Issue 200

ISSUE 200 - FREE

THE SAINT ST ANDREWS, 18 FEBRUARY 2016

The independent voice of St Andrews students since 1997 THESAINT-ONLINE.COM

Arts & Culture Caitlin Lewis examines why Kanye has become such a public scapegoat

Page 32

Photo: Tasha Fischer

Money Laura Ryan explores a week in the Bubble without spending a penny Page 14

Students and models enjoyed themselves at FS2016, which once again returned to Lower College Lawn on Saturday February 13. Read our full review in Events.

Union introduces wide reaching reforms to Zero Tolerance Policy

Policy now covers harrassment over race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilty, age and socioeconomic status in biggest changes to Union policy since 2013 Tom Williams Deputy news editor The Students Association Council (SSC) is changing its policy on harassment in the Union, it has been announced.

The previous policy was considered to be gendered by the SSC as it only encompassed male to female sexual harassment, with a motion passed by the council saying that this left many forms of harassment unaccounted for.

The changes were proposed by the Association LGBT Officer, Sigrid Jørgensen, who said that “the changes to the Zero Tolerance Policy are important because the Union is supposed to be a space where students can come and relax and not be afraid to be in a situation that’s uncomfortable for them.”

Following its last amendment to the Zero Tolerance Policy in September 2013, the Student’s Association now defines harassment as “unwanted verbal, non-verbal or

physical behaviour of any kind that is unwanted, unreasonable and offensive to the recipient and violated people’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.”

There have been seven additions to Zero Tolerance Policy, as well as the change to also consider female on male sexual harassment.

Students can now expect to be disciplined for harassment or bullying based on race, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, disability, age, or socioeconomic status.

When commenting on the changes, Ms Jørgensen added that “we are not trying to limit peoples freedom of speech, it’s a guideline to make sure people aren’t being disrespectful. It’s like the golden rule, treat others the way you would wish to be treated.”

St Andrews’ recent downgrade in the free speech ranking by Spiked!

Magazine is attributed to the Student unions’ aims to protect students from possible harassment on issues regard-

ing sexuality, race and religion and its Zero Tolerance Policy.

Following the passing of the motion, Omar Ali, Association Equal Opportunities Officer said that: “anything that makes students safer at St Andrews is something that we definitely get behind, we want the policy to be accessible to everyone and it needs to be strengthened so that it reflects the Union takes these issues very seriously at all events.”

Joe Tantillo, who is also co-sponsor of the amendment, said that: “The Zero Tolerance Policy already comes into effect quite a lot in the Union, typically on nights out.”

All staff will be trained and briefed on the new policy and how to effectively deal with an incident. Students also have the opportunity to report incidents through emailing union@ standrews.ac.uk.

Mr Tantillo continued “now people can go to the bouncers and report that they have been bullied or harassed in many number of ways.

“Hopefully it will improve student

safety within the building.”

When asked by The Saint on how much of a step up this change would be he said, “It’s a pretty significant change considering we’ve incorporated quite a lot of harassment to the policy outside of just sexual harassment, so things that may have previously been overlooked”.

Ms Jørgensen remarked that the “Zero Tolerance Policy that was there beforehand was very limited in scope.

There were parts of the policy which were previously very difficult, if not impossible to implement”.

Luke Shaw, a member of the LGBT+ committee affirmed his support fo the changes, saying “Seems like a good and logical thing to me, particularly as the current policy only includes gendered harassment. The new policy seems to be more all encompassing and I think it a great step forward.”

The changes were passed by the SSC on Tuesday 9 February and by the Student Representative Council (SRC) on Tuesday 16 February.

Features Olivia Gavoyannis uncovers where writing for The Saint can lead Page 19

Events Brianna Paterson reviews the TEDx speaker launch 2016

Page 25

2 News

thesaint-online.com

18 February 2016 • The Saint

Americans applying to study at Journalism across the UK universities up by a third ages in the Bubble Inside the paper

Tara Panicker Deputy news editor

Features, page 18 Events

Sport

Natasha Franks provides an indepth review of one of the most anticipated events of the year, FS 2016

Saints Women’s Basketball face Robert Gordon University

Page 24

Page 38

Arts & Culture

Viewpoint

Page 33

Page 8

Meredith Loper on Zaria Foreman’s art of climate change

Isaac Leaver asks what we can learn from the spirit behind ‘Rhodes Must Fall’

A report by University and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) has revealed that the number of American students at UK universities has increased significantly in recent years.

The report discusses how the number of US-based students applying to UK universities has increased by over a third in the past four years – a figure curious mainly due to the US’s own domination of the world university rankings (with six of the top 10 spots, and 14 of the top 20 university rankings).

Since 2012, there has been a 37 per cent increase on American university applicants for UK universities, and a 6 per cent increase from 2015. In total, 3,260 US-based students have applied to UK universities this past autumn.

The report explains that Oxbridge and London’s universities are the greatest attractions for US students, with 9.4 per cent of 342 American students being accepted to Cambridge in 2014, and 8 per cent of 480 applicants accepted to Oxford.

The article does not consider St Andrews and its significant American population, though it could be inferred that a significant percentage of the influx of American applicants for UK universities would also have applied for St Andrews.

According to the University’s Definitive Guide for International

Students, the University currently boasts a student population made up of 9 per cent European students, and 31 per cent overseas students as of 2014: which is no small figure considering that the number of students is around 8,200.

Adam Stromme, as Member for International Students on the Students’ Representatives Council (SRC) and Editor-in-Chief for the St Andrews Economist, has offered his perspective.

He estimates that the American population of St Andrews has roughly doubled since 2000, and does not hesitate to affirm that this has been a largely positive occurrence.

“I think there is something to be said about how the increase in American students has reduced the sense of tradition at the University, particularly from a social perspective,” he said.

Commeting on why Americans seem to attracted to UK universities and St Andrews in particular Mr Stromme said “I’ve heard two different narratives on this, both from relatively meaningful sources.

“The first was from former Principal Richardson, who noted that the commanding staff on terrorism over in international relations saw a boon in the application from Americans in the aftermath of 9/11.

“The second, on a wider scale, was from a recent guest lecture by economics professor Ian Smith, who

used to run applications back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

“He gave credence to the other gossip-y [sic] interpretation that it was the presence of the royal family, particularly Prince William, that was of decisive importance.”

Continuing, Mr Stromme said “At the dinner which preceded the talk by Professor Smith, I had a chance to talk to his wife, who was a student back in the 80’s at St Andrews, and the activities (the dinners, the socials, etc) had a lot more to do with what I understood as having historically been the case than now.

“I think the American population is a boon to the University for other reasons, particularly academically speaking.

“Americans play a prominent role, particularly in the Union, and I think are very sympathetic to the notion of preserving the culture of the University while expanding its inclusivity.

“It’s a shame that [American strudents] aren’t the most well placed, nor are most [students] anymore since the expansion of the University, to figure out just how to preserve the traditions of the University.”

The report also acknowledges that the Americans who travel to the UK for university are typically amongst the brightest of their age group – especially those bound for top universities.

Editorial board Editor Mina Omar editor@thesaint-online.com Deputy editor (print) Thomas Claridge print@thesaint-online.com Deputy editor (online) Devina Puri web@thesaint-online.com Video editor Alex Miller video@thesaint-online.com Illustration chief Dillon Yeh illustration@thesaint-online.com Business manager Kim Kay business@thesaint-online.com Business team Claire MacPherson, Teresa St Goar, Thomas Bradley Quarton advertising@thesaint-online.com

Editorial

New Zero Tolerance Policy protects all T

he Students Association Council’s (SSC) decision to amend its policy on harassment in the Union is sure to be welcomed by most, if not all, of our student body.

The previous policy, which only covered male to female sexual harassment, was deemed gendered by the Council and has now been amended to include: female to male sexual harassment as well as harassment based on race, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, disability, age or socioeconomic status.

Most of the additions to the Zero Tolerance Policy are long overdue. Quite frankly, we at The Saint are surprised that behaviour targeting someone’s religion or sexual orientation, for example, was not already blacklisted in the previous version of the policy.

Whilst most of the changes appear to conform to common sense, there is one in particular that stands out. Given our University’s reputation as Oxbridge’s Scottish cousin (albeit a little younger and further north), it is interesting to see that bullying over socioeconomic status has now been included in the list of banned practices.

Its addition to the Zero Tolerance Policy validates what many of us have known all along: St Andrews is a university divided by class more than anything else.

Figures published in The Telegraph in 2014 showed that 41 per cent of students come to our university from private education, making it second on The Telegraph’s list of UK universities with the lowest state school intakes. Additionally, The Sunday Times reported that the University placed fourth in number

of middle class students, as 86.9 per cent identified as middle class (with no category for upper class available).

If the statistics haven’t convinced you of the problem, then the fact that our Debating Society’s first motion of the year was whether to abolish private education (a debate which resulted in a 51 per cent-49 per cent split vote, in favour of keeping it) should. The clear divide in student opinion on the matter, and that it was the first topic to be debated at all demonstrates the topicality of the new clause.

That the Students Association has only just addressed the issue, despite obvious socioeconomic disparity and an unusually small proportion of students from low-income backgrounds, could be interpreted as unnecessary by

some and overdue by others.

Those who deem the socioeconomic clause of the new Zero Tolerance Policy redundant may do so based on grounds that despite disparity, widespread bullying as a result of income background is essentially non-existent. Whether this is true or not, the changes are a welcome sign that the Union takes harassment over socioeconomic background as seriously as they do harassment over more obvious issues such as gender, race or sexual orientation.

In a town where a student’s socioeconomic background may factor as heavily into their identity as traditional markers such as nationality or religion generally do, we believe the changes to the policy are both appropriate and relevant to the University’s diverse student population.

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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News editor JOSEPH CASSIDY Deputy editors: Lauren Charlton, Harris LaTeef, Tara Panicker, Tom Williams

news@thesaint-online.com

thesaint-online.com/news

@thesaint_news

Wiley has “mid-life crisis” before Union gig

Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do if an artist doesn’t want to be professional

”

ple than the gig had been cancelled.

However, he then said how he was able find Wiley’s mobile number in his records.

“I gave him a call, and it seems he’d had a change of heart of some sort.

“When he did come back, he said that he really appreciated what I was doing, because most places he’s just getting experienced events managers booking him into gigs and it just seems very corporate.

“He said ‘look, I realise you’re a student, you’re trying hard at doing what you’re doing, and I didn’t want to screw that up for you.’”

“I guess there’s a heart in there somewhere, but obviously it was very frustrating,” Mr McRae said.

“So he was in venue from about 12, but wasn’t ready to go on, he needed to relax.

“I was panicking about whether he was still going to go on stage, I still thought he might bail on the whole thing and obviously when he did go on he ended up going on really late.”

Wiley eventually arrived onstage

at around 1:15 am.

On the whole McRae said that “sometimes there’s just nothing you can do if an artist doesn’t want to be

Funnily enough we’re the only gig that he didn’t cancel that week

professional about what they do.”

Mr McRae also told The Saint that Wiley had actually already cancelled a gig in Warwick earlier that week and went on to cancel one in Newcastle, “so funnily enough we’re the only gig that he didn’t cancel that week.”

Mr McRae dismissed several rumours surrounding the event, such the fact that many on social media said that when he did come on stage, Wiley did not perform his own music.

the earths core ..I can’t do it lol [sic].”

Mr McRae told The Saint how he went back to the Union to finalise preparations for the event where he then “got a phone call saying ‘I just heard him booking a taxi back to the airport and he’s clearly decided to cancel the gig.’”

“So we got taxi back to Old Course, and just as we were arriving we saw him getting in his taxi and leaving and the taxi driver goes “do you want me to chase him?”

“So we’re in a movie-esque situation, chasing Wiley in a taxi out of St Andrews.

“We eventually lost him on a corner somewhere.”

Mr McRae then described how the “panic set in” and how he began drafting an announcement to tell peo-

Mr McRae also sharply refuted any claims that he had told people they would receive refunds on the price of their ticket for the night, saying that as they had gotten Wiley on stage, the Union had “fulfilled its obligation.”

Hannah Schmidt-Wolf, a student who attended the gig told The Saint that: “When we heard that Wiley was coming my friends and I got really excited and bought tickets straight away, but once we got there it was such a disappointment.

“Wiley was really late and once he turned up he hardly rapped but talked instead although his fans wanted music and I feel like everyone that went was let down.”

Personally, Mr McRae described how the night was “just a stress really, not knowing whether it was going to go ahead. I’m not personally annoyed at it.

“It’s just been a relief that we actually got him to perform.”

The Saint contacted Wiley’s management for comment, but have not received a reply.

Photo: Sammi Cardi

Wiley suffered a “mid-life crisis” before his performance on the final night of Refreshers Week (24 January), according to the Student Association’s Director of Events and Services, Chris McRae. Describing how he went to meet Wiley at the Old Course Hotel around 15 minutes before the start of the event’s first support act, Mr McRae said: “The best way I can probably describe it is that he had a mid-life crisis right in front of me. He turned up and he seemed really sort of agitated and flustered.”

Mr McRae continued, “He was sort of moaning a bit about his booking agent and how he, quite often recently seems to be getting booked in places where he feels that people don’t know any of his music.

“Then that sort of developed into him saying ‘oh look, I’m 37 years old, I feel like I’m past it, I haven’t released a big song in a few years now, all the gigs I do nowadays people are just looking for Stormzy and Skepta and all these newer grime artists, you know nobody wants to hear my stuff anymore.’

“And I said ‘well, look we’ve sold 1200 tickets so obviously people do want to see your stuff, but he wasn’t really buying it’.

“The idea that I got was that he’d been doing gigs down in London where perhaps the grime scene is a little stronger than it is here in St Andrews.”

Mr McRae suggested that he felt that the people who had attended these London gigs saw him as “irrelevant” and that the reaction from the people in St Andrews would be the same.

However, Mr McRae said that he thought the fact the event was sold out was a clear indication that peo-

ple in St Andrews wanted to see him, suggesting that they would have been more receptive to his older songs than people in London were.

“I think he just had a panic and thought ‘do you know what, I’m just gonna have another bad gig, no one’s gonna like me.”

Indeed, Wiley posted several updates on Twitter on the night in question, saying that he was “In the middle of nowhere” and that “Something ain’t right [sic].”

He then went on to add ““Bruv I don’t even know what to say anymore ...@DJTarget Billy keeps sending me to

”

Joseph Cassidy News editor

Rock society petition against Students Association’s “hostility and lack of cooperation” prompts SSC motion A petition has been launched on Change.org by members of the rock society who are unhappy with the way in which they and also other societies have been treated by the Student Association.

The petition states that the “Students’ Association has not met the expectations of the societies that students are members of”, especially the “smaller, more niche societies”.

The petition, which garnered a total of 65 signatures, accused the Students’ Association of “removing room bookings at very short notice” for Union organised events, permission to advertise via posters in the Union being “removed”, as well as “confirmation that the Union will provide equipment for events” which “have then not been provided” which according to rocksoc led to “events being badly attended” or cancelled.

The petition also highlighted a “general hostility and lack of co-operation from certain Association members and staff”.

The aim of the petition is to get the Students Association to “acknowledge their shortcomings” which include not being accommodating to societies and not makinh “clear decisions.”

Anna Rogan, the President of rocksoc, said in a statement that the problems were in particular to do with room bookings, and that they have been ongoing for “a few years”.

In a letter to the Student Association and the Societies Committee seen by The Saint, rock society listed the “most memorable” of the problems that they have experienced including having Sandy’s Bar taken from them as a venue to hold on a live night in, with it instead being given to the Union’s Battle of the Band night.

In addition, another problem de-

scribed in the letter was on Halloween 2014, when having been allocated a venue in the Union, rock society were promised “full advertisement” by the Director of Events and Services (DoES) at the time, but claim

”

Marco Marcelline

Rocksoc are deeply disappointed to be facing such adversity

they only received a small, partial advertisement The letter continues with the accusation that due to the “frequency of which the Union has discarded, al-

tered or ignored our plans over the last year or two - particularly during the refurbishment of the building which led to the loss of Venue 2 - rocksoc have estimated they have suffered a loss of approximately £200, a shortfall which was the result of being forced to hold events at venues at which we were unable to charge entry”.

The letter also said, “Rocksoc are deeply disappointed to be facing such adversity, despite having existed for 25 years.

“Especially concerning is the homogeneity of the other music styles currently being offered at the Union organised events - serving only to single out those who do not share the music-taste of those in charge of organising such events, making the experience of university an incredibly daunting one.

Anna Rogan, said however that the society is in talks with Robert Dixon, the Student Services Council

(SSC) Societies Officer, in order to resolve the issues with a council motion.

The motion specifically calls for “no room booking from a party external to the Association, including Affiliated Societies, be cancelled or moved without the consent of the party in question, subsequent to the issuance of a confirmation of such a booking.”

The motion also states that a, “confirmation or refusal of room booking be issued no later than two weeks after a request for the same.”

The motion was passed by the Student Services Council on Tuesday 9 Febraury, however this was only after the society’s name was removed from the wording of the motion.

They said that rather than having their room booking cancelled by the Association, it was in fact cancelled by one of the members of the rock society without the knowledge of the member who launched the petition.

4 News

thesaint-online.com

18 February 2016 • The Saint

EU students “filling gaps” in UK

Photo: Wikimedia

Lauren Charlton Deputy news editor The latest figures published by University and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) indicate that the number of EU students applying to UK universities is on the rise, whilst the number of home applicants is falling.

Of the 593,720 would-be undergraduates who have applied to commence studying in the UK this autumn, 45,220 are EU residents. This figure has risen by six per cent since last year.

This comes amidst increasing fears that EU students are “disappearing” by simply returning to their home

countries upon graduating, where they are more difficult to track, and subsequently avoiding repayment of their student loans.

Though the total number of applicants wishing to start degree courses in autumn 2016 is 0.2 per cent higher than in 2015, an analysis of the data shows that the number of UK applicants has fallen by 0.3 per cent.

This corresponds with a drop in the number of young people currently attending sixth form (or a further education equivalent), with the population of sixth formers expected to decline again next year.

Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive, said: “Our report shows further growth

in demand for higher education, but the declining 18-year-old population and a decrease in older applicants means the actual number of UK applicants available for universities to recruit remains flat.”

Whilst the number of Scottish and Welsh applicants rose by one per cent and the number of Northern Irish would-be undergraduates increased by two per cent, there was a one per cent fall in the number of English applicants, accounting for the overall drop in home applicants for the 2016 cycle.

The statistics also indicate that women are more likely than men to apply to university, with young women in England now 36 per cent more likely to apply.

Trial R.O.N. option for future Rectorial elections introduced by University Court The University Court has introduced a Re-Open Nominations (RON) option for future Rectorial elections.

Previously, if only one candidate had been nominated to the position of rector; no vote would take place and they would automatically be appointed, therefore running unchallenged.

This amendment was made primarily to address student concerns over the legitimacy of the Rector, as to gain a nomination the candidate only required 20 signatures from matriculated students. The changes to the election would allow students to de-select an otherwise automatically-nominated single candidate in the absence of any other nominees.

The office of the Rector is one of the oldest institutions of University government, and a new Rector is appointed every three years. In 2014, Labour MEP, Catherine Stihler, became the 52nd rector of the University of St Andrews automatically after running unopposed, thus denying

8000 students the opportunity to vote.

This is in stark contrast to the 2011 Rectorial elections, when five incredibly diverse candidates ranging from Socialist, Colin Fox, to the Conservative, Lord Michael Forsyth, took to St Andrews’ cobbled streets to win students’ votes.

However, the amendment by the University Court will mean that students will undoubtedly have a voice during the 2017 elections.

Since 1858, the student body has elected the Rector. Any matriculated student is eligible to vote.

However, many students are still unaware of the role of the Rector and its significance within the administrative branch of the University.

A Rector’s main responsibility is to preside at University Court meetings, where he or she helps to oversee the management of the University alongside the principal.

The University Court, led by the Rector, makes decisions about budgets and policies, development and fundraising, and provisions for both students and staff.

Photo: Yelim Lee

Tom Williams Deputy news editor

Tara Panicker Deputy news editor A report has been published arguing that UK universities should do more to help refugee students. The report was published by Georgina Brewis, a Senior Lecturer at University College London.

The report also looks at previous refugee crisis, such as those fleeing the Nazi regime in the 1930s, Hungary in 1956, and Chile after 1973, and how those student refugees offered considerable advancements and contributions to all areas of UK life, from the economy to academia, sciences, culture, and the arts.

The report explains that universities are typically well placed to re-

spond to changing social needs: in this case the current refugee crisis.

Through policies such as fee waivers, scholarships and schemes, refugee students could be hosted at UK universities and by pairing them with host students, could also be better integrated into UK society.

Some universities are developing individual initiatives, but Brewis argues that a sector-wide approach would be more effective. She supports this by using refugee crises of the past as examples of the benefits and success of accepting and integrating refugee students.

Brewis does acknowledge that sometimes the benefits of accepting refugee students into host countries can be outweighed by the cost: often

they move on to other Western countries, especially to the US after they have received their education and are better qualified to adjust to a career-based way of life.

She also states that this should also not be considered a profit-loss, as often those refugee students return to help with ‘economic and social reconstruction’, even after many decades: making accepting refugee students more of a long-term investment than short-term loss.

The UK will take in 20,000 refugees directly from Syria over the next five years. Fife Council who, will then be responsible for providing housing and minimal benefits, will host 260 of these refugees from the UK programme.

Photo: Wikimedia

UK universities should be doing more to help refugee students, report says

The Saint • 18 February 2016

Move to circumvent St Andrews Refugee HMO ban blocked by Action group raises Fife councillors over £1000 for charity Lauren Charlton Deputy news editor

HMOs, was irrelevant since it referred to houses, not flats.

That the properties are not within St Andrews conservation area, where there is a moratorium on HMOs, was also emphasised.

Planning officials recommended the applications be approved on these bases.

Despite this, councillors at the committee unanimously rejected the applications, expressing their dismay at the property owners’ attempts to exploit a loophole in the legislature.

Councillor David MacDiarmid described the affair as “a shocking situation,” stating that the landlords’ behaviour was “an outrageous way to try to get around the regulations”.

The councillor also commented on the shortage of affordable housing for families in the town, which many blame on the large number of HMOs already in St Andrews, principally occupied by students.

St Andrews Councillor Brian Thomson also voiced the opinion that the landlords were trying to exploit council planning policy, arguing that the Kinness Brook flats could still be considered new-builds.

He stated that there was no further need for HMOs in St Andrews, where their abundance is already having a negative impact on town and gown relations.

Photo: Sammi Cardi

Councillors have rejected an application by two landlords accused of trying to circumvent the HMO ban.

A suspension on granting HMOs to new-build properties was introduced throughout the whole of Fife in 2014.

Despite this, Abigail Levy, of Elstree, and Suzi Davis, of Stanmore, applied for their three-bedroomed flats, in the Kinness Brook development of Kinnessburn Road, to be awarded HMOs. As property owners are required by law to hold a HMO licence for any house or flat which they let to 3 or more unrelated tenants sharing kitchen, bathroom or toilet facilities, this would allow Ms Levy and Ms Davis to let the property to students.

Both women had already had applications to convert the properties to HMOs rejected.

However, North East Fife planning committee was asked to reconsider the applications on the basis that the flats should no longer be considered “new-build” since they have now been occupied for six months.

It was also claimed that a condition imposed in 2010 (before the buildings were constructed) designed to prevent the properties from being used as

Marco Marcelline The Refugee Action group in St Andrews have recently raised over £1000 for the Greek charity, Faros.

The money was collated via a variety of events hosted by the society, such as a gig night and a raffle. The charity receiving the £1,066.73 donation, Faros, which is based in Athens was set up in order to provide assistance to the many unaccompanied minors who make the journey across the Mediterranean and land on Greek islands.

The charity states on their website that “thousands” of such refugees arrive on the island of Lesbos in particular, where they are living in conditions affected by “overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and inadequate access to food, healthcare and shelter”.

The money will be used to purchase and distribute emergency bags, which are handed to refugee minors and usually contain a scarf and a hat for the cold, underwear, some cereal bars, soap, hygiene products, a toy, as well as a first aid kit.

Faros is running low on said emergency bags and therefore it is the hope of Refugee Action that through raising money supply of these bags are replenished.

Andreas Papamichail, member of Refugee Action, said that the society chose this particular charity because it was an “established” organisation, providing confidence that it will sustain work long-term and not “run out of steam.”

Prior to raising the funds, members of the society visited Faros’ base in Athens where they were “impressed with the work that they do” to provide refugee children a safe space where they can “be children.”

Refugee Action was set up in September 2015 out of a “frustration at the inadequacy and inhumanity of the response within Europe to the refugee and migrant flows across the Mediterranean.”

The group was then borne out of a wide outpouring of individuals and

other groups who shared this concern.

On Europe’s response to the migration crisis, Mr Papamichail said that it was the society’s belief that not enough had been done. In fact, according to the society it is “disgraceful for one of the wealthiest regions in the world to close their borders,” to asylum seekers.

“Providing safe means of passage to refugees is vital. These are people that have had to leave everything behind because of conflict and the flows of refugees will not stop until it is safe for them to remain in, or return to, their home countries.”

He argued that: “ Europe needs a fair relocation system, that doesn’t place the entire burden of the influx of people on the countries on the border of the EU, such as Greece.

“Spread out over the EU, the flows of refugees can absolutely be absorbed by the member countries.

“Those claiming that it is too expensive, or too destabilising to do so, are making a political decision disguised as rationality.

“The means are there to provide for these families.”

Going on, Mr Papamichail said “We intend to continue with various fundraising activities to keep supporting organisations like Faros, and to continue to foster and develop our links with other groups and societies.”

Mr Papamichail also praised the students of St Andrews, saying “we’ve been overwhelmed by the support and help from people around St Andrews, from students holding their own fundraising events to local businesses supporting us with venues for events and raffle prizes.”

In future the society plans to hold many further fundraising and awareness events, such as a collaborative project with the Fine Food & Dining Society for a “Syrian Food Night” later this month.

In addition they hope to hold various educational events to “draw on the academic community and St Andrews’ strengths as a university town.”

Kenly wind farm build delay raises concerns It has been more than two years since the University obtained permission to build six 328ft turbines on farmland just six miles outside of town.

However, the University is still in discussion with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over how to avoid the blades affecting the nearby radar station at Leuchars.

A spokesperson for the University stated that the purpose of developing the Kenly windfarm is “the correct approach in order to avoid long term price volatility of fossil fuels, safeguard jobs locally and to make a step change in reducing carbon emissions.”

However, local councillors have

denied the application to begin preparatory work such as construction of access roads to Kenly Farm to begin, through amendment of a condition requiring a radar mitigation scheme is approved first.

St Andrews councillor Brian Thomson, when commenting on the amendment, said he feared extensive ground works could begin but the windfarm might never have built.

He said: “There’s a risk radar mitigation may not be approved and there is a lot of concern locally about the application.

A University spokesman said: “We will continue to work towards a radar solution and remain fully committed to this important project which will help us protect up to 120 Fife jobs.”

Road works for Guardbridge project begin Road works in connection with the construction of the Guardbridge biomass energy centre lasting eight weeks began this week (Monday 15 February).

The university is building a £25 million energy centre in the east side of the former paper mill site.

St Andrews named “city of the Reformation” St Andrews has been named as one of the European Cities of Reformation by the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.

The title is the first of its kind outside mainland Europe.

Bishop Dr Michael Bünker, general secretary of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) told Fife Today: “The Royal Burgh, these days most widely renowned for its tradition-steeped university, is undoubtedly a Reformation town of European stature.”

