Murano Street mugging Freshers threatened with stabbing Girl’s bag snatched on walk home Glasgow University Scottish Student Newspaper of the Year Insight reviews the thrills and spills of this year's Freshers' events Insight Lewis Porteous reviews the latest attempt to contemporise a classic Brideshead Re-Revisited Film 29th September 2008 Disenfrenchised: Students forced to drop modules A GIRL WAS MUGGED DURING Freshers' Week, just metres from Murano Street Student Village, after walking home from a night out at the unions. Rebecca Day, 19, and fellow first year student, Chris Forster, also 19, were almost back at the Murano Street Halls of Residence where they both live, when an unidentified woman threatened Rebecca before stealing her bag. Chris ran after the mugger and managed to recover the bag, along with Rebecca's mobile phone. Speaking exclusively to Guardian, Rebecca described how the attack, in the early hours of the morning of September 20, came as a shock because they were minutes from home. She said: "We were just walking over the bridge to the student village when we were accosted by a man and a woman." "They asked if we had alcohol and when I said no, the woman started telling me to show her my bag. "Then she started grabbing my hair and shouting at me. I took my bag off and gave it to her and she ran off." (continued on page 2) FRENCH HONOURS STUDENTS HAVE found their course options dramatically narrowed as reductions in staff have left the department unable to offer its normal range of modules. Third year students following a joint honours course and those taking French with Law were spared from dropping a module, but those in senior honours were left with only one module in the French half of their degree. The French department informed its students by email that, with the loss of half of its staff since 2000 and the honours convenor on sick leave, it would be necessary for some students to drop one of their modules. The department is adamant that the loss of staff has not been due to the rumoured funding cuts, but is a result of retirement and in some cases, illness. The email, from senior lecturer Dr. Jim Simpson, included a declaration for students to complete and send back, confirming the module they wished to drop, and their agreement with the proposed doubling of the weighting of the final translation exam to compensate for lost credits. The latter decision was taken after consultation with external examiners. Students were informed of the necessity of dropping a module during the summer, but the news came too late for many who had already purchased books for all of their intended modules. One senior honours student finding herself in this situation asked not to be named, but expressed her exasperation. (continued on page 3) Freshers’ Week Dionne Doherty A KNIFE WAS FOUND IN THE bushes outside the entrance of the Queen Margaret Union on September 18, Guardian has learnt. The weapon was discovered during the day, before the Freshers' Ball took place, so it is thought that it was most likely to have been dropped by someone on the night of the 17th. It is believed that a student discarded the blade after seeing that the QMU's security policy includes searching people and their bags at the door before allowing them to enter the venue. Speaking to Guardian, Ally Hunter, President of the QMU, explained how he felt that the incident proved that security at the union serves to protect those who go there. He said: "I think it just highlights how good our search policy is. During Freshers' Week we did confiscate a number of blades and handed them over to the police but there is no reason to step up security. "The QM continues to be one of the safest places in Glasgow because of our security." (continued on page 3) Blade found in QMU bushes The history of Glasgow University is a rich and varied tapestry Pick up the loose threads on page 7 >>i Sarah Smith Sarah Smith Exclusive Police enquiries ongoing guardian
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MuranoStreetmugging
Freshers threatened with stabbing Girl’s bag snatched on walk home
Glasgow University
Scottish Student Newspaper of the Year
Insight reviews the thrills and spills of this year's Freshers' events
Insight
Lewis Porteous reviews the latest attempt to contemporise a classic
Brideshead Re-Revisited
Film
29th September 2008
Disenfrenchised: Students forced to drop modules
A GIRL WAS MUGGED DURING Freshers' Week, just metres from Murano Street Student Village, after walking home from a night out at the unions.
Rebecca Day, 19, and fellow first year student, Chris Forster, also 19, were almost back at the Murano Street Halls of Residence where they both live, when an unidentified woman threatened Rebecca before stealing her bag.
Chris ran after the mugger and managed to recover the bag, along with Rebecca's mobile phone.
Speaking exclusively to Guardian, Rebecca described how the attack, in the early hours of the
morning of September 20, came as a shock because they were minutes from home.
She said: "We were just walking over the bridge to the student village when we were accosted by a man and a woman."
"They asked if we had alcohol and when I said no, the woman started telling me to show her my bag.
"Then she started grabbing my hair and shouting at me. I took my bag off and gave it to her and she ran off."
(continued on page 2)
FRENCH HONOURS STUDENTS HAVE found their course options dramatically narrowed as reductions in staff have left the department unable to offer its normal range of modules.
Third year students following a joint honours course and those taking French with Law were spared from dropping a module, but those in senior honours were left with only one
module in the French half of their degree.The French department informed its students
by email that, with the loss of half of its staff since 2000 and the honours convenor on sick leave, it would be necessary for some students to drop one of their modules. The department is adamant that the loss of staff has not been due
to the rumoured funding cuts, but is a result of retirement and in some cases, illness.
The email, from senior lecturer Dr. Jim Simpson, included a declaration for students to complete and send back, confirming the module they wished to drop, and their agreement with the proposed doubling of the weighting of the final translation exam to compensate for lost credits. The latter decision was taken after
consultation with external examiners.Students were informed of the necessity
of dropping a module during the summer, but the news came too late for many who had already purchased books for all of their intended modules. One senior honours student finding herself in this situation asked not to be named, but expressed her exasperation.
(continued on page 3)
Freshers’ Week
Dionne Doherty
A KNIFE WAS FOUND IN THE bushes outside the entrance of the Queen Margaret Union on September 18, Guardian has learnt.
The weapon was discovered during the day, before the Freshers' Ball took place, so it is thought that it was most likely to have been dropped by someone on the night of the 17th.
It is believed that a student discarded the blade after seeing that the QMU's security policy includes searching people and their bags at the door before allowing them to enter the venue.
Speaking to Guardian, Ally Hunter, President of the QMU, explained how he felt that the incident proved that security at the union serves to protect those who go there.
He said: "I think it just highlights how good our search policy is. During Freshers' Week we did confiscate a number of blades and handed them over to the police but there is no reason to step up security.
"The QM continues to be one of the safest places in Glasgow because of our security." (continued on page 3)
Blade found in QMU bushes
The history of Glasgow University is a rich and varied tapestry Pick up the loose threads on page 7 >>i
Sarah Smith
Sarah SmithExclusive
Police enquiries ongoing
guardian
[email protected] 29th September 20082
department, for example, refuses to accept work after one week past the deadline.
Gavin Lee, President of the SRC, told Guardian that the proposed changes will help students to feel that they are all treated equally.
He said: “The first Council meeting was a great way to start the year, and we’re excited about the progress Council can make throughout the year. In particular, having a University-wide policy about the penalties for late submission of coursework will be an important step to all students receiving fair treatment.”
Fears by some that the penalties are overly harsh mean that Council will not pass the changes as policy until the Executive Committee has reconsidered them. A final document will most likely be presented at the next meeting of Council.
News Staff
SRC proposes new essay penalty policyTHE STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATIVE Council have produced a policy that, if passed, will standardise the penal system for late submissions of coursework.
The document suggestions include a University-wide code of marking that would apply to every academic department.
The suggested rules will have students losing one mark per day of late submission, until the possible 22 points available have all been removed.
Currently, students from different depart-ments face a different marking scheme for any work handed in after the due date. Deductions range from one point per day to one point per week. Many departments accept late submis-sions after five weeks while the Archaeology
have been laid to rest, for the short term at least.
Catriona Scott, 22, a fourth year Geography student at the University of Glasgow, who has worked at the Beanscene in Kelvingrove for two years, spoke to Guardian about how the buy-out will affect her.
She said: "To be honest, I was never really worried that they were going to close it down but the sale to Fifi and Ally does mean every-
THE SALE OF SCOTTISH COFFEE HOUSE chain, Beanscene, to Fifi and Ally, has rescued the company after going into administration, with the result that 130 jobs have been saved.
Beanscene went into administration in July, leaving its many employees unsure of their future. With the news of the sale to restaurant and retailer, Fifi and Ally, employment fears
Beanscene's been saved
Murano Mugging(continued from front page)
"When she first grabbed me it wasn't clear what she was trying to do because she was pulling my hair and yelling at me. She said she had a knife as well so it was frightening and quite upsetting."
Chris Forster explained how he went after the couple in order to take back the bag.He told Guardian: "Rebecca seemed upset so I followed them and asked for the bag back. When they heard me, they stopped and then the girl started shouting that she was going to pull a knife on me.
"She ended up throwing the bag at me and I was able to grab Rebecca's phone."
After Chris had managed to rescue the bag, he and Rebecca reported the crime to the security at Murano Street, who then contacted the police.
Strathclyde Police confirmed that the inci-dent had taken place and that investigations were under way.
A spokesperson told Guardian: "A crime was reported at 2.35 a.m. on September 20. We have not yet made any arrests and our enquiries are ongoing."
Chris said that even though there was the risk that the threats to use a knife could have been real, he would act in exactly the same way if caught in a similar situation in the future.
He explained: "I think it's something anyone would have done. You can't just stand there when someone's had their bag stolen, you've got to do something.
"If she had pulled out a knife then I prob-ably would have been a bit more careful but I would still have tried to get the bag back. I wouldm't have been able to not do anything."
Rebecca admitted to Guardian that she would now reconsider walking home after a night out, especially if she could take a taxi instead..
She said: "I probably wouldn't walk home that late again. It's a pretty unsafe area and what happened last week has definitely left me more paranoid and feeling a bit shaken up."
Chris highlighted the fact that the reason the attack came as such a shock was because it happened in such close proximity to student residences.
He explained: "You assume that you're safe because it's so near halls. I will be walking home that way again because the only other way is too far to walk."
Gavin Lee, President of the Students' Representative Council, stressed how much importance the Glasgow University placed on helping to keep students as safe as possible.
He said: "Safety has always been an impor-tant student issue. The SRC provides a free minibus service at night-time from the univer-univer-sity campus to Halls of Residence to ensure students get home as safely as possible.
"At weekends, shelling out a few quid on a taxi is worth it for your piece of mind."
thing feels a bit more secure now."Catriona added that whilst she never seri-
ously thought about having to find another job, the possibility of being unemployed had concerned her slightly.
She explained: "It was always in the back of my mind that the chance of Beanscene closing down was there but I never actively went looking for another job. It isn't a bad company so I knew that there would be somebody who would buy it."
Fifi and Ally is a Glasgow-based company established by Fiona Hamilton and Alison Fielding. Along with the newly acquired Beanscene chain, Fifi and Ally also has a highly-acclaimed restaurant in Glasgow's city centre.
Speaking about the purchase of Beanscene, Fiona Hamilton explained the company's future plans.
She said: "We are delighted to have acquired a strong Scottish brand as part of our expansion of Fifi and Ally. It is our intention to build on all that is good about Beanscene.
"The two brands will complement each other well - Sex and the City meets bohemia - and some of the branches will, in time, rebrand as Fifi and Ally's new express food concept, while others will retain the Beanscene iden-tity."
She emphasised the way in which the company's strengths will help to prevent Beanscene from facing administration again.
She said: "We have a loyal customer base and combined staff of 200 committed indi-viduals, as well as strong funding and a new management structure to drive the brands forward. We are well-equipped to flourish in the long term."
Sarah Smith
“At first it wasn't clear what was going on, then the girl said she had a knife so it was frightening and quite upsetting.”
Photo : Stefan Sealey
[email protected] 3 NEWS29th September 2008
(continued from front page) She said: “I feel almost like I’ve been punished for being prepared. Ideally I’d like some sort of reimbursement for the money I’ve wasted, but it doesn’t look likely.”
Another joint honours student, entering her final year, told Guardian that she is now worrying about how her degree will be affected.
She explained: “Obviously the department has been backed into a corner, to have taken such a drastic step, but I feel that only being allowed to take one module this year has denied me of the breadth of knowledge that previous graduates will have gained. I’m also worried my degree mark will be affected by the transla-tion exam being worth more.”
In his email to students, Dr Simpson made it clear that staff would not allow students to be disadvantaged, and that in fact, the shift in emphasis better reflects the amount of prepara-tion students put into their translation exams. Dr Simpson is one of several members of staff who have agreed to do a small amount of teaching despite being on study leave, so that the maximum number of classes can go ahead.
Head of Section, Dr Billy Grove, admitted that the recent restructuring of the School of Modern Languages and Culture (SMLC) as a whole has contributed to the problem, but that the French department is now on a more posi-tive track.
He told Guardian: “The situation is better than when the email was circulated. The deci-sion to reduce the number of modules was made to ensure that the modules which are available are of the best quality possible.”
When informed of the plight of those students who had already purchased books for modules they were no longer able to take, Dr Grove promised that enquiries would be made to the university’s on-campus bookshop, John Smith’s, about accepting the return of books, given the exceptional circumstances.
He claimed that negotiations are now taking place with the Dean of the University to address the staff shortage and emphasised that the situa-tion would definitely improve.
He said: “I’m in talks with the Dean and the future of the French Department looks very rosy.”
The year-group currently starting their senior honours year has experienced disruption to their studies in the past: in 2006, during their 2nd year, the chaos of the national lecturers’ strike led to the end-of-year oral examinations being cancelled.
This has meant that the students affected will face their final oral examinations this year having sat only one French oral exam in their whole university career. Professor Keith Reader, the current honours convenor, maintained that the lecturers’ strike occurred nationally rather than locally and was therefore a different issue from the current situation.
Historic win forGlasgow Lecturer
A PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF Glasgow has become the first woman to win the Estelle Grover Lecture Award.
Professor Mandy MacLean won the acco-lade in recognition of her research into pulmo-nary arterial hypertension (PAH). She was also the first British academic to win since Professor Timothy Evans, a consultant in Thoracic Medicine at the Royal Brompton hospital, gave the lecture in 1996.
Professor MacLean`s lecture highlighted findings that explain how PAH develops, how the condition is connected to serotonin, a chemical naturally produced by the brain, and why recreational drugs such as crystal meth and speed can induce this fatal condition. Her find-ings lay the foundations for research into drugs that will more effectively treat the disease.
Professor MacLean expressed gratitude upon her acceptance, immediately looking to the future of her research.
She said: “I am truly honoured to give the 2008 Estelle Grover lecture. This acknowl-edges 15 years of my research into how the neurotransmitter serotonin is involved in this terrible disease. When it occurs in adults, it is a disease more commonly observed in women. My current research is into why there is this gender effect. I truly hope my research will lead to new drugs to treat this disease.”
The Estelle Grover Lecture Award is given biannually by the American Thoracic Society and held during the Grover Conference.
Professor Paul Hagan, dean of the Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences: “We are delighted that Mandy has received this honour. It is testament to her work that the American Thoracic Society has recognised Prof. MacLean’s contribution to this vital field.”
(continued from front page)He went on to add that the knives confis-
cated mostly belonged to international students who were unaware of the law in Scotland.
He explained: "I think it's because some of the international students come from different cultures where carrying a knife isn't necessarily a crime. Some students are used to being able to carry a blade at home and are often surprised when told they have to be confiscated."
Security at the Glasgow University Union does not operate in the same way as at the QMU, as it does not require people to submit to a bag search before going in.
When asked whether the union would be revising how it conducts its security in the light of Thursday's events, GUU President Chris Birrell was keen to stress that the existing
security arrangements had been working well for years.
He told Guardian: "We have not had any problems for as long as I have been around but I will definitely be taking this into consider-ation when reviewing GUU security."
A university spokesperson explained that, whilst it was not responsible for the security arrangements at either union, every effort was made to ensure the safety of students whilst on campus.
He said: "The safety and security of students is of paramount importance to the university and while the security at student union events are the responsibility of the QMU and GUU respectively, university security liases closely with the police to maintain a safe environment for students and staff in the wider campus."
Disenfrenchised
Lembit at Launch of Liberals
“The decision to reduce the number of modules was made to ensure that those which are available are of the best quality possible.”
LEMBIT OPIK MP WAS IN GLASGOW on September 23 for the 2008 launch of the student Liberal Democrat party.
The event, held at Curlers Bar on Byres Road, marks the beginning of an already successful year for the student organisation, which has increased its membership signifi-
cantly through its Freshers’ Week activities.Mr. Opik, the MP for Montgomeryshire,
spoke to students about Liberal Democrat policy and the problems currently facing the party. He told Guardian that one of the main issues was that of improving the way his party engages with the general public.
He said: “We need to talk in an ordinary language to ordinary people. That is a chal-
lenge of presentation, and we’re not doing it as well as we could.”
When asked about the recent moves the Liberal Democrats have taken to address the recession – a controversial set of tax cuts that have led some to believe the party has abandoned its high public-spending credentials – Mr. Opik explained why he supported the new policies.
He said: “I was nervous about the party’s tax changes until I actu-ally understood them. In reality what we’re saying is we’ll take
more money from the rich and give it to the less wealthy.”
Reserving a note of criticism for David Cameron, Mr. Opik claimed that the opposi-tion party values style over substance, and as a result is short on policy.
Of the Conservative leader, he said: “He has no political narrative whatsoever”.
Any perception in the media of an economic u-turn did nothing to dent Mr. Opik’s confi-dence of the Lib Dem’s future prospects. When asked by Guardian what his party would need to do in order to succeed at the next general election, he spoke about the need for politicians to re-examine their means of communication.
He said: “All we need is for our politics to be in primary colours. We need clear policies that make sense and aren’t patronising.”
The president of the University Liberal Democrats, Sophie Hall, expressed her confi-dence in the party’s future prospects.
She told Guardian: “If everybody who wanted to vote for us did, we would win at the next election.”
Tom Bonnick
Knife found outside QMU
Photo : Jim Wilson
News Staff
Photo : Jamie McHale
Big Bang...Big FlopTHE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER (LHC), the world’s largest scientific experiment, came to an abrupt halt on the 19th of September, just nine days after it was switched on.
The failure caused the LHC to leak over a tonne of liquid helium resulting in 100 of the system’s 9500 magnets to overheat. While the machine usually operates at -271C, a few degrees above absolute zero, the temperature of the magnets in sections three and four of the ring rose by 100 degrees. At the time of the malfunction the LHC was operating at just 10% of its full potential.
