InQuire 8.5

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drugs live - good or bad?

Issue 8.5

Zombie - Paranorman

50 years of bond girls

12th October 2012

student shopping night

comment - page 7

iq entertainment - page 17

iq culture - page 19

iq features - page 15

Melissa East

for student satisfaction.

91% of final-year undergraduates at Kent agreed that their overall university experience has been very rewarding.

In response to the 2012 National Student Survey, the University of Kent’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, expressed her delight in Kent’s continual academic achievements.

She said: “I am pleased that our students rate their experience at Kent so highly… it also confirms that our continuous investment in teaching and research, undergraduate support, and residential and study environments, is recognised and valued by our many students.”

Since its establishment in 1965, the University of Kent has continued to develop and thrive academically.

In the 2012 Guardian newspaper

University League Table, Kent placed 22nd overall in the UK, progressing from 27th in 2011. In The Sunday Times University League Table, Kent rose nine places to 28th.

In previous years, students have twice voted Kent as the top university in London and the South East, according to the NSS. Approximately 25% of the student population are international. Kent attracts a diverse population of students and is ranked as one of the top 400 universities in the world.

India Mae, an undergraduate student in her second year of Forensic Science at Kent agrees with the latest statistics and believes that Kent “should definitely be highly ranked.”

Coming from France, she “was worried to be put aside” but feels that “as the

European university, Kent do all they can to accommodate everyone, especially the international students.”

Even first year undergraduate students are already impressed with Kent and the “great” facilities.

Simran Judge, also studying Forensic Science, describes the student atmosphere at Kent as “outstanding” and has “really enjoyed” her first few weeks at Kent. Like many other students, she agrees that “Kent really does deserve its amazing ranking”.

Shoked Soans, currently studying Physics, said: “from what I've seen from Kent so far, the teaching is brilliant and the teachers always have time to help you.

Hopefully with all the new recognition we can help make Kent even better for future students.”

kent excels in national student survey

IN the 2012 National Student Survey (NSS), the University of Kent has been ranked fourth out of all publicly funded, multi-faculty higher education institutions in the UK for student satisfaction.

Over 300 universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in the survey, demonstrating the increasing excellence of the University of Kent, often referred to as ‘the UK’s European University.’

The Open University placed first for overall student satisfaction, followed by Oxford and Cambridge who came joint second.

The NSS confirms Kent as an advancing university, beating the majority of the high-status Russell Group universities

2

News Editor’s Note

Hello!

archbishop decision delayed Samantha Baldwin

So, you’ve picked up a copy of InQuire again. Nice job. This issue we’ve got a whole range of things for you to peruse at your leisure between lectures. From local news, to national issues, to Drugs Live to Marlowe reviews, we aim to provide something for everyone.

If this paper wasn’t enough to fill your appetite for news, then make sure you check out our website: www.inQuireLive.co.uk We’re currently designing a new look for it so keep your eyes open and start getting excited because it is looking goooood!

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

A decision on who will be the new Archbishop of Canterbury has been delayed as the discussions of the Crown Nominations Committee (CNC) have reached deadlock.

The 16 voting members of the panel failed to confirm any result after their three-day long meeting in a secret location.

The agreed procedure, established in 2007 under Gordon Brown’s government, is that the committee will issue two names to the Prime Minister upon making a decision, the favoured choice of which will be recommended to the Queen for approval.

A decision is not expected soon, as Church officials have confirmed that they are under no obligation to meet a specific deadline.

There is wide speculation about who will become the 105th Archbishop after Dr. Rowan Williams steps down from a tenure fraught with controversy.

Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, 56, appears to be the current frontrunner that has emerged from the recent talks, despite his lack of experience in leadership.

Although Welby has been Bishop for barely a year, his extensive knowledge and experience in economics (he was an executive in the oil industry for 11 years) may appeal to the CNC. John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, 63, is another strong contender. He is arguably the most charismatic candidate and a regular Sun columnist. Rt. Rev. Richard Chartes, Bishop of London, 65 a friend of the royals who gave a sermon when Prince William and Catherine wed - is also in the running alongside Rt. Rev. Christopher Cocksworth, Bishop of Coventry, 53 and Rt. Rev. Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, 61.

The Archbishop of Canterbury must assume leadership over the 77 million strong Anglican Communion as well as the Church of England. Welby and James have already said they are reluctant to take the role. James told the BBC he is “hoping and praying” that he will not be chosen.

The new Archbishop will take over at a time when the Church is struggling with a number of issues including homosexuality, the ordination of female bishops and an increasing sense of secularism in society.

pension overhauls implemented Krystale Appiah

A new scheme being introduced by the government will transform the current pension system by automatically enrolling staff into saving schemes.

The plan has already been put in place by some of the biggest employers in the UK and staff have the option to sign up to existing plans or new group schemes and can begin saving for retirement.

Workers can be auto-enrolled from the age of 22, providing they earn over £8,105 a year. The amount they put away is based on their wage; staff would pay between 0.8% and 8% (the maximum contribution allowed) on earnings between £5,564 and £42,475 into their pensions. However, they can choose to opt out of the scheme altogether.

The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that by the end of 2012 “600,000 more people in the UK would be saving into a workplace pension”, with

that figure escalating rapidly in future years until recruitment is completed in 2018. The plan involves all employers gradually adopting the scheme and when it is completed six to nine million people will be auto-enrolled.

The changes simplify the pensions structure, allowing workers to amass their savings in one place.

It would also increase the number of employees who would have access to a pension saving system; currently this figure stands at only one in three for private sector workers.

The plan is designed to simplify, aid and supplement personal savings instead of acting as a substitution.

There have been worries about the future of state pensions recently, with government plans sparking protests from many public sector workers. The government hopes that new plans like this could help to turn public opinion around.

Photo by Daniel Barnby

ukc teaching awards launch Alex Murray Kent Union Vice-President for Education NOMINATIONS for the Kent Union Teaching Awards open 17th October.

This is the opportunity to recognise the impact that academic and professional service staff have every year to you all as students.

Last year we received over a thousand nominations for more than five hundred staff members, but we are keen to improve even further on this. The closing date for submissions is late March so keep note of the great work that staff deliver all year round.

More information is online at kentunionteachingawards.wordpress. com. The awards ceremony will be held on the 16th May.

News 3

ukm ‘sexual assault’ from hypnotist

under 25s have no faith in mps Matt Rayner

Pamela Head Newspaper Editor HYPNOTIST Colin Adamson (inset right) who allegedly tricked University of Kent students into performing erotic dances and thinking they had been sexually assaulted has dismissed complaints, calling his show “comedy”.

The show, which took place at Coopers Bar on the University of Kent Medway campus, was promoted as: “a chance to watch your new friends transform into aliens and superheroes, one to remember!”

‘Colin Adamson’s Hypnosis Experience’ reportedly left one girl in tears and another telling a member of the audience after being told that he had touched her that she would castrate him with a spoon. At least two women involved in the stunt awoke shocked and horrified, believing they’d actually been molested by a man in the crowd.

Volunteers also found themselves performing risque lap dances and imagining other students naked.

Adamson apparently told two women: “When you wake up, you will think he touched you up just now.”

Universities at Medway Student Association (UMSA) recruited Adamson as part of the Welcome Week entertainment for new students in September.

University of Kent Feminist Society President, Natasha Sadaeva, expressed her shock at the event.

“He shows a lack of empathy towards rape victims and all women, and a lack of basic human decency – he has no place at a student union,” she said.

Following the performance, which was filmed and made into a DVD, Adamson was banned from performing or returning to the union.

Participants were not told that the show would be filmed but were offered a chance to buy the DVD after the show.

Mr Adamson said: “I didn’t say it was going to be filmed, no. Why would I need to? They aren’t children.”

One audience member, who did not want to be named, told Kent Online: “We had no idea it was going to be filmed and ironically when the show started he said participants wouldn’t have to do anything they weren’t comfortable with. Some were so disgusted by it they walked out.”

Another student said: “Some people still thought it was a laugh, but to be honest the girls were both in shock – they thought they had been sexually assaulted. It was funny at first, but when he got those two girls to do a lap dance and told them they had been groped it got a bit too much.”

The hypnotist’s website promises spectators “a range of entertaining Psychological Illusions and Tricks of the Mind.”

A spokesperson for the union said: “Following the hypnotist event we investigated it thoroughly and have since reviewed our due diligence procedures for booking of acts.

“As a result of this event, we will not be booking this particular act again and we have tightened up our procedures.”

The union added it had not yet received any complaints regarding the event and no-one left during the session.

Adamson added that it was the first time his show had received any kind of negative reaction, stating: “I’ve been performing it for 10 years and when I was performing in Coopers the laughter was very loud. The majority of the audience got what it was intended to be - comedy.”

96% of under-25-year-olds have said that they do not trust MPs, with nearly half stating that they feel abandoned by the government altogether, a new survey has found.

Generation Y - those aged between 18 and 25, trust reality stars like Simon Cowell, Peter Andre and Made in Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews more than politicians and bankers, according to the survey commissioned by Peugeot last week.

The young adults, who have been left in debt as a result of the ongoing recession, claim that there are only two groups of people they trust less than MPs: estate agents and double-glazing salespeople.

11.8%, or one in 10, said they had debts of more than £15,000 and feared they would never be able to get themselves back into the black.

47% believed that they would never own their own house or ever be able to buy a brand new car.

45% said that they felt completely abandoned by the government and only 7% claimed to have any faith left in bankers and the banking system.

Morgan Lecouper, director of marketing at Peugeot, said: “Debt is a rising issue among young people and it is very worrying to discover that so many under-25s fear they will never be able to free themselves from debt.”

“Peugeot commissioned this research in order to really understand the under-25 market and what is clear is that the vast majority have no faith in politicians nor do they believe they are willing, or able, to improve their situation.”

A group of 1,000 people were surveyed.

Currently, around 40% of unemployed people are aged between 16 and 25.

lib dems to revise fees policy teacher faces a second trial Katharine Mawford THE Liberal Democrats are in the process of developing a new policy on Higher Education, following Nick Clegg’s recently publicised apology.

The apology was concerned with the Liberal Democrats’ pre-election pledge to oppose the raising of tuition fees.

The party officially still stands against any rise in tuition fees, as they did prior to the last election, despite having been unable to uphold this within the coalition.

This, however, could soon change as the party’s officials will be seeking advice from Higher Education and economy experts ahead of the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference in March 2013.

At the conference members of the party will vote on the proposals put to them and the new Higher Education policy

will be formally decided.

These proposals are currently being formulated by a Working Group of Liberal Democrats, chaired by Baroness Brinton, herself a supporter of a Graduate tax and no stranger to policy concerning Higher Education, having previously sat on the Higher Education Working Group from 1993-97.

Speaking of the Liberal Democrat’s political stance, the UKC Liberal Democrat Society’s President, Will Nunnen, stated that they are “no longer a party of opposition but of Government”, and that as a party the Liberal Democrats “need to move forward,” which seems to be exactly what the development of a new policy will be a step towards.

He also said: “Even though the government allowed universities to increase tuition fees, I still believe the Lib Dems are looking out for students.”

Rose Hill NICHOLAS Sedgley, a married music teacher, is to be trialled for the second time at Canterbury Crown Court.

He has been accused of having sex with a schoolgirl after it was found that he had sent her over 23,000 text messages.

They reportedly used a code for certain words: brackets for a “hug”, exclamation mark for a “kiss” and a hash for “love”.

The case was initially adjourned in June because the Judge ruled that his mental health prohibited him from pleading to the charges.

In June the jury had found that Sedgley had not groomed the girl, but confirmed the charge that he had had sex with her on three separate occasions. During the last few months the sex offender has been monitored and reported by a psychiatrist, who claimed that his health

is “much improved”.

Though the psychiatric report stated that the possibility of going into court again could bring back Sedgley’s symptoms, Judge Adele Williams believed it was imperative for him to “stand trial again.” This was due to her concerns that the defendant still claims that he is not guilty, in spite of the jury’s last verdict.

She said: "The context of sexual offending means in my experience he is a risk out there in the community because he is still in denial and does not acknowledge [what he has done] and therefore receive the help which is available.

"What we are dealing with is a music teacher's full-scale abuse seduction of a vulnerable teenage girl.”

Sedgley is to be placed in a hospital until the trial re-opens in November.

4

News

miliband: labour are the ‘one nation’ party

Perpetual Brade Website News Editor THE Labour leader Ed Miliband, has stated that Labour is now the “one nation” party.

In his keynote speech at Labour’s annual party conference, Mr Miliband said he would unite the country and guide it through the economic difficulties.

He continued that the country could not carry on functioning, “as two nations, not one, the bankers and the rest of the country”, and said, “We must have a one-nation banking system as part of a one-nation economy.”

The “one nation” label has traditionally been used to refer to Conservative politicians at the centre of the political spectrum.

In the speech, which lasted just over an hour, the Labour leader criticised Prime Minister, David Cameron and the coalition government’s handling of the economy, calling it a “U-turning shower”, and received a standing ovation. He urged voters not to believe Mr Cameron saying, “If the medicine isn’t working, change the medicine.”

Although Mr Miliband’s speech contained few new policy announcements, he revealed plans for a technical baccalaureate, a new qualification that would be taken at 18.

The qualification, which he described as “gold standard” is designed to transform the lives of the 50% of young people who do not go to university, and would include Maths and English.