Work begins to restore sand dunes Improvement works at West Sands in St Andrews have begun this week in a bid to restore the dunes along the beach which were badly damaged by high tides and strong winds in recent years.

Following the stormy weather in March 2010 a large amount of sand in the dunes was lost and, while some parts have recovered over subsequent years, some have remained vulnerable to further erosion.

Gordon Moir, director of greenkeeping, St Andrews Links Trust told Fife Today: “The historic, recreational and economic value of the West Sands and surrounding area to St Andrews makes it vitally important they are protected.”

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Tom Williams Deputy news editor

News 5

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1 Sinners review: a worrying culture 2 Fashion shows of 2016: The Saint’s ranking 3 Former professor loses claim against University 4 University Hall’s Old Wing to close for all of next academic year 5 SRC reform provokes controversy

6 News

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18 February 2016 • The Saint

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The Saint • 18 February 2016

News 7

InFocus: Sean McLaughlin and James Bundy arguing for each side of the EU referendum

REMAIN: “...To leave would be turning our back to a very successful economic and peace project.”

Reem Awad The Conservatives’ election manifesto promised to hold a referendum by the end of 2017 as to whether or not the United Kingdom should leave the European Union (EU), though it is expected that the referendum will take place later this year.

The debate continues to spark controversy and diverging views. If the United Kingdom does decide to “Brexit” it would be the first country to leave the European Union.

The Saint sat down with Sean McLaughlin, Coordinator of St Andrews for Europe, a campaign aimed at advocating British Membership of the EU. Mr McLaughlin is a fourth year international relations student who recently became interested in the EU/UK debate.

Mr McLaughlin started the campaign because he believes that “We are a lot closer to Europe in regards to politics, economics and mind-set than we think we are and our success is in a large part tied to the success of the European Union and to leave would be turning our back to a very successful economic and peace project.”

Comparing Britain now with its post war state, Mr McLaughlin believes that the growth of Europe allowed for the growth of the United

Kingdom. The breakdown of the British Empire created many changes in a short amount of time and Mr McLaughlin states that it could have been “very ugly” had it not been for the formation of the EU. In regards to the economic aspect of the debate, Mr McLaughlin mentioned that “it is not about survival, we can survive” but we would be seeing a “gradual period of slow economic decline” and we would face high levels of “uncertainty” in regards to the state of the UK if it de-

So much migration that does good goes un-noticed because it doesn’t make the news

”

cides to leave. Instead of “setting the nation free”, the UK leaving would “do the complete opposite” states Mr McLaughlin.

The United Kingdom has set multiple conditions to the EU if it does

decide to stay in the government’s renogtiation of British membership.

The EU advocates for free movement and access to immediate benefits to migrants. One of the conditions made by the UK was to restrict access to benefits until EU migrants have been residents for four years.

When asked if the UK was being too harsh about migration rules and the benefits given to migrants Mr McLaughlin stated “No, we have to acknowledge that migration is a huge issue and accept that it has been life changing for so many people.”

However, Mr McLaughlin added, “So much migration that does good goes un-noticed because it doesn’t make the news.

“I’ll not begin to quantify the amount of Europeans living in the UK who are in large part lifeblood of the economy whether that be engineers or the like.”

Seeing as almost 40 per cent of the student population at St Andrews is not from the UK, Mr McLaughlin was asked if he thinks students would be less inclined to come to St Andrews if the UK were to leave the EU. He stated “there is no guaran-

tee but I think it would put people off.”

Mr McLaughlin believes that it could “affect the whole dynamic of the University” as things such as visa regulations, fee status and scholarships would be affected.

Mr McLaughlin added that one of the main things the UK would be losing is its influence in swaying political and economic issues in both the EU and internationally. He indicated that currently the US has a lot of influence in the UK, and in turn the UK influences the EU. Without the link between the major superpowers, the United Kingdom w o u l d “lose its position.”

Speaking to undecided voters, Mr McLaughlin says “Why is the situation s o

bad? We have been allowed to thrive in so many respects.

“The onus is on those who wish to leave to prove why the situation is bad enough to remit leaving the union.”

On the topic of trade, Mr McLaughlin was firm in the belief that it would be better for the British economy to remain, saying, “A free trade deal between other parts of the world and the EU is much better than a hypothetical UK-India alone trade deal, this position which many Eurosceptic argue would almost certainly be a process of reverse colonisation.

“The UK has been and is continuing to be a driver in pushing EU trade deals around the world (and the common market) to completion.

“That the EU holds the UK back doesn’t hold to any reasonable muster or scrutiny.”

Finally, reflecting on his own work, Mr McLaughlin encourages people to join St Andrews for Europe which will be undertaking multiple debates, EU food fairs and talks with St Andrews residents.

However, he mentions that the most important thing is to vote regardless of where you are and that ‘hopefully the United Kingdom will stay in this wonderful club’.

Photo: Lorelei Pfeifer

LEAVE: “Protect British democracy, restore national sovereignty and have a more prosperous economy, vote out” Robert Aston

We asked James if he would support a trade deal similar to that which Norway has, without the politicised dimension - which he would accept, but is “skeptical that Cameron would be able to negotiate.”

“We are the fifth largest economy of the

As David Cameron continues to push forward in his European renegotiation, we met with James Bundy of the Conservative and Unionist Society to get his take on the upcoming ‘Brexit’ debate.

He stared off by saying, “We are suffering from a democratic deficit.

Over 60 per cent of laws are dictats brought on by unelected bureaucrats in brussels... It’s a crisis of British sovereignty.”

Mr Bundy further points out that undemocratic institutions aren’t even proportional: “The tiny state of Malta receives nearly 15 times more representative power than that of the UK.” When asked if he thought it would be better to reform, he responded: “Cameron doesn’t seem to be capable of delivering on the scale required.”

“Economically the EU holds us back,” Mr Bundy believes the union acts as a straight jacket, with “quotas restricting us from trade and attracting migration from alternative nations, with perhaps a more appropriate Photo: Lorelei Pfeifer work-force.”

world - the UK most certainly can stand on it’s own, and outside of the bureaucratic mess will be able to improve relations outside and within Europe.... Britain’s trade with the rest of the EU is declining every year. “ Mr Bundy went as far to claim that “Britain is the shining light of the EU”, being the fastest growing nation’ for the past two years.

“Britain is no longer an industrial nation, we are build on trade, we are a global hub of trading, we are more than simply a cog among 25 other members.”

Generally, Mr Bundy believes that we won’t be able to keep up with globalising trade markets, such as that of the BRIC economies - which pose a “serious threat to our competitiveness.”

James also called for an end to Britain’s association with the European Court of Human Rights - stating that the new powers invested in the Supreme Court would provide “an adequate check on government.”

“If we disagree with the government’s decision we have this check, and if we don’t like the government we can vote to change our laws,” obviously this is not the case with the supranational nature of European governance, he argued.

What effect would leaving the

EU have on European Students in St Andrews? Would their free fee status remain? Of course Mr Bundy recognises that this “depends entirely on the basis of the agreement made”, and even if we left the EU tomorrow, “current EU students should have nothing to fear.”

More generally Mr Bundy sup-

Britain is the shining light of the EU

”

ports Europeans and international students in Scottish universities “so long as they bring the skills and talent required.”

When questioned on Theresa May’s moves towards cutting graduate visas for international students - he claimed that international student’s visa status should be “based on their job, skill and the need we have in the country.”

Mr Bundy wanted to make very clear that he is not anti-immigration but instead wishes to “see migration which benefits all countries.”

“Currently the UK government has a target of 100,000 net migration, yet at the moment we are set to take in over 280,000 - and because of EU quotas and the freedom of movement system, we are forced to cut down non-EU migration.

“This means we are forced to reject many doctors and other highly skilled workers from India and Pakistan among other countries.”

On the issue of the refugee crisis that has engulfed the EU in the past year, Mr Bundy believes that currently “we are doing enough - per head Britain is giving the most of any developed nation, 0.7 per cent of GDP.” What he believes would be best is to “invest in UN agencies to provide adequate settlement in neighboring regions through properly controlled foreign aid.”

Mr Bundy also claimed that “five or six senior Conservatives are verging on backing out, including Liam Fox and Ian Duncan Smith.”

Indeed, “Jeremy Corbyn is a Eurosceptic - but now he’s leader is unable to publicly support this position,” he added.

In sum, James would say if you want to “protect British democracy, restore national sovereignty and have a more prosperous economy, vote out.”

VIEWPOINT Viewpoint editor TOM COOMBES

Deputy editors Lila Velcoff, Amy Elliott

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viewpoint@thesaint-online.com

@saint_viewpoint

Rhodes must fall in St Andrews? Yes please

The Rhodes must fall campaign is gaining traction, but it’s not just their activism which impresses

G

ood Lord, how I wish that St Andrews were more like Oxford.

I know, I know. Cue wry, wistful smiles from all the other Southern English students and bored, rolling eyeballs from everyone else. But bear with me: this isn’t about some sort of repressed, immovable self-flagellation that prompts us to spend our hours alone searching the Radcliffe Camera on Google Images.

This is about Rhodes Must Fall (RMF).

When I met up with some old schoolfriends - one of whom studies at Oxford - in a Cheltenham alehouse over Christmas, RMF dominated the conversation. We wanted to know everything, get a view from our first-hand link to the action and subsequently chip in with our own tuppence worth.

Once again, Oxford has reasserted its place on the map as the pre-eminent seat of conscientious and intellectual student activism. Those plucky Oxonians- who whilst undeniably accomplished are by no means brighter than the average St Andrean- had reinforced the orthodoxy that they are the ‘thinking people’ and future leaders of our generation, managing to coax out the opinion of such academic luminaries as Mary Beard and Chris Patten.

Collectively, we all conform to the idea that we should strive to enhance the prestige of our university: just look at how we celebrate our seemingly permanent position as Scotland’s top institution. Nonetheless, beyond league-tables, in the realm of public opinion, if you’re clever, motivated and morally-attuned, then the place the aim for is not St Andrews but Oxford, with all the airtime it attracts through its various student campaigns. We are buying into a persistent and societally insidious narrative that, when it comes to real success, it’s Oxbridge or nothing, and consequentially we are doing ourselves and all other non-Oxbridge institutions a grave disservice.

Beyond the sphere of perfectly defensible profile-raising, there is a

There’s no guarantee that activism will make any of us the next soixantehuitards, but what is more likely is that through it we can help precipitate the change we want to see

no guarantee that activism will make any of us the next soixante-huitards, but what is more likely is that through it we can help precipitate the change we want to see and undertake the moral duty with which we as intelligent, rational and well-informed social agents have been presented.

This is not to discredit the excellent work that many students already do through such events as UNICEF seminars and RAG week charity fundraisers, but we must learn to shout louder and, yes, sometimes more aggressively, if we are to be heard beyond just the choir to which we often find ourselves solely preaching.

At this point, one may object that RMF was not born in Oxford- conceived originally in South Africa- and that no other university in the UK has a connection with Cecil Rhodes to the same extent. Be that as it may, what RMF saw was a broad issue and decided to address it within their own, local yet emblematic, boundaries whilst still constantly referencing the wider

context. And it just so happens that the two major problems about which St Andreans complain- socio-economic exclusivity at a top university and the abysmal situation of the private rental market- are not reserved to our corner of the country.

People are asking questions about lower income representation in Bristol and Durham, not to mention Westminster itself, and students at Exeter and UCL, as well as working families up and down the country, are all too well-acquainted with exorbitant rents and questionable letting agents. Yet, though we may complain, we all still stump up ridiculous amounts of money for flats (often sighing about our own laziness in a pseudo-sincere ‘what-am-I-like-eh’ way) and still unquestioningly welcome the next generation of grossly unrepresentative Freshers through our gates.

There is an opportunity to join a growing movement, to match our casual words with action and to play

our part in addressing a situation with which only the most socially irresponsible or elitist could be content. Yet we, some of the brightest, most able and articulate students in the world are excluding ourselves from two of the defining and consequential debates of our generation in the UK. Rhodes Must Fall was a battle for the students of Oxford to wage, but the spirit which engendered that campaign- the active commitment to the improvement of a university and the challenging of socio-economic, cultural and political norms beyond- is for all of us.

St Andrews is no island, and our troubles are those of both many students elsewhere and members of the general public aside.

It is time that we fulfil our intellectual and moral potential, look to our cousins in Oxford for inspiration and guidance, and start making our voice heard on the issues which affect us and those for whom we in the future may well find ourselves responsible.

”

state and people interact with and respond to a complicated imperial past that oversaw significant material advancement in many colonies whilst simultaneously stripping entire regions of their resources, facilitating slavery and butchering an untold number of indigenous people. What became clear from many of the newspaper commentaries on RMF was that such a debate is necessary, as the pervasive narrative of Empire barely touches reality at many points and instead resembles a kind of rehashing of Rudyard Kipling’s work and Zulu.

When students start kicking up a fuss, they do have the potential to get people thinking and talking. There’s

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

Illustration: The Saint

Isaac Leaver il29@st-andrews.ac.uk

robust moral dimension to student activism both on a university level and within society at large. Within the university, which exists for the betterment of all people with the academic ability to attend, it is paramount that we constantly self-evaluate the kind of environment we are building for ourselves and our successors. RMF focussed on how the retention of a statue of a colonialist and racialist could affect students descended from those who suffered under the yoke of Empire, especially in a context where they were almost certain to encounter on a daily basis peers descended from the direct beneficiaries of that same lopsided power relationship. Whether or not you agree with the outcome, a conversation was undeniably had and Oxford’s university culture was stringently scrutinised.

Furthermore, RMF highlighted a national debate about how the British

The Saint • 18 February 2016

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Devil’s Advocate

Viewpoint 9

Are the government cuts to maintenance grants justified?

YES F

ilthy peasants, hearken unto the voice of reason. In July 2015, I had the overwhelmingly sensual pleasure to find myself in the Chamber of the House of Commons, listening to Big G. Osborne’s budget. Just as George’s dulcet tones caressed me into a tender doze, my perky intern ears pricked up.

Maintenance grants into loans?!

Monstrous!

Both then and now, the knee-jerk reaction is to condemn the cutting of the maintenance grants. Why should undergrad Oliver Twist be so financially bitch-slapped by Mr Osborne?

Will no one stop the remorseless Tory scythe of austerity?

Allow me to reassure you then, fellow students, for the Angel is in the detail. The lifeline which the maintenance grant provided to poor students has not been cut.

In fact, it is even stronger.

As I feel myself step onto the thin ice of right-wing student politics, and can already feel the vitriolic emails pouring in (tc71@st-andrews – game on, lefties), allow me to spell out why support for low-income students has gone up.

The maintenance grant previously gave £3,387 to low-income students, never to be repaid. This was great, but created a massive financial hole to the tune of £1.6bn for England alone.

The new maintenance loan which will replace the grant will now offer those same students £8,200 a year, only to be repaid if they earn over £21,000 after graduation.

In short, financial support for low-income students has more than doubled. The lifeline is not gone. With the increased funds, more students will be able to attend universities with high living costs (like St Andrews) than ever before. Under the new system, little Oliver is not being turned away; he asked for more, and he can indeed have more: £4,813 more.

Yet with the increased funds available, the previous £1.6bn financial hole has ruptured into a gaping £4.6bn crater that would put Chicxulub to shame.

The principle behind the repayment scheme is that the state is taking a gamble upon each student.

Should a low-income household student enter university poor, and leave university poor, the £51,000 loan investment (£9,000 tuition x three years and £8,200 maintenance x three years) will never be repaid. This appears to be fair; the education system failed to improve the life prospects of

Tom Claridge

that student, and therefore no repayment is required.

Yet for those low-income household students who enter university thanks to this scheme, benefit from their education, and land well-paid graduate jobs; asking a return contribution in order to continue the scheme for the next generation appears fair.

Yet why should students from low income households repay anything?

Well in a perfect world, the government would increase taxes so much that university would be free for us all. I’m in debt to the sweet tune of £49,000, so would happily throw the profits of a few British firms onto the bonfire in order to mop up my university debt.

Unfortunately, the government has promised to not raise taxes. This isn’t a wishy-washy claim like Clegg’s tuition fee banter, or Clinton’s ‘what intern Hillary?’ shenanigans. This is the real deal. If you don’t want low-income household students to pay back their loans (and from a moral perspective I can see why), then get out there and lobby the shit out of Cameron to raise taxes (bearing in mind that you will soon be paying those taxes). I bid you good luck in your attempt to reason with the powers that be, noble Ned Stark.

In the meantime, the reality is that St. Andrews alumni (in the eyes of the government) cannot be defined by their parents’ economic background in perpetuity, if their own economic situation has changed significantly, post-graduation. Gatsby didn’t pay the same tax rates as his dust-bowl parents, after all.

If a low-income student comes to St Andrews thanks to the maintenance loan, and ten years later is a hot-shot banker making it rain in Canary Wharf, then they should repay the debt they owe to fund the scheme for the next generation. That is justified.

Conversely, if a low-income student comes to St Andrews thanks to the loan, and graduates without any noticeable change in their economic situation, then nothing is asked of them.

Whilst the ‘maintenance grant being cut’ is a concerning headline on its own and clearly appears unjustified, it has been replaced by a loan that provides more financial support to the poorest, and only asks repayment of those who can afford it. This seems justified.

NO

Amy Elliott

U

Financial support for low income students has more than doubled: the lifeline is not gone

“

With this new initiative, the Conservative Party is only serving to alienate itself from the generation it should be seeking to connect with

25% 24 votes

pon initially sitting down to write this article, I thought I had a plan. And so, with fingers aloft, I set out to illuminate my keyboard and serve up an incendiary 700 words slating the ambivalent name of the Honourable and Righteous George Osborne (shout out, love you man).

What instead came of this was something a little more resonant of the way toothpaste looks when you push too much out of the tube and it does a sad flop to one side. I.e, the kind of banal trope which comes into being when you don’t feel strongly about a topic to write anything even half-illuminating. And so, the following will be more of an ambiguous ‘mull’, potentially interspersed with grumblings of ill feeling largely directed towards our old pal George, as opposed to anything with a particular ‘viewpoint’ leaning one way or the other over the proverbial fence. And so.

To give a little context to those uninformed: the way the current system works means that students whose parents’ income is less than £25,000 per annum receive £3,387 in maintenance grants from the government every year. The cut off point for these grants is £42,620 meaning that if your parents earn over this, your chances of receiving one disappear into the ether. What Osborne is proposing is that this money still be doled out, but in the form of a loan.

Arguably, the system was flawed to begin with - I have friends whose parents are not wealthy enough to provide them with significant financial support, for example, but who earn too much money for their children to benefit from the grant scheme. These are the friends who are the most avid eaters of lentils, and, to be fair, what’s more desirable than a circumstantially imposed diet? Pretty much nothing! Other than maybe free university tuition. But I have faith in George and his bros - they’ll come good eventually. They’re votes men of their word.

Some cheat the system - those with rich fathers only claiming the incomes of their mothers and jetting away on tidy all-inclusives to Tenerife with their boyfriends using their share of helpful but really quite unnecessary state funds. This kind of tiresomely typical behaviour - the

75%

72

individualistic abuse of government initiations intended to benefit society as a whole - cannot be blamed upon Osborne and the crew, but does highlight another significant flaw in the system.

The most significant issue I can foresee with this whole system is not the financial aspect - let’s be honest, an additional three grand a year to the mountain of debt we will end up with is not going to have massive repercussions in itself - but the effects it will have on the children from economically unstable homes who have the capacity to attend university, but who are deterred by the thought of what they feel would be an impossible financial situation.

What angers me is not necessarily waving goodbye to the yearly chunk of free money - in such an economic climate, we all have to make sacrifices - but what this loss represents; primarily, a blatant display of the current Tory government’s disregard for this up-and-coming generation, particularly those from underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds.

With this new initiative, the Conservative party is only serving to alienate itself from the generation it should be seeking to connect with.

Not because we as a generation deserve to be sweet-talked out of our apathy (because that shouldn’t be necessary: apathy is a choice, and one we’d be wiser to avoid), but because we are their successors. To take a seat at the kitchen table of sentiment, if you’d join me, we are their children and grandchildren; we should be on the same side, irrespective of socio-economic background and bogus ideas of ‘class’.

What angers me is the perpetuation of a system where the privileges of the privileged are prioritised by those who themselves have only ever known privilege. Out of touch, landed, Oxbridge hailing white men who will never know or understand the real consequences of the decisions they sign off with all the cavalier concern of one at a Sunday brunch.

I would be a big believer in Sunday brunches, but alas, I am too poor to afford them. So George, I address you: if you’re ever in St Andrews and want to take me for Sunday brunch then please HMU because there’s nothing I need more than free food.

Honestly, I wish to cordially invite you to come and party with us all here in Fife. We’re a fun bunch, I promise.

And maybe if you met us, you’d stop hating the young so much.

The views expressed in Viewpoint represent of The but opinions.

The views expresseddoinnot Viewpoint do the not views represent theSaint views ofare Theindividual Saint but are individual opinions.

10 Viewpoint

18 February 2016 • The Saint

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International Americans could make all the difference in this election

I

f you a US citizen studying in St Andrews, you should vote in the presidential election in November, and if you’re a U.S. Democrat, come vote in St Andrews on 5 March in the Global Primary.

This is the case I’m going to present to you. I’m the out-going secretary of Democrats Abroad – UK’s Scotland Chapter, but I’m writing this as a St Andrews post-graduate student. So, the views expressed are my own.

If you’re a Democrat, I’m not going to tell you whether to vote for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, and I’m going to go really light on the civic lessons of ‘your duty to vote.’ If you’re at St Andrews, I assumed you listened to that in high school, and the choice between Clinton or Sanders is something for you to decide.

You want to be a part of this election, however. This election is different and significant. Yes, that’s stated every election, because, in one way or another, it’s true every election.

In 2000 in the battle between Al Gore and George W. Bush, political cynicism won the day. The mood

agenda, and the Democratic Party is debating them now. Have your say in that.

In the Republican Party, however, they are not having a debate about these issues. The leading candidates, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio are all far to the right, and moderate candidates like John Kasich haven’t done well.

What’s more, Trump as the front-runner has gained infamy around the world with his call to ban Muslims and build a wall around the United States. The would-be front runners, bicker about the height of the wall instead of repudiating Trump.

In “Make America Great Again,” Trump’s slogan, the key word here is again. It is a backward-looking demagoguery, completely unworthy of the American people, the majority of whom I believe want to move fore-

ward. Please, don’t be a part of this.

The Democratic Party is making it easy for you to vote in this election.

By joining Democrats Abroad, it’s like signing up to be a citizen of one state — spanning an enormous geographical area — and you can vote in the Global Primary and send delegates to represent you and your candidate to the Democratic National Convention.

You give up the right to vote in your state’s primary if you choose to vote in the Global Primary, but your vote could be weighted more heavily in the GP because it might be a smaller pool.

You can request a ballot online, or vote right here in St Andrews, the details are below. Don’t forget, however, about the general election on 8th of November, you’ll also find ways to get an absentee ballot sent to you below too.

There are roughly eight million Americans eligible to vote, living overseas. In other words, enough of us to make a difference. The margin of victory in many states has been very close. In these cases, your absentee ballot, or your vote in the Global Primary, can tip the scales. So, again, have your say.

I cannot emphasize enough that you should all get involved in this Presidential election. It will affect you.

To join Democrats Abroad: www. democratsabroad.org To register, or receive an absentee ballot (all U.S. citizens, regardless of party affiliation): www.votefromabroad.org To vote in the Democratic Global Primary: Come to the Arts Building, 5th of March from Noon to 5 p.m. to vote, or request a ballot online at www.democratsabroad.org/GPP

Photo: Creative Commons

Stephen Sacco ss323@st-andrews.ac.uk

in the U.S. was dim; people thought politicians were all the same, it didn’t matter who you voted for, and third party candidates did relatively well.

The result was an election too-close to call, won on a technicality. The result of that was the war in Iraq.

If you lived through that, I think it’s hard to say elections don’t matter.

Today, in a very practical way, we’ve made progress, though we may be too worried about the weighty issues of the moment, or getting a job, to notice. With Clinton and Sanders, however, the Democratic Party will make history, no matter who’s nominated. We will nominate either the first women or the first person of the Jewish faith.

In the 1960s, we had our first Roman Catholic president, and in 2008, we had our first black president, both Democrats. In 2016, we will break down another barrier. Be part of that.

What’s more, with this primary election you can’t argue that you don’t have a choice. Clinton and Sanders are both experienced public servants and have the same political orientation, but they present different approaches to things like health care, the environment and income inequality.

Yes, look on Facebook and you might think it is all meaningless sniping, but in politics, people tend to get carried away. Look for the issue beyond that, and you will find yourself debating the most important questions in the world right now.

These are issues progressives have had to fight to get on the political

Is the Union showing a lack of support to smaller societies?

F

or a university as characterised by conformity as I believe St Andrews is, it must be vital that actual University-run organisations promote uniqueness and encourage students to embrace their different interests, however much they clash with the norm of St Andrews.

According to a recent Change.org petition, many lesser-known societies feel that the Students’ Association does the opposite of this. The Rock Society, or RockSoc, created a petition about two weeks ago with the title “Petitioning Student Association St Andrews”, which is accompanied by the description “Improve how the St Andrews Student Union treats societies”. The petition reportedly was a “victory”, as it received its goal of 65 supporters.

The petition addresses the many different complaints that some societies have with the Students’ Association. The problems the Rock

choice but to cancel the event, surely they could have been nice and properly apologetic about it!

Aside from the more specific problems at hand, there are some complaints that the Students’ Association is biased in its treatment of societies.

The petition stated that all of these mistreatments seem to especially “be the case with smaller, more niche societies”. If the Students’ Association cannot be trusted to fairly advocate for all societies equally, then whom can these societies turn to for support? How does a new society get off the ground?

It cannot be denied that the St Andrews environment is one that values money, appearances, and the seemingly unattainable “cool” vibe.

Of course, this is the case in most universities, if not places, in the world.

But let’s be real: St Andrews encapsulates this to an extreme.

For those people that do not necessarily easily relate to most of the students here, it can be very difficult to find others that are relatable and share similar interests. Societies, however, often present the perfect solution to this dilemma. The Shinty Club, for example, is known for providing a tightknit, family-like community within St Andrews. It is societies like this that are absolutely essential for providing both fun and friendship to students who very easily could not have found it otherwise. Thus, it is surely essen-

tial for the Students’ Association to support and encourage each society within St Andrews.

The aim of the petition is “to get the SA to acknowledge their shortcomings and make a conscious effort to accommodate all societies more, making clear decisions that are not revoked without a valid reason, and most importantly to have constant and unambiguous communication with societies to ensure that both our, and their, needs are being met”.

This does not seem like a far-fetched or unreasonable request from the Rock Society. In fact, it could even be said that they should not have to

make any of these requests in the first place.

Within all of the societies at St Andrews, there are bound to be some that are better known than others, some that are respected, others that are scoffed at, and still some that hardly anybody knows about. The point is that it should not matter which societies have which reputation or lack thereof; every society is important to the people that belong to it, and thus each society must be prioritised equally by the Students’ Association, which, after all, is there to help, support, and provide for the students of St Andrews.

Illustration: Dillon Yeh

Lila Velcoff lv25@st-andrews.ac.uk

Society, along with a few other societies have, include the Union cancelling room reservations last-minute for Union-organised events or because a member of the Association did not approve of the previously-scheduled event, the removal of societies’ advertisements despite prior permission, the Union not following through on promises to provide various items for the societies, the Association taking a rather long amount of time to respond to requests, a lack of sufficient funding for the societies, and, finally, “general hostility and lack of co operation from certain Association members and staff, and other Union staff”.

