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The Oppidan PressEdition 2, 16 March 2016

Getting to know:Loose Change

GAP: the decisionto report

Things to unlearn after term one 2 3 4

er design: AMY-JANE HARKESS

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News FeaturesTe Oppidan Press 16 March 2016

Unlearn to

Know More

Barras-Hargan

As the first term of 2016

draws to a close, it is

important to reflect on the

ntless lessons that have been

nt, both inside and outside the

ure halls. Although conversa-

s about transformation haven ever-present around the Rho-

University campus, it is impor-

to consider the exclusionary

itions and teachings that go on

nd closed doors.

oncerns surrounding theusiveness o many o the tradi-s at Rhodes have been discussedears. However, within the first

e days o O-Week this year, SRCvism and ransormation Coun-r Naledi Mashishi posted on thepage about a case o serenade-s singing derogatory songs

ut women. Although one o

the sub-wardens leading the groupapologised, this highlights a fissurein the leadership programmesand training workshops at RhodesUniversity.

 Troughout O-Week, spaces ordiscussion were open to first-yearstudents in many orms. Daily talks

organised by the university delved,among others, into topics such asfire saety and community engage-ment. In addition, the Unzip YourKnowledge production, presented

by Ubom!, provided a crash courseo what to expect rom university.From the loss o a DP to the darkside o the Grahamstown nightlie,the production lef no questionunanswered and encouraged apost-production discussion betweencast members and the audience toensure this. New this year were theLived Experiences talks - organisedby Mashishi hersel - where topics

such as white privilege and sexualitywere raised.

 Although these talks aim to armstudents with the skills and vocabu-lary to successully negotiate theirfirst year o university, the meetingsorganised within residences can

easily undo this learning. One othe most important conversationsor first-years is about sae sex atuniversity.

It is generally assumed that ar-riving students are equipped withsufficient knowledge o sae sex, butsome people may require a ormalspace or these discussions. Whenpoorly trained comm members arereluctant to engage with their peers

and make unconstructive commentsin the ace o questions, it can oster

a sense o conusion surroundingsae sex. Tere have been count-less incidents o unproessionalismduring these conversations. In oneemale residence, first-year students

were told, “just don’t be the campusmattress”. In male residences, theocus can ofen veer rom beingsexual health-oriented to generaletiquette, such as keeping noiselevels down.

 In recent years, some emale resi-dences have been given sae sex talksby representatives o the Health CareCentre. Trough asking a proes-sional to step into any residence sex

talk, comm members are not underthe pressure o creating a compre-

hensive, inormative space, whilealso providing all the acts. Beingguided by a trained proessionalalso guarantees a ocus on sexualhealth across all sexualities, which

is imperative during these residencediscussions.

 While much has been learnt inthe past six weeks, it is always im-portant to keep in mind the biggerpicture at university and in SouthArica. It is one o transormationand progression that requires con-tinuous sel-reflection and criticismo the systems that have been set inplace or too long.

 The unaltered traditions such as ‘seal clubbing’ that are practiced by students are questioned in the dawn of our

transformation era. PHOTO: ROBYN BARNES

“What do you want to see change this year?”hryn Cleary

ctober last year, the Fees Must Fall student movement took the country

orm. As such, Rhodes University students have become immersed in

discourse surrounding transformation and student activ ism. With issues

lving around topics of politics, race, and decolonisation, students are con-

tly thinking about a way forward. With the year 2016 just beginning, Te

idan Press asked students what they want to see change this year.

Mlondiwethu Dubazane, 3rd year

student,

“I’d like to see white people stop usingtheir white privilege as making them-selves as better whites.”

Heather Dixon, 3rd year student,

“I think there needs to be a compulsoryUniversity initiative or all degrees like a‘how to be woke’ or ‘awaken yourselves’course that will cover race, eminism, andqueer issues, every kind o thing.”

Mike Searle, 2nd year student,

“I’d like to see more respect rompeople in general because I believethat through respect you can change alot o things. Just by basically respect-ing everyone, you can bring a lot opeople together.”

Nandi Jakeja, 4th year student,

“I really just want white peopleto wake up. It’s time or change,wake up. It’s not just my job.”

University is about more than what you

learn in o-week orientation.

