GLASGOW’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER WWW. JOURNAL - ONLINE .CO.UK ISSUE XV WEDNESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2012 Students on the march Hundreds rally in Glasgow at latest protest against cuts to Scottish further education IN NEWS / “Rape denier” Galloway to mount NUS libel action IN NEWS / 4 One-horse race for UoE rector Iain MacWhirter on 1 March, IN NEWS / 4 One-horse race for UoE rector Peter McColl will take over from Iain MacWhirter on 1 March, following uncontested election IN COMMENT / 12 The great deficit deception How the government sought to pretend that there wasn’t an easier way out of the recession 3 IN NEWS / Russell on the warpath The Scottish Government education secretary hits back at critics in Journal interview IN NEWS / IN SPORT / 21 Managing expectations Video games remain a pale imitation of the world of football management IN MUSIC / 17 Newton Fauikner Amiable singer-songwriter pleases audience on return to Glasgow Exploring Kapuscinski’s world Biographer Artur Domoslawski sits down with The Journal to explore the Polish journalist’s ‘literary reportage’ and magic journalism IN FEATURES / PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 2012 » Scottish Student Journalism Awards • PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 2012 » NUS Scotland Awards Iconoclastic MP says he will sue, as controversy over his Julian Assange comments escalates KNL Photos EXCLUSIVE
Transcript
GLASGOW’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
WWW.JOURNAL-ONLINE.CO.UK
ISSUE XV WEDNESDAY 10 OCTOBER 2012
Students on the marchHundreds rally in Glasgow at latest protest against cuts to Scottish further education 7
IN NEWS /
“Rape denier” Galloway to mount NUS libel action
IN NEWS / 4One-horse race for UoE rector Peter McColl will take over from Iain MacWhirter on 1 March, following uncontested election
IN NEWS / 4One-horse race for UoE rector Peter McColl will take over from Iain MacWhirter on 1 March, following uncontested election
IN COMMENT / 12The great deficit deceptionHow the government sought to pretend that there wasn’t an easier way out of the recession
3IN NEWS /
Russell on the warpathThe Scottish Government education secretary hits back at critics in Journal interview 4
IN NEWS /
IN SPORT / 21Managing expectationsVideo games remain a pale imitation of the world of football management
IN MUSIC / 17Newton FauiknerAmiable singer-songwriter pleases audience on return to Glasgow
Exploring Kapuscinski’s world Biographer Artur Domoslawski sits down with The Journal to explore the Polish journalist’s ‘literary reportage’ and magic journalism 13
IN FEATURES /
PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 2012 » Scottish Student Journalism Awards • PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR 2012 » NUS Scotland Awards
Iconoclastic MP says he will sue, as controversy over his Julian Assange comments escalates
Chilli lovers in Glasgow and Edin-burgh are set for a treat at the end of October, with the return of Lupe Pintos Chilli Cook-Off.
Inspired by last year’s success, Dougie Bell, the mastermind behind the Pintos brand, has challenged the restaurants of Glasgow and Edinburgh to take part in two separate chilli cook-offs in each city.
Glasgow will again host the Great Western cook-off, while Edinburgh’s event will take place at Tollcross.
Roxy 171 was the runaway success last year, taking first place despite opening just weeks before the event.
With over 500 tickets sold in 2011, Bell hopes that this year the event will be even bigger, with cook-offs taking place
in two cities instead of one.Bell told The Journal: “All of the bars
donated the chilli, ticket holders ate and judged chilli, purchased beer from the bars and had a great day out.”
Lupe Pintos are celebrating 21 years since the opening of their first deli.
After starting off by distributing tor-tilla chips and Monterey cheese, the branch has gone on to publish two cook-books as well as inspiring others to cook chilli cuisine throughout the UK.
It is hoped that the cook-offs will inspire young people to get more involved with food, by demonstrating how fun and easy cooking can be.
Edinburgh’s cook-off will be held at Tollcross on 20 October starting at 12pm, and Glasgow’s event will be held at Great Western Road on 27 October at the same time.
Ben CohenStaff writer
The Glasgow Living Wage will increase by four per cent from 1 April 2013, Glasgow City Council has announced.
Wages of 5,000 of the lowest paid staff employed by the council and Arm’s-Length External Organisations (ALEOs) will go up from £7.20 to £7.50.
Originally launched in 2009 by the Glasgow City Council to tackle in-work poverty, employers throughout the city have been encouraged by the council to pay their staff a living wage.
Three years since the launch 160 employers with more than 50,000 staff pay the Glasgow Living Wage.
Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council said: “Once again Glasgow is leading the way. We were the first local authority in Scotland to establish a living wage and I’m delighted to announce that
this increase will benefit 5,000 members of staff and their families.
“We remain committed to supporting our lowest paid staff during these diffi-cult economic times. It’s the lowest paid who suffer most during a recession and we won’t abandon them in tough times.
“Even though budgets are tight, we will focus on our priorities - helping people into work and supporting the lowest paid and their families.
“Paying the living wage is about doing the right thing. If you are working then you should be able to afford to look after yourself and your family.
“The Glasgow Living Wage also ben-efits employers and is a key part of the council’s work to helping deliver a fairer, more prosperous city.”
BAA Glasgow, Balfour Beatty Con-struction, City of Glasgow College, Dell, and Strathclyde Partnership for Trans-port are among the private sector com-panies offering a living wage.
Great Western chilli cook-off returns
9Home O� ce rules‘unacceptable’
Glasgow Living Wage set for increaseHourly wage to rise from £7.20 to £7.50
Europeans putt America in their place with stunning 11th-hour turnaround 20Ryder
Cup
New exhibition shows that a century later, the modernist master still has the ability to galvanise critical opinion 14Picasso’s
Britain
Johann Lamont’s unexpected policy reversal could have serious electoral consequences for Scottish Labour
Lamontable Labour 11
Row over treatment of non-EU students grows, as thousands forced to queue through the night to register with police
NATIONAL POLITICS // 3@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Postgraduate Open Day11am-4pm: Friday, 9 November 2012To register for the event go to: www.glasgow.ac.uk/pgopendayFor further details about postgraduate study opportunities go to: ww.glasgow.ac.uk/postgraduateThe University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401
George Galloway to sue ‘defamatory’ NUSControversial MP George Galloway readies libel action after National Union of Students execs branded him a ‘rape denier’
Callum Leslie & George Melhuish
Respect MP George Galloway is preparing to take legal action against the National Union of Students, following the passage of a motion branding him a “rape denier” and adding him to the union’s ‘no platform’ list.
The NUS National Executive Com-mittee (NEC) passed a motion last month banning Mr Galloway from NUS events, and forbidding NUS officers from sharing a platform with him, in an exten-sion of policy, which had previously been used mainly against the British National Party and other far-right groups.
Mr Galloway has since claimed that the “rape denier” comments are defama-tory, and announced that he will sue.
Despite issuing the threat last Monday, an NUS spokesperson said the union was yet to receive any communi-cation from Mr Galloway or his lawyers, and declined to comment until formal action was taken.
Mr Galloway failed to respond to a request for comment.
The motion came in response to remarks Galloway made about the two separate allegations of sexual assault lev-elled against Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks.
During a podcast interview, Mr Gal-
loway said: “Even taken at its worst, if the allegations made by these two women were true, 100 per cent true, and even if a camera in the room captured them, they don’t constitute rape.
“It might be really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning.”
He went on to argue that “not eve-rybody needs to be asked prior to each insertion.”
His comments, described by charity Rape Crisis as “offensive and deeply concerning”, prompted an immediate backlash from women’s groups and on Twitter where he repeated his claims.
Edinburgh University Students’ Association president James McAsh said: “George Galloway should apologise immediately for his comments. It’s out-rageous that a supposed left-wing politi-cian is threatening to sue the NUS, and trying to take money from the student movement in the run up to a massive anti-austerity demonstration.”
The motion also cited MEPs Roger Helmer and Andrew Brons as having made similar comments on unrelated issues.
In addition to suing for defamation, Mr Galloway stated on Twitter that “any damages I recover from the NUS will be
donated to the Defence Fund for Julian Assange and Bradley Manning”.
He also later tweeted “A note to the NUS and NUS officers. Every defama-tory tweet you sent today or caused to be sent will be included in the impend-ing action.”
The controversy resulted in the res-ignation of Respect party leader Salma Yaqoob, and Kate Hudson, the Respect candidate in the Manchester Central by-election. Both were openly critical of Mr Galloway, currently the socialist party’s only MP. In her resignation statement, Ms Yaqoob said that the controversy had meant that “necessary relations of trust and collaborative working had broken down.”
Following this legal threat, an email was sent to all NUS NEC members and NUS staff asking that all motions for debate in the near future be pre-approved by NUS headquarters.
The email, seen by The Journal, says that any motion which “makes a judge-ment about or includes a view on an individual... an external company or organisation” should be vetted by NUS staff before being “formally published.”
EU questions legitimacy of minimum alcohol pricing
Charlie RosserStaff writer
The Scottish Government’s much-contested alcohol minimum pricing legislation has been called into question by the European Union over claims that it may infringe free trade rules.
The Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act, which finally received
royal assent in June following a long parliamentary battle, paves the way for a minimum price of 50p per unit of alcohol in licensed premises, and is seen as a key part of the Scottish Government’s framework for fight-ing alcohol abuse. But some have claimed that this policy will hit stu-dents and the poor hardest, and that the strategy will do little to combat alcoholism.
But drinks industry bodies includ-ing the Scotch Whisky Association are challenging the legislation, and-France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Bulgaria, have all expressed concern. All five countries are major wine producers.
Speaking at the University of Edinburgh on 2 October, the Advo-cate-General for Scotland, Lord Wallace of Tankerness, pledged UK government support for Holyrood in the face of EU opposition.
He said, “the UK government will be standing shoulder to shoul-der with the Scottish Government, seeking to support and complement
the arguments that they present, and in particular ensure that the Court has the benefit of the UK govern-ment’s experience and expertise in EU law.”
The Scottish Government has described the country’s relationship with alcohol as “complex”, estimat-ing that alcohol abuse costs Scots £3.6 billion each year, while deaths directly related to alcohol have doubled since 1980.
The Scottish Government expressed no surprise that there had been objections based on EU commu-nity law.
Health secretary Alex Neil said: “We are confident that we can dem-onstrate that minimum pricing is jus-tified on the basis of public health and social grounds and I will continue to press the case of minimum pricing in the strongest possible terms.”
The Scotch Whisky Association and other trade groups are seeking to force a judicial review of the legisla-tion in the Court of Session later this month.
KNL Photos
Wine producers among those seeking policy review
Galloway prepares to ‘clarify’ his comments once moreEDITORIAL » 10
Europe fears that
plans to introduce 50p
per unit minimum
price could breach
free trade regulations,
as Westminster moves
to back the Scottish
Government’s agenda
Stephen McLeod Blythe
4 // NATIONAL POLITICS @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal
Wednesday 10 October 2012
Daniel do RosarioPolitical editor
Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont has signalled the end of the party’s support for many free public services, including uni-versity tuition fees, in a move widely seen as an unprecedented volte-face for the centre-left party.
In a speech to party members in Edinburgh last week, Ms Lamont criticised the universal free provi-sion of certain services as economi-cally impractical.
Days later, in a speech to Labour’s national conference in Manchester, she redoubled her strongly-worded attack, describing the provision of free services as “election bribes” paid for by the poor.
Ms Lamont’s announcement centres on the claim that the Scot-tish Government can ill-afford uni-versal provision in the current eco-nomic climate, and that the SNP are hiding funding issues behind the debate about independence.
She the creation of a party com-mission to carry out a ‘costed anal-ysis’ of what Scotland can afford to provide, and while the details of Ms Lamont’s ‘new direction’ have been thin on the ground, it has been widely speculated that the party may back means-testing of many
services.Speaking at First Minister’s Ques-
tions last week, Ms Lamont launched a personal attack on deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon, saying “if spending cuts threaten the care of the elderly, is it fair that Sturgeon on £200,000 a year gets it for free?”
But Ms Sturgeon countered with a pledge to deliver a balanced budget saying: “If Labour is going to reverse all these policies [of free provision], don’t set up a commission, just have the guts to say so.”
Ms Lamont also pledged to address the funding gap between further and higher education, and
appeared to suggest that free tuition has had a negative effect on univer-sities, saying, “we need to be honest about the sustainability of ‘free’ higher education.”
The National Union of Students Scotland issued a statement shortly after Ms Lamont’s speech, calling on Scottish Labour to reaffirm its man-ifesto commitment, as well as the personal pledge that every Scottish Labour MSP signed up to at the last election to rule out tuition fees.
Education secretary goes on the o� ensive In an interview with The Journal, Scottish Government minister Michael Russell hits out at critics of SNP promises on education
Daniel do Rosario, Greg Bianchi & Marcus Kernohan
Scottish Government educa-tion secretary Michael Russell has defended his party’s pledge to continue free higher education if Scotland votes in favour of independence, launching a fresh attack on the UK government’s higher education policies.
In an interview with The Journal, the senior SNP minister delivered a damning critique of Westminster’s approach to higher education, claim-ing that the coalition government “have decided that higher education is no longer a priority of the public purse.”
Continuing his party’s efforts ahead of the 2014 referendum to draw a stark contrast between the SNP administra-tion at Holyrood and a Westminster government they have sought to depict as destructively right-wing, Mr Russell argued that the UK government made “an ideological decision” to defund higher education, adding: “They might dress it up as saying ‘oh, we can’t afford it.’ But the reality is that they can afford Trident nuclear missiles.”
Drawing a parallel between educa-tion policy in Scotland and other Euro-pean states, he re-stated his party’s commitment to free education, claim-ing that “access to free education is built into Scotland’s DNA. We are a learning nation.”
But challenged to explain how an SNP administration would seek to fund higher education after independence, he offered few policy specifics. “You fund things by setting priorities,” he said. “You decide that’s a priority for you to fund... we have decided that educa-tion and free access to education; educa-tion built on the ability to learn, not on the ability to pay, is a national priority that is a good from the whole of society.”
Mr Russell deflected further ques-tions, saying: “I’m not going through a budget for an independent Scotland. That would be silly. What I’m saying is it is a national priority set by a gov-ernment of which I am a member, and that it will continue in my view to be a national priority.”
He also hit back at critics of his further education policy, which has come under fire for drastic cuts to college budgets. “I am not in any sense apologising for bringing forward a series of radical reforms in the college sector. You’ve got to understand what the college sector was and what it looked like. This is the last of the Thatcherite reforms... it put together a sector that was almost entirely handed over to busi-ness... it hadn’t developed, in my view, the accountability that it needed.”
Finance secretary John Swinney’s draft budget announcement last month was roundly condemned by NUS Scot-land, which claimed that despite pledg-
ing £17 million of new funds for col-leges, the government were attempting to conceal a £34.6 million real-terms cut. But Mr Russell defended his front-bench colleague, disputing the union’s analysis. “I don’t agree with that figure,” he said. “If you look at the figures... what it represents is a continuing substantial investment in the delivery for learn-ers. What we’re trying to do, and I keep saying this, is providing better service which is more relevant for young people and cuts out duplication.”
“I’m not refuting that there’s been changes to the college budget. What I’m saying, however, is that we’re trying to make sure the money we’re spending is well spent, and there was a need for radical reform.”
Mr Russell sought to calm fears of a demographic shift on Scottish campuses following the government’s decision last year to deregulate tuition fees for Rest-of-UK students. Critics have warned that universities may accept fewer Scot-tish students now that they can charge students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland up to £9,000 per year, but Mr Russell said he was “absolutely not concerned about that, because there are a number of mechanisms in place that will stop that happening, not least the weakening of the brand.
“There will be a different balance in each university between those who come from Scotland; between those
who come from the rest of the UK [and] those who come from overseas. That is the richness of our system.”