Although the Students’ Association surely has their own side to this conflict, the fact that the petition exists, and received even above five signatures certainly suggests something is amiss. It is not just the RockSoc that feels as though the Students’ Association has mistreated them; the Craft Society and the Reeling Society also posted comments on the petition that concurred with the Rock Society’s argument.

The President of the Craft Society wrote, “Our major issue is the loss of washable floors. We can no longer use any paint or glue within the union because of this… Also one of our committee members was treated incredibly rudely about an event that was cancelled by Union Staff on the day”. Even if the Association had no

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 • 18 February 2016

Viewpoint 11

thesaint-online.com

How to win pre drinks

Tom Coombes

tc62@st-andrews.ac.uk

Photo: Creative Commons

T

Beyonce wins Superbowl

Marco Marcelline mm363@st-andrews.ac.uk

W

ho won the Superbowl?

Beyonce did. When Beyonce’ stepped out on to that SuperBowl stage on Sunday she knew what she was doing. And damn did she do it well. The performance she gave was culturally significant, and was perhaps the most important political statement a pop icon has given in recent years.

She has exceeded the expectations placed upon entertainers and pop stars who, because they have been thrust into the limelight for their work, feel they should just silently stick to just that and under no circumstance use their privileged position to highlight and campaign for social issues which are in dire need of being addressed to the masses.

Beyonce did just that on Sunday. She stopped the world - and it seems it has since been unable to carry on as normal.

Clad in Michael Jackson-esque attire, and with a line of African American women behind her all wearing black berets reminiscent of the radical Black Panthers group, Beyonce unapologetically launched into her aptly titled new song Formation.

The song itself is a celebration of black American women, of men and of black culture. The lyrics include the hitting lines, “I like my baby heir

with baby hair and afros/ I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils” as well as the assertive lyric, “I might just be a black Bill Gates in the making.” This unabashed proclamation of blackness by a figure in pop is filling a void that has been left empty for years.

While black people have had a significant presence in the entertainment industry for a long while, actual awareness of black issues and attention to them has not existed for very long. It seems there is an expectation that black people in the industry would ignore the fact that they are black.

Many black celebrities have even been accused of bleaching themselves – including Beyonce herself, while everyone is familiar with Michael Jackson’s physical transformation.

Now that well-rehearsed rite of passage appears thankfully to be in reverse. Sunday’s performance was just a start.

The insertion of politics into pop culture is a trend that must definitely continue because it is through this that people can start talking about issues that are important and stories that need to be told get receptions that would never have otherwise had.

People have reacted en masse.

Most of the feedback has been positive, but a lot of keyboard warriors have taken to the interweb to voice their venom.

There’s been astonishment and upset at the use of black power symbolism and references to Malcolm X and also many have tried to tarnish Beyonce’s powerful affirmation of her African roots, amusingly accusing Beyonce of racism.

A look at the Daily Mail website comment section, unsurprisingly, is a sight full of comments attacking the

star for simply owning her own culture; with people having seemingly forgotten that the struggle for black rights is still ongoing.

Rudy Giliani, the former New York City mayor attacked her outright, declaring that her performance was “anti-police” and that she should instead be using her celebrity to encourage young black people to “respect the police”.

The politician should be reminded that it was his own city’s police force that essentially murdered via strangulation last year, an innocent and unarmed grandfather and brother called Eric Garner despite his incessant protests that he couldn’t breathe.

The disgraceful reaction on certain corners of the web from a certain kind of people just goes to confirm that Beyonce’s politicising of the event was needed.

It is needed because black people in America are more than twice as likely as whites to be unarmed when killed by the police.

It is needed because black people are still excluded from political and public life. It is needed because if you are black in America you are more likely to be paid less than your white counterparts, and if you are a black man, you have a one in three chance of being jailed because of the hugely biased incarceration system existing in the States.

People have even tried to organise a protest against Beyonce’s performance outside the NFL headquarters.

Beautifully countering the protest, a Facebook page was set up called an “anti-anti protest rally” which said on the page: “Don’t let anyone make [Beyonce’s] powerful statement about the value of Black life be overshadowed by those who don’t believe that our lives matter”.

hey say that life is all about the journey. It’s not where you are, or where you are going, you should sit back and enjoy the ride for the sake of the ride. And in many respects this is true, but there is one really rather notable exception, namely pre-drinks.

What an affair it is. From the moment somebody turns to you and says “about time for us to start preeing then?”, we are catapulted down the drinking equivalent of a London alley in the mid nineteenth century, puddles of vomit and splashes of piss included. Yet it is an alley which all of us are equally content to trudge down, waiting for that golden light at the end of the tunnel, a stage referred to varyingly as drunk, pissed, sloshed, hammered, mashed or, indeed, turnt. And for almost all of us the process is the same.

First thing is first, choose your poison. And what a choice we have (between 10:00am and 10:00 pm of course).

Naturally you will know almost all of them, but let me run you through some of the favourites.

Vodka, for those seeking self-inflicted amnesia.

Beer, a steadier drink but prone to making your stomach feel like you’re in an activia advert, though with the added bonus of helping you float should you end up in the sea.

Rum, perceived as classy yet available for seven pounds for a 35cl and with the added bonus of a guaranteed laugh for the Pirates of the Caribbean quote once you finish it.

Whisky, should you want to be drunk enough to punch your own mother and then steal a restaurant sign.

Gin, which as Dylan Moran said is ‘less of a drink and more of a mascara thinner’ and which is just as comfortable in the garden on a summers day as it is in an Evian bottle in a car park.

Cider, for many the taste of the teenage binge in the park, and a reminder that all of us must at some point in our lives be found sleeping in a hedgerow.

Wine, for those who like to discuss art history at the beginning of the night, and fall asleep halfway through a pizza at the end of the night.

Prosecco, for those who want to blame the fact that they urinated in a vase on how “the bubbles make it go straight to your head”.

These are, of course, just a selection of the choices available to you, but they are on the most part the most popular. Almost all other options, such as alcopops, pimms (alcopops for posh people), cognac and brandy can be dismissed as either disgusting, pointless or drunken exclusively by your grandparents and/or rappers.

The next thing is, of course, finding a venue. The various levels of pre drink parties range from ‘chill’ to ‘raging’ but the key parts are much the same; easy

to wipe floors, a toilet close to hand, somewhere for the smokers to go and a host who is happy to dedicate the next day to bleaching blood stains out of the wallpaper.

It is at this point that things begin to ‘loosen up’ as it were. A drink or five later and all involved have managed to overcome the initial trepidation towards the night out, forgotten any deadlines they may have, or conquered the hangover from the previous night. It is at this point that the person traditionally known as ‘Selecta’, or otherwise referred to as ‘the person with Spotify and an aux cable’. People will whine and carp about whatever is playing, but seventeen units down they won’t care nor be able to discern if the speakers are blasting Skepta or Nyan Cat. Now, at some stage during the proceedings the inevitable must happen.

Somebody will be too drunk and will be sick. As a man studying art history I would advise, if you are above the ground floor, to lean the person out of the window at this stage, as the result will leave a pleasing, Pollock-esque composition on the pavement for you to enjoy as it glitters in the dappled morning light as you saunter still drunk to your tutorial the following day. It is not something to mock them for; they have simply shown commitment to the cause, though it is key at this point to ensure that their glass is topped up, as this act may have rid some of the sweet alcohol from their slowly hardening veins.

Sometime around midnight, it will be time to head out. See as everyone gathers their things (forgetting almost all of them) and stumbles out of the door. Some may choose to stop briefly at the Union for a Pablo (how nice that Kanye named his latest album after St Andrews’ favourite drink) or a couple of shots (beware the flavoured shots, I had a crispy bacon one the other day and it nearly made me turn vegan), but eventually we all find ourselves in the queue outside the club. The tension mounts as you inch ever closer to the hivis clad St. Peter guarding the entrance to your own personal heaven. You have reached it; Elysium, Valhalla, Canaan. It is here. You can almost touch it…

“Not tonight pal” You turn broken hearted from the door and trudge slowly home. Your head is spinning, your legs appear to be trying to go in opposite directions, and somehow there’s a rip on your sleeve. You come home, and lay in bed as the room spins above you. Your phone goes off. You squint, each letter a struggle until eventually you work out what it spells.

“Vic tomorrow?”

You slump back in bed and smile.

The cycle continues.

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

18 February 2016 • The Saint

Are halls trying to return to black-tie breakfasts?

W

hen the Liberty Bell in American rang to proclaim liberty, and oh how it rings very loudly, the one place we might have hoped to be untouched was St Andrews. Of course, liberty has no jurisdiction, and every minor transgression of “my rights” has been petitioned, protested, and rebelled against. Outrage is the fashion of the day, and thank goodness for that.

So when my Warden posted on our hall group that I better not be wearing my pyjamas to the dining hall, I was, of course, positively fuming, and, very stylishly, offended, incensed, and livid.

I don’t care about the Syrian Crisis, or the silly attempts (like the Saturday effort) to educate The Bubble on the state of the world - about migration and all that far-away bull crap. And there’s no way in hell I’m supporting Rag Week, when there are real issues

has been involved with charity after charity and encourages all of us to do what we can for others. He won’t let me wear my onesie, and people think I look cute in that onesie (especially that girl I fancy).

To the people that have witnessed what you so arrogantly call “real suffering”: sure, the struggle might seem paltry in comparison, but, to quote one of the great authors of the day, who wrote the bible for Tumblr teenagedom (which I’m a proud member of), “even if somebody else has it much worse, that doesn’t really change the fact that you have what you have.”

The strange and awful suffering from unlucky geography is just the same as the randomness that I’ve had to face here. It doesn’t make any sense that I can’t wear my onesie to breakfast - and look like an adorable cross between a penguin and an Asian fellow, when I wear my jeans to dinner everyday which I haven’t washed since I started my studies. If you want me to be hygienic then pay someone to wash my clothes for me!

Or, have some sense, and check if all my clothing is clean. Actually, don’t do that, because that would turn you totalitarian. Gosh, positive liberty is so dangerous, you have to be so careful in this political climate.

Anyway, I digress. Let me close. I came to St Andrews to learn how to

argue and support those arguments, to learn about the world so that I can cash in that education and get rich and score chicks. But I can’t do that unless every thing in my life is exactly the way I want it. I’m not trying to threaten you, but I will warn you, that until I can live my life exactly the way I want to I will fight for every single infringement, I will shout at you when you won’t let me back in the Union (there are way drunker people inside) and I will sue you for not letting me wear my pyjamas. You know

what? I might even take my business to a different university, somewhere that cares about their students like Dundee or Abertay.

To everyone that’s donating to charity and also fighting for social stuff (transgender rights, the kidnapping of Chinese dissidents, that sort of thing) join me, and we can band together to start a powerful protest group to fix all these dastardly problems that we have in St Andrews.

Let’s clean up the bubble together, liberals of the world unite!

Illustration: Nicole Slyusareva

Adrian Ngiam an54@st-andrews.ac.uk

to be dealt with at home.

Let me remind you, and listen carefully, I have been prohibited from wearing my pyjamas to the dining hall, solely because, somewhere along the annals of history, social fusion has conflated upper-middle class manners with all the rest, so that now everyone is concerned about hygiene and modesty, being ladylike and gentlemanlike. This is something that cannot continue. I can wear whatever the hell I want. Shucks to your antiquated, conservative customs.

Marx was bang-on when he said that men make their own histories, but not as they please. Culture is a stubborn ox that refuses to be yoked, so we must fight, hard, to keep it moving.

Who cares about the number of people that starve and die everyday, when our own culture cannot progress the way it should so that I can wear my pyjamas to my dining hall.

My Warden (big brother incarnate) infringed upon my personal liberties, which is the only real thing that matters.

I mean, you can’t exactly see poverty from all the way in the East Coast of Fife, or befriend the hapless sods of the impoverished hospices miles and miles away in Calcutta.

This must sound a bit controversial, but bear with me here. Are they even real? And, also, so what if my Warden

Violence erupts in France as nogs replace obsolete onions With unwanted grammar change on the way, Flo McQuibban remembers the humble oignon

Flora McQuibban ferm@st-andrews.ac.uk

A

CT I, SCENE 1.

- I need an onion. Do you have

one?

My neighbour from the second floor stared at my tired face as I slouched against the frame, resisting the temptation to slam the door in his face and slowly evaporate.

- Why do you need an onion at four in the morning?

He looked at me as if I were the worst jester on earth, and he had just spent a few valuable shillings on hiring my sorry ass.

- I’m not not making food with it, silly.

He had a terrible sense of humour.

One would think his sultry disposition and monotonous voice would make for the perfect stand-up, but he lacked the creativity to give his words that funny edge. Pince sans rire, they say over here.

While I was away in my thoughts, he gave me some pompous lecture about how he had yet to master navigating the streets of Paris. I assured him it wasn’t that difficult with a map, but of course, he reminded me that a man who has not an onion at four in the morn’, hardly has a map either.

- Fine. I’ll get you an onion.

- Merci.

ACT I, SCENE 2.

There isn’t much I wouldn’t do to avoid confrontation. I exited the apartment in yesterday’s clothing, grabbing my wallet and keys on the way out.

The store was poorly lit, but the service very polite as usual.

- Bonsoir Madame!

Bonjour Mademoiselle, I thought as the half-eclipsed sun shone in my face.

- Bonsoir. I need an onion.

He commended me for being straight to the point, as if I’d considered small talk this early in the day.

And your offspring how are they? No the greens, I mean? And the woman behind the counter would laugh and say something too low for me to hear.

No, I was hardly up for all that, both figuratively and literally. I was here for business.

He looked at me gravely and asked me what I needed it for, and I wasn’t quite sure. I told him I needed

it so I could go to bed, and that reason seemed to make enough sense. “Don’t we all”, he sighed.

He pointed at two rows of onions, saying that he’d recommend the freshest ones of course. He sighed again.

- They all look the same. Is this lot fresher?

- Yes of course Madame, they are the newest, haven’t you heard? The perishables will no longer be used once these new ones get settled in.

I slyly said I hadn’t been reading The Onion lately, but he didn’t understand.

He only peered at me through his little bead-like eyes, waiting for a decision. I thought of telling him I was simply waiting on the new onions to settle in, but my French wasn’t up to par, and my comedic skills not much better than my employer up on floor two.

ACT 2, SCENE I Sweat trickled down his forehead as my decision lay pending in the air.

It seemed of utmost importance to him. I proceeded with caution.

I didn’t know what to do. I was used to getting the apparently perished ones, and didn’t recognise the front row’s exotic name.

- How do you pronounce it?

- Og nog.

- A nog?

I laughed. What the hell is a nog? It

seemed suspicious. I declined.

- No thanks, I think I’ll take the usual oignon.

ACT 2, SCENE II He seemed surprised, but picked up the oignon with intensity.

Passionate, he exclaimed: - Oui Madame, that is the spirit!

I didn’t understand.

- Down with le système! Screw the new rules and up it with damned elites! First they say you must do this and you must do that, and then they change it all over again. So French, Madame, so French.”

I told him that I hadn’t been on my exchange long enough to know what the hell was going on in the French political world. Shaking m y hand, he told me you didn’t need to know much about politics to understand that these rule-makers were assholes.

- Well you don’t have to be a politician to know a good old onion when you see one, I said laughing.

His eyes were teary with emotion.

- Madame. That is right.

He put his foot on the fruit aisle and began with violence

and vibrato: - ALLONS ENFANTS DE LA PATRIE… I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but I definitely thought I had heard this song before in a BBC documentary. I decided to get out quickly, fearing that it might be a protest or a war cry.

ACT II, SCENE III. As I got back to my apartment, I could smell my neighbour’s stew being boiled. I made a futile attempt to hurry my walk up the stairs, because “just like there’s no walk to the shops without a map, there’s no stew without an onion.”

I reached his floor and saw him waiting at the door. Handing him the condiment, he noted that it was “good to be among purist friends”.

It sounded a bit racist, but I was tired and smelled like a tortilla chip. I went to bed.

Illustration: Flo McQuibban

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 Money editor MEILAN SOLLY Deputy editors: Antonia Wade, James Fox

@saint_money

money@thesaint-online.com

Infographic: Meilan Solly

thesaint-online.com/money

Tara Panicker One of the most important questions a student at the University of St Andrews faces every day is this: to attend class(es) or not to? Is it worth leaving a warm bed (and maybe warm room) to drag oneself to a lecture or tutorial?

The financial cost of skipping class may encourage students to answer the second question with a resounding yes. To calculate the true cost of a missed sub-honours lesson, The Saint attributed the financial value of tuition to attending lectures and tutorials, as represented by scheduled learning hours; assumed that lectures and tutorials have equal financial and academic value; and did not account for guided independent study hours given their variability by student.

Also, note that costs are approximations, not averages.

The 2015-2016 academic year tuition fees are as follows: Scottish and EU students pay £0.00 a year for all courses, as the Student Awards Agency for Scotland covers their fees. Both Scottish and EU students must apply to receive SAAS grants.

RUK students pay £9,000 a year.

Overseas students’ fees are split into two groups: arts, divinity and science students pay £17,040, while medicine students pay £24,500 per annum.

When these figures are further broken down into individual course fees, the actual price per course becomes clearer. The method used to calculate

these tuition fees is very basic and uses the following equation: (Annual Tuition Fees/2)/Total Contact Hours.

For arts students, we can use an English student as an example and speculate that the student will take three modules in accordance with their course, each prescribing three lectures and one tutorial per week.

We can then conclude that the student will have a total of 132 contact hours over the 11-week semester.

Then it simply becomes a matter of division to calculate the value of those contact hours. For RUK students, the calculation is: £9,000/2 = £4,500, and then £4,500/132 = £34.09 per hour.

Overseas students pay twice this number, as their annual fee is £17,040, which when divided by two and then by the number of contact hours comes to £64.55 per contact hour.

For science students, if we assume that the student takes three pure science modules (i.e. physics, chemistry and biology) and each demands about 88 contact hours, then that student will have 264 contact hours in a semester. This results in RUK students paying £17.05 per contact hour.

Again, with overseas students paying double the fee of RUK students, they can expect to pay (£17,040/2)/264, which equals £32.27 per contact hour, a figure which is still less than that of RUK arts students.

If we consider a first year medicine student who has two modules over the whole year (one per semester) with 250 contact hours each, the equation for RUK students will be as

follows: (£9,000/2)/250 = £18.00 per contact hour. For overseas students, the equation will be (£24,500/2)/250 = £49.00 per contact hour. This figure is due to medicine students paying much higher fees than for any other course, and also still having less hours than a pure science student would.

Considering these figures, it could be safe to say that in terms of subjects, arts students stand to lose the most financially when skipping lectures or tutorials, while medicine students

“

Arts students stand to lose the most financially

lose the least. Geographically speaking, overseas students lose the most, and Scottish students lose the least.

However, it must be acknowledged that there are costs to skipping class apart from just the financial. Honora Bartlett, an English lecturer, said that attending lectures results in lecturers getting to know their students, which leads to good references when applying for postgraduate degrees or jobs.

She said: “When writing references for students, if I can say that his or her attendance was good and that they were well-prepared for tutorials, a reference simply flows. I have been able to write very strong references for students whose marks by

themselves might not have attracted postgrad programmes’ or employers’ attention when I could comment that their attendance gave me a high idea of their commitment and character, which it does.”

These comments add a new perspective to the debate on class attendance: though the financial costs may not be (to some) considerable, a student’s future prospects can often rest on a tutor’s reference, especially when they may not be excelling academically. It should also be noted that for several courses, academic prowess often rests on attendance, due to lecturers offering helpful advice for exams, amongst other tips.

Divinity professor Alan Torrance argued: “There is a direct correlation between attendance in my classes and how well students [perform] in the exams. This is because I can cover the material [and] introduce students to the key arguments.”

He also stated that class attendance provides another academic skill, namely the ability to listen, process and appropriate information, a vital skill both in academia and in the professional world. Attendance engenders discipline and meticulousness, again two traits that can only lead to success in the professional sphere.

Of course, the most obvious cost of skipping class is this: missing out on the lecturer’s insights. At university, lecturers are chosen from the highest calibre. They are typically experts in their field, and the view that a student would have a greater understanding

of the topic than the lecturer is arguably hubristic.

Dr Kleanthis Mantzouranis of the classics department shared this perspective: “A missed class is a missed opportunity to learn more about the subject and to gain from the expertise of specialists on it, to exchange ideas, address concerns, ask questions and interact with tutors and colleagues.”

In addition to this, Dr Mantzouranis reminds us that missed classes can result in a protracted length of selfstudy, which in addition to being less useful than attending lectures both in terms of time and understanding, could also result in inferior academic results.

This could potentially have repercussions on other financial aspects of student life, such as funding, living and discretionary expenses, and even missed career opportunities, thus invalidating the argument that skipping lectures is a better use of time.

Finally, the most convincing argument for attending lectures at St Andrews: several schools at the University monitor and mandate attendance, and by missing too many classes a student runs the risk of either losing the opportunity to take the exam or simply receiving 0X on the module (even after taking the exam).

This would have the ironic result of requiring the student to either take a fourth module in the following semester or even retake the whole year.

Both consequences waste more of the student’s time, thus increasing the cost of their tuition fees.

14 Money

18 February 2015 • The Saint

thesaint-online.com

Fiscal fast: Laura Ryan spends no money for a week I think I should just come out and say it. I will. No, really, I can do this. My name’s Laura, and I’m a cheapskate. There it is. I can’t deny it any longer. I just can’t stand spending more money than is absolutely necessary.

Bargains make me feel warm inside, safe and alive. I will gladly leave the warmth of home, pause a TV show, or even abandon a room of friends to forage for Tesco bargains. I know what time the reductions happen, and I’m not telling you when that is. I’ve come to know the pension-age men and women who crowd regularly around the cut-price offerings like dogs smelling a steak; I’ve developed a strange fondness for this ragtag group of penny pinchers.

My week-long project was inspired by an episode of the American TLC show Extreme Cheapskates. Stars of this show steal leftover food from restaurants, buy wedding dresses in pawn shops, and even plan their funerals in their thirties in order to save a buck or two.

One particular episode featured a middle-aged couple who had managed to retire many years before their contemporaries through something they called “fiscal fasting.” This term refers to a week where you challenge yourself to spend no money. With the exception of anything you find down the back of the sofa, on the ground, or anywhere else you weren’t expecting to find it, you keep your purse zipped and your bank cards on ice for a whole week. Of course, the challenge appealed to me immediately.

Thankfully, I’ve been lucky enough to meet my thrifty Dutch kindred spirit in St Andrews: someone to accompany me on night-time

Tesco bargain runs, help me make something palatable out of bizarre but cheap ingredient combinations (parsnips actually go well with a surprising number of things), and keep me sane during this week without a single visit to a pub or impulsive Amazon purchase.

It turns out that Geordies and Dutch people have a lot in common: we’re both into football and throwing beer around, we both have funny accents, and, most crucially, we love saving money. Together, my flatmate Anna and I planned a week where we would spend absolutely nothing. We would live on previously acquired Tesco bargains, along with a couple of luxuries purchased at full price the week before: milk, cheese, ham — nothing too extravagant.

The week began well. On Monday, a full day (three and a half hours of seminars) distracted us from our pecuniary project; we had a stir fry composed of unidentified meat and reduced mixed vegetables. On Tuesday, we dodged a meal at Forgan’s with friends and instead opted for fish and chips at Tailend (free when you download their app!). Around Wednesday, the inevitable chocolate cravings set in. Unable to satiate them with copious amounts of Cadbury’s, I instead settled for some cut-price bread and jam. The suffering was almost Dickensian in nature. Later, we enjoyed a slightly uncommon amalgamation of a chicken risotto meal, mashed potato and lettuce; it was surprisingly edible.

Free lunches abound in St Andrews if you know where to find them. Religious groups, talks and meetings are all good places to load up on gratis grub (take a lunchbox if you’re feeling shameless, as people are normally glad to be rid of excess food). Free drinks are also rela-

tively easy to come by. Try crashing well-funded society events, even if you’re totally uninterested in the society or (even better) totally opposed to their political ideals. Get there early to avoid being left with only dregs of Tennent’s.

On Thursday, we enjoyed the com-

“

Bargains make me feel warm inside, safe and alive, perhaps plimentary lunch bar at Solid Rock, where a free baguette and doughnut is accompanied by a short account of God’s good work in the lives of students. Later, I

flexed my very British culinary skills and made a cottage pie featuring bargain mince and potatoes, picked up for 20p each.

Towards the end of the week, having become somewhat hermit-like in our cocoon of frugality, we rather cheekily invited some friends over to cook for us and played a Swedish geography-based game. As predicted, the main downside to this week was missing out on nights out and social occasions where expenditure would be largely unavoidable; no one wants to hang out with the weirdo drinking water in Brew Co. Crisis struck on Saturday when we ran out of toilet paper. Having managed the chocolate cravings and endured the strange food combinations, our week of thriftiness was for the first time truly threatened. Could we take two days of stealing from pub toilets, the library and the Union? For my flatmate Anna, this was too far, and with that our no spending pact was u n c e re m o n i o u s l y broken.

As I write this, I find myself at the close of a week of fiscal fasting, having earlier feasted on a last low-cost supper of steak slices (like Scottish burgers) with parsnips and yet more mashed potatoes. At the stroke of 12, I could run out to Aikman’s to get a late round in or begin furiously ordering all of the unnecessary purchases I’ve tacitly denied myself this week. But I won’t.

I intended this article and this challenge to be a light-hearted exercise, but as the week progressed, I realised that I could not entirely skirt the more earnest side of the project. At the start of this article I admitted, slightly ashamedly, to being a cheapskate. But perhaps I need not be ashamed. My penny pinching is not merely a curious pastime or a silly week-long challenge, nor is it the result of simple meanness or an inherited frugality.

In fact, my survival depends upon it. St Andrews ranks among the most expensive student towns in the UK, so I always knew that my time here would be something of a rocky financial road. As a self-funded Master’s student, I do worry about money. Every time I fork over a handful of cash or type in my pin number, I feel a pang of discomfort. I know that the Student Loans Company won’t deliver a fresh pile of money into my account each month. What I have is enough, but only just.

This week was fun, no really it was! And I hope that you, dear reader, have picked up some useful tips to make your own money go a little further (kudos on reading this free newspaper!).

Illustration: Dillon Yeh

Laura Ryan

Alex Budman on Jimmy Fallon, “unprofitable” degrees and storytelling: a career in journalism and documentaries “I sent a lot of emails,” she said.

“I pitched a lot of stories. The first thing that HuffPost ever published was an article about May Dip and then one about celebrating American Thanksgiving in Scotland. I tried to tell unique stories that weren’t overreaching or overambitious.”

Following graduation, Ms Budman moved to New York City to pursue a master’s in social documentary filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts. She spent two years networking and freelancing before receiving an offer from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. At The Tonight Show, Ms Budman served as a production assistant and casting associPhoto: Harry Gunning

As a first year at St Andrews, 2012 graduate Alex Budman wrote an essay on the importance of sharing in hunter gatherer communities. She received a score of six, along with her tutor’s rather disparaging feedback scribbled in the margins: “I want to kill myself.”

Two years later, Ms Budman earned a 19 on her final essay with the film studies department, and today her CV includes jobs with high-profile media outlets like Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Ms Budman spent three years at the University studying a general degree in art history and film studies.

She decided to focus on these courses because they aligned closely with her interests.