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News Features16 March 2016 Te Oppidan Press 3

honi Menolia

n the week beginning 14 February, Rhodes University pedes-

trians were confronted with overflowing sewage along vari-

ous sections of Prince Alfred street. According to a numberources, the sewage originated from a sewer near Kimberly

and ran down the lawns alongside the African Media

rix. Although the issue has been rectified, this is not the first

ance of overflowing sewage on campus and such instances

ain a significant health concern.

alcolm Martin, a plumber employed by the Building Main-nce Department, explained that the sewage overflow came asult o a build-up o various substances in the sewage systems

surrounding Kimberly Hall.Kimberly Hall, Miriam Makeba Hall and Desmond utu Hall

occupy the same building and serve a total o 1100 meals during

each meal time. Tis building is served by a network o pipes which

continues past the surrounding residences beore joining up withthe main sewage system in Prince Alred Street. Martin said thepipes had become blocked with a mixture o at rom the dininghalls, cloth and other residue rom residences, and built-up rootswhich had not been cleared since beore the summer vacation. Tishappened despite the local municipality being notified. However,the housekeeping staff rom Kimberly Hall claimed that the build-up o ood should not be an issue anymore thanks to measures putin place by Food Services.

Simon Wright, Food Services Manager at Rhodes University,explained that the university implements a system called Momar.Momar is a chemical which breaks down ood waste and is used

in the drains o dining halls to avoid blockages. Due to the large

amounts o waste entering the sinks o Kimberly, Miriam Makebaand Desmond utu Halls, these dining halls have drains withgreater perormance capabilities and use higher concentrations oMomar than other dining halls.

Te problem was dealt with swifly by the relevant departments.Wright has given his assurance that he will address the matter withthe company who oversees Momar, while the Maintenance Depart-ment continues to wait or the local municipality to address theissue o roots in the sewage system.

Who’s Who? Loose Change Events

Blocked drains a concern at Rhodes University

Rhodes is faced with sewage issues, particularly affecting the residences and dining halls situated up the hill. Photo: KYLE PRINSLOO

FMFor more information go to www.oppidanpress.com

hryn Cleary

ach edition, Te Oppidan

s is going to sit down with one

minent person or organisation

in the university community

discuss their feelings regarding

l transformation, activism, and

ent events. Tis edition we spoke

Loose Change Events, a student

organisation renowned for host-

events such as the recent Peachy

ch, in Kenton-on-Sea. However,e do students and members

he community know that the

act of the organisations’ ‘beachy’

ies extends much further.

‘Partying for the People, Party-

with a Purpose’, what do these

ans mean for the local Grahams-

n community?

Te slogan comes rom the ethosoose Change Events, which is toomething or the greater com-ity. Te thought process behindwas that students love to par ty,e asked ourselves how can welop something positive out o this

h would help the Grahamstownmunity as a whole. Tus came theo creating an amazing experi-whose main aim was to take

little rom everyone so that togetherwe could give back a lot to those whoneed it.

Q: What are some of the commu-

nity events Loose Change has done

in the past? What can we expect for

this year?

In the past, we have helped com-munities like the SPCA or TeGrahamstown Feeding Association.We normally spend a day at the SPCA

with the animals and try learn romthe process o having to care orthem. We’ve also donated ood to theFeeding Association. Apart rom thatwe have done donation o clothes aswell. Tis year since Peachy Beach, weplan to donate all the clothes receivedto the people who need them most.Apart rom that Loose Change planson starting various non-profit sub-sidiaries in order to try and give backeven more to the community.

Q: How can students become more

involved with the organisation?

Well, afer each event we doorganise a volunteer day and even

throughout the term we have these volunteer days where anyone who iswilling to come and help us is morethan welcome to join. We’ve teamed

up with RU Green beore to help plantsome indigenous trees in places whereit’s needed. Notifications or the vol-unteer day are put out well in advanceso anyone willing to help will certainlyknow when our next one is planned.As an organisation, Loose Change

Events has three main agendas: wehave the humanitarian side, the socialside, and the environmental side. Wetry to make sure we ocus on each as-pect as they are all equally important.

Q: What is something that

students may not know about the or-

ganisation, but you wish they knew

more about?

It is entirely student run. Peoplenormally think Loose Change is thisoutside organisation when in act it’scompletely comprised o studentswho sit in the same lecture halls,dining halls, and exam halls. RhodesUniversity taught us to [combine] theconcept o having a good time whilsthelping the community, and that iswhat Loose Change is all about.

Students can learn more about op-

portunities with Loose Change Eventsdirectly via their Facebook page, or via their email address loosechang-eevents@gmail.com.

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OpinionTe Oppidan Press 16 March 2016

Mahlatse Magau

Oh, what a time it is to be a student. Suddenly we

are the cause for all the problems in the world, just because we are supposedly the confused little

 younglings pretending to know what we want to do with

our lives and our degrees are our very first step to total

world dictatorship.

‘Pity I couldn’t get to work today, the students are at itagain’

‘Oh dear it really is a problem. We probably won’t evenhave electricity tonight because the rascals would haveburned down all the power plants at the rate they’re go-ing…’

‘We can only pray our boy doesn’t become like them.’‘I don’t think he will. We’ve raised him too well.’Now or the gospel:Te students are not marching because they are black.