The exact nature of the fault is under inves-tigation but experts already estimate that it will take a month to warm the machine up to a temperature at which it can be repaired. The cooling process will take a further month and the project will also be put on hold over the winter. This means that the LHC will not be back online until spring 2009.
Robert Aymar, CERN Director General, told press that in spite of the impact of this early setback, the machine’s teething problems were in no way insurmountable.
He said: “Coming immediately after the very successful start of LHC operation on September 10, this is undoubtedly a psycho-logical blow. Nevertheless, the success of the LHC’s first operation is testimony to years of painstaking preparation and the skill of
the teams involved in building and running CERN’s accelerator complex. I have no doubt that we will overcome this setback with the same degree of rigour and application.”
This is not the first setback for the LHC: in 2005 a technician died in a construction accident on-site. The project is also two years behind schedule after CERN’s budget was reduced in 2001. It is estimated that the whole project could cost as much as €6.4 billion. This most recent malfunction comes immediately after a week of delays due to the replacement of a faulty tramsformer.
The LHC was built to simulate the moments just after the Big Bang by firing beams of protons around a 27 km underground tube below Geneva at a speed of 11,245 revolutions a second or 99.99% the speed of light.
Before the magnets overheated scientists were able to observe the first particles being accelerated in the LHC. Dr. Chris Parkes, professor of Physics and Astronomy at University of Glasgow, is the British Vertex Locator (VELO) Project Leader and VELO software co-ordinator.
He said: “The particles were seen by the team of scientists within seconds, and from the very first collision.”
Dr Eduardo Rodrigues, a research assistant in the Glasgow LHC group and VELO data quality co-ordinator described the moment at which the first results were recorded.
He said: “I had worked on the real-time
monitoring plots which allowed us to see the particles traversing the detector. I was overwhelmed when we saw the evidence of the particle tracks clearly appearing on the computer monitors in the control room”.
WORMS COULD HOLD THE KEY TO MORE effective treat-ment of arthritis if research being undertaken by the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde is
successful.The Arthritis Research
Campaign have pledged £213,700 to the project over the course of three years, providing the neces-sary funding to launch and finance the research.
The team hope to synthesise drugs derived from an anti-inflam-matory substance named ES-62 secreted by the parasitic filarial nematode worm. This devel-opment in medical science will eventually be applied to the treat-ment of a range of auto-immune, inflammatory conditions: rheuma-toid arthritis, lupus and asthma for example.
The nematode worm is known to make its home in the blood-streams of tens of millions of people in the tropics. Although the presence of these worms can cause disorders such as elephantiasis; the ES-62 they emit into the blood-stream prevents the onset of such diseases.
Professor Margaret Harnett, team leader and Professor of
Immune Signalling at the University of Glasgow, explained how the mutual relationship of man and worm would benefit science.
She said: “In our study, we will exploit a mechanism optimised by human/parasite interactions over millennia to develop anti-inflam-matory drugs”
Preliminary research has shown that countries with a high instance of nematode worms also enjoy very low rates of inflammatory bowel disease, type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other auto-immune diseases.
ES-62 can circulate through the body without weakening the hosts immunity or causing any other side effects. The worm’s production of ES-62 makes its symbiotic rela-tionship with man possible and is
IN BRIEF
Number of freshers exceed uni targets
CHARLES KENNEDY MP, GLASGOW University’s newly elected Rector, welcomed new students to the University in his first Freshers’ address.
Sir Muir Russell, Principal of Glasgow University, SRC President Gavin Lee, GUU President Chris Birrell and QM President Ally Hunter and the GUSA President also delivered speeches.
Students will also have the opportunity to raise any issues they have at university by attending one of the upcoming Rector’s Surgeries. Mr. Kennedy will then be able to raise these issues with the University Management or at a national level.
Gavin Lee, SRC President, explained Mr Kennedy's integral role in student welfare.
He said: “He will be working closely with the SRC over the coming months to represent students and continue to work for their interests.”
Surgeries will take place in the Advice Centre of the SRC, Ground Floor, John Mac building.
Dates for the Rector Surgeries this term are:
Oct 2nd : 11.00 - 12.30Nov 7th : 13.00 - 14.30Dec 11th : 12 noon - 13.30
Kennedy begins duties as Rector
the product of thousands of years of evolution.
Professor William Harnett, of the University of Strathclyde, described how this relationship was of particular interest to the study.
He said: “We will be focusing on mechanisms of combating hyper-inflammation that have developed naturally and with apparent accep-tance by humans during their co-evolution with parasites,”
Professor Iain McInnes, Professor of Experimental Medicine at the University of Glasgow, explained that the prop-erties of the chemical ES-62 also facilitated the study of other areas of Infection and Inflammation.
“ES-62 appears to act like a ‘thermostat’ to effectively turn down disease-causing inflam-mation whilst leaving essential defence mechanisms intact to fight infection and cancer, this property also makes ES-62 a unique tool for scientists to identifying how such disease-causing inflammation occurs.”
Worms inspire new research George Binning
Photo: CERN
DESPITE FEARS THAT GOVERNMENT underinvestment in higher education would result in student numbers at Scottish univer-sities being frozen for the next five year, the number of new students admitted for the year 2008/09 has not only exceeded university targets, but has improved on previous years.
It is one year since a worrying report from Universities Scotland highlighted the shortfall in funding and warned that, with no alternative source of backing, the intake of students would remain static and the gap between Scottish and English universities would widen. Not only does this year’s total intake of 4048 students surpass the University’s target, it also represents a 3% increase on last year’s figure.
A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow expressed confidence for the future due to the unexpected rise in student numbers.
He said: “The University has reached its target of 3798 and has exceeded it by 250. The University is pleased with admissions this year and looks forward to expanding the application base throughout the UK and EU over the next few years.”
Photo : University of Glasgow
News Staff
“The mutual relationship of man and worm can benefit science”
[email protected] 29th September 20083
Conflict of Interest at Freshers' Fair
George Binning
Glasgow Uni students join war protest in Manchester
Ross Mathers MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE Glasgow University Stop The War Coalition united recently with five thousand other protestors from across Britain to demonstrate outside Labour Party’s annual Conference in Manchester.
The demonstration took place on the opening day of the Conference at Manchester’s Central Conference Centre, Saturday 20th September; a week after the death of the one hundred and twentieth British soldier to die in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001.
The march, which began in the city centre, was organised by the Stop The War Coalition, the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament and the British Muslim Initiative in an attempt to put pressure on the Government to withdraw British military forces from both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Eileen Boyle, Vice President of the Glasgow University branch of the Stop The War Coalition, hailed the protest a great success for the campaign, claiming to have made a serious impact in Manchester.
She said: “We brought the place to an absolute standstill. It was great - they couldn’t ignore us. People were clapping and every-thing. It was a really nice atmosphere.”
As part of the demonstration the organisers held a two-minute silence for those killed as a result of Britain’s involvement in the Middle East. Prominent anti-war campaigners Tony
Benn, ex-Labour MP, and Rose Gentle, whose son was killed in Iraq, gave speeches to the protesters outside the conference.
Inside the conference, while the spotlight was sharply focused on the current economic crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan featured too. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, speaking on Tuesday, repeatedly defended the ‘War On Terror’ as did Foreign Secretary David Miliband who argued Britain’s intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan was giving people there a life “free of fear”.
However Boyle dismissed this image of Labour strength shown at the conference.
She said: “The Labour party is not the party it used to be…it’s just tagging along with [President] Bush now”
Boyle argues that the British public has universally lost faith in the war in Iraq.
The said: “The argument has been won, you can’t find people that are pro-war anymore. There’s no one left to convince. Less people believe the nonsense now, people now know it’s about oil”
Following the positive reception of a Stop The War conference held on campus two years ago, the university’s branch are putting plans into place for a similar event that will take place on the 14th and 15th of February next year.
THE OFFICER TRAINING Corps (OTC) clashed with the Stop the War Coalition (STWC) in their bids to win over new students in the Freshers' Fair.
Though all student soci-eties had been briefed by the SRC to keep to their stalls, there were reports that the OTC and the STWC were roaming freely round the Main University Building.
While the OTC tried approach potential recruits, the STWC followed close behind attempting to dissuade the Freshers.
Gavin Lee, SRC President, confirmed that both parties had been asked to stop their rogue operations.
He said: “OTC and STWC were asked by members of the SRC to stop blocking stair-wells and doorways. Both
organisations were asked to respect the same set of guide-lines; this includes staying at one's stall.”
Guardian spoke to an Officer Cadet, who asked to remain nameless, about the incident. Having represented the OTC at the Freshers' Fair, he was keen to stress that recruiting for the the OTC was a separate venture to the Army.
He explained, “The Officer Training Corps does not necessarily lead to the army, it equips is members with a range of useful skills.”
Stacey MacMullen, speaking for the STWC, disagreed, saying: “The training in the OTC ultimately prepares its recruits for war.”
Both groups were quick to clarify that there were no
personal vendettas between them, and that their differ-ences were purely ideological.
The Officer Cadet main-tained that as a member of the OTC, professional conduct was a priority.
He explained, “We do not want to get into a tit for tat exchange with the Stop the War Coalition. We are so different it would be a futile exercise. However some of their members are in fact friends of mine.”
Stacey MacMullen held a similar view.
He said, “We are not soldier haters, we have nothing against their members. Neither do we feel it would be possible to engage in constructive debate with them as we have such polar points of view, that is why we tried to persuade freshers instead.”
Photo : James Porteous
[email protected] 4 NEWS29th September 2008
[email protected] 29th September 20086
Over recent months, ‘the Credit Crunch’ has become a near-ubiquitous phrase, used in reference to the continuing contraction of the global credit markets. However, it fails to convey the depth and scale of
the unfolding financial catastrophe. It suggests that the esca-lating economic crisis is a short-term nuisance that can only be successfully addressed by more regulations and more respon-sible banking. In fact, the credit emergency raises fundamental questions about the sustainability of prevailing market ortho-doxy and its effects on working people and students. For nearly thirty years, successive governments in London and Washington have refused to compromise their cast-iron belief in the free-market. The turbulence of the last twelve months has forced them to reconsider.
The crisis has its immediate origins in the dramatic collapse of the ‘sub-prime’ mortgage business in the United States. Sub-prime was the euphemism applied to mortgages that were seen as risky or potentially risky – that is, mortgages that were knowingly sold to customers who were unable to repay them. Traditionally, banks and mortgage companies have refused to lend large sums of money to people who might have difficulty paying them back. However, the relative strength of the world economy and lack of proper regulation meant that even ‘high-risk’ credit applications were being accepted. These loans were then parcelled together and sold on to third-party financial insti-tutions, mainly in the United States. This combination of stag-gering dishonesty and remarkable incompetence was rewarded with temporary success: massive profits for banks and financial institutions. Inevitably, though, the ‘sub-prime’ mortgages defaulted: people were simply unable to repay the huge loans they had taken out to buy homes, properties, cars. Repossession rates soared. House prices tumbled. The “re-selling” of the bad loans meant that the sub-prime market had infected all quarters of the financial and money markets. The United States effec-tively started down the path to recession and took the rest of the world with it.
The failures of under-regulated financial markets have forced a partial reassessment of the doctrine of non-intervention (the idea that the state should have no part in directing the flow of the market). Devout free-marketers (such as President Bush) have turned to “big government”, previously anathema, to rescue the system – culminating in the re-nationalization of the American mortgage giants, Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac. The U.S. govern-ment is currently negotiating with the Senate and the Congress in an attempt to agree to inject a massive $700 billion into the system, in the hope that it will promote liquidity in the credit
system and salvage auspicious financial institutions teetering on the brink of collapse. Whether this bailout will succeed is an open question. What is becoming increasingly clear is that it will be taxpayers who foot the bill for these rescue attempts. Barack Obama and John McCain have begun to express concern that middle- and working-class Americans- already cash-strapped and debt-ridden- will suffer for the ruthlessness of Wall Street. Critics of the moves made by governments on both sides of the Atlantic have called it “socialism for the rich” and warned against rescuing institutions that have only themselves to blame for their problems. Supporters have argued that if the financial markets are not stabilized, the effects on ordinary people will be even greater.
The consequences of the implosion of the American mort-gage industry are massive. World economic growth has slumped and continues to fall. Banks across the globe are expected to announce a total collective loss of $1 trillion. Uncertainty over the extent of “sub-prime” liabilities has ensured that financial lending services have become far less willing to authorise loan applications or extend credit. In consequence, there has been a
sudden decrease in the availability of credit for both ordinary consumers and major money lenders. Hopes that the crisis would be restricted to the financial world and not impact upon the “real economy” have been dashed.
In Britain, the severity of the credit emergency was confirmed by the collapse of mortgage lender Northern Rock, and compounded a year later by the rushed take-over of Halifax Bank of Scotland: the single largest lender in the country. The take-over has left thousands of shareholders feeling cheated. Lloyds TSB bought the company at what amounts to a bargain-basement price. Scotland’s biggest and oldest bank is now owned and run by the same City of London operatives whose reckless-ness and greed contributed heavily to the current disorder of the financial markets. As a desperate response to narrowing profit margins, HBOS executives will probably slash the number of people they employ north of the border and relocate central offices to the southern England.
None of this bodes well for student life in Scotland or across the world. Almost all student incomes are dependent on
or supplemented by credit. In the coming months, students are going to find it increasingly difficult to extend an overdraft or take out a loan because banks will be ever more reluctant to lend to customers. This will have particularly severe consequences for areas with high student populations, like Glasgow’s West End. Students will find themselves with less and less disposable income and, in turn, begin to focus their purchasing power on essential goods. ‘Frivolous’ or leisure spending will decrease and the local economy will suffer. Small businesses will be forced to make cuts and workers in temporary or part-time employment will be the first to be jettisoned. Needless to say, these workers tend to be students. Those students who are already struggling with rising food and fuel prices and stratospheric debts could soon be faced with added the disadvantage of joblessness. What is particularly shameful and frustrating about this situation is that those who are responsible for the financial meltdown- bankers, mortgage company CEO’s, financiers- have been lavishly rewarded for their arrogance and criminal stupidity. For example, Adam Applegarth, formerly a senior member of the board at Northern Rock, received a £760,000 severance package and a £346,000 pension agreement when he was relieved of his job by the state last August. In contrast, students, low-paid workers and the poor have been told that they must deal with the credit emergency on their own terms. During times of economic slowdown or recession, state spending will be kept at a minimum. That means a decrease in the funds available for welfare programmes, bursaries and grants.
The extent of the crisis is illustrated by the increasingly polarised debates concerning the nature and general direction of capitalism in the recent decades and at the start of the 21st Century. Most observers have noted that the roots of the problem lie not only in “bad practice” but in an economic and political ideology that valorises free-markets and endless de-regulation at the expense of a more practical and honest approach to wealth creation. Whilst these criticisms are valid, they miss one crucial factor: financial institutions endorsed and encouraged reckless behaviour because it was highly profitable. As noted above, some executives at banks that are now struggling (or have already failed) have grown exorbitantly rich in the preceding years. And the purpose of capitalism is, in a phrase, the pursuit and accumulation of greater and greater profits. Therefore, any criticisms of the practice of financial institutions must first accept that their behaviour had a rational basis if viewed from the perspective of a financier, speculator, or corporate execu-tive. This is quite possibly the most sinister aspect of the present economic crisis.
It's Crunch TimeAs the global economy goes into downturn, Jamie Maxwell and Callum McCormick investigate the credit crunch and what it means for students
Banks across the globe are expected to announce a total collective loss of $1 trillion
FEATURES 7
University in 2008 is a very modern affair: we borrow books using a swipe card; we read coursework over the
internet; some of us even sip student-discounted lattes on the way to lectures. Fortunately, our contemporary
University experience need not a blinding-light to bygone days, but rather as a door to them. Hannah Currie
delves into the archives to reveal Glasgow University's colourful history.
Loafing around in the University or amid the buzz of the west end is one of the pleasures of living Glasgow, but our univer-sity didn’t arrive at our pretty-city setting by accident. Over 500 years ago Glasgow was chosen because it had a moderate climate, an abundance of provisions and a convenient central location. Originally, the University was on the High Street, only moving to its current home in the 19th century to satisfy demand for more space and better buildings. The idea for a University came from Bishop William Turnbull, who believed it would enhance the status of his Cathedral and provide Scotland with an educated clergy. Universities were Catholic institutions that had to be approved by ‘papal bull’, a letter from the Pope: in 1451 Nicholas V issued a bull, and Glasgow University was born. The quadrangle layout of the main buildings was inspired by the traditions of the enclosed monastic life: back then the grassy courtyard would have been used to grow vegetables.
Despite years of development and change, Glasgow University is steeped in tradition. The University Mace is a symbol of this continuity: in the 1460s funds were raised for an especially fine mace, and a super-sexy silver one, with a gilt and enamel crown, was purchased. It has been used ever since, save for a period of thirty years when Archbishop James Beaton ran off to Paris with it and a load of other loot in 1560. This was the year of the Scottish Reformation, when Glasgow converted from Catholicism to Anglicanism, prompting Beaton to flee. Most of the valuables were lost during the French Revolution, but the mace was sent back in 1590. It is now kept in the Hunterian Museum and carried at ceremonial occasions and graduation.
Throughout history the University’s Principals have raised eyebrows almost without exception. Brave Scot Thomas Smeaton took over as principal of Glasgow University in 1580 during very tricky times indeed. The sixteenth century Reformation had thrown the city into a period of unrest, and ye olde Smeato was involved in a six-hour student riot sparked by government moves to set up a new archbishop in Glasgow. To this day it is not clear whether Smeaton took part or resisted the riot, however Steven Reid, a lecturer at Glasgow who specialises in early University history, is currently researching Smeaton’s mysterious role.
