InQuire 8.4

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Issue 8.4

28th September 2012

exposing the royal boob

mark thomas speaks to us it’s the new age of cinema

student media takeover

comment - page 7

iq entertainment - page 17

iq features - pages 12

iq culture - page 21

kent union announces #buildingup

Photo by Vijay Dubb EACH year Kent Union sets its priority campaign for improving the student experience at UKC. This year, InQuire is happy to encourage you to support Building Up. Union President Tom Ritchie has this to say: “The campaign defines the direction that the students want Kent Union to move in over that year. Whether a parttime officer, course rep, sabbatical or member of a sports club or society, the priority campaign must be something that everyone can buy into and support.

After a summer of analysing the student satisfaction survey, and looking at the top issue students want changed, the sabbatical team and Kent Union is proud to announce its priority campaign

for 2012/2013.

This campaign is focused around getting a new, centralised Union building akin to that at Christ Church and other student unions around the country.

Part of the decision came in response to students asking why they could not: • Easily access a space for their society, or sports club to meet.

• Have a dedicated space to store their equipment to allow them to do their activity.

• Have access to a focal point on campus, as at other unions where they could engage with the student union.

• Have the best possible opportunity to develop their skills through extra-curricular activity while

at the University of Kent.

We are really excited about this campaign and the feedback so far has been unbelievably positive with hundreds of students giving us their ideas about how this building can work for them.

The new building also presents an amazing opportunity to put student development and graduate employability at the top of the agenda, so that all students can use the facilities to improve their skills while at university. This is the biggest issue facing students who graduate from university.

This is obviously a major project for both us and the university that will cost millions of pounds to achieve. This is why

we chose it as the priority campaign, that every student can get behind. For too long students have done so much good with so few great facilities. Winning this campaign would mean our students would be able to develop everything they do into something great!

However, to win this campaign all students will need to be involved, regardless of their interests. Each and every student can make the change that will lead to the success of this development. So this is a call to all students to campaign, talk and generally get involved.”

You can speak to Ritchie at unionpresident@kent.ac.uk or you can follow @KUBuildingUp on twitter.

2

News Editor’s Note

Hey! So, you’ve just finished your first proper week at Kent. Congratulations! We hope you’re having a good time here and are nice and settled in by now.

If you’ve just flicked straight to the inside of the paper then I urge you to just take a gander at the front page and read all about the Union’s new campaign, Building Up. The aim is to get a new Union building for you all so you have somewhere to chillax, so please, we beseech you, get involved!

Do something wacky to prove to the bosses how much we need this building and then drop us an email and some pictures please!

Pamela. www.facebook.com/InQuireMedia

2012/2013 Editorial contacts: Rex Ejimonyeabala Chairman chairman@inquiremedia.co.uk Pamela Head - Editor newspaper.editor@inquiremedia. co.uk Chandni Makhecha - IQ Editor iq.editor@inquiremedia.co.uk Nina Collins - Website Editor website.editor@inquiremedia.co.uk Matt Gilley - News newspaper.news@inquiremedia. co.uk Jamie Ovens - Comment newspaper.comment@inquiremedia.co.uk Natalie Tipping - IQ Features newspaper.features@inquiremedia. co.uk Harriet Cash - IQ Culture newspaper.culture@inquiremedia. co.uk Chad Greggor IQ Entertainment newspaper.entertainment@inquiremedia.co.uk Alex Cassidy - Sports newspaper.sport@inquiremedia. co.uk Perpetual Brade - Website News website.news@inquiremedia.co.uk Amelia Guttridge - Website Comment website.comment@inquiremedia. co.uk Laura Ricchetti - Website IQ Features website.features@inquiremedia. co.uk Alice Bryant - Website IQ Entertainment website.entertainment@inquiremedia.co.uk George Hopkin- Website Sport website.sport@inquiremedia.co.uk

michael gove to scrap gcses

Chad Greggor Newspaper Entertainment Editor

EDUCATION secretary Michael Gove has set in motion the “biggest change to the secondary school examination system since the introduction of GCSEs in 1986”.

The scheme would replace GCSEs with the English Baccalaureate Certificate, cited as a “more rigorous qualification” with a single end of course exam, scrapping individual modules for subjects and introducing a single exam board for core subjects. This introduction will. Gove believes, mean an end to what he calls the “race to the bottom”, where competing boards create more business by making it easier to pass their papers.

Initially, the Ebacc, which is currently being put out to consultation, would only be rolled out for English, Maths and Sciences. They will later cover History, Geography and Languages, with suggestions of a consultation to determine how they might be extended for all subjects.

The announcement comes despite a recent outcry against the sharp increase of grade boundaries in this year’s GCSEs, which resulted in results dropping for the first time since GCSE introduction.

Shadow Education Secretary, Stephen Twigg, called the GCSE debacle a “fiasco,” while dismissing the EBacc’s as “out of date” and accusing the Toryled government of being “totally out of touch with modern Britain.”

While Gove maintains that the changes will modernise the exam system, saying that GCSEs were “for a different age and a different world," a Kent education expert has described the move as “an enormous step backwards”.

Peter Read argues that, “in this country, we’ve developed an exam culture rather than a learning culture”. The EBacc’s

are said to be based along the lines of the older O-levels, with more focus on exams.

Alongside the more rigorous standards, there will be an increase in the leaving age. Pupils that struggle with the new qualification will be able to complete the exams at ages 17 or 18.

Michael Gove acknowledged the argument that “more rigorous qualifications in these subjects, [may] lead to more students failing”, but called this view “fatalist”, maligning it as a stance where the pupils’ “distribution of abilities were so fixed, that great teaching could do little to change them”.

Peter Read has argued that “While GCSEs do have faults, one of the good things about them is they encourage children of all abilities to achieve success and that is important rather than moving to a culture where we fail”.

The changes will be put in place from September 2015, after the general election in May of that year, which would allow any non-Conservative government to scrap the plans before they come into effect.

The first round of EBacc exams would then appear in 2017 for English, Maths and Sciences if the proposals are carried out.

ofcom rules sky ‘fit and proper’

Marvin Tulley

AN Ofcom investigation prompted by the phone hacking scandal has concluded that BskyB is a “fit and proper” organisation to hold a broadcasting license. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp owns 39% of BskyB. The investigation criticised James Murdoch, BskyB’s former chairman, saying that he “repeatedly fell short” of his expected duties at his father’s company and that he failed to “initiate action on his own account on a number of occasions”. They did, however, conclude that there was no evidence that he “deliberately engaged in any wrongdoing”.

BskyB welcomed the decision: “Ofcom is right to conclude that Sky is a fit and proper broadcaster. As a company, we are committed to high standards of

governance and we take our regulatory obligations extremely seriously."

Ofcom said they might review the issue “should further evidence become available”.

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News 3

university revises chaucer fields plan

Matt Gilley Newspaper News Editor

THE University of Kent has revised its proposals for new student accommodation and a conference centre on Chaucer Fields.

The new plans put the 762 room student accommodation north of University Road, whilst the conference centre remains on Chaucer Fields within existing hedge boundaries and is expanded to include a 300 bed hotel, up from 150. The proposals were presented at public exhibitions on 22nd and 24th September.

Members of the public – many from the area directly below Chaucer Fields including St Michael’s Road and Harkness Drive – who attended the 22nd September exhibition were pleased that the student accommodation had been moved to its new location, although there were some concerns that it might dominate residential houses on Giles Lane. There were still many objections to the conference centre being built on one of the fields.

Residents are worried about the loss of the fields as a recreational area.

Ursula Harris, of Harkness Drive, said: “it’s a very good area for students and residents to mix together” and for her three young children to play in. “It would be unfortunate for us to lose that forever”, she said. She raised concerns that building on one part of the fields would set a precedent for building on the others.

David Smith, chairman of the Save Chaucer Fields campaign, gathering a lot of support, cited a number of City Council initiatives relating to the area.

The ‘Areas of High Landscape Value’ policy, put under review in 2009, states that no development should cause “unacceptable harm” to the landscape around Canterbury. Policy BE10 of the Council’s Local Plan also seeks the preservation and enhancement of “historic landscapes.”

David Morley, the firm of architects contracted for the development, say they have addressed these concerns by having the conference centre of such a height that the view from University Road at the top of the fields is unobstructed.

In the revised plans existing hedgerow boundaries are maintained, which partly preserves the landscape and addresses some of the environmental issues raised of the previous proposal.

Other of those concerns remain. In their objection to the original 2011 planning application, Kent Wildlife Trust said the University was not doing enough to “enhance the biodiversity of the area” alongside the development. The Council’s Conservation and Countryside team identified a number of animals that might have been disturbed by the first proposal.

UKC’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Keith Mander, said they would reconsider other sites now that the

dover cliffs appeal raises £1million Harriet Cash Newspaper Culture Editor A National Trust appeal to buy a stretch of the white cliffs around Dover has raised £1million from public donations in under 100 days. Another £200,000 is now needed to purchase the land.

The Trust already owns a stretch around four miles long to the east of Dover, but the money raised will allow it to create a five mile reserve.

The land is between other areas owned by the Trust – the Visitor Centre at Langdon Cliffs and the South Foreland Lighthouse at St Margaret’s – and a spokesman said the purchase will “complete the missing part of the jigsaw”.

Ownership by the charity means public right of way will be preserved, nature protected and building prevented.

The campaign was launched when a private landowner decided to sell the area, and has garnered support from celebrities such as Ian Hislop and Paul O’Grady.

An online tool has allowed people who donate to carve their names on a ‘virtual cliff’ and include a message of support.

Over 12,000 people have contributed so far.

Historian Dan Snow filmed an appeal for support, saying “For me it’s simple.

The White Cliffs of Dover are one of this country’s greatest and most iconic landmarks”.

development had been split in two, but maintained that Chaucer Fields is the best option. Ease of access to roads and services is a particular advantage.

Professor Mander said there was a “huge demand” for a conference centre in the area and any risks would be mitigated by the changing “dynamic” of students. The rooms could be occupied by academics and students here for the short term. Smith did question the centres commercial viability, saying it would “suck local business” out of Canterbury hotels, taking occupancy down to 46%.

The new student accommodation would include 278 town houses, on the same model as the recently opened Keynes town houses, with the remaining properties being cluster flats, most of which will be the same size as the larger Keynes extension bedrooms, with ensuite and double beds as standard. There will also be 126 larger rooms, reflecting

demand from students. The more expensive, en-suite rooms in Keynes have 2.7 applicants per room and more than 1500 people a year apply for Tyler Courts B and C, which house 339.

Simon Westerman, the University’s Director of Commercial Services, says that these rooms are necessary to allow the university to house all of its new undergraduates and those new postgraduates that want accommodation on campus, which it has been unable to do this year and for the previous four years.

The university hopes to submit their new planning application in mid-late October. The Save Chaucer Fields campaign has also applied for the land to be designated a village green.

If successful this would block the university’s development. A public inquiry on this is expected in March 2013.

Photograph by Matt Gilley

suspect trafficker used ‘witchcraft’ Kuba Shand-Baptiste OSEZUA Elvis Osolase, a resident of Kent, has been charged with rape, human trafficking, sexual activity with a child and false imprisonment.

The court heard that the 42 year old met some of his victims in various locations across Nigeria where he would use socalled “witchcraft” in a bid to enforce power over the young girls, leading them to believe that they were cursed and needed to comply with his demands in order to survive.

Some of his most recent supposed victims are three teenage girls aged 14, 16 and 17 – originally from the same country – who were allegedly detained,

sexually abused and made to engage in ritualistic activities (such as drinking liquids presumed to be blood) before being prepared to be sent to Italy, where a life of involuntary prostitution would await them.

The issue of “witchcraft”, which can be a catalyst for abuse and various other forms of mistreatment, is a growing concern in Africa.

Unicef reports from 2008 and 2010 highlight problems of children being accused of “witchcraft” but there are adult victims as well and in some areas the superstition is more widespread.

The trial has been taking place at Canterbury Crown Court and will continue for eight weeks.

4

News

nick clegg apologises for breaking fees pledge

Matt Rayner

DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg and other senior Liberal Democrats have apologised for breaking their preelection pledge to oppose increasing tuition fees. The pledge, made to the National Union of Students (NUS), was one of the party’s key election promises.

In a party political broadcast, Clegg said: “We made a pledge, we did not stick to it, and for that I am sorry." Business Secretary Vince Cable and Education Minister David Laws joined their leader in his apology. Cable said: “It was an unwise commitment to have made and we regret that,” while Laws accepted that all Lib Dem MPs bear a “collective responsibility” for the broken promise.