He also spoke of Labour’s proposed reforms for apprenticeships; to give businesses control of the £1 billion budget for on-the-job training and allowing them to have more of a say in creating the standards for vocational qualifications.

Speaking at the close of the five-day conference, Labour’s Deputy Leader, Harriet Harman, praised Mr Miliband’s speech saying it had “changed the

game”, and that the party, “had grown in confidence and self-belief”.

One of the most important speeches from the conference was made by the Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham, who emphasised Labour’s plan to slow down the privatisation of the NHS. Under the new rules, hospitals have the choice to earn almost half their income from private work, which Mr Burnham stressed, would damage the NHS’ “character and culture”.

The Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls also spoke on Monday about the need for more affordable housing and a two-year stamp duty break for first time buyers on properties worth £250,000 or less. Mr Balls spoke about how the funding for the plans could come from the sale of the 4G mobile spectrum.

Also speaking at the conference were other MPs including Sadiq Khan, Chuka Umunna and the Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who spoke about Labour’s proposed new body for policing standards.

The Police Standards Authority would replace the Independent Police Complaints Commission and be able to force police to give evidence.

new license laws for small venues ‘yobs’ ruining kent town centres Joanna Clarke A change in the law means that venues with a capacity of less than 200 will no longer need a license to host live music between 8pm and 11pm. The move is part of a government drive to relax bureaucracy for businesses, which they hope will allow them to grow.

Many saw the previous licensing laws as complicated and restrictive. In 2010, the chief executive of UK Music, an organisation representing the country’s music industry, said: “The licensing act is failing small venues and that is having a huge impact on the future of the live industry.” Michael Fallon, Business Minister, described it as “over-the-top bureaucracy that stifles community groups and pubs”.

UK Music estimates that the new Live Music Act could allow 13,000 more

venues to hold gigs. PRS for Music – the Performing Rights Society for musicians and music publishers – has previously found that pubs that provide music take, on average, an extra 44% in revenue; 60% at weekends. One in four publicans reported a 25-30% increase in takings after holding live music nights. Fallon said: “From today businesses are freed from the red tape that holds them back.”

The Act was not welcomed by all. Lisa Lavia from the Noise Abatement Society said it would bring a “dramatic rise” in noise complaints that would cause conflict between local residents and businesses.

The bill began in 2010 as a private members’ bill in the House of Lords by Lord Clement-Jones. It was introduced into the House of Commons by Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster, before finally becoming law.

Max Daniels JUDGE Simon James, at Canterbury Crown Court, has said that city centres throughout the county are being overrun with yobs.

This was noted after viewing CCTV footage of a fight in Kent.

The trial focused on 23 year old Jamie Clubb of Dover. Clubb had been “fighting drunk” in Dover town centre after an incident with the victims Stuart Harvey and Mark Aldridge.

From the CCTV footage shown, Clubb and his friends began attacking the two men, resulting in Harvey being left unconscious. Clubb continued to threaten him after he was knocked out.

Aldridge was punched as he tried to calm them down.

Though it is unsure whether Clubb dealt that particular blow, his responsibility for the fight meant that he was sentenced to six months in jail – suspended for a year – and 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay a total of £300 compensation to the wounded parties - £100 to Harvey, £50 to Aldridge and £150 costs.

This incident caused Judge James to respond with the comment that: “There are parts of our towns and cities which have become no-go areas for decent people late at night, just exactly because of the drunken yobbery you and your friends were involved with...

A clear message has to go out that such behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Jobshop Venue and Attic Street Team Promote student nights by handing out flyers, putting up posters and getting dressed up and chatting to people.

Mobile App Designer for iPhone Creating an easy, simple to use, information based product that can be used nationally and globally. Must be flexible and have proven track record of creating apps. Flexible hours. 10th October 2012 - 12th December 2012 or completion of product. Salary: £200.

Linux Sys Admin Someone to work on defined sys admin projects in bash/python. Must have background in Linux and be command line shell fluent. Hours part time to be agreed.

Comment 5

the media of multicultur alism Grace Beard

BRITAIN today is a country with wonderfully rich cultural and ethnic diversity, with the population of London boasting nationalities from all over the world. But how much does Britain’s multiculturalism resonate in its entertainment?

In the world of television comedy, representations of ethnic minorities first appeared in sitcoms like ITV’s Love Thy Neighbour, a programme that ran in the 70’s about the feud between a black couple and a white couple living next door to one another. Shows like this and the earlier Till Death Do Us Part (TDDUP), a BBC comedy featuring a white, anti-liberal and ostensibly racist leading role, were aired at a time where Britain was beginning to feel the presence of immigration.

While some welcomed immigration with open arms, appreciating the new, others did not. Characters in British sitcoms like TDDUP’s extremely bigoted Alf Garnett became a prototype for the average British xenophobe, and the racially hateful slurs from Love Thy Neighbour’s Eddie Booth were an accurate expression of some viewers’ opinions.

Although these sitcoms had good intentions in aiming for their narrowminded lead characters to be the butt of

Citizen Khan may be a first for the BBC, but the characters aren’t groundbreaking.

the joke, they sadly echoed the views of a proportion of their audiences. Many of the laughs on these early British sitcoms depended on spouting off racial insults and emulating crude stereotypes.

So, forty years and an ever-growing multi-ethnic, multi-national population later, what has become of British multiculturalism’s representation in television today?

From the Trumans to the Parekhs, families from an assortment of cultural backgrounds have been housed by longrunning British soap operas Eastenders and Coronation Street, in an attempt

to mirror the cultural diversity of the average British neighbourhood.

While these characters have the same perplexing variety of storylines under their belts as their white counterparts, they also tackle issues that stem from their ethnic or religious backgrounds we all remember when good Muslim boy Syed Masood came out of the closet in Eastenders, right!?

Nonetheless there is always a fine line when it comes to stereotyping. Is it typecasting if a Pakistani family run a corner shop? How far away from such stereotypes can we get before we begin

trimming away cultural identity?

Last month, the BBC broadcast its first ever South Asian sitcom, humorously titled Citizen Khan, about a Muslim family living in the ‘capital of British Pakistan’: Sparkhill in Birmingham.

Although it’s a welcome change, and most certainly a significant moment in television history, the show is arguably teeming with clichés: one daughter is more interested in fashion magazines than the Qu’ran, while the other agonises over her Big Indian wedding. It’s certainly not groundbreaking material.

Looking away from the world of television, British cinema is doing well to explore the lives of ethnic minorities living in Britain. East is East, My Beautiful Launderette, and Bullet Boy are staples of such reflections, and allow audiences all over to experience what life is really like in areas we may not otherwise acknowledge.

A few weeks ago, London played host to the UK’s largest Arab film festival, with screenings showcasing Arab culture and heritage, free from stereotypes. With events like this, we may well be on our way to becoming a more aware and understanding nation.

Television may still have some work to do when it comes to providing a sample of the true flavour of multicultural Britain, but we only need to turn the TV off to find it flourishing elsewhere.

wiping the blood from cameron’s speech Sam Hughes-Narborough

ONCE again David Cameron is in trouble with the press, this time for an address to the UN on Wednesday. While the message of his speech was focused on democracy, freedom, and how these principles are the best weapon against poverty and associated problems like terrorism, the media decided to fixate on only a few lines. These have been interpreted as Cameron blaming Russia and China for civilian and child deaths in Syria, due to their continuing blockade of sanctions.

The transcript from number10.gov.uk quotes the Prime Minister as saying: ‘The blood of these young children is a terrible stain on the reputation of this United Nations. And in particular, a stain on those who have failed to stand up to these atrocities and in some cases aided and abetted Assad’s regime of terror’.

As China and Russia are the members of the Security Council who have failed to ‘stand up’, Mr Cameron has used his address to take a direct swipe at these powers, at least according to anyone anywhere who has reported on the speech.

Not the wisest thing to do then?

Definitely not when taken out of

context. To accuse Russia and China of committing genocide by not acting cannot be seen as sensible by anyone.

Surely the only thing it will do is fuel Russian indignance and strengthen their resolve not to bend to arrogant Western interventionists. Indeed, when reading the Voice of Russia, you see that not everyone supports the Free Syrian Army - the prevailing opinion seems to be that they carry out more atrocities than the government.

Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov, in response to Mr Cameron’s apparent claim that they are abetting terror, suggested that it is actually those who are supporting the rebels who are exacerbating the situation: ‘Such an approach is unrealistic. The refusal of some members of the Security Council to condemn these terrorist acts is of deep concern and it calls into question the fundamental job of the Security Council to condemn terrorism.’

In addition, Yang Jiechi, China’s Foreign Minister, expressed disagreement that Chinese policy would cause history to judge them poorly.

It seems all Mr Cameron has done is strengthen the oppositions resolve to not back down; the precise opposite of his intentions. Was it foolish then, to prolong the stalemate with an

unnecessary outburst? I think not. It is clear that sensationalism is still the order of the day when the media jump on these two sentences and journalists have neither the time nor inclination to write about the full events.

Cameron spent much of his speech talking about the necessity for democracy and freedom; why this is the best solution to the problems of the Middle East, from poverty and unemployment through to tackling extremism and terrorism.

He referred to the attitude of thinking it best to use an authoritarian strong-arm to control unstable regions and prevent Islamic Extremism, and how this led to the West being used as a scapegoat for the problems that arise from tyranny.

Giving the people a choice of brutal dictators or radical extremists, a ‘false choice’ as Mr Cameron so excellently described it, clearly doesn’t work.

His explanation of why accepting the results of any elections and maintaining democracy will naturally lead to a replication of the society we have in the west, was robust and left little doubt that this should be the way forward. If only to allow the people to hold government to account.

Although short-term developments seem unlikely, the longer-term may

Image taken from Egypt Independent.

prove more interesting. However, the only real certainty from this speech is that Mr Cameron is a believer in democracy, a believer in people and a believer in a brighter tomorrow. If nothing else, this speech tells the people that we are not siding for control and influence, but for a shared ideology; one that must spread around the globe and hopefully lead to reductions in suffering and violence.

6

Comment

should julian assange be freed from persecution or be brought to justice?

St John MacGregor Grier Kent Debating Society

WIKILEAKS founder, Julian Assange, has been declared an “enemy of the state” by the US military for leaking government files, putting him in the same category as al-Qaeda. More pressingly than that, he is also a wanted man in Sweden – not for charges relating to Wikileaks, but for two allegations of rape.

Under European law, Britain is obliged to extradite him for investigation and trial, so for over 100 days Assange has been taking diplomatic shelter in Ecuador’s London embassy.

Many people believe, although without evidence, that the CIA has had some involvement in the rape accusations.

Reputation-damaging allegations of this nature would be a very effective way for an anti-Assange conspiracy to take effect. The strong emotions and presumptions of guilt that almost invariably accompany accusations of rape are a powerful and effective way of turning public opinion against a person.

Sweden, often considered the flagbearer for international feminism, is the perfect setting for a CIA setup, due to the greater lengths the country goes to in pursuit of alleged rapists. However, international group Women Against Rape have publicly said that they believe Assange is not being pursued because of sex crimes, but for political reasons.

To extradite Assange could absolve Britain of responsibility, and place it

firmly in the hands of Sweden. The trial could go ahead, and the Swedish legal system’s excellent track record of justice would hopefully reach a fair set of conclusions.

However, once away from British soil, there is a much greater chance that Assange would be sent on to face the American legal system for charges of espionage. Despite the perceived American bias to the 2003 UK/US extradition treaty, Britain has successfully refused seven extraditions – which is seven more than the US. This arguably puts Britain in a stronger position than Sweden to prevent secondary extradition to America, and the potentially inhumane treatment that occasionally goes with it.

Bradley Manning, a US soldier who was one of the primary sources for Wikileaks, has suffered terribly in solitary confinement in an American prison without trial. If Assange were extradited, he would almost certainly suffer the same fate. Therefore if we allow it to happen, Britain and Sweden will have neglected their moral and legal responsibilities to human rights.

It could even be argued that Assange deserves protection precisely because of his work with Wikileaks. His website has allowed for the release of all manner of concealed information, exposing liars, conspirators and frauds.

Julian Assange has defended and acted fearlessly upon the principles of free speech. For this, he deserves not only our help, but our admiration.

Sam Cochrane Kent Debating Society

IN 2010 the website Wikileaks, founded

by Julian Assange, started to release over a quarter of a million classified diplomatic cables. Originally sent to the US State Department from U.S. consulates and embassies, these cables gave detailed insights into countries, leaders, and events around the world that the public would not ordinarily get to see.

Currently in the UK, Assange faces extradition to Sweden where he must deal with allegations of rape and sexual assault, fearing that he will then be sent on to the US to face further charges of espionage.

The free exchange of information constitutes an important part of the democratic process, allowing us, the electorate, to correctly assess the parties and politicians we’re voting for. Many of the cables published by Wikileaks exposed schemes that our governments would otherwise have kept hidden from us.

One cable, under Hillary Clinton’s name, ordered US diplomats to spy on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other UN officials, and to collect their passwords and biometric information.

Other cables exposed corruption in the Tunisian government and may have even been a cause of the Tunisian revolution, which resulted in numerous deaths.

Thanks to Assange, much classified information has become free to view,

but this is not necessarily a good thing.

These examples, and thousands more, show us the power of information.