Te students are marching because the country is acing aserious economic crisis and with the cost o living rapidly

increasing at the pace it currently is amilies cannot affordthe ees. Tey are simply economically disadvantaged. Astudent is also not economically disadvantaged justbecause they are black either. Tere are studentsnationwide o multiple cultures and races that are

aced with the economic struggle as well.Students, the ees do need to all. I agree. We

care about our parents and love them and under-stand that they can only make so much moneyand thus we eel the need to assist them by reliev-ing them o some pressure.

However, this will not happen instantaneously.Judging by the speeches made during the protestsand the steps that are taken, these actions are takenwith the expectation that tertiary education will bemade ree immediately.

Sadly, that is not possible, at least not in our country.

Te most realistic goal that can be achieved rom the ac-tivism is that the ees be gradually lowered, but that doesnot mean that the fight should stop.

Keyboard warriors, we simply cannot just enjoy loggingonto Facebook anymore. We live in an era where we interact

with each other 24/7 and we need to use our influence to

change the mindsets o those who do not yet understandwhat the fight is about. I mean that, the passion and convic-tion that we burn the keypads o our phones with is power-ul. Let us use that to our advantage.

The Oppidan Press staff and contact details

The Oppidan Press

ditor-in-Chief : Leila Stein. Deputy Editor: Lili Barras-Hagan. Financial

anager: Zikisa Maqubela . Advertising Manager: Bianca Matthis.

arketing Manager: Leila Kidson. Online Editor: Liam Stout. Assistant

nline Editors: Leila Kidson, Pierre Durandt. News Features Editor:

uthoni Munida. Assistant News Features Editor: Nonay Hlela Politics

ditor: Kathryn Cleary. Opinion Editor: Mokgatle Thulare. Arts &

ntertainment Editor: Ayanda Gigaba. Assistant Arts & Entertainment

ditor: Emma Campbell. Scitech Editor: Jason Leonard. Environment

ditor: Josh Stein. Sports Editor: Sam Johnson. Chief Photo Editor:

onwyn Pretorius. Assistant Chief Photo Editors: Kyle Prinsloo, Vicky

atrick . Sub-Editors: Emily Stander, Lebogang Mashego. Chief Designer:

ffany Mac Sherry. Assistant Chief Designer: Lauren Dixon-Paver.

unior Designers: Athi Conjwa, Abigayle Daniels, Cameron Seegers, Ellen

eydenrych. Senior Designers: Tevin Tobias, Amy Harkess. External

ontent Advisors: Chelsea Haith, Kate Jennings. OppiTV Chief Editor:

hiwokuhle Mandisa Dhlamini. OppiTV Managing Editor: Mayo Twala .

ppiTV Content Editor: Zama Luthuli. OppiFM Chief Editor: Julia Fish.

ppiFM Managing Editor: Collette Prince. Ombudsperson: Professor

nthea Garman.

etters to the Editor: editor@oppidanpress.com

dvertising details: advertising@oppidanpress.com

ww.oppidanpress.com

ww.facebook.com/theoppidanpress

ww.twitter.com/oppidanpress @oppidanpress

he Oppidan Press publishes letters which are bona fide expres-ons of opinion provided that they are not clearly libellous,efamatory, racist or sexist. We publish anonymous letters, but asn act of good faith on your part, we require your full name. Weeserve the right to shorten letters due to space constraints and todit them for grammatical inaccuracies. Letters that do not make itto our print edition will be published on our website.

Naledi Mashishi

CW: rape, sexual assault 

“Why didn’t you report him?”

Tere’s a very specific set of reasons

I decided not to tell anyone outside

a small group of people in what was

supposed to be a safe space about my

sexual assault. One of the reasons is

that I had decided not to report, for

personal reasons, and I did not want

to have to answer the above question.

Tese reasons, as well as the incident

itself, were something I was perfectly

content to forget about. Until one

day, the SRC found itself embroiled

in controversy and I found myself

having this incident used in a per-sonal attack against me by a student.

Te personal attack was a shock tomy system. It orced me to once againthink about exactly what I had beentrying to orget. I started rememberingthe sexual assault. Once again, I wasasked by others and ultimately askedmysel, why had I not reported theincident? Perhaps, most importantly, Ionce again began to radically questionthe notion that there should be anexpectation imposed on survivors to

report.

It is a narrative that we requentlyhear. We are ofen told that over hal oall sexual assault victims do not reporttheir assault and that over 90% o allperpetrators do not spend even oneday in jail. We are ed the idea that iwe are assaulted we should report it,and i we report it the perpetrator willgo to jail.

