spicy peppers) and speck ham, without the cheese (which is normally a type of parmesan) so it was only £4.50 for my pizza in total; not bad at all!
Whilst we were waiting for our food it got increasingly busy as the half term crowds started to turn up. Even though it was a lot busier this didn’t seem to be a problem for the two waiters that were on duty, who took it quite in their stride. The background music wasn’t too noisy, so we were able to maintain a conversation and seemed to keep things mellow, which was a nice change from loud chart music (a Chinese restau-rant i visited once had Westlife’s greatest hits playing on repeat, more than enough to put me off my food).
Our food came in about half an hour, which, with a steadily busy-ing restaurant, didn’t seem too bad. When the waiter brought our food i must admit i nearly laughed at mine; i was given three differ-ent plates, two of which had my pizza bases with the toppings on and the third with my side salad.
The three separate plates plus my friends’ large pizza meant that there wasn’t much room for manoeuvre on the table. Despite this we tucked in and i was pleas-antly surprised that pizza without cheese could actually taste nice. i wouldn’t advise the spicy shy to try the Etna, however, as it did almost make my mouth explode (that is probably why they named it after a volcano). The Padana pizza as well, i’m told, was deli-cious and is highly recommended.
The waiter was pleasant and checked in with us but didn’t make us feel too hassled or hurried to finish our food. The menus seemed quite accommodating as they had V (vegetarian) and N (may contain nut) signs next to dif-
ferent items, but they didn’t have any signs for gluten free or diary free. you can download an “Aller-gens menu” on their website which lets you know what everything on the menu contains (e.g. fish, soya, dairy, yeast, nuts), but the menus in the restaurant aren’t as compre-hensive.
Overall, i really enjoyed eat-ing out at Pizza Express. Despite being a fussy eater and asking endless questions, our waiter was accommodating and friendly, which meant that i felt like a valued customer rather than feel-ing embarrassed. The restaurant itself was inviting and warm and not too cluttered. i can’t say i have much to complain about apart from the menus not being descrip-tive enough for allergy sufferers and the dessert menu being fairly limited, as there wasn’t anything i could eat on there. i urge anyone intolerant to wheat or dairy, and non-afflicted people alike to eat at Pizza Express for a relaxed and delicious meal, with excellent and welcoming service.
My experiences as a customer who is intolerant to both wheat and dairy!
sOPHiE BLACkMAN
The classic spaghetti carbonara is a regular on many restaurant menus, and a popular choice for fans of the cheese and ham combo. i first tasted home-made car-bonara when my italian neighbour cooked a meal for our corridor in halls, and i made sure to ask her the secret behind this delicious dish before she went back to italy.
This recipe is a mixture of the authentic italian meal i tasted then, and a few ‘eggs-periments’ of my own. it is simple enough to be added to the regular student menu, but also tasty enough to whip out if you have a guest who fancies more than just PFC.
serves 2
ingredients:150g spaghetti or tagliatelle200g bacon or pancetta ham1 medium onion1 egg per person2 tablespoons creamParmesan cheese (can buy grated)Black peppersaltGarlic (if you like)Butter
THABisO NDEBELE
As part of the Veggie society’s ‘Be Vegan For Lent’ Campaign, i bring you a list of the best places to be vegan on campus. The thought of being vegan for any length of time seems impossible to many people, but this article will show you both the variety and availability of good vegan food on campus.
Humms Café
if you have not frequented this food outlet, be sure to check it out. Not only do they provide a variety of eligible sandwiches for purchase (check there is no may-onnaise or butter), there is a hot meal option - either jacket potato with roasted vegetables or baked beans, or a panini with roasted vegetables.
Mojo’s
The vegetarian menu at Mojo’s was extended this year and now includes a vegan option instead of the usual rather unhealthy basket of chips. stir-fry noodles are a worthy order, as is the veggie bur-rito, without cheese.
r U Being served
The Union shop offers more than just sandwiches. There are lentil and tobouli salads (again, be aware of the non-vegan dressing on most other salads), and wraps; the Pure Falafel wrap is one to try. And you don’t have to avoid your favourite products, all innocent® smoothies and many other snacks are vegan too.
CerealWorks
The Veggie Melt Bagel can be made with falafel, hummus, salad and an optional sweet chili sauce instead of cheese and is suitable for vegans.
That is more than enough to keep you fed, watered and healthy for the 40 day period. you can also get a complimentary recipe book when you sign up for the campaign, which means you might just stay vegan.
For more info and your free rec-ipe book, find us at the student’s union on 2 March between 12-2pm or you can give us an email: [email protected]
Spaghetti carbonara Vegan for lent v2Method:1. Boil the pasta as usual
2. Fry the onion, garlic and bacon in butter, which gives a creamier texture than oil
3. in a separate bowl, mix togeth-er the eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and plenty of parmesan
4. When the pasta is ready, drain it. Add the onion, garlic and bacon to the saucepan
5. Turn the heat down, add the
mixed eggs and cream to the saucepan bit by bit, and stir for an even coating. if the heat is too high, or it is left too long, the eggs will start to look a bit scrambled
6. After no longer than one minute take off the heat and serve with lashings of parmesan
you can also add mushrooms or parsley for extra flavour, and substitute the cream for milk if you have that in the fridge more regularly. Enjoy!
Take a quick glance over develop-er Bioware’s resume: Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. All classics; and yet one title tends to get overlooked; the terrific Jade Empire. released back in 2005 to positive reviews but none of the fanfare granted to their other fran-chises, this action rPG has been somewhat forgotten in time. This is a crying shame since it is one of Bioware’s greatest, unassuming achievements.
With a narrative deeply imbued in the Wuxia tradition of Chinese fiction, the story sees the hero or heroine in the midst of martial arts training under the guidance of Master Li, who looks upon you favourably, to the barely concealed chagrin of your fellow students. Your tuition is interrupted by a sudden attack from the ‘Lotus As-sassins’, a group of mercenaries under instruction from the reclu-sive emperor of the titular empire. They are defeated, but fellow student, Dawn star, is kidnapped, and when the player rescues her, the school is burnt to the ground and Master Li disappears. It is up to you to travel the land, acquir-ing an unusual team of warriors to confront the emperor, find Master Li and discover the strange signifi-cance of your role in this turn of events.
Jade Empire tends to get overlooked
Gameplay is not too dissimilar to other Bioware staples, with com-bat, exploration and contemplative conversations in equal measure, but while morality is as big a concern as usual, Jade Empire goes to pains to explain that there is more to your decisions than good or evil. Instead, your attitude leans towards either the way of the ‘open palm’ or the ‘closed fist’. Neither is right or wrong, but simply reflects two different ways of overcoming a dilemma. For ex-ample, someone following the way of the open palm may step in to aid the gatekeeper facing bandits, but one following the closed fist might leave them to fight, if they thought that person would gain strength and courage from such a test of their resolve. The danger of the
Is it me or is that guy’s crotch glowing?closed fist lies in its potential for misinterpretation, birthing tyr-anny in those who choose to abuse it, while the open palm can lead to an overly selfless naiveté.
Visually, it’s as rich and inspir-ing as its philosophy. Though facial animation looks outdated by contemporary standards, the game leads you through a luscious mixture of environments, from quiet hamlets dotted with cherry blossom trees to bustling cities and ethereal spirit worlds. every little detail, from architecture to flora, helps to conjure a stunning aesthetic that brings you right to the heart of ancient China. The soundtrack, handled by the reli-ably brilliant Jack Wall, seals the seamless atmosphere, with an air of oriental serenity that ratchets up with cinematic flourish for the heat of battle. Voice acting is also of an excellent standard; unlike Bethesda, Bioware understand that a game that mostly involves talking to people requires consist-ent performances and they don’t disappoint. There’s even a turn from John Cleese, showing up in
one of the game’s highlights as a homicidal British ambassador, who engages the player in debate over the finer points of colonialism.