Clegg continued: "I shouldn't have committed to a policy that was so expensive when there was no money around. Not least when the most likely way we would end up in government was in coalition with Labour or the Conservatives who were both committed to put fees up."

91% of voters in a Guardian poll on 20th September were “not convinced” by his apology and he acknowledged in

the broadcast that it "won't be enough for everyone.”

Although he apologised for making the pledge not to increase tuition fees, Clegg did not apologise for nearly tripling them to the current £9,000 limit.

Liam Burns, NUS President, said that “The Liberal Democrats’ commitment at the 2010 election was to abolish fees, a policy they’ve had for a decade. It’s what they said on the doorstep and in their leaflets, and every one of their MPs signed a pledge to back it up. It’s why many students and young people voted for the party.”

Alex Murray, Kent Union VicePresident for Education, said “an apology for a pledge is simply insufficient two years into a political term plagued by damaging cuts and changes being made to the sector. If he was truly sorry I would expect him to do all he can to reverse these, rather than trying to save his own political career in time for 2015.”

One Twitter user, Julia Hartley-Brewer, compared the Deputy Prime Minister to a disingenuous husband: “Nick Clegg's apology for breaking tuition fees pledge is like a husband saying ‘sorry for my affair, next time I won't vow to be

faithful’.”

The apology comes just days before the Liberal Democrat conference, where Clegg’s leadership is likely to be under scrutiny from both within his party and from voters outside of it.

An auto-tuned, musical spoof of the

apology became an immediate online hit. On the BBC’s Andrew Marr show Clegg was made to watch the video and said it was “very catchy.” Money raised from the sale of the song on iTunes will go to the Sheffield Children’s Hospital in Clegg’s constituency.

apple loses its way with map app london met students defended Rebecca Barrett APPLE’S new map app for iOS6 – their latest operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch – has come under fire from users.

Reported inaccuracies include missing towns, towns appearing in the wrong location, satellite images obscured by cloud (particularly in Scotland), a museum placed in a river and a train station was shown to be in the ocean.

Moving away from Google Maps, Apple used data from TomTom to create their system.

The company had also planned to incorporate their work on apps for local transport into their mapping software.

The new app is pre-installed on iOS6 and no Google Maps app is available to Apple users, although it can still be used via the internet.

Apple have since apologised for the app’s

problems, saying that it will “improve.”

Trudy Mueller, a spokesperson for Apple, said: “we are continuously improving it, and as Maps is a cloud-based solution, the more people use it, the better it will get... We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better.”

TomTom tried to deflect any blame, saying that they only gave a “foundation” service and were not responsible for how the app worked, but would be happy to supply developers to Apple to help with the problems.

Over a thousand people queued at Apple’s Regent Street store for the iPhone 5 launch. These included Ryan Williams and Pete King from Kent, who camped out for a week to raise money for Cancer Research by aiming to be some of the first people to own an iPhone 5. They sold the phone in an online auction for £1,070.

Pamela Head Newspaper Editor THE UK Border Agency (UKBA) have guaranteed protection for international students of the London Metropolitan University (LMU) with full immigration status and who are already in the UK, enabling them to complete their course or study up to the end of the academic year 2012/2013, whichever is sooner.

The National Union of Students intervened as an independent third party in LMU’s legal challenge, giving evidence in support of the university. It believes the ruling has serious implications for the future of international students across the UK and those interested in coming to Britain to study.

Liam Burns, NUS President, said of the decision: “We are delighted that as a result of our third party intervention, interim relief has been granted by the High Court to current international students who have been unfairly affected

by UKBA’s decision.”

London Met has also won the right to challenge a ban on its recruitment of

overseas students.

They have been granted permission to apply for a full Judicial Review against the UKBA’s decision to revoke its status as Highly Trusted Sponsor of international students. This announcement comes after the UKBA served notices to all international students at London Met, ordering them to leave the UK within a period of 60 days.

It said that the university was not making proper checks and had to address “serious failings” in its system.

Around 2,000 students were affected.

They were told that they had to find alternative courses at other universities or leave the UK entirely.

The University of Kent issued a statement expressing great sympathy for the students affected and suggested that they apply to Kent. It said: “We firmly believe that [international students] culturally enrich the institution, making the university a better place for all.”

Burns added: “The future for international students at London Met after July 2013 is still uncertain and we need clarity as soon as possible.”

Comment 5

are we still occupied by the 99%?

Chad Greggor Newspaper Entertainment Editor

AS the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy London protests came around, an attempt to rouse up a second large protest in New York heard protesters chanting: “We got sold out, banks got bailed out.” As the working day began, however, the momentum of the protest began to fizzle out.

The original protest started, in part, with a poster picturing a bull, straddled by a ballet dancer, raging in front of a rushing police force. Below it was some useful information: #OccupyWallStreet was the mission, 17th September was the date. The headline, however, still confounds me. It read simply: ‘What is our one demand?’

What is our one demand? The question may have been asked by the Wall Street Occupiers British counterparts in St. Paul’s churchyard, or even by the rioters who ransacked many parts of England for little more reason than a free gigantic bag of basmati rice. What is our demand?

A year later, the question still very much stands in its original complexity.

The problem with the Occupy movement, it seems, was much to do with a lack of direction. The Occupy Wall Street website attempts to answer the ‘one demand’ question with the simplest, and yet most confounding and ambiguous answer: “The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the

greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends...”

‘Achieve our ends’… okay, you’ve hit the nail on the head there. Leo Hollis of the New Statesman comes the closest in my opinion to explaining what the driving force behind the Occupy movement was: “The relationship between the Occupy movement and the city is intense […] Our cities have increasingly become places of conditional liberty [and] by taking land back – even for a few weeks – the Occupy movement has changed the way we encounter every part of the city, not just where the tents once stood.”

The protests were, in effect, a knee jerk reaction to a feeling of dispossession. In a world where our lives are veeringoff course by the mistakes of a few extortionately wealthy business men and bankers, what better way to protest than to take a piece of our country back, even for just a week.

But then there’s the question of the movement’s political stance.

Are we communists who want everyone to share everything? Are we anarchists who want the government demolished and everything to be run by the ubiquitous ‘us’? Are we nihilists who believe in nothing but the raw

power of Norwegian death metal? No, at least not all of us. It is a question that is impossible to answer because we are the 99%. We are so diverse and varied, and so large, that we struggle to find a common purpose and direction.

The Occupy protests of the 99% were, alas, nothing more than a symbol of our discontent. Nothing was achieved because there was nothing more to say other than ‘we’re pretty gosh-darn annoyed at the way the world works’. For those who did protest, however, perhaps the feeling of expressing this angst, while also taking back our cities, was enough.

celery tickles, hillsborough hurts

Poppy Howard

CHANTING at football matches has a long history: they’re one of the only examples of traditional folk song remaining in Britain. They’re used both to show support for the home team as well as to slight the opposition, potentially throwing them off their game so you can storm to victory. Put simply, everyone likes a good chant.

If you’re a Liverpool fan, you may have heard the ol’ “His name is Suarez, he wears the famous Red, I just can’t get enough, I just can’t get enough”. I’m willing to bet that when Suarez hears that being belted out, his confidence soars just that little bit more to know that the fans are behind him.

If you’re a Chelsea fan, you’ll be well aware of the celery ritual, where fans throw celery and sing a rude song along the lines of “Celery, celery, if she don’t come I’ll tickle her bum with a lump of celery”… Only with more verses and mild editing once alcohol has been consumed.

It’s traditional, has been done for over 20 years and, let’s face it, is just awesome.

Footballers are also given stick when they do something stupid, like John Terry’s affair. That provoked a rousing chorus of “Terry, wherever you may be, you will lose the captaincy, your children and your wife Toni, and all your sponsorship money”. He made a mistake, so he takes the flack from the fans.

What’s the problem with football chanting when it produces the wonderful image of fans tossing vegetables under the wheels of a bus and launching into song periodically?

Last week, the report into the Hillsborough disaster was released. It found that the deaths were caused by “a lack of police control”. Had police and ambulance services coordinated a better response, up to 41 of the 96 who perished may have survived. This issue is incredibly sad and should be treated respectfully.

So, to discover that a small group of Manchester United fans were allegedly chanting Hillsborough related songs during a recent game against Wigan is appalling.

United released a statement saying that they “deplored” the chants. As former Manchester United player Joe Jordan stated: “It’s not getting at the players, it’s getting at families. Neither they nor I can imagine the pain those people have gone through.” He is now calling for a ban for fans shouting bad taste chants.

To mock another team and distract them so your team wins is, well, not sporting but at least acceptable. To mock those who have lost their lives isn’t.

There’s a fine line between being tongue in cheek and being offensive. Chanting about Hillsborough doesn’t affect the players; it affects the Liverpool fans and family members. You’re not putting the team off, you’re upsetting innocent people who’ve already been through enough heartache.

We’re lucky to have freedom of speech in this country and when done right, chanting can be a spectacular feat of wit: something to behold as it rings around the stadium. Banning this would be a crime against rhyme, but allowing fans to unload a barage of tastelessly offensive rhetoric is disgusting and can never be justified.

6

Comment

should the us government be held responsible for the acts of its citizens?

Monifa Walters-Thompson Kent Debating Society

THE insulting American-made film, the Innocence of Muslims, has been referred to as the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of Western intervention and propaganda, having led to uproar in the Middle-East.

Some American camps argue that this film is a justifiable expression of free speech under the First Amendment, but the government has been criticised for allowing it to go too far.

Within America, freedom of the people is highly regarded. However, that can not override the importance of everything else. Once a film of arguably blasphemous nature has been made and distributed, people in highly religious nations may not stand idly by. Moreover, we don’t expect them to.

Being faced with offensive images like the prophet Muhammad portrayed as abusing children, womanising, and leading a band of murderous men, this could even be seen as hateful propaganda about their religion, so they should have a way to vent their issues.

We don’t know the names or organisations of those who wrote the film; we can’t find them and prosecute them; so we have no power to stop this hateful propaganda being distributed.

As citizens of another country, all we can do is complain, and where to? Who do we blame?

How about the government of the country that allowed this to happen?

The government that permitted its citizens to make offensive material and disperse it throughout the world with no attention to the consequences and the results.

Some have argued that as a result of this film, people have died. If true, America needs to take this kind of consequence seriously.

The government is there to regulate the acts of people within their state. That is what the law is for and the primary function of the government concerns the acts of its citizens. That’s why all prosecutors of criminal cases do so in the name of the government. It is partly their duty to hold citizens responsible for their crimes.

Other governments and people from other states look to the US to use the power it has been entrusted with.

If it does not act appropriately, then the finger of blame could be pointed at America for failing to censure this offensive act, and all the other acts of its citizens that it chooses not to prosecute.

Beth Eades Kent Debating Society

IN the past few weeks, there have been violent anti-America protests across the Middle-East and North Africa, stemming from images shown in an amateur made anti-Islamic film.

So far the entire film has not been published online, but trailers and clips have been. The clips that have been published are considered blasphemous

by Muslims and these protests have largely been organised by religious leaders.

In Yemen there were calls for the expulsion of the US ambassador, and throughout the Middle East US flags have been burnt and anti-US slogans shouted during protests.

How much of this can really be blamed on the US government? What has been seen of this film so far doesn’t actually break any US laws, and YouTube has blocked all clips in countries where the content is illegal, such as India, Indonesia, Libya and Egypt. Pakistan have also blocked access to YouTube over the trailer.

Legally then, there is no case against this film, whatever problems many may have with its content. Furthermore, assuming the full content of the film is not illegal in any way, blocking its publication would be an infringement of the right its makers have to freedom of speech and expression.

If they haven’t broken the laws of the country in which the film was made, then

there is nothing for the US government to take responsibility for.

The deaths in protests have not been caused by the film itself, but by the response to it. The film makers did not go out and kill people, other protesters inadvertently did – or perhaps intentionally, as in the case of 4 Americans, including US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, and US Marines at Camp Bastion.

As BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen noted, “most pious Muslims do agree that the film was insulting. Many don’t agree with violent protests.” Blaming the entire US government for the film would be like blaming every Muslim in these countries for the deaths in these protests – ridiculous.

what are the benefits of a freeze?

Laurie MacDonald

WITH the coalition parties at each other’s throats, deciding whether or not benefits should be frozen for two years, questions are being asked about whether the government’s austerity drive is disproportionately affecting the poor.

Despite Tory assurances that they’re no longer the party of the rich, this move seems contradictory. Will freezing benefits really help get people into work, or just make things even harder?