Playing up UCAS figures suggesting a 1.2 per cent increase in the number of university places in Scotland this year, Mr Russell said: “I think that’s some-thing we should be proud of; that we’ve got our policy, by and large, right.”
Unionists have persistently sought
to cast doubt on the SNP’s pre-refer-endum promises, arguing that the gov-ernment have not explained how they intend to finance many of their pledges. In an earlier interview, Better Together campaign chief Blair MacDougall claimed that Scotland could stand to lose as much as £1.25 billion in tuition fees from RUK students if it became independent.
Survey: 32% support for independenceData suggests support at its highest level since 2005
Chloe Duane
Support for Scottish Independ-ence has risen by 9 per cent since 2010, data from the most recent British Social Attitudes survey suggests.
The BSA, an annual survey in its 29th year, asked 3,000 people across the UK about a range of topics from immigration to the NHS and this year included a section on Scottish inde-pendence in which 1,200 people from Scotland were surveyed.
The results stated that: “32 per cent support for independence is up nine points on 2010, when it was at a record low of 23 per cent, but is still lower than in 2005, when it stood at 35 per cent.”
The BSA also shows that support for independence still trails behind the 58 per cent support for devolution by a considerable margin. The higher figure emerged in questions where independence was not mentioned but rather another option known as devo-max, in which the Scottish Par-liament receive more power, short of independence.
When asked about the alternative option of devolution on the upcoming referendum, a Scottish government spokeswoman said: “Devolution has been excellent for Scotland, but we agree more financial levers are needed, and the full economic tools an inde-
pendent Scotland will have at its dis-posal will make the country even more successful. Scotland currently pro-duces 9.6 per cent of the UK’s wealth with just 8.4 per cent of the popula-tion, meaning an independent country will be more than able to pay its way.”
The BSA concluded that the union has never been closer to dissolve than it is now. “There is no doubt the Union between Scotland and the rest of the UK is closer to being dissolved than at any time in its 300-year history. Its future looks set to rest in the hands of the Scottish public, who will make their opinion known via a referendum within the next couple of years.”
The survey undoubtedly served to energize the Yes Scotland campaign ahead of the independence rally that took place on Saturday 22 September. This is the first in a series of events planned in the run up to the independ-ence vote.
Lothian and Borders Police esti-mate that 5,000 people took part in the Edinburgh march and rally, which ended in Princes Street Gardens, where crowds gathered to hear speeches from several speakers, including First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond.
Mr Salmond, who wants to hold the referendum vote in autumn 2014, said: “We believe that just as the skies around Scotland were lit up by meteors last night, this campaign will light up Scotland over the next two years.”
NUS Scotland
EDITORIAL » 10
Controversy over Lamont’s “new direction” for Labour Leader’s Edinburgh speech heralds major policy shift for Scottish Labour
Scottish Labour
Russell defends changes to ‘Thatcherite’ FE sector
Poor foot the bill for free services, Lamont insists
STUDENT POLITICS // 5@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
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CitySA president silent as unanswered questions mount
Mark Farmer could face no confidence vote, as fiasco over liberation representation rumbles on
Gareth Llewellyn Deputy managing editor Under-fire City of Glasgow College Students’ Association president Mark Farmer remains silent over his stance to oppress liberation executives.
As The Journal exclusively revealed, Farmer had rejected the creation of lib-eration executive positions at CitySA in favour of two general equalities positions.
Despite a notable “key concept” in his presidential manifesto to create a united college so “segregation is no longer a problem”, students have accused him of failing to live up to that promise by making them feel isolated within the association.
One student at the college, who declined to be identified, told The Journal that Farmer appears to have
“done nothing to help students since taking office and by not supporting lib-eration I feel more isolated than before.”
Instead of actively discussing lib-eration executives with students, The Journal understands that the association has failed to return follow-up enquiries from a number of students and the Liber-ate Us campaign group.
Another student, Paul Hale, said: “His
manifesto says he wants a united college, but how are we going to be united if he is denying representation to all students?
“I have emailed the president and staff members at college, but they are ignor-ing me and I know this is the same with friends who have also tried to speak to the college about this.
“I love being a part of a college com-munity and had heard good things about City of Glasgow and their student com-munity, but already I do not feel welcome at the college and wish I had gone elsewhere.”
The Liberate Us campaign group, which is fighting to have liberation rep-resentation on the students’ association executive, is also growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of communication from the Townhead base of CitySA.
After Liberate Us contacted the presi-dential team to discuss their concerns about lack of liberation representation, a response from Farmer a week later than requested failed to address the issue.
Farmer said: “I would be delighted if City of Glasgow College students wish to set up a variety of liberation groups asso-ciated with CitySA and would be happy to talk to individual current students on this in the coming weeks.”
Another of Farmer’s manifesto pledges was to “create a student execu-tive who mingle with students, create relations so they are at the forefront of the students needs, I wish for an open door policy so we can respond quickly and efficiently.”
Despite his statement, students have said what Farmer has said he would do in his manifesto and public statement is not the reality, with the association pander-ing to college managers.
Another student who refused to be named over fears of reprisals told The Journal: “Three months after taking up his post, the CitySA president has failed to heed the advice of the previous execu-tive and listen to the requests of students by creating a more-inclusive executive.
The only leadership is clearly from college staff.” That view was backed up by a former association executive who said: “I went to the office the other day and to me it looks like they’re taking orders off management.”
Campaigners in favour of liberation executive positions have said that Farm-er’s conduct will be raised at class rep-resentative meetings, and are working towards forcing a referendum by secur-ing 200 signatures from college students.
Lacklustre Glasgow representation at NUS national demo likely, say unionsUniversity and college associations in Glasgow could struggle to attend London protest
Gary Paterson Student Politics editor
Students in Glasgow could strug-gle to have their voices heard at a National Union of Students (NUS) dem-onstration. As associations around the UK plan to converge on London on 21 November, the reality in Glasgow is that lack of funds are hampering efforts to organise transport.
The Journal understands that stu-dents’ associations are concerned about transportation costs and that plans for the national demonstration have been discussed by associations at length through the Glasgow Students Forum.
The national demo will be the first since the rise of tuition fees in 2010 and will see thousands of students march through London, calling on the UK gov-ernment to improve youth, educational and employment opportunities.
Announcing the demonstration NUS President Liam Burns highlighted the union’s reasons for planning the event.
“You’ve had your education system-atically attacked across the board by the coalition, and even if you get to the other end, what have you got to look forward to?
“Youth unemployment is at an all-time high, getting on the property ladder is next to impossible and we don’t even have the safety net of pen-sions to look forward to any more.
“In a year in which there are no votes in parliament and no legislation coming before politicians, it’s about time we started setting the agenda.”
Students on campuses across Glasgow have said they are unaware of the event or are unsure of transporta-tion options.
Glasgow Caledonian University Students’ Association have highlighted financial constraints, but plan to send their own minibus to the demonstra-tion with around half a dozen students.
When questioned on his plans, Uni-versity of Strathclyde Students’ Associ-ation president Malcolm Moir has said he was not in a position to comment, but a source at NUS Scotland told The Journal that Strathclyde are currently expected to send one bus to London.
With colleges already under-funded and facing sweeping changes through mergers and regionalisation, no col-leges or FE students’ associations are expected to provide support for stu-dents wishing to attend the demo.
Plans have been announced for an 18 month-long project at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow. The project aims to produce the first ever extensive database of Burns manuscripts.
In collaboration with ‘BurnsScot-land’, the new title for the Distributed National Burns Collection, the university aims to examine, digitise and store all Burns papers in Scotland.
Papers are likely to come from a number of backgrounds, including private collections, national libraries and other institutions.
The database could hold huge signifi-cance for Burns scholars across Scotland.
The project will also record physical details of the papers, such as watermarks and differing paper quality and sizes.
Gerard Carruthers, Professor of Scot-tish Literature Since 1700 at the Univer-sity of Glasgow, stated that “the quality of paper that he [Burns] used varied, depending on what he was doing and even at different stages of his life.”
“When a ploughman it was sometimes whatever scraps of paper he could find, and when Burns was an exciseman he used paper from his employment there”.
Professor Carruthers added that these different types of paper could “tell a number of stories” depending on the context in which Burns was writing.
In addition, the project would also allow light to be shed on the authenticity of some works.
Professor Carruthers told The Journal that “this database will not only allow for quick and easy access to the materials but [...] will also enable us to identify and put back together papers that have become separated, and even allow us to show examples of genuine Burns works and Burns forgeries”.
Scholars would therefore have easier access to genuine articles, all together in one digital database.
The database is intended to be expanded after the initial 18 months to include archives outside of Scot-land, and will be used by partners of BurnsScotland.
These partners include the National Library of Scotland, the National Gal-leries of Scotland, Glasgow Life and the National Museums of Scotland.
UWS extends Yad Vashem partnership
Gareth Llewellyn Deputy managing editor The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) has extended its part-nership with the leading international centre for Holocaust information and education.
The move by UWS extends a part-nership dating back to 2009 which saw a lecturer from Yad Vashem in Jerusalem engaging with third-year Holocaust Studies and Citizenship students via video conference.
Yad Vashem contains the world’s largest repository of information on the Holocaust, safeguarding the memory of the past and imparting its meaning for future generations.
Since 1993 its International School for Holocaust Studies has organised educational programmes.
Both organisations began their partnership in 2009 when they worked in partnership to develop the university’s third year BEd module, Holocaust Studies and Citizenship.
The new ‘Memorandum of Under-
standing’ will increase cooperation and inform the university’s Masters-level provision in the areas of citizen-ship, human rights and genocide as well as contributing to UWS’ interna-tionalisation agenda.
Professor Paul Martin, interim depute principal of UWS, said: “We are delighted to be establishing this important partnership with Yad Vashem, which will benefit teaching at UWS.
“We have previously liaised with Yad Vashem regarding the develop-ment of our Holocaust Studies and Citizenship module and this impor-tant partnership formalises the strong links we enjoy with this important organisation.”
The director of the International School of Holocaust Studies, Dorit Novak, said: “It was symbolic that we signed this ‘Memorandum of Under-standing’ via video conference as this is how the partnership between our organisations began. We very much look forward to strengthening our relationship with University of the West of Scotland.”
The ‘Memorandum of Understand-ing’ was signed by Martin at the uni-versity’s Ayr Campus and Novak at Yad Vashem.
As the ceremony closed, Richelle Budd-Caplan of Yad Vashem invited a delegation of UWS students and staff to a seminar at Yad Vashem in July 2013.
Ben Cohen Staff writer Strathclyde University will train the next generation of scientists, engi-neers and policy-makers in a £3.2 million programme.
Scotland’s largest space engineer-ing centre will investigate the removal of space debris and deflection of asteroids.
University academics are leading ‘Stardust’ - the first research-based train-ing network of its kind in the world with 14 partners.
The European Commission-funded network will launch in early 2013 and its pioneering research will shape future decisions in Europe on some of the most important issues in pioneering space research.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Strath-clyde principal, said: “To be selected to lead this international area of space research is an excellent achievement and demonstrates the strength of our research capabilities and our success in working with partners in academia and industry.
“The observation, manipulation and disposal of space debris and asteroids rep-resent one of the most challenging goals for modern space technology. Stardust will provide Strathclyde with the oppor-tunity to make the significant advances needed to help protect our planet.”
Dr Massimiliano Vasile, from the uni-versity’s mechanical and aerospace engi-neering department, which is also the base for the Advanced Space Concepts Laboratory, will lead the project.
The pioneering research hub delivers
new approaches to space systems engi-neering to underpin new space-derived products and services for science, tel-ecommunications and Earth observation.
The Centre for Future Air-Space Transportation Technology, a research base dedicated to revolutionising future air and space travel and putting Scottish space engineering on the map, is also based in the department.
Dr Vasile said: “Asteroids and space debris represent a significant hazard for space and terrestrial assets and could have potentially devastating consequences for our planet.
“The two share a number of commo-nalities. Both are uncontrolled objects whose orbit is deeply affected by a number of gravitational and non-gravita-tional interactions, both have an irregular
shape and an uncertain attitude motion, and both are made of inhomogeneous materials that can respond unexpectedly to a deflection action.
“Such a significant multidisciplinary technical challenge, with real societal benefit for the future, represents a com-pelling topic for a training network. I am delighted that we have secured this level of funding and we are looking forward to pushing the boundaries of current tech-nologies and developing the next genera-tion of space experts.”
Stardust’s 14 partners include: the European Space Agency, two national research centres in France and Italy, major companies Astrium, Deimos and Telespazio, and seven academic institu-tions, including the Universities of South-ampton and Pisa.
University of Strathclyde to lead new space research programmeUniversity will lead first research-based space engineering training network from Glasgow
University announces new Bard research resource
Glasgow University to create first-ever comprehensive database of Robert Burns’ manuscripts
Holocaust repository to inform University of the
West of Scotland’s Master’s-level provision
Yad Vashem to teach more Scottish students under new agreement
Yad Vashem
ACADEMIC NEWS// 7@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Gary Paterson Student Politics editor Students and lecturers have staged a protest against continued cuts to Scottish colleges.
Hundreds of people marched through Glasgow city centre on Saturday in an event organised by the Educational Institute of Scotland Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA) in response to ongoing cuts to the college sector.
Education campaign groups and trade unions have criticised the Scot-tish Government’s funding proposals warning that standards, jobs and oppor-tunities will be affected.
The march assembled at Holland Street at 10.30am and progressed along Sauchiehall Street to a rally in the Strath-clyde Suite at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
The procession towards the venue saw a heavy block of EIS branch members from across Scotland sup-ported by National Union of Students representatives and university and college students.
Addressing the audience, EIS general secretary, Larry Flanagan, said: “The deep cuts to Scottish FE colleges are a disgrace - the produce of a programme of austerity that isn’t working.
“By removing these vital opportuni-ties, the government is raising a spectre of mass youth unemployment that has not been seen since the age of 1980s Thatcherism.”
Speaking to The Journal, Angela McCormick, a Coatbridge College lec-turer, said: “This budget attacks the very heart of what colleges are all about: high quality teaching and learning.
“Already we have had 1,300 job losses across the sector and we have also lost 43,000 students who won’t get access to courses to improve their education, give them better chances for employment, for job satisfaction, for themselves, their families and communities.
“We want to challenge the Scottish
Government when they say they have increased college funding; they have not.”
Calum Petrie, a computer games development student at Reid Kerr College, added: “I am out here to support EIS and show that we are behind our lecturers.”
Explaining why protecting college education is important to him, Petrie said: “I was out of education for quite a number of years before I went to college and I felt that I wasn’t going to get any-where in the job that I was in.
“I needed to find something that I was passionate about. Reid Kerr College provided that, now I am so much more appreciative of what I can do.”
Arlene King, Student Engagement Officer at John-Wheatley College told The Journal: “As a student last year we were supported by lecturers and I feel that when things like cuts are happening to colleges and when lecturers may lose their jobs, collectively the student body should support lecturers.”
The rally saw a number of union speakers attacking Scottish government actions in light of the recent draft budget, including NUS Scotland president Robin Parker.
Speaking to The Journal Graeme Kirkpatrick, NUS Scotland vice presi-dent (education) explained why NUS Scotland supported the demonstration.
He said: “We came to show the SNP that cutting colleges and people’s futures is not acceptable. We came to show solidarity with our lecturers and support staff.
“We came to show this government that college students are not second class citizen. We came to fight and we came to win.”
The demonstration has been described as the first part of a wider
‘three-legged winter of discontent’ which will build a Scotland-wide cam-paign against cuts, continuing with the Scottish Trade Union Conference’s 20 October ‘A Future That Works’ dem-onstration and culminating in a St Andrew’s Day rally.