But we are not ofen told o thesecond hand victimisation that we arelikely to experience while reporting.Te second hand victimisation thatleads to survivors being treated care-lessly by the authorities they report to,and that leads to being questioned onevery decision made that led up to the

incident itsel including the survivor’schoice o clothing, company, andsexual history. We are not told o justhow ofen it is that the perpetrator isabsolved, despite being reported, whilethe survivor is lef with new scars.

Tis is not to scare off any survivorswho do want to report their assaults. Asurvivor who wishes to report shouldo course be given all the supportthey need. Rather, this is to say thatthe decision to not report is one thatmany survivors make or a variety o

reasons. All o these reasons are valid.

Tere are a number o societalactors that make reporting difficult.One is the pervasive idea that there isa “perect victim”, a morally uprightwoman who is assaulted while doingsomething as innocuous as walkingdown a street. Survivors who don’t fitthis mold are ofen subjected to victimblaming. Another is the act that themajority o perpetrators are known totheir victims and this may deter a sur- vivor rom reporting them. Anotheris the act that many survivors are as-sumed to be lying because o the myththat women lie about being raped outo revenge because they eel guiltyabout having sex.

Te belie that a surv ivor needs toreport in order to prevent the perpe-trator rom assaulting again is one thatis rooted in rape culture, as it placesresponsibility or the perpetrator’s ac-tions on the survivor. Regardless o thereasons, a surv ivor’s choice to reportor not report is a decision that shouldbe respected by all parties. Perhapsthen, beore one questions the valid-ity o not reporting, one should firstquestion how our society treats thosewho do.

What a time to be a student!

To report or not to report?

Photo: ASHLEIGH MAY

Bridging the Gap:

It has been an incredibly short term and all of us have been scrambling

to get assignments in and keep on top of all the significant upheavalsand changes which have happened on campus and on campuses around

the country. It has been much the same for us at Te Oppidan Press.

Te Oppidan Press is still a airly new paper as it has only been aroundsince 2007. In that time it has already experienced one major makeover inwhich the entire look and purpose o the newspaper was revamped. As aresult o the antastic work o that team, we have inherited a media organi-sation that is well recognised at the University currently known as Rhodes,in Grahamstown and in South Arica as well.

Tis year has shown us that a media organisation, even one as small as astudent newspaper, cannot afford to stand still and rest on their laurels butrather has to move with the times and innovate in order to stay relevantand interesting. Our online culture has meant that students will first lookto their cellphones or computers or their news updates and inorma-tion. So that is where we have to make sure our inormation is, in order toremain relevant.

In addition to this, the economics o running a newspaper have seri-

ously changed and as a result so do our business models. While newspa-pers have run on a steady stream o advertising revenue or the last ewdecades these channels are slowly drying up with advertisers preerring toplace adverts online.

For Oppi, this means that we have had to make the decision to take a

small step away rom the intensive print editions which we have alwaysbrought out. Instead we will now be putting together interactive PDF’s andramp up our online content.

Tis will mean we will be able to stretch our capabilities to provideinteresting articles or our readers, as well as allow our staff to extend theirskills beyond just putting pen to paper. Tis does not mean that there willbe no printed editions but rather that those which are printed will be o ahigher quality and will ocus on a specific issue such as transormation orour annual Investec op 100 content.

We will also be able to marry our content rom all the different arms othe organisation into more cohesive content which will be more excitingor our readers, viewers and listeners.

Tis is an exciting time or students journalists or a number o reasonsand us at Te Oppidan Press are so happy to welcome our staff (new andold) and the students and staff o the University to join us in this time otransition, learning and improvement.

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Features16 March 2016 Te Oppidan Press 5

on Leonard

one who is or has the privilege of knowing a

rd collector should be familiar with the delica-

f handling vinyl. Records must be turned over

newborn babies, and all the care in the world

t be taken not to ruin them with a scratch.

CD that you might pull out of your cubby

will probably be thoroughly scratched- but

ectly playable. You might even avoid the perils

hysically recorded music altogether and opt to

e your music digitally. It seems like cheating,

n’t it?

urely, when you scratch a CD or shrink an audiothat inormation must go somewhere? Ques-

s like these all under the domain o Inormationory, a mathematical theory o communicationght into being by Claude Shannon in 1948. Al-y on something o a roll (Shannon had by thenten what has been called “the master’s thesis oentury” at the enviable age o 21) he publisheddmark paper called “A Mathematical Teory o

mmunication”. Te paper gave precise math-tical meaning to the previously vague concept ormation.y casting slippery concepts like communica-and inormation into the rigorous language o

hematics, Shannon was able to ask and answere pretty extraordinary questions. Firstly: is there

mit to how ast inormation can be transmitteda channel, like an ADSL cable or instance?ndly: just how easible is it to transmit inorma-

perectly; or rather, to reduce the probabilityror in data transmission to zero? As it turnsthese questions are closely linked. Shannoned mathematically that every channel has annsic ‘channel capacity’, which is a speed limithe rate o data transmission. Above it, it isossible to transmit inormation without error.w it, Shannon proved, perect transmission ormation is possible.is not difficult to find applications o thiszing idea- one o the reasons they managedorm their way into our everyday lives sotively was the amount o unding the field o

Inormation Teory received in its inancy. Commu-nications technology rather unsurprisingly attractedthe military’s interest, where a new method o pro-tecting radio signals rom enemy jamming was des-perately needed. Tis allignment o interests betweenInormation Teorists and the military produced,among other things, the CDMA technology used incellphones, which allows you to place your order ora pizza across kilometers o turbulent air, filled withthousands o similar signals.