However, Assange has been callous and reckless in publishing some cables that concern national security, and needs to be held responsible.

Key hidden areas and facilities around the world were exposed and left vulnerable to attacks that would disrupt global communication and trade. In addition, international relations between many countries, like Pakistan and the US, have been severely wounded, which could spell political and social unrest in the future.

Not only does Assange need to take responsibility for the consequences of his Wikileaks ventures, he needs to relinquish his current situation; avoiding arrest for rape by claiming diplomatic asylum in Ecuador’s London embassy.

Although the diplomatic asylum that he is hiding behind is not an internationally recognised status, police can’t remove him from an embassy without breaking the rules set out at the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Whether he committed the crimes or not, he needs to stop perverting the course of justice and to make his case at a fair trial.

Although he should definitely be praised for some of his work, Julian Assange needs to be held responsible for the lives he potentially endangered, and to come before the charges of which he is accused.

utmost creativity, children most of all.

Of course, I don’t doubt the importance of core subjects such as mathematics, I’m simply suggesting that students should be able to choose where their imagination would best reach its full potential, without the fear of being thwarted academically.

Serota also stated that when “you have schools which give time to cultural learning, there is benefit both in that sphere and also to the other disciplines”.

In other words: subjects which encourage artistic expression can encourage good learning in other subjects as well.

When a student is stressed about

their parents’ divorce, or they’ve had a fight with their best friend at lunch, they aren’t exactly ‘ready and willing’ to learn. What will make them feel better? Listening to a maths teacher talk about trigonometry, or channelling those emotions into an art form? Would you willingly let a passive aggressive teenager with no means of expressing themselves near a Bunsen burner and an array of chemicals? No, didn’t think so.

For centuries, Britain has been renowned for her artistic countenance.

Our countries’ authors, musicians and actors are still praised just as much as our scientists and historians, so surely the new qualification should be just as concerned with this too?

Serota urges for the Arts to be kept at the ‘heart of curriculum’. In effect, that is exactly what they are; the heart.

Whilst Science and Humanities are very much the brain, it is the arts that sustain our emotional intelligence and allow us to shape our own worlds. Without them, the future could be very bleak!

the importance of teaching the arts

Jordan Cook

TO say that the Government’s recent decision to replace GCSEs with the English Baccalaureate has been a tad controversial would be an understatement. Among those harbouring concerns about the change is Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Art Galleries. Serota fears that whilst core subjects will get the revamp, there may be no room left for subjects like art, drama, and music. I can’t help but agree with him.

Michael Gove, Education Secretary, stated that the government plans to ‘remove controlled assessments and coursework from core subjects’ and to replace modules with only one end-ofyear exam. But doesn’t this mean that subjects with less conventional means of examination, like the Arts, will be left behind? Does it even matter? Simply put, yes it does.

The Arts are just as important as the Sciences or Humanities. Sure, they aren’t

as focused on memorising equations or dates, but they promote creativity, imagination, and forms of expression.

The mind is not a hard-drive ready to have knowledge thrust upon it, we are not machines, we need to interact.

At the University of Kent and surrounding schools, psychology and autism experts are performing ‘a scientific and systematic evaluation of whether drama interventions can have positive effects on autistic children’. It is believed that the Arts, in this case, could vastly improve a childs’ ability to communicate with the world.

Human beings are capable of the

Comment 7

has drugs live opened our eyes?

Michael Shannon

RECENTLY, Channel 4 hosted a two part scientific study into the effects of MDMA on human physiology. Parts of the programme, for some reason, were broadcast live.

A rather spaced out Jon Snow, although not high on the drug himself, navigated the studio snatching facts and opinions from participants, drug users and scientists, while gesticulating wildly at a light-up brain.

In the study itself, 25 people were given either a placebo or 83mg of pure MDMA. Once dosed up, they were asked questions about their mood, while laying immobilised in a metre diameter fMRI ‘cigar-tube’.

Among those that had an okay time were a priest; novelist Lionel Shriver (We Need to Talk About Kevin); deputy editor of New Scientist magazine, Graham Lawton; and 21 others, while a soldier trained to resist torture didn’t.

What was probably overlooked here was that how you feel on MDMA is as much related to setting and mood as it is when on psychoactive drugs LSD or magic mushrooms. But this is anecdotal – another example of non-scientific (but somewhat empirical) theory which we have been forced to rely on.

The most important point, therefore, somehow managed to squeeze past the incomprehensible barricade of rushed Channel 4 lunacy. Proffesor David Nutt (DM, FRCP, FRCPsych, FMedSci) left us feeling that firstly: YES, more research

might finally be the answer here. And secondly, that the illegality of MDMA had indeed banished it to a dark pit of unfundable, untouchable projects since its discovery 100 years ago.

Andy Parrot managed brilliantly to unintentionally summarise the inadequacy of the research literature so far, describing scant studies with so many holes, gaps, and extraneous variables that they picked themselves apart before he had finished his sentence.

The mention of a study called MDMA: Hug Drug or Thug Drug, drew a knowing smile from Proffesor Curren who, along with David Nutt, looked well dressed and ‘with-it’ next to (perhaps deliberately) beige nightmares Philip Murphy and Parrott. It was seemingly obvious who the programme wanted you to side with.

There was some science here too, and while the sample size was too small, some of the findings were interesting.

It seems that MDMA is a much more specific drug than alcohol – dampening down a connection between two parts of the brain that have high levels of communication when stressed. Positive individual experiences during therapy for PTSD and chronic anxiety (in mostly illegal settings) were encouraging.

Statistics, while already common knowledge, were also intriguing: 300 people die a year from paracetamol, 8000 from alcohol, and 30 from MDMA. Results from the poll during the show indicated that 94% of the audience didn’t believe government policy on drugs was working, and that 60% were for full

legalisation of MDMA, never mind more research.

I think that the argument for more studies into MDMA is a strong one, especially in terms of its potential applications in therapy. If Channel 4 have opened the subject up for funding of real scientific studies, then that is a good thing.

I also think that if any upset has been caused because of the controversial content of Drugs Live, it shouldn’t be due to what the Daily Mail labelled as ‘a dangerous air of acceptability to taking the drug’, it should be about the unnecessary dumbing down of science in the media.

The ‘live’ format shown here only served to cut short debate – an interesting argument might have been had between Curren and Parrot at one point, if time had allowed – and to wrongly section off the issue into two separate scientific camps. Laymen aren’t cattle, and needn’t be treated as such. Allow viewers to make up their own minds rather than providing a simple ‘for or against’ decision. Different scientists do have different and often contending opinions, but here one of them was based on flawed research.

Whether Drugs Live will directly influence government policy or not is yet to be seen, but it has undoubtedly raised public awareness. Even if dumbed down at times, the message it sent was clear: the better we understand the effects of drugs such as MDMA, the better we will be able to reap them for their benefits.

companies for the latest phone, music player or gaming device, regardless of how minute the change from previous models may be.

Be it talking into your phone and instructing it what to do, or wiggling in front of a camera to see an on-screen Jedi knight mimic your movements, we’re all slaves to technology, regardless of whether you think so or not.

Almost everyone will have bought

something brand new, apparently safe in the knowledge that it’s at the ‘top of its range’, only for it to be outdated in a matter of weeks. We are all familiar with the pain to some extent, especially that of our weeping wallets, and yet we continue to behave this way. Why? Image is usually a massive part of Apple’s marketing campaign and it’s no different with the iPhone 5; the only real selling point seeming to be that ‘it’s new’.

There may be more to MDMA than just raving.

burn an iphone to save your soul Ben Rayner

FOLLOWING Apple’s announcement of the new iPhone 5, delight and outrage has effervesced across the world. We’d usually expect to see outcries from rival companies such as Samsung or Microsoft, but on this occasion it hails from Jerusalem.

Chaim Kanievesky, an influential ultra-orthodox rabbi, has instructed his followers to condemn the product and burn any iPhone already owned. The condemnation allegedly hopes to steer the ultra-orthodox tradition away from materialism and the temptations of the World Wide Web. To keep people in the dark about the internet and the technological ‘sensation’ that is the iPhone 5 seems, to us as Westerners, outlandish. Surely it is unimaginable that he will be successful in keeping his clan free from 4G. On the other hand, is his outlawing of the iPhone protecting people from the machine-driven capitalist world that we are all victims of?

Year in year out, thousands upon thousands of us will throw money at

Whether portrayed as mindless zombies or sheep, iPhone 5 buyers have been mocked globally.

The revamped model boasts a whopping 0.37 inch bigger screen and a slightly crisper retina display, so there is a little bit less strain on us as we tweet and browse Facebook. From £529 ranging up to £699, depending on memory size: it’s a small fortune for some very small changes.

There’s also not much more difference in the software – in fact one of the new iPhone’s proudest achievements is its ability to look at maps differently awkwardly (don’t they know Google has the map market covered?).

It is undeniable that we live in an age governed by how we look and what we have, so owning the latest gizmo or whatchamacallit will do everything to enhance your image. This is what drives the gadget market.

Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Rabbi Kanievesky’s book. Maybe by boycotting the endless stream of hypedup products that come with seemingly insignificant advances, we’ll see a shift in focus to technology we actually need – or maybe we’ll just see the return of the Nokia 3310 days- the last ultra-orthodox rabbi friendly phone.

8

Special Report

how the £9,000 tuition fees impact you Matt Gilley Newspaper News Editor

THIS year, universities across the country took in their first batch of £9,000-fee students.. The announcement of the rise, back in 2010, sparked outrage from students.

Up to 50,000 protested in London and occupied university buildings across the country, including the Senate building at the University of Kent.

Since then, much has been reported of the effects the fee rise will have on students. In May this year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published a report showing that 56% of graduates will take so long to repay their loan that it will be written off after 30 years.

The report, supported by a more recent IFS publication from 2nd October, also says that the poorest 29% of graduates will be better off under the new system, largely because of the higher earnings threshold for repaying the loan and because part of their debts will be written. The other 71%, however, will be worse off.

The main winner, according the IFS, is the taxpayer, who will save £3,000 per graduate, thanks to the government not funding universities directly. The main loser is the graduate.

A report by Andrew McGettigan for the Intergenerational Foundation predicts that public sector debt will rise by as much as £100bn as a result of the increased tuition fees.

Tuition fees are also used to help measure the Consumer Price Index, giving the rise an inflationary effect that could add £2.2bn to the social security budget by 2016.

Were these to happen it would run contrary to the government’s claims that the rise will reduce the deficit and therefore help the economy.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills argues that higher repayments from graduates will offset the government’s expenditure on higher loans, but McGettigan has disputed that, saying: “The complexities of the scheme [make] predicting patterns and levels of repayment extremely difficult.”

Neither does this address the possible effects £9,000 graduates may have on the welfare system. NUS President Liam Burns says: “This could have dramatic consequences, to the point where any savings from the higher education reform package are simply wiped out.”

The effect of higher fees, and all the other financial worries that come with them, on student mindsets can already be seen.

UKC Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Keith Mander, says that the university’s intake of new undergraduates has dropped by around 350, although that may, in part, be down to extra students starting last year who might otherwise have taken a gap year.

The tragedy of £9,000 tuition fees is that, since no political parties will commit to funding higher education through other means, they are necessary.

The IFS report claims that more will be spent on universities as a result of the reforms. Professor Mander, however, says that income will remain essentially the same, it will just come from different sources as government funding is reduced and eventually removed.

Tuition fees will then make up the short fall. Government funding before the 2012/2013 academic year accounted for £60-70m of the university’s budget of roughly £200m.

Staff costs in 2010/11 (the most recent year with a published financial statement) were close to £95m. To absorb the loss of government funding through measures like staff lay-offs, pay cuts or cuts from other parts of the university’s budget, would have a huge effect on its ability to offer a quality academic service.

The financial statement puts the

University’s assets at around £152m. So, even if it could sell these, it could only cover the loss for two-and-a-half years, and the sale of some of those assets could be “completely detrimental” to the student experience, says Professor Mander.

Looking through the University’s financial statements it quickly becomes depressingly clear that without government funding for undergraduates, there is no feasible alternative but to raise tuition fees.

Professor Mander confirms this, saying that while alternatives may have been considered, they were soon seen to be “not very palatable.”

The government has always spoken of their higher education reforms “putting the student at the heart of the system.”

Their claims have been derided by Burns, amongst others, who said that students have instead slowly become “consumers of teaching rather than partners in learning”.

Kent Union President Tom Ritchie echoed this sentiment speaking to InQuire in June: “We are working very much to ensure that we move away from the idea of consumerism.”

Students, he said, should be “coproducers in their learning.” Students should rightly be able to demand more

quality and involvement from their university experience now that they are investing more in it financially.

Certain projects have been begun or accelerated as a direct response to the tuition fee rise, such as the multi-million pound extension to the library that will hopefully begin next year.

Students are also increasingly expecting improved job prospects from their degree; Ritchie says that it is the way they “stand out” from other graduates.

The Union hopes to address this through its new employability points scheme, employability toolkit, volunteering awards and partnerships with industries around the world.

Ritchie also highlighted the new Colyer-Fergusson music building, opening soon, an increase in the Union’s budget for societies and their campaign for a new Union building, Building Up, launched this year.

