Courier 1319

www.thecourieronline.co.uk Monday 9 November 2015 Issue 1319 Free

NUSU ELECTIONS Keen nominees hope to win your vote p.23

The Independent Voice of Newcastle Students

CHILDREN IN NEED Top 10 moments in recent years p. 37

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INTERVIEW: ASH Chatting to drummer Rick McMurray p. 31

Physics degrees relaunched Uni welcomes first intake of new Physics undergraduates since 2004 £2 million invested in laboratories for relaunched Physics department Four new academics appointed to teach new degree programmes

By Victoria Armstrong Editor After a nine-year absence, Newcastle University has restarted teaching Physics, offering prospective students the opportunity to study for a BSc or a MPhys in Physics.

A dwindling interest in studying Physics a decade ago meant the last intake of Physics students at the University occurred in 2004. However, the field has seen a nation-wide spark in interest recently, with numbers of students studying Physics in school increasing, causing a subsequent rise in demand for Physics degrees.

So far, four new academics have been appointed to help teach the new degree programmes. Additionally, £2 million has been invested into providing purpose-built facilities, including a Physics laboratory in the Herschel Annex building, where the Physics department is housed. The Herschel building is named for the University’s first Professor of Physics, Alexander Herschel, who was appointed in 1871 and whose grandfather, Sir William Herschel, is credited with discovering the planet Uranus.

The facilities were officially opened in a ceremony on Friday 6 November by the internationally acclaimed physicist, astrobiologist, cosmologist and Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, Professor Paul Davies. Speaking on the subject of “the great unresolved problems of physics”, Professor Davies lauded the reintroduction of Physics degrees at Newcastle University, commenting, “I welcome this initiative which restores physics to its rightful place at this esteemed insti-

tution. As the ‘queen of sciences’ physics will always be a core discipline.

“In the second decade of this century, physics is poised to transform the frontiers of research from fields as diverse as computing, cancer biology, materials science and nanotechnology. The career opportunities opening up for physics graduates herald a new Golden Age for science.

“The end is not in sight for theoretical physics, nor experimental physics; there is still a long way to go yet.”

The ceremony continued with flare, as a paper cover was set aflame to reveal a plaque commemorating the occasion.

Speaking exclusively to The Courier, Professor Steve Homans, Pro-ViceChancellor of the Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering (SAGE) at Newcastle University, stated: “It’s wonderful to see Physics back on the map in Newcastle. I think Physics has exhibited a rebirth, the Brian Cox effect perhaps. We have a lot of very strong Physics research in Newcastle already in other departments, like Electrical Engineering, but this means that the University’s physicists can come together to focus their efforts.

“Over the next decade, we would hope to establish Physics as a separate discipline within the University, by gaining more researchers and postgraduate students, as they are ultimately the lifeblood of research.”

There are 39 undergraduate students currently on the first year of the two new single honours Physics degrees, the first intake in eleven years, with numbers set to rise. Plans also exist to expand the current facilities with the construction of cryogenics and electronics laboratories intended.

“As the ‘Queen of sciences’, physics will always be a core discipline”

Exploding paper showing the official opening plaque of the new Physics facilities Image: Mike Urwin

Gender imbalance forces nominations to re-open in election for NUS delegates

By Mark Sleightholm Deputy Editor Nominations for Newcastle’s NUS delegates will have to be re-opened later in the year in order for the delegation to meet NUS’ representation requirements.

NUS voted in 2014 to ensure that all students’ unions send delegations that include “at least 50% self-defining women, rounded down”. This means that three of Newcastle’s six places at the NUS National Conference must be filled by self-defining women. However, none of the current candidates self define as women.

Elections are held every November to elect five of the six NUSU delegates, with the NUSU President automatically taking the other place. Since Dom Fearon, this year’s NUSU President,

self-defines as a man, there are only two places left for the four candidates currently standing.

NUS regulations state that if there are not enough self-defining women in the delegation by the registration deadline in March next year, none of NUSU’s delegates will be eligible to attend.

Fearon said: “I am very surprised that no self-defining women were interesting in attending NUS Conference.

Female engagement with the Students’ Union is higher than male, and female satisfaction with NUSU is 10% higher.

In the past five years we have had more delegates self-defining as women than men so this is definitely out of the ordinary.”

Last year there were three self-defining women in NUSU’s delegation, including the then-President, Claire Boothman.

Fearon continued: “Since we have

previously had more women delegates than men we haven’t found it necessary to specifically target women before now.

“I will be having discussions with Lucy Morgan (the NUSU Gender Equality Officer) to discuss how to make our female students aware of the importance of having their views represented at NUS conference. Hopefully when we reopen nominations in February we will have a plethora of applications.”

Morgan said: “NUSU should actively be trying to engage more women in Newcastle student politics. The fact that no women at all have ran for it highlights the need for NUS’ fair representation policy in the first place.

“I hope when nominations re-open there will be a more concerted and clarified effort to encourage more women and I will of course be promoting it through the Feminist Society and my role as Gender Equality Officer.”

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Monday 9 November 2015

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By Mark Sleightholm Deputy Editor Students from Newcastle University joined thousands of other students to protests in London on 4 November. The demonstration, organised by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) was a response to the Government’s plans to abolish maintenance grants for students.

Luke Allison, Welfare and Equality Officer, organised a coach down to the capital, with around 20 Newcastle students attending the protest, along with several students from Durham University.

The protesters listened to a speech by shadow chancellor John McDonnell before marching through central London with placards and banners. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also gave his support to the protest, and Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, was also in attendance.

Several  of  the  Newcastle  students  who  went  down  to  London  for  the  protest  spoke  to  The  Courier  about  their  experiences It is important for current students to show solidarity with future students.

I wouldn’t have been able to afford to come to university if it wasn’t for my maintenance grant, and it isn’t fair that future students will not be able to attend – not based on merit, but on how much money they have. Furthermore, as a feminist, I recognise that fees and cuts are a feminist issue, because they disproportionately affect groups traditionally marginalised in society. This is why Lucy Morgan, the Gender Equality Officer, and I marched with Feminists Against Fees placards.

Rohan Kon

The Free Education march which happened in London last Wednesday, reported to have attracted around 10,000 students from far and wide, was a successful, and despite what the papers would have you think, peaceful protest.

Newcastle students travelled with students and union members from Durham and were met by thousands of protesters from many other universities. There was a great vibe with chants and the rhythmic hammering of drums as we marched together past Parliament in solidarity against injustice towards students, refugees and other minorities suffering under this government. Despite encountering turbulence caused by a small group of other protesters unaffiliated with our cause, we marched peacefully yet strongly to fight for what we believe in.

Hanson Jones

“Just two days after the demonstration the Government announced plans to allow high-performing universities to raise their fees�

The organisers of the demonstration have called for an end to tuition fees.

Just two days after the demonstration the Government announced plans to allow high-performing universities to raise their fees above ÂŁ9,000, in line with inflation.

Universities would be ranked based on criteria such as the quality of teaching, student satisfaction and graduate employment rates, with the top universities able to raise their fees.

The proposals, by Jo Johnson, universities minister, also include establishing and Office for Students, that would represent student interests. It would also become easier for new universities to open, and targets would be introduced to encourage universities to accept more students from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds.

Although the proposals have only just been announced the move has already attracted widespread criticism, including from the National Union of Students.

Allison is holding a meeting on Wednesday at 5pm, in the Dunstanburgh Room in NUSU Central, to discuss further student action. There are plans for a national student strike later in the year, as well as further protests in London.

NUSU,  King’s  Walk,  Newcastle  upon  Tyne,  NE1  8QB.  Tel:  0191  239  3940

The Courier is a weekly newspaper produced by students, for students. It’s never too late to get involved in the paper, whether you’re a writer, illustrator or photographer. Email editor.union@ncl.ac.uk for more information.

Several Newcastle students travelled to London to protest Images: Luke Allison

Spending 14 hours on a chilly coach to and from London may not seem not like the greatest way to spend a Wednesday; but when students are lambasted to the extent that is reality under this government, we all have to make our voices heard.

I went to march against the cutting of student grants, which will mean students from modest backgrounds will graduate with around ÂŁ10,000 more debt than their luckier peers.

This effective tax on poor parents is an affront to meritocracy. It is merely an act of political posturing as grants count towards the deficit, whereas loans do not; although of course they contribute the same amount to the national debt.

I also marched in favour of free

Editor Victoria Armstrong Deputy Editor Mark Sleightholm News Editors Antonia Velikova, Peter Georgiev, Sophie Norris and Sinead Corkett-Beirne Comment Editors Jack Dempsey, Adam Thompson and Daniel Robertson Culture Editor Laura Staniforth Lifestyle Editors /DXUHQ ([HOO 5XWK /RHIĂ HU .DWLH Ackerley and Fiona Callow Fashion Editors Sara Macauley, Ellen Dixon and Liz Rosling Beauty Editors Lucy Cochrane, Ellen Walker and Flo Davies Arts Editors Holly Suttle, Jade Holroyd and Emily Watton Film Editors Rhian Hunter, Simon Ramshaw and Emma Allsopp TV Editors Ellie McLaren, Jack Oliver Parker and Hannah Bunting Music Editors Jamie Shepherd, Dominique Daly and Connor McDonnell Science Editors Iqra Choudry, Louise Bingham and Anna Jastrzembska Gaming Editors Ollie Burton, James McCoull and Michael Hicks Sports Editors Calum Wilson, Alex Hendley and Lewis Bedford

education. I believe that higher education has a social benefit, so that even those who do not attend benefit from its existence. A brilliant entrepreneur may not have a degree, but you can bet their accountant will, and their lawyer and doctor. Their web designer probably will and any marketing or publicity managers. Businesses could not grow and succeed without the university educated professionals which underpin such success. Is it justifiable that such an entrepreneur should not contribute towards the cost of the education which builds their business?

The government will continue to disregard students as long as students ignore government. We need to ensure our voices are heard.

Liam Christie

The Courier is printed by: Print and Digital Associates, Fernleigh House, 10 Uttoxeter Road, Derby, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, DE3 0DA. Established in 1948, The Courier is the fully independent student newspaper of the Students’ Union at Newcastle University. The Courier is published weekly during term time, and is free of charge.

The design, text, photographs and graphics are copyright of The Courier and its individual contributors. No parts of this newspaper may be reproduced without the prior permission of the Editor. Any views expressed in this newspaper’s comment pieces are those of the individual writing, and not of The Courier, the Students’ Union or Newcastle University.

The Courier

news.3

Monday 9 November 2015

Academics turn research into performance

By Francis Williams A group of academics will appear later this month in the third instalment of Performing Research.

Postgraduates Matt Jenkins, Laura Richards and Dr. Quoc Vuong will have their research showcased, acting with help from a group of over twenty other researchers.

The play with be performed at the Northern Stage and will provide innovative, enthralling and surprising performances, showcasing the academics’ work in a way that would otherwise not be possible.

The project has been developed alongside associate theatre maker, Rebecca Louise Collins and Newcastle University.

The show is produced by Cap-a-Pie, a theatre company which brings together professional theatre makers and communities to co-create theatre and foster learning.

Cap-a-Pie is keen to see how theatre and drama can be useful in different contexts, striving to make productions that connect with both participants and audiences.

Katy Vanden, a producer from Capa-Pie, said: “The academics took part in the programme to advance themselves and pursue careers in education and entertainment, to enable their research to proceed further or just for fun.”

Artistic director Brian McCormick said: “Every researcher I meet always seems to be doing the most fascinating work. I’m always hugely intrigued by their research and how I can create new theatre with them and share this with audience.

McCormick pointed out that the three performances are completely different.

Matt Jenkins has focused on the methodology behind the creation of a ‘happiness index’ by David Cameron in 2010, while Laura Richards has used Twitter to analyse the effect of Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign.

Additionally, Dr Vuong has explored visual perception in humans, birds and bees to make sense of how people’s brains understand the world around them.

Laura said: “I went in with a really open mind and didn’t know what to expect. I knew that I had to be observant rather than going in with an agenda.”

Before joining the group, she spent time working with an organisation in

Academics took part in the programme to enable their research to go further, or just for fun Images: Cap-a-Pie

Cambodia - an experience that had a clear impact on her research.

“Cambodia was really the catalyst for me in taking this research project”, she said.

“The conversations I had with the girls there reminded me of how the themes and issues around gender discrimination were still relevant everywhere, including the UK.” Her conclusions were surprising, finding three different uses of the hashtag.

Some people loved the campaign because it highlighted its necessity of speaking out for women, despite not taking part in sport themselves.

Others engaged in sport but in a hyper-feminine way, beating a personal best but whilst wearing Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses; and people using the term in a gender-neutral way, not using any terms to identify themselves as women or girls.

A large number of hashtag users who identified as women questioned why they were being called a girl.

This is an area that people have strong opinions on. Laura admitted that she “had quite a personal reaction to the campaign.”

A number of cases that boosted the self-esteem of females were evident.

Laura described the experience of

one runner criticised for having “fat legs”, before Sport England intervened and motivated her to keep running.

Matt’s research drew him into the depths of statistical analysis.

He said: “It’s deceptively simple. You [just] ask someone.”

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s average happiness is rated as 7.2/10, flagging behind the positivity of Denmark.

His research aimed to find out the methodology behind measuring happiness, what it really means when people say they are a certain number out of ten, and whether it was only him that felt awkward when asked that question.

ent disciplines, he contrasted the relationship of the social sciences and the sciences, for “the things social scientists take for granted are disputed by scientists, especially when you are talking about statistics to people who rely on statistics in their everyday lives.”

Fascinated by visual perception in humans and animals, Dr. Vuong found the most surprising result of his research was that all animals use the same generic principles to make sense of the world around them; they all recognise objects in similar ways.

However, these general principles are difficult to discover.

He joined the project to learn the per-

“Cap-a-Pie is keen to see how theatre and drama can be useful in different context, striving to make productions that connect with both participants and audiences” Matt argued that efficiency in government decisions is a key motivator in the modern age.

He said: “Once happiness has been put in relative terms we can start thinking about efficiency. For instance, does a museum create more happiness than a council-funded youth centre?

“For the unemployed, jobseekers allowance could potentially be given on condition that people undergo cognitive therapy, making them happier and more successful at job interviews, at a lower cost to the taxpayer. There is a great deal of money in wellbeing.”

There is no definitive conclusion to Matt’s research, other than that “more research is required.”

Broad questions remain about how statistics are calculated.

When asked about how he felt working with other researchers from differ-

formance skills required to communicate his research to students, clinicians, artists and the public.

All of the academics presenting their work with Cap-a-Pie wanted to engage as broad an audience as possible, rejecting the usual dissemination of academic research within closed circles.

Performing Research is running over an eight-week period, culminating in a one hour performance on Thursday, 26 November.

The performance will be followed by a discussion of the academics’ research, further enhancing its engagement with the public.

The project will return in Spring and is currently open to applications through the Cap-a-Pie website, funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the University.

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Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Students campaign against social stigma

By Imogen Scott-Chambers Third year Katie Hunter and a group of other Geography students have been started a campaign for social justice as part of their course.

They have decided to campaign against the stigma surrounding male domestic abuse.

They chose to investigate a concept called ‘hegemonic masculinity’ which focuses on men as the dominant gender and the belief that if they become victims, they are perceived as ‘feminine’ and this comes with negative connotations.

Katie Hunter told The Courier that herself and her team felt like male and gender-neutral issues were being ignored thus they wanted to tackle this.

Katie said: “We definitely believe that there is a stigma that if a man is a victim of domestic violence.

If a woman fell victim to domestic abuse, the amount of support she would get would be far greater than any emotional support a man would get.

The group said: “Both genders deserve respect when they are victims of domestic abuse”.

Nevertheless, some students think that alongside monetary investment into charities there should be more studies into the domestic abuse of males worldwide.

Mechanical Engineering student Jonathan Craigmile said: “If a man told his mates about domestic abuse he would probably be mocked, it just seems to be not a manly thing to do.

“Maybe if there were more opportunities for males to come forward before things got too bad, the statistics from Scotland would not be as high as they are” An article published in The Independent reported that cases of male domestic violence have doubled in Scotland over the past 10 years.

Subsequently, the Scottish Government announced £3 million of funding over the next three years for the charity ASSIST which vows to help victims of sexual assault.

ASSIST Trauma Care is a specialist Non-forProfit Organisation offering therapeutic help to adults and children, individuals and families, affected by a wide range of traumatic occurrences.

As part of the campaign, the students involved will start a petition on campus for a support group and aim to start up an anonymous hotline/chat forum for victims of domestic abuse.

They have set up a twitter account for the campaign @manpowerNCL. Look out for Katie and her fellow campaigners on campus in the coming weeks.

“If a man told his mates about domestic abuse he would probably be mocked”

The Geography students aim to tackle stigma with male domestic abuse.

Image: Katie Hunter

Uni encourages undergraduate scholarships

By Ritwik Sarkar Newcastle University is set to host an event encouraging undergraduate students who have academic potential to do further research and pursue a postgraduate study.

The event will take place in the Curtis Auditorium on 18 November 2015.

It will feature presentations delivered by students that place focus upon their own personal experiences and achievements of their summer research scholarships and expeditions.

According to Suzanne Cholerton, Pro ViceChancellor of Learning and Teaching, “Newcastle University places a high value on students pursuing new knowledge, developing indepenedence of thought, and being exposed to the culture of research.”

The three faculties involved are the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Medical Sciences, and Science, Agriculture and Engineering. The projects undertaken by students represent their commitment to their chosen subject of study.

“Research scholarships provide an

opportunity for students to find out what research is like, to develop research and problem solving skills and to engage in enquiry based learning”, Professor Cholerton continues.

“The students who rise to these challenges gain a wide range of valuable skills and also benefit from team-working and leadership experience.

“In addition to the hugely rewarding experience that students gain throughout the whole expedition process from planning through to successful completion and writeup, they always return with new skills, a huge sense of satisfaction and fulfilment, and increased confidence and maturity”, said Dr. Gordon Port, Acting Chair of University Expeditions Comittee, The production of a poster at the end of the project helps develop presentational skills and underline the importance of being able to communicate research findings to a variety of audiences.The opportunities offered to the recipients of the grants and awards are immense and varied.

“The students

who rise to these challenges gain a wide range of valuable skills”

The Courier

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Monday 9 November 2015

Oar blimey! Boat club bares bums for charity

By Sinead Corkett-Beirne News Editor Members of the male and female boat club have stripped off for the annual calender which raises money for a charity of their choice. This year, the money generated from calender sales is being donated to Headway, a charity which specifies in helping people suffering from brain injuries.

The nude photography shoot took place in the university boathouse which is located in Newburn, as well as in the strength and conditioning room in the university gym. The calender will be available to purchase online from 9th November 2015, however copies will be sold on campus from 20th November onwards.

According to Will Anslow-Wilson, the Fundraising Officer and third year geography student, “Rowing is an expensive sport, particularly for students, therefore the calenders are a great way to make money for the boat club and for charity.”

Over five hundred copies of Newcastle University’s 2014 Boat Club calender were sold in seven countries which generated over £2000 for their chosen charities, Prostate Cancer UK and Breast Cancer UK.

“Fundraising is an important part of the club. The calenders are a great way to make money for the boat club and for charity” “We’ve stepped up the quality of the photos so this year we aim to make £5000”, Wilson said. “Fundraising is an important part of the club as it raises money to keep the club afloat whilst bringing the club together. It’s fantastic that the freshers got involved as it helped them settle in and bond with the rest of the team much faster.”

The President of the boat club, Barnaby Stroud Turp, said, “It seemed daunting at first but once people got into the spirit of it, it was really fun.”

According to first-year Zoology student Yannick Thompson, “At first the shooting was a bit awkward as there were a few members of the public walking past and I didn’t know anyone particularly well. In the end I embraced it and the shoot was a great laugh.”

The images were professionally taken

by Ben Tufnell of Tufnell Photography.

Online course unearths ancient secrets

By Helen Daly Newcastle University has launched its first free online course that unearths the ‘dark secrets’ of a Northumbrian landmark, The six week course, named Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Frontier, has already seen students making a remarkable discovery, according to Professor Ian Haynes. The course involves students using cutting-edge forensic archaeology techniques in order to try and discover the fate of two skeletons found at Hadrians Wall. Whilst the actual findings of the research are being kept under wraps as they are going to

Comment

feature heavily in the course this year, the results of the investigation will come to light during the course.

In particular, students have been looking closely at remains found at Arbeia Roman Fort in South Shields.

Professor Hayes explains, “We have revently decided to use some new forensic techniques to learn more.”

“We launched a programme of DNA analysis to see what we could learn of the identities of the two individuals

buried in the Roman Fort. We will have the results just in time for our new run of the course, starting on 2nd November”, he continues.

The course not only looks at forensic archeology but also delves into Northumberland before Hadrian’s wall was built as well as the introduction of the Romans into the local life. The course is the first of its type to focus solely on Hadrian’s Wall and offers students the chance to get an introduction into the UNESCO World Heritage site.

“Over 30,000 students have enrolled in 109 countries”

“It’s a comprehensive introduction to the ancient communities that lived on and around the largest Roman monument in the world,” Ian Hayes said. “The course gives the opportunity to ask exciting questions about the great themes - war and peace, cultural change, gender and ethnicity - but initially to explore them in an ancient setting.”

Hadrian’s Wall: Life on the Roman Frontier has been a hugely popular course due to its online reach and with the new findings and it is set to grow even further.

“We have had significantly over 30,000 students enroll in 109 countries and we have the opportunity to experiment

with new teaching technologies on a massive scale.”

“Hadian’s Wall is so much more than just a wall. It is part of a massive system which drew people together from across the Ancient World - we had people coming to the Roman frontier from as far away as Iraq for example - but one which also divided them. Its history involves terrible bloodshed and cruelty, but over more than three centuries of use, it also sees the evolution of extraordinarily cosmopolitan communities.”

Students are still able to register for the free course by visiting www.futurelearn.com.

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Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Have I got news for you? Pop-­Up Newsroom tackles international stories about refugees and human rights

By Antonia Velikova News Editor The Pop-Up Newsroom, a global reporting event, organised and facilitated

by Newcastle University students and staff, took place last week. The theme that the budding news reporters fearlessly tackled was refugees and human rights.

Students from the International Multimedia MA and volunteers from other courses took part in the three-day-long project. Using their smartphones, students roam the streets and collect opinions, interviews, vox pops, and various forms of visual media. Their materials are afterwards added to the interactive Twitter feed which is then broadcasted on the Pop-Up News website.

This year, Newcastle is joined by another newsroom popping up on the UK map as Coventry University has taken part in the project as well. The PopUp Newsroom’s international partners include universities from California in the US, Chennai in India, Utrecht in the Netherlands, Lebanon and Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.

David Baines, Senior Lecturer in the Media, Culture and Heritage department, is the leader of the UK side of the Pop-Up project. He spoke exclusively to

The Courier about this year’s achievements and reporting theme: “The theme emerged from concerns that were there for all of us, I think, during this past year. A quarter of the population of Lebanon is now refugees and it’s difficult for everyone involved there.

What we’ve seen is that a lot of people are very welcoming, and some of them, who experience those various difficulties are less so.”

David believes that the Pop-Up Newsroom will tell the stories of refugees and asylum seekers in a way rarely seen in mainstream media: “We see the problem through the particular lens of popular media. What the Pop-Up is very good at doing is bringing in voices from the street. This involves the word of people who work with refugees a lot and refugees themselves. We only ever see the emotive pictures of refugees and asylum seekers but we very rarely get the chance to actually hear their voices.”

This year’s Pop-Up Newsroom is slightly different than the ones before it.

While the project in previous years took place over the weekend, this time, in order to make interview sources more accessible, it took place over the week.

“We tried to piece it around people’s timetables during the week,” David said on the challenges of working around

teaching time. “It had its advantages, being able to meet people who wouldn’t be available during the weekend, normally. That way we got to work with NERS (North of England Refugee Service) and the Discovery Museum, who currently have an exhibition on migration and another temporary one on refugees. So that has been fantastic. But on the other hand, it’s been very difficult.

Students couldn’t physically meet up and compare their notes, so it’s all been very digital. And they’ve been dashing

movie theatre after having seen newest blockbuster Sufragette. Imogen and the others were asking them about the important issue of women’s rights and how they’ve developed over the years.

“One of my personal favourite experiences from the 3 days was taking a trip to the Tyneside Irish Centre on Thursday afternoon to speak with members of the afternoon club,” Imogen said. “They told us their very personal and inspirational family stories about migrating to England from Ireland. So many families

“When you use your smartphone, you get a different kind of story” backwards and forwards between lectures, Despite that they’ve done really well and the coverage has been absolutely fantastic.”

David estimates that around 120 students from different universities took part in this year’s project. One of them was International Multimedia Journalism student Imogen Scott-Chambers.

“Pop-Up Newsroom was a fantastic and unique experience,” she said. “It was amazing to think that all over the world journalism students were asking important questions about some of the biggest issues in society today, migration and human rights.”

At the time of speaking to us, Imogen was on her way to the Tyneside Cinema. She and her team were eager to interview visitors just leaving the

saw the sadness in migration as many are doing now and it was so interesting to look at the comparisons between the past and the present.”

Pop-Up News’ impact is hugely international, with Universities from opposite sides of the world taking part in the project. One of the participants, Kalina Stoyanova, spoke to The Courier about her experiences: “I have to say it was very well-organized and I’d like to thank the Journalism and Mass Communications department and our Multimedia Journalism Professor Devadas Rajaram for creating such an opportunity for us. I must admit, I faced some challenges deciding what I’d like to talk about and exactly what medium would best fit my story ideas.

Social media journalism is new to me

because I generally don’t perceive social networks as places to get information from; basically, they often lack credibility - and I think that is a problem contemporary journalists face often.

“The biggest challenge for me was fitting one news piece in one tweet and I must admit I failed miserably - I’m way too wordy!”

David Baines explained how the nature of journalism is now changing rapidly with the rise of technology and social media.

“When you use your smartphone, you get a different kind of story,” David pointed out. “People with the big equipment and the video cameras tend to get different responses. If you’re there with a small insignificant bit of kit that we all have nowadays, a completely different type of article is produced. I was talking to one of my students, who did a placement at Metro Radio, and they all use iPhones now. That enables them to work with people in different ways, reach audiences through different channels. Journalism isn’t just about throwing content at people anymore. Journalists create networks of information flows that create a society and journalists become the majore nodes in that society.”

The next Pop-Up Newsroom will be on International Women’s Day and it will be completely voluntary - anyone can get involved by sending an email to David Baines.

“It’s all about working together with your audience now,” David concluded.

The students interviewed many different people from all over the world.

Photography by Imogen Scott-Chambers

The Courier

news.7

Monday 9 November 2015

A master in success: the inspiring story of an alumni Newcastle alumni and current International Markets President Ann Cairns gave a lecture in front of current students, alumni and staff on Friday.

Ann graduated from Newcastle with her MSc in Medical Statistics in 1979.

A dashing career path, which included her working as the only female engineer in Killingsworth, lead her into the high-ends of finance. In her lecture, she emphasised on how her experience at University helped her extraordinary success.

“I love Newcastle and I’ve got family up here, so I come back quite often,” Ann told The Courier before her lecture.

“I’ve always felt it’s an incredibly warm and friendly place, very easy to connect with people. Not just the University,but the whole town. The University reflects on that.

The campus has certainly changed.

ended up in her current position with MasterCard.

“If you want something, just go to the person running it and talk to them directly,” she said. “What’s the worst that could happen? They could tell you to buzz off, but they probably won’t.”

Ann has worked in many different countries, including London, Holland, the US, and Iceland. She admitted that out of those, integrating into the culture of continental Europe was the hardest, even harder than the US. She did, however, also point out that “all that experience turned out to be very useful.”

Her current job still involves a lot of travelling - at least 40 weeks per year.

However, Ann finds it particularly important to find the work-life balance and dedicate just as much time to her job as she would to her family. “It’s important to everyone to get that balance right and I don’t think that’s a very easy task in the current day and age,” she admitted.

I can see that they’ve taken out all the steps so it’s a lot more accessible now. It also looks a bit more glamorous compared to when I was here.”

In her talk, Ann emphasised on the importance of the connections you have and how they ultimately end up landing you a dream job.

“It’s really important to network and get referrals from all the people you meet,” Ann said in her lecture. “Because the truth is, that’s just how you get the job you want.”

Ann got her first job with British Gas immediately after University - in fact she interviewed with them before finishing and they were prepared to wait for five months for her to graduate. “I had no idea how to present myself at all,” She got her first job in banking at CityBank on 1 October 1987 - 18 days before the stock market fell through on Black Monday. She has been climbing the career ladder ever since until she

Talking to The Courier, Ann gave her top advice for graduates, who may be anxious for their future: “It’s absolutely fine not to know what you want to do for the rest of your life at this point,” she emphasised. “University career is just really the start of your learning. It’s all about the people you connect with, the networks you make, having flexible and transferable skills. It’s not so much about the content of your degree, the focus should be on constantly learning things.”

After her lecture, the audience took the floor, many thanking Ann for sharing her invaluable experience and asking insightful questions.

Ann is emphasised on the need to encourage girls to take up science subjects.

“I think it would be great to have more science-oriented business women,” she pointed out. “Currently only 14% of people working in science are female.

There’s something wrong in that picture and we definitely need to change it.”

By Antonia Velikova News Editor

If you want something, just go to the person running it and talk to them directly.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Ann Cairns told the story of her extraordinary career.

Photography by Antonia Velikova

Uni and Poly save a life with 24-­hour marathon

By Sally Mu On Monday and Tuesday, LINKS ran a CPR marathon outside the Students’ Union for ‘Save A Life Week’.

LINKS is a combined first-aid society ran by both Newcastle and Northumbria Universities with more than 150 active society members.

The event aimed to increase awareness of the importance of first aid and to raise money for St John Ambulance’s (SJA) ‘Donate for Defibs’ campaign. All money raised throughout ‘Save A Life Week’ will go towards buying life-saving defibrillators in Newcastle.

During the CPR marathon free first aid demonstrations were delivered by members of the society outside of Students’ Union building.

“Up to 140,000 people die each year in situations where first aid could have given them a chance to live,” said one of the Newcastle LINKS St John Ambulance volunteers that participated in the event, “which is why we are holding this event to reach as many people as possible in such a busy place on the Newcastle University campus and help them learn basic life-saving skills!”

He continued: “A lot of students have done basic CPR training during the CPR marathon, which is very impressive and we are delighted to see so many

students take part.”

After the 24-hour CPR marathon ended, Xarius Austin, the Unit Manager of Newcastle LINKS operational St John’s Ambulance unit, and the organiser of ‘Save A Life Week’ said: “First aid is an essential life-saving skill and everyone should know about it.”

“This CPR marathon and ‘Save A Life Week’ in general aimed to equip students with essential first aid skills and raise money for defibrillators in Newcastle.

“We also urge them to sign up to our free 2-hour British Heart Foundationaccredited ‘Heartstart’ course, which covers basic life-support skills for all students and staff of Newcastle and Northumbria Universities.

“Last year we held a 12-hour CPR Marathon and it was difficult but we really tried to push ourselves to the limit this year, so we took it in shifts and completed 24 hours of constant CPR this year. The event could not have gone any better.”

He added: “I was here at 6am on Tuesday morning and I’ve been dancing for 6 hours. We were all dancing to keep warm so it’s sort of been a CPR/dance marathon. We have raised £154 online so far. We are also holding a bake sale on Thursday outside the Students’ Union to continue raising money.”

Ran by Newcastle and Northumbria, LINKS has over 150 active members Photography by Sally Mu

8.nationalstudentnews

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

NEWSTACK New physics facilties

Pain thresholds research Manchester

Scientists at the University of Manchester have discovered that the brain chemistry in individuals suffering from chronic pain can alter itself to raise the individual’s pain threshold, thus reducing their suffering. The researchers found that the brain carries out this process by increasing the number of opiate receptors. These receptors respond to the pain-killing effects of endorphins, meaning that individuals with a higher number of these receptors can withstand a higher level of pain. Dr. Christopher Brown, who led the project, was excited by the results they had gathered, claiming that if scientists could understand how to make use of the opiate receptors, they may “find ways of naturally increasing resilience to pain without the side effects associated with many pain killing drugs�.

Radio sexism row Leeds

A plasma orb in the University’s new physics laboratory Image: Victoria Armstrong

to  manage  your  own  workload.  Good  IT  and  design  skills  are  essential.

Location: Â Hexham, Â Northumberland

Job  Title:  Newcastle  Work  Experience  –  Marketing  Assistant  Employer:  Enviresearch  Closing  Date:  15/11/15 Salary:  £700  Bursary  Basic  job  description:  Enviresearch  is  a  Newcastle  EDVHG VFLHQWL¿ F FRQVXOWDQF\ SURYLGLQJ UHJXODWRU\ support  for  the  chemical  industry  and  chemical  risk  assessment  to  global  clients.  In  line  with  the  com-­ pany’s  marketing  plan  to  connect  with  our  audience  and  promote  our  brand,  products  and  messages,  we  are  looking  for  a  creative  student  to  support  us  in  our  marketing,  advertising  and  PR  businesses.  We  are  therefore  looking  for  a  creative  student  with  an  interest  in  business  and  science  to  coordinate  a  programme  of  updating  our  image  to  encompass:  Website,  Social  media,  Emails,  Brochures,  Business  Cards,  Free  gift  offerings,  Posters  and  banners,  Pow-­ erpoint  templates.

Person  requirements:  We  are  looking  for  a  student  interested  in  marketing  and  looking  for  practical  experience.  You  need  to  be  creative  and  must  have  a  FHUWDLQ YLVXDO À DLU EXW DOVR EH LQWHUHVWHG LQ VFLHQFH environment  /  technology  to  be  able  to  communicate  VFLHQWL¿ F LGHDV Location:  Newcastle  upon  Tyne Job  Title:  Childrens  Dancing  Assistant  Employer:  Corrine  River’s  School  of  Dancing  Closing  date:  20/11/15 Salary:  £10  per  hour  Basic  job  description:  To  assist  with  a  ballet  class  and  a  jazz  and  modern  class  for  4/5  year  olds  -­  infants  primary  level.  To  work  Tuesdays  3.30-­4.30pm  in  Jesmond.