“Whenever you study theory, you aren’t training for a specific career, but you are learning how to learn, how to collaborate with people, how to con-

nect thoughts,” Ms Budman said. “I figured that if I followed my interests, it would lead me to a more meaningful and hopefully more successful career.”

Due to the breadth of her degree, Ms Budman was able to make the most of internships and other career opportunities during her time at St Andrews.

The summer after her second year, she lived in New York City and interned with Vanity Fair’s photo department. Ms Budman edited collections of photos, worked on a Rupert Murdoch e-book, and sourced archive photographs for an article published in a later magazine issue. At the same time, she was able to assistant teach at a communal garden in Harlem.

Back in St Andrews, Ms Budman worked to find media opportunities.

She soon became an impact and college writer for The Huffington Post, highlighting stories of people involved in philanthropic initiatives and reporting on the realities of studying abroad.

ate, working with the team responsible for producing digital shorts.

She said: “I got the job at Fallon through a referral [from] a friend who I had met on set. The more you are out in the world working, the more people you meet.”

Today, Ms Budman works at a tech startup promoting an app called REX. Through REX, users can share recommendations with each other rather than rely on algorithms for suggestions. Ms Budman sees her current job as a continuation of her degree because she works with many film people, and “the focus of our app is to share the cultural items, be it art, music [or] film, that we all love.”

Ms Budman also works as a documentary filmmaker, producing short pieces about people who interest her. Thus far, she Photo courtesy of Alex Budman

Meilan Solly Money editor

has worked with Holocaust survivors and individuals who show extraordinary optimism against all odds. In the future, Ms Budman hopes to continue making art, ideally through film, and work with people of all socio-economic backgrounds.

Despite art history and film studies’ reputations as largely unmarketable degrees, Ms Budman said she gained a great understanding of both subjects during her time at St Andrews. This helped prepare her for graduate school, and even today she finds herself drawing upon her studies, especially in conversations about the arts with coworkers or friends.

Ms Budman offered the following advice to students studying similar degrees: “Follow your interests. Learn as much as you can. Don’t feel like you need to work at a gallery: See what you can do at a tech startup, [or] see if you can bring art to a place that needs it. Again, we aren’t training for a specific career or trade, so there is so much room for adventure. Take your degree and run with it.”

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The best spring break destinations on a budget

15 Money

Refurbished Rule launches with new menu, atmosphere

Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Antonia Wade Deputy money editor

James Fox Deputy money editor

Budapest, Hungary If you want a place where the culture is vibrant, the cityscape breathtaking and the drinks cheap, look no further than Budapest. Probably the most economical city break destination in Europe, flights from Glasgow to the Hungarian capital can be found for as little as £35 each way on Wizz Air. For accommodation, the Interflat Hostel and Apartments, located in the culturally rich District VI, offer perfectly hospitable dwellings starting at just £3.72 per night. For a more comfortable stay, a week in the City Garden Hotel is only £80. Guests receive a 20 per cent discount at the nearby Gondozó Kert, one of the many famous “ruin pubs” that can be found in abandoned buildings across the city.

Saving money on booze is not an issue given that the average price of a bottle of beer is a mere 88p; if you’re willing to splash the cash, you can even get a glass of wine for 92p. The nightlife only gets better from there thanks to establishments such as Morrison’s 2 and E-Klub, where entry fees are minimal and the party often continues until 5 am.

During the day, you can sample Budapest’s magnificent wealth of architecture and history. The majestic Hero’s Square is a must-see both during the day and at night. It also contains the Museum of Fine Art, although entry is £8. If you don’t want to pay for museum entry, there are numerous museums and galleries that have free admission.

Additionally, 15 March is a

Hungarian national holiday, and the opportunity to visit the National Gallery and the National Museum for free should not be missed. Other free attractions include St. Stephen’s Basilica and Buda Castle. When you can travel between these attractions on any form of public transport for just £3.80 over a 24 hour period, it’s hard to argue against Budapest as the greatest – and cheapest – spring break destination.

um, which doesn’t charge for entry on Mondays. The main square provides spectacular scenery as well as a vast array of cafes and bars, or you can bring out your inner hipster in the trendy Jewish quarter. The Wieliczka Salt Mine is a world heritage site which, although £15 to enter, is absolutely spectacular and worth every penny. For a cheap but eminently enjoyable spring break, you could do a lot worse than Krakow.

Krakow, Poland

St. Julian’s, Malta

Although flights are a little on the expensive side – around £140 return – Krakow redeems itself by being one of Europe’s cheapest major cities.

Twenty-four hours of public transport is only £2.60, and you can stay in places such as the legendary Mosquito Hostel, which, although it costs £9 per night, offers perks such as extra comfortable beds, free breakfast, free tea and coffee all day, free laundry, free walking tours, free shisha nights, free pub crawls, the use of a kitchen and free shots nights. Did I mention it’s all free?

Alternatively, Airbnb lists an array of attractive properties for around £10 to £20 per night, made even cheaper if you’re in a group.

Nightlife in Krakow is equally inviting. With a density of pubs to give St Andrews a run for its money, you’ll never pay more than £2 for a pint. The 120000 strong student population contributes to a thriving clubbing scene centered around clubs such as Cien and Krakow’s answer to the Lizard, Klub Goraczka. When you’re not cutting shapes on the dance floor, a journey into Krakow’s past is thoroughly worthwhile.

Many museums are free on certain days, including the Schindler Factory muse-

If you’d rather spend your spring break relaxing on a warm beach than exploring the city, St. Julian’s in Malta is an economical choice. Flights come in at around £40 each way, and the resort is accessible via a 40-minute shuttle bus. The luxurious be.HOTEL has double rooms for around £40 a night, which represents good value for your money given that it stands just 200 yards from the stunning beaches of St. George’s Bay and features a spectacular roof-top terrace swimming pool. The nightlife in St. Julian’s is also an attractive prospect, especially in the Paceville area of town, which is one of Malta’s hottest clubbing spots.

Institutions such as BarCelona lounge and Sky Club are open late and serve cheap drinks. A cold pint can be obtained for as little as £2.

If you can bring yourself to get up from your deckchair in the sun, why not try a spot of snorkeling in the area’s warm waters? The exquisite Spinola Bay is a wonderful place for a stroll or to stumble across one of the area’s great restaurants, like Zeri’s, which boasts some of the very best in Mediterranean cuisine. If you want a relaxing and good value mid-semester break, this is the place to be.

Following the well-attended reopening of The Rule, The Saint sat down with its deputy manager, Fraser Clark, to discuss the pub’s evolution. Mr Clark, who has worked at The Rule for over two years (with stints at the West Port Bar in between), has seen it change across initiatives and owners.

In the 2004-2005 academic year, the Maclay Group bought The Rule and the West Port and tied them together.

The Rule was a traditional pub, while the West Port had more of a bar style, creating a combination which covered all tastes. A large body of regulars, who enjoyed both the atmosphere and the food, developed.

This all changed when the Maclay Group decided to make refurbishments at the Rule in June 2014, overhauling the menu and the decor.

Instead of a modern, smokehouse style offering, the majority of the money was spent on the menu, thus doing a “half-assed job of making the pub look right,” according to Mr Clark.

To add insult to injury, the self-proclaimed best sports pub in St Andrews was shut during the 2014 Football World Cup, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. This time was expected to be the perfect opportunity to attract business, perhaps turning a few visitors into regulars, yet the pub was shut. When The Rule reopened, the pub many regulars had loved was gone. A concept that might have worked in the city did not translate well to St Andrews.

When Stonegate Pub Company, owners of over 660 UK pubs and bars, took over in July 2015, they performed a full audit. The audit took place on the Friday of the Open, causing an immense workload for the staff, but major improvements were to come. In comparison to the refurbishment under the Maclay Group, the staff knew about the renovation during the takeover, nearly a full six months beforehand. Furthermore, Stonegate Pub Co is used to major refurbishments and therefore knew many of the potential pitfalls that can accompany such changes. Every aspect of the refurbishment was considered and planned for, leading to renovation which, Mr Clark said, “went smoothly.”

The new offering is much lighter, with touches of Scotland in the tartancovered chairs and paler and more rustic wood. The occasional neon sign adds a more modern touch. There is free cucumber water and a wide range of cask and craft beers. The menu has also been completely overhauled, with breakfast served until midday (a boon for any hungover student) and a mix of lighter bites and larger lunches. The pub has installed free Wi-Fi and sockets on every table, and in combination with the new student deals, which include coffee and alcohol, The Rule is the perfect place to work during the day.

The biggest overhaul has been in the pub’s marketing and customer focus. Mr Clark considers one of the biggest problems under the previous owners was how The Rule failed to take advantage of its selling points: free entry, free Wi-Fi, sockets, and a licence until 2 am. After the Vic got its 2 am license, The Rule moved slowly to catch up. When it did, there was no advertising to show the change, so customers left at 11 pm or midnight. The pub is now equipped for late nights with a bigger floor space than the Union and new speakers.

The feedback is much more positive, too. Mr Clark mentioned how customers have reported that The Rule is “much cosier and warmer,” with the food being “a million times better.” The launch party itself was a success, with over 750 people showing up after 9 pm. At other points since the refurbishments, customers have spontaneously commented on the changes, saying The Rule is now “much, much more inviting.” Despite these promising events, The Rule still faces challenges.

Mr Clark said, “We are feeling the effect of the Union refurbishment, [which now] caters for a vast variety of students.”

However, if The Rule gets its new look and selling points out, its success could be transformed. Already as I write this article, I see a broad customer base within the pub: students coming in to catch up or work, families in for a meal and regulars enjoying a beer. The Rule is a beautiful pub with a wonderful atmosphere, and as the opening shows, it has the potential to be very, very popular.

Photo: Laszlo Szegedi

18 February 2015 • The Saint

FEATURES Feature editor EMMA FREER Deputy editors: Olivia Gavoyannis, Kirsty Hardwick

features@thesaint-online.com

@saint_features

Broken homes?

Photo: The Saint

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How one academic family beat the odds and survived post-Raisin

T

he academic family is something that is so uniquely St Andrews in how it comes together. As it functions entirely outside of University control, it depends only on direct student-to-student interaction. As always, the competition to have a good academic family can be intense, with both parents and kids being selective in whom they choose.

Parents understandably want “cool” kids, people with whom they share similarities, whether it is a similar taste in music or in sports. Kids in turn want to have the best academic family experience they can have. As a way of ensuring this happens, they say yes to five or more parents, attend all the introductory socials and pick the best parental candidate. This method should be successful because if both parties are being equally selective with whom they choose as their kids or parent, then logically, the family as a unit should last long after Raisin.

But more often than not, academic families that survive and thrive after Raisin seem to be in the minority. Because even the most selective of parents and children have only one thing in mind: Raisin weekend. After that, what is the use of staying together? There are no further obligations beyond Raisin that exist for either parent or child, providing that the children have behaved, brought their Tesco Everyday Value bottle of wine for good old Mom and Dad and have received in exchange an (un)forgettable Raisin. Most academic families are really just “Raisin fam-

ilies,” as second-year medic student Joon Bang calls them. He is lucky, though, because his family has survived October. Mr Bang estimates that out of his friend group, most of whom are second-year students and were all adopted last year, most all of their academic families have simply faded away. These families come together and then quickly disperse. Leaving parents and siblings to awkwardly wave hello in Tesco to the people they may have puked in front of (maybe once, maybe more

”

Sarah McDonagh

I can’t imagine how we would’ve come together if we hadn’t been family

than once.)

But what about those families that stick together past Raisin? What is so different in their attitudes toward the academic family that makes them more likely to last? Fourth-year student Struan Erlenborn wanted his own academic family “to do more than [his] had.” He says: “I liked the family, but we were just never able to get hangout dates to work. We just never met up that much.” His primary goal with adopting was to avoid this common fate. His co-par-

ent, Daihachi Yagi, perhaps had loftier goals, explaining that his metric for success as an academic family was if all of their children wanted to have families of their own.

Both dads’ goals have been met.

Their family of nine sees one another “at least once every other week and at a minimum we see each other once a month,” says daughter Katie Hurst.

She describes their family as having “a different bond” than most. “You have friends at university and you have people you feel you can go to, but with academic moms, with academic dads and academic siblings, you actually feel like there’s some sort of familial relationship there and it’s amazing,” she says. Last week, as a competitor in St Andrews Got Talent, Ms Hurst also learned that the academic family, when it is still intact, can serve as “a massive support system.” Both her dads and nearly all of her siblings attended; they “brought a really big banner,” which gave her “a wonderful feeling.” Mr Bang is one of her brothers, and he agrees with her account of their family life. He explains that, while St Andrews can seem lonely at times, the academic family is a great way not only to meet people one might otherwise not have before, but also a good way of combatting any potential hard times. “I felt like I could talk about anything with my dads,” he says. “I could always just text them and ask them if I could come over, and they would always say yes.”

But once the patriarchs of their family leave, will the children continue to hangout? Or will they slowly fade away to strangers, telling their friends ‘That girl was my academ-

ic sister’ as they pass each other in the street? Ms Hurst, Mr Bang and their sister Karyn Stewart think that they will avoid that awkwardness.

Ms Stewart describes their relationship as being similar to “just a group of friends.” She says: “When I talk about my academic family to people from other universities, it’s like, technically we call ourselves a family and feel those familial ties, but I love these people as friends. I’m so glad I met them. I can’t imagine how we all would’ve come together if we hadn’t have been family.” Mr Bang adds that all of the kids came from different countries and halls and participated on different sport teams, but together they are a family.

How were Mr Erlenborn and Mr Yagi able to foster their family relationships to last past Raisin? Of course, there are the dinners hosted by parents and the potlucks to which the kids contributed. But they also go out of their way to hold other wvents such as movie nights when everyone cuddles up and watches a film together (The Room is a family favorite).

Raisin and Raisin revenge have also been essential bonding experiences.

Perhaps most important, though, are the spontaneous calls to action, such as when the entire family went out for a walk along the Fife coastal path after the summer holiday simply to catch up. Mr Bang found it reassuring that everyone wanted to hang out immediately upon returning to St Andrews, especially since he had worried over the summer if their family connection would survive the months apart. “I was wondering what was going to happen with our family, wondering if we would see each other as frequently

as we had,” he says. “But then as soon as we got back, we received the test to make time for a walkabout on the coastal path, [and] it was really nice.”

Considering this family’s experience and how great their bond seems, why don’t more families follow suit?

Most students will agree that it is not because they did not like their own parents (or children), but rather because of a lack of effort or overwhelming differences between the various family members. One third-year says that his decision to let his own academic family fizzle out after Raisin was because “it’s hard to want to make something work when everyone is so disinterested.” Additionally, fostering such close familial relationships takes time. It is the unspoken duty of parents to host at least one dinner before Raisin so that everyone at least has some idea of who they will be getting drunk with soon enough. Having the money and wherewithal beyond that to provide for kids can be overwhelming, especially if you are not keen on the commitment. Adopting with someone else who had similar aspirations for his academic family is what Mr Erlenborn credits as the reason for their success. He says that the ability to split the cost of having kids played a huge part, especially considering how many kids they have. Otherwise, he doubts he would have adopted so many.

So it seems that there are only two paths for nascent academic families to take, either that of a “Raisin family” or that of the Erlenborn-Yagi clan.

The latter option definitely takes more work but, with any luck, will outlast students’ university careers and continue on for generations to come.

The Saint • 18 February 2016

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Features 17

The pursuit of happiness

Photo: The Saint

University may not be the “best four years of your life”

Maddie Armstrong

E

very university student will have heard at least once that university is meant to be “the best four years of your life.” In countless films and books, the university experience has been idolized as an exhilarating right of passage in which students work hard, party harder, discover their true identities and meet friends they will keep for life. But, in reality, the vast majority of students are silently struggling to find happiness at university. According to a recent survey by the National Union of Students, eight out of 10 students experienced mental health issues at university last year. A third also experienced suicidal thoughts, and over half did not seek help for how they were feeling. Of the students that did not seek help, a third claimed they did not know what resources were available to them, and forty percent said they did not trust that they would have received the support they needed from their university.

These distressing results prompted the All-Party Parliamentary Group on students (APPG) to coordinate an event last December that brought together MPs and peers to address the urgent issue of students’ mental health needs on campus. Paul Blomfield, MP for Sheffield Central and chair of the APPG on students, told The Guardian: “These findings show us that significant numbers of students are suffering with mental health problems, many of them silently.” Exceedingly high expectations of what university will be like have left many students unprepared for the difficulties they will inevitably face, ashamed when they do not feel as happy as they feel they are supposed to, and unsure where to turn to for help.

Students coming to the University of St Andrews may have even higher expectations than most. Our idyllic university by the sea was named the “happiest” university in the UK in 2014 by the National Student Survey, which found that 93 per cent of St Andrews students were “satisfied or very satisfied” with their academic experience here. But in 2015, St Andrews’ student satisfaction ratings dropped significantly, placing the university at 25th place overall in the NSS poll. (Though it is worth noting that the NSS rankings are decided by

multiple factors, including students’ satisfactions with their courses and students’ association.) For many St Andrews students, university is inevitably not as idyllic as they had hoped. ***** Miriam Chappell, SRC Wellbeing Officer, notes that while there are many things that make St Andrews a wonderful place to be a student, there are ways in which our small and relatively isolated community can pose difficulties for students’ mental wellbeing. “Since we’re in such a small place, we can be a very tight-knit community, which is much easier for us than city universities,” she says.

“But it’s not without its flaws and pressures, and in any student body there will be unhappy people, people who feel isolated and people who suffer from stress.” St Andrews’ small community can be both a blessing and a curse. Ms Chappell continues: “Being surrounded by this ‘bubble’ of student life can put extra pressure on, and the pace of life is very fast as a result. And, of course, the fact that a very large proportion of our students come from abroad, and very, very few are local – it’s not easy to go home for the weekend when you need a break, which makes it all quite intense.”

St Andrews’ school presidents are working hard to improve student satisfaction within the classroom.

Megan Bruce, president of the School of History, says: “Student satisfaction is incredibly important. Our academic staff do a great job of nurturing academic curiosity, and that is a huge amount of what a satisfying academic environment is about.” More specifically, she says: “I think one of the things that helps history maintain its high levels of satisfaction, and that we have received consistently positive feedback on, is small class sizes, particularly at Honours level, and the capped tutorial sizes at sub-honours level. These go a long way to ensuring that students receive focused attention and input into their learning from experts in their field.”

But many worry that it is the system of elite education itself that is causing students to be unhappy.

William Deresiewicz, a former professor of English at Yale, called attention to the psychological harms of elite university education in a 2014 article

for The New Republic entitled ‘Don’t Send Your Kid to the Ivy League,’ which quickly went viral. He writes: “Like so many kids today, I went off to college like a sleepwalker. You chose the most prestigious place that lets you in; up ahead were vaguely understood objectives: status, wealth - ‘success.’ What it meant to actually get an education and why you might want one—all this was off the table.”

He also warns: ‘Look beneath the façade of seamless well-adjustment, and what you often find are toxic levels of fear, anxiety and depression, of emptiness and aimlessness and isolation.’ The recent NUS survey seems to prove his point.

The academic pressures at St Andrews can be equally harmful for students’ mental health. Ms Chappell says: “St Andrews is full of go-getters, as you would expect, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to achieve.

The normalisation of stress is a big problem. Stress should not be considered normal. Stress should not be seen as proof you are working hard. Stress is a problem which needs to be dealt with.”

Dr Christine Lusk, Director of Student Services, is concerned that not enough students are aware of the extensive options that Student Services provides for mental health difficulties and even the general “troubles of life” they may face while at St Andrews.

Dr Lusk told The Saint: “There is a lot of inaccurate, damaging and, frankly, dangerous misinformation… about the lack of Mental Health services here in St Andrews to the extent where students last year were frightened about seeking help.” The reality, Dr Lusk clarified, is that Student Services sees “over 4,000 students every year – not only on mental health issues of course – but with early stage problems: visas expiring, no money, study allowances for disability, housing problems” and more.

Additionally, Student Services provides help to many students for more serious problems, including a wide range of physical health issues, chronic illnesses, sexual assault and severe and enduring mental illness.

Dr Lusk insists that “the vast majority of what people present us with are troubling issues and make people feel low in mood, but are not mental illness. They are troubles of life, especially in a place where our expecta-

tions are very high and the pressures can be fierce.”

According to Dr Lusk, the University’s Student Services sees “a higher percentage than most universities” of students seeking help and tailors its resources to address the unique pressures and difficulties that St Andrews’ students face.

The Support Advisers’ team is the only one of its kind in the UK and provides students with one-on-one help whatever the issue at hand. An adviser’s job description includes “intervene[ing] to advocate on behalf of a student to take away a problem [that] is worrying them,” Dr Lusk says, such as “talking on their behalf to a landlord or helping to arrange an academic extension.” But, she adds: “Critically we have to make sure that people also realise that they have the ability to help [address] the lower level problems themselves.” For this reason, “Student Services has invested in an online self-help workshop tool for mental health through which a staff member will help support the student through.” This has had phenomenally positive effects on many, many stu-

The normalisation of stress is a big problem... Stress should not be seen as proof you are working hard

”

dents this year.

Nightline is another resource available for students who struggle with mental wellbeing. Toby Phimister, Nightline’s publicity officer, says: “Students can face a variety of difficulties through their time at university. Be it feeling homesick, troubles with friends, academic difficulties or just needing to chat with someone.

Nightline is a space for students to talk about anything that might be on their mind. The goal of the service is to listen and not lecture.”

Ms Chappell is quick to add that there are plenty of options available on campus, including Nightline, that provide guidance to students for a variety of issues. Student Minds offer peer support. Saints LGBT+ run an anonymous email that is open to everyone. The Union’s Wellbeing Committee helps to coordinate destress events in conjunction with the University’s own mental health resources, especially around exams.

This week is, in fact, Mental Health Awareness Week, and the University is hosting visiting speakers, yoga practice, dance classes and more in recognition of it. ***** University may not be the best four years of your life. Of course, there will be days that are worse than others and memories that we would all prefer to forget. But, with the right support system, personal challenges can be addressed and the university experience can be made better. Advocates for mental health resources on campus and the team at Student Services are working hard to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health difficulties and to provide help for all sorts of life’s issues. To this end, Dr Lusk ultimately has a hopeful message for St Andrews students who may be struggling. “We have the brightest and most resilient students who, with encouragement, can develop the self-strengthening strategies to face challenges,” she says. “If, as they do, they realise the troubles are temporary and can be worked through, they go on to succeed well.”

She suggests that most students are able to reach this point and notes that the University has one of the lowest attrition rates of any university in the world. The challenges of the bubble may be unique, but so are its benefits. If students can learn to seek out support when they need it, university will not only be a good time but also a period of personal growth.

Nightline is open from 8 pm to 7 am every night that halls are open. Students can contact the service at 01334 462266, via email at nightline@st-andrews.ac.uk or through their new instant messaging service, which can be accessed through their website: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/ nightline.

18 Features

18 February 2016 • The Saint

Photo: Lorelei Pfeffer

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Extra! Extra!

In honour of The Saint’s 200th issue, we looked back at the papers that came before it Emma Freer Features editor

T

his issue of The Saint is our 200th, and it fits into a long history of student journalism in St Andrews. Before The Saint launched in 1997, its predecessors covered campus happenings in broadsheet form and through tabloid supplements. Some archived issues of Aien, The Chronicle and The Saint are even in the library’s Red Gown Collection (though most are kept in deep storage as part of Special Collections). Reading through them, one learns of the major changes to student life in St Andrews: We no longer debate the validity of an SRCfunded Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week, worry about WWIII breaking out between the United States and Russia or read exclusive interviews with Britney Spears (which is a real thing that happened in 2002). But the more things change, the more they stay the same, as they say. Since the inaugural issue of Aien debuted in 1962, students have been writing about the accommodation crisis, the lack of funding for the Union and student societies, the American invasion and the inadequate size of the library.

In honour of today’s issue, here is a brief account of the storied history behind The Saint. ***** On Friday 13 April, 1962, Aien debuted its first issue, available to students for sixpence. The front-page headline read: ‘Wanted: £1 Million.’

The chancellor had recently launched the University’s first ever public appeal in an attempt to supplement the treasury grants, which at the time only covered half of the cost of the University’s proposed expansion over the next decade. The student body was predicted to increase 100 per cent, and campus leaders were beginning to panic. Luckily, the first donation was a big one, from none other Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

And so Aien established itself as an important student resource. It

was created as a result of the merger between two existing publications, Quorum and Venture, both of which had shut down due to outstanding debts. But after issuing an appeal – clearly a commonplace event in those days – the conjoined staff were able to raise enough money to launch Aien. Named for the first part of the University’s motto – αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν in Greek, or “Ever to Excel”– the paper was meant to inform students in both St Andrews and Dundee and to help facilitate communication between the two groups.

Aien stories ranged from news items to interviews with the Rector.

Bridge tips were offered as well as a recipe for whiskey sours. Student poetry was featured and productions at the Byre were reviewed. The ongoing quest for Scottish independence was lauded and lamented in the early pages of Viewpoint. In February of 1980, one staff writer criticized the members of the St Andrews Debating Society, who had “proved themselves disappointingly conservative” when arguing the motion: ‘This House would legalize Cannabis and actively advertise and sell it.’

However, after years of consistent coverage and important stories, Aien was felled when the grant money they received from the Union was systematically reduced.

In 1983, the first issue of The Chronicle, the immediate predecessor of The Saint, hit newsstands. It cost 20p. The front-page story – ‘New Look Union’ – covered a dispute over whether the Union should develop a ground floor space for a student bookshop. (Later issues would cover the purchase of that student bookshop

by Blackwell’s as well as the gradual closings of local booksellers.) The story also mentioned “moves under way to improve the amazingly popular Megadiscos” hosted by the Students’ Association.

In its first editorial, The Chronicle stated its goal “to cater for the individual as well as the mainstream.” It continued: “We sincerely hope that you will find in this first issue at least one item of interest,” whether you go

out to “all the wild parties” or you “feel the pressure to go out and talk to others only when its time for a tutorial!”

The paper’s democratic aims were evidenced by its stories’ scope. In one issue, the first annual Gay and Lesbian Awareness Week was met with criticism from one student who felt that SRC grant money was being inappropriately used to put on a gay cabaret. A few issues later, an anonymous student proposed that a Christian Awareness Week replace the “sickening” new event. The recurring Gossip Slot feature not only named students caught making out in halls, but also speculated as to the sexual orientation of certain sport team captains. One would-be informant wrote to the Gossip Slot author, known by the pseudonym Private Dick, to report on the alleged topless sunbathing of Lumsden Club members near the tennis courts.

Another issue featured an article on the ‘Drink Problem’ amongst students. The author, a female student, argued that women were more susceptible to addiction because of their smaller frames and a tendency to “drink heavily under exam pressure.”

However, she ultimately concluded that alcoholism was not that significant of an issue considering it only affected a small number of students – at her estimate, only 11 per cent – most of whom “[fell] into the category of those with academic troubles.”

Shortly thereafter, the paper ran the story ‘Alcoholics Unanimous’ about a springtime beer festival.

Luckily, St Andrews has become much more enlightened since The Chronicle years. But its articles remind us of how far we have come.

More progressive articles include an account from a student who had spent a semester abroad in Moscow in the late 1980s. In it, he discusses the shortage of basic essentials, lack of consumer items and suspected phone-tapping under Soviet rule. But he also notes the kindness of his hosts and their allegiance to their culture, if not their government. Another article discussed the very serious prob-

lem of heroin abuse and included a short first-person account from a student who had used the drug during the summer whilst in London. In 1987, one headline read: ‘AIDS in St Andrews: How safe are you?’ The author addresses the then common misconceptions that being straight and abstaining from intravenous drug use precluded one from contracting the virus.