Perversely, the impact of fees on the student experience may in fact be positive. The ramifications of increased debt are uncertain, and potentially deeply damaging, for students, the government and indeed society as a whole. But before that sets in, the response by the university to the need for value for money might actually make a degree more worthwhile.

Editorial

9

what’s in a name? shakespeare turns hip hop Alex Cassidy Newspaper Sports Editor

BRITISH Hip hop artist Akala is the founder of the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company. It is an endeavour by the rapper to help promote the beauty and knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays through a modern medium: Hip Hop. It may seem alien to a great number of the population to even mention the most famous exponent of our language and poetic culture within the same breath as rapping and Hip hop, but an exercise performed recently by Akala show that rappers today can keep up with the great Bard himself.

Speaking at a conference last December, Akala tested his audience by quoting lines from some of his favourite Shakespeare plays and some of his favourite Hip Hop songs, asking the audience to guess which lines came from which.

Examples include: ‘Maybe its hatred I spew, maybe it’s food for the spirit’, and ‘Men would rather use their broken weapons than their bare hands’.

Deliberately in this article, I am not going to reveal which one of these is Shakespeare and which is Marshall Mathers, aka Eminem, in an attempt to enforce my point: Hip Hop is widely under-appreciated as an art form.

The crass backronym ‘Retards Attempting Poetry’ is an example of this.

Taking a dislike to a form of music doesn’t give the listener free reign to attack the artistic integrity of an entire genre, and certainly not to create disparaging

comparisons to those writing it. Because of the ‘rap/pop’ artists bumbling their way through the charts at 80mph, the efforts and legacy of the founders are forgotten.

A few bad apples shouldn’t spoil the batch. Hip Hop is young as a genre, and although the renaissance or ‘golden era’ is over, the foundations were laid for future generations.

The lyrical genius of the most influential Rock musicians would never

be questioned, yet Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon would be spinning in their graves at some of the examples being churned out by many bands in their respective genres today.

Does that lead to the widespread assumption that all music under the rock ‘n’ roll umbrella is terrible? Of course it doesn’t.

Yet intelligent, credible writers and performers of Hip Hop continue to be tarred with the same brush as the ghostwritten, auto-tuned puppets in the top 20.

Since its inception, thousands of under-recognised but legitimate poets have graced the stage of Hip Hop. They may not suit the traditional cultural expectation of the art form, but the fact that Akala and the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company are using their message to educate a generally uninterested and detached generation on the merits of Shakespeare and the legacy, and the impact that one man left on our language, can be nothing but good news.

Hip Hop is reigniting the fires of poetry in our youth.

Although it may not suit the tastes of a few, Shakey himself might have agreed, as he famously wrote: ‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet’.

Congratulations to Faroul El-Hamzawi, presented by Michael Marshall, Branch Manager of Carphone Warehouse, Canterbury.

With three branches of Carphone Warehouse in Canterbury (Rose Lane, CT1 2SJ / Sturry Road, CT1 1HJ / Wincheap, CT1 3TQ) we can provide a wide range of services to all students at the University of Kent including a great range of tablet computer deals and Home Broadband solutions. we would like to wish all students at the university good luck for the coming academic year.

Intelligence Officers | £25,056 + benefits | UK based Analysing information. Making connections. Seeing things others don’t.

This is what MI5 Intelligence Officers do every day. Working together, we help safeguard national security. This challenging and vitally important work demands strong communication, analytical and organisation skills – not to mention attention to detail and great patience. If you enjoy solving problems, becoming an MI5 Intelligence Officer is one of the most rewarding and interesting career paths you could choose. Make sense of it at www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/intelligence To apply you must be over 18 and a British citizen. Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

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On Sunday and Tuesday nights from 8’o’clock, CSR radio host a pub quiz in Woody’s. So if you’ve got your thinking cap on and you can persuade some friends to come with you, go and give it a go!

THE LIBRARY

CSR PUB QUIZ

g in You unfortunately belon y: make the Templeman Librar done! sure you get your work

12

IQ Features

RAG EXPEDITIONS: THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA For the third year in a row, RaG will be running summer expeditions to trek the Great Wall of China and to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Two of last year’s volunteers, Jonathan Wheatcroft and Laura-Jane Ryves, share their experiences of these two wonderful missions. This year’s charities are Make-A-Wish and Breast Cancer Campaign. If you want to get involved and raise money for these amazing causes, use the contact details at the bottom of the page...

Jonathan Wheatcroft

A little over a month ago, I took my first steps in China. Shortly after that I experienced my first crazy bus journey through Beijing’s hectic roads, distinctly lacking in both road signs and crossings.

Halfway around the world from home I was unsure of exactly what to expect.

I was embarking, along with a team of fellow university students, on a weeklong expedition to trek one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Those of you who have seen An Idiot Abroad will know that Karl Pilkington, would not have China written on a ‘return needed’ list.

He referred to the Wonder as the ‘Alright Wall of China’ - along the more worn down parts of the wall it is easy to see why.

What is truly impressive is the length of it. The most recently completed archaeological surveys put the Great Wall at over 13,170.69 miles in length, in perspective that is almost four times the distance between London and New

York. Thankfully we were only going to be trekking along a very small portion of this!

Parts of the trek were gruelling; there were a huge number of stairs (I lost count) some of them very steep, there was a jungle section thick with spiky undergrowth (walking trousers needed next time) and finally most days it felt like we were in a steam room such was the humidity accompanied by the famous Beijing smog. In the end these mental and physical testers only served to make the trek all the more satisfying to complete.

For anyone who likes travelling China will amaze and surprise; the food (yes you really can find spiders, scorpions and seahorses to eat) the shopping (even I made use of my wallet due to the amount of bargains) the architecture, the history, the acrobat shows, the people, all of these elements combine to send your senses into overdrive.

There was also an extension trip to see a Panda Sanctuary and the Terracotta Army which by all accounts sounded spectacular!

I can’t recommend highly enough that if you are reading this you consider signing up. You have the opportunity to go on a once in a lifetime trip, all in the aid of charity.

What really makes the trip above all is the group of people you go with, you will be guaranteed to meet some fantastic people and enjoy many good laughs.

RAG EXPEDITIONS: MOUNT KILIMANJARO Laura-Jane Ryves

Passport in hand and walking boots on, I eagerly stumbled into Heathrow airport. Full of anxiety, I walked over to meet the 18 adventure-driven Kent students who were also set to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Any fears that I had about hiking up the world’s largest

freestanding mountain, with a group of complete strangers, were immediately quelled when we enthusiastically introduced ourselves. We exchanged our traveling stories and embarrassing moments, making the eight-hour flight to Nairobi fly by!

After showering for the last time before our six-day trek and gorging

on our final egg-free meal (eggs were to become a constant feature of meals on the mountain) we finally arrived at the Machame gate. We gazed up at the layer of thick fog obscuring Kilimanjaro from our view and were left to imagine the imposing mountain, which towered nearly 6000 meters above our heads.

Kilimanjaro has got to be one of the most incredibly beautiful and aweinspiring places in the world. Seriously, it’s no wonder that over 40,000 people travel there each year. Climbing Kilimanjaro is like walking from the equator to the North Pole in a week, you cross five different climate zones, which provide dramatic changes in vegetation and animal life day by day.

I cannot imagine reaching the ‘Rooftop of Africa’ without our troop of 60 porters and six Mountain guides who were absolutely awesome. The porters were incredibly fit and some had summited over 400 times! They carried all our belongings and assembled the camp hours before our arrival each day.

The guides welcomed us into their culture and provided expert knowledge, filling us in on the strange and unique life forms of the mountain. They told us

fascinating stories of the Maasai tribe and continually lifted our spirits and motivated us by relating funny anecdotes and singing African songs.

Our group gelled almost instantly, and by the end of the week it felt like we had been friends our whole lives.

We climbed Kilimanjaro as a team and supported each other throughout the entire journey by sharing bug-spray, sun cream and words of encouragement.

Never underestimate the power of encouraging words when your feet are blistered to shreds and you haven’t kept down a meal for the past two days!

When you climb Kilimanjaro you see the world in a different way. It was the toughest challenge I’ve ever taken on in my life but, given the opportunity, I’d climb it all over again. The summit night was absolutely freezing and the altitude sickness was at times, unbearable, but despite the elements I had the best week of my life!

I met some incredibly inspirational people and the feeling of achievement that I gained from pushing my body physically and mentally to the limit has given me an entirely fresh outlook on life.

If you want to contact the RaG team, email them at: kentchallenges@hotmail.co.uk or raiseandgive@kent.ac.uk

IQ Features 13

SPOTTED! CAMPUS STREET STYLE Keeping up with the current fashion scene can be difficult whilst living on a student budget. Some of you Kent students do an amazing job at staying on trend however, here are some of your best looks over the past couple of weeks! Photography and words by Claudia, Emily, Alice, Yvonne and Lucy.

Jess (right) Jacket: Topshop Dress: H&M Scarf: Internaçionale Shoes: Marks & Spencer

& events The Venue SOAP! Angels and Demons 13th October

Dan (above)

FLIRT! - 17th October

Shirt - Levis Shoes - Unknown Bag - Primark Favourite Shop - Charity Shops for individuality

Blackout - 19th October SOAP! Happy Glow Lucky 20th October Addicted to Bass - 26th October The Attic Comedy Central Live - 16th October Channel 4’s Bedroom Live Tour - 17th October LGBT Society Takeover - 18th October Pluck My Acoustic - 23rd October

Jen (above) Jacket: New Look Skirt: Cotton On – Australia and Asia Boots: Deichmann Yvonne (Right) Jacket & Jeans - Vintage Bag – Miss Selfridge Shoes – Doc Martens

Woody’s Live Music Night - 12th October Pool Competition - 15th October Gourmet Burger Night - 16th October Karaoke - 18th October

14

IQ Features

RECIPE OF THE WEEK: THE CLASSIC WITH A TWIST Rannva Clementsen The classic amongst classics in student diets is pasta with tomato sauce. It is cheap and does not require michelin-star cooking skills. Perfect even for someone who can manage to burn spaghetti (oh, it has been done!).

The classic does get a bit dull however, after 10 servings. So here is how you can spice it up!

WHAT TO BUY 200g steak mince 50g pasta 1 tbsp of oil 1 can of tomatos 1 can of sweetcorn Spices (salt, pepper, oregano, sweet chili, tabasco)

WINTER MAKE UP ESSENTIALS

Baby, it’s cold outside! With autumn/winter creeping towards us, three staple make up items can be invested in to create that beautiful winter glow that so many of us women will be desiring these coming months. Here’s Rebecca Jackson’s pick of the best products on the beauty market for achieving this look, enjoy!

1. Estée Lauder Maximum Cover Camouflage Makeup for Face and Body SPF 15 – 30ml £27.50

Estee Lauder’s foundation in one

word is invincible!

It can take on any weather, come heavy rain or that unbearable humid heat, it will ensure your skin stays absolutely flawless.

With the thinnest of layers it covers up all those skin blemishes that we all get and can feel overly conscious about.

Another plus with application is that it only requires a small amount at a timem so lasts for months, even if you use it every day.

A final further advantage to note is how gentle it is on skin and the SPF 15 is an added bonus!

2. Benefit High Beam Luminescent Complexion Enhancer - £18.50

3. Models Own Powder Blush – £6.00

Benefit’s highlighter comes in a luxurious creamy texture which is so easy to apply on those key areas of underneath eyebrows, cheekbones, the corner of the eyes and down the centre of the nose.

It comes in a satin pink shade which creates a stunning sheen as it catches the light.

For an eye-catching radiant winter glow this is the product to treat yourself to, and one which you will enjoy the results of each and every time you use it.

Once again like Estee Lauder’s foundation it seems never ending as such a small amount is needed.

Finally, Models Own powder blush is a ‘can’t live without’ product for this look, and at such a fantastic price it cannot be recommended enough. There are three wonderful shades to choose from, though ‘Cheeky Pink’ is a personal favourite.

‘Cheeky Pink’ creates a fantastic winter rose shimmer on your cheeks that suits from the palest complexions to those of you still sporting a gorgeous summer tan.

What really stands out about this product is how brilliantly pigmented it is in colour; it’s an absolute win and requires a quick simple dab to the brush to get a perfect amount on.

WHAT TO DO 1) Cook the meat in a pan with the oil until there are no red bits left. Add salt and pepper.

2) Pour the meat into a pot and add the content of a tomato can. Blend and let it boil slightly. Add spices to suit your taste.

3) Boil water in a pot. Add pasta and a pinch of salt. Boil until soft. If your pasta is a bit sticky, add some drops of oil.

4) Serve with sweetcorn and tabasco (Avocado works well too, although it is slightly more expensive)

LONDON 2012: EXPERIENCE OF BEING A GAMES-MAKER Rebekah Chilvers

When, in 2005, the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2012 were awarded to London, I could never have dreamt of how they would not only affect the whole of the country, but also my own individual life seven years later as a Games Maker volunteer.

Following an interview in January at an intimidating skyscraper in Canary Wharf, I was offered a place in the Security Team at the Olympic Park – which of course I accepted without a second’s thought. I was absolutely thrilled; the cliché “a once in a lifetime opportunity” sprung to mind, but in this case, it was definitely appropriate!

Numerous trips to London ensued for the three training sessions (Orientation, Role Specific and Venue). The constant reminders from videos of Seb Coe and David Beckham about how our contribution to the Games would make the difference between a “good” and a “great” Games were severely daunting.