Tis is because Shannon’s discoveries guaranteethe existence o decoding algorithms at the receivingend o a transmission that will be able to perectlyreconstruct data without error, so long as the rateo data transmission does not exceed the channel

capacity. Encoding algorithms at the transmittingend, just like those used in file compression, enable vast quantities o inormation (like images o planetsin our solar system or high-fidelity audiorecordings) to be sent and decodedprecisely at the receiving end. Iyou ever eel grateul or ZIPor mp3 files, it is ClaudeShannon you have tothank.

Inorma-tion Teoryhas sincediversifiedinto myriad

sub-disciplines within mathematics, computer sci-ence and electrical engineering. It’s an interestingfield with rich applications and, i history isanything to go by, a very rich uture.

Black Lawyers Association

he Black Lawyers Association

(BLA) was established in 1977in response to the exclusion

ack lawyers in the South African

l profession. Under the leader-

of Mr. Godfrey Pitje, the society

cated itself to the promotion of

ce and transformation in the

l profession.

Te BLA Rhodes Student Chapterpioneers o the legacy o the BLAseek to protect as well as promotet Rhodes, the BLA is a societyse mandate is or transormation

y identiy themselves as beinge than just a society, but rather avement”. Te BLA aims to advanceacilitate transormation in the

ent community through thelementation o a number o eventsprogrammes. Guest speakers that

society plans on inviting this year,well as the various educational

grammes they will be spearhead-are centred around promoting theoing dialogue regarding transor-ion and equality in our country.eing a society which is gearedards transormation, the BLAd or all things which support the

theme o equal treatment and justiceor all. Tey also strongly believe in

the notion that individuals should be

afforded equal opportunities in thelegal sphere as ar as possible. Peoplewill be aware o the protests that were

conducted by a number o (majorityblack) advocates against the allegedly

skewed and discriminatory briefing

patterns o South Arican advocateslate last year. Te Black Lawyers Asso-ciation National Executive Committee

gave its unequivocal support o themovement and its stance on that mat-

ter is indicative o what the society

stands or at Rhodes. Tey want topromote a culture o an intelligent andproessional community o thinkers

and to introduce students to the issuesthey will conront in society when they

eventually become practising lawyers.

Important to communicate tostudents too, is the act that BLA is aninclusive society. Tere is a tendencyamong students who are not black toeel like they are not “welcome” in oursociety as the name makes reerence tothe word “black”. Tey eel it is impor-tant that students be reminded that theword “black” in the name is merely ohistorical significance. Te BLA couldnot call itsel a “transormative” societyi they perpetuated the exclusion-ary nature o the past. It is upon thisbasis that they strive to be as diverseas they can be. Tis in turn creates anenvironment where different peoplerom various cultures can learn rom

each other.At a University “where leaders

learn”, the BLA eels that being a parto a society such as theirs would be valuable to a student’s development

as a leader in our current society. TeBLA wants to also pass thanks to ourcurrent and alumni members or theoundation and aith they have placedin the society as a whole to uphold thequality o its service to all.

Meet the Black Lawyers Association

A letter by the Black Lawyers’ Association addresses the aims and missions implemented by the association surround-

ing injustice and transformation. Photo: GODFREY TAFADZWA KADZERE

Behind the science: Information Theory

Claude Shannon with a mechanical mouse of his own invention. Photo: SOURCED

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Arts & EntertainmentTe Oppidan Press 16 March 2016

ma Campbell

Dave Mann is a Rhodes journalism graduate. Among oth-er projects, he is the co-editor of Ja.Magazine an onlinemagazine that he started with Niamh Walsh-Vorster to

vide an alternative platform for publishing works by an array

rtists. Mann discusses his projects and the South African art

e with Te Oppidan Press. 

at inspired you to start Ja.Magazine?  iamh Walsh-Vorster and I started Ja. or two main reasons; oneose reasons was to give ourselves a space to publish our own

k, ree o the editorial guidelines and agendas o mainstreamia organisations. Te second was to provide a platorm or art-writers, photographers, and illustrators alike who were eitherggling to publish their work, or simply didn’t know how to.

