Issue 188

THE SAINT The independent voice of St Andrews students since 1997

Local landlord’s fury over student safe sex poster

Shining bright: Beacon Bar is revealed

Continued on page 5

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Viewpoint

Money Stuck for ideas this Christmas? Check out The Saint’s best gifts on a budget Page 14

Sport

History still key for Trailblazing University Rugby Club Page 36

Events Photo: Stephanie Irwin

Two students have filed a report with the police after their landlord became “aggressive and threatening” over their decision to display an NHS condom distribution poster.

Michael Hobbs and Lucy Gallard, who are volunteers with the NHS Fife scheme, had displayed the A4sized poster in a ground-floor window. It said “NHS Fife Sexual Health Distribution Point” and did not contain any images.

But the landlord, David Donaldson, said the poster was offensive and visited the students at their Chamberlain Street flat to ask them to take it down.

“Apparently there have been complaints in the neighbourhood about it,” said Ms Gallard. “He was very aggressive and kept saying: you will not have that on my property. Apparently it makes the place look like a ‘knocking shop’.”

Mr Hobbs said: “He refused to let us speak and tell him our reasons for not taking down the poster earlier. He accused us of ignoring multiple complaints to do so, of which he claimed to have informed Eve Brown [their letting agency].

“His aggressive and threatening tone and parting words of ‘I’ll deal with Eve Brown and then I’ll deal with you’ were incredibly intimidating and unacceptable. We have therefore filed a report with the police.”

Mr Donaldson told The Saint that he felt the incident had been blown out of proportion and that he did not see the need for police involvement.

He did not wish to be quoted but explained he was concerned that someone looking to use the service may go to the wrong door, which could cause distress to some of the students’ elderly neighbours. He said he felt it was inappropriate to run such a pro-

gramme in a residential area.

The NHS scheme is endorsed by the University and provides free contraception to everyone, including students. Mr Hobbs said: “We don’t feel we should take down the poster on ethical grounds. As a voluntary social scheme set up by NHS Fife to promote the health and awareness of all residents, we feel it is an essential service.

“Until I have a court order telling me to take the poster down it’ll stay where it is.”

Though Mr Donaldson claimed to have heard multiple complaints from neighbours, The Saint spoke to six people living nearby, all of whom said they had no problem with the poster and five of whom did not even know of its existence until alerted to it.

Mr Duncan, 53, who lives across from Ms Gallard and Mr Hobbs, did know about it but said he was not offended. “It’s no bother to me. I think it adds a valuable service”.

Gordon Gibb, a PhD student who lives a few doors down, commented: “I couldn’t care less whether they have it or not. If you can barely see it then I don’t know what the problem is”.

Stephen Brown, speaking on behalf of the Eve Brown letting agency, said that he had previously been asked by Mr Donaldson to have the poster removed. He said: “I followed this [request] up with a phone call to the lead tenant to discuss the nature of the poster and thereafter I viewed the property from the outside to see the poster for myself.

“I formed the view that as the poster did not appear ‘offensive’, was not being displayed in contravention of any lease terms [and was not] unlawful in any way no action should be taken, and I advised the landlord accordingly.”

According to the students, only

18 27 September November 2014

St Andrews’ fashion shows have a size problem: where are the larger models?

Page 8

Tenants seek police advice after threats sparked by “valuable” NHS scheme Rachael Miller News editor

184 • FREE ISSUE 188

The newest edition to the Union, the Beacon Bar, enjoyed its grand opening on 20 November.

The London Alumni Carol Service marks its 10th anniversary Page 22

2 News

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Inside the paper

Fife Park site wins green award

Features, page 16 Photography

Arts & Culture

The photography team meets RAG Week’s dRAG stars

Artists of the Bubble: St Andrews’ creative talents

Page 21

Page 26

Viewpoint

Features

Devil’s Advocate: We discuss whether balls at St Andrews are excessive, or perfect Page 9

Lewis Fairfax shares his experinces as an interpreter in Monaco this summer

Page 15

Catriona Crookes

The University is this year’s silver winner of the Green Apple environmental award in the education and training category. The award was in recognition of the University’s environmentally friendly redevelopment of the Fife Park apartments.

Many items and materials have been retained from the demolished buildings and then recycled, reused or donated to charity. These include carpets, telephone systems, furniture, fire detectors and materials such as: glass, wood and plasterboard.

As well as gaining the University a Green Apple award, the recycling involved in the project meant there was significantly less waste sent to landfill and greatly reduced the cost of the project, therefore allowing for the renovation of other student accommodation sites.

Sarah Pay, the operations manager in Residential and Business Services, collected the award at the prize giving ceremony, which took place at the House of Commons. Speaking on behalf of the University and all those involved in the project, Ms Pay said: “We are delighted to have the work of the University staff and students recognised by this award.”

“We work hard with our colleagues in estates, our staff and the students on different green initiatives throughout the year and to be given the award makes this effort worthwhile.

“Every small achievement is important in becoming more sustainable.”

The project involves replacing the current Fife park apartments with flats and en-suite rooms similar to those of DRA and the planning permission for their construction was granted in December 2008.

Phase one of the redevelopment consisted of the building of four new blocks at DRA and was complemented in 2010. However, the University chose not to proceed with subsequent phases because of lack of funds, until the summer of this year when they began the demolition of the Fife Park halls of residence. Ms Pay confirmed that the project “is progressing well and is scheduled for completion in August 2015.”

The development will ease the strain the University faces in providing enough accommodation for incoming undergraduates as well as

Photo: Raphael Benros

Life with a mental illness in St Andrews

27 November 2014 • The Saint

postgraduates. The new Fife Park buildings will have a further 115 beds, increasing its capacity to 320 students.

The struggle to provide adequate accommodation is a source of much frustration for the University and the new Fife Park apartments will hopefully be another step towards reducing the housing deficit.

This follows the replacement of the David Russell hall, built in the 1960s, with the David Russell apartments, which were formally opened in 2007. This development involved a number of eco-friendly features including grass-topped roofs to aid insulation and a sustainable urban drainage scheme. As a result, the hall was the first University residence in the UK to win the Green Tourism Business Scheme’s Gold Award.

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Editorial

Editor Jonathan Bucks editor@thesaint-online.com Deputy editor (print) Mina Omar print@thesaint-online.com Deputy editor (online) Chris Walker web@thesaint-online.com Production manager Omar Ali Deputy production manager Alice Lecointe production@thesaint-online.com Video editor Henry Legg video@thesaint-online.com Illustration chief Milan Cater illustration@thesaint-online.com Business manager Sophie Kelly business@thesaint-online.com Business team Alex Rowe, Charlotte Andersen advertising@thesaint-online.com

W

The St Andrews accommodation farce

hat do condoms, an A4-sized poster and an NHS Fife scheme have to do with the St Andrews accommodation market? Ask the two students who received threats from their landlord after taking part in a University backed scheme to distribute condoms from their rented house. Or, ask the letting agent who was forced, yet again, to deal with complaints about a poster that neither contravened lease terms nor broke the law, but in fact contributed a valuable service to students and the town. Or, ask the police officers who received a report about an “aggressive and threatening” response from a landlord who felt that cooperation in an NHS led health scheme had made his property look like a “knocking shop”.

It is a messy and perhaps uniquely St Andrean farce, yet one that highlights The Bubble’s worsening accommodation woes. Michael Hobbs and Lucy Gallard’s claims of being “bullied” and made to feel like “second class citizens” at the hands of a landlord are all too familiar.

For many, landlords’ monopoly on

accommodation within the town ensures that they are able to charge extortionate prices while providing the bare minimum of upkeep. In an interview with The Saint in October 2013, Graham Wynd, chairman of the St Andrews Preservation Trust said: “Many of the landlords are absent[…]they have no interest in maintaining the community of the street, and [their] motivation is to make money out of the students”.

Students’ Association president Pat Mathewson was equally excoriating in his assessment of landlords. Ahead of his election, he told The Saint in February that he planned to introduce a name and shame scheme in a bid to discredit nefarious landlords and guide students to trustworthy and honourable ones. “I think we should bring in a very vocal name and shame policy for landlords that underperform...I think we should really put the knife to their throat vocally as an organisation,” he said.

The power wielded by landlords and the problems students face were highlighted this year by an NUS report

that showed that over three quarters of students have problems with their privately rented accommodation. Colum McGuire, vice president for welfare at the NUS, told reporters: “There are a significant number of students now who live in the private rental sector so it’s no longer good enough for universities to keep that arms’ length.

In September, The Saint reported that several students had fallen prey to accommodation scams that left them thousands of pounds out of pocket. A fraudster, masquerading as a landlord, conned students who were desperate for homes. A Police Scotland spokesperson spoke of students in “panic mode”, frantic to secure a home from a landlord who did not exist. “[The scams] enticed people who have been desperate because of the accommodation and housing problems in St Andrews,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Mathewson’s blistering pre-election invective that promised to “put the knife in their [landlords] throat vocally” was replaced with a greatly toned

down response: “We at the Students’ Association are troubled by these attempts to take advantage of students at their most vulnerable.”

It is easy to brush aside this bizarre story about a condom poster as a farce.

But, it is indicative of the malaise that afflicts St Andrews’ accommodation market. Both the University and the Union offer extensive advice and support on renting in St Andrews. However, that two students can so easily be intimidated and told their leases will not be renewed because of an NHS condom poster shows more needs to be done to tackle the problem.

While more should be done to provide students with University accommodation, greater efforts should also be made to help those who are renting.

As for students, it is important to speak up about these experiences. Mr Mathewson told The Saint that a name and shame scheme’s success lay with the fact that “us students are great at being loud.” It is time to make those voices heard.

The Saint is an entirely independent newspaper, run by students of the University of St Andrews. It is published fortnightly during term time and is free of charge. The Saint is not affiliated with the University or the Students’ Association. The text, graphics and photographs are under copyright of The Saint and its individual contributors. No parts of this newspaper may be reproduced without prior permission of the editor.

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Moffat not nominated for honorary degree Jonathan Bucks Editor Alistair Moffat, the University’s outgoing rector, has not been nominated for an honorary degree and is only the second rector not to have the award conferred on him in recognition of his time in office.

This break with tradition, which normally sees the outgoing rector honoured at the St Andrew’s day graduation ceremony marks the end of a hostile relationship between Mr Moffat and the University. In March 2012, the former director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was criticised by the University after he threatened to sue two scientists for libel, prompting University principal, Professor Louise Richardson, to tell Mr Moffat to separate his personal and University business.

Professor David Balding and Professor Mark Thomas, University College London (UCL) evolutionary geneticists, were threatened with legal action after they questioned the accuracy of Mr Moffat’s genetics company, BritainsDNA. In a letter to the two scientists sent in March 2012, Professor Richardson said: “As freedom of academic inquiry is the core principle of any university the Senate strongly disapproves of such action [threatening legal action].”

Mr Moffat was taken to task by the two scientists after he appeared

on Radio 4’s Today programme and claimed that his company had discovered the grandson of Eve and nine descendants of the Queen of Sheba. “It’s laughable how wrong it is,” Dr Vincent Plagnol, another UCL scientist, told The Saint at the time.

However, what had begun as an academic debate saw Mr Moffat issue threats of legal action against the academics, who told The Saint they felt intimidated and that their academic freedoms had been threatened.

Mr Moffat told The Saint at the time that what they called academic debate were actually grossly defamatory comments. “It is a complete untruth to state that we used legal action to suppress or inhibit scientific debate in any way,” he said.

“Professor Balding defamed our company and we asked our solicitors to ask him not to repeat that defamation. That is all. We welcome debate, and while we disagree with Professor Thomas’ views profoundly, he is of course entitled to hold them. What he is not entitled to do is to state untruths, and that is what he has done,” he added.

However, in her letter to the two scientists, Professor Richardson said: “The University of St Andrews expects all members of our community, whether they are staff, students or office holders, to respect fully the principle of academ-

ic freedom to promote unhindered academic inquiry at all times.”

Mr Moffat faced further criticism after Professor Thomas wrote a scathing assessment of BritainsDNA for The Guardian. “Perhaps it is harmless fun to speculate beyond the facts, armed with exciting new DNA technologies? Not really. It costs unwitting customers of the genetic ancestry industry a substantial amount of hard-earned cash,” Professor Thomas wrote.

Nature magazine produced an editorial entitled The Right to Speak Out, denouncing Mr Moffat for resorting to legal threats to silence the scientists. “Moffat may perhaps have been bluffing about his legal threats (he and his lawyers did not respond to queries from Nature) but under present laws, just the threat of a lawsuit is often enough to silence reasonable scientific criticism,” it said.

Mr Moffat is only the second rector not to receive an honorary degree and the first not to be nominated.

Donald Findlay, w h o served as rect o r be-

tween 1993 and 1999, was refused the award by the Academic Senate.

Mr Findlay resigned as vice-chairman of Rangers after he was captured on video singing wellknown sectarian songs following the Scottish Cup Final between Rangers and Celtic.

He was originally awarded the honour after he was nominated by Nick Bibby, then president of the Students’ Association.

However, the decision split

opinion. Times Higher Education reported at the time that some felt that honouring Mr Findlay would conflict with any institution that backs equal opportunities and non-discrimination.

A University spokesperson said: “A number of senators have expressed concerns in writing regarding recent events. As a result of that, the issue may be debated by the senate when it meets later this month” Mr Moffat could not be reached for comment.

Photo credit: University of St Andrews

4 News

thesaint-online.com

27 November 2014 • The Saint

Pilgrim’s progress to Cathedral

St Andrews’ day to light up town

Royal guest of honour for gala benefit at the Met

Matthew Litherland Deputy news editor

Sergei Klebnikov Deputy news editor

Joseph Cassidy Deputy news editor

Plans are being drawn up for a footpath ending in St Andrews which aims to allow people to recreate the journey of pilgrims making their way to the town hundreds of years ago.

The path, which has been christened the ‘Fife Pilgrim Way’, traces the route from Culross Abbey near Dunfermline (on the south coast of Fife) north east through the inland of the historic kingdom before arriving in St Andrews.

Along the path notable local sites of interest are passed, including Dunfermline Abbey and The Waterless Way. The pilgrims’ path ends, naturally, at St Andrews Cathedral.

There has long been discussion over the prospect of such a path, but these plans are the first concrete proposals. In 2008, SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament Roseanna Cunningham proposed the idea of an ambitious path which would follow the route of the St Columba’s monks from the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland through Highland Stirlingshire and Perthshire to St Andrews.

The plans have been developed

by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust (FCaCT) in conjunction with Fife Council, Fife Tourism Partnership, Scotways and the Scottish Pilgrim Routes Forum.

Speaking to Fife Today, Simon Phillips, business manager of FCaCT, said: “We are excited and optimistic that if we can secure the funding and support required to deliver this project, it will bring significant economic benefits and attract many new visitors to Fife.

“It will be a major challenge for the partners to secure the funding required to implement the route, its signage, interpretation and promotion.

We also need to be aware of the costs associated with maintaining a path of this length and hope that local communities and businesses will support us to help to make this path a reality.”

William Campbell, Labour Fife councillor for Dunfermline North, told Dunfermline Press that he supported the plans: “This project spans the whole of Fife and is something we’d love to see happen. It’s a fantastic opportunity for local communities and businesses to get behind something which will benefit everyone in the area.”

The St Andrews Day Celebrations will kick off at the end of the month, and will incorporate the switching-on of the town’s festive light displays on 30 November.

The lights will be unveiled at a number of new locations and the actual switch-on ceremony will take place in South Street from 2 pm until 7.30 pm.

The celebrations will be headlined by Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader and her band, and will include music, dance, and a large ceilidh among other festivities.

The lights will be switched on at 5.45 pm and will stay on every evening until 5 January. This year, the St Andrews Partnership, which took over responsibility for the town’s lighting displays in 2013 from Fife Council, has increased the number of areas where lights will be put up.

The events of the actual St Andrews Day Celebrations start today (27 November) and take place for the rest of the weekend, commemorating the rich history of the town.

Jim McArthur, chairman of St Andrews Partnership, said: “We have for sometime felt that we needed to up the ante in terms of having a St Andrews day celebration in St Andrews – this year we’re trying to improve on what we’ve done in the past.”

Mr McArthur hopes for a turnout of several thousand and said that the celebrations will coordinate well with the food and drink festival which is going on this month and ends on the same day.

Rufflets Country House Hotel has been unveiled as the main sponsor of this year’s St Andrews festive lights display. In the past year, its guests have donated over £2,100 to the ‘Brighter St Andrews’ charitable fund. It was decided that this fund would to go towards the 2014 festive lights. Stephen Owen, the Rufflets General Manager, handed over a cheque to Mr McArthur in an official ceremony at the hotel.

The St Andrews festive lights are also being supported by Fife Council, StayinStAndrews, St Andrews Links Trust and donations from private individuals and businesses. Further donations can be made via the website.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are to be the guests of honour at a special Gala Benefit Dinner in New York later this year, organised by the University as part of the 600th Anniversary Celebrations.

This will be the Royal couple’s first official visit to the USA. The event will take place at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Tuesday 9 December 2014.

A VIP table for 10 will set guests back $100,000 (£64,000). 450 people are expected to attend.

Both are alumni of the University and graduated in 2005. The Duke is a patron of the University’s Anniversary Fundraising Campaign, which he launched in 2011 while on a visit to the University with his wife.

Funds raised at the event will support student scholarships and bursaries, new student sports facilities in St Andrews, new investment in the University’s medical and scientific faculties and a lectureship in American Literature at St Andrews, according to the University website.

The website goes on to say that that despite being 600 years old, the University has a very small endowment and

Photo credit: Elliot Davies

aims to raise £100 million in an “ambitious fundraising drive.” The statement also said that “over £13 million is being sought to support bright students who would otherwise be unable to attend university.”

Guests at the benefit will comprise alumni, students, staff and supporters of the University.

With the dinner taking place in New York, the University website describes the “close and historical relationship with the United States” that St Andrews

has, with 20 per cent of the current student body being American.

The couple will be met on the steps of the Met by an honour guard of fellow St Andrews alumni wearing the University’s traditional red gowns before attending a dinner in the museum’s Temple of Dendur.

The evening will finish with a charity auction with lots donated by many prominent individuals such as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ann Gloag and Ian Rankin.

Photo credit: University of St Andrews

Investment for a greener Bubble Leah Boulton A major investment of £148,000 has been made by the Scottish Government with the aim of making St Andrews a more environmentally friendly town.

The money has been put towards the ‘St Andrews Towards Transition’ scheme, involving students, community members and University representatives alike, whose aim is to cut down on 300 tonnes of Co2 a year.

The St Andrews project is among 21 to share nearly £2 million distributed in the latest round of Climate Challenge Fund awards.

The funding is set to contribute

to an array of projects, such as a ‘grow your own’ food co-op, neighbourhood and home energy advice sessions and a local bike maintenance and hire program.

This incentive ties in with wider efforts tackling climate change throughout the town, in particular the University whose Interhall Energy Competition is running for another successful year.

The environment and climate change minister, Paul Wheelhouse, who has recognised the town’s ‘green’ commitments, said: “I am delighted that the people of St Andrews have elected to take voluntary action to address the impacts and causes of climate change within

their local area. This demonstrates a strength and commitment to tackle climate change, because it is real and because it matters to ordinary people.”

Start-up success in only 52 hours Kim Kay Deputy news editor The inaugural Start-up St Andrews event took place earlier this month.

Start-up is a 52 hour challenge, which has been described as Dragon’s Den meets The Apprentice.

Participants came from all over the UK to compete in the Gateway Building.

The weekend started with each individual participant pitching his or her own business idea to the group.

The group then voted on the concept that they liked the best. The top concepts were adopted by teams, who

then developed the idea for the remainder of the weekend. The group was split into teams through each individual member joining the concept which they most strongly identified with.

On the Sunday, the five teams pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges. The winning and runner-up teams were rewarded with a range of prizes including cash, tickets for entrepreneurship events, expert coaching sessions, vouchers for Balgove Larder and the opportunity to present their business to investors in the coming weeks.

‘St Andrews Collect’ was the

winning team. Their business idea was to collect and recycle glass in St Andrews. The runner up team called “Nom” created a phone app which would simplify food shopping, reduce food waste and make healthy meal planning a simple task.

The founder of Startup St Andrews, Huw Bell, said: “We had five fantastic entries in our final ‘Dragons’ Den’ phase.

“The winning team, St Andrews Collect, came up with a great plan to collect and recycle glass in the town and potentially beyond. I look forward to seeing their business grow in the future.”

The Saint • 27 November 2014

News 5

thesaint-online.com

Photo: Raphael Benros

“I would not want to rent from him again unless he changed his attitude to tenants”

The NHS poster shown in the window of Mr Hobb’s bedroom.

Continued from page 1 one neighbour, an elderly lady, had approached them directly about the matter. “The neighbour came and spoke to [Ms Gallard], who explained the reasons behind the poster and the importance of it being kept up. She appeared to understand our reasoning, even if she was not enamoured with it, and we agreed to push the poster into the corner of the window where it would be less obvious to people going to her door. [We] agreed to move the poster should anyone come to her front door asking for the service. She

seemed happy with the compromise.”

Mr Brown said he heard nothing further on the matter until Mr Hobbs emailed him “alleging intimidatory behaviour” following Mr Donaldson’s visit to the house. He said: “The landlord demanded that we remove the poster. I again stated that as in my opinion the poster was not offensive, did not contravene lease terms [and was not] illegal, that Eve Brown was not prepared to take any action against the tenants.

“The landlord issued an ultimatum to me: either follow his instructions and remove the poster or he would

find another agent. For the reasons stated above I had no alternative but to invite him to do so. Consequently, the landlord has advised me that the end of the current tenancies he will be moving all five of his properties to another agent.”

Mr Hobbs and Ms Gallard said: “[We] would like to stress how grateful we are to Eve Brown for sticking up for us.”

Mr Donaldson told The Saint that in the future he intends to start his own St Andrews letting agency based around his properties in the town.

Ms Gallard said that she would not feel comfortable renting from him again. “We are final years with no intention of staying in St Andrews.

But if we were staying, I would not want to rent from him again unless he changed his attitude to tenants.

“It was thanks to intervention from Eve Brown that he wasn’t able to bully and threaten us into taking the poster down any more than he did. The idea of entering into an agreement with him without that protection is not tempting. I think students looking to rent from him in the future should be aware of this.”

Mr Hobbs has had trouble with the poster before. Last year, when he lived in a different flat, his then landlady and a neighbour demanded he take the notice down. He claims the neighbour became aggressive and threatened to “speak to Louise Richardson”,

calling the poster “offensive to members of the community.”

Mr Hobbs commented: “It’s absolutely disgusting the way students are treated in this town. I don’t think there’s a single person who doesn’t

Until I have a court order telling me to take the poster down it’ll stay where it is. have stories about a nightmare landlord or another member of the town treating them badly. “[Landlords] think they have a right to bully us and treat us like second class citizens. Even many of the estate agents provide living conditions and treat student clients in a manner that would never be deemed acceptable elsewhere.

“Also, one of Mr Donaldson’s [points] was that we were in a ‘residential area’, which angered both of us a lot because it shows that there are members of the town population who don’t regard students as residents with equal rights.”

Rocca’s Jamie Scott is Masterchef superstar Sergei Klebnikov Deputy news editor

The University has been given the go-ahead by Fife Council to begin work on the construction of an energy centre at Guardbridge.

The plans involve a £20 million investment into the renovation of the disused Guardbridge paper mill, transforming it into a heat and power generating station.

The project is part of the University’s mission to become carbon neutral by 2016 and it is predicted that the energy centre will save 12,000 tonnes of carbon per year. The centre will generate power through biomass energy and pump hot water the four mile distance to St Andrews.

The funding for this, as with many of the University’s energy saving schemes, has been provided

by Salix, which is an independent company funded by the carbon trust.

Calls for train station A national organisation, Railfuture Scotland, has joined the calls for St Andrews to be put back on the rail network.

At their latest meeting, vice-chair Roderick McDougall announced Railfuture’s list of 50 proposed new stations and 23 new short branch lines - including one to St Andrews.

The convenor of Starlink, (St Andrews Rail Link) Jane Ann Liston, welcomed these proposals.

She said: “The number of individuals and organisations recognising that cutting St Andrews off from the rail network was a great mistake has grown significantly over the past 25 years.

“The recent report by Tata Steel showed that a rail service, on a new route with direct links to Edinburgh and Dundee is feasible.”