The Freshers of the new millenium might fancy themselves to be footloose and fearless when it comes to student fun and games, but they have it easy compared to medieval first-years. In 1476, the unfortunate Robert Ross was blinded in one eye after being struck by a cabbage stalk while playing makeshift football with another student. Averaging out at the age of eleven to fourteen, new students also engaged in golf and archery. But there were no late nights for these poor boys, who rose at 5am to start classes…in Latin. Today’s students might think twice before complaining about nine o’clock lectures.
Exams in the olden days were as much of a drag as they are now, though conducted quite differently. Paper was not readily avail-able, so examination consisted of oral questioning and active debate, lasting for as long as the sand ran in a timing glass. Until the 19th century, students sat on a Black Stone, which was thought to empower them during the exam. Students were ranked against their classmates and it was a bit more obvious if you didn’t do well, as there were only about 20 to 30 people in the whole university. Numbers gradually increased over the years, and a huge rise in the 20th century left us where we are today, with 20,000 students.
From hastily-spent student loans to maxed-out overdrafts, we’ve all experienced the unwelcome sting of financial difficulty. Up until very recently the quality of a student’s life depended much more upon their ability to pay. 16th century rich kids ate well with their regents (teachers), whilst cash-strapped students often acted as their servitors, hungrily eyeing the lavish meals as they dished them out. Unfortunately for the poor ones, neither tins of baked beans nor Farmfoods were in existence during the Middle Ages.
Nowadays, nobody so much as bats an eyelid if a student misses the occasional lecture. Had you been one of the boys at Glasgow University in the 15th and 16th centuries you would have received a severe beating, (women were not allowed in until 1892). According to lecturer Steven Reid corporal punish-ment was popular – with the regents, at least. “There were often complaints that some of the masters enjoyed caning a bit too much,” he says. “University education was very regimented – you simply weren’t allowed to misbehave or slack off”.
Getting straight As today is no easy task, but imagine the pressure to achieve brilliance in the midst of the advances of the Scottish Enlightenment. During the Enlightenment of the 18th century, Glasgow wasn’t short of its whiz kids. Notable alumni include outstanding mathematician Colin MacLaurin, an undergraduate at Glasgow in the 1710s who wrote such a good dissertation on Newton that Newton himself was impressed. Lab worker James Watt worked closely with Joseph Black to develop the steam engine, while we have Francis Hutcheson to thank for lectures being taught in English (he was the first Professor in Glasgow to do so). Alexander Broadie, professor at Glasgow University and author of ‘The Scottish Enlightenment’, says: “The unique thing about Glasgow’s geniuses was that they were multi-talented: they didn’t just do one impressive thing; they did many. This was thanks to a large number of societies in Glasgow where experts from all sorts of fields could join together and discuss ideas.” Perhaps the most famous student at Glasgow was econo-mist Adam Smith, who attended the university in the 1730s and later returned to become Professor of Logic and Rhetoric – a position which Professor Broadie now holds.
Ye Good Olde Days
Location location location
Freshers are nothing new
Debt-Ridden Students
Courting ControversyThese young folk have it easy
Not Just a Pretty Mace
Pulling a Sickie?
High Achievers
[email protected] September 2008
29th September [email protected] FEATURES
21st Century Feminism: Girls AllowedI have of late realised that I am increasingly becoming numb
to the predictable responses I usually receive when I dare to utter the word ‘feminism’. Have you recoiled in fear at the very title of this article? Look at yourself in the mirror…
have your eyes glazed over yet? These are the most common reactions; a mixture of ‘how does this apply to me?’ and ‘what on earth is there left to complain about?’ From females who are uncomfortable with the feminist chat I have often felt their need to distance themselves from me and my ‘unfeminine’ ways, as if one look could turn them into dungaree-wearing lesbians (for the record this is not a power I possess). From men the responses vary from mild irritation or reacting as if they are under attack in some way to a sly smile that suggests, ‘she’s a feisty one this one…could be a bit of a challenge in the bedroom…maybe she’ll tie me up or something…’ (Don’t even ask). Of course there is occasionally that rare ray of sunshine when the response is enthu-siasm and I am not made to feel like a complete plank.
Why has ‘feminism’ become such a dirty word? It seems that the term has acquired so many ridiculous connotations that the truth of the theory has been completely lost. These, often absurd, misconceptions are in part a hangover from the second wave of the movement when feminists nationwide were afflicted by a dangerous condition commonly referred to as the 80’s. Along with perms and power-dressing the 80’s did things to feminism that we are only now beginning to rectify. The media can take some responsibility for fuelling the stigmatisation that occurred during this time, but ultimately the responsibility to challenge any preconceptions we may have about the movement lies with us all.
So let us address a few of the common myths about femi-nism. Beginning with what, in my experience, has been the most frequent response from those whom object to the very existence of a feminist movement. It is widely believed that men and women have achieved equality nowadays and thus that feminism is redundant. Indeed, here in Britain we are extremely lucky that
we have come such a long way along the path to equality, but we haven’t come far enough. There are still major issues that need to be addressed. According to Amnesty International, in Britain one in four women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime; on average 167 women are raped everyday in the UK and there are 250 reports of forced marriage made to the Foreign Office every year.
If that is not enough to convince someone that a pro-women movement is necessary then there are global statistics that demon-strate the truly appalling treatment of women worldwide: Amnesty reports that ‘at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to a study based on 50 surveys from around the world’. Also The World Health Organisation has reported that ‘up to 70% of female murder victims are killed by their male partners.’ This universal epidemic of violence against women is surely cause enough for wide-spread outrage and proof that the feminist message is completely relevant to us today. If women and men want this madness to stop they must raise their voices and lend their support to the feminists already campaigning for change.
Glasgow University student and fellow feminist, Jen Symington, was part of last January’s protests on campus against the proposed amendments to the 1967 Abortion Act. She empha-sises the need for a link between accepting the ideas of feminism and taking that next step of actually getting involved with the movement, she says “Its great to be a feminist but its also really important to be an activist too and to do something with those views, to be connected to other people who share those views
because you are always much more effective when you unite with like-minded people.”
Judith Orr, a socialist feminist writer, activist and speaker, argues that people should join the movement because the fight for equality is far from being won. She claims, “There’s still deep inequality in our society. Women are still discriminated against because they’re women. Average pay for women is around 18% less than the average pay for men. Our National Parliament only has 18% of its MPs as women and that’s the highest it’s ever been. If you ask people, ‘Do you want to be treated equally? Do you want to have the right to a job with equal pay and to be treated in a serious way and not trivialised and not be judged by your looks or the colour of your hair or the size of your bra? Is this what you want?’ most will answer yes and of course that’s what feminism and women’s liberation is all about, being treated equally in society. I think if you ask most people about those sorts of issues they’ll say that they’re against women’s oppression.”
The recent ‘Sex and Power’ report, published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission as a part of their ‘Working Better’ project, sheds new light on the inequality that exists in our society between the genders. It reveals that it will take 200 years for women to be equally represented in Parliament, shock-ingly, the report points out, just a few years longer than it would take a snail to crawl along the entire length of the Great Wall of China. The report also claims that, ‘The UK currently ranks 70th and is outperformed by Rwanda, Afghanistan and Iraq in terms of women’s representation’. Moreover it is reported that it would take 55 years (which has gone up from 40) to have equal representation in the judiciary and 73 years (again this has gone up from 65) for there to be an equal number of female directors of FTSE 100 companies. The worryingly slow pace of progress in getting women into positions of authority is in stark contrast with other statistics stated in the report, such as the fact that ‘nearly three out of five recent first degree graduates are women’ and that ‘we are moving to a position where women could eventu-
After the recent publication of the Sex and Power report from the Human Rights commission, Kirstien Hodgson asks if feminism is as relevant today as it once was.
"Average pay for women is around 18% less than the average pay for men. Our National Parliament only has 18% of its MPs as women and that’s the highest it’s ever been."
Photo: Duncan Brown
[email protected] 929th September 2008 FEATURES
21st Century Feminism: Girls Allowedally make up more than half the work force.’ The report points to sexual discrimination in the work place and the detrimental effect of stereotypes in an attempt to explain the lack of representa-tion that these figures show. It also blames ‘our rigid, inflexible approach to work’, which often means that when women want to have children they are forced down or sometimes off the career ladder altogether.
Once the relevance of feminism has been proved it is neces-sary to challenge the stereotyping of the feminist which has become a huge obstacle in gaining support for the movement. For instance we all know the image of the feminist as a dungaree-wearing-lesbian. I’m sure some feminists do indeed have a penchant for all-in-one denim wear. Personally the last time I wore dungarees I was six and I don’t think the word feminism had entered my vocabulary yet. As for the sexuality issue, this misconception quite obviously stems from the idea that feminism equals an aversion to all things male. This brings us onto another popular myth, namely that all femi-nists hate men. Let me make this point absolutely clear: feminism is not anti-men, in fact feminism is good for men. Men should not feel threatened by the feminist movement. A patriarchal society is an unbalanced society and surely that’s not good for anyone. Feminism is simply about addressing the imbalance. The move-ment needs the support of men. Without this the divide will only grow wider. Judith Orr echoes this view, “I don’t like the sort of feminism that just sees men as the enemy. I think that men have to be part of the solution. It must be acknowledged that in society there is an element of which women’s oppression and division in society affects us all. I believe that men also have a lot to gain from a society which has women’s liberation at its heart.”
In the past the media have often chosen these anti-male ‘femi-nists’ as representatives of the whole movement because this kind of extremism is controversial and controversy sells. There are still groups of women around today who call themselves feminists and take an anti-male stance. For me this isn’t feminism at all, it’s a
call to replace patriarchy with matriarchy, one imbalanced society with another. Furthermore groups such as these are incredibly damaging for the actual feminist movement as they feed the stere-
otypes that need to be dispelled and alienate potential support. If you have experienced this kind of treatment at the hands of so called ‘feminists’ do not despair and whatever you do, do not give into the abyss of cynicism, they are not real feminists, they are just mean.
There also seems to be an underlying fear, especially amongst young women, that an acceptance of feminism has to mean a loss of femininity. Bollocks. Sorry, what I meant to say was that I think these two things are entirely compatible. We can celebrate femi-nine and masculine qualities whilst upholding the idea that men and women are equal and should be treated as such.
Charlotte Cameron from the Glasgow Feminist Network describes her own personal struggle with the feminist label, “I was very reluctant to call myself a feminist until I was around 17 when I realised that if men didn’t think I was hot for wanting equality, then those men weren’t worth my time. The stereotype of a femi-nist being a big fat ugly hairy lesbian hippy is one that dissuades lots of women from identifying as feminists. But I think the fact that the fear of being ugly, or having body hair, or loving other women has such a hold over us just proves why we need femi-nism - how can women be equal when we are made to feel like we aren’t women at all unless we’re completely hot and hairless? Feminists come from all walks of life, and we’re just as likely to wear heels and dresses as we are to wear boots and dungarees.” I share Charlotte’s view, the point is this: you can be feminine and a feminist, you can be masculine and a feminist, you just can’t be a chauvinist and a feminist, that one doesn’t work.
There has never been a better time to rid ourselves of these misconceptions and get involved with the movement, It has recently been reported that there is currently a nationwide revival of feminism. After a dry spell of around a decade (Spare Rib ceased publication in the 90’s) there has been an influx of feminist magazines being launched here in the UK. In the last 18 months 6 publications have started up. Knockback, Uplift! and Subtext are just a few names to look out for. The majority of these have been founded by young women who feel that there is a distinct gap in the market for an alternative to the magazines usually targeted at females. Closer to home the renewed enthusiasm for the cause has manifested itself in the creation of the Glasgow Feminist Network which started almost a year ago and now has over 200 members. The Network has both a myspace and facebook page. Jen Symington discusses the importance of Glasgow University students in particular realising the role that they can play in the movement, she says “People are definitely becoming more organised in forming these links and forming these groups that can actually start to make real changes. I think that’s important on our campus and also in the wider context of this city, Scotland and Britain.”
I’m not calling for an all out rebellion... just yet. A direct result of the false myths about feminism which pervade the British psyche and distort our understanding of the theory is that there are many people out there whose attitudes towards the very word border on hostility. Thus in order to have a national public debate on feminist issues we first need to target the problem of stigma-tisation. So, for now, if you previously fell into the ‘eyes-glazed-over’ category I simply ask that the next time someone mentions the dreaded F word in your presence you don’t shun them, maybe try and engage with the issue, be aware of it at least. On the other hand, for all those enthusiasts out there, if you have been so inspired by this article that you feel the need to revolt, burn bras and wage war on all patriarchal institutions then of course I’m with you all the way.
After the recent publication of the Sex and Power report from the Human Rights commission, Kirstien Hodgson asks if feminism is as relevant today as it once was.
"I'm not calling for an all out rebellion...just yet"
Photo: Fawcett Society Photo: Glasgow Feminist Network
[email protected] FEATURES 29th September 2008
I have a special relationship with bikes. The house I was born and raised in was home to a blacksmith called Kirkpatrick Macmillan, famous for (arguably) inventing the first pedal bicycle in the 19th Century.
The achievement of this Scottish smithy is debatably proved by a report which tells of how a “gentleman from Dumfries-shire... bestride a velocipede... of ingenious design” was involved in an altercation with a Glasgow pedestrian.
Nearly 200 years later and cycling is not only a massive cornerstone of society but has also managed to remain cool. Now seen as a representation of the struggle to save our planet, cycling is as iconic as it is common. Through the BMX scene of the 80s, bikes have also become an integral part of urban culture, one of the fundamental poser acces-sories. However a new scene is on the rise, a movement that seeks to get back to the origins of cycling, worshipping simplicity and efficiency. Welcome to the world of fixed-gear bikes!
The basic difference between a fixed-gear bike and any other is it has only one gear and does not have the option to freewheel, so the pedals have to move whenever the wheels do. Considering this results in having to do a lot more work, especially downhill, why on earth would anyone choose it? According to cycling enthusiast Giles Heffer - “The main thing is that you feel every inch of the road, you can gauge just how fast you’re going by how quickly your legs are turning. You’re more in touch with whatever gradient you’re going over, and the crucial element of slowing the bike down with your legs is just so so different from anything else.” This is pretty much the general consensus on riding fixed, with most people enjoying the feeling of being so in touch with, and in control of, their bike. It’s not the most natural thing at first though, as it’s automatic to try to freewheel, so do be
careful the first time you ride a fixie.It’s becoming more and more common for people to build
their own fixies from old bikes, as this is relatively easy to do. Having just completed a project of my own, I can under-stand why this is so popular. Building your own bike from scratch results in a very personal attachment to it, and the combination of creativity and industry is really satisfying. Bikes can come in an incredible variety of shapes and sizes so there is almost no limit to the possibilities with building your own, fixed or otherwise.
However, the simplicity of a fixie, with no need for
complex gear-changing bits, can result in some really cool designs. Even brakes are optional, as once you get used to riding fixed you can stop with just the pedals. This leaves the door open for all kinds of variations on an unembel-lished basic design, and experimenting with colours and styles is common. Having built numerous fixies, local artist and scenester Alistair Wylie agrees that “the individuality involved in just throwing something together and making it work is really rewarding, and the simplicity of the aesthetic means you can do anything you want with it.” Check out www.fixedgeargallery.com for some really nice shots of bikes from around the world.
After the massive Scottish success in the Olympic Velodrome this year, thanks to a certain Chris Hoy, more people are becoming interested in fixies, as they’re close relatives to track-style bikes, however, fixies have been used for years by the mysterious group among us known
as the ‘couriers’. Who are these people and what do they do? Basically, they are bicycle-riding messengers who take parcels and packages around the city far quicker than a car ever could. They’re associated with fixed-gear riding and the surrounding culture, and even courier-style bags are becoming dead trendy. How to spot a courier? Generally they look like they’ve crawled out of a swamp, a fusion of dreadlocks and camouflage materials, all seen as a blur due to their superhuman speed.
Branching from the courier-riding and ‘alleycat-racing’ scene (underground races held mainly in the US), increas-ingly fixed-gear riding is emerging as a new urban sport to rival skateboarding, BMXing and Rollerblading. Due to the fact that the rider is able to cycle backwards and has greater overall control of the bike, loads of interesting tricks are possible. On the cutting edge of this scene is a crew from San Francisco who have released an amazing video called “Mash”. This is definitely worth checking out as these guys are really at the forefront of the movement.
As glasgow is a relatively bicycle-friendly city, with a fair number of cycle-paths and parks, not to mention some lovely rides not too far out (Loch Lomond is a beauty of a cycle) there’s really no excuse to not own a bike. Whether you’re intrigued enough to try a fixed-gear, or just fancy getting a ‘normal’ bike, there’s never been a better time to get fit and save money. For information on building your own fixie, check out www.sheldonbrown.com which is an absolute goldmine of useful pointers. Some people will argue that the current popularity of fixies is just another fad, and will soon be resigned to the pop-culture graveyard, but whether this is true or not at least people are getting excited about cycling, getting fit and leading greener lives. Cars are so uncool anyway.
Cycling Fixation
Fixed-gear riding is emerging as the new urban sport to rival skate-boarding.
Gerry McKeever takes a look at fixed-gear biking - the newest sporting sensation to hit the streets.
Photo: Stefan Sealey
11 DEBATE
The war in Iraq, Stop the War tell us, is illegal, ille-gitimate and immoral. It would seem, then, that they accept that we are intelligent enough to apply
the finer points of international law and military ethics to a conflict half way round the world. Surely, therefore, we are also intelligent enough to realise that soldiers can get killed, and are capable of deciding for ourselves whether or not we want to accept this risk. For them to think that we need them to protect us by telling us not to sign up is incredibly patron-ising. The OTC were not trying to hide who they were, nor trying to trick people into joining.
What they were doing was giving people the opportunity to discover if military life is for them. Increasingly, univer-sity is a place not just to learn but to discover what you actually want to do with your life. And one potential choice, whether you think it is for you or not, is to join the military. Obviously, this is not a decision to be taken lightly—after all, joining the military does mean accepting an increased chance of a violent and bloody death—so university would seem to be the ideal time and place to test the waters.