Chancellor George Osborne and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith think so, insisting that the current policy of increasing benefits in line with inflation rather than average wage increase encourages people to stay on benefits.

The evidence for this is that employment can sometimes only lead to a 10% rise in income over benefits, whereas under the new policy people in employment would be at least 35% better off.

Sounds good, right? Well it certainly

appeals to the Tory heartland, who lap up the right wing rhetoric of benefit scroungers being the cause of the current crisis in the government’s finances.

The reality is more complicated. The latest move by the Tories is part of a larger drive towards a further £10bn in welfare savings, part of the Coalition’s austerity program.

The Lib Dem half of the Coalition is nervous that these cuts will hit the poorest in society even harder than they already have been.

Having been brought up by a single parent in a poor household, I know what it’s like to rely on an income support boost. Freezing benefits will perhaps encourage a few jobseekers into work, but will also force thousands who do want to work but can’t find jobs into poverty. I believe this is the majority of jobseekers, especially those with children, who have already been hit by a fall in child benefit.

Nick Clegg’s counter proposal of a ‘wealth tax’ including a mansion tax

on homes worth over £2 million seems to be falling on deaf ears amongst the Tories, who traditionally appeal more to wealthier people. Not to mention Clegg’s proposals would more than likely hit most of the Cabinet directly, as well as the Tory donors.

Benefits being calculated by inflation makes sense. If the cost of commodities is rising, the level of state support for the most needy also needs to rise, or the government will create a class of families who can’t even feed their children let alone provide a stable and loving environment in which to bring up youngsters.

Welfare has already taken a beating from the cuts. The Coalition needs to look at alternative solutions to the deficit crisis.

Penalising the poor is a reactionary policy for the Conservatives; but if the Coalition seriously wants to solve this crisis, real changes need to be made in the fundamental economic systems of this country.

Comment 7

the royal boob Pamela Head Newspaper Editor

ANOTHER week, another naked Royal.

This time, it’s Kate Middleton under the spotlight as the French Closer magazine published topless pictures of her sunbathing for all to see. Was this acceptable, or a breach of privacy?

She was photographed at a private chateau from a public road 700 yards from the property. Photographers have argued that this was fine because they were in a public area and she should have been more careful.

Really? Kate and William have since taken the magazine to court and obtained an order banning further publication of the photos. She’s the future Queen of England, after all.

Comparing this to the case of Prince Harry, however, reveals a sense of inconsistency. Third in line to the throne and by no means an insignificant Royal, Harry was caught butt-naked in Las Vegas and the pictures were published

by The Sun – the only British paper to do so after being warned by the Royal family’s lawyers not to think about it.

“When 77% of the country can access the pictures online, we have a duty to those left out to allow them to take part in the national conversation” was their justification. Yet, this doesn’t appear to have been repeated as far as the lovely

Kate goes.

The outcry over the breach of privacy by publishing Kate’s photographs surely means that we’ve turned a corner? The press cannot be demonstrating blatant hypocrisy by having one rule for Prince Harry and another for the Duchess of Cambridge when they’re both Royal and both caught naked through poor security detail.

The similarities are overwhelming and yet the results are vastly different. So, does this now set a precedent for any celebrity having their privacy invaded?

Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, is only a six year old and yet her face appears in the tabloids on an almost daily basis. As a child with no say, she should be protected.

There are also countless examples of paparazzi following celebrities around just to get a picture of them looking a little less than perfect. Does this now count as invasion of privacy?

As magazines across the globe try to justify publishing the pictures, claiming that they are ‘decent’, the repercussions of the legal case the Royal couple are bringing to try and stop the press looks set to rumble on for far longer than our apparent interest in Kate Middleton’s assets. Should anyone be printing pictures without consent? No, but so long as privacy law allows them to, and there’s a market, it’ll happen.

SNEVO Image by Jamie Ovens, Newspaper Comment Editor

publicity stunt gone tattoo far Beth Withers

SINGER Chris Brown’s latest outrageous publicity stunt is one that has caused controversy on a whole new scale.

Making a scene on a US chat show is nothing when compared to tattooing what could be construed as an image of a beaten ex-girlfriend on your neck.

He has truly decided to challenge the phrase ‘all publicity is good publicity’.

Although he may be denying it, the resemblance between his new ink and the famous photo of a beaten Rihanna is undeniable.

As far as his claim that the tattoo is linked to a M.A.C Cosmetics campaign is concerned; admittedly yes, it does look like his tattoo. But the image on his neck looks far more like Rihanna than

Rihanna after an assault by Chris Brown.

that in the advert, and far more beaten.

The M.A.C. Campaign is clearly about makeup, red lipstick being the most stand out thing about the whole image.

The meaning behind the tattoo in question is unknown but Chris Brown would have known the response that his new ink would receive.

Another of Brown’s claims is that it takes inspiration from Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead Festival - one that I’m familiar with; the artwork surrounding it being very popular.

Sylvia Ji is one such artist, very skilled at translating the Day of the Dead onto the human form, and no one can accuse her of promoting domestic violence through her work.

As such, I stand by the statement that

what Chris Brown has tattooed on his neck is not a ‘Mexican Sugar Skull’.

There is slight decoration to the design but the signature dark circles around the eyes and blackened out nose are key features that have all been mysteriously missed out by Brown’s tattoo artist.

Even if it isn’t Rihanna, the tattoo in question still shows bruising around the lips and brow bone. With Chris Brown’s past scandals, I would have thought that his team would have attempted to talk the singer out of this stunt.

It now seems more likely that his record label like the controversy. This was a move to provoke people, and what a time to do it.

After a group of anti-domestic violence campaigners staged a sticker protest against his new CD last week, a rep

Chris Brown’s ‘sugar skull’, looking remarkably like a beaten Rihanna.

from his label issued a statement, saying that ‘quite a few more people now know there’s a new Chris Brown album out’.

It gives me chills to think that controversy has now become the thing that sells albums, not talent. Since when has causing trouble been better than preventing it?

The tattoo is ugly in both taste and appearance, the image causing intended upset in order to promote an album through bad publicity rather than actual hard work.

Chris Brown should try to appease his past and earn the public’s respect rather than play up this bad boy role.

Maybe then Rihanna’s wish will come true and, as she proclaimed to Oprah, her abusive ex will finally ‘find peace’ and be happy in himself.

Sylvia Ji-style Day of the Dead sugar skull.

8

Editorial

this is what a feminist looks like Harriet Cash Newspaper Culture Editor

THIS is a question that I have taken to asking people more often lately, less to find out whether they are or not than to gauge their reaction to being asked.

My response, if ever I’m asked, is “of course – why aren’t you?”

I never cease to be amazed at the discomfort people, even young ones, often seem to feel at being made to discuss feminism in direct terms.

I don’t hate men, they think, and I’ve never burnt a bra or read Betty Freidan or been on a march, so how can I be a feminist? Feminism is for radicals, for people with a political attitude and a bone to pick with the world – isn’t it?

Well, no. It’s just about equality, in the most basic sense.

It’s not about one gender being more

equal than another, not about one group wanting more rights than anyone else.

It’s about levelling the playing field.

Obviously there is a political element, even a radical one, but that’s not the whole story.

Ask yourself this: do I think that men and women are born equal?

Do I think they should have the same access to opportunity and be free from discrimination? If the answers are yes, congratulations! You’re a feminist!

But how often have I read of teachers or university professors who, on asking who in their class considers themself a feminist, have watched one or two meek hands go up and everyone else shuffle uncomfortably.

It is amazing to me that at the dawn of the twenty-first century, every hand would not go up automatically and without self-consciousness.

Imagine if a teacher were to ask, who here thinks black and white people are equal? Everyone, of course. So what is it about gender equality that we’re still confused about?

I think part of the struggle is the overwhelming sense that the battle has been won, coupled with a detachment from the overt politicism of earlier waves of feminism.

We need to get over that. Greer, de Beauvoir, Freidan and others wrote important things and made huge strides in their time, but we’re not tied to them, nor any particular past brand of feminism.

Indeed, Germaine Greer has written some incredibly transphobic things in the past which should appall anyone truly concerned with equality, ditto the latent homophobia in parts of Freidan’s seminal The Feminine Mystique.

The point is, we do not yet live in a truly equal society and although we have come forward massive leaps in the last fifty years alone, this is not the moment to rest on our laurels.

There is nothing scary about proclaiming your feminism.

Only by doing so more often will we start to see the change in attitude we need.

does music have or need a shelf life?

Amelia Guttridge Website Comment Editor

I’m glad to be living in this decade.

I’m glad to be living in an age where we have the NHS, women vote and gay marriage is an issue that is fought for and pursued, rather than laughed at.

I’m glad that I have an iPad and an xBox, I’m glad I can just hop on a train and be in the capital of the country in under an hour. I’m even glad for the way we speak now.

It would be lovely, of course, to still be speaking in a Jane Austen manner, a sort of stilted politeness thinly masking what really wants to be said.

It might be nicer to hear “Pleased to meet you” rather than “yeah, hi”, sure. It’s part of evolving, though. Our language has changed and adapted, and so has the way we use it.

Why, then, do I feel so strongly that one particular thing is not changing for the better. It’s not adapting and selfimproving, it’s getting steadily worse. I am talking about music.

Now, I’d be the first to hold my hands up and say that I’m not a musical person.

I played recorder until Year Three of primary school, and I recently bought an acoustic guitar that I will learn to play, but that’s about the extent of it.

A sad and rather embarrassing extent I know, when there are so many flutes, drums, pianos, violins in the world,

aching to be played. I do listen to a lot of music, though, and I do mean a lot.

I spend my days when I’m relaxing listening to Tracy Chapman, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell; the list could stretch on forever.

When I’m agitated, or hurrying, I will play The Smiths, Placebo, or Oasis. This is the music I like.

Maybe it’s because it’s the music my dad always used to listen too. I was raised on a diet of Paul Weller, not Steps.

(Although I will grant you that 5,6,7,8 is a stomper).

People who say things like “but that’s songs so old!” make me somewhat aggravated.

I wasn’t aware that music had a shelf

life, sorry. By that same logic, don’t bother going to Canterbury Cathedral or studying Shakespeare if you think a song from 2005 is “too old”.

All of this having been said; there are modern songs I like, and there are new artists I like. I really like rap music, a fact which always seems to surprise people.

Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ is one of my favourite songs of all time; it’s poetry, and it’s brilliant.

This is not an attack on certain artists or genres, this is an observation that most of the music in the charts is, well, awful.

When I go into clubs, I pretty much hear this: a bad song, a bad song, what I could swear is the same song as the previous

two, a bad song, one I recognise, and one I like.

People argue that this is because it’s ‘music you can dance to!’ Oh, okay, because it would be impossible to dance to the Bee Gee’s, would it? Can you imagine the horror?

Why must we produce this oversynthesised, auto-tuned, nonsense when there are people with real raw talent who are waiting for their music to be heard?

Why does Cher Lloyd get to be in the charts, when there are people with more musical talent in their big toes sat on street corners playing to no one?

Do they not have enough Swagger Jagger? And what the hell is that, anyway?

These are a few of my suggestions for what to do this week. Now Freshers is out of the way and term has officially started, hopefully my little favourite list will help you settle into campus and Canterbury’s food and social life. Mak.

PERFECT DRINK Before a night out, it is guaranteed that someone will come up to me and ask what the hell are you drinking?! To shut them up, I would simply ask them to try it and after a bit of drunken negotiating, about ninety percent of the time, the drink hater would be completely transformed! Now I’m not saying this is everyone’s cup of tea but it’s certainly my favourite and I admit it is slightly odd for a predrink but it tastes divine! Two shots of Baileys, half and glass of milk and squirty whipped cream. Done.

CANTERBURY CLUBBING My favourite place to go in town has to be The Cuban! Whether it’s a Monday night, Thursday or Friday, it is never a let down. For Freshers that don’t know about it, definitely give it a shot! The music mostly tends to tilt towards R’n’B and hip hop but it can be quite mainstream. It’s a small place but it has a good atmosphere and a really nice smoking area with outdoor heaters! The most memorable nights have been at this club so I wouldn’t waste my time anywhere else in town.

HIDDEN ALTERNATIVES If you’re not feeling to go clubbing and don’t fancy spending money on food, an alternative place to kill time on campus is the Fifa hub in Mungo’s. Not many people know about it and it’s free. This may not interest many girls, so an alternative night could be spent at the campus cinema, The Gulbenkian.

Watch the new Disney pixar ‘Brave’ in 3D on Friday 28th September or go for golden oldie ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ this Saturday.