EIS-FELA lead Glasgow protest against £34m government cuts to college funding
More Scots graduates in permanent employmentScottish universities showed highest number of graduates in employment
Aoife Moore Staff writer
A rise in the number of break-ins in the Hillhead area has forced police to start a campaign to defend student property.
After a record number of incidents in the past few weeks, local police have launched Operation Fortress.
The campaign will run for two months in order to combat the rising number of incidents involving student housing.
According to police statistics, between June and October 2012, there were 292 thefts through house break-ins within Glasgow’s West End, which is above average for the force area.
On the first night of the operation a 30-year-old male was arrested and charged with four separate break-ins. The man has been imprisoned for 20 months.
Gillian Docherty from Strathclyde Police said: “Strathclyde Police is commit-ted to a long-term strategy to reduce levels of acquisitive in the force area.
“Theft by housebreakings in the West End of Glasgow is still prevalent despite numerous joint campaigns between Strathclyde Police and Glasgow City Council.
“Housebreaking is a crime which affects not only the direct victims, but members of the public who are fearful they may also become a target”.
A spokesperson for the University of
Glasgow told The Journal: “The university is working with staff, students and part-ners, including the police and Glasgow City Council, to educate our students to be vigilant and to ensure their homes and accommodation are secure and safe.”
The operation will focus on extra patrols by officers in the hot-spot areas and includes management of known offenders.
Crime prevention advice will also be provided for the community, ensuring they feel safe in their own homes.
Posters and leaflets on how to keep your property safe have been distributed throughout the area and are also avail-able at the front desk of Anderston and Glasgow West End police offices, as well as on the Strathclyde Police website.
Mixed reaction to Unistats websiteComparing the market now a possibility for prospective students, thanks to Vince Cable-backed website - but students aren’t convinced
Rebecca Day Student News editor The government-backed Uni-stats website now allows students to access key statistics on univer-sity courses after its launch last week.
The website aims to make the important choice for perspective students easier through its trans-parent and concise data on courses.
Approval ratings, how the course is assessed, and likelihood of employability are now readily avail-able at the click of a button.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said it represented “a major step forward for students, their parents and their school and college advisers.
“Applying to university is a big decision and we want to ensure that all students, whatever their back-ground, have the key facts at their fingertips to help them make the right choice.”
The research has been gathered from statistics compiled by leading national databases, including the National Student Survey, and Desti-nation of Leavers from Higher Edu-cation Survey.
This quantitative data then allows students to shortlist differ-ent courses and draw direct com-parisons, based on a range of cri-teria - the equivalent of a price comparison site for the budding academic.
The University and College Union (UCU) is less than optimistic about the role of the new website, dismissing it as a ‘gimmick’.
The union’s general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: “The website’s
emphasis on cost and financial benefits leaves the government at risk of accusations that it is merely trying to justify the massively increased cost of degrees.”
She added that: “Despite the government’s policies, going to uni-versity is still a life-changing expe-rience for the individual and a huge benefit for society.
“Yet choosing a degree is about much more than just looking on a website for those courses which might earn you the most money or are nearest to home.”
Craig Angus, vice president of media and communications at the Glasgow University Student Rep-resentative Council has mixed feel-ings about the role of the website.
“Internet users in 2012 demand a website like this,” he said.
“Uni is a big commitment, espe-cially for UK students, it’s a massive financial burden to commit to. You want to be thorough and make sure your decisions are wise.
“The salary thing bothers me, I think it’s totally misleading, it doesn’t take into account work experience and extra-curricular activities which I believe in this day and age, are an integral part of getting a job.”
With tuition fees now stand-ing at up to £9,000 in Scotland for Rest-of-UK students, and a lack of graduate job opportunities, avail-ability of comparative informa-tion on higher education courses is seen as increasingly important for empowering prospective students in making their choices.
To find out more about a course, visit www.unistats.direct.gov.uk
Police respond to rise in break-ins in HillheadStrathclyde Police launch operation in response to record crime
Keira MurrayLocal News editor
More than half of the students who graduated in Scotland last year are now in permanent employment.
Figures released by the Scottish gov-ernment show that the number of stu-dents who graduated from universities in Scotland last year and have gone on to permanent employment has increased.
Graduates from higher education courses at Scottish institutions entering employment within six months of com-pleting their course rose from 87.9 per cent in 2009/10 to 88.6 per cent.
Scotland’s universities also showed the highest number of graduates in
employment in the UK as well as showing decreased unemployment figures from graduates at 5.9 per cent, down half a per cent on the previous year.
Of those in permanent UK employ-ment, 73.7 per cent were in graduate-level occupations with only 37.1 per cent graduating in languages and 40.5 per cent graduating in humanities securing permanent work.
Education Secretary Michael Russell said: “[The] figures confirm the value of our universities and a Scottish educa-tion. The most recent statistics from the UK on graduate destinations showed that Scotland has the best outcomes for those leaving Higher Education with a qualification.
The information being published today is further evidence that studying in Scotland gives students, regardless of where they’re from, a firm footing to take up employment or further studies.”
However, chief executive of Citi-zens Advice Scotland, Margaret Lynch, argued that too many graduates were underemployed.
“The number of graduates out of work is still far too high, and our own research earlier this year revealed that 56 per cent had experienced some unemployment since graduating.
In addition, a quarter of graduates we spoke to said they were in non-gradu-ate-level jobs, making it even harder for other young people to find work.”
Hillhead saw 292 break-ins between June and October
freefotouk
Figures suggest almost 90 per cent of graduates fi nd work within six months
neonbubble
STUDENT NEWS // 9@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Oxford University increases fundraising targetVice-chancellor of leading university announces new fundraising target while criticising government funding cuts
Student leaders condemn ‘unacceptable’ Home O� ce treatment of non-EU studentsIn latest escalation of row over visa restrictions, thousands of students forced to queue through the night to register with police
Gareth Llewellyn Deputy managing editor
Thousands of non-EU students in London have been forced to queue over-night to register with police.
Overseas students are required to register with the police within seven days of arrival in the UK.
With 30,000 students waiting to collect a police registration certifi-cate (PRC) leaving administrative staff unable to cope with some students waiting for more than 12 hours outside stations, the Overseas Visitors Record Office (OVRO) have issued alternative registration points.
On 8 October, students were then told they could report to the OVRO to hand in or complete their form, with some universities also offering the
service, but students will still have to return to the OVRO before December 2012 to finalise their registration.
The bureaucratic process, which costs students £34 has been reported to last between five to ten minutes in most cases.
The National Union of Students (NUS) branded the treatment of inter-national students as “absolutely unac-ceptable” and questioned why they need to register with the police when their personal data is already held by the UK Border Agency.
NUS international students’ officer, Daniel Stevens, said: “There are numer-ous other ways to avoid the distress being faced by these students includ-ing increasing staff numbers, adjusting the amount of time given to students to register, or creating a ticketing system so that students have defined times to
register.“It is absolutely unacceptable that
students be asked to be queue for hours, often in terrible weather, and be expected to arrive before 6.30am to have any chance of being seen.”
NUS has revealed that some students are even putting their place on a course in jeopardy as they try for days to get registered, often missing classes in the process.
Brazilian student Mariella Nihabi has missed the first few days of her course at London College of Fashion because of the delays.
“I cannot attend class before I have registered but this is the third time I have tried queuing,” she said. “Today I have been here since 6am. There are people who got here earlier.
“It’s horrible – we have to wait here for hours and pay for the travel each
time. If they want us to register, they could at least ask us to do it at a police station nearer to where we live.”
Police registration is the latest problem for international students in London just weeks after London Met-ropolitan University had its license to sponsor non-EU students revoked.
A High Court judge granted the beleaguered university permission to seek a judicial review, and an agreement for international students to return to classes was approved on 5 October with students who have received offers to transfer to other universities also able to return to London Met.
Stevens attended Borough police station and obtained photographic and video evidence showing that some stu-dents had been queuing from 10pm with most arriving between 2am and 5am.
He said: “During this time we
learned that minors were being forced to stand in line as well. We’ve met students as young as 16 attending English board-ing schools who were forced to register.
“There is no excuse for this. This has potentially been occurring for upwards of two weeks and it is disgraceful that international students have been treated this way.
“It is unacceptable that even at peak times this simple procedure which inter-national students are charged for has forced international students to queue in the night due to mismanagement.”
As news of the alternative arrange-ments broke on 8 October, Stevens said: “We hope that in the long-term the process of police registration is scrapped as it is still unclear why is necessary for students to visit police offices when their information is already held by the UK Border Agency.”
Ben Cohen Staff writer
Oxford University’s vice-chan-cellor Andrew Hamilton has announced plans to more than double the institution’s fundraising target to counter government cuts.
The move sees the university aim to greatly exceed its usual £1.25 billion with a new target of raising £3 billion, but warned
that philanthropy should not be a replace-ment for adequate public funding.
In his oration to the university on 1 October, Hamilton attacked the govern-ment’s cuts on how some aspects of higher education were directly funded by the government as greater weight is put on individuals.
Despite the call, Hamilton revealed that Oxford had already comfortably exceeded its initial target, but added that
private funding is no match for government resources.
He said, “Governments can bring to bear resources on a scale that dwarfs every other funding stream, even the most gener-ous philanthropic endowment.”
The vice-chancellor added that even in the US, where funding for some univer-sities is thought to be largely private, most research income comes from the govern-ment - around 80 per cent at Harvard Uni-
versity, compared with around 40 per cent at Oxford.
During the speech, Hamilton also announced that the drive would pay for a £100 million matched funding scheme for postgraduate scholarships, starting in 2013/14 to close what he called a “graduate funding gap.”
The scheme, open to applicants in all master and doctoral degree courses, will see scholarships awarded based on aca-
demic merit and will cover the full costs of fees and living expenses.
The institution also plans for 60 per cent of the money to come from philanthropic donors while it makes up the remainder.
Oxford already offers extensive schol-arship schemes funded through dona-tions for undergraduates from low-income families, postgraduate students in the humanities and the new Blavatnik School of Government.
No questions asked as Cardi� Uni hands £170k to fraudsters
Credit control and safeguarding procedures
called into question after ‘o� icial’ requestBen Cohen Staff writer
An official in Cardiff University’s finance department has unwittingly paid £170,000 to fraudsters.
The problem began when a letter received from a supplier on headed paper appeared to be from a legitimate external supplier requesting a change of bank details.
The university’s credit control and
financial safeguarding have been called into question with several staff involved in the process.
A spokesperson for the university told The Journal: “A number of organi-sations have been subject to the fraud suffered by the university.
“A UK-wide ongoing police investi-gation is underway to which the univer-sity is cooperating fully.
“The fraudster used a copy of a legit-imate supplier’s letter headed paper
in order to request a change to bank account details.”
The loss of such a sum could pose short-term problems for other areas of the university until the money is recov-ered, with the university having to settle an outstanding debt to the supplier.
The university spokesperson added: “No single individual was responsible for the fraud. The University deals with over 140,000 invoices a year from thou-sands of suppliers. This means that a
number of staff within the University are involved in the process.”
The university has stated that a number of staff would have been involved in the process of changing the bank account details; hence, no individ-ual has been held accountable.
The Journal has been informed that South Wales Police were informed as soon as the fraud was discovered and are investigating the crime.
Cardiff University is the latest of a
number of organisations to fall victim to this type of scam, and has since undergone an internal audit to review procedures.
The audit revealed a need for improvements to security, and recom-mendations have been made includ-ing credit control and implementation of further safeguards if bank account details need to be changed.
Requests to South Wales Police for comment were not returned.
Cardi� University have said “no single individual” was responsible for error
We find ourselves in an unscheduled political silly season. Recent weeks have seen a cascade of bizarre public missteps by British politicians: from chief whip Andrew Mitchell’s classist rant at a police officer, to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg’s widely ridiculed non-apology for his broken pledge on tuition fees, to dis-credited left-wing firebrand George Gal-loway’s obstreperous decision to sue the National Union of Students for libel (see previous leader).
And now Scotland’s political class are getting in on the act, for this was the fort-night in which Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont chose to announce in a keynote speech in Edinburgh that her party would end its support for universal free public services, including medical pre-scriptions and tuition fees. “The idea that Scotland is a land where everything is free,”
she said, “is a lie.”The decision by Ms Lamont to launch
a noisy tirade against much of what the Labour party in Scotland and across the UK has long considered its most sacred ideals is baffling; indeed, as her first sub-stantive policy announcement after nine months at the helm, it is politically incom-prehensible. But it is more than that: it is moral cowardice which is likely to backfire in spectacular fashion.
She is, admittedly, in an unenviable position: she is the leader of the opposition to a popular government led by probably the most skilled political operator of his generation. But first minister Alex Salmond and his SNP administration have long staked out their ideological turf on the left, and it has helped them to Scotland’s first-ever majority government; for Ms Lamont to run to the right makes little sense.
Yes, there are tough economic ques-tions facing the public sector in both Scot-land and the UK as a whole. But this is not about the economics of recovery; these are not short-term recessionary fixes. Rather, what Ms Lamont proposes is a conserva-tive redrawing of public services, and a massive alteration to the relationship between the individual and the state.
The whole situation reminds us of what has been abundantly clear for years: that Labour is increasingly a party adrift; unsure of what it stands for and what its place in our political ecosystem is. Their policy plat-form has become plagued by knee-jerking and short-termism, and their messaging is blind to the bigger picture. We were prom-ised ‘root and branch’ reform after the res-ignation of Gordon Brown, and again after Iain Gray’s — yet time and again, the party seems unable to see the wood for the trees.
George Galloway’s legal pursuit of the National Union of Students over the National Executive Council’s con-demnation of his remarks on the Julian Assange case is the sorry perpetuation of a distasteful affair. This is not a muted exercise in damage control for the Brad-ford West MP; the combative Mr Gallo-way is clearly unable to resist the urge to come roaring back onto the front foot.
The remarks central to this row, regarding accusations of rape levelled against the Wikileaks founder, were gro-tesque: Mr Galloway argued in a video posted online that Mr Assange’s alleged crime — that he had sex with a sleeping woman — was not rape at all, but merely “bad sexual etiquette”.
That position is utterly indefen-sible. There should be no reasonable doubt that consent cannot be given while asleep, and that having sex with someone who is asleep is rape. Mr Gal-loway’s bumbling attempt to argue that if you are “already in the sex game”
with someone you are released from the moral and legal obligation to seek consent is morally repugnant and an intellectual dead end.
The imbroglio was only com-pounded by Mr Galloway’s painful attempt to “clarify” his position later. The former Labour MP is, ostensibly, “clear that no means no,” but the insinu-ation of his original comments was that not asking the question removes that dilemma.
If Mr Galloway feels personally slighted by being branded a “rape denier” — and it is easy to see why he might take offence — it is unclear what he expects to gain from a defa-mation suit. Even a swift and decisive legal victory is unlikely to change any-one’s perspective on either this case or Mr Galloway generally. In essence this latest outburst feels like nothing more than another public tantrum from a notoriously tempestuous man — and given his recent return to Parliament,
surely he could find his time more gain-fully spent representing the people of Bradford, rather than himself?
The prospective extension of NUS’ ‘no platform’ policy beyond its normal usage as an anti-fascist tool does raise a philosophical question: though the exclusion of British politics’ court jester from NUS events might be an attrac-tive proposition, there is a debate raging over whether the extension of ‘no plat-form’ represents mission creep for the policy, and whether it risks diluting the symbolic severity of the sanction. But that is not the crucial point here: Mr Galloway’s remarks, whether malice or mis-speech, were deeply offensive and he should apologise. His legal challenge is a petulant waste of everyone’s time: he should abandon it immediately, accept (as he should have by now, given his storied and controversial career) that people will often disagree with him, and get back to focusing on his role as a public servant.
We’re still recruiting writers, editors, photographers, graphic and layout designers and salespeople to join our team and help us produce Scotland’s best student newspaper. If you’re considering a career in journalism, and want practical experience, contact us by email at [email protected].