Donate to foodbank

Photo: Yelim Lee

A St Andrews chef has reached the semi-final stage of popular cooking show Masterchef: The Professionals.

27-year-old Jamie Scott, who works at Rocca Restaurant and lives in nearby Arbroath, made his first appearance on the show on 12 November, before advancing from the quarter-finals of the contest. His skills in the kitchen reportedly impressed the Masterchef judges.

Mr Scott described his first experience on the show as “phenomenal and nerve-racking at the same time.”

He said: “The first walk into the kitchen was surreal – you can’t prepare for it and you don’t know what to expect.”

He also admitted that seeing the three well-known judges of the competition - Gregg Wallace, Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti – was a bit intimidating.

Despite a tendinitis problem and trip to the hospital before the show, Mr Scott handled the pressure and put in a good performance to reach the next round. The chef cooked a turbot, chicken skin and asparagus dish for the Signature Dish Test. In the Skills Test, he prepared a pork belly in a mere ten minutes. Finally, in the Invention Test, he produced an impressive pigeon dish.

Mr Scott said that he has had good support from both back home and Rocca. “My family is my biggest fan club,” he said, adding: “And the restaurant has always supported me.”

Go-ahead for energy centre

Jamie Scott, who works at Rocca and lives in Arbroath, is the third St Andrews based chef to enjoy success on Masterchef: the Professionals A Rocca spokesperson said: “We are excited and pleased how well [Mr Scott] is doing. He has learned so much in his three years working here.

The whole team is supporting him.”

Mr Scott talked about his hopes for the rest of the competition. “I want to take each challenge as it comes, and

see how far I can get while learning along the way,” he said.

Mr Scott is the third chef in the past two years with local ties to St Andrews who has enjoyed success on Masterchef: The Professionals. On last year’s show, Scott Davies, a chef at The Adamson, and Adam Handling,

who worked at The Fairmont, both reached the final of the celebrated competition.

Mr Scott will make his next appearance on the BBC Two show on Tuesday 2 December, at 8 pm for the semi-finals, when he fights for a place in the next stage of the competition.

Students are being encouraged to make any possible donations to the Storehouse foodbank in St Andrews. Any food which would otherwise be thrown out before the Christmas holidays can be taken to the foodbank’s collection centre, the Vineyard Centre, located at 62a Largo Road.

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27 November 2014 • The Saint

The Saint • 27 November 2014

News 7

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InFocus: Annie Newman, newly appointed rector’s assessor

“She has already sent me her schedule for next semester. She’ll be here all the time.”

Kim Kay Deputy news editor A third year International Relations student who has lived in Texas since the age of 10, Ms Newman is the former editor of The Stand and a member of the St Andrews Fellowship. She was Ms Sthiler’s campaign manager before securing the role of rector’s assessor and it was her who put Ms Sthiler’s name forward for the role.

As Assessor, Ms Newman will

“I am the person that people can go through to get in touch with Ms Sthiler” be working alongside Catherine Stihler, the fifty-second rector of the University. She will sit on the University Court and be in charge of aiding and advising the rector.

For Ms Newman the role basically involves organising Ms Sthiler’s schedule whenever she is in St Andrews. “I am the person that people can go through to get [in touch

with Ms Sthiler].”

For example, shortly after Ms Sthiler’s appointment - during what was supposed to be campaign week – she set up meetings for her with the heads of societies.

Competition for the role “was competitive”, she said, but “I am grateful that I will be able to work with [Ms Sthiler] over the coming years.”

The last two rector’s assessors – Chloe Hill and Pat Mathewson - have used the role to help them in their successful campaigns to become President of the Students’ Association. Does Ms Newman have the same ambitions? “I have not really thought about it. I am only in third year, which gives me time, but I am not sure. I think my family would kill me because I think that they think that I will never come home,” she said.

Ms Newman talked about the experience of getting Ms Sthiler ready for the election. “There was a group of around 13 of us and everyone on the campaign team was incredible.

Without them I would be significantly less sane and [Ms Sthiler] and I would be so much less prepared for the rest of her term.

“It was a shame that we did not run the campaign,” she added. “Neither of us thought that she would run unopposed and we were both very surprised.”

Annie Newman (far right) with Catherine Sthiler and fellow members of the campaign team, Emmi Taylor and Tiffany Yates.

Photo: Yemlin Lee

The Saint talks to recently appointed rector’s assessor, Annie Newman, about her new role in town.

When asked about the controversy over the lack of an election and the opportunity to vote RON, Ms Newman said that she was surprised. “Neither of us knew that she would run unopposed and we didn’t know that the rule existed. I think there should still have been an election, so does [Ms Sthiler].

“Hopefully we can change this by the end of her term,” she said.

At the last Students’ Representative Council meeting, a motion was passed to petition the University Court to set in motion a process to change clause 19 of the Rectorial Elections rules.

Clause 19 currently states that in the event of only one candidate being nominated, that candidate will be automatically appointed to the position without an election. This is what happened in the case of Ms Sthiler.

When asked about what her relationship with Ms Sthiler will be like, Ms Newman seemed very excited about the prospect of working with her: “[Ms Sthiler] is great. I talk to her everyday, actually more, we talk

everyday on the phone. She has already sent me up her schedule for next semester. She will be up here all the time, which is great; she will even be attending a ball. She is really keen to be active in the student body, more so than Alastair Moffat.”

There is a clear sense of a very amicable working relationship between the pair. Ms Newman discussed what they will be working on together: “We are working on three main areas: the alumni, the accommodation problem and the access.

[Ms Sthiler] knows what she wants to do and will do anything to achieve those aims.”

When asked about the legacy Ms Sthiler hopes to leave, Ms Newman said: “This is going to sound lame but [Ms Sthiler] really loves St Andrews.

Her second child is named Andrew after here; it’s really cute.

“She only wants the best for the students. She is a lovely person and all of her intentions come form a lovely place.”

Ms Sthiler was a student at the University herself before be-

coming president of the Students’ Association. “It is nice, she loves this place and it was funny to walk around with her and see where she lived when she was a student here.”

Asked about the student participation with regards to the Rectorial Elections, Ms Newman said: “I think with all of the good work that [Ms Sthiler] will do people will start to recognise how important the role of rector is.”

Referring to the Students’ Association Elections she added: “I think that it is really cool because in the elections in March we had the highest turn out of students voting in the UK. Representation is really important around election time as people are interested in what is happening and it was a shame that we didn’t manage to have an election; but hopefully this will be fixed.

“I’m really excited to get down to work with [Ms Sthiler] and the rest of the Rector’s Committee and really thankful for the opportunity to do so.

I’m really excited to see what the next three years bring!

St Andrews maternity leave shortest in the UK Lottie Garton Female academics at St Andrews are not taking enough time off for maternity leave compared to women working at other universities and in other professions, according to research published by The Guardian.

The number of professors and lecturers who went on maternity leave at St Andrews dropped from 14 to six in the period 2010 to 2013. The average number across the top ten

Universities in the UK (as ranked by The Guardian) is 12. In addition, women at St Andrews are taking very short maternity leaves of only 138 days – the average length is over 270 for most women, and at least 190 for academics at top universities.

St Andrews was revealed as having the fewest academics to take maternity leave, compared to other universities such as Oxford, where the number of professors taking maternity leave has actually increased.

The statistics were published after figures produced by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) revealed that more than three times as many men held professorships than women and there are more than twice as many male department heads. The figures also showed that there are still only 35 female vice-chancellors (out of 170) – including Principal Louise Richardson.

The ECU report also showed the pay discrepancy between men and

women in academia. Whereas the majority of women earn less than £42,000, most men earn more than that according to the report. Nearly three-quarters of jobs paying more than £57,000 were held by men. The ECU added that there is a 13.6 per cent median pay gap between male and female academics.

In response to these statistics, a spokesman for the University said: “These figures are very small and cannot be taken as evidence of a trend; as

fluctuations are inevitable in such a small sample.

“The issue has not gone unnoticed, however, and St Andrews is employing extra measures to ensure the situation concerning female academics is improved. “We are not complacent,” said the spokesperson, “and have introduced a single equality outcomes scheme, put in place an equal pay statement, introduced flexible working, and created a female academic networking scheme.”

V IEWPOINT

Editor: Jamie Macwhirter Deputy editors: Maddy Armstrong, Ellen Ridsdale, Rebecca Thomas

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St Andrews fashion shows have a size problem On the matter of larger models, St Andrews’ fashion shows have fallen worryingly out of vogue

Jamie Macwhirter

T

here’s a song you’ll likely have heard at some point over the last few weeks. It contains the lyric: “Yeah it’s pretty clear I ain’t no size two/but I can shake it shake it like I’m supposed to do”. Say what you like about her credentials as either pop star or feminist icon, Meghan Trainor’s All About that Bass has shot body positivity right to the top of the pop agenda – no.

1 on the Billboard Hot 100 to be precise. With no fewer than 286 million YouTube views to her name, and having peaked at number one on charts across the globe, Trainor appears to be on to something As Beyonce, Christina Hendricks and more recently Iggy Azaelia and Kim Kardashian can attest – enough column inches having been dedicated to their respective derrières to fell a mid-sized South American rainforest – the fantasy world of celebrity has over the years shown signs of progress. If not to attitudes towards the female body which can be described as healthy, at least towards one which is more inclusive of fuller-figured women.

Even in the famously unforgiving fashion industry, the campaign for more realistic portrayals of the female body has built up something of a head of steam. Moves by fashion houses Prada, Versace and Armani to ban size zero models from their catwalks have preceded a growing trend among A-list designers towards featuring socalled ‘plus-size’ models – UK dress size 12 and above – in their shows.

As early as 2006, John Paul Gaultier and Jack Galliano made use of plus size models in their respective offerings at the Paris Fashion Show, and since then innumerable designers, fashion houses and magazines have followed suit. Only this month, Calvin Klein caused a storm by featuring an advertising campaign featuring size 14 model Myla Dalbesio, whilst Pirelli for the first time cast a plus size model – size 16 Candice Huffine – in its notorious annual calendar. Curves, it appears, are very much in vogue.

It was against this backdrop that preeminent St Andrews fashion shows FS and DONT WALK this

month released their 2015 model rosters, ahead of their hotly anticipated events next semester.

Boasting rich pedigrees and - in DONT WALK’s case - a royal connection in the form of Kate Middleton herself, these shows occupy a central position in the St Andrews student calendar.

Synonymous with glamour, prestige and, of course, cuttingedge fashion, both within and outside our town, they are widely regarded as being among the very best the St Andrews social scene has to offer.

Browsing the profiles of these beautiful, radiant faces, then, it is striking yet dismayingly unsurprising to find not a single curvy model posing among the hordes of skinny, athletic young men and women. In an industry where the boldest, most creative designers and most renowned fashion houses are making waves by presenting a broader range of body types, St Andrews’ fashion shows appear to have fallen painfully behind the times.

Not only do the staunchly r e t r o g r a d e approaches of FS and DONT WALK contribute to a mode of thinking that shames and stigmatises women for possessing the merest gram of “unnecessary” body fat, more worryingly from their point of view, they are finding themselves left in the wake of the industry’s real trendsetters.

The 2014 British Social Attitudes Survey found that 10 million women in the UK feel depressed about the way they look, and it isn’t

hard to see why. From the red carpet to Downing Street, women find themselves scrutinized forensically over their appearance every time they venture into the public eye.

Magazines and advertisements ensure that even those

who don’t still feel intense pressure to conform to rigid standards of personal presentation that most men – this one included – struggle to comprehend.

Even in St Andrews, in my purely anecdotal experience, insecurity over physical appearance for many female students is an accepted part of daily life. These insecurities are only fed through the inevitable

deluge of photos on Facebook which inevitably follow every night out, the pressures of fitting into those formal dresses and, yes, portrayals of the St Andrews beauty ideal which are informed in no small

Illustration: Milan Cater

part by FS and DONT WALK and the catwalk models they choose to use.

Yet, when approached for comment over the matter of plus size models, the committees of both declined. FS refused to comment at all, whilst DONT WALK somewhat euphemistically highlighted “charisma” as the key criterion in their selection process before talking about creating “dynamic interaction with the audience” – whatever that means. Direct questions regarding plus size models and whether they felt they had a responsibility to promote a representative range of body types were met with a silence that spoke volumes.

Let’s not be naïve here – both FS and DONT WALK revel in their air of exclusivity, and work hard to defend it.

From model castings to selection for committee positions to the VIP tickets at their events, it’s apparent at all levels. Whatever one might make of it, they have every right to do so.

But to cast models across the size spectrum would not, as they seem to think, be to the detriment of their brands.

The most prestigious fashion shows and designers in the world have already shown that featuring plus size models is in fact a winwin. In addition to being seen taking responsibility for their impact on wider culture, they have made it into the ultimate fashion statement – our models don’t have to be picked from the country’s skinniest 5 per cent to look stunning in our clothes, anyone can.

FS and DONT WALK can cling to the illusion that curves have no place in their shows if they want to. Or they can choose to take responsibility and send a message to the fashion world and women in general that being a size 12 or above is not only perfectly acceptable, but that they can display great clothes that the entirety of their audience can wear too. If fashion shows from New York to Paris can do it so successfully, what on earth is keeping our St Andrews equivalents from doing likewise?

The Theviews viewsexpressed expressedin inViewpoint Viewpointdo donot notrepresent representthe theviews viewsof ofThe TheSaint Saintbut butare areindividual individualopinions. opinions.

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Devil’s Advocate

It’s ball season - but are black tie events in St Andrews worth the expense?

YES I

Freddy Pilkington

love balls. I also love St Andrews.

Therefore, I love St Andrews’ balls. No matter the cost, I will happily pay for a ball in St Andrews. It should not be seen as a fault that events are so expensive.

Indeed, their very expense, quality and variety should be encouraged.

First, St Andrews is deficient in nightlife. The Vic is crowded and full of people whose accent sometimes makes communication difficult. Ma Bells’ bar is slow and bad value. The Union, except for Sinners, is empty and dull. We all pretend to like the Lizard, but when after the fourth coke has been handed to you with sweat dripping down the sides of the plastic glass, it’s time to have a change.

But despite the more ‘cosy’ nightlife, we still applied here. We’d be kidding ourselves if there wasn’t an element of brand-name snobbery in our application. Getting into St Andrews requires ambition. “I go to St Andrews” carries currency.

Once we are here, it’s nice to enjoy the exclusivity of the achievement.

Balls are the perfect complement to this exclusive (and admittedly smug) feeling. £35 (the average cost of a ticket) is a small price to pay to be part of a night of elitism at its most decadent. Paying for a ball is a fantastic expression of this success.

By the same token, St Andrews balls’, by virtue of their high profile, attract national press coverage.

Oktoberfest brings in feisty Romanian Princesses; FS attracts front page Tatler coverage. Buying a ticket for an event grants access to something that often receives national media attention.

Of course, hosting friends from other universities requires a sense of occasion. Balls often include sumptuous three course meals.

Reeling Ball, for example, includes a full English breakfast at 1am after a night of free festive flinging.

Organisers of the top events in St Andrews know how to take care of the details. At the high price of a ticket, you can enjoy numerous complementary perks.

It’s not just the details however that distinguish St Andrews’ events.

Top events are often systematically planned according to a theme.

House of Horror transformed

Kinkell Byre into an exhilarating horror show, complete with chainsaws. Crosswalk replicated trendy East Coast fairground culture in the middle of misty Fife.

Even without the original themes, events are still great for the music.

The high price of a ticket is no more than one you could pay to see nationally recognised DJs such as Rudimental and Duke Dumont. Balls combine experience of established chart-toppers with promising homegrown St Andrews talent, providing an unrivalled musical experience.

Finally, writing essays is dull. From first-years wrangling with obscure Econometrics problems, to PhD students staring down the barrel of a thesis, people need motivation to keep going. With few opportunities for socialising in the week, knowing that the Welly Ball table is waiting for you after tediously trawling through your bibliography guarantees that you will work hard.

Here, despite all the incentives, you might still bang your foot and say that it all still costs too much. But compared to many events at other universities, St Andrews is positively cheap.

May Balls in Oxford cost up to £250.

Most St Andrews balls cost a quarter of this or less, and also happen to be less tainted with misogyny and socially awkward maths geeks. If that’s all still too much to handle, I could also point out the small fact that these events are great for the charities they support. The Kate Kennedy Club’s balls raise thousands of pounds each year for causes that range from Cystic Fibrosis trusts to mental health charities. FS raised over £30,000 last year, and is targeting £50,000 this year. Be as cynical and tight-fisted you want, these events fund good causes.

Compared to drowning my sorrows with an overpriced G&T at the West Port, I will pay for a ball in St Andrews.

They are necessary, fun, diverse, well-organised and good for charity.

They are more expensive and thus more memorable. The price and variety of events should be something to be proud of, not embarrassed about.

I will happily pay for expensive balls, even if it makes me seem like a d**k.

NO

James Gunn

The Kate Kennedy Club’s balls raise thousands of pounds each.

FS is targeting £50,000 this year.

Be as cynical and tight-fisted you want, these events fund good causes.

“

I just cannot see the appeal of spending £35 for the privilege of standing in a marquee in a muddy field or function suite of a hotel, paying through the nose for overpriced drinks.

O

nce upon a time, on a dark winter’s evening, in a town by the sea in the Kingdom of Fife, a big celebration was going on, which was the talk of the town.

The latest ball was being thrown and anyone who was anyone was going.

A young man by the name of James, however, sat all alone at home, cleaning while his housemate had gone to the ball. He sighed deeply out of exhaustion, pausing for a moment while thinking of what most of the rest of the students in the town would be doing.

Suddenly, he heard a noise in the hallway. Out of self-defence, he grabbed the nearest object, ready to pounce on the intruder.

While his back was turned, the intruder burst into the room, dramatically and joyfully exclaiming “Cinderella, you shall go to the ball!” The intruder was not a burglar, but a fairy godmother, offering a misguided act of kindness.

“Thanks love, but I think you’ve got the wrong person,” James replied somewhat sarcastically. “I’d rather stay at home cleaning the fireplace.

You see, instead of spending a fortune on a ball ticket, I’m using the money I’d have spent to throw a party for my friends instead. Oh, and no offense, but that dress is SO not my shade of pink.”

Last year, some of my friends were on a ball committee and naturally the behind-the-scenes drama and stresses of organising it and, of course, the excited anticipation brought about by its imminence were key topics of conversation for weeks.

At the time, I was in first year and they were in third year; they often talked about the great many aspects of St Andrews life, forgetting that I wasn’t “in the know” in the same way they were, so I didn’t actually really know what went on at a ‘ball’.

Eventually, I plucked up the courage to ask not the million-dollar question but the £35 question; what, for the fee of this ticket, would I be getting? Was there to be a free meal, or even better, free alcohol? Were we to be escorted there in a stretch limousine and drink vodka martinis on the way?

“Nope.” They replied. “So… we pay all this money to do what, exactly?” I asked, astounded. “Oh,

just to be there. It’s pretty much like a glorified night club.” I must admit, I was horrified. I can tell you, somewhat sanctimoniously, that on a typical week, I almost always manage to make £35 cover everything quite comfortably.

I guess I’ve always been a bit of an outsider and I’m not exactly someone who is easily impressed, but frankly, I just cannot see the fascination and appeal in spending, on average, £35 minimum for a ticket which grants you the privilege of standing in a marquee in a muddy field or a function suite of a hotel, paying through the nose for overpriced drinks.

The cost of your outfit is something else to take into consideration; unless you conveniently know someone who can lend you something suitable or you’re particularly adept at finding bargains in charity shops, you’ll have to buy a brand new outfit for whatever ball you choose to attend. Not to mention the cost of dry cleaning your outfit if somebody spills their drink on you, or if you drop your chips and curry sauce from Empire on yourself at the end of the night.

This is of course making rather a sweeping generalisation, however the scenario I described is the general impression I get of the vast majority of balls here in St Andrews.

St Andrews is, of course, a small town and so, of course, by and large we are forced to make our own entertainment. Yet why do the main events of the St Andrews calendar have to be so prohibitively expensive? I In the same way that academics will often shroud their arguments in a cloak of jargon, excluding the ‘lay people’ who aren’t part of their profession, balls seem to me to be an elitist, classicist anachronism, excluding those who can’t afford to pay from taking part.

This, you might say, is all very well: let people spend their money on what they like and don’t make them feel guilty for doing so. I quite agree, but please, let’s at least do something about the peer pressure that exists surrounding these events; don’t try and pressure people into taking part if they don’t want to and don’t look down upon those who choose not to attend as obstinate outsiders.

The The views views expressed expressed in in Viewpoint Viewpoint do do not not represent represent the the views views of of The The Saint Saint but but are are individual individual opinions. opinions.

10 Viewpoint

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27 November 2014 • The Saint

Sports Stripped: nudity in the name of charity

The new naked sports calendar gives us all a license for naked athletes on our walls

Ellen Ridsdale

T

he ‘Sports Stripped’ Calendar, now in its sixth year, recently released its latest edition to raise funds for SportsAid, a charity aiming to help the careers of future sportsmen and women. Composed of monochrome, barely-covered athletes, this calendar has two routes it could follow. Certainly it forms part of a collection of other athletic calendars raising money for great causes but, on the large scale, how does it fit in?

This traditional method of fundraising was developed and popularised in the university context by Warwick University’s Rowing Club whose now internationally famous calendars have raised more than £200,000

for Sports Allies and raised the photographic bar each year. Is our attempt just another one to add to the growing list, or is there a better way to increase support for these charities?

There is no denying that the concept of the naked calendar has been successful. It’s no wonder that a calendar filled with angelic faces and bodies has managed to make international news. And yet, for a calendar in its sixth year, one more than Warwick’s, the figures for Sports Stripped are still impressive.

From this year’s calendar alone, Sports Stripped has made more than £1000 in profit with another sale date in the offing with the potential for more sales. Jenna Miles, director of the project, sees this as a good thing, calling our calendar more “humorous and daring”.

Our athletes may not have budding modelling contracts or airbrushed abs but they certainly play up to this: the cyclists jumping mid-air (the thought of the landing alone makes me flinch) and the perilously clad SAS members

I, for one, would certainly not mind having 12 pictures of scantily clad athletes reminding me of my time commitments month-to-month

balancing the crossover of their skis.

For some, the calendar has ceased to support its original aim for fundraising for charities and instead has transformed into a project of vanity. In this instance, the Abercrombie-like Warwick rowers, who I found it hard to believe weren’t auditioned, would stand up to this premise. I, for one, would definitely not mind having 12 pictures of scantily clad rowers reminding me of my time commitments monthto-month. It can’t be argued that this is definitely a factor in its multitude of sales internationally.

And yet, with Sports Stripped, the nakedness forms the base of a more light hearted admiration – the vanity is nearly non-existent. That’s not to say the attractiveness isn’t there but more of admiring those who took part, the pride I can feel in pointing out friends in it and applauding their selflessness and confidence to do so.

As we turn to winter, surely the stormy, gust-filled weather at the photo shoots must have caused many an athlete to contract a cold?

I must admit, I expected tales of the lashing winter to wreak havoc on the shoots already filled with nervous laughter whilst desperately trying to cover your modesty.

Taylor Foland, part of the Women’s Football Club and part of their photo, revealed to me the complete opposite

of my expectations. It was “cold and nippy, in both senses of the word!” but then divulged how these conditions brought out the best in the team: “After the initial chill and embarrassment of being practically naked on the sports pitches had passed it was a lot of fun - how often is it socially acceptable to strip down to your pants and take a photo?”

It seems as though the calendar provided an ample opportunity to take part in more team bonding but also a rare chance to, as Taylor said, literally take your kit off and not be called out for it, all in the name of charity. The team bonding perhaps stems from the collective initial discomfort and then, gradually, realising that this is a unique occasion, and to seize it.

Jenna completely agrees, calling the calendar an opportunity to have “posing naked… ticked off the bucket list” and to feel good in your own body.

The all-round tasteful manner with which the calendar was executed, in the visually stimulating composition and happy, smiling faces mean the nakedness is an innocent afterthought, not the focal point.

Whilst Sports Stripped is certainly not near the proportions and scale of that of Warwick’s or other naked calendars, this well-established charity calendar has the potential to go even further. Not only does it give the excuse for us to ogle our favourite

“New balls, please” sporty round-campus crushes, but also a chance to support our friends in their moment of birthday suitedness. Everyone likes a bit of athletic nakedness, and for a good cause, why should we complain?