FAVOURITE FOOD ON CAMPUS The yummiest food on campus is by far Origins. During revision period last year when I didn’t have time to cook, this was the one place that I never got bored of. I’m a vegetarian... Yes we are hard to please, and no, we don’t just eat rabbit food. So the Origins butternut squash enchilada served with curly fries and salad is very satisfying to the stomach and good value for money.

For people that do eat meat, I’ve heard that it’s just as good for you guys.

Origins has a strong selection of mexican favourites, everyone I’ve talked to has said it’s the best food on campus.

12

IQ Features

MY BOOK OF THE SUMMER: THE GHOST BY ROBERT HARRIS George Hopkin Website Sport Editor Robert Harris’ ‘The Ghost’ is a novel that shows its author at his thrilling best.

A political story of intrigue, Harris’ sixth novel mixes serious gothic undertones with a facetious sense of humour that never allows the book to take itself too seriously. I’d wanted to read it for a long time, and with all the time off of Literature modules over the summer I finally took the chance to sit and enjoy it.

The idea of the plot is that an anonymous ghost writer, who is at once both extremely personal and bizarrely distant with the reader, takes up the perilous post of being the memoir writer of ex-Prime Minister Adam Lang.

The job has its perks, as you can imagine: high pay, high society, and

high adrenaline. It’s clear that there are also massive flaws, however.

For example, the last ghost writer, a friend of the old PM, was found washed up on a beach in Martha’s Vineyard dead. As you can imagine, tension and suspense are constants throughout.

The context of the story is peculiar too.

Harris apparently dropped his whole workload to write The Ghost in 2007 – immediately after Tony Blair resigned from his job as PM. It somewhat seems that Lang could be a thinly veiled representation of Blair. Lang’s wife Ruth, a merciless and intelligent woman, with her own particular kind of cunning, perhaps stands in for Cherie. Investigate for yourself, though.

What the book does, in an entertaining way, is ask questions about modern politics, with an implicit focus on

the Bush/Blair era of ‘The Special Relationship’.

It challenges the CIA, and antiterrorist policies that reduced civil liberties, and offers its own entertaining conspiracy theory: one that is fictional of course, but perhaps sheds a bizarre kind of light on how our Western governments have acted in the aftermath of 9/11.

Non-politically interested readers shouldn’t be deterred – this is a sharp work of modern fiction that is gripping and entirely accessible.

It carries Harris’ idiosyncratic approach of blending your enjoyable popular thriller with intelligent insight into both current and timeless affairs of politics and inquisition.

The years Harris spent working as a Fleet Street political editor definitely pay-off, in that regard.

Some would say it’s impossible to put this book down; I simply think that it’s an exciting novel that I’d recommend to any reader – casual or serious. My favourite book of Summer 2012, for sure.

KENT STUDENT MEDIA TAKEOVER AT THE ATTIC

Amelia Guttridge Website Comment Editor I’ll be honest; I’m not really that much of a nightclub person.

The bar queues are ridiculous, the music is generally appallingly bad, and you can’t actually have a conversation with anyone without waking up with a sore throat the next day.

The solution to this? The Attic.

It’s a better, more chilled out place with minimal queues, and you can actually sit next to someone and speak to them. The perfect venue, then, for a Student Media takeover.

On Wednesday 19th September, smack bang in the middle of Welcome Week – or, to give it a more accurate title, the week when First Years stumble drunkenly from bar to bar, with no real idea of where they’re going or who they’re with - The Attic played host to our first media takeover.

We here at InQuire, KTV and CSR all got together to celebrate being part of student media.

It was a crackin’ old night, as they say.

Due slightly to the fact that Massive Mungo’s was hosting their annual School Disco with free entry, the night got off to a little bit of a slow start, however.

It began, rather ironically, like a school disco. Not the kind where everyone wears skirts that frankly wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a school and dance around with three dots on their cheeks, though.

The kind where boys sit on one side, girls on the other, and never the two shall meet. However, once we all got over our shyness (in my case, aided by tequila), and started mingling, it turned into a brilliant night at the Attic.

I spoke to excitable first years eager to get involved in student media, people

who would rather avoid nightclubs, like me, and people who just heard the music and decided to come upstairs.

The highlight of the night, without a doubt, was the band.

Coco and the Butterfields, a band you may have heard of as the winners of last year’s Live & Unsigned competition, were frankly amazing.

Their music is a combination of folk and hip hop, with one member being an amazing beat boxer. The first song they played was R Kelly’s Ignition Remix (don’t lie, you love it) and they ended with Flo Rida’s Low. All of this with a beat boxer, a double bass, a guitar and a violin. Brilliant!

I spoke to them after the show briefly, and they’re as friendly as they are talented. They pretty much got everybody in the place dancing and clapping along to them.

One other attraction of the night was a raffle; prizes included UKC clothing, membership to all three student media outlets and a meal for two. It went down a treat!

All in all, a very good night was had and I personally am looking forward to a lot more student media socials in the coming year!

Photos courtesy of Vijay Dubb

IQ Features 13

SPOTTED! FRESHERS WEEK EDITION

& events The Attic Friday 28th September Alternative Ball in collaboration with Rock Society Saturday 29th Soap Pizza and PJ party Tuesday 2nd October Comedy Central Live Saturday 6th Soap Foam party Tuesday 9th Pluck My Acoustic Wednesday 10th Takeover TBC Thursday 11th Bedroom Live tour - Blue Rinse after party The Venue Friday 28th September A2B Saturday 29th Pizza and Pyjama party Wednesday 3rd October Flirt Friday 5th Ministry of Sounds’ Unitrash Tour Present SIGMA! Saturday 6th Soap Foam party Wednesday 10th Flirt Jocks Vs Geeks Friday 12th A2B

14

IQ Features

CHEAP POST-FRESHERS RECIPES FOR STUDENTS So you’ve made it through Freshers week, and your bank balance has taken a bit of a hit. Don’t panic! May Berryhill brings us some wallet friendly recipes, which are also reasonably healthy and stodgy enough to soak up some of that excess alcohol! Result!

WARM POTATO AND BROCCOLI SALAD

ROASTED VEGETABLE PASTA

TUNA ROSTI

SAUSAGE AND CORN HASH

WHAT TO BUY

WHAT TO BUY

WHAT TO BUY

WHAT TO BUY

175g of potatoes, cut into chunks 90g of broccoli, separated into florets 2 tbsp of oil ½ onion, cut into wedges 3 rashers of bacon, cut into chunks 1 tsp wholegrain mustard (optional)

½ courgette, cut into sticks ½ red pepper, cut into strips 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 tbsp of oil 75g of pasta shells 50ml of half-fat crème fraiche 1 tsp of wholegrain mustard 20g of cheddar, grated

180g of potatoes, unpeeled 1 tbsp of oil ½ onion, sliced 50g canned tuna, drained 1 egg 200g of baked beans

2 tsp of oil 100g of sausages 175g of new potatoes, cut into chunks 45g of sweetcorn 2 tsp of parsley 55g of spicy tomato salsa

WHAT TO DO

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins for 10 minutes.

WHAT TO DO 1. Boil the potatoes until they start to soften, adding the broccoli just before the potatoes begin to get soft.

Drain both and leave to stand.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a deep frying pan or wok.

3. Add the onions and potatoes and cook until golden – around 5-8 minutes.

4. Add the broccoli to the pan to warm through.

5. Remove the vegetables from the pan and put in a bowl.

6. Fry the bacon in the remaining oil and, if using, the whole-grain mustard.

7. Serve the bacon on top of the vegetables.

1. Preheat the oven to 220C. Put the courgettes and red pepper in a roasting tin and sprinkle over the sliced garlic.

2. Drizzle with oil, then season and toss to make sure all the vegetables are coated with oil.

Roast for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender and just beginning to brown.

3. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.

Add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes until just cooked.

4. Drain, then stir into the roasted vegetables with the crème fraiche, mustard and grated cheddar.

Serve immediately.

WHAT TO DO

2. Meanwhile, fry the onion in half of the oil until golden.

3. Drain the potatoes and grate them into a bowl.

4. Add the onion and tuna into the bowl.

5. Press the potato, onion and tuna mixture into a frying pan with the remaining oil, forming a cake shape.

6. Cook gently for 10 minutes or until the underside is golden.

7. Flip the rosti and cook the other side for 8-10 minutes.

WHAT TO DO 1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan.

Cut the sausages into bite-size chunks and fry in the oil until just cooked.

This should take about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes, then drain.

3. Tip the potatoes into the frying pan, season and fry over a medium heat until the take on a bit of colour.

4. Stir in the sweet corn and heat through.

5. Sprinkle with parsley. Divide between serving dishes and drizzle some salsa over the hash.

8. Meanwhile, fry the eggs and heat up the beans in a pan.

9. Cut the rosti into wedges and serve with the beans and egg.

All photos courtesy of BBC GoodFood

IQ Features 15

FASHION WEEK REVIEWS: NEW YORK AND LONDON

It’s that time of year again fashion lovers, fashion weeks! First and second up, as always, were New York and London. Here’s InQuire’s pick of the shows and trends to watch out for during spring and summer 2013...

Natalie Tipping Newspaper Features Editor

NEW YORK Peter Som Friday 7th of September Prior to his New York show, Peter Som had admitted that he had used ‘girls with an edge’ as muses for his s/s 2013 collection. With the edgy prints and floral heels, Som definitely achieved this. The prints were made to stand out even more by the otherwise neutral pallet of the collection. It’s nice to see the pastel trend of this past summer continuing through collections for next year.

Jason Wu Friday 7th of September In complete contrast to Som’s collection, Jason Wu exhibited bondage-esque leather numbers which will bring out the inner-dominatrix in anybody who wears them. Despite the collection’s obvious edginess, it’s difficult not to love Wu’s latest work.

The net bra-lets were questionable however.

Charlotte Ronson Friday 7th of September Ronson’s latest collection was pretty much the definition of femininity. As seems to be the case in many shows nowadays however, there was far too much skin showing for my liking. With the inclusion of hot pants, bra-lets and

mini-skirts, if Ronson has her way, we may as well walk around in bikinis next spring.

Monique Lhullier Saturday 8th of September Monique Lhullier’s s/s 2013 collection was inspired by the ocean and sea-life.

The dresses were figure hugging and the prints were bold – fish scales and ocean waves being two of the prints featured. The real star of the Lhullier show however was the embroidery, with the final looks of the collection being covered in swirling patterns, resembling the ripples of the sea or shells.

Diane Von Furstenburg Sunday 9th of September Von Furstenburg has been a permanent fixture at New York Fashion Week for many years now, and she never fails to impress. This season, she delivered a show full of beautiful tailoring and exquisite prints. One simple but gorgeous item is the coral blazer shown below, which would add a splash of colour to any outfit.

Caroline Herrera Monday 10th of September Carolina Herrera is probably best known as the creator of beautiful gownlike dresses, which can be worn any time to any occasion, due to their being casual as well as fancy. This season was no different; the dresses were still beautiful, the looks were still incredibly feminine. One slightly new thing for

Herrera was the vast amount of coats in the collection. They were beautifully tailored and would look good on anyone.

Alice & Olivia Monday 10th of September Breaking out of the mould of the s/s 2013 shows was the latest collection from Alice & Olivia. The 50s inspired collection featured flower-power prints, combined with 21st Century cuts. The yellow trouser suit shown below is possibly one of the brightest outfits of the new season, but would be a hit every time!

LONDON Emilia Wickstead Friday 14th of September

With the Duchess of Cambridge as a known fan, Emilia Wickstead’s spring/summer 2013 collection was always going to be watched very closely.

Wickstead exhibited gorgeous dressmaking skills, with impeccably dressed and beautifully made up models making every woman want to be a ‘Wickstead woman’.

House of Holland Saturday 15th of September Not only was Henry Holland’s latest collection in keeping with his usual rebellious designs, this year, he chose to stage his London Fashion Week show in a Soho car park.

This did not detract from the show however, as Holland’s punky younggun nature shone through as always.

He never disappoints.

Burberry Prorsum Monday 17th of September With lots of the young British elite – Andy Murray, Victoria Pendleton and Harry Styles to name a few - heading to the front row of the Burberry Prorsum s/s 2013 show, the London based label was sure to make a splash this Fashion week.

It must be said however, the collection was more showy than wearable. The shiny metallic dress shown left is one such example of this.

Surely that’s not a look we’ll be seeing on the high street any time soon.

Mulberry Tuesday 18th of September Claridge’s Ballroom was transformed into a country garden for the Mulberry show.