Person  requirements:  Must  enjoy  working  with  young  children  -­  some  experience  of  basic  ballet  and  jazz/ modern  required.  Great  fun  for  the  right  student  -­  must  be  reliable.  CRB  clearance  will  be  needed.

Location:  Jesmond  Job  Title:  Recruitment  Consultant  Employer:  Nigel  Wright  Closing  Date:  01/12/15 Salary:  Competitive  Basic  job  description:  At  Nigel  Wright,  we  are  com-­ mitted  to  attracting  and  developing  talent.  By  intro-­ ducing  graduates  into  our  business  and  providing  them  with  a  clear  career  trajectory,  we  guarantee  that  our  high  service  standards,  values  and  culture  remain  intact.  On  a  day  to  day  basis,  graduate  consultants  will  immediately  start  growing  their  professional  networks  and  help  manage  existing  client  relation-­ ships,  while  assisting  experienced  team  members  in  delivering  recruitment  assignments.  This  vacancy  is  for  a  student  for  20  hours  per  week  with  the  potential  to  work  full  time  upon  graduation.

Person  requirements:  To  succeed  in  recruitment  you Â

must  be  determined,  enthusiastic,  driven  and  ambi-­ tious  with  excellent  communication  skills.  If  you  can  demonstrate  these  key  attributes,  then  we  want  to  hear  from  you.

Location:  Newcastle  upon  Tyne  Job  description:   Newcastle  Work  Experience  –  Sales  and  Marketing  Assistant  Employer:  Thermal  Resources  Management  Ltd Closing  date:  15/11/15 Salary:  £700  Bursary   Basic  job  description:  Thermal  Resources  Manage-­ ment  are  specialists  in  temperature  measuring  and  raising  temperature.  We  manufacture  the  world’s  larg-­ est  range  of  mineral  insulated  heating,  thermoelectric  and  wiring  cables;͞  the  only  company  in  the  UK  to  do  this.  We  are  seeking  a  placement  student  to  assist  as  part  of  the  sales  and  marketing  department,  to  sup-­ port  new  and  existing  projects,  as  well  as  providing  the  successful  individual  with  relevant  experience  to  support  their  studies  and  vital  exposure  to  the  real  world  of  business.

Person  requirements:  We  are  seeking  a  self-­moti-­ vated  individual  to  bring  new  ideas  and  thoughts  to  support  the  growth  of  the  business.  Previous  skills  and/or  interest  in  the  following  is  essential:  Digital  marketing  (Website,  Social  Media);͞  Traditional  marketing;͞  Photoshop;͞  Sales,  including  international  sales  and  exports;͞  Excellent  communication  skills  DQG 0LFURVRIW 2I¿ FH H[SHULHQFH UHTXLUHG Location:  Washington,  Tyne  and  Wear Job  Title:  Newcastle  Work  Experience  –  Marketing  Assistant  Employer:Tynedale  Hospice  Closing  Date:  15/11/15 Salary:  £700  Bursary   Basic  job  description:  Tynedale  Hospice  at  Home  provides  professional,  holistic,  high  quality  palliative  care  for  those  living  in  Tynedale  and  West  Northum-­ berland  thus  enabling  those  who  wish  to  be  able  to  end  their  lives  in  the  comfort  and  security  of  their  own  homes,  rather  than  in  a  hospital  environment  away  from  their  own  communities.  The  successful  candidate  will  assist  our  small  Fundraising  team  to  help  ensure  that  Tynedale  Hospice  at  Home  is  promoted  effectively  to  all  stakeholders.  You  will  be  responsible  for  external  events  and  PR;͞  updating  our  website  and  social  media  channels;͞  producing  and  distributing  our  newsletter;͞  devising  and  producing  promotional  materials  and  information  displays,  as  well  as  responding  to  general  enquiries  received  through  our  website,  social  media  sites  and  email  system.

Person  requirements:  You  should  have  experience  of  working  in  a  PR  or  marketing  setting.  You  will  have  exceptional  written  and  verbal  communication  skills,  EH D VHOI VWDUWHU KDYH FUHDWLYH À DLU DQG WKH DELOLW\

Job  Title:  Note  Taker  (Maths/Engineering/Medicine) Employer:  Clear  Links  Support  Limited  Closing  date:  30/04/16  Salary:  £10.20  per  hour  Basic  job  description:  Clear  Links  Support  is  a  specialist  provider  of  academic  support  to  students  in  higher  education.  Reliable,  degree-­level  Notetakers  are  required  to  produce  an  accurate  and  legible  hand-­ written  record  of  the  content  of  lectures,  seminars  and  classes  which  is  then  handed  over  to  the  student.  The  work  is  during  term-­time  only,  temporary  and  casual  in  nature.  A  range  of  hours  may  be  available.

Person  requirements:  Applicants  must  have  com-­ pleted  at  least  1  year  of  higher  education  study,  or  be  able  to  demonstrate  an  equivalent  level  of  experience.  Applicants  must  also  have  clear  and  legible  handwrit-­ ing  as  well  as  accurate  spelling  and  grammar  skills.

Location:  Newcastle  /  Sunderland  Job  Title:  Newcastle  Work  Experience  –  Doppler  Velocimetry  Assistant  Employer:  Newcastle  University  Closing  Date:  015/11/15 Salary:  £700  Bursary Basic  job  description:  We  have  a  novel  MEMS  (Micro-­Electro-­Mechanical  System)  device  developed  at  Newcastle  that  needs  to  be  calibrated  using  an  optical  method  known  as  Doppler  Velocimetry  (i.e.  measuring  the  velocity  of  the  device  from  the  Doppler  shift  in  an  optical  signal).  These  will  go  on  to  be  used  by  leading  research  groups  across  the  world.  There  are  approximately  40  MEMS  devices  to  be  calibrated,  and  each  will  take  a  couple  of  hours  to  do  thoroughly  therefore  we  envisage  there  will  be  enough  work  for  two  NWE  placement  students.  We  expect  to  begin  work  very  early  in  2016.

Person  requirements:  This  placement  would  suit  someone  with  a  background  in  engineering  (espe-­ cially  electrical  engineering)  or  physics,  particularly  anyone  interested  in  optics  or  MEMS  devices.  It  would  work  well  for  any  undergraduate  stage,  but  some  basic  knowledge  of  Excel  would  be  useful  for  collating  the  results.

Location:  On  Campus  Job  Title:  Mystery  Shoppers Employer:  Retail  Maxim  Closing  Date:  31/12/15 Salary:  £5.50  -­  £9.00  per  visit   Basic  job  description:  We  organise  Mystery  Shopping  mainly  for  High  Street  retailers  and  we  currently  have  a  project  in  your  area.  The  students  will  be  required  to  visit  retail  outlets,  pose  as  customers  and  report  on  the  quality  of  service  received.  No  purchasing  will  be  required  -­  just  a  customer  service  query.  As-­ VLJQPHQWV DUH SODFHG YLD SKRQH GXULQJ QRUPDO RI¿ FH hours  Mon-­Fri.  Payment  is  by  assignment  and  ranges  between  approx  £5.50  -­  £9  per  visit.

Person  requirements:  No  experience  is  necessary  but  candidates  must  have  a  good  command  of  both  spo-­ ken  and  written  English,  be  observant,  reliable  and  have  a  good  memory.  It  is  most  important  that  they  are  easy  to  contact  either  by  phone,  text  or  e-­mail.

Location:  Newcastle  upon  Tyne

Leeds Student Radio came under fire last weekend as it posted a poll on its Twitter feed asking ‘Should girls dress slutty for Halloween?’ According to the hosts of the Saturday Breakfast show, the tweet was related to Mean Girls,. After recieving complaints they deleted the tweet. The hosts also apologised for any offence caused. The hosts of the show also claimed that the tweet was in response to the costume that one of them had chosen to wear for Halloween, as well as the discussion topic of Mean Girls. This didn’t satisfy some of the complainants, one of whom claimed that the context was a ‘sexist society that shames women’; this being in spite of the fact that the tweet was partly in response to what one of the female hosts was themselves wearing.

Deputy Dean goes viral Lancaster

The Deputy Dean of Lancaster University, Andrew Lucas, was involved in a humorous gaffe last weekend as he sent an email intended for one student to the entire Undergraduate community of the University. The email included the student’s name, an appointment for a disciplinary meeting and details of the student’s alleged offences- including 4 breaches of Campus rules. It seems that the Deputy Dean realised his mistake only minutes afterwards as he sent a subsequent email asking for all students to delete the previous email. His efforts were fruitless, however, as Lancaster University students set up a support group for the student involved and many promised to attend the disciplinary hearing in order to support the student. There has as yet been no word of how many students attended the hearing or what the result of the hearing was.

Ethnicity research Durham A health economics specialist at LSE, Dr. Grace Lordan, has published results showing that a brisk walk is the best exercise to keep weight down. Using data from the Health Survey for England between 1999 and 2012, she was able to show that the results are most apparent amongst women, those aged over 50 and those in low income groups. She also used BMI data collected by nurses to demonstrate that those who regularly walked briskly for 30 minutes had lower BMI’s and smaller waistlines.

The article, published in Risk Analysis, will call for the government to launch a campaign promoting brisk walking as a particularly effective way of tackling obesity. Dr. Lordan claims that the effects of obesity cost the NHS almost ÂŁ1 billion per year and so a walking promotional campaign would help save this money and in a more effective manner than previous promotional campaigns promoting healthy lifestyles and balanced diets.

Thomas Montague

The Courier

.9

Monday 9 November 2015

Comment

thecourieronline.co.uk/comment

Comment Editors: Dan Robertson, Jack Dempsey & Adam Thompson courier.comment@ncl.ac.uk | @Courier_Comment

Migrants: to aid or blockade?

The impour of migrants is still not relenting and the countries of Europe are feeling the strain. We posed the question of how the West should deal with the crisis to four students, here are their feelings on the issue:

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s a university that promotes equal access to higher education, Newcastle is one of many universities failing refugees and asylum seekers.

When arriving in the UK, refugees will first be classed as asylum seekers – individuals who have applied for refugee status but are yet to be granted as such – and by law, cannot work until their application is successful and must live on £36.95 per week. For many, the asylum process can take years before refugee status is granted. An asylum speaker I spoke to earlier this week has been waiting seven years for her application to be successful.

Yet despite not being allowed to work and only being given an average of £5 a day to live on, asylum seekers are expected to pay international fees to attend university without funding. Of course, this is virtually impossible. If universities really want to be accessible to all those with the capability to study in higher education, they need to put pressure on the government to change their international fee policy for asylum seekers and ensure scholarships and funding are available to those seeking asylum.

For those eventually granted refugee status, some universities provide funding for refugee students such as York University, which has promised £500,000 worth of scholarship funding for refugees. Newcastle University, however, has advertised no such funding. This lack of financial aid means that refugees are not

given equal access to higher education here despite being academically capable.

“Newcastle is one of the many universities fa§iling refugees and asylum seekers”

In order to be allowed to charge £9000 tuition fees, Newcastle is required to create equal access opportunities for academically capable students whose income may otherwise prevent them from attending university, for example, the PARTNERS programme. There is no such opportunity for academically capable refugees at Newcastle and until there is, can it really be considered a university with equal opportunities for all?

Khadija Badri

T

he current government long ago gave up the idea of appealing to the student populace, and with the latest scrapping of maintenance grants they seem to have given up the pretence that they care at all. The general apathy towards politics amongst young people in this country is therefore hardly surprising.

We feel like there is no higher power to appeal to when we desperately want to see our country take action.

“During the worst human tragedy in decades, we are forced to sit and watch”

We’ve seen such inertia in the response to the greatest humanitarian disaster in recent history: the refugee crisis. Make no mistake, rejecting 4,000 people a year from Iraq and Syria — which have

U

nless you were living as a hermit in Outer Mongolia over summer, it is impossible that you did not hear about the migrant crisis. It is equally impossible that you have not now seen the plethora of campaigns and student volunteers seeking to aid those fleeing conflict across the Middle East. At times however, those of us not involved in such campaigns have been made to feel uncaring.

“Will you sign this petition to show that you care?” “Don’t you agree that only a callous, heartless person wouldn’t want to allow more Syrians to come to Britain’?” These are the questions so commonly asked.

But the question I ask back is why has this particular crisis received so much attention over others? What about the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar? Or ongoing wars in sub-Saharan Africa and all the atrocities that go with them?

“Why has this particular crisis received so much attention over all of the others?”

The unpalatable truth is that the (primarily) Syrian refugees actually have far more in common with us than we like to think. They have mobile phones, they use social media and they’re relatively wealthy (after all, how did they pay for the journey?) This is not to downplay the hardship these migrants face, nor the tragedy that has befallen their country, but there are millions of far poorer people across the

world who are facing similar horrors yet cannot afford to travel to Europe.

Those people fundraising or volunteering for refugees are doing commendable work, but let’s not jump to oversimplified conclusions. There are deep-seated causes of crises like these and much of the world’s response amounts to little more than a sticking plaster. Indeed, the entire world faces serious structural challenges that must be confronted to create a safer, more prosperous future. There is very little we as students can do right now to solve these issues.

So how about we stop making others feel guilty for not donating? How about we do what students do and study the root causes of this and other crises? At least then we may be able to do something actually productive about it.

Max George

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nother dead child.

This time it was three year old Aylan Kurdi, lying on the beach after his body was washed ashore. He was a Syrian boy who drowned at sea along with his mother and five year old brother as they were fleeing conflict in Syria. How can anyone — student or otherwise — feel indifferent towards his plight or that of millions just like him?

Much of this death and destruction results from various governments worldwide actively aiding and abetting the oppression of entire nations. They fuel wars by proxy to further their own interests and simply exploit the resources of countries by propping up oppressive puppet dictatorships to keep them economically subservient to Western powers. We are now seeing the repercussions of

seen a peak of 6,000 people a day fleeing chaos and destruction — is morally repugnant. There seems to be a complete lack of humanity when it comes to dealing with the millions living in disease ridden

“It was only five years ago that around 50,000 students protested in London. It had zero effect”

refugee camps. As a nation we seem unable to address their lack of civic and human rights.

Yet what as students can we do? Notwithstanding leaving our studies to help there seems to be no direct action: we have no money to donate and a seeming lack of political voice. It was only five years ago that around 50,000 students protested in London about tuition fees. It had zero effect.

So while we sit back and learn more and more about the atrocities committed by whichever side, we are hopeless to help. It is a hopelessness that is symptomatic of student life: we are in a delightful bubble with loans, no tax and (if you’re lucky enough to do a humanities subject) around nine hours of work a week, but we have absolutely no ability to shape the world around us. So during the worst human tragedy in decades, we are forced to sit on the side-lines and watch.

Robin Richards this on a daily basis in Europe.

As students, we are not detached from the rest of the world, nor can we afford to be if we want a better future for ourselves and others. On the contrary, throughout history, student movements and activism have been a spearhead in inducing change, whether we are referring back to the 1960s movements against the Vietnam War, the Tiananmen Square 1989 protests, or more recently and much closer to home, the 2010 Newcastle Occupation.

The examples are endless.

“Someone wise once said: ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’” Yet more importantly, can anyone’s conscience simply turn a blind eye to human suffering under whatever pretext? As students and conscientious citizens, it is our duty to put pressure on governments and not to simply address these issues as a ‘humanitarian crisis’ because this is part of the problem. We must actively tackle the root cause of this matter of which is the destructive role many states have played in the deterioration of developing countries. Someone wise once said: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Do something.

Rifat Audeh

The Courier

comment.11

Monday 9 November 2015

Is it rah or nah at Newcastle University?

Having such a high representation of privately schooled students, Hanson Jones considers the level to which a ‘class-­division’ is present at our University

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Hasnson Jones

pon applying to Newcastle University you probably didn’t expect to end up in halls where every other person turns up with their very own shiny BMW on the day of moving in, or have to wade into your new flat piled high with Waitrose food shops. You don’t typically think of the North East as a place where you’re going to meet hordes of bidding wealthy high society elites, but at university there is a slight exception to the rule.

“30% of our students are from privately educated backgrounds. Our ‘rahs’ even rival that of Durham” Newcastle University may just be a little bit more posh than you thought it would be especially when you consider that 30% of our students are from privately schooled backgrounds. Our ‘rahs’ even rival that of Durham. With this in mind, it in its initial regard it can very discernable that our University

has a big potential for divisions.

Some may say there’s a “class divide”, but a better way of putting it might be quite simply that there is a very broad spectrum of students from every imaginable background. People of all backgrounds come to study (and party) in this incredible city, so it’s inevitable that there will be a very big mix.

Sometimes people bond over this, and they sometimes wind up divided by it. Any reasonable person would think that whether you come from money or not should not affect how you make friendships or how you get along with your flatmates, and on the whole it doesn’t. The diversity within the student body is what makes it so fascinating and is really something to be celebrated.

Yet there are times when the ‘rah pack’ attitude comes into play and the divide surfaces, be it down to a dislike for that sort of attitude or a fear of being judged. This happens especially in places such as Castle Leazes where the “better off ” students are so visible that it becomes an identity, or a reputation.

The issue with this is that those who don’t identify with these groupings run the risk of feeling excluded, leading to a low profile divide between groups based on wealth, or “class”. It can even happen between friends in situations where some can’t afford the more expensive societies or sports teams, for example the Boat Club or university skiing holi-

days, demonstrating that these differences really can get in the way.

“Class divide” is perhaps too strong a term to use, but it is clearly visible at our University whether you’re in halls or in final year. Whether it’s the difference in accents, the clothing or the behaviour, it can be quite easy to discern someone’s background.

“Background itself is not a problem ... but it’s the identities and preconceived stereotypes that come along with it that end up dividing us” Background itself is not a problem, after all we didn’t choose to be brought up the way we were, but rather it’s the identities and preconceived stereotypes that come along with it that end up dividing us. In a way it’s simply a reflection of the diversity of society, and as such it’s not just a feature of uni-

Poppies, true symbols of disrespect

With the current controversy over photoshopped poppies, has the true message of remembrance been lost?

Frankie Toynton

T

he poppy is one of the defining symbols of the 20th century. The bleak elegance of the blood-red flower has earned it a place in British hearts and British history. Even so, time alters perception, and the poppy is as much a victim to this process as any other part of our national heritage. It has increasingly become a tool of the ruling class to revise and justify their awful past.

For a high proportion of the British dead, the First World War was not a choice. So many were our own age, robbed of the chance to take the world on and sent to the trenches as a forlorn hope. They were never meant to return; a slow march towards machine gun fire, in the wastes of no man’s land, is a death sentence. The war on youth has never gone away. Our stakes may be lower, but the forces behind them are identical. Finance, opportunity and aspiration have replaced the Lewis Gun as the weapon of choice, but we are still staring straight down the barrel.

Illustration by Jasmine Newton

What are these forces? The ruling class, intent on the defence or forgery of empires.

The Great War was a conflict of bourgeois self-preservation, and the conscripted masses paid the ultimate price. As a mark of sombre remembrance, the poppy was worn to remind

ourselves of the unjustifiable cost of imperial war.

Now the Tories have taken to photoshopping poppies onto themselves, like rubies in a tar pit.

“As a mark of sombre remembrance, the poppy was worn to remind ourselves of the unjustifiable cost of imperial war”

The poppy as an image is not the problem – any symbol used by the ruling class to commemorate their victory would be flawed from the start.

Even if the poppy was free from the bloodied hands of the ruling elite, a uniform token is not sufficient to cover an event which, despite its age, still feels deeply personal to many. A mark of respect in one place can be a grievous insult in another. In parts of Ireland the poppy represents the bloody, colonial history of the British military. In regions of China it represents communities torn apart by the Opium trade. On its journey from Flanders to Westminster, the poppy has picked up the baggage of the British Empire. A stem so frail cannot possibly support such a heavy burden.

Problems also arise from the association with the Royal British Legion. The need for this charity at all is a testament to the true attitude of the ruling powers towards those who serve in their armed forces. Set up by Haig, “Butcher Haig” according to Military History, and under benefaction from the Royal family, the Legion continues the trend of the ruling class justifying a war for which they alone must be held responsible.

“Any symbol used by the ruling class to commemorate their victory would be flawed from the start”

The poppy was once a vow that never again would we allow ourselves to be taken to slaughter – it has become the emblem of the butchers.

NATIONAL HEALTH SPONSORS

I

t is no secret that the NHS faces significant risk of undergoing privatization. Through a combination of financial recession, austerity measures, overworked staff and backhand deals, the end of free universal healthcare in the UK is tragically inevitable. Not to mention it now faces a five-year onslaught of unrestrained Tory rule.

So, seeing as smart investments in infrastructure and public services is now evidently beyond the question, what on earth can we do to preserve this invaluable service? The answer that I propose is one so simple and self-evident, I find it astonishing no one has thought of it before: corporate sponsorship!

What exactly would this mean for the NHS? Well, perhaps the question one should ask of this proposal is not so much ‘why’, as ‘why not?’. Advertising has already found its way into every other aspect of our lives: our entertainment, our transport, the food we eat and the clothes we wear so, why not our healthcare? The potential is limitless; major companies could fund new medical equipment, investments in drugs, emergency rooms, and perhaps even entire hospitals! For live music there is the O2 Academy, why should there not be an O2 General Hospital? Though it’s not just large corporations that could get in on the NHS, local businesses could just as easily help sponsor, say, local surgeries, or even individual GPs. That’s not to mention good old-fashioned advertising; anyone who has ever visited an NHS hospital can attest to the sheer amount of wall-space present, practically begging to be sold as advertising space. Likewise for prescriptions, pamphlets and medical equipment. The possibilities really are endless!

Of course, there would be more than enough companies willing to take part; essentially purchasing significant goodwill with the general public, this new scheme would certainly be hard to resist.

From Dave’s local corner shop, perhaps willing to partially sponsor appendix removals every other Thursday, to the Apple corporation funding the new ‘Apple iWing’ of a major metropolitan hospital, the ability to both give back to the community and promote brand awareness would be unparalleled. Giving them the choice to associate with, say, a sports stadium or lifesaving treatments and healthcare, it really is an obvious decision.

“Anyone who has ever visited an NHS hospital can attest to the sheer amount of wall-space present, practically begging to be sold as advertising space ” Yes, one could perhaps argue about the ‘moral implications’ of this solution, or claim it is ‘unethical’ or ‘open to abuse’. But, at the end of the day, who cares? If the choice lies between corporate sponsorship and straight-up privatization I, for one, will happily go for the former. I’m sure lowincome families, the disabled and students would equally choose annoying adverts over paying extortionate amounts for medicine they can’t really afford. For a resolution that could lead to lower taxes, better working hours/conditions for doctors and nurses and improved facilities (while simultaneously satisfying the rights’ insatiable desire to link everything to consumerism) this seems a small price to pay. In other words, though one could appreciate the cruel irony of having their life-saving triple bypass surgery sponsored by Burger King, come the end of the day, it is still a life-saving triple bypass surgery.

Then again, privatization might not be so bad, I heard it’s working out great in the US. Charlie Isaac

12.

Culture thecourieronline.co.uk/culture

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Culture Editors: David Leighton & Laura Staniforth Sections: Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty, Arts, Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Science courier.culture@ncl.ac.uk | @CourierOnline

Blind Date Hayley on Ed

Hayley Allen, 3rd Year History and Politics meets Ed Howe, 2nd Year Town Planning

Ed on Hayley

Where did you go?

We went to Spy bar in Jesmond.

Where did you go on your date?

We went to Bar Blanc… oh wait Spy bar. We were just walking down the street and we just decided that would be good. Nearly got killed by a car on the way though, bloody Jesmond.

What were your thoughts when he first approached?

Well, I was 40 minutes late so I just felt really bad, I had to apologise!

What were your first impressions?

Pretty and really smiley. And then she spoke and I noticed the Wakefield accent.

Why were you 40 minutes late?!

I had a meeting for RAG Committee which went over, and then I was just getting ready.

“Nearly got killed by a car on the way though, bloody Jesmond”

Did he know you were going to be that late?!

I told him I was going to be half an hour late, but then he had got there a bit early, and I got there a bit later than I said, so yeah, I felt really bad.

What did you talk about?

Well, he falls over a lot, so we talked about that quite a lot. We also talked about Sinners. And, we’re the same blood group!

What was the first thing you said to her to break the ice/ awkwardness?

I can’t remember… Pretty sure it was just like ‘hey.’

Probably said something about how misty it was.

Or it might have been like what course do you do or something generic like that.

That’s really nice that you’ve got things in common!

Yeah, it is really nice.

What did you get to drink?

I got a Desperados and she got a Gin and Tonic.

So conversation must’ve been flowing then?

Yeah, there weren’t any awkward silences.

Was there any sexual chemistry between the two of you?

Umm… I don’t know, definitely too early to be confirmed.

Did anything weird happen?

Well, earlier in the library I thought I’d seen him.

This guy was sending his friends to come and look at me, so I definitely thought it was Ed. So I brought him up on it and said “why did you do that, it was really weird?!” ...Turns out it wasn’t actually him, so it was just really awkward... I was really accusing as well. Luckily I think I managed to laugh it off though so it was okay.

Does this mean that you would see her again?

If she’s up for it, then that would be great!

Would you introduce her to your parents?

Yeah definitely, my mum would like her because they could bond over being ginger.

“I’m trying to think of an animal that falls over a lot.

Daddy long legs?”

How did your date end?

We got kicked out of Spy bar because it was half 11 and then I walked her home like a gent.

Was there any sexual chemistry?

No, there wasn’t, sorry.

Did you kiss her at the door?

I thought if there was a moment then I would… but there wasn’t so it was just a friendly hug.

Would you take him home to your parents?

Yes, he was really nice and gentlemanly, and he walked me home!

If she was an animal, what would she be? (after much deliberation and google searching) Parrot because she was exotic and chatty.

So, I’m sensing no second date?

I’d definitely see him again, but I wouldn’t call it a second date, I just don’t really fancy him.

How would you rate your date?

8/10 it was a strong date.

Have you had many dates before, and if so, how does this measure up?

Well, this is kind of my first proper date. I’ve seen people before, but I’ve already known them or been going out with them, so it’s not really been a date!

If he was an animal, what animal would he be?

I don’t know, I’m trying to think of an animal that falls over a lot, because he falls over a lot. Daddy long legs, they’re all over the place aren’t they!

What would you rate your date?

I’d go 7.5.

Looking for love? Send in your details to c2.lifestyle@ncl.ac.uk

The Courier

13.lifestyle

Monday 9 November 2015

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Sun,  snow  and  sleigh  bells Foody Amanda  Yap  takes  us  through  her  four  favourite  destinations  for  festive  frolics  which  are  a  little  different  to  the  traditional  British  Christmas  this  winter.

I

t’s that time of the year again where temperatures plunged to inconceivable degrees. I do not mean that Newcastle is a terrible place to be when winter descends; my motive is actually to highlight alternative destinations that would enable you to appreciate the beauty of winter in new surroundings. What better way to welcome the season of Christmas than to immerse yourself in other countries’ Christmas culture and experience their version of the winter wonderland? Or perhaps you miss basking in the Sun’s warm rays?

Here is a list of countries that you could consider visiting based on individual preferences.

1) Tromso, Norway I am willing to bet my bottom dollar that witnessing the Northern Lights is on everyone’s bucket list.

What about taking the opportunity when you are young and carefree? Tromso has got amazing activities in store for its visitors, whether you like its architectural heritage, culture or wildlife, travellers are sure to get the best of all the worlds in Tromso.

How does it feel like to slip out of your rented log cabin and huddle under a mound of thick duvets and coats to admire the night sky, only to capture the mystical lights with your own eyes when you least expected it? I would say the 4 hour flight is worth every bit of the experience.

2) Finland Reindeers are always the first thought when

Finland comes to mind, an iconic animal indeed when the number of reindeers roughly equates to the number of people over there. Hence, take advantage of the population of reindeers to take a different mode of transport, yes! A sleigh ride! Visit the real Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, Lapland. Don’t worry; he greets his visitors all year around whether they are naughty or nice. Last but not least, Finland boasts the cleanest air and best places for skiing; trust me when I say the liberating feeling is almost tangible when the winds are hitting you in the face with its full force as you whizz down the slopes. Not to mention, another place to spot the Aurora Borealis!

cember. It gives you more reasons to hang out at one of their fantastic white-sand beaches, which offers secluded spots for those who want some privacy. The Caribbean is a haven for nature-lovers and water sports enthusiasts alike, whether it is kayaking, windsurfing, sailing or just hiking up mountainous terrains, you’ll get rewarded with a different sort of experience each time. The region is made up of more than 700 islands and reefs, making you literally spoilt for choice! No more excuses, just pick one and get ready to have a blast during winter. Who wouldn’t love Christmas on the beach!

3) Tenerife Island, Canary Islands No more snow for this year, your sun-kissed tan is slowly fading away revealing your displeasing pasty-white skin. Welcome to Tenerife, the largest of the seven Canary Islands! After you have successfully tear yourself away from its gorgeous beaches, you will find that there is endless to do from scuba-diving and participating in Segway tours down the coastline to watch dolphins and exploring the Teide National Park and La Laguna, the former capital of Tenerife.

Thumbs up to the nightlife there too!

4) Caribbean Islands Now that the hurricane season has passed, tourists will see more sun than rain in De-

Snooze  away  your  booze  blues S

Pro-­napper,  Georgii  Hughes,  shares  her  tips  for  getting  some  shut-­eye  around  campus.  o last night was a big one. You treated yourself to one too many trebles and now your body is paying for it. You’re woken up early the next morning and impulsively decide to check your timetable. You have a 9am. Wait‌ What? You were sure you didn’t have a lecture until 12‌ The horror sinks in, as does your banging headache. But no worries, we’ve got you sorted. You’ll be able to sleep off that hangover in no time, without even having to leave campus.

1) The SU The students union is the classic choice for any Newcastle student that is in need of a place to nurse themselves back to health after a heavy night on the toon. Offering multiple rooms with huge, comfy sofas, that prove to be very satisfying to lounge on, you can see why most students flock here.

NUSU Central also offers a chicken

Jesmond  Dene

shop. What more can I say. And if all else fails you can always head down to Mens Bar and drink until your hangover (and dignity) is far behind you.

2) Patch of grass outside the Northern Stage

This hangover spot only really works if the weather is actually decent which, let’s face it, does not happen very often in Newcastle. So, perhaps save this spot for the summer term, when you can enjoy a nice relaxing breeze as you lay down on the soft grass. Ignore the judging glances of your fellow students as they stroll past you unconscious on the grass, the smell of alcohol still lingering from last night. This is you in all your glory. Embrace it.

3) Lectures There’s nothing like the droning voice of your lecturer to send you straight off to sleep. But isn’t it important to actually listen in my lecture, you may be thinking, you know, to help you with that whole degree thing? But thanks to a handy little invention called Blackboard you don’t need to worry about that anymore, as you can easily catch up on your lectures there. So take a nice, relaxing nap in your lectures and feel refreshed for the rest of the day, and for tonight when you can go out and party all over again.

Cheap Date

If you take a step away from the bomber jackets and happy hours of Jesmond, you find the beautiful park perfect for a date. Bring a picnic and relax by the waterfall or visit the petting zoo if you want to splash out on the ÂŁ1 donation.

Katie Ackerley tells us the best places to wow a date, whatever your budget.

d n p e m p i S r Sc

If there are three things that will impress a student, they have to be pizza, cocktails and reasonable prices. Find all three, along with a romantic, yet relaxed setting at Alvinos. Make sure you try the espresso martini!

Alvinos

4) The Old Library

The Old Library Building - probably one of the best looking buildings on campus- is actually quiet and of fine architectural design. Although you won’t notice this because you’ll just be looking for somewhere to rest your head for a few hours, you hungover mess.

5) Campus Coffee Campus Coffee provides the perfect compilation of food, coffee and seats to sleep in, basically all you need to tend to the after effects of last night.

Only problem with hanging here is that it’s quite possible you will come across people you don’t want to see. In which case I can’t help you, you’re just going to have to grin and bear it and pray they don’t tell everyone how much of a state your life is.

“Of course you can try and not drink so much, but that would be boring�

There you have it. Of course you could try and not drink so much that you need to pass out on campus in front of everyone, but that would be boring. Get sleeping folks.

Viva  Brazil For meat lovers only, this restaurant offers you an unlimited stream of BBQed meats straight to your seat. Prepare for £25 price tag per meal at peak times but the joy in your date’s eyes will be well worth it.

e ve g r u l Sp Sa

Foddy

Emma  Foddy  tells  us  about  why  we  should  get  in  on  The  Bake  hype

T

he Bake specialises in Lebanese food. It is not a fancy frills restaurant, but this means you get fantastic food at a cheaper price. If this doesn’t convince you, let me throw in the fact that it’s BYOB, which further reduces the end-price of the bill (whilst leaving you increasingly sloshed). I went for my birthday following a recommendation by a friend. There was a large group of us but booking was easy.

Many restaurants ask for a £5 deposit per head and a pre-order when there’s a large party, however the Bake were happy for us to simply turn up, sit down and order. It was all very relaxed and stress-free for me. It was a suitable choice to cater for everyone on a student budget as it’s very reasonably priced. Added to this they offer Western alternatives for those who aren’t keen on Lebanese food, so no-one would be stuck for choice.

The staff were efficient and the food came very quickly. We were brought warm freshly cooked flat-bread with houmous, olive oil and herbs to pick at whilst waiting for our mains. I chose The Bake Mixed Lamb dish, which included lamb kofta, lamb kebab and lamb shwarma. I was impressed with all of them and pleased that I had the chance to sample a variety of things on the menu, rather than having to settle for one! Every mouthful was a taste-explosion and the lamb was melt-inthe-mouth tender.

“My boyfriend has ALWAYS been able to finish whatever’s on his plate (plus other people’s)�

Most of the mains came with your choice of rice or chips. Mine just came with salad so, my eyes being far bigger than my belly, I ordered a portion of fragranced rice on the side. It was extremely yummy and complimented the strong flavours of the lamb perfectly. I wish I had been able to manage more than three teaspoons of it before feeling like I was going to explode! My boyfriend has ALWAYS been able to finish what’s on his plate (plus other people’s), yet he was defeated by the portions at this restaurant. It is still a sore point for him.