PUBLISHER Devon WalsheEDITORIAL DIRECTOR Marcus Kernohan
NUS Scotland president Robin Parker speaks at the ‘Save FE’ rally in Glasgow
REACTIONSAndy Murray’s grand slamWonderful article. Andy has always had my support and has proved that he is one of the best players we have ever had. Also pleased that he is helping sport in Scotland.
Hopefully some of our other sportsmen/women might like to follow his example south of the border. Saw Andy with Laura at the Olympics and they were a joy to see and a credit to the game. - Dorothy Smith, via web
I was one such fan who always believed in his talent - and was up
all night of the US Open!
He has done Britain proud and he should be lauded for his grit and determination to prove the doubt-ers wrong! Well done Andy, so proud of you...
- Terri Hills, via web
Ian McEwan - Sweet ToothIan, you seem to have a ‘sweet tooth’ for political/MI5 thrillers, as do I. Looks a great read, I hope to pick up a copy soon. - Clive Drake, via web
9 5 3
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Puzzle 1 (Very hard, difficulty rating 0.88)
Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Sun Oct 7 14:52:48 2012 GMT. Enjoy!
SU DOKU
COMMENT/ 11@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
DISCUSSION&DEBATE
COMMENTFollowing his latest PR nightmare, George Galloway seeks professional help... by Jen Owen
Lamonting Scottish Labour’s loss of direction John Hewitt Jones questions the potential electoral consequences of Johann Lamont’s policy reversal for Labour
John Hewitt JonesLiterary editor
On a bleak, rainy morning at the end of last month, Johann Lamont used her policy announcement on the Royal Mile to outline a major shift in thinking for the Scottish Labour party.
At the heart of the speech was an attempt to re-open the debate over public spending in Scotland.
In a forty-five minute conference, the leader of Scottish Labour chal-lenged the fiscal priorities set out in the recent budget report by the SNP-majority Holyrood government. Whilst attempting to avoid mention of spe-cific spending items that Labour would advocate being cut, battle lines have been drawn over three key issues: free education, free healthcare and conces-sionary bus travel for the elderly.
The Labour leader seemed uncom-fortable, with a faltering performance exacerbated by a forty-minute delay to the start of the event. Much of the speech used language that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in a Tory
cuts speech, attacking recent budget proposals put forward by the SNP-led Holyrood government.
But how will this lie with the electorate?
Such a sudden change in policy direction risks alienating many within the party, particularly over the question of tuition fees. Many feel strongly that this has long been an issue of cross-party consensus with the SNP, and that free tertiary education is a social right, central to the fabric of self-deter-mining Scottish society. Challenging it brings Labour further towards the centre ground, leaving question marks over what will differentiate their voice from the cuts mantra being propagated by the Westminster government.
Labour’s main problem – as vocif-erously pointed out by Alex Salmond during First Minister’s Questions last week – will be one of credibility. Just a year ago, the party reinforced their commitment to free education and free healthcare in an election pledge made under the leadership of Iain Gray. There’s a risk that the sudden change in direction will look suspiciously like
political flip-flopping, at a time when unity is key in the face of the Scottish independence vote in 2014.
For many, this move will appear to play directly into the hands of the SNP. As part of the Scottish govern-ment’s budget announcement last week, spending pledges made to the electorate were reinforced; protecting, among other things, free prescriptions, student tuition fees and support for concessionary bus travel. While their commitment not to cut public finance and simultaneously increased spend-ing programmes may prove unrealistic, many will still accuse Labour’s political manoeuvre as lacking in backbone. A party that has defined itself by protect-ing social principles such as the right to free education, is now reneging on its promises. Labour will have a hard task persuading those who feel strongly over these emotive issues that they, not the SNP, are the party to vote for, par-ticularly when it comes to the question of Scottish independence.
And it’s not just the charge of hypoc-risy that the Scottish Labour party will have to answer to. There’s no two ways
about it, but Johann Lamont has an image problem. With the demeanour of a surly headmistress, she lacks the charisma necessary to stick the boot into Alex Salmond, consistently receiv-ing a bruising from the First Minister in the chamber. Labour face a hard task taking the fight to one of the UK’s most canny political operators.
In attempting to provoke a wider discussion about spending policy, Johann Lamont has touched on issues that cut not just to the core of Scot-tish Labour’s ideology, but to the core of the Scottish political landscape. In bringing into question public spending on defining issues such as healthcare and student fees, the party is challeng-ing policies that have for many years defined Scotland’s political identity.
Whilst some will regard this as a move that attempts to re-open a long overdue debate over public spend-ing, the voices of dissent are already making themselves heard loud and clear. For many this policy reversal will smack of policy-making on the hoof, and how this will affect Labour in the polls remains to be seen.
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Debt, de� cit and deception: did it have to be this way? The recession is officially over, but the inquiry into this new-found economic growth spurt is just beginning
Jamie TimsonDeputy editor
You might have missed it. What with Ed Miliband’s resurgence and Mitt Romney’s attack on Sesame Street, this week has been rather eventful. However there is one piece of news which may astound even more than Ed’s memory skills. The UK’s recession is over. That’s right, we can stop worrying about unemployment and the deficit, budget cuts and the NHS, and we can rejoice in the boun-tiful treasures of recession-free living. So that means the austerity measures worked, George Osbourne and David Cameron were right all along, and we did need to near enough cripple our economy to get ourselves back on the straight and narrow.
Well, not quite. The Office for National Statistics showed in their most recent release 1.1 per cent growth in the services sector, and expected further growth in the third quarter will signal a slow end to the double-dip recession which has blighted Brit-ain’s economy. This growth has come about through, it appears, a stealth move by Osbourne to a plan B. A plan B that would never be necessary according to the Chancellor, who had argued that the economy would only pick up when confidence returns, which could only happen when the government has shown it can success-fully implement policies to cut the public sector deficit. However, these new statistics show that the Treas-ury loosened the purse strings in the services sector and provided one of the biggest boosts to the expansion of
services output in July culminating, it would appear, in a return to economic growth.
It’s odd then, that Osbourne and the Treasury refuse to acknowledge this change of plan, and that this pro-jected two-quarter growth has come as a result of actions the government have spent two years condemning. Politicians being wrong isn’t new, and it certainly isn’t surprising, but it is damning to see quite how wrong they were.
While the lengths to which the Conservatives have gone in pushing through their ideologically-led assault on the economy are simply incredible, it is somewhat under-standable when viewed in conjunc-tion with a few simple historical facts. The Conservatives have only presided over one short period of deficit-free government since the Second World War - astonishing if you consider how imperative deficit-reduction is today. The party has never worried about the deficit before, even when it reached its most dizzying heights during their tenure. So it’s puzzling that it sud-denly bothers them so acutely. Or it would be puzzling, if it hadn’t been followed by Thatcherite attacks on the public sector, which the deficit fear had allowed, and perhaps even fostered.
When the coalition government formed in 2010, their plan of action included an emergency budget full of huge cuts meant to eradicate the deficit completely. Time has proven
this to be the wrong route. The reces-sion has shown that private individu-als respond to the economic climate by saving more and cutting back on spending. This caused a huge fall in economic activity and coupled with the huge cuts meant that overall demand collapsed and the recession double-dipped.
This wasn’t unexpected, in the same way that this recent growth after putting more money into the serv-ices sector wasn’t unexpected. But it didn’t fit the Conservative model: cut hard and cut fast. Because it didn’t fit with their ideological agenda, it was ignored and the cuts kept coming, whilst the references to the awful mess left by the previous Labour gov-ernment continued unabated. One analysis of Cameron’s performances at Prime Minister’s Questions found that in the space of a single month he had used the phrases “inherited”, “left to us” and “bequeathed” an absurd 112 times. This was buck-passing to surpass all previous buck-passing, and as the recession continued the Plan A didn’t change - until now.
Far be it from a student news-paper to suggest answers to an eco-nomic question that has confounded many since the crisis began, but there could be another way. This recent announcement from ONS has shown that loosening the purse strings could promote further growth, and it would be wrong to criticise without suggest-ing another path to take; a path that is so far from the Conservative ideo-
logical agenda, and so estranged from Thatcherite policy that it’s unlikely it will ever see the light of day. But it could be an answer nonetheless.
There is only one group of people who continue to spend during a recession, and it is those that have no reason or no means to save. It is widely recognised that those on welfare ben-efits spend their money on the local high street; they use local businesses and spend money within the local economy. If there was a rise in welfare benefits and more money went to the poorest people, more money would be spent in the local economy giving it the much needed boost at ground level that would affect all of us posi-tively. A rise in welfare benefits would undoubtedly incur the wrath of those whose sole purpose in life is to hound out benefit thieves, but as those on benefits do little saving, more dispos-able income to those who spend the most is surely beneficial.
Of course, this will likely be brushed over of course, under the cover of ‘one-nation conservatism’ - and the rise of Ed Milliband’s ‘One Nation Labour’. This recession could have been a lot worse but it also could have been a lot better - but this isn’t the end of course; growth could and probably will stagnate again. The Treasury won’t learn from their sneaky switch to Plan B, and indeed they’ll ignore any inkling that the change caused the growth. The coa-lition being proved wrong has never felt so unsatisfying.
Lhongchou
FEATURE // 13@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Kapuscinski and journalism as artArtur Domoslawski, biographer of seminal Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, expands upon his mentor’s unorthodox but necessary technique of ‘literary reportage’ as a reporter behind the Iron Curtain
Katharina Dziacko Art editor
Ryszard Kapuscinski was an eye-witness to many important historical events around the world. To a great number of people he was known as the “witness of the 20th century”.
Kapuscinski was a great journalist and a world-famous writer. His biog-rapher Artur Domoslawski, a jour-nalist and writer himself, was one of those journalists who had the honour to know Kapuscinski as their mentor.
“Kapuscinski was a legend for me – and for many journalists of my gen-eration,” said Domoslawski. “When I was meeting him over the last nine years of his life I talked to him a lot. I can say that I absorbed a lot of his way of thinking about the world.” Some years after Kapuscinski passed away in January 2007, Domoslawski decided to write the biography of his mentor. The English-language edition ‘Ryszard Kapuscinski: A Life’, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, has been pub-lished in the UK only recently.
According to Domoslawski there are four main reasons why he decided to write this particular biography. The first reason is that Kapuscinski lived through very important events of the 20th century.
“As a child he survived the 2nd world war, then as a young man he was [a] militant and activist of the commu-nist movement in Poland in the 1950s. As a reporter he became witness to the collapse of colonial powers in many African countries, like Congo, Kenya and Uganda. Then he witnessed some revolutionary guerrilla movements, coup d’états and dictatorships in Latin
America.“After that he also covered the
Iranian Revolution in 1979 which led to some changes but still contin-ues until today. Just after returning from Iran, he witnessed the Solidar-ity Movement in Poland at the Gdansk shipyard in the 1980s and after that, and again just to summarise, he also witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union and wrote a book, called Imper-ium, about it.
“So when you really look at his life, you will notice that even without his work it is fascinating in itself. You have
to go through all those events your-self to understand the circumstances and context of his life,” explained Domoslawski.
“The second reason is that Kapus-cinski was one of a few journalists who were able to make art out of jour-nalism. He was not only a journalist who wrote reports about events. He reported as a journalist in a usual way, but when he began to write his books he wrote in a very lyrical, almost poeti-cal and also subjective way.
“The third reason is that Kapus-cinski is one of those writers who detected in a wonderful way the uni-versal mechanisms of authoritarian and absolute powers as well as mecha-nisms of revolutions. Great examples are the two books The Emperor and Sha of Shahs.
“The last reason is that Kapuscinski is one of those few journalistic voices or writers who tried to give voice to the voiceless people. And finally there is also a personal reason: I knew him as a person. He was my mentor. He was my friend, although I am cautious with pronouncing this word as there was a great distance in age between us and when I met him for the first time I was a journalist in my 30s and he was already an internationally recognized writer.”
To find out more about Kapus-cinski’s life and work, Domoslawski decided to follow in his mentor’s foot-steps and to travel to different coun-tries to meet people who had known him in person.
Very early in his research, Domo-slawski discovered that “Kapuscinski was a very enigmatic person”.
According to Domoslawski many people thought that they really knew Kapuscinski very well. Some people would introduce themselves as his friends.
Although they remembered long wonderful conversations with him, they soon realised that they were not able to repeat any true phrases, anec-dotes or situations.
“In the beginning I thought that it might not be possible to write this biography because Kapuscinski really was so enigmatic and was protecting or hiding himself from the world,” dis-covered Domoslawski.
The decision to dedicate two full chapters of the biography to Kapus-cinski’s great passion for poetry was defended by Domoslawski, explain-ing that it is significant “to know how important poetry was for him, that it was his great dream – only partly fulfilled and partly realized. And in the end poetry influenced a lot of his prose.
“As a reporter and writer he used to write in a quite poetic way, which I consider one more impact of poetry on his life and work.”
In his biography Domoslaw-ski describes some of Kapuscin-ski’s stories as rather “different from reality” and presents particular exam-ples, which involve Kapuscinski’s fic-tional meetings with Che Guevara and Patrice Lumumba.
Consequently, he tries to move some of Kapuscinski’s work “from the
journalistic shelf into the literature shelf”.
According to Domoslawski “you really cannot call this kind of writing journalism. It is rather literature. I think when you add fiction to the story, even if there are very few details it becomes rather fiction, based on real facts, based on real events, but it is better not to call it journalism, because if we allowed ourselves to do such things there would be no limit anymore.”
Kapuscinski was a journalist who worked for the Polish Press Agency, a governmental institution, which was at that time under dictatorship and censorship.
“It was not a secret that Kapuscin-skiwas a member of the communist party for almost three decades.”
According to Domoslawski, Kapus-cinski used to write literary reportages and it is important to know that “in Poland literary reportages were born under very particular circumstances”.
Under dictatorship, when it was not possible to express any criticism of the power through opinion articles, literary reportages became a form of social political critique.
When something horrible hap-pened reporters used to travel to such places to collect information, but when writing the story they would make up one fictional character out of three or four real characters to protect the source and avoid compromising
people.“I personally understand that it is
absolutely forbidden in the free world journalism. You are not allowed to make up things, but under dictator-ship literary reportage was a tool of the people of the generation to criti-cize the power and to describe reality in a different way than propaganda.”
Domoslawski remembered an interview from the 70s in which, according to him, “Kapuscinski explained that it is allowed for a reporter, in order to get better draw-ings of facts and to read the higher truth or the essence of matters, or the truth truer than reality it is permit-ted, not to invent tales of facts but to amplify some details, to change the position.”
“So, again this is the reason and to some extent I understand why other journalists are furious when they learn about it today,” Domoslawski concluded.
The author of the biography described his work as fairly spoken, and with no intention to express that Kapuscinski’s work is not worth reading or that he is not a wonderful writer.
“Some of his books I still consider as great works of journalism, others as great works of literature. And at this point I want to mention that in the last years of his life Kapuscinski was men-tioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.”
“It is allowed, for a reporter, in order to get better drawings of facts and to read the higher truth or the essence of matters... it is permitted not to invent tales of facts, but to amplify some details to change the position.”
“Madame, please don’t stand too close to that painting. It is on sale for £50 million,” curator Patrick Elliot laughs, nervously. He is surrounded by a small collection of members of the general public for an intimate evening viewing of Picasso and Modern British Art at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
He continues, “I don’t normally tell the public about such matters, but recently a private, international buyer nearly bought ‘Girl with a Dove’. We’ve got four months to raise the 50 million, which isn’t going to happen. But we will do a whip round.”
The 1901 work is one of a 60-strong accumulation that has been received as one of the decade’s greatest national efforts at drawing together a body of the artist’s work. Arriving at the modern art gallery in August for the Edinburgh Art Festival, Picasso and Modern British Art takes its place as the ‘highlight’ of the art festival after its debut at the Tate Modern. This development is of enor-mous significance: not only does it result in the exhibition’s absence in the capital
during the Olympic period, but it is the first collaboration in history between the national galleries in Scotland and the Tate in London.