Following on from the garden theme, many of the dresses had floral inspiration, with daisy shaped buttons and embossed flowers appearing on the usual tan jackets exhibited by the British design house.

Despite the collection being very well designed and executed, you can’t help thinking that the line could have been a little more imaginative.

In the words of the devilish Runway Editor-in-Chief from The Devil Wears Prada, ‘Florals? For Spring?

Groundbreaking...’

Photos courtesy of Vogue.co.uk

16

IQ Entertainment

Music & Live

festival reviews part deux

albums in brief

Two Door Cinema Club Beacon

boomtown festival: not your average holiday home Jamie Ovens Newspaper Comment Editor

The rampant heat of Arcadian flames

two-stepping on your cheeks, as flexible women make the sky around you their playground, and temporarily messianic men spin sonic dub legacies from their floating cradles above, is something that vitalized every Boomtown warrior at some point. Having been sufficiently scorched by the savage carnal pleasures of that stage, which was in fact the mechanized skeleton of a god-sized spider, it would be off to the Bassline Circus for our nightly injection of live beats.

Around every awe-inspiring street corner was an opportunity to absolutely redefine what you think a festival should be. You meander through grassy streets lined with bizarre reinventions of the leisure centre, drive-in movie theatres and funeral

parlours, constantly overwhelmed by the extravagances and subtleties in this richest of environments.

Before you even realize that your eardrums have flowered into orgasm from the unfaltering gourmet ska and reggae tunes that billow from between tent flaps, your bare feet have decided that they need to occupy the dubstep bank, or slip through the hidden phonebox into Mickey’s 1940s mafia swing bar. The music never disappoints.

The venues always stun.

Rather than Gucci-manbag-toting V-freaks, or pre-teen Reading louts, the neighbourhood watch alliance of Boomtown was a collection of God’s own prototypes; a community of liberal, approachable hedonists, wrapped up in space-themed garb. It didn’t matter if you bumped into Bucky O’Hare or a stormtrooper, you would have had to work very hard to come across a

genuine source of bad vibrations.

Also parading around the arena and campsite areas which fencelessly melted into each other like butter into soup were more hardcore characters: the native Boomtown freaks.

Industrial aberrations on stilts, dripping rust and moon-goo, burst into erratic war cries as they drew crowds. Giant fur and bone monsters, fire-breathing cars, and sultry sheepdancers ensured that there was never a moment where you had to think back to real life.

Vibe is everything at a festival and Boomtown nails it. With nothing to complain about and everything at your feet, reasonably priced and gagging to impress, it is impossible to not want more. Boomtown Fair is not just a bowl of tent-trodden grass and acoustic wizardry; it’s the holiday home you’ve wanted your entire life.

reading festival: foo fighters close with huge set Chad Greggor Newspaper Entertainment Editor

Lacking the necessary £227 each and camping stamina to survive the entire weekend of Reading festival, my girlfriend and I decided to go for just Sunday instead of the entire weekend.

The day hosted a confounding number of choice bands such as Pulled Apart By Horses, Bullet for My Valentine, The Black Keys, Two Door Cinema Club and Foo Fighters.

After driving seemingly miles past the festival to find parking, we eventually

found our way back to hear the last few songs from old-school rockers Eagles of Death Metal.

At the alternative tent we found the likes of Stephen K Amos, who performed a brilliant and racially charged stand-up set. Amos somehow prompted one of the beefy security guards into performing a hilarious sexual gesture, while also belittling a drunken heckler with what is now one of my favourite phrases: “Never drink on an empty head.”

After a surprisingly tame metal set by Bullet for My Valentine, and a pleasingly funky set by SBTRKT, we got into position for The Black Keys.

Their show felt a bit clunky with the inclusion of three extra musicians, rather than their classic two man format.

They played a number of their

best hits, the quirky roots-rock not being lost on an audience that grew ever more excited by the imminent arrival of the headliners: Foo Fighters on the main stage and Two Door Cinema Club in the NME tent.

Foo Fighters first appearance did nothing less than invoke a mass moshpit. We jostled for position in the crowd until we secured a spot in front of a diehard Foo’s fan who wanted every song to be dedicated to her.

Dave Grohl then quickly established himself as possibly the nicest man in rock, dedicating two songs to his children, having the crowd sing happy birthday to his mother and wishing the man recording his show, Mitty, a happy retirement.

Their set was incendiary, but ended suddenly with no encore, a heartbreaking sign that perhaps the Foo Fighters are getting a bit old for the length and intensity of a set such as the one they performed at Reading.

Their first album blew up in a big way, having the band perform as the second headliners at Bestival and Reading Festival. Needess to say, this latest effort has a hard act to follow. The album challenges what is expected of Two Door Cinema Club, producing a newer, more experimental sound, while skilfully maintaining the wellestablished nervous energy and hint of melancholy of the last album.

Chad Greggor

Bob Dylan Tempest The now 71 yearold living-legend has released his 40th album: Tempest. Reputed as his greatest work of the 21st century, the album delivers a contrasting mix of macabre lyricism and jaunty melodies, 14 minute epics and lighthearted melodies. It is sure to be listed amongst his greatest efforts.

Figaro Montgomery

The xx Coexist On their second album The xx continue their sparse, echoing song-writing that made their debut so haunting. If anything, the songs here are stripped down even further, to the bare bones of their fragile beauty. Much of the formula is the same, but it isn’t going stale and there are some new experiments here: the sample on “Chained”; Jamie xx denying the steel pans their usual festivity on “Reunion”; discordant strings on “Tides”. Coexist may be less of a surprise than xx, but it is just as evocative.

Matt Gilley

Bloc Party - Four

Bloc Party’s first album in four years is an interesting mix of 2005’s debut and Kele Okereke’s dance-inspired solo releases. Single ‘Octopus’ is a foot-tapping cross with a catchy call-and-reply chorus, while the rest of the album fails to ground itself in previous indie twangs or later dance-floor rhythms. Far from perfect, but a damn good effort at re-establishing themselves as kings of catchy indie-pop.

Matthew Jarvis

IQ Entertainment 17

Music & theatre what’s CHATTING WITH MARK THOMAS hot with Sean Mackey, Head of Music

With freshers now in full force at

the University of Kent, CSR have handpicked some of the best music from this month’s playlist; making sure your freshers week sounds amazing as well as being one of the best weeks of your life.

Twin Atlantic – Yes I Was Drunk: Another fantastic track by this relatively unknown Scottish powerhouse is aptly named for the antics going on around campus this week. Just remember to take it easy, you want to remember freshers week, right?!

Bastille – Bad Blood: We mentioned this phenomenal band last time in this column and you know what, we are going to mention them again because we love them that much. Bastille literally came out of nowhere and blew a hole in the music scene over the last couple of months.

They’ve played festivals up and down the country and are also playing at The Attic later this year!

Mumford & Sons – I Will Wait: One of two big returns we will be mentioning this issue. Breathe a sigh of relief because the world’s best folk band is back and they mean business.

After hearing this track you aren’t going to want to wait for their second album but luckily for you lovely folkfans, it’s out on the 24th September.

Two Door Cinema Club – Sleep Alone: Big return number two! After the absolutely huge release of Tourist History in 2010, TDDC are finally back with Sleep Alone. They’ve still maintained their indie charm and for you diehard fans, their album Beacon was released on the 3rd of September so go check it out!

Calvin Harris – Sweet Nothing ft Florence Welsh: At CSR, we are convinced Mr Harris and Miss Welsh are a match made in heaven. After the huge success of Spectrum, we are predicting great things for Sweet Nothing. We’re having trouble deciding what we like better but we’ll leave the decision to you lot Everything Everything – Cough Cough: In 2010, Everything Everything rose to fame with Schoolin and they were also nominated for the BBC’s Sound Poll in the same year. They’ve returned in 2012 with this fantastic record.

InQuire’s Harriet Cash, Newspaper Culture Editor, interviews Mark Thomas ahead of his show Bravo, Figaro! at the Gulbenkian Theatre on 16th October...

You’ve been doing Bravo, Figaro! for a while now, but can you explain where the original idea came from, and how it has grown into the show you are doing now?

I was commissioned to do a show for the Royal Opera House.

Basically what happened was I was on Radio 4’s Inheritance Tracks, and I was the first one they ever did and I talked about my dad and Figaro’s aria from The Barber of Seville, and it was about how I tried to reach out to him by listening to this music.

And when he became ill, with the degenerative aspect of this disease, I started to listen to opera as a way of trying to reach out to him.

So I talked about that, and someone at the Royal Opera House heard me talking about it, and then Mike Figgis was coordinating a festival and the ROH and he invited me in to see him, and we had a chat, and I said yeah, I want to borrow some singers. we arranged some singers to do an opera in my dad’s living room. And that’s the story.

And it’s really about me and my dad trying to reach out to each other… or me trying to reach out to him, really.

Was it a natural thing to make a theatre show about it, because you were offered that opportunity, and not to, say, write a book or use a different art form?

I’ve written a book before, it takes fucking ages.

Obviously people expect a sort of forthright politic from you, but this is something very personal.

I think this is still political.

This is a workingclass man who discovers a love of opera, this is a world that should be shut to him really.

He left school with no formal qualifications. So, in that sense it’s very much a political show.

The thing is, I think all the stuff I’ve done has been different.

In the past five years I’ve done shows

about the Serious Organised Crime & Police Act or the Manifesto show or walking the Israeli Separation Barrier.

The walking the wall show is about a very intense conflict, Israel and Palestine.

The Serious Organised Crime & Police one was just about fucking about with the police.

So they’re very very different, with different feels to them.

I’ve heard you don’t just stop once you go off stage. Do you like that interaction with the audience?

Yes, I quite often go and have a chat with folk out the front. It’s nice, I like it.

So has it been a cathartic experience for you to do it, or is that a cliché that doesn’t really apply?

I think it’s a cliché. To be honest it is a bit of a cliché because I feel very comfortable on stage – you know, I hear my mum and dad’s voices, it’s very comforting. And so, there’s no sort of Gestalt therapy that’s going on.

What is interesting for me is as a performer and a writer, to go into an area that I haven’t really gone into before, and that’s the really

interesting bit. All the feelings and emotions, you know, I have them regardless of the show. The sense of loss and the sense of outrage and all those sort of things you get when you start to lose someone, but they’re still with you – the sense of confusion and yearning – all those things are there.

So I have them anyway.

That way of using art to connect to another person seems like such a universal thing. I guess that has interested people as much as the side of your dad’s illness specifically?

I think what’s surprised people is that it’s about such an elitist art form.

Basically I think that some people have a vision of me that I’ll be chaining myself to Glyndebourne’s gates – and in some ways this is about celebrating the fact that my dad actually discovered this art form, despite the odds. And that’s quite an uplifting thing.

I think people are surprised one: that it’s about opera, and two, that it’s very personal.

Although, all the stuff I do is personal, there’s always a personal reason why you do a show. There’s always an impetus for why you want to get up there and perform. But you don’t want to pick that scab too much.

You know, there’s a whole world of sitting on sofas and sharing, that if you start picking at that scab too much you’ll be in trouble with it.

When you finish this run, will it be something that you kind of put in a box and think yes, that’s over now, or is it something that’s going to keep on influencing you?

Who knows? That’s the interesting thing about it.

Look, you know, I’m quite highbrow and I describe myself as a creative artist.

I don’t do stand-up any more, I’m a performer and a writer, I’m a creative artist and the emphasis is on creative so let’s see what turns up. It’s all exciting.

For the full interview please visit http:// www.inquirelive.co.uk/ entertainment, or join our group on Facebook, InQuire Media, for updates on entertainment around Canterbury.

Photograph by Idil Sukan for Draw HQ

18

IQ Entertainment

film & games

anna karenina: a new take on tolstoy

Becky Snowden

The latest adaptation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is fantastic, rivalling classic adaptations starring Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh. This colourful, energetic and theatrical film ensures that audiences are hooked for its entirety.

The screenplay is written by Sir Tom Stoppard, whose recent adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford’s Parade’s End has won the hearts of the nation and critics alike. He is also a world-renowned playwright and writer of blockbusters such as Shakespeare in Love.

Keira Knightley shines as Anna, whose irrational actions lead to the collapse of her world. She is married to the handsome yet prim and boring government official, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law). She falls for the exciting young Count Vlonsky (Aaron TaylorJohnson), beginning an illicit affair that becomes the talk of Russia and leads, ultimately, to her downfall.