The waiters overheard it was my birthday and, at the end of the meal, brought out two desserts on the house for us all to share. They were traditional Lebanese sweets, not everyone’s cup of tea I have to admit, but it was interesting to try and I will always be grateful to anyone who’s handing out free pud!

“I will always be grateful to anyone who’s handing out free pud!�

The atmosphere was comfortable and hasslefree. The waiters were efficient and easy to catch if you needed them, but were happy to leave us to enjoy ourselves (even when we were lingering well after the bill had been paid- yes, we were that annoying group I’m ashamed to say!). Don’t let the location put you off as this restaurant is within walking distance of some pretty funky bars such as The Tyne Bar and The Cluny, so would be perfect for a pre-gig meal. It only takes about fifteen minutes to walk to from the Millennium Bridge and this route will take you along the Ouseburn river, which is well worth a venture for those who have never been.

I would highly recommend this restaurant for any occasion, but particularly for those who are trying to get a large party together. It was stressfree to organise and everyone enjoyed themselves.

What more could you want?

98 Byker Bank, Byker, Newcastle

14.lifestyle Rant of the Week #lad#squad#team It’s  Izzy  Wauchope’s  WXUQ WR WDNH WR WKH Ă€ RRU WR tackle  the  ‘it’  crowd  of  lads

T

his lot arrived at university lost little lambs just as nervous as the rest of us. They didn’t know where they stood until that triumphant day where they looked across the dining room and felt like they were standing in front of a mirror. Wearing a cap inside? Check.

Wearing an oversized t shirt with obscure urban logo? Check. Bit of a tosser? Check. With all the boxes ticked, the alliance was formed. I am sure we are all too familiar with the particular species of human I am referring to. They have congregated to form a band of cap-wearing-not-caring reprobates who, when not chanting the thought provoking words “Lads! Lads! Lads!�, are throwing up in stairwells and concocting plans to ‘rag the girl in flat one’.

“They have congregated to form a band of cap-wearing not-caring reprobates who chant the thought provoking words ‘Lads! Lads! Lads!’�

They claim to host the “maddest prinks� in the whole of Newcastle and walking into one of these said pre-drinks is something you will most likely only do once. The kitchen has taken on the form of a tiny warehouse rave. There’s one guy in sunglasses and a puffer jacket bobbing in front of a Mac Book Air trying to get the vibe just right. His mates stand around him protectively like he’s Alesso and everyone else are his hysterical fans. After observing for a minute or two, you’ll notice the place to be is by the oven. Nonchalantly sitting on the hobs, boys kitted out in Ellesse surround a pan which has now taken on the role of in-house ash tray.

The boy to girl ratio is almost comical. Every time a new girl walks into the room, the boys look up to evaluate before resuming to their pre-club shuffling practice. The girls are expected to be there but if they expect to be spoken to them they’ve come to the wrong place. These boys don’t do chit-chat and they definitely don’t do caring. Caring is for the weaker man. The lesser lad, if you will. In between picking up from their dealer who’s actually a ‘really sound bloke’ and football practice, these boys are attending every event on Facebook, which I must admit is pretty baffling given some of these events fall on the same night at the same time. But of course, this is all part of the plan. Keeping us all on our toes whilst we decide on a ticket to buy and just hope to God they bought that one too. And let’s be honest, if they didn’t see you out, were you even out? This squad of boys formed quicker than the mould on that loaf of bread you forgot about in first week. And much like mould, once you see it you can’t seem to unsee it. It’s everywhere, and so are these guys. They’re the ones head-butting Geordies’, pissing on shop windows and running about with half an eyebrow.

“This squad formed quicker than the mould on that loaf of bread you forgot about in first week�

Obviously, one must stress that wearing a cap doesn’t necessarily make you one of ‘them’. Nor does a perchance for a heavy beat. I’m sure there’s plenty of lovely cap-wearing, house-music lovers out there, and I salute you for your choices (and for liking those things and not succumbing to the stereotype). There’s nothing wrong with being ‘lads’ at uni together. Just don’t make me listen to your ‘hilarous banter’.

If, and I envy you I really do, you haven’t seen them in any of these scenarios, you’re best bet is to head to the casino. Chucking out chips like student loans are bottomless A generation lost in piles of Ketamine and Nando’a receipts.

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

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efine the word dating? Dating used to mean spending one-on-one time with a romantic interest in the hope of getting to know them, now the word has come to mean a whole lot of things. It can be anything from seeing someone, sleeping with someone, or just ‘hanging out’.

So, when did everything become so confusing and what happened to the good old fashioned date?

Modern dating is a minefield with so many new ways to meet people, from Tinder to Bumble to Sizzl (a new dating app for bacon lovers only). So where are you supposed to find Mr/ Mrs Right, if not down the bacon isle of your local supermarket?

what’s dating etiquette? Awkwardly do the hand dance over the bill, as he offers to pay and you refuse, after all you know his student loan is as little as yours so why should he have to eat solely baked beans next week because he splashed the cash trying to impress you? But what’s the alternative, a panini in Eat4Less in your lunch hour doesn’t exactly spell romance? But why should dating come with all these rules and expectations. We’re young free and single (for now).

“A panini in Eat4Less in your lunch hour doesn’t exactly spell romance�

“So where are you supposed to find Mr/Mrs Right, if not down the bacon isle of your local supermarket?�

1 2

Some simple first date suggestions: .A first date should never be dinner, keep it fun, keep it casual and keep it close to home just in case the date doesn’t go well and you both want to ditch. .It’s a date not an interview. The fear of awkward silences is real for some of us. Don’t find yourself playing 20 questions and ending up knowing everything from the guy’s favourite film to their favourite sandwich filling. Allow for the conversation to develop naturally, if you have to force it you might not be that compatible. .Be yourself, because if you’re not how do you know that they like you for you and not the person you’re trying to be.

Anyone who doesn’t see how great you are doesn’t deserve to be taking you out anyway.

However, if you’re looking for an expert in the world of dating I’m probably not the best person to ask, maybe dating does exists but I’m the only one not being asked out. But it seems to me that it’s 2015 and dating is a novelty, not a necessity, maybe the date is simply outdated.

It could all start with a swipe right, Facebook request or a twitter follow, slide into someone’s DM’s and get chatting. More and more it seems we’re in cyber romances, and in fact our real relationship is with our phones. 99% of people being surgically attached to them; with Facebook, iMessage and WhatsApp, who needs to talk face to face anymore, and after all, it cuts out the awkward silences, and gives you plenty of time to think of something witty to reply. However talking too much over text/online can make eventual face to face communication difficult. Surely the phone should merely be a tool to make a date happen.

So dating has gone online, but what about for those who still like to take a girl out. I’m sure there is still a cohort of boys out there that like to wine and dine a girl. But this is problematic as well, as

3

Welcome  to  hovel  hideous

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eaving grotty student accommodation and moving into a cosy house with your closest friends is an experience many students are excited about. However, it is these very students who discover that they have a lot to learn about the perils of moving into student housing. From hygiene and maintenance to unwanted pet rodents. Here are the most disgusting things we have found in our student houses.

If there is one word you do not want to hear from your landlord it’s ‘damp’. The invasion of unwelcome moisture is, unfortunately, exceedingly common in student houses and could send you into a spiral of repulsion, frustration and loathing.

Its grey, unsightly presence sits at the corner of the room and makes the atmosphere taste stale and feel cold. The side effects of damp aren’t pretty either as it could leave you with a ‘runny nose, red eyes and a skin rash’ according to the NHS website. If you are looking to fulfil your idealistic expectations of student housing, be sure to check for damp first.

For most, the thought of mould triggers the image of bacteria invasion, germ infestation and a fluffy new life form living on the precious food and drink which you had forgotten you bought in Tesco last week. Its obscure shapes, off-putting smells and revolting shades of green and purple makes mould one of the most common and most disgusting things you will in-

evitably find in student housing- particularly as students are often not aware of exactly how long it has been sitting at the back of the fridge‌ There is always one housemate who is convinced the house should get a pet. Well, it is time to reveal that there is no need to get one yourself as a variety of uninvited animals will be squatting in your house throughout the year. From slugs to rats there really is a variety to choose from‌.it’s just a shame you can’t. Second year History and Archaeology student, Jenny Rowe describes how, ‘the rat man came and killed all the rats in our walls- they’re

“The rat man came and killed the rats in our walls. But now we have to live with their corpses because there’s no way of taking them out...�

dead now because you can’t hear them anymore.

But now we just have to live with their corpses in the wall because there’s no way of taking them out‌’ Sometimes students are lucky enough to have a cleaner whilst in halls, making it their job to tackle

Overheard on Campus “I was late for my lecture after a night out so was running into uni but I tripped, fell and vommed all over the pavement�

some of the grimmest messes in the UK including sinks hairier than Hagrid’s beard. Well, it turns out what goes around really does come back around as many students are faced with the tricky and disgusting task of unclogging the sink or bath. In a house of eight girls, this proves to be a task with shocking results as Kate McWilliams describes when she unclogs the drain: ‘Filth comes out the plug hole- I want to be sick.’ It is a universal debate among students in their houses: ‘Whose turn is it to do the washing up?’ and, quite often housemates seem to boycott washing up altogether, resulting in the most horrific of smells. If left undone for too long, unwashed dishes can quickly become a danger zone and one of the most disgusting things in student houses.

“I don’t understand how when I go skiing, that the snow can’t be burnt and melt, but I can be burnt�

“Last night my chicken was taking an age to defrost so I turned on the house heating to give it a boost�

The Courier

lifestyle.15 .15

Monday 9 November 2015

thecourieronline.co.uk/lifestyle c2.lifestyle@ncl.ac.uk | @ @CourierLifestyle CourierLifestyle

Dress your room for less

Olivia Wilson gives her tips on how to make your uni room a little less hellish

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or many students, the prospect of transforming a lifeless room on a budget of almost nothing seems like an impossible task. However, you can put those pennies away, as this article will show you the various ways to decorate your room for less.

Let’s start with the big and scary matter: furniture. No, it doesn’t come cheap…but it can come free! This is a secret that everyone should know about. There are a magnitude of resources out there allowing locals to exchange or simply give away unwanted items. ‘Freecycle’ is ideal if you are looking for a sofa, tables, chairs and even a television!

Ladies:

Living in a house of eight girls was a blessing for décor inspiration. Everyone had different styles and various creative outlets. I learnt that you first need to decide what you want your room to say about you. Do you wish to create a calming atmosphere? Or perhaps a girly room is more suitable?

Maybe a room filled with memories of travel and adventure?

Once you have decided you can begin decorating. Now you’ve tackled the main bulk furniture (without spending a single penny), you can focus on the details. This is vital if you wish to transform your room entirely. If you have a large room, I discovered that beautiful wall hangings are great at filling big walls and stops the room looking un-

loved and empty. Wall hangings are available on Ebay for as little as £1, with a range of styles, patterns and colours to choose from.

The next step is to add a personal touch. The likes of Vistaprint and Snapfish are great for printing pictures in bulk for under a fiver. Stick them to your wardrobe, bedroom door and walls. You can aluminate these pictures with fairy lights for as little as £3!

If you have chosen a wall hanging, it is likely this will dictate your room’s colour scheme, so head down to Wilco for beautiful budget curtains and duvet set to unify your room.

“All you need are scented candles to create a welcoming, warm light”

Time for the final few touches, Tesco often sells flowers that are yet to bloom at the end of the week for 10p - arrange in a cup or tea tin for a homely rustic look. If you don’t fancy flowers, any other plant (real or fake) will do. This can all be done for under five quid!

It’s been a long day decorating and it’s time to relax, so all you need are scented candles to create welcoming, warm lighting, whilst making your room smell delightful, for just £1 each!

Guys:

I have witnessed many male friends try and fail to decorate their bedrooms, often in the space of five minutes. While I don’t want to make generalisations, I have tailored this part of my article for such males; here are the quick and easy ways to decorate your room…

Posters, of anything or anyone, from bands to films: you can get three for a tenner at the SU in the Freshers Fair and for under £10 in HMV and online. All you need is Blue Tac and patience. Just fill your walls with them - already your room will have more personality. You can also let people know all the cool bands you’re into without actually having to converse with anyone beneath you.

Next, pick your favourite colour and stick to it.

This will bring all aspects of the room together rugs (which you can get cheaply on Ebay), duvet sets, dressing gowns hanging behind your door (head down to Primark), and towels that will inevitably be lying around.

If you’re into sport or music make it obvious to your guests – take your guitar out of the case and your hockey stick out of the cupboard, and put it on display. This will give your room more character - it takes no effort and costs nothing!

No coffee table? No worries! Get a metal waste bin for a few quid at any homeware store. Just turn it upside down to create a cool, modern and unique bedside table!

Wacky ways to workout

Do you think you’ve done it all? Lifestyle Editor, Katie Ackerley, gives us a run down of five of the best alternative activities the North East has to offer.

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ored of doing the same old things weekend after weekend? Do feel your social life spiralling downwards into an unbreakable cycle of shopping, cinema and dinner (or more realistically getting stupidly drunk, probably on your own)? We’ve all been there. But don’t fret, the North East offers plenty of exciting, alternative activities to break you out of this hellish monotony.

1) Bubble Football

It’s an undeniable fact I hate football, so when I was asked to go and run around chasing a ball on a boiling hot day I was less than excited. I was, as usual in these situations, wrong. It’s similar to playing football on a bouncy castle expect the ground is solid and you are bouncy. Yes, YOU ARE BOUNCY. The aim is technically to score a goal but really it’s to knock other people over and watch them struggle to get up again like poor turtle on it’s back. The perfect activity for a Saturday afternoon with a group of friends who enjoy seeing each other in bad situations.

“The goal is to knock people over then watch them struggle to get up”

2) Battlezone Laser You may have grown up with a local laser quest, or Quasar, in your town that you would always visit for 8th birthday parties. This is basically that, but it isn’t attached to a bowling alley and it makes you feel more like a grown up (ish). Not only do you get to wear an exciting army jumpsuit (that smells a bit funny at first, but you get used to that), the whole thing is set in a huge warehouse with secret passageways, hideouts and rooms to make this the closest thing you can get to real war whilst still enjoying it. They also have a bar, which is always nice.

3) Go Ape

I’m sure you’ll have heard of Go Ape before as it’s a a nationwide favourite for adventurous souls.

Climb, swing and jump on a tree top aerial assault course at Matfen Hall in Northumberland. It’s part of a luxury hotel and spa in case you feel the need to treat yourself once you’ve completed it, or drop off any scared mums there before the kids go and have some fun.

“The whole thing is set in a huge warehouse with secret passageways” 4) Infinite Air So this place is a room of trampolines. Just a room of trampolines. So simple and yet so much fun. You can find it in (yet another) warehouse, this time in the Durham area, and bounce away to your heart’s content for up to an hour. They have bouncy basketball hoops, a trampoline dodgeball arena and a giant crash mat where you can pretend to be James Bond’s latest stunt man. You also get a free pair of very fetching fluorescent socks.

Tip: Try and go during school hours because children who can back flip around you are very irritating.

5) Indoor Surfing Surfing for the slightly less weather hardy is brought to you by “Flowrider” (ooo catchy) in Gateshead. It’s pretty ideal as the main thing that puts me of surfing is the freezing cold water…you know, other than my severe lack of balance or any form of coordination. This is another one of those activities that’s great fun but is so much better if you go with someone who you’d love to watch fall over. Laughing at other is half the entertainment.

Maybe more like three quarters.

House parties or a Toon night out?

Abbie Ridge argues why a night out on the Bigg Market beats staying in

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e’ve all been through one of those awful nights out in Newcastle, yes, given sometimes staying in is the better option, but a night on the toon is definitely better than a party in student digs in Jesmond.

Granted, if you attend a ‘quieter’ university, house parties seem good. But, we are in Newcastle, a city with endless choices of clubs, bars and events suited for everyone. From WHQ to Greys Club, Sinners to Soho or Future Funk to Troupe there is never a dull night.

“We are in Newcastle, a city with endless choices of clubs, bars and events suited for everyone”

Money is a big factor, impacting whether you venture out or not and house parties can be cheaper. But, we have the privilege to be in the North, where trebles are cheap and entry to ‘pre-bars’ is free, so a tight student budget doesn’t have to result in a night listening to a badly made Spotify playlist.

Especially w i t h Sinners, Gotham and Empress all doing student deals.

While partying no one wants to be stressed, however, house parties fill the hosts with exactly that. Fear of spilt drinks on the sofa or chunder on the floor are gone when it’s taken care of.

Also, a club isn’t going to get shut down at 1am because a neighbour complained about the noise.

You can keep partying until 6am in Powerhouse on a Saturday if your stamina will allow it.

“Fear of spilt drinks on the sofa or chunder on the floor are gone when it’s taken care of ”

Socialising and meeting new people is big part of uni and house parties can be close nit events and definitely not good ice breakers if you’re awkwardly sitting round a coffee table playing ring of fire with you’re new course friends. Although there are some house parties which can play host to a great night, like the infamous S&M M&S party held in Jesmond last November, this isn’t a regular occurrence and heading out to the city centre is a safer bet for a great time. If not, you’ve always got munchies to fall back on.

16.fashion

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Fashion  Editors:  Ellen  Dixon,  Liz  Rosling &  Sara  Macauley

Fashion  icon:  DRAKE Miranda  Stoner  tells  us  why  Drake  in  his  Hotline  Bling  video  is  our  new  style  icon

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Where  to  shop  vintage  in  1&/

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elebrity style icons can shape our daily outfit choices, they offer someone to carry the responsibilty of inspiring a nation to dress well with their indisputable sense of style and poise. However, with Proudlock’s notable absence from MIC and Pharrell’s sell out to Adidas, we are all on the search for someone fresh and creative who can set the bar as to what’s hot and what’s not.

In light of his recent music video ‘Hotline Bling’ I believe we need look no further than Drake to fill the shoes of previous icons such as Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent. In the video, Drake shows us how to dress to impress with four back to back show stopping outfits.

“Drake proves that it is still possible to seduce in an owl hoodie and tracksuit bottoms�

Take for example the first outfit in the vid. I’d always wondered what would happen if you cropped a sleeping bag to make a jacket, but I guess now I know. That said, although it may be a white fur trim short of a Santa Jacket when paired with the casual white t-shirt and dusty-whale toned jeans, here is an outfit more wearable than most of the things you see on the cat walk. What’s more, Drake is rocking an androgynous style that men and women alike can imitate.

Now for his second outfit. If we were to start from the bottom and work our way up, you would first notice his pair of swanky white trainers which stand out perfectly against his otherwise black outfit. They create a look reminiscent of the pure understated style of a lazy Sunday afternoon in front of the TV. Yet Drake proves that it is still possible to seduce in an owl hoodie and tracksuit bottoms.

Perhaps it’s the shameless way he wears his own brand clothing, but then again it’s probably got something to do with those dance moves of his.

Just bear in mind if you want to replicate this look you’ll need to get creative because that owl sweatshirt is all sold out online.

If you weren’t yet convinced that Drake deserves style icon status, then outfit three is sure to pull him up in your estimations. I would go as far as to call this look ground-breaking. Yes we’ve all seen a grey ribbed roll neck sweater, it’s a fisherman’s staple. Yes we’ve all seen beige chinos, but rolled up at the hem and combined with that jumper- that’s a different story.

As for outfit number four it’s true to say that the best has been saved for last. Drake know exactly what he’s doing with that Danny Zuko style jacket.

By contrasting a white hoodie with dark jacket and jeans, Drake proves that looking suave isn’t always about being overstated. Meanwhile his office style black boots add a fancy touch to show his fashion versatility. The key inspiration to take from this look is probably the bicolour layers.

Finally just remember: the haters are gonna hate, but follow the lead of this style icon you’ll be able to simply Drake it off. ,OOXVWUDWLRQ #KDPWKHLOOXVWUDWRU

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andwiched between a Kebab shop and a barbers, you could almost walk straight past FLIP. That is of course without the blaring music filtering out onto the street. This is cool vintage. This is American vintage, which is the shop’s unique selling point. On first entering, you are hit by a wave of denim, denim everything - be it dungarees, shirts or jackets. The shop is USA in true form from bowling shirts and varsity t-shirts to converse. The American soundtrack brings with it a nostalgic reminder of Grease, leaving you dancing and schmoozing around the shop. They sell heaps of different USA memorabilia, flag wall hangings and sport patches. Despite being a little expensive, definitely make the visit to FLIP. As one of the workers said, everything is one of a kind and despite being, ‘a little tucked away’, once found you will never stray!

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new addition to Newcastle’s vintage scene, Hip Cat has only been open for around two months, and claims to have ‘the cheapest prices in the toon’.

It is part of an expanding business, with Small Change in Heaton being its sister shop and a new shop coming soon to York. With fairy lights on the ceiling intertwined with roses, ivy and naked Barbie dolls, the shop really is as weird and wonderful as it claims to be. It has a varied range of clothes and great boys and girls sections. The selections range from 90s vibrant leggings to faux fur to lumberjacks to even wedding dresses. Despite the dimmed lights, it is a great place to shop and they even give discounted prices off the label. As it says on the window ‘we stock the vintage originals the high street tries to copy’, so head down here to inject some wackiness into your wardrobe.

T

ucked into a tiny corner of Grainger Market sits The Yesterday Society, a tiny shop crammed full of vintage beauties.

This shop is like a portal back in time, the walls are adorned with old black and white photographs whilst a record player plays vintage hits.

The clothes in this shop are a lot less like Urban Renewal, but real and affordable vintage clothes.

There are still the classic plaid shirts and Levi shorts, but more common are 70s dresses and 80s blouses. It has good prices too, plaid shirts are £14 and fluoro jackets, expensive anywhere else, are around £20. Situated in a bustling market the shop oozes atmosphere and paired with helpful staff it seems the perfect place to shop. On a miserable day it’s the perfect hideaway out of the rain.

The highlight in here is the extensive range of accessories and chic silk scarves, which make you feel like Bridget Jones on a Mini-Break.

Anna  Jones:  CEO  of  Hearst  UK

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ewcastle Entrepreneurs, alongside Rise Up, had an almighty treat last week for all those business or fashion conscious students. Anna Jones, CEO of Hearst Magazines UK came to Hatton Gallery at the university to speak to us about her personal experiences in the media industry, offering invaluable advice and top tips for success. As a past Newcastle University student, Anna was especially happy to return to the city and university that paved the way for her success. With Cosmopolitan, Elle and Esquire all under the mass media groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s belt, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s safe to say Anna Jones is one of the top dogs in the media industry, and it was clear why in meeting her. She exuded confidence and knowledge, and I was personally very humbled to hear in person how she has built her career.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Above all though, she says, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;just keep writing, or just keep doing what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing, all the timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Hearst Magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motto is all about confidence, and with the tag-line â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;give people the confidence to live the life they want to liveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, their magazines are created with that ethos in mind. They claim to always put the consumer first, in Annaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s words, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in our DNAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The company has over 550 journalists working across all of their publications, so as

CEO, Anna could tell us exactly what she wanted in an employee. She valued above all else enthusiasm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; after interviewing large numbers of potential employees in one day, enthusiasm stands out more than anything else. She also suggested lateral thinking is a key skill to have, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;all of our employees are problem solvers, and attitude is everything.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; For those considering a job in media, Anna suggests lots of short placements are far more useful than one or two long ones. She also suggests, with the infinitely growing online presence of publications, that it is vitally important to have some computer skills. Above all though, she says, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;just keep writing, or just keep doing what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing, all the timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

It was especially interesting to hear about how she made it as a woman in such a male-dominated industry. Though it is usually women writing about fashion, at the top of these businesses you will rarely find a woman. If I remember correctly, she said she was the only female CEO in publishing, a frankly sickening statistic. Apparently â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;willy-wagglingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, as she called it, was all too common in the big meetings. So how did she find strength to break these ever existing glass ceilings? â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel like I should â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;masculiniseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; myself to get where I wanted to beâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. She stated it was hard work, not changing herself as a person, which gained her the top position. She did suggest though. that holding the CEO position demands a lot of composure and strength,

so much so that when she gets home to her kids after a long day, she feels like she has to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;take a layer of herself off â&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Finally, and so importantly for a woman in such a powerful position, she is a feminist and she states she is constantly on a mission to empower women.

This is particularly important as the publications reach 1 in 3 women. She is an active member in Women in Advertising and Communications London and has launched Hearst Empowering Women, a new brand where â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find inspirational stories, thought-provoking advice [â&#x20AC;Ś] and the opportunity to mentor other women and girls with [their] charity partner Their worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. All in all, it was a genuinely priceless experience to meet such an influential woman, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure her advice and mantra will stick with me.

The Courier

fashion.17

Monday 9 November 2015

thecourieronline.co.uk/fashion Instagram:@thecourierfashion | Facebook: facebook.com/thecourierfash |Email: c2.fashion@ncl.ac.uk

Coat yourself up for autumn instagram: @ drawingsarah

Raf Simons?

Please close the Dior Emily Higgins covers four chic coats that’ll keep you cosy and see behind you you through the crisp, cold season as winter fast approaches

Suede duster jacket Minimalism and structure have been a constant theme throughout spring/summer and the minimalistic style continues with this oversized coat from All Saints.

The simplicity of the coat and its timeless silhouette mean that it’s versatile and can be dressed up or down to suit any outfit.

This easy to wear classic piece would make a perfect addition to your autumn wardrobe!

Suede Duster Jacket - Topshop (£195)

Suede biker jacket Leather jackets are the most adaptable and versatile of all outerwear this season. This jacket in a camel suede gives a subtle twist to a classic, while still being easy to accessorise. The structure and oversized collar make it a perfect choice for any body shape and will bring a pop of cool when combined with some slouchy black ripped jeans and a simple t-shirt.

Faux fur coat

Sleeveless duster coat

Faux fur is the perfect weapon to battle chilly mornings. This oversized coat has a vintage feel and would complement autumnal colours perfectly.

Combined with a blouse and cigarette trousers, this coat would be a perfect nod to the forties and fifties and pairing it with simple gold jewellery would add a modern twist to this autumn/winter necessity.

Take on the unpredictable weather and bring a pop of colour to the deep reds of autumn with this longline sleeveless duster coat. The pastel colour means it’s just enough to brighten up a misty morning and this adaptable jacket can be layered easily making it a functional must have this season. Also, the simple nature of the duster means you can easily add a personal touch with your own accessories. Bonus!

Suede biker jacket - Topshop (£68)

Oversized Faux Fur Coat - Topshop (£110)

Sleeveless Duster Coat - Topshop (£68)

Spotted on campus This week, Lottie Bovill spotted the best-­dressed students out and about on campus

Sarah

Course: English Lit and Creative Writing Age: 19 Clothes: ‘‘My cardigan was from a charity shop, shoes are Doc Marten jumper is Beyond Retro and my glasses are Converse’’ Style Inspiration: “I love the genderneutral clothes at the moment and 90’s in general. Things that are easy to wear and inexpensive.

If you had to marry a Geordie Shore member, who would it be?

“NONE of them!”

Jamie

Course: Media, Communications and Culture Studies Age: 23 Clothes: ‘‘My shirt is from urban outfitters in Berlin, my jeans are also Urban Outfitters, the shoes are Scorpio in Grainger Market & I found the jacket left-over at a house-party last year” Style Inspiration:“James Dean” Party Trick?

“I can make a mean hummus at 3’am while mortal!”

Kitty

Course: Maths Age: 18 Clothes: ‘‘My Jacket and Shoes- were both gifts for Christmas, and my jumper is from George” Style Inspiration: “I love the fashion in Duran Duran’s “The Chauffeur” video. The girls’ 80’s style is so sophisticated and stylish. I love the song so wear the clothes to remember the music!”

Aaron

Course: Biology Age: 19 Clothes: ‘‘The jeans are from Topman, both my hat and top are from Nicce London and the trainers are Janoski” Style Inspiration: “I really like the grunge look at the moment” Would you rather be chased by 50 duck sized horses, or one horse sized duck?

“Definitely a one horse sized duck!”

Sally Mu talks us through the recent exit of Dior’s creative director and what it means for the brand he’s left behind

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ast month, one of fashion’s most revered brands, Christian Dior, announced the unexpected departure of its 47-year-old creative director Raf Simons after the close of trading on the Paris Bourse. Sadly, Dior’s amazing ready-to-wear SS/16 collection presented three weeks ago was Simons’s last. He ended a fruitful three-and-a-half year collaboration that saw the fabled and iconic French house tilt in a more artful and modernist direction.

Raf greeted the audience with a fairyland fleurs heaven by draping a mountain of blue, delightful delphiniums on his final fashion show and featuring magnificent, Victorian lingerie-inspired fabric collection, by his ‘’purely classical approach’’ to create natural and feminine beauty for our next spring’s must-haves. The ‘lingerie as clothing’ collection was elegant, pure, feminine and ever so diaphanous but never underdressed.

His final show opened with the classic bar jacket, paired with cotton veil lingerie tops and shorts, most looks thereafter played with material tensions and we were encouraged to be wearing plenty of cloud-like dreamy organza, fitted co-ords, fierce knitwear, tailored suits and lingerie as outerwear.

Raf has clearly created garments so minimal and effortless-looking that manage to make delicate garments also seem bold and brilliant. Moreover, the scalloped pastel-hued Victorian organza seems like a new innovative way to look effortlessly chic, as though we just rolled out of bed.

“Dior is now left with the daunting task of filling Simons’s role as well as facing the challenges after his departure as a result” Raf ’s Dior was undoubtedly a powerful chapter in the history of the brand. He took Dior and injected a new energy and modern twist into the one of the most prestigious luxury houses in the industry.

He is also credited with modernising the label and has brought on new ambassadors including Jennifer Lawrence and Rihanna since his arrival in 2012.

Yet, Dior has never come down from its original heightened state of elegance. After Simons’s arrival, almost overnight the street-style hits began to flow, bringing a new generation of fun-loving but seriously successful ‘Dior girls’ in party-ready Street-sharp creations on his Cruise 2016. This modernist and enthusiastic fan of contemporary art hasn’t always fitted with fit with the romantic and historical house of Dior, such as his most recent haute couture and jaw-dropping cruise collections which received universal critical reviews. Dior is now left with the daunting task of filling Simons’s role as well as facing the challenges after his departure as a result. The change comes at a moment when companies are reconsidering the qualities they expect from a heritage brand, and in some cases, changing the rules.

Raf previously stated that he is somewhat exhausted by the fast speed of the present fashion world, whether Dior chooses someone who can stay true to the classic style or someone who will bring their own twist to it, the important thing is that they find someone who is able to keep up with the fashion world’s increasingly fast pace for more than just a few years, because it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

18.beauty

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Beauty Editors: Flora Davies, Ellen Walker & Lucy Cochrane

What’s your JAM? Lauren Williamson brings us the berry battle

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very year there is another autumnal trend that becomes a key make up must have that ends up staying in my make-up bag for seasons after season and this year its the Berry beautiful lips. It’s time to ditch our signature shades of dusky pinks and nudes letting them take a back seat as the temperate drops and the moody nights set in; we can finally welcome the darker hues of a complimentary berry lip and nail duo.

When opting for a signature look this winter, it’s important the product is perfect and this doesn’t mean the most expensive. There are hundreds of shades all claiming to be ‘berry’ so knowing that £15.50 you’ve just splashed out on a new MAC is perfect, worth it, and going to get you that power pout. The trick is knowing what works for you. For girls with fair skin opt for raspberry shades in various pink-based hues enriched in bold and bright berry tones helping to make your bright eyes pop.

For medium/olive complexions try, warmer tones and experiment with hints of reddish-maroon colours to add a twist on your berry lip look and enhance your natural glow even in the winter months. For those with darker skin tone, delve deep into blueberry-based purples, and you can really go to town with the darker tones playing around with velvety wines. Whatever your skin tone, if you are not used to being bold with your lip colour begin with sheer balm. This will give you a tint of colour without jumping straight in for a statement pout. Most balms are universally flattering allowing you more wear through the upcoming winter months complementing your style which will eventually see you getting bolder and braver as the season progresses.

“I love the ‘matchy matchy’ trend and I think berry hues are one of the ones it works best with”

For your nails, ever since Kate Moss famously said matching nails and lips is a ‘big no-no’ many of us has steered away and tried too hard to create contrasting looks between our lips and tips.

Although Moss is usually Boss, I have to disagree with her here. I love the ‘matchy matchy’ trend and I think berry hues are one of the ones it works best with. Preparation is key! For your nails to look there best you really have to keep on top of your before and after care. Polish, protect and file.

Always make sure you do a base coat and primer to get the most of your product colour and lock it in. The only thing I would say to avoid matching is the texture, this will make both your lips and nails stand out more, if you have gone for matte lips wear a glossy polish and vice versa! Also, if you struggle finding the perfect match, opt for a few shades darker polish or contrast your berry hues.

Beauty tip of the week Want Kylie Jenner’s lips without looking crazy?

All you need to do is blend your concealer around the outer part of your lips to disguise your natural lip line then, use a a lipliner in a shade that matches your natural lip colour. Redraw your lip line slightly bigger than they really are, but don’t go overboard. Remember to shape your lips fairly close to your natural lip line as, the further you go, the stranger your lips will look. Then smudge the edges lightly with the tip of your fingers to soften the borders to make it more natural.

Sally Mu

DIY budget beauty hacks Beauty Editor Flora Davies shares her top four essential DIY hacks for beauty on a budget, involving lucious treatments for your hair, skin and eyes.

Treat your tresses

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uring the colder months, I find myself not doing enough to maintain moisture on my locks, yet an easy solution is coconut oil, my ultimate favorite being Biona Organic Raw Virgin Coconut Oil. The big part of the recent popularity is that it’s natural, which is what makes it so appealing. Whilst I previously associated coconut oil as a cooking ingredient, it works wonders as a hair treatment. The appealing aroma is enough to sway anyone. As a hair treatment, this cure-all beauty product can be used for deep conditioning. Coconut oil is rich in lauric acid and has a high affinity for hair protein and so helps to reduce protein loss in damaged hair. The oil of the coconut penetrates hair more deeply and faster than other conditioners. To use coconut oil as a leave-in treatment to repair split ends, moisturize your scalp, and add a healthy glow to your tresses; follow these simple steps: 1. Scoop a small amount of coconut oil into the palm of your hand 2. Use your fingers to gently massage the oil into your hair, working it though with a wide toothed hair comb, concentrating on the ends 3. Wash thoroughly with your regular shampoo

Hydrate One of the best DIY beauty hack is to drink 2l of water daily. Whilst we’ve all heard that drinking water is good for our skin, here’s why you really need to be drinking all of that H2O: Keeping the body properly hydrated encourages oxygen to flow freely throughout the body and is the best way to flush out unwanted toxins is to hydrate yourself.