Event ticket sales are an entirely unnecessary farce Physical ticket sales are a waste of time and only serve as an ego boost to committee members

Rebecca Thomas

I

n a world where almost everything from your weekly shop to our daily dose of social interaction occurs online, physical ticket sales for events seem a bit of an eccentricity, even for St Andrews. Essentially, in a community that seems to function entirely through Facebook and email, the sheer volume of balls and more ‘edgy’ nights out whose tickets are sold from pitiful, shabby-looking tables outside the library seems rather inconsistent.

It’s not even particularly logical.

These tickets sales must be a thorough waste of time for everyone involved. The actual committee organising the ball generally sits outside wasting hours of their day trying to flog tickets to passing students just trying to get to class.

Even the more self-important committees give themselves a lot more work than necessary.

Mermaids decorated and provided

entertainment for their sales in order to give a ‘Christmassy vibe’, an ideal I feel that was somewhat lost on those desperately queuing at six in the morning. Ticket sales should not be an event in their own right; they are a means to an end at the very best. It’s clear it would be far easier for these groups to just sell their tickets online, fuss-free and in a time-efficient manner.

Actually going to buy these tickets is often a colossal pain for invitees.

First of all, you have to actually be organised enough to plan on going out of your way to buy a ticket.

Inevitably you’re probably going to be waiting in the cold and rain, on your own because you’re simultaneously buying tickets for your entire friend group and if it’s a popular ball, you’re probably there at crazy o’clock.

No one puts this amount of effort in to buying tickets for Glastonbury or Coldplay, but within a world of St Andrews logic, it is perfectly normal to do so in order to go to Christmas Ball.

If you’re not one of the major events of the year, and instead are just desperately hard-selling tickets to all of your passing friends this is just a real waste of time. People aren’t going to buy tickets on the spur of the moment, they probably don’t have the

Ticket sales should not be an event in their own right; they are a means to an end at the very best cash. Equally nothing is going to put people off going to an event more than approaching a sad lonely table, with posters sellotaped round the sides and a cold hipster clutching a thermos of tea.

So, all of the practical inefficiencies taken into account it remains virtually unclear to me why any committee would think this was a particularly great idea. The only plausible explanations would be an irrational fear of change or a sense of selfindulgence within event managers.

There must be something reasonably reassuring for the Mermaids committee, as literally hundreds of students start queuing

at six in the morning for ticket sales that don’t start until 10 am.

The KK boys probably quite enjoy strolling past a collection of tents and sleeping bags on a morning in May. Knowing that literally hundreds of people want to come to the event that you’re running and are willing to put themselves to considerable inconvenience to do so must be a little bit of an ego boost.

These ticket sales obviously very successfully sell tickets, but probably because we’re all suckers for a ball.

As Mermaids proved, online tickets sell just as well - their online sales sold out in under a minute not only because of Christmas Ball hype, but because people don’t want to queue.

We really shouldn’t have to jump through hoops in order to have a nice

night out in St Andrews just to remind committees that they are popular.

It’s clear that ball conveners are beginning to grudgingly shuffle towards acceptance of the modern age. Starfields and May Ball both sell some tickets on the app Fixr, and Mermaids did release 400 tickets online. Big Top Ball have confirmed that this year their ticket sales will be on a Wednesday afternoon instead of the morning in order to minimise disruption to classes and sleep.

In a Bubble where even student elections take place online to make the process as easy as possible it doesn’t seem unreasonable for events managers to follow suit. It’s high time the reign of tyrannical ball committees was over, and the age of the St Andrews consumer began.

The The views views expressed expressed in in Viewpoint Viewpoint do do not not represent represent the the views views of of The The Saint Saint but but are are individual individual opinions. opinions.

The Saint • 27 November 2014

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Freedom of speech dealt a blow at Oxford University

From the editor

All opinions should be challenged openly, not suppressed

Allen Farrington

I

Christ Church failed. It caved. If we value reasoned debate, we must act to defend it to the hearers. That the expression of these ideas will damage the “mental and physical security” of those upon whose precious ears they fall.

“Damage the mental and physical security” is a trumped-up version of the speculative notion that nobody has a right to hear these ideas because hearing them may well be a gateway drug to thinking them.

When processing WomCam’s proclamation that, “it is absurd to think we should be listening to two cisgender men debate about what people with uteruses should be doing with their bodies,” I would encourage you to cut the statement short after ‘listening’.

We should always listen. We should exchange ideas amicably, disagree passionately, and refrain from unprovoked violence. Oxford Students For Life released a statement that they were “confident that most Oxford students would prefer free speech to censorship, and we look forward to continuing this hugely important conversation.”

But they are wrong. Christ Church failed. It caved. And the rest of Oxford did little better. That their students prefer free speech is moot if they stand by and do nothing when it is attacked. They were cowards, and this suppression of freedom of expression must serve as a warning to us all. If we value reasoned debate we must defend it.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

t isn’t especially difficult to tyrannize a group who do everything you tell them to without resistance and without hesitation. I imagine it isn’t especially thrilling either, but then does a fight well won really compare to the riskless and permanent state of victory granted by the instillation of terror in the minds of one’s opponents? There is a growing contingent in the UK who could readily be asked this question, provided they do not take violent offence at it being asked.

I am speaking of the group titled Oxrev Fems (now deleted), and their Facebook event, ‘What The F**k Is Abortion Culture?’

In case you missed it, Christ Church, Oxford had planned to host a debate entitled ‘This House Believes That Britain’s Abortion Culture Hurts Us All’, sponsored by the Oxford Students For Life, a pro-life group. The debate was ultimately canceled because of ‘security and welfare issues’ - newsspeak for the expectation of violence.

You don’t need to take my word for it; the instigators of the protest group outlined in the event description their intent to use “disruptive instruments to help demonstrate to the antichoicers just what we think of their debate.” We might charitably think that their disruptive instrument of choice would be that of ‘ideas’, but then that would constitute participation in the debate, not the fanatical desire to have it shut down.

TOxrev Fems call the “super cute debate” part of a “sh***y initiative” and that, with respect to the participants exercising their freedom of speech, “we don’t think

this is okay”. To be absolutely clear, it is not just the ideas they don’t think are okay, but their expression at all.

They did not want to make clear their stance on the issue, they wanted to silence the opposition, and they were more than happy to threaten violence to achieve this end.

The actual issue of the debate here is completely immaterial. Evaluating the slivers of actual information between the bouts of slander, selfcontradiction, identity politics and profanity, I am in broad agreement with their stance on the matter.

There is nothing at all wrong with taking issue with the assumptions inherent in the title of the debate by addressing a blatantly biased and problematic expression. But there is everything wrong with addressing these issues by stifling their expression.

Now we may argue that the College, as a private landowner, has every right to ban the debate on its property, and I would agree that it has this legal right.

But that does not extend to the claim that it has the moral right. Rather, I believe it had the moral duty to see that the threats of violence did not prevail, and free and open debate was celebrated. It abandoned this moral duty, and the debate was cancelled.

Setting aside these vaguely legal principles, do we not see a moral case for open debate? Moreover, do we not enshrine freedom of speech in law precisely because of this moral imperative? If an idea is truly wrong, is it not crucial that we understand why? Or else have we really exercised thought to begin with? Do we have an opinion at all, or are we parroting the dictum of our censors?

I do not claim this to be at all an original lament. These arguments for freedom of expression are rooted in The Enlightenment.

What is somewhat novel and disturbing here is the rationale behind the censorship. It is not that the censored information is harmful to the ruling regime, but rather it is harmful

The Bodleian Library, set in the heart of Oxford University where freedom of speech was set aside for fear of “damag[ing] the mental security”.

Jamie Macwhirter

I

write this to you, dear reader, from the darkest depths of the library, a soothing can of Red Bull pressed firmly to my furrowed, sweating brow.

It’s 1:42 am, and in a few minutes that obnoxiously loud, Big Brother-esque tannoy announcement is about to cause every one of the assorted lost souls of the second floor to visibly flinch with its invariably startling “suggestion” that we make our way to the exit – presumably before they release the hounds. Work on a 4000-word IR assignment has, for now, stalled.

It is with a heavy heart that I pen this - my final piece as Viewpoint editor. Next semester will find me in the considerably warmer climes of sunny Istanbul, where I suspect most of my time will be taken up riding all those hot balloons and bartering livestock for textbooks.

The duty of assembling this fortnightly compendium of bold, provocative opinion, however, will fall to the more than capable hands of Ellen Ridsdale, whose writing frequent Viewpoint readers will be well acquainted with.

It’s strange, though, because the knowledge that I won’t be back in St Andrews until next Autumn has lent the last few weeks a particularly strong ‘end of term’ feel. My rose-tinted spectacles are perched firmly on the tip of my nose, and I’m already finding myself taking tentative glances through them. I’ve also started to take note of the little things that, up until now, I’ve largely taken for granted.

Take the process of submitting essays on MMS - a process which, if you’re anything at all like me, has been conducted in the last fortnight against the clock with buttocks tightly clenched and accompanied by a torrent of virulently offensive phrases aimed at your computer, iSaint and everyone in your life who ever told you that academia was a good idea.

Finicky and frustrating as it undoubtedly is, the sensation of successfully uploading that essay with mere seconds to spare is one which I like to describe as bordering on the postcoital.

Snicker all you like, there’s no denying that uncanny flood of endorphins as the email from “fixit-mms” appears in your inbox. Crisis, for now, averted.

All those previous days and weeks of half-reading journal articles and “making mental notes” (academic foreplay, if you will); the rush of adrenaline as you begin the process of sustained, rigorous drafting; the frantic increase in intensity as the deadline looms. And then that smooth satisfaction

upon clicking the submit button that makes you want to whip out a cigarette and pop something good on Netflix as reward for a job well done.

Best not to think about the fact you haven’t handed a physical copy in yet.

Something else I’ve come to notice - particularly as a result of the rigours of my third year - regards the library.

Particularly the library toilets. Don’t get me wrong, the necessary amenities are all present and correct: they’re kept spotlessly clean and those little posters at the urinals must be a godsend for those whose attention span can’t quite stretch to the duration of a quick piss.

But they are awfully quiet, aren’t they?

I mean, to the point of silence bordering on the torturous. Like most, I have made a point of habitually avoiding them whenever possible.

But with the demands of Honourslevel study and the necessarily more intimate relationship with the library, the call of nature has become increasingly difficult to refuse. And boy does nature seem to call loudly in those loos.

I’ll put it bluntly - it’s very hard to do the deed in a dignified manner when the venue resembles a recording studio in a church in, well, a library. Even the most discrete sounds feel like they are conveyed in full FLAC quality, Dolby 7.1 surround glory directly into the ear canals of all present. I recently found out that the library toilets are number seven or something on the St Andrews f**klist (a real thing, apparently, listing numerous novel venues around town for students to bump uglies). Heaven knows how anyone could possibly pull it off in those circumstances. Ahem.

When I began writing this, I did so in the vain hope that somewhere in the process my disparate thoughts would order themselves into some insightful, uplifting guide to life in St Andrews; something along the lines of Baz Luhrman’s Sunscreen Song that could act as a sort of editorial epitaph for me.

I was first played that song when I left primary school, and it has held a special place in my heart at moments like this ever since.

Instead, it seems I have succeeded merely in crafting a poorly structured work of smut and besmirched the noble process of essay submission. Oh well, it’s that time of year, I suppose.

At least I can offer these few words of sage advice: always hand in essays on the brink of deadline, its far more fun; and avoid the library toilets at all costs. Or at least play some loud music on your phone when you do – the motivational Sunscreen Song, perhaps?

The The views views expressed expressed in in Viewpoint Viewpoint do do not not represent represent the the views views of of The The Saint Saint but but are are individual individual opinions. opinions.

12 Viewpoint

thesaint-online.com

27 November 2014 • The Saint

Peon Icon: feminism - a male perspective Sexism is over, ladies. Things seem good enough to me, so why don’t we all just move on?

James Leech

I

n many ways, sexism and gender inequality are like a juicy pair of 38-Ds: they’re big, hard to control, draw plenty of attention, and require a lot of pressure to keep them in check. But through the hard work and self-reflection of our society in recent years, they have been wrangled. Sexism and gender inequality are tied up in a steel girder underwired bra behind a bemusement of clasps, pulleys and levers, never to escape but for the odd glance of cleavage. Women are now free to do whatever they want. Sexism is over.

I was surprised, then, to see such a furore over Kim Kardashian’s naked photo-shoot and the Philae lander scientist’s sexy lady shirt.

What are you fighting about, girls?

You’ve already won! Every room containing 20 Fortune 500 CEOs contains a woman, and the gender pay gap has been chiseled to a mere

15 pence on the pound. You are only down a packet of StarMix per hour’s minimum wage work. What’s the big deal? Maybe you should consider it a blessing in disguise, sugar goes straight to your hips.

As a well-educated white man, I know a thing or two about being discriminated against, and in my view that shirt was not discriminatory. There were no nipples, no buttocks, no fiery tumbleweeds of pubic hair, there was no 200 foot clitoris stomping around a fiery cityscape smashing buildings to ash in a maniacal attempt to stimulate itself to a violent, literally earthshaking orgasm. It was just cleavages and the odd camel toe. You know: tasteful.

I don’t mean to brag, but I consider myself to be on the cutting edge when it comes to despicable depictions of women — the Chuck Yeager of female objectification, if you will.

I have pushed the envelope of the internet and seen things that cannot be un-seen. By comparison, I found the shirt quite tasteful. I could certainly show you a lot worse. See. Yes, that is the edge of a pigeon’s nest. And no, I don’t know how the chicks can breathe in there. Look, The Human Bird-Box is poking a

worm inside for them now. You still want to complain about the shirt?

Regardless of whether the shirt is sexist or not, I find the

Women should have to achieve wealth and power the hard way like my people did: through nepotism, violence, subjugating others, and enslaving black people

suggestion that women could feel ostracised or turned away from careers in science by pictures of naked women in the workplace absurd. You would have to be of a very weak constitution to give up your dreams because of a bowling shirt depicting a few tits and arses.

I have certainly never let naked imagery of my gender hold me back from doing what I want.

That I have never had to face that situation is beside the point.

Look. I’ll admit this whole feminist renaissance in popular culture has been a great cultural touchstone.

It has been like the summer jam no-one can stop singing. But the problem with summer jams is that they get overplayed and overhyped and it ruins them.

Anti-sexism campaigning was fun while it was pointing out harmless problems in fashion and celebrity culture, but it’s getting a little too close to actual dialogue now, so give it a rest, yeah? Don’t let sexism become the Hey Ya! of social concerns.

As well as being condescending and tedious, there are also the many dangers of having too much gender equality to consider: increased wages would slow economic growth; the women’s bathrooms at

the UN could become dangerously overcrowded; there would be no room to put your lunch in the office fridge for all the low-fat Greekstyle yoghurt clogging the shelves.

And then there is the spectre of positive discrimination. Positive discrimination is like a video game cheat code for women to further their careers, disguised as a method of balancing power in society. I stand vehemently opposed to it.

People should be judged on merit rather than gender. Women should have to achieve wealth and power the hard way like my people did: through nepotism, violence, subjugating others and enslaving black people.

In summation, I think I speak on behalf everyone when I say we have all had enough of feminism.

Despite the continuing elements of inequality in society, and even though my perspective on sexism is equivalent to asking a 19th Century slave trader to design an ultra-modern, Google-style wacky open-plan office, it is time to close the book on gender politics.

I admire those who strive tirelessly to make the world a better and fairer place, but the world is equal-ish enough now, and you are getting kind of annoying.

This year, bring a bit of St Andrews home for Christmas Why not spice up those tedious family celebrations with a few classic St Andrews traditions?

Tom Coombes

C

hristmas is coming for you.

It feels like the decorations have been up in Tesco since late spring, and the lights are hanging above Market Street.

For most of us that also means that we can escape the Bubble for a whole month, returning home to be wined and dined by those lucky to see us back, where it will no doubt be noted that ‘YOU drink wine faster than you did before you left’.

As lovely as it will be to get out of St Andrews for a few weeks though I don’t doubt that we will, after a bit, miss it somewhat. To an extent you could even call it a strange kind of homesickness.

With this in mind I have decided to consider ways in which it would be possible to remind ourselves of ‘home’ while back at home. If you catch my drift.

Firstly, organise Christmas dinner drinking games with siblings, age permitting of course, or even just by yourself.

For every roast potato you have, fling back a sambuca shot with it. You beat aunty Deidre when you pulled a cracker leaving you with a paper hat and plastic kazoo? Celebrate with a jägerbomb. You didn’t win? Drown your sorrows with a vodka and coke.

If nan has fallen asleep after her second glass of sherry naturally that means you have to down a dirty pint.

Most importantly though the cornerstone to this game is that if anybody, and I mean anybody, even uncle Gordon or dear old granny Mildred, mentions the John Lewis Christmas advert they have to strawpedo a bottle of port and then be waterboarded with a box of wine. It’s not heart warming, it’s about a child who thinks a stuffed penguin is real. If anything that child needs to lay off the hallucinogenics.

Secondly, walking around can be intimidating outside of St Andrews. If you live in a city, or even just a large town then the sight of a building with more than two floors other than the library, arts building, or Westport

court is likely to lead to a breakdown.

Going out may also lead to confusion at the sheer number of places you can go out to in a normal place. With this in mind, if you do go out in say, London, ensure your mind does not become over-exerted because of the choice by simply going to the same two places every night for a month. And when you go in pretend you know everyone.

And make sure you go out in clothes far too smart for the occasion. To ensure this I recommend white tie everywhere. With a cummerbund.

On the same note, buying drinks in the real world can be horrifyingly cheap so to avoid confusion being or weighed down with small change, when ordering a vodka and lemonade or a beer simply throw a tenner at the barman and walk off.

Other options to ensure you don’t miss St Andrews too much include: crying in libraries, sniffing Barbours just to get the scent back, going into Tesco and shouting: “HOW MUCH?!”, making sure your bank balance never goes above £1, hiring someone to follow you around at all times with a highpower electric fan blowing in your

face to mimic wind, buying a pet seagull, and keeping at least one slice of cold pizza in your room at all times. You’ll feel right at home.

Christmas will be difficult for all of us. Long evenings spent sitting around singing Happy Birthday to Jesus will no longer quite have the joy of before and you may find your mind beginning to wander.

But we are from St Andrews.

We know how to combat this…

That’s right, if your dad’s stories of his childhood are making you nod off, pop a couple of Adderall and suddenly you’ll be hanging off his every word. Until you notice the lights on the tree and end up spending three

hours staring at them as they flash on. Then off. On. Off. On. Off. It won’t be all bad to be home for Christmas though. Mum can do the washing again, and Dad can cook instead of you having carbonara for the fifth time that week. You have Christmas dinner to look forward to.

Spare a thought for anyone staying here for Christmas as you tuck into your turkey and cut open your first roast potato, they will be sitting down to a pot noodle, a Tennent’s and Love Actually. Oh, - how festive.

The The views views expressed expressed in in Viewpoint Viewpoint do do not not represent represent the the views views of of The The Saint Saint but but are are individual individual opinions. opinions.

MONEY thesaint-online.com/money

Editor: Joshua Pooley Deputy Editor: Jessica Richards @saint_money

money@thesaint-online.com

Turkey, tinsel and toys - Christmas edition

Best of British: cute Christmas markets Jessica Richards Deputy money editor

can choose between a variety of markets. On offer is a traditional German market (ends 5 January), a Scottish market featuring the best of locally sourced food and drink (ends 5 January), and St Mary’s market full of children’s activities and carol singing (ends 22 December). The lights are switched on 23 November, there’s a traditional Scottish ceilidh on 30 November and a Torchlight Procession through Edinburgh’s Old Town on 30 December.

Feeling festive yet? The Saint looks into some of Britain’s best Christmas markets.

Manchester Xmas Market (right) When: 14 November-21 December This award winning Christmas market has more than 300 stalls spread across the city, all within a quarter of a mile of each other. There are a whole variety of markets, including a German-style market in St Anne’s Square, French-themed stalls on Kings Street, and a world Christmas market on Brazennose Street. As well as offering both international and local food and drink, Manchester offers yuletide gifts, crafts, jewellery, clothes and toys.

Bath Christmas Market (left) When: 27 November-14 December Set against the backdrop of the stunning Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths, Bath’s Christmas Market offer’s over 170 stalls. Most of these stalls feature locally sourced items from the South West, such as lavender from Somerset, jewellery from Bath, and honey from Wiltshire.

This Christmas market offers a variety of activities, such as ice-skating, bathing in the warm spa water overlooking the city and enjoying a drink in the Après Ski Bar.

Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market & Craft Fair (right) When: 13 November-22 December The largest authentic German market outside Germany and Austria, this Christmas market boasts over 180 stalls spread across Victoria Square, Centenary Square, Chamberlain Square and New Street. There is a variety on offer at this Christmas market, from handmade decorations and traditional wooden toys, to pretzels, bratwursts, schnitzels and mulled wine. If that is not enough, there is an outdoor ice skating rink running until 4 January.

York Christmas Market When: 27 November-21 December In York the annual St Nicolas Fair, on Parliament Street, has a Dickensian theme, with bustling Victorian market stalls offering a variety of items from local products, such as cheese and pottery, to traditional gifts. Be sure to expect stallholders in Victorian costume, carol singers and the smell of Christmas cooking. There is more on offer though, with a Medieval Market at Barley Hall and a ‘York Does Vintage’ fair at Merchant Adventurers’ Hall.

Edinburgh Xmas Market (right) When: 21 November-5 January Visitors of Edinburgh this Christmas

Xmas dinner in St Andrews Rosie Ainsworth & Sara Bell

On a budget - The Vic Two Courses, £12.95 Three Courses, £15.95

The Vic St Andrews has quickly established itself as a student staple on our high street with its lively night scene and unbeatable two-for-one burger deal. Its Christmas offering presents the best value with two and three courses coming in at £12.95 and £15.95 respectively. The Christmas menu is reasonably varied and includes the more traditional Christmas feast. As always, The Vic provides a relaxed and friendly offer and this, combined with the impressive value for money the deal offers should make it a serious contender for any student Christmas outing.

Best atmosphere - Forgan’s Christmas Lunch, £22.95 Christmas Dinner, £29.95

Although Forgan’s is another relatively new member of Market Street it has quickly developed a superb reputation for its high quality, locally sourced meals that combine modern innovation with traditional favour-

ites. Crucially, it offers this luxury dining experience with a relaxed and informal atmosphere that make it perfect for families and student groups alike. The restaurant is offering separate deals for Christmas lunch (£22.95) and Christmas dinner (£29.95) with both menus providing three courses and a real array of options. Bearing in mind the price, however, this may not necessarily be the best for a student group.

Fine dining - The Adamson Two Courses, £13.00 Three Courses, £16.50 The Adamson on South Street consistently provides a memorable fine dining experience with its commitment to offering seasonal menus made with fresh, local produce.

Interestingly, the Christmas menu actually provides impressive value for money considering the standard of the produce and presentation. At £13.00 for two courses and £16.50 for three, the lunch menu may prove to be particularly appealing to students.

Again, the set menu offers a reasonable amount of choice and the high end quality. Hence, it may be perfect for anyone looking to seriously impress their other half this festive season.

Get festive with The Saint’s Christmas quiz!

1. In what year were Christmas crackers invented?

2. How much did the first ever Christmas card cost?

3. Which Christmas hit is the best selling song of all time?

4. What is the highest grossing Christmas film of all time?

5. Which royals began the tradition of Xmas trees?

A. 1747

A. 1 shilling

A. Wham! - Last Christmas

A. Elf

A. Victoria & Albert

B. 1847

B. 3 shillings C. 5 shillings

B. How The Grinch Stole Christmas

B. Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn

C. 1947

B. Bing Crosby - White Christmas C. Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

C. Polar Express

6. How tall was the world’s largest snowman?

7. Mince pies were traditionally thought to resemble what?

8. How many gifts were given in the “12 Days of Xmas?“

9. What artist holds the record for the most Christmas #1s?

10. If you fear Christmas trees, what do you have?

A. 78 feet

A. The Star of Bethlehem

A. 364

A. The Beatles

A. Cherophobia

B. 96 feet

B. The Gifts of the Magi

B. 368

B. Elvis Presley

C. 113 feet

C. The cradle of Christ

C. 372

C. Frank Sinatra

B. Christougenniatiko Dentrophobia

Answers at the bottom of the back page (14)

Score: 1-4 Scrooge 5-7 Christmas Elf

8-10 Father Christmas

C. William & Kate

C. Chionophobia

Gifts on a Budget

Rosie Ainsworth

For Him

For Her

Wallet

Magazine Subscription

A wallet is both an affordable and practical gift and can be bought almost everywhere, especially in the run up to Christmas. Although real leather wallets can cost around £30£40 in department stores, high street shops such as Topman sell gift boxed wallets for around £10-£15.