w necessary do you think the promotion of local art is? Are

th African artists supported and appreciated enough?

ocal support is invaluable to the South Arican arts. Supportere, but it is marginal and misguided. Art in South Arica isely elitist and because o that people either don’t understand iton’t care about it. O course there is also the issue o many localts being underpaid and exploited but I believe that beore we

le that issue, we need to dismantle the elitism surrounding thel art scene.

w can media outlets and audiences better support local art-

oo many arts writers write or select audiences, namely thebrow art community who can afford to access gigs, galleriestheatre spaces, and too much o the public shies away rommenting on art. Tis creates a culture o cronyism in theommunity whereby you’ll see the same artist’s work lauded

und again and again while the rest struggle to even get a shorture on a website let alone an album deal, a bit o gallery space,

small bit o unding to rent out a rehearsal venue. Commercialnly really exists when somebody views it and either appreciateshates it.

Do South African consumers and audiences care more about art

from outside of Africa? If so, why?

I think that lately, there’s been a tremendous resurgence in thecelebration o local art. Our local music scene always suffers andbecause it’s been underappreciated or so long, we now see anexport o local musicians to international markets. John Wizards,DJ Spoko and Petite Noir are just a ew examples o this. Even thisthing o local Arts wr iters comparing our artists and musicians tosimilar artists overseas is complete nonsense. Our artists don’t needinternational qualifiers to make them worthy o being writtenabout.

Who are some of your favourite local artists? Any personal

favourite artists that you have w ritten about?

Oh wow, there are so many artists I have come to knowand love. Musically, I really love artists like Umlilo and DopeSaint Jude who are using their work to challenge societallyconstructed notions o class, gender, race and power. In theart world, there has been an emergence o South Arican

digital art that I believe is doing an incredible amount or theway we engage with and understand art in so called ‘post-apartheid South Arica’ as well as doing away with thepredominantly white, elitist art we’re currently floodedwith. Tese artists include iger Maremela, Joseph

Coetzee, and abita Rezaire to name a ew.

Would you like to see anything change with

regards to the National Arts Festival (NAF)?

Tere is a huge problem with the way thatNAF goes about engaging with the artisticcommunities in Grahamstown. Because itoperates largely out o the alienating andoffensive space that is the 1820sSettlers Monument, it misses out on vital conversations taking place. InGrahamstown there is art and there

are artists absolutely everywhere and allyou need to do to be a part o it is venture abit urther than the top o High Street.

 

Dave Mann on Art, politics and elitism

nda Gigaba

arah Rose de Villiers, a fourth-year Journal-

English and Philosophy student at Rhodes

versity, is a creative soul in every sense of the

m. De Villiers devotes her time to photography,

ing and art.

he attributes her compulsive creativity to hon-dvice she received in high school, “I had aer counsellor in grade 10 who said: ‘you haveave a creative outlet. I you aren’t creativewill become negative, cynical and clinically

depressed.’ I always draw, I always doodle. Itwasn’t so much that I was inspired to draw. Ineeded to do it.”

De Villiers’ WordPress blog is a coalescence oher art which unctions to serve not only herselbut others too. Her cartoon and comic seriescalled Drawing Te Line explores topics thatrange rom social politics, arts and culture toenvironmental and educational programmes.

“I there is a way or me to distil it into anarticle or an image or a cartoon then or methat’s part o the experience o understandingwhat I experience because then I have to look at

it critically and see what was the most valu-able aspect o it. I I can share some part o thatwith somebody else, what would it be? And thattranslation process is where my art comes rom,”said de Villiers.

While living in Milan, Italy, or three monthsas an English tutor to an Italian amily, de Vil-liers spent her spare time exploring the city. Shecaptured the experience through sketches andphotography and published the series A ravelingrail of Art. De Villiers explains that her drawingcomes rom appreciation: when she has complet-ed a drawing, she offers it to the very people who

inspired her in that moment.“Everyone is always saying a pen is a weapon

but I see a pen as a wand and we all contain abit o magic and when I draw, I can release thatmagic. I I can give it to someone else and it’sbeautiul then whatever’s beautiul inside them isreflected and it comes out, and then you see themas beautiul,” explained de Villiers.

De Villiers’ artistic motivation is driven byshared beauty, “Eleanor Roosevelt said: ‘I willmake everything around me beautiul—that willbe my lie’ and I stand by that. I learned you canmake beauty i you show beauty.”

Local artist draws connections between people

Dave Mann, a Rhodes

graduate, discusses his

thoughts on the im-portance of celebrat-

ing and supporting

local art.