Despite this, the excitement and passion from my fellow Games Makers was obvious – we all were counting

down the days until the Olympics were declared open.

For me, this went by in the blink of an eye. Seeing the Technical Rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony - as a result of winning a Games Maker competition - was one of the highlights of my summer. I got to see the spectacular performance four days before most of the world. It was such a privilege, but what a secret to keep! The only people I allowed to see my photos were my nephews – yes, that’s how seriously I took my obligation to #savethesurprise!

My time to don the famous red and purple uniform came in early August.

Walking from Stratford tube station to the Olympic Park every day was an experience in itself; I have never seen so many people who were so excited for the same reason before in my life. My role in the Security Team at the Park consisted of checking that tickets were valid, and loading bags onto a conveyor belt to be scanned and checked over by the army. Although it doesn’t sound too straining; by the end of the day I was exhausted! It was definitely worth it

though; the experience, the new friends, the opportunities and rewards were just some of the many positives of being part of London 2012. Who knows when Great Britain will have the chance to be the host nation of the Olympics and Paralympics again. If this was the only instance within our lifetimes, at least we can be immensely proud of how well we did. The “journey” for us Games Makers did not end with the extinguishing of the Olympic and Paralympic flames.

Opportunities to see the Athletes’ Parade in the Mall in London, England World Cup qualifying matches at Wembley and a free qualification in customer service - equivalent to a GCSE - are just a few of the opportunities I have taken advantage of. Anyone who was a Games Maker this summer was extremely lucky to have been a part of one of the largest and most praised volunteer teams ever. The summer of 2012 will be a hard one to follow, that’s for sure; but bring on Rio 2016.

For more experiences from the Olympic volunteers, check out: www.inQuirelive.co.uk

IQ Features 15

STUDENT SHOPPING NIGHT Living on a budget can prove to be very difficult when all you want to do is buy yourself that beautiful dress that you saw in the window of New Look, or those boots from Office that you can’t get off your mind. Well, once a year, shops in Canterbury City Centre host Student Shopping Night, an extravagant sales night which can lighten the burden of that loan in your purse! Kathryn Ingate reviews her experience for us. Photographs taken by Daniel Barnby.

The words ‘student’ plus ‘shopping

night’ may seem slightly illogical on paper, but many students, myself included, can justify the problem of money, or lack thereof, by the word ‘discount’.

It is difficult to comprehend the degree of excitement that surrounds the potential for discounts, but attending the Student Shopping Night in Canterbury Town Centre definitely provides a gist of the idea!

Canterbury has already proven itself to be a bustling and atmospheric town due to tourism alone, but let students loose in its shops, fuelled by the incentives accompanying this event, and the streets seem doubly lively and busy.

The event guide dubbed ‘Freshers Shopping Fest 2012’ promised to “deliver to the students of Canterbury” in this one night only event where shops extended their hours to 9pm and provided offers, live DJs and entertainment.

Most of the major retailers participated, with Topshop, Republic, Jack Wills and H&M offering discounts of up to 30%, which students could not refuse.

Considering the fact that there are not many financial benefits associated with being a student on no income, this event seemed to be the perfect opportunity to make the most of some exclusive perks.

Describing students as ‘eager’

to access these perks would be an understatement. Queues had formed outside many of the shops as a result of the event’s popularity, where they could not feasibly let any more people in.

Despite this, patience is definitely a virtue when experiencing this event as of course; the thrill of the discount is worth the wait!

Even if the main highlight of the vast amount of clothing discounts did not appeal and queues were too frustrating to handle, what student could refuse free food?

The student staple of pizza, handed out by Pizza Hut, acted as a central attraction and vanished in seconds (which was understandably disappointing to find out when arriving late)! Other food companies also joined in like EAT, who provided free samples from their bakery.

For those who view shopping as an exercise, energy from free food is essential for stamina! Live DJ sets also created an atmospheric background for the Shopping Fest and after-parties appealed to the student way of life.

As a result, this event met its target audience of university Freshers, providing the perfect occasion to go out with new friends and to explore what Canterbury town has to offer.

The Student Shopping Night could be dismissed as ill advised and may lead to regrets when checking dreaded bank

statements. Bear in mind though that by convincing yourself that you have actually saved money in the long-term by the means of discounts, the event seems to appear much more successful and enjoyable on reflection!

By this consideration, the Shopping Fest did fulfill its mission statement of delivering to the students of Canterbury via entertainment and a new wardrobe.

THE FASHION ROUND UP H&M have recently announced yet another designer collaboration with French fashion house, Maison Martin Margiela.

The brand has been extremely influential in the fashion world and their clothes coveted by many. Its collaboration with H&M gives women and men from all walks of life the exciting opportunity to wear Margiela.

The collection will be out on 15th November this year.

Marie Claire claims that Kate Middleton has rocketed Alexander McQueen sales. It is reported profits have been increased by a staggering 27%.

McQueen’s successor Sarah Burton gives all credit to Kate for this popularity surge, the company boasting sales of £41 million, last year alone.

Despite the winter season only just setting in, the spring/summer 2013 shows have been underway. Karl Lagerfeld has left everybody talking after his Chanel show.

Beachwear is arguably not the most exciting season trend, until now.

Lagerfeld’s show-stopping beach bag has received the classic marmite, love it or hate it status.

The bag essentially comprises a hulahoop with the classic quilted Chanel nestled inside, the large handles potentially doubling up as a towel rack.

With a new level of boldness in Lagerfeld’s show, we are left wondering and, admittedly, anticipating what he has in store for us next!

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IQ Entertainment

Music & Live

the beauty of welcome week: review Daniel Barnby on www.danielbarnby.com

albums in brief

The Vaccines Come of Age

Saanya Narang

At first impulse when I think about

Welcome Week I imagine the crazy erratic partying and the nights that I probably will have no recollection of.

Coming from Istanbul I didn’t have much knowledge about this entire concept of Welcome Week besides the primal fact that it was meant to be insane.

Coming here and expecting this week full of sleepless nights and intense hardcore partying might have been an over expectation. The much hyped Venue was disappointing to say the least, and the pulsating heat and overcrowded dance floor were just a few of the all-round complaints about the ‘club’.

Neon Night taught us that excessive pre-drinking was a must as lining up for half an hour to get a barely alcoholic drink was probably not worth

it, especially when sober. Freshbook, though originally thought to be a juvenile concept amongst us, ended up being the most thought provoking exercise and, ironically, probably the longest I spent on an outfit all week. It was definitely worth the effort!

School Disco was obviously just an excuse for girls to dress up provocatively (even more than usual!) but it turned out to be probably one of the best nights (nothing to do with the buckets of punch we downed before).

The countless drinking games played during the week and the notorious ‘never have I ever’ created this closeness between all the flat mates within days of meeting. The Ice Ball and the special performance by Coolio made us all question why we spent £15 on it, especially after queuing for longer than we were even in the club.

I could go off on a rampage about many of the negatives to the nightlife

here in Canterbury and of course compare it to Istanbul, a glimmering city known for its party scene. However, as cliché as this may sound, I wouldn’t want things any other way.

When I asked around Tyler Court what the highlights of Welcome Week were, I received similar answers from everyone - that the times we spent bonding in the kitchen, or just the general feeling of unity that was created amongst us, is what we will cherish.

Even though I came out of Welcome Week with the infamous ‘Fresher’s Flu’, I also came out with the beautiful people who made even the most random aspects of university life such an exhilarating experience.

Ultimately, I may moan about the certain tranquillity of Canterbury, but I’ve grown to appreciate it. The serenity here does cause one to stay focused on the more substantial aspects of university life and relish the beauty of it.

teen angst. Furthermore they mostly appeared to concentrate on their scrawny frontman jumping all over the place like a five year-old that didn’t want to go to bed; I was quite disappointed with this hardcore band.

However when headliners One Day Elliott took to the stage, you could tell they knew how to perform and although the pub was fairly deserted, the sheer energy they produced was enough to fill the room.

Elliott’s song So Far, So Good was an instant crowd-pleaser with a catchy

chorus that would have had fans singing along if there were a few more attendees at the gig. The song really displayed the bands vocal capabilities, with both the backing and lead vocals singing in tune together, producing a fantastic layer for front man Paul Richards to deliver his own captivating voice. An amazingly well executed guitar solo also showed guitarist Richard Crooks to be very gifted.

This band is certainly one to watch out for, having played with the likes of Lostprophets and Zebrahead they are beginning to make a name for themselves. An attendance of less than 100 people certainly did not do them justice. The band has pure talent but with such low figures turning up on the night, they came off as supremely underrated.

Yet this band looks sure to expand their fan base with such a great live performance and with entertaining crowd interaction. One Day Elliott made a great night out.

one day elliott at the beercart arms Peter Shaw

It was pissing it down with rain all the way over so finally getting inside the Beercart Arms, a fairly large pub tucked away in one of Canterbury’s backstreets, was a relief. Unfortunately it seemed that the rain had deterred many fans from turning up.

Nevertheless this hardly stopped Escape the Ocean diving headfirst into their set. Almost pop-like melodic rock was thrown at the crowd and in a pub now full with about 30 people, it paid off as well as it could. People began to nod their heads and look at each other with signs of approval. Escape the Ocean are a very new band with only a few songs but there is some potential here.

Second up was Blackwater Revue who, although they were talented and did keep the small crowd going, failed to give something edgy and new.

Later Circle of Rage, as their name suggests were a very angry band that seemed to have a lot of left over

Described as “the next chapter in the same book” by front-man Justin Young, Come of Age picks up from where their debut left off and in no way is that disappointing. Although still featuring The Vaccines’ trademark 3 chord pop-rock riffs and insanely catchy choruses, this album is a cleaner and less reverb heavy version of their debut, allowing the intricacies of the guitar to be heard. An enjoyable development from a band still finding their feet.

Joshua Larkin

Grizzly Bear Shields Described by fans as Grizzly Bear’s most accessible album to date, Shields maintains the alternative style of previous work, building on layers of acoustics with haunting, nostalgic, resonating vocals. The audio is gritty, sounding at once exhausted and restless – even consciously unfinished – with rough chord changes only adding to the allure of this homemade band. A decisive step forward for Grizzly Bear.

Ginny Sanderson

Green Day - Uno! In many ways, Uno! is a return to form for Green Day. While it lacks the grandeur and spectacle of their previous two efforts, it excels in recapturing what once made this band great; raw, untapped Punk, with Billie Joe snarling lyrics with an angst that wouldn’t have felt misplaced in Dookie.

A must-listen for fans.

Alex Baldwin

Flying Lotus Until The Quiet Comes The fourth album from electronic-experimental powerhouse, Flying Lotus, is a collage of sorts. It fuses together the earlier J Dilla-esque beats of his first release, 1983, with the eclectic free jazz of the later Cosmogramma. This jazz influence sees the collage scat around in ways that may be slightly tiresome for some. There are, however, simpler, dreamy sounding tracks like Phantasm, featuring vocals from Laura Darlington.

Francesca Nicol For more music reviews, visit inquirelive.co.uk/entertainment

IQ Entertainment 17

film

killing them softly: a film review The newest project by Andrew Dominik is more than just a crime film romp, Eve Novakovic reviews...

Killing Them Softly, Directed by

Andrew Dominik (Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) explores the social and economic disruption of the 2008 financial meltdown in America.

Based on the novel Cogan’s Trade

by George V. Higgins (1974), the film combines gritty performance and black comedy in order to satirise a society in which inflation, tax increases and low

employment rates take their toll on even the most violent gangster collectives.

When a poker game is hijacked by two young amateurs sporting socks on their heads and a shot gun cut in half, Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) has the tedious task of piecing together the culprits of such a botch-job theft.

Pitt plays the role of a sensitive hitman extremely well, whose intuition and personable nature aid him in

restoring order to a system run by retiring mafia bosses. Dominiks smooth and stylish camera movements and slow motion depict this chaos in a beautifully cinematic and comical way.

Sequences of gun shots and a body smashing through the front screen of a car impressively undercut lengthy discussions between characters.

While the ridiculousness of the plot evokes humour, Dominik also pulls at the audience’s heartstrings. Characters such as Mickey (James Gandolfini, The Sopranos) are sad products of crime and capitalism, addicted to prostitutes and alcohol, whilst Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta, Goodfellas) is beaten almost to death for crime he actually didn’t commit. These stories poignantly reinforce the tragic and often farcical state of the American financial system.

In a film boasting an impressive cast, some showing the inevitable signs of age, Andrew Dominik aptly portrays the decay of political hierarchical structures in this stylish, gripping and suspense filled American crime film.

For more film reviews visit inquirelive.co.uk/entertainment

Little loner Norman Babcock sees dead

people - and can speak to them too. So when an ancient witche’s curse triggers an impromptu zombie infestation, his supernatural talents make him the solitary hope for the salvation of his sleepy town. ParaNorman is an American stop-motion animation produced by Laika, the studio famous for feature films Corpse Bride and Coraline.

Created by the team (minus Henry Sellick) behind the aforementioned Oscar nominated Coraline, ParaNorman benefits from the artistic experience of British co-directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell, who worked on Flushed Away and The Tale of Despereux.

But despite its macabre morbidity and gory humour, ParaNorman is lacking the whimsically abrasive edge Sellick brought to productions such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, leaving ParaNorman a little in the shadow of the creepy Coraline.