Picasso and Modern British Art intertwines two main strands: the aes-thetic impact of his work upon British artists and his evolving critical recep-tion after 1930. Its lineup spans a broad spectrum of 20th century art, featuring artists such as Wyndham Lewis, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, David Hockney and Scots Robert Macbryde and Robert Colquhoun. Little summarises neatly, “what we have is a retrospective of Picasso, seen through the eyes of British artists.” He quickly interrupts his discus-sion again as visitors veer dangerously close to the prized portrait - “Please do be careful!”
But how do these names appear in the shadow of their modernist master? It was the exhibition’s siting of artists such as Duncan Grant in such close proximity to Picasso that prompted a mixed criti-cal reception in the south. The Guard-ian, for example, described it as a ‘cruel comparison’, arguing that the exhibition belittles British art and presents British artists as incapable of producing origi-nality. The Telegraph similarly labelled
these comparisons as “confused” and having caused Picasso to ‘stand head and shoulders above the British artists he’s said to have influenced’: clearly this is not an exhibition for the patriotic.
What is undeniably enlighten-ing, however, is the exhibition’s tale of Picasso’s critical reception in Britain. It emerges that interest in Picasso was slow to hit the mark. For example, the first work acquired by the Tate was his still life ‘Flowers’, from 1901. The work was purchased over 30 years after its creation in 1933, for £700 - quite the sum for the period. Despite being masterfully executed, the piece is an incredibly con-servative work within the artist’s oeuvre. Curator Little comments: “some of you may feel this doesn’t look anything like a Picasso, and I would have to agree. The only thing Picasso about it is the signature!”
Whilst today the Tate Modern is instrumental in introducing upcoming, international contemporary artists to the general public, it remained a compara-tively backward and traditional institu-tion for many years after its creation in 1932. Artists looking towards Picasso for inspiration found him not in national institutions, but rather in the realm of the private collectors such as Roland Penrose, who is featured heavily in the exhibition as both a celebrated collector and artist.
“Top of the list of shame, however, are the National Galleries of Scotland. The first picture we acquired by Picasso was his ‘Mother and Child’ in 1960. Picasso was 79 years old by the time we caught up with him.”
Their excuse is acceptable, however, as the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art was only established in 1959. Prior to this, the National Galleries of Scotland originally upheld the rule that an artist must have been deceased for at least a decade before their work could be displayed by the institution.
Such a delayed recognition of the artist means that it is not surprising that Picasso only ever visited Britain twice - once in 1919, and again in 1950.
So whilst Picasso’s impact on British art was phenomenal, our impact upon him was minimal.
However, Picasso enjoyed a long relationship with prolific British col-lector Penrose. Following the German bombing of Guernica in 1937, Picasso began a vehemently political work on a 25 foot-wide canvas that would become one of the most iconic in his oeuvre. One year later, Penrose persuaded Picasso to lend ‘Guernica’ to the New Burlington Galleries in London, where it went on to tour England before - interestingly - set-tling in a car showroom in Manchester under the direction of a student group.
Like many of Picasso’s circle, Penrose was deeply involved in the Republican cause. Profits from the British tour were donated to the Spanish Republican gov-ernment, as were mountains of hiking boots: while visitors were required to pay a shilling and threepence for entry,an alternative donation option was a pair of shoes for troops fighting against Franco on the Spanish front. One of the most poignant documents in the exhi-
bition is a photograph of the donated boots, assuming an almost votive role as they accumulate in their hundreds before Picasso’s mural.
27 years after their first acquisi-tion of the artist’s work, the Tate put on the greatest retrospective of Picasso of the 20th century. The show was the first ‘blockbuster’ exhibition in Britain, attracting 400,000 visitors and selling over 100,000 catalogues.
Elliot describes the impact of this upon the artist’s position in British art: “Picasso was transformed from an out-sider - and a communist - to the undis-puted leader of modern art. He was almost too popular, and there was a neg-ative reaction within the artistic com-munity, to a certain extent. It became old fashioned to like Picasso.”
Picasso reportedly said before his death in 1973: “What will painting do when I die? It shall have to walk over my body. There’s no way round.” Inter-estingly, public reaction to Picasso and Modern British Art shows the artist still has the potential to galvanise the general public. The chosen piece for the poster image for the exhibition was his 1932 ‘Nude on a Red Armchair’ - an abstracted nude depicting one of Picas-so’s many secret lovers.
Edinburgh Airport reportedly received several complaints from appalled visitors about the exhibi-tion poster in the international arriv-als lounge. As a result, the poster was covered with a white vinyl for a several days during the Edinburgh festivals, in order to prevent further offence.
Director-general John Leighton of NGS commented “It is obviously bizarre that all kinds of images of women in various states of dress and undress can be used in contemporary advertis-ing without comment, but somehow a painted nude by one of the world’s most famous artists is found to be disturbing and has to be removed.” Ironically, global press coverage of the ‘confusion’ proved to be greater advertising for Picasso and Modern British Art than any conven-tional campaign could have wished for.
Picasso and Britain: one hundred years of solitudeNew exhibition chronicling critical reception
to the modernist master shows he still has
the power to galvanise opinion, 100 years on
Chris Rubey
‘The Tate was for many years a comparatively backward institution... artists looking towards Picasso for inspiration found him not in national institutions, but in the realm of private collectors.’
A&E // 15@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
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Take One Action: can � lm become a tool to bring about global social change?The Journal explores the film festival which seeks to inspire the
masses to pursue global change through the medium of film
Caroline Armour Staff writer
Take One Action film festival does not give its audiences a taste of the familiar.
Running in Glasgow and Edin-burgh, the films screened are chosen to take their Scottish spectators to areas around the globe very few will see up close, and which are therefore far from most people’s thoughts.
Billing itself as the UK’s ‘global change film festival’ it acts as both a celebration of the people around the world who are actively making a difference and a means of inspiring those who haven’t started yet.
Simon Bateson, the artistic direc-tor and founder of Take One Action, believes in film as a medium for change.
He said: “Film is an amazingly powerful medium to bring people face to face with issues they won’t
experience.These are stories of social change
and inequalities and injustice and we were seeing more and more amazing films being made but not having the platform they needed.”
While the issues it tackles range from climate change to human rights, the focus this year was on the media. More specifically, whether we get the kind of media coverage we deserve.
A number of the screenings fea-tured organised debates, with spe-cially invited experts and enthusiasts having their say, followed by an open audience-led discussion which con-tributed to the festival’s goal of gen-erating public interest and dialogue.
Festival-goers were engaged in other ways too, with some of the films being brought to life by power from bicycle-pedalling audiences, adding an environmentally friendly twist.
Take One’s wrap-up party on 6 October ended the formal run of the festival for this year, but in-keeping with its pro-active message the public are encouraged to put on DIY screenings of festival films to
spread the word among their own communities.
The festival also goes on the road in February to give audiences in rural Scotland the opportunity to see these films.
In addition to this, Take One Action runs a project with teenag-ers around the country to “empower the next generation to be globally conscious”.
Simon Bateson elaborated on next year’s festival: “In terms of the festi-val next year, one of the big emerg-ing themes for the planet is the issue of food security. We have now just passed a billion people who are clas-sified as living in hunger.”
For potential festival sceptics for whom phrases such as ‘global citi-zens’, and ‘meaningful cinema’ may be off-putting, the film line-up was surprisingly inclusive. Events were set up specifically for families and schools, which will remain a feature in coming years.
There were a number of UK or Scottish premieres on offer, includ-ing War Witch which told the story of child soldiers in West Africa, and
Chasing Ice which followed National Geographic photographer James Balog as he documented the rapid rate of glacial melting. The latter won the award for Best Cinematog-raphy at the Sundance Film Festival 2012.
Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Hugo) was executive producer for the festival opening documentary Surviving Progress, which was very well received.
It isn’t particularly surprising that a documentary-heavy film festival would occasionally lack in audience numbers. Whilst some screenings sold out a number of others which were originally charged for became
free to encourage numbers. This did however mean that a number of people who would not have normally considered seeing the films turned up to venues including Glasgow’s The Tramway’s Hidden Gardens and The Glue Factory.
Take One Action festival volun-teer, Angela-Mariana Aranghelovici, said: “Take One Action goes further than screening films and actually talks to people and gives the audi-ence members a chance to meet and interact.
“It often provided people with the opportunity to meet film makers and people who are directly involved with the issues, which is truly inspiring.”
Blessedly, the adaptation of The Perks of Being a Wallflower from novel to screenplay was dealt with by the book’s author — Stephen Chbosky.
Dealing with the problematic easy-to-make-cheesy subject matter (growing up within the high school dynamic), having what are essentially big musical numbers and not irritating everyone to high hell is impressive enough to be getting on with.
It focuses on the introverted Charlie (Logan Lerman), in his freshman year at high school, as he finally breaks out into the vibrant world Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Erza Miller) inhabit.
The carefully constructed teen angst, awkwardness, and an honest depiction of a wide range of emotional hang ups from baggage to the strong grip which mental trauma can hold over a person, had audi-ence members in a variety of states.
From the group of girls sat behind me who bawled and sniffed into tissues from the first moment Charlie opens his mouth, to those who reveled in the awkward teenage moments finding what is really quite a funny film simply hilarious.
Although one of the film’s big draws was Harry Potter star Emma Watson, the round of applause has to go to the male actors: Logan Lerman and - particu-larly - Ezra Miller, who absolutely stood out, providing most of the film’s comedic moments as well as a sizable proportion of its emotional clout as the decidedly extroverted antithesis to Charlie’s ‘out-sider’ personality.
Featuring songs from David Bowie and The Smiths, the soundtrack is nice and recognisable whilst nodding its head to the early nineties when the novel, and in turn the film, is set. Fans of the Rocky Horror soundtrack are in for a bit of a treat too – as this is where the aforemen-tioned almost-musical number steps in.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a recognisable and poignant look at teenage life which manages to cover all the teen film bases without feeling like a replica.
Blair Dingwall Film editor
Rack your brain and try and remem-ber the last great sci-fi film you’ve seen at the cinema. Dredd, Prometheus – both were good, enjoyable. The likes of Battleship and Lockdown, however....
Putting the interesting Another Earth aside, not since Inception and Moon has a science-fiction film been so exciting as this.
With Looper, Rian Johnson’s first attempt in the genre, 2012 has one of its best films and perhaps the decade’s defining sci-fi film.
It’s 2042 and the world hasn’t quite gone to shit (although it’s getting there). Between 2042 and 2072 time travel is invented and immediately outlawed, only used illegally by the gang empire of the future to dispose of their “dirty laundry”.
Loopers are the hitmen employed in the past to wait at specific locations for victims to appear in order to kill and dispose of the bodies; an existence that’s all very well for Looper Joe (a very well makeup-ed Joseph Gordon-Levitt) .
The catch to being a Looper is, as a form of retirement, they must at some point face killing their own future selves in order to “close the loop.” They are granted 30 years of life and a supply of gold for their troubles.
When a future gangster known as “the rainmaker” begins a cull of all Loopers, closing all loops, Joe knows he must face his future self and plans
to deal with it the way he’s been trained too.Things go awry - his future self is Bruce Willis.
What’s most striking on viewing Looper is how it manages to remain, underneath, an indie film in spirit. It sets the scene, giving us time to wrap our heads around the time-travel, then transforms into an actioner with bouts of drama and humour. It’s an indie film disguised within the scope of a sci-fi blockbuster.
Looper doesn’t delve into over-bear-ing concepts, but develops patiently into a character-driven action-thriller, and in true indie style it amalgamates genres, delighting and entertaining as it builds momentum (much like Johnson did with his superb debut, Brick – a high school drama/film noir).
Also like Brick, Looper’s story twists unexpectedly and the characters con-tinue to surprise throughout; all the while filmed with Johnson’s cool, slick vibe.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on usual form adding another gem to his expand-ing, impressive CV. Along with Moon-rise Kingdom, Looper sees a return to form for Bruce Willis, treading the same turf he did in Gilliam’s time-travel masterpiece 12 Monkeys. Willis’ ageing Joe is the man we remember from his heyday: as tough as Butch in Pulp Fiction; sombre as David Dunn in Unbreakable.
It’s therefore a pleasure to watch the game of cat and mouse between the Old and the Young Joe. This dynamic is used
best (for drama and humour) in a scene where the two meet in a diner (Young Joe hasn’t yet mastered French to the degree of Old Joe).
Joes aside, there’s a fantastic sup-porting cast consisting of Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels, Noah Segan and the greatest child performance you’ll have seen for a long time from Pierce Gagnon.
Looper’s future is a believable one; a future tweaked slightly by the surreal but grounded enough in modernity to seem real.
However, time-travel nuts will undoubtedly nitpick about trivial plot holes, the great Daniels isn’t given enough screen time and the change in the direction of the film mid-way through may not please everybody.
However those familiar with John-son’s style and a passion for good sci-fi will have little to complain about. Johnson and crew have made a great film delivered with patient, intelligent cinematography, hinting at Johnson’s love of noir in a superbly acted and scripted movie.
In someone else’s hands, this film could have looked a lot different. It’s stylish, smart and cool, with traces of Gilliam, Cameron and Cronenberg.
Those who have read critical com-parisons to The Matrix, prepare to be disappointed, Looper doesn’t head for an all-guns blazing, bullet-dodging finale nor will it give birth to any sequels. Looper patiently delivers a climax with enough drama, shocks and action to be considered epic in its own subtler way.
It’s the greatest sci-fi since Moon and pure entertainment.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
LooperJoseph Gordon-Levitt reunites with Rian Johnson in one of 2012’s best films
Entertainment One/Panther
Summit Entertainment
FILM
Lerman and Miller outshine Harry Potter star
Emma Watson in Chbosky adaptation
FILM
A&E // 17@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Daniel Lawson Staff writer
It has been three long years since the members of Scottish indie rock band The Fratellis entered their
‘indefinite hiatus’, with each moving onto solo projects and obscurity.
Since then, an enthusiastic local fan base has been left waiting, hiding out in Glasgow’s club-pubs, and loiter-ing around HMV’s indie section, eyes glued to the floor.
Wednesday 26 September gave them a reason to lift their heads again, and march, chanting as they went, down Sauchiehall Street to the O2 ABC, where their long-lost favourites had at last announced a reunion gig.
Playing to a sold-out home crowd audience, The Fratellis had returned, armed with new energy, haircuts, and plenty of that Costello Music.
Taking to the stage after a com-mendable warm up by Raymond Meade, the Frats wasted little time in immediately appeasing some of the crowd’s raucous appetite with big hitters ‘Henrietta’ and ‘Creepin Up the Backstairs’.
They then proceeded to move into a second album track, ‘My Friend John’, which kept up the fast-paced
flow of crowd favourites that was to continue throughout the set.
The rest of the evening pummeled on in much the same fashion, a splen-did intertwined blend of first and second album, showing sides of blues, sixties pop and good old fashioned indie rock.
The trio on stage spoke very little, but were clearly enjoying giving their fans what they wanted, keeping up a ferocious intensity that the crowd jumped at and screamed for with a passion that can only be aroused by a quality stage presence.
A rare verbal interaction with the crowd from front man Jon Fratelli saw him promising to play ‘This Old Ghost Town’ a whole ten percent better for his home audience, apologising for not having saved the track exclusively for them.
To be fair, they didn’t seem to mind all too much, and accepted his offer with roars of approval that were only encouraged by the arrival of ‘Cuntry Boys and City Girls’, ‘Ole Black ‘n’ Blue Eyes’ and ‘Baby Fratelli’.