Photo: SOURCED

des University student and artist, Sarah Rose de Villiers, shares her opinions on why art and creativity plays such a leading role in her life. Photos: SOURCED

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Environment 16 March 2016 Te Oppidan Press 7

uren Buckle

Grahamstown’s tap water has b een regardedas being unsafe to drink in previous years

as a result of containing high heavy metal

vel. In 2010 actions were taken to ensure that the

ater was brought to an acceptable standard. Tere

e alternative water sources that students can use if

e Grahamstown water becomes unsuitable or the

umbing systems suffer any kind of damage.

Officials suspected that the water was contaminated2006 when a large number o fish died as a result oe high levels o metal in the water. In 2009 there wereports o the water containing a high level o E.coli,intestinal bacteria ound in humans and animals.is resulted in an investigation into how drinkable theahamstown water was.In 2010, Saving Water Aquarista reported “alarminglygh levels o deadly toxic metals in Grahamstown’s tap

ter has scientists worried about the uture health oidents who drink municipal water”. High levels o

etal can affect the brain causing depression, kidney ander damage as well as accelerated aging.In recent years the water has reached saer levels and isw regarded as sae or human consumption. Tembelala, rom the Makana Water division said, “We test itery month in East London. Te water is drinkable.ere are no non-compliances.”A slight brown discolouration in the Grahamstownter occasionally occurs due to excess iron in the water.

on is harmless to humans i it remains within a

certain limit.“Te Grahamstown Municipal water varies between

a otal Dissolved Solids (DS) o 150 - 600 ppm,” saidNeil Currie, co-owner o the Grahamstown Oasis. Oasisreduces their DS to below 20ppm through a purificationprocess involving sand filtration, element filtration,reverse osmosis, carbon filtration, UV protection, andozonation. Tis removes the dirt, undissolved solids,sodium, organic chemicals, and bacteria and viruses.We also send monthly water samples to Pathcare or anindependent audit to make sure that we meet all the specsand have no bacteria or E.coli in the water,” he said.

Te plumbing in Grahamstown also ofen ails, leavingthe higher lying areas o Grahamstown without water.Rhodes University has set plans or what to do should thisoccur. Tese plans ensure that students in residences areable to obtain a small supply o water to make sure thatstudents remain hydrated.

Students can also get water rom alternative sources.

Many rain water tanks can be located across the R hodesUniversity campus. Some residences have their own rainwater tanks. Residence Environmental Representativesare responsible or testing the water in these tanks tosee i the water is suitable or human consumption. It isadvised that students boil the water obtained rom thesetanks beore drinking it to minimise the risk o illness.

Tere is a spring located at Cold Stream arm outsideo Grahamstown on the road leading towards Bathurstand Port Alred. However, the spring’s location makes itdifficult to reach or students without cars. Water can alsobe purchased at Oasis and local supermarkets.

Can I drink this?  Nita PallettTere is no doubt in the power ofa green space in a community. Te

space can help lighten the atmos-

phere, enrich the environment,

or simply create a better view and

area to work in. One aspect of it

goes hand in hand with being self-sustainable, and not supporting the

market of mass-produced food that:

gardening. Te power of gardens in a

community can never be underesti-

mated, and certainly not the value of

being able to grow your own food.

At Rhodes University, there is asociety that grows their own vegeta-ble garden called Common Ground.Founded in 2011 by Bruce Haynes -who graduated rom Rhodes Univer-sity in 2013 with a degree in Botanyand photojournalism - the aim othe society is to equip students withthe skills needed to grow their ownood. “Te idea was that you didn’t

have to be an environmentalist to takeresponsibility or your own ood sup-ply”, he explained. “Common Groundhighlighted the need or universitiesto become spaces o innovation oradapting how we get our ood romour landscape.”

Te way many parts o the oodindustry are run today provide agruesome tale concerning mosto the products we consume daily.Many different aspects o our oodindustry today are not particularly

eco-riendly, and the need to haveresh, organically-grown produce iscontinually increasing in our society.

Tereore, teaching people aboutgrowing their own ood and becomingmore sel-sustainable is an importantpart o teaching people the value osel sustainability and reducing their

carbon ootprint. However, CommonGround decided that it would makemore sense to teach students how togrow ood themselves, beore tryingto spread the awareness and actionthrough community engagement. AsHaynes explained, a great challengeto the society was having too wide ascope; “had we ocused on measurablegoals like the project WildReach wecould have had a ar greater impactearly on.”

Student schedules ofen providea challenge or the garden, leavinga heavy burden on the committeemembers, not to mention the act thatthe product in the soil need care and

attention, or else would perish andonly be useul as compost. However,despite the workloads all memberswould have had, the society has sur- vived the past six years, and is up andrunning again this year.

Being able to produce your ownood can have a marked impact onyour lie as a consumer, and on thegreater community. For more inor-mation on Common Ground, contactthem on their Facebook page (Rhodes:Common Ground).