Knightley often appears to be stereotyped as one character, the posh,

upper class socialite, yet as Anna she pushes the boundaries of her usual acting style, causing the audience to both love and loathe, empathise with and criticise her.

It’s interesting to note that Tolstoy hated the theatre, believing it to be absurd and vain, and yet Stoppard and Joe Wright (director) presented the film

in a Brechtian style, as though it were a play taking place in what appears to be a large theatre, with sublime scene changes and stagehands to help out.

Initially, the fast paced movements and scene changes are hard to follow, but as the film goes on, the scenes become longer and more discernible.

The production of the film is especially

cell-shaded textures loading almost immediately, instead of popping in awkwardly.

The weather and terrain are gorgeous, snowflakes melting on the camera and night-day cycles providing a mixture of enemies and situations. The network issues have also been fixed, with the world of Pandora even easier than before to jump into.

For those of you who have played the first Borderlands, its sequel is much the same affair in terms of entertaining gameplay and balls-out humour.

The classes to choose from feel balanced, but the real fun comes in playing with a variety of the heroes,

as bullets fly and chaos erupts. Newly available ‘badass tokens’ are sunk into universal upgrades for every class, and these well-grounded RPG mechanics are what keep players coming back for more.

The story isn’t just a trifle, coming in at an impressive 30-ish hours just for the main quest line. The narrative continues from the mediocre plot of the first game and tells much more of a tale. Enemies are just as varied, and improved AI give them a great fluidity and characterisation as they roll and weave between bullets.

The touted ‘gazillions’ of random weapon combinations are now ‘even more gazillioner’, with each manufacturer given stylistic flares and attributes – including guns that are thrown and explode like grenades when you reload, and guns that get more accurate the longer you hold down the trigger.

Overall, Borderlands 2 is certainly more like the original. Bumps have been smoothed out and then painted in licks of fresh paint, and the game in general has been expanded to a point where, for fans of the series, there is very little to complain about.

If you didn’t like the first game, however, this one isn’t going to swing you around. Borderlands knows exactly what it is and, for me, that is nothing but a good thing.

significant, with interesting use of props to move onto real action, it combines cinema with theatre beautifully.

The theatrical nature of the film is fitting, despite going against Tolstoys’ ideals, as it appears to be a play on the melodramatic and theatrical lives of the aristocracy. There are elaborate moments in which the entire ensemble freezes, allowing the dialogue and movement of the principal characters to be focused on. A key example of this is when Anna and the Count are waltzing.

As soon as the cast freeze, their dance becomes more sensual and romantic as they move alone in the ballroom.

Perhaps the production of the film is too distracting, featuring high fashion outfits and bright, elaborate sets, not dark and philosophical like the novel. It can at times distract the audience from the story or add too much to a scene.

Ultimately, the dramatic intensity of the acting outshines the gorgeous sets and clothes, presenting the most colourful and inviting adaptation to date. A must see for all lovers of Tolstoy, drama and art.

borderlands 2: gazillion times improved events spot

Matthew Jarvis

The original Borderlands wasn’t perfect. For every flaming Psycho and screeching Shotgun Midget there was a graphical bug or bad AI. The worst thing of all was that for a game that is indefinitely more fun with friends, the network errors resulted in time spent Google-ing frantically trying to work out what exactly was wrong, instead of time jumping chasms in a rocket-firing buggy being chased by the Spiderant King.

The good news about Borderlands 2 is that all of these issues are resolved, and then some. The game looks incredible, with dynamic shafts of light and sharp

highlights Gulbenkian

Frisky and Mannish’s Extra Curricular Activities - 29th Sept Globe on Screen: All’s Well that Ends Well - 30 Oct The Rape of Lucrece by William Shakespeare - 4th Oct Lawless (2012) - 5th - 8th Oct The Fall of the House of Usher - 9 Oct Jo Caulfield - 13th Oct Marlowe Theatre The Lady Killers - 25th - 29th Sept Haunting Julia - 1st Oct - 6th Oct International Short Films - 5th Oct The Venue Addicted to Bass - 28th Sept Pizza and Pyjama Party - 29th Sept Student Republic Student Republic @ The Cuban - Every Monday Beercart Arms Live Bands: Everane, Vivid Nation, Where’s Billy, Atlas - 9th Oct

IQ Culture

PAUSE FOR THOUGHT

Freshers Week is over, and the real business of lectures and essaywriting is about to set in. Hopefully you’re at least vaguely looking forward to starting your course, but if not, here are some wise words from Philip Larkin on the subject of work.

Toads Why should I let the toad work Squat on my life?

Can’t I use my wit as a pitchfork And drive the brute off?

Six days of the week it soils With its sickening poison Just for paying a few bills!

That’s out of proportion.

Lots of folk live on their wits: Lecturers, lispers, Losels, loblolly-men, loutsThey don’t end as paupers; Lots of folk live up lanes With fires in a bucket, Eat windfalls and tinned sardinesthey seem to like it.

Their nippers have got bare feet, Their unspeakable wives Are skinny as whippets - and yet No one actually starves.

Ah, were I courageous enough To shout Stuff your pension!

But I know, all too well, that’s the stuff That dreams are made on: For something sufficiently toad-like Squats in me, too; Its hunkers are heavy as hard luck, And cold as snow, And will never allow me to blarney My way of getting The fame and the girl and the money All at one sitting.

I don’t say, one bodies the other One’s spiritual truth; But I do say it’s hard to lose either, When you have both.

Philip Larkin

19

discovering henry moore Teddy McEwan

The Beaney’s Special Exhibitions room is currently devoted to a display of works by Henry Moore from the Arts Council collection, covering his practice between 1927 and 1962. The exhibition explores “key creative departure points and themes” from Moore’s varied career, in both two and three dimensions. From bronze and stone sculpture, to painting, drawing and photography, there is a fantastic range of works on show which delve into the philosophy behind Moore’s work.

Born in Yorkshire in 1898, Henry Moore later owned a bungalow in Kent called Burcroft, where he worked in the late 1930s, and the exhibition explores this period of his life and work in some depth. Especially fascinating are photographs of his sculptural works which Moore took in the garden at Burcroft. By setting small sculptures against distant landscapes the pieces are made to appear much larger, a strange and beautiful effect which only gradually strikes you. These attempts to recreate and document his works take on a life of their own, revealing new ways of looking at the sculptures.

The accompanying notes highlight Moore’s interest in “trying to make sculpture and nature enhance each other”, and this is a theme which carries on from the photography through the rest of the exhibition.

Inspiration drawn from shells, mushrooms and other natural elements is clear in many of the drawings and especially the bronze sculptural works, which, although abstract, suggest something familiar from the natural world. The sweeping curves of his “Reclining Figures” have been suggested to resemble the rolling Yorkshire hills of his childhood, making even clearer this blending of nature, landscape and sculpture. Paintings including abstract nudes add a human dimension, with their forms echoing many of his bronze pieces.

From the roughest pencil sketches to fully realised, majestic bronze and stone sculptures, this is a fantastically rich and detailed exhibition of one of our most influential modernist voices.

Moore’s sculptural works are visible all around the world as public artworks, and so it is vastly interesting to explore his Kent connections and to look at

how the area influenced his work.

The variety of pieces on display make it accessible whatever your artistic prejudices; sketchy pencil drawings show the evolution of a sculpture from initial germ of an idea to final artwork, and the photographs on display are wonderful abstract images in their own right.

The Beaney has myriad delights to offer the cultural adventurer, and this one is certainly worth the trek to the top of the building.

The exhibition runs until 28 October at the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge.

17 forever: top teen movies Emilio Hughes

The random afternoon screening of a time-tested classic or underground hit is one of the things I most love about independent cinemas, and there’s nothing like seeing an old favourite on the big screen. The cinema environment somehow lifts the film onto a different level, revealing things you never noticed about scenes you’ve seen hundreds of times, and reminding you of the things you’d forgotten.

I must have seen The Breakfast Club a hundred times, but the one time I saw it in the cinema is the most special to me. And of course, only in the cinema do you get some guy blurting out “what the hell?!” when Molly Ringwald does her lipstick trick.

I laughed, and left with a renewed appreciation for John Hughes’ world of teenage trials and tribulations. He just seems to have had an innate feeling for what it’s like to be 16, and while the jeans and haircuts might have dated, the themes are still pretty universal - probably the reason The Breakfast Club is still so popular.

The teen movie is a strange beast; when it’s good it stays with you forever, when it’s bad it can be a truly heinous experience. I’m looking at you, American Pie. The great ones are just a reminder that

we all feel like outsiders sometimes.

As Andrew says in The Breakfast Club, “We’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all”.

With this in mind, here are my picks of the cream of the teen movie crop – perfect for whiling away the hours between lectures, not to mention mourning your lost adolescence.

Pretty In Pink Another Hughes classic and probably my favourite. I’ve never known anyone who wasn’t a little bit in love with Duckie Dale by the end, and even the prom dress grows on you after the 6th or 7th viewing.

Ten Things I Hate About You Surprising how often Shakespeare

has been worked into teen comedy form. Or maybe not; Romeo and Juliet were teenagers after all. Some great one-liners, dodgy outfits and angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion combine to update ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ to 90s America. Worth it just for Allison Janney as Miss Perky, the zany guidance counsellor.

Beautiful Thing More questionable 90s clobber in this pretty groundbreaking tale, centered on the struggles of growing up gay.

Really, of course, it has all the same themes at its heart – first love, being an outsider, difficult family, looking for escape. All captured by a sweet, heartfelt script and fabulous Mama Cass soundtrack.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”.

Ah Ferris, truer words were never spoken. The kind of day we all want to have every once in a while. Save Ferris!

Ghost World Maybe a bit self-conciously kooky, but still an entertaining portrait of a self-important outsider, Enid, and her struggle against the mainstream. Like Napoleon Dynamite, it has garnered a cult following.

20

IQ Culture

man booker shortlist revealed Gus Greene

It’s that time of year again; the

nominees for this year’s Man Booker Prize have been announced and the list makes for interesting reading. A bastion of the literary establishment, the Man Booker has at times been controversial but also represents the ultimate seal of approval for any novelist - not to mention the inevitable bump in sales and the £50,000 cheque that goes to the winner.

Hilary Mantel has been nominated this year for Bring Up The Bodies, the sequel to Wolf Hall, the fictionalised account of Thomas Cromwell’s life which won her the 2009 prize. That novel was a fantastically rich, experimental work, but as part of a planned trilogy, you have to wonder if the third part will feel a slight disappointment if it too doesn’t make the hallowed ground of the Booker shortlist. Either way, Mantel is surely in hot contention for the win.

Her competitors are Will Self’s latest work, Umbrella, Deborah Levy’s Swimming Home, Tan Twan Eng’s The Garden of Evening Mists, Alison Moore’s The Lighthouse and Narcopolis

by Jeet Thayil. Notable absences from the list include Martin Amis, Ian

THIS WEEK IN...

1952: 2 October End of tea rationing announced Minister for Food, Gwilym LloydGeorge, announces that after 12 years tea will no longer be subject to rationing and price controls.

1955: 30 September James Dean dies in car crash The 24-year old Hollywood actor was driving his Porsche in California.

Aside from bit parts and television work, Dean had starred in just three feature films at the time of his death.

1978: 29 September Pope mourned by Catholics Pope John Paul died of a heart attack just 33 days after being elected, making his the shortest papal reign in history.

1984: 28 September Miners’ strike ruled illegal A High Court judge says the strike, called 6 months earlier by the National Union of Mineworkers, is unlawful because it had not been put to a national ballot. NUM president Arthur Scargill calls the ruling “another attempt by an unelected judge to interfere in the union’s affairs.”

McEwan and Pat Barker.

Whether or not you think that art and literary prize-giving of this kind serves any useful purpose, there is always a significant buzz around the shortlist All the chain bookshops and probably most independent ones will shunt the nominated novels to the front of the shop, enticing readers in with that “should have read that” feeling that swoops down at awards time.

This isn’t inherently a bad thing though. The words “Booker Prize

winner” emblazoned across a dust jacket are inviting, with the reassuring promise of literary credibility and a certain public approval.

Equally, the announcement of the shortlist (ditto the Mercury or Turner prizes, say, in their respective fields) reinvigorates discussion of books.

Perhaps the competitive element takes over too much – the odds are already on at the bookmakers, with Mantel 9/4 favourite to win – but you can guarantee book clubs and coffee mornings everywhere will be devouring and comparing the nominees.

We don’t have to care what any cultural establishment thinks is good, or tells us we should be reading, of course.

