The Courier 1197

Page 11

THE COURIER Monday 2 November 2009

11

COMMENT

0RUDOV DQ\RQH" James Stubbs Columnist

$ VWUDZSHGR RI À QH ZLQH Nick Kershaw

This is not a sandwich. 1R LW¡V QRW 1RW UHDOO\ <HV LW¡V WZR SLHFHV RI EUHDG ZLWK D tasty vegetable and/or meat Ă€ OOLQJ EXW LW¡V QRW D VDQGZLFK sandwich. As I look into the mirror contemplating the correct wording for my lunch I am reminded of a similarly bizarre conversation that was watched the world over a few weeks ago when Whoopi Goldberg appeared on an American talk show, claiming that the director Roman 3RODQVNL¡V FRQIHVVHG VH[ ZLWK D drugged and drunk 13 year old JLUO ZDVQ¡W ÂśUDSH UDSH¡ Hmmm, it must just have been a little bit of rape then. Whatever :KRRSL¡V YLHZ RQ ZKDW GRHV RU GRHVQ¡W FRQVWLWXWH D IXOO DPRXQW RI ÂśUDSH¡ LQ WKLV FDVH JLYLQJ D very young girl Quaaludes and champagne and then sodomisLQJ KHU WKHUH LV GHĂ€ QLWHO\ VRPH RQH LQ WKH ZURQJ KHUH DQG LW¡V not the girl. This is an example of a fairly clear-cut instance of the R word, even if various acclaimed actors and directors insist that, EHFDXVH RI 3RODQVNL¡V DELOLWLHV behind a camera, he is not accountable for his actions. ,W¡V REYLRXV %XW IDU IURP WKH highs and lows of Hollywood, in the life of a humble student, things are not always so black and white, especially when the ingestion of alcohol and tranquilisers, by both sexes, is in full swing. ,¡P QRW WDONLQJ DERXW VRPHRQH spiking a drink and then pouncLQJ RQ LWV XQZLWWLQJ GULQNHU WKDW¡V UDSH There are times, however, when the line is blurred. I know of a guy who, after having kissed a girl he knew in a club one night, went home with his friends thinking nothing more of it. Later, after she sent him a text saying to come over, he did just that, and they ended up in bed. Her housemate, hearing the two together, arrived on the scene, reminding her that she had a boyfriend- at this point unknown by the now frustrated, but apologetic, young man. He went home. And a few days later, heard from friends that the girl had told her housemate he had taken advantage of KHU HYHQ WKRXJK VKH KDG LQYLW ed him over at 3am, hardly, in his mind, for tea and biscuits. He went over, but made no attempts to make her do anything against her will. 7KH\ ZHUH ERWK SUHWW\ GUXQN after all that was how they had come to be in this situation in WKH Ă€ UVW SODFH LW¡V QRW DQ XQFRP mon situation among students, but regardless, rather than admit the truth, she made a quick decision to lie and save face in front of her friend, thinking little of the harm it might cause. 7KLV FUHDWHV SUREOHPV DV FDVHV like this will always undermine real occurrences that go untold all the time, and I in no way mean to do that. So when do fun drunken fumblings turn into something much more sinister? 7KDW¡V HDV\ WR DQVZHU VLQFH as sure as a sandwich is a sandwich, rape is rape. You just have to watch out for the Polanskis and those who cry wolf.

The Master Distiller at Vladivar Vodka describes the taste of their drink as “breathtaking coolness with the subtle nuances of spearmint which lingers long in the PRXWK Âľ $UH WKHVH WKH Ă DYRXUV ZH delighted in last time we took a shot of this popular vodka? Firstly, we probably did not specify which brand of vodka we desired. Then, I expect, most of us either knocked it back as quickly as is humanly possible, or else we blended LW ZLWK VRPH VWURQJ Ă DYRXUHG PL[HU – most likely some cheap variant of Red Bull. Yet, producing our favourite drinks is a long, detailed and incredibly precise process designed to draw RXW VXEWOH Ă DYRXUV WR EH VDYRXUHG and enjoyed by the drinker. Alcohol has become a substance consumed only for the effect it gives us rather than something to take pleasure in drinking. How many more lives will be lost before we decide to change the way we drink? Britain stands as a lighthouse warning all other countries away from the vicious and unforgiving rocks of extreme alcohol consumption. I am not one to praise the French without good reason but I am in such admiration for the way they love every sip of wine. Wine is a brilliant example of a drink that has the most engrossing RI Ă DYRXUV HDFK PRXWKIXO FDQ EH

enjoyed and different varieties of grape can be chosen to complement any meal. The French have got their attitudes to alcohol just right. The Ă DYRXU HYHQ WKH VPHOO RI D GULQN can be enjoyed without having to devour dangerous quantities.