Magazine subscriptions are a great Christmas gift and are offered by most magazine publications. With promotions and offers from magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour offering a twelve month subscription anywhere in the region of £20-£25, they make thoughtful but affordable gifts and can be bought easily and quickly online.

Autobiographies In the run up to Christmas, book shops such as Waterstones and WHSmiths are filled with an abundance of autobiographies from comedians and television personalities to sporting legends for around the £10 mark.

Offerings from Sir Alex Ferguson and John Cleese, which have recently been released, would make a perfect gift.

Brew Co Beer If looking for a gift from St Andrews, the Brew Co, based on South Street, offer great deals on their home brewed beer that would make a great present.

With three bottles of beer coming in at £9 and a miniature keg for just £20, the beer is not only reasonably priced but would make a special gift, particularly for someone who had never been to St Andrews.

Watch Despite being the most expensive item on our list, a watch is a classic and perfect present to give anyone at Christmas. As watches can greatly vary in price and style, it is easy to find a watch to suit everybody. High street shops such as Marks and Spencer and John Lewis offer watches for around £40 each whilst watches from famous designers may cost upwards of £500.

Whatever your budget, watches are a great gift to give this Christmas.

Christmas Jumper These items of clothing epitomise Xmas. Who does not want to be as desirable as Mr. Darcy?

Photo Album Although they require slightly more effort, photo albums, or even simply a photo in a frame, are great gift ideas.

As they can be customised to include your own photos, they make thoughtful presents and can be created relatively cheaply. Websites such as Boots. com even offer 50 photo prints for free when you create an account online meaning only the album itself would have to be bought. Photo albums are readily available from supermarkets and department stores for around £10-£15.

Perfume The Christmas present market is dominated by perfumery and fragrances with brands developing special festive box sets especially for the period.

Although a more expensive gift, with most perfumes and box sets coming in around the £40-£60 mark, perfume is guaranteed to please.

Box Sets They are a great Xmas gift idea and are often released for many TV shows just in time for the festive period. With box sets for shows such as Friends and The Big Bang Theory costing around £20-£30, they make a great, gift that can be enjoyed all year round. Stores online such as Play.com and Amazon also offer box sets hand for reduced prices.

27 November 2014 • The Saint

thesaint-online.com

Supermarket and Consumer at Christmas Joshua Pooley Money editor

With the winter nights closing in, fireplaces being lit and hot chocolates warming hands, Christmas is coming and the supermarkets know it.

Months of preparation are about to be put to the test as each looks to usurp its rivals for a larger piece of the action. Being a winner or a loser during the highest spending period of the year can determine the success of failure of a business.

Discount retailers sent a strong message to the traditional market leaders last year with both Aldi and Lidl achieving the greatest gains. An increasing number of people seem to have realised that such stores provide comparable quality at lower costs.

Despite the recession having disappeared into the distance with the resurgence of property value and general spending, optimal value for money has remained a bastion of modern consumerism. Customer loyalty is waning as people fill their metaphorical shopping basket with products from a variety of stores - a trend that poses a major threat to chains like Morrisons, which saw underlying sales decline by 5.6% last year.

Surprisingly, the others continuing to fare well are the upmarket grocers like M&S, Waitrose and northern chain, Booths. Those able to afford quality and provenance at Christmas are skipping the middle market and opting for the chains renowned for these distinctive services. While often criticised for its struggling clothing

Photo: Wikipedia

14 Money

ranges, M&S food has become synonymous with indulgence.

The rising power of both discount and quality retailers has incited a response from major players. Tesco has reacted to this squeeze from both sides by trying to move upmarket.

However, its longstanding image and reputation is impeding the progress of this bold transition.

On the other hand, Morrisons is attempting to undercut the stores at the other end of the market by offering a cheaper and simpler shopping experience. It is currently in the process of reducing the prices of 1200 product lines at a cost of £1bn as well as investing heavily in promotions.

Bosses hopes the chain’s new Christmas advertising campaign will help reverse its fortunes this

Christmas. The number of products in each line has also been diminished to simplify the choices consumers make.

Overall, the promiscuity of consumers’ shopping habits appears to be helping them out. As promotional activity reaches unprecedented levels, consumers are enjoying the results of fierce price and quality wars between supermarkets.

Yet from a different angle, the predilection of people to lavish each other with gifts, food and wine to replace what is the coldest and darkest time of year is the force that keeps our high streets alive.

In many ways, it is the hearts of the people that provides the wood for society’s fire – and that seems the reason why Christmas brings merriment to many.

‘Spirit of Christmas’ finds its way to Fife Sara Bell

Around this time of year there are often complaints that the true spirit of Christmas has been lost in a flurry of supermarket adverts, flavoured lattes and scented candles. It appears, however, in the Kingdom of Fife at least the generosity and charity that is at the true centre of the festive period has made a resurgence. The “Fife Spirit of Christmas Appeal” has been gaining momentum over the past few weeks and looks set to make a real difference to many families across Fife this Christmas.

Notoriously, the food, drink, socialising and presents that accom-

pany the coming weeks provide much financial stress for parents as pressure mounts

to ensure “Santa” provides the goods on Christmas morning. It is this worry that the appeal is hoping to counteract as it aims to provide Christmas cheer to poorer families who may other wise struggle.

The campaign is a subsidiary of a larger movement started in Glasgow and is run by Christine Munro, Angela Gourlay and Laura Donaldson who are all from Kircaldy. It asks members of the public to donate present boxes in order to ensure that no child in Fife has to go without a present this year.

At the time of writing the Appeal had amassed over 13,500 members on its Facebook group and with over a month left until Christmas it has the potential to expand even further.

The popularity of the appeal has led to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service donating the use of its stations as drop off points for any boxes. The public response so far has been unprecedented with hundreds of boxes being dropped off

across the Kingdom. The response in some parts have been so great that further, tempo-

rary drop off points have had to be set up in order to relieve stations that are reportedly “bursting at the seams” thanks to the endless generosity of locals.

Donations can be made of presents for girls and boys up to the age of 18, however, the organisers of the appeal have expressed a more specific wish for more presents suitable for boys and girls aged between one and two and eight and twelve.

It appears obvious that the “Fife Spirit of Christmas Appeal” provides students with the perfect opportunity to look beyond the bubble and help the less fortunate in the wider, Fife community.

If you wish to make a donation then boxes are currently being accepted at St Andrews Fire and Rescue on Largo Road.

Donations of all sizes are accepted and your efforts will help ensure that the true magic and “spirit of Christmas” shines brightly across the Kingdom this year.

For further information please look for “Fife Spirit of Christmas Appeal” on Facebook.

Answers to the quiz on page 13: B, A, B, B, A, C, C, A, A, B

F EATURES

Editor: Emma Freer

Deputy editors: Lara Güneri, Chloé Koura, Isaree Thatchaichawalit, Claire Shirey features@thesaint-online.com @saint_features

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Photo: Lewis Fairfax

Interpreting Monaco: Tales from a summer job

are gifted with, and I often found myself lacking in that regard.”

However, working as a translator was hardly a negative experience. He says, “It really gave me an idea because I was working with other people, I was exposed to other fields that I could be interested in.

That’s something you don’t really get during the university experience, but that you do in the world of work.”

One of his tasks was to teach English at the nearby international law firms. While there, the lawyers would talk to him about their major case s .

tion in the oddest of places.”

Finally, Lewis was able to learn about life in a new culture. Lewis says, “There is a different work structure in France. You have to pay interns there.

You have to pay them €430 a month.

So basically my salary paid for my rent and my grant paid for my living costs.”

His boss even encouraged him to take longer lunch breaks, something very much at odds with the miserable, unpaid intern stereotype some of us have come to expect. He says, “It was adapting to a different work place culture. I mean, faculty takes two hours for lunch, which would be almost unthinkable here. They thought I was really weird because I’d sit at my desk and eat. At one point, my boss was like, ‘Switch your computer off and sit in the sun for twenty minutes.’”

Of course, sunbathing was only a very small part of the job. Lewis says, “Generally, it’s a very stressful job working as a translator. It’s something people often underestimate because they think, ‘Oh, you speak two languages, it’s easy to go between them.’ But it’s not easy. What works in French is not always what works in English. I often found myself having to find like 90 per cent matches because I couldn’t do it directly.

And you only have two seconds to think about it.”

Nonetheless, he managed to escape some of the more menial tasks. “They’d try to make me do regular intern tasks like make the coffee,” he says. “But then they realized I was English and so I can’t make coffee.” Despite the challenges, the victories – as big as interviewing Archbishop Tutu and as small as avoiding the dreaded coffee maker – made his assignment one he is grateful to have had.

“In any case,” he says, “it was worth it.”

ons

mm

ia Co med

his summer job? For starters, Lewis received unbeatable help from the University that enabled him to take the job in Monaco. He says, “The support from the Uni was amazing.

They were able to handle all of the paper work with the French authorities. They knew how it worked, and I can’t thank them enough for the help that they gave me.”

Additionally, he also received a grant from the University of £1,000, which covered many of his expenses. He says, “If you are from a less well off economic background like I am, it should not put you off from traveling overseas because the support is there if you’re willing to put the work in.”

Secondly, his job experience proved invaluable for

ikim o: W

is F airf

ax

helpi n g h i m decide w h a t kind of career he would ultimately l i k e to pursue. Lewis says, “Everyone should consider it because I think it is very daunting to go into a job after your degree having never done it before. For me, I realized after three months or so that perhaps translating was not for me because I did enjoy the high points but it’s very hard work. It really requires a certain eye for detail that only some

Lew

rentable space for €900 a month,” he says. “And I thought, ‘€900 a month! In Monaco? No way.’ And so I crouched down to have a closer look at the listing, and it was for a parking space. So that’s the kind of place it is. It’s another world.”

As part of his job, Lewis was introduced to celebrities and international power players alike.

His first event as an interpreter was the Monte Carlo Television Festival. While there, he saw Jerry Bruckheimer, the famous American producer behind Top Gun and Pirates of the Caribbean, and Ted Danson, an American actor.

While at the festival, he also met and helped to conduct an interview with Desmond Tutu, the Archbishop of Cape Town. Tutu was at the festival to promote a film he had worked on about the plight of people in Syria, and was being interviewed by a major newspaper from the South of France. Lewis served as the translator and interpreter between the journalist and the archbishop.

Lewis says, “The journalist was speaking via me to Desmond Tutu. It was quite daunting asking Desmond Tutu these questions – even though they weren’t my own.

I had to ask him questions like, ‘Do you think there is any hope for peace in the Middle East?’ But he was such a nice guy. He saw me later on and even remembered my name. You get an emanating niceness from him, and he is obviously a man who has done a lot of really important work.”

Luckily, Lewis got a break after such a stressful job assignment. He says, “There were lots of people that I didn’t recognize who were from American soap operas, so I wasn’t really intimidated talking to them because I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know who you are!’”

Despite the challenge of working at the festival, Lewis says it was well worth it. The day after the festival, he fell asleep on the train because he was so exhausted from working with so many people. But he says, ‘Then I woke up, and I was like, ‘I met Desmond Tutu yesterday and he remembered my name!’

It was really fun.”

So what was the takeaway from

Phot

ewis Fairfax is a French and Russian student who spent his summer in Monaco, working as a translator and interpreter.

Stationed in a glamorous country, teaching international lawyers what he calls “the new lingua franca,” English, and helping to conduct interviews with international celebrities, he certainly had a memorable summer.

During past summers as a university student, he has organized volunteering schemes in Kyrgyzstan (a country whose official language is Russian). But, this summer he was interested in getting some actual professional experience rather than continuing to volunteer. He was certainly proactive in finding an interesting appointment. He says, “It goes back to February or March, and I was thinking I had to find something to do because I couldn’t just sit around on my backside all summer.”

Jump ahead to June, and he found himself at a translation company based in Monaco where his official job title was translator, interpreter and project manager. As the only English speaker in the officer, he was responsible for dealing with anything having to do with his native language. As he was working as a translator and interpreter, he was also able to put his French and Russian language skills to use.

Monaco proved to be a surreal place to spend the summer. He says, “The thing about Monaco is you get there and you just get this overwhelming sense that it is quite glamorous and everything is very shiny. People have lots of money.

It was a really cool place to work – it was sort of seeing how the other half live.”

Interestingly, Monaco is a microstate with its own government and one of the most powerful monarchies still operating in Europe.

Prince Albert II is officially a constitutional monarch, but he wields an enormous amount of power that has been stripped from most other European monarchs.

Lewis remembers a funny Monaco moment that speaks to the singularity of this environment. “I was walking past an estate agent and I saw a listing for a

Pho to:

L

Deputy print editor Mina Omar sat down with Lewis Fairfax to talk about his job experience, meeting Desmond Tutu, and workplace inspiration

“Actually, I found it so interesting that I’m now trying to qualify as a solicitor rather than as a translator,” he says. “You find inspira-

16 Features

thesaint-online.com

A student in distress

I

sought the advice of Student Services shortly after arriving in St Andrews. I was in the grip of a full front existential life tizzy - grappling with fundamentals such as love, ambition, wealth accumulation and intellectual betterment (To complicate matters, I’d moved in with a Kiwi and realised I wasn’t even that sure about the role of vowels).

Stress, depression, personal set-backs, a death in the family, bullying and heartbreak, amongst other things, have the ability to send your head completely west. Not knowing where to turn or whom to turn to is perhaps one of the hardest

situations one can face. But, even when you are at your lowest ebb or at your loneliest moment, rest assured that there is always someone who cares about you and wants to help. It might be a friend, a tutor, a parent or a university-led support initiative.

There is little comfort in being told that depression affects many of us, but it does. The Mental Health Foundation reports that nine percent of people in the UK meet the criteria for diagnosis of mixed anxiety and depression. Additionally, eight to 12 percent of the population will experience depression in any given year.

However, half of the people with

common mental health problems are no longer affected after 18 months of onset. For those who cultivate an active lifestyle and social life, recovery can be even quicker and more complete.

It may seem that there is nothing you can do about stress. Essay deadlines loom over you like a rabid spectre, your house-mates might not be pulling their weight with their share of the housework or maybe someone has broken your heart.

In my experience, nobody knows your own pain better than you do yourself. But don’t let that lead you to believe that no one else is capable

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27 November 2014 • The Saint

Lee Mahony discusses the experience of suffering from a mental illness as a student and on the resources available inside The Bubble

of empathizing with you. They can and, more often than not, they will.

Stress and depression are not mutually exclusive. The ways in which these two dancing pariahs manifest themselves can range from bizarre to frightening. Depression creeps up on you in many different ways. But by asking yourself a series of questions, you can often locate its source.

Can you sleep? Do you sleep too much? At the far end of the spectrum, you might have to answer much harder questions: Are you suffering from an eating disorder? Do you want to hurt yourself? Are you angry all the time? At the opposite end of the spectrum lies manageable stress. The mental health charity, Mind, recommends analysing the sources of your stress. This approach provides the opportunity to isolate and address stressors individually.

A great way to combat stress is to exercise. Physical activity can help you feel calmer, stronger and better able to deal with whatever is troubling you. Exercise doesn’t necessarily need to take the form of an intense gym session; a brisk walk, a bike ride, team sport and dancing all qualify.

One of most frustrating realities of suffering from a mental illness is that the pain it causes resists rationalisation. Mental pain is often irrational, but seeking treatment is the most logical response. A friend recently put this simple truth into perspective for me. She asked me: “Lee, if I were to stab you right now, would you seek help?” The answer was obvious: Of course I would. In the case of mental pain, the same swift response ought to make as much sense.

Luckily, there is no shortage of help available at the University for students suffering from stress, anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses (or a combination thereof).

Always seek the advice of academic staff in the case of pervasive personal problems. Moreover, the existence of a paper trail will provide evidence if you ever need to request a Phase 2 Appeal before the University Senate, in which one can challenge a poor mark in the case of extenuating personal circumstances. Such an appeal can be a stressful prospect, but the University does all in its power to consider each application on its own merit.

While academic staff and friends can be excellent resources for students suffering from mental illness, professional advice is always available. The

St Andrews University Advice and Support Centre provides counselling from trained professionals. They will listen to you, advise you and support you. Once you have contacted the centre, you will be scheduled to meet with a support advisor. In the case of an emergency, more immediate appointments can be made on their website: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/students/ advice/consellingsupport.

The support advisor will then assist you in deciding whether therapy is a good choice for you. Though the website states that you might wait as long as four weeks before your first appointment, in my own experience it may be as little as one.

Other support networks and services operate in St Andrews. Nightline and Student Minds are both services aimed at advising distressed students.

Nightline is staffed by student volunteers. Katherine Skeels, speaking on behalf of the organization, says, “The standard of training is high. Selection is rigorous and works so that the organization gets the right people for the job.”

Nightline is an anonymous service, but it can help inform student callers of other organizations that can provide assistance and support.

Student Minds is a student-led mental health charity that operates across the UK. Its work is based on the belief that peer intervention can change the state of students’ mental health for the better. The St Andrews branch provides peer-to-peer support and offers a number of courses aimed at helping students deal with various mental health issues.

There remains at least one elephant left in the room when it comes to talking about mental health. We live in a world in which the media exaggerates and essentialises the use of medication for the treatment of depression.

Endorsement of ‘happy pills,’ however, can be both misguided and dangerous. It is essential to speak with a GP about the merits of anti-depressant medication.

In the case of mental distress, it’s so important to take the necessary steps, help yourself get the treatment you need, and to let others provide their support and assistance, both on a personal and professional level.

Read on to learn more about Nightline from one of the organization’s public faces and for contact information of the various support networks operating in St Andrews.

Photo: Tasha Fischer

KS: We are here for students - not just for emergencies, but for anything that life throws your way. Life can be complicated and messy sometimes, and Nightline is here to help you through it all.

Seeking help If you or someone you know is suffering from a mental illness at the University, the resources below are available to you:

To contact the University’s Advice and Support Centre, call: 01334 462020. You can also reach them via email: theasc@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Their office is located at 79 North Street.

To contact Student Minds, call: 01865 264168.

Or email: info@studentminds.org.uk.

Ill

us

To contact Nightline (between 8pm and 7am every night that halls are open), call: 01334 462266. Or email: nightline@st-andrews.ac.uk.

s

TS: Is there anything you wish more students knew about Nightline?

kin

KS: Wow, that is a tough one. One time at this Nightline cake sale, a student came up to us and just handed us money (and not just a pound), without wanting any cake or any of the free items we were handing out. They said that they just thought that Nightline was a valuable service and that it had

KS: It doesn’t have to be serious!

Students can contact us if they are just on their way back from a night out and just want to tell someone about their day.

en

TS: What’s been a rewarding moment of your work at Nightline?

TS: Do students need to be in an emergency situation to get in touch with Nightline?

rJ

KS: It can sometimes be intimidating to talk to an ‘adult’ or someone who is an authority figure. Nightline fills that gap. I think it’s really unique.

Also, as students, we are empathetic towards other students because volunteers have experienced student life and similar situations as many of our contacts. Nightline is also completely confidential, which can help some callers if they are concerned about talking to the university.

KS: Nightline is there for everything and anything ranging from homesickness, relationships (friends and significant others), school stress, stress in general, confidence, had a great day and all my friends are in the library but I want to tell someone-moments, taxi numbers, sexuality, or how to get to Edinburgh. Literally anything and everything. I like to think of Nightline as a sounding board for life. We won’t push you in a certain direction and are there to provide a listening ear for anything that might be going on in your life: the good, the bad and the ugly.

no

TS: Why do you think it’s important that it’s a student-run service?

TS: What kind of issues can Nightline help students with?

lea

Katherine Skeels: I got involved in my first year. During Freshers Fayre, I came up on the Nightline booth.

After their spiel, I was instantly sold on the model of students helping other students anonymously. It was kind of like being a mental health ninja! I went through the application process and have never looked back.

After two years as a listening volunteer, I became Deputy Director and a public face, which means that I don’t take calls anymore. After a year as Deputy Director I became one of two Publicity Officers. I have worked with amazing people across the university and I have loved every minute. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences!

helped them and they wanted to pay us back somehow. Because Nightline is anonymous and confidential, after the email has been sent or the phone hung up, we can’t go and ask students if they found it helpful or follow up in any way, so it was an amazing experience to have a student come up and say that they have benefited from the service (And to show such generosity in handing over their own cash to us)!

I

t took me a minute to walk to the church where YogiSoc were having their Tuesday class. Facing large monastic windows, with chanting songs playing softly in the background, 10 of us followed a strenuous yoga pattern led by instructor Katherine before a relaxing meditation at the session’s end.

Founding member Joana Westphal set up the society in the hopes of meeting other yoga enthusiasts. By October of last year, YogiSoc had a committee and had started hosting classes. Since then, Joana says the society has worked hard to improve its organization and is trying out several new ideas to engage students. Winning the Best New Society Award meant that YogiSoc started off the year with £160, which has helped them line up their class schedule this semester.

For example, members wanted a class devoted to meditation, and, using a grant from the Sports Union, YogiSoc has catered to their members’ demands and booked the boutique studio at The View, every Monday evening. There’s no charge for the class.

Instead, attendees can choose to donate and choose a new charity every month to sponsor. Since September, the society has raised money for Families First and the Scottish Association of Mental Health.

I asked one instructor, Emily Brett, how intense the training is to become certified and was astounded by her reply: Fully certifiable training to become a yoga instructor takes 200 hours. Emily was undaunted even though she was the youngest person training with Tami Schneider, one of the eleven senior teachers of Baptiste Yoga in the world. The commitment was physically exhausting, and she admitted it took a month for her body to adjust to the intensity of her training.

She remembers an especially intense session when she had to meditate for six hours and maintain the cross-legged pose without falling asleep.

Emily’s experience has not deterred other society members from seeking certification themselves. One society member is planning to become certified during

y: E

The Saint: How did you get involved with Nightline?

Danielle Courtney

sb

Meet Katherine Skeels, Nightline’s Publicity Officer

Features 17

Calling all yogis: St Andrews’ best new society grows up but not old

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Q&A

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The Saint • 27 November 2014

Christmas break, which will add another teacher to the society’s roster.

Despite the intensity of their training, the society does not take itself too seriously, and its committee members are keen to try new things. There’s a levelheaded quality to its organization.

President Joana says, “We’re efficient and get stuff done.”

At the start of the year the society staged a successful Yoga Workshop, introducing students to the three styles of yoga as taught by the student instructors. The instructors also led a session of laughter yoga, a style of yoga in which yoga is used to help improve breathing exercises and increase oxygen intake.

YogiSoc is also focusing on offering a variety of yoga events. They collaborated with DanceSoc at the start of the year, holding a special joint session for just £1. At the end of October, they organized a Broga event, in which every attendee who brought along a male student received a discounted class rate. While there are several men in regular attendance, this event was meant to encourage more guys to get involved. It was a smashing success.

Calder Hudson, who is often found practising at society classes, dismisses the notion that yoga is for women. He says, “Gender doesn’t really change the experience much—nor should it.

I go to yoga

classes to do yoga. I think the St Andrews yoga community is, above all else, inviting to new people.

Some societies can be a bit resistant to newcomers, which I think can be more detrimental to those societies than they often realize. Thankfully, the yogis are both accessible and welcoming.”

You can pay per class as a non-member, pay a membership fee of £5 and receive member rates or buy various class passes, either eight at a time or unlimited throughout the semester.

Society member Pippa Macnair felt this last option was best for her.

“I started practising yoga over the summer and went to a YogiSoc class with a friend at the start of this term and loved it,” she said. “Unlimited membership just seemed like a practical plan because overall it’s a big costs saver and it encourages you to keep going along.”

This was also what attracted Louisa Henson, who said, “I practise three times a week and I would never get that value for [the same] money anywhere else. I started yoga this summer on a surf holiday in Morocco and got addicted.

I think yoga is so beneficial for mental health and just learning to accept yourself and be happy.”

Several members of YogiSoc cite their yoga practice as essential for dealing with coursework.

While there are many yoga classes taught around St Andrews, YogiSoc provides the longest class times, which allow for both a strenuous workout and a fulfilling meditation session at the end of each class.