But there is something nice about the arrival of a new, complete reading list designed to make us think. I am always similarly intrigued at Oscars time – really, I couldn’t care less who wins, and yet I like to watch all the Best Picture nominees and mentally award the golden statuette to my favourite.

So, if you have a few spare hours during Freshers’ (I’m sure some of you will have many), why not look up the shortlist and be your own Man Booker jury?

CULTURAL EVENTS CALENDAR Fri 28 – Sun 30 Sep: Canterbury Food & Drink Festival, Dane John Gardens Fri 28 Sep – Horsebridge Comedy Club, Whitstable Sat 29 Sep: Kent Film Festival at CCCU Fri 5 – Sat 6 Oct: Canterbury Anifest at Augustine House Fri 5 Oct – 3 Nov: Suki Chan, ‘Still Point’ at Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury Tues 9 – Sat 13 Oct: Pocket Henry V at Marlowe Theatre Tues 9 Oct: Mother Courage & Her Children, Margate Theatre Royal Fri 12 – Sun 21 Oct: Youth Open Exhibition 2012 at Horsebridge Arts Centre, Whitstable Every Sunday: Margate Bazaar and Artist Alley, 10am – 3pm, Margate Old Town

shadow dancing in the dark Francis Pond

A young woman boards a London underground train, carrying a bag which we infer may contain a bomb.

We know she is Irish, from a family profoundly affected by paramilitary and British Army violence. At the next stop, she gets off the train, discretely dumps the bag in a stairwell and runs. It is 1993.

As Shadow Dancer unfolds, the woman, Colette (Andrea Riseborough), is caught by British counter-terrorism officers and taken to be questioned by Mac (Clive Owen), who persuades her to turn informer. This Hobson’s choice between a life in prison away from her young son or death at the hands of the IRA for her betrayal encapsulates the essence of the character.

She is a terrorist, and yet you can’t help but sympathise with Colette – growing up a Catholic in Belfast, losing one brother to crossfire and having two others heavily involved in paramilitary activity has led Colette to get on a train carrying a bomb, to consider carrying out that kind of violence. She is a quick, intelligent woman who makes her own decisions, but sometimes there is no good choice to be made. As she has learnt, once you get into both the IRA and the British secret service, you don’t get out lightly.

Andrea Riseborough is superb in

the central role, barely uttering two sentences together and yet painting a character of extraordinary depth and subtlety.

The whole film crackles with tension, close-ups and heavy camera movements within claustrophobic settings creating a stifling atmosphere of guilt and suspicion. The greys and browns of worn-down Belfast, of staid sitting rooms and politically divided pubs, are broken only by the bright red of Colette’s coat and the occasional Irish flag fluttering in the breeze.

While terrorism and political conflict are the context and the motivators for the film, it neither explicitly condones nor outright condemns the characters’ actions. The focus is rather on the psychological impact of informing, of handling an informer, and of the intense ties of loyalty and pride that bind people together. Even in such a starkly polarised conflict the lines are

blurred – Mac, introduced to us as in control, the boss, is shown to be in the dark about the games being played by his superiors; Colette’s brothers and mother have other allegiances and the family doesn’t always come first.

Shadow Dancer is a deeply unsettling thriller – complex, intuitive and troubling, it delves into the incredible complexities of the conflict in Northern Ireland, as well as of community ties, and the secrets and lies even a close family keep from each other. The subject matter is still very much an open wound, if gradually healing, and there is no political tub-thumping.

Here the horrors of terrorism and armed conflict are very much interior, the scars left on the mind as deep and painful as the physical ones. Director James Marsh offers no easy answers, but the ending plays out with a certain grim inevitability that I felt, rather than saw, coming. During the final scenes, without realising, I had balled my fists and clenched my muscles, so intensely genuine do they feel.

Films like this are the finest argument against 3D cinema and flashy gimmicks; no amount of special glasses and swirling projections could have made me feel more utterly absorbed into the world of the film as I did at that moment. An incredible piece of work and the perfect antidote to blockbuster silly season.

IQ Culture

my first gig: the coral (2005)

Harriet Cash Newspaper Culture Editor

First gigs, like first singles bought

and first posters affixed to bedroom walls, are funny things. People do have a habit of bending the truth in favour of a rather cooler choice made at a later date. Such little white lies tend eventually to be found out, usually in the company of old friends: “Well, of course, my first single was Jon Spencer Blues Explosion” – “No it wasn’t, you had Wham!”, and so on. Even if my first gig had been Hear’Say or Boyzone, I wouldn’t lie about it. It’s too important a memory to falsify.

My first gig was neither particularly embarrassing, nor earth-shatteringly cool. It was The Coral, at Derby Assembly Rooms some time in Autumn 2005. I’ve still got the ticket somewhere. I remember being excited and mildly surprised to find out that bands actually came to Derby, and that I was allowed to go. I’d been to a festival with my dad and brother the summer before, but this was my first gig proper, my first bona fide concert experience.

And I loved it.

It wasn’t the best live performance I’ve

ever seen (although good), and aside from Pass It On, Dreaming Of You and other fan favourites, I can’t especially remember the set list. But that’s not important. What was important was feeling I had been inducted into that – until then – impossibly cool, alien world of gig-going. I could now say to my peers, “Well, when I saw The Coral…”, in the knowledgeable tone of one who understands how a mosh pit works, who speaks the unwritten language of gig etiquette, who – perhaps most importantly – is old and sophisticated enough to be out watching bands on a school night.

Everything about it, from the sound check to the roadies to the wait between bands, the guy at the merch table and

the moment of tension when the lights go down – everything captivated me.

There is just something about live music, and as I was laughing over the fact that I was now an actual proper concertgoer, I thought I knew what it was. I’ve been to many, many gigs since then – some of which mean much more to me – but that first one will always be special.

Not everyone is a music fan, but if you grow up loving music, interpreting your feelings through your favourite records and searching for revelation in the sleeve notes, your first gig is a rite of passage. If The Coral went on tour tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t run out to buy tickets.

Time has moved on and other music means more to me, other bands have replaced them in my affections. But perhaps a certain nostalgia would take over and I would find myself 14 again, dancing and waving, yelling the lyrics, not quite brave enough yet to enter the fray of a proper mosh pit, but enjoying the spectacle. Maybe I would stand back and look for the kids in the crowd enjoying their first gig, and feel happy that the baton is being passed on.

21

the art roundup

Julia Smith gives you her tips for what to look out for in the art world this week.

Now that you Freshers have started to settle in to life here in Canterbury, the more adventurous among you may be itching to explore the cities nearby. Here are my top picks for things to see in London these next few weeks: The David Roberts Art Foundation in Camden will be hosting a vast exhibition this autumn. And I really mean vast. With 29 artists exhibiting in rotation, ‘A House of Leaves’ will explore abstraction and minimalism, along with conceptual art and performance (oo-er) so there really should be something for everyone here in this engaging environment.

a brave new age of cinema?

Holly Hempsall

Curzon Cinemas, bastion of the London independent film scene, announced earlier this year that it will be setting up “part-time cinemas” by offering local arts and community centres both its name and expertise.

Obviously the company will be getting something out of this: the chance to expand its brand outside the Big Smoke.

That there is demand for this kind of enterprise, however, is hugely encouraging. In vast swathes of the country, the nearest – and perhaps only – cinema is a stonking great multiplex with an abundance of overpriced popcorn and mainstream Hollywood fare, but not much else.

Curzon is best known for showing the art house and independent flicks that are precisely the kind of thing you never see at your friendly local Showcase, and so broadening its horizons outside London also means expanding the cultural life of the regions.

I’m lucky enough to have a fantastic independent cinema in my hometown, and in an otherwise fairly lacklustre city it is a hub of cultural and creative energy. Giving small, local, independent venues access to a much greater variety of programming will have the same effect elsewhere.

Of course, we all want to go and see a mindless action flick every now and

then, and that’s fine. It’s just that living outside London can sometimes make the capital seem like a giant black hole of culture, sucking all the exciting, alternative events into its centre – hopefully moves like this from Curzon will help to change that.

The rise of on-demand and online streaming of films is also beginning to change the shape of modern cinema, and the environments in which we watch films.

I would always rather make the trip to the cinema to watch a new film than view it on 13 inches of laptop screen, but I’d also rather do the latter than not see it at all. Besides, it only takes a few cables and a bit of tinkering to connect your computer to the television, and

voila, home cinema.

Perhaps watching new films at home in this way will never be ideal; although we do it all the time with DVDs, there is something about the darkened cinema which affects the way you see a film.

(If you disagree, look out a one-off screening of a film you know and love; I guarantee the big screen will reveal something new). Equally, some films are just designed to be shown at the cinema and might struggle to have the same impact on a small screen – the one that comes to mind at the moment is Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio, a film so intrinsically about film and the cinematic experience that I’m not sure I want to stream it in my bedroom, even though it’s a film I desperately want to see.

Ultimately though, greater access for all to cinema has to be a good thing. It was reported this week that the UK film industry was worth £4.6 billion towards GDP last year, an increase on 2009, which suggests that even in a struggling economy film can thrive.

Now, whether it be through art house franchisees or the power of the internet, we have wider access to more film than ever before. Will this bring us into a new age of cinema? Possibly. Has it diminished the strange power of the cinematic experience? Honestly, I doubt it.

Sculpture by Louise Bourgeois, abstract painting by Gerhard Richter and the intriguing transcription of Pierre Huyghe will be among the works on display as part of this symphonic ensemble.

Billed as an exhibition imagined as an ‘experience of time’, the show will change constantly, with works being replaced by others to ‘gradually alter the general context and naturally evolve from one movement to the next.’ Laughable or laudatory?

You’ll have to make your own mind up about that one!

If you’d rather experience something that’s not quite so alternative, the famous (or infamous!) Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea may well be for you. Until the 3rd of October, this impressive space is home to ‘The Art of Chess’, a project featuring, well, rather unsurprisingly, chess sets! Unlike your standard board at home, this exhibition will display chess sets designed by some of the biggest names in contemporary art. Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin and Barbara Kruger are among the 16 artists featured. Your move, folks.

22

Sport

ukc rowing off to great start at boston marathon Abigal Mann Press and Funding Officer

IN the afternoon of the 15th, our womens crew comprising of Sarah Corbett at stroke, Laura Brunton, Ellie MylesHook, Ali Farrell and Abigail Mann as cox, headed up to Lincoln ready for the Boston Marathon the next morning.

After carbo-loading intensely that evening, the girls were up bright and early in preperation for the marathon, a gruelling 31 mile stretch of river running the length of Lincoln to Boston in Lincolnshire, a race not to be undertaken lightly. Crews from up and down the country both at university and club level put themselves forward to compete in the longstanding race which was first undertaken in 1946 on the back of a bet made in a local pub, and over the years the marathon has grown to receive in excess of 200 entries each year.

Our squad were dragged back to Canterbury early for an intense two week training camp, building up the mileage day after day until the event itself. During this training camp at the clubs home ground in Plucks Gutter, major revamping was done to the boathouse, with the rowers constantly on the go in between outings; cleaning, painting, weeding, strimming and raking ready for the influx of prospective novices in a few weeks time!

Despite this, efforts were relentless on and off the water despite struggling with the intense late summer heat, proving that the clubs dedication and motivated mentality is as strong as it

was since the rowing clubs founding in 1965. After a major issue involving a footplate being lost in transit on the way up North and some careful pursuading by our Chairman Matt Lane as well as some nifty DIY skills, a new footplate was fashioned courtesy of Lincoln Rowing Club, and the Womens Crew set off an hour later than planned.

Cox for the Womens Senior Crew Abigail Mann has this report of the race: ‘Despite our set-backs that morning, the girls got their gameheads on and the stand-still start was

the best I’d seen even in training.

We rated a solid 19 for the first 13.5KM until the lock and thanks to support from the Mens Squad, the girls were able to stretch for 30 seconds whilst they carried our boat over the lock!

The next 15KM flew by but the real test was the 30-40KM marker when sore backs, cramp and exhaustion started to set in. The last two thirds rated at 21 and morale soured as the KM countdowns turned to single digits.

An amazing burst of stamina came at the 600m mark, and they managed

a sprint at stroke rate 27 to finish the race in a commendable performance of just over 5 hours. I’m so proud of my crew!’ The Women’s Crew definitely have the war wounds to show for their efforts, as even taped hands couldn’t stop the monumental blisters forming over the hours; blood, sweat and tears were literally put into their efforts on the course! A huge thanks go out to the Mens Crew for their support in the race and an even bigger congratualtions go out to the girls, a real test of mental and physical resilience!