We can probably all agree that war is never in itself a good thing. However, this is not about war but about the military. While it is true that if there were no war we would need no military, it is not the case that getting rid of the military would see an end to war. So removing the OTC from campus only makes sense if you want to get rid of the whole military and leave the country defenceless. We need the military, and we therefore need people to join the military. Rather than rushing into a decision upon graduating, the OTC gives students the chance to spend four years exploring whether this is the life for them, without the full commitment of signing up.
Some would say that the OTC is the fun bits of war without all of the bad bits, that it is a game without all of the death and suffering of real war. Arguably, this is the case—after all, cadets are not usually parachuted into Helmand Province—but this in no way means that cadets are not also aware of the horrors of war. They are the ones to be found on 11th November commemorating the dead heroes of the university and the country, when hardly anyone else remem-bers, let alone bothers to turn up. Cadets appreciate more than most the true sacrifice of the soldiers whose deaths we hear about on the news. For them these deaths are not just a statistic to be used to beat the war with but a tragedy that they recognise more than most because it is a sacrifice they are themselves considering facing.
People do not join the military because they are ignorant of the sacrifice they may be called to make—they join because they have found a cause for which they would be prepared to make this sacrifice. This is what they have, through their own free will, chosen to do with their lives. Having the OTC is not some kind of conscription by deceit. Nobody is forced to join, and most of those who do join do not actually go on to join the forces upon graduating. But for those who do, the OTC has given them the chance to fulfil their life’s aim.
Disagreeing with a particular war, or indeed war in general, is not a reason to stop the OTC. Nor is it a reason to try and stop other people joining the OTC. We should continue to support our military, and those who are consid-ering joining the military. The sacrifices they are prepared to make for us deserve our respect and encouragement, not insults. At university, many students finally discover what they will devote their lives to. For some, this means being prepared to lay down their lives for their country. For others, it means writing ‘Fuck Capitalism!’ in a block of wet concrete. I know who I’d rather have on campus.
Like Freemasonry, lawn croquet, and Royal Ascot, the Officer Training Corps (OTC) is an aristocratic institution that attracts a certain fascinated voyeurism
from the lower orders. This in itself is a shame: the ludicrous pomposity and sheer flaccidity of the OTC seems to shield it from reasonable criticism, much as the Queen Mother’s line in ostentatious hats prevented anyone from asking: who is this vile woman and why are we paying for her to parade about in a carriage?
Even erstwhile opponents of militarism are open to the OTC’s senile charm. In a Guardian feature last year, Chris Watt argued that the enormous suicide rate in the army “looks unlikely to change so long as the more privelleged [sic] in society insist that the military should have nothing to do with us.” Watt rightly emphasises that the worst recruitment practices occur in the most desperately deprived areas. Areas like Govan in Glasgow have been devastated by Thatcher’s attacks on British industry in the 1980s, and the biggest bene-ficiaries from this human misery are the army recruiters.
There is a perpetual crisis of army recruitment. Currently, they are 5,000 soldiers short of requirements. An estimated 2,300 soldiers go AWOL every year. A recent poll shows that 47% of troops regularly consider leaving the military, a consequence of bullying, low pay, and fighting aggressive wars in hostile circumstances.
The OTC plays only a marginal role in the recruitment of “foot soldiers”. It is funded by the Ministry of Defence to conduct propaganda on behalf of the armed forces; to indoc-trinate “future leaders” with militaristic values; and, indi-rectly, to recruit an “officer class” to the army. This is why most OTCs are based in Russell Group universities. Is this a matter of free choice? Is it more acceptable to conduct army recruitment among a relatively informed population with a measure of free choice (students) than among the alienated, the impoverished, and the anomic?
According to some sources, only about one in ten OTC members join the army. This only proves that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. For surely
nobody with a chance of a civilian career would join the army as we wage massively unpopular, losing wars on foreign countries unless they were subjected to a measure of indoctrination.
We can never know with absolute certainty what shady practices go on behind the scenes. But we can catch a glimpse at it by looking at the sinister undercurrent of misin-formation that runs throughout the military’s propaganda.
The extent of misinformation ranges from the asinine (“things can get pretty rough out in Iraq – especially when there’s an Old Firm game on”) to the truly Orwellian. Their Infantry Soldier pamphlet strains credulity when it announces that the British Army “is respected worldwide” and has “a unique and glorious history.”
Anyone with a basic knowledge of history and current affairs can refute this. For decades Britain’s armed forces policed our many colonies with an iron fist, brutally suppressing anti-colonial uprisings and pro-democracy movements. Today, British forces are enforcing deeply unpopular occupations against the wishes of the native population.
The military’s propaganda presents an equally fictitious idea of what life is like inside the army. At times, this is even unintentionally amusing. At last year’s Freshers' Week the Royal Air Force presentation showed jovial recruits skiing in
the Alps to strains of “War: What is it Good For?” by Edwin Starr. And there, surely, is the long awaited death of irony.
According to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, military recruitment literature omits or obscures basic features of life in the forces including bullying and the state’s legal and ethical responsibilities to its troops. “The omissions,” the report states, “conspire against the potential recruit’s right and responsibility to make an informed choice about whether to enlist.”
Universities are a unique space for learning and legiti-mate debate. We should not expose this space to military misinformation and organisations whose only purpose is to inculcate a set of reactionary, chauvinist values among otherwise reasonable people.
Stop the War Coalition is right to oppose the OTC at every turn by presenting the reality of life inside the army. I suggest we follow the lead of University College London and ban the OTC, a living embodiment of everything decrepit and deceitful about Britain ‘s past and present.
>>Aidan Cook
Autodidakt
>>James Foley
29th September 2008 [email protected]
The ludicrous pomposity and sheer flac-cidity of the OTC seems to shield it from reasonable criticism
Orthodoxy
Postcards from... Dubai : Construction of a model cityPhoto : Jim Wilson | wjbwilson.tk
[email protected] EDITORIAL 29th September 2008
John McIntyre BuildingUniversity Avenue
Glasgow G12 8QQ
T: 0141 341 6215E: [email protected]
www.glasgowguardian.co.uk
Glasgow University
It is somewhat depressing to have to report on crime in the first issue of Guardian this university year - especially considering the lead story in the first issue last year related to a sexual attack on a young woman in the West End. Sadly, in 2006, the paper also reported on the killing of a twenty-one year old student, who was beaten to death during a night out on Sauchiehall Street. This year (as reported), a female fresher was mugged just outside the Murano Street student halls - following the incident, a fellow student took umbrage with the robbery and recovered her bag from her assailants.
While it is refreshing to know that the social detritus that committed this particular crime got away with nothing, and that people are still willing to stand up to petty criminals, it is incredibly unwise for anyone to risk their life over a mobile, a wallet or a handbag. In this case, nobody involved was hurt, but all it
takes is for the assailant to have a kitchen knife in their pocket, and the lack of intelligence and humanity to use it - Guardian would then be reporting on something a lot worse than a failed mugging.
The realistic picture of Glasgow is similar to that of most other major cities — it does have a grubby, unwanted underside, and students will invariably encounter it in some way during their time studying at the University,
Unfortunately, it’s hard to see how the student body can do anything more proactive than to hope things get better; violent crime is being driven down in Glasgow, and the police are fighting to combat the knife culture that has blighted the city, so things should improve, given time. But for now, assume that any cretin who says they have a knife does, believe them when they say they will use it, and don’t risk your neck to keep hold of the contents of your pockets.
Living on a knife-edgewww.glasgowguardian.co.uk
Cause for conCERN?Possibly the most important event in the history of science almost happened this month, but due to technical difficulties in the Large Hadron Collider we will have to wait until next year.
Nevertheless, the world seems to have caught LHC fever. For all its notoriety though, the LHC is still woefully misunderstood; the trend for amateur particle physics is on the up, and everyone has attempted to explain the theory behind the particle accelerator to a friend, contributing to the tomes of myth and legend surrounding the experiment.
The most popular nugget of apocalyptic speculation is that they will create a man made black hole by mistake which will swallow up the earth in a fraction of a second. Although the scientific community has rubbished the idea, the doomsday brigade has never been happier, ranting and raving on Internet chat rooms and preparing for the end of days.
Just type the word ‘large’ into yahoo and
the predictive search engine will offer Large Hadron Collider as its first option, (followed by ‘large ladies’, ‘large mirrors’, ‘Peter Large’ and the fifth is just not worth mentioning).
The abstract complexity of the physics being tested in this experiment makes it very difficult to drive home actual significance of this experi-ment. Over the next few years we may well undergo a total paradigm shift, scientists hope to finally resolve the conflicts between particle physics and general relativity. This should be a massive step forward for science.
Students at Glasgow have reason to be proud then, as researchers at the University have been integral in the engineering of the hypersensitive ATLAS and VELO detectors, and the Grid system, which will relay massive quantities of CERN data around the world for analysis. When this research comes to fruition, Glasgow will have played an essential role in man’s approach to science for years to come.
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29th September 2008 [email protected] 13LETTERS
Dear Editors...
The Glasgow University Guardian is editorially independent of the SRC and University. All complaints should be adressed to the editors, who can be reached via the above contact details.
Editors: George Binning & James PorteousNews Editor: Sarah SmithFeatures Editors: Tara Hepburn & Pete RamandSports Editor: Suzi HigtonInSight & Arts Editor: Tom Bonnick Picture Editor: Jim WilsonMusic Editor: Gerry McKeever
Film Editors: Emily McQueen-Govan, Lewis Porteous Lifestyle Editor: Michelle WilliamsPhotographers: Megan Coghill, David Craig, Anna Kerr, Stefan Sealey Thanks to: Alan Bates, CERN, Fawcett Society, Glasgow Feminist Network
Columnists: Aidan Cook, James Foley, Oisin Kealy, David Kirkpatrick, Gerry McKeever, Lewis Porteous Contributors: Dionne Doherty, Ross Mathers, Ciadhra McGuire, Chris Pesch, Tormod MacLean, Zoe Grams, Lucy Humphreys, Becky Sharp, Cormac Beagan, Benzo Harris & many more...
It was 17 hours since the beginning of term before I heard the first complaints about University life from my flatmates. Their course text isn’t in the library; they have no idea about how to resolve their Council Tax problems; they don’t feel safe walking home after dark. Chances are, if you’ve not made these complaints yourself, or heard someone else make them, then you will at some point during the course of this year. But there’s a variety of solutions to whatever problems you may have, and that’s where the SRC come in. The SRC can often seem like a manual on how to perform brain surgery: you may not pay attention to it – or realise its importance - until you need it. But trust us. The SRC exists solely to make your life at University better. Use us as and when you need, but be aware of how you can. Over the next few weeks you’ll see a variety of publicity for various SRC events that are designed to get your voice heard, or just make life that little bit easier. Charles Kennedy, our newly elected rector, will be fulfilling his promise to be an ‘active, working rector’ by keeping his ear to the ground and hosting monthly surgeries. Need to get some-thing off your chest? Think there’s a problem with a system at University? Drop in to one of these sessions and let him know. In the meantime, there will be elec-tions for Student Representatives in your classes, tutorials, and year groups. They’ll have meetings with your academic depart-ment a few times a term to discuss any comments – good or bad – you have about the course. Similarly, you’ll be seeing publicity for October elections appearing throughout campus in the coming weeks. Don’t keep schtum about any opinions you may have. Voice them by running for a posi-tion, or telling those who are what you expect from your time at Glasgow. There’s a huge amount of progress made by the SRC each year in various avenues, but this can only happen when representatives know exactly what students want. Even if you’re not an active member this year, you can enjoy all the services provided in the John McIntyre Building. From the cheapest photocopying on campus, to a free drop-in Advice Centre manned with 4 professional advice workers, to a free minibus service that takes you from campus to halls of residence, there’s bound to be something on offer that makes your life that little simpler. And if what you need isn’t provided? Better let one of those representa-tives know, then…
Dear Editor,
It seems clear that Scottish students have for the past few years lived in a very fortunate era courtesy of the Scottish Executive. Exemption from Council Tax and the scrapping of both Tuition Fees and the Graduate Endowment tax have considerably lightened the financial burden for students in an increasingly expen-sive economy. On top of this the SNP wants to put more than fifty percent of young people through university. This is all very well, but can this state of affairs really be sustainable, especially in the current economic climate? If public funds are to become increasingly tight, the SNP’s honeymoon will soon be over, and will there really be enough graduate jobs to go round? Perhaps this current generation of students will be the last to have it so easy. I hope so, the value of a university education has been considerably diluted since I was at Glasgow 15 years ago and I look forward to a return to the old way.
Yours Sincerely,
Robert Sinew
(Taken from the Glasgow Guardian Blog, where readers can comment on any aspect of the newspaper's content)
Dear Editors,
I have to say that I was deeply unhappy regarding comments made by the editor towards their thoughts on 10% of medics not believing in evolution. Glasgow is trying to develop a multi-cultural city and university. Bigotted views expressed by the editor are not welcome in my opinion. What the editor was pretty much expressing was that all medics should be athe-ists and not have a belief system that doesnt revolve around a religion or faith. Of course a percentage of students of any branch of the university will have beliefs and its only natural to think the same belongs to medics. Does the editor feel that people who follow a faith in this manner are stupid? That believing in a god who created the world makes them less capable of being taught and having a career in medicine? I don't think so. Also, it is not just Christainity that teaches creationism, many other faiths teach this, so maybe the editor should do some more research before preaching such half baked nonsense in a newspaper!
Ryan Alexander
The Glasgow University Guardian welcomes all comments, thoughts and criticisms — please feel free to contact us with your letters to the editor, a selection are published every issue.
Glasgow University
www.glasgowguardian.co.uk
Insight tries to find the merit in the latest film releases
Film - pages 8 & 9
Tara Hepburn debates thequalities of a blonde she-mullet
Do blondes have more fun?
Lifestyle - page 11
9th May 2008guardian
Students targeted by accommodation scam
The GlasGow UniversiTy Unionhas had its immediate security assured by a £150,000 bailout from the University. however, the institution’s longer-term future remains deeply uncertain as the Board prepares to announce record losses of £650,000 for the year 2006-07.The Union has completely exhausted its entire financial reserves, and must “radically alter its business plan” if it is to survive beyond the next year, according to University manage-ment.
Crisis talks between union representatives and Glasgow University secured a non-repay-able grant of £150,000 to see the GUU through its current crisis, but the Union’s honoraryTreasurer, steven white, has admitted that they have not yet devised a course of action that would “substantially improve” their situ-ation.”
Current GUU President Chris Birrell and honorary secretary Jonny Fisher have declined to discuss the matter, and repeatedly refused to answer Guardian’s questions about the cause of their dramatic losses and their plans to remedy the situation. David Tait, the only member of the 2006/07 GUU executivestill on the board, declined to comment on the reasons for the loss.
however, a report from Mr white, a former student member who was not in office at the time the loss was made, will be addressed to the student representative Council on May 15th. Mr white will attribute the loss to “ineffective financial and management controls throughout 2006/07,” according to an advance copy of the meeting’s agenda, seen by Guardian.
(Continued on p4)
FoUr GlasGow sTUDenTswere targeted by con- artists whilst searching for a flat, and were almost deceived into handing over a £1000 deposit on a non-existent flat (writesGeorge Binning).
when heather Beaton posted a wanted advert for a four bedroom flat
on Gumtree, she received an offer the next day for a home on Buckingham Terrace for £1000 a month with “util-ities, security and bills all inclusive”.
Using the name ‘sandra Pitt’, the scam artist told Beaton that she was a stockbroker from Birmingham who wanted to rent out her flat in Glasgow.
she said she had had troubles in the past with ‘time wasters’ and would not make the trip to Glasgow unless she had proof that the girls could pay the first month’s rent.
as evidence, the crook asked heather and her friends to send £250 each, to themselves through
the western Union money transfer service and provide a receipt which contained the Money Transfer Control number (MCTn).
heather told Guardian the offer “seemed too good to be true” and that photographs sent by the prospective landlord aroused further suspicion.
Chris Watt
What is it good for?
Exclusive
Photo: Stephen McLeod Blythe
Feeling Festive? Guardian previews this summer's hottest tickets
GUU crippled by £650,000 annual loss
“The pictures of the flat were computer generated and there were palm trees in the window of the bedroom. ‘sandra’ claimed that she had taken the photo’s herself with a digital camera.
“looking back something seemed-very strange about it (cont'd on p5)
£150,000 crisis grant secures Union for coming year
Union leaders have no plans to remedy record losses
This year's Herald Scottish Student Press Awards saw the Glasgow University Guardian walk away with a clutch of awards.
Nominated in every category the paper and staff were eligible to enter, staff achieved spectacular success, receiving awards or commendations in a total of five different categories, including Young Journalist of the Year, Best Paper,
Best News Writer, and Best Photographer — a consid-erable improvment on the previous year's awards.
The paper will now face fierce competition for the UK-wide Guardian Student Media awards, where the publication is nominated in the Best Newspaper cate-gory, while former editor Chris Watt is up for Best Features Writer. The awards take place in November.
Awards Success for Guardian
Zoe Grams
Glasgow University Guardian is funded through and supported by the Glasgow University Students' Representitive Council
[email protected] 29th September 200814
Following in the footsteps of previous years, the GUSA Freshers’ Fair illustrated both the wide ranging and diverse selection of club and recreational sports on offer to freshers as well as existing students.
Staged at the Stevenson Building, the event which was attended by over 3000 students provided the opportunity to see the full range of activities on offer. Representatives from over 40 sports clubs and numerous exercise classes all benefited from the chance to sign up new members and support.
Clubs thrived on the prospect of increased membership and player aptitude as sign ups reached unprecedented levels. The Ski and SnowBoard Club (GUSSC) which always proves to be a big hit with freshers saw 200 members sign up for the new semester.
Euan Miller, current GUSA President was pleased with the interest that this year’s Fair attracted: ‘The response was abso-lutely brilliant. It was also good to see smaller clubs such as archery and kendo attract such huge interest, the fair giving them the chance to raise their profiles."
With outstanding facilities and a plethora of clubs and recre-
Promising start for GUSA
"The response was absolutely brilliant. It was also good to see smaller clubs attract such huge interest."
ational programmes to choose from, sport at Glasgow is not only a training ground for those who have never experienced team integration before but also a haven for elite talent.