The cry of ‘ONE MORE TUNE’ that immediately followed The Fratellis off stage is rarely so apt at a gig, and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind as to what one song was in such demand.
However, the audience was to find themselves presently surprised at an extended encore that included no less than five tracks.
‘Chelsea Dagger’, of course, pro-vided the frenzied crowd highlight, but was penultimate to an impressive performance of ‘A Heady Tale’, which served to shrug off accusations of being a one-track band.
The Fratellis showed their ability to please a crowd with any of their songs and, with the exception of a few ‘Mistress Mabel’ fans feeling hard done by, they did so in classic Costello style.
Harris Brine Assistant music editor
There’s something in the water down in Brighton. For the last 12 years, the small seaside town has been the home of Fat Cat Records, the shrewd independent record label that has, with an unrivalled eye, hand-picked fresh Scottish talent with resound-ing success.
Already boasting Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad and We Were Prom-ised Jetpacks as proud alumni, the label’s water-keen scouts sought out the signa-ture of Glasgow’s frenetic three-piece PAWS earlier in the year, and expectations remained high on the hyperactive trio to deliver.
So after endless gigs in dingy back-street bars, a flurry of festivals, a fistful of cassettes, the Misled Youth EP and while in the middle of a European tour supporting Japandroids, PAWS were finally ready to showcase the thirteen tracks that make up debut album Cokefloat! in the clinical white of the city’s Centre For Contemporary Arts (CCA).
The venue choice itself may have been a surprising decision for the band’s dirt-stained plain-speaking punk, or “Haribo-thrash” as drummer Josh Swinney sar-donically coined it last year, and perhaps was most revealing in the failure to deliver promised free Coke floats on the door (a genuine plan scuppered by the CCA’s man-agement due to ‘Health and Safety’ precau-tions), but it turned out to be a perfectly-sized venue to contain the ensuing mayhem.
It appeared there was also something in the water up here in the CCA, as within a few songs, the audience was already stir-ring into restlessness. The heartfelt lyrics of ‘Catherine 1956’ and ‘Bloodline’, both written about lead singer Philip Taylor’s late mum, were each dedicated clear space among ‘Homecoming’, ‘Kitten’ and the frantic ‘Miss American Bookworm’.
By the time PAWS had rolled out ‘Tulip’, everything had descended into utter madness. Taylor could only throw off a wide grin, as it appeared as if Glasgow had only now caught wind of the London riots, except hoodies had been replaced with checkered-shirted yobs yielding freshly-pressed copies of The Skinny as batons. Even the photographer eventually succumbed to the fracas, relinquishing his duties to launch himself furiously on top of the heaving mass.
As favourites ‘Lekker’, ‘Booger’ and new single ‘Sore Tummy’ put the brakes on Cokefloat!’s tumultuous sold-out launch, Fat Cat’s discerning decision to gamble on the band was finally fully understood. Amid the frenetic fuzzy static, PAWS made it very clear that although their songs may be short, they’ll be around for a long time.
Old favourites distinguish The Fratellis’ Glasgow reunion gigWelcoming crowd await the band on their triumphant return to their hometown
Newton Faulkner delights audience on Glasgow returnExcepting some minor slip-ups, Faulkner proves an uplifting experience
Phoebe Inglis-Holmes Staff writer
On Wednesday 6 October, the O2 ABC Glasgow was graced by the trademark ginger dreads, beard-but-no-tache and soulful voice of Newton Faulkner.
Newton is touring his latest album, and started the tour in Scotland. “I think gigs get better the further you are from London…and we’re pretty far from London!” he laughed.
Despite the album, which was released last July, being titled Write It On Your Skin, Newton does not have any tattoos.
“I do really enjoy the stuff people attach to it, though. Some people think tattoos, some people think phone numbers, some people think cheating on exams.
“It’s really brilliant the amount of ideas that come out of one phrase”.
Newton started the show with get-up-and-dance ‘Pulling Teeth’, the first track on the new album. This was soon
followed by ‘People Should Smile More’, with an amusing accompanying story; the song was written after he offered assist-ance to an elderly lady with lots of heavy bags, who assumed he was going to mug her, and hit him across the face with said bag. (“She definitely needed to smile more!”)
‘Against the Grain’ came next, which Newton revealed is the most personal song to him.
“On that recording I actually crumbled. I think you hear a little wobble and I think I had to stop recording after that”.
A treat for Maroon 5 fans followed this, as Newton covered ‘Payphone’, a song he put his own spin on after his Radio 1 Live Lounge earlier in the year. His much sim-plified and slowed down rendition made the lyrics appear a lot more heartfelt than the original – something Newton has a penchant for doing, as we heard with more covers throughout the gig, including a surprise cover of Stevie Wonder’s iconic
‘Superstitious’ and mixing his own single ‘Clouds’ with Rudimental’s current chart hit ‘Feel the Love’.
Newton joked to the crowd after his
performance of ‘Payphone’ that he was pleased he did not mess up the words, as he did during his live lounge appearance.
However, he spoke too soon as halfway through his next song, ‘This Town’, he abruptly stopped playing and apologised profusely as he had forgotten his words.
Luckily, the crowd responded posi-tively with supportive laughter and shouts of encouragement.
Despite this little letdown, the audi-ence were quickly besotted again as the old favourite ‘I Need Something’ was heartily sung along to, and ‘Soon’ was brilliantly received with continual foot-stomping, clapping along and cheering
due to the unbelievably uplifting feel-good lyrics.
Usually a one-man band, we were also treated to a collaboration with gui-tarist Ryan Keen, playing a duet they had written together.
Newton ended with a power track guaranteed to get the crowd going; ‘Write It On Your Skin’. During this final song, Newton split the crowd into three to sing the bridge – “I can’t stay around here/I can only leave” – in rounds.
After such a happy, simple, feel-good gig , Glasgow will be disappointed that he
‘can’t stay around here’, and will be asking – when will Newton be back?
Dog Is Dead are alive and kickingNottingham band shifts away from EP indie-
pop roots in new album
Bryan Duncan Staff writer
Last time The Journal spoke to Not-tingham’s Dog Is Dead, it was at King Tut’s before the summer. Olympic fever was a glint in everyone’s eye, and Fred Perry was still the last British tennis player to win a Grand Slam.
Frontman Rob Milton may have not won the 10000m over the summer, but this band has certainly been busy playing a variety of festivals. They’re about to reach that elusive hurdle – the release of their debut album All Our Favourite Stories in October.
“I think having an album ready to come out makes everything a bit more real and heightens everything that’s already existed with the band by quite a long way, ‘cause we’ve been in a band ever since we were in school” says Milton.
Milton has described the album as a “bi-polar record” but it’s not exactly part house music, part krautrock. On a few listens you can hear darker ele-ments protruding from the band’s mate-rial. Summery indie-pop is the tag that fails to elude the band’s previous EPs, but on songs like ‘Get Low’ and ‘Two Devils’ there is something more sinister.
Meanwhile ‘River Jordan’ and ‘Any Movement’ expands their sound with hints of synth and electronic drums. Milton hopes to surprise fans: “I’d like to shock people, and make people think twice about what Dog Is Dead are –we never want to be a linear band.”
When Dog Is Dead released ‘Get Low’ for streaming, Milton was pleased with the reaction: “I was like ‘wow, OK, let’s see how people react to this’, especially as lot of people associate us with hot fuzzy weather and things. People really loved it. We’re taking them on a journey which is great.”
Milton hasn’t turned into Ian Curtis however – songs such as ‘Talk Through The Night’ and ‘Hands Down’ are solid pop songs, which attracts a wide fanbase. As the album title suggests, lyrically it’s about growing up and experiencing the usual stuff along the way:
“For our first record, growing up is a big thing, and you can’t spend your whole life writing about growing up. But quite naturally it tells its own story because there’s a lot about the beliefs of new love and the bollocks that happens when that all ends and things like that.”
You’d need the DeLorean time machine with a functioning flux capacitor to predict what this band will encounter in the coming years, but Milton seems to enjoy the prospects of continuing: “We’re all best friends you see, we go around the country and play shows and have a really great time, so there’s always something to talk about, getting into shenanigans.”
On the subject of shenanigans, Milton is looking forward to cheap White Rus-sians at Nice ‘n’ Sleazy’s via their return to King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut this October: “I hardly go to casinos in my life, apart from Glasgow where I always win 30 quid.” laughs Milton. Perhaps their sojourns in Sauchiehall Street could provide material for the follow-up ‘Whatever Happens in Glasgow, Stays in Glasgow’.
Glasgow-based folk band launch debut album at the National Piping Centre
Rachael McHard Staff writer
There was an air of quiet excitement enveloping the perfect setting of the Glasgow’s National Piping Centre on the evening of 24 September as Barluath prepared to launch their debut album Source.
It is the latest in a line of fantas-tic achievements in an exciting year for the Glasgow-based band having travelled to the USA to perform at the British Embassy and also being crowned winners of the Danny Kyle Open Stage Award 2012 at Celtic Connections.
The young band – comprising of six members, five of whom study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – has all of the traditional elements of a Scottish folk band with bagpipe, guitar, keyboard, fiddle and whistle players together with a lead vocalist who can sing at such a pace she would give Tinie Tempah a run for his money.
Mhairi Marwick and Friends warmed up the crowd with an array of original
pieces including an exceptional musical tribute to Rabbie Burns.
Barluath took to the stage with ease and confidence, unfazed by the full auditorium. Despite there being many a national dress wearer in the audience, the band didn’t opt for tartan or kilts and instead were stylishly dressed, giving tra-ditional a more modern twist.
They began their set with a Gaelic song about ‘Cabbage’. The sheer speed of the song was impressive in itself but how clear and sharp both the vocals and the instrumentals remained despite this was even more so.
The rousing opening song was fol-lowed by a haunting Gaelic song, ‘Lamb in a Greenhouse’. Playing both songs back-to-back instantly showed the diver-sity of Barluath, as they adapted from an uplifting track to something much more serious.
Despite a lack of understanding of the lyrics, the emotion on lead vocalist Ainsley Hamill’s face combined with the complimenting elements from the rest of the band left the audience enraptured by this moving song.
Both Scots songs and American folk songs followed as Barluath continued to impress their fans by not merely just playing but performing for them as they built up to what I would consider the show stopping number.
Hamill wrote the tune for the Gaelic song which could only be described as breath-taking. Based on an ancient hymn to wish good prayers for travellers, the lyrics told the story of a pilgrim about to embark on a journey from which he never returns with the poignant lyric translating as ‘tell ye come back again’.
The cathartic keyboard playing was like light raindrops, the pace thoughtful and calming.
Again with complete effortlessness, the band adapted once more to upbeat, toe-tapping tracks before leaving the audience on a high, and high on their feet, with Fox Hunter.
If I had any criticisms of this won-derful evening that left me feeling brim-ming with national pride it would be the lack of dance floor, as Barluath’s uplifting album tracks deserve much more than a clap of the hands and a tap of the foot.
Harris Brine Assistant music editor
Travelling involves a whole rucksack of emotions. Whether it’s a parent-funded excursion to the far-flung reaches of the Peruvian jungle, a sun-kissed hurtle down America’s Route 66 or a European hitch-hiking escapade involving more recklessness than holes in your shoes, one thing is guaranteed; the journey can throw up
bleak feelings of yearning and despair just as quickly as it can elation and wonder.
People, Places, Maps’ lead singer Ryan McGlone knows this all too well. On ‘Hotel Room’ he burns, “I can’t see the sky and the city/It’s just brick and windows and glass and stairs/I’m a little claustrophobic/Now I’m home-sick for your summer hair/So I try writing a postcard and I’ll fill the gaps with my frenetic thoughts/ I walked
down Seventh Avenue and all I wanna do is bring you here”.
Such sentiments are in fact meta-phorical of this band’s own transition since their inception over two years ago. Their debut album The Distance Tricked Us embraced themes of sorrow, yearning and indignation just as natu-rally as it did hope and optimism, and McGlone’s lyrics - elegiac and poetic – were softly buried within the haunting alternating lines of ‘Sarah’s Song’ and
emphatic melody of ‘Plans’.While the album was launched at
a sold-out Edinburgh show and was highly commended on its release, the band were left despondent when they missed out on T-Break this April while their contemporaries, such as Father-son, pushed ahead.
However, only a few months later the Dunfermline sextet were hand-picked to open the Main Stage at Rock-ness and have powered on to share bills
with Bwani Junction, Fatherson and Frightened Rabbit.
Although for some of our readers, People, Places, Maps will be far from new, it appears it’s only now that the power of The Distance Tricked Us is catching up with the band. Now a second album is required to see just how far they have travelled. One thing is for sure; The Journal will be sprawled out in the backseat with a sleeping bag and a smile the full way.
Introducing... People, Places, MapsTwo years on from their debut album, the Dunfermline sextet finally appear to be gathering momentum
Young, lively and entertaining: Barluath rede� ne folk
MUSIC
MUSIC
MUSIC
Andrew Dobbie-Madebrave
A&E // 19@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Laurie Goodman Arts & Entertainment editor
Cashmere doesn’t exactly ring the most liberal of bells: Think tourists mulling over musty scarves on the Royal Mile at Edinburgh Woollen Mill. Think Monarch of the Glen. Think money - and lots of it.
Now, a small but mighty line of accessories arrives from knitwear designer Rosie Sugden that sub-verts conceptions about the role of luxury materials: perhaps they aren’t always merely hedonistic. Perhaps they are not only ‘sustain-able investments’, but also relevant to a younger audience.
Longevity is on the agenda here, Sugden explains:
“I don’t believe in the ‘throw away’ clothing
mentality. I think investing in a well designed, good
quality piece that lasts much
longer is a much better
i n v e s t -ment, and if you look
after cash-mere prop-
erly it will last you a lifetime.”Sugden launched her own label
in 2011, and despite being based in the small town of Melrose her line is making waves outside the borders. As well as being featured in Vogue’s October issue last month, Sugden’s collection is now being sold in Matches and Liberty’s of London, as well as Henri Bendel in New York.
Consisting of plush knee-highs, Norwegian mittens and bobble hats, Sugden gives the material a refreshing face in a sorbet of fluoro orange and pink. The tactile nature of the collection is remarkable, and you can’t help but want to touch these products: put a Rosie Sugden mitten to your face and you will be transported to a world of marshmal-lows and duck down.
The autumn/winter 2012 col-lection is not only innovative in its use of colour, but also in form. One of the line’s consistent best sellers is the knitted turban, available in a selection of colours each season. Sugden commented on their popu-larity: “Last Christmas we sold out and this year they have really taken off - I can’t make enough of them!”
Sugden is broad when discussing her inspiration sources, however
she does cite p a i n t - ers Denis Bowen and Cy Twombly as integral to devel-oping her aesthetic. Interest in Twombly is particularly revealing: not only did he have an enduring concern with the surrounding land-scape, but also with use of natural materials.
With that said Sugden is some-what of a cashmere connoisseur. Whilst all products are made from 2-ply woolen spun Scottish yarn, the original fibre is sourced from the upper grasslands of Alashan in Inner Mongolia. This comes from
a lifetime of expo-sure to the seman-tics of the textile industry.
“My Father in particular has always worked in textiles and when I was little he used to pick me up from school and take me round the factory with him. I loved the smell of the dye house, the noise in the weaving shed
and seeing all the raw fibre going through the processes and coming out the end as a beautiful woven rug, or knitted jumper.” Heritage is clearly of great concern to the designer - one of her other best sellers being the tartan intarsia beanie and scarf.
Prices are potentially disturbing to the standard student client: £95 for a bobble hat, £50 for mittens, and so on. However, these are quality, classic products that will outlast the high-end price tag and Sugden’s line brings something fresh to the formerly fusty market of cashmere.