This allows you to be more alert and focused, which is something that would definitely help you throughout the uni day!

Apart from the obvious health benefits, water also hydrates the body, skin and hair. Often, when you consume sugar-rich foods, skin can become dehydrated. When your skin is dehydrated, your pores are unable to stretch and release naturally secreted oils.

Drinking lots of water can therefore prevent dehydration and improves the appearance of skin, giving you a healthy glow.

Highlight Always wondered how to achieve natural sun infused hair? Lemons are natural toners, making them a go-to for brightening hair. Plus, they’re extremely cheap for a main ingredient. It’s important to note that lemon is heat activated, so use this method when you know you’ll be spending a day outside. The heat of the sun opens hair cuticles and the lemon juice lifts colour, which allows the sun to bleach your strands. Too wreak the benefits, add natural lemon juice to a spray bottle along with a teaspoon of oil (to keep your hair from drying out) and then enjoy the outdoors knowing you’ll be sporting lighter locks as a result!

“By applying two slices of freshly cut cucumber onto the eye area, you can help reduce the ap-­ pearance of under eye circles” Cool it with cucumber One of the most famous beauty beliefs is that cucumbers are a natural way of reducing under eye puffiness. Because cucumbers are 90% water, it is known to be a cooling agent, and so by applying two slices of freshly cut cucumber onto the eye area, you can help reduce the appearance of under eye circles. Temporary puffiness around the eyes is often caused by a buildup of lymphatic fluid, and so the cooling effects of evaporation therefore help keep puffiness at bay. For best results, apply the cucumber slices for four to five minutes so the cucumber cooling properties can do their bit.

Instagram: @Lucybeecoconut

Have a LUSHicious Christmas

Zoë Godden brings us Christmas early by giving us the lo down on her favourite products from the new Lush range

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hough that frantic search for last minute presents may seem miles away, our ethically inclined friends at Lush Cosmetics have already rolled out their 2015 Christmas range, having gained a wide release to all stores on October 2nd. Of course, the ever-expanding Xmas range can be used all year round, but with scents like cinnamon, candy canes, and figgy pudding to feast your nostrils on, how could you not think of ‘the most wonderful time of the year’? With 41 products to choose from, I took it upon myself to sniff, soak, and scrub my way through the new festive line to give you the best products being exclusively introduced to the range this year – so hurry, if you’re looking to beat the winter blues, get your mittens on them quick, because once they’re gone, there’s no guarantee Santa’s sleigh will be bringing them back next year!

‘Fairy Dust’ Dusting Powder £5.95/70g Sharing its scent with Lush’s winter bestseller, Snow Fairy shower gel, this pearly pink powder is magical in both design and use. Similar to other

“leaving your flat smelling like the Sugar Plum Fairy has stayed the night”

powdered deodorants, simply sprinkle a little bit into your hand and rub it anywhere you want to get soft, sparkly, and smelling like sugary sweet bubblegum. What’s more, you can even use this to freshen up your bedsheets, or use as a shake-nvac replacement, leaving your flat smelling like the Sugar Plum Fairy has stayed the night.

‘Salt and Peppermint Bark’ Body Scrub - £5.95/each

‘Santa’s Belly’ Shower Jelly £3.95/100g, £7.95/240g

Speckled with dots of red and white, this seasonal square is like if candy canes were a cuboid.

With a creamy peppermint scent (duh, kind of given away in the name), this is great to use in your morning shower to scrub away dead skin and waken up your senses in preparation of facing sleet and snow to get to that 9am lecture on time

Though the So White shower gel sadly hasn’t returned this year, its scent lives on in this deep red pot of delight. Cut into small cubes and lather up with a loofah to leave you smelling of crisp apples, or pop it whole in your freezer for a refreshingly chilly morning shower. If Granny Smiths aren’t your thing, you’ll be glad to know this wibbly wobbly wonder also contains vegan red wine to get your skin tipple.

‘Bah Humbug’ Bubble Bar - £3.65/ each

If you can’t stand the Christmas frenzy, and just so happen to have access to a bath this year, embrace your inner Scrooge with this reusable bubble bar. Crumble some of this liquorice scented sphere under the tap to unleash mountains of silky bubbles into the water, turning it a dark shade of purple. With hints of lemon and fennel, it’ll leave you feeling and smelling like the Ghost of Christmas Present.

“Crumble some of this liquorice scented sphere under the tap to unleash mountains of silky bubbles into the water”

‘Magic of Christmas’ FUN Bar £5.00/200g We students all love products that multi-task, and Lush’s FUN Bars are the ultimate bathtime miracle worker. This particular variant features tangerine, cinnamon, and juniperberry, making it a boozy, fruit punch inspired delight that would go hand in hand with a slice of Christmas pudding.

Use a grape size amount of this adult Play-Doh to replace your shampoo, shower gel, or bubble bath, making it one of Lush’s best value-for-money products.

The Courier

beauty.19

Monday 9 November 2015

thecourieronline.co.uk/beauty Instagram @courierbeauty_ | Twitter @CourierBeauty

To contour or not to contour?

Molly Harris and Meg Long bring us the ultimate contouring face off

When your celebrity look-alike is the moon emoji, contouring is your make up saviour. Contouring has been a big trend for the last couple of years, and if you haven’t heard of it, then where have you been?

Essentially, contouring is using make up to sculpt your face and give it definition. It can be used to give the illusion of cheekbones on a rounder face, or alternatively can be used to shorten long face shapes. The placement of the contour product all depends on what effect you’re trying to create.

Contouring became big through the likes of Kim Kardashian and her make up artist Mario Dedivanovic. Whilst contouring gets a bad press with criticisms that it’s fake and unnatural, there are more natural ways of creating the look and is an an easy make up skill to master that can be used day to day.

For

Instagram: @Kimkardashian MAC groundwork, this product is the holy grail, it’s so versatile and as it’s a Pro Longwear Paint Pot it can also be used as an eye shadow or a base (and lasts all day). Its £16 but well worth the money, mine lasted me well over a year and I re-purchased it recently as its an essential in my make up bag.

“there are natural ways of creating the look ” To apply this I use MAC 191 Square foundation brush, this is ideal as the square bristles allow you to be accurate when applying and blending. If a cream product is not what you’re looking for then MAC also have a great powder blush in the shade Harmony. MAC describes it as ‘muted rose-beige

brown’, contouring shades should always be matte, save the shimmer for your highlighter; texture is key to creating the perfect contoured look. I apply this blush with the Real Techniques contour brush, the angled tip it works wondrs getting into the hollows of the cheek.

Bronzer can be use to create a contoured look but it’s all about tone and shade. Bronzer tends to work better on dark skin. For pale skin Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer works well, but make sure you blend it out, the key to contouring is subtlety. In my opinion whether you love it or hate it, fight it or can’t live without it, contouring is a trend here to stay.

For & Against

rity snaps, how is this possibly any better? Painting your face in this level of disguise and shadowing away from your true beauty. Enhancing beauty is definitely something to be encouraged but contouring tutorials and tips are so often aimed on actually changing the shape of your most prominent features, leaving all us girls walking around as clones. Less is more and contouring seems to forget all subtleties.

“I’d recommend contouring’s less evil sister, highlighting ” The main problem with contouring is that whilst it can be very effective on camera it can be very unnatural in real life and from certain angles, obvious where the makeup has been harshly placed.

When trying to change the shape of your face, you should always strive for a natural look. To achieve this through contouring is a real challenge.

Instagram: @Thebeautyshop88

Against

Contouring seems to have more hype than the Kardashian’s themselves, and with every makeup brand taking advantage of this fad with a DIY contour kit, it’s hard to decide if you want in on chiselled cheekbones. I’d argue to stay away from contouring unless you have mastered the art of painting your face; it’s very difficult to get the desired look you want so maybe it’s best to stay away.

Makeup artist for InStyle, Pati Dubroff, insists contouring ‘suffocates the face’ and there is something to be said for the intense layers of makeup required. The build up of make up could even lead to clogged pores, hence you can weigh up if defined features is really worth the break out.

It may have just been Halloween but as women do we really feel the need to go to such extremes as contorting our faces beyond recognition? After the back lash against the level of Photoshop on celeb-

I’d recommend contouring’s less evil sister, highlighting. Whilst contouring can look unnatural because it creates a shadow, highlighting does not have that problem.

By choosing a product with a highlighting function instead, preferably with a pearlescent sheen, light will bounce off your features creating the illusion of prominence where the product is placed. I have big love for Benefit’s ‘girl meets pearl’ which I apply on my upper cheek bones for a natural sheen.

It can be worn on top of little or no makeup to still create the desired effect of chiselled cheekbones in a much more natural way.

Highlighting is far more advantageous to a contour because it works with lighting so that as you move it catches the light in the same way a naturally high cheek bone would.

Autumn beauty releases Lois Johnston conkers the best new autumnal releases

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ossibly autumn’s most hotly anticipated release has been H&M’s brand new beauty line. Released at the beginning of October, the 700 piece line includes every beauty item you could think of – from lipstick and foundation to eyelash curlers and eau de toilettes. This fantastic range even includes an eyeshadow primer, something that isn’t normally seen in high street store cosmetics. One of my favourite parts of this line are the brushes. They’re all super soft, they’re extremely affordable as the most expensive is just £7.99 and they’re all made from synthetic hairs so are even vegan friendly. The lipsticks are also another of my favourite part as, for just £3.99, they’re super pigmented, long wearing, come in a wide range of colours and a matte range and (best of all) smell of raspberries.

‘With shine-­block technology this primer is great if you have oily skin or your make up tends to wear off after a few hours” Make up giant NARS has also had a hotly anticipated release this autumn and that is their audacious range. As a big fan of NARS products, especially their sheer glow foundation, I was extremely excited to try their audacious mascara which has received rave reviews online. NARS claims that this mascara can do anything you want which from the start should’ve made me question the product – if that were possible wouldn’t everyone have it? I tend to look for mascaras that add volume to my lashes as I don’t use mascara to lengthen because I wear glasses almost every day. Trust me, there is absolutely nothing more annoying than them brushing on your lenses every time you blink! But that should be okay with this mascara because it can do anything – right? Even though the colour was jet black (which I love), the mascara made my eyelashes spikey and clumpy and is a nightmare to get off afterwards. It has some redeeming features in that it doesn’t smudge if you use it on your lower lashes and is not made of fibres so doesn’t flake at all. Overall though, I’d say this was a big disappointment for me personally and I’ve had much better drugstore mascaras that don’t cost £16.

Update yourself this autumn Abigail Walker teaches us how to update your make up bag without breaking the bank

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umpkin Spice Lattes have taken over Instagram, which can only mean one thing: autumn is here. Changing up your makeup bag for autumn can be done quite easily on a student budget and doesn’t actually have to involve switching up too many things. First things first, I

Instagram: @shin.blog

like to leave my dewy summer foundation in August and swap it with a more matte base- I’m loving the L’oreal Infallible 24H Matte foundation for a purse friendly way to make your foundation more autumnal. It’s my ultimate go-to for a matte finish and feels a lot more high end than it is. Lips need a little more TLC as November rolls around which means lip balms galore. My favourite lip balm is actually pretty unheard of in the world of beautythe No7 Protect and Perfect Lip Care is an absolute lifesaver for me. It dries very quickly so you’re not waiting around for ages for your tacky lips to dry, but it’s also super moisturising.

I’d also recommend the Lush lip scrubs to keep your lips nice and smooth- don’t make matte lipsticks your enemy this Autumn! No autumn makeup bag is complete without a classic berry lipstick and this year I have found my Holy Grail berry lipstick. The wonder product is the shade ‘Glastonberry’ from Charlotte Tilbury’s Matte Revolution range of lipsticks. It’s worn a lot by the beauty blogging Queen herself- Zoella- and is the most perfect burgundy shade for autumn. Even though the shade comes from the Matte Revolution range it’s so moisturising and comfortable to wear. It’s pricey but well worth investing in if you’re a lover of bold

lipsticks.

For the eyes there is a clear winner this year; the Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette has absolutely blown me away. It’s an amazing palette which features 10 warm toned shadows. It’s an absolute bargain price and is really great quality, a formula to rival the likes of Urban Decay and Mac. It features both matte and shimmery shades (nothing too glittery) and I can honestly say I use every single shadow in the palette, which is definitely a rarity for me.

“Lips need a little more TLC as Novem-­ ber rolls around which means lip balms galore” As a bit of a splurge, Clinque’s Black Honey is an amazing ‘all over the lid’ shade for a quick makeup look that’s perfectly seasonal, but at £16 for a single shadow it’s a bit of a luxury item. Throw in a burgundy nail varnish and you’re all set for an easy autumn look every day!

Instagram: @okyanusself Soap and Glory has also had a new make-up release this season which is a continuation of their one heck of a blot range. I have been using the one heck of a blot translucent powder for months now and was so pleased to see they’ve released a primer and foundation. With shine-block technology this primer is great if you have oily skin or your make up tends to wear off after a few hours. It provides a barrier between your skin and your make up to make it last longer and reduce shine. The consistency and pay off are a lot like Benefit’s POREfessional but for just £10 it’s less than half the price.

Likewise, the foundation has almost no shine and is very matte which gives a great base for if you want to add highlights afterwards. Unfortunately, it only comes in four shades at the moment but hopefully that’s just because it’s a new product and more will be added at a later date.

20.arts

Monday 9 November 2015

Arts Editors: Holly Suttle, Emily Watton & Jade Holroyd

Colour Me Impressed Elvira Jusuf investigates the therapeutic effects of adult colouring-­in books

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eeding some down-time that can distract you from dissertations and essays for a while? Whether you are missing childhood activities or maybe just have nothing to do, then, colouring in is the right choice for you. But people think that colouring is an activity only for children… No, not anymore. A variety of grownup versions are available almost everywhere. Believe it or not, this is a popular trend. According to the Daily Mail bookstores’ best seller lists are taken over and millions of copies were sold.

Adult colouring is not only made for people who are talented, but is also suitable for those who think that they’re bad artists. So, don’t be afraid to try if you feel you’re not artistic in the slightest¬¬.

The lines guide you. Besides, trying to colour inside the line has a benefit for your mind. It increases your focus, but not so much that it’s stressful.

That’s why some people use this method to escape from their stress as it has a calming therapeutic effect. Another reason is because people can actually enjoy themselves – free from the pressures of real life.

But what can a person gain from a children’s activity? It’s the sheer fun of it that we need. I think, even if it had no benefits for us, many would still probably choose to do it. Especially now adults have their own version of colouring books. Destressing might be a result from the inherent enjoyment, but in my opinion, it is simply an added plus. In the end, colouring for grown-up is a good thing because it’s fundamentally fun.

“As an art lover myself, I couldn’t contain my excitement and curiosity”

If you want to start but are embarrassed - don’t be! Just remember, your colouring book is your colouring book. Everyone else’s opinion doesn’t matter. If you don’t want to show it to anyone, then you don’t need to. It can be one of your guilty pleasures. Make it your secret world where only you and your imagination are needed. It’s a world you created and you should be proud of yourself.

You can do whatever you want with it.

As an art lover myself, I couldn’t contain my excitement and curiosity about this new phenomenon. I impulsively bought one titled ‘The Time Garden’ by Daria Song. Seriously, this is one of my best decisions of the year. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw the cover page. Each page contains different illustrations that make a storyline. The paper itself is thick enough for various colouring tools to be used. I started to colour the book recently and it’s really entertaining. I’m honestly proud of my results and some of my friends know it. About the effects: I found it really relaxing and calming. Colouring removes other thoughts from the brain and focus on doing it. So, if you need a distraction from all your assignments, this might be the distraction for you.

Swan Lake

Katie Read uncovers what creates the magic of this breathtaking ballet

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he Russian State Ballet and Opera House are coming to Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre & Opera House on 18th November, with their latest production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

This fairy-tale ballet tells the story of Odette, a beautiful princess under the spell of an evil sorcerer, and her prince’s quest to break the curse. Like every tragic love story, there are complications, including Odile, the daughter of the sorcerer and identical to Odette. This is a classic ballet, full of romance and magic with a story that has inspired audiences for the last 120 years, even becoming the basis of the film Black Swan. I was lucky enough to have a chat with Julia Ignatowa, the company’s Marketing Manager, about what’s to be expected from the show.

How well has the tour been going so far?

It’s been going really well actually we’ve now done 2 weeks. We’ve done all the different ballets – we have three going on at the moment: Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Don Quixote, which premiered in Eastbourne. The reviews have been really positive, everybody’s been enjoying it, and we’re getting full houses in most places which is always good to see because the artists spend a long time practising and perfecting each night.

Konstantin Uralsky, the director, was himself a former ballet star. Would you say that this has helped his direction of the ballet and has he added anything to the production?

Yes, it’s definitely helped. He knows how the artists

feel as he has been there himself on stage so he knows what they are going through.

As I said before, these are the classic ballet pieces, but certain twists have been added to make them a bit different to other productions as Konstantin’s been all over the world working and has picked up different ideas.

So, your company has been working with Russian ballet houses for the last 13 years, how have different productions of these shows been developed over this time?

In the last 13 years we have worked with different ballet houses, so each production differs in its interpretation. We have been to many different theatres in the UK, most of which have smaller stages than in Russia, so the scenery has to be adapted to fit the theatre. However, Newcastle is actually going to be a great place to watch the ballet as the Tyne Theatre & Opera House has a big Victorian stage, so the

audience will be able to see the dancing and the fullscale scenery as it’s meant to be. It’s going to be big and colourful and especially good for newcomers to ballet.

Do you have any advice for students who haven’t been to a ballet?

A ballet isn’t just for people who like to go regularly - it’s for everyone to enjoy. It’s really easy to follow, though I would say that it helps to know the storyline beforehand. The artists act as well as dance, for example they make use of facial expressions on stage help to tell the story. People should come to the ballet with an open mind, it’s really beautiful music and for the ballets such as Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the music is very recognisable to everyone as they’re such famous pieces of music that people will have heard before. These ballets are classic pieces, but are still accessible to today’s audiences and are really easy to follow.

Sculpting your body and mind

Meg Holtom explains how the art of yoga and meditation transforms your mind

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he idea of inner-peace has always been the source of criticism, with many people refusing to believe in its existence. However recently there has been scientific evidence discovered which demonstrates the health benefits of this practice. It’s been found that finding inner-peace through meditation has psychological benefits such as increasing serotonin levels, which increases happiness as well as having biological benefits such as lowering cholesterol.

Meditation is the art of transforming your mind by entering a stage of deep peace.

The most popular way to meditate is to get into a comfortable position such as sitting crossed legged with hands placed one on top of each other on your lap.

Next, close your eyes and focus on your breathing, trying to not let your mind wander. Personally, I like to imagine a lotus flower in my lungs opening and closing its petals as I inhale and exhale.

“One of the most important ways to prepare for meditation is to create the right atmosphere”

‘Adult colouring is the latest trend and some of my friends do this. They said it’s relaxing and fun. But, it’s most likely to be a guilty pleasure. Not everyone can admit it and will keep it that way.’

– Tia Atriani

The Courier

The whole point of meditation is to find inner peace, relax and restore our bodies’ harmony, so I find meditation often helps when I’m stressed or tire. But there are no rules.

Just find whatever is comfortable for you and don’t feel pressured to get it right first time - some people take years to master the art of meditation.

Another popular way of finding inner-peace (and my personal favourite) is yoga. The art of yoga is not only a way to be serene and peaceful, but its also a very good way to exercise, especially if stren-

uous cardio isn’t your thing. The great thing about yoga is that you can pretty much do it any time, any place - as long as you have your mat - so its easy to fit it in to your day no matter how busy it is.

My favourite times to do yoga are first thing in

the morning and last thing at night. For me, doing yoga first thing in the morning is the best way to start the day - along with a big cup of green tea. It helps me to relax before a day of lectures or studying and stretches out any aching muscles - definitely worth missing an extra half an hour in bed!

Doing half an hour of yoga before going to sleep, helps me to shut my mind and body down in order to get the best nights sleep possible which is crucial if you want to get the most out of the next day.

One of the most important ways to prepare for meditation is to create

“The great thing about yoga is that you can pretty much do it any time, any place”

the right atmosphere. I like to light a few candles, burn some incense and listen to some relaxing music whilst practicing meditation or yoga, to get into the right mind set, however this isn’t necessary.

I think the art of meditation and yoga is extremely under appreciated because the idea of inner peace is often ridiculed. Yoga and meditation play a big part in the religion of Buddhism which has around 500 million followers in the world and is becoming increasingly more popular as the idea of reaching inner-peace is becoming more and more recognised.

With Buddhism and meditation being referenced in art forms such as film and literature more and more, hopefully in the near future meditation will get the love it deserves.

The Courier

arts.21

Monday 9 November 2015

Teikyo Japanese Festival

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aving always been passionate about travel and with Japan very high up on my bucket list, I got excited when I had the opportunity to write a review on the University of Teikyo’s Japanese festival in Durham. Prior to the festival, I had not yet visited Durham so I was also excited to look around this quaint city surrounded by countryside.

Teikyo University of Japan is situated in Durham and every year the festival introduces culture in different ways and through different themes. This year it is through Omotenashi which is a word that represents the spirit of Japanese hospitality.

“There seemed to be more adults doing the arts and crafts than children”

As I arrived, I was greeted warmly by some students in Yukata (traditional Japanese clothes). I then headed back outside where Yakisoba, a popular Japanese noodle dish, was on the menu. The noodles are cooked with a special Yakisoba sauce and both meat and vegetarian options were avail-

able. It was cooked on a large hot plate and you could opt for eating with chopsticks.

I then headed back inside where a number of activities were taking place. I took a seat at the calligraphy table ready to try and write some words of one of the most difficult languages to master, especially considering that there are four different styles of writing. I then moved onto making a Kakemono, which is a hanging scroll. We decorated it with different coloured tissue paper then wrote a Japanese word of our choice in the middle. With this, the calligraphy lesson earlier came quickly into use. I chose the word laugh and wrote it in the traditional ink.

We then moved onto creating a Kokeshi paper doll which was fun and I noticed that there seemed to be more adults doing the arts and crafts than children. I was chatting to the people helping out and they all seemed to love their job, or their course and were very friendly.

The next activity we went for was origami, Japanese paper folding. This was definitely the hardest out of them all. We followed a book that told us which folds to do. I needed a lot of assistance as I just simply could not follow simple instructions.

However, I did end up, with a bit of help, with a crane and a frog made out of paper which now takes pride of place on my windowsill and is the envy of all my friends.

Despite the talent of origami not coming naturally, it was a lot of fun and it was amazing to see how many complex animals and shapes you can make by simply folding paper. Lastly I tried on a typical flowery Yukata in different shades of blue and red while the Principal’s guitar performance played in the background.

“I would recommend anyone who fancies a bit of culture to visit the festival”

Doing all the arts and crafts was a lot of fun and so was the event itself and it has made my hankering to visit Japan even stronger. I would recommend anyone who fancies a bit of culture to attend the festival - escape the big city of Newcastle and jet away to Teikyo by simply hopping on a short train ride. I would definitely visit again next year and encourage everyone to do so as well.

thecourieronline.co.uk/arts c2.arts@ncl.ac.uk | @CourierArts

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rt and music have always been influential on political and social movements and none more so than on the black rights movement in America and across the world.

Although much influential art by black artists has been ignored and conveniently forgotten, there has been a resurgence in promoting the influence black culture and the arts have had on our world.

Throughout Black History Month at NUSU there have been many wonderful and inspiring talks discussing art. Including an inspirational talk from Akala about his own experiences in the creative industry, preceded by a discussion on the influence of Black art and music on the African-American civil rights movement of the 1960s. But the influence of black artists on the feminist movement started much earlier than this. In the 1920s, Lois Mailot proved that art was not just the domain of the white and powerful, it was for everyone. She became the first African-American woman to study art at Howard University. She paved the way not only for African-Americans but for women too and remains the most famous African-American female artist of the 1920s.

“A resurgence in promoting the influence black culture and the arts”

NUTS: Silly Billies’ surreal %ORRG %HKLQG WKH %DU comedy experience

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UTS Peter pantomime production team held their very own Murder Mystery where guests took part in an interactive crime investigation, interviewing suspects, collecting alibis and attempting to solve the murder.

“Elaborately designed with stunning details”

The Murder Mystery itself, held at The Hancock Pub, was elaborately designed with stunning details and sub-plots. Written by Josh Turner, the evening was held in order to raise money to pay for the rights of J.M. Barry’s novel retold in classic pantomime style. Therefore it was only fitting for each of the characters performed by the large group of actors to be lavish, outgoing and frivolous. It was truly a remarkable experience, where every person really felt a part of this investigation and were fully engaged in the story.

“The experience really hit home causing laughs and applause”

With roughly 50 participants per night, a sense of camaraderie grew between the audience ‘investigators’ who were grouped in teams, and the performers. When announcing the murder the comical aspects of the experience really hit home causing laughs and applause from every corner of the room. Each characters’ was exciting and believable and enticed the viewers in. All the pieces of evidence, such as wallets, inappropriate photos and even torn diary pages, added to the credibility of the story, making the participants feel fully involved at all times throughout the experience.

Overall, it was a great success and I could not be more excited for their next performance ‘Peter pantomime’ coming soon - you’d best get your tickets quick because they’ll be selling soon!

Holly Suttle

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illy Billies is a monthly event at the Live Theatre, the next performance will be Sunday 29th November.

The regular slot leads to it having a regular and loyal audience. Thankfully, the subsequent camaraderie did not include ‘in jokes’, which never fail to alienate a newcomer like myself. Indeed, Silly Billies seem to spurn repetition and make originality their life-blood, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before. They didn’t avoid all the dreaded clichés of comedy however, I think I’ve seen ten too many ‘lad’ sketches for a lifetime. Silly Billies’ attempt didn’t even rival my group of friends doing ‘lad’ impressions in the pub. Though, I might just not get it as I couldn’t help thinking ‘What a waste of food!’ when they were flinging around cooked spaghetti and cradling a raw chicken.

Some of the audience absolutely loved it. I’m not entirely sure if it’s not due to their blood-alcohol level… but loudness, laughter and fun is always a good sign. I was mainly smiling and laughing throughout, and maintaining a loyal audience is a definite achievement. They proudly state: ‘we’re not for everyone’ by happily thanking people for staying this long and for not scaring us off. I won’t lie, some of the acts were disconcerting, but I have a feeling that the entire point of the night was to keep us out of our comfort zones.

Candy Gigi in particular had me recoiling in horror and stifling giggles. Her act left no doubt that Silly Billies is an ‘Adults Only’ event with her explicit demonstrations with her inflatable sexdoll and then made a male audience member slow dance with it. She was certainly unique and I won’t forget her performance in a hurry. Gigi was a highlight of the night, contrasting with less interesting one-liner performances which felt over-rehearsed and stagnant. I love a good spontaneous one-liner, but after the tenth… I got rather bored and moody.

I’ll finish off with a compliment to their use of videos, slideshows and photo shop - the effort was fantastically worth it.

Emily Watton

The Summit There is no sound beyond the gale , There is no sight besides the pale.

Rain soon, you have a hunch, Whilst perusing through your pack for lunch.

Sit down, arse is wet, Stand up, the wind you’ll get.

Could be in bed, you know they’d say, Needn’t leave the home today…

Why do you do it, you hear them ask, You ponder that, what is your task?

No photograph to prove you’re there, Nothing real merits the fare.

You fall, you tire but never stop, To spend fifteen minutes at the top.

David Winter

Fast Forward to the 1970s and 80s, and radical changes were afoot at the Museum of Modern Art (or the Museum of Male Art as it was dubbed) after it was discovered that only 4% of artists exhibited there were women. The Guerrilla Girls were a radical art group that aimed to challenge sexism and racism in the art world, and were hell bent on recognising female and black artists. Their members went by pseudonyms, naming themselves after feminist artists that deserved recognition.

This included Frida Kahlo and Alma Thomas - an African-American expressionist painter who was famously said: ‘a picture or a statue is common to the whole civilized world, independent of age, race and nationality’. This motto was adopted by The Guerilla Girls who had a lot of success in promoting issues around the need for more representation, a conversation that is still relevant today. The idea that art belongs to everyone is one I hope we will never forget.

“From shocking murals depicting police violence to viral videos and paintings, art has been integral from the start”

It has been said that we are now entering a new renaissance of black feminist artists. We have all seen how Beyonce and Nicki Minaj have managed to grab the spotlight and shine it towards black feminist issues that really matter, but fine art artists have done the same. The #BlackLivesMatter movement, which has strong ties with the feminism, has been greatly helped through striking visual imagery. The sheer amount of art created by supporters, and the effect it has had on raising awareness is testament to how the internet is helping promote a new wave of black feminist artists. From shocking murals depicting police violence to viral videos and paintings, art has been integral from the start. These artists will join the long list of artists throughout our history who challenge racism and sexism every day, proving that whether we realise it or not, black feminist artists undoubtedly have shaped the world we live in.

CALLING ALL ARTISTS: A great exhibition at Byker Gallery. For the residency programmes please email: mmmilkcollective@gmail.co.uk

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The Courier

elections.23

Monday 9 November 2015

ELECTIONS

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The Courier

elections.25

Monday 9 November 2015

NUS Delegates Since three of the five positions must be filled by self-defining women, nominations will re-open for selfdefining women at a later date

Luke Allison

Hey, I’m Luke and I am your welfare and equality officer this year. I want to represent you at the NUS conference this year. Primarily I want to challenge the bureaucracy of the NUS which prevents it from doing anything effective, whether its running campaigns or reflecting student opinion. I am a supporter of free education and believe that NUS’ primary role at the moment should be opposing cuts to student support and preventing further movement towards a more expensive, unequal and harder to access privatised higher education system. If these aims reflect yours, please vote #1 for Luke.

Tolu Kolawole

Haaris Qureshi

“We may have all come on different ships but we’re in the same boat now”- MLK Jnr. Hi, I’m Tolu, postgraduate Chemical Engineering student and I am seeking your vote to represent you as a National Union of Students (NUS) delegate for the NUS conference. I am running for NUS delegate because I strongly believe that it is time for every student to stand up and push for more and stronger action by NUS on important issues that affect every student.

These are critical issues to our future as students such as taking action on student poverty and rising costs of education, preventing further costs in funding in higher education as well as campaigning more vigorously for the halt to the passing of further rules and regulations that create untold hardships for international students. I believe that these issues affect us directly and indirectly and we need to do more about them.

I believe that by representing you as an NUS delegate, with my experiences as a student council member, student rep on senate, and school rep, I can be an effective NUS delegate. And because we are together stronger, I need your support to make this possible.

I believe I would make a good NUS Delegate due to my large involvement with the NUSU. I have a seat on the Student Council, the Society Executive Committee and the Scrutiny Council, as well as being a member of currently five society committees (in various roles from President to Social Media Officer) and being heavily involved with all three branches of the student media. I believe this is a good indication of me being someone who is enthusiastic about the happenings of the Student Union and student life. I am also a paid member of about a dozen further societies and clubs – this gives me a good and broad feel for the opinions students at Newcastle University hold on different issues – which will let me reflect these opinions at the NUS Conference. Also being a member of the Student Council, will help me represent the wishes of the students and the Council’s mandate easier, as well as easily letting me feed the results of the conference back. I am also personally a passionate activist and advocate for equality, diversity and representivity. For these reasons, please vote me for your NUS delegate.

Matt Wilson-­ Boddy Saddled with debt, struggling with sky-high rents, scraping by with low-paid jobs and facing the withdrawal of lifeline grants, students have plenty to be angry about. Now the NUS must place itself at the heart of a mass movement to fight back. We must have an NUS prepared to go on the offensive – to fight for the kind of education we need and deserve: Education that is fully funded, publicly owned, democratically run and universally free at all levels.

I’m standing to be your NUS delegate because I want to build such a movement. I know the importance of a strong student movement, and not only have I stood as a local councillor in the May elections, but I currently serve as the Socialist Party’s Youth Organiser, and am spearheading the campaign for a strong socialist student organisation at Newcastle University.

I will always stand up to racism, sexism, homophobia, prejudice and oppression. And I’ll fight to make sure we have an NUS willing to fight to end austerity and build a fairer society. Because when we unite, with a common goal of freedom from austerity and a just society for all, we can win.

6WXGHQWV ZLWK IDLWK RU EHOLHI RI¿ FHU Sophie Harris

Chun Ng

Hi I’m Sophie, a 3rd year Maths student, and I’m running to be your Students with Faith or Belief Officer!

I have been actively involved in the Christian Union for the past few years and love the opportunity that University brings for students to talk about their faith and beliefs and discover what others believe.

I was treasurer for the CU last year, so have experience working with the Students Union and all of the benefits it brings to students. I am also aware of challenges that students with a faith or belief might face during their time at Uni, so I am keen to be able to represent you to the SU and provide a platform for your opinions to be shared.

I would love to encourage students to be open about their beliefs and enable people to ask questions and investigate other faiths in a respectful and friendly way.

As many students with a faith or belief may struggle with practicalities of student life; whether engaging with university culture or planning their day around suitable food or prayer times; I will seek to get your opinions heard and change policy to accommodate your needs.

I am Ng Chun Yin Jonas and I’m striving to be your student faith or belief officer. By voting me, you are voting for a trustworthy person willing to listen and act as your strong representative voice.

During my A-level study in Dulwich College, London, I did community services, organized events for the Physics society and brought tours for the school. I am also second chair leader of the school chamber orchestra. These demonstrate my good organizational skills, enthusiasm, punctuality, time management and leadership skills. It is also these qualities that led me receive the award of the best involvement for community service and be nominated to receive Full Color award from Dulwich College in three areas of distinction.

In my sixth form, I actively participated in house competitions and recognized the importance of team communication and coordination. In 2015, I received the award of the most recognizable and valuable player.

I am willing to cooperate with all staff and members of the student union to form a strong team together. I hope I will be able to sustain my devotion and passion by contributing my effort and time to serve the whole community, while improving your study experience in Newcastle University.