YogiSoc is also keen to encourage yoga newcomers. Treasurer, Emily Grant, only began practicing yoga in her second year at university. She had never thought it was for her until her mother convinced her to attend a class. “I’ve always been so competitive that the idea of yoga was really unappealing,” she said. “However, my mom finally wore me down, and within a few classes I was hooked! It was really something I needed to start doing at that time in my life. Yoga is a really great and low-impact way to stay in shape, and I had just completely torn up my joints from years of competitive sports.”

Response to YogiSoc has been overwhelmingly positive.

Committee members believe this is because of the community atmosphere created at classes and the opportunity for regulars to get to know each other very quickly.

Emily says, “Whether we’re laughing at how ridiculous we all look in certain poses or sharing a few pints, it’s just a very healthy, welcoming environment.” From socials to classes and soon-to-come special events, this circle of Yogis isn’t shrinking any time soon.

18 Features

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thesaint-online.com

hours in Istanbul

Overwhelmed by the prospect of navigating a dynamic city? Let a native guide you through Lara Guneri Deputy features editor

I

stanbul is the only city to span two continents, with a skyline that brings together minarets, church spires, the call to prayer and indie music from hip cafes.

Although Istanbul is mostly known for its historical sights such as Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, it also has an amazing contemporary scene that is often ignored. This guide will help you bring together the old and the new for a perfect 36 hours in Istanbul, one of the world’s most visually stimulating cities.

Friday afternoon Nothing says ‘I’m in Istanbul’ more than walking down Istiklal Caddesi, Istanbul’s most famous avenue filled with cafes, indie bookshops, boutiques, patisseries and galleries. If you are interested in second hand books, you can visit Aslihan Pasaji, which is a huge building full of shops that sell second hand books. (Personally I can spend days in here. Actually I have spent days in here). Or, if you just want to sit down and rest for a while, you can spend some time in Ara Café, named after the famous Turkish photographer Ara Guler and which features his art work on the walls. Sitting here you can watch all the different people walking past, from conservative Muslim women dressed in headscarves to hipster teenagers and business people wearing the latest high fashion clothes.

You can also go up the Galata Tower, which offers a panoramic view of Istanbul’s historic parts.

According to Evliya Celebi, an Ottoman historian, Hazerfan Ahmet Celebi flew from the tower and across the Bosphorus using artificial wings.

As the sun starts to set around 7pm, enjoy a cocktail at 360 Istanbul, a rooftop bar and restaurant on top of an apartment on Istiklal Caddesi.

Order a martini or one of their specialty drinks and experience the 360 degrees view of the Bosphorus, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Galata Tower and all the churches around the area.

Start walking down Istiklal Caddesi towards Karakoy, a former industrialized part of town now turned into a Mecca of indie cafes

(think Taste times a hundred), fusion restaurants and the hippest night clubs. Book a dinner beforehand at Karakoy Lokantasi, where you can enjoy Raki-Balik, a term used in Turkish to indicate a table full of and mezes, which are similar to tapas, Turkish style fish and Raki, an unsweetened, anise-flavored alcoholic drink unique to Turkey. To end the night move on to one of the hip nightclubs such as Unter or Gaspar, where you can dance crazily to techno music amongst the contemporary crowd of Istanbul.

Saturday morning To fully take advantage of the day, try to wake up very early and get a Simit (a traditional Turkish pastry with lots of sesame seeds) and Turkish tea from one of the many sellers on the street. Start the day by solving the mystery from Dan Brown’s latest book “Inferno” by heading to Hagia Sophia. You’ll most probably fall in love with its huge dome and Byzantine mosaics. Then, you can visit the Basilica Cistern right across the street. This amazing and quite eerie space dates back to 532 AD and has 336 columns that provide structural support.

Why the two Medusa sculptures were placed at opposite corners of the cistern is still a mystery. Maybe you can solve it? Be dazzled by the Blue Mosque again just a short walking distance from the Cistern and Hagia Sophia. There are 260 stained glass windows and around 20,000 shimmering blue-green tiles, that will astonish you. (At least it astonishes me every time I see it.) Before having lunch visit the Topkapi Palace, which served as the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for 400 years of their 624-year reign.

Have an amazing lunch of meatballs and special Turkish hot sauce at Sultanahmet Koftecisi, which has been serving authentic Turkish food since 1920. Make sure to drink some Turkish coffee before you leave so that you have enough energy to bargain later on during the day at the Grand Bazaar.

Saturday afternoon After resting and gaining you energy back take the tram to the Grand Bazaar, one of the world’s

largest covered markets with 5000 shops spreading over 60 streets. You can shop for spices, leather goods, antiques, delicious Turkish delights and of course traditional Turkish carpets. Bear in mind that Turkish people are really friendly and hospitable and most probably they won’t let you go without making you have some Turkish tea with them. I would advise you to accept these offers, as these interactions will give you a real feeling of the lives of Turkish people.

To reach the final destination of the day, Chora Museum, take the tram or the bus (you’ll soon realize that the public transport is very cheap and that Turkish people are extremely helpful and sometimes they will even stop what they are doing and accompany you to your destination). Not many people know that the frescoes that decorate the walls of Chora Museum are actually much more significant within the world of art history than those in Hagia Sophia.

Have you ever wondered what kind of food was served in Ottoman festivities? Have you last dinner in Istanbul at Asitane Restaurant, the best Ottoman restaurant in town.

You’ll be surprised what Turkish cuisine has to offer beyond kebabs.

Sunday morning Have a traditional breakfast, containing a dozen different kinds of cheese, eggs with sucuk (Turkish peperoni), menemen (a mixture of eggs, tomatoes, peppers and cheese), olives, pastirma and of course different kinds of pastries. Then to stay goodbye to this beautiful city with a ferry tour around the Bosphorus and be immersed in the beauty of this eclectic city. If you have time wrap yourself in traditional cotton and relax in the steamy surroundings of a traditional Turkish bath. The Cemberlitas Baths is one of the city’s oldest, dating back to the 1500s, and is very cheap. After spending an hour being massaged and washed, you’ll leave all the tiredness behind and end your 36 hour trip of Istanbul on a relaxed and positive note.

All photos: Wikimedia Commons.

Clockwise from top: Simit (pastries), the Blue Mosque, on the streets in Istanbul, sunset over the Golden Horn, ferry ride around the city.

27 November 2014 • The Saint

The Saint • 27 November 2014

thesaint-online.com

Features 19

Children of Rwanda: “For those forgotten”

Photo: Robbie Macmillan

University of Dundee student Robbie Macmillan introduces his charity to St Andrews

Robbie with some of the schoolchildren sponsored through his charity, Children of Rwanda

I

n April this year, Rwanda commemorated the brutally murdered victims of its genocide. Over one million men, women and children, both Tutsi and Hutu, were systematically hunted down by Hutu extremists, whilst many others fled the country. A bloodbath that lasted just 100 days unfairly redefined a population for whom forgiveness is of the greatest importance. However, ethnicity is no longer disputed and Rwanda has made impressive efforts to rebuild its institutions and economy.

Unfortunately, many continue to suffer from the consequences of the devastating violence that was unleashed 20 years ago.

Here begins the mission for Children of Rwanda, a developing charity that focuses on the provision of financial aid to children who are most in need. The funds raised are directed towards covering health insurance and education fees. Its founder, Robbie Macmillan, is in his final year of studying politics and international relations at the University of Dundee.

African politics, and in particular Rwandan affairs, continuously resurface in his academic career. His time at university is drawing to an end with a dissertation concentrating on the significance of religious components in the Rwandan genocide.

This interest ultimately led him to volunteer at l’Esperance orphanage on the coast of Lake Kivu, between the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. However, Macmillan insists that this was not a case of voluntourism. Independent of any volunteering programmes,

Macmillan contacted Victor Monroy, the director of the orphanage. After his arrival, though, the disparity between the children at the orphanage, who lived a comparatively comfortable life, and those of the surrounding villages became evident to him. The village children suffered from severe malnutrition whilst being clad in garments incomparable to clothing, which moved Macmillan to divert his attention from the orphanage to them. He found a village healthcare handbook with which he was able to develop and implement a successful nutrition plan that was both simple and effective.

Though these changes provided an opportunity to manage a difficult situation in isolation, they did not even begin to solve it fully. So, at the recommendation of a Western Washington University professor, who had travelled to Rwanda with a group of students, Macmillan and fellow volunteer Marcos Farias Ferreria began to examine the current system in place.

According to official regulations, the poorest are entitled to free health insurance and in all cases free primary and secondary school education – of course, this is rarely the case in practice. For instance, parents must pay a communal material fee, provide a school uniform, writing utensils, etc. in order for their children to attend school. So, something that is meant to be affordable and to give families hope for the future quickly becomes an “insurmountable obstacle.” A systematic change was necessary, but it was never going to come directly from the government.

Children of Rwanda is for those “who have been forgotten,” says

Macmillan.

When asked what drives his passion for his project and how it affects him, it is evident that he has not thought about how it benefits him in any way; his focus is clearly on the children. “The need of these kids, who are literally dying because of the empty promises that have been

mattress for nine children (some sleeping on wooden planks), broken shoes and ripped clothes merely scratch the surface. The following day, the volunteers brought back 35 pairs of shoes from an adjacent village. When Macmillan showed JeanPaul’s mother the bag of shoes, “her face just lit up,” he recalls.

It may be impossible to cure the world’s ailments, but the drive to try to help is part of our nature as humans. It is thus perfectly reasonable to try to alleviate the struggle of those in most need – in any way we can.

The right to education and the right to health are basic socio-economic human rights highlighting the fundamental responsibility we all carry.

Central to the development of Children of Rwanda is the question of how we can help from afar. Yes, the answer may be simple and the execution complex, but by establishing a controlled system in which 100% of the donations made go to health insurance and education costs for each child, this charity differentiates itself from many others. Macmillan knows every single one of the 123 children receiving aid through this charity as well as their stories; his emotional investment in this project exemplifies the true care and hope he has for each of them.

If you would like to get involved, a society aimed at fundraising for Children of Rwanda is currently being set up in St Andrews under the same name.

Otherwise, visit www.childrenofrwanda.org, like the Children of Rwanda Facebook page or email Robbie at robbie@childrenofrwanda.org.

Photo: Robbie Macmillan

Siobhan Ordonez

made” is his central motivation. The charity is not a personal project. In fact, it is the exact opposite: Children of Rwanda was born out of respect for the affected.

Originally, 30 kids were signed up for the project, but as the word spread almost 600 families approached Macmillan. Subsequently, the programme was expanded to help approximately 50 children, but even so, it was not enough.

The inhabitants of the two villages, Ngoma and Kigarama, decided among themselves which children were most in need. From their deliberations, the first 123 children were selected to participate in the program.

The hope, of course, is not to stop there but to reach as many families as possible. Though the difficulty of the task lies not in merely raising sufficient funds but also in acting quickly enough. One child, shortly after being selected, contracted malaria. While the illness is easily treatable, he died because his family could not afford to take him to hospital. The current reality is a gruesome one, but the potential of this organization is significant and worth paying attention to.

The most humbling part of Macmillan’s experience in Rwanda originates in a close acquaintance with Jean-Paul, who fell sick with a strange variation of fever. Macmillan was convinced that the boy was suffering from malaria and decided to give him a piggyback ride to the local hospital. Over the following days, he took Jean-Paul’s temperature three to four times a day. Whilst visiting one night, Jean-Paul’s mother showed him the details of their difficult living situation: one torn-up

Two schoolboys outfitted in their uniforms and ready for class

20 Photography

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27 November 2014 • The Saint

Week in pictures

Photos selected from this week’s greatest events. We’d like to present to you Disney Bop! ...

Photo: Yelim Lee

Photo: Yelim Lee Photo: Yelim Lee

...As well as Nobel Ball, St Andrews Got Talent, and Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald.

Photo: Manon Mispiratceguy

Photo: Anders Jacobsen

Photo: Tasha Fischer

Photography editor: Raphaël Benros Deputy editor: Rachael Galilee thesaint-online.com/pictures

photography@thesaint-online.com

@saint_photos

Exclusive sneak peek: RAG Week’s dRAG Walk Presenting a behind-the-scenes look at RAG week’s highly anticipated headline event. Contestants will cross-dress to impress St Andrews’ nationally acclaimed drag queen judges: The Jazzle Sisters, Perry Cyazine, and special appearance by last year’s winner Angus “Tess Ko’ Value Vodka”. Keep your eyes peeled for more information coming to you next semester. The money raised during RAG week will go towards charities chosen by the university.

Photos by Alyssa Chafee and Maria Faciolince, Please visit our website for the complete collection.

Events thesaint-online.com/events

Editor: Alison Hutchison Deputy editor: Deputy editors: Samantha Marcus, Lorna Keegan, JacobSamantha Williams @saint_events

events@thesaint-online.com

Alison Hutchison Events editor

I hadn’t been planning on attending this year’s Nobel Ball, which took place on Friday 21 November.

But, when a press pass for the dinner fell into my lap a mere two hours before the supposed start time, I did what any good journalist would do: I poured myself a G&T, pulled on a party dress and prepared myself for a decadent evening of dinner, dancing a n d (lots of) drinks.

The event kicked off at 7pm, and guests were encouraged to arrive promptly at the Scores Hotel for a ‘bubbly’ reception. I arrived a little after 7 pm, and things were already in full swing with hoards of guests pouring through the hotel’s reception to the sound of bagpipes.

Echoing the sentiments of one reveller, “I’m not sure what bagpipes have to do with Scandinavia, but it was a nice touch all the same.”

Guests, waiting for the call to dinner, sipped their complimentary Cava and mingled in a cramped but lively reception area. Excited guests huddled around the seating chart to discover who they’d be spending their evening with.

Given my last minute invitation, I was more than a little apprehensive to be sitting down to a three-course dinner with total strangers. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the seating chart was entirely random, meaning that most people only knew one or two others on their table. In my opinion, it worked really well to break up friendship groups and mix things up.

Putting random people together ultimately meant that, unlike at other balls, there was a really social and inclusive feel as everyone bonded over their mutual love of wine and all things Scandinavian.

There’s nothing that us St Andreans do better than dress up, and Nobel Ball was no exception. Guests had been invited to “go all out” and they certainly did.

The black tie dress code had been adhered to by all ball-goers, with gentleman sporting slick hair and sharp tuxes. Swathes of velvet, sequins and silks in rich jewel colours floated along the floor as ladies made their way to tables and to the dance floor.

Cut out: Raphael Benros Photo: Tasha Fisher

Nobel Ball was “the good kind of forgettable”

The concept of having a “drinking master” (one person per table designated to ensure everyone at their table had enough wine) meant that everyone was feeling very merry, very quickly.

In fact, way before dinner was even served, numerous tables were standing up on their chairs, bursting into Swedish songs and promptly polishing off their glasses of wine.

As for the dinner itself, we were served all three courses as stated (something not always guaranteed at St Andrews balls). I found all three generally pretty tasty, although admittedly, everything seems tastier after a bottle of wine.

In addition to the food, there were also speeches from society members throughout the course of the evening which were humorous in parts, if slightly distasteful in others. However, I’m assuming (hoping) they were meant in a tongue and cheek way, so all’s well that ends well, I suppose.

A performance from The Other Guys made for a nice surprise. The boys were on point as usual and their performance made for a nice segway from the dining to the dancing portion of the evening.

As the evening wore on, the event showed no signs of slowing down.

The music underwent a swift change from a cappella to old school pop (a favourite of mine) and from that moment onwards until lights up, the dance floor was packed with bodies.

As events in St Andrews go, the Nobel Ball is excellent value for money. As a well-seasoned fifth year, I thought I’d experienced every kind of St Andrews night out, but Nobel Ball is a really unique event; the combination of a three-course dinner, a carefree atmosphere and copious bottles of wine made the event the good kind of forgettable.

Skål!

London Alumni Carol Service marks its 10th anniversary

It’s a fantastic evening... and a great way to celebrate Christmas!

tickets. James added, “This year it will be held in Westminster Central Hall, which is the central hall of the Methodist Church and was the scene of the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946.

It is a stunning venue in the heart of Westminster!”

He tells The Saint that the service follows a “traditional concept of Christmas lessons and carols, with the lessons read by famous honorary graduates and graduates.” This year these graduates include: author Bill Bryson, politician Betty Boothroyd, actor Crispin Bonham Carter and former Lord Mayor of London Sir Roger Gifford. Quite the line up indeed!

Additionally, as this year marks the centenary, the service will also feature a special commemoration of the role played by the University in the First World War. James explains that the readings will honour the 972 students enlisted, Photo: Samantha Marcus

Christmas is only four weeks away and we can’t wait! To take our minds off the impending doom of exams (ARGH!), The Saint sat down with James North, an organiser of The London Alumni Carol Service which is set to take place on 19 December 2014.

James explains that the event is the largest annual gathering of St Andrews graduates, and regularly attracts over 1,500 alumni: “It started 10 years ago in a small chapel in London and was established by the London Alumni Club as a way of celebrating Christmas amongst the graduate community in the capital,” he said.

Since then, the service has grown in size and been held in the Scottish Church in Knightsbridge, Southwark Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral in 2012 and Westminster Abbey in 2013.

This year, the event has been forced to change its venue again in order to accommodate for the demand for

of whom 130 died on the front line. The service will also feature the London premiere of Paul Mealor’s new commemorative anthem The Shadow of Thy Cross, sung by The Other Guys.

The special event will also pay homage to J.M. Barrie’s famous ‘Courage’ speech given to students of the University in 1922. In his renowned Rectorial address, the Peter Pan author reflected on the great loss of the First World War and the young people who had made supreme sacrifices during the 1914-18 conflict.

And if that’s not enough of a reason to go, James adds that there will be an event held after the service, giving St Andrews alumni and students alike the chance to dance, drink and be merry. “After the service finishes at 8pm, everyone will make their way across the road to the Queen Elizabeth II Centre where a large party will be held until Midnight,” he said. “The party will feature a live DJ and a ceilidh by London’s leading

Photo: James North

Alison Hutchison speaks to James North about the largest annual gathering of St Andrews alumni

ceilidh band “Licence to Ceilidh”, with a free drink on arrival and then a cash bar running all evening.”

What’s more, do-gooders can feel safe in the knowledge that proceeds from the evening will be going towards providing scholarships for St Andrews students.

James explains that the evening is being held to raise funds for the London Scholarship Fund, established in 2012 with the aim of providing scholarships for students from the Greater London area to study at St Andrews. “Already one scholarship has been established and the Fund is just £28,000 short of establishing another – a sum it hopes to raise through ticket sales and donations on the

night,” he said.

This year, the Carol Service team told The Saint that they “wanted to make the service even more inclusive”; and as such have decided to make student tickets available at just £20 per person.

James admits, “Our hope is that students returning home for Christmas will consider coming and joining the fun! It is a fantastic evening – and a really good way to celebrate Christmas with friends from St Andrews!”

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here: https://sparc. st-andrews.ac.uk/westminster14 .

Additionally, for more details visit the the London Alumni Club’s Facebook page.

Joe Colleyshaw recalls Russian Soc’s spacemen, vodka and electro beats.

This Friday saw the return of the Russian Society’s signature event, Space Out, a night filled with electric beats and cheap drinks. .

This year’s Space Out was held in Rascals, which at first glance, doesn’t seem to be the most obvious place to host an event which is driven by some of the best electronic music in St Andrews. Yet, the Russian Committee clearly did their best to transform the bar into an out of this world venue.

Greeting you as you walked in stood a huge cut-out of multicoloured Cosmonaut, which definitely set the tone for the evening. As you hit the main bar, dangling planets, a foray of DJ lights accompanied by the distinctive music of JVXTA (of Mini Mood fame and acclaim) set the mood for an evening that would be out of this world.

Cleared of its restaurant furnish-

At times, it did seem like you were in Moscow.

ings and with the help of some quirky decorations, Rascals made for an impressive venue, with ample space to bust out your finest moves or to simply crowd the bar.

A definite pull of any Russian Society event is its ability to provide and supplement a healthy amount of alcohol - especially vodka. Last year saw Space Out championing the White Russian as its signature drink.

But this year, we saw organisers decide to cosy up to the welcoming mix

of Chambord, Vodka and Ginger Ale that is the Moscow Mule. The free Moscow Mule on entry was definitely a nice touch, as it encouraged guests directly to the bar where they were able to capitalise on the £1 flavoured vodka shots, which according to one staff member, were bought in a rather large quantity…

Like all such events, Space Out was slow to start, and didn’t really pick up until 10:30. However, this did mean that those who turned up as the doors opened did get to enjoy the full attention of the Russian Committee, who mounted an admirable charm campaign amongst everyone who came.

At times it did seem like you were standing in a bar in Moscow due to the amount of Russian being hurled around the place and the vodka being downed at a steady pace at the bar, which may have proved daunting for any non Russian speakers present or for someone unknown to the Committee.

Also I’d suggest that, in future, the Society should think about the pricing of the event. At £8 for non members and £6 for members, prices can be seen a little steep until you realise that the ticket gets you not only the free drink but also access to the drink offers in Rascals.

Overall, this evening show cased all of the great things that people have come to expect from the Russian Society: a good night, with great people and enough vodka to sink a ship.

Seasons Greetings

Christmas Ball

A good night, with great people and enough vodka to sink a ship!

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ooking for a bit of comedy to brighten up the dark days of deadlines that have been looming for far too long? Why not get yourself down to the Barron Theatre on the 27-28 November at 9pm and let The St Andrews Revue put a smile back on your face with their Christmas themed sketch show, Bonus! The Barron’s only a short jaunt from the library, so even if you’re pulling an all-nighter, a bit of light relief isn’t very far away.

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St Andrews Ball

eading on from the success of last year’s 600th Ball, this year The Fellowship have decided to host another on Lower College Lawn from 8 pm which promises to not only be a fantastic night but also help us ‘celebrate St Andrews Day like never before’. With both student and international DJs billed to help you dance the night away, it would certainly be a fitting end to a weekend jampacked with all things St Andrews related.

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staple in first semester’s social calendar and an event that’s queued for every year without fail, come rain, hail or shine (is there every shine?), the Mermaid’s Christmas Ball looks set to finally get us into the Christmas spirit by way of a novel Narnia theme brightening up Kinkell Byre this year. If you’re like me and have been suppressing the urge to give in to Christmas cheer all November, this is certainly not one to miss.

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Pass the Port!

must say that port hasn’t quite made it onto my list of tipples of choice quite yet, but university is for nothing if not trying new things.

Promising to help you distinguish your dry white from your aged tawny and finally put an end to those embarrassing dinner party gaffes, the event is on from 7 pm at Luvians, with a special 10% off discount for anything you taste and decide to buy on the night.

Disney Bop: fun, fancy, fishbowls Jacob Williams Deputy events editor Week 10, the opening of a new bar and miserable weather do not a magical combination make, and yet the annual Disney Bop still attracted a respectable attendance of a range of Disney favourites - and their more creative cousins.

Particular favourites included Alice (on acid) from Alice in Wonderland and a singular effective Winnie the Pooh.

As is expected at a Disney themed event all the guests looked as though they had stepped straight from the silver screen.

Held as part of the Pre-Rag Week events, it was somewhat disappointing to see attendance lower than it could have been, with the Bop suffering the typical Fridays @ the Union problems. Guests did not start turning up in numbers until near midnight, leading to a rather quiet dance floor initially.

In a further conflict of interest, though perhaps unavoidable, the new Beacon Bar opened its doors to the student body for the first time this weekend, and so prospective boppers invariably flocked upstairs rather than into the venue.

Photo: Yelim Lee

Space Out review

27 November 2014 • The Saint

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Overall the entertainment inside the venue was for the most part typical of what is expected - up to date music and smooth remixes that kept the dance floor moving.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Disney Bop without a few of the best known classic songs from Disney movies over the years, including Frozen’s Let It Go, and Hakuna Matata from the timeless Lion King.

At 1am, to a heavily remixed ver-

Photo: Yelim Lee

23 Events

St Andrews Day

Festive Lights Switch On

aking place on 30 November from 2pm on South Street, this year’s St Andrew’s Day Celebrations will include a variety of free musical, dance and theatre events to get us celebrating the beautiful country we live in.

Feeling like dancing into the night?