GUSA also offers the opportunities for high profile sporting figures including Commonwealth Gold winner swimmer Becky Cooke and Scotland player Johnnie Beattie, highlighting the quality of training and facilities avaliable. With such a focus on sport as well as the academia side of the university, the GUSA president renewed his plans for the forthcoming semester:
"We’re looking to improve the standard of coaching in all of the university teams. Certainly clubs like squash, hockey and the swimming clubs would definitely benefit from a stronger focus on concentrating on the basics."
Miller also touched on bringing new elements to the sporting calendar: "We’re definitely looking at the possibility of an interfaculty sports day this year. It’s commonplace in many English Universities and would be a good addition to sport at Glasgow."
Last season saw triumphs across the board with the athletics club winning the Scottish University Indoor Championships, and the girl's swimming club also securing first place honours in national competition.
Miller is enthusiastic to build on these achievements and hopes that other clubs can follow their example: "We are looking to take inspiration from previous seasons and hoping that the new season will see clubs such as the squash and basketball clubs return to form."
High hopes for sport as GUSA Fair attracts over 3000 students, reports Nicole Wilson.
“I don’t want to spend my entire graduate scheme staring at the same four walls.”
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[email protected] September 2008 SPORT 15
distance themselves from, instead wishing to bask in an individual Scottish success.
This year’s Euro 2008 exemplified British audiences’ ability to enjoy sport without a nationalist slant. Despite being tinged with disappointment by no British team managing to qualify, the tournament still managed to draw in television audiences. Holland’s stun-ning performance against Italy in the group stages at its peak drew in 7.3million viewers illustrated British interest in the game as well as the talent of its prolific players.
Team GB’s aim to finish third in the medals table at London 2012 promises a games that will rival Beijing with the added advantage of competing on home turf. But the united spirit could easily become undone by the dividing of nations. If Scotland were to compete as an independent team, the sport would stand for a political motif for inde-pendence. Even if Scotland had a repeat performance of this years’ Olympics in their medal haul, it would undermine the sporting ethic of working together .Moreover it would go against those who it affects the most, the athletes themselves.
Land of Hope and Glory?
Pedal for Scotland, Scotland’s largest annual charity bike ride saw over 5000 participants take up the challenge to cycle from Glasgow to Edinburgh.
Starting off from Glasgow Green and finishing in the capi-tal’s Victoria Park, the annual event has raised over £800,000 since it was launched in 1999 by Cycling Scotland as part of an initiative to encourage more Scots to take up the sport.
The day out was led by former Glasgow University student Mark Beaumont who is also the current Guinness world record holder for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe by bike.
large running events that have taken place over the summer shows that Scots are buying in to the healthy living message.”
A Glasgow Uni student who took part in the event told Guardian: It was appealing because it was very relaxed. The mood was really chilled out. Some serious cyclists did it in three hours which is really impressive." The student was also keen to point out the ride's appeal to all ages "A vast majority of it was families with children, taking it easy and having a good time. I’d definitely like to do it again next year."
Anyone interested in taking part in any other organized rides should go to http://cycling.visitscotland.com.
The SNP's plans for a Scottish Olympic team have come under fire as Suzi Higton reports.
Inspired by a summer which showcased the very best of Scottish talent on the International stage of the Olympics, the Scottish Government have voiced calls for a Scottish Olympics and Paralympics team in time for London 2012. These proposals however have been met with opposition and have raised questions of nation-alism taking centre stage over sporting talent in Scotland.
Current Scottish Sports Minister Stewart Maxwell told BBC Scotland :
“This is an exceptionally brilliant nation - at the same time a small nation. Scotland can compete on the world stage - we proved that in the Olympics - and a Scottish team at the Olympics is the future.”
“If you look at Jamaica, a small island nation, they won gold, silver and bronze in the women’s sprint, they’ve got world records, they’ve won the men’s, the women’s 100 and 200 metres and the relay.”
Despite Jamaica’s similarities with Scotland in its size and its numerous Olympic achieve-ments, unlike Scotland, it is an independent nation. The issue of Scottish independence has been an ongoing political issue in parlia-ment and the SNP's sudden renewed calls for a Scottish Olympics team could suggest that the government are merely using the successes of Olympic cycling stars Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar and most recently, Aileen McGlynn at the Paralympics, as another weapon in the bid for Scottish independence from Britain.
These politcal undercurrents were fuelled by The British Olympics Association who told The Guardian: "If Scotland were to put forward its own Olympic team, it would have to be an independent country and recognised by the International Olympic Committee. As long as Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom, there is no possibility for Scotland to have its own team at the Olympic games.”
Stewart Maxwell’s comments also sparked criticism from triple gold medallist Chris Hoy. Met with national adulation and hailed as the most successful Scottish Olympian in history, the cyclist condemned the crossing of the boundary of sport into politics. The Scot recently told The Herald : “I was annoyed at getting drawn into a political debate when I’m an athlete. I ride a bike, I’m not a politician,” he said. “Politicians want to be involved so
that they can get some sort of association with your success and benefit from the positive feeling in your country."
“I was frustrated by the whole debate because I felt like I’d been misrepresented. I wasn’t being anti-Scottish. “If there was a Scottish team in the Olympics, of course I’d want to be part of it, just like I am at the Commonwealth Games. But I felt the politi-cians were just trying to cash on our success.”
To be Scottish and yet compete for Britain is a label that leading politicians are increasingly
urging Scotland’s sporting talents to reconsider. The positive feeling that Hoy describes the government benefiting from, reflects the centu-ries' long historical rivalry between Scotland and England. The glory that Scotland strives for in an attempt to get one up on their old rivals is one that many feel encompasses the Scottish identity itself.
The call to maximise Scotland’s glory rather than a united British success echoes the opinion of the general public. A representa-tive survey carried out on behalf of C-Scot (Campaign for a Scottish Olympics Team) found that 78% of those questioned supported the idea of a Scottish Olympic team, a view backed by 81% of The Daily Record and 80% of The Sun readerships. These figures suggest that the government are merely representing the views of the people of Scotland, but at what cost to sport that has unwittingly become caught up in a politcal storm?
The insistence by both public and govern-ment on deeming nationality in sport has also spilled onto the tennis courts. British no.1 Andy Murray has similarly faced media speculation over his nationality.
The Scot who enjoyed a spectacular run of good form over the summer, clawing back victory against Richard Gasquet in one of the most thrilling matches of Wimbledon and most recently reaching the finals of the US Open to face the formidable Roger Federer, identi-fies himself as Scottish but also British. This term however is something that many wish to
"I felt the politicians were just trying to cash in on our success."
Intercity bike ride pedals in the name of charity
Photo: David Craig
The politics and economics graduate cycled 18,297 miles in 194 days through 20 countries to finish at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris this year.
Even though only 400 people participated in the first ride of its kind when it was launched, the bike ride in its near decade history has seen over 20,000 people take part and has raised over £500,000 alone for its main charity sponsor, Leukemia Research.
Ian Atkin, the event's key organiser praised the figures saying: “It’s fantastic to see these huge rises in numbers year on year. The increasing popularity of this cycling event, and all the
Benzo Harris
inside: Guardian looks ahead to the up and coming GUSA Season
29th September 2008
guardian
also: The debate for a Scottish Olympics Team for London 2012
sport
GUBC continued to build on their recent successes at domestic and international level after being invited to represent Britain at the 4th European Universities Rowing Regatta in Zagreb, Croatia. in the closing weeks of the summer break.
Following the example of Team GB’s rowing crews’ successes at the Beijing Olympics, the men’s eight finished a respectable eighth in the blue ribbon event. The squad faced opposition from international squads such as Croatia and Poland. many of the other's teams crew members having represented their own countries in the summer Games.
Men’s captain Dougie Thoms who accompanied the squad to Zagreb told Guardian: “It was a great experience to row at such a prestigious event. Being part of an athletes’ village for the first time and racing many different nationalities. (It was) also great to represent the UK and be part of a team with other British Universities. Racing Olympians showed how important some countries viewed the Regatta. It also brought home how well our team had done at BUSA to earn the right to compete against such athletes.”
Thoms was full of praise for his team's performance: "In Zagreb, there was a lot of pressure as we knew there would be crews that were a lot stronger than us. We simply tried to row our best to do ourselves proud. I think we did that, recording our fastest time of the season.”
Prior to the competition, the squad spent a week with their
"At Henley there was a lot of pressure on the guys to perform knowing roughly how well we should do before the regatta started (based on previous competitions throughout the season) It was pleasing the way the guys handled the pressure and losing to the eventual winners in the semi finals was still a great result. I'd also like to give a special thanks to GUSA for they’re support of thesquad last season, in particular Euan Miller and Mark Huddleston who alsocame to cheer on the club."
With the new season just on the horizon, the team have plenty to build on from their successes of the summer and the men’s captain is confident that the club can live up to expectations: ‘Last year was our coach George Warnock’s (twice Glasgow University blue and winner of the inaugural Bob Wilson memorial trophy) first at the club and I am sure he is the right man to lead the squad again. Last year he was finding his feet a little but now we can hit the ground running."
With many members of the crews graduating this year, the new season sees the chance for up and coming rowing stars to make a name for themselves. A club that continues to go from strength to strength are always on the lookout for new recruits. If you’re interested check out the website for more details: www.glasgowubc.com or email captain [email protected].
twinned club Canottieri Sebino Lovere, on the shores of Lago d’Iseo, Italy. The crew were given the opportunity for sight-seeing as well as receiving excellent training conditions. The club also benefitted from hospitality from former GUBC rower Aristide Bonomelli.
The club’s ability to be able to compete with some of the most elite crews in Europe shows their rising credibility as both an international and university squad. That three members of the team who only started rowing at University have in the space of three years, started competing at European level
echoes the level of development of crew members. The club’s recent good run of form was shown in securing
runners up spot in the Scottish Universities Sport Team of the Year award. Last season also saw the club become BUSA silver medalists in the Men's Championship 8s, reflecting recent triumphs in the Annual Boat Race and the renowned Henley Regatta that Thoms saw as a learrning curve:
“It was a great experience to row at such a prestigious event.”
GUBC bask in European glory
Suzi Higton
Photo: Courtesy of GUBC
guardianGlasgow University
inSIGHT29/09/08
Jungle BungleGoing native in 'Nam with Tropic Thunder
Freshers' Week 2008 | The Bug | Scottish Ballet | Ketchup
reality TV shows into our lives. Do you think they are good or bad?
My gut reaction is yuck: as actors, the idea of casting someone by public vote is anathema. But it’s not as simple as that – they’re casting youngsters, and the difference between what they know and a kid straight out of drama school is probably not a huge amount, particularly when it comes musicals, where you have the bene-fits of microphones. As a marketing tool, I thought it was absolutely bril-liant, although I have a few quibbles with Andrew Lloyd Webber using the BBC as his own personal advertising outlet. You couldn’t do it with straight
theatre – that’s sort of hinted upon when they cast a soap star, who is big in the public consciousness. It invari-ably folds, which comforts me, really. But then, there’s a lot of stuff that’s very good. All is not lost.
What excites you creatively at the moment?
Theatre is a very fertile place at the moment. Bringing different disciplines in, like puppetry – these skills coming together make things very new and exciting. But then, being an old fuddy-duddy, I still want to do my Chekhov.
(Tom Bonnick)
artsSIGHTin29
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Theatre
Opera
Follow Me
Guy Masterson's Herald Award-winning drama, examining the final moments of Ruth Ellis, the last woman in Britain to be hanged, and taking us into the worlds of the hanged and the hangman in the moments leading to Ellis’ execution.
Citizens TheatreTue. 30th September – Sat. 4th October£12/£7
Calendar Girls
Adapted by Tim Firth from his hit film of the same name, the story of a group of extraordinary WI ladies who strip off to raise money promises to be as sweetly entertaining as the original.
King's TheatreTue. 30th September – Sat. 4th October
£11 – £26
La Traviata
Carmen Giannattasio makes her Scottish Opera début playing the lead role of Violetta in Director David McVicar's take on one of the world’s most famous operas.
Theatre RoyalFrom 30th October£9 – £60
You’d be forgiven for thinking a ballet set to five classic Radiohead songs is a mar-keting strategy to appeal to the yoofs; something that sits as uncomfortably
as Esther Ransen speaking to inner city kids about Drum’n’Bass. However, director Stephen Petron-io’s latest offering combines elegance, allure, self-awareness and even a sense of humour with none of the self-consciousness that could have manifest-ed itself.
Ride the Beast marks the first time since 2002 that an outside choreographer has been commis-
sioned by Scottish Ballet. It was well worth the risk. Set to tracks ‘Fitter Happier’, ‘Creep’, ‘The National Anthem’, ‘Idioteque’ and ‘Hunting Bears’, structured, jerking movements are merged with fluid, arching shapes: a combination that appears organic yet complex. Rolling shoulders and almost languid sweeps of legs and arms in the opening scene are a stark contrast to the staccato hip thrusts and all-elbow moves of the dance to 'Idioteque'. The result is the appearance of dancers who seem to be exploring their muscles for the first time.
Contrast continues into the costumes: utilitarian outfits of black and white made seductive with rips, contours, feathers and cape-like wings. The emer-gence of a variety of brightly-coloured dancers lifted the entire piece with a joie de vivre that could only be glimpsed at in previous sections.
Ride the Beast is a tantalising display and during its highlights, static seems to come from the stage. It almost manages to make the well-loved music sound like a soundtrack to the dance, rather than a piece in and of itself. Unfortunately, the inability to do this is easily the piece’s biggest flaw.
The performance – if only occasionally – overly interprets the themes in each song rather than using the music as a backdrop for its own. The
dance to ‘Creep’ may have included some magnifi-cent displays of physicality, but it still mirrored too succinctly the sort of awkward, uncoordinated adolescent in the throws of insecurity that is portrayed too often for it to be effective.
But it’s extremely difficult to pick holes in a piece interwoven with this much subtlety, complexity and sexiness. Ride the Beast achieves the rare feat of not only fusing the contemporary music of Radi-ohead with the classical elements of ballet, but also revealing new potential for both artforms.
To Creep on Tip-Toes
Alex Hanson may not be instantly recognisable by name, but his body of work certainly is. One of the most prolific actors in London’s West End, Hanson has had starring roles in Queen musical We Will Rock You, as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, and most recently, as the frustrated and violent Nazi – is there any other kind? – in Marguerite. He has also amassed an incredibly diverse resume over twenty years in stage theatre, performing in plays such as the recent, critically acclaimed Talking to Terrorists.
Musicals have so much finan-cial investment that they’re like blockbuster films – and similarly, reviews often do not matter. Do you think that they have become immune to criticism? Or are critics out of touch with public opinion?
I’m not sure I agree that they’re immune to journalistic criticism, but often they can survive in a way a straight theatre piece couldn’t. We Will Rock You was ripped apart by critics – I think the reason was because they hadn’t seen anything like that before – this collation of famous songs, loosely
put together with a very tenuous plot-line – and it was the first time they had been required to pass judgement on this new form. And also, because of the popularity of Queen, the advance was very good, which tends to get up critics’ noses, because it means they have little influence.
Given the number of musicals based on the back catalogues of only so-so ’80s bands, or promoted by reality TV contests, do you think the industry has become more cynical?
That doesn’t entirely tell the story
of musical theatre at the moment – look at Billy Eliot, a fantastic original musical, better than the film, even. Marguerite is based on Camille, by Alexandre Dumas. It’s been updated to occupied Paris during the Second World War, and it’s a serious theme; the same story as La Traviata. It’s downbeat, and even though it’s a beautiful production, it never took off – it’s not a family musical.
Programs like How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? have raised the profile of theatre, but have also brought another set of
Zoe Grams hunts bears and ballet dancers at Scottish Ballet's Ride the Beast
Nothing less than a 20th century theatrical landmark, and now in its 50th anniversary year, Scotland’s Broadway presents this brand new production with a full ensemble cast.
Theatre RoyalTue. 11th – Sat. 29th November£20 – £40
MusicalWest Side Story
Petronio's latest offering combines elegance, allure, self-awareness and even a sense of humour
Questions and Answers: Alex Hanson
Alex Hanson, right, with co-stars at the premiere of Marguerite Photo: Premier PR
Photo: Scottish Ballet
Photo: Scottish Ballet
- working with all kinds of looks, from dresses, to jeans, to smart night-out wear. And Primark have cardigans from just £4, so it’s not even that big of a financial-pull to get on board the brainy bandwagon.
And cardigans look good on everyone. Even the most appalling whale of a human being looks better in a cardigan, because at least it somehow creates the connotation that they’re possibly geeky, bookish and incredibly clever. We might conclude that genetics wouldn’t be so cruel as to deny them both looks and brains, thus they’re clearly a genius. As it happens, genetics are cruel and obey no rules at all (Natalie Portman has a degree from Harvard, Wayne Rooney has no qualifications whatsoever) - and that person you just saw in a cardigan is probably just a fat idiot,
but they’ll have waddled their massive geek-chic lard-filled body right past you before you've had the time to reach that conclusion. Cardigans are powerful things.
I’ll personally be holding onto the cardigan look, not because I’m a fat idiot, but because I’ve been rocking it since circa 1995. But then again, as 7-year-
offerings of a new contender. Swimming against the tide of rustic, organic, credit crunch friendly consumerism, Scottish giant G1 have unveiled their new Ashton Lane premises to reveal a cute American diner style burger bar, Ketchup. Except, not exactly. The booth seats and cheq-uered floor scream 50s kitch, but the theme stops short of delivering a real diner experience. Far from juke boxes
SIGHTlife in PAG
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Le Geek, C'est Chic>> Tara Hepburn
Now, I ain’t no doctor or noth-in’, but I do know a thing or two about burgers. In my house burgers come fat,
juicy and homemade, full of chillis and smothered in sauces, so any restaurant efforts have a lot to prove in order to cut the mustard. Always willing to ac-cept a gastronomic challenge however, I was more than willing to sample the
Playing Ketchup
It’s cold outside, Christmas cards are on sale and I’m sitting waiting for a cheerful, white bearded old man to appear. There’s only one logical con-
clusion: it has to be the first seminar of term. But how did I get here? I’m in yes-terday’s clothes and there’s a faint taste of rohypnol on my breath. My arms seem to be bound and in another room I can hear Tom talking on the phone. Putting Katie Holmes' autobiography aside, I get back to my own problems. How did I end up in my final year of uni-versity with nothing to show for it but knowing my bank manager on a first-name basis?