The British brought tea, cricket and Shakespeare to the world and yet all we seem capable of exporting today is how to strawpedo I went on a fantastic college trip to Brussels where we had a lot of fun as we drank our way around various bars, knocking back huge quantities of tequila, lemon and salt. The result of our careless drinking was, predictably, rather messy. This was in stark contrast to the UHVW RI WKH FLW\ 6LOHQFH À OOHG WKH streets of Brussels at 2am, except for the loud and obnoxious shouting of 25 British students. Is this really how British people want to be seen? Drunken louts who cannot stop themselves from urinating and vomiting their way around a beautiful city! Last year, I escorted a friend to hospital after one too many drinks had rendered him little more than a dribbling mess. Through the long night waiting to be seen by the docWRU , REVHUYHG D ZDLWLQJ URRP À OOHG

largely with bloodied and broken people, struggling to comprehend where they were or why they should have found themselves there. The amount of injuries caused by excessive and unrelenting drinking is extraordinary. The same can be said of the arrests that are made each week in citLHV DFURVV WKH FRXQWU\ GXH WR Ă€ JKWV that would never have started had the culprits been sober. Perhaps the most painful side-effects of the binge culture are the destructions of friendships due to things said or done whilst inebriated. The line between having a drink to be sociable and potentially destroying our own lives is thinner than we wish to admit. My father has always told me that “if you cannot taste what you are drinking, it is time to stop drinking it.â€? I may only be 21 but I have come to fully agree with this maxim. Heavy drinking is common across the whole spectrum of social groups, but university sports teams really take drinking to an extreme. There is a huge pressure to get incredibly drunk and you are told it is all in aid of team bonding. The team that GULQNV WRJHWKHU ZLQV WRJHWKHU ,¡P not sure Fabio Capello would agree with that idea. Drinking has crossed over from being a form of entertainment to being a cultural necessity for meeting people: sports teams insist we all do an initiation before we can be fully DFFHSWHG DV D PHPEHU RI WKHLU FOXE

birthdays have become an astonishingly repetitive routine of drinking JDPHV IROORZHG E\ D QLJKW LQ D FOXE visit a friend and they will insist on taking you for a night out. Spend a few minutes looking at Facebook and it is clear that every picture is of yet another person, in yet another bar pulling a silly face or D ÂśVH[\¡ SRXW DW WKH FDPHUD ,V WKLV DOO we, the British, do for pleasure? We brought tea, cricket and Shakespeare to the world, not to mention D IHZ Ă€ QH DOHV ² DQG \HW DOO ZH VHHP capable of exporting today is how to ÂśVWUDZSHGR¡ The worrying thing about this cultural transition is that all of us know LW¡V D EDG WKLQJ ZH NQRZ ZH VKRXOG slow down our drinking, yet we still continue to sprint towards the hedonistic, character-altering joy of alcohol. I recently spent time with students in Dublin whose alcohol consumption was restricted by prohibitive costs. A higher tax on drink would not only force a change in our attitudes but it would also help to cover the astronomical policing and healthcare costs that our alcohol imbued society burdens the treasury with. Perhaps raising the price of vodka might just be the encouragement we all need to learn to appreciate the ZRUN RI 9ODGLYDU¡V ORQJ VXIIHULQJ Master Distiller.

%RQXVHV DUH EDFN LQ WRZQ Oliver Savory 7KH HFRQRP\ LVQ¡W GRLQJ WKDW ZHOO DW WKH PRPHQW 8QOHVV \RX¡YH OLWHUDOO\ been locked in a cellar in Austria, WKDW Ă€ UVW VHQWHQFH ZRQ¡W KDYH FRPH as much of a shock. As the more media savvy of you may have noticed, last week it was revealed that ZH¡UH FXUUHQWO\ LQ WKH ORQJHVW %ULWLVK recession since records began. As you probably remember, we Ă€ UVW UHDOLVHG WKHUH ZDV WURXEOH around this time two years ago. The collapse of Northern Rock brought our fair city into the headlines for all the wrong reasons. A year later, four more UK banks had been at least part nationalised. While I ZRQ¡W JR LQWR WKH VSHFLĂ€ F UHDVRQV IRU WKH ÂśFUHGLW FUXQFK¡ LW¡V IDLU WR VD\ WKLV ZDV D FULVLV FDXVHG E\ WKH Ă€ QDQ cial industry. It almost seemed that some good would come out of the recession though. There was talk from across the political spectrum, across the world, of the need for greater reguODWLRQ RI WKH Ă€ QDQFLDO LQGXVWU\ 7KH obscene bonuses given out by the City were slated across the press.