Such articles emphasize the distance between those readers and today’s student body. However, others highlight the continuities of the St Andrews experience. One writer compared estate agents to Big Brother while griping about the eternal struggle to find decent accommodation. A fashion feature recommended very dated ‘striped baggies’ and ‘great big jackets’ to keep warm – and comfortable, mostly – while also sending up the perennial favourites: Hunter wellies and Burberry scarves. A joint interview with the presidents of the Kate Kennedy Club and the now-defunct Not KK Club proved interesting. (At the time, the Not KK Club had 130 members and raised money for charity while dismissing elitism and gender discrimination.) In 1986, The Chronicle covered the first ever strike

by University lecturers, a trend that has been continued by The Saint since, including during 2014’s short-lived marking boycott. ***** In 1997, The Chronicle was rebranded as The Saint in conjunction with a shift to a more tabloid style of reporting. The cost of each issue was raised to 50p. Alongside its new Halo supplement, the paper reported on student streakers who were spotted on Market Street or caught seeking entry into the Bop. Freshers’ Weeks in the early 2000s were oftentimes Ibiza themed and sometimes featured stripped poles for students and invited guest performers. Meanwhile, the entire University was reeling at the news of Prince William’s imminent arrival. A few years later, one lucky student journalist was able to inter-

view Kate Middleton, asking her why she was at university. Her response?

“To get an overall education in all aspects of life.”

Similarly hard-hitting reporting was done by Marie-Louise Gumuchian, the lucky student writer who interviewed Britney Spears for The Saint during her press tour for the movie Crossroads. Her twenty minutes with the pop icon was parlayed into a two-page spread.

By 2005, The Saint was covering life after royalty, polling students on what St Andrews was like now that Prince William had graduated. One student admitted she was looking forward to class without security guards in attendance, but most remarked on how kind and unpretentious he had been.

In the same issue, there was an interview with the then president of the Students’ Association, Alex Yabroff, about his membership in the KK as well as whether he was a boobs, ass or legs man.

Since then, The Saint has tried to evolve into a more serious and professional publication. In addition to focusing on the quality of writing and the relevance of our content, we have also worked to improve the aesthetics of the paper. To this end, you may have noticed our new layout, unveiled for this issue.

The Saint is one of very few UK student newspapers to boast full financial and editorial independence from both their university and their student union. Unlike the Aien, The Saint is no longer dependent on grant funding; instead, we are entirely reliant on advertising. (Furthermore, The Saint is now always free.) Because of this, we are able to exercise considerable independence and to print stories about the student elections and the University. Of course, sometimes this leads to tension, but ultimately our goal is to provide an unbiased and thoughtful resource for students about life on this campus. Luckily, we have a rich history at our disposal.

If you are interested in The Saint, read on to learn about former staff.

Olivia Gavoyannis Deputy features editor

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thesaint-online.com

Where are they now?

Saint edition

any of the pages that appear on Google when you type in the phrase ‘where are they now’ detail the career deterioration of previous X Factor contestants and East Enders child stars. However, a similar Internet page dedicated to those that previously worked at The Saint would tell a very different story.

Many of the students who were involved in The Saint during their time at the University of St Andrews have ended up in a variety of impressive roles, ranging from correspondent for The Wall Street Journal to head of regional fundraising at Marie Curie for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Despite the varying career paths that The Saint alumni have taken since they left university, they all share fond memories of their time at the publication. Indeed, when reminiscing about his time at The Saint, John Bowker, who was editor in 2001, admits that he was “quite bereft when [he] had to depart at the end of the calendar year.” He adds that the paper became an integral part of his student experience: “I remember I even got two extensions on essay deadlines because I had lost my sense of purpose - I genuinely didn’t see the point of being at university if I wasn’t working for The Saint.” Mr Bowker has held a number of different positions around the world since leaving The Saint and is currently news editor for SubSaharan Africa at Bloomberg Business.

Fortunately Mr Bowker has retained his love of journalism from his student days: “I still love my job and profession. I love news - of all kinds - I’m addicted to it. I know I should read more books, but news just does it for me. I love writing it and packaging it and sending it out to the world”.

He pinpoints the start of his career to his time at St Andrews: “It all started on a fortnightly, 50p (yes we used to sell it then - in pairs, in shifts, outside the library and union) student rag in a small town in Fife.” Anybody who has ever tried to hand out The Saint will understand that Mr Bowker must have a real passion for his profession.

Even handing out free copies of The Saint can sometimes test one’s resolve.

However, Mr Bowker’s experience was not anomalous. When asked about how The Saint had an impact on their career, many alumni revealed that it was this publication that helped them to decide what they wanted to do after graduation. Indeed, for Elliot Davies, who held the positions of deputy editor, web editor and Editor during his time at the University, being involved in The Saint completely changed his career ambitions: “Getting involved in it completely changed what I wanted to do with my life - from ‘something computer science-y’ to ‘something computer science-y in a newsroom.’” In addition to giving him a new focus, Mr Davies’ involvement in The Saint created many opportunities for him, which included being involved with the National Student Publication Association and

writing a weekly column on student media for The Independent. He added: “When I graduated last summer (in computer science) I went straight into a job at The Times off the back of it all,” working as a newsroom developer, which he describes as “a mix of software development and editorial stuff.” Caitlin Hamilton, who was features editor from 2012 to 2013, is another member of The Saint alumni whose career was shaped by her time at the publication. “Having always loved the written word, and coming from a science background, my time at The Saint - three years as a writer, and my final as an editor - was truly pivotal in helping to shape my chosen career in science journalism,” she says. Since leaving the University, Mrs Hamilton has studied an MA in Science Journalism at City University London where she spent time working for several national newsrooms and is now a communications officer at Cancer Research UK. Although it is neither commercial nor national, The Saint is still a professional publication and as Ms Hamilton remarks, it compares with many other newspapers that she has worked for: “I can honestly liken my time spent with national publications to experiences gained alongside exceptional Saint contributors.” Indeed, The Saint complies with the editorial standards of a national newspaper and its physical and online publication, financial and editorial independence and elected committee are features that are to be applauded in a student publication.

Jane Bradley, who was news editor between 2000 and 2001 told The Saint: “I have since worked at the Edinburgh Evening News, The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and The Sunday Times, but still look back on my time on The Saint as one of my favourite jobs.” Ms Bradley is currently consumer affairs correspondent and columnist at The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday. She also notes that the professional setup of The Saint gave her the opportunity to refine the skills that she would use later on in her professional life: “The Saint was the best start in journalism I could have had - it was a microcosm of a real newspaper, a training ground where we could experiment and learn from our mistakes.” Indeed, as Peter Ranscombe, former reporter and columnist for The Saint between 2000 and 2004 and current freelance journalist and copywriter, points out: “It’s far less scary to make mistakes in front of your friends than in front of a fire-breathing news editor.” Ms Bradley adds that her experience with The Saint gave her an insight into the world of “professional responsibility,” because “if the paper needed to be ready to go to the printer at a certain time, it had to go. And if that meant us all working in the office until 1 am to finish laying out the pages on one of our dodgy, ancient Apple Macs, that was what we had to do.”

She continues: “I spent a lot more time working on The Saint than I ever did on my degree and I’m glad I did as it was an invaluable start to my newspaper career.”

In addition to gaining valuable journalism skills, Ms Hamilton also suggests that her time at The Saint gave her valuable life skills. “The skill set gifted to me by my time at The Saint absolutely gave me an advantage in the work place,” she says. “As a writer and editor, my involvement with the paper taught me to widen my interests, to always ask questions (no matter how small and seemingly insignificant) and to remain open-minded.”

She continues: “All invaluable skills, not only in the world of journalism, but also in life.” Mr Bowker adds to this by stating that “The Saint was a fantastic experience both personally - I still have great friends who I met on the paper - and professionally. Learning as you go along what makes a story, how to compose effective headlines, choosing illustrations - then as editor actually running a business and motivating [and] training people.”

Many of The Saint alumni have used these valuable life skills to go into careers slightly removed from the world of journalism. One such alumnus who has chosen not to pursue a career directly related to journalism is John Edward, who was part of The Chronicle, the student newspaper that preceded The Saint, from 1988 to 1992 and who held the position of editor from 19911992. Mr Edward told The Saint that he has had a “long history since then” and that he has “just been appointed chief campaign spokesman for Scotland Stronger In Europe - part of the formal ‘remain’ campaign for the forthcoming referendum on the UK’s EU membership.”

Another alumnus to have taken a step away from the journalistic sphere is John Fluharty, who was the photography editor for The Saint from 2006 to 2007. Mr Fluharty has taken the skills that he learnt at The Saint to an international stage and has led a fascinating life since leaving the University; he has worked in Afghanistan for a democracy building think tank, worked on Mitt Romney’s campaign, spent three years in Washington DC working for an international development agency, consulted on debates for US Senatorial campaigns in 2014 and is currently at law school in Virginia.

The collective success of The Saint alumni, both locally and internationally, and the fond memories that they have of the publication show the impact that student journalism can have on those students who get involved. In addition to benefitting the individual contributors, Mr Ranscombe points out that “university journalism is really important because it gives students

a voice - student journalists can stand up for the rights of their peers and help to hold university authorities to account.” These former contributors and editors acted as the voice of the student commun i t y when

Features 19

they were at the University of St Andrews and have gone on to represent interests extending beyond the Bubble. However, all of them are part of the history of The Saint, which has been the independent voice of the University since 1997 and will continue to represent the student community well beyond this 200th issue. So stay tuned.

Illustration: Renee Godyn

The Saint • 18 February 2016

20 Features

18 February 2016 • The Saint

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Breaking the silence An introduction to St Andrews’ Quaker community

M

any rooms are quiet at 10:30 on a Sunday morning in a university town. A hush falls over St Andrews from around 3am, disturbed only by the grating calls of seagulls and over-eager golfers. But down Hope Street, a different kind of silence is to be found, where St Andrews’ community of Quakers meet to share in an hour of reflection and worship. ***** Quakerism is a faith without rules and without limits. Instead, the Quakers subscribe to an ethos encouraging peace, tolerance and respect for all. Some identify as Christians, others as atheists, but many fall somewhere in between, believing we can and do have personal experience of God, howsoever we conceive of such a being.

It is this experience of God, as well as the support from the community (indeed, ‘Quaker’ is colloquialism for a member of the Religious Society of Friends, and fellow members may be referred to as Friends) that guides Quakers in ethical and spiritual questions in their lives.

Attending a Quaker meeting is so unlike other religious services that it is easier to explain by describing what does not happen than what does.

Firstly, there is no priest. George Fox founded Quakerism after developing reservations about the reliance of seventeenth-century Christianity on the clergy. He chafed at the belief that preachers were responsible for the spiritual lives of their parishes, whilst laymen had a duty to listen and learn from the preachers. Instead, the Quakers emphasise the importance of a personal experience of God, whom they believe can be found in all people. The closest that a Quaker community has to a leader is the role of a clerk, who deals with the administrative elements of the meeting, but it is a central Quaker tenet that everyone who worships is of equal importance.

Secondly, although some Quaker

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meetings have a set structure, even including sermons, most Quaker meetings have neither preaching nor hymns nor set prayer. To an onlooker it may appear that a meeting consists of no more than sitting together in silence. However, Dudley Foster, a local member of the St Andrews community of Quakers, explains that although “occasionally you have a meeting that’s silent all the time” more often people are moved to speak. In fact, it is because “you speak when you’re moved by the Spirit… [that one cannot] expect it to happen immediately.” When it does happen, someone may stand to read a passage they have found helpful or to share an experi-

”

Kirsty Hardwick Deputy features editor

What I most like about Quaker views is their emphasis on tolerance... The community is strengthened by its willingness to support all in their individual faith journeys

ence they have had or to offer some reflections on what has been said, all of which are referred to as “ministry.”

Although one person’s ministry may follow and build on another, the meetings are neither discussions nor debates. Instead, Quakers are encouraged to reflect upon ministry, particularly if it does not immediately resonate with them, and to try to

see beyond the words to the motivations and experiences behind what has been said. It is this trust and respect that fills the silence and allows Quakers to share in often profound moments.

Mr Foster recalls that during his first experience of a Quaker meeting, one man stood up and spoke about “trying to imagine what it was like to go in for the first time into a Quaker House” and went on to describe almost exactly what it had felt like for him.

Just as with many religions, many Quakers will have been brought up in the community. In St Andrews, a separate children’s meeting is held at the same time as the main meeting, and they join the adults for the last 10 to 15 minutes of their meeting. However, Mr Foster insists that you get the sense that “all the children who come, come because they want to come.”

He says: “The Quakers are respectful to little children,” which is in concert with their treatment of adults.

Nonetheless, it is not unusual for Friends to find about Quakerism much later in life. This is particularly interesting considering that the Quakers have no interest in trying to persuade others to convert and that conversion is not necessary to attend the meetings or to take part in the community as all are welcome. Marissa Wallin, a fourthyear philosophy student, first got involved with the Quakers in the autumn of 2014, following conversations about theology with the Reverend Dr Donald MacEwan, the Chaplain to the University. She explains that she had been “struggling to find a church in St Andrews that suited [her].” Mr Foster tells a similar story. He was taken to an Anglican Church by his mother as a child, but did not find a denomination that suited his theological views until much later in his life. Eventually, he began to realise that “maybe the people who have got all the things I have liked and none of the things I don’t like are the Quakers.” ***** But what can we learn from a religion with no rules to live by, par-

ticularly one that most students may not even have known existed in St Andrews? Mr Foster argues that Quakerism serves an important purpose for its adherents, emphasizing “how you behave rather than rules.”

Growing up in Darlington, a town with such strong links to Quakerism that their football club is termed ‘The Quakers,’ Mr Foster went to a Quaker primary school and says: “though I didn’t know much about the worship, all the things I did know were positive.” He also remembers having a particularly good teacher who would tell students that it is “not always the best idea to tell you the answer” but that it is “better to get you to find the answer yourself,” a philosophy that aligns with key Quaker values.

Also central to Quakerism is a belief in tolerance and respect for others.

“What I most like about Quaker views is their emphasis on tolerance,” says Ms. Wallins. “They endorse the idea that there are many paths to God and do not judge anyone for the particular path that leads them to God. Instead, “the community is strengthened by its willingness to support all in their individual faith journeys.”

Furthermore, Quakers believe that their faith should be expressed through action, as is attested by their social work.

The Religious Society of Friends has spoken out in favour of topics as varied as economic justice, same-sex marriage and sustainability and against nuclear warfare. Even if one may not come to the same conclusions as Quakers on these issues, it is hard not to recognize their integrity as a group and devotion to maintaining a respectful attitude towards difference of opinion. To this end, one of their beliefs is a recognition that we are all fallible.

This respect can also be seen in the running of Quaker communities. Mr Foster likens the decision procedure to the Japanese notion of Nemawashi, which emphasises the importance of reaching a consensus by involving everyone in the discussion. He claims that the benefit of this system is that it focuses the discussion on “the search for something that they can agree on.”

While he admits that this “slower, more consultative process of making deci-

sions [may be] frustrating,” the reward is that most often “the decision sticks.”

Currently, there is no firm established link between the Quakers in St Andrews and the student body, although all students are very welcome to attend meetings and to get involved.

Their tolerance and friendliness is only compounded by their openness to other belief systems. Recently, the St Andrews Quakers organised an outing to the Kirkcaldy mosque open day to learn more about Islam and different experiences of God. Perhaps the most famous belief held by many Quakers is their pacifism, which was notable particularly during the World Wars. Many Quakers chose to be conscientious objectors when drafted and numerous Quaker initiatives were launched during fighting, including the provision humanitarian relief. For example, the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) was set up in 1914 and assisted those displaced by the war.

Mr Foster specifically mentioned his cousin’s husband who had been a conscientious objector during World War II. At the outbreak of war, he had been a student at Cambridge very interested in theology and later became an Anglican preacher. However, it was not until when he was 70 that he started attending Quaker meetings and talked of having finally having “found his spiritual home.” ***** The end of a meeting is signalled by the shaking of hands, a gesture of both peace and friendship. After notices, many of the Friends stay on for tea or coffee and the Meeting House becomes anything but silent as discussions of the ministry take place alongside offers of support for those who may have spoken about personal difficulties during the meeting and general chit-chat. The quiet is gone from the streets of St Andrews too; it is lunchtime and students and tourists alike are surfacing to have breakfast.

Further information on Quakerism can be found at www.quakerscotland.org or alternatively all are welcome to attend meetings at 10:30 on Sunday at 2 Howard Place.

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Features 21

hours in Ko Phi Phi Don

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ocated on the west coast of southern Thailand, Ko Phi Phi Don is everything I envisioned island life to be and more. The harbour is lined with traditional Thai longboats, the water crystal clear, and the limestone rock, rich with trees and wildlife, towers over the island in every direction. There were no cars, no motorbikes, no roads - a breath of fresh air when compared with the colossal Asian cities that surround it.

For all these reasons and more, I had heard and read so much about its relaxed atmosphere by day and beach clubs by night, and I could not wait to experience it all.

Friday afternoon

Phi Phi is accessible only by ferries that travel from other islands and the mainland several times a day. It is essential to book ferries in advance in order to secure your place as well as to avoid the highly inflated prices at the docks. Upon arrival you are obliged to pay a 20 Baht (around 40p) fee that contributes to keeping the island clean, which is more than reasonable considering the beaches and surrounding waters are impeccable.

I took the ferry from Phuket and was greeted by a staff member from our hotel who had a wheelbarrow contraption for our bags and guided us through the tiny streets to the reception. All new arrivals were greeted by shopkeepers and locals with waves, smiles and calls of “Welcome to Phi Phi island.” The overwhelming feeling of friendliness and relaxation is almost instantaneous; I attribute this greatly to the locals.

I stayed at Ibiza House, a hotel and hostel located just steps away from the beach. In addition to having its own restaurant and hosting its own pool parties, it is also a stone’s throw away from a host of other beach clubs and dining options. Although it is a little more expensive than other lodging options on the island (costing £70 for a three-night stay), its location and the amenities provided made it that I was happy to pay a bit extra. (Though this may seem cheap, a little money goes a long way in Southeast Asia.)

The hotel hosted a pool party the afternoon I arrived consisting of a DJ and buckets of Thai rum. Despite

it being the low season, there were hundreds of people dancing, drinking and enjoying the sun. Everyone seemed totally relaxed and equally in awe of their surroundings as I was.

Friday evening As the sun set people began to trickle towards to beach, and so I followed. The view from the stretch of beach just behind the hotel played host to one of the most sensational views I have ever seen.

Afterwards I went in search of food. Authentic Thai food is otherworldly - flavourful, spicy, and incredibly cheap. Stalls had been set up in front of closed shops selling an array of marinated meats, the chicken undoubtedly being my favourite.

Amongst the stalls were open shops selling tickets for boat excursions and ferries to other islands; I decided on a day-trip around Phi Phi costing 500 Baht, around £10. I was given my receipt and ticket for the following morning and continued on my way. Further down I found The Pirate House restaurant, which serves a combination of Thai and Western foods. The latter was the deciding factor, as I believe familiar foods have a way of helping expel the feeling of missing home. My meal (a chicken, pesto and pasta combination) was impressive, as was the continuous loop of Red Hot Chilli Peppers blaring from the speakers.

Saturday morning At 10am I returned to the shop where I had bought my ticket and met with the group I would be travelling with as well as our captain. In addition to the guided tour, my ticket also included two meals. Although I cannot pretend I loved the coleslaw breakfast sandwich, it was unbelievable value for the money.

The weather when we left Phi Phi was perfect: blue skies, still waters and shining sun. I travelled by longboat, and away from land the sea was incredibly choppy. If you suffer from seasickness I would definitely suggest taking a speedboat as they seemed to be handling the waves much better than we were. At points the boat rocked so aggressively it felt as though we would go overboard.

But the captain’s relaxed and quietly

confident demeanour relaxed me entirely, and his laughter put everyone else at ease.

In the morning we travelled to Bamboo Island and Mosquito Island.

Bamboo Island is a nature reserve and costs an addition 200 Baht to enter, so factor this in when packing your bag for the day. Unlike the other islands in Phi Phi, it is totally undeveloped and consists only of white beaches and lush forest. The surrounding waters are crystal clear. Its sister island, Mosquito Island, is the most popular location in the Phi Phi area for snorkeling. Our tour provided us with the appropriate equipment, and despite my reservations I knew I had to experience it.

Underneath the surface the sea floor sat but a few feet away from me, covered in coral for as far as my goggle-covered eyes could see. Huge schools of tiny fish swam around me, greens and blues and yellows darting curiously to and from the eager hands that reached out to them. I only wish I could have spent more time underwater.

Saturday afternoon After lunch and more turbulent seafaring, we visited lagoons and were encouraged to swim and snorkel some more. We then visited Monkey Beach, which in reality consists of a very little beach and lots of rock. The island itself, however, is home to a large macaque population. Despite having read warnings of monkey attacks and bites, the captain assured us if we were friendly and respectful to the animals they would be so to us. It was fascinating to see how close these wild animals were willing to come to the visitors, how willing they were to let people feed them and take photos with them.

The final stop on the tour was Maya Bay, made famous after having featured in the Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Beach. By far the busiest stop on our trip, our longboats stopped some way away from the limestone. After being offered life vests and a waterproof bag for everyone to place their belongings in, we were instructed to jump into the lagoon and swim towards the rock, using a net attached to its side to climb onto

the island. It is not for the faint-hearted.

But after the swim and a climb up a man-made path, one is led to a swarm of tourists who had already arrived.

Like all other Phi Phi beaches, the white powder sand stretched away from me on either side. In front loomed the glistening Andaman Sea, and lush vegetation towered over the island. On the rocky journey back to the main island, I could not help but think it was very possibly the best £10 I had ever spent.

Saturday evening After a well deserved disco nap, I firstly had to book my travel for the following day, when I would be travelling to Ao Nang (a Thai beach resort back on the mainland). Ferry tickets are easy to come by, and the prices in Phi Phi are so reasonable there is little need to barter for them.

Later, I went out. The clubs in Phi Phi were unlike anything I had ever seen before. There were rows and rows of loungers, and some even boasted fire dancers and singers. The mood changed from one club to the next, but one consistent feature was the hundreds of young travellers like myself enjoying themselves. Music stopped playing at 2 am, but the bars stayed open until customers began to leave on their own.

Sunday morning The last morning consisted of staying in bed for as long as possible before avidly trying to repack my rucksack within our check out time. I had breakfast at one of the bars on the beach - a baguette to ensure my stomach was calm for the oncoming ferry journey.

After walking along the beach and taking as many photos as my phone could store, it was time to head back to the hotel to collect our bags and make our way back down to the harbour.

Phi Phi delivered everything a beach holiday should: blue skies, white beaches and perfect waters. It is an island so versatile it can be made to fit anyone’s preferences. For the adventurous there are a magnitude of excursions from rock climbing to scuba diving; for those in search of relaxation there are miles of beach, spas and hotels hidden far from the nightlife; and for those in between there are the options of boat trips, both private and with a larger group. If you are ever in this part of the world, I hope you to give it a try for yourself.

This article is based on a post published on the author’s travel blog. To read more, go to: www.caitlinjeanrussell.org.

All photos: Caitlin Russell

Caitlin Russell

22 Photography

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18 February • The Saint

Week in pictures

Photos from dRAG Walk, UNICEF’s Symposium launch, and Coffee House Sessions

Photo: Sammi Ciardi Photo: Sammi Ciardi

Photo: Sammi Ciardi

Photo: Harry Gunning Photo: Lorelei Pfeffer

Photo: Harry Gunning

Photography editor LORELEI PFEFFER Deputy editors: Taylor Almeraz and Sammi Ciardi thesaint-online.com/pictures

photography@thesaint-online.com

Photo Story: Love’s a Glitch Photo editor Lorelei Pfeffer explores how we perceive love

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EVENTS Events editor EMMA GALLIGANI Deputy editors; Antonia Ward, Natasha Franks

events@thesaint-online.com

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@saint_events

FS 2016: was it everything we wanted and more?

After months of scepticism and scrutiny, The Saint reviews one of St Andrews’ most “iconic” nights Natasha Franks Deputy events editor

T

he St Andrews Charity Fashion Show has had its share of detractors in the past, myself included.

Likewise, it has had its share of admirers, myself also included. It is a fine line to walk, but I believe that an event of such a massive size deserves a proportional level of scrutiny. What on the surface appears to be no more than seven hours of expensive champagne, beautiful people and loud music is in actuality a mammoth entity, executed on a scale large enough to rival a professionally organised fashion show. For all the criticism that I have levied at FS over the past few months, I, along with many others, continued to anticipate the event as being the biggest night out of the year. On Saturday 13 February, the committee sought to deliver on that expectation.

We must admit that few events in St

disappoint: The sensible, yet physically appealing layout featured multiple bars, a centrally located catwalk and countless tables stocked with champagne, disposable cameras and popcorn. Unfortunately, security yet again disappointed us with their apparent inability to prevent theft.

Many guests arrived to find their tables already stripped bare of Veuve Clicquot, a heavy blow considering that high ticket costs are often justified by the amount of free alcohol provided. Possibly for this reason, the bars were buzzing from the moment we arrived (NB: The bars conveniently

cellent views to the standard sections.

From nearly anywhere in the room, guests were able to see the entire runway, further aided by the livestream being projected on massive screens on either side of the tent.

The models - unsmiling, in accordance with FS tradition - navigated their way through outstretched hands and spilled champagne, very rarely (and discreetly) breaking character to offer a wink or a simper to enthusiastic friends. For the most part, they dedicated themselves to performing the show’s intricate choreography, a series of turns and stops and starts

tation: Larger than life, FS will always be an event that needs to be seen to be believed. Understatedly classed as a mere student-run fashion show, no amount of description can fully capture the sight of champagne drunk twenty-year old students breathlessly bidding on a diamond necklace or dropping £550 on a dinner date with the model of their choice. The night’s biggest item - a weekend in Milan for Fendi’s fall/winter fashion show - managed to exceed expectations by cashing in at a grand total of £8000, all for the benefit of SANE, this year’s charitable partner.

It can be argued that there is no need to change something that, for 24 years, has continued to be nothing short of iconic.

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It’s a fine line to walk, but I believe that an event of such a massive size deserves a proportional level of scrutiny

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Photo by: Paloma Fernandez

Andrews can sell out based on no more than a brand name, but FS’ utter lack of marketing throughout this year proved it to be capable of doing just that. Beginning with the VIP and Corporate reception at 6:30 and lasting until the final stragglers had been ushered through the gates, a steady mob of scantily clad guests migrated from the farthest reaches of St Andrews to Lower College Lawn.

By checking IDs at wristband collection rather than on the door, the committee prevented last year’s bottleneck upon our arrival at the venue, a relief to those who could recall FS 2015’s endless entrance queue. Guests followed a circular path around Sallies Quad, showing their wristbands at multiple security checkpoints before being allowed inside the marquee itself. Despite this attempt at preventing unwelcome visitors, the venue was home to a startling amount of wristbandless gatecrashers, one of the night’s first hints that security may not have been quite up to scratch.

The venue itself did not fail to

The infamous transition from show to afterparty was now set to take place. Guests were ushered from the marquee promptly at 10:30, and told by security that they would not be permitted entry again for the next half hour. This harsh pronouncement, apparently the result of a miscommunication, was hastily overturned by members of FS’s Events team, who ensured that those who wished to remain in the warm venue (where Blackhorn wraps were available for purchase) could do so.