Stop-motion animation merges well with ghost narratives, the eerie mechanisms blurring the space between reality and fantasy, plunging us into a story-book land just that tad too close to conceivability.

ParaNorman is artistically ambitious, combining traditional animation with CGI and 3-D effects to a general level of success. I’m still cynical about the apparent perceived necessity of 3-D within recent cinema but this picture is visually impressive, the carefully crafted character design and detailed sets squeezing an extra drop of richness and dynamism from the advanced cinematography.

Pointed but not pretentious allusions to horror genre gems (I won’t spoil it, see if you can spot them) promise audience satisfaction surrounding the integrity of the film’s intentions, but also work counter-productively to draw attention to the cardboard conventionality of ParaNorman in comparison to such canonical classics, any stand-out quirks swiftly buried

Jonathan Easton

The idea of a cameo in cinema is a hard thing to get your head around. In an obnoxious American sit-com it fits.

Generally they will be announced as ‘my cousin x is coming to stay’ and then some b-list celebrity bursts through the door to rapturous applause from the canned studio audience as he or she makes a bad joke. It makes sense within a context where you are never really supposed to be suspending your sense of disbelief. It can be slightly distracting, however.

Take for example Arnold Schwarzenegger’s disastrous turn in Around The World In 80 Days, in which Schwarzenegger was cast as a Turkish prince. It was such a bad fit that it earned him a notorious ‘Razzie’ nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.

Another example is a particular pet peeve of mine - Sigourney Weaver in Paul. Weaver became the poster-child for American sci-fi in the 80s and 90s with the Alien franchise. My problem with her casting is purely a thematic one.

Paul, for those of you who don’t know, is a film about sci-fi fans. In a world where the characters are fans of Star under the Nickelodeon-style script.

Wars and Star Trek, surely they must be Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) is good fans of Alien too? So if these films exist but not great as the voice of Norman, so do their stars, i.e. Sigourney Weaver surpassed by Tucker Albrizzi as Neil, a who played Ripley. However, in Paul fat freckled fellow misfit eager to join in she is not playing herself, and the whole the spectral struggle. concept of the film collapses in on itself.

Somehow, regardless of all the This is a cameo gone very wrong. video-nasty references and risen dead In my opinion some of the best cameos ParaNorman is still quite safely PG, come when actors play themselves, and whilst sensitive children will need albeit dramatised versions. The best to steer clear, it’s the aching sadness of example I can think of is Bill Murray the story of the little witch wronged that in Zombieland. The band of undeadwill more likely find even you adults fighters come to the Ghostbusters star’s blinking back those tears.

Beverly Hills mansion in an effort to A twist on the age old and ever familiar find some sort of sanctuary. One of the fable of the social outcast rising above group the mistakenly shoots Murray the doubts of his cynics, ParaNorman as he does an impression of one of the proves that as long as you stay true to walking dead. who you are, good will prevail against Alfred Hitchcock appeared in every evil, and love and kindness conquer all. one of his films, most infamously portraying Mama Bates in Psycho’s shower scene. Another one of these is Irvine Welsh, writer of the novel, playing a drug dealer in Trainspotting as he appears only fleetingly.

The cameo is a peculiar thing. It has no real reason to exist other than to make the audience chuckle to themselves in recognition. When done badly they can ruin a film, but when done well they can significantly enhance it. Sometimes, however, the best cameos are the ones you don’t even notice.

zombie infestation in paranorman 3d Katie Snow

the problem with cameos

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IQ Entertainment

theatre & games

haunting julia at the marlowe theatre Hall’s adaptation is surprisingly funny, Pamela Head, Newspaper Editor, reviews the show performed at the Marlowe Theatre last week...

Haunting Julia, a show based on the

1994 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn, was performed at the Marlowe Theatre last week.

Starring a cast of just three people, it looked initially to be a bit of a shaky premise for a story. Focusing on Julia Lukin, a 19-year-old genius musician who committed suicide in her student flat 12 years previously, the play follows her father Joe (Duncan Preston), exboyfriend Andy (Joe McFadden) and ‘psychic’ Ken (Richard O’Callaghan) as they reminisce about the past, experiencing supernatural hauntings from Julia along the way.

Andrew Hall’s adaptation is something worth going to see. Though it has been likened to The Woman In Black, Haunting Julia manages to break the tense atmosphere with comedy, setting a teddy bear on the bed and rigging it up to an elaborate – and very loud – alarm system that shocks the characters as well as the entire audience when the psychic, Ken Chase, picks it up during a

a challenge to other plays but the setting works perfectly in this play. In the final scene, the set comes to life as the manifestation of Julia is ‘released’, creating an exhilarating ending to what is a roller-coaster of a play.

The actors do a particularly good job, showing a range of emotions throughout and increasing the tension at a slow but steady pace to make the climax even more dramatic – and boy, what drama. I won’t spoil it for you, but this play is definitely one to watch if you ever get the chance.

particularly tense scene.

Throughout, we’re given information in small chunks, helping the audience to feel like they are discovering the story of Julia along with the characters.

Thanks to the use of dramatic irony, we discover something fairly significant to

the plot before her father, and from that moment on we’re hooked.

Hall’s writing serves to capture your imagination, making the fact that we don’t actually see Julia herself redundant.

The use of a static set may have proven

whatever happened to creativity?

Matthew Jarvis

It’s a familiar criticism seen in gamers’

reviews and comments that a game is just a money-grabbing cash cow, devoid of originality and vomited out by an industry ever more dedicated to sales figures and cash flow - rather than evolution or achievement. The evidence for this case is overwhelming it would seem.

For many, Call of Duty represents the sheep-like flocking of gamers to annual sequels of minimal progression, catalysed by the social fear of being left behind from popular culture.

This is somewhat ironic, with many people attributing the military shooter’s popularity to the first Modern Warfare game’s originality at the time.

The last few years of videogames have been dubbed ‘The Years of the Sequel’, as AAA brands birth spin-offs, sequels and hours of DLC. It’s hard to look for a game to play without being bombarded by adverts for Black Ops II or Assassin’s Creed III (The ninth CoD and fifth Assassin’s Creed respectively, let alone Final Fantasy XIII-2).

The games produced by this cycle aren’t necessarily bad – many are critically acclaimed – but suggest the industry is stuck in an evolutionary rut, where no major development steps will find place to bloom amongst the tired wrecks of zombie shooters and multiplayer focused gun-games.

Even indie gaming, previously a haven for the uniquely brilliant and overlooked, has become saddled with expectations of every game being a platformer with a few tricks – but never rising up to the perfection of Braid or Super Meat Boy. Raise yourself up, dry those tears from pre-ordering the next GTA and stop trying to snap that copy of Mario Galaxy in half – not all is lost.

The danger of million-pound advertising campaigns for games like Battleship (a game based on a film based on a game, if Rihanna acting wasn’t ridiculous enough) is that fresh experiences will get buried by ignorance.

The last few years have spawned unwanted remakes and thinly-woven sequels, but they’ve also given rise to some of the most revolutionary media we’ve ever seen.

Websites such as Kickstarter have allowed small-time developers to get their ideas launched into reality.

Slender, FTL, McPixel and Cards Against Humanity have found their niche in between the fading pages of larger titles, and give hope that as the Wii U launches – and the PS4 and ‘NeXt-box’ surface– games are evolving. Steam has also launched their Greenlight program - for fantastic original gaming experiences I suggest you check it out alongside Kickstarter and the Humble Bundle initiative.

Should you ever grow tired of trying to find something brand new that will hold your interest – remember, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with playing old games!

To read an interview with Jo Caulfield, appearing at the Gulbenkian on 13th Oct, please visit inquirelieve. co.uk/ entertainment

events spot highlights Gulbenkian Rannel Theatre Company: 2deep – 15th October Mark Thomas: Bravo Figaro! – 16th October Beady Eye: Cooking Ghosts – 17th October Swan Lake: Live Ballet transmission – 23 October Borges and I – 30th Oct Seize the David O’Doherty Tour 2012 – 28th October Odeon Cinema Skyfall – 26th October - 1st November Marlowe Theatre Good Grief – 15th – 20th October Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act – 18th October Van Morrison – 23rd -24th October The Proclaimers – 2 November The Ballroom Undercover Treehouse Launch Night with The Other Tribe and The Centurions – 18th October The City Sound Project All day music festival - 21st October

IQ Culture

19

the art turn on, tune in, drop out roundup Y Harriet Cash Newspaper Culture Editor

Julia Smith looks at this year’s Turner Prize nominees.

Though October typically heralds the realisation that work actually has to be done at university, it also brings with it the Turner Prize. Considered the most prestigious contemporary arts award in the UK, the work of the 2012 nominees is on display at the Tate Britain until early January.

With names like Spartacus Chetwynd (no, really, that’s what she’s called) shortlisted for the award, this year’s exhibition is sure to be intriguing.

For those of you who have heard of the it but are unaware of its significance, the Turner Prize is given to a visual artist under the age of fifty living, working or born in Britain for ‘an outstanding exhibition in the previous twelve months’.

Though officially open to all forms of media, the Turner Prize has been primarily associated with conceptual installation art.

ou may have been excited to learn that Nick Grimshaw has taken over the reins of Radio 1’s prestigious breakfast show. Or you might not.

Personally, I’d rather hear Grimmy’s dulcet tones of a morning than those of Chris Moyles – but the truth is, since delving into the wonderful world of listen again, I’d rather not listen to Radio 1 at all. So, here are some tips for some slightly less hip, but potentially more interesting, radio fare.

1. Everything on 6music Generally considered an indie station, the programme’s genrebusting mix of music from every country and niche culture imaginable, plus banter that won’t make you want to chew your own ears off.

Particular favourites of mine are, Steve Lamacq’s Roundtable discussion programme and Matt Everitt’s The First Time, in which artists reveal the key moments (and of course music) that shaped their careers.

2. Your World on the BBC World Service This Saturday morning factual

programme is a nice one for a lie-in and lazy breakfast. Weekly documentaries take personal look at striking global stories, with topics including what it’s like to be an Avon salesperson in South Africa, how queuing is re-ordering American society, and the story of a dying man and his husband throwing a lavish “Bon Voyage” party.

3.

Everything on CSRfm If you’re new to Kent this year and haven’t tuned in to CSR yet, start now! No doubt you’ll have heard snatches of shows in Essentials, and the eclectic mix of programming is definitely worth twiddling the dial to 97.4fm (or clicking “listen live” on the website, if you’re so inclined).

With a range of music shows spanning all genres and talk

programmes run by and for students, we are well served for alternative student radio in Kent!

4. The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio 4 There was a time when I thought Radio 4 was just for boring old people who don’t like music; not any more.

Besides top factual programmes, there is a panoply of brilliantly funny comedy shows (many of which have spawned TV incarnations – I’ve Never Seen Star Wars, anyone?).

One such is science-comedy programme The Infinite Monkey Cage, hosted by Professor Brian Cox and comedian Robin Ince.

The half-hour Tuesday show takes topics such as parallel universes, science versus art and whether size matters, and looks at the science behind them in an irreverently funny and understandable way.

If you don’t have a radio (digital or otherwise), panic not. Practically everything broadcast these days is available online to listen live, or to download as a podcast.

So tune in, give the teenage boybands a miss for today and discover something different. You never know, might just hear your new favourite show.

shaken and stirred: 50 years of bond girls Georgina Ristich In fact, it has been associated with the words ‘rank’ ‘effluent’ and ‘twattery’ in recent years more than anything else. But with prominent artists such as Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin (her infamous unmade bed failed to pot the £25,000 award in 1999) and Grayson Perry, the shortlisted filmmakers, performance and installation artists of 2012 could very well see their careers take off this year.

Among those considered for the 2012 Prize are the aforementioned Spartacus Chetwynd, who has been nominated for her eclectic mix of painting, improvisation and sculptural installation in a ‘carnivalesque’ performance piece; filmmaker Luke Fowler, with an exploration of the life and work of Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing; and the particularly noteworthy ‘painstakingly detailed’ drawings of artist Paul Noble.

Just £10 gets you a ticket to this prestigious collective show. Is it worth a tenner? Definitely. Is the as yet undecided winning piece worth £25,000? You’ll have to decide that for yourselves.

There have so far been seven reincarnations of James Bond, 22 films and over 51 women. With that many females gracing the screen for half a century, surely the Bond girls have evolved in some way? James Bond has provided escapism to the ordinary citizen for 50 years, and not only has he provided a certain image of British men, but the films have ingrained a stereotype about women.

Bond girls are changed as often as Mr Bond changes his suit, so what message does this send out to the audience? The frequent swap from one beautiful, thin woman to another has made it acceptable for people to think that women can be disposable.

The appearance of a Bond girl is a perpetual feature of the films, each with as much beauty, sexual intrigue and danger as they can fit into their blow-dried hair. The 60s was a pinnacle time for women’s rights, with the introduction of the pill, the divorce act and more equal pay. Yet ironically it was also the time when Bond was first released and yet again, the image of women as sexual objects was overriding this fight for equality.