The soundtrack seals the seamless atmosphere
Combat, taking place in real time, starts out as a simple exercise in attacks, blocks and dodges but gradually evolves into something more complex and satisfying. New styles learnt over time offer different ways of overcoming enemy types; ghosts, for example, are unaffected by physical objects, so require the ‘dire flame’ or ‘ice shard’ styles to be defeated. stronger attacks deplete focus en-ergy, so you have to carefully con-sider when to use heavy weapons or advanced techniques. Along-side this is Chi, the internal life force that can be used to replenish health, but must be drained from opponents using the ‘spirit Thief’ technique. As the player levels
up, experience points can be used to increase health, chi and focus and improve a technique of the player’s choice.
The greatest triumph of Jade Empire, however, lies in its characterisation. every mem-ber of your team comes with an expansive and often troubling past, which comes to define the person they are at the present. The diffident yet altruistic Dawn star is an orphan ostracised for her claims to be in touch with the spirit world, while the Forward sky is looking for revenge for the murder of his daughter. Yet this is one of Bioware’s most light-heart-ed games, with many characters taking on an exaggerated, almost comic book quality. Henpecked Hou, a bumbling baker and expert of the drunken master style is constantly harangued by his wife. Black Whirlwind is a towering mercenary with an addiction to red wine, while Kang the Mad is an oddball inventor in love with his flying machines. Their eccentrici-ties often spark off laugh-out-loud interchanges, and the drive to ac-
crue further members comes from not only wanting to know what vibrant individual lies in wait, but how they will play off of others in your party.
Like Bioware’s other games, there’s a drive to replay the game upon completion to see what you would, or simply could, have done differently. How does playing a nimble female compare to a com-bat focused muscular man? Are you kinder to citizens, or manipu-late them further to enhance per-sonal gain? How does the roman-tic subplot work out with another character, if you choose to pursue one at all? While the potential per-mutations aren’t quite as extensive as, say, Mass Effect 2, there are enough branches and outcomes to draw you back to play things out from another perspective.
Though no concrete word of a sequel has emerged to date, Jade Empire still stands alone as an excellent game. A 20 hour experi-ence that can now be downloaded from the Xbox Live Arcade for a mere 1200 Microsoft points, you’d do well to check out this gem.
A young girl lies dead on the ground, her eyes staring blankly out of the screen. Emotive music slowly plays, as flashbacks of the girl running are shown. time is reversed, and she flies through the air several floors, back through a plate glass window, and lands on her father’s shoulders. she is attacking him. she is a zombie. time rewinds further, and more flashbacks flicker, each only a few seconds long, and the events lead-ing up to her death are revealed. the video ends with a home video of the happy family posing to-gether. they were on holiday.
For those who haven’t seen it, this is not a short film, or even a trailer to a new movie. In fact, this is the announcement trailer for Dead Island, a first person open world zombie game set on a tropical island. the game itself looks reasonably promising, if a little too similar to Dead Rising and Left 4 Dead for comfort, incor-porating RPG elements (including experience points and a skill tree system), an option to play co-op with up to four people, and an em-phasis on melee combat. Without its trailer, Dead Rising would have
garnered only a little interest, but this unique approach to video game marketing has set the online world abuzz, and not entirely for the right reasons.
some critics have claimed that it is wrong for the trailer to “glorify” the death of a child, particularly when it is advertising what is barely more than a zombie slash-‘em-up, but anyone who watches the trailer can see that this isn’t the case. others have argued that this video has little to do with the game itself, and is merely using the girl’s death to manipulate the viewer’s emotions, generating hype for an average game. this particular argument could have a point, as up to this point the developer (Polish studio techland) have failed to excel, their great-est achievement so far being the decent but hardly ground-breaking Call of Juarez series, indicating that Dead Island perhaps may not be all the trailer suggests it could be, and some careful optimism may be in order here. However, there is one thing this trailer has made extremely clear: the line be-tween games and films is becom-ing increasingly blurred.
Film trailers are seen by bil-lions every year and discussed by
Super Meat BoytoM KINdlEy
What with the release of Alien Hominid and Castle crashers, games from sites like Kongregate and Newgrounds have been mak-ing the rounds on XBlA. one of the recent ones is Super Meat Boy, one of the most stressful, strenu-ous, excellent games you can download at the moment.
It tells the tale of a cube of meat named Meat Boy, whose girlfriend, Bandage Girl (a girl made of bandages, funnily enough), is kid-napped Mario-style by dr. Fetus. the rest of the game involves sav-ing Bandage Girl in each stage, at
which point she will be teleported away by dr. Fetus. As with all platformer style games, you travel through many different worlds (some countryside, a salt factory, hell, etc) and at the end of each is a semi-relevant boss. the glori-ous mashup of a storyline makes enough sense to keep you playing to see what ridiculous schemes the doctor comes up with, but that isn’t the selling point. the real fun comes in the headache-inducing, thumb-crippling action in each less-than-a-minute-long level.
What begins as an amble through a hilly, gentle countryside with casual wall jumping and general
boringness steadily descends into a screen full of saw blades, spikes, demons and screams. your screams. And your housemate’s screams. sometimes the levels can be so hard that almost all the surfaces are covered in blood by the end (either from the splitter splatter of your tiny feet, or the explosion of your cuboid body get-ting shot by a homing missile) and all you want to do is quit.
However, this is when the game gets good. Eventually you get through the level in the most sweat-inducing scrabble that leaves you with a genuine sense of achievement as well as the respect
Oh god, they’re everywhere!
“Look mate, let me just fix your plumbing and leave”
millions. As it may be with Dead Island, there are cases where the trailer is misleading; for exam-ple, the Pan’s Labyrinth trailer neglected the fact that it was sub-titled, and appeared to be about a family friendly fantasy à la Harry Potter (those who have seen it will know that it really, really isn’t), whilst Sweeney Todd’s trailer failed to mention anywhere that
the film was a musical, leading to many angry theatregoers. But this doesn’t matter, as a great trailer is almost an art form in itself. While there have been some excellent game trailers in the past (GTA IV, Bioshock, and the Final Fantasy series being particularly stand-out examples), until now none have ever managed to create anything on a par with film. yet the Dead
Island trailer is an emotional experience that will stay with you long after you finish watching. It will tug at your heartstrings, make you feel, and possibly even make you cry.
If you haven’t seen it already, go and seek it out, and enjoy the next step taken on the road to video games getting the respect that they have long deserved.
of your housemates. the end of level replay shows all of your at-tempts together at the same time, which can be glorious on the later levels when here can be about a hundred Meat Boys running through the level at the same time, slowly dwindling in numbers until only one reaches Bandage Girl at the end.
The fun is in the headache inducing, thumb-crippling action
tag this along with the statistics page which keeps track of how many times you’ve died (my count is currently over 2,500) and it makes dying repeatedly on a level for half an hour worth it for the 20 second replay.
sometimes the game does get too hard. Completing a level under a certain amount of time (which is hard enough) opens up a “dark world” version, which is essen-tially the hard mode of the game. Bearing in mind that even com-pleting one of the later levels can make you feel like you’ve had a massive brain fart, the dark world versions either involve you look-ing at the level and instantly rage quitting, or just laughing. But if you manage to do them all, there is a secret ending to be had that I doubt many people will ever see.
For those who want some kind of extra challenge, there are bandag-es to collect on most levels that un-lock extra characters from games most people have never heard of (many of which allow you the bliss of double jumping), and hidden warp zones that transport you to eight-bit style levels. the makers are also releasing sets of levels for free as they design them, making an ever-expanding, impossible to complete game.
Be warned, though, that after a session of jamming the ‘A’ button with your eyes shut and praying that you will somehow reach the end of the level in one piece, you may wake up with lockjaw and thumb cramp. somehow it’s worth it...
Do you want to edit the gaming section?