Aside from this initial hitch, the

required no minimum spend on card purchases, making emergency trips to the cash machine obsolete).

Although several attendees’ evenings were unquestionably tainted by table thefts, the excitement in the air remained palpable. When the lights finally dimmed and the music began, it felt as though we had arrived at the denouement of a long year of suspense. At last, St Andrews nightlife was about to live up to its full potential.

One of FS’s many idiosyncrasies is a stellar opening act. Walking to the beat of a suitably haunting melody, the models emerged shrouded in veils, gauzy black fabric that was eagerly snatched up by various members of the crowd. Unlike last year’s zigzagging catwalk, this year the runway assumed a box-like structure, encasing the VIP section while also offering ex-

that appeared almost dance-like in nature.

Several partygoers took advantage of the permissive security guards by occasionally chucking ice cubes across the runway or laying down on the catwalk itself. A few admonishments were issued, but the amount of infractions committed far exceeded those that were prevented. The most egregious testament to FS’s subpar security: One guest climbing onto the runway itself and drunkenly strutting alongside the models, before diving back into the standard section with unimpeachable ease.

Following this entertaining first half of the night, Head of PR Chris Carroll emerged onto the stage to introduce the auction, a tantalising list of lots that could tempt even the most frugal among us. It was here, most of all, that the show lived up to its repu-

In a move reminiscent of a Victoria’s Secret fashion show, headliner DJ Rae emerged onto the runway itself, microphone in hand, for the opening of Act II. The live music was a refreshing break from the night’s official soundtrack. Controlling the DJ booth for the second year in a row, Joe Jones did not display a lack of musical talent; however, his mix cannot be said to have been a highlight of the show. Save for an impressive drop during the opening walk, the music remained relegated to little more than background noise, an impressive feat bearing in mind the strength of the speakers in the room. The mix for FS 2016 was, to put it plainly, under-whelming. It did little more than its job: to give the models a beat until they took their final, grinning bows for the finale.

transition went surprisingly well.

Aided by the shape of the runway, the marquee was quickly transformed into what felt like a series of rooms, preventing the rather empty feeling of last year’s afterparty. The largest “room,” formerly the VIP section, quickly evolved into the main dancefloor, which by half past eleven was mobbed past the point of motion. Aided by a steady selection of excellent songs, the weary crowd continued to dance until, at 2am, the party finally came to an end.

After nearly a quarter century, FS must be saluted for maintaining its identity. While the blueprint is largely similar year by year, it can be argued that there is no need to change something that, for 24 years, has continued to be nothing short of iconic. Personally, I would enjoy a fresh spin on the classic brand.

Fashion, as we all know, is a constantly changing entity; even Karl Lagerfeld has admitted that Coco would despise his modern take on Chanel. But with over £35,000 being donated to charity last year alone and even more set to be raised this year, it is difficult to say that the St Andrews Charity Fashion Show was anything other than a roaring success. Congratulations to the committee and the models for pulling off such a memorable night.

The Saint • 18 February 2016

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Events 25

Rule Student Nights: the VIC’s future rival?

Piers Mosselmans

The Rule has recently been renovated in an attempt to become another destination for students on a night out. The dancefloor is now the key aspect of the pub-club, and though the overall lay-out of the area has not changed drastically, it seems to have more of a VIC-like feel, due to the addition of quality lighting and a transformation of the area by the bar, opening more space for people to show off their wonky dance-moves...

Despite this, The Rule, to me, still comes across as a better destination for a Sunday morning than for a Saturday night. Their Launch Party was successful but the ‘Beer Garden’ closes at 9pm, meaning that the only place for one to smoke or get some fresh air is outside the main entrance. Furthermore, the prices of the cocktails have almost doubled, though you can still get a pitcher for just under £10. Additionally, some of their draught beers are still very reasonably priced, such as the Eden Mill Blonde at £3.30.

This transformation has also seen changes to the all-important food menu, and I can confirm that the food is still of a great quality. I personally recommend the Gammon Steak.

Unfortunately, they have not invested well in speakers, which

seems rather unbalanced, though there’s nothing that DJ Flo or Alistair Todd can’t fix... The Rule may become the latest destination for a Saturday night, though Club 601 still wins for dancing space and best-priced drinks, and the VIC will likely remain the social hub of St Andrews, despite The Rule’s ambitious efforts.

Should The Rule do a good job of promoting their club nights, select their DJs wisely, and continue to offer decent student Photo by: Laszlo Szegedi drink promotions, I can

location for birthday events. Many of the drinks are still very well-priced,

envisage this becoming a huge new part of St Andrews’ night-scene.

On a another note, the upstairs section of The Rule, refurbished as well, will most definitely be a brilliant

and the service is, on the whole, quick and efficient. It is understandable that some might argue that this renovation has just turned The Rule into a wannabe-VIC, though the more modern

and bright lay-out gives it a completely different vibe, and without an entry

promotion does not really compare to that of the VIC. It is slightly more expensive and less filling. Saying that, the VIC’s 2for1 deal on burgers is a tough one to beat, given the great tasting, generously-sized portions that they offer.

In conclusion, it seems that though the VIC may remain to be seen as the

Some might argue this renovation has turned The Rule into a wannabe-Vic

fee, it will likely be a great new competitor to the overpriced and repetitive nights at the Victoria Café.

Nonetheless, The Rule’s 2for1 food

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coolest location to get wonky and embarrass yourself, the Union may remain to be the best place for cheap drinks, meeting new people and enjoying a proper club-night, and Ma Bells may remain the best place to get lucky (and sweaty), The Rule is a new, edgy destination for the students of St Andrews. Its management has done a great job with the redevelopment and it would be a shame not to go try it out!

TEDx speaker launch 2016: a “classy affair” Brianna Paterson The lights were low, the room packed, amd Adamson bartenders were violently shaking their cocktail shakers with their trademark dramatic flair.

Last Friday marked the annual launch party for the TEDx programme, welcomed by a completely full house; a somewhat surprising fact considering there had been almost no publicity for the event… Even the Facebook event page has been barren except for the time and place. But there was no doubt that this was a classy affair and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

While the atmosphere in the bar was lively, with the addition of several lovely finishing touches (hello free TED cocktail anyone?), I had to question the necessity o f such an event.

The main reason it was being held was merely to continue the legacy of last year’s TEDx events, and with an 8 o’clock start, it was a long booze-filled wait

until the 9:30 introductory talks, that only lasted a meagre five minutes. At the end of the day it just felt like a casual night out with friends rather than a launch party. Nevertheless, that did not entirely detract from the fun of the night, rather it clouded the purpose of the actual event.

However, as a launch, this was all preparation for the main event: a series of 10 talks on a variety of topics hosted at the end of April, being carefully arranged to fall on 30 April, just before May Dip, allowing all who attend to feel somewhat intellectual before throwing themselves into the freezing cold North Sea...

Held at the Byre

tion, but have stepped up to the plate to orchestrate a more engaging TEDx than ever envisioned before.

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This year will be bigger and better than last year’s event

Sunjana, a fourth year and last year’s treasurer ,has comfortably stepped into the shoes of the business coordinator. Organizing impressive sponsors h i p s f r o m Vita Coco and Ecar, as well as convincing eight ice profesrent P n ero sionm a C ive, als to reat C speak box t h g : Li to a s by o t o ph crowd of stuAll dents is a big task, but Sunjana theaseems confident: “People complained it was too business focused last year, tre, co-directors Sunjana Dalal and Alex so we wanted to fix that,” she claims Longson are determined “So we focused on finding a variety of speakers”. Not only are the speakers that this year will be bigger and better than last year’s event. Both from different fields, but she promises were involved in last year’s producthey will be speaking on topics that

are completely novel to the student body. It is a big task, but the committee has faith.

Speaking to Alex, the artistic half of the partnership, it was hard not to be enthused by his sheer passion for the event. As the man behind the camera, his responsibility includes managing the t e c h s i d e , and I was assured by many that it will be impressive. He aims to reconfigure the committee itself so that all the different year groups can come together.

Now each and every member has power to make decisions in their field. The concept behind this is that they are all “connected with shared responsibility” to make this event

memorable.

As a final goodbye before the end of the event we were given the chance to meet the two selected student speakers of this year.

Both Chris Andreas and Maryam Golafshani fought off about 50 other contestants with their pitch ideas alone. I have to say I was slightly overwhelmed by Chris’s pitch: the idea to run across America promoting face to face contact. Although we only received a brief version of his plan, I’m sure after some time he will have a speech that will be both intriguing and inspiring enough.

As for promoting face-to-face interaction through a primarily digital medium, he claims it is to emphasise the fact that his idea does not need people to completely give up the digital world. Maryam’s idea of what medicine can learn from the humanities makes my degree feel slightly more important, and her passion shone through. At the core, she suggests we expect doctors to be far more interdisciplinary than they are, and this is something she hopes to rectify. I wish her luck.

No doubt about it: I’m dying to go to the next, actual event. Save the date for 30 April – it’s going to be an event to remember.

26 Events

18 February 2015 • The Saint

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UNICEF Symposium 2016 Lunar New Year

The Saint’s exclusive preview of this year’s UNICEF event

A night of fun and cultural immersion

Rachel Brown

Airashi Dutta

Last Friday, the Union’s Club 601 was transformed to present the Launch Event for UNICEF’s Humanitarian Symposium, with its highlighting themes of education, poverty and war.

Upon entering 601, guests were greeted by large screens projecting the image of spokeswoman Malala, speaking on faith, education and gender equality. The hall was filled with a vast amount of information, however, the arrows around the exhibition ensured the exhibition remained succinct.

The launch was divided into three sections for the viewer to walk through.

Firstly, we were presented with poverty, the issues of slums and the lack of education due to an inability to access resources. Poverty encapsulated many different issues faced, from challenging demographics to the financial status of the family in question, with photographs and text alike backing up these ideas articulately.

Secondly, the exhibition focused on gender issues relevant to education. The exhibition presented hard-hitting information about female genital mutilation and other such horrors that girls in parts of

Hamlet Prince of Denmark

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Mental Health Week

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HEAT at the Rule

f you’ve missed this week’s suite of events, St Andrews’ Mental Health Awareness Week has a few more events to offer. On Thursday 18 February, award winning comic Dave Chawner will be in Beacon Bar giving a thought-provoking speech on mental health. On Friday 19 February, Lecture Theatre 3 in the Quad will be screening Inside Out along with a few drinks to celebrate the end of Mental Health Awareness Week.

he Rule is officially going to be the host of new student nights here in St Andrews. With a 2am license, a new sound system, music all night long and a brand new ambiance, HEAT at the Rule is the place to be this Thursday 18 February.

Headphone Disco

Yoga Classes

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strange spin on typical Union events, this Saturday 20 February, Club 601 will be hosting a silent disco. Headphones will be provided, along with a selection of two different DJs and music genres to choose from. A bizarre, yet equally intriguing concept, tickets are just £3 on the Yoyo Wallet app and will be £5 on the door.

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oing hand-in-hand with St Andrews Mental Health Awareness Week are a series of Yoga classes being held throughout the week. If you missed Tuesday’s class, classes will run from 19 to 21 February for a simple donation of £5 to Health in Mind, a Scottish Mental Health Charity. Class will be from 4-5 in the View Studio on Friday, 11-12 in All Saints Church Saturday, and 4-5:30 in All Saints Church Sunday.

ance of visuals and text, with a range of ways you could observe the information provided.

A humbling and admittedly new experience to be had in Club 601, UNICEF ensured that with the resources they had, their message of education was accessible. With little to no funds, the team behind the UNICEF Launch Event managed to create a hard hitting and interactive maze of information, clearly highlighting their theme for the upcoming Symposium in an intriguing and innovative way. The launch was a testament to the enthusiasm and passion of the people here in St Andrews and acted as an indication as to how effectively their Symposium will be executed.

A collaborative event hosted by the Chinese Hongpao Society and Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) St Andrews, this year’s edition of the Chinese Lunar New Year Gala attempted to recreate the annual Chinese New Year Gala which takes place in China.

First held in 1986, the CCTV Gala, is described as “the most watched television program in the world”, according to the Hollywood Reporter, with Celine Dion performing in 2013. The Year of the Goat drew to a close and revellers all over ushered in the Year of the Monkey on 8 February. Held at the Byre theatre, the audience comprised of students (both from China and abroad), locals and other Chinese members of the community who are miles away from home.

As the most important festival in China, Lunar New Year is a time for reunion and family. The committee members had set up a video on loop to wish the audience best wishes and made a montage about the struggle of being so far from home, a sentiment that resonated amongst most.

In the style of the original CCTV Gala, the St Andrean edition was also an amalgam of musical performances, skits and dances. I really enjoyed the plethora of music that was on offer – the evening began with dances from North Western China and a medley of different types of Chinese music. The outfits were stunning – far removed from the Qipaos that are commonly associated with Chinese culture. As a tribute to the Korean wave, there was a medley of Kpop music which

The Saint’s 200 Party

Winning Women

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he time has come to celebrate The Saint’s 200th issue. After 19 years since its founding in 1997, The Saint will be hosting a night of splendid cocktails and enticing conversations at the Adamson Bar this Thursday 18 February. Whether it be before exploring the Rule or the Union, or just for a casual drink, come by and taste our custom cocktail and enjoy what will be a great night.

The Lantern Parade

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his Friday 19 February, CSSA St Andrews will be organising a Chinese Lantern Fair, representing the Lantern Festival, a celebration of the first full moon night of the Chinese New Year. The fair will occur in Parliament Hall at 7pm and will provide an unequalled opportunity to be immersed in Chinese culture.

The evening will also be marked by a Lantern Parade in the town centre, beginning at 6:30pm.

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n Monday 29 February, The Lumsden Club will be hosting its Winning Women Conference, an event bringing together six leading businesswomen to discuss issues such as accounting, advertising, pharmaceutical and finance industries. Comprising of a drinks reception, a debate and an open-floor session, this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss. Tickets are available for £10.

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DRA/FP Ball

he biggest hall ball, and probably one of the best value for money events St Andrews has to offer, DRA/ FP Ball will be held this Friday 19 February on Lower College Lawn.

With its Casino Royale theme, the night will guarantee a wonderful atmosphere and exciting features.

was well received by the audience.

To create a balance, there was an acoustic performance of Riptide by Vance Joy, with the performers wearing red plaid shirts, keeping with the theme of Chinese New Year (red being associated with prosperity).

One of my favourite items was a journey through music from the 1980s-2000s, where China’s KTv (or Karaoke) culture was put in the spotlight. The skit put on by the students and revolved around a director trying to hire actors for his production – the main joke of the segment revolving around the idiom ‘so happy I could die’ – had the audience in stitches.

It was a great opportunity for cultural immersion – the organisers were considerate of the non-Chinese speakers in the audience and demonstrated this through displays where translations were a playby-play of the scene on stage.

Also, the MCs of the Gala were always following up Chinese dialogue with an English translation.

I think this attention to detail made the event enjoyable to all guests.

It was a great night and one that I will definitely remember.

Photo by: Lightbox Creative, Raphael Benros

Matt Crowcombe the director of SOS Africa and Claudia Titley, his coworker, the graphic designer for the charity.

The day will proceed with a question and answer session with each speaker, followed by the chance to talk to them

The launch - BARRIERS

the world have to endure. The exhibition ensured the accessibility of UNICEF’s cause through a look at the differing lives of two girls, Samira from Syria and Rachel from England.

The direct comparison cast into light the harsh reality of how different the lives of two young girls from different corners of the world could be.

Following the arrowed floor, littered with statistics and facts, the issue of war was tackled. The exhibition shed light on war induced trauma, the barrier of terrorism and provided a case study to put these issues in context. The exhibition had a good bal-

Photo by: Lorelei Pfeffer

On 4 and 5 March, UNICEF St Andrews will be hosting their annual Symposium event, shedding light on the many humanitarian crises occuring across the world. As a charity dedicating its efforts to helping children in impoverished and underdeveloped areas, the theme of this year’s symposium is “Education”.

The Symposium event has promised a wide range of experts brought in to speak on the subject in their attempt to educate and inspire.

The Friday event will open with a keynote speech from respected founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, Dr Sakena Yacoobi, who has dedicated her life to supporting and empowering women and girls in Afghanistan.

Saturday will continue with speeches from Professor Yossi Mekelberg from Regent’s University London, followed by Mary Jones, a higher education teacher with a Masters in Development Management. Later that day there will be speeches from Dr

Photo by: Lorelei Pfeffer

The UNICEF Symposium

in a more informal setting.

After last year’s success, the team is hoping to take this year’s event further and continue to raise awareness for their commendable cause. The weekend is guaranteed to be an eye opening experience and I would thoroughly encourage all to attend.

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ARTS & CULTURE Arts & culture editors MARINA CARNWATH & CAITLIN LEWIS Deputy editors NATALIE CORREA, MARI MARTINELLI, CAROLINE MCWILLIAMS, FLORA ROWE

arts@thesaint-online.com

Natalie Correa gives her take on Catwalk - read more on page 28

@saint_arts

Photo Maryam Golafshani

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The Art of Goodbye by Zaria Foreman

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18 February 2016 • The Saint

Cult film of the week: Harold and Maude I

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Mari Martinelli Film editor Another Valentine’s Day has come and gone, and whether you spent it grabbing dinner and a movie with someone special or at home living on chocolates and Netflix, odds are you were overwhelmed with possibilities for cinematic romance. So which to choose? A respectable Oscar-winner, like Titanic? Something a little bit sexy—Dirty Dancing, perhaps? Maybe it was a guilty pleasure, like Notting Hill, or pretty much anything based on a Nicholas Sparks novel (it’s okay, we’ve all been there).

Whatever you ended up watching, you probably didn’t even con-

sider Hal Ashby’s 1971 black comedy Harold and Maude—and that’s a shame, because while this cult classic may not be dressed in the usual trappings of romance, at its weird little heart is the most romantic message of all: There’s someone for everyone.

Unconventional doesn’t begin to describe Harold and Maude, which spins ‘boy meets girl’ into ‘boy meets septuagenarian’. 19-year-old Harold (Bud Cort) is obsessed with death, much to the dismay of his socialite mother. His idea of a good time involves staging elaborate fakes suicides, driving around in a hearse and attending the funerals of strangers.

That’s where he meets fellow funeral-crasher Maude (Ruth Gordon), a lively, adventurous widow 60 years his senior, who spends her spare time

stealing cars and modelling in the nude.

In a lesser film, their pairing might simply be an extreme case of ‘opposites attract’: Harold, with his bluetinged skin, his bulging, watery eyes and his long, hunched frame, looks like something out of the mind of Tim Burton, while diminutive, wrinkled Maude is often flitting around the room, wearing bright colours and bursting with energy. But as the two form a friendship and eventually a romance, it becomes clear that their connection comes not from their differences but from their willingness to share those weird parts of themselves with each other.

It’s in Maude’s presence that we first see Harold smile, and by the time the film reaches its end, we have

seen him somersault with joy. Fans of ridiculous romantic gestures will appreciate the scene in which Harold gives Maude an inscribed coin from an arcade game, which she promptly tosses into the sea. ‘So I’ll always know where it is,’ she explains.

Early reviewers of Harold and Maude weren’t kind, with many finding the film’s humour too morbid and the relationship creepy, and the film tanked at the box office. In fact, Harold and Maude didn’t even turn a profit until twelve years after it first hit theatres, when it had finally achieved cult classic status. Some are still no doubt put off by the age gap between the film’s two main characters.

But even outside of its strange romance, Harold and Maude has a lot to offer. Maude tells Harold that ‘every-

Photo bytaste of cinema

28 Arts & Culture

one has the right to make an ass out of themselves’, a philosophy that the film takes to heart as it presents a series of absurd characters, from Harold’s militant uncle to his pedantic psychiatrist.

Vivian Pickles is superb as Harold’s increasingly exasperated mother, whose solution to his odd fixation with morbidity is to set him up on a series of increasingly disastrous dates.

Cat Stevens composed the music, including ‘If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out’, which was written specifically for the film, and which is played at its ending. It’s an ending that, fittingly, is both completely surprising and utterly predictable—an appropriate finale to a film that is full of contradictions.

Dreamworks producer Tom Engelman stops by for tea Stephanie Araneo

On 9 February, the Film Studies department invited Dreamworks producer Tom Engelman to speak to St Andrew’s students about his Hollywood and international career experience. Held in the Byre Theatre, the session was an informal opportunity for aspiring young filmmakers to comfortably interact with the seasoned film developer, whose work includes The Last Samurai, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and the upcoming Voltron.

Although originally publicised as a tea and coffee meeting, the conversation was relocated to a more spacious studio theatre away from the bar, due to higher-than-expected attendance and a demonstration better suited to a larger display. Once resituated, Engelman discussed his early years as an emerging writer for both film and theatre and his transition into organising projects for 20th Century Fox. On his time at Dreamworks, he shared details about the recently released Kung Fu Panda 3 and how it went through a reanimation process

specifically for Chinese audiences for more personal engagement.

Most engagingly, however, was Engelmann’s video presentation, which demonstrated the developmental stages of Voltron, a live-action, intergalactic movie adapted from a Japanese anime series. As he presented concept designs and screenplay storyboards, Engelman offered students a direct insight into the thorough and lengthy pre-production phases of filmmaking and how he transforms ideas from the inception into something tangible.

It is exciting to host events like these for the students, so they can see the success and potential end result of following a passion, like filmmaking,’ said Director of Teaching for Film Studies, Professor Tom Rice. Regularly throughout the talk, Engelman stressed the importance of learning to appreciate film and television work, frequently referring to iconic movie scenes to conjure up similar emotions for prospecting studio partners.

Engelman’s attitude towards film reverence echoed that of director Joe

Russo, who also spoke at the university this past November. Similarly, in his discussion Russo spoke candidly on the significance of an academic background in the entertainment arts, admitting his directing style was influenced by his time dissecting other films.

‘Meeting industry professionals like Mr. Engelman [and Russo] helps inspire the students’ perseverance, especially when we hear that critical film analysis is a strong and important career base,’ said School President of Film Studies and Music, Kit Klaes.

PLAYING IN ST ANDREWS

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inemagoers in St Andrews are hardly spoilt for choice when it comes to venues, but can take solace from the fact that the town’s sole theatre, the New Picture House at 117 North Street offers an excellent viewing experience and a varied selection of quality movies across its three screens.

So whether you’re into romcoms, classics or good old-fashioned action flicks, below you’ll find every on in town this week, and when.

Alvin and the Chipmunks Your favourite anthropomorphised rodents are back for yet another sequel—ahem, squeakquel—because some people just can’t get enough chipmunk puns. Spend an evening listening to helium-voiced covers of pop songs, wondering why a chipmunk would wear a shirt but not trousers.

Deadpool

Goosebumps

Zoolander 2

Deadpool is not your everyday superhero origin story—but then, Deadpool isn’t your everyday superhero. The violent, cheeky, fourth-wall-shattering merc with a mouth now gets his very own film at last, with Ryan Reynolds reprising his role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

It might not send a shiver down your spine, but if you read R.L. Stine’s creepy children’s book series as a kid, then get nostalgic watching Rob Letterman’s film adaptation. Jack Black stars as an author whose characters from his scary stories begin to come to life.

Fifteen years may have passed since Ben Stiller put on his best pout and Derek Zoolander was born. Now, Zoolander must find out why the world’s most beautiful people are being assassinated. Look out for an almost indecent amount of celebrity appearences.

The Saint • 18 February 2016

Arts & Culture 29

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Emma Hollingsworth

and its counterpart in red, was popular on and off the runway. Whether printed or solid, the choice colour for the night proved to be blue. From the show itself to the Club 601 after party, accessories seemed abound; most notable were chunky statement necklaces.

The gentlemen of the night went more conservative in their dress, as

most selected a button down and suit jacket. The more daring selected more specialty suit jackets, including seersucker and velvet smoking jackets.

Men’s scarfs seemed quite prevalent and certainly a tactful statement.

Saturday night was a splendid culmination of much dedication and hard work. The models relished the moment as the attendees enjoyed the

Photo Maryam Golafshani

The first fashion show of the season, the fashion of CATWALK, both on and off the runway, set a standard: a new street standard. As seen in Club 601 during the annual RAG Week earlier this month, the event, outlined as “inner grunge” and “street in mind”, featured many interpretations of this theme.

From suits to skirts, metallic fabrics and embellishments illuminated the runway. The modern shift dress made appearances in subtle prints and darker hues. Across the spectrum of dark to light, denim, including shirts, jeans, and jackets, accompanied many outfits. Sensual sheers, sleek leather, and lush lace spiced up the show even before the lingerie selections. Fur coats mixed with street clothes and sweatshirts epitomized the show’s theme. Wrap ponchos, specifically three, peppered the show in rich textures and warm hues. Crop top sets brought refreshingly vibrant colors and patterns, as sundresses were reminiscent of warmer, sunny days.

The kilt portion boasted tartan in a traditional array of hues, though the pageantry left few thinking the kilts were traditional. Adventurous

necklines led the way to the lingerie portion. The lingerie was selected in classic shades of black, red, and burgundy. The models showed off their fit physique while clearly owning the moment.

Each outfit was perfectly paired with various accessories; dresses coordinated with scarves and purses accompanied the street style. Heels in remarkable heights and fabulous styles matched with even the “grungiest” of outfits. Braids and loose locks paired beautifully with the array of outfits.

Overalls, both short and full length, were fashioned an unexpectedly numerous amount of times; these overalls were paired with surprising textures and styles, including lace and button down shirts. Many ensembles displayed a mix matching of bold colors and big prints. The show was even inclusive of university garb, outerwear, raincoats, and ski kits.

Some attendees settled apprehensions and sported the most daring of outfits. Crop tops and miniskirts presented a common theme both in the show and in the audience. Attendees kept their style loose and festive, as gaudy textures and edgy styles intertwined to create a parallel between fashion and practically in line with the street standard.

As expected, the little black dress,

show.

But even more important than the fashion was the intense sense of fun that was clear for both the models and the audience alike.

It was clear that CATWALK’s street style shone through as the show clearly fulfilled its theme. A highly enjoyable event for all involved.

Photo Maryam Golafshani

Photo Maryam Golafshani

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Photo Maryam Golafshani

Catwalk: St Andrews channels street style

The Saint rediscovers the melodic voice of Juice Newton Welcome to the first instalment of The Saint’s reintroducing, in which I will bring back all those treasured classics which time has made us forget. With a background in music myself, as well as my incredibly old school and eclectic taste in music, I have just about enough credentials to explore the back catalogue of rock, folk and pop music right up to the (almost) present day. I hope that in amongst my ramblings, you find a gem to play in amongst all the Fetty Wap at pre-drinks, or a song that takes you back to long drives in your parent’s car. Whatever your taste in music is, I hope you enjoy rediscovering the wonderful hits that the latter half of the 20th century brought us.

This week I will be focussing on Juice Newton, an America folk, pop and rock singer born in 1952. Newton had a lot of success, including winning 5 Grammy Award Nominations and

going on to win in 1983. Arguably, the height of her career was in the 80s when she dropped three top 10 hits, including ‘Angel of the Morning’, which you may recognise as the vocal hook is used in Shaggy’s track ‘Angel’.

Newton has a very melodic voice that provides very easy and pleasant listening. Many of her song lyrics are far from innovative, however her impressive vocal range brings an interesting quality to her hits. Unfortunately, Newton is quite underrated and forgotten, especially in comparison to other big names in country music, such as Alison Krauss and of course, Dolly Parton. Here are, in my opinion, her greatest hits, but don’t let my list limit your listening! Newton is a very prolific artist with 17 studio albums to her name! What a lady!