Desperately flailing for reassurance that it's not all conferences, flip charts and thermal socks from here on, I call my now-graduated friends. Their talk of five day weeks, national insurance and salaries has me confused to say the least. As any bright reader will know, there are seven days to a week. The other two I can only guess at, but I'm fairly sure that salary is an ingredient of salad.
Looking out of the window at all of the wide-eyed freshers, eerily resem-bling the missing members of Alpha-beat and serenely eating carrot sticks, I find myself reluctant to give up my student lifestyle. At what other time, blissful senility aside, is it ok to wear red jeans or feel that it’s acceptable to have a facebook page?
Then again, would it be such a terrible thing to go out and get a job? Never needing to write another essay, and having no real reason to go to a library has a certain attraction to it. Giving up reading altogether has an even bigger appeal, but it does tend to come in handy when the words ‘Danger, highly flammable!’ crop up near open flames. If only the careers and lifestyles portrayed on TV existed — where one can be a high-powered lawyer while still finding time to get up to all manner of mid-afternnon shenanigans. Luckily, the tutor is here, so I don’t have to resolve this problem until the same time next issue. Meanwhile, I can continue to board public transport, looking suspi-ciously at passengers of pensionable age, wondering why they’re not at work on a weekday afternoon. I mean, don’t these people have jobs?
>> David Kirkpatrick
I'm fairly sure that salary is an ingredient of salad
A friend said to me recently that she had no time for fashion — that it's intimidating and elitist, and annoyingly 'cool'. And whilst that’s a slightly sweeping excuse for her own sarto-
rial ineptitude, it’s a belief that’s not without grounding. The world of fashion has been a bit bold and daunting of late: all chunky heels, and black, and leather, and patent. Or all of the above.
It is with great relief, then, that there seems to have been a shunning of all things cool in favour of a bit of a square revival. Not geometrically speaking, of course, rather in terms of character.
With this movement the girls got tea dresses for the summer months, and the boys got checked shirts and clear plastic glasses (alas, there is not room to discuss the rights and wrongs of feigning sight impediments). And as the autumnal chill settles in, the fashion pack have provided yet more garms to keep both genders cosy as the temperatures drop. High street shelves are positively heaving with the sort of duffle coats and parkas that truly are anti-cool in every respect - keeping you warm, and keeping your Mum proud all at the same time.
But the real extent of the geek-chic renaissance is best witnessed in the sudden, almost palpable, pres-ence of the humble cardigan. Guys and girls alike have truly embraced this primary-school staple, and not without good reason. Cardigans are brilliantly versatile
Cardigans look good on everyone. Even the most appalling whale of a human looks better in a cardigan
old school kids in the playground, weren't we all? Who knew style could be so basic? I suppose we all did once upon a time, before it all got so complicated.
blasting Billie Holiday, the New York cheesecake and hot cherry pie desserts felt like little more than half hearted to-ken gestures. Tempted by chocolate and lemon cheesecake milkshakes, we were disappointed to find them more pow-dery than Pete Doherty’s pocket, served in a plastic cup more suited to an arcade than Jack Rabbit Slim’s.
The burgers themselves, whilst enor-mous and beautifully presented, come without sides or fries, leaving the meal lacking in balance. After wading through the dauntingly large menu, passing wild boar, mushroom and kangaroo choices, I opted for an Italiano chicken burger, whilst my date plumped for a more traditional bacon and guacamole beef version. Both were admittedly very tasty, but so laden with condiments and extra ingredients that they became nigh on impossible to eat. A terrible location for a first date, we struggled to wipe the mayonnaise from our faces to answer the many, overzealous enquiries from staff members asking whether every-thing was alright.
Whilst each of the individual compo-nents of both our meals were excellent, there was a definite feeling of too many cooks spoiling the burger. Perusing the
extensive options on the menu, one got the feeling that perhaps it would have been better to stick to a classic burger with one or two extras per dish, allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves, rather than attempting to pack the maximum number of add-ons into each bun. This lack of knowing when to stop
gave the menu a similar feel to that of the décor, as one of a slightly confused identity. This could well display the hall-mark of a company diversified into so many styles of cuisine and entertain-ment that it ends up so diluted between projects so as not to do any one justice.
That said, Ketchup still has all of the novelty appeal of a brand new eatery with a distinct and cute theme. It also has the appeal of a 2 for 1 burger offer with a matric card, which come 1am on a Friday night, may be enough to forgive the split personality inside.
44 Ashton Lane
We were disappointed to find the milkshakes more powdery than Pete Doherty’s pocket
Photo : Anna Kerr
Michelle Williams braves Ashton Lane's newest arrival
Freshers & Finals
Photo : PRPhotos.co.uk
film29
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SIGHTinGay for plays ;-)
>> Lewis Porteous
Oh ‘Glasgay!’ how you torment me. Why must events of universal appeal be held under your homosexual auspices?
To date, I have attended two Glasgay!-affili-ated shows: a screening of La Cage aux Folles and a performance by former Perrier Comedy Award best newcomer Scott Capurro. Both evenings turned out to be great fun. However, the build-up to each was fraught with confusion and neurosis.
Though I have admittedly been described as “fiercely heterosexual” in the past, this is only true to the extent that I am prepared to erect amateur scaffolding outside my flat, so that I may freely leer at women, basking in the immunity from decent social values that a high visibility fluorescent vest bestows upon its wearer.
The truth is that when Glasgay!’s program of Tennessee Williams plays and film screenings was announced, my first thoughts were not “Oh shit, what if I go and a gay person does something gay to me?” but rather “Oh brilliant, I love Tennessee Williams! But, oh no, wait, what if someone from around Uni who once accused me of being gay just because I had my shirt tucked in, spots me exiting the cinema and feels vindicated by the events to which they’re bearing witness?” I could never live that down. My impotent anger would only escalate in tandem with their heightened senses of savvy and intuition.
So, while I certainly won’t be attending the run of films, anyone with any real principles or backbone ought to. Williams' plays ploughed an intensely personal furrow of social examination, and their unflinching, often confessional nature has rarely been rivalled since. His dialogue is so robust that it would hold up to even the most am-dram of productions, but from the mouths of such luminaries as Marlon Brando, Liz Taylor and the late Paul Newman, it shines, and provides his casts with among their most iconic roles. As well as including more obvious fare such as ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’ the programme will also take in the lesser-known adaptations of ‘Baby Doll,’ ‘This Property is Condemned,’ ‘The Night of the Iguana,’ ‘Blood Kin,’ ‘Sweet Bird of Youth,’ the Kirk Douglas fronted ‘The Glass Menagerie’ and the audacious ‘Boom.’ Though Williams’ work very rarely descends into high camp, purists may be reassured that the latter’s hugely flamboyant 10 minute Noel Coward cameo is more than enough to warrant the whole body of films a place in the festival.
Screenings take place at the GFT from the 5th to the 30th October.
You want to hear something cool? Well bad luck, because you’re reading about 'Death Race'. Death Race is a remake of 'Death Race
2000', a 1975 cult classic. In this version Jensen Ames (Jason Statham) is wrongfully convicted of a crime and asked to replace a legend in the prison based Death Races, which are car races with guns.
Clearly Paul W.S. Anderson (the director, writer
and producer) sought to cash in on the wave of seventies B-movie popularity that was sure to follow Tarantino and Rodriguez’s B-movie double bill 'Grindhouse'. Faded colours and boxy vehicles are meant to trade off a perhaps misplaced sense of nostalgia for a forgotten kind of dross. But Grind-house under performed at the box office and Death Race sits in monument to a phenomenon that never
happened. But this is an action movie, and it is by the
action that it will be judged. So if you’re thinking of heading to the cinema for some sweet racing and big explosions then tough biscuits. While the film has both in spades, choppy race editing seems hell bent on focusing on Statham’s mug and obscures any potentially good action, such as a dreadnaught taking on rally cars. How any film with so much bang could feel so wimpy is impressive.
No actor is good in this film, but then again none of them have any space to be good. Ian McShane and Joan Allen try their best but to no avail. Meanwhile, Statham proves that he’s the ‘Asda Smart Price’ Bruce Willis.
His attempts to look deep and troubled come across as distracted and uninterested, a reaction to the script which audiences will relate to.
I have no problem with dumb action movies in general. I like Hard Target. Dumb action movies are great. But this film has no style, let alone substance. By any standards, such a misguided attempt to
>> Tormod Maclean
Death RaceDir: Paul W.S. AndersonOn general release now
"Both evenings turned out to be great fun. However, the build-up to each was fraught with confusion and neurosis."
Statham proves that he’s the ‘Asda Smart Price’ Bruce Willis
>> Lewis Porteous
Brideshead RevisitedDir: Julian JarroldReleased: 3rd October
Given that the original text has previously spawned a hugely acclaimed and much-loved 1981 mini-series, while the remainder
of Evelyn Waugh’s equally masterful novels reside in relative obscurity, one cannot help but think it odd and unnecessary for director Julian Jarrold (Be-coming Jane and Kinky Boots) to tackle Brideshead Revisited in the year 2008, seemingly apropos of nothing.
There exists a whole body of untouched work, clearly capable of penetrating the public conscious-ness, but instead, audiences must once again be treated to the familiar memories of Captain Charles Ryder who, stationed on the grounds of the Brides-head estate during the Second World War, vividly recalls his time spent there with the Flyte family.
Leaving his distant father behind in London, Charles (who looks exactly the same throughout the 15 years during which the film is takes place)
sets off to pursue studies at Oxford University where he befriends Sebastian, a gay man, and his gang of “sodomites.” The pair mutually appreciate each other and bond over a shared interest in drinking expen-sive wines to excess. Naturally, they become insepa-rable, and Charles is soon introduced to his friend’s family who reside on the titular country estate.
Before long, our hero finds himself entangled in an incestuous, bisexual love triangle, while at logger-heads with the family’s devoutly Catholic matriarch. What was originally a complex treatise on memory, relationships and religion, is essentially played out as little more than a saucy romp, with all the subtle ambiguity of the Venga Boys.
In spite of the work’s key themes remaining
as relevant as they ever were, one cannot help but suspect that this pedestrian retelling arose from little more than a whim to produce a camp period drama. The whole affair is so derivative and safe that viewers will find themselves longing for misplaced innovation or ill-judged reinvention that at least attempts to confound, rather than gently patronise. If Jarrold really must rehash tried and tested source material, the least he could have done would be to set the film in space, replacing Sebastian’s tormented homosexual character with a hip, wise-cracking robot.
But no, instead, we are presented with Brides-head Revisited- Revisited, a superficial, diluted replica of the earlier serial, void of its humour, brains, pacing and dignity.
Waugh’s great strength lay in crafting the quirkiest of characters in a manner that was both believable and human, many of whom survive this pointless exercise. Patrick Malahide, in particular, excels as Charles’ scene-stealing father. Still, bad casting plagues the film and the whole production is let down by Ben Whishaw’s turn as Sebastian (the equally wretched Jude Law was initially pencilled in for the role). It’s evident from his participation in recent Brian Jones and Bob Dylan biopics that Mr Whishaw holds no reservations over slaughtering sacred cows, and once again, he fails to disappoint. Rather than present his character as a charismatic, foppish wildcard, Ben opts to portray him as the bastard lovechild of Kenneth Williams and Alan Carr, an embarrassing empathy black-hole, whose problems are surely outweighed by the audience members’ own. Characters need not be likeable to ‘work,’ however the film takes itself far too seri-ously to treat the poor souls that inhabit its sets with gleeful apathy. Instead, it goes for broke, attempting as best it can to present grandiose spectacle and intimate soul-bearing both at once, falling short of either.
There must have been someone who watched the original serial and thought “this is quite good, but I wish it was a lot more heavy-handed, rushed and shot with less flair and imagination.” This film is for them.
We are presented with Brideshead Revisited- Revisited, a superficial, diluted replica of the earlier serial, void of its humour, brains, pacing and dignity
SIGHTfilm in PAG
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>> Chris Pesch
Rumble in the JungleDir: Ben StillerOn general release now
There’s a school of thought which insists that everybody, regardless of how much wrong they have done, is deserving of another
chance. Ben Stiller must be the one exception to this rule, as even the kindest of discerning hearts would surely agree that he should never be allowed within miles of a director’s chair again, after having failed to create a redeemable picture worth watch-ing for the third time in a row. Sadly, his films attract inexplicably huge masses of viewers – thus ensur-
ing that studios will always be willing to finance his ever-turgid, back-slapping output.
The saddest thing about his latest offering, is that Tropic Thunder had the potential to be a truly great comedy, with the premise of a film crew being lost in Vietnam as they are hunted by drug lords, sounding more than promising. Still it fails under the guidance of a director who obviously does not
>> Emily McQueen - Govan
The WaveDir: Dennis GanselOn general release now
It is easy to establish a dictatorship when the required ingredients are pre-eminent in society. That is the premise
of ‘The Wave,’ Dennis Gansel’s film based on a real-life incident which took place in a California high school during 1967, pro-ducing disturbing results in the students who took part. ‘The Wave’ relocates the action to Germany and the classroom of Herr Wenger (Jurgen Vogel) who utilizes unconventional methods in teaching a class on ‘autocracy,’ setting up a mini-dic-tatorship with himself at the head of the movement. There’s trepidation at first, as pupils seem reluctant to adopt behav-iour associated with Nazis. However, after imposing a seating pattern and uniform on the students, a group spirit begins to form, paving over previous social divi-sions. It is with the introduction of the moniker ‘The Wave’ and a members-only hand signal that sinister shades of Nazism begin to appear. When the students start to define themselves in relation to outsid-ers, events begin to take a turn for the
worse and violence ensues.This film follows a recent trend in
German cinema towards films that seek to make sense of the country’s traumatic political history. A new generation of film-makers are finally starting to feel comfort-able addressing the issues of the past. Transposed to modern-day Germany, the work resonates with reminders that, historically, darker, more incomprehen-sible things have happened, and on a significantly grander scale. However the film fails to make a convincing argu-ment that German high-school students would be unable to detect a correlation between their actions and those of the Third Reich. This is ignorant at best. At worst, it is unfairly condemning. More-over, the audience is asked to believe that the students would give unques-tioning loyalty and obedience to such an experiment, something one finds hard to believe even with a ‘cool’ teacher like Herr Wenger at its helm.
‘The Wave’ lacks the inescapable claustrophobia of ‘Das Experiment’ and ultimately struggles to convince the audience of the allure that unquestioning loyalty and obedience are supposed to possess. The fast-paced editing of the film contributes to its lack of credibility and lends it an air of rushed contri-vence. However, along with the cliched
teen-movie characters like the awkward, disturbed and worryingly enthusiastic Tim (Frederick Lau), it adds light relief to an otherwise sombre film. The feature’s
One can forgive a bad film when it, for whatever reason, makes you laugh. Tropic Thunder, in spite of being a ‘comedy’ by definition, neglects to do even this
know where to take the film: is it supposed to be a spoof on Vietnam war-films, or is it lampooning money-making Hollywood and its troubled stars?
Well in fact it’s both, and driven by an all-star cast of actors (Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte etc…) for whom
shock ending strays from the authentic events by taking the experiment to its logical conclusion, and raises questions pertaining to the effect that a modern
day Third Reich would have in today’s society today, showing how fascism can germinate in even the most benign of environments.
sabotaging their own careers is evidently a favourite pastime. Add to this, more pyrotechnics than were used on the set of 'Pearl Harbour', a vast amount of cursing and a couple of desperate, laughter scav-enging farts, and Hollywood is onto a real winner. The ingredients are carelessly thrown together
and chef Stiller presents a dark and inedible mass, complete with a terrible aftertaste of having spent money on nothing.
Usually one can forgive a bad film when it, for whatever reason, makes you laugh. Tropic Thunder, in spite of being a ‘comedy’ by definition, neglects to do even this. The jokes are just too obvious. Of course Robert Downey Jr. playing Kirk Lazarus, an Australian so into his method acting that he under-goes a colour-changing procedure to take on the role of an African American general, has his charms. After a minute of him faking an African American accent, however, one gets the idea and wants to move on.
There’s little else to the film besides endlessly repetitive jokes, which soon grow thin — the only true stand-out is Tom Cruise, who is at least surprising in the role of an ultra-aggressive and foulmouthed studio exec. After a seemingly never-ending series of controversies surrounding him as a public figure, he finally shows why he is a huge celebrity in the first place: the enormous acting talent which he has inexplicably hidden from his viewers ever since Magnolia.
Welcome as it is, Cruise’s presence only serves to remind you of the reason why watching Tropic Thunder is such a tiresome experience. The idea that audiences should laugh at characters’ obvious representations of real life figures is quite a stretch. Most people tend not to laugh at Sylvester Stallone or Eddie Murphy whether they’re on or off-screen, there is simply no plausible reason why they should laugh at Ben Stiller and Jack Black’s pantomime impressions of them. Who are you calling a bunch of sissy actors?
freshers' weekSIGHTin29
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Welcome to Glasgow : Freshers' Week 2008
If you have never seen a hypnotist at work before it is easy to assume that hypnotism is some sort of irresistible form of mind control. Having seen hypnotists on the telly box I had always put hypnotism into the same bracket as voodoo, bluetooth and other types of black magic. However the reality is somewhat different.
By the Wednesday of Freshers’ Week, fatigue was catching up on Freshers and Helpers alike; the late nights were taking
their toll, and even the copious amounts of Rockstar being handed out could only do so much to raise spirits. And so Alan Bates, the renowned hypnotist, provided a welcome evening of sedentary entertainment in the Queen Margaret Union.