The Courier

feature.27

Monday 9 November 2015

Local mining museum pays tribute to fallen in poppy display

Cameron Charters visited Woodhorn Colliery in Ashington to see their poppy tribute honouring those who died in industry during the war effort ahead of Remembrance Sunday on 8 November

O

n the 11th of November the poppy will rest proudly on the chest of the nation. Time has seen to it that we at the university no longer share any physical bond with those who fought in the First World War. What is left is eerie silence. We ask ourselves why it happened- but there is no wise voice piercing through a century’s fog to sooth our confused minds. It was this feeling which cloaked Woodhorn Colliery on the 27th of October 2015.

Opened in 1894 the mine’s first coal was produced in 1898 and by the outbreak of war was sending vital supplies to the Front Line as well as skilled miners to act as sappers. This year, many gathered to bow their heads in memory of those miners who died during the First World War. For the tragedy of Woodhorn Colliery is twofold. On Sunday the 13th of August 1916 at 6:45 AM a gas explosion killed 13 miners.

Perhaps, in the great chasm of suffering that was the First World War this does not seem so many lives, but no life is interchangeable with another and so what was lost was in each case unique and never to be repeated.

“We ask ourselves why it happened - but there is no wise voice piercing through a century’s fog to sooth our confused minds. It was this feeling which cloaked Woodhorn Colliery”

In 1923 a statue was erected in Hirst Park, by the Ashington Miners and Deputies Trade Union, with donations from local mining companies and other trade unions. This statue was then moved to

Woodhorn Colliery in 1991. The memorial depicts a stoic miner gazing into a lantern while resting on his pickaxe.

Below lies a solitary poppy in an empty fountain. Engraved on a plaque are the names of the 13 miners who died. One of them was a stone cutter, named John George Patterson, aged only 21. The surname Armstrong is etched into the memorial twice, for David and Thomas Armstrong were brothers and deputies at the mine.

“The display at Woodhorn Colliery is poignant in many ways but perhaps the truly striking feature is that it is honouring those who died in an industry which has been at the core of the North East for decades”

The inscription above their names reads:“Erected by the Miners and Deputies Trade Union branches in The Ashington Group of Collieries (assisted by donations from the Ashington Coal Co Ltd, The Northumberland Miners Association, The Northumberland Deputies Association and Friends) in memory of their fellow workmen who lost their lives in the Woodhorn Colliery explosion Sunday August 13th 1916.”

By 1917, out of a workforce of 9000, 2500 miners were serving on the Front Line and 250 had died. Their deaths have been commemorated by the artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper in the Weeping Window, a feature of the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red exhibit. Falling 55ft from the winding wheel of No.1 Heapstend, 2500 poppies

run in a stream to the lush grass below.

Each of the poppies was handmade in Derby by volunteers and the unemployed. The Weeping Window was first displayed in the autumn of 2014 at the Tower of London, and will be touring the country until 2018. The Weeping Window will next be on display at St George’s Hall in Liverpool from the 7th of November.

In 1981 Woodhorn Colliery was closed. And for eight years the mine was left lifeless. But in 1989 the Woodhorn Colliery Museum was opened.

Dedicated to immortalising the lives of local coal miners. Following major redevelopment work in 2004 the museum was re-launched in 2006 under the new name, Woodhorn Museum and Northumberland Archives. In honour of the miners and museum workers Princess Ann attended the ceremony and officially opened it. Two years later Prince Edward opened a series of workshops at the museum, designed to explain the lives of miners to local school children and visiting families. Other notable figures who have explored the museum include Jack Charlton the famous footballer, who was born into the mining community of Ashington and for a brief time after he left school was a miner at Ashington Colliery, along with his father Bob Charlton. This year, a television crew from Look North, visited Woodhorn Colliery in preparation for the 11th of November.

The display at Woodhorn Colliery is poignant in many ways but perhaps the truly striking feature of the display is that it is honouring those who died in an industry, which has been at the core of the North East for decades- mining.

28.music

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Music Editors: Jamie Shepherd, Dominique Daly & Connor McDonnell

Living La Vida Local Music Editor, Dominique Daly lays down some local lovin’s with a spotlight on upcoming Lisbon Upon Tyne Friday night residencies at the Head Of Steam

It seems like every time I’m writing about local music at the moment those happy go-lucky, cheek-chappies Lisbon get a mention, and well, this times no different. This is probably because they’re one of the biggest hyped bands in Newcastle at the moment and I think we’re all a little bit on the edge of our seats in a ‘will they/wont they’ situation waiting to see whether they’ll break through on a national level. Fresh from a stint recording at Abby Road studios, the boys have decided to use some of their popularity to shine a little light on some other burgeoning talent from the North East. In a series of Friday residencies called Lisbon Upon Tyne at Newcastle’s favourite basement venue The Head of Steam. Running from Friday 6th of November until 20th of November and with a host of different genres to choose from how could you deny yourself at least one Friday night in the bosom of the steamer?

Friday 6th November: Para Alta & Charlie Dancer Ok, so by the time you read this column this first show will have passed you by in a frenzy of youthful exuberance and curly hair. That’s not to say they’re not worth a mention respectively. PARA ALTA are a ‘five 20 year old best friend’ who have channelled their creativity and friendship into multi-layered, dream-like indie. Charlie Dancer, a last minute addition to the bill after the departure of Motion Tourist, delivers a delicate and emotive style of acoustic delight, perfect for an autumns evening in the toon.

Friday 13th November: Fletcher Jackson Band & Far Pacific Throw off the shackles of your superstitions and head down to the Head of Steam on the 13th to discover something new. In true Friday the 13th fashion however, the first band on this bill are mysteriously missing from the internet…hipster ploy? General bad social media skills? Or my inept ability to google search? Who knows. What my magical sources have managed to dig up on Fletcher Jackson band is that they are managed by the same company as Jake Bugg! A hidden gem on the Newcastle scene set to follow in his Jakes footsteps? High step in down to the gig to investigate for yourself! Far more social are Far Pacific, a boisterous group of young ones (just 15/16!) peddling energetic indie dreams. Their skills however far surpass their age range, with standout tracks like ‘Where do we go from here’ sounding like indie champions The View or The Pigeon detectives, with hints of Doherty in the vocals.

Friday 20th November: Sun Dance & Plaza Some would say that they’ve saved the best for last with the final line up of the Lisbon Upon Tyne Series. Sun Dance have been building up quite an impressive reputation on the local scene since they formed officially in early 2015. This reputation is backed up by a serious support from local institutions such as BBC newcastle and generator. With perfectly crafted alternative rock songs that would make you think you were listening to a unreleased Artic Monkeys B-side. Made up of Pounding out insanly catchy indie rock in songs like ‘Sticks and Stones’ and ‘I Want a reaction’, the band are sounding like more like Miles Kane than a group of local lads. Joining Sun Dance on the bill are Hartlepool five piece Plaza delivering their gritty math-rock belters to the Head of Steam crowd.

Be sure to follow us on Spotify so you can have a little listen to lo-­ cal music and more at -­ https:// play.spotify.com/user/thecouri-­ erdoesmusic

Interview: Blonde

Summer is well and truly over in Newcastle but that didn’t stop Abbey Brooke from catching up with Jake from Blonde, the house duo who have been taking the UK by storm with their fresh and fun beats which always keep the sun shining

W

here did the journey as Blonde begin and when was it that you knew you wanted to work together?

Blonde started back in late 2012, I was sending some of my tracks to Adam who founded Eton Messy and he posted a couple on the channel. We got talking after that and decided to work on some music together. At that point we were just sending things back and forth over the internet and hadn’t actually met in real life. We finally ended up meeting in a pub in Bristol around Christmas time.

Thankfully we got on really well!

When you released ‘It’s You’ on YouTube on Eton Messy, did you have any idea of the amount of success that would come from it?

We were really happy with that track and were excited to see what the reaction would be but no, I don’t think either of us could have predicted where we would be today. It’s pretty mad when you think about it like that.

“When you go home always steal the cheese. That stuff is expensive”

Do you still use YouTube and SoundCloud to kind of ‘test the waters’ and see what fans think of a track before fully releasing it as a single?

We still like to give something away to our fans, usually we’ll do a little edit or bootleg for our DJ sets and then end up giving it away free online between singles. I don’t think we would ever release any of them properly necessarily.

It’s more to give something back and say thank you for the support.

What music did you grow up listening to?

We’ve both got pretty diverse taste! I think we’ve been through every phase imaginable: hip-hop, rnb, drum and bass, dubstep, indie, disco, metal, you name it!

“We’ve got some pretty crazy collaborations on there which we’re very excited about releasing!”

What about Bristol or where you studied, would you say that has had an influence on your music production in any way?

Bristol is a really exciting city for music. There’s always a lot of different scenes going on but most people seem very accepting of what everyone else is doing. It doesn’t always follow mainstream musical trends as a city and that leads to a lot of really creative music coming out of it. Leeds was a great experience too because it has a very rich dance music culture and a huge variety of nights and clubs which are constantly reinventing and changing to cater to whatever new and exciting scene is emerging at the time. They’re both great cities and I feel very privileged to have lived in them.

Where did the inspiration for ‘Feel Good (It’s Alright)’ come from and what was it like to work alongside Karen Harding?

With ‘Feel Good’ we took the hook from a 90s Italo-house track by JK. We loved the original vocal but thought that we could add our own vibe to it.

We built the track up around the sample and then got in the studio with MNEK who we then wrote the verses and middle 8 with. Working with Karen was great, we had already worked with her before and she’s such a lovely girl to hang out and write music with.

exotic and exciting but also told a bit of a story. We were really happy with how it came out.

Are there any emerging artists you guys are backing at the moment?

We’re loving Tommy Vercetti, TCTS, Tieks, Jax Jones and these guys from the US called Hotel Garuda at the moment! Big things coming from all of them.

As university graduates yourselves, what advice would you give to first year students?

Whenever you go home always steal the cheese.

That stuff is expensive.

Is there anything you’re particularly working towards at the moment or anything special you hope to accomplish?

Our live show which we have been touring over the summer, it’s like a full six-piece band so it’s always a massive party!

“I don’t think either of us could have predicted where we would be today” What material are you guys currently working on, and have you got any more collaborations lined up that you can tell us about?

We’re working on our debut album which we are super excited about! We’ve got some pretty crazy collaborations on there which we’re very excited about releasing!

What about the video?

For the video we wanted to pick up where ‘All Cried Out’ left off in terms of the narrative style of our videos so far. We wanted a video which looked

“I think we’ve been through every phase imaginable: hip-hop, rnb, drum and bass, dubstep, indie, disco, metal, you name it!”

The Courier

music.29

Monday 9 November 2015

thecourieronline.co.uk/music c2.music@ncl.ac.uk | @courier_music courier_music

Album Review: Divers

Electronic Blanket

Joanna Newsom “

Sending the first scouts over back from the place beyond the dawn” So begins Divers, the fourth album from the American folk musician Joanna Newsom, with a vision of movement into the unknown. It is, at first glance, a very restrained departure from her previous efforts, with all of the expected tropes still intact - Newsom’s harp still leads the nowslightly-shorter compositions and her voice still retains its famed unconventionality. But what is established here is an unprecedented fullness; a Joanna Newsom album has never sounded so studio-processed, nor has one ever sounded so consistent.

“Fourth time around Newsome is showing she knows exactly what she is doing” Whereas earlier albums have traded on painstakingly created moments, there is a single, cohesive vision here, without any obvious low points or, dare I say it, dull moments. It is an album of great variety too, with a plethora of original instruments, including birdsong, and tracks ranging from the loftiness of the opener ‘Anecdotes’ to the intensely personal tenderness of ‘Divers’, showing that, fourth time around, Newsom knows exactly what she is doing.

It’d be remiss not to point out the role Newsom plays as a lyricist. Perhaps her strongest single attribute, this album follows the steady incline in quality from those that came before. Still, this is not to say her lyrics don’t contain nods to earlier works - winding metaphors and obscure references remain present, still bound up in ambiguity. This time, though, there is a far greater sense of confidence and directness, and ‘You Will Not

Take My Heart Alive’, which features the title repeated over the final few minutes, could even stand as Newsom’s first attempt at a power ballad. It is certainly dangerous territory charted here but the level of authenticity and faith to where she came from shows she has achieved a definite degree of success.

To draw a criticism out of this is highly subjective, but one could see in Divers (as well as the rest of her work) too much of a sprawl. This is, after all, music for daydreamers, meant for those who wish to be caught up within the essence of a song and carried through Romantic imagery and instrumental curveballs rather than contained within tight structures and repetition. However, the view of these detractors does hold some truth: songs such as ‘Leaving the City’ are dotted with such an abundance of instrumentals (the drums sound like a 90s rap instrumental) as to risk sounding overproduced. A live version from the 2013 Pitchfork Music Festival displayed Newsom with all elaboration removed; as the lone musician on stage, with only her harp for accompaniment, it was such a pure, simple display of her musicianship as to make the album version seem a step down, with something vital lost in the process of adding so much in.

Divers does however remain a remarkably enjoyable album which rewards those who give more than one listen. The only question for the future is whether, after this progression and the doubtless success that will result, Newsom can retain the authenticity she communicates so clearly here. What I know, though, is that having hit such a stride of artistic maturity more is sure to come, and for now I’m content in thinking there’s still a lot to look forward to.

Andrew Jackson

Sophie Ahmed is back for anoth-­ er week of electronic musings on all things Grimes and a terrifying new-­ comer in the world of Dubstep

More than this

Kate Bush- Never For Ever While 1985’s Hounds of Love is generally a more striking release, Kate’s earlier album Never For Ever is a much more playful effort.

Her athletic vocals on tracks like ‘Army Dreamers’ definitely inspired Newsom on Divers and Newsom is definitely a worthy contender to the avant-folk throne.

Antony and the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now Released a decade ago and a surprise winner of the Mercury Music Prize that year, this album was the LP that let indie kids in the noughties know that they could show emotions. With guest vocals from Boy George, Rufus Wainwright, and Lou Reed this was an album that was as extravagant as it was introspective and here at The Courier we’re excited for Antony’s next album under the pseudonym Anohni.

Purple Haze all in my brain

Serena Bhardwaj explores WKH VLJQL¿ FDQFH RI KDOOXFLQRJHQLF GUXJV DQG their intimate relationship with psychedelic music

R

adio 4’s Desert Island Discs session was recently graced by The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards who spoke about the contentious issue of drugs; which for him, had no influence on his creativity. This begs the question - where did psychedelia come from and why was it so popular?

In 1938, Albert Hoffman developed and took lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Also known as acid, blotter and rainbows; he devoted his life to researching its psychedelic effects. To understand how LSD aids creativity, it’s vital to look at how it shaped work by people inside and outside of the music world. For example, Francis Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA whilst under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Steve Jobs - the founder of Apple, spoke of his experience with the drug, saying that it was ‘one of the two or three most important things’ he had done in his life. John Lilly used LSD to map pain and pleasure pathways in the brain. It’s difficult to ignore the role of drugs in these crucial discoveries, so can their importance be extrapolated to musicians?

“LSD wasn’t full of strawberry fields and tangerine trees for everyone” The Swinging Sixties was a time of social revolution. Drugs defined this cultural decade and they filtered into art, music, film and literature. Bands like Small Faces, The Zombies, Procol Harum and Donovan were consuming hallucinogenic substances and reaping the benefits from the music that they subsequently produced. One of the most influential bands in the 1960s was indisputably The Beatles. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is one album that was produced with the help of a few sugar cubes, and with tracks like ‘Lucy in the

Sky with Diamonds’, the role of drugs is prominent. Their creativity is undeniable; the lyrics are rich with imagery and insightful meaning whilst the music is unique, captivating and refreshing.

Its rash to say that without psychoactive material, The Beatles would never have produced such enthralling music, but this idea cannot be ruled out completely. The flower power era created subgenres such as psychedelic folk, psychedelic soul, and psychedelic pop. There was something for everyone. Bob Dylan, Sly and the Family Stone, The Easybeats and many more pioneered the future of music. From this sprung modern day psychedelia; electronic music, house music and new rave influences like New Young Pony Club, Tame Impala and Hadouken!

But LSD wasn’t full of strawberry fields and tangerine trees for everyone. Pink Floyd were impacted by the drug scene in a more detrimental way.

Syd Barrat’s addiction led to his departure from the band after he couldn’t even perform on stage. It’s difficult to see the creative benefit of drug use in this case.

“The Swinging Sixties was a time of social revolution.

Drugs defined this cultural decade and they filtered into art, music, film and literature” In Richard’s radio slot he makes an important point that when ‘the drugs become more important than the music then you’ve lost the battle’. There’s a great deal of truth to this, particularly with more modern bands. All

you need to do is watch the Libertines’ Reading set from this year to see that maybe the effects of drugs are restricting them from performing to their full potential – to put it politely. Some musicians have idealised the idea of Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll and turned it into something commercial and cool; which is worryingly dangerous. Irrespective of this, we cannot ignore the role of drugs in the de velopment of creative music.

On Friday 6th November, Canada’s most adorable producer and singer/songwriter Grimes released her new album digitally. Her first full length since Juno’s Electronic Album of 2012 Visions, Art Angels disåtances itself from this award with more live instrumentation and less of the signature siren sounds found on her earlier electronic efforts.

Even though Claire Boucher’s stage name was actually inspired by grime music, it seems that she’s always been open to other genres in her work, and one perceptive journalist summed this up well by calling her an “alien love-child of Aphex Twin and ABBA”. But, the extravagant video for recent single ‘Flesh Without Blood/Life In The Vivid Dream’ shows Grimes resembling her Swedish Pop group parent more, with Boucher prancing round a pink tennis court dressed as Mary Antoinette and singing from her bed in angel wings, slumber partystyle. This is an unexpected turn in Grimes’ discography, as 2014’s ‘Go’ ft. Blood Diamonds teased at a heavier house/dub influence in Grimes’ future music, despite the track first being intended for Rihanna at its conception. After watching Grimes perform in Manchester’s dark and dingy Ritz behind her desk of synths and drum pads, I’ve always regarded her as a quintessentially electronic artist, but perhaps her recent declaration ‘you’re never gonna be able to pin down my style’ shouldn’t come as such a shock. Here we have an artist who has always had a close affiliation with the Pop world having signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation, and feels increasingly alienated by the drinking and drug habits associated with club culture.

Preview: David Rodigan, 14th November @ World Headquarters Something which Grimes has in common with the one-and-only Mr David Rodigan is an unexpected love for Rihanna. In a flawless and informative Reggae show on BBC 1Xtra in 2013, Rodigan bigged up everything from 1970s Jamaican group The Abyssinians to Rihanna’s painfully catchy ‘No Love Allowed’, with a remix of Ed Sheeran’s ‘The A Team’ even thrown in for good measure. This mix confirms that Saturday’s set at World HQ is going to be one of Lively Up’s most diverse, which is great news for a club whose motto and aim is ‘uniting all communities’. Rodigan’s return to WHQ is restricted to its top floor, which guarantees that this will be a sweaty fest of positive Dub vibes. After seeing and enjoying Mungo’s Hifi three times in the last year at Lively Up, I’m excited to branch out and witness another legendary artist attempt to bring Newcastle together with peace and love.

Listen To: David Rodigan – ‘Together’

You Need To Hear: Benton One of the main reasons why I bloody love Newcastle’s nightlife is that it promotes the view that age is just a number. Whilst Rodigan exemplifies the triumphs of the old, this year Ill Behaviour has taken it upon themselves to showcase the talents of the new. So if you don’t make it to my Preview event this week, I can’t stress how unreal Benton is going to be at Cosmic on Tuesday. If ominous Dubstep is your jam then you’d be foolish to miss it. A friend who recently met Benjamin Benton told me that he was pretty terrifying in person, something which I don’t doubt at all from the man behind the eeriness of tracks like ‘Thermo Stellar’.

And his new 2015 releases still send a shiver down my spine which will probably evolve into an embarrassing shaking of limbs when I witness him live. Let’s just say I wouldn’t like to walk down a dark alleyway alongside Benton, or with his beats in my headphones.

Listen To: Benton – ‘Skeptics’

Go follow us on intagram for live gig updates, fun pic-­ tures and the latest music gossip-­ @courier_music

The Courier

Monday 9 November 2015

musicfeature.31

Interview: Ash

Ahead of their Riverside show on 4th December, Music Editor Dominique Daly chatted with Ash drummer Rick McMurray to talk about getting on the road to tour new album ‘Kablammo’, the trails and tribulations of fatherhood and kicking Westlife off a cliff

Shall we bash straight ahead, as I’m sure you’re pretty tired- It’s rather early in the morning?

Oh don’t worry, I’ve been up since half 5 with my youngest daughter * laughs * Oh God! You poor thing! The blessing of children eh?

Well, I’ve no one to blame but myself .

I’m sure there’s perks as well?

Yeah there probably is…I mean no! There definitely is, they just come closer to lunchtime…

So, onto the music. Obviously its been a while, how are you guys feeling about getting back on the road to tour the new album?

Em yeah, really good actually! We’re really looking forward to this tour. Because the album came out back in May in the UK and we did something like a week of gigs. It was just a handful of shows and a couple of festivals. And obviously the whole summer when your doing festivals its just on weekends so its quite broken up. So actually looking forward to getting out and doing a proper run of shows, it’ll be really good. Because its something we’d normally do when releasing an album - we’d do a big UK tour - but you know I think with timing and stuff and getting close to festival season it didn’t make sense to do it this time around. So yeah, with the build-up to Christmas it should be party central I reckon.

“Coming to do an album again… we definitely felt the pressure. It was like if we’re going to go back to this format we have to live up to our most celebrated work like 1977” What festivals did you do?

Oh let’s see if I can remember!? We did the Isle of Wight at the start of the summer and we finished up with Reeding and Leeds. In between there were a bunch of smaller more boutique festivals as well.

We also got out to Fuji Rock in Japan, which was great. That was my first time in Japan for I think, probably five years; the last time Ash actually played there was when my first daughter was born, so we had a friend of ours standing in for me.

Its clear that Ash are very used to being on tour, but are there any tour essentials that you 100% need with you to keep you sane?

I guess your phone kind of helps these days, you’ve pretty much got everything you need there in your pocket to keep you entertained and to keep you numbed from all the travelling. And then you’ve always got a dressing room full of beer- that’s pretty essential I guess. At most times it helps to take the edge off. Other than that I try to travel as light as possible these days, try not to bring too much stuff.

So new album ‘Kablammo’ as you mentioned came out in May, will the shows on this tour feature it quite heavily or will you be focusing on your back catalogue more?

You know I think there’s a certain bunch of shows that we know we can’t really get away without playing. But its not that we don’t like playing them because we always feed off the audience reaction and it does make for a great show. We’ve never been a band to sort of shy away from playing the hits but I think with the new album, it seems to sit really well amongst those hits. So it’s a good mix of both.

It’s a good feeling for a band like us, who have been around for so long that we can actually play quite a lot of the new album and it’s going down really

well…keeps things fresh.

Do you know the We Are Scientist guys quite well?

chart ratings?

You’ve said there that you don’t shy away from the hits, but being around for so long are there any songs that have become a bit tedious to play?

Say the big popular ones like ‘Girl From Mars’ are those songs that you still get a thrill playing or has it lost its spark?

Yeah, I think the first time we played together was supporting Snow Patrol in Bangor at their big gig back in 2007 I think. We sort of bump into them at festivals and we’ve become quite good friends.

We share the same management company now. So it should be a fun tour.

In terms of playing it, it is a bit like, we could probably play those songs in our sleep now, you know?

We’ve done them so often. I think probably ‘Girl From Mars’ has been in the set probably every show we’ve done since it was release and it’s like 20 years old – I think it came out in ’95. It is kind of weird because you know, we had that anniversary and people were like ‘Oh what’s it like having this song that’s 20 years old?’ I think because its been with us for such a long time it doesn’t actually feel like an old thing, its been present in our lives at every show since and its just kind of a part of us.

I could see why some bands could get bored playing the same songs every night, but for us its just a highlight of the set, people just go nuts for it and we love that energy. Why would you not want to have that every night?

‘Klablammo’ is your first full album for about 8 years, what motivated you to get back to that format?

Yeah it is pretty disappointing to be honest. At the time we we’re pretty bummed out about it, but like you get the feed back from the hard core fans who have always been there for us – and they’re as gutted as we are – but to hear them say that its up there with some of our best material…I guess from a graded point of view we know we achieved what we set out to do, but from a commercial point of view its been disappointing. All we can do in that situation is get out there are keep playing, and that’s what were doing.

Its well documented that Ash love to party, has any of that changed now that you’ve gotten older, become dads – do you still hit it quite hard when you go on tour?

Well, I think we’ll always have our moments, but I think it’s probably not every single night now.

But I think it will be interesting on this tour. We’re heading away in a couple of weeks, going out with We Are Scientists to Europe and we’re sharing a bus with those guys. So that will be interesting, we haven’t done that since like ’95 when we first toured America. We shared a bus with a band and that was definitely a big party tour. Buy yeah, we’ll see what shape we’re in, we’ll probably be wrecked by the time we get to the UK.

“you’ve always got a dressing room full of beer- that’s pretty essential I guess. At most times it helps to take the edge off ”

Well its eight years since the album yeah, in the intervening period we did do ‘A to Z’ series and that was sort of 2009/2010 when that came out. That was 26 singles in one year, so in terms of projects we’ve done that’s probably the biggest. But that finished end of 2010 so we did have a big gap there.

But you know Mark and I have had kids, we’ve both got two kids now and Tim also had his solo album in that period as well, which is something that took quite a while for him to find a home for and get released. So we’ve been busy enough. But we spent the first 15 years of our career on tour, so it was nice to step back from that a little bit. But when you’re away from it you really do miss it and when you get back to it, it feels a lot more exciting.

Coming to do an album again…we definitely felt the pressure. It was like if we’re going to go back to this format we have to live up to our most celebrated work like 1977 and Free All Angels. So that was kind of part of the creative process…we never really sort of looked back and took stock of what we’d done in the past. It was always about looking forward and finding new stuff to do.

There were a lot of great reviews for the album and comparisons to 1977, so you’ve succeeded in that goal. But how did you feel about the fact that ‘Kablammo’ didn’t necessary receive a lot of success in terms of

“think probably ‘Girl From Mars’ has been in the set probably every show we’ve done since it was release and it’s like 20 years old ...I think because its been with us for such a long time it doesn’t actually feel like an old thing...Its just kind of a part of us” So I was doing some digging and read in an interview from back in 2005 that when you first went to Germany Ash were being marketed as a boy band!?

Yeah, that was back in the very early days of the band, I think it was Germany and particularly in Australia as well. I think in Australia they has these sort of pull out post cards of individual shots of each band member and it did feel like ‘Oh, hold on? This is not what we’re about’. I think like if you look at what we did after that, the ‘Nuclear Sounds’ album was very much a reaction against that, we were being wrongly perceived and people were trying to put up in a particular place and we were uncomfortable with it. So that album cleared up that aspect of things for us so that we could go on and get on with our career.

For Revenge’s sake, if you could kick any boy band off a cliff who would get the boot?

Oh there’s so many to choose from...Id say at that point in time we would have had our eyes set on Westlife.

32.filmfeatures

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Film  Editors:  Emma  Allsopp,  Rhian  Hunter  &  Simon  Ramshaw

MEGA FAN vs

W

GIANT CYNIC

ith the success of Guillermo del Toroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most recent film, Crimson Peak, we decided it was time to ask for judgement on his dividing Hollywood venture, Pacific Rim. This week, Iqra Choudhry and Imogen Scott-Chambers battle out whether this robot-monster smash-emâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;-up is a sci-fi hit, or rather just a drop in the ocean (into the rift...geddit?).

In  Defence

To the majority of filmgoers, Pacific Rim was just another summer blockbuster. To some of us, it was a brilliant apocalyptic offering from the mind of Guillermo del Toro. Give the man a budget and he will CGI like no one else, bringing to life monsters and machines that spit on Michael Bayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Transformers movies (yeah, I went there). Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soundtracked

by Ramin Djawadi from Game of Thrones, for that added epic grandeur, too.

Pacific Rim is visually stunning, but it is also a film that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take itself too seriously: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just fun. The comedic relief provided by Charlie Day and Burn Gorman is brilliant (and the Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Always Sunny In Philadelphia fan in me was in raptures).

Pacific Rim is that rare thing - a film with a strong female character. Rinko Kikuchiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s character provides a counter-balance to Charlie Hunnamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lead. She is just as important, and unlike most tired female leads in monster blockbusters, she can kick some serious ass.

Iqra Choudhry

Cross  medium  madness ZoÍ  Godden  examines  the  confusing  criss-­cross  of  stories  being  moved  from  and  to  any  DQG DOO PHGLXPV IURP ¿OP WR FRPLF ERRN WR JDPH 79 VKRZ WR EORRG\ 0DUV DQG VR RQ

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yler Durden summed it up best when he said â&#x20AC;&#x153;a copy of a copy of a copyâ&#x20AC;? in a film ironically based on a book of the same name. Though Fight Club surpasses its source material in a number of ways, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no denying itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become a worrying trend in recent years for most of cinema to be based on other aspects of media.

Books are a popular go-to for most studios, considering the script is pretty much pre-written for them. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no denying that talent went into the production of the Harry Potter franchise and Silence of The Lambs, but how many Bond films do we really need? Poor James must be tired out with 51 of them under his belt. Comic book adaptations similarly dominate most of the Summer box office, and whilst I appreciate seeing storylines like The Dark Knight Returns and Civil War being screened to the masses, this means theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re often watered down to cater for general audiences, making them sometimes too silly to stomach.

Television shows are likewise becoming a favourite of the Hollywood honchos, thanks to having multiple episodes to establish the plot and characters in advance. Often this is due to show popularity, drawing in thousands of fans to see The X Files and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles simply on a larger screen. This can only lead to disappointment (think The Last Airbender outrage), all whilst The Smurfs maniacally cackle as they exploit 80s animation nostalgia.

Star Wars is the biggest offender in that regard, with countless mediums â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;expandingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the universe.

The recent cash-in is Shattered Empire, a prequel comic series set before The Force Awakens, undoubtedly contributing to the massive sales the brand will see come December. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not even be-

Pacific Rim is like Marmite. You either love it or you hate it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and, my, do I hate it. Guillermo del Toro is an otherwise visionary director, and yet, every scene in Pacific Rim is flat and ordinary, unrelentingly jam-packed full of CGI and then more CGI until the audience gets a side order of CGI with their already super-sized CGI buffet of a film.

Charlie Hunnam and Idris Elba fail to shine in this overly-complicated sci-fi flop, as all the acting is drowned out (literally) by all the computer-generated ocean shots. The actual plot is sketchy, because, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face it, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basically Transformers but in the sea; the Kaijus, who come from an interdimensional rift beneath the ocean (!), simply fight the Jaegers (massive human-operated robots built by a dystopian version of the UN), leaving the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s human element unnecessary and boring.

At the end of the day, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t waste your time on Pacific Rim - watch Panâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Labyrinth instead.

Imogen Scott-Chambers

Battleship and Ouija being critically panned for reusing action and horror film setpieces respectively, whilst the Transformers franchise has generated millions in various formats, from toy cars to TV to Michael Bayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s testosterone-fuelled blockbusters.

Nevertheless, considering weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come so low that the US marshmallow treats Peeps actually have a movie in the works, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to stop giving studios o u r money and start rooting more for the Best Original Screenplay awards come the New Year rather than the banal adaptations weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come to accept as the norm.

Do  hooligan  movies  shoot  and  score?

$IWHU DQRWKHU YLROHQFH IUHH 7\QH :HDU GHUE\ VHOI WLWOHG VSRUWV D¿FLRQDGR Calum  Wilson  takes  a  look  at  what  cinema  has   had  to  say  about  footie  hooliganism  throughout  the  years

I In  Offence

gin to count the number of TV shows and video games spin-offs that have released over the years (Battlefront conveniently releases in November).

Speaking of, our favourite pixelated protagonists have been bridging the gap for decades, either as film tie ins (Spiderman 2, Goldeneye) or on the big screens themselves (Tomb Raider, Resident Evil). In more recent years, the fad is no longer validated with many modern games now taking a cinematic approach to storytelling, what use is trying to squeeze over 15 hours of gameplay into a mere 120 minutes? Of course thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all the running around from A to B you can edit out, but to have Assassinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Creed and The Last of Us (both now well into production) be constrained to a feature length running time is a disservice to the fans and creators of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s console classics.

But if thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one reason to call this craze quits, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the films based on everyday objects. As if capitalism wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already infecting Hollywood, brands are now paying big bucks to get their commodities on the silver screen. Though The LEGO Movie was a rare anomaly to this particular trend, featuring hilarious meta parodying of the product itself, most others only serve to personify product placement via skeleton bare plotlines and see-through characters.

Most notable tends to be board games, with

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been 10 years since everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite Hobbit, Elijah Wood, surprised us all by taking the lead role in the hit British hooligan drama, Green Street. Despite originally receiving mixed reviews, the film is now renowned as arguably the best piece of football fan fiction ever made and kick started an era of violent sportsrelated movies during the aptly named noughties.

Non-sports fans, who might have immediately dismissed this genre, are encouraged to dabble into the world of the footy hooligan film. Many similarities can be found to critically acclaimed British classics such as Layer Cake, or Guy Ritchieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s epic duo: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

For pure adrenaline fuelled action, look no further than Rise of the Footsoldier. Based on a true story, it follows the life of Carlton Leach, a former member of West Hamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inter City Firm (ICF) turned east-end mobster. Leachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tale offers more than just two sets of supporters mindlessly kicking seven bells out of each other; the guns, the drugs and the gangster politics give it a gripping story.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The genre has now been the subject of an admittedly hilarious spoof, The Hooligan Factoryâ&#x20AC;?

You can perhaps argue that football violence films lack the comedic value of Ritchieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s box-office successes, but then you obviously havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t heard Charlie Hunnamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s embarrassing Cockney accent in Green Street. Added to that, Danny Dyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attempted acting in The Football Factory is worthy of the Hammersmith Apollo and provides further evidence that

he was always destined to join the Z-listers of Albert Square.

The better films in this category are the ones which tap into the tribal nature of football supporters. Nick Loveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Firm and Pat Holdenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Awaydays use young, poor and bored lads as their protagonists as they experience the initial excitement of hooliganism before realising its dark truths.