The general consensus was that by WKH HQG RI LW WKH Ă€ QDQFLDO ZRUOG would be vastly different. A new Bretton Woods. %XW KHUH ZH DUH D \HDU RQ DJDLQ WKH UHFHVVLRQ LV VWLOO ZLWK XV DQG LW¡V the usual suspects who are suffering most from the bankers indiscreWLRQV 5DWKHU WKDQ WKH ÂśPLGGOH FODVV¡ UHFHVVLRQ ZH ZHUH ZDUQHG RI LW¡V the working class who are hit yet again. But the biggest losers in this recession are young people. Statistically, the under 24s have EHHQ KLW VLJQLĂ€ FDQWO\ PRUH E\ MRE losses than any other demographic. There are almost one million 16-24 \HDU ROGV ZKR FDQ¡W Ă€ QG ZRUN WKDW¡V 1 in 5. Last year there were 10 applicants for every graduate job on offer. So ZKHQ \RX¡UH VLWWLQJ LQ \RXU QH[W OHF WXUH ORRN DURXQG DVVXPLQJ WKHUH¡V around 100 people in there, only 10 of them will get a job that requires you to have a degree. This is after we were told that top-up fees were only fair because graduates would earn so much more than regular folk. This is on the backdrop of rising student debt. Both main political

parties are pretty set on the idea of a university fee increase. If the Conservatives get into power next \HDU OHW¡V IDFH LW WKH\ SUREDEO\ ZLOO fees will almost certainly increase to around ÂŁ7,000 a year. So what are the government doing to help the next generation of taxpayers who are going to be payLQJ IRU WKH FXUUHQW JHQHUDWLRQ¡V PLV takes? Ed Balls, the current Schools Secretary, outlined the other week his plan to make a ÂŁ2 billion cut in the education budget. Thanks Ed! +H GRHVQ¡W PHQWLRQ WKH IDFW WKDW ZH need to make these cuts because we pumped obscene amounts of money into the banking industry only to see it pissed away on bonuses. In my opinion, the fact that Goldman Sachs has gone back to paying huge bonuses to its top echelons stinks of EDG WDVWH DV WKHLU FRXQWU\¡V XQHP ployment rate continues to rise. 7KH\ GRQ¡W VHHP WR VHH WKH SURE OHP WKRXJK /RUG *ULIĂ€ WKV YLFH chancellor of Goldman Sachs, told us last week that we must: “tolerate inequality as a way to better prosperity for all.â€? Call me naĂŻve, and ,¡OO KDSSLO\ DGPLW WKDW ,¡P QR HFRQR mist, but how exactly does strug-

JOLQJ WR Ă€ QG D MRE PDNH PH EHWWHU off? This comment shows just how out RI WRXFK WKRVH DW WKH WRS DUH ,W¡V no secret that inequality is at an alltime high. To cling to this far-right ideology at such a time is absurd. <RX GRQ¡W QHHG WR EH D 0DU[LVW WR see that there is something wrong with a system that lets a small minority of people lose a lot of money DQG WKHQ LW¡V WKH YDVW PDMRULW\ ZKR end up paying through their taxes or their job. 0\ DUJXPHQW LVQ¡W WKDW ZH KDYH to completely get rid of the bankLQJ V\VWHP DOWKRXJK VRPH VHULRXV UHIRUPV ZRXOGQ¡W JR DPLVV EXW , would like the government to acNQRZOHGJH WKDW LW¡V WKRVH ZKR KDYH the least to do with the whole mess who need help. Instead our generation, and the next, are going to end up paying through our teeth to combat the debt this current generation racked up. ,W¡V DERXW WLPH WKH *RYHUQPHQW stopped rewarding the people who caused the crisis, and guaranteeLQJ WKHLU MRE VHFXULW\ , GRQ¡W WKLQN LW¡V XQIDLU WR VD\ RXU *RYHUQPHQW should be helping us as well.

Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.