We need someone to take over the gaming section for 2011/12!It is a great opportunity to get involved in Spark* and have editorial control over the entire gaming section.Publish the stories yoU want to publish.A fun job working with some great people.Interested? Contact [email protected] for more info!
Monday 7 March 2011 Spark*
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGYIn other
newsNokia have announced that they are dropping their op-erating system for mobile devices, Symbian, and will soon start shipping new handsets with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 7 pre-in-stalled. This comes not long after RIM have announced that their Blackberry hand-sets will soon be able to sup-port apps built for Google’s mobile operating system, Android.
Start getting used to the idea of living next to a Black Hole. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Ge-neva will begin the particle smashing processes to try and hunt down the elusive Higgs boson particle which is theorised to give mass to matter.
For we students, the most in-ventive meal we ever make is the one made in a bid to use up all our leftover food before the holidays. But now, Google have unveiled Google Recipes on their search engine to help you widen your culinary exper-tise.
At the last minute, the papers of codebreaker and Com-puter Science pioneer Alan Turing have been bought by the Nation Heritage Memo-rial Fund, outbidding a pri-vate buyer from overseas and allowing them to stay at Bletchley Park where Turing cracked the engima code.
Despite the stepping down of bespectacled CEO Steve Jobs, Apple is eager to show they’re still playing, an-nouncing the iPad 2 at an event last week. We’re writ-ing this before the event it-self, but we’re pretty confi-dent that this is the case.
PETER BuRGESS
Last April, Britain finally intro-duced a feed-in tariff for renew-able energy generators. Across Europe, these schemes have always led to a massive increase in the amount of solar power (PV) and there is no reason Britain should be any different. Yes, it’s sunny enough! We have as much sun as Germany, which has half the global market for solar power.
Solar Power in Britain? Yes, it’s sunny enough!
Everyone knows renewable energy reduces carbon emissions, but it’s also important to point out that the
more we get from renewable re-sources, the less dependent we are on oil rich countries and the lower our exposure to price rises.
With so few solar installations in Britain now, there is limited in-formation about how they actually perform. At the TSBE, we work with Scottish and Southern Energy and Solarcentury.
Our project aims to develop information about how well PV works in the uK, using a combina-tion of meteorological data and energy production data from PV systems in real-time.
The great thing about the kind of research we do at the TSBE is that our work is immediately useful to industry and has wider societal
benefits in terms of lower carbon emissions.
The more we get from renewable resources, the less dependent we are on oil rich countries
Companies will be able to use our research to provide maintenance services, demonstrate systems are meeting customers’ required standards, and for promotional purposes, as well as to improve prediction models.
For more information about the work TSBE does with the univer-sity of Reading, visit www.reading.ac.uk/tsbe
TSBE on Renewable Energy TIM SNOW
As part of our continuing initia-tive to provide local university of Reading-based news, the Science and Technology section is pleased to publish the regular slot by the Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments (TSBE).
The TSBE is a university depart-ment set up with the aim to train research engineers, and as part of this aim the department is ac-tively involved in ground-breaking research, which varies from ideas relating to renewable energy systems, to building maintenance. TSBE itself is one of 20 industrial doctoral training centres in the uK funded by the EPSRC. If you would like to find out more visit www.reading.ac.uk/tsbe
Several hundred thousand custom-ers have been affected by Voda-fone’s temporary network down-time last Monday morning, which it is thought to have affected much of the country.
A break-in at Vodafone’s ex-change centre just down the road from the university of Reading in Basingstoke, in the wee hours of the morn, led to “damage [being] done to some equipment”, the tele-communications giant explained in a post on their support forum. There has been no indication as to the identity of the saboteur, be it an organised group or a lone chancer looking to get his mitts on some high-end hardware.
The lion’s share of the downtime seems to have been felt in the South West of the uK, meaning we’ve taken it on the chin, al-though reports on Twitter indicate varying degrees of disruption in many other corners of the country.
There has been no indication as to the identity of the saboteur
Paradoxically, despite having no data signal on their handsets, many disgruntled Vodafone cus-
tomers were within arms reach of a computer, and took to the human grumble-pit that is Twitter to mut-ter their dissatisfaction at being unable to tweet from their phones.
Vodafone were keen to stress that no customer data has been lost
The biggest question raised by this disruption is precisely what does Vodafone have by way of backup? Surely, a network with such a massive customer base and infra-structure would have some sort of procedure to mask any mass-disruption. Particularly when you consider that they rent out their infrastructure to smaller mobile network operations like Asda and Talkmobile. Some reports, mainly from Twitter, indicate that these customers were also affected, although neither companies have commented on the disruption.
It does seem strange that some blighter making off with an armful of hardware can cause such chaos, but that could lend credence to the possibility that this was an or-ganised attack, targeted at a point that would maximise the impact.
Meanwhile, Vodafone were keen to stress that the theft has only
Vodafone in network disruption dramabeen to equipment and no cus-tomer data has been compromised. But confidence in Vodafone’s ability to fend off a digital attack, having failed to prevent physical attack, has certainly been ques-tioned.
To their credit, Vodafone were quick to respond to the outage, and had most services restored by lunchtime that day, though full res-toration didn’t occur until mid-af-ternoon. Hacking into a company network to cause disruption is so commonplace it has become some-thing of a heist movie cliché. Has
it gotten to the point that so much focus is on preventing cyber-infil-tration that they forget to lock the doors? Whatever the case, Voda-fone will have to do some major damage-control, both in replacing the stolen equipment and restoring their reputation for reliability.
Where are Vodafone’s backup systems?
All information here is based on the details that were available at time of writing, any new informa-tion will not have been included.
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tips on how to survive long haul tripsAiLEEn LAThEEf
for some people, long journeys can cause them great discomfort. Personally i love them. Every year my journey from the UK to the Maldives takes me approxi-mately eleven hours on the plane. When you consider airport transit times, time differences and so on, it can add up to a lot.
for those of you who are not so keen on making long journeys, i want to share with you some per-sonal tips and experiences in the hope that it would make your next journey more bearable.
Personal tips and experiences to make your next journey more bearable
1. Book your seat in advance. The earlier you book, the more options there are available for you. i book my seat as early as April some-times if i am flying home in July.
i am a window-seat girl, prefer-ably the front row of any given section as it means there is more legroom as well. i hate sitting by the aisle but at the same time i hate having to cross over the next persons’ legs if you want to get out. Grabbing a seat at the front
row is a potential solution to both these problems.
i love looking out of the window at the UK where i would have just spent ten (hopefully) wonderful months, and seeing the country get smaller.
Similarly i love looking down on Maldives when we are descending. The beautiful islands scattered amongst the blue sea is always a sight to behold.
2. Pack sensibly. Confirm how much you are allowed to carry back with you and make sure your suitcase is not over weight. There is nothing worse in terms of add-ing to stress than having to pack and re-pack your suitcase once you are in the airport.
You might end up having to pay a huge fine (let’s face it; those extra clothes you packed are probably not worth it) or leaving a lot of your personal items behind.
Also, make sure you don’t pack anything you can’t travel with in your hand luggage; that includes liquid items, sharp objects and so on. A list of all these will be avail-able online at whatever airport you are travelling from.
3. Be on time. Make sure you check in with plenty of time. Pan-icking about missing your flight does not help the whole journey.
Check where your gate is and ar-rive at your gate in plenty of time
as well. This is especially impor-tant if you have any transit times.
Sometimes the airport can change the gate numbers without announcing it. Once i checked my gate number in Dubai airport and then wandered about for hours, finally heading to my gate within the last half an hour or so.
When i then found out it had changed and the new gate was miles away, i had to rush about in the airport. i got there in time, fortunately. however i could have saved myself the heart palpita-tions and worry by just re-check-ing my gate number and leaving early.