There’s also a free ceilidh taking place from 6.30pm – 7.30pm, featuring The Dancing Feet Ceilidh Band. If you’re worried you have two left feet, don’t – the event is billed for both beginners and experts alike.

iven that they’ve been up since Raisin, a bold day if any to decide to deck the town in Christmas lights, it’s more than about time they went on and brightened up those dark mornings and evenings. They will be switched on from the main stage on South Street at 5.45 pm.

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Christmas Concert

inging both medieval and contemporary choral music, if you want to be lulled by the festive sounds of one of the oldest musical groups at the university, in the beautiful St Salvator’s Chapel this event’s for you.

Starting from 7.30 pm, the tickets are only £2 for students and £5 for nonstudents.

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Carol Service

he St Andrews Carol service is always a lovely end to the first semester, and the ideal way to have one last Christmas sing song and listen to the St Salvator’s Chapel Choir before exams begin and we can longer find an excuse to leave the library. Held in the Holy Trinity Church in Dundee, the service begins at 7.30 pm, with doors opening at 7.15 pm. Get there early if you want a seat!

sion of The Circle of Life, guests were showered with hundreds of balloons, much to their delight. The ensuing scene, in which princesses, fairies and animals alike descended upon the balloons, was unforgettable.

All the while, two large screens played a montage of scenes from various Disney classics, evoking nostalgic memories of childhood years.

No St Andrews Union event would be quite complete without themed beverages, which DisneySoc delivered in style.

Cheap movie themed shots such as the Lion’s Roar and Snow White’s Poison were on offer as well as a Magic Potion - four pints of drink presented in a fish bowl for under £10, and although I did not get to try this ‘potion’, the number of empty fish-bowls around attests that the drink was a success.

All in all, for those who turned up and made an effort to dress as their favourite character, the night was veritably a success, and although the crowd was smaller than could have been, the event was a compelling farewell, at least for now, to Fridays at Venue 1.

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27 November 2014 • The Saint

The views expressed in Sabb diary do not represent the views of The Saint. The Saint is not affiliated with the Students’ Association.

ARTS & CULTURE thesaint-online.com/reviews

arts@thesaint-online.com

@saint_arts

Editor: Saeunn Gísladóttir Deputy editors: Marina Carnwath, Holly Fathi, Sophie Cadden, Fred Sculthorp, Joe Ives, Tom Coombes, Stephanie Irwin & Ruairidh Bowen Photo: Raphaël Benros

6 Arts & Culture

27 November 2014 • The Saint

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Artists of The Bubble: St Andrews’ creative students Art & Design 1

Andrew Pearson 4th Year Medicine

What do you enjoy photographing?

I was travelling in Malaysia during the summer, and I loved taking shots of the streets or people.

When I’m back home in the Scottish countryside, I enjoy landscape photography.

What inspired you to take up photography?

I only actually started last November, when I bought a DSLR camera with my granddad’s inheritance. I’ve always liked photography, but I suppose having a good camera forced me to improve my technique.

What would you like to achieve in your photography?

I would love to travel more, and photograph lots more different and interesting things. It’s a great way of keeping memories of your travels.

Are you involved in photography in St Andrews?

I’m a member of the photography society, but we don’t always have the best weather here in St Andrews, so it’s not the best for outdoor photography. I much prefer shooting in sunny weather!

What kind of artist art you?

I mostly do oil paintings, but the technicalities are hard, especially when I don’t have all my equipment here in St Andrews. Here. I mostly do pieces involving graphite and ink, as it’s faster and easier. I love going to life drawing on Tuesdays with ArtSoc. It’s such a great opportunity to create striking images of the human form.

Has your style changed over time?

I only used to copy from the great artists, to find a style and then try and imitate it. But I’ve definitely found my own style in the past year. Each medium I use is inspired by a different artist.

Which artists inspire you?

Vermeer is my favourite, and he’s probably the greatest oil painter ever.

The textures, colours and use of light in his work is unbelievable, with such amazing realism.

Has anything from your life inspired you?

In terms of my personal life, my aunt is an artist and I lover her style. She really inspires me with my oil painting.

What would like to see more of in the St Andrews art scene?

Well there are obviously not studio art classes here, but there is still a surprising amount of artistic activity organised by students. My work was displayed in a student organised exhibition last week, and there was a surprising number of submissions. Some day I’d love to have my own gallery show.

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Photo: Hannah Sycamore

Photo: Mary McClure

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Mary McClure 2nd Year Art History & Medieval History

Photo: Andrew Pearson

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Photographed: Andrew Pearson

Ruairidh Bowen Art & Design editor

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Hannah Sycamore 4th Year Art History

What kind of artist art you?

I work mostly in mixed media and textiles, using photographs, newspaper clippings, lace, various fabrics, buttons, and other objects I find. I can draw, but I much prefer to sew. I’m also president of Craft Soc. I make my own cards, canvases and notebook covers,.

Then, over the summer, I sell them at craft fairs, Has your style changed over time?

I think it has become more refined, and neater.

Which artists inspire you?

One artist who inspires me is called Tracy Levine. She is a landscape painter in the Lakes, and she is fantastic at catching the mood of a landscape.

She really captures the bright heather up on the moors and the dull skies.

She also painted Iona’s white sandy beaches, which were so fantastic my parents bought a print. I also love the work of an artist called Priscilla Jones who does all sorts of collage creations and works with wire to make teapots.

Also, I like the work of Viv Sliwka. She works a lot with round objects and is inspired by nostalgia and memory.

Has anything from your life inspired you?

I’m obviously very inspired by nature, and by nostalgia and childhood.

I also love talking to people who are interested in crafts. I go to a lot of craft fairs and stitching shows around the UK, and I’ve met so many amazing people there, such as a woman who knits wool from her own sheep.

What role does art have in St Andrews?

Definitely much more than you think! There are little pockets of art everywhere in this small town. I volunteer at Museum of the University of St Andrews, and they have great exhibitions, and do craft workshops for children and adults. I’d love to see more crafts obviously and more awareness of crafts in St Andrews!

It’s amazing what you can make with a little inspiration, and it makes Christmas presents so much cheaper for us students!

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The Saint • 27 November 2014

Arts & Culture 27

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Stylish Tutors: Yes, they do exist and The Saint has found them t

Stephanie Irwin Style editor

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I also add a few designer pieces to my wardrobe every season. At the moment, I am currently in love with my Miu Miu bags and my black dress from Yargici.

Last season, I was obsessed with my McQueen skull t-shirt, and my burgundy Prada glasses. I recently bought a colourful faux fur tippet from River Island and I am basically wearing it with every jacket that I own.”

Despite the paradoxical combination of ‘stylish’ and ‘tutor’, these St Andrews tutors give hope for the future of academic fashion. Not only do they possess vast knowledge of international relations and art history, but they also possess style wisdom beyond that of most students.

How do you decide what to wear for tutorials?

“I do not think specifically about what to wear to tutorials; it has more to do with how I feel that particular day.”

Who or what has influenced your style the most?

“I guess my mom, she has a very unique sense of fashion, always very brave and colourful. I believe that style is very much related to personality – and mine is all about freedom. My style is quite bold and dramatic; I just dress depending on my mood. I am usually overdressed –which I don’t mind at all!

Growing up, I was never discouraged by my parents about my clothing preferences. I guess they found it entertaining when I went to a picnic with a huge tutu skirt in primary school, or insisted

Photo: Stephanie Irwin

Pinar Kadioglu

As a tutor for first, second and fourth year international relations students, Pinar Kadioglu is well known for her well-natured humour, knowledge and envy-inducing style. Whether sporting an edgy jumper from Turkey, or burgundy Prada glasses, Pinar artfully combines items from far-flung destinations with classic staples.

on wearing long leather jackets in high school (which I still think of as super cool!) I even wore the highest heels possible on my first day of university.”

Where do you acquire the majority of your clothing?

“I shop mainly in Turkey, from local boutiques in Istanbul and Ankara.

Name one clothing item you can’t live without and why.

“I know this is a classic answer, but not having little black dresses in my wardrobe would be a nightmare. A well-cut little black dress can be used in any occasion with the right accessories, regardless of its fabric.”

Peter Lindfield

Known for his bright yet impeccable ensembles, Dr. Lindfield encapsulates St Andrews style – in the best way possible. Paying attention to quality tailoring and contrast, the style of Dr. Lindfield mirrors that of his Art History expertise.

Who or what has influenced your style the most?

“No one, really — things just come together. I buy what I like; they have to be well made and normally look a little

different (not off the peg). But if there is an influence, I suppose it has to be Gieves and Hawkes or Ralph Lauren depending upon the situation.”

Where do you acquire the majority of your clothing?

“Depends what one is after, I seem to pick up great stuff all over the world.

No.1 Savile Row, London, is obvious for formal wear. Thereafter, places like Chester (home), in the USA: New York, NY, Mystic, CT, Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and on and on.”

How do you decide what to wear for tutorials?

“To be honest, there is no grand plan. I wear whatever comes to hand first (within reason). Colour combinations (always bright) normally work, and my contrasting socks will always match or contrast with something.”

Name one clothing item you can’t live without and why.

“Gosh…cuff links, I suppose! All of my shirts at the moment have double cuffs and without any links I’d be stuffed. I have a neat collection, including a pair made from Welsh gold, numerous Murano glass links with great patterns that are set in silver, Egyptian hieroglyphic links (purchased decades ago for my Grandfather), or those with the arms of my college.

But as cuff links are not clothing, I suppose it has to be my white Marcella bow tie (self-tie, naturally, as pre-tied ties are entirely unacceptable and rather

Photo: Stephanie Irwin

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obvious!) It goes everywhere with me.

My Yorkshire tweed G&H overcoat is very important at the moment, though it’s soon to be substituted, as winter kicks in, for a superb 1951 US Airforce greatcoat that is perfectly tailored and cannot be beaten for fit, quality, warmth or, indeed, weight (all 5kg of it).”

A glimpse of Hungarian literature that caters to multiple tastes B

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Kriszta Rosu With final exams fast approaching, reading for fun is probably not on the top of your list of priorities.

However, if you do decide to take a break from those nasty notes and PowerPoint presentations, why not try something different? Say...

Hungarian literature? The Saint has gathered a few of our favourite titles for you. The following selection is designed to cater to multiple tastes.

It is for lovers of classical literature or history as well as for those seeking nothing more than nail-biting excitement. We hope you like what we’ve chosen!

Dezső Kosztolányi: Kornél Esti Kornél Esti (meaning Kornel of the Night) is without doubt on of the most loveable and exciting characters of the whole of Hungarian literature. He’s an alter ego of the author, an imaginary duplicate who lives the life the author cannot. He lives a life we perhaps all yearn for sometimes, but the constraints of society (and reality) do not allow for it. It’s a life of travel and adventure, of poetry, love, passion, of sweet, sweet decadence, and of all things forbidden. Kornél Esti is both angelically pure and the worst kind of evil at the same time and the stories he tells lie somewhere on the line

between reality and fantasy. The work is essentially a series of short stories that are linked together by the figure of the main character. The stories can be read and understood independently as well which makes them ideal for reading during short study breaks.

ber of the French Foreign Legion.

Complications of the highest order ensue, the most unbelievable things happen and you grow utterly fond of the characters in the meantime.

György Faludy: My Happy Days in Hell

I was actually going to recommend another novel by Antal Szerb, but somebody once told me that some books you should discover for yourself, so… read The Pendragon Legend first, then discover all the other works of the author for yourself. Promise, it’s a journey you won’t regret! The Pendragon Legend is one of those lucky cases when a highly intelligent and acclaimed person decides to write something entertaining. It is a story where intellectual meets real world, a bit of a mystery, a bit of Gothic, a bit a caricature of Gothic, a bit comic, highly captivating. János or John Bátky, a young scholar doing research in London, is invited to the castle of the Earl of Pendragon, where all sorts of mysterious events happen… and the game is on!

How can you write about the terror of Jewish labour camps with intelligence and even occasional humour? Read My Happy Days in Hell to find out. Faludy is one of our most acclaimed contemporary poets. He spent three years in a labour camp during the Hungarian holocaust and this book is his recollection of that period. Written in a very engaging style, it doesn’t just present events, but also takes you through the thought processes and emotions of someone who experienced (and survived) the labour camps.

Jenő Rejtő: The Lost Battleship If you’re looking for something more light-hearted, try Rejtő. His fictional novels are of the unputdownable kind and they are infused with a very unique (and absolutely brilliant) sense of humour as well.

The Lost Battleship is a crime adventure centred on the figure of Dirty Fred, who (having gambled away all his money) steals a battleship, and with a group of adorable scoundrels goes in search of a lost mem-

Antal Szerb: The Pendragon Legend

So guys, here is my advice. Take a break from the textbooks and studying and allow a moment or two of relaxation. Do yourself a favour and order some Hungarian literature from Amazon (or check out what the library offers in its selection), curl up in your favourite blanket with a cup of ginger-lemon tea on a rainy afternoon and start reading!

28 Arts & Culture

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The music hall we never had, but need M

usic

Hailing from Glasgow, I’ve been ruined by a plethora of stellar gig venues. From an early age, I was hopping around the Glasgow Barrowlands not appreciating the treasures I had at my disposal. I used to dream of my university days, imagining the freedom I would have to go to gigs at my leisure with the really cool, equally musically minded pals that I was obviously going to make. Then, I came to St Andrews...

There is nothing that quite lives up to the feeling of walking into your favourite music venue. Normally a dark, smoky room with music oozing from its every pore. You are safe in the knowledge that there is a place made for the sole purpose of supporting the sweaty mass of crazed fans and the bands eager to make a connection with this brood of bodies.

In an age of digital music, some find it hard to see the point of going to hear live music. I find this increasingly to be the case with the new generation- my little cousins now do not understand why I would want to see a band live. They have a whole back catalogue at the click of a mouse and that’s enough for them. This is heart breaking! Who could imagine a world without humble music venues and local gigs... the crippling body heat, fly-

Photo: Anna McAlpine

Anna McAlpine

“One music venue and our lovely little town would be rendered complete.” ing pints and euphoric rush as the first note of the guitars begin to reverberate around the room?

Oh wait, yes I can think of a place that has nothing similar to what I’ve just described. It’s here. For all the bars and cafes and, god love us, we even made an attempt at a nightclubwe still do not have a purpose built music venue. The only place a new venue would have to beat is Sandy’s bar - and that’s hardly a difficult task.

If not just for the selfish reasons of having a place to chill whilst indulging my earbuds, we at least need a venue to nurture the talent we have

in our town. From our student community alone, we have such a range of great musical talent, from our award winning a cappella groups, to the talented individuals that form Music is Love with regular shows. There are also some great local bands that we never get to hear because the only places they can play in are cramped pubs or a Union full of half interested students.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way. I am sick of having to hot foot it to Dundee for the chance to hear music played in a venue which really cares about its performers.

27 November 2014 • The Saint

Dundee has a whole seven venues!

Surely, we can afford one?

I have heard students complain numerous times about bands and their lack of interest to come and play in St. Andrews. No serious band is going to want to play here if we have no real venue to host them in.

There are so many new shops being renovated and bought over. My heart weeps every time I see the new opening signs go up- a butcher, a chocolate shop, but worst has to be Pret. We are a Cafe Nero away from coffee chain domination. All of the same business’ and still no home for music.

A venue would not only be good for our ears but it would also enhance, or even bring together a divided community -a bold claim I know. We are all aware of this division, there are students and there are locals. Currently, our main points of communication are about Raisin Sunday. What if we had a positive place to share the music of the town? Students need not go to the locals’ pub territory and locals need not come into our Union, just to enjoy some tunes. A music venue would provide this neutral space where all would feel comfortable and enjoy the emerging talent we have here in our town.

We’re doing the best we can with what we have, and a good job at that.

Yet, lets dare to dream of what could be... a utopia for the musical masses.

One music venue and our lovely little town would be rendered complete.

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Joe Ives Games editor Formed in 2011, the Gaming Society has levelled up quickly in terms of both popularity and membership. The Saint managed to get President Cameron McNicol, Treasurer Danielle Avel and Vice President Colin Duff, to put down their controllers and talk to us about the society, its success, and gaming in St Andrews.

Can you tell us a bit about Gaming Society?

McNicol: “The aim of our society, as stated in our constitution, is ‘To celebrate video gaming, to bring together like-minded gamers and to introduce a wider range of university students to gaming’. We do this by having fortnightly events where we set up multiple consoles and projectors or use PCs over LAN. We have various themed nights over the year to appeal to different tastes. In the past, these have included themes such as Nintendo, fighting, strategy and platform games and first-person shooter games. We try and offer a good balance between casual and competitive gaming. While most of our events are relaxed, we typically start and end the semester with various tournaments. Either way, we aim to create a sociable atmosphere for everyone involved.”

How popular do you feel video gaming is in St Andrews?

McNicol: “Gaming is more popular than ever. We have all heard about the

rapid growth of the industry, and it can definitely be seen in the increased attendance at our events and the increased enthusiasm of our members, as well as around the town. It is not unusual to see several people a day wearing gaming related clothing, discussing the next upcoming big release or gaming away on their phones. Gaming continues to have an increasing cultural impact. The majority of the population now owns smartphones, which are being marketed more and more around their gaming capabilities. Who hasn’t spent hours being frustrated by that one level in Angry Birds, or had their will tested by Flappy Bird? This is where we come in: we aim to provide a place for people with common interests to socialise and game!”

What has been the highlight of the society since its foundation?

McNicol: “The highlight for me has been seeing the society grow from year to year, and all the new friends I’ve made from it. I’m overwhelmed every year by the attendance at our events and the enthusiasm of the members; it’s wonderful to meet so many like-minded, friendly people.”

Abel: “For me, any one-on-one tournament match, in any game, is a highlight. That moment where the game is so close, and the adrenaline starts pumping is amazing. A second later it’s over, and you smile and shake hands with your opponent and say, ‘good game’.”

Duff: “Linking 16 PCs and two projectors to turn a venue into the bridge of a starship was definitely a highlight.

Our ship was always doomed, but I’ve never had more fun being shot out of the sky whilst frantically shouting at

Photo: Cameron McNicol

Tournaments and a starship: St Andrews’ Gaming Society

Cameron McNicol President of GameSoc my friends next to me to re-route all power to the shields.”

Where would you like to take the Gaming Soc in the future?

McNicol: “I want to continue to build on the great work we have carried out since being founded. I want to hold bigger events, have more variety in events, more charity events and more frequent events. Ultimately, societies are about the members, and making friends with like-minded people, so I want to create the perfect medium by making the society as sociable and fun as possible.”

What, in your opinion, is the greatest tournament game of all time?

McNicol: “For our society at least, I would say the best tournament games are either Super Smash Bros, or Mario

Gaming continues to have an increasing cultural impact. Who hasn’t spent hours being frustrated by that one level in Angry Birds?

Kart. Smash. The competitive scene here is great, and nothing quite matches the tension of those one-on-one matches.

However, the game is still accessible and inviting to new players. Mario Kart is a favourite as well, as everyone has played at least once. Therefore, the game is open to all gamers, regardless of their personal genre preference, and the races always tend to be close, making it a tense, yet fun game to play.”

What’s your favourite game of all time?

McNicol: “For me personally, it has to be Halo. I adore everything about the game. It was one of the first games I ever played against my friends, so there is a huge nostalgia factor to it, accompanied by the overarching story of the saga, which is amazing. For me, nothing beats the manic multiplayer fun of Halo, and it is certainly one of the society’s most popular games, as it is just sheer fun.”

The Saint • 27 November 2014

Arts & Culture 29

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Nolan’s latest: A love letter to humanity F

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Interstellar Dir. Christopher Nolan Interstellar is a monumental cinematic experience. It is a film which explores the power of anchoring; between past and future, humanity and the Earth, and (most crucially) parent and child.

Chronicling humanity’s faults and frailties, but ultimately filled with optimism, the film places faith in our species’ ability to determine its own trajectory. The narrative of the film and its characters achieve this through a fusion of rigorous scientific method and a dedication to essential human relationships.

The less known about the plot before viewing, the better, but a rough outline won’t spoil much. Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), former astronaut, is now a farmer of an infertile Earth. The planet has turned against humanity, and Cooper is forced to choose between protecting his family and saving the human race. His utilitarianism wins out (propelled by his explorative bravado), and Professor Brand (Michael Caine) of NASA sends him into space. His mission is to target a wormhole on the fringes of Saturn through which humanity can search for new, habitable worlds. This is heavy stuff, but the audience is rewarded for keeping up with the film’s breathless pace and dense dialogue.

Photo: Paramount Pictures

Liam Morgan

Murph and Cooper at their ‘dustbowl’ home in Nolan’s new space film, Interstellar.

What follows is an inter-dimensional essay on humanity, a love-letter to the species. This is a realistic portrayal: humanity’s darker sides are allowed to dominate what is at times a tense and harrowing tale, but which also showcases our infinite capacity for innovation and emotion.

Sci-fi of this scale sometimes suffers from an inhuman coldness, an estrangement which Nolan strives to refute. He roots the futuristic

world in images of the pastoral, in corn fields and combines; alluding to the American ‘Dustbowl’ aesthetic which followed the Great Depression.

References are made by older characters to previous generations including our own: Cooper’s father-in-law (John Lithgow) speaks of his childhood as ‘the excess of the 20th century’, where ‘everyday was like Christmas’. These audio-visual cues provide the audience with an anchor in this barren

future, defamiliarising our generation, forcing us to look at ourselves in terms of future’s history.

The spectacle of the film’s foray into deep space repeatedly takes one’s breath away. The film demands to be seen on the biggest screen and heard with the loudest speakers possible. What is most remarkable, however, is the resonant relationship between Cooper and his daughter Murph (played at different ages by

Cult film of the week: Kelly’s Heroes It was 1970, America was fighting in Vietnam, and news channels were offering something Hollywood couldn’t: real death, real violence, and real war. Still, it was a good time to be making war movies.

The studios were giving money to self-destructive hippies like Dennis Hopper (who had just made Easy Rider) and there was a sense that Hollywood was finally catching up with a changing America.

About time too, because a changing America had already caught up with The Hills. The place was still reeling from the horrific Manson murders the previous year. The drug induced haze was beginning to clear. Things had gotten a bit too weird.

Out of all this came three very different war movies. Old Hollywood came up with George C Scott as Patton, a shamelessly patriotic celebration of America’s great WW2 general. New Hollywood’s calling card was Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H, an anarchic comedy about the Korean War. From a different place altogether, weird Hollywood came up with Kelly’s Heroes.

On the face of it Brian Hutton’s film has all the ingredients of a straightforward genre piece. A bunch of misfits are recruited to carry out a dangerous mission behind enemy lines with a slim chance of survival. The eponymous “heroes”

Photo: Metro Goldwyn-Mayer

Fred Sculthorp Film editor

In Brian Hutton’s absurd film Kelly’s Heroes, a platoon’s daring mission is a raid on a bank that holds a fortune in Nazi Gold of the title are a bunch of combat weary GI’s who have been fighting their way across France since D Day. Their daring mission is not some noble escapade that will save lives or shorten the war, but a raid on a bank that holds a fortune in Nazi gold.

As in Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, the platoon’s greatest enemy is their own side. Their superiors are incompetent, vainglorious and just plain stupid. Their commanding officer

is in Paris renovating a yacht while they are fighting on the front line.

They are shelled by their own artillery and attacked by their own aircraft. The regimental quartermaster, Crap Game (Don Rickles), seems to be running the war for his own personal gain. The jaded cynicism towards the US war machine is daring given what was being shown on the news every night.

Kelly himself is played by Clint

Eastwood, who pulls of the remarkable feat of parodying his own image while remaining effortlessly cool.

Telly Savalas gives a typically charismatic turn as Big Joe, the tough sergeant who has been keeping his men alive since Normandy. But the most memorable performance comes from Altman regular and star of M*A*S*H Donald Sutherland, as the tank commander Oddball.

Oddball is an LSD addled hippie

Mackenzie Foy, Jessica Chastain and Ellen Burstyn.) This relationship becomes the true spectacle of Nolan’s space opera. Murph’s inability to forgive her father for leaving is a constant thorn in Cooper’s side, and the Nolan and McConaughey combination ensures we feel his pain.

The film estranges the relationship between parent and child in much the same way as it divorces humanity from its eternal parent, the Earth.

Nolan asserts that parents can be individuals, as well as fulfilling the usually all-consuming role of parenthood. This is a father/daughter relationship rendered strange, perverted by relativity, but one which still bears meaning.