Common Ground: RhodesGardening Society

Common Ground is a society at Rhodes University that gives students the op-

portunity to learn how to grow their own food. Photo: NI TA PALLETT

er in Grahamstown is slowly

oming safe for human con-

mption. Photo:

OWNYN PRETORIUS

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Sports

Mann discusses art,creation and Ja

RU thirsty?BLA: a society for

transformation andinclusivity6 75

tuthuko Mlondo

Ultimate Frisbee is quickly

becoming a recognised sport

in the country. Its popularity

grown rapidly among universities

onwide and Rhodes has joined in

d to make it a national sport.

Te chairperson o Ultimate Disk at

des, Jason Wehmeyer, explainedport in laymans terms saying thata combination o American oot-netball and touch rugby.ayers have a try area in which toe and, like netball, the player inession o the disk cannot movel they have thrown it and the disk

not touch the ground.owever, it differs rom touch rugbye sense that i the disk is inter-

ed or ‘slammed’ to the ground, itmes a turnover in avour o the

osing team. Another important

aspect o Ultimate Disk is that theplayers are responsible or sel-reer-eeing, any disagreements or ouls areresolved among the players.

reasurer o the Ultimate Disk clubFrancis Xavier said, “I love playing thesport, watching it [and] getting betterat it”. His love or the sport startedwhen he was in Grade 8 and since then

he has never looked back.Each team has 7 players and teams

that consist o both male and emaleplayers usually require a difference ingender o at least one player.

Wehmeyer mentioned that UltimateFrisbee has been waitlisted or theOlympic games, but in order to be-come an Olympic sport it is importantor more countries to register it as anational sport.

Currently there are our universi-ties in South Arica that compete inUltimate Disk including NMMU, Wits,

UC and UFS with Rhodes on its wayto becoming the fifh.

Wehmeyer discussed the importanceo having a minimum o five universi-

ties involved in Ultimate Disk saying,“the government requires five universi-ties to [partake] in Frisbee beore [itcan be recognised as] a national sport.”

Te vice chairperson and media

representative Bracken Lee-Rudolphcommented on the rapid growth othe club at Rhodes saying, “It’s a goodsign o growth that we’ve [become anofficial] society and our sign-ups bodewell in terms o having more activeplayers involved”.

Besides being seen as a ‘un’ sportingit also bodes well in terms o fitness asit includes a combination o varioussporting codes.Ultimate Frisbee is astbecoming a new sport nationwide andRhodes is certainly doing its part tocontribute to its growth.

Ultimate Frisbee:Not just about throwing

mate Frisbee is a new sport at Rhodes which is rapidly growing and player, hope it will become a national sport.

to: VICKY PATRICK 

Staff Reporter

Rhodes basketball took on the

newbies of the society in a RU Rookies

Vs Seniors Basketball challenge in an

effort to attract more members to the

game. Te matches took place on 27

February, at Alec Mullins Hall.

wo matches were played, theRhodes women’s team versus the emalerookies, and the Rhodes men’s team

 versus the male rookies. On the men’sside, it was a tight affair. At one stage, itwas 21-12 to the seniors, but the seniorsused their cohesiveness as a unit to endthe game with a 39-15 victory against

the rookies. Lusindiso Vika, a membero the male rookie team, said “we wereall pretty nervous...because it’s first yearand you don’t know [your teammates].”

Te chairperson o the basketballsociety, Matthew Bloem, said he eltquite disappointed in the turnout othe event, but was happy that they hadmore players who signed up.

However, despite the turnout, Bloembelieves that there could be some strongcompetitors or the current Rhodesplayers saying, “ I think there is sometalent along the lines, I eel that there

[are] some players who [could be strongcontestants] or a position on the team.”

Te emale rookies held their ownrom start to finish, but narrowly lostby nine points against the experiencedRhodes team. Members o the Rhodeswomen’s team were surprised by thelevel o skill displayed by the first yearrookies.

Carla Franco, who is the secretaryo basketball and plays or the senior

team was pleased with the turnout,“Te emale turnout rom the rookies[first years] side was definitely moresuccessul than we thought it wouldbe. Te first years o 2016 have an

incredible amount o potential andtalent,” she said.

Franco said that the vision or the2016 basketball team is to qualiy orthe University Sports South Arica(USSA) tournament which is to be heldlater this year. Te first game o theseason will be on 3 March 2016 againstFort Hare which is also their firstqualiying game or USSA.

Basketball at Rhodes is heading inthe right direction, with both teamsattempting to qualiy or USSA, 2016looks to be a promising year.

Rookies vs Seniors Challenge 2016

 The Rhodes University male and female basketball teams played a match

against the new members of the club, ‘the rookies’, to kick off the season.

Photo: GODFREY TAFADZWA KADZERE