He started by performing a simple hypnosis experiment on the whole audience, telling us our hands would become inseparably stuck together. This test enabled Bates to extract the ten most suggestible members of the audience to act as his ‘volunteers’ for the rest of the show. It then took about 15 minutes for Bates to coax his volunteers into a fully suggest-ible state, a stage that is obviously edited from television shows. A disappointed murmur washed over the audience when he told us that he was not going to humiliate or torture any of his volunteers.
Fortunately I was not susceptible to Mr Bates’ mind games;
otherwise my recollection might have been limited to the beginning and end of the show. When told that my hands were glued together, I had no desire to open my hands, but I also thought, if my hands really are stuck together I might as well have a go at pulling them apart. Lo and behold, they opened quite easily.
It seems that this simple decision to open my hands was the point at which the spell unravelled - although I was very willing to be hypnotised, I definitely wasn’t going to help Bates out. I expected to be possessed, not just persuaded.
The rest of the show panned out as you might expect, Bates making the volunteers believe they were Martians, that they were glued to their seats, or that their shoe was a phone and they were talking to their favourite celebrity. There was a particularly funny moment when the hypno-tised subjects were told that Alan Bates was going to lift his head clean from his shoulders, provoking a pleasingly horri-fied reaction from the entranced few on stage.
Although these stunts most certainly gave the appear-ance of a Jedi mind trick, my mind was filling with doubt, where previously there had been none. The problem was that I might have fallen under his spell at the start of the show, but had instead, without much difficulty, decided to unclasp my hands – and that was all. And so over the course of the show, it became my firm belief that hypnotism only worked with a certain willingness in the volunteer to play along with the hypnotist.
Speaking to the volunteers after the show proved inter-esting. All of Alan Bates’ subjects were very confused about their experience at the end of the performance. Almost all them had no recollection of the show and felt as though they had been asleep for a long time; one said he felt as though he had just come out of a yoga class. Volunteer Grant Gallacher was a strange case: a light smoker, originally sceptical of the power of hypnotism, he was told that he should give up smoking and maintains, at the time of writing, that he has
It seems that this simple decision to open my hands was the point at which the spell unravelled
not smoked since. A few of the volunteers’ friends said, in the nicest possible way, that they weren’t surprised their friend had been so open to manipulation, though I didn’t want to question exactly what they meant by that.
It was clear that everyone who had been on stage had been under a spell of sorts. However, I put the question to the volunteers, “Had you fallen over while your hands were stuck together, could you have put your hands out to break your fall?” With some difficulty most of them said yes. This to me was the killer question - how inseparable were their hands really? It occurred to me that the pressure of being on stage might have been another factor in coercing the subjects into playing along.
Alan Bates put on an excellent show - perfect for that time of the week - and he told some good jokes and pulled off some excellent feats of mind manipulation. Even so, I came away sceptical at the potency of the power of sugges-tion. It seemed as though hypnotism was only successful if the subjects were willing to do a fair bit of the work for themselves. Perhaps I’m just disappointed that it didn’t work
on me, or perhaps my understanding of hypnotism has been unduly influenced by the movies, but my understanding of the practice has changed to something less romantic, and I note, somewhat regretfully, that I have managed to write a whole review without using the phrase ‘mesmerizing performance”.
Having seen hypnotists on the telly box I had always put hypnotism into the same bracket as voodoo, bluetooth and other types of black magic. However the reality is somewhat different
Alan BatesQudos
George Binning
Welcome to Glasgow : Freshers' Week 2008
Glasgow’s leading Student Theatre Company, STaG, welcomed freshers to Glasgow with a lesson on the comical farce that is student life.
Beginning with ‘the top ten student posters’, many in the audience were forced to hang their heads in silent admission that, ‘Yes I have those posters, and the ones I don’t have are in my flatmates room.’
Whilst the reception started off as smiles, it soon grew into genuine laughter with the familiar sight of the keen freshers helper trying to determine just how keen his freshers were.
The tongue in cheek jokes flowed with the running themes of students’ desperate search for new identity, new sexuality and constant sex. The 30 minute slot culminated with the most finely acted performance; of a student’s perfectly pitched cry of ‘hallelujah’ in a bid for the newly coined ‘messiah grant.’ The success lay, as with so many observational routines, in the ability to resonate with
The success lay in the ability to resonate with shrewdly identified, slightly unfortunate yet unmistakeable truths
Students queued for over an hour to go the QM Freshers’ Ball on Thursday, with the reward of free pizza once they were inside. Girls in full-length ballgowns and boys in kilts and suits, mingled with those who interpreted the ball theme more loosely and turned up in jeans.
The music consisted mostly of the typical radio-friendly, crowd-pleasing tunes, the kind of songs you think are awesome when you’re very drunk but not quite so good when you’re sober. Although it clearly wasn’t to everyone’s taste, the DJ seemed to keep the crowd happy, although that may have been more due to the free pizza and cheap drink.
Elaine Fernie, 18, felt that the event was one of the best Freshers’ Week had offered. She told Guardian: “I think it’s brilliant and is definitely the highlight of the week so far.
But not everyone there was as enamoured of the ball, with some leaving whilst others were still queuing to enter.
Lisa Foster, 18, explained why she and her friends were heading to see Dave Pierce at the GUU instead: “It’s been rubbish because everyone has just been at the free pizza, so the downstairs dance floor is pretty empty. “
I’m slightly worried about writing this article - a negative review of comedy never goes down too well, particularly that which was so well received by my peers. As controversial as it may be – I’ll start as I mean to go on - there’s little that I find more depressing
than bad, feeble stand-up, based on what’s presumed to startle, and
ultimately revealing nothing but an ugly desperation.Our Freshers’ week comedy was not so complete a
failure as some examples I have had the misfortune of being witness to, but I still left with the inability to engage with the world, and an intense feeling of disappointment - there’s nothing more alienating than being surrounded by laughter, unable to empathise.
I’ve begun to detect a kind of stand-up rubric, made up of introducing yourself fully, giving a wholesome profile of your ‘mad’ character, challenging your audience, making sure to assert your intellectual superiority, before rounding off the endless hilarity with a fairly boring anecdote supple-mented with outrageous embellishments.
The first performer of the night was slow, but received steady appreciation, and ended with a sweet and protracted joke about mistaking a ten-year-old boy for his girlfriend in the swimming pool. As predictable as the punch line was, the delivery was endearing, he was making himself laugh and appeared to be having fun.
Our headliner, Craig Campbell, followed my comedy
There’s little that I find more depressing than bad, feeble stand-up, based on what’s presumed to startle, and ultimately revealing nothing but an ugly desperation
framework precisely, including a nice story about poo. In all he covered, poo, morphine and driving, with a particular emphasis on driving. Perhaps I was too sober to compre-hend his particular brand of humour - I found it boorishly macho, brazen, and with an irritating propensity for “fuck right” and “fuck yeah, man”.
Comedy has the capacity to spotlight unhappiness in a way that tragedy is unable to do, and yet I couldn’t help but feel as if was watching an unimaginative madman exorcise all his resentments and irritability on stage.
shrewdly identified, slightly unfortunate yet unmistak-able truths. The actors of STaG were clearly able to recog-nise their fellow students in the roles and as such were successful in their depiction. The audience left smiling and freshers were hopefully now prepped to avoid these haunting stereotypes that often engulf our student popu-lation in Glasgow.
Craig Campbell GUU Debates Chamber
Becky Sharp
Photos: Left - Right :
Stefan Sealey | Courtesy of Alan Bates | James Porteous | Jim Wilson | Jim Wilson | James Porteous
SIGHTfreshers' week in PAG
E 7
STaGWelcome Tent
Lucy Humphries
Freshers' BallQMU
Sarah Smith
For the high-pressure occasion that is the first night of Freshers’ week, both unions competed to win freshers to their fold with big names from hugely contrasting musical spheres. Following nicely from Dizzee Rascal last year, the GUU did well to land a performer like
Wiley, with his ‘King of Grime’ status bringing both underground credibility and mainstream attraction. The man himself put on a decent show, keeping things simple and playing his biggest tracks, with the only downside being its brevity at barely 45 minutes. This is obviously disappointing from the head-line act, but by the time he hit the stage things had already gone horribly wrong… First warm-up act ‘The King Hats’ sounded worryingly like they’d been pulled in off the street and had instruments thrust at them, and that’s being kind. They were followed by a group of Scottish Hip-Hop artists, Bigg Taj, Krash Slaughta and Respek BA. These guys were entertaining, but in a manner more akin to a failing X-Factor entrant than a live music act. The GUU may want to have a rethink about the first impression it sends to new fresh-ers, as Respek BA standing underneath the Uni crest saying: “My fists have had more pussy than my cock has” is perhaps not the message they intended to send…
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SIGHTinGigsScotcampus Freshers Festival03/10/08 & 04/10/08George SquareScotcampus bring Fresher's from accross Scot-land together for one big messy weekend in George Square. Featuring "Attic Lights", Isos-celes", "The Down & Outs" and a bunch of other cool bands. I wonder what happens when you put a whole lot of Freshers in the same place...? Sure to be silly amounts of free stuff too.
Roots Manuva09/10/08The ArchesOn the back of his new album "Slime and Reason", London's coolest golden boy brings his Dub-informed Hip-hop up North. Guaranteed to be a phat night.
Easy Star All Stars20/10/08The ArchesResponsible for "Dubside of the Moon", the inspired reworking of Pink Floyd's classic, and the more recent Radiohead cover-album "Radio-dread", these guys are the aothority on Reggae makovers. Prepare for juicy melodies and meaty bass.
Foals05/10/08The BarrowlandAfter releases their debut album only earlier this year, Oxford-based indie boys Foals have attained instant cult status. Sure to pack out The Barrowland, and should be a cool show.
The Subways06/10/08ABCFor anyone who missed them in Freshers' Week, The Subways are back in town at the ABC. Judging on their performance at The QMU this should be well worth a shout. Slick and fun.
British Sea Power11/10/08ABCWeirdos BSP are among the oddest bands on the road at the moment. Their fans absolutely swear by them, and we can see why. Expect bizarre stage adornments and possibly even an appear-ance from a huge bear. Eccentric and interesting as a rule.
Disturbed07/10/08The Carling AcademyMetallers Disturbed may be open to criticism from the serious hardcore of the headbanging fraternity, but undeniably put on a very enter-taining show. Should be plenty of plank-spanking, drum-homicide and howling vocals.. Nice and sweaty.
Hayseed DixieQMU Freshers' Week 16/09/08 I
t all started a long time ago, in a valley named Deer Lick Holler. A crew of young boys managed to get their hands on a couple of AC/DC records. Only having an old 78 to play them on, they took on a slightly different perspective to rock. When they started recreating the music in the only
way they knew how, Rockgrass was born. This genre has seen them make five studio albums, an EP and tour Europe. The wonderfully unique Hayseed Dixie took the stage at the QMU on Tuesday of Freshers’ Week, to a crowd divided between excited officionados and the drunken bewidered, as is tradition during live music events at freshers' week. Now, there are some things that only balding violin and banjo playing hillbil-lies can get away with, like wearing tie-dye wife beaters while playing stunt-metal on a banjo. The gig was amzingly tight as expected from the mavericks, with the most impressive section being the duel playing of the banjo by the two brothers, Deacon and Dan. They played one hand each, the song building to a climax until the entire band were playing two instruments. A truly glorious spectacle almost vindicating embarrising Dads everywhere.With a set list that included “Highway to Hell”, “Ace of Spades” and a truly great rendition of the “Duelling Banjos”, Hayseed Dixie struck a nice balance between comedy and blistering Banjo solos, and with the subject matter of the songs centered around drinking and dancing, the Qudos masses were behaving suitably. The extraordinary energy of the bearded fourseome really lit up the night. It's great to see such showmanship and a really polished performance. While a gang of balding hillbillies could have been seen as rather a controversial choice for Freshers’ Week by the QMU, by the end of the gig the dance floor was packed, and Hayseed Dixie had found a special place in the hearts of many freshers.
Gerry McKeever and George Binning reveal who came out on top in the battle for the Freshers' first night
Records and Rolexes
While the GUU busied themselves laying down some frankly offensive beats, the QM aimed to attract the ravers and the lovers with a feel good club night hosted by the Ministry of Sound. Three Ministry DJs treated the union to hearty serving of cheesy dance classics from the early nineties to the present day. The fact that many freshers that night would have been dancing to hits from the year they were born highlighted that dance music is old enough now to actually have a history. Perhaps 2008 is the first year where this has really been possible. The mixing was tight, if a little unadventurous, but most impor-tantly everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and none of the performers said anything to disaffect the entire female audience. The Ministry was preceded by a set from English indie outfit The Subways. An impressive performance, both solid and professional, with lead singer Billy Lunn in pleasingly good voice following an operation on his vocal chords in 2006. With the bands’ chemistry now more complex than even ‘The White Stripes’ after Billy and bassist Char-lotte Cooper broke off their engagement, it was also entertaining from a gossip point of view, though the music itself combined with a great light-show, did not disappoint. Overall, almost as entertaining a night at the QMU as it was embar-rassing at the GUU…
Photo: Stefan SealeyPhoto: Stefan Sealey
>> Cormac Beagan & Gerry McKeever
Photo: Megan Coghill
SIGHTmusic in PAG
E 9
No doubt many among us will have spent a considerable amount of our laughably-long summer break by standing in a muddy field attempting
to sing along to someone or other performing at least 15km away, by lip-reading the lyrics from a 100ft TV screen, our only glimpse of the artist we have paid so much money to see ‘live’. This year has seen the continuation of the consistent rise and rise of the music festival’s popularity, but is it really a good way to go and see music?
Sure you can probably fit in between 10 to 20 bands in only a few days, which depending on the festival, is probably a massive saving on what you’d pay to see them all individually, but is it not a lot more special to devote an entire night to seeing a band, and do festival conditions let you really take it all in? I know personally I find it hard to concentrate on even the most jaw-drop-ping performances when my bladder has become larger than my head, and binoculars are not generally among my preferred gig kit. However, it somehow always seems to be all worth it in the end, whether you remember any of the bands you actually saw, or if you just had a good-old para-lytic rumble in the dirt.
There is, of course, the majestic half-way house that is Barcelona’s wonderful Sonar. With its reliably arse-kicking lineup (Edbanger Records Showcase = embarrising stains) and in-city loca-tion, it’s perfect if you fancy a real bed at the end of the night. In fact the continent is generally becoming a far more popular option for festival aficionados, due to the massive difference in ticket prices. Eastern countries like Hungary, Croatia and Latvia are now offering some of the phattest festi-vals around, and with pints averaging about fifty pence to a pound, they're starting to fill up with gangs of money-conscious English-speakers.
However, with the summer now a fading memory, having an easily accessible toilet while you boogie does seem like a brilliant luxury, and not having to wake up in a hot and/or wet tent after a night out is truly a blessing. Though for all the moaning, God knows we’ll all be digging out the tents and inflatable animals once again next year. By the time you're packing your collection of novelty and contraband items into the same smelly old bag, only the excited anticipation of just how digustingly, beautifully grimy it's going to be will remain.
You have to admit, for all the material discom-forts, festivals do have the habit of providing at least one unforgettable moment when it all comes together, and the yellow trickle down your inner leg no longer matters. When eveything is blown to insignificance by the beauty of feeling momen-tarily united with thousands of other battered survivors. What’s more, no-one really expects you to wash for the whole weekend, yay!!!
>> Gerry McKeever
Filthy Weekends
These guys are 50-something but who cares? After all these years they manage to keep rock alive.
At first I was skeptical — post-punk before punk was over? Transcending the genre in the mid ‘70s? Snobbish elitism comes to mind. Well, as I waited in line around a bunch of guys who coulda been my dad (and well well hey, the 70’s were a crazy time... who knows?) I figured that I was going to waste a few hours listening to some has-been fogeys while standing amidst a sea of fat balding dudes in expensive leather jackets. But when Wire comes on stage and starts to play...
These guys are 50-something but who cares? After all these years theymanage to keep rock alive.Like Derek Smalls, this must be their child-hood preserved on stage. Colin Newman (lead guitar and vox) managed to still kick out the jams, jumping around on stage and waving his arms like a madman, an impressive feat made all the more meaningful when I notice a brace on his upper forearm. The rest of the band is jumping around & dripping sweat harder than some hot young guns less than half their ages would. Robert Gotobed (drums) has this eerie calm look of concentration on his face as he keeps a mammoth beat while Graham Lewis (bass) is a little less animated but still takes up his fair share of the stage. Only Margaret Fiedler McGinnis, the touring rythm guitarist, seems out of place as if they picked her up at a bus stop right before the gig.
Pretty good tunes, too. Their songs have a driving buzzy sound and screechy whining vocals reminiscent of early punk (a la Buzzcocks or Sex Pistols), but with heavy reverb and a deeper bass sound that stretches them past that simply angry/shallow sound that normally makes the nut for clas-sification as punk.
Of course, this is art punk so anything goes. While they’re known to play everything from straight-ahead punk to synth-laden dirges that helped give the goth crowd some solid footing, this
>> Benzo Harris
night it’s just the four of them roaring through what amounts to a lot of their back catalog.
Newman manages to transition from deep & soulful crooning on “Too Late” to all of a sudden hopping around (and I mean literally!) on stage while the rest of the band keeps the beat with “Patient Flees”.
Gotobed sometimes looks like he’s dozing off to sleep because he plays with his eyes closed and he’s almost stationary- his slender but sinewy arms waving around like mechanical chicken seperators give him away though.
And that sound! The roaring echos of strings mixed with substantial whacks and thumps from the drums merge to a concert hall that’s situated under a railway station well. There is a frenzy and zeal mounting in the audience almost as soon as they start playing- you can feel the energy rippling through the crowd.
By the time the entire crowd is roaring along with Newman the chorus for “I Can’t Understand”, I can’t understand any more! Chalk it up to my lousy hearing or my getting swept away in the raucous energy of a bunch of 18 year old punks in 45 year
old men’s bodies, but I can’t really hear what’s being sung any more... instead I’m bathed in wave after wave of sonic exhilaration: “I CAN’T UNDERSTAND! I CAN’T UNDERSTAND!”