SPORTS FAYRE HUGE SUCCESS FOR UKC SPORT Sam Clemence

ON Friday 21st September, Kent University campus was transformed into a celebration of it’s sporting teams and societies, as the annual Sports Fayre took place to advertise UKC’s sports clubs Eliot car park and the plaza played host to over 50 clubs and societies; an event intended to help advertise and promote sports, not just for newly arrived Freshers, but also for returning students who want to try something new. Kent is home to a large range of diverse sporting clubs, all of which are included under the name of Team Kent, a new initiative by VP Sports Matt Harris to help unify the clubs under one banner.

From Aikido to Volleyball and Gliding to Darts, there is a sport for all ranges of interest, skill level and abilities. Some of the clubs even took to the rest of campus to demonstrate what it is they do.

The Cheerleading squad were seen performing stunts and tumbling in front of the library, whilst UKC Mixed Martial Arts brought along a portable mat to show off their fighting ability.

Equestrianism had two horses present,

Photography courtesy of Sam Allard.

whilst the 100m Ergo competition by Essentials was a popular display by Rowing. However, it was the Gliding society who stole the show with their exciting exhibition on Eliot hill.

The Sports Fayre this year is not only the first one featuring Team Kent, but is also following on from what has been one of the best sporting years for the University in a long time.

The Netball 1st team earned promotion to the Premiership South, the first time that any UKC side had obtained promotion to the British University Colleges Sport Premiership level.

Estelle Brandrath, President of the Netball team, had this to say on the Sports Fayre’s impact on the team: “Sports Fayre was immense, we were busy all day and it was really lovely to

see how many girls were up for joining our club. It was a massive success for us and I’m sure the other clubs were just as happy with how the day went.”

Kent Cheer had an overwhelming day of support, accumulating 600 signatures over the course of the day. After narrowly missing out on an International qualification in Miami, they are looking to build on such a successful year.

President Jody-Ann Miller was pleased with how the day went: “With such successful results in the 2011 - 2012 season we expected a big turn out at the University Sports Fayre, but the 600 plus sign ups we received was a huge and very welcome surprise. We’re very much looking forward to our taster session on the 28th and with all the interest surrounding Kent Cheer we’ll really be looking to secure that bid to Worlds in Florida! Missing out by one place last year has only increased our drive so I’m positive 2013 will see great things for KC.” With such promise for the new year, its vital that UKC continue to keep building and not to stand still, to help further increase our sports clubs influence and help Team Kent have a successful first year.

Sport 23

has racism really been shown the red card?

Joe Pollard

FOOTBALL is the beautiful game.

Right? Well, for all its entertainment value, there seem to be some problems with the sport – and perhaps sport in general – that just don’t seem to go away.

Homophobia for instance; excessively inflated wages and match ticket prices too.

But following events over the past year, including the infamous race row between Luis Suarez of Liverpool and Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, and the alleged racist insult by England captain John Terry against QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during a West London derby, it’s clear that the issue of racism is still very much prevalent and pertinent.

Last week at White Hart Lane, on September 20th, Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Italian club Lazio for a UEFA Europa League qualifier.

The game ended in a 0-0 draw, with three controversial rulings that disallowed the home side goals. A dull affair? Not quite.

The game was marred by apparent racist chanting from the visitors’ area of the stands. Anti-racism group FARE (or Football Against Racism in Europe) tweeted on September 21st: ‘FARE have submitted a formal report to UEFA about racism at the Tottenham vs.

Lazio Europa League match last night.’

The group, which says on its website that it wants ‘to see the “beautiful game” played without discrimination’, and that football ‘should be the right of every person to play, watch and discuss freely, without fear’, was responding to the evidence that some Lazio fans directed racist verbal abuse at Spurs players Jermain Defoe, Andros Townsend, and Aaron Lennon – all mixed-race or of Afro-Caribbean descent and English.

Fans and journalists reported monkey noises and degrading chants, and Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas said, after the game: ‘UEFA is very active on this kind of situation and our overall objective is to kick racism out of football’.

The leader of the authority that governs formal European football – UEFA – was actually at the game.

Michel Platini, the organisation’s president, has previously made it clear that racial prejudice and discrimination in football should not be tolerated.

Speaking in September 2008, after his election to his post in 2007, he said: ‘UEFA policy is clear: zero tolerance of violence, racism or discrimination.’ His response to the issue at White Hart Lane in North London remains to be seen at the time of writing this article, but Spurs have made it clear that they operate a strict zero tolerance policy when it comes to racism – just like UEFA. The association also issued a statement following the game that suggests examination of the case is underway: ‘UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against S.S. Lazio for the improper conduct of the club's supporters (racist behaviour) during the UEFA Europa League

group stage match on Thursday 20th September between Tottenham Hotspur FC and the Italian side.’

Earlier in the week of the match a parliamentary review was issued that addressed racism and other matters of discrimination and abuse in football.

John Whittingdale MP, the chair of the inquiry into football, declared: ‘Recent incidents of racist abuse in the UK highlight that there remain significant problems.’

A member of the Culture, Media, and Sport committee also spoke out.

Steve Rotherham MP inferred that the issue could lie at the top of the game.

He said: Some boards are all-male and all-white with no diversity there, and managers in the top tier of the Premier League and the Championship are almost all white, so there are some glass ceilings that need to be broken down’.

For all the talk from government and official organisations, the issue is still evidently pre-dominant.

Perhaps it doesn’t help that one of the most famous figures in English football – and world football even – has brushed off the events of the past year as anomalous among a sea of great change.

Sir Alex Ferguson said: ‘English football was very good at challenging those issues’, referring to racism and homophobia.

He went on to say: ‘Apart from last year, I don’t think it’s been an issue.

I’ve not seen anything for 20 years.

Suddenly, one bad year doesn’t case the game in doubt as far as I’m concerned.’

Make of those comments what you will. Organisations such as Kick It Out, Show Racism the Red Card, and FARE regularly attempt to expose and eliminate issues of racism in football but evidence shows that their job is not easy.

At UKC, Ethnic Minorities Officer Natasha Brown is hoping to put on a charity football event for Black History Month in October.

She commented, about the recent racial problems in football, that: ‘It is a shame when incidences like these occur; particularly in sport which should be free of hatred and racial intolerance because of its uniting power. ‘Although this was a European fixture, we must not forget that the fight against racism in sport is also a domestic problem with the recent cases regarding British players.’

Her Ethnic Minorities Campaign hopes to raise awareness of these issues around campus and address them.

On a more national and European level these are problems that still linger – regardless of what we may think about us having moved on and being more liberal and multi-cultured.

The hope is that by raising awareness of the issues and campaigning to rid sport and other areas of society of them, we can have a better system that is more tolerant of people from different races, cultures, backgrounds, and sexual orientation.

But, unfortunately for now, the problem of racism in football doesn’t seem to be solved.

SPORTSWRITER BRIAN WOOLNOUGH DIES AT 63 Alex Cassidy Newspaper Sport Editor

THE world of sporting journalism lost one of its best last week, when Brian Woolnough, Chief Sports Writer for The Sun and Daily Star, lost his life to bowel cancer.

Woolnough, or ‘Wooly’ as he was known, began his career on the Esher News in Surrey, before working his way up to the top position at The Sun and the Daily Star: his transfer between the two was highly publicised, with the coup considered to be a highly prized catch for Star owner Richard Desmond, a catch which set him back £200,000.

Considered more than just a sports journalist, he was highly respected

among his field for his cutting questions and refusal to back down. His column was often contentious, and his statements last year that should Manchester United lose the league, manager Alex Ferguson’s job could be in question, caused a large stir in the footballing world.

Ferguson paid his respects this week, stating about Woolnough: ““I liked him.

He was a good man, Brian. He was a good journalist and a good personality.

“He asked good questions, sometimes too good! It’s very sad and my thoughts are with his family at this time.”

Woolnough was perhaps better known, however, for his television and radio career. Starting in 1994, Woolnough hosted ‘Hold The Back Page’ on Sky Sports, before joining Jimmy Hill as

co-host of Sunday Supplement in 2001.

After Hill retired, Woolnough took on the full responsibility of host, and had anchored the chair every Sunday until the beginning of this season.

This season’s Supplement has been hosted by the Daily Mail’s Chris Ashton whilst Woolnough fought his disease.

The world of sport mourned with the news, with many outpourings of emotion for Woolnough, as well as strong declarations of Woolly’s profound legacy and impact throughout all sporting circles.

For Daily Star Sports Editor Howard Wheatcroft, it is the second loss to the sports desk this Summer, following the untimely death of Chief Football Writer Danny Fullbrook, also to cancer.

Wheatcroft, highlighted his respect for Woollnough, saying: ‘“Brian was the doyen of his generation of sports journalists, and had been the senior figure in football journalism for a long, long time.

To my mind he also paved the way for journalists being called upon as pundits. When the era of rolling sports news began, such was his standing that he was in demand from virtually day one – and up until the end he was still the best of the lot.

He was a big man in many ways, but he was never arrogant and had an incredible appetite for hard work.”

Brian Woolnough leaves behind his wife Linda, whom he met when she was a fellow trainee reporter on the Esher News, and by their three children.

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InQuire sport HOW HILLSBOROUGH REVOLUTIONISED FOOTBALL

George Hopkin Website Sports Editor YOU have heard about the Hillsborough stadium disaster. You have also probably also noticed that, earlier this month, the Hillsborough Independent Panel released a report that shamed East Yorkshire Police and Ambulance’s handling of the event, embarrassed the Football Association and its organisation and heaped further embarrassment onto The Sun for its damnable behaviour.

Its then-editor Kelvin MacKenzie even apologised for his part in publishing the paper, with the notorious front cover headline ‘The Truth’. The verdict is almost unanimous: They failed. The report has gone some way towards justice for the families and friends – and for the whole community – of the 96 Liverpool fans that were lost that day.

Looking at another report, the Taylor Report of 1990 – released a year after the tragedy of the FA Cup semi-final of 1989, between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at Sheffield’s Hillsborough stadium – there is more to learn.

This report acted as the prelude to a new era of British football, with its conclusive finding being that the disaster was a result

of poor police control. It recommended that all major British football stadiums, including those within the top two tiers of English football, should be converted into all-seater stadiums to prevent the possibility of further crises of crowd crushing. The Taylor Report acted as the catalyst for a new way of looking at sport crowds and how to hold them.

The significance of this was huge. At the time of the Hillsborough disaster, European competitions had been nogo zones for all English clubs. Since the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985, at the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus, English clubs had been banned indefinitely (until 1990) from taking part in UEFA’s European competitions. At that event, 39 Juventus fans died due to crowd crushing and violence: a minor group of Liverpool fans breached an area of the stadium designated as ‘neutral’ and caused a mass crushing against the back wall of the stand. The events that day gave English football a bad name; its fans became ‘hooligans’, even though the actual thugs formed a definite minority.

The build-up to Hillsborough was tainted by that atrocious cup final. The stadium was out-dated, fading and the

wired caging developed to separate stands and protect from crowd invasion onto the pitch was evidently not the answer to problems in the arena. But the reputation of English fans, Liverpool’s history, and football in this country as a whole did not aid the way that the media and police dealt with the situation.

Prejudice fuelled the fires of which the smoke is still lingering, especially with the release of the new independent report.

The elimination of terracing – standing positions – within top level football grounds made for a new way of looking at ticket sales and crowd safety. Every fan in an all-seater stadium was – and still is - issued a specific ticket number for a unique seat within the ground. It made stewarding and policing easier, stopped over-crowding, and offered a better experience for the family.

After millions of pounds were spent by football clubs in order to renovate degraded stadiums, the levels of violence also decreased too. Now, it’s hard to find violence within the grounds of a Premier League football club. Alcohol at matches was examined. Seen as a contributor to hooliganism, it received greater monitoring and is now banned within view of a football pitch on a matchday.

Smoking became prohibited too.

Looking at the state of modern football in this country, with a world-famous league and all-seater grounds that seat tens of thousands of football fans on a weekly basis, it is easy to think that all of this came about naturally through historical development. The story of our football might be a point of pride for this country and the subject of appreciation with many other nations worldwide, but it has its murky chapters.

Hillsborough and Heysel are just two.

Now, with the new report, and a step towards justice for the families of the 96, there are signs that things are moving forward.

With stadiums, the steps were taken almost immediately, and the harsh lessons of stadium disasters in the past have helped us to reach a safer, better, and, quite frankly, less awful way of handling attendance at football matches.

With both, the hope is that we are able to deal with these sporting tragedies of the past and move on.

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