Rosie SugdenCashmere gets revamped in the A/W 2012
collection from knitwear designer Rosie Sugden
Longevity is on the agenda here, Sugden explains:
“I don’t believe in the ‘throw away’ clothing
mentality. I think investing in a well designed, good
quality piece that lasts much
longer is a much better
i n v e s t -ment, and if you look
after cash-mere prop-
FASHION » DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT
line is making waves outside the line is making waves outside the borders. As well as being featured in
’s October issue last month, Sugden’s collection is now being sold in Matches and Liberty’s of London, as well as Henri Bendel
Consisting of plush knee-highs, Norwegian mittens and bobble hats, Sugden gives the material a refreshing face in a sorbet of fluoro orange and pink. The tactile nature of the collection is remarkable, and you can’t help but want to touch these products: put a Rosie Sugden she does cite
line is making waves outside the borders. As well as being featured in
’s October issue last month, Sugden’s collection is now being sold in Matches and Liberty’s of London, as well as Henri Bendel
Consisting of plush knee-highs, Norwegian mittens and bobble hats, Sugden gives the
you can’t help but want to touch a lifetime of expo-sure to the seman-tics of the textile
“My Father in particular has always worked in textiles and when I was little he used to pick me up from school and take me round the factory with him. I loved the smell of the dye house, the noise in the weaving shed the weaving shed
tics of the textile
I was little he used to pick me up from school and take me round the factory with him. I loved the smell of the dye house, the noise in the weaving shed
ON JOURNAL-ONLINE.CO.UK »
National Poetry Day 2012Gaelic poet Angus Campbell reveals his creative process in National Poetry Day event at the Scottish Poetry Library
BarbaraChristian Petzold’s � lm is a tense, subtle look at life in the oppressive environs of communist East Germany
Books agenda by John Hewitt Jones
MICHAEL SANDELWHAT MONEY CAN’T BUY(Allen Lane, £20 )
Every year hundreds of thousands of babies are born to drug-addicted mothers, and a charity in North Caro-lina has found what it thinks is a solu-tion: offer drug-addicted women $300 cash if they undergo sterilisation. Since the instigation of the programme in 1997, more than three thousand women have taken up this offer.
This is just one example Sandel gives of a social problem that has been solved by market economics, going
on to illustrate that there are very few things money can’t buy. A prison cell
‘upgrade’ in California? $82. The serv-ices of an Indian surrogate mother to carry a pregnancy? $6,250. The right to immigrate to the United States? $500,000.
Rather than setting out to cast overt judgement on the market reason-ing that governs our lives, the author leads the reader to the conclusion that we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. The central tenet of Sandel’s argu-ment is that moral debate should be central to the way we evaluate the eco-nomic structure of society. What do we
think of the NHS’s ‘pounds for pounds’ scheme, in which participants were paid up to £425 for losing weight and keeping it off for two years? Is it right that society uses such direct financial incentives to achieve such social goals?
There are segments of the book that are slightly ‘bitty’, and there are moments of moral ambiguity that leave the reader screaming for Sandel to stop sitting on the fence. But at a moment when world economies sit on the brink, and market morality continues to come under scrutiny, this is a very timely book.
This week, two of the best recent texts focusing on our turbulent economy
JOHN LANCHESTERWHOOPS! (Penguin, £9.99 )
What’s a credit derivative? How do you tell the difference between an option and a future? More importantly, why should you care? Aside from explain-ing the financial crisis in layman’s terms, Whoops! achieves something even more momentous; Lanchester makes the reader feel that understanding the heady world of finance is well within the grasp of even the most economically illiterate reader.
Never has a tale of financial ruin and moral bankruptcy been so compellingly told. The author’s skill as a novelist tan-gibly influences the book; Lanchester relates the human story behind financial
collapse. He illustrates the implosion of Iceland’s banks with the tale of Rakel Ste-fánsdóttir; a young Icelandic student stud-ying in the UK, who suddenly finds herself unable to withdraw money from an ATM because the bank has collapsed.
Lanchester examines the structure of the financial industry in a zippy style, sending the reader reeling at every turn with uncompromising figures that are intended to shock (who would have imag-ined that the GDP of the earth nearly doubled between 2000 and 2006?) As a novelist-turned-financial journalist, his eye for character and intrigue makes for eye-watering examples of fiscal irrespon-sibility leaving the reader squirming at the moral lassitude within some financial institutions at the heart of the crash.
20 // SPORT @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal
Wednesday 10 October 2012
Orla O’Muiri
Two counties per year get to boast winning the ultimate title in Irish sport. They secure that privilege for one year only, then they must start from the bottom once again, everyone an equal. Neighbouring counties pitted against neighbouring counties. All must take to Croke Park to fight it out on the playing field for that revered crowning of All Ireland Champions.
Last week, Galway stepped forward to attempt to tame the Cats in a glori-ous All Ireland Hurling Final. In front of 82,274 supporters, it was Kilkenny who returned home with the McCarthy Cup to place once again upon their mantel-piece where it has sat seven times since 2000. Incredibly, this is their 34th All
Ireland title. The final score read Kil-kenny 3-22 to Galway’s 3-11.
Galway had their head in the game from the early stages, leading 2-2 to 0-5 at one stage. But the ever capable Kilkenny machine retaliated quickly. Donnellan got a straight red card for a dirty pull in the 49th minute and the tragedy for the Galway supporters transpired from there. A nice nine points from the legen-dary Henry Shefflin as well as a goal and three points from Walter Walsh in his championship debut meant that with 20 minutes left, Galway were goners.
In the All Ireland Senior Champi-onship Football final, Donegal finally laid their hands on the Sam Maguire Cup after a twenty year fast, defeating James Horan’s Mayo squad. Donegal obtained three scores in the opening
eleven minutes with a goal-a-piece by Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden. Donegal played a superbly smart game with wing-back Anthony Johnson at the core of it. Donegal’s manager McGuiness is praised for creating a new style of play that critics are saying will be difficult for other teams to replicate.
As for the ladies, Wexford triumphed over Cork in the All Ireland Senior Camogie Championship. They made it three in a row, with the score card reading Wexford 3-13, Cork 3-6.
In typical Irish fashion, with the season barely over it is straight back to the grind and time to plan for the 2013 season. Thirty-three teams will compete for the Sam Maguire Cup, while fifteen line up in the race for the Liam McCarthy.
Robson’s top 50 hope stuttersJapan Open beckons for British rising star
Alex Neal
Following a successful summer in which the 18-year-old tennis star won a silver medal in the Olympics, the autumn has not started in such a positive light for Laura Robson.
After crashing out of the China Open, her hopes of making the list of the top 50 players in the world have suffered a major setback.
The young Brit had been on a big push to break into the top 50, with vic-tories against Kim Clijsters (former world number one) and Li Na (eighth in the world) at the US Open last month, and Robson had been hoping to go from strength to strength.
Robson’s push to join the elite 50 has stumbled though, but the young-ster is still quite inexperienced com-pared to those surrounding her in the rankings tables. Much of her compe-tition has been playing tennis for at least two years longer, so there is no need to get disheartened just yet. At the same point in her career, former
British number one Elena Baltacha was ranked 248th in the world and achieved a career high of 49th.
Robson will be hoping to bounce straight back from her early exit in the China Open at one of the upcom-ing events, such as the HP Open in Japan or the tournament in Linz, which both commence on Monday 8 October. Beyond that there are a maximum of three tournaments left for Laura to earn her top 50 spot.
In the China open Robson lost in straight sets (7-5, 6-3) to Lourdes Domínguez Lino, who was ranked 67th in the world prior to the Robson match. This dropped Robson down to 60th in the world from her previous position of 57th.
The fourth round finish she achieved in the 2012 US Open was the furthest any British female had gone in a major tournament since Sam Smith at Wimbledon ’98. A developing young star, her career will undoubtedly be on the rise as she gains experience.
TENNIS
mirsasha
GOLF
Europe late show putts US in shadePoulter and team turn defeat into victory
Ollie Bunting
Europe made the impossible possi-ble. Not only did Europe retain the Ryder Cup last week from an improbable posi-tion, they actually went on to win it. In doing so they have mirrored the result that the Americans gained back in 1999 when they too came back from 6-10 down on the final day to win 14.5 to 13.5. It was quite an unbelievable turnaround by any stretch of the imagination.
The history of this biennial competi-tion is a peculiar one. Since the tourna-ment began in 1927 the United States have won a clear majority of the meet-ings with 25 wins to Europe’s compara-tively small nine. However, since the change in format of the competition in 1979 Europe have won nine to the US’ seven. Even more fascinating is that the US has only won twice since 1995 and hasn’t won away from home since 1993.
The name that still remains on the lips of golf fanatics all around Europe is Ian Poulter, who was undoubtedly Europe’s saviour at Medinah. What Chris Gayle brings to T20 cricket, Ian Poulter brings to match play golf. His overall Ryder Cup record speaks for itself; 12 wins and only three losses which gives him an 80 per cent point percentage. That incredibly places him seventh on the all-time list of highest points-won-to-games-played ratio. Of course, it goes without saying that Poulter was the only European to go unbeaten during the three days in the US, winning all four of the matches he played in. “Match play, I love the fight of it,” Poulter has said. “You get to stare your opponent straight in the face and sometimes that’s what you need to do.”
It is this sort of bullish attitude, com-bined with a stubborn refusal to lie down and be beaten, that got Europe over the finishing line on Sunday evening.
Poulter has always been renowned for his brazenness and confidence. But this weekend’s performance certainly did justice to that attitude, and what is more brought to mind a comment made by Ian a few years ago when asked how good he would be if he played to his potential. The short and sharp reply?: “Just me and Tiger!”
The Ryder Cup time and time again throws up shocks and surprises and never fails to disappoint the ever expect-ant public. The fact that none of the final four players that remained out on the course on Sunday evening (Kaymer, Stricker, Woods and Molinari) had won a point between them during the compe-tition did justice to this view and made for an extremely entertaining contest. As German Martin Kaymer sank a five-foot putt on the 18th to retain the Ryder Cup he epitomised the phrase ‘form is tem-porary, class is permanent’.
Keith Allison
GAELIC GAMES
Croke Park finds its heroes
LEAGUE TABLES
FOOTBALL
HOCKEY
BUCS Mars Women’s Scottish 1A
BUCS Hockey Men’s Scottish 1A
P W D L F A GD Pts
Abertay 1st 1 1 0 0 6 2 4 3
Edinburgh 1st 1 1 0 0 4 2 2 3
Glasgow 1st 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 3
Robert Gordon 1st 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0
Aberdeen 1st 2 0 0 2 4 10 -6 0
P W D L F A GD Pts
Edinburgh 1st 1 1 0 0 3 2 1 3
Edinburgh 2nd 2 1 0 1 7 6 1 3
Glasgow 1st 1 0 1 0 3 3 0 1
Heriot Watt 1st 2 0 1 1 5 8 -2 1
Dundee 1st 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FOOTBALLBUCS Mars Men’s Scottish 1A
P W D L F A GD Pts
Aberdeen 1st 2 2 0 0 3 1 2 6
Stirling 2nd 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 3
Heriot Watt 1st 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3
Edinburgh 1st 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0
Glasgow 1st 2 0 0 2 2 5 -3 0
Full standings available at:www.bucs.org.uk
HOCKEYBUCS Hockey Women’s Scottish 1A
P W D L F A GD Pts
Edinburgh 2nd 1 1 0 0 4 1 3 3
Edinburgh 1st 1 1 0 0 4 2 2 3
Glasgow 1st 1 1 0 0 3 2 1 3
Aberdeen 1st 1 0 0 1 2 4 -2 0
St Andrews 1st 2 0 0 2 3 7 -4 0
John B. Glynn
SPORT// 21@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Ruth Jeffery Sport editor
Fancy following in the footsteps of Fergie or Mourinho? The new FIFA 13 game has every fan trying their hand at steering a team towards league success, but the real world of managers is having a most turbulent week.
Not that the lives of coaches are always plain sailing; these past few days have seen some ups and downs hit Europe’s top managers. However realistic the computer game is, it is unlikely that you would find yourself giving away national secrets on a Tube train or having your touchline ban for match-fixing significantly reduced. Some virtual parallels with the real world might however relate to Neil Lennon’s victorious week in the Cham-pions League or Mancini’s despair on the same platform.
The bubble of Italian football has long been an odd mix of corruption, fantastic football and great stories. This week all three were combined in the fortunes of Juventus manager Antonio Conte when his ten-month touchline ban was reduced to four. He will be back in the dugout and dressing room by early December, although fans will have to concede that the team has been performing brilliantly without him. Now completely unbeaten in Serie A for 45 matches - a run which includes the entire 2011/12 season - the Biancon-eri have proved that their energy and hunger for victory didn’t end with their title win last season.
Conte, a long standing Juventus hero, was found guilty of failing to report match fixing in the 2010/2011 season, leading him to be confined to the stands. The Italian Olympic Com-mittee Tribunal has this week reduced his ban, putting him firmly back in the
Juve driving seat. Joint top of the table and going well in Europe, the story of Italy’s most successful club is still in the ascent.
Another European manager with a week to smile about is the feared-for coach of Barcelona, Tito Vilanova. Stepping into the shoes of the adored Pep Guardiola was never going to be an easy task, but the former second in command has proven that he is worthy of the mantle.
He subscribes to the same philoso-phy as Pep and consistency has been the key to a smooth transition between managers, with Barca winning all of their matches to date this season. Vilanova has kept the 4-3-3 formation based on possession and passing, but has introduced a directness to play which has seen Fabregas, amongst others, increase his mark on the score-sheet. Barcelona’s comprehensive win against Benfica in midweek was a display of confidence and seemed to prove that Vilanova has the backing of fans and players alike.
In two weeks’ time Vilanova will have the chance to shake hands with another manager whose week in Europe has been a resoundingly suc-cessful one. Neil Lennon and Tito both have the chance to walk away from the Celtic - Barcelona clash victorious, though one would admit that the odds are in favour of the latter.
Despite upcoming challenges against one of the greatest clubs in the world, Lennon can be satisfied this week that he has proven himself at Europe’s top table. Claiming their first ever away win in the Champions League group stages against Spartak Moscow, Celtic have shown that their manager does indeed have the bottle to face up to the big European teams.
Playing ‘Football Manager’, one can only hope to reach heights such as these. Possibly starting by coaching
Accrington Stanley and dreaming of meeting Barcelona or Real Madrid in a cup final, one’s virtual ambitions of glory get more fantastically ridiculous the more the game rewards hard work.
But pitfalls do befall those who reach said heights and the course of managing at the top level did never run smooth. The urge to talk about your team’s glories or shortcomings is evident in managers of every calibre and England’s cream of the crop was found apologising this week after speaking out of turn on a tube. Roy Hodgson, prolific owl lookalike and all round amiable guy reportedly told fellow train passengers that it is the “end of the line” for Rio Ferdinand’s international career. Having left Rio out of the squad for the foreseeable future, Hodgson held a press confer-ence on Thursday to say that he will be travelling in silence from now on.
Another manager with a less than enviable situation is one who would for-merly have been a sort of icon. Mancini, coach of the defending Premier League champions and with one of the most tal-ented squads in Europe, looked unset-tled this week. Manchester City could have a case for the canonisation of goal-keeper Joe Hart as he single-handedly kept their Champions League dreams alive. A dreary and disorganised City looked shambolic next to energised Borussia Dortmund. Barely scraping a draw with a 90th minute penalty, the Mancunians are third in Group D and must win all of their remaining games.
While computer games are becom-ing more realistic and closer to real life, the turbulent world of the football manager has enough twists and turns to foil any attempt at virtual replication. And the more tempestuous the week in football, the more entertaining it is for the fans. Maybe it’s for the best if the fortunes of Europe’s coaches remain as unpredictably amusing as ever.