That is punk, ladies and gentlemen! When the music/crowd/energy thing hits the right combi-nation, you forget how old you are, if you left the hob on, how your stock portfolio is doing, and are instead transported back to them glory days when you hang out in shitty clubs smoking bent rollies.
And Wire does that, because they were there then and they’re here now. They have run the gauntlet, so to speak, and have survived, and came back to tell us about it. The historical implications of this are great.
Subcity Party26/09/08Postgraduate Club Continuing from last years’ success, the first
Subcity Party/Rave went down an absolute treat on the 26th. The Universities own mob
of radio-freaks are proving time and time again that they really know how to get down. This latest installation in the series continued the trend of being even more pleasantly vicious and busy than the last. Headliners Simon Bryan and Ooft both played suitably ferocious sets, with David Sinclair (Killer Kitsch), Full Phat and Ally Herring also joining in the aural assault. The crowd were consistently
community, as these Subcity parties seem to have the power to attract from all the spheres of our delinquent population.
The ample seating and tables in the club gener-ally provide loads of space for those needing a chillout, however on this occasion they were deco-rated with debauched and degenerate ravers. These nights are fast becoming a concentrated, more intense version of an Art-school Thursday, minus the pretensions. Fair play to the Subcity crew for a pretty cool visuals show as well, including some fruity green Ayia Napa sheet lasers action. Fabu-lous.
The Hetherington Building itself is becoming a more appealing venue all the time, with its small, intimate setting providing the perfect location for a big sweaty jive. After a handful of government-censored beverages the spiralling staircases can become a bit of a challenge, even for those of us with the more sophisticated motor-skills…
>> Gerry McKeever
Photo: Jim Wilson
Wire11/09/08The Arches
The next Subcity Party is on October 17th in the same place and as it’s bound to be at least as good, we’ll see you there.
…You could find everything from a-typical trendy audiophiles to distinguished members of the senior University community.
annihilated by monster tunes, right up until home time, with the uninitiated gobsmacked at the trans-formation of the usually reserved Postgrad Club. Among the rubber-legged masses you could find everything from a-typical trendy audiophiles to distinguished members of the senior University
At one point some old dude shouts out a request, and Newman grunts “We haven’t played that song since 1979, I’m afraid.” Yowzah! Wire has been there & done that, which enables them to play with energy & style but in a more reserved, relaxed style. I’m hearing tracks off of Pink Flag (their 1st release) as well as watching ‘em grind out songs from Object 47, which came out in ‘08.
The fans love it, too. It is both embarrassing and endearing to see a bunch of 45-year-olds actu-ally moshing as Wire rallies for a second encore (name some young bands that can work out that hard!), playing “1 2 X U” so hard it was as if they were ripping a lit firecracker out of their ass.
I stood behind a guy in line who I pegged as a total loser... the short, chubby bald guy in a generic leather jacket. An obvious Record Junkie and Child of the Past... the person I’ll be when I’m 50 no doubt, (so might as well make fun of it while I can).
Anyway, as I was leaving the gig I heard him say “I’ve been waiting to see that band for 20 years.” I guess the wait was worth it.
Photo: Jim Wilson
Continuing the quality of acts that Glasgow reggae impr-essarios Mungos Hifi are bringing to the Artschool, the 12th saw London-based avant-garde soundsmith The Bug. Known among electronica cirlces for being original-
ly signed to Rephlex Records, the label of Glitch-messiah Richard D. James aka Aphex Twin, The Bug has been on the British experimen-tal scene for more than a decade. Consistently an artist pushing the boundaries of sound, and known for his varied musical directions, including ventures in jazzcore, hip-hop and a dubstep-style project titled 'Pressure' which pre-dated the term itself, The Bug provides a fascinating and edgy contribution to the current UK soundscape.
As for his performance, this was definitely not a night for the faint-hearted, as at times The Bug was seriously at risk of blowing holes in the monster that is Mungos’ Soundsystem, and in the ears of the skanking faithfull. Touring on the back of his latest album, “London Zoo”, released on Ninja Tune, The Bug was absolutely ruthless in showcasing his super-heavyweight ragga-informed industrial noise. Even the sturdy contstruction of the Art-school dancefloor was creaking worryingly under the unrelentless volume-assault. However to those not afraid of a few decibels it was a night to remember, with massively gut-spilling basslines and crucial lyrics from featured MC, Flowdan, from the Rolldeep crew. As one of Grime's best and most genuine performers, famous for his cynical style, Flowdan fitted in perfectly with the uncompromising sound of The Bug's new material. Revealing themselves to be acute, informed and surprisingly congenial, both The Bug and Flowdan took some time to speak to The Glasgow Guardian in the back passages of the Artschool:
How would you compare your live sound to your records?The Bug: “More intense, more aggressive, more funked up.” (I’m sure anyone living within a 5-mile radius of the Artschool would agree.)
In the cultural saturation of the present day, do you think there is still room for genuinely original music?Flowdan: “Yeah always, obviously the most original music comes from the most creative people, and creative people are everywhere, so I definitely think there’s always space for original music. Formula gets in the way, people just want to do what they guarantee is gonna get a result, but people also get surprised that that don’t always work, so you are forced to try new things.
The new album sounds quite Dubsteppy, how is the growing popularity of Dubstep affecting you?Flowdan: “Thats just affecting the money that you make (laughs). I’ve seen it before with Grime, it comes from one point and it goes to another point, via the media, but I don’t think Dubstep is gonna get the same fight that Grime got, because the people that come to the parties, they’re not young people, and they’re not black, so the media’s not going to fight it. At the same time the Dubstep people remind me of the Drum n Bass people, where they take control of their scene, and they don’t allow the media to push it a certain direction, like to this day Drum n Bass is still worldwide, but under-ground. It’s hard to be both, but that’s when the people that spear-head the scene take control. I feel that Dubstep is gonna go in the Drum n Bass direction, so you won’t see Dubstep all over your TV, and people prancing about, but it will still become like a UK world-
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SIGHTinGerry McKeever survived The Bug feat. MC Flowdan @ The Artschool 12/09/08
Dangerously Heavyweightfear of saying anything politically, so for me it’s crucial that I’ve made a record that said something, it wasn’t just faceless, it wasn’t just an accessory to a lifestyle.Guardian : One word for Hugo Chavez?The Bug: “Haha, no, forget it, haha, that’s what I’d say - ‘forget it”.
Guardian : You’ve done some Journalism yourself, is there any problem with being on both sides of the fence, as performer and critic?The Bug: “I only started writing because I had no way to pay my rent, my girlfriend was paying the rent. It was all I could do to generate money at that point, but it was always secondary to music. I think it was a really good thing to do, to write about music. I think it’s almost a clash of mediums, it almost kills sound to define it. It’s an incredible art-form as well to write about music, there’s a lot of writers I admire a great deal, but I think it’s a very very difficult thing to do. For me I used it primarily as a propaganda tool, for music that I felt wasn’t being represented, for people who weren’t getting enough publicity.
Guardian : Your latest album is out on Ninja tune, but in the past you were signed to Rephlex (Aphex Twin’s label) among others. Why is it you’ve changed label and what do you look for from a record label?The Bug: “I’m probably the King of being critically acclaimed and selling jackshit, so very few labels took me on for a second album because they were worried about sales. I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter if it’s a major or an independant, you’re dealing with the same human instincts and falibilities. What I look for? I left Rephlex because the distribution was poor and the promotion was even worse, so that’s why I went to Ninja Tune.
Guardian : People seem to have very polarised reactions to your live shows, either thinking it’s amazing, or just too harsh, too grimy..?The Bug: “I’m totally happy with that, I’d rather have that than some-body saying it’s ‘ok’. I like passionate responses, I don’t care if someone hates it or loves it, but those are the ones I prefer, rather than someone saying ‘yeh it was alright.’
wide sound.
The Bug: “Dubstep has helped me, I mean I totally recount the suggestion that what I do is Dubstep, but I feel that Dubstep artists share similar musical aesthetics. I prefer a broader spectrum of sound, I prefer a more intense range of emotion, and I like lyrics and voices. But at the same time since Dubstep’s become popular, it’s helped people tune to my music.
Who would you sight as your major influences?The Bug: “I’ve got stupidly eclectic taste. Post-punk made me want to make music in the first place, people like Public Image, Joy DIvision, Killing Joke, Birthday Party. From that just listening to Reggae, Hip-hop, Free-Jazz, music that had fire in it’s belly, music that had a politic, a style, was driven on intensity and that had a reason to exist. I was never a raver, I never liked the idea of music as a background. So for me the most important thing with music is anyone who’s found their own voice, and it’s an original voice, and they’re doing it because they have to, not to be famous or to make money.
Would you say there is a political or social message in your music?The Bug: “ Yeh of course, if you listen to the album it’s very clear I think, in the lyrics and musically. I wrote for the MCs, so writing for them and working with them lyrically, it was an attempt to reflect the atmosphere of living in London and living in Britain, and living in the West. I think Britain and America are paying the price for the greed of capitalism, and capitalism’s on its knees at the moment. For me so little music says anything politically at the moment, its almost like in
"Music that had fire in its belly, music that had a politic, a stlye, was driven on intensity and that had a reason to exist.'
Photo: Stefan Sealey
Photo: Stefan Sealey
SIGHTmusic in PAG
E 11
The internet has been pretty good for music fans over the last few years. Free downloads clog our head holes, a stream of recommendations dribble out our ears before we can give them any attention, and all the while we compile an exhaus-
tive list of biographical details from wikipedia; it’s a good time to be a fanatic. It has also become a great way to relive any gig you’ve gone to so long as you notice a waving camera phone at the time. It usually has the audio quality of a crisp packet and the figures on stage are rarely more than wobbling Tetris blocks seen through the eyes of a Parkinson’s sufferer, but if it fires up a bit of “lol i woz ther” nostalgia then it’s worth a cursory glance isn’t it?
Seeing Joanna Newsom showcase some new and unfinished songs at Somerset House this summer did make me consider the performer’s perspective a bit more though. Justifying her decision to play this material, she wryly remarked “It’s not like anyone has a way of... posting it in some metaphysical space where everyone else can hear it and comment and get angry if it ever gets changed. I’m so glad it’s not the future,”. Predictably enough, the song (along with the rant, just for irony) was on metaphysicalspace-tube within the week. It is certainly not unreasonable to feel insecure about every bum note
potentially ending up the ring tone for a hundred mobile phones, but once it inevitably breaches the cosy confines of those-who-paid-25-quid-to-come, the anonymous commenters are not so forgiving.
Every drunken rambling pixelated, every embarrassing moment crystallised, lasting either forever or just long enough to be featured on Stereogum. This is the future Newsom seems anxious about. A future where those crippled by geography, expense or just plain apathy can get a taste of what those more favourably graced in these areas savour. It’s hardly Orwellian in its vision; someone may be always watching but it seem to be much more a fascinated little brother than any Big Brother.
So just how does this edge of the sword compare with the other? You can fast track to success through a few sage nods of the interweb elders and a few gushing testimonials of its underlings now. How much can you really complain if a bad day or two, or in the case of Amy Winehouse 347 (the current number of results for “Amy Wine-house Drunk” on Youtube) provoke a few unintelligible comments. It might feel a bit like having Heat magazine circle your musical cankles, but if it helps generate the interest that keeps you doing what you love then it is a small price to pay.
>> Oisin Kealy
Naked To The Net
There have been big changes in the Kings Of Leon camp since their sparkling debut ‘Holy Rover Novocaine’ exploded onto the scene in the spring of 2003. One of the many garage rock outfits to benefit from the once promising NME sponsored ‘New Rock Revolution’, it appears the Nashville four-piece have shed the last of their rough and ready
blues cocoon to emerge as a beautiful mainstream butterfly. ‘Only by the Night’, the latest musical offering from Kings of Leon
comes off the back of its highly successful predecessor ‘Because of the Times’ (2006) which debuted at number one in the U.K and Ireland respectively, a factor which has undoubtedly influenced the cleaner, sexier and more sellable sound of this latest record. The opener, ‘Closer’ is a slow, seductive stomper, with heartfelt, soulful singing amidst distant wailing guitars and solid commanding drumbeat supplied by the excellent Nathan Followill, setting the stadium rock atmosphere from the outset. “Sex on Fire” the first released single is representative of much of the album, almost indistinguishable from the other docile rock album fillers “I want you” and “Manhattan”. “Revelry” offers a unique moment of intimacy, but only until the rock ballad sensibilities returns in all their glory midway through the song, as the imaginary lighters are raised high in salute. ‘Crawl’ the standout track of the album, opens with a grungy, drone-rock bass intro and strikes an almost electro ambiance which at points, like most of ‘Only by the Night’, will force you to check the C.D case to ensure you haven’t accidentally put your copy of ‘Achtung baby’ on by mistake. Of course, that is a little harsh, no one actually owns a copy of ‘Achtung Baby’, but if they did, they would certainly see the similarities between U2’s early nineties sound and the new and improved popularized, grandiose rock style of Tennessee’s favorite family rock band. (Declan Mckay)
"Every drunken rambling pixilated, every embarrassing moment crys-tallised, lasting either forever or just long enough to be featured on Stereogum."
MetallicaDeath MagneticMercury Records - 12/09/09
Kings of LeonOnly By The NightColumbia Discs - 22/09/08
Fabriclive 41Simian Mobile DiscoFabric Records - 11/08/08
Fabriclive 41 comes barely a year after Simian Mobile Disco’s first reluctant commitment to record, last summer’s "Attack Decay Sustain Release". Main-taining their improvisatory sound, this live mix sees James Ford and Jas Shaw forage through over 40 years of inspi-ration and emerge with some spec-tacular stomp-fodder. The raw material
is eclectic, but not random, with ancient rarities (Moondog’s ‘Suite Equestria’ and Raymond Scott’s ‘Cindy Electronium’) accompanying modern techno and house. Tomita’s thick, orchestrated synthesiser intro from 1986’s electronic Stravinsky sets a gleefully menacing tone, followed beautifully with the progressive occult-disco Sisters of Tran-sistors- "The Don". The album structure flawlessly reflects its purpose: it's dance, not especially for listening, driving or learning, but for dancing. Anthemic, inviting tunes dominate the first half, delivered with delicious restraint: a perfect example is in Hercules and Love Affair’s ‘Blind’ where massive, Ibiza synths interject but never play the anticipated clichéd sequence.
The lengthy venture into minimal electro in the second half of the album has some compelling moments where the subtle variation of miniature sequences steers a galloping club beat (Worthy’s ‘Crack El’ and Jelo and Deadmau5’s ‘The Reward is Cheese’) but suffers from dull gaps or disappointing drops following overlong, beatless breaks (Bentobox vs Chordian’s ‘Aemono’). The final section sadly falls short of building fever by adding relentless percussion, abandoning the previous roomy and persuasive grooves.
Despite its disorientated climax, most of Fabriclive 41 is excellent, the consistently immaculate rearrangements throughout the album make this an exhilarating demonstration of compelling dance music. (Harry Akehurst)
GlasvegasGlasvegasSonyBMG - 08/09/08
Glasvegas are hotly tipped to be the new Franz Ferdinand, although where they have obtained this label is some-what unclear. Certainly, their self-titled, long awaited-for debut album show-cases the Glasgow of today – our football culture, bad language and loneliness – but there are also tales of social workers, stabbings, parents leaving their children,
and cheating in relationships, covering a wide range of problems faced by society in general: a huge leap and bound away from the art-rock credentials of Alex Kapranos and company.
The album stands out from other Scottish contemporaries such as The Fratellis, most obviously because of the broad Glasweigan accent of singer James Allan, who often sings in a spoken manner. In ‘Flowers And Football Tops’, which has a definite SECC-feel to it; not unlike the rest of the album, “football” becomes “fit-baw” and “police”... as dear old Ricky Fulton used to say, the“polis”. Written as a response to the brutal murder of teenager Kriss Donald, the track sets the distinctly melancholy tone of the entire album, most apparent in the likes of "Daddy's Gone," a powerful lament over absentee parents. Despite the truly cumbersome name, 'It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry' is a fantastically executed piece of music - understated, sorrowful verse lyrics from James Allen contrast well with the soaring guitar of the chorus, building into a heart-felt, powerful finale. Depending on which side of Glasgow you come from, the album could be either an afront to our accents, or exactly what you’ve been looking to connect with for all these years; tellingly, the band are from the East End. Glas-vegas are riding on a wave of media frenzy, a number two album, and sell-out tours, recently playing our very own QMU to a full house – judging from this album, the hype, in this case, may well be justified. (Louise Irving)
James Hetfield and friends return with their ninth studio album, the second to feature bassist Rob Trujillo, and the first release since 2003’s St Anger. The previous album’s stripped-down style and bizarre co-operative songwriting didn’t go down well with either critics or fans. So, what will Metallica’s notoriously critical fans think of their latest effort?
First of all, they appear to have returned to their thrash-metal roots as the album is covered in high-speed picking, double-kick drumming and shouty vocals. The first track, “That Was Just Your Life”, opens with a heartbeat and builds up with a military drum beat and eerie “Enter Sandman”-style guitar before launching straight into some old-school thrashing. Lovely. However, the lads haven’t just made a whole album in this vein . The lead single, “The Day That Never Comes”, starts off with melodic clean guitar before the lead joins in with its own distorted melody, reminiscent of the classic “Fade To Black”. Unfortunately, the sub-par guitar solo lets this track down as it sounds like far too many of the older solos. The album also features a near ten minute long instrumental track called “Suicide and Redemption”. This tune sounds like it was written through the medium of random jamming and unfortunately gets a bit boring.
Despite a few flops, all in all, it’s a pretty good album. Grumpy old Metallica fans will particularly enjoy the eighties thrash goodness, but some more melodic and rhythmic tunes give it variety. The only real downsides to Death Magnetic are Hetfield’s voice and Hammett’s solos. Good old James just doesn’t seem to have the voice for it anymore and the vocals lack anything in the way of tune or range, while Hammet’s over-use of Wah-wah and his age-old hammer-on style could really do with a bit of a change. (Graeme Stirling)
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