On the other hand, it is easy to criticise movies for creating such a

stigma against women. Unfortunately, sex sells and this is why the Bond franchise has been so successful. To give an example of how effective it is in selling films, Sean Connery and Roger Moore’s Bonds were extreme womanisers, with about three women per film and both acted in seven films each. When Timothy Dalton appeared, the company attempted to ease away from the promiscuity and how many films did he appear in? Two. Okay, so this may not be the entire reason for the failure of Timothy Dalton, although many suggest this is the case. The point is, that as much as we fault the distorted perception of

The immortal Ursula Andress (left) and current Bond Daniel Craig

women with these films, we still insist on seeing them.

It would be ignorant of me to say that the image of women has been stagnant. Ursula Andress’ emergence from the sea has been replicated by Halle Berry in a modern take and again by Daniel Craig.

The difference with the latter is that for once, it was a male that was flaunting his body in a provocative way. Daniel Craig created a refreshing outlook, and by rejuvenating Ursula Andress’ scene, it shows that the target audience is not just for males, and that women are just as vital off the screen as they are on.

Not only this, but the addition of Judi Dench as M in 1995, supported the use of older women in an authoritative position in films. This illustrated that women over the age of 25 don’t just have to be typecast as sweet, mild grandmothers. So maybe things are looking up!

Yes, it’s true that the film industry remains incredibly superficial.

However, we should take it all with a pinch of salt. The James Bond series may be unrealistic and clichéd, but the world would be very dull if we didn’t escape into a bit of fantasy once in a while.

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IQ Culture

cultural events calendar

Fri 12 – Sun 21 Oct – Youth Open Exhibition at Horsebridge Arts (Whitstable) Sat 13 Oct – A World of Puppets at the Beaney Sat 13 Oct - Whitstable Farmers Market at Umbrella Community Centre Sat 13 Oct – Canterbury 365 photography exhibition opens at Beaney

alex katz: give me tomorrow Olivia Maguire

The latest exhibition to arrive at Margate’s Turner Contemporary gallery encapsulates the legacy of Alex Katz in a selection of works dating from the 1950s to present. Katz is a widely respected artist associated chiefly with the Pop Art movement. Primarily comprised of his own works, the exhibition also lets the viewer into the artist’s personal taste, presenting some of his favourite pieces from the Tate collection, including work

by Mondrian, Hodgkin and Rousseau.

Give Me Tomorrow presents an aesthetic experience, which portrays the American artist’s seminal contribution to contemporary art.

It becomes evident upon entering

Sat 13 - S27 Oct - Canterbury Festival Sun 14 Oct – Seth Lakeman at Marlowe Theatre Fri 26 Oct – Terrible Tales at the Canterbury Tales experience Fri 26 Oct - Dreamland Revisited at Margate Harbour Arm Sat 27 Oct - Canterbury Artisan Market

Alex Katz: photo by Olivia Maguire

the exhibition that influence from the media is prevalent in Katz’s work. In determining a sense of reality, the artist speaks of photography’s dominance, and Katz strives to connect with the moment, stating that his work “relates to all of the currents.” His works are completed in single sittings, reflecting this immediacy.

One section of the exhibit displays Katz’s large scale portraits and landscape pieces, which prominently feature seascapes; perfect for Margate’s coastal situation. Here the focus appears to be on work inspired by Katz’s summers in Maine, showing his ability to reproduce a strong sentiment and intimacy in his work. His use of flat, bold colours enriches the pieces, enticing the viewer into a feeling of personal connection with the artist. In ‘Eleuthera’ (1984) his use of a graphic style is present, but a level of realism remains. This makes his work accessible and easy to connect with, creating a personal experience beyond the memory or feeling Katz felt himself.

‘Round Hill’ (1977, Oil on Linen) became one of my favourite pieces in the exhibition. Here a simple scene is captured through broad and swift strokes with the colours merging, nestling the subjects seamlessly into the

suki chan at sidney cooper Julie Peppiatt

What’s the best way of telling a story?

Art in motion. Not being a huge art fan myself I had no expectation walking into a gallery I didn’t even know existed on Canterbury’s high street. I had no previous knowledge of Suki Chan’s work, but this exhibition is phenomenal.

Just go. If you want to experience something that cannot be articulated and doesn’t need to be, something that has no cultural boundaries and that provides a revolutionary perspective on the world, visit the Sidney Cooper gallery this month.

Chan finds inspiration in sacred places, watching and observing the changing of light, the changing of perspective in places that hold such a wealth of importance for so many people – from natural landscapes that could exist in any country, to scenes tied only to the Middle East. As if watching a foreign film without subtitles, something more can be taken from an experience when the message isn’t so explicitly expressed. Watching this art in motion heightens your senses; you will remember the smell of the gallery, the atmospheric dim lighting. Being part of this exhibition will create a memory you will not forget.

The whole gallery is constructed through Chan’s eye. Her own words

welcome you, printed on the pale grey walls, an absorbing background to her projected project. Sound aligns with the images; eerie low rumblings, snippets of speech, voices lost in the confusion of spaces undefined.

A whole new take on the depth of questioning around sacred spaces; in essence, how can they hold so much turmoil when their conception is so peaceful? It is not for you to find the answer, just to observe her view upon the world: one abstract and allencompassing.

Sped up views of days in sacred space are portrayed, images akin to the advanced Attenborough documentaries, creating the same amazement through the use of technology. From a simple house in a Syrian village, to the complexity of a church transformed into a mosque, each image a step built upon the next, man-made images contrasted with natural wonder. Finding “safety

in hard places” is her aim, places trapped in a web of complexity but which are still considered sacred. It is a difficult subject to contend with, one that impacts us daily but is still hard to comprehend. Chan has managed, however, to perceive and eloquently transform it into her own creative piece.

Patience is rewarded in this exhibition; it took two years for the project to come together, the idea six years in the making and it does require patience of the audience to perceive the ideas, but it is worth it. It may take a while for your mind to disconnect from the impossibly fast modern world, but once you’ve found Chan’s level, a whole new world of being is accessed. Suki Chan has a deep understanding of sacred spaces, not necessarily through time, but through a natural connection with the world.

Her genius is one that has come early for her age, and has not prevented her from remaining humble. Her work needs to be experienced; it will change your perspective and enlarge your interest in all humanity. Take some time out to do something out of your comfort zone this month; I assure you it will impact you for the better the moment the first image hits the screen.

Still Point runs until 3rd November at the Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury

landscape. This creates a tranquil, ‘feel good’ effect which is thematic in Katz’s work. There is a feeling of familiarity, making his work a vessel in which the viewer can re-enact fond memories.

Aside from his portraits and landscapes, Katz also presents a selection of his flower and water based pieces. Here, the abstract quality of his work seems to greaten, moving away from the pieces that reflected his influence on the Pop Art movement.

‘Late Summer Flowers’ (2011) highlights his utilisation of space and scale, filling the canvas with flat colour but giving depth through the technical variety in brush strokes.

Katz experiments with different forms, ranging from paintings and collages to cut-outs, which shows his versatility. On entering the exhibition you are transported into his mind, a deeply warm and inviting place.

Unfortunately for those dependent on student loans, this makes the purchase of a ticket across the pond almost too tempting – but fortunately, admission to the exhibition is free! I would highly recommend a visit to everybody, seasoned art lover or not.

Alex Katz: Give Me Tomorrow is on at the Turner Contemporary, Margate, until 13th January 2013

this week in...

1969: 14th October Confusion over new 50-pence piece The new seven sided 50p coin is introduced to replace the ten shilling note, but reactions are mixed, with some complaining it is too easily confused with the ten pence piece.

Retired Army colonel Essex Moorcroft forms the Anti-Heptagonists in objection.

1984: 12th October Bomb at Tory conference in Brighton The direct attack on the Conservative party conference killed five people and injured 34. IRA member Patrick Magee, who was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, was released in 1999 under the Good Friday Agreement.

2000: 20th October British activist freed in Burma 27-year old human rights activist James Mawdsley is released after spending 415 days in solitary confinement. He had been sentenced to 17 years in jail for protesting the regime’s killing of ethnic minorities.

IQ Culture

21

ukc studio 3: john blackburn pause for Steph Liston

As you walk down the corridor

towards Studio 3, you sense straight away that this isn’t going to be a lighthearted exhibition. In the light of the Jarman Building, either side of you the canvases contrast strongly and steal your attention with their heavy colours and dynamic mixing of media.

The paintings are made up of a gloomy palette of blacks, whites and greys, often plastered across softer backgrounds of whitish yellows. The multitude of textures rising off the canvas draw the eye in closer to explore its landscape.

One of the most intriguing, the Black Shoe Triptych, is piled with discarded footwear and other everyday objects.

I spotted a creepy toy figurine and violin lacquered in what looked like thick tar. Contemplating it stimulates uneasy questions in the mind: whom did each of these pairs of shoes belong to and why have they been left in such a rubbish heap? Where is the owner of the violin now? The blackness which physically encompasses the piece, with no room for a hopeful ray of light, leads you to the worst conclusions. Then there are the chillingly provocative statements that scream at you in capitals as you pass: ‘HE WILL NOT COME BACK FOR YOU, NEVER’,

‘HE TURNED HIS BACK ON ME’, ‘I MISS YOU’. There is the sense of lost voices surrounding you. Lines of such intensity evoke foreboding and unease as you see how they have been scrawled desperately in charcoal and paint.

Their hastily scribbled nature and the scrap objects on other works suggested to me the relics of a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The gloomy streaks across a rugged landscape, the inclusion of iron bars and scrap metal create a harsh, industrialised effect. On discovering that Blackburn took inspiration from the Holocaust, the melancholy feeling these artworks produced was suddenly better understood. Blackburn is a British abstract painter born in 1932, whose art conveys his ‘deeply felt and

truthful response to life’. Another of his main themes is the human condition, with a particular exploration into man’s inhumanity towards man. The three panel composition you are confronted with as you walk into Studio 3 on the right was at first incomprehensible to me, with its black smudges and bleeding paint lines.

Once the bleak theme was established, however, they soon transformed themselves from mere forms into representations of people. Similarly, across the room and entitled Five Forms Imprisoned, were depicted a line of barbed wire cages on a desertlike canvas. These represented victims herded into ‘modern day concentration camps’, as explained in the handbook accompanying the exhibition.

Blackburn’s paintings are symbolic and promote the expression of feelings, rather then being straightforwardly pictorial. Therefore, it is very interesting to visit this exhibit and reflect on what feelings they evoke within you as an individual, and at the same time ponder what the artist’s own thoughts and intentions were in process of each creation.

And God Cryed is on at Studio 3 in the University’s Jarman Building until 14 December

true voices of the valleys?

Charlotte Smith

The rise of the popular cultural phenomenon of ‘trashy’ reality television hit new heights over the past few weeks with the airing of MTV’s The Valleys, dubbed the Welsh answer to Geordie Shore.

The basic premise of the show is a group of good looking, wild young things from the Welsh Valleys moving to Cardiff to live in a house together and ‘follow their dreams’ of being rich, famous and successful. One cast member states that ‘this is my opportunity to turn my life around’.

On the surface, a perfectly legitimate and respectable concept. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the real focus of the show is, in fact, watching the cast members drink themselves into oblivion and engage in scenes of a virtually pornographic nature on national television. Their parents must be proud.

Comments such as Jenna’s that: “I just finished my law degree, but, like, my dream has always been to be a glamour model,” along with

her justification that “my mother paid four grand for my boobs, they’re meant to be shown off, you know?” makes it clear why this show – along with its predecessors such as Geordie Shore – has come under fire for its negative influence. This has led to the accusation that this kind of entertainment is degrading the concept of celebrity creating a role model deficit for young people, as well as encouraging the antisocial traditions of binge drinking and promiscuity. The latter theme is one common to all The Valleys house members, illustrated by Carly’s catchphrase: “show me some fitties, I’ll show my titties.” Classy.

The show uses the well-established reality television format of capitalising on exaggerated regional stereotypes, a blueprint that arguably originated with the success of ITV2’s The Only Way Is Essex, and indeed, the main backlash to The Valleys has been focused on its negative representation of Wales. This was highlighted by Charlotte Church’s Twitter comments that she won’t watch as “it will be exploitative and a horrific representation of the

country that I love.” This could be seen as a tad hypocritical considering some of the Welsh songstress’s antics in her younger days, but it’s nothing compared to the irony of MTV’s claims that the show is ‘absolutely not about stereotyping’, when the house features rocking-horse sheep and leeks on the wallpaper.

However, this ‘mockumentary’ style television trend has been defended by some as simple light-hearted entertainment, not to be taken seriously, and as being a realistic depiction of youth culture and behaviour. To quote Geordie Shore’s Jay: “what we do is what all young people do all over the world week in week out!” A sweeping statement to say the least.

Whatever your take on it, The Valleys is shameless, the ultimate guilty pleasure, and entertaining for all the wrong reasons – but worth a watch, if only to have an opinion!

thought

It is a cliché, but growing up is hard, and trying to fit in can sometimes be even harder. This week’s poem is from Alice Walker, a poet of great strength and character. Here her every word is imbued with belief in the importance of individuality and of being your own person - even if at the expense of isolation. A bit of inspiration for those days when sticking to your guns just feels too difficult.

Be Nobody’s Darling Be nobody’s darling; Be an outcast.

Take the contradictions Of your life And wrap around You like a shawl, To parry stones To keep you warm.

Watch the people succumb To madness With ample cheer; Let them look askance at you And you askance reply.

Be an outcast; Be pleased to walk alone (Uncool) Or line the crowded River beds With other impetuous Fools.