Both films perfectly portray the reasons why these young men (and women) end up in violent gangs.

One of the most interesting accounts of the football violence era tells the tale of Cass Pennant, a real-life hooligan from the late 1970s, whose Jamaican heritage made him one of the few black men involved in the football violence scene. In Cass, Nonso Anozie plays the man who became synonymous with the British public for becoming the first person in the UK to be handed a longterm jail sentence

under Maggie Thatcherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strict regime.

The award for best wardrobe must go to The Firm, which brilliantly, if not slightly over exaggeratedly, represents the, erm, colourful fashion choices of the football â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;casualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; era, where looking fly was almost as important as fighting. Certain critics would argue that football fans donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really wear such ridiculous outfits, but this was proved wrong in hilarious style when Scotland Yard released images of actors from the film who they mistook for actual sought-after hooligans. In fact, The Firm even inspired yours truly to buy a very bright yellow jacket.

For reasons unknown, the era of the football violence film seems to be drawing to a close. Furthermore, the genre has now been the subject of an admittedly hilarious spoof. The Hooligan Factory deliberately parodies the likes of The Firm and Green Street, ridiculing their story lines and apparent bad acting. Nevertheless, football violence films remain a memorable part of the noughties and we should never forget the day a Hobbit helped beat up some infamously horrible Millwall hooligans.

The Courier

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Monday 9 November 2015

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Waste of a good scotch.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; - Skyfall (2012)

Spectre (12A)

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ond (James Bond) shoots, shags and suaves his way back onto our screens with Spectre. Is it a sickening shot of nostalgia, or is it another Skyfall-shaped surprise? Two of your overlord editors went to find out...

Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s verdict: A classic case of a film trying to have both cakes and eat them. Sam Mendes returns to Bond after the gritty (yet glossy) triumph that was Skyfall and tries to align it with the assaultive camp of the original films, with ultimately middling success.

Spectre is, like the other films in Craigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s franchise, most successful when it stands alone. Tying up all the strings to spin them off into something new is Mendes and co.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main duty here, yet thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s little to no room for creative flair. Everything is serviceable to move things along from one (admittedly very efficient) set-piece to the next while setting up bridges for further sequels and past references alike. The opening is a fantastic display of just what modern stunts can do, and manages to propel itself forward for a strong opening hour. But things soon run out of steam, letting the finale fall flat as it frantically tries to find a real threat and a way to open things up for more sequels.

Christoph Waltz shines through a stilted villain, being very much kept to the shadows like Javier Bardem before him, and Daniel Craig hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been this good since Casino Royale. But the rest of the cumbersome cast struggle to steal any scenes, with the much-discussed Monica Belluci role being nothing more than a plot device. It seems Skyfallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Beasts of No Nation (15)

few flaws have worsened and the positives deteriorated; the running time bloated, the score recycled, the cinematography disappointingly flat.

If Craig does indeed choose to bow out of Bond here, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be with a whimpering bang. 6/10 Emmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s verdict: I was all full of somewhat naĂŻve enthusiasm for Spectre despite the mixed reviews it had gained. I have always been a fan of the Bond movies, even those cheesy old ones that really were a product of their discriminatory times. However, I was not looking for anything of the old in Spectre, apart from the espionage.

As soon as the opening titles appeared I knew Sam Mendes had got this wrong. Women were stroking Daniel Craigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chest, and they were shadowed out. When the film got started, it did not redeem itself as women were presented in dubious ways, much like in the older films. In a film released in 2015, this leaves a very sour taste, es-

pecially after the brilliant Skyfall seems to have progressed from the misogyny of previous films.

For some reason, Mendes seems far too occupied with harking back to the old days when, in reality, those ideals do not fit with todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standards.

Christoph Waltz is one of best things about this film playing the vengeful villain with a fierce vendetta against Bond. His Machiavellian character creates palpable tension in the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quieter moments. Also, Ben Whishaw brings some comic relief to an otherwise dark film as Q. The film itself is not bad per se, but it is no Skyfall, and the presentation of women is wholly diabolical. Come on, Mendes; you can do better than that. 6/10

Hotel Transylvania 2 (PG)

Mississippi Grind (15)

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retty much any of Conneryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts are fitting here, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve gone for the quintessential Bond flick â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Goldfinger.

Although this is the third film in the series, you could argue itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the first one that properly nailed the typical Bond template. From Shirley Basseyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unforgettable theme tune to Gert Frobeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eponymous villain, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put a foot wrong. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a truly iconic film - the woman covered in gold paint, Oddjob and his unusual choice of headwear, Bond struggling against a laser, etc. Marvellous stuff.

More like this: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) Simon Ramshaw & Emma Allsopp

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he opening shot of Netflix war drama Beasts of No Nation is framed by a hollowed television. Its prompt removal signals that what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re about to watch is raw and real; a detailed and unfiltered depiction of Africa in the vein of Danny Boyleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stripped back India in Slumdog Millionaire. Cary Joji Fukunagaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s third feature is a harrowing, uneasy and uneven portrait of war-torn Africa and its human casualties.

The story follows young Agu (Abraham Attah), whose life spirals downward when civil war rips apart his family and leads him to join a small faction of child soldiers led by the sinister Commandant (Idris Elba). Agu is born again in fire; forced to abandon his previous life and all sense of right and wrong by the manipulative Commandant. Following his descent is draining but seemingly crucial.

Beasts of No Nation virtually throws you straight into the action. The early scenes establish what life for Agu is like before the viral affliction of war reaches his town, but no time is wasted in the dismantling of this reality. This actually works against the film, as the long stretches focusing mainly on Agu can be tiresome and a little slow. That isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t to say that Abraham Attah doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do an excellent job as our protagonist, on the contrary, his performance exceeds that of Elbaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as the Commandant.

Despite suffering from an overly long runtime, the film has some compelling themes, not least the role of religion in this culture of violence. The contradiction between Aguâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s faith, his prayers to God, and the utter disregard for human life in war-ridden Africa is powerful in highlighting the regressive state in which the continent currently resides.

Beasts of No Nation may leave you short of patience at times, but it will certainly not leave you short of words.

ovies about vampires truly canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get any more adorable than this, as Hotel Transylvaniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sequel proves that it was worth making after the first oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s success, which made a tidy third of a billion dollars.

The storyline follows the same characters - hotel manager Dracula and his daughter Mavis who is now married to a human Jonathan and expecting a baby. However, when little Dennis is born, all the monsters are worried that the little one is not showing any signs of being a vampire and might actually turn out to be a human.

Warnings at the beginning - â&#x20AC;&#x153;mild scary scenes, slapstick violence, and rude humorâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; are genuine, but Hotel Transylvania 2 is not only that. The movie is full of wit and amusing scenes, and your heart will definitely be warmed by the monsters babyproofing hotel for Dennis, or his grandpa Dracula learning to use an iPhone and social media.

Moreover, the movie comes across as much more spirited and sophisticated than it was probably intended to be. Full of life-lessons about tolerance, acceptance and love, through the exploration of the relationship between Dennisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; human grandparents and the monsters, it very accurately and progressively hints at much more difficult problems that are faced by minorities and certain marginalised groups in our society.

However, for a Sony Pictures Animationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s movie, the special effects are a bit lacking and the 3D seem quite tokenistic. The movie is definitely just as enjoyable and amusing when viewed in your regular 2D dimension, although if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re bringing a bunch of little viewers, they will quite enjoy monsters appearing close to their nose.

All in all, Hotel Transylvania 2 doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to be too ambitious and maybe that is why itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so very enjoyable and funny. Definitely go and see it, because we all deserve some positivity and hearty laughs in our lives.

More like this: Sin Nombre (2009)

More like this: Rise of the Guardians (2012) William Leng

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ississippi Grind follows the unlikely duo of divorced and indebted estate agent Gerry (Ben Mendelsohn), and gambling for the fun-of-it traveller Curtis (Ryan Reynolds). They bond over a rainbow (of all things), and cement their friendship over seemingly endless amounts of Woodford Reserve bourbon. This culminates in a road trip down the Mississippi, from Iowa to New Orleans, passing through an array of deep-south casinos, both darker and sleazier than their Las Vegas counterparts.

The duo face the question of love, a seemingly never-ending theme in film. Curtis is torn over whether to profess his love to Simone (Sienna Miller) in St Louis, though we never really get a backstory to this. Gerry, however, really wants to see his daughter, so diverts their road trip to Little Rock to visit ex-wife Dorothy (Robin Weigert). In a suspect move, he attempts to rob the money in her sock drawer. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;They were the same socks as when we were marriedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, he sadly remarks. Mendelsohn has played comedy and tragedy very well before, and this is no exception.

Reynoldsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; natural charm is ubiquitous, while Mendelsohn plays the depressed gambling addict with aplomb; increasing his depth and sincerity as the film progresses. The strong leads, combined with a suitably Southern soundtrack and sober shots of barren towns, make this a truly interesting film.

Outstanding acting performances by Reynolds and Mendelsohn counterbalance a series of plot holes, and it is perhaps right that the film does have a clichĂŠd ending. This is a tale of two unlikely friends; a classic and hugely likeable, gofor-broke underdog story with charm and heart to spare.

More like this: Hard Eight (1996) Francis Williams

always liked Pierce Brosnan as Bond. I thought his charm and looks made him a perfect fit for the role of 007. Sadly he was victim to a string of terrible films, culminating in Die Another Day. This movie just feels like an unoriginal, cheap copy. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as if the creators ran out of ideas and decided to nick ideas from every other Bond film before it.

The villain is boring, the gadgets are ridiculous, even Halle Berry is rubbish! And the less said about Madonnaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme tune and cameo, the better...

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uring the 80s, it seems that James Bond films werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bothered about making sense, they just wanted to be as spectacular as possible. However, 1985â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s A View To A Kill is simply too ridiculous.

I think it is fair to say that Roger Moore was getting on a bit when this movie was made. The actor was 57 (57!) when he made this, his last Bond film.

Watching Moore fight baddies and hop into bed with girls half his age is pretty painful.

Not even a classic Christopher Walken performance or a cracking Duran Duran tune could save this one.

Harry Musson

Next week on The Good, The Bad and the Ugly: TOM CRUISE

34.tvfeatures

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

TV Editors: Hannah Bunting, Jack Parker & Ellie McLaren

The big fan theory

EXTERMINATE... my liver You will need: - A bottle of wine/cans of beer - Vodka or any other spirit -The ability to time travel when the hangover kicks in the morning after 1. Take a drink whenever somebody runs (in excitement, away from a monster, whatever).

2. Take a drink whenever somebody is exterminated, deleted or killed in any way shape or form.

Additionally, take a shot if more than one person/alien/life-form is killed off in one go.

3. Take a drink whenever the Doctor uses a sonic device - down it if it’s something other than a screwdriver (yep, those super-cool Ray Bans he’s been sporting recently counts).

With the internet universe breaking hearts worldwide with the latest Friends fan theory about Ross Gellar and Ben, Helen Daly and Luke Acton review the best fan theories out there

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nyone who watched episode three of season six (‘Thank You’) would not have been thanking the writers much. In a huge shock towards the end of the episode, group original Glenn, was the latest was finally brought down by a group of ravening walkers.

The theory: The most important part of Glenn dying however, is the fan theories explaining exactly why he isn’t dead. Looking at a shotby-shot dissection of the scene, it’s obvious that Nicholas falls on top of Glenn, leading some think that the guts being pulled out of Glenn’s chest are actually Nicholas’s. Some have paused the wide shot showing the stupid amount of zombies surrounding Glenn and believe that he has in fact crawled under the dumpster behind him. Also, let us not forget that Enid is currently on the run. Will she find Glenn? Let’s hope so.

Why you should care: Someone needs to go and rescue our favourite little zombie-fighter; he’s lived through far too much to leave us now.

4. Take a drink when the Doctor uses the psychic paper and gives himself or his companions a false identity.

Sherlock

I

ntense speculation has been rife around Moffat and Gatiss’s show since January 2014’s dramatic revelation that super-baddie, Moriarty, is still alive.

The theory: Firstly, was he even dead in the first place? Moriarty and Sherlock are seen as intellectual equals: if Sherlock can fake his own death, what’s to say his nemesis didn’t get a piece of the action as well? Alternatively, there’s the classic ‘What if Moriarty was a twin?’ theory could have legs this time; perhaps Rich Brook, the children’s entertainer version of Moriarty was real, and killed himself so the real McCoy could live. However, what if Moriarty was actually dead? Humour me: Moriarty is dead and Mycroft merely crafted the video as an excuse to keep Sherlock in the country.

Why you should care: Whatever the outcome, it is almost definitely not what I have mentioned; Steven Moffat has a habit of coining the answer that no one could ever have imagined. Whatever the result, one thing is clear: there’s an East wind coming.

5. Take a drink whenever the Doctor dramatically introduces himself (no one likes a show off ).

6. Take a drink when someone enters or exits the TARDIS. Down it if they say the immortal words ‘it’s bigger on the inside’.

7. Take a drink whenever someone makes a sexual joke.

8. Take a drink once the threat has been neutralised. Down your drink if everybody lives.

That’s my tonic screwdriver, sonny

Bonus Round: Series 9

9. Take a drink whenever the Doctor insults a human.

10. It’s Jenna Coleman’s last season, and it seems probable that Clara’s run on the series isn’t going to end happily. Take a drink whenever Clara’s fate is foreshadowed.

11. Take a shot whenever the word “hybrid” is mentioned.

12. Take a shot whenever the Doctor plays the guitar.

13. Take a shot whenever Clara takes charge or acts somewhat like the Doctor.

14. Last but not least, take a shot whenever the Doctor raises his eyebrows. It might be wise to set a three-raise limit, if you want to get to the end of the episode.

Tom Shrimplin

Continue the debate online: thecourieronline.co.uk/tv

The Walking Dead

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St. Elsewhere

hat if I told you that all your beloved TV shows are taking place within the same canonical universe and in the same timeline in a super TV-land?

The theory: Over 400 TV shows exist within the head of a child, Tommy Westphall, from the show St. Elsewhere. The show finished in 1988 after a six-year run, ending with the implication that the entire how had taken place within Tommy’s head. It means that any cross-over from St. Elsewhere, including characters and props, places that show within Tommy’s mind. The logic behind this being that if character A from St. Elsewhere appears in another show (character A being a figment of Tommy’s imagination) then that show must be a part of Tommy’s imagination as well. The effects of this include shows like CSI Miami and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Why you should care: Although a problematic theory, it exercises and shows what is possible with fan theories and their influence when it comes to how we think about popular media and the relations between the things that we consume.

Game of Thrones

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know, it’s old news, but I’m still not over Jon Snow and I need to talk about it. That little brat Olly helped stab him to death, but fan theories are flying since photo of Kit Harrington on set in full costume as the late Jon Snow has emerged from the filming of the current series.

The theory: Lady Melisandre will wor her magic and resurrect our Jon. What is she doing back at Castle Black anyway if it’s not to save Snow?

The theory, part B: R+L=J’ suggests that Jon Snow is actually Rhaegar Targaryan and Lyanna Stark’s child, embodying both ‘Ice’ (the winter-crazed Starks) and ‘Fire’ (the dragon-obsessed Targaryans). To take it even further, this could make him the prophesied Azor Ahai (Google it, it’s extremely complicated).

Why you should care: In true George R. R. Martin fashion, he’s keeping fairly quiet about the whole scenario; it appears that we, like Jon, ‘know nothing’. Still, Jon Snow is the hero that we all wanted to see on the Iron Throne when it’s all over.

The Courier

highlightstv.35

Monday 9 November 2015

thecourieronline.co.uk/tv c2.tv@ncl.ac.uk | @courier_tv

Curb your enthusiasm

pet

W Peep Show

Channel 4, Wednesday, 10pm

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t’s been a while since we last checked in with Jez and Mark – three years this December, in fact, and its with more than a little excitement that I received the news we’d be going back to them one last time.

Peep Show is an undoubted classic: a milestone in British comedy and an instant hit right from the get-go in 2003. Not only is its internal monologue style of narration extremely unique, it’s also one of the funniest comedies to ever grace Channel 4.

And that’s the channel that gave us The IT Crowd.

Jeremy and Mark’s perennial inability to catch a break never stops being hilarious, and their oddcouple squabbling and cycles of mutual sabotage create the perfect setup for good old-fashioned cringey comedy. The show is at its unquestionable best when legendary duo Mitchell and Webb, Mark and Jeremy respectively, are bouncing off each other. Remember the episode when they were trapped

in the ‘airlock’ of Zara’s apartment? Yeah, me too, because I’d never laughed so hard in my life.

On top of the loveable and yet detestable protagonists’ infinite capacity for self-defeat, and the outrageous situations they find themselves in time and time again, the show is brought to life by a cast of unforgettable supporting characters. Crack-smoking, wisdom-dispensing Noel Gallagher look-alike Super Hans has become a bona fide cult icon in his own right, and Dobby - even arriving late to the series as she did - has earned herself a devoted fan following with her take-no-shit attitude and irrefutably loveable geekiness.

On top of all this, as absurd as their problems are, Mark and Jez are ultimately very relatable characters. Every student knows the existential crisis of having to actually do things and be a functioning member of society, and more or less every student responds in the exact same fashion as Jez: by staunchly denying any kind of accountability and adamantly refusing to grow up. And similarly, Mark’s neurotic stresshead personality is a mirror of any adult’s crumbling-and-crying response to real-world pressures. Maybe you or I wouldn’t join

The Last Panthers

London Spy

Sky Atlantic, Thursday, 9pm

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he small screen is no longer seen as a deadend for film actors. Many film actors have joined TV shows for the last couple of years. Now, some of European finest actors are heading to your screen through Sky Atlantic’s European crime thriller, The Last Panthers. Directed by Johan Renck and written by UK’s writer Jack Thorne, the show was originally an idea

by French journalist Jerome Pierrat, inspired by the infamous Balkan jewel thieves, the Pink Panthers.

The new six-part series shows the attempt to retrieve stolen diamond during a heist before exploring the dark side of Europe where gangsters and ‘banksters’ are now in power. Samantha Morton plays British adjustor who is in charge of recovering the diamond, whatever the cost while fellow British actor, John Hunt, plays her boss. One of the most talented and versatile French actors, Tahar Rahim, is also going to be part of the show as the policeman running after the thieves.

If you are curious about the show, you can watch the trailer online since the show has not hit the screen yet. Despite being only a little over a minute, the trailer does its job in selling the show. The trailer shows the intensity of the story and the action looks terrific. It definitely will intrigue you to watch the show once it airs. Another thing that makes the show sounds promising is the list of acclaimed actors working in it. Having two BAFTAwinning and Academy Award nominees in one show sound like a recipe for successful show. Plus, David Bowie is writing the theme song for the show which you can also check online.

Nathasya Gunawan

a cult like Jeremy or dump our fiancée at the altar like Mark – or maybe you would, I don’t know you – but we all have flaws, and they’re extremely recognisable in the laughable psychological profiles of Peep Show’s identical-yet-opposite leading duo.

So where did we leave off ? For those for whom it’s simply been too long, Mark had whisked Dobby off to the Quantocks (‘can you only propose in the Quantocks?’) and Jeremy had awkwardly tagged along, hoping to steal the adorkable object of the pair’s affections in the eleventh hour. Inevitably, shit hit the fan and both found themselves literally fighting for her love as she fled to the hills. And that’s the last we saw of them: running after a longgone woman and screaming threats at each other.

Par for the course, all things considered.

Who knows what lies ahead for the hopeless El Dude brothers? I haven’t the foggiest, but I know it’s going to be amazing, and hopefully it’ll give the series the grand, hilarious seeing off it so richly deserves. Personally, I’ve got my fingers crossed to see the opening of the Swan & Paedo.

James McCoull

Josh

BBC2, Monday, 9pm

T

hinking of the spy world instantly throws up images of James Bond, Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer. A world of dark suits, sunglasses and guns. A world of danger, suspense and mystery. With gadgets we can only dream of and, in turn, a life idolised by many a small child.

It is certainly a lifestyle in stark contrast to that of the eternal clubber. Indulging in their youthful excesses, it’s a world of alcohol, drugs and hedonism, where the music is deafening and the troubles of tomorrow are perpetually on hold. Yet those are the backgrounds from which Alex and Danny find themselves. Regardless of their differences, a chance meeting sees the reclusive Secret Intelligence Service agent Alex fall for the romantic and gregarious, yet drifting, Danny. While the love between the two is mutual, so too is the distrust.

It’s only a matter of time before things turn bad, although not in the way either quite expect.

For not long after the two begin to realise how perfect they are for each other, Alex is enveloped in the mystery. Leaving almost without a trace, only Danny is left to fight for the truth behind Alex’s disappearance, taking on the troublesome world of British espionage in the process.

But while London Spy dabbles in the worlds of espionage and romance, to label it definitively as one or the other would be grossly underselling its brilliance. The romantic lens fits seamlessly into the espionage angle, giving a contemporary dynamic to an old tale. Familiar, yet in stark contrast to its predecessors. The human angle is played on greatly, with the love between the two shared with the viewer, as is their heart-breaking sense of loss.

Reece Hanson

BBC3, Monday, 9.30pm

A

fter a hugely successful pilot for the BBC’s Comedy Feed pilot initiative last year, BBC3 welcomes the debut series of sitcom Josh this November.

Written by The Last Leg star Josh Widdicombe, and directed by David Schneider (the guy who brought us I’m Alan Partridge), the sitcom follows the frolics of Josh and his housemates Kate and Owen, under the watchful eye of grumpy landlord Geoff (played by comedian Jack Dee, who let’s be honest, can pull off the grumpy adult particularly well).

Josh and Kate fulfil the role of unfulfilled 20 somethings for whom nothing seems to go right, which I’m sure we can all relate to. For example, a birthday pool party ends in Josh’s humiliation, and Kate has to come face-to-face with her reputation from her university days following a disastrous date. Who, I hear you ask, has a pool party for their birthday after the age of 12? Maybe that’s Josh’s problem.

Owen, on the other hand, is very much the happy-as-larry Jay from The Inbetweeners type: forever boasting about nights out with minor celebrities.

He watched Shaggy pee in a pool, dontcha know (although Shaggy did express very clearly that ‘It Wasn’t Me). Even Owen can’t escape the torment of Dee’s character, however, who inflicts his bad ideas on the bunch at every opportunity The sitcom plays host to some amazing celebrity cameos during the series, including Jennifer Saunders (as Kate’s mum and object of Geoff ’s desire), Romesh Ranganathan, and the Chuckle brothers, because, well, why the hell not?

Ellie McLaren

ith the nights getting colder, and a greater proportion of my time at home spent under various layers, I find myself lamenting how poor I am, and how I wish I could have the central heating on more often.

Poor student problems in a nutshell, that.

Every Monday night, without fail, my flatmate and I will watch Made In Chelsea together. She loves it, and I love to hate it, so it works.

I first came across the sheer vapidity that is the partly scripted show a year or so ago, when my sister insisted I watch Made In Chelsea: NYC with her.

My mum didn’t want her to watch post-watershed television alone, so I was forced to be TV chaperone (bless mum and her conservative ways). I hated it at first. And then I got oddly invested, whilst still hating it. Now I dip in and out of episodes, hating all the while. To my teenage sister, though – Made In Chelsea represents the dream. She wants perfectly-coiffed hair and a seat at London Fashion Week. She wants a barely-there job in fashion (like, seriously, what do the cast even DO for a living?) and a private jet to whisk her away to Morocco at the drop of a hat. And I hate that. I hate that the cast have this sway over impressionable kids who aspire to be just as shallow and just as moneyed (but without doing any work for it, of course). It’s 40-odd minutes of badly-scripted conversations, eye-rolling, hair-fluffing and bitchy backstabbing.

“Call it class hatred on my part, but the money they blow on drinks alone makes me sad”

For those who aren’t familiar with it, the show centres on well-dressed young people with far too much spare time on their hands, and more money than sense. They also seem to have odd pets and can’t seem to stop getting involved in each other’s relationships. I’m not going to lie – it is a bit saddening to come home after a long day at uni, followed by a stint at work, having searched the pockets of my bag and jacket to scrape together money for an eat4less baguette – and then watching Made In Chelsea, where money is never any object. Call it class hatred on my part, but the money they blow on drinks alone makes me sad.

“All they ever seem to do is bitch, cheat on each other, walk poufy little dogs, and throw lavish parties”

All they ever seem to do is bitch, cheat on each other, walk poufy little dogs, drink and throw lavish parties. If ever in search of a drinking game, drink through every obviously-scripted scene – you’ll be well and truly Chelsea-d in no time.

The drama (most of which is probably written into their lives by screenwriters who aspired to better, let’s be honest) is the only thing that keeps the show going. Without Lucy Watson pulling her pouty spoilt-little-rich-girl faces, and throwing some serious shade, Made In Chelsea would have bit the dust a long time ago. Having said that, each season is just more of the same. The cast is as incestuous as would be expected, but over ten seasons in, it’s just getting tired. Drinks being thrown, tears galore and at least one love triangle involving Spencer Matthews every season, Made In Chelsea is, contrary to its premise, a pretty cheap show.

The only thing that separates it from TOWIE and Desperate Scousewives is daddy’s millions and his yacht, darling.

Iqra Choudry

Even Binky and Rosie are bored of the hype

38.gaming

The Courier

Monday 9 November 2015

Gaming Editors: Michael Hicks, Ollie Burton & James McCoull

Top 5 supporting characters

Fallout Retrospective: Suddenly, Obsidian Jared Moore steps into the shoes of the Courier for, um, the Courier in the penultimate chapter of our look back at Fallout

Peter Austin swivels the spotlight to shine on the supporting cast 5. Tutorial Narrator -­ Spiderman While the Tobey McGuire Spider-Man games themselves aren’t particularly memorable, anyone who has played them will attest to the fact that Bruce Campbell’s performance as the Tutorial Narrator was remarkably entertaining. His dry and sarcastic comments make it sound like he would rather be absolutely anywhere else and that he couldn’t be less impressed by Spider-Man, who is so used to being bombarded with the awe and love of his countless fans. At one point in the first game’s tutorial, he states “I‘m gonna grab a ham sandwich” and then delivers his next set of instructions between mouthfuls, before concluding “Ew, too much mustard”. Unforgettable.

4. Seth Briars -­ Red Dead Redemption As much as many of us would like to, it’s rather difficult to forget Red Dead Redemption’s Seth. His appearance alone is enough to put you off your dinner for a week. His spindly limbs, discoloured skin and wide eyes are the stuff of nightmares before you even think about what he gets up to in the graveyard of Coot’s Chapel. As a general rule, if your first encounter with a person is finding them hunched over an open coffin asking a corpse “Not talking to Seth today?”, they’re going to be pretty memorable – just for all the wrong reasons.

3. Cave Johnson -­ Portal 2 Few people will disagree that Aperture Science founder Cave Johnson deserves a place in this list for his hilarious monologues. However, what’s perhaps even more memorable is how his amusingly unethical passion for science gradually developed into an angry reaction to his deteriorating health.

Most gut-wrenching of all is the notion that he naively transferred the mind of his beloved assistant Caroline into a computer, with some unused sound files in the game’s cache containing her voice protesting “Mr Johnson, I don’t want this!” Remember him for his humorous scientific exploits or for the heart-breaking act that they lead to. Either way, Cave Johnson is not easily forgotten.

2. The Butler -­ Tomb Raider Spend more than three seconds thinking about the Lara’s home segments of Tomb Raider 2 and 3, and Croft family butler Winston Smith will undoubtedly shamble into your mind holding a tray of drinks. It’s amazing how a character who spent two games just shuffling around and grunting as though he was forever taking his last breath has become so iconic. His role as a moving target at the third game’s shooting range was admirable but he is of course most revered for his adventures in Lara’s walk-in freezer. We all did it and we’d all do it again in a heartbeat.

1. The Merchant -­ Resident Evil 4 The Resident Evil 4 merchant might have the creepy glowing eyes of los Ganados but there’s no faulting his front-of-house manner. He’s about the only vendor in video games who I didn’t feel was trying to swindle me out of my hard earned gold, and his blue torch quickly became a welcome sign of sanctuary. Furthermore, although repeated sound bytes usually wear thin after about the fifth time, I never get tired of that gravelly cockney voice asking “Is that all, stranger?” The top spot goes to the man who will sell you an RPG and never even ask your Image; Thirty37Seven on Flickr name.

2

010 brought us many things: WikiLeaks, the FIFA World Cup and an oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico are to name but a few. More importantly however, 2010 brought the release of Fallout: New Vegas.

Now for those of you who aren’t aware, Fallout: New Vegas is an action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. It’s also my favourite game in the history of time and space itself. So, I guess the real question is, why?

“From the bright lights of the Strip to the pre-apocalyptic appearance of Jacobstown, it stands as a refreshing and exciting upgrade from the endless subway tunnels of Fallout 3” New Vegas is set in the year 2281, four years after the events of Fallout 3 and 204 years after the Great War of 2077. As the game opens, your character (known only as the Courier) is seen left for dead at the hands of a mobster named Benny. When you wake up, you find yourself in the office of one Doc Mitchell, sporting a shiny new bullet hole in your

Image; wongjp on Flickr

face. It is from this point onward that your adventure into the barren wasteland that is New Vegas begins.

I remember the first time I left the safe haven of Doc Mitchell’s house, slightly confused and with no view of what I was really meant to do for the next hundred or so hours that I would inevitably end up investing into the game. But it was at that point that I realised that I didn’t need a plan. In the world of New Vegas, there are no rights or wrongs.

That’s not to say that the game doesn’t attempt to steer you into a certain direction: take the wrong path out of Goodsprings and you’ll soon be mercilessly corrected by the hive of Cazadors that nest nearby.

However, if you are determined and patient enough to sneak, run and crawl past the dangers that lie around the Mojave Wasteland, then they quickly open up into a diverse world of colour and beauty.

New Vegas’ attention to detail when it comes to the players freedom is where it really thrives. If you wish to complete the entire game without harming a single soul, then that’s entirely possible; utilising skills such as speech, lock pick and sneak will help you to walk, talk and trespass your way to life as a saintly Courier. In the same sense, if you wish

for every mortal that touches the ground beneath your feet to perish in a storm of bullets, flames and plasma grenades then the game will grant you this, although I’d stock up on Stimpack’s if you’re thinking about taking on the NCR.

“The Mojave Wasteland quickly opens up into a diverse world of colour and beauty”

Visually, New Vegas is stunning. From the colourful bright lights of the Strip to the pre-apocalyptic appearance of Jacobstown, it stands as a refreshing and exciting upgrade from the endless subway tunnels of Fallout 3. Now this article hasn’t touched into the story or lore involved in the world of Fallout: New Vegas, but that’s for good reason: New Vegas is a world brimmed with quests and clever characters that allow you to shape the story and even the outcome of the game into how you want it. So, if the hefty triple A price is putting you off buying Fallout 4 and you haven’t experienced its predecessors before, then pick up a copy of New Vegas first. I promise it doesn’t disappoint.

Review: Halo 5: Guardians

Errol Kerr straps in and prepares to drop as Master Chief returns. Again.

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fter two long and arduous years, Microsoft’s Xbox One finally has a release from its main franchise. Halo 5: Guardians has a hell of a lot to live up to. With the release of the Master Chief Collection in 2014 being lacklustre at best in the multiplayer section (whilst being admittedly fantastic when it came to campaign missions), 343 Industries has had a lot to make up for.

Prior to release, everything seemed promising - with the return of Halo favourites such as The Arbiter (Keith David) and Edward Buck (Nathan Fillion), alongside new characters such as the Spartans of Blue Team and Fireteam Osiris, the bar had been set high, and the new additions and changes to Halo multiplayer were extensive. The question had to be asked – could this reclaim what Halo 4 lost?

“Now, rather than merely stomping on everything as the Master Chief, his friends are there to add to the aliensquishing experience”

The answer, simply, is yes. The 60 frames per second, 1080p graphics bring Microsoft’s greatest franchise to the next generation, the landscapes and skyboxes are no less than amazing (It’s Halo, what did you expect?) and each individual charac-

ter looks hyper realistic. You’ll actually think that it’s Nathan Fillion’s face on your screen, rather than a CGI upload. The campaign inserts that much needed communication and narrative that were somewhat lacking in the previous games, and now, rather than merely stomping on everything as the Master Chief, his friends are there to add to the alien-squishing experience. Each Spartan character now feels like they have some form of personality, and the combat in campaign mode is on a scale not seen before in a Halo game.

Multiplayer combat has indeed evolved in many respects, streamlining with many modern shooters whilst maintaining its own distinctive feel and aesthetic. A far more urgent feel has been brought into the frame, with its vast range of match types (they still have SWAT! Rejoice, Battle Rifle fans!) and the inclusion of new and intense gametypes such as Breakout – a team based, 5 round, singlelife deathmatch – and Warzone – massive teams engaging both each other and AI enemies whilst levelling up to access better weapons and vehicles, with games invariably ending in complete destruction. As to be expected from Halo,, to be honest.

Their map-making Forge mode has been held back for a short time until December, which is presumably so they can finish what they consider massive additions to that as well – the ability to customise the ground under your feet, additions of fire and smoke effects, an improved and easier system of controls… once Forge hits the Xbox, you

can expect to see some unbelievable map-making by the community.

And that’s what’s immediately present when playing Halo multiplayer – there’s a community, groups of friends playing alongside one another, working as groups and teams throughout the gametypes, whilst those who wish to play lone-wolf can still find themselves able to hold their own.

All in all, this game is what Halo 4 should have been, taking influences from Halo 2 and Reach. And weren’t they just the best?

Image; Halo 5: Guardians

The Courier

gaming.39

Monday 9 November 2015

thecourieronline.co.uk @Courier_Gaming

What I’m playing: Sonic Adventure 2 Battle Tricia Onions races back to Sonic’s controversial 3D roots

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f somebody broke into my house and stole my GameCube, I wouldn’t bat an eyelid.

All right, I probably would. My GameCube is freaking sexy. But if somebody stole my save card, that would be a whole different video game. As much as I’m enjoying Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, there are some parts I am not willing to repeat.

This is the sort of game that genuinely makes you wonder if games designers are sadists. My initial reaction was exhilaration - Sonic can bounce!