Interstellar’s narrative celebrates scientific achievement on equal grounds with emotional connection, the latter a warmth that genre classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, to which Interstellar pays extended homage, typically lack. The resultant fusion may prove controversial by the film’s third act, where fiction starts to overpower science, but it is worth remembering that Interstellar is a film, first and foremost, and therefore places artistic concerns above the practical.

Despite its inter-dimensional scope, Nolan’s narrative anchors itself to human history. It foregrounds our essential need for grounding, in both the planetary, generative sense and the emotional, genealogical sense. It is unquestionably one of the smartest blockbusters ever constructed, providing an admirable squaring of scientific and artistic meaning.

from 1967, transported back in time by cynical producers to appeal to the anti-war audience. Surrounded by dead Nazis, stolen wine and naked French farm girls he manages to make himself worryingly at home.

‘Stop hitting me with those negative waves man’ he cries before driving off to blow up Nazis to the sound of gentle classical music flowing from his tank. When my dad first forced me to watch this as a child I was so confused by Oddball that I assumed he could only be based on a real life character who had managed to invent flower power whilst driving a tank through war torn France. On more recent viewings I’ve given up on this view. Oddball’s arsenal includes paint shells that explode in psychedelic colours. He believes that the war can be won through ‘positive waves.’

Somehow, this all works. Script writer Troy Kennedy Martin juggles terrific dialogue, with astute political satire and sharp characterisation. Hutton also knew how to direct combat sequences and build tension having already worked with Eastwood on the other WW2 classic, Where Eagles Dare.

Kelly’s Heroes is about the absurdity of war and the individual trying to survive in the face of organised madness. The result is what Hollywood can achieve when it’s brave enough to look war in the face and laugh. What better time to be reminded of that (all while watching a film classic) than now?

30 Arts & Culture

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27 November 2014 • The Saint

The contradictory nature of an imperfect humble genius F

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Mr. Turner Dir. Mike Leigh

The first thing you will notice is the light. Each frame is engulfed in light, subsumed by luminescence.

Reflecting its muse, this film is fixated in illuminating the beauty of nature in its rawest form. Shepherded

by Timothy Spall, the momentous artistic figure of JMW Turner is cast in a fresh light, with Leigh’s meticulous direction portraying his life, not in its grandeur, but in its monotonous mundanity. Leigh presents a modest biopic for a modest figure, depicting an intimate narrative portrait within a visual landscape frame. The film is in consistent conflict between the epic and domestic, encapsulating both the beauty and grotesque of quotidian existence.

The film’s success rests firmly on Spall’s phenomenal performance, a portrayal so subtle that its virtuosity could easily be overlooked. His dialogue most consists of grumbling, but what could be dismissed as incomprehensible murmurs is in fact a master class in grunting. At the helm of works of such majesty is a meagre figure, aesthetically imperfect.

The film does not paint a romanticised picture of his life, but instead

Photo: Focus Features International

Paddy Cavanagh

Timothy Spall, playing Mr. Turner, actually devoted several years to learning how to paint to fully embody the eccentric genius. thrusts all his imperfections upon our screens.

Whether it be his physicality, his rejection of paternal duties or simply his inherent loneliness, Turner is in absolute conjunction with his artistic mastery. Spall’s unassuming cockney gruff contrasts with the pomp and bravado of his contemporaries at the Royal Academy, with a wonderful scene involving a young John Ruskin, whose pretentious dismissal of Clause Lorrain is under-

cut by Turner asking him whether he would prefer a steak and ale or veal and ale pie. Turner is not humble in his artistic pursuits, visually disheartened by Queen Victoria’s critique of his new direction, but Turner, the man, is presented as remarkably ordinary.

The film is overflowing with visual splendour, with the richness of the cinematography projecting a picture of utmost clarity. Dotted with the inspirations of Turner’s landscapes,

from The Fighting Temeraire to Steam Boat off a harbour’s mouth. The film documents the visual stimuli that helmed his art, but in doing so it animates these works, demonstrating the skill in which Turner captured the impetus of his landscape scenes.

In some ways, the film serves as a testament to the art, but the visual canvas is interwoven by three human relationships.

At the heart of the narrative is Turner’s relationship with his be-

A great night with the St Andrews Symphony M

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The stage at Younger Hall was bursting with student musicians on Tuesday 18 November in order to make room for Soloist, Viv McLean, who filled the room with more than just his instrument. He filled it with his presence and excellent composure.

Mr. McLean played piano with the St Andrews Symphony Orchestra for the first of the two pieces. They performed, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini composed by Sergei Rachmaninov. The piece was lit by Mr. McLean’s stunning performance and mastery of his instrument.

It was impossible to take your eyes off of him.

The piece required precise timing due to the back and forth between the orchestra and piano; it was quite difficult. A few times the importance of listening to other sections became noticeable because of bits when the orchestra came in a half count late. Sometimes, when the string section was meant to fade into a piano solo they seemed to cut out early instead of fading out naturally. It seemed that this was due to hesitation from the orchestra as they may have been nervous to play with someone like Mr. McLean, who is a celebrated musician and has played across Europe, Japan, Australia and the US. His stage presence was calm,

Photo: Danielle Golds

Danielle Golds

though there were a few notes that were quite off, especially one at the end of a movement, which had to be held out for a few bars. However, it did not seem to disconcert the performers; instead they were ready to make up for it with the final movement.

The audience consisted mostly of fellow students coming to support their friends and local classical music enthusiasts, who all seemed thrilled by the performance. The applause for the soloist was specially forceful, but the round for the final movement proved that the whole performance was a success.

If you missed this event there are more coming up such as the Yukelele and Yuletide Harmonies concert on Monday 1 December at 8pm in Holy Trinity Church Hall.

`The performance took place in Younger Hall collected and confident in a way that made the listener relaxed and ready to enjoy.

When the conductor, Christopher George, cut off the very last notes of the first piece he loudly exclaimed, “yeah”, indicating that both the orchestra and soloist had played well and that he was proud. He then embraced Mr. McLean. Mr. George wasn’t the only one who enjoyed working with him, Tilly Boa, a student flautist in the orchestra stated, “it’s been great to work with the pianist, Viv, even though we only just met him today.”

Boa’s positive experience seemed widespread. She stated that her favourite piece was the Dvorak (the second piece in the performance), which was a popular opinion because, according to a group of student musicians, it was so distinctive and fun to play.

You could certainly feel the enthusiasm from the orchestra as they played the piece (Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8) They seemed, as a whole, more confident and excited about it, like they were ready to show off all the hard work they had put in. The piece was beautifully performed, al-

loved “Daddy”, a figure of devotion who serves as Turner’s sole familial tie. Concurrently throughout the picture, Turner, the vicious man is mirrored by his inner infantile persona, which manifests in his unquestioning love for his father. Alongside his father, Turner is doted upon by his housekeeper, Mrs. Danby, whom despite his sexual mistreatment, unequivocally reveres her master.

This reverence is only paralleled by Turner’s love for Mrs. Booth, a late widower who finally quells Turner’s aching solitude, providing him the same human warmth that he transfers to his paintings. In all his human encounters, Turner is undoubtedly flawed, incapable of selflessness, yet at his core there is a desire to improve, a pursuit of approval that is reflected in his art.

This extraordinary picture is propelled further by the fact that Spall actually devoted several years to learning how to paint, allowing him to fully embody the eccentric genius of Turner. This year appears to be bestowed with a number of masterful leading performances, from Michael Keaton, Benedict Cumberbatch to Eddie Redmayne and Steve Carell.

These are all immersive, defining performances, but they will struggle to challenge the might of Spall’s Turner.

The film is distinctly British in its treatment of an iconic British artist: unwavering in its representation of the contradictory nature of this imperfect and humble genius.

The top seven reasons to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer Saeunn Gisladottir Arts and Culture Editor

1. It’s empowers women. This show was years ahead of its time with its feminist message. A moment that illustrates this is when someone doubts the petite girl’s strength and Giles assures them that Buffy is “quite capable.”

2. It’s perfect escapism, after a boring day at the library watching Buffy and the Scooby Gang battle evil demons is as far away from St Andrews life as you can get.

3. Anthony Head as Giles, is the librarian and father figure we all wished we’d had.

4. It’s on Netflix, making it dangerously easy to binge watch.

The celebrated pianist, Viv McLean, filled the room with more than just his instrument

5. If you grew up watching Buffy as a kid there are plenty of jokes you didn’t understand that you can catch up on now.

6. The storylines never fail to surprise you with everything from demons who steal your voice to those who make you sing.

7. Joss Whedon, who directed The Avengers, made this series, and the man is a genius.

The Saint • 27 November 2014

Arts & Culture 31

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Jack and the Beanstalk opening at the Byre tonight S

What makes your theatre company unique?

Well, normally we perform Shakespeare in Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens so panto is a bit of ‘kick the heels up and have a laugh at Christmas time.’ A lot of these guys have worked on Shakespeare with me so to have them convert from very heavy Shakespearean roles into panto is a real joy as a theatre company.

tage

Caroline McWilliams

What would you say is the most challenging part of both writing and directing a play?

Admitting to yourself if something doesn’t work, as normally the director’s job is to take the play and make

Photo: WikiMedia Commons

After an impromptu sneak-preview of a musical number from this year’s pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, to be performed at the Byre Theatre from 27 November to 3 January, my interview with Director Gordon Barr turned into an interview with the entire adult cast.

The overriding message was “We are back with a bang this year!”

The cast could not have been more enthusiastic to be performing in St Andrews with comments such as “It’s wonderful,” “It’s got such a Christmassy feel to it,” and “There’s nowhere like it,” being made.

The cast as a whole was keen to stress the similarities between Shakespeare (their usual repertoire) and pantomime, as engaging with the audience is a prime concern for both.

One actor described walking on to the stage as foregoing the distractions of the world and being able to focus solely on connecting with the audience. The cast also stressed how wonderful the Byre Theatre is for pantomime with the front row being a mere foot away from the stage, thus greatly increasing the cast’s possibilities to connect with the audience.

The cast was quick to warn that Barr’s plays often feature cast members acting in amongst the audience and they seemed positively gleeful at having the chance to frighten their audience. In their opinion the walls come down in ‘panto’ and the cast will the opportunity to talk directly to the audience- and to improvise with their lines, they laughingly informed me as their director looked on.

One of the final statements made by a cast member was, “We are all just genuinely really excited to be part of this.”

It would seem that we, the audi-

Jack and the Beanstalk is an English fairytale that is at least 200 years old ance, have something to be excited about too. Here is what Director Gordon Barr says we should expect: What is special about this adaptation of such a classic story?

It’s Jack and the Beanstalk with a few extra twists to it. It’s still very much

the classic story that people know and all the key elements are still there: giant, beanstalk, Jack, cow, but we’ve added a few extra Christmas twists as well as a few Byre Theatre related twists. So, the story connects with what has been happening in the Byre Theatre in recent years.

The cast as a whole stressed how wonderful the Byre Theatre is for pantomine with the front row being a mere foot away from the stage, thus the possibilities to connect with the audience becoming greatly increased

Toppings & Company finally opens its doors Holly Fathi Books editor

Do you find that ideas come into your mind when you are writing more quickly than they used to?

No, as I am getting older [laughs].

It was certainly interesting writing for the Byre a second time as I knew what had worked well the last time. There are traditions that I’ve started to set up, just little things that we wanted to still have. As I know the layout of the Byre it was, in a way, easier this time.

The flip side though, was that when we were here with Snow White in 2012, we had a really big success and the voice in my head says “Is this going to be as good as the last time?” That’ll be for the audience to judge.

In my opinion, Barr has no need to worry for if the pantomime is in any way as personable and welcoming as its director and cast, St Andrews is in for a real treat this Christmas season!

Calling all town poets!

‘WILD’

The Saint’s POETRY COMPETITION The Saint is looking for St Andrews’ best new poets.

Send your submissions to our poetry editor at tfs2@st-andrews.ac.uk Full competition rules available at www.thesaint-online.com

Online this week

Photo: Holly Fathi

Authors at our age

Inside the new bookshop, which is located on Greyfriars Gardens

Monday 17 November saw the opening of independent bookseller, Toppings & Company. Its opening has been eagerly awaited by the keen book lovers of St Andrews, whose patience have been tested by the ‘Coming Soon’ poster that has been pinned on the shop window for months.

The space that was once a china and glass shop has been transformed.

Upon walking in, the smell of fresh books is all embracing and the col-

sure everything works well with timings etc. Being your own editor is sometimes very difficult, as it requires having the guts to cut and reshape.

ourful geometry of the old world laddered bookshelves takes the eye deep into the back of the bookshop.

Small coffee tables are dotted around the nooks and crannies of arched side rooms that offer complementary tea or coffee to those taking their time to browse through the extensive collection of books that cater to all tastes of the people of St Andrews.

From the covert travel section to the poetry corner to the rows of modern, medieval or ancient history books, the variety available renders browsing inexhaustible and it is not surprising that plush armchairs are

provided, allowing for a sustained and luxuriated peruse.

Toppings & Company events are familiar to inhabitants of Bath and Ely, the two other homes to the bookstore. The St Andrews is very much looking forward to what is upcoming.

In fact, alumnus David Stuttard will be hosting an event on his new novel A History of Ancient Greece in Fifty Lives on 27 November. Scholar tickets, which are half the price, are available for this event on request in store.

Owners Robert and Louise Topping, alumni of the university, were very pleased with their opening

From the covert travel section to the poetry corner to the rows of modern, mediaval or ancient history books, the variety renders browsing inexhaustible day. Louise commented on the ‘buzz’ felt around the bookshop when finally opening their doors. They look optimistically towards the future of their bookshop in a town that they are so very fond of.

Marissa Visci introduces us to six current authors who were famous before they were old enough to attend university

The Opposite of Loneliness Ellen Risdale reviews the short story and non-fiction essay collection of Marina Keegan

Best films of 2014 Saeunn Gisladottir runs you through the best films of 2014, and pokes at Oscar predictions

Poetry reviews Anna-Katharina Caseldine, Olia Kuranova, and Michael Grieve update you on the latest poetry book and pamphlet releases giving their verdict

S PORT thesaint-online.com/sport

Andrew’s column To the byline First paragraphs are like this. They have a 4mm indent in the first line.

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Sequat iliquis nibh et eugait do euis eum nulla am dui eugue te ent illam zzrilit aliquisit dit dolum ilit ello again. Yes, it’s me as dolor in henis er ipit lum irit, consed per usual. Just as the Grinch tet auguera esectem dunt volesto returns for Christmas every elent landre faccum quis elessequam year I seem to make a habit of dolut adigna facipis cillamet vullaor appearing in the paper. It’s rather eriliqu iscing er sis ex ercipit augait annoying for you, I would guess. nim incipis dolore dolore mincidunt Well I’ve got some good news essi. for you. No I can’t say that I have Lorper alisciduisi. In esto del escaught the Grinch but I can tell you sequisl ilit, conse min estrud do elis that after this edition of The Saint essisl utem ip ea acilit, volore do you’ll no longer be stuck with me. odolumsan ut lum zzriure et veratin Correct, the stewardship of the most velisi te conullum dolorerosto delprestigious position in the paper, iquisit, quis estrud tatie tie ming ea sort of, is passing on. Before leaving facipsumsan henismo dolore delisisi however let me bestow upon you yet tie velenissis aut dolorpero consenis more ground-breaking ideas. And adi by ground-breaking, you should realise by now that I mean thoroughly unoriginal.

This does not constitute a prediction however, so do not quote me on this in twelve months time. It is merely a suggestion. Since his appointment in 2012 Stuart Lancaster has transformed the national rugby team. Gone are the not so glory days of dwarf-tossing and ship-diving only to be replaced by the not so glory days of genuineness, humbleness and pride.

We English are no longer supporting a team of drunkards but instead a group of thoroughly nice guys. The fact this current crop, typified by their captain Chris Robshaw, who is the ultimate mentsh, are likeable means that Lancaster has fulfilled one of his two aims when he took over.

The other goal, however, of winning, or at the very least reaching the final of, next year’s Rugby World Cup taking place on these shores seems a long way off. After the optimism of the victory over the All Blacks in 2012 and last year’s impressive showing in the Six Nations (let’s forget about the French, that never happened) the last six months have provided a timely, if sharp reminder of English inferiority. The summer tests against the All Blacks were promising but they gave this team an identity. Unfortunately, that identity is one of serial underachievers. Or valiant losers. Take your pick either way, neither is the identity of victors.

The current autumn internationals, save the early Jonny May try, have not been promising.

Chastening might be a good way

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Editor: Andrew Williams Deputy editors: Hugo Porter, Miro Ralston

In defence of sport: The fairest of them all Andrew Williams Sport editor

Andrew Williams to describe it. A reality check the cynics or the Scots may say. Both South Africa and New Zealand have demonstrated how wide the gap is between the best of the northern and southern hemisphere teams. Very wide is your answer.

However it was not only inferior tactics that led to the defeats. Both teams south of the equator were calmer, more patient and more ruthless by the try line. Both took their opportunities. Both limited careless mistakes. They were professional.

“There is always hope”, to quote a very good film, however. Despite England’s recent travails their World Cup preparations are not yet consigned to the abyss of helplessness. In short spells they have shown what they are capable of. It has been agonising to watch time and again as half an hour of truly world class rugby has been scuppered by an hour of panic-stricken hand-egg. ‘Rugby’ doesn’t seem appropriate for some of the stuff that has been played.

This England team still has to hit its peak. A peak which theoretically could be very, very high.

This also makes a rather pleasant change as regards English sport. As a country we are used to underachievers and let downs.

Footballers and cricketers now is the time to hang your heads. Yet this time we may enter a World Cup without expectation but knowing the ability is there to beat the best.

Call it a hunch, call it idiocy or call it blind optimism I don’t care.

England have a very good chance of World Cup success. With home support, momentum and a touch of class you never know how far they will go.

Although I’ve enjoyed my short stint as editor of this section, the relentless battles with InDesign and writing columns, such as this one, at 4:00 am will not be missed.

Whilst my successor may not take the same interest in filling his column with Yiddish words he is nonetheless a rather good writer and his commitment will ensure that I go down as an Eric DjembaDjemba-esque sport editor rather than a Paul Scholes.

As they say you win some and you lose some. Enjoy the section.

@saint_sport

sport@thesaint-online.com

There is no one generic sportsperson.

There is definitely no one generic successful sportsperson.

From Jessica Ennis to Cristiano Ronaldo, from Charlotte Dujardin to Michael Jordan or from Rory McIlroy to Martin Johnson sportspeople come in all shapes, colours, sizes and whatever defining physical characteristics you can think of.

There is no one type of personality that defines a great sportsperson. Yes all are driven but some are arrogant, some are humble, some are self-righteous whilst others see themselves as pillars of the community; a beacon of light for youngsters taking their first tentative steps on the precarious road to stardom and celebrity.

All are different. Yet they all end up at the pinnacle of the sporting hierarchy.

However, when we look across to the business world, for example, there is something discernibly striking. The founders of Microsoft, Apple and Java- three of the biggest tech companies in the world- all had remarkably similar paths to the top. As Malcolm Gladwell points out in his superlative book Outliers, all were the beneficiaries of luck and opportunity.

In very brief, they were all fortunate enough to have been at universities that had modern computer systems and all learnt their trade at a perfect time. They were old enough to understand the new systems whilst also being young enough not to be set in the ways of the slower, older computers.

Thus opportunity, as well as inherent technological skill, was vital in their success.

Sport on the other hand is not based on luck. Nor nepotism and back-handed favours. Being a smooth talker or the nephew of a director is useless. There are no short cuts to be found in sport. No easy way in. One cannot ‘blag’ their way to the top.

This is why we should all not just respect sport but admire it.

It is often lambasted as one of society’s great evils. There is no denying that football hooliganism, match fixing cricketers or drug-abusing athletes represent the very worst of the sporting world. Not to mention the deceptive and corrupt officials at FIFA who dump sport in the doldrums of people’s estimations.

Despite this sport should still be held in high esteem. When looking at the upper echelons of sport it is a universally accepted truth that all members of said echelon have worked tirelessly to achieve their position. There have been hours spent on the training

pitch developing fitness and honing skills.

It practises what the rest of us preach, but fail to act upon. It is shorn of bias and favouritism. It rewards ability and performance. Those who get to the top of the sport whole heartedly deserve their success and this is where sport leads the way in, dare I say it, life. On the field, as it were, it is the fairest entity we have in society. Superiority can in no way be blurred or skewed, distorted by

projects your 0.01 second inferiority for all to see. No amount of words, emotion and passion can cover that up and that is why the best people always have, and always will, win Olympic gold medals. It seems an obvious thing to say, but how often do you look at company leaders and believe they are the best in the world at their job? There is no question in sport. The best are always proclaimed as such.

Sport doesn’t even bow to senti-

Illustration: Alexandra Zagaynova

some imaginative accounting or a clever play around with numbers. On a football pitch the dominance of one team, or even a player, is clear for all to see and that is evidenced in a result. Results tell us everything and that is why managers, for example, pay for poor results. It is indicative of underperformance.

On the athletics tracks the cold and hard numbers tell all. There is nowhere to hide when the giant clocks

Sport on the other hand is not based on luck.

Nor nepotism and back-handed favours... One cannot ‘blag’ their way to the top

mentality and previous success. There is little room for such weaknesses in the cauldron of international sport.

10 years of unprecedented success do not guarantee another six months of participation. Supremely high performance levels are required to continue competing, not a bulging trophy cabinet. This is something that the likes of Ryan Giggs perfectly understood. As he aged he evolved his game, changing his skill set so as to still provide the team with his qualities. He never rested on his laurels, to use a wellworn cliché, and thus continued to deserve his place in the team. He merited it.

This is the point. Sport is the best at crediting those who are worthy. It is not into the whole nepotism and ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ culture. It deals in certainty, positivity and results. The great thing about a clearly defined set of rules is that it is so easy to rank the people abiding by the rules. And this is why sport is, and this is not hyperbolic, the ultimate meritocracy. Without the flaws of personal relationships and feelings to take into account, it naturally produces a hierarchy of talent and ability.

A process the rest of society would do well to replicate.

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Why, Franckly, the French won’t miss Ribéry In the end, France limped out of the 2014 World Cup this summer with a whimper rather than a roar. After raising hopes with a strong showing in the group stages, they capitulated 1-0 to eventual winners Germany in the Maracana, and were accused by many of showing a lack of creativity in their first test against top quality opponents in the competition.

However, despite this disappointing exit, there is a noticeable wave of optimism carrying the national team towards the next major international tournament on home soil. Victories over Portugal and reigning European champions Spain since the World Cup in July have sparked mutterings in the papers, and in the streets, of hope of a successful campaign at the next international tournament. One which is taking place on home soil for the first time since the last time they won one in the summer of 1998.

As a foreigner, I find this surge in support for the side surprising at a time when I assumed the French would be mourning the international retirement of its most skilled player, Franck Ribéry. The Bayern Munich winger, once called the 'jewel of French football' by French legend Zinedine Zidane, has won French player of the year three times, and in 2013 received Uefa's Best Player

in Europe Award. Just last year, he found himself on a three man shortlist with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the Ballon D'Or, and is universally recognised as one of the best wingers of his generation. He is, in short, just the player France needed when they trailed 1-0 to Germany and were searching, in vain, for that spark of creativity, that moment of genius to get them back into the quarter-final and keep their World Cup dream alive.

Why, then, are the French so unperturbed by his retirement?

At the tender age of 23, Ribéry was part of a French side which came unbearably close to winning the World Cup in 2006. His performance at that World Cup was not world-beating, and he managed just one shot on goal in the final against Italy before being hauled off for David Trézéguet.

However, with the retirement of Zidane after his infamous contribution to that same match, he was tipped by many to become the next talisman of French football. This prediction, however, is not one that ever seemed to come true.

After that World Cup, Ribéry suffered a scoring drought of a year and a half for his national side. France suffered early elimination from the Euros in 2008, and in 2010, French football suffered perhaps the lowest moment in its entire history. France

finished bottom of a group containing Uruguay, Mexico and South Africa, failing to win a single game as mutiny threatened to break the team apart completely. The players boycotted training in response to teammate Nicolas Anelka being sent home for his half-time rant at manager, Raymond Domenech, and Ribéry was caught up in a scandal of his own as he was accused of freezing out teammate Gourcuff in the opening match against Uruguay - an event which led to a three match ban from the national team.

The ignominy of that humiliating performance is something that

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Hayden Taylor

Lyon’s recent scintillating form has highlighted a plethora of emerging French talent still seems to play on the mind of the French public, and Ribéry's part in it certainly colours their perception of him. Moreover, the disappointment at his failure to live up to expectation overshadows any of his achievements for the national side - something with which England fans can surely empathise when looking at their own supposed national star, Wayne Rooney.