I love looking out of the window at the UK and seeing the country get smaller
4. Once you are on the flight... The first thing i tend to do once i am on board is to make sure that i am comfortable.
if you need to use the loo, you can always ask the airhost/ess on board if you have enough time and then go. if you are carrying any valuables such as a laptop, i rec-ommend taking it with you as you can never be too careful.
if you tend to get easily bored on the flight, or if you are like me and have trouble sleeping on board, then take a good book with you as that will help pass the time. i plan on popping into Wh Smith at the airport before i travel the next time.
5. Don’t like airline food? Airline food seems to have a bit of a love/hate affair with its customers. i tend to love airline food. it’s not particularly tasty but there’s something about sitting so many miles high up in the sky when hav-ing your food that seems to make it so delicious. if anyone offered me that same food outside of the flight, i don’t know if i would have quite the same reaction to it.
i don’t normally go around hav-ing bread rolls with butter but on the flight, even this tends to be mouth-watering. But perhaps that’s just me…
There’s something about sitting high up in the sky that makes it so delicious
Check beforehand how many meals your flight does offer. i tend to fly with Emirates and we some-times get three meals if memory serves me right. however, if you feel like you might like something to munch on (or if you simply don’t like the food on the flight) then stop in one of the shops in the air-port and get some chocolate bars or crisps to munch on. You can always get some of those bread rolls and butter once you are on board anyway….
6. Let people know. imagine travelling for so many hours and then realising you forgot to let your friends or family back home what time you will be arriving. having no one to meet you at the airport is not fun (although this hasn’t happened to me person-ally. not yet anyway). Let your parents/friends know when you will be arriving so they’ll be there to meet and greet.
i know flying on long haul jour-neys isn’t everyone’s’ favourite thing to do but hopefully some of these tips will come in handy to some of you. happy travels.
Editor’s noteMarch has arrived and Spring along with it! What a better way to celebrate new beginnings than writing for Spark*? Dust off your notebook whilst spring cleaning and think back to experiences of sunnier climates.
have you had a particularly pleasant journey across campus, passing daffodils and singing birds? Or finding the milder tem-perature simply not warm enough and craving a summer holiday?
Then write for Travel! All writers are welcome, whether it’s a positive or negative travel account. Email [email protected] if you have any ideas, or for more information. it is great experience and a must-have on the old CV if you’re interested in publishing or journalism.
So get out and about and get writ-ing! Ciao for now...
Lucy Richards, and introduc-ing the next Travel Editor, Erica Macheriotou.
Oman. A home from home, and the best kept secret of the Middle East. Very few people have heard of this small Middle Eastern coun-try that borders saudi Arabia, Ye-men and the UAE - three countries that we have all certainly heard of.
Visiting the country at least twice a year for the past seven years, i have come to grasp just what it is that makes Oman so special: the friendly communities, the desert-ed sandy white shores, the souks of Muscat lined with silver, gold, frankincense and Persian rugs, and the hustle and bustle of Ruwi, that is, ‘fake central’, where you can get Ralph Lauren polo shirts for the price of a snakebite at the Union.
Within Oman lies salalah, a southern ‘city’ that has boomed in the last 10 years, and by boom, i mean it is now about the size of Reading University students’ Union. Lined with the most beauti-ful beaches, i have spent many a day camped out on the beach watching the lapping waves upon the shore whilst my Dad lights the barbie and i open the corona.
it all sounds so perfect… yet it truly is in salalah. No tourists. No big monopoly supermarket. Granted, subway not only blesses Reading but salalah also. This is, however, the only ‘big’ fast food chain (much to the delight of the ex-pat community living in salalah).
Going back to the beaches, the bay of Khor Rori is a favourite, with a lagoon on one side and the Arabian sea on another. Just a few miles down from Khor Rori is a
beach that my father and i have adopted as our family’s ‘Red Moon’ beach. Why Red Moon you ask? Well, clad with our jeep full of camping gear (literally everything but the kitchen sink) we’ve set up base and watched a red moon appear across the bay as the sun has set. it is undoubtedly the most beautiful sight i’ve ever seen and, soppy though it may be, sharing this with your family is always a beauty.
Ralph Lauren polo shirts for the price of a snakebite at the Union
Exploring salalah in the jeep, (and by God you need one with ‘roads’ being something they’ve only developed in the last few years) has become a real pastime. Not knowing where the road may lead and where we might end up (some-times we have ended up in the middle of nowhere) gives a sense of adventure. i’ve come to relish every moment. Only once have we got lost amongst the mountains of salalah at night: not such a fond memory, but back to the good stuff…
salalah is a place where you can still find amazing shells. You have to admit this is a great thing; we all love to find shells and the sense of achievement this brings, child-ish though it may be. it’s a place where the desert in the Khareef turns from dry brown stony land to landscapes that resembles the Yorkshire moors.
salalah is often denoted ‘the eighth wonder of the world.’ One
cannot explain the transforma-tion in the summer months, yet it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors during the rainy wet season. But it’s the dry hot season i love the most, for its peace and quiet, its sun and sand, and the adventures it brings. There is only one more thing that one must men-tion about salalah (and if you know me, you know what is coming)…food.
Whilst visiting salalah there are two must have local restaurants - Norman Tebbits (yes, as in the British politician) and the Turk-ish Restaurant. concentrating on Tebbits (and undoubtedly my favourite), this is the stuff dreams are made of.
indian and sri Lankan cuisine galore, you can literally order any and every curry. Rice never tasted so good, and don’t even get me started on the vegetable pan-cake rolls, let alone the Naan and paratha bread. i had better stop myself before i get carried away.
its not just the awesome food, the beaches, the people or even the shells that i’ve found (and trust me i have some crackers that have even made my 30-year-old sister throw a tantrum over) that have made salalah and Oman my second home. it’s the memories the country have given me, the endless trips with my father, only memories that could have been formed in such a idyllic place. Oman is not your typical ‘tourist’ destination but it is the most beau-tiful, friendly and heavenly place to visit in the Middle East. i would recommend it to anyone.
The sky at Wight:sOPhiE BLAcKMAN
sometimes a certain scene will wash over you, subtly demanding your attention as you pass it, and you know you must somehow catch it before its inevitable disappear-ance. You cannot quite put your finger on why this is, but you know it is worth capturing when those around you get out their cameras.
i was on the ferry back from France last summer, and to avoid a wobbly stomach, i walked onto the side deck for a dose of fresh air. i must have been out there for at least half an hour watching the sun go down. The clouds and the loose ribbons of pink sky were intertwined, occupying the entire ocean’s horizon, and creating a perfect symmetry in the reflective evening water.
The clouds and the loose ribbons of pink sky were intertwined
At first the sun was bright, white and dominant, vying for attention with the clouds; “i’m setting, give me some space.” But the clouds were expanding and thinning as they relaxed after a day of tight fluffiness. “This is our plateau; we can spread out as much as we wish.”
A middle-aged couple joined me on deck, greeting me as they came into view. i was sitting on an emergency box of some sort; they stood nearby, exchanging light banter about the cost of duty-free and the sky’s beauty.
They produced a camera; “let’s have a classic ‘us on holiday’ shot.”
They placed themselves with their backs to the attention-seeking horizon and attempted to snap. “Would you like me to take your picture?” i offered; enlightened by the youthful happiness these two emitted.
As we neared the isle of Wight, a hazy mist rose from the sea, joining the party of colour the sky was now hosting. The previously solid white line of light across the water was dissipated and scattered across the surface; the various vapours had overtaken the previ-ously strong shine.
A man and his boy joined the un-intentional assembly. The white culver cliff of the isle of Wight was emerging out of the mist. They stood side by side; watching the scene with tilted heads, and then the father imparted his isle of Wight knowledge onto his atten-tive son.
having visited the island the previous summer, i was interested to see whether i had successfully identified this noble cliff-face. The father became mindful that his audience extended further than his boy. he subtly looked round; i pretended i wasn’t listening. he increased his volume. i was happy to hear i had identified the cliff correctly.
The island appeared as the mist cleared. The clouds sanctioned an opening, and the sun’s pink rays lit up the sky from somewhere below the horizon. A common sight.