Tails has a bazooka! - and then frustration, because these cool upgrades are, at worst, clunky and flawed. Nonetheless, it’s worth suffering through them for the storyline. Whereas some Sonic titles in Sega’s ouvre have been dubbed ‘kiddyish’, boasting little more than hackneyed missions and the conspicuous theme of teamwork, SA2:B strikes a beautiful balance between cute and downright dark. If that alone hasn’t convinced you, it’s Shadow’s debut. (It’s also Omochao’s debut, but let’s choose to ignore that, shall we?)

SA2:B is rife with struggling cool kid argot, dizzying speed, and graphics just choppy enough to justifiably call it ‘retro’. What lures me back time after time is the number of ways you can play it. From the off, you can choose either the hero or dark storyline; from there, the game keeps it interesting by alternating the classic speed, scavenger and shoot-‘emu p missions. Boss fights, however, are either easy or glitch-ridden - there is no in between.

The Chao garden pays homage to the game’s predecessor, yet its most noticeable difference (or arguably enhancement) is the ability to raise hero/dark Chao in heaven/hell respectively. And as with every Sonic

game, the soundtrack rocks. “Escape from the City” is an instant mood booster.

“To conquer a seemingly undefeatable boss is made better by the fact that you’re a three foot hedgehog”

Will I ever officially finish the game? Doubtful.

Story mode is challenging enough; to clear Cannon’s Core on hard mode would drive me to insanity. It also lacks much incentive for doing so. If I score an A rank on absolutely everything, I will allegedly be rewarded with a new outfit for each character in two player mode. (Does the mental image of Rouge the Bat in a shiny black catsuit sway you? No, me neither.) Slightly more enticing is the 3D version of Green Hill Zone, unlocked with all 180 emblems. But in order to attain this, prepare to score straight A’s on top of a back-to-back fight with every boss. I’m good thanks, Sega.

SA2:B has its flaws, yet somehow that makes the g a m e - play all the more satisfying.

To conquer a seemingly undefeatable boss is an incredible feeling, made even better by the fact you’re a three foot blue hedgehog. In the fourteen years since its initial release, the disc has b a r e l y left my console. While I’m never going to unlock every achievement, I play purely for the enjoyment - there’s nothing a whiz through White Jungle can’t fix. SA2:B is iconic, and the most quotable game to date.

Don’t agree with me? I’ll make you eat those words!

Image; Beckysonicfan on Flickr

Sam Dawson builds up and burns out in this childhood classic LEGO is a quintessential part of any childhood. If you didn’t play with LEGO as a kid, then I’m sorry to inform you that your childhood wasn’t very good. Another great thing about childhood was the PlayStation One, so when you combine these two pillars of pre-adolescence together you get something that is pretty darn great. That something is LEGO Racers.

The game was a pretty standard kart racer on the surface - just, you know, with a LEGO skin. You’ve got your different themed tracks, your different themed characters, and your different themed weapons. Scattered pieces on the track build up different items based on the colours; basic, but kind of innovative. But where it really deviated was the creation aspect. You could literally create your own car, adding the different LEGO blocks together piece by piece, and your character could be any little LEGO figurine you could imagine. It definitely achieved that ‘imagination come to life’ feeling: kids were used to building these little LEGO vehicles and racing them around their room, now they could build these little LEGO vehicles and race them around the moon!

Suffice it to say that a lot of my time as a kid was spent playing this game. Which, after returning to after over a decade, is actually surprising to me. Because this game is hard. Like, really hard.

How did the baby version of me fully complete this game without a single complaint, whilst adult me struggles pitifully to make it past the first race? How did so many children enjoy this game, despite the fact that it must have given them some serious progression issues?

The answer: because it’s LEGO. Now, if I can just get its menu music that’s been playing round and round in my head for fifteen years out, that’d be great.

Console Wars: PS4 vs Xbox one

Imogen Scott-­Chambers and Michael Hicks duke it out over the eighth-­generation consoles

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he PS4 is a thing of beauty - undeniably the most attractive, stylish and sleek games console to have ever graced the market place with its presence. It is technically, aesthetically and functionally superior to the Xbox one, and for any doubters amongst you, this article will put you on the correct side of the Microsoft/Sony divide.

Let’s begin with the release of the PS4 in 2013 - it was marketed as the successor to the PS3, building upon that design but with better processors and increased high-speed memory counts.

Moreover, it delivers an improvement in graphics and an overcoming of problems experienced with the PS3’s now-dated technology. This kind of prerelease is exciting for gamers, whereas the Xbox One release was aggravating - Microsoft shocked Xbox One fans with proposals of no disc drives and having to pay for in game content. Now for gameplay, following release, it became clear that certain game titles could be played in higher resolution on the PS4 as opposed to the Xbox One. Prime examples of this are Call of Duty: Ghosts and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. This equates to increased fidelity and in turn better gameplay which makes for a happier time. Playing games on the PS4 is an engrossing experience because the video output is of such a high quality, every move you make is played out in glorious high definition - the PS4 respects your integrity and intellect as a lover of games.

As for aesthetics, the Xbox One is much bulkier than the PS4. Resembling a briefcase, design conception doesn’t seem like it played a huge role as it is hopelessly unimaginative – it’s just a large box. Conversely, the PS4 is not too big and not too little, finished off with a thin light that runs through the middle and changes colour to add a flourish of style to a conventionally unfashionable piece of hardware. The PS4 is accessible to both genders with little quirks like this, while the Xbox One barely appeals to anyone cosmetically.If anyone is undecided about what to get, you can game better, for longer and more enjoyably with the PS4 rather than the substandard Xbox One – don’t be left wanting.

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fter an admittedly rocky start to life; what with the, to phrase it lightly, controversial always-online vision, the amazing backpedalling that followed (a move which shall gone down in the gaming annals as the “Xbox One Eighty”) and a lack of enticing exclusives, however, the Xbox One is not only starting to hit it’s stride, but the future for Microsoft’s underdog machine is looking very bright indeed.

Halo 5: Guardians released early last week; the latest addition to an ever-growing library of quality exclusive games. Sunset Overdrive is a criminally overlooked and very funny thirdperson shooter by veteran developers Insomniac (of Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet and Clank fame). The Forza series has been going strength to strength, and both Forza Motorsport 6 and the Burnout-esque Forza Horizon 2 are far better then any racing games that the Playstation 4 has to offer. The Xbox One is also home to Rare Replay, a collection of some of the finest games created by one of the most renowned names in gaming history; a collection which also contains both Conker’s Bad Fur Day and the legendary Battetoads. Both of these games are well worth the asking price of the collection alone, and it comes with twenty eight other games included. Bargain.

Oh, and it’s also the only one of the two to support backwards compatibility.

Microsoft have also promised to support the console with a long list of future releases. We have Recore, a game being made by the dream team of Megaman creator Keiji Inafune and the team behind Metroid Prime and the long awaited and highly anticipated third instalment of the amazing Crackdown series. I’m personally most excited for Scalebound, a vibrant open-world RPG with grandiose Monster Hunter style battles and Devil May Cry-esque combat system made by the fantastic Platinum Games.

Whist the PS4 looks to have very little coming out next year, the Xbox One has more than plenty up its sleeve, and shouldn’t be discounted just yet.

Keep an eye on this one.

Review: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

Does the latest Assassin’s Creed game make history? Salman Ali Virk lets us know

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nother year, another addition to the Assassin’s Creed series. This year we get a glimpse of another dazzling historical setting of Victorian London. Syndicate’s story is a blend of dark conspiracies, injustice, heavy industry and child labor mixed with historical figures. However with a new twist, this year we have twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye. Jacob is cocky, arrogant and full sure of himself (think Connor Kenway). On the other hand, Evie Frye is brain of the outfit, stealthy, intelligent and deadly, more similar to Ezio way back in ACII. Jacob and Evie come to London in 1868 to break the hold of Templars under the leadership of Crawford Starrick, with the backing of sinister gang called the Blighters who rule the streets of London with an iron fist.

The first and foremost thing you’ll notice that there aren’t any glitches during the majority of your gameplay. Assassin’s Creed: Unity was more of a technological terror, wherein despite a gigantic patch of 6.7 GB the problems still persisted. Syndicate’s day one patch isn’t even close to 500 MB and yet no glitches have been reported so far.

Removing multiplayer was a smart move on Ubisoft’s end. It was an utter nightmare for gamers who hardly have any friends to play with, and if they did then their friends would rather play the campaign than multiplayer. However micropayments still exist in Syndicate, but they are not advertised as in the case of Unity, the developers have expressed the gameplay is fully accessible without extra payment, and that they are simply there for players too lazy to find every last hidden treasure.

Another wise addition to Syndicate is that it doesn’t restrict you in terms of which twin you can play as. There are some missions where you have complete freedom to choose to play as either Jacob or Evie. Syndicate also brings a lot of new toys to play with - one of said toys being a rope launcher that was desperately needed, a tool that helps you traveserse long distances, discover new areas, escape and assassinate. The other novel feature is the ability to drive carriages, which handle pretty well. You can even hide your victims inside them! Hijacking carts will get you into GTA-style chases with the Blighters and destroying public property will earn you an experience perk, so feel free to run over people.

Combat, carriage theft and the like all play into the game’s main story, with each chapter having a dedicated task for each twin. Jacob’s task is to cause mayhem and bring justice for the weak often resulting in explosions and other destruction, whereas Evie’s mission will require you to sneak in without detection. Her campaign feels a lot closer to classic Assassin’s Creed gameplay.

Actions of both characters will contribute in creating your own gang, the Rooks, to fight off the Blighter’s hold over the streets.

Ultimately the title is a triumphant return to the roots of the series. With the breathtaking environment of Victorian London and exciting new gameplay elements Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate is a shining example of both gameplay and storytelling.

Image; Teknologinin Beyni on Flickr

40.science&technology

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Science Editors: Louise Bingham, Iqra Choudhry, & Anna Jastrzembska

The great dairy debate: bovine vs bean

Aino Haavisto and Ellen Jones denounce myths behind cow and soya drinks in the ultimate diary battle. Got milk?

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uman beings are the only species on earth that continue drinking milk after infancy.

From an early age we are taught that cow’s milk is an essential part of a balanced, healthy diet. You need calcium and proteins it contains in order to grow into a healthy adult. However, studies have found some serious concerns with having dairy in your diet, which has caused a dip in its general popularity. So, if you are consuming milk, is there a reason to be worried?

Let’s first have a look at the main reason why you might want to keep drinking milk: in addition to the nice, addictive taste it has various vitamins, minerals, and proteins in it. It contains, among other things, calcium, potassium, magnesium and iodine and is rich especially in vitamin B12.

You need the calcium to give you strong bones and good teeth and the iodine to keep your thyroid hormone production stable. Magnesium and potassium are good for your blood pressure and the proteins will help your cells to repair themselves.

But if milk does a body good, why are so many people lactose intolerant? It is not natural for the human body to ingest milk from another animal, especially not after infancy. As we grow older, the production of lactase (the enzyme that digests lactose) decreases, which then leads to lactose intolerance. In addition, the most common food allergy in children is milk allergy. It has similar symptoms to lactose intolerance (diarrhoea, nausea, bloated stomach and stomach cramps), but the cause is usually the inability to digest casein. Casein is a protein in milk that also releases opiates – so dairy products can be highly addictive.

And what about calcium and cow’s milk? Statistics show that countries with the highest milk consumption also have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Against the common belief, milk can actually

make your bones weaker. The amount of calcium our bodies absorb from cow’s milk is pretty low and it actually increases the loss of bone strength.

Milk (as well as any other animal protein) makes our body pH acid and to neutralize this effect, calcium is released from the bones. This calcium then leaves via urine, therefore leaving the body calcium deficient.

And in case this wasn’t enough, milk has also been linked with prostate and ovarian cancer as well as with hormonal imbalance and acne. Switching to plant-based milk is not only much better for you but also more ethical towards the animals and the environment, so you might seriously want to consider ditching dairy.

Aino Haavisto

Processed Meat Panic In light of recent research, Ana Beretsos questions if bacon and sausages are on their way to become the next cigarettes

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ancer and tobacco seem to go hand in hand in lots of health-related publications, if its the conversations of passive smoking or the rather unsubtle pictures that are put on cigarette boxes to scare people off smoking. Alongside it are other carcinogenic products such as arsenic and pesticides- however, less of a worry to the general population. But there could be a new subject in which we should be concerned about: processed meat has now been classified by the World Health Organisation as carcinogenic. Does this mean no more bacon, sausages or burgers?

This conclusion is based on 800 studies from around the world that found “sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer”. They are saying that if you eat two bacon rashers each day, you are at an increased risk with 5.9% of those studied attaining colorectal cancer. But if you don’t your chances are only at the lower level of 5%, so how much of a risk is it really?

If you really are uncomfortable with this fact, then try to cut back on the processed meats and search for alternatives such as chicken, turkey and fish.

Christopher Wild, Director of IARC has commented on the results emphasising the importance of ‘balancing the risks and benefits of eating processed meat and to provide the best possible dietary recommendations’. So no, that one bacon butty on a Saturday morning will not kill you.

But do not believe the headlines where they put bacon on a par with cigarettes. For this you will have to understand the clas-

sification system. There are four groups as Forbes has explained, 1 being established carcinogens, 2A being ‘probably’ carcinogenic and 2B being ‘possibly’, 3 is unclassified due to lack of data and 4 is non-carcinogenic which is only caprolactam (what your yoga pants are made of).

“Although there may be a direct correlation between cancer and processed foods or tobacco, it does not mean they have equal risks. Tobacco is realms away on the risk scale” Processed meats have now been classified as a category 1. Don’t panic though, just because something is carcinogenic, it does not mean you will get cancer- otherwise by this rule of thumb you will be surrounding yourself with yoga pants, and only yoga pants. Although there may be a direct correlation between cancer and processed foods or tobacco, it does not mean they have equal risks. Tobacco is realms away on the risk scale.

Who is to say whether we will be seeing graphic pictures on our bacon packets?

But do people still smoke? Yes. So should everyone stop eating processed or red meat? No. Just remember that balance is key.

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he consumption of soya foods is rapidly increasing globally, and it’s not hard to see why.

Cow’s milk is the most common selfreported food allergen in the world, making soya milk not only a convenient and tasty dairy-free alternative for lactose intolerant consumers, it is also a great source of vitamins, potassium and all nine essential amino acids.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, there is little evidence that calcium in milk reduces the risk of bone fractures and soya actually contains almost as much protein as cow’s milk.

Synthetic hormones are often artificially added to cow’s milk, which has been linked with increased cell growth rate. Admittedly, evidence suggests phytoestrogen found in soya can alter the body’s h or m on e b a l -

a n c e but as long as unsweetened soya milk is consumed in moderation, it shouldn’t impact the

body’s oestrogen levels. It’s also naturally free from cholesterol and low in saturated fats making it incredibly beneficial to people with heart

Both authors seem to agree that “cow milk makes your bones strong” is just another myth fed to us by media and dairy corporations and not a scientific fact. conditions. However, it is worth mentioning that even unsweetened soya milk has a high calorie count. Once again, the key is in moderation.

If these health benefits of soya milk haven’t convinced you to ditch the dairy yet then remember that a shocking 32 million tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted by the global dairy industry per year, resulting in livestock agriculture being the largest contributor to worldwide climate change! And it’s not just the atmosphere the industry is damaging; ecologically important environments such as wetlands and forests are lost through the creation of agricultural land and vital water systems are continuously polluted by manure and fertiliser run-off. Although genetically modified soya is sometimes cultivated as feed for livestock, more protein can be produced by soya and other crops within the same area than milk from dairy cows, making it a more energy efficient and sustainable drink.

Therefore, the advantages of organic soya milk seem to far outweigh the negatives – it can play a vital role in combating climate change whilst benefiting human health. Soya milk anyone?

Ellen Jones

Sweet lovin’

Are our sweet-­toothed cravings and tendencies really as bad as a drug dependency? Anthony McGarry searches for truth

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et’s face it, most of us get cravings for sugar.

Whether it be wanting dessert after a meal, after a long day or even halfway through writing an essay (or an article about sugar). But when can a ‘craving’ be considered an addiction?

There is dispute as to whether a reliance on sugar can be classed as a fully-fledged addiction; for starters, there have been no observed bodily responses during a withdrawal period similar to that of drug addiction (and no, crying when you find that the last Kit-Kat’s gone coming back in from a night out doesn’t count). There is also the fact that generally, it’s not the inclusion of sugar in a food that induces a good feeling, but the combination of sugar and fat that gives the body a good feeling.

“Dopamine also responds to things like alcohol, nicotine and drugs and encourages the body to seek more of the same” Sugar is a bit of an umbrella term for different carbohydrates, many of which are found in foods, such as glucose, sucrose and fructose. When you eat a sugar, it is detected by taste receptors on the front of your tongue, and a signal is sent straight up to your brain. This signal then activates a chemical reward system, a system which is present to tell you whether something you’ve experienced is good or bad, and whether or not to do it again.

When the sugar reaches your stomach, signals are sent once more, however, this time an impor-

tant neurotransmitter called dopamine is produced. This dopamine also responds to things like alcohol, nicotine and drugs and encourages the body to seek more of the same. When you take in sugar, your tolerance to sugar is increased, meaning you’d need a higher level of sugar to get the same positive feeling again.

Unfortunately though, it’s not all sunshine and dopamine when it comes to sugar intake. Everyone knows the main negative effects of too much sugar in terms of weight gain and diabetes, but increased sugar intake can put your body at risk of a whole host of other problems, most of all, quite severe damage to the liver. And then there’s the big C. Sugar has been linked and unlinked to increased likelihood of getting cancer a lot, especially in the past 10 years (just think of any daily mail ‘health’ article), but the direct link between the two aren’t really that strong. NHS choices summarises it like this: “it is known that healthier diets and lifestyles are associated with a lower risk of cancer. A healthier lifestyle includes limiting sugar intake.” Basically, you can’t pin an increased risk to cancer to just one thing, you can only minimise it by living a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

So really, it’s normal to fancy an extra slice of cake, or completely finish off the last of your flatmates brownies from home, but as with everything in life, it must be taken in moderation.

The Courier

Monday 9 November 2015

technology&science.41 thecourieronline.co.uk/science c2.science@ncl.ac.uk | @courier_science

Science of Killer cancer cure happiness Can you use one deadly disease treat another? Ollie Burton investigates how malaria, one of the world’s biggest health problems, came to spotlight as a potentially miracle cure for up to 90% types of cancers

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alaria is one of the widest-reaching disease facing humanity today, with almost 200 million estimated cases worldwide in 2013.Typically borne by the female Anopholes mosquito, the plasmodium parasite enters the human bloodstream through her bite, and proceeds to travel to the liver, reproducing and eventually entering red blood cells. Once there, the erythrocytes are destroyed, which can lead to fevers, chills, severe anaemia, and death. Not, generally speaking, an ideal situation.

“A malarial protein can move through the body to the site of the cancerous cells, enter them, and release the toxin once inside” However, according to scientists at the University of British Columbia, it has been discovered that a common malarial protein may potentially hold the key to a novel cancer treatment. It had been previously noted by a team in Copenhagen that this protein binds to a specific sugar molecule in the placenta while investigating the effects of malaria in pregnant women, this very same molecule present in most forms of cancer. Furthermore, the two tissues are more comparable than you might think. A placenta grows from a single cell into an organ weighing nearly a kilogram over the space of a few months, which requires aggressive cell division, much like tumour formation.

This sugar molecule then, is a prime candidate for targeting anti-cancer drugs. A malarial protein can have a toxic molecule attached to it, move through the body to the site of the cancerous cells, enter them, and release the toxin once inside. To test this hypothesis, John Babcook and his team at

The Centre For Drug Research and Development (CDRD) attached a typical toxin to a manually recreated malarial protein and used in the treatment of a huge variety of normal and cancerous cell lines in mouse test subjects. In their study, more than 90% of the cancerous cell lines were destroyed, including samples from leukaemia to brain tumours.

It was noted that when treating Hodgkins’ disease, a type of cancer originating from malfunctioning white blood cells, the tumours were approximately a quarter of the size of those in the control group. A very promising start for a highly specific and seemingly very effective treatment. Furthermore, when testing against metastatic bone cancer, five out the six treated mice were alive after nearly eight weeks, compared to none in the control group that had received no treatment.

While simply exchanging one horrific ailment with another might seem counter-productive, Thomas Mandel Clausen, one of the PhD students involved with the experiment has said that the malarial protein only binds to the target cancerous cells “without any significant attachment to other issue”.

Unfortunately, this new method will be unsuitable for treating pregnant women who suffer from cancer, as the toxin attached to the targeting

“While simply exchanging one horrific ailment with another might seem counter-productive... malarial protein only binds to the target cancerous cells”

protein could very likely be delivered to placental tissues rather than the tumours and destroy them,

Weird, wacky & wonderful Ciara Ritson-­Courney describes the mind-­blowing causes and symptoms of exploding head syndrome

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xploding head syndrome: is it as bad as it sounds? Luckily for the sufferers of this condition it isn’t; there aren’t people whose heads are spontaneously combusting around the world with no medical cure for it, however, it’s still pretty bizarre.

The condition consists of the sufferer perceiving loud noises, flashing lights or an explosive sensation when they are falling asleep or waking up. The frequency of the episodes can fluctuate from once in a lifetime to multiple times in a night and the types of noises heard can vary with some hearing firework noises and others more akin to a slamming door. While the reality of this condition may not seem as extreme as the name might suggest, the episodes can be extremely distressing.

Patients often confuse it with strokes due to the temporary paralysis some experience during an episode. The condition also interrupts and prevents many from getting the sleep they need, which can significantly impact their entire life. It can also cause palpitations and temporary tachycardia (quickening of the heartrate) which can be extremely dangerous, especially for people with heart conditions.

While being classified as a form of parasomnia in 2005, there is still no full treatment or cure. Antidepressants are used to reduce the frequency of at -

with very dangerous implications for the developing foetus.

As with all novel medical treatments, there will be quite a wait until safety testing is complete.

In order to move this process forward, the University of Copenhagen has formed a new biotechnology company, VAR2≠pharmaceuticals in collaboration with the research team behind the discovery. Human trials are expected to be feasible within four years, as it is currently unknown whether this targeting system will work within the rather more complex human body, and what side effects could potentially arise from the toxin dosages that would be required. Overall though, first impressions are extremely positive, and we may well be looking at one of the most successful cancer treatments of the future.

tacks while relaxation techniques can help patients to reach a normal sleep stage. The most compelling theories about how the condition occurs suggest there is a burst of neurological activity during the stages when our body becomes paralysed in preparation for sleep.

“Patients often confuse it with strokes due to the temporary paralysis some experience during an episode” The condition is surprisingly common with nearly 20% of people experiencing an episode at some point in their lifetime.

Lack of sleep is known to increase the likelihood of experiencing exploding head syndrome and, therefore, it puts students and those in high stress jobs at the forefront of people likely to experience it. So when your parents are asking if you’re getting enough sleep, they are really just showing concern for your increased potential to experience exploding head syndrome.

Word of the Week: HYPNAGOGIC This refers to the drowsy state the mind descends into immediately before a person falls asleep – when you are not yet sleeping but are not quite awake either. In opposition, the period between full sleep and complete wakefulness is known as ‘hypnopompic’.

Once in this state a person can experience vivid hallucinations that range from the visual, the auditory, the tactile (sense of touch) and the kinetic where a person feels as though they are either falling or floating.

It is not fully understood why we have these hallucinations but it is believed that everyone will undergo this sensation at least once in their lives. The developing minds of children are more open to hallucinations suggesting they might be caused by a miscommunication along one of the pathways of the brain. However, adults suffering from sleep deprivation and narcolepsy have an increased chance of experiencing these phantom sensations.

Miriam Atkinson

Anna Jastrzembska explains that happiness actually grows on trees in South America

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here are few words in English language that people feel as strongly about as chocolate.

Mayans and Aztects used cacao pods as currency but the feelings we have for chocolate are less quantitative. Milk, dark or white, Cadbury, Galaxy or Milka, there is something out there for everyone. According to research, every decade an average adult eats their body weight worth of chocolate.

Another research found that British women would rather give up sex than chocolate. What’s behind this phenomenon?

Let’s start with common knowledge: eating chocolate evokes a rush of endorphins (some scientists claim it’s actually dopamine, but it’s still one of the “happy hormones”). However, chocolate is extremely complicated from the chemical point of view. It contains hundreds of chemicals. Scientists still debate which of them or which combinations make chocolate an ultimate pleasure. A controversial research compared chocolate to marijuana. It’s because it contains a feel-good chemical anadamide ,which is similar to anadamine found in marijuana. While the chemical itself is different, the effect on our brain is similar. Anadamide is naturally found in human brain, but while normally it’s broken down quickly after it’s produced, chocolate makes it last longer.

According to psychologists, the sensation of chocolate melting in your mouth has the same effect on your brain and heart rate as a passionate kiss, but it lasts four times longer. The sensory experience is enjoyable on the most innate, biological level but it might have some chemical background, too. It’s most likely the combination of small amounts of caffeine and phenylethylamine (a chemical related to amphetamines that our brains produce when we are in love). Both are strong stimulants that increase the activity of neurotransmitters and make us stay more focused. It is also suggested that phenylethylamine releases dopamine to the areas associated with orgasm. It means that foodgasm is in theory possible.

The relation of chocolate and happiness might also have more socio-psychological background.

Thorough our lives we learn that chocolate is good and it signifies love. It is a treat associated with family, friends, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and media strengthen the positive image. Even if you don’t remember the first time you ate chocolate, a part of brain called hippocampus does and every time you eat chocolate the positive memory is strengthened, creating a behavioural pattern. When you see a reminder of chocolate, a little dopamine is released creating a craving. If you succumb to it, more dopamine is released. You are happy.

“According to psychologists, the sensation of chocolate melting in your mouth has the same effect on your brain and heart rate as a passionate kiss, but it lasts four times longer” I know what you’re thinking right now. Bacon causes cancer so chocolate can’t be possibly that good for you. On the contrary! All chocoholics know that regular consumption of dark chocolate has positive health effects. Dark chocolate is reach in flavanols, which have an antioxidant effect and support healthy blood pressure. Dark chocolate is also really good for pregnant women, as it lowers the risk of serious complication known as preeclampsia. The same research showed that women who ate chocolate daily during pregnancy reported having “calmer and happier” babies six months after birth.

While there is still much more to discover about the properties of chocolate, it’s enough to put a piece in your mouth to know that you can in fact buy happiness.

42.puzzles

The Courier

Puzzles 2

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Monday 9 November 2015

Puzzles Editor: Jack Parker Deputy Puzzles Editor: Mark Sleightholm

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Can you catch the phrase represented by Courier these two pictures?

Catchphrase

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“I’m Roy Walker and I heartily endorse this event and/or product”

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Across

1 The creator of this (6) 4 Narrow opening (5) 9 Not off (2) 10 Intense dislike (6) 11 Attack someone, physically or emotionally (6) 13 Writing material (5) 15 Popular pet, often aloof (3) 17 Early 20th century battleship (11) 19 Glowing with joy (7) 20 Cheerful, with musical connotations (5) 21 Light touch, or medical emergency (6) 22 Giving off bubbles, lively, exciting (12)

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1 Sound repetition (4) 2 Internal sport without a mural (5) 3 Remote detection system, nothing to do with carrots (5) 5 Indian flatbread (3) 6 Vague pre-vowel article (2) 7 Round handle (4) 8 Caribbean capital city (6) 12 Teacher of students (8) 13 By chance (7) 14 Determined undertaking (9) 16 Kitchen heating device (7) 18 Described in detail and/or pictures (7)

Connect to be Correct Find the word that connects these three words.

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Completing the entirety of this puzzles page will entitle you to the respect of (some of) your peers. Feel free to bring the proof of your achievement into The Courier office, where you will be congratulated

The Courier

sportfeatures.43

Monday 9 November 2015

Beer, braveheart and the All Blacks A selection of Newcastle University students reveal to The Courier their favourite tales from the Rugby World Cup

The Final Finally, pardon the pun, I had arrived.

Before me stood the giant Twickenham gates, no doubt tall enough to keep any sort of White Walker out. Not tall enough however to stop the assault of Wallabies and Leeks on the rose garden that England stood to protect. Nevertheless, that was another story in itself.

Brushing such thorny roses behind, my dad and I entered. Before us was a wave of fans wearing black or yellow, that we had to part. Like Moses we strode through, parting the All Black supporters wearing their customary All Black shirts, from the Wallaby supporters, most of whom dressed up in cork

hats and wigs.

Grabbing a beer was the next task.

Queuing up behind the Heineken stall one could hear the murmuring of anticipation. “Will Carter last the 80 minutes?” “Will the ref save Australia again?” were a few topics on everyone’s lips. Grasping the beer like a trophy (due to its £1 cup return policy), me and my dad headed to our seats. Gate 28 would be our destination.

Walking into the ground was a surreal experience. Scanning around the stadium glimpses of gold protruded, like gold coins in a treasure trove of black

velvet. As I sat down I was reminded of an All Blacks supporters shirt that read, “I will support anyone who plays the wallabies”. Yes I thought, Australia would need something special.

And this proved to be so. The All Blacks came out firing, as only they could. Spectacular tries from Nonu and Milner-Skudder sent the stadium into eruption. An active volcano Twickenham had become. However no one expected the fight back that was to ensue. Like a Hollywood boxing movie, Australia fought back. Two brilliant, bruising tries set up a thrilling last 10

minutes.

My knees shaking like a phone on a continual vibrate, I witnessed a historic moment. New Zealand, a class and ‘Carter’ apart, finished the game off with such accuracy that would make the trophy inscriber proud. One try, penalty, and drop goal finished the Wallabies off. As they lifted the trophy, fireworks like lava encompassed the Twickenham sky. Not one seat was left at this time, as on this day the greatest sporting team inscribed itself into the tales of folklore.

Charlie Worlock

Richie McCaw holds the William Webb Ellis trophy aloft Image: Charlie Worlock

The Fanzone After England’s disappointing effort at the Rugby World Cup 2015, and therefore failing to make it out of the pool stages, I was more than happy to don my tartan and support my family roots.

It only felt right to make it a family affair and head to the fanzone that was purpose built for the occasion just outside of St James’ Park.

There was an impressive turn out for the Scotland vs. Samoa match, considering the home nation was already knocked out and their bitter rivals were competing to qualify. Nonetheless, the

atmosphere was electric and there was no animosity amongst the English and the Scottish and even the Samoan fans for that matter. Although there was a clear majority of kilts and bagpipes, there was a fair share of English supporters there, cheering on their British counterparts and putting aside the infamous braveheart rivalry.

The fanzone accommodated everyone, from families to couples and people of all ages. There was a real community feel about the area and city as a whole. Before the match, the Scottish

national anthem erupted around the fanzone, and I’m sure as well as within St James’. The chanting never wavered and the support was full throttle until the end, which saw the tartan army emerge victorious and progress into the knock out stages.

As for the effects on the city, the sportsmanship was exemplary. The Scots were out and about in the town in full force following the game, getting stuck into the Newcastle nightlife. Having headed out into the town that night myself, I can safely say there was no trouble between the fans, and all supporters were just embracing the opportunity to see another city and soak up the atmosphere of the occasion.

Scots and Saffas replaced the Geordies in the Gallowgate Image: Sasha Taylor, Flickr

St James’ Park

Lynsey Brownlee Rugby fans flocked into the toon in their thousands Image: David Jones, Flickr

Deciding to arrive at St. James’ 20 minutes before kick off perhaps wasn’t our finest moment. We were dropped off near Trent House and made our way on foot. We’d never been to the stadium before, so navigating thought the dense mass of Scottish and South African supporters was less than simple. We did of course join in with many a verse of ‘O’ Flower of Scotland’, the Scots being one of the home nations and all.

After what seemed like an age we made our way through the heaving crowds and into Leazes Stand, directly behind the posts and high up above the pitch below. On finding our seats it was a relief to see that we were flanked by an extremely vocal group of die hard Scots.

In our inebriated state we had no problem belting out the chants.

The atmosphere when the national

anthems began was incredible; despite being over 9000km away the South African fans were unbelievably loud. Not to be outdone, the Scots (us included) drowned out the stadium, I’m sure you would have heard it in Jesmond it was that loud.

The game itself was a cracker, real end-to-end stuff. Scotland showed a lot of resilience in defence but in the end South Africa were just too dominant in attack and at the breakdown. Despite the second half passing as a bit of a drunken blur, the final whistle was a moment to remember, one team elated, one team dejected but the noise from the crowd continued as loud as ever.

Disgruntled as the Scots were, hats off to them for giving some of the best support I’ve ever seen at a sports game.

Hugh Vermont

44.sportfeatures

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Retirements: The good the bad and the ugly With Richie McCaw, the most capped player in international rugby announcing his retirement after the World Cup, and ZRUOG UHQRZQ À\ KDOI 'DQ &DUWHU IROORZLQJ suit, we look back on some of the most memorable retirements over the past few years. From those who left us with a bang, WR WKH GDPQ ULJKW VKDPHIXO Really no more for Carter and McCaw?

If ever a team deserved a premature coronation it would have been the 2015 New Zealand rugby union squad.

Let’s be frank, there was only ever one team winning the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and it was the only fitting way to send-off two all-time All Black greats.

Captain Richie McCaw holds the record for the most appearances in a New Zealand shirt and fly-half Dan Carter is the highest points scorer in international rugby history. The significance of the All Black team as a collective cannot be doubted, but these individuals have been a constant over the years. They’ve obliterated almost every opponent standing in their path, and ensured they settled the score with any nation daring enough to challenge their reign. Carter’s

drop goals in the closing minutes of both the semi and the final are prime examples of what he’s done for over a decade, and the captain raising the Webb Ellis trophy on the 2nd consecutive occasion provides only a snapshot of his greatness. If they honestly have performed their final Haka, they depart leaving us all wondering whether we will ever see such a dominant pair again.

Alas, all may not be lost. After a minute long standing ovation in his last game, McCaw, speaking to the Guardian, hinted that his future as a rugby player may not be over: “If you get moments like this, why would you ever call it a day?” We must all be asking ourselves the same question.