It would be too strong to say, however, that the apathy with which the French greeted the news of Ribéry's retirement is entirely down to his failure to live up to expectations. The mood is not one of disappointment at opportunities missed, more one

of hope for a bright future with the current crop of emerging stars. Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann all impressed in a World Cup in which they featured heavily despite their youth. Lyon's recent scintillating form in Ligue 1 has highlighted a plethora of emerging French talent including Alexandre Lacazette, Samuel Umtiti and Nabil Fekir.

The current squad is a youthful one laced with talent, many of whom now have major tournament experience. Without the burden of the formality of qualifiers, which seems to be weighing down on a number of European heavyweights at the moment, Didier Deschamps is free to experiment with his selection over the next two years in order to put together a polished side ready to make a real challenge for Euro 2016.

The French are a notoriously difficult side to predict. Failure to qualify for the '94 World Cup preceded winning it in '98. Despite making the final in 2006, they didn't progress beyond the group stages in 2002 or 2010.

Their history is littered with enigmatic stars as likely to win their side the World Cup as to cost them it in the final. But as the clock ticks inexorably on towards the summer of 2016, the French have good reason to be optimistic about their side's chances of winning a first major international tournament since 1998.

Sporting culture from Santiago to St Andrews Currently based in Chile, Mike Glover-Smith explores the nuances of Chile’s sporting culture and asks whether our Fife coastal town is really so different from the South Americans I am yet to go to a football match in Chile. Partly because of money, mostly because I have been warned against it all to whom I’ve spoken.

Football hooliganism in Chile right now is in the same place as it was in the UK in the latter half of the 20th century.

If you’ve seen Green Street you’ll appreciate that this is not ideal.

Gang violence and all that.

But what exactly is the problem?

During Augusto Pinochet’s oppressive regime, football was one of the few things that allowed Chileans some self-expression and the chance to hold on to their national identity.

Cottoning on to this, the government attempted to use the national team to win hearts and minds, making all World Cup games free to view on national television.

Unfortunately for them, a few free football matches did very little to quell the outrage and hatred caused by over 100,000 ordinary members of the public, or in the words of the regime “political enemies”, disappearing during the brutal dictatorship.

Football hooliganism can be related back to tribal times, with clashes between fans of the two most successful Chilean teams, Colo-Colo and Universidad de Chile (“La U”) a certainty when the two teams play each other. Every Sunday morning without fail, I am woken at 9 am by chanting and drumming as scores of “La U” fans swarm the city

Credit: Wikimedia commons

The Crowds gather without fail every Sunday morning on the streets of Santiago to celebrate no doubt yet another victory for “La U” streets, armed with confetti canons and witty banners celebrating another victory (“Vamos La U” being a particularly thought-provoking example). Wouldn’t you know that the weekly 9 am march, sparing no thought for the hungover, would be the one thing Chileans never fail to

be on-time for.

While football is the most popular sport among the Chilean general public, it is followed, surprisingly, by rodeo. Rodeo is the most practiced sport in rural Chile, while tennis is Chile’s most successful sport, the country having boasted stars

such as Marcelo Ríos, the South American continent’s first world number one.

The popularity of football can be attributed to the fact that in a country perpetually struggling with a “haves and have-nots” class dispute, the sport provides an outlet for the

frustration that many people feel.

Football is a sport that anybody can play; it doesn’t require serious financial investment, and as such it is as much a sport of the working classes as the more financially comfortable.

Sport has always been fervently supported in Chile, and this shows no sign of letting up, the success of the national football team in the 2014 World Cup going a long way to inspiring the next generation of Alexis Sanchezes.

Though be careful, should you mention his name in conversation with a native they may well become amazingly, and scarily, attached to you forever.

Now of course I’m not saying that this had happened to me but take it as read that there are many a foreigner to have suffered such a fate and instantly regret the international nature of the facebook poke.

Like ‘little’ Chile (the country is over 5,000 miles long, but regarded as the baby of South America by virtue of its relatively tiny population), St Andrews’ sports teams are disproportionately successful.

The alcoholism and general chaos that goes on before/during/ after a football match draw startling comparisons with post-BUCS Sinners’ Sport. Yet just like the Bubble comes out in force for a night at Sinners, most in Chile love the unpredictability and volatility of sporting life.

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27September November 6 November 2014 The Saint 18 2014 • The Saint

Murray’s woes continue to mount Stuart Macpherson

coach Amelie Mauresmo commands, as compared to the steely Lendl.

Sports psychologist Don Macpherson rightfully illustrates: “When Murray looks up at his team and his monkey mind is just about to shout abuse, he suddenly sees the brooding, unsmiling Lendl, and the monkey backs down every time ... out of respect.”

Numerous fist-pumps and murmurs of encouragement from the stands are no use to a perfectionist.

Murray requires a source of discipline that threatens him to focus – some-

Photo: Wikimedia commons

For the third consecutive year, white hot world number one Novak Djokovic claimed this year’s ATP Tour Finals crown and consolidated the apparent ownership of his top spot in the rankings, at least until the beginning of 2015. However, the glory of this prestigious ‘three-peat’ was slightly overshadowed by other dramas which played out when the unique tournament took place at the O2 Arena in Lodnon.

Just like the closing night of a vastly commercialised West End show, the Tour Finals should be the slick, highclass finale of Tennis’ season-long run in the theatres. But, a series of plot twists including the premature demise of home favourite Andy Murray, the final day retirement of leading man Roger Federer and a vaguely pantomime climax gave the 2014 production plenty of extra talking points.

I want to review the fall of our Scottish protaganist, Murray.

Early this year, British number one Murray learned that the climb back to top form and fitness would be a very long one after undergoing back surgery in late 2013. Apart from the bonus of matching his best performance at the French Open – reaching the Semi-finals before meeting claycourt master Rafael Nadal – the first half of 2014 was a period very much lacking in positives for the Scot who dropped out of the world’s top ten for the first time since 2008 in September.

However, victories (the first under new coach, Amelie Mauresmo) in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia capped off a resurgent autumn and saw Murray finish the ‘Race to London’ ranked inside the all-important top eight.

But, despite the apparent rejuvenation of the ex-Wimbledon and US Open champion’s game, the recent 6-0, 6-1 humiliation at the hands of Roger Federer provided a sobering end to Murray’s challenge in London and to

a wholly torrid season. Regardless of the magnificence of Federer’s performance – which was his best this year “by far” according to his coach Stefan Edberg – the nature of Murray’s capitulation has had many tennis pundits calling for the Dunblane man to reassess each aspect of his game in the close-season. Particularly his head.

A far more emotional and temperamental Andy Murray has been on court in the past year. The odd moan after a stray shot was frequently replaced by a ballad of self-loathing reminiscent of the naïve rising star

of almost a decade ago. Yet, this evidence of a downgrade in mentality, whilst stemming from a frustrating lack of post-surgery fitness, has surely been amplified by the parting of Murray and former coach Ivan Lendl back in March.

I do not doubt the credentials as much as the authority that rookie

thing which I doubt Mauresmo can effectively provide for more than one reason.

A simple argument to make would be that the Frenchwoman never quite fulfilled her own potential as a player, winning only two Grand-slams despite spending 39 weeks as world number one during two impressive

spells. An inability to handle pressure on the big stage was a recognised flaw for Mauresmo who was regarded by tennis royalty Virginia Wade to be “a little fragile mentally”.

By contrast, Ivan Lendl was once labelled “the game’s greatest overachiever” by Tennis Magazine in reference to his ability to grind out results against any opponent en route to eight Grand Slams.

A more complex reasoning behind Murray’s appointment of Mauresmo was the change that a female coach would bring to the Brit’s routine and how this would affect his game, with specific reference made to his “emotions” in a press conference in June.

I would argue, nonetheless, that the selection of a female coach is simply a retreat to normality for Murray who was coached by his mother, Judy, until the age of 17. Surrounding himself with the right people is obviously important, but a distinct lack of grit, focus and consistency against strong opponents this season could prove that this extra comfort inspires complacency.

“There’s no denying how much it hurts,” wrote Murray in his BBC Sport column last week, after being humbled by a flawless Federer in London – exacerbating his 0-9 record against the world’s top three players in 2014.

“The good thing is I now have time to think about a few things and then go and work on them,” he said.

Indeed the decisions and changes made by the British ace in tennis’s month of hibernation will be vital in determining his success in 2015. An intense training regime in his beloved Miami should sweep aside the fitness woes of the previous season and hopefully clear Murray’s head of such burdening self-doubt that has prevented him from dominating the stage at recent Grand Slams but whether Mauresmo has a role to play in this act of resurrection, I’m not so sure.

Catriona Mckimmie The Riding Club kicked off their competitive season on Wednesday 19 November with both the A and B teams heading around Scotland to challenge league matches. An early morning start saw a bleary-eyed B team leave The Bubble at 6.30am to travel to Busby Stables in Glasgow, where they competed against teams from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian. The team, made up of Britt Kriegstein, Pip Halpin, Sibilla Grenon and Gareth Watt, all rode well to secure a team win and individual places for three of the four members.

The A team embarked upon an adventure across the Tay to take on Dundee at their home competition at the newly re-opened Howe Country Centre. Still riding on the crest of an unprecedentedly successful 20132014 season which saw them head south to contest the national championships, the team of Kirsty Winkle, Haley Myers, Catriona McKimmie

and Antoine Porte placed confidence in the dynamic training programme which they have undertaken this year, including external clinics with national course designer Mark McGowan.

The benefits of this were clearly demonstrated with Kirsty scoring a perfect zero in the dressage phase and Antoine, who competed for his native chile in the Youth Olympic Games over summer, riding a faultless round in the show jumping phase. Catriona added no faults to her style score by pulling a clear round out of the bag on a tricky pony and Haley was complemented by the judge on her stylish position and effective manner of riding.

The nature of the competition meant that luck played a large part in the selection of horses and a few unlucky draws ultimately pushed the team to a third place finish. With three more competitions to come, including the influential home fixture, both the A and B team are happy to have started the season well and have their sights firmly fixed on targeting this year's nationals as a double threat.

Photo: Catriona Mckimmie

Bad luck costs Riding Club their winning start

Antoine in action for the A team

Judo victory Saints Judo is going through a purple patch at the moment with the highly impressive Kate Saunders flying the flag for the club in this year’s Flanders Jundocup in the Women’s Under 21’s category. Competing in the 800-strong tournament, hosted by the Vlaamse Judofederatie vzv (Flemish Judo Federation), Saunders saw off competition from 14 other countries to come home with a very gratifying silver medal on 26 October. On 16 November she then went one better in the Scottish National Championships as she won gold in her weight category (over 78kg) at Under 21 level.

SUS Shinty Success The University of St Andrews Shinty Club now proudly boasts membership of the Scottish Universities Shinty Squad, which has represented the folk north of border in international competition. On 22 November Alice Campbell, along with the rest of the Scottish Universities Squad headed to Edenderry, County Offlay in Ireland to take on an Irish select Hurling team in an annual match up.

Taekwondo club making a break for charity Between 14-15 November the University of St Andrews Taekwondo Club undertook a daringly difficult 24 hour task. At 7pm the club broke the first of their targeted 10,000 boards in their Taekwondo Charity Kickathon taking place opposite the Union at St Mary's place. For perspective, 10,000 boards in 24 hours equates to 417 boards in a hour, seven in a minute or one break every eight and a half seconds. Despite some gloomy weather and several detracting inebriates the club members soldiered on but were but were behind the rate come the halfway stage. However, when charity is involved people always seem to find a way and by 1pm the 7500 mark had been reached. From there it was a mere procession as the club swaggered to the finish breaking 10,218 breaks in their 24 hours. The club have now raised a substantial amount for charity and plans are already in place to reach the dizzy heights of 15,000 breaks in a replicated event next year.

Waterpolo anniversary Sports teams in St Andrews certainly vary in age, yet the Waterpolo Club is slowly but surely becoming one of the more established members of the AU as recently they held a celebration for their 20th year anniversary.

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Students count cost of sporting success Badminton Club’s AU transport funding increased by only £35 despite British University and Colleges Sports game increase

Andrew Williams Sport editor Hugo Porter Deputy sport editor Charlie Wood

B

eing a full and active member of a sports club in St Andrews is no easy task. Trying to balance both coursework and training is undoubtedly something all athletic students can relate to. On top of this, it is also a financial struggle.

Drawing on our own sporting experience, quick questions to current club members and snooping on the likely cost of sport at other universities, we were left undecided as to whether St Andrews represents a special case.

What became immediately clear is that there is an upward trajectory, a theme of improvement, across all sports and facilities. Members of the Boat Club (rowing) have been promised the construction of a boathouse, without which the club has soldiered on with watercraft simply laid down outside at the mercy of the elements. More money is being ploughed into individual clubs.

The gym has been rearranged and improved a little this year: an expansion of the sports hall will, we are promised, be started next year. Such changes, inevitably, take a long time. Meanwhile clubs are expected to earn their funding: in their first year, clubs are not extended any financial assistance from the Athletic Union (AU) and existing clubs must push hard for extra funding. Several members of the handball squad have testified to the difficulties that this poses.

Yet they are far from the only club placed under financial strain.

Travelling home at the end of the semester is tricky enough: competing in BUCS could mean bussing a squad to Exeter, the furthest possible trip on the mainland. Never mind the time expenditure, the travel can be eye-wateringly expensive.

Renting a minibus from the AU will cost a club around £40 per day, plus petrol costs. For the Rowing Club, transport to away fixtures routinely costs between £6 and £12. For the cheerleaders who have three national, sometimes international, BCA University Championships a year, these costs hit hard. Minibus hire is always around £600 for a

Rifle Club members must pay for a gym membership despite never using the gym

weekend when transporting 36 athletes across the country and that is without the added fuel costs. The fact their transport budget from the AU is, relatively speaking, a measly £400 means the club gets hit hard – hence the regular Cheerleading bake sales often seen outside the library.

This experience seems to be shared across the board. The badminton club have for the first time this year entered a second team into BUCS matches, thus doubling their number of games a year, yet their transport budget has only been increased by £35 to £535 for the year.

The club therefore need to raise the other £465 off their own bat.

Mountaineering’s budget has taken a hit of 25 per cent from last year. The £1800 they receive this year as opposed to the £2400 last year is not sufficient to cover their trip costs which is why they are still pushing for a bigger transport grant. The knock-on effects of having less money in the club to put towards equipment and training can taint the experience of these adventurers.

Even when overcoming these financial obstacles to get to the tournaments, further finan- c i a l concern awaits with members paying for competition entry. Costs range from a basic £10 for individual entry to rifle and Frisbee tournaments, to a pricey £181 for solo cheerleading events. For a sport as popular as ultimate Frisbee members are still expected to cough up £20 for each tournament.

For some sports, of course, equipment is a perpetual financial demand.

One member of the Rifle Club spoke of a £30 ammo fee each month. Although one can always argue that, with sports like rifle shooting, members should be aware of what they are letting themselves in for financially, it is nevertheless arguable that precise fees

could be made clearer to new members. For members of sports clubs in general, the impression emerges that the purpose of their financial outlay is often far from obvious.

T o put things into context, a year’s membership at the gym costs £115. For those who only use the gym facilities with a sports club there is a prerequisite cost of £44. Yet even for members of clubs who never set foot inside the gym - the Mountaineering and Rifle Clubs, for example - this cost must still be paid. Whether this constitutes financial exploitation is up for debate. Certainly, though, it is far from financial transparency.

Yet even when gym facilities do not come at any discernible cost, the

Members of the Women’s Cheerleading Club pay £95 for their kit alone

twin luxuries of space and free equipment are only meaningful if you are free during the ‘working day’. Trying to go before or after a day of lectures will result in queues, not to mention the pressure of a peer breathing down your neck waiting for your set to finish.

A couple of Google searches puts this fee and its ‘value for money’ into perspective. Having seen other University gyms on open days, it is clear that the St Andrews gym is relatively small. The University of Bath’s cavernous ‘sports village’ - replete with swimming pool, acres of weights stations, cardio machines, the works is free to access for Bath students paying full tuition fees. Of course we all knew on application that St Andrews is a rather different university experience: just as much as we knew that we were not going to get the nightclubs of Newcastle, we were clearly not going to get a Loughborough-style ‘sports village’ adjacent to the village of St Andrews itself.

Using Durham University as a reference point in terms of scale, then, would be a fairer point of comparison.

They pay slightly more for full membership, depending on which gym they use (£120-140 compared to £115 in St Andrews) but the crucial difference is the value for money: each of their gyms has dedicated rooms for Ergos and Spinning on top of multi-purpose activity rooms and weights rooms. They also have 3G pitches, astroturf pitches, a fencing salle, an indoor rowing tank - the list goes on.

When crammed around the few chairs in the sports centre waiting in the queue for weights and a stint on the Ergo, it is clear that the facilities are not large enough.

Expansion is

planned and changes are made every year: the problem is that we are already paying top-dollar for sub-par facilities. It will be interesting to see whether gym prices rise to reflect the improvements the facilities need.

Of course having access to such a variety of competitive sports clubs is itself a privilege and we would do well to remember that. Certainly, from the perspective of sports fans, it is easy to overlook that fact. Nevertheless, it can still be said with some justification that prices for sport in St Andrews are somewhat excessive. The accusation of ‘top-dollar for sub-par facilities’ certainly holds a lot of credence and over the coming years it is up to the AU to justify these prices or risk adding to an already burgeoning sense of resentment.

Online this week

A price worth paying?

Alison Hendry asks if we the sport of Formula 1 takes safety concerns seriously enough in the light of recent tragedies.

All kinds of time Is NFL really as much of a spectator sport as many would have us believe or is it purely driven by money and greed?

Volleyball Read reports from both the men’s and women’s first teams recent games.

NFL Calum Peterson takes us through the roller-coaster ride that has been the NFL this year and suggests that more may yet lie in wait.

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Charlie Wood For a club as steeped in history as the University of St Andrews Rugby Football Club, with the first ever rugby international between Scotland and England in 1871 starring four St Andrews students, the sheer forward-mindedness of the club in 2014 may come as a surprise. Yet speaking to David Ross, the director of rugby at St Andrews and the only full-time director at a Scottish university, the sense is that the past is precisely what motivates this drive; a drive arguably unmatched by any other sports club in the Auld Grey Toon.

Ironically it is through discussing the recent Golf Club controversy that Ross’s sense of the Rugby Club’s history becomes clear. At every game, and every social, Ross talks of how players are not simply “representing St Andrews circa 2014”, but a “150-year-old institution”, of which the current players are merely the current incarnation.

Hence, were anything untoward to occur at a social, whoever is responsible is, in effect, also responsible for 150 generations of rugby playing students. If such a claim rings hollow, it is worth remembering how the inaugural fixture of every season - “perhaps the biggest game of the year” for Ross, despite only occurring at the season’s start - is literally 150 years old; the Varsity versus Edinburgh in London, which routinely attracts over 1,500 spectators.

That the Rugby Club be conceived

by Ross as an historic “institution” rather than a mere club is therefore understandable. What marks out the Rugby Club’s current approach as

truly unique though is the lengths it is prepared to go to live up to its history.

In effect, current women’s and men’s first team players could not be given any greater scope for self-improvement. Meticulous and seemingly exhaustive statistics are compiled on the performance of every single player, every single game, by the Club’s very own performance analyst. Regardless of playing position, stats are provided for virtually every action a player undertakes; actions which are themselves graded according to level of success.

For example, a player’s ‘tackles’ are graded according to three possible outcomes: ‘failed’, ‘successful’ and ‘dominant’. A player can then see their precise tackling success rate in percentile terms; there is no need whatsoever to rack their brains to try and remember how successful they were.

Even full-backs can see their tackling statistics in full, regardless of how relatively unimportant the art of tackling may be to full-backs, just as they can see full statistics on how successfully they ran with ball in hand.

This statistical analysis is complemented, even more remarkably, by f u l l video

Photos: Dave Ross

History still key for trailblazing Rugby Club

footage of every single player, which is given to the players to pore over every Friday, a full five days in advance of Wednesday BUCS games.

Lower down the Club hierarchy, the men’s 3rd team is often motivated by the chance to play in sevens, tens and full fifteens tournaments staged at Murrayfield, the national stadium. It is unsurprising, therefore, that all teams occupy their respective leagues’ upper echelons, with the Men’s 1sts, Women’s 1sts and Men’s 3rds all in second, and the Men’s 2nds third out of seven.

The women’s and men’s 1st teams in particular possess phenomenal points differences of over 170 each; something rarely achieved over the course of an entire season, let alone before Christmas. Evidently, in purely sporting terms, the current incarnation of the Rugby Club could hardly be doing more to live up to its past.

But what is equally noteworthy is the way in which watching footage of poor performances, and training with Murrayfield as potential motivation, must

help develop a thick skin and level of self-awareness useful in life as well as sport. Along these lines, a pervasive sense is gleaned from talking to Ross that the Rugby Club is aiming not merely at sporting development, but at personal and even moral development. It is no coincidence that the very same first team players who are provided with such rich feedback, are also expected to coach the next generation of youngsters every weekend at the local Madras College.

Granted, there may well be longterm benefits to this in purely rugby-playing terms, in that talent with futures in the professional game could well be unearthed at Madras.

Ross himself, after all, has at some point coached no less than five of the recent Scotland XV who played the All-Blacks this autumn. But these are not benefits that will bring to bear on either the University Rugby Club or the students doing the coaching. It seems fair to say, then, the real benefits of students coaching in the community (and coaching during their time off, let’s not forget) are the personal qualities of discipline, patience and generosity it develops. As Ross

himself puts it, the Club wants its members to develop as “individuals, and not just rugby players”.

Without wanting to sound too philosophical, the Club’s whole way of operating seems to presuppose the twin principles of duty – duty both to others, and the duty every player has to him or herself. Where sport often has a reputation for being a moral vacuum; a self-contained and fastidiously self-centred activity, the Rugby Club here at St Andrews stands apart. The overarching duty though, the duty which motivates the other two, is duty to live up to the Club’s own past.

Simply put, the Rugby Club is too established, too historic and too successful to demand anything less than operation at the very upper limit of its means. It is currently setting the standards for sport at St Andrews, in both high-end performance and lower-level community and coaching work, and laying the foundations for years to come – all inspired by its own past. Perhaps, then, looking back to the future is less of a mistake than a certain 1980s comedy would have you believe.

Andrew Williams Sport editor Despite an early try and some expert, lastditch try-line defending the University of St Andrews Rugby second team were not able to overcome Strathclyde in what was a gritty and hard-fought game under lights on Friday 21 November.

The first and only Friday Night Lights event of the semester saw a 100 strong crowd turn up and brave a cold and wet November evening to witness a game of rugby more renowned for tough tackling than champagne skills. Think Argentina rather than New Zealand.

Although James Goddard’s early try for the Saints wasn’t converted the ex-

pectancy levels amongst the crowd were sharply raised as it looked as if this eagerly anticipated game was about to turn into a formality. With some dubious choice of tracks blaring out of the rugby tent courtesy of DJ Ashton Squires and plenty of beer flowing, all in aid of the charity Wooden Spoon, the atmosphere was one of optimism and enjoyment despite the incessant rain.

After half an hour it seemed that fate was on the Saints’ side. Heavy pressure from the Glaswegians could not bring about an equalising try even though the home side were down to 13 men. In putting everything on the line to preserve their early lead Cameron Pringle and Sam Ummat were both sin-binned for tactical,

but necessary fouls.

Half time came and went with the Saints still leading 5-0 although the lead was slowly becoming more precarious.

With a slightly more selfless attitude and ruthless decision making the Strathclyde outside-centre may have taken advantage of some good opportunities but it was not to be.

The clock ticked down, the alcohol continued to be consumed and the tension mounted.

With only a solitary try in it, the game of grit and tenacity started to take on a more sinister edge. Strong tackles came flying in and the tension was visibly taking a grip on the field.

With 10 minutes to go however the

Photo: Alysee Chafee

Saints succumb to Strathclyde at Friday Night Lights

Saints received a proverbial slap in the face.

A converted try took Strathclyde into a 7-5 lead and this disappointment was further compounded less than five minutes later as Saints found themselves a further seven

points adrift.

A missed penalty was then all that could be mustered as the Saints huffed and puffed but ultimately came up short in this scrappy game.