Video games remain a pale imitation Not even your 2017 Champions League-winning Montrose side can compete with reality
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The Rocket returns?After a difficult summer, The Journal asks if Ronnie O’Sullivan can reaffirm his commitment to snooker
Pietersen in England comeback
Kevin Pietersen has been confirmed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to have agreed a new contract. Pie-tersen has been out of interna-tional cricket since being caught texting provocative comments about his teammates to South African players. The ECB has confirmed that he will have to undergo a ‘reintegration pro-gramme’ which will be overseen by team director Andy Flower. When Pietersen is deemed ready to rejoin the team, he will sign a contract running until Septem-ber 2013. The cricketer is said to be hopeful but not certain as to whether he will be travelling to India with the rest of the England players at the end of this month.
Khan brother signed
Amir Khan has announced that his new promotion company, called Super Fight Promotions, has his younger brother as its first signing. Haroon Khan has had a successful amateur career to date, one which was capped at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games with a bronze medal in the flyweight division. Promoter Dennis Hobson will be Amir’s partner in the new company and an announcement at the same time confirmed that Virgil Hunter will be his new trainer. The former IBF and WBA light-welterweight champion will fight Carlos Molina in December.
Nadal to prove fitness
Rafael Nadal has entered into the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in December in a bid to prove his fitness ahead of January’s Australian Open. A knee injury has kept him from playing since June, where he shockingly exited Wimbledon at the hands of Lukas Rosol. The world number four had previ-ously said he might not be fit in time for the Melbourne compe-tition, but has entered his name into the Abu Dhabi exhibition event for 27-29 December.
ajlisss
22 // SPORT @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal
Wednesday 10 October 2012
Not so ‘American’ football?It’s practically a state religion the US, but now American football’s popularity seems to be on the rise in the UK - not least at the University of Glasgow. The Journal finds out more
Michael Diamond Staff writer
In recent years, we have seen European football make the journey across the Atlantic Ocean and develop into a multi-million dollar, widely-fol-lowed sport despite the vast array of traditional American athletics which the natives cherish so dearly.
However, would it be possible for American football to make the journey east and become a popular sport in the UK and Europe?
This week, I spoke to the quarter-back for the Glasgow University Tigers, Ewan Beesley, about American football and its development in the UK.
Fourth year sociology student Ewan was a very keen ‘soccer’ player but decided to try his hand at American football when he started his studies at The University of Glasgow. At univer-sity level, Ewan is adamant that Ameri-can football is a sport on the rise.
“When I first came to university, I knew very little about the popularity of American football within Britain. It has really emerged within the last few years with over 70 teams now compet-ing within the UK.”
This development can be seen by those wishing to take up the sport and represent the Tigers.
“As far as numbers are concerned,
we had 54 people turn up to training last night and the squad will consist of around 50-60 players.”
In addition, the Tigers’ quarterback affirmed that the university team has an international dimension and stated that it benefited the squad.
“The Tigers boasts a number of dif-ferent nationalities on our roster. We have Scottish, English, Finnish, Welsh, Irish, Canadian, American, Spanish and French players. We are lucky that the sport appeals to many of the foreign students.”
Ewan is delighted with the progress American football has made at a uni-versity level, and believes the sport is on the rise at an even higher level.
“I think we can see the develop-ment of American football within Britain. Some examples of this are NFL games being brought over to Britain and Ireland with mass crowds attend-ing. However, whether enough is being done at the grassroots level is another matter.”
In Ewan’s opinion, there is an improvement for those wishing to take up the sport outside of the university setting.
“I know there is a senior Tigers team for those who have graduated, and a youth team is about to be set up by one of our own coaches, Charlie Brown.”
With all of this in mind, the future would appear to be bright for Ameri-can football in the UK. However, where do we stand in comparison to the USA? Ewan feels that there is still a long way to go, considering the distinct differ-ence in the facilities in the UK com-pared to colleges in the USA.
“We must also admit that the quality is nowhere near the same. However, with limited funding and little to no professional recruitment, I think we do a great job with what we have. Hope-fully, funding and backing of American football within Britain will continue to improve over the next few years.”
This prompted me to speak to an old friend, Clifford Cockman, student manager of the Grand Valley State University American football team in Michigan, USA.
Grand Valley play in the NCAA Division 2 and boast an impressive six National Championship Final appear-ances since 2001, having came home with the trophy on four of those occa-sions. Such success encourages 150 students per year to tryout for the team with roughly 115 making the cut for the forthcoming season.
As far as facilities are concerned, Clifford informed me that sadly, we are a long way off the mark.
“We have two full-size grass prac-tice fields, an indoor artificial turf field
and a brand new artificial turf playing field just for football. We also have our own weight room which is set to be renovated this year by an ex-Grand Valley footballer, who currently plays for the Dallas Cowboys.”
With the Tigers playing at Garscube Sports Complex in front of around 30 people, I asked Clifford about attend-ances and exposure for the Grand Valley Lakers.
“About an average of 13,000 attend each game. We had 15,500 people at our first home game this season and set our record of 16,500 a few years ago. Our games are also broadcast on the internet and a local TV station.”
Considering all of this, and the fact that Grand Valley currently have four alumni plying their trade in the NFL, is it fair to compare these institutions
at this stage of the sport’s develop-ment? Despite not being at this level, such facilities and levels of play can certainly remain as an aspiration and target for British universities.
Whilst it is important to measure ourselves against the homeland of the sport, it is essential that focus remains on developing American football on our own shores. The growth of the sport in the UK, especially in univer-sities, is something from which British fans can draw great encouragement.
Ewan concluded our conversation optimistically, boldly stating: “The future is definitely bright for Ameri-can football within Britain. With more teams playing every year and more individuals taking an interest in the sport, the game can continue to develop and improve in the future.”
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
Emirates unveiled as sponsor of new Commonwealth Arena
2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Jack McLukie Staff Writer
The recent announcement that the airline Emirates had secured a £5 million deal to secure the naming rights of the main 2014 Commonwealth Games sports complex has received a largely welcome response.
However, is it all to be viewed in a positive light? We look at some of the positives and negatives in what is one of the most important deals in terms of the future of sport in Glasgow.
There are the obvious bonuses to be highlighted: the sponsorship of such a high-profile company can only bring in big money, and the financial gains could inject millions of pounds into the city’s economy.
The arena will be home to the Glasgow Rocks, currently Scotland’s only professional basketball team, and a quality facility under a big name such as
Emirates will surely boost the perform-ance and profile of the players and sport.
Furthermore, with Emirates now flying from Glasgow Airport, the naming rights will heighten the profile of a world-class airline within the city.
Despite all this, there are still draw-backs. With the naming rights handed out to a big company, is the individuality of the arena diminished?
When someone mentions the Emir-ates, people are likely to think of the Emirates Stadium – home of Arsenal Football Club.
That association has already been taken; the Emirates Arena may always be the lesser known of the two, but it will be renamed the Commonwealth Arena during the Games.Will the history that will undoubtedly be made in this arena be left without the same meaning as an individual name?
In an increasingly commercial-ised society, this seems to be becoming the norm. Newcastle United sold the
naming rights to their own stadium, branding the famous St James’ Park as the somewhat less prestigious Sports Direct Arena.
Many fans claimed at the time that this took away some of the history the club had gained by the association with a high street brand.
Will the history of this magnifi-cent sports complex be diminished by the association with all past and future Emirates facilities?
Only time will tell. What is certain is that the 10-year deal, the largest between Glasgow City Council and a commercial partner, will inject much needed finance into the area as well as the sports it promotes.
Whether the financial implications outweigh the individuality of the facility is always going to be debated; however, what is undeniable is that Glasgow is now home to a world class sporting venue, with a world renowned sponsor to match.
Twitter/Glasgow City Council
The Journal looks at what the corporate rebranding will mean for Glasgow’s newest sports complex
SPORT// 23@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalWednesday 10 October 2012
Gareth Llewellyn Sport editor
Strathclyde University are confident of success as the Scottish Student Sport (SSS) Indoor Cricket 6s programme gets under way this month.
The competition will again see three regional qualifying events as teams look to book their places in February’s final at Hutchesons’ Grammar School on Glasgow’s south side as the sport’s popularity rises.
Despite regularly playing indoor matches at Hutchesons’, Strathclyde captain Nick Martin has played down the advantage his side will have.
Speaking to The Journal, Martin said: “In sixes knowing the venue can make a slight difference as you the dimensions of the hall, how the ball plays off the surface and the walls but the advantage is lost pretty quickly as these things are easy to gauge after a few balls.
“We plan to have a couple indoor practice matches within the squad so the team will get back into the indoor swing of things. Apart from that just train as normal.
“I believe our current squad is as strong if not stronger than last season. We’ve had good attendance during our first couple of sessions and if we manage to keep players interested throughout the year then the team will be hard to pick come April.
“We have also secured funding to bring in a coach for the team, which can only have positive effects for the team. The goals for the year will be to build on last year’s successes.
“Indoor, we want to make finals day and if we do, go at least one better then last year.
“The indoor games were impor-tant for us last year. Playing and winning against teams, that were a few leagues above us, brought confi-dence to the team.
“The games also gave players opportunity to play in pressure situ-ation which you do not normally get during the off season.”
The qualifying action gets under way on 20 October at Mary Erskine School Sports Centre as defend-ing champions and pre-tournament favourites Edinburgh University aim for a smooth passage through the East region to another final.
Edinburgh will be bolstered by medical student and batsman Keith Allen and all-round indoor special-ist Andrew Brock, who in June led the national student side to Gilmour Sports Celtic Series Cup victory against Irish Universities at Trinity College, Dublin.
Edinburgh are again favourites to win the tournament, and Martin agrees.
He said: “Edinburgh will always be the team to beat. They have the best set-up in Scottish university cricket and it shows in their results.”
The West region qualifiers, which could also include City of Glasgow College who made their debut last year, will take place at Hutchesons’ on the afternoon of 3 November with the Strathclyde team, again led by Nick Martin, favourites to progress as their success in 2012 extended to Glasgow Taxis Cup victory in May.
Martin said: “Both Glasgow and Caley are supposed to be strong this year so I believe that it is not going to be as easy as last year to get to the finals day.
“However, we have retained a large proportion of our squad from last year and have acquired some
strong players for the team. I think we have a great chance to build on the successes from last year and hopefully progress further.”
The Caledonia region qualifying tournament will be the final qualifier at Robert Gordon University (RGU) on 17 November, a switch from last year’s venue at Bell’s Sport Centre in Perth, with Abertay University, Aberdeen University, Dundee Uni-versity, RGU and St Andrews set to lock horns.
Last year’s surprise package Perth College, who gave Edinburgh a scare on finals day, may also enter if off-the-pitch issues can be resolved in time, while Abertay rejoin the
student cricket competition after a five-and-a-half-year abeyance.
Ten indoor events will be hosted or part-hosted by SSS over the winter season, with the BUCS Northern and Scottish men’s and women’s indoor 6s held north of the border. The BUCS women’s mini-league days will be held at MES Sports Centre on 13 October and 23 February with Edinburgh and St Andrews teams taking part.
The three men’s BUCS qualify-ing events, to be held at the May-field Sports Centre in Dundee on 1 December, 26 January and 23 Febru-ary, lead to a national BUCS finals day at Lord’s indoor school.
Indoor crickets 6s ready at the crease as new season starts
Scotland’s student cricketers prepare for new SSS indoor cricket season, with Strathclyde and Edinburgh both confident of success
CRICKET
IM Stewart Photography
FORMULA 1
Hamilton takes a gamble on the Silver ArrowsThe pantheon of Formula One greats is littered with risk takers and it is one that Lewis Hamilton is desperate to join
Ali Wollaston
The sporting gods love a gambler and few more so than those who watch over the realm of Formula One.
In the moments after genesis the pio-neers, Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio to name but two, gambled with their lives as they pushed the limits of cars with no safety features and no pro-tective equipment. They were rewarded with greatness.
In 1990, Ayrton Senna gambled his world title chances, purposely crashing into Alain Prost going into turn one at Suzuka. He was rewarded with greatness.
In 1996, Michael Schumacher gambled a flourishing career to join a stagnating Ferrari team. He was rewarded with greatness.
In 2013, another champion will be taking a punt, because the pantheon of Formula One greats is littered with risk takers and it is one that Lewis Hamilton is desperate to join.
After prolonged contract discus-sions failed, Hamilton’s 14-year marriage to McLaren will come to an end at the climax of this season and from the begin-
ning of the 2013 season he will begin a new world championship quest with the Silver Arrows of Mercedes. However, ending such a long and seemingly fruitful relationship with one of Formula One’s greatest teams is undoubtedly a risk and one that raises a question: why Mercedes?
For Hamilton fans, the initial statis-tics make for sobering reading. In almost three years competing in the sport, the Silver Arrows have managed just one race win and are some distance away from challenging for a world champion-ship. This record - even Mercedes them-selves would surely concede – will have to improve if they are to satisfy Lewis, a driver aiming to emulate his great hero Ayrton Senna.
However, despite accumulating 16 wins during the same period McLaren achieved the same number of champion-ships – zero. Over two seasons marred by balance and downforce issues Hamilton has watched Sebastian Vettel stack up back-to-back titles and this will only have increased his hunger. In the long term, it is this need to win that has drawn Ham-ilton to Mercedes and under the surface there are reasons for optimism.
Floating somewhat under the radar
prior to Hamilton’s move, a raft of new car and engine changes being introduced to the regulations in 2014 could play massively into Lewis’ hands. This has not gone unnoticed and already pouring huge resources into preparing for these changes is a Mercedes technical staff bubbling over with development talents such as Bob Bell and Aldo Costa, both former technical directors at Renault and Ferrari respectively.
Furthermore, overseeing these preperations is the man who rebuilt Ferrari alongside Michael Schumacher in the 1990s, Ross Brawn. The repeated success Brawn has achieved throughout his career, most recently with Mercedes’ predecessor Brawn GP in 2009, will have appealed to Hamilton’s winning instincts and with plenty of financial backing it is surely only a matter of time until the pairing achieve a winning equation.
And so the argument is laid out to suggest that Hamilton’s big gamble does in fact contain a large element of calcula-tion. However, it is not difficult to under-stand the cynical viewpoint, when the doomsayers suggest that the vaunting and perhaps impatient ambition of Mer-cedes’ new star may yet have sabotaged
his career.Despite Formula One’s tendency to
reward a gambler, the fact remains that Lewis has left behind one of the great institutions of the sport.
The McLaren car is itself powered by a Mercedes engine and as such it is unclear whether the Silver Arrows will have any real advantage in terms of performance over Hamilton’s former employers.
Nevertheless, it is easy to suspect McLaren fans will not be too heartbro-
ken regarding the departure of the some-times controversial Hamilton, given that his replacement has already been signed in the form of Mexican Sergio Perez – possibly the most exciting and dynamic young driver in the sport. McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh perhaps summed up his outfit’s defiant stance most aptly, stating: “I would say to any driver who wanted to win in this sport ‘come and join McLaren and aspire to join McLaren’.”
LAT Photographic/Mercedes GP
SPORT //American football’s Scots touchdown
The Journal talks to some of the sport’s Scottish evangelists 22
We’re still looking for people to join our editorial team for the 2012/13 academic year:
if you’re a student at any of Glasgow’s higher or further education institutions with an
interest in journalism, design or photography, The Journal is the place for you!
The Journal is a fantastic place to gain invaluable experience in journalism. We are Scotland’s largest independent student media organisation, and our all-student editorial sta� produce award-winning citywide student newspapers in both Glasgow and Edinburgh, alongside an ambitious and fast-paced web presence.
We have won awards for print excellence and digital innovation, and our alumni have gone on to work at — among others — The Guardian, The Scotsman, The Financial Times, Channel 4 News and the BBC.
If you’re interested, or for more information, email [email protected].
Hamilton’s gambleF1 golden boy has work to do at Mercedes
LAT Photographic/Mercedes GP
Cricket heads indoorsTeams prepare for SSS winter season