1. ‘Old Flame’ 1986.

Old Flame uses the classic 80s style of a catchy, relatable hook and the ornate piano accompanying harmo-

nized vocals. The style reminiscent of Meatloaf’s Two Out of Three Aint Bad, and offers similar advice on a relationship gone past the point of salvation.

The song begins with Newton’s vocals, and the piano builds towards the second chorus with a violin crescendo and male voices harmonising with her vocal lead. The bridge runs from its angsty ‘lets not forget who walked out on who’ in a truly raw guitar solo. To critics, the song may be nothing more than a karaoke hit to roll out after a few too many, but Newton’s unique style and melodic vocals make this a staple for any half decent break up playlist.

2. ‘Angel of the Morning’ 1981.

The song has been recorded several times by many different artists such as Merrilee Rush, Bonnie Tyler and Olivia Newton John. However I think that out of all the versions, it is Newton’s voice that is best suited to the large vocal range and drawn out

notes of the melody. The song offers charming insight into the ideals surrounding casual sex in the 80s just as it was becoming more socially acceptable. Lines like ‘well if the morning echo says we’ve sinned, well it’s what I wanted now’ offer a poetic take on the feelings we all grapple with the morning after. I dare you to listen to the song and not attempt to yell DAAAAAARRRR-LIIIINNNGGG at the top of your lungs.

3. ‘Love’s been a Little Hard on Me’ 1982.

This is one of Newton’s more upbeat songs with a wonderful, shredded guitar introduction to warm you up. It combines the raw sound of 80s rock with a 50s Do-wop vibe. This is by no means her greatest vocal feat, but I think the guitar part is worth noting, with its upbeat solo and relatively untampered feel.

The constant strum of the bass in the background combined with

”

Catriona Lamb

the delightfully retro synth creates a cheesy but satisfying jam.

Newton’s strong consistency should be noted Juice Newton, despite her impressive album collection and her Grammy Award, has arguably fallen from the spotlight in recent years. Her music perfectly captures the sound of the 80s, combining melodic vocals with new innovations in the recording studio, such as the synth. Newton’s strong consistency should be noted, with her recordings and live performances showing that she is a talent who doesn’t deserves to be forgotten.

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18 February 2016 • The Saint

North Americans share stories of their style evolutions

All photos: Natalie Correa

Whether from Toronto, Florida, New York, or Cancun, North Americans have had to adapt to the culture of our university. Whilst many of us have adjusted to the cold and wet climate, or have made it routine to eat a batch of fish and chips on a weekly basis, it is also interesting to see how North American students’ style has evolved. In our 200th issue, The Saint gains insight into the style of North Americans and how fashion has become a form of their cultural exchange.

Natalie A. Correa Fashion editor Isabel Quattlebaum: Fresher from South Carolina, USA The Saint: How is style different in St Andrews different from that of Charleston?

Isabel Quattlebaum: Everyone here dresses up a lot more, likes it’s a daily activity, where as in the College of Charleston the main outfit is Nike shorts, a t-shirt, a full face of makeup, hair done, and tennis shoes – that’s it.

Here, people dress up to go to the library, which I enjoy!

TS: Would you say that your style as evolved ever since attending St Andrews? If so, do you like that it has changed?

IQ: I never wear Nike shorts or whatever. I generally like to put a little more effort into my appearance; it’s nice to be in a place where that’s appreciated.

TS: What do you think are St Andrews style essentials?

IQ: A Barbour jacket, high-waisted jeans, and I also see a lot of people wearing crop tops!

TS: What are Charleston essentials?

IQ: A lot of Lilly Pulitzer, Jack Rogers sandals, Kate Spade, Vineyard Vines – very preppy brands.

TS: Do you think you can infuse your Charleston and St Andrews style?

IQ: I wouldn’t wear a Lilly Pulitzer pants suit or anything, but I think I can incorporate preppy style into my outfits while in St Andrews.

Andrew Cavaluzzi: Third-year study abroad student from New York, USA The Saint: What are differences between New York style and St Andrews style?

Andrew Cavaluzzi: I would say, in general, New York style is very relaxed – jeans are definitely a part of every outfit. New Yorkers don’t really wear khakis at all; jeans are really what everyone wears to go out at night, to the clubs and bars. One of the biggest differences, especially

when going out at night, is that you see guys at St Andrews wearing a button down shirt, or maybe a tie, and a sweater over that. In New York City, you see guys wearing plain button downs, jeans –that’s the typical going out outfit.

TS: Would you say that jeans are the standard style staple in New York City?

AC: Yes, I would.

TS: Would you say your style has evolved since attending St Andrews?

AC: Now I wear a lot of sweaters because like that’s kind of the style around here. I wear nicer pants; when I go out, there’s more pressure to even wear a tie sometimes.

TS: Where do you shop in New York and St Andrews?

AC: In New York, I shop at a lot of department stores, like Macy’s in Herald Square of course! In St Andrews, I just shop in the cool, local little shops.

but add more to it. I think my wardrobe has worked here and at home, for the most part.

TS: If you were to wear the outfit you wore today at your home university, how would students react?

EG: Today I wore a black dress coat with a fur collar, black leather gloves with bows on the wrist, black riding boots, and a dress. . At Holy Cross, people dress very nicely but definitely not dressy—they always look very presentable though. By the time I return to Holy Cross next year, I’m sure I’ll feel comfortable wearing the things I’ve accumulated here at school because I haven’t changed.

TS: Would you say the UK and Europe have a dressier aesthetic?

EG: In the UK and Europe, people have access to affordable brands that are also very nice. The culture is more open to artistic expression to a certain extent.

You have more leeway in the way your dress, depending what city you live in.

Evan Grogan: Third-year study abroad student from Wisconsin, USA The Saint: What is the style of that of a Wisconsin resident?

Evan Grogan: Back home, people dress in a lot of different ways but Milwaukee is definitely a growing, emerging city. There’s a more trendy, slightly hipster feeling. A lot of people wear brands that aren’t very recognizable but still upscale. I guess most people think Wisconsin style incorporates flannel, but that’s not true – we’re disproving that stereotype!

TS: Have you incorporated your Wisconsin style into your St Andrews style?

EG: Most of the clothing I have here is from back home, but I’ve added pieces since coming here. For example, for Christmas I got a fur coat but I only like to wear it here because fur isn’t as accepted in the United States. I also have high-heeled booties and more black in my wardrobe.

I’m definitely going to incorporate St Andrews style when I go back home – I’m going to keep the wardrobe I have

Christina Mills: Fresher from California, USA The Saint: Describe typical, California style.

Christina Mills: There are a lot of flip flops, a lot of snapbacks, and hoodies!

It’s definitely the polar opposite of what we have here in St Andrews.

TS: How has your style evolved since being in St Andrews?

CM: I think I’ve had to adapt a little bit – a lot of my stuff has to be weather appropriate. I don’t have to worry about rain in the West Coast. For example, I’ve had to change my shoe choices and people wear big jackets, like those from Canada Goose.

TS: Did you have to invest in a lot of weather appropriate clothing upon your arrival to St Andrews?

CM: It’s about incorporating that into your own style. I’ve found outlets for my own, personal look. If you want that more bohemian, lay back vibe that you find in California, you can incorporate that – it’s not impossible! I do that by wearing crop tops, but also a good pair of shoes and a warm jacket.

Jane Moult: Fresher from Albata, Canada The Saint: What is typical, Canada style?

Jane Moult: Canada is quite cold so it’s all about warm weather gear, like Sorel boots and big jackets. Generally though, it’s a little bit less put together.

The style in St Andrews is a little more frumpy.

TS: Has your style evolved since being here?

JM: Maybe a little bit. I like my basic sort of style, which includes wearing jeans, but I dress a little more formally.

My wardrobe includes more boots, sweaters, and skirts these days. The style here is casual but without trying too hard.

TS: What are your St Andrews essentials?

JM: A Barbour jacket, a good pair of boots, well-tailored jeans, and a scarf doesn’t hurt either.

TS: What are your Canada essentials?

JM: Lululemon leggings, a button down flannel shirt, a ski jacket.

Mariam Kateeri: Fresher from Mazatlán, Mexico The Saint: What would you say is the style of a Mexico resident?

Mariam Kateeri: It’s hot and humid in Mexico so sandals, minimalist shirts, and shorts are the usual go to as well as loose sundresses.

Anything bright and breezy would do!

TS: How has your style evolved since coming to St Andrews?

MK: Coats, coats, and coats! It’s practically freezing here so I got used to layering up for warmth and coziness. Now I’m all about the padded jackets, wellies, cosy jumpers, gloves, and wooly scarves.

TS: Do you think you’ll take St Andrews style back home with you?

MK: Life’s a beach back home so I’ll definitely be digging out the flip flops when I’m back and leave the bundling up for St. Andrews. I like it this way because I get the best of both worlds!

Sloane Nilsen: Third year study abroad student from Minnesota, USA The Saint: What would you say is the style of a student at your home university?

Sloane Nilsen: Half the school worships thrift stores and, paradoxically, Urban (the humanities and modern languages, in particular), and the other half empties their wallets at J. Crew and Vineyard Vines (the sciences, government, and business school contenders). It appears that your major— at least to a certain extent— dictates your style. GoodWill students clearly try to differentiate themselves more so with how they dress, attempting to derail hipster conventions, believing that they bring innovation through social liberalism to the ways in which one can dress. Point being, people care how they look—even when walking into the library in sweatpants and a T-shirt. You still want to look good.

To a majority of students at William & Mary, similar to the majority of modern youth, appearance matters. A lot.

TS: How has your style evolved since coming to St Andrews?

SN: I try to put more effort into dressing up, and looking a bit more put together—especially when I go into town or to class. I think that this reflects upon British culture, more than anything, in comparison to American. At William & Mary, I wouldn’t hesitate to go to class in what in St Andrews I would only wear around the flat.

TS: What are your St Andrews essentials?

SN: Turtlenecks, wool cardigans and coats, hands down. In daylight, I often feel like I dress as a seventy-year-old man would. (This may also be because, for the most part, I live the life of a seventy-year-old man.) When night falls, however, I undergo (to some) an alarming metamorphosis -- worn basketball shorts from the eighth grade, a beat up T-shirt, old cardigan, and an elastic headband. This, to me, contributes much more to my general, personal enjoyment and style than my beloved woolens.

The Saint • 18 February 2016

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Mermaids president and vice talk theatre Caroline McWilliams Theatre editor For this 200th issue of The Saint, the theatre section spoke with Mermaids President, Joanna Bowman and VicePresident Natalie English, discovering their theatre backgrounds, their roles on the committee and their general love for anything performed on a stage. Meeting me in the foyer of the Barron Theatre, this was possibly the most casual interview I had ever conducted and yet one of the most enjoyable with various students passing by on their way to rehearse either Contaminated or Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Laughter drifted out of the main stage and when I dropped by the dressing room later, the cast of Accidental Death were learning how to rap. There was a ukulele rehearsal thrown in there somewhere too. This is a characterisation of theatre in general in St Andrews: it is fun. With at least one play every week performed in a variety of locations, students never want for light entertainment or contemplative drama.

Mermaids, formally known as the St Andrews Performing Arts Fund, is most commonly known for long Christmas Ball ticket queues. This is particularly sad, as Mermaids is so much more. It is a hope, a chance, an inspiration for so many.

Jo told me of her theatre background and praised Mermaids for the opportunities it provides: “Where I live is the best UK children’s theatre so theatre is something I’ve always been aware of. My parents have taken me to see very inappropriate things from a very young age.

It’s since coming to St Andrews that I’ve had the opportunity to try different bits of theatre. It’s Mermaids that facilitates it; it gives you free reign to do whatever you want to do. There are no creative limits, financial limits maybe…”

“I directed one play in my first year and since then I’ve just added more and more as each year has gone by. Producing which I’m awful at and currently acting in the Vagina Monologues which I’m also awful at.”

“The nice thing about Mermaids is that if it’s financially viable, it can happen, it will happen.”

Natalie reiterated the opportunities that Mermaids provides as well

as telling me about her own theatre background at prestigious theatre schools.

“So I always like being the centre of attention so I went to Stagecoach for years and years and then I went to another company called Yew Tree Theatre so I’ve always acted. When I came to St Andrews, I did the Freshers’ Plays in my first year and ended up being forced into producing. I didn’t even know what it was but since then I’ve only acted in one other thing and I’ve done production.

I was also desperate to be on the committee from my very first day here so I was on the committee from the Christmas of my first year and I’ve just been on it ever since- so I’m very committee obsessed.”

Natalie has certainly got one of the most impressive portfolios of plays she has been involved in. Her passion for each and every one of them was evident through the tone she spoke in and the enthusiasm on her face.

Her first trip to the Edinburgh Fringe was as part of a self funded play, without Mermaids funding despite still being affiliated. Again, her passion for the Fringe is an obvious thing, this experience being a highlight of many students’ time at our university. I asked her about her future in the theatre after she graduates this summer: “I’m going to do really good school plays because I’m going to be a teach-

er. I’m going to be a maths teacher; I’m doing Teach First. So I will definitely be involved with the theatre there and I really want to be at this school which is a specialist in performing arts and it’s really near my house.”

Jo went on to tell me about her job as president and all the responsibilities involved: “Being president of Mermaids is really good fun, it’s a lot of work.

It’s difficult to impart that it is, as it doesn’t look like a lot of work. There is liaising between many different student groups and the university, the union, The Byre. Mermaids is like the little guy in the middle trying to liaise.

I hope that the desire to give people opportunities has defined this year under my presidency. The Freshers’ Drama Festival was rebranded so more people could get involved in the societies and then there’s the Shakespeare Festival when we will have ten events going up. As well as making more opportunities for people and making sure things tick along nicely, there’s sending lots of emails to people, drinking free wine…”

I interjected asking if I can quote them on the wine and Jo responds “absolutely” with Natalie laughingly saying: “People think that’s all we do but there is so much more that goes into the committee,” a fact which Jo expanded on: “I think that the success of the

committee is the fact that people don’t realise that a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes. It’s like a swan that is desperately paddling beneath the water but everything looks good on top.

“We are also in the process of refurbishing the Barron so hopefully a seating rack should be coming over the summer and we are redoing technical stuff. I think Mermaids is dedicated to always trying to make it better. It’s a case of making it as good as it can be for people. Mermaids doesn’t put on shows, we fund shows which is really nice as it means that people can come to us with ideas and we have a new Comedy Society now.”

I asked about the upcoming elections, a time Natalie defined as stressful due to the sheer amount going on during the week. Jo told me of her definition for Mermaids President and her recommendations for anyone considering the job: “What I would say is that being Mermaids President is one of the most rewarding things I’ve had the opportunity to do at university. I would highly recommend it to anyone who really cares about theatre and about other people’s theatre. If you are in to theatre it’s great to be able to say yes.”

Jo and Natalie laugh about the online abuse they receive especially during Christmas Ball ticket sales and Natalie comments that they get a lot of pain and very little praise. For

Photo:Caroline McWilliams

T H E A T R E

a group of theatre fanatics who are only trying to help others realise their dreams, this seems terribly unfair.

Natalie brings up the new radio show, where they have an hour on STAR radio every week and get production teams in to talk about their shows as well as the committee’s own relationships to theatre. It’s something that they have done for attempted transparency as well as putting minutes on line and offering feedback to anyone and everyone.

Also this year, they have started SAND (St Andrews New Drama), a new writing project where people can come in with half written pieces of script and the committee will put them on their feet, provide workshops and allow more people to have a chance in the world of theatre.

To conclude our interview I asked Jo and Natalie about the favourite play they had been involved in and the favourite play they had seen in St Andrews. Natalie gave her opinion first: “I think my favourite has been The Importance of Being Earnest. The thing that I really like about it was that it was so full of people from the town and it was so good to see them enjoying the production as well. It had a great set, great costumes. I think the one that I was in was Newton’s cauldron as it was the second thing that I was in at the Fringe. I knew what I was doing and we got 95% attendance which classifies as a sold out show.”

Jo joked that her favourite plays are always those she is involved in, something we all laughingly agreed upon: “The favourite play that I’ve done in St Andrews was definitely Crave as we did it entirely in the dark. The opportunity to do it was really exciting.

My favourite thing I’ve seen…I really enjoyed As You like It last year. I don’t like student Shakespeare but I really enjoyed that.

The conversation of favourite plays continued for several more minutes, plays being listed by the three of us, met with exclamations of agreement. This served to highlight the incredible talent that those involved in theatre in this community have. The Saint would like to thank Joanna and Natalie for their time and honesty.

We all hope that over the coming years more students will be inspired to get involved in the wonderful world of theatre.

32 Arts & Culture

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18 February 2016 • The Saint

The Saint

PLAYLIST

Sexual Healing (SNBRN remix) - Marvin Gaye Lose It - Oh Wonder Spooky - Dusty Springfield

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Kanye: an analysis of the music industry’s favourite scape goat

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Caitlin Lewis Arts and culture editor

P

oor old Kanye. Nowadays he can’t seem to catch a break. Mocked and berated by social media and the general public, we can’t help but question why such a successful and influential figure in the music industry is often viewed in such a negative light?

Kanye is talented, relevant, and more importantly, seems like such a nice guy! Who doesn’t feel a tug at their heart strings when poor Kanye speaks with a heavy heart that his greatest pain in life is that he will never be able to see himself perform live?

And who doesn’t admire his humble yet self-assured way of thinking when he states ‘I am Warhol. I am the number one most impactful artist of our generation. I am Shakespeare in the

”

Who doesn’t admire his humble yet selfassured way thinking

flesh.’ I don’t know about you, but that’s the level of humility I can only aspire to.

It’s clear that Kanye’s glowing personality can’t be the cause of all this hate. So maybe it’s because of his success? This seems more plausible! They don’t hate you Ye, it’s all just jealousy.

After all, Kanye West is one of the biggest selling artists of all time, with 32 million album sales and 100 million digital downloads to his name, as well as 21 Grammy Awards, inclusion in Time magazine’s ‘100 most influential people in the world’ list twice and his own clothing and shoe brand to top it all. Could it be that Kanye is simply a victim of the level of criticism expected for an artist at his level of success?

But then why is he so much more of a divisive character than any other successful rapper in the game? Can you really imagine the people getting this worked up about Drake?

Before we get into why Kanye has been so cruelly victimised by the general public, let’s take a step back and look at Yeezy’s career so far. Kanye grew up in Chicago with English teacher mother Donda West and father Ray West, a former Black Panther.

He had a middle class background, and was always passionate about writing raps and poetry. Dropping out of Chicago State University was the push he needed to make his debut album College Dropout, which was immediately critically acclaimed. His next album, Late Registration outdid the success of its predecessor. It includes singles ‘Gold Digger’ and ‘Touch the Sky’, two songs that achieved mainstream success to such an extent that you can barely avoid hearing them at any throwback night even today. Cue four more commercially successful solo albums, a string of hits including ‘Stronger’, ‘Power’, ‘Monster’, ‘All of the Lights’, ‘Mercy’, ‘Clique’, ‘Black Skinhead’... I could write a thesis showing how Kanye eloquently manages to use his musical innovation to capture and create music trends of each individual era. But I’m not here to talk about Kanye’s success; I’m here to discover why despite his success and talent he is still so loathed by so many people.

The first explanation is simple; he’s asking for it. Let’s face it: Kanye is an idiot. He has been involved in so many ridiculous, attention seeking, unnecessary controversies that it’s no wonder that everyone berates him.

Cast your minds back to the 2005 live television broadcast where he claimed that President Bush didn’t care about black people, recall the time he called himself the modern day Jesus on a talk show. The words ‘Imma let you finish’ make me cringe slightly, ever since Kanye opened with this infamous phrase when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance of her 2009 MTV VMA Award. Even last week he made headlines by tweeting ‘BILL COSBY INNOCENT’. This controver-

sy for the sake of controversy certainly doesn’t make Mr West a likeable figure.

However, it doesn’t explain why he is an object of hate and ridicule so

Why is he an object of hate so much more than other rappers

”

much more than other rappers. Think about the rap game. It would be ludicrous (get it) to think that Kanye is the most offensive rapper there is, or the worthiest of hate. Don’t we remember that Chris Brown physically assaulted Rihanna in 2009? Surely that heinous act should provoke more of a backlash than arrogant tweets? Tupac was arrested in 1993 for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old girl, and yet he is globally worshipped and hailed as the greatest artist of all time. Both Lil Wayne and T.I. have been jailed for weapon possession. Eminem has been charged for armed violence in 2001 and is known for holding far more controversial opinions than Kanye, and yet he is generally revered by the general public, with fans believing that his talent gives him the artistic license to be controversial and politically incorrect. Why then is this not the same for Kanye? Why is it that Eminem threatening to murder his wife and rape his mother is less publicised than Kanye’s arrogant yet ultimately harmless rants? Maybe, just maybe, it’s because Kanye isn’t being judged as a rapper, but as a media personality, with all the public scrutiny that the title entails.

And so we get on to the Kardashians. Before I begin, I wish to congratulate myself for getting this far without yet mentioning Kim Kardashian, which I believe is a feat in itself. Yet the reason for Kanye’s public plight falls to some extent into the

hands of his wife. Kim and Kanye, or, don’t hate me, Kimye, were married in 2014 in the most highly publicised wedding to hit social media since Kate met Wills.

Their wedding photo was the most liked picture on Instagram, reeling in a whopping 2 million likes. They are one of pop culture’s most seminal couples, to such an extent that it’s rare to visit social media without stumbling upon the Kardashian clan in some shape or form. So maybe the intense scrutiny under which his wife’s family have created their empire has also effected the way we view Kanye?

Maybe in marrying a Kardashian, he has become one himself. Being a Kardashian has meant that every illtimed comment made by Kanye is given 100 times more attention and scrutiny. He is no longer viewed as a rapper, but as a reality star. In an attempt to become the master of all trades, Kanye’s personal life has become another product that he endorses. Think about it; people laugh and sneer at Kanye’s arrogance for calling himself the best artist, not just for the arrogance of the statement, but because in pop culture he simply is not viewed as the artist that he is.

The label of reality star is an unfairly reductive one that ignores Mr West’s vast contribution in shaping the music world both in the past and the present. As a reality star, every action is scrutinized, judged, and ultimately dismissed. It is because of this reductive label that Kanye can get away with the increasingly ridiculous things that he says (2020 Presidential Elections anyone) without being taken seriously. But it is also affecting the way he is viewed as an artist. Maybe this explains his frustration and arrogance as a reaction against the way he is mocked in the public eye? That may be a bit of a push.

However, the point still stands: next time you mock or loathe Kanye West, think about whether you are hating the persona or the artist. Maybe it’s time we start granting Kanye the same ‘artistic licence’ and exemption that we do to other rappers.

And if he’s still an idiot then at least we tried.

A Real Hero - College , Electric Youth Gamble For A Rose - King Charles It ’s That Talk Again– Broken Bells Miguel For President - The Cuban Brothers Sexx Laws - Beck

Spitfire - The Prodigy High As A Kite - Someone Who’ll Get It Silver - Caribou Hurt Me - Lapsley Nothing Stays The Same Luke Sital Singh

Cat People - David Bowie Amor Fati - Washed Out Gold - Kiiara

Arts & Culture 33

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Photp static standard

The Saint • 18 February 2016

War and Peace: Tolstoy’s masterpiece on the small screen Paddy Cavanagh

In a recent survey conducted by the BBC that sought to discover which ten novels people had most frequently lied about reading, to little surprise, Tolstoy featured twice. Not an author of narrative brevity, the mere achievement of finishing one of his works has become the ultimate measure of a dedicated reader, a benchmark to which I must confess I fall short.

To my delight, instead of committing months of my life locked away in my bedroom, scrupulously tackling Tolstoy’s dense and wandering prose, the BBC has now condensed this Napoleonic epic into six and a half

hours of televisual splendour. The quality of War And Peace as a costume drama has been well documented, but the multi-faceted nature of its narrative has meant that it transcends such arbitrary generic labels.

Yes, on one level the work consists of beautifully crafted characters, placed within beautiful settings, who are portrayed by beautiful people, but the scale of Tolstoy’s vision has resulted in a tale of unrequited love, a search for self-identity, an account of the depravity of warfare, a commentary of the opulence of the Russian ruling class and a depiction of the naivety of youth.

Not bad going in less than seven

hours. To even attempt to explain the central narrative strands that bind this work together is a feat unattainable within a paragraph, but what Andrews Davies (BBC’s resident adapter of 19th century fiction) does so brilliantly, is to pivot the plot on the three personal journeys of Pierre, Natasha and Andrei. Through this clear direction, the audience is able to tackle the seemingly insurmountable challenge of following the plot of War and Peace.

Sharing the same writer, parallels between this production and BBC’s 1995 masterpiece Pride of Prejudice naturally arise, yet on this occasion, such a comparison is deserved.

Although very different in tone and subject matter, both works exhibit the power of inspired casting. Both James and Norton excel in their roles, but their triumph is only enhanced by a superb supporting cast.

Consisting of a cantankerous Jim Broadbent, a wonderful dramatic turn from Ade Edmondson, and the enticingly malevolent Tuppence Middleton as the seductive manipulator Countess Helene, War and Peace is a celebration of Britain’s acting talent.

However, the real star is the American actor Paul Dano, a man who has already displayed his diversity and prowess in a number of previous supporting roles.

Promoted to centre stage, we are invited to marvel at his command of the screen. Bringing unnerving volatility to Pierre, at one moment a model of passivity, at another a figure of uncontrollable rage and fear, Dano has redefined our expectations for period drama.

Benefiting from a joint production with The Weinstein Company, this cinematic adaption serves as an artistic warning against any regrettable government cuts to the BBC’s funding.

War and Peace has overall been an absolute pleasure to watch, and the BBC adaptation truly does justice to Tolstoy’s masterpiece.

Zaria Foreman shows the effects of global warming in her art Meredith Loper

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Photographer Rena Bass Forman would often travel for work, bringing her family with her as she captured beautiful and changing landscapes.

She made several trips to the Arctic, often photographing in black and white and tinting the images to create a vintage effect. Her works have been compared to those of John L Dunmore, and George Critcherson who accompanied painter William Bradford on the first art expedition to Greenland. Rena found negatives left by Dunmore and Critcherson and conceived the idea for an expedition which would mimic Bradford’s voyage and document the changes in the landscape.

A few months later she was diagnosed with brain cancer. In spite of this, with the help of her daughter, pastel artist Zaria Forman, Rena continued to organize the retracing of Bradford’s 1869 journey.

In 2011, Rena Bass Forman passed away. Yet her idea did not die with her. Zaria Forman continued to plan, and through kickstarter.com, was able to raise enough money to complete the journey in 2012. While in Greenland, Zaria scattered her mother’s ashes across the melting and slowly disappearing landscape. From the photographs and sketches of this journey, Zaria has composed hyper-realistic renditions in soft pastel. Sometimes she uses her mother’s photographs as a way of collaborating with her.

The project, titled Chasing the Light, documents the art of saying goodbye on both a personal and global scale.

Zaria’s pastel drawings bring to life previously unknown environments

process of making it. Zaria completes her monumental pastel drawings by smudging the fine pastel powder with her fingers. For this reason, many people refer to them as ‘finger paintings’. The fine tooth of the pastel paper limits the amount of pigment it can hold. This means that there is little room for error.