With a windswept face and numb flip-flop-clad feet, i left the ephem-eral scene behind and returned to my sleeping family.
Proofreaders: Rosi Hirst, Jessica Cropper, Emily Shaw, Jon Erridge,
Sarah Rana
Spark* is written, designed & typeset by students at the University of Reading. Printed by Newbury News Limited, Newspaper House, Faraday Road, Newbury, Berk-shire. RG14 2DW. Published and funded by Reading University Students’ Union - [email protected]. Spark* is completely editorially independent. Com-plaints should be made to the Editor, in the first instance, and thereafter to RUSU. All complaints should be made in writing. All articles, letters etc. must include a name, address, and contact number/e-mail address. These may be withheld from publication at specific request. Spark* or RUSU can take no responsibility for products or services advertised herein. Spark* reserves the right to reject or edit any submissions. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the Editor. The views expressed in Spark* do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, particularly those expressed in the comments pages, which are often the opinions of the specific authors. Photographs in Spark* are copyright to the photographer concerned.
Any comments, suggestions, complaints or praises are always welcome
Postgraduate Open Day
for Prospective Masters and PhD students
Wednesday 16 March1.30-4.30pm
Palmer Building
Decided what you’re going to do after you graduate? Don’t leave it until after your exams; find out more now and get ahead of
the game! visit www.reading.ac.uk/pgopen-
days to book your place
Easter Egg Hunt
Following a success-ful first social, Reading University’s Fairtrade Society is pleased to
announce another choco-late-filled event!
Why not take a break from last minute dead-lines and join us for a Fairtrade Easter Egg Hunt? With baffling
clues, a scenic location, and of course, prizes, this promises to be an excit-ing and fun-filled after-
noon. Meet us at Harris Gar-dens on Wednesday 16 March at 2pm for the
start of this edible quest.
CHRIS SEARLE
SPARk* DEPUTy EDITOR
Hello, students!I must say, I haven’t been so ex-
cited in all of my four years at this university!
By the time you read this, we will have already completed one of the biggest things that’s ever happened to student media here at RUSU - a three and a half hour live collaborative broadcast of the elections night coverage! I’m cur-rently working both on editing the newspaper and planning my role on the evening - I’ll be chairing the live panel discussion, and you should be able to watch the whole event back on the RU:ON website, www.ruon.tv, as well as the RUSU Media website, www.rusumedia.co.uk.
Sadly, Sophie and I will shortly be stepping down as your Editor and Deputy Editor; we’ve achieved a lot in the past year, but the time has come to pass the torch on to the next generation, and by the next issue we’ll be able to an-nounce who will be taking the paper into the next academic year! I’m very excited to find out what
their plans are, and I’m confident that the newspaper will be in good hands.
Having said that, it’s never too late to get involved in Spark*; email the Editor, Sophie, on [email protected] to find out how you can get writing, proof-reading, photographing or any of the other fab jobs, or alternatively email the section editors directly - look to your right for the details.
Well, that’s all from me I’m afraid. I’m looking forward to finally graduating, but don’t forget to keep writing! Stay tuned for all the info about the Media Soirée next term!
While visiting Sir Eric Conway-Carton last week with no excuse other than wanting cheap entertain-ment, I was thrilled to join in with his birthday celebrations. In his speech following the roast marmo-set, he said:
“Take advantage of quirky Ameri-canisms by celebrating your birthday twice. If your birthday is 4 March, for example - 04/03 - cel-ebrate it in Blighty and then travel to the USA where they’ll think your birthday is 3 April - 03/04. If your birthday is on the 22nd of a month, you may have to invent more months.”
A Will-to-Live has been handed in to the newly-created Spark* Lost and Found. It was reportedly found in a revision room in HumSS and is described as being small, badly beaten and exactly the same colour as Whiteknights Campus, making it an easy place to lose it.
If you or anyone you know has lost theirs, please email the address at the top of the page. 12,000 responses so far.
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Despite being english and having a plethora of domestic and interna-tional sports at my disposal, I have found myself drawn to several American sports over the past few years.
For many, sport is an essential component of their everyday life, an escape from their work, and a sweet obsession with competition. And nobody lives for sport quite like the Americans.
America lives for sports; it is an undeniable mania they are proud of. I can count myself amongst the countless millions of people that follow the four main sports; American Football (nFL), Ice hockey (nhL), Baseball (MLB) and Basketball (nBA).
The four major American leagues would benefit hugely from the inclusion of other countries
There is so much I love about how America does sport; enough to deprive myself of sleep when the nBA playoffs kick in; enough to neglect the english Premier League and be stunned when almost none of my friends knew that after easter Donovan Mcnabb had been traded to the Washington Redskins.
But despite all of this, their sports are still fatally flawed on some basic levels: and so begins a detailed look at how the country of America can learn from Britain, and its beloved sports.
There is very little America can do about my first criticism, which is that they should involve other countries. It’s not really America’s fault that no other major country can compete at the same level they do. It is more of a shame rather than entirely their fault.
British sports focus on competi-tion with other countries. The Champions League pits the top four teams from england with other major teams from around europe in a fight for europe’s top
footballing prize.The ICC World Cup is underway
at the moment as england battle to win cricket’s highest honour. The Six nations is also ongoing as eng-land look to take a stranglehold on the competition and complete a Grand Slam, having already beaten Wales, Italy and France
The four major American leagues would benefit hugely from the inclusion of other countries, so that the titles they claim have more meaning.
This directly leads to another issue I have with American sports: stop calling yourselves ‘World Champions’. I enjoyed the recent Superbowl, but it does seem slightly arrogant to proclaim the winning team the World Champi-ons of American Football.
True, no other country would have been able to beat any team from the nFL (probably), but did they even try? They should be awarded the title of ‘American Champions’, and not take on the title of the best team in the world when only 32 teams competed, from only one country. It used to come across as quite conceited, but now it just looks stupid.
British teams fight until they can fight no more
One of the most infuriating things about American sports is their inability to respect a draw. Two teams can throw everything they have at each other, run themselves into the ground, and give their all, only to draw a game. And that is okay. Leyton Orient earned them-selves huge plaudits when they recently drew against Arsenal in the FA Cup.
had the game been forced to continue until a winner was found, it would discredit Orient’s efforts and increase the chances of them losing that game.
The nFL especially rotates around the idea that a winner must be found in every game. A tie is exceptionally rare in the nFL, and only two have occurred since 2002. Why must there be a win-ner? America needs to accept that sometimes two teams can cancel each other out, so a draw is a fair result.
One of the best things about Brit-ish sports is promotion and relega-tion. It ensures that teams fight until the last day of the season for something that normally affects their next season.
In America, if a team is already guaranteed to finish bottom of the table, they will still compete, but not with the same impetus as if they had something to fight for. In Britain, if you finish bottom, you’re relegated. That is why teams fight until they can fight no more. If a team finishes top of the table, they are rewarded with promotion to a harder, richer and more challenging league. That’s the beauty of the system.
In America, you’re rewarded with a title of Division Champion, compete in the lop-sided playoffs and wait until the next season
starts. I have two final criticisms, which
I feel most strongly about. The penultimate point may cause some argument, and I accept that I may hold a distinctly biased view.
It is with regard to the league’s post-seasons. The playoffs may be exciting, but the system, I believe, is flawed. The best team is not im-mediately rewarded with the title when the season closes. A selec-tion of teams are entered into the playoffs, where the best team will, in theory, eventually triumph over their rivals.
In the most recent nFL season, the Seattle Seahawks made the playoffs with a losing record (7-9),
whilst strong, deserving teams like the new York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (both 10-6) were left out in the cold. This format does not reward the best team; a fact I am still bitter about after the unbeaten ’07 Patriots were beaten in the Superbowl by the upstart new York Giants.