Gabriel Pennington

Italian Stallion The real-life Rocky Marciano wasn’t only the inspiration for one of the most iconic films of all time. In fact, The Brockton Blockbuster is the only undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, with 43 of his 49 wins by KO. His style was much like that of Homer Simpson, going toe-to-toe taking punches, and then capitalising when his opponent faded. His championship bout with Jersey Joe Walcott in 1952 is considered one of the greatest in history, primarily for the display of his famous ‘Susie Q’ knockout punch in the 13th round.

When it came to his final match against Archie Moore in September 1955, Rocky was defending his World Heavyweight title for the sixth time. In front of a crowd of 61,574 in the Yankee Stadium, and another 320,000 watching on their television sets, he was knocked down to the canvas in the second round.

But in true Marciano fashion, he recovered to win by knockout in round nine.

He retired unbeaten and a champion.

Unlike many other boxers, Rocky didn’t spend his money or disappear off the face of the earth. Up until his untimely death in 1969, he’d mastered business, commentary and refereeing. Undoubtedly the most underrated boxer of all time, for his success from his first fight to his last, Rocky Marciano remains a true legend of the sport.

James Sproston

Zidane, what a nutter

Carter’s curtain call: All black bowed out in style Image: Quintinsmith_ip, Flickr

There are few more ironic images, than that of Zinedine Zidane walking past the World Cup trophy while making his way down the tunnel after being sent off. The Frenchman’s irreprehensible action was more a bitter pill than a swan song, as it cost his nation the biggest prize in world football.

Zidane wasn’t originally meant to play in the world cup, having supposedly hung up his boots after his last campaign with Real Madrid in the summer of ’06. With players retir-

A tearful goodbye in Paris for David Beckham Image: YouTube

‘Didn’t touch him, Ref ’. Zidane downs Materazzi Image: Szapucki, Flickr

Graeme Swann was the best English spin bowler in generations, as well as a highly entertaining persona on and off the field. Very few cricketers amused spectators like Swann managed to; fewer still have bid a more controversial retreat at the end of their career.

England were in shambles after the 3rd Test of the 2013/14 Ashes Series.

Having already lost Jonathan Trott, and

ing en masse, Zidane was brought out of retirement and immediately made captain. The then 34 year old carried his team, sometimes single-handedly, to a place in the showpiece final.

The final itself exemplified Zidane.

A chipped penalty against Buffon gave France a vital lead, before a moment of utter madness destroyed everything the Frenchman had worked for. A malicious headbutt against Marco Materazzi sealed his fate, and that of his nation.

Ritwik Sarkar

Graeme swans home with Australia taking an unassailable 3-0 lead, England were showing signs of complete surrender to the Aussies.

Amidst this, Swann, England’s only truly world-class spinner, decided enough was enough. With a lack of success in the first three tests (taking 7-560) he decided that he could no longer continue and promptly gave up, announcing his retirement four days before the 4th Test.

People will talk about the lack of unity within that England camp; however, this doesn’t provide sufficient explanation for taking the first plane home, with your back to your country, as the rest of your team suffer on. This was a series that needed the big names to show bottle; Swann, for all his ability, didn’t even stick around to carry the bottles.

Robin Richards

Schools out for the class of ‘92

The so-called ‘class of 92’ consisted of, arguably, five (or six if you can actually call Nicky Butt a footballer) of the greatest English footballers of all time, most certainly of their generation.

There is only one way to start, David Beckham. He is the standard globally, a standard none of us will ever hit, but the standard nonetheless. When possessed with a cannonball of a right foot like his, the other team may as well not turn up. Having played for Manchester United, Preston, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan and later PSG, Beckham broke down in tears in his final game with most of the world crying with him.

The Neville brothers we won’t even mention because they don’t even come close to the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. Giggs was clearly designed

to spread his wings and fly. Still, at coaching he’s technically not done but he was still loved by the United faithful when he finished to take up his coaching role. Also in the DNA is Paul Scholes, the ginger magician. Zinedine Zidane once saluted Scholes saying, “I don’t know how it feels to be the best midfielder in the world, ask Paul Scholes”.

Finally comes the supreme leader and man who made them in his own image, Sir Alex Ferguson. Rumours have circulated that he used black magic to be as good as he was. Over the course of 25 years he steered Manchester United to a number of titles and still the stench of Sir Alex lingers over Old Trafford.

Josh Nicholson

Graeme’s swansong. England spinner left series early Image: Dan Heap, Flickr

The Courier

sportfeatures.45

Monday 9 November 2015

My precious, one team to rule them all New Zealand’s World Cup triumph means the All Blacks have once again proved themselves as the best rugby team on the planet, Stuart Ward and James Sproston debate whether dominance in sport should be celebrated, or whether it takes away a certain edge from a fan’s perspective

For Stuart Ward Why does the idea of a one-sided sports game sound so unappealing?

To a neutral, it may be so, but to an individual who loves the specific sport, it can actually be a source of thrills and wonderment. To be able to marvel at the complete dominance of one team over another, or one team over an entire sport, is a rarity and should therefore be celebrated.

Let us take a recent example; the New Zealand Rugby Team. While the Web Ellis cup has changed hands so often

“Fairy tale stories of McCaw and Carter and the unbelievable act of generosity by Sonny Bill Williams won our hearts” over the years, the recent World Cup demonstrated New Zealand’s almost unopposed domination of International rugby over the past couple of years and the tournament. New Zealand were thrilling in their domination of the tournament and justified their status as being the favourites and the fairy tale stories of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter and the unbelievable act of generosity by Sonny Bill Williams won our hearts.

However, despite the clear signs that the winner may have been decided, huge swathes of us still watched the tournament with wide eyed wonder. Who could forget the thrilling game between Japan and South Africa? Or the terrible performance of the host nation? The fact that the tournament favourites won the tournament in such dominant fashion is merely a side note that doesn’t diminish the spectacle of the sport.

For any fan of the Premier League, or football in general, the 2003-04 Premier League season will live long in the memory. With the likes of Patrick Viera, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry gracing the pitch, it was completely understandable that Arsenal would dominate the league; but going unbeaten maybe wasn’t expected.

There was a fluidity and ruthlessness to Arsenal’s football that has rarely been replicated by any other team in any league to follow. And yes, it was fairly clear midway through the season that Arsenal would emerge victorious, but that didn’t stop people tuning it to watch one of the greatest teams of all time play

their unique brand of high pressure, high scoring and clinical football.

Domination of a sport can also lead to numerous statements off the pitch as well. The West Indies Cricket Team for example. From February 1980-February/March 1995, the West Indies Cricket team didn’t lose a single test series. 15 years of domination. This domination started in the mid/early 70’s, during a time of great political and social upheaval in the Caribbean. Often, the only thing an individual of Caribbean descent could brag about in England was the success of their cricket team and it was quite a thing to brag about.

With a team that started out as a group of “calypso cricketers” to a team that simply annihilated any team they faced, it is thrilling to imagine and a team that came to house some true legends of the game. Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Malcolm Marshall; all fast bowlers that could bowl over 90mph and decimate any star studded batting line up. Combine that bowling attack with the likes of Gordon Greenidge and the master blaster himself Viv Richards, and it is easy to see how they simply blew teams away.

Moreover, the infamous “Blackwash” series against England, where the West Indies beat England so mercilessly that the term whitewash was overruled.

Why is this domination necessarily a bad thing? Without that notorious team during that period, world cricket may not have been the same as it is today.

Yes, one sided sports games can be boring if they’re a singular event. Often they’re anticlimactic and lead to one having a sense of missing out, however if a team dominates a sport as a whole, that can be the gateway to some exceptional memories and some equally exceptional sporting moments.

And

Against James Sproston Sport is ruined by dominant teams. No one likes a predestined outcome. It’s no surprise that the Premier League is the most watched league in the world. It’s a place where any team can be beaten by another. Likewise with the ‘magic’ of the FA Cup. No one would ordinarily watch Salford City against Notts County but because it’s the FA Cup, and the underdog might just win, it’s on national television.

“The league structure discourages investment and rewards success”

Truthfully, did anyone ever really doubt that New Zealand would win the World Cup? It was more scripted than a Ben Fogle nature programme. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who stopped watching once England went out and I’m sure that I wasn’t the only person who thought that this World Cup was yet another disappointment. It was much like Spain’s period of dominance in world football from 2008 to 2012.

I can safely say I’ve not enjoyed an international tournament since 2006, chiefly because on three occasions it was clear who was going to win.

Spain dominated because of their low possession-based football, which sucked the

cheers Lance. Similarly Tiger Woods was the face of golf for over a decade, but once his personal struggles were exposed, the credibility of the once loved golf pro has seemingly vanished.

Formula 1 has also seen team dominance. Most recently Mercedes have been largely unchallenged, much like Red Bull before them and Ferrari even longer before that. Not only have these teams been dominant, but more often than not, there is usually one driver that dominates. Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher to name but a few. Almost all F1 fans will say that the 2010 season was the best in recent memory. Going into the last race in Abu Dhabi, four drivers could have won the title, from three different teams. People value that kind of competitiveness.

Let’s be honest, most people would rather melt their eyes with a Bunsen burner than watch most sports films.

They’re scripted, so much so that you can usually predict the outcome before you’ve even seen it. Coach Carter and Rush are probably the only two sports films worth a mention but that’s because the underlying stories actually transcend the respective sport action in each film. I mean, I’m not going to watch Goal again in a hurry, nor Goal 2, and don’t even get me started about Goal 3. I should enjoy them because they’re

life out o f t h e

these teams that dominate the sport often possess some of the greatest players of their respective sport. So to see these players at the height of their powers, in a team that has reached the optimum levels of efficiency and performance is a combination that will leave any sports fan shivering with delight.

international game.

Individual dominance may raise the profile of sports, but it raises the profile of the individual more.

Before the recent revelations, Lance Armstrong was synonymous with cycling and now because his reputation has been tarnished, so has that of the sport,

but just watching the highlights of the 2011/12 Premier League season is enough for me because that really happened and it wasn’t predicted.

It’s been said that it’s a very British outlook to knock the best, and support the underdog, which is perhaps why we don’t produce very many sporting greats. In response I’d say that while one purpose of sport is to see the bar pushed higher and the boundaries exceeded, ultimately sport should be a spectacle.

Look at the Scottish Premiership.

Firstly, who watches it? Pretty much no one. Hence why there’s a lack of TV money for those teams, whilst English Premier League teams are now being rewarded for playing exciting football.

Secondly, in theory it should lead to other teams matching that excellence.

In actual fact, only the Old Firm teams have won the league (since its creation in 1998), with the last four being won

by Celtic, who are likely to continue that run this season.

“It’s a very British outlook to knock the best, and support the underdog”

Likewise the German Bundesliga is hugely predictable. Despite the German football style being touted as the most entertaining in the world, it regularly falls behind the Premier League in global viewership. Why? Because we know that Bayern Munich will win.

This is primarily because the league structure discourages investment and rewards success. Meaning the winning teams can financially outmuscle all the other teams in the league. Hence why Bayern have consistently recruited the best players from the other Bundesliga teams, two of which being Mario Götze and Robert Lewandowski from Borussia Dortmund.

Fundamentally sport should be a spectacle. Just like the best films have a great twist, sport should not be predictable. Dominant teams in sport may well ‘breed excellence’, but as a fan I’d take entertainment over excellence any day. In my eyes, the competitive nature of sport is the unique element that makes it so special.

a b o u t football,

Collage by Lewis Bedford images: YouTube

46.sportbucs&intramural

Monday 9 November 2015

The Courier

Sorry Chamakh’s downed by of the Week explosive Rodallega Bombs Gus’ Club

Intramural Football Chamakh My Pitch Up

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Rodallega Bombs

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By Robin Richards at Longbenton Written By Alex Hendley For the first time, Newcastle University’s AU Officer Angus Taylor has been unable to choose a single club due to the extraordinary performances from Newcastle’s sportsmen and women this week. Sharing the award are the men’s and women’s Rugby Clubs.

Speaking to NWR’s Hannah Anthony, the Courier got some inside info their 22-0 and 20-8 victories.

“The firsts made a phenomenal start, turning over breakdowns, scrummaging strong and making breaks. This lead to Sam West breaking through in the first 10 minutes to score a try under the posts, which was converted by Rosie Neal.

“A full team effort with great hands, scrummaging and mauling made for a stunning try by Neal in the second half.

Leeds Beckett didn’t make it much past the halfway line, let alone getting near the try line. A stunning performance by an ever improving NWR first team gave us a 22-0 victory.

“The seconds put in a massive performance. It was the first time they have played together with most of them not having played rugby for two months. A score of 20-8, which could have been higher were it not for 4 disallowed tries.”

The Women’s Rugby Club’s season isn’t defined by these games, however, as their start to the season in general has been impressive, mainly in terms of participation.

“As a club it’s fair to say we have had an amazing start to the season.

The amount of girls playing rugby for Newcastle this year is remarkable and more than we could have hoped for. In terms of the first team so far, the season has seen big improvements with every match.

“If everything continues as it is we hope to carry on winning matches, in what we knew was going to be a difficult league. In doing so we aim to retain our place in the premiership. The aim for the second team is to carry on developing and get as many girls as possible playing competitive rugby.”

The men’s team also had a clean sweep, winning all four of their games comfortably. Perhaps most impressive was the men’s fifth team’s 62-0 victory over York thirds, to cement their place at the top of the Northern 5B league, sitting a comfortable nine points ahead of Leeds’ fourth teams.

Meanwhile, the seconds boosted their chances of breaking into the Premier division after a 23-12 win over Sheffield firsts put them second in the Northern 1A league, trailing Durham by just a solitary point.

The thirds are also sitting pretty in second in the Northern 3B league chasing Leeds Beckett’s pole-position.

The clubs are both looking to push on for the season ahead after this stunning week of rugby. While the men’s first team didn’t play this week, their position six points below leaders Loughborough is one they will be hopeful to improve on.

Wednesday 4th November saw a gargantuan struggle at the foot of Newcastle University Intramural football.

Chamakh my Pitch Up took on Rodallega Bombs; for teams yet to register a single point this was a chance for both to kick start their season. Unfortunately for Chamakh they still remain rooted to the foot of the table after an entertaining but heavy loss.

The end-to-end tone of the game was set from kick-off when Chamakh fed the ball to their left wing through the tricky Robbie Horton and ran at the Bombs’ defence. The first chance of the game fell to the impressive Bombs

marked 12 yards out but he failed to make a proper connection and the chance went begging. Bombs did not have to wait too long to equalise, after the first spell of pressure in the game they eventually found a way to draw level. After a spell of corners the ref spotted a player climbing and, despite the howls of protest, pointed to the spot. Brown made no mistake and Bombs had restored parity.

The goal seemed to breathe new life into the team and they strove to assert their dominance. This concerted pressure was most obvious in the contrast-

With the half fading to a close amid utter Bombs domination Chamakh gave themselves a lifeline. In stoppage time they hit a long ball forward where Bahrami stayed cool to round the keeper and slot in.

A goal on the stroke of half time could have buoyed hopes in the Chamakh camp and despite their half time claims that “there was no reason why we can’t go on and win this” the second half proved to be a very one-sided affair.

It got off to a disastrous start five minutes after half-time when an unmarked header was smartly saved by Winstan-

to slot a tidy finish past the stranded goalkeeper. Chamakh made it 7-2 when Jay Kirkham hit a shot from range that looped over the keeper.

By this point Bombs’ were breaking at will and Tom Bradwell picked the ball up just outside the box, darting to the byline before cutting in and passing it in at the near post. With the score at 8-2 and only 70 minutes gone the game started to open up with both midfields tiring. Behrami seemed to feed off this and several times broke through, but was unable to find the final ball to unlock the Bombs defence. However, it

“The goal seemed to breathe new life into he team and they strove to assert their dominance”

striker Mike Brown whose tame effort rolled wide. Brown was in the middle of the action once again when his height drew the Chamakh’s defender’s attention leaving his shorter strike partner to force a good save from Rob Winstanley, who recovered to claim the following cross. Winstanley had to be sharp again to keep his team level minutes later when a delightful chipped ball from Bombs’ midfielder Tom Bradwell was smothered bravely at the feet of the striker.

A lack of combativeness from both teams in midfield was leading to a very open game and it was no surprise when, in the 16th minute, the deadlock was broken. A chipped ball over the top found Chamakh striker James Bannister in behind the Bombs’ defence. Cutting inside he curled a delightful finish over the keeper into the top right corner.

Bombs had a great chance to equalise through Mike Brown minutes later when a driven ball found him un-

Mike Brown condemns Chamakh to defeat with Bombs’ fifth Image: Robin Richards ing styles of the two teams: whereas Chamakh were content to attempt to try to break Bombs’ defence down by balls over the top, their opponents started to move the ball at pace and use the width of the pitch. This told in the 38th minute when a poor clearance from the Chamakh keeper fed the Bombs striker who passed it under the dive of Winstanley, who will not have been pleased to have conceded in such a manner. Minutes later Bombs’ made it 3-1 when Captain Jay Kirkham went on a mazy run before cutting in on the left side of the box and hit his shot near post, through the keeper.

ley only for one of his centre backs to decide to volley it into his teammate and into their own net.

Robbie Horton and Bahrami provided an outlet for Chamakh but it was their defenders who were guilty of dallying on the ball too often. This forced a succession of corners and in the 57th minute the score line started to edge towards the embarrassing, when Brown scored yet again to make it 5-2 with a beautifully struck shot from the edge of the box. Another horror show from the defenders three minutes later allowed a simple ball to run all the way through and Elliot Brown was allowed

was in fact Bombs who scored next when a simple chipped ball over the top came to the onrushing Jack Millington who volleyed home through the disheartened keeper. It was Bahrami and Chamakh who did end up having the last, albeit pointless, word when Bahrami robbed a Bombs centre-back and slotted past the keeper.

In an end to end game Chamakh will be disappointed with periods of it where they let it go and conceded goals in clusters. Ultimately however, it was Rodallega Bombs’ ability to move the ball better and defend more decisively that won them their first points of the season.

Wednesday 4th November results

Overall BUCS Position: 9th

Badminton M1 v Bangor 1sts M2 v Sheffield Hallam 2nds W1 v UCLAN 1sts W2 v Sunderland 1sts

4-4 W/O 6-2 5-3

Basketball M1 v Sheffield Hallam 1sts M2 v Leeds Beckett 3rds M3 v Bradford 2nds W2 v Huddersfield 2nds

80-65 51-49 43-35 45-24

Fencing M1 v Edinburgh 1sts M2 v Durham 3rds W1 v Edinburgh 1sts W2 v York 1sts W3 v Hull 1sts

79-131 135-107 96-135 W/O 136-48

Football M1 v Leeds 1sts M2 v York 2nds W1 v York 1sts

3-2 4-0 0-2

Golf 1 v Leeds Beckett 1sts 2 v Sunderland 1sts

1.5-4.5 5.5-0.5

Hockey M1 v Lancaster 1sts M2 vSheffield 2nds M3 v Leeds 3rds M4 v Leeds 5ths W1 v Lancaster 1sts W2 v Sheffield 2nds W3 v Sheffield Hallam 2nds W4 v York 2nds

6-0 2-0 2-1 3-0 4-0 5-0 2-4 1-2

Lacrosse M1 v Sheffield Hallam 1sts W1 v Durham 1sts W2 v Leeds Beckett W3 v York 2nds

7-27 4-16 10-18 3-10

Netball 1 v Northumbria 1sts 2 v Durham 1sts 3v4

32-49 25-49 22-31

Rugby Union M2 v Sheffield 1sts M3 v Durham 4ths M4 v York 2nds M5 v York 3rds W1 v Leeds Beckett 1sts W2 v Leeds Trinity 1sts

23-12 18-7 34-7 62-0 22-0 20-8

Rugby League 1 v Leeds 1sts 2 v Bradford 1sts

30-22 24-12

Squash M1 v Manchester 2nds M2 v Northumbria 1sts M3 v Sunderland 1sts W1 v Sheffield 1sts

5-0 4-1 W/O 3-2

Table Tennis M1 v York 1sts

13-4

Tennis W1 v Loughborough 2nds W2 v Sheffield Hallam 1sts

0-12 0-12

Ultimate M1 v York St John 1sts

15-0

Volleyball M v Sheffield Hallam 2nds

W/O

The Courier

sportbucs.47

Monday 9 November 2015

6WLFNLQJ LW WR 6KHI¿HOG

Netballers undone by clinical poly shooters

Men’s Hockey

Netball

Newcastle 2nds

2

Sheffield 2nds

0

NUMHC have had an extremely strong start to the BUCS season Image: Calum Wilson

By Abi Dodwell NUNC 1st 32-49 Northumbria 1st

By Calum Wilson at Longbenton The Hockey 2nds made it back to back BUCS wins last Wednesday with a near perfect display against a strong Sheffield side. The 2s have surprised many by hitting the ground running in Northern 2b having only earned promotion into the league last year.

Goals from defender Nathan Claris and striker Hugo Clark in each half were enough to see off the travelling side, on a mild but misty late afternoon at fortress Longbenton.

The match was a high intensity affair. Newcastle were quick to strike an advantage, converting from the game’s first short corner after just 5 minutes.

Will O’Brien flicked the ball back to fellow defender Nathan Claris who clinically dispatched it into the back of the net.

Despite taking an early lead, the hosts seemed somewhat anxious in the first half. On the pitch there was plenty of frantic chatter and during a spell on the side line, captain Charlie Carr shouted at his players not to dive in, as Sheffield began to enjoy more possession.

Newcastle’s irritation then turned on the officials as Simon Jones was wrongly penalised for bringing down a lobbed pass in space. The umpire’s decision making was again queried when Sheffield were awarded a short corner on 20 minutes, but the visitors could only

produce a tame effort on goal, easily blocked.

This was to become a theme throughout the game, in fact Newcastle goalie Tom Dodds didn’t have to make one save in the 70-minute match. Sheffield did manage to put the ball in Dodds’ net, but the goal was rightly chalked off after a clear infringement from the attacker.

Newcastle came through the first half unscathed and in the second produced a much more confident and composed performance. Orchestrated by the experienced heads of Carr, Henry Hazell, O’Brien and Claris, Newcastle patiently kept the ball and waited for a breakthrough.

In their desperate attempts to regain possession, Sheffield became frustrated, resulting in a trip to the sin bin for their number 35. Soon after, Newcastle doubled their advantage. Sheffield had possession in midfield but a quick turnover

found Clark (too lazy to track back) in acres of space. The striker turned for goal and with time to pick his spot, calmly beat the keeper at the near post.

Sheffield pressed for a lifeline but were limited to half chances, at best. A short corner ended in another limp effort that went harmlessly wide, before the visiting captain somehow found room in the area but managed to swing too hard and miss the ball completely.

The final whistle was greeted with delight from the home team. Club President Will O’Brien spoke after the match, “we knew that Sheffield were going to be one of the hardest opponents in the league so we set up thinking we need to go for this”.

The win moves Newcastle up to joint 2nd in the table, a point behind local rivals Northumbria. “We’re looking to win our league, which if you’d said at the end of last season having just got promoted, we’d have snapped your arm off.”

After a difficult first match against the poly, Newcastle knew that they were going to have to step up their game in order to challenge their undefeated opponents. They started strong and worked well as a team, moving the ball fluidly up the court and into the safe hands of Emily Hollingworth at goal shooter.

With the scores still close after the first quarter, Newcastle knew that the key to winning was staying positive and keeping focused. The team kept up their great performance as centre Fiona Dewar created good space all down the court and managed to make some crucial interceptions.

But the poly’s incredible shooters didn’t miss a single shot and by half time Northumbria were up by eight goals. Despite the goal difference, Newcastle were still determined to battle against the poly and with the spectacular defence from Annie Bolle-Jones the team managed to get within five goals going into the last fifteen minutes.

But unfortunately in the last few minutes Northumbria managed to pull away leaving Newcastle fighting until the very last second.

NUNC 2nd 25-49 Durham 1st With the 2nd team anxious for a win they came out strong against Durham.

Wing defence Chloe Tindale did a great job setting the pace for her team as she helped move the ball out of defence and supported her whole team.

The team’s positive communication meant that by the end of the first quarter they were level with Durham and ready to try and take the lead. In the second quarter the centre court combination of Laura Brady and Frankee Bonnett worked well but the team struggled to make the most of their turnovers and unfortunately Durham were converting any error made.

By half time Durham had taken the lead but the team pulled together and with Olivia Gordon’s (player of the match) accurate shooting, managed to lower the goal difference. All was going well until the last ten minutes of the game when after a run of lost centre passes and trouble getting the ball into the attacking third, Durham managed to increase their lead and take the game.

NUNC 3rd 22-31 NUNC 4th Despite Newcastle having to face their own team, both the 3s and 4s were still as driven to take the victory as any other week. The first quarter began and it was neck and neck with both teams fighting to keep every ball but as the minutes went on, the strong defensive play by Ella Peartree meant that the 4th team were able to take the lead.

In the second quarter, after making lots of changes to the line-up, the 3rds let their heads drop. With the 4th team applying constant pressure and utilising every mistake that the 3rd team made, they managed to increase their goal difference. In the second half the 3rd team managed to refocus, with Ellie Rutter moving well in centre court and they pulled back but still couldn’t manage to catch up with the losses they had made earlier.

Pies produce pukka debut performance Men’s Ultimate Newcastle 1sts

15

York St John 1sts

0

By James Sproston at Cochrane Park In their first ever BUCS league fixture, the Newcastle Pies didn’t disappoint with a 15-0 drumming of an inexperienced York St Johns side. York had the great honour of the first pull of the season, but it was largely under whelming.

Newcastle capitalised on the turnover, with Andrew Macgill sending a neat break-throw into the end zone for shinsplinted Jake Hawkyard to catch unopposed.

Shortly after, the Pies doubled their lead as Max Vasey comfortably reached an Eric Mussell Webber lofted pass. The following Newcastle point was contested between two players, as both Charlie Huins and George Perry latched onto a superb throw from the captain.

Keen to still play the beautiful game, the Pies worked the disc brilliantly to score a point after a 9-pass move. Once Macgill worked hard to intercept a misguided pass, the team worked their way up field with the final cutting pass being delivered by also-shin-splinted Will Mulvaney to the onrushing Perry.

Another Newcastle turnover was followed by eleven passes, with a long Vasey throw being exquisitely converted

by Huins’ lunging layout catch, reminiscent of Saracens’ swallow-diving winger

The ultimate start: Newcastle’s Pies enjoyed a dream debut Image: Katie Ackerley Chris Ashton.

Pulling masters Huins and Mussell Webber continued to push the team up the pitch, with Macgill once again setting up Hawkyard for yet another point.

At this point, Pies’ cutter Elgan Jones rocked up like today’s match was the Brits. His fashionably late introduction coincided with a Hawkyard turnover that resulted in the big Welshman having a great chance to extend the team’s lead.

combined moments after the restart, with Mussell Webber yet again feeding Hawkyard to further extend the team’s lead.

As the teams headed over to the touchline for half-time, the score stood at 8-0. The Pies team-talk was relatively simple, with the Captain Eric prompting the team to try out some training ground routines, such as the hexagonal offensive play; the ‘Bucket’.

Andrew Macgill got the second half

Instead the York defence was good enough to cut out Vasey’s pass. However the momentum that the Pies carried continued minutes later, with the captain setting up Hawkyard for yet another grab in the end zone after a Nathan Rudge interception. The same two

underway, almost immediately leading to a point, but Mussell Webber couldn’t quite reach the final pass of the move.

During a lull in the game, hardcore Ultimate fans Harri Saunders and Brad Metcalfe turned up to cheer on the Pies in action. This support spurred on the

“The match was comparable to an in-form Frankel racing an asthmatic three-legged donkey”

boys to score yet again, this time Perry latching on to the end of another Mussell Webber throw.

Rather than one of the regular handlers, Mulvaney attempted to get the game back underway; but his pulling power clearly paled in comparison to that of Huins or Mussell Webber as the disc was sent plummeting into the ground. Nevertheless a LeBron-esque block from Macgill was the catalyst for another majestically crafted team point.

Three substitutions, a “delicious” Huins pull and two chances for Jones and Vasey later, Newcastle finally scored their 12th point of the match when some hard graft from Ed Gemmill allowed captain and key-handler Mussell Webber to clinically throw to Vasey.

After an unusually poor pull from Huins, York had their first real chance of the match, but the throw was too long. The Pies responded by stringing

together ten passes, the last of which from Rudge finding Big Canadian Joel in the end zone.

Although York St Johns star Yu Tung Wong was close to adding a consolation point, the match was comparable to an in-form Frankel racing an asthmatic three-legged donkey. Macgill once again intercepted a York pass and then played a nifty one-two with Mussell Webber to score the penultimate point of the afternoon.

By this point the captain had began to take liberties, as the self-professed king of banter faked a pull as the whole team ran down the pitch. His actual throw was high and “floaty”, allowing the team to close down the opposition with plenty of time. Sure enough possession was swiftly turned over and Perry sent the disc over to Macgill for his second and the team’s fifteenth and final point of the game.

Sport

www.thecourieronline.co.uk Monday 9 November 2015 Issue 1319 Free

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RUGBY WORLD CUP TALES P.43

Sports Editors: Alex Hendley, Calum Wilson and Lewis Bedford courier.sport@ncl.ac.uk Twitter: @Courier_Sport | Instagram: thecouriersport

RETIRING: HIGHS ANDS LOWS P.44

DOMINANT TEAM DEBATE P.45

Knights put Hallam to the sword Men’s Basketball Newcastle 1sts

80

Sheffield Hallam 1sts

65

By Gabriel Pennington at Sports Centre On the eve of Bonfire Night, the Newcastle men’s Basketball side aimed to put on a sparkling performance at the Sports Centre to extend their lead in the BUCS Division 1 North. After watching a hard fought 51-49 victory by the 2s against Leeds Met, the firsts sought to maintain their unbeaten status for the year.

The match was set to decide the top spot nearing the half way point of the season, with Sheffield Hallam aiming to steal it from Team Newcastle, after starting the season with a loss and 2 wins. But it wasn’t to be for Yorkshire men, as Coach Ian Hewitt’s Newcastle side continued their winning streak, taking the victory 80-65.

“I thought it was excellent to get the win. We didn’t play great in the last 15 minutes, but Sheffield Hallam had a number of British Basketball League players. We knew they’d play tough,” said Hewitt after the victory.

The match began at a frenzied pace, with Sheffield getting the first points on the board after the tip-off. But Nathan Ensz, the 6”8 American recruit born in Kansas, was commanding from the beginning, orchestrating play and guiding Uni into an early lead. Newcastle soon began to settle in, and held on to the lead with the aid of Robbie Lemons, ex Stanford player, drawing a foul and nailing the free throw.

After 8 minutes, the Geordie side led by 10. The Sheffield squad tried to make the game as physical as possible early on. Their tactics appeared to be working towards the end of the first quarter, scoring 9 unanswered points before time was called.

The first period proved to be extremely tight-fought, but the second quarter told a completely different story.

Straight from the whistle, forward Tayo Oyefusi took over the game. After help-

Newcastle’s ballers extended their lead at the top of the league Image: Gabe Pennington separate the two sides. Fighting hard in the first period appeared to take it out of the away team, as the Sheffield side failed to keep up with the class of their opponents.

With well over 6 minutes to go until the half, Team Newcastle held a lead of 16, but tightened their grip on the match before the referees blew for the break. Ensz and Wallrapp were ruthless, they worked together methodically to extend the lead to 45-22, and worked equally as hard in defence to hold the Yorkshire side to only 9 points in the second stanza.

“Nathan Ensz, the 6”8 American recruit born in Kansas, was commanding from the beginning, orchestrating play and guiding Uni into an early lead” ing the team to a Division Four North and National Shield title last year, Hallam couldn’t get anywhere near Oyefusi during the 2nd quarter.

Alongside Charlie Wallrapp, the ex-Benedictine Ravens star, the pair dropped a number of 3 pointers to

While the Sheffield coach tried his utmost to rally his troops during the break, the second half began exactly as the first ended. Newcastle came out composed, looking to extend their lead and put the game out of Sheffield’s reach.

Hallam repeatedly fouled, which was

the only way of slowing the Geordies down. They couldn’t cope with Newcastle’s attacking prowess for much of the third quarter. The Sheffield coach’s frustration was evident to all present, most notably during a brief sideline spat with the two match referees.

On the Home bench, Coach Ian Hewitt insisted the Uni side remained grounded, and ignored the constant fouls committed by the away side. Sheffield struggled to maintain control, and trailed 60-31 going into the final period of the match. However, the 4th quarter didn’t go exactly to plan. The Sheffield side came out firing hitting several 3 pointers straight from the off.

An enormous slam-dunk by the number 15 Oyefusi put the home side ahead by 24, but several fouls allowed Sheffield back into the battle. With only 4 minutes to go, Hallam trailed by only 16, and the pace of the match picked up significantly. A timeout called by the Newcastle sideline relaxed the home team, and two Wallrapp free throws with 20 seconds to go sealed the Newcastle win 80-65.

Coach Hewitt was impressed with the majority of the display, but recognised the need to improve their fourth quarter play. “Luckily we built up that cushion, so I wasn’t worried in terms of the result, but I was concerned in terms of the performance. That’s not something

tance of the win. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, Hallam just came down from the Premiers’ last season.

We wanted to keep our momentum going, we came out really fast and wanted to make sure we executed out defensive plan.”

“We’re just going to keep playing hard. We came up good against every team we faced so far and hope to keep going” we want to do again. I think we’re able to play a lot better than that for the full forty minutes.”

Hewitt highlighted two key areas of improvement for the side to help achieve their aims for the rest of the season. “Mental focus is the first thing, making sure we don’t switch off. Also, we could defend ball screens a little better, keeping guys out of the paint that want to get in the paint. We don’t want to lose a game. We want to win everything: the trophy, the playoffs, the league.”

In spite of the difficulties towards the end, Oyefusi emphasised the impor-

“We definitely didn’t do as well in the second half, but the most important thing is that we managed to come out with the result. I do think we gave away too many fouls, but we know what each one of us can do on the defensive end.

When we trust in each other, we play strong defence.”

“We’re just going to keep playing hard. There’s one more game until the midway point of the season. We came up good against every team we faced so far, and hope to keep that going.”

The Knights travel to Teeside next, in what will be 1st vs 2nd in Northern 1A so a hotly fought encounter is expected.