Make a merry gathering On the bank Where thousands perished For brave hurt words They said.

But be nobody’s darling; Be an outcast.

Qualified to live Among your dead.

Alice Walker

22

Sport

the two sides of john terry

John Terry has been the centre of a media storm in the past few months. In light of the FA imposed 4 match ban and a £220,000 fine, writers Layla Haidriani and Jonathan Easton argue whether or not Terry’s career for England and Chelsea has been tarnished, or if his body of work speaks for itself:

Jonathan Easton John George Terry–the defining figure of English football over the past decade in all it’s glory and not so savoury moments–has finally hung up his boots for his country. Terry has claimed that his position as an England player has been made ‘untenable’ due to the FA’s case against him despite being cleared Layla Haidriani JOHN Terry: captain, leader and legend? Of course. But racist?

This is now the unfortunate legacy that Terry’s career appears to have been tainted with.

After announcing his retirement from international football only recently, many critics have argued that Terry’s legacy has been forever tarnished.

On 23rd October 2011, John Terry was caught on a video directing racial abuse at Anton Ferdinand, Queens Park Rangers player, at Loftus road.

Whether or not they were born out of racism is entirely speculative but what is sure is that his legacy has now been altered and not necessarily in a positive light.

Terry was cleared in July of a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates Court but the English national team have brought disciplinary action of their own, finding Terry guilty of using racist language towards Ferdinand, culminating in a four match ban and fined £220,000.

His punishment has brought critics out in full force via social networking sites, with both international and home players condemning such a lenient sentence, with Arsenal player Emmanuel Ebou arguing that ‘it was easy for them

in a court of law. And now as Terry has been found guilty by the FA, his decision seems all the more reasonable.

As a Chelsea fan I find little to say wrong about the most successful captain in the history of the club (save for the odd embarrassing moment) but it is safe to say that to those outside of the club he is a somewhat divisive figure.

One thing that is forgotten in all the to condemn Suarez but not Terry’.

Terry is perceived by some as a symbol of everything that is wrong with modern Britain: he represents division and is personally responsible for tearing the English team apart.

The latter part of his career has been treated with derision and scorn, consistently entering the tabloid newspapers with unsavoury details of both his personal and professional life.

However, perhaps critics are too quick to judge Terry.

Terry’s contribution to Chelsea has been stellar and has been deemed arguably the best English central defender of his generation.

Holding the accolade for UEFA Club Defender of the Year on three separate occasions, only four men have captained England more times than Terry.

He represented England with passion and courage and was skilful in his game.

However, it is impossible to not discuss his career without mentioning the events of October 2011. Only time will tell if Terry will be able to shake off the tags now tainted to him.

Many argued that Ryan Giggs would be forever tainted by the ‘philanderer’ title coined by tabloid newspapers, yet he has appeared to have risen above it.

However, it seems more likely that

controversy surrounding Terry however is that all the allegations that have been thrown at him are just that: allegations.

I shan’t divulge into those allegations now; if you are reading this then you are probably fully aware of what John Terry has ‘done’. Of course I come at this from a point of bias, but it seems to me that football fans around the country are much more thorough than the Westminster’s Magistrate’s Court.

Footballing scandals create a witchhunt and it is easy to call him Martha Corey. As well as the fact that sitting neatly in a back four next to one Ashley Cole, they easily become the most disliked pairing in the country by opposition fans.

In spite of all this though Terry must be commended for his professionalism on the pitch. Never once has he batted an eyelid to the inevitable boos that resound around the country on away days or the distasteful chants about anything that has happened off the pitch. He has not spat out at a journalist or taken to a foulmouthed rant on twitter. A cynic might claim that he doesn’t want the press who, frankly, already don’t like him to have any more ammunition to use against him.

Still, though, fans abuse him.

Particularly nastily was in the most recent West London derby between Chelsea and QPR, when Terry was greeted with boos whenever the ball

was within twenty yards of him and was hailed down with a chorus of ‘we hope you die’ when he pulled up injured.

Rangers fans are a pleasant bunch, but that’s a story for another day.

Terry however is a consummate professional who seemingly thrives on this adversity, popping up time and again almost in response to events going on in the real world. The most recent example, for instance, is after his notorious sending-off in the Camp Nou on that fateful night, Terry scored the second goal against QPR the weekend after, celebrating with a gesture that signified his apology.

In all of this though there is one thing forgotten: John Terry is actually a really, really good footballer, being named UEFA Club Defender of the Year on three separate occasions, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2005 and included in the FIFPro World XI for four consecutive seasons.

You’d be forgiven for forgetting all this but, unlike some Smiths-quoting Francophiles, John Terry will be remembered as one of the country’s best ever footballing products and not just a hailstorm of controversy. Besides, even if England do win the next World Cup without him, he’ll still celebrate–just as he did when Chelsea won the Champions League without him on the pitch.

Terry will be just like Luis Suarez, who was fined £40,000 for racially abusing Patrice Evra at Anfield, with his career never able to lose the racist title.

Perhaps it is best that John Terry has left international football; his professional

career has become a travesty that is akin to a Greek tragedy play due to the controversy caused with Ferdinand.

Despite his success on the pitch, one thing is for sure; John Terry’s racist tag will forever stain his legacy.

Sport 23

KENT AMATEUR FOOTBALL LEAGUE RELAUNCHED Jonathan Wheatcroft

ON the 27th October this year the opening fixtures of the new look Kent Amateur Football League (KAFL) will take place and usher in a new era for football at the University of Kent.

KAFL has an interesting story, having rapidly grown out of humble beginnings.

League founder Edward Johnstone had initially taken over the team Average FC, which used to play random friendly matches with other amateur teams.

Demand was huge and there were times when 100 players were turning up all hoping for the chance to play in just one team.

It was this demand that highlighted for Johnstone a significant potential for 11-a-side football at Kent, and after Average FC’s failed approach to become a member of the existing Inter College Football League Johnstone decided to find out whether there was enough interest to set up a new league himself.

Up until this point there had been no additional opportunities to play 11-a-side football other than the Inter College League and the demand for a third, more amateur level, was overwhelming.

Within two weeks there were

twelve teams across two divisions.

The following season the league expanded to 16 teams with nearing 500 players.

Until the 2012/2013 academic year the league had been entirely run and simply kept afloat by students. Johnstone and a small committee worked tirelessly to ensure the league ran as smoothly

as possible. With many committee members graduating at the end of the 2011/2012 academic year there were fears the league was in danger of dying.

Lengthy discussions with Kent Sport took place in the hope that they would recognise the high demand for more football on campus, and would work to develop the 11-a-side

football programme further.

Johnstone was keen to uphold the values and ethos of the league which has always been based on inclusivity and a belief that everyone should have a chance to play a sport they enjoy.

The result of these negotiations was that there will now be a three tier system of participation at Kent: University football, Inter College and the KAFL. The KAFL will now be run by the Sports Development team at Kent Sport, and KAFL participants can expect to receive similar privileges to that of the Kent and College players.

One of which is allocated pitch times, providing the opportunity for longer matches.

In the long term all three of these tiers will see the benefits of these developments with more students being regularly exposed to competitive football.

Perhaps the previously untapped demand for football at the university will highlight the need for new pitches, with two full leagues now requiring pitch time each week. This, in addition to other sports who would like the opportunity to play on a more regular basis, highlights the increased interest in sport at the University of Kent.

SCHUMACHER RETIRES FOR SECOND TIME Harriet Cash Newspaper Culture Editor THE most common reaction to the news this week that Michael Schumacher is retiring from Formula 1 has surely been, “what, again?” The seven-time world champion’s decision may seem surprising given that, despite his underwhelming initial return to the sport, his performance at Mercedes has been improving over the last two seasons. However, this is a man who wouldn’t have come back to racing without the intention of winning, in which respect the past three seasons have been undeniably disappointing.

Schumacher left the sport in 2006, having raced in 302 Grands Prix, with 91 wins and, of course, seven World Championship titles to his name, making him one of the most successful drivers in the history of Formula 1. So why has he been unable to recover his past dominance, and is retiring at the end of this season the right choice?

Six years might not seem like an awfully long time to be away from a sport, but motor racing is a peculiar beast in this respect. Schumi may still be as inspired a driver as he ever was, but the advances in technology that have occurred since his retirement are undeniably key.

While many of these improvements make the sport safer, fairer and arguably more entertaining, they also demand an incredible level of skill from the drivers.

Thus getting back in the seat after such a prolonged (for Formula 1) absence was never going to be a row on the lake.

Schumacher had recently expressed uncertainty about his desire to carry on at the end of the season, given the level of dedication it would take.

Three years after his anti-climactic return and still without dramatic improvement, it’s easy to see why he might not have the energy to continue.

Racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart also commented that his retirement is overdue, since staying at Mercedes and regularly being out-qualified by teammate Nico Rosberg will only damage his reputation.

And, since the speculation that Schumacher might be on Ferrari’s list

to replace struggling Felipe Massa has turned out to be unfounded, you have to feel he has a point.

The turning point has come with Lewis Hamilton’s decision to sign with Mercedes for the coming year.

With his three-year contract at an end, Schumacher had few serious options for securing a drive for next season.

Although he reportedly turned down offers from Sauber and Toro Rosso, a move to any of the lower ranking teams such as HRT and Caterham could only have been seen as a demotion.

Thus this decision to call time on his return to Formula 1 makes sense, with Schumacher even speaking of his “relief” at having time to recharge his batteries.

For Formula 1 fans, having six former world champions on the grid each race has been undeniably exciting, and so in some ways seeing the Regenmeister retire for good is disappointing.

Schumacher’s maturity and sense of his own position should be massively respected, however, and let’s not forget that his departure allows for a grid reshuffle that makes next year’s lineup incredibly promising. Mexican Sergio Perez moving to McLaren, for one, will test the mettle of one of the most promising young drivers.

Out with the old and in with the new, then. Let’s celebrate Schumacher’s legacy but look forward to seeing some new world champions race.

visit our website at - www.inquirelive.co.uk/sport

InQuire sport EUROPE RETAIN RYDER CUP IN DRAMATIC FINISH

Sam Clemence

before, by the U.S.A in 1999, but that was on home soil, and for an away ON Sunday 30th September, the final and disheartened European team day of the 2012 Ryder Cup between to dominate so thoroughly, with a Europe and the United States began. particularly chippy Illinois crowd in After the previous two days foursome their ear, seemed like too much of a task. play, Europe began 10-6 down, a near It especially looked like that later in insurmountable score to overcome. the day, when the Americans won two Europe was out of it. So thought the games back thanks to Zach and Dustin press, the crowd, and even the experts Johnsons impressive individual wins. themselves, as Butch Harmon, Tiger With five games remaining, the Woods’ former coach, predicted that U.S.A were leading 12-11, but wins there was ‘no chance’ Europe would come from Europe’s Sergio Garcia and Lee back to win. The U.S.A needed 4.5 points Westwood as well as America’s Jason to win outright, whilst Europe needed 8. Dufner left the score at 13-13 with Yet despite the voices all around them, two games to be played. By Ryder Cup the players believed, and the first five rules, a tie score gives the team who European players of Luke Donald, Ian won the previous Ryder Cup, in this Poulter, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and case Europe, the title again. This meant Paul Lawrie all won their games to take that it all came down to the last two a dramatic and surprising 11-10 lead. matches, Europe had to seal the deal It was one of the most with a point from the penultimate game remarkable turnarounds in Ryder that featured German Martin Kaymer.

Cup history, and the impetus was He played as cool a last hole as could be on for the team to complete the imagined, sinking the now unforgettable comeback and secure golfing history. putt that catapulted him into Ryder Cup A 10-6 deficit had been overcome folklore. Much blame was placed on

the U.S.A for their sloppiness in losing a tournament that at one point on the Saturday they were 10-4 up in, with team captain Davis Love III coming under much post-tournament scrutiny for his selection. Yet the determination and resilience shown by Europe can never be undermined, especially the ability of Kaymer to finish it all off with such style. Tiger Woods and Francesco Molinari, now playing a pointless last game, halved the result and wrapped up the scoring at Europe 14.5, U.S.A 13.5 As for the individual winners and losers of the tournament, it’s hard to name names, yet Ian Poulter’s stands out above all others. He is the rock of the Europe, as Sportswriter John Huggan wrote: ‘Poulter perfected the art of not choking when all others around him are gasping for air.’ The Englishman was the catalyst for the end result with his five successive birdies on the second day that helped kick start Europe going into Sunday.

It is important to note that the Europeans, especially Captain Jose Maria Olazabal, were playing with heavy

hearts, as this was the first Ryder Cup since the premature death of tour legend Seve Ballastaros from a brain tumour in May last year. Seve was the patron saint of Europe for the trip to Chicago, and many players have since spoken about how the invisible influence of the Spanish legend helped them get through the tough final day. Olazabal, had this to say about Ballastaros’ influence: “Seve will always be present with this team,. I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing, and I think they did.” Ballasteros’ image adorned the bags and shirts of the European team this tournament, and it was clear that the memory of the golfing icon helped them gain the most incredible win in Ryder Cup history. The event has been dubbed the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ by the media and fans who witnessed the event, and it is certainly true that when we look back on the 2012 Ryder Cup, it will be said that it was not just one of the great Golfing spectacles of all time, but one of the greatest comebacks in all of professional sports history.