The playoff format does not reward the best team
And finally, America - cut down on the commercials! We all know that commercials, to a degree, pay for sports, and that is the same in Britain as football teams are sponsored and billboards surround the pitches. But when game play is held up for the station to finish airing a commercial, it’s obvious that something is wrong. America takes any opportunity to play a commercial, and it begins to get repetitive and draining on the au-dience who have to endure it.
Those are just a few things that we do well over here that could improve the already great world of American sport.
Let’s not kid ourselves; British sports are flawed, but we do set a high bench-mark that other sports can learn from if they so choose. And of course, we can learn a lot from American sports, but that’s a whole, much bigger, issue for another day.
American sports could take a leaf out of our book
TOM PuDDY
In the cricket world, the knell is currently being rung for one-day cricket.
Sadly, Twenty20 (T20), one day’s younger, faster, and more widely appealing cousin, has killed cricket off and it may well never rise again.
The knell is currently being rung for one day cricket
The fact that masses of fans are flocking to the World Cup this year to see it, and people across the globe are tuning in or cursing the inability of their radios to play longwave broadcasts, is simply a sign that these people are in denial of the facts. Or at least that’s what
some of the more pessimistic com-mentators seem to think.
The sheer level of pessimism and gloom by these people resembles Cassandra, Malthus and Al Gore all being rolled into one. every time there is a big competition in cricket, there are cries and howls of how the game is dying, or that it’s being killed off by some rogue version of the sport.
For purists it’s the heretical one day and T20 games that are to blame. For the one day fans, it’s that apparently demonic T20 that’s ruthlessly eating away at the fan-base.
And of course in T20, it is dying out due to a lack of interest, most likely caused by people spending too much money watching real cricket.
Cricket is constantly receiv-ing greater and greater levels of support across the board and the
types of people who watch the cricket is constantly widening. T20 has brought thousands of peo-ple who never dreamed of being cricket fans into the games. Its fast pace and the comparatively short span of each match appeals to people whose main interest is otherwise football or rugby.
Cricket isn’t dying, it’s thriving
One day, on the other hand, ap-peals very handily to the Barmy Army fans out there; the ones look-ing for a good time in front of the cricket and a great day out.
That said, Test Match cricket is the father of all cricket and will always remain the most important form of the game. So no, cricket is not dying, it’s thriving.
Death of cricket? Not a word of it In-nate Ramblings of a Sports EditornATe SAunDeRS
SPORTS eDITOR
england’s disastrous loss to Ireland demonstrates how far we have to go before we are anywhere near masters of the 50-overs game.
Credit where credit is due, how-ever: Ireland were quite fantastic. Kevin O’Brien was majestic in his innings; one of the most clinical pieces of one-day batting the game has ever seen.
Discredit where discredit is due: england’s fielding was appalling. Matt Prior’s appalling spill was the worst of the bunch, and never before has the rhetoric “catches win matches” been more appropri-ate than here.
The cancellation of the Formula One opener in Bahrain raises seri-ous questions about Bernie eccle-stone’s desire to take the sport to politically unstable nations.
F1 was one of the only sport that ventured to South Africa during the dark days of apartheid - some-thing which did nothing to help the sport’s reputation at the time - and the cancellation of Bahrain throws it into similar disripute again.
england’s rugby team’s improving form is a welcome respite after several years of inept perform-ances that at times bordered on the pedestrian.
Chris Ashton has been a revela-tion to the team, and he will be instrumental in helping england secure the key victories they need in the final two games of the Championship.
Full credit to Martin Johnson as well. he has not been afraid to change things around, and has finally been rewarded with a team that looks truly ferocious against our european rivals.
It was a historic night for Tottenham in Milan as they scored late on to seal an away vic-tory and take the
CaMeROn HuMPHRIeS
In recent years many have questioned whether the supposed magic of the Fa cup lives on.
It could be said that its sig-nificance as a competition was first queried as far back as 2000, when holders Manchester united withdrew to enter the Club World Championship held in Brazil.
Year after year, teams defy the odds and pull off ‘cupsets’, and this year has been no different, with non-league Crawley progressing to the fifth round, handed a lucrative trip to Old Trafford to try and pull
off what many labelled the impos-sible, and beat Manchester united.
For 90 minutes Crawley showed no fear; in the end only a Wes Brown header was the difference between the sides as united edged it by a goal to nil.
united will host arsenal in the next round after the north London side routed Leyton Orient 5-0 in the replay. Birmingham City serenely progressed into the next round with a 3-0 win over Shef-field Wednesday, and will face Bolton who earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Stoke City avoided a potential upset in comfortably beating league one Brighton 3-0, they face West Ham in the sixth round who beat Burnley 5-1 at upton Park.
Perhaps the shock of the round came at Goodison Park as Reading replicated last year’s shock win at Liverpool, this time beating ever-ton 1-0. They will face the tough trip to eastlands in the quarter finals after Manchester City com-fortably beat aston Villa 3-0.
With the competition now taking shape, the favourites must surely be those sides at the top of the pre-mier league, Manchester united, Manchester City and arsenal.
JaMeS HuGHeS
Ben Foden scored the only try of the game as england ran out victorious in a game that many had tipped would decide the champion-ship winners.
With a weak-looking Scotland side still to come to Twickenham, followed by a final game against Ireland in Dublin, it’s not just the Six nations championship that is now in england’s grasp, but also the prestigious Grand Slam.
england made one change from the 15 that thrashed Italy two weeks ago with prop andrew Sheridan coming in for alex Corbisiero, whilst France made five changes to the side that beat Ireland in Dublin.
The first half was a battle of the kickers as Toby Flood and Dimi-tri Yachvili both converted nine points each to put the sides level at half time. It was a cagey 40 min-utes with neither side able to make the breakthrough.
France had the best chance to break the try line right on the stroke of half time following intel-ligent play from a lineout.
Yachvili’s quick thinking sent Servat away down the right flank but the referee brought back play to the lineout as the Frenchmen looked set to score.
Yachvili then had the opportunity to give the visitors a three point lead going into half time but was unable to kick through the posts.
Perhaps the least enthralling tie of the last sixteen involving an english team on paper, Copenha-
a match that prom-ised a meeting between the two best passing teams in europe also offered arsenal a
There was little separating Mar-seille and Man-chester united as they played out a cagey draw from
FC Copenhagen 0-2 Chelsea
Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona
Marseille 0-0 Man United
AC Milan 0-1 Tottenham
TOM CHaRD
England take Grand Slam initiative
Bahrain Grand Prix cancelled due to political unrestIn the wake of political unrest, the FIa has decided to cancel the opener of this years Formula One season in Bahrain. The season re-sumes in two weeks in Melbourne, australia.
Sports news in brief
England 17-9 France, Six Nations Championship, Twickenham
upper hand in the tie as they travel back to White Hart Lane.
Peter Crouch caressed home a pass from aaron Lennon after a lethal counter-attack that high-lighted Milan’s frailties, with 10 minutes remaining.
Spurs produced the ideal perfor-mance that balanced their attack-ing tendencies with defensive prudence, preventing a repeat of the 4-3 scoreline seen on their last trip to Milan against Inter.
Milan thought they had levelled late on through Ibrahimovic, but the goal was rightly disal-lowed because of an obvious push on Dawson. Gennaro Gattuso extended the madman antics he displayed during the game to the Spurs bench, headbutting assistant coach Joe Jordan.
chance at revenge after losing 6-3 to Barcelona over two legs at the quarter-final stage last season.
The first half saw Barcelona call the shots, bringing about op-portunities for Lionel Messi, who uncharacteristically shot wide before he turned creator for David Villa, to clinically finish after 26 minutes.
The odds on arsenal coming from behind at half time were 35/1, but Van Persie’s leveller from a near impossible angle renewed op-timism at the emirates. Within the space of five minutes the tie was turned on its head as andrey ar-shavin latched on to Samir nasri’s cut back cross to finish a superb move down the right.
The tie remains finely balanced for the return leg.
which both mangers will come away pleased.
Marseille’s home record has been strong, already recording a win over Chelsea in the group stages. a goalless draw will leave united feeling confident they can finish the job at Old Trafford.
In a game of few chances Darren Fletcher came closest for united; his shot from the edge of the area was split then gathered by Mar-seille ‘keeper Steve Mandanda.
neutrals will be hoping for a more exciting encounter in the second leg, but united remain in control of their european destiny.
gen failed to deliver the promise they displayed in the group stages that saw them remain unbeaten at home and earn a draw against Barcelona.
Jesper Gronkjaer seemed to be-lieve he still had his Chelsea shirt on as he misplaced a pass straight to nicolas anelka who finished aplomb for Chelsea’s first after 16 minutes.
This set the tone for the game, as Chelsea took control and anelka added another in the second half, sealing a successful first leg vic-tory for Chelsea that should see them through to the quarter finals.
England fans lose ticketsThe Welsh Fa has announced that 950 england fans will not be able to watch the Wales v eng-land european qualifying game. an error was made in allocating tickets, which are unlikely to be re-allocated.
Plymouth Argyle on the brinkLeague One football club Plymouth argyle are on the verge of admin-istration unless the board can find £5million in the next few days. The club has already suffered a 10-point league penalty, which takes them the bottom of the table.
Ireland stun England in Cricket World CupKevin O’Brien helped see under-dogs Ireland beat england by three wickets in their Group B encoun-ter. O’Brien recorded the fastest World Cup century in history and ended on 113 in just 69 deliveries.
Birmingham upset Arsenal 2-1 in League Cup FinalObafemi Martins pounced on a last minute mix-up in arsenal’s defence to hand the Blues their first trophy in 48 years. Robin Van Persie cancelled out nikola Zigic’s opener in the first half.
england came out for the second half all guns blazing and took just two minutes to score the first try of the game. Ben Palmer superbly charged down Yachvili from the kick off to set up and england charge on the try line and it was Ben Foden who managed to break through and touch down.
Flood was unable to add on the two points, however; his first miss of the tournament.
England made one change from the 15 that thrashed Italy
england then thought they had gone even further ahead minutes later when this year’s champion-ships top try scorer Chris ashton broke through Les bleus defence, and swan dived over the try line, only for the referee to chalk it off for a forward pass from Flood.
Flood limped off with an ankle injury soon after and was replaced by world cup hero Jonny Wilkin-son who immediately converted a superb penalty just shy of the 50 metre line to give england a com-manding lead.
an added bonus was that the three points allowed Wilkinson to pass new Zealand’s Dan Carter’s record for the highest number of points scored in test history. France had a chance to instantly hit back with another penalty, but once again Yachvili was unable to covert the kick as it struck the post.
From here on in, France rarely threatened, and england held onto claim a massive victory and place them comfortably at the top of the Six nation standings with a Grand Slam very much in sight.
a trip to Ireland now comprises england’s biggest test in winning this year’s Six nations.
The University of Reading had great success at last week’s SUPa akuma national arena Winter Polo Championships alongside over 30 major universities from around the British isles.
This year, Reading Univerity Polo Club (RUPC) entered seven teams who played on 10 of our best ponies. not only did two of our be-ginner teams come second in their respective divisions, but our latest member, Megan Hutchinson, was awarded most valuable player.
in addition, our novice one team won most valuable team within the novice category. This was a great achievement for our growing club, and surpassed last year’s tourna-ment victories.
The club has seen a surge in interest this year, with over 20 new active members joining our 15 original members. To qualify as a beginner you must have less than a year’s experience in polo; in fact, for some of our teams, new members this year were riding for the first time.
RUPC’s ever-constant consistent support and dedication to our club gave all opposing teams a real run for their money, and our sheer size gave Reading a huge presence at last week’s tournament.
The club was so enamoured by its success they celebrated by nominating one of our social secre-taries, emily Blay, to strip off and parade around the arena riding her
favourite blanquillo pony wearing nothing but the RUPC flag.
The support and passion associ-ated with our club was on show at the tournament, and is proof that polo is certainly not style over substance. Our members have a passion for horses and have simply wanted to learn a completely new fast, dynamic, and exhilarating sport that may otherwise have be inaccessible.
Our freshers have even commented that being part of the club feels like being part of a family
Undoubtedly university is the best place to try your hand at polo. Mike Hobday, organiser of the SUPa tournaments and trainer for the young england team, sees uni-versity polo as “the lifeblood of the British polo scene”. indeed, we’ve seen a great leap in the popular-ity of polo as a spectator sport through events taking place from the O2 arena in london, to Cardiff Castle in Wales.
The social aspect of our club is arguably just as important as the training itself. as most mem-bers cannot afford to play every session, we make a point of going out as a club at least once a week ensuring a healthy club dynamic.
Polo success at winter tournament
Jenny HeaWOOd
This competition was the third for the Reading Riders BUCS league competition. With a convincing start to the season we were hope-ful for a positive result away at Surrey.
The team was made up of amy Jones, Maddy Taylor, Tim Brown-stone and Jenny Galuszka, who train at Hall Place equestrian Centre.
The day got off to a wet start, however, the team were drawn to ride third, putting them in a strong position as they weren’t riding first so were able to watch the competi-tion.
They were only given seven min-utes to get to know an unfamiliar horse before they had to ride the challenging dressage test.
The team put up a very admi-ral performance on challenging horses, as we were in the lead after dressage by two points.
The team were drawn to ride first for the show-jumping element. This put them in a demanding position as they were first to go, therefore were not able to watch the other riders.
Our individual riders are also in a strong position
The team put up a good perfor-mance on tricky horses in the pouring rain.
Overall, the team came second on a score of 44, with good individual placings. Maddy Taylor came in second on a very good score of zero, amy Jones seventh and Tim Brown eighth.
This left the team with a strong overall score in the league, and a very good chance of making it through to the regional round of the competition.
Our individual riders are also in a strong position overall, with Maddy Taylor on a score of 24 and Guy on a score of 22. There is one more competition to go in the league and we are feeling opti-mistic for a positive result, and progressing to the regional rounds of the competition.
JaCk SaWBRidGe
after a lengthy warm-up, Reading won the toss and played down the hill with the wind in the first half.
Shortly after kick-off, Shaun Brown ran a cutting line to score his first of the afternoon, convert-ed by luke Flower.
Reading are one step closer to being promoted
The forwards then scored through a push-over try touched down by Jack Sawbridge.
Shaun Brown came through to score his second underneath the posts, again converted by Flower.
after pressure from Royal Free, the boys managed to turnover numerous scrums deep in their
half, allowing Flower to kick two penalties to put Reading 25-0 up at half time.
The second half saw Reading lose a man, as Tom llewyllen received a red card following a kO punch after being stamped on.
This brought about intense pres-sure in the scrum; we lost some of our own balls and allowed the opposition to score two tries due to scrappy forward play.
although the momentum had been lost, Joe Rindel managed a breakaway down the left wing to score a pacey try in the corner.
The last points of the afternoon were kicked by Flower from a penalty kick near the end of the half, as we started to get back into our stride.
The 34-14 win puts Reading one step closer towards being pro-moted to the Premier B South division.
Horseriding
HUGH THOMaS
Reading ventured to cause an upset despite dreadful conditions against top of the league Brunel second Xi.
Brunel, who are needing a win to claim promotion, were the bright-er of the starters in a first half that quickly became a tough physical battle. liam desai held his own in the centre of midfield for Reading. Chances were hard to come by, as Reading looked a bit too creative in the midfield, and lacked any cut-ting edge when in the opposition’s quarter.
Brunel took the lead shortly before half time with a fortunate goal from a short corner. into half time, Reading could be happy with a score of 1-0, reflecting on the
amount of short corners Brunel had received.
Brunel were awarded a penalty stroke just after half time, which they converted. Tom Hunt’s persistence up front was re-warded with a goal, which Reading believed would get them back into the game.
Brunel clinically killed the game off
However, it was not to be, as Brunel clinically killed the game off, scoring two goals with 10 minutes to go. Brunel were to cel-ebrate their promotion, with Read-ing looking to lick their wounds, and to try and fight relegation in this season.
BUCS Reading University sport
Captains’ Reports
Men’s Hockey 2nd XI 1-4 Brunel 2nd XI
Rugby Union; Reading Men’s 1st’s 34-14 Royal Free University Medics
Rugby Firsts close in on promotion to National
League
Hockey seconds continue fight relegation
Photo courtesy of Polo society
Our freshers have even comment-ed that being part of the club feels like being part of a family.
However it’s not all fun and games, RUPC are back in train-ing every Wednesday afternoon in preparations for the akuma national Field Summer Polo Cham-pionships this June.Team captain? Don’t forget to send your report in to Spark*.
Squash thirds secure league victoryCHRiS ROBeRTS
The Men’s Squash Third team secured promotion last week fol-lowing a 3-0 whitewash win over Brunel University Thirds.
The magnitude of this incredible achievement is further empha-sised by the fact that the team is comprised of three players who prior to this year had no experi-ence in playing squash at univer-
sity level: Matt dennington, Joe Phoenix and esi Mahrooz. despite that, the team have rallied under captain Matt dennington and have won four out of their five games this year, securing promotion to division two in the process.
With the Second team in a rel-egation struggle, the two teams could swap places next year, which would see the Third team renamed as the Second.
The achievements of the team have not gone unnoticed as they were nominated for the Univer-sity of Reading ‘Club of the year’ award at the SportsFed Ball, an award they won on Thursday 3 March. The squash team as a whole have had a successful year; interest in the club tripled during Freshers’ Week and the First team finished in second place in the region’s top division.
Team Captain: Matt Denning-ton “Originally we were told they wanted two promotions in two years. We are half way to-wards that goal
Get involved - 7.20pm onwards at Sportspark,
every Friday
- No membership fees required to
just come along and play
- All abilities welcome
- Membership £25now, and we are keen to find some extra players for next season. Come down and give it a try!”
SPORTFirsts on the brink of promotionUniversity Rugby, First Team, League SE 1A Imperial 17-20 Reading
JaMeS HugHeS
Shane Long was the hero for Read-ing as his sixteenth goal of the season secured the Royals a vital three points, and took them above Millwall in the tight race for the play-offs.
Reading made a bright opening and took the lead after just three minutes through Noel Hunt vol-leying home his second goal in as many games after good work down the left from Long.
after a spell of pressure from Millwall, the home side came back into it as the half drew to a close. Jay Tabb volleyed over form 18 yards, and Shaun Cummings found himself in unfamiliar territory 12 yards out, but similarly missed the target.
The away side made one change at half time with striker Neil Harris coming on, and it took him
just 20 seconds to get on the score sheet.
The veteran striker found him-self on the end of a great ball over the top of the Reading defence by Nadjim abdoand. He volleyed home superbly in to the far corner of alex McCarthy’s goal to draw the Lions level.
With both teams chasing a win-ner, the game became very open, but it was Reading who made the most of this as they went back in front on 55 minutes through top scorer Shane Long.
Hunt returned the favour for his earlier goal by firing in a teasing cross that found Long in acres of space and the Irishman tucked the ball home comfortably to regain the lead for the Royals.
This time the home side were able to hold onto their lead and comfortably saw out the game to secure a vital three points in their push for the playoffs.
MaTTHeW MayNaRd
Reading failed to get their promo-tion challenge back on track as they were held to a draw against Watford.
The result will suit neither side, as both teams lost ground on the leading pack.
andreas Weimann had put Wat-ford ahead in the first half, before Noel Hunt headed in the equaliser at the beginning of the second half, following an error from Hornets keeper Scott Loach.
In his programme notes, Reading boss Brian Mcdermott claimed his side contained the two best wing-ers in the league, in Jobi Mcanuff and Jimmy Kebe, and the pair started brightly as Reading took the initiative.
But Watford were ahead shortly afterwards when Reading failed to clear the ball from the penalty
area, and the austrian andreas Weimann was able to coolly fin-ish after seeing his initial effort blocked.
The hornets went close again before half-time after a neat interchange between graham and Wichelow lead to Watford’s leading scorer heading straight at Royals keeper Federici.
Reading came out rejuvenated after the break, and were reward-ed when striker Noel Hunt, who has just signed a new contract, headed in from point-blank range, after Scott Loach spilled Brian Howard’s corner.
Kebe continued to threaten down the right, but lacked support, in a stagnated Reading performance, and as Brian Mcdermott stated in his post-match interview, a draw was a fair result. The result, however, aids neither team in their play-off push.
Reading 2-1 MillwallReading 1-1 Watford
Royals cling to play off hopes
Inside
Sports editor interviews Read-
ing boss Brian Mcdermott
Page 8
FA Cup 5th round
Page 38
BUCS University Sport Reports
Page 39
England v France
Page 38
Comment:
‘What american sports could learn from their
British counterparts’ and ‘The death of cricket?
Not a word of it’
Reading continue reign on Merseyside CHRIS ROBeRTS aNd
JIMMy dOWNINg
Reading’s Fa Cup dreams are still very much alive after upsetting the form book with a 1-0 win over everton in the last 16.
a half-volley from captain Matt Mills on 26 minutes was enough to fire the Royals into the quarter finals for the second successive year; something which has only happened for the third time in their history.
The win will also evoke memo-ries of the incredible 2-1 win at anfield last year over Liverpool, and marks the fifth time Reading have beaten Premiership opposi-tion in the Cup in the last two years.
Whilst everton went in with a rather negative 4-5-1 formation, Reading placed two men up front and reaped the rewards.
The goal came from Reading’s first meaningful attack; Mills ran onto his own knock-on from an Ian
Harte corner and volleyed home from 10 yards.
Jimmy Kebe should have doubled the lead just seconds after the goal, but was unable to beat everton keeper Tim Howard after capitalising on a mistake from Sylvain distin.
The Royals put up a defensive masterclass, reducing the ever-ton attack to just one meaningful attempt; a late chance for Leon Os-man when he struck a fierce volley from anichebe’s rare knock-down,
but rookie keeper alex McCarthy was equal to it.
The final whistle was met with rapturous celebration from the loyal away fans and there were great scenes from the home fans too, who clapped to the outstand-ing Reading team.
a trip to eastlands to face Man-chester City awaits Reading in the quarter finals who will hope to become the Cup ‘giant-killers’ once again and reach their first semi-final since 1927.
FA Cup Fifth round; Everton 0-1 Reading
NaTe SauNdeRS
a brilliant comeback gave Reading Firsts a close 20-17 victory over Imperial to move closer to secur-ing promotion.
after trailing 14-3 at half time, three tries in the second half secured the victory that moves them within touching distance of Premier B South division.
Sam Rosencran, Nigel gumbleton and Will Rasbridge were the try-scorers as Reading grabbed the game, and promotion initiative, by the scruff of the neck. The boot of Luke Flower added the additional five points.
It is a fitting end to what has been a remarkable season; the team has won 11 out of their 12 games thus far, and have now almost secured promotion with two games to spare.
Three tries in the second half secured the victory
The team had won four straight going into the top-of-the-table clash with Imperial College, and were bouyed in the knowledge that they had already beaten their title
rivals once this season on home soil.
Promotion is not a mathemati-cal certainty, but all Reading now need to do is secure a single point in their remaining two fixtures, and the title will certainly be theirs.
This means the team have their big chance to take the title against St. Barts and the Royal London Firsts.
Considering their form this sea-son they will be very confident of doing so, and will certainly already be thinking about playing rugby next season in one of the best leagues in the country.
Reading secure vital comeback victory against title rivals Imperial
Firsts captain Jack Sawbridge wins the aerial battle
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