Despite this, Zaria rarely uses an eraser, preferring instead to work around her mistakes and incorporate them into her piece to create her emotionally stirring works. The

She personalizes the issues of melting glaciers and global warming

through a detailed and intimate lens.

Her works communicate with the viewer in a way that the written word cannot.

Speaking to Vhcle Magazine, Zaria explained; “I have dedicated my career to translating and illuminating scientists’ warnings and statistics into an accessible medium that people can connect with, on a level that is perhaps deeper than scientific facts can penetrate.”

The hyperrealism of her pieces

both transport the viewer and personalizes the issues of the melting glaciers in Greenland and the rising waves in Maldives.

It is the accessibility of her art that captures her collectors and fans.

Zaria hopes that her works, which depict the disappearing landscapes of places most affected by climate change, will inspire people to want to help preserve these fragile environments as much as possible.

For every piece sold in her

Greenland and Maldives series, a portion of the proceeds are donated to 350.org which aims to create a movement to stabilize the global climate. To date, Zaria has been able to donate more than $5,000. The Greenland and Maldives series are part of a project titled Ice to Islands which seeks to educate the public on climate change.

Not only does her art and the meaning behind it explore the concept of letting go, but so does the

way in which she creates a sense of rebirth and a freshness in a dying loandscape is incredibly innovative.

She references the way in which she linked birth and death within her art.

“It’s sad,” she said in an interview with Epoch Times, “but there’s always something born of something dying.”

And that is exactly what she is doing with her art- creating images which capture (and hopefully save) the slowly disappearing landscapes, for future generations to either enjoy or remember.

thesaint-online.com

18 February 2016 • The Saint

Photphot: kelways

34 Arts & Culture

The February playlist: beat the winter blues Flora Rowe Music editor

February is often described as the low point of the winter; we have had so much cold and misery and there is still more to come. With this depressing reputation, it seems appropriate to find a suitable soundtrack for the occupants of St. Andrews to warm themselves up these winter months.

Let us take you through the February playlist, from Valentines day to the far away dawn of spring.

Every student has secretly always hoped to have The Lumsden Club turn up at their door with a rose from their secret crush and after FS the night before, some chilled acoustics seem suitable to distract you while waiting for that knock on the door.

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley is the old school classic, which any one who has fallen a little bit in

love can relate to, his blue-eyed soul and honest feels make this a perfect track to crush all over. Those who have managed to bag themselves a date may be feeling the pressure to make romantic gestures.

Despite the high levels of cringe there is still music to fill those awkward silences as you sit bathed in candlelight in your south street flat.

To lighten the mood and get the night moving, slam on some Marvin Gaye.

His silky smooth vocals and oh-so-cliché lyrics will be perfect as long as all Kygo remixes are avoided.

The low winter months can often leave you feeling low, particularly for those going through a breakup. Stu Larsen’s Thirteen Sad Farewells reflects that you aren’t going to give your ex another chance, his lyrics are clever and his soft strumming is somewhat powerful and should stop you caring that it’s V day.

If this fails to put things in perspective, Modern Love by Coasts epitomises the fickleness of student relationships and by the time you’re got these playing you’ll be ready for a night out with your clique. Everyone seems to have their go to pre’s song but as it’s such a loved up occasion, shake up your choice with Nobody to Love by Sigma. The dance duo’s retro sounding groove is undeniably feel-good and appropriate for any singleton’s night out.

Not everything about February is all doom and gloom. Forget about the desperation that the Valentines season thrusts upon you and listen to something more up beat or even sensual for those of you in need of a confidence boost. Oops x Wus Good by Louis Mattrs is the sultry tune perfect for the end of the night, stripped back to the bone Mattrs crafts two classic tunes together to create some serious

baby making music.

It’s not only Valentines which is celebrated on this day but also Galentines, think red wine, chick flicks and ice cream, nothing lame at all. While Beyoncé may seem a little predictable for this category, this super woman has recently collaborated with Coldplay. Hymn For The Weekend combines sass, sing-along qualities and two major music powers to pen an ethereal and entrancing track, its irresistible quality will certainly keep you distracted from any lonely thoughts.

Getting seasonal blues isn’t hard to do at this time, particularly with the freezing weather and all the new ‘winter couples’ strolling around St Andrews’ cobbled streets. Our advice is to channel your love (or bitterness) elsewhere, with music that you cant help but feel great while listening to. for example, if you listen to Bloom by

The Paper Kites its as hard not to fall in love with them as it is to not want to be in love.

This folky record is captivating and full of wanderlust and certainly shouldn’t be reserved just for February. It would be criminal to discuss Valentines and ignore the Bridget Jones’ among us although for those falling into that category try and avoid the “All By Myself” slump and listen to Leo Stannard’s My Friends Got Love.

This hidden gem of musical talent will certainly grip your attention and he may just be your new obsession.

However you have felt the winter blues over the last few months, remember that the worst is now over.

Music is the ultimate pick me up; it reinvigorates us all to keep going, even when the chill from the Fife sea rattles us to the bones. But soon it will be spring.. and more importantly Spring Break!

The Super Bowl half-time show: Beyoncé, Bruno Mars and Coldplay(ish) The Super Bowl is a pretty foreign concept to me, but its relevance becomes apparent with the hype that is the half time show. The show has seen acts such as Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and The Stones grace its stage. This year was the 50th Super Bowl and we saw a showdown between the music powers that are Beyoncé, Bruno Mars and

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The rather safe option of Coldplay was outshone by Mars and Beyonce Coldplay. This huge face-off leads to the question “Who really won the super bowl?”

The performance was a 13-minute slur of hyperactive musical heaven, which incorporated some of the biggest tracks of the past decade as well as a montage, which reminisced

over the most memorable super bowl performances. Coldplay were announced to be headlining the show in December, however this rather safe option was out shone by Mars and Beyoncé who managed to confirm their superiority by stealing the show from right under Coldplay’s noses.

Martin and his entourage started off with a perfectly enjoyable set, which saw a progression through their past albums and ended up with their latest hit Adventure of a Lifetime. Their set provided everything we wanted, Martin’s eclectic dancing, a kaleidoscopic stage filled with dancing flowers and some of Coldplay’s biggest hits. The band made a nod to Glastonbury with their hippie style staging however the self-snapping teens were waiting for something a little more powerful to hold their attention. Bruno Mars interrupted this wholesome performance as he broke onto the stage with the speakers blaring “hold up”.

This scream for attention worked a treat as Mars flanked by bin bag-esque dancers burst in with the 2.49 million times streamed Uptown Funk.

Maybe it was the popularity of the track but the audience reacted to

this performance with some form of ecstasy and the show really kicked off. With M a r k Ronson by his side, the 90’s themed track set the stage for Knowles to literally storm the field with her one-day old track Formation.

This powerful performance, with a shot of sex appeal, a hint of menace and a whole load of political relevance took the stage and internet by storm.

Formation is all about declaring your identity and in this staging Beyoncé declared who she is and the power she has in today’s society. This is hugely juxtaposed against the music video where she illustrates the lack of influence black people had in past society. This statement was a fresh take on the half-time show and

as she stormed onto stage to face her competition Mars started spinning off a 90’s version of her track, which acted as a back drop for one hell of a dance off. The performance di cause some controversy however, with some critics stating that Beyonce’s costume and backing dancers were reminiscent of the militant group The Black Panthers

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Flora Rowe Music editor

Nicole NicoleNicole sltusareva

Otherwise known as ‘How Chris Martin managed to be epically upstaged at his own concert’

Coldplay could have made this an extremely memorable show,but for their serious lack of ego due to their black berets and the formation of an ‘X’ symbol, which was the sign of the group. However, as it has been pain painstakingly pointed out on every form of social media, Beyonce is black. The song is about black power; its the song of a strong blacdk woman standign up for her race. her dancers weren’t a terrorist

symbol, just a strong positive link to the message of the song. While the tracks flicked between Uptown Funk and Crazy In Love, Mars and Beyoncé competed for attention and just as Coldplay started to seem like a past memory. The camera’s pulled back from the super-trio and a tear-jerking rendition Fix You was played while a montage made from intertwining footage of past shows was played.

This mournful ballad created a triumphant finale as the audience held up cards with ‘Believe in Love’ written out on them yet that doesn’t highlight who won the musical showdown that is the half time show.

Coldplay were set to be the stars of the show and being one of the most relevant pop-rock bands of our time, they could have easily made this an extremely memorable show, however being typical Brits, they were modest and with a serious lack of ego they let themselves be upstaged at their own Super Bowl show.

Bruno Mars was upstaged by his own producer Mark Ronson and his track was purely exploited as a means to get the crowd grooving. Despite my undying love for Coldplay, it has to be said that Beyoncé completely won over the show with one of the most relevant performances of the year and she conquered each aspect of the show with her overwhelming presence.

The Saint • 18 February 2016

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SPORT Sport editor ANDREW SINCLAIR

Deputy editors: Charlie Wood, Alison Hendry and Alex Hayes.

regardless of what race or religion people may belong to.

Clubs’ attempts to raise prices or maintain excessively high prices has made football inaccessible to many.

Arsenal are a notorious example of these extortionate price levels, as their cheapest season ticket costs an eye-watering £1,035.

Andrew Sinclair improving in the coming years for Freshers and senior students alike.

Our coverage in this issue has tried to fit the bill with the milestone theme, covering clubs new and old, big and small. We look at the Judo, Mountaineering, Badminton, Rifle, Rugby and Basketball clubs, meaning there is something for everyone’s palate.

This year has seen a lot of milestones for the University, with the largest intake of Freshers, the loss of Principal Louise Richardson to Oxford and in a sporting sense having the Scottish Varsity match take place at Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby.

To have so many students from both St Andrews and Edinburgh watching their respective teams go at it for 80 minutes was something to behold and points to bigger things in the future with hopefully an even bigger crowd in this year’s fixture.

Another milestone within that match is something that plays a key role in this issue and that was the Women’s Rugby team having their first Varsity game against Edinburgh on the main pitch for all to see. For them to get that exposure was brilliant and our article on page 39 really focuses on that, highlighting the strides they have made and how they are challenging some very profound stereotypes in their field.

In the period leading up to this issue we have also seen the official re-opening of the Sports Centre with a crucial BUCS women’s basketball game between ourselves and Robert Gordon University which effectively served as a title decider between the two top sides. That game and the whole event that went with it, from the reception beforehand to the cheerleading display symbolisesd all that Saints Sport has achieved, making us competitive in almost every sport imaginable, and what is still to come with the continued development of the new facilities up at the Sports Centre.

The creation of a new gym area with over 100 stations and the tennis centre in the coming semesters will give us some state of the art facilities to rival some of the best equipped Universities around the UK. With this in mind, the future certainly looks bright for Saints Sport and based on the amazing feedback from clubs and teams before this issue, it is also looking positively bright for the Saint.

Photo: Ronnie M,acDonald

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The soaring price of watching the working man’s game in England

Liverpool vs Sunderland - the site of a protest about the barbarity of constant price hikes Alex Hayes Deputy sport editor On Saturday 6 February, Liverpool gave up a two goal lead in the last ten minutes of their home match against Sunderland.

However the match will not be remembered for Jermaine Defoe’s late-game heroics. Instead it will go down in history as the match in which 10,000 Liverpool fans put Premier League ticket prices into the national spotlight. These 10,000 fans (including Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher) walked out of the stadium in the 77th minute to protest the new £77 price that the club intended to charge fans in the newly developed main stand from next season.

This prompted a national debate on the rising cost of watching live Premier League matches. As the Premier League has become more popular globally in the last ten years, clubs have been able to increase their ticket prices as they

know that they will still be able to fill their stadiums.

However, match day revenue is a relatively minor proportion of the overall revenue of Premier League clubs. According to Forbes, match day revenue accounted for only 18% of Liverpool’s total valuation in the 2014-2015 season while broadcasting and commercial revenue accounted for 33% each.

Premier League clubs can expect to make even more from broadcasting with the onset of the £8.3 billion television deal that will go into effect from next season. The vast sums of money clubs gain from broadcasting and other venues makes one question why clubs seek to continue to put a burden on fans in order from them to make a relatively small increase in profits.

It is often said that football is the “working man’s game”, which is true when considering the history of the sport. Football clubs gave local communities around the United Kingdom a cause to rally behind,

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Write fromcolumn the Off Andrew’s

y the time you are reading this the University and its varying sports clubs will be facing impending work deadlines. Essays and assignments will start coming thick and fast as we get into the nitty gritty of second semester, whilst the sports clubs will be getting into the thick of the action as many see their campaigns wind down and each game carries that bit more importance and results mean that bit more.

The improving weather is a great sight for all of us and is an added bonus for the sports teams as the brighter skies provides better conditions for play throughout the semester.

There are no promises at all that the weather will last (we are in Scotland after all) but we can all hope and enjoy the brighter spells whilst they are here. This, along with rearranged fixtures due to the exam period clash with English universities, means the action is coming thick and fast, something encapsulated by the content of this issue.

Sport on the whole is coming to the period of the year where it thrives.

The Six Nations is firmly underway, with England taking the Calcutta Cup after their tense game with Scotland, and the draw between Ireland and Wales on the opening weekend busting the competition wide open.

In football, the FA Cup is progressing well and the European competition is getting back underway with the knockout stages of the Champions League and Europa League.

Over in America the Superbowl is now in our rearview mirror after the Broncos downed the Panthers and the spotlight will now move to the NBA and NHL, with their play-offs not far away. This is the time of the year that is best for sport across the world and the University/BUCS setup reflects that in the coming weeks.

We here at The Saint wish to offer our support to all the teams representing St Andrews in the upcoming term.

The other theme that plays a major part of this issue is milestones.

This is obviously a milestone for the paper with it being our 200th issue since our inception in our current format in 1997 and in that time a lot has changed within Saints Sport.

Clubs have come and gone but at the moment the amount of choice available for students is at an alltime high and looks set to keep on

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Match day revenue is a relatively minor proportion of overall revenue

However it would be inaccurate to say there are no signs of hope in the fight for affordable Premier League football.

Leicester City, one of the leading contenders for the title, have one of the lowest ticket prices in the league at £22 while their cheapest season ticket is only £365 for this season. Newcastle United recently announced that season ticket prices for under-18s will be reduced by up to 54% for next season.

Another sign of hope is that Liverpool’s board responded to the walkout by retracting the proposed price hike for next season, lowering the price to £59.

Fans of teams around the Premier League will see the success of the Liverpool protest as what can be achieved with collective fan action. Hopefully clubs will listen to the fans and we can return the football debate back to the action on the pitch.

Old Course awarded Senior Open for 2018 Andrew Sinclair Sport editor The Old Course has been awarded the hosting rights for the Senior Open Championship, which will take place from the 26 - 29 July 2018.

It was reported by the official European Tour last week and will complete a historic trio for the Old Course, as it has already hosted the Open Championship a record 29 times and the Ricoh Women’s Open twice and will now host the 32nd edition of the tournament.

It is believed that leading former professional Tom Watson, who has won the Senior Open three times and

retired from elite level golf last year in St Andrews at the Open, had a heavy influence on the deal to bring the tournament to the Old Course.

Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie suggested that bringing the tournament to the ‘Home of Golf’ would attract the best field in tournament history and produce four days of exciting golf for the fans and the players alike.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of the R&A Golf Club, said ‘There have been many great championships held at St Andrews over the years and it is entirely fitting that the Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex should be played at the Home of Golf in 2018. We know that the

galleries in St Andrews are passionate about golf and I’m sure they will turn out in strong numbers to see so many renowned senior players competing. It promises to be another wonderful event for golf fans in Scotland.’

The tournament will not only bring a host of celebrities and golfers to the town but will also undoubtedly bring a great financial boost. As reported in our last issue the hosting of the Open last year brought £140 million of revenue to the town and whilst this will be less, it is still an impressive sum and will provide a nice boost to local businesses during the summer months when most of the student body is away.

The Saint 20162014 The Saint •1818February September

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Sport Sport37 33

Get ready for a hike and some fun with the growing St Andrews Mountaineering Club Outdoor Training Centre, runs courses for St Andrews students for as low as £20, where you can gain certificates in winter climbing and navigation. Finally, in January, with the help of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, a professional instructor accompanied the group on a weekend trip, offering them some guidance and useful hints and tips

Alison Hendry Deputy sport editor

Photo: A’ chachaileith

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Do you fancy reaching some new heights? In an interview with Lucy Stanfield, President of the St. Andrews Mountaineering Club, I unearthed the promising progress the club has made over the past few years…and the most exciting part— there is still so much more to come!

Whether you are a hill-walking enthusiast, mountain climber or both, this club’s breadth makes it a perfect fit for everyone. It doesn’t matter if you can expertly navigate rugged terrain or if you stare fearfully at towering peaks, there are lots of opportunities to practice in weekly training sessions and weekend trips throughout the semester.

Even Lucy admits that with previous experience in hillwalking, coming to university and integrating herself within the mountaineering club meant that she was able to focus on a new technical challenge, climbing.

Furthermore, with competitive rock climbing in Dundee, the SSS climbing championships in Aberdeen and the BUCS weekend in March- every skill-level is catered for.

A typical week in the mountaineering club appeals to the dauntless, with a busy schedule and a myriad of social activities. There are wall sessions on Monday’s and Thursday’s and either a day or weekend trip every week. Then there are the pub lunches at the Whey Pat, where members plan routes, check the weather and sign-up for upcoming trips… all over a bowl of the finest nachos.

Are you tired yet? The final dimension is the club socials, with Thursday nights well spent at the Brew Co. and the monthly Wednesday night sinners. An inclusive and welcoming atmosphere is something that that the club hopes

A picturesque shot of Sgurr Alasdair, a peak that the club president has fond memories of climibing, as will countles other members to foster in its activities— long-lasting friendships can really be made.

Did I hear someone mention trips? Yes, and not only to local climbing spots! Over the years, Lucy notes that the club has focused its attention on providing opportunities to experience mountaineering in a different environment. Thus, they are pleased to announce the return of the international trip, with a group of enthusiasts opting to travel to Verdon Gorge this year. Lucy puts this trip into perspective, Verdon George is like the Aspen/Chamonix for skiers!

Although this trip will be technically demanding, it presents a wonderful opportunity to expand climbing horizons and reach for new heights.

As for development, this is something which has been driving the club over the past years. In fact, Lucy was faced by a very sobering situation when a prospective St Andrews student contacted the club about the climbing facilities, as they were hoping to continue to excel in the sport. Admittedly, the current brick wall, which has been installed in the gym for over seventy years, does not offer much scope for technical improvement. However, thankfully, with the redevelopment of the sports centre, a longer wall with some overhangs adds a degree of difficulty unseen by climbers in town.

This updated equipment will solidify the club’s commitment to encouraging individual progression

in the sport. In fact, two climbers Joe Barlow and Skylar Lobdell are a testament to this, as in September they completed the Tower Ridge climb in an impressive 2.20 hours. The only way is up!

So why should you join? If the redevelopment of the sports centre doesn’t compel you to lace up those climbing boots, Lucy has other reasons! It is a great way to see some of Scotland, especially for foreign and study-abroad students.

You are out every weekend, taking in the beautiful sights, on top of famous mountains in the Scottish highlands! Furthermore, for the seasoned mountaineers, there are opportunities to receive qualifications at an extremely discounted rate.

Glenmore Lodge, the National

It is a great way to see some of Scotland, especially for foreign students

The club’s commitment to exploration is evident, they are constantly seeking to inspire newcomers to join the sport. they all love so much.

When I asked Lucy to describe her favourite climb with the club, a smile stretched across her face.

It was her first trip with the club, as a fresher, and they climbed Sgurr Alasdair (Mount Alasdair).

To some it may sound simple… but there was a snag. It was full snow conditions. She jokingly recalls the remaining of the Great Stone Chute to the Great ‘Snowy’ chute! Although she has completed more technically demanding climbs, the experience she had in white-out conditions remains impossible to forget. If the above scenario spurs you to gather your kit and head to the highlands, then perhaps you ought to give the mountaineering club at St Andrews a go.

Judo continue to progress under 2014 Glasgow medalist Charlie Wood Deputy sport editor St Andrews is probably not a place you immediately associate with high-level judo. Which is what makes it so surprising, when talking to Judo club captain Jess Yin, to hear that the University Judo Club is coached by Connie Ramsay, a Commonwealth Games bronze medal winner. Even more impressively, the medal was claimed only eighteen months ago, on home turf at Glasgow 2014.

Ramsay was persuaded to join the club after the previous club coach, Karen Cusack, left on maternity leave (Cusack, it may or may not surprise you to hear, is also a Commonwealth Games bronze medal winner). That the club trains three times a week, then, is definitely unsurprising. Anything less, given the vast experience Ramsay brings to

bear, would seem almost profligate.

That said, it would be fallacious to presume Ramsay’s experience prevents judo greenhorns from joining.

As is the case with so many smaller sports clubs, even club captain Jess had never played judo before St Andrews. With a sport so technical and demanding, it is easy to assume most members have prior experience. Not so, says Jess: most members haven’t. What tends to be the case is that members choose judo, after having dabbled with the various marital arts clubs offered in the Auld Grey Toon. Judo, unlike many of them, is fully and fiercely competitive; the top-class training offered by Ramsay channelled into a full-on BUCS and SSS programme.

Given judo’s contact-heavy nature, first-timers are eased into the basics before starting proper fights. One of the very first things they are taught is how to fall so that major injury is

prevented. Throwing opponents – that is, going on the offensive – is only allowed once the self-preservation stage has been surpassed. Bruises, Jess stresses, are inevitable. But serious falls? Eminently preventable.

With this safety net safely in place, however, the sport offers freedoms aplenty. Described by Jess as an “adrenaline rush”, judo combines intense physical combat with an equally intense need for timing and spatial awareness. Indeed, Jess emphasizes that within the same weight category “anyone can beat anyone on a good day”, such is judo’s focus on the mental over the physical. Ramsay herself is 5 feet 4 – clearly, given St Andrews’ presence at the UK-wide BUCS Judo Championships in Sheffield next week, physical slightness doesn’t prevent successful tutelage.

Tutelage which applies to all. The range of players holding different belts at the club is such that no-one

is out of their depth. For any given member of the club, there is “always someone else of the same standard”.

This range of abilities, in conjunction with the relative smallness of the club, means that the club is not even slightly hierarchical (indeed, it couldn’t be even if it wanted to). Although it is par-for-the-course to emphasize clubs’ unity in these types of article, the judo club takes unity to new extremes. Have you heard of another sports club in St Andrews whose entire roster regularly get together for movie nights? If you have, feel free to scribble all over this paragraph.

Freshers this year number around five to ten, a figure consistent with the club’s close-knit nature. Not all of them have chosen to enter into competitions immediately, with some opting only to train and gain the requisite nous for battle. Indeed, this is something that marks the judo club out. Many – if not all – student

sports clubs have social members, who only attend socials, as the name suggests. But very few have members who train without actually playing.

Such an intermediary stage reflects both the sport’s sheer rigour, and the club’s keenness to integrate rookies.

As regards the AU, Jess says that it always listens to the club’s concerns, and emphasizes that where the club’s wishes aren’t always met, this is understandable given the range of clubs it caters for. Despite the odd difficulty with securing transport to away fixtures, at no stage have the AU not at least attempted to help. Reasons for optimism persist, above and beyond practicalities. With Sheffield looming, there is every reason to hope for steel-city success. Success in a sport which Jess says is “more real” than simply passing a ball around. Of course, members of other sports clubs will all have their own views about what the most engaging sport is.

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Sport Page 38 34 34 Sport

18 February 6 November 2016• The The Saint 18 September 2014 Saint

Andrew Sinclair Sport editor The Saints Women’s Basketball team won a thrilling clash with rivals Robert Gordon University 51-49 in the official opening fixture at the new Saints Sports Arena.

The setting was great for the match, with the new seating (part of the three-part renovation programme) meaning that almost 400 people were in attendance for the game. It was not just the Saints that were in attendance, with RGU also bringing a fair amount of vocal travelling support, including their mascot.

A performance from the Saints Cheerleading team and speeches from both Saints Director of Sport Stephen Stewart and Athletic Union president Sarah Thompson set the scene for what promised to be a great game between the two sides that sat atop of the BUCS Scottish 1A League.

The winner would therefore be in prime position to go and win the title come the end of the season with just one more fixture to go. Saints won the tip off and away we went.

After five minutes St Andrews lead a tight contest 5-4 and that was mainly due to infractions by RGU. Three sets of free throws were awarded to the Saints but they were only able to convert half of them and there must have been some doubts for the players about whether that profligacy from the line could hurt them. RGU did take the lead about a minute later and those potential fears were proba-

bly heightened by that basket and that sparked the Saints into action. A first three of the game and a steal, resulting in a lay-up which put Saints four clear. Four straight points by RGU pulled them level but a clutch basket looked to have given Saints the lead after a quarter but RGU levelled with seven seconds to go, leaving it finely poised at 12-12 after one quarter.

Much as they had in the first quarter, St Andrews scored with the first play of the quarter but they were immediately cancelled out by RGU. Both sides scored with their first two plays of the quarter but it was a three from RGU that put them back ahead and by half way through the quarter it was 22-18 to RGU. St Andrews were awarded two free throws and they made the second one to stop the rot.

RGU then pulled away to a 24-19 lead, their biggest of the game but Saints were to come back and levelled it with a shot that summed up the cliché, third time’s a charm. Saints took a shot, rebounded and then shot again, only to miss, rebound and then reset and shoot and it was the third shot that went in for three points, levelling the scores. A huge three for Saints before the end saw them lead by three points at half-time and they had all the momentum going into the second half.

If the second quarter had belonged to the Saints, the third most definitely belonged to RGU as they ended up winning the quarter 13-10. Saints had pulled away to lead by six, their biggest margin of the game about

Photo: Saints Basketball

The sports arena re-opens with a bang as Saints down Robert Gordon in a top game

The new Saints Sports Arena was the venue as Saints went top of the BUCS table with a late 51-49 win over rivals Robert Gordon halfway through but RGU fired six straight unanswered points to level it at 37-37 all with one quarter to play.

RGU’s dominance and Saints frustration in the quarter were summed up by the foul stats, with Saints committing five to the two commited by their Aberdonian opponents.

The fourth quarter started brightly but events soon took a darker turn.

RGU had edged the first couple of minutes to lead 43-41 but there was to be a long break in play.

After a seemingly innocuous incident one of the RGU players was left down on the ground, motionless.

It appeared that the player had been knocked out when trying to go for a

rebound but the events clearly had an impact on the watching crowd, as things went very quiet.

She did come round eventually and was helped up by Sports Centre staff and her teammates and later left the venue in an ambulance as a precautionary measure.

Once she had been moved off the court and the players were ready to resume we did and Saints scored a free throw to reduce the deficit to 1.

The play then accelerated in pace with both teams exchanging baskets to leave it 47-46 to RGU but the momentum was about to undergo one last shift.

A huge three from the Saints but

them back in front 49-47 and then both sides exchanged baskets again but RGU were unable to find that extra leveller and it finished in a Saints victory, 51-49.

It was a fantastic game, full of drama and skill and both sides played their part. It was always close, both in terms of points and in the fouls department, with Saints leading that category 12-11 at the end.

The win marked the start of a new era in Saints Sport and it can only be positive based on that performance.

They sit top of the BUCS league now, three points clear of RGU with one game to play, away against Glasgow on Wednesday 9 March.

Badminton have big plans for an even Rifle Club impresses in better 2016 after a strong and succesful 2015 recent Scottish competition

Club president Hayleigh Edson tells us what we should expect this year Saints Badminton have got off to a flying start in second semester. The highly anticipated opening of the new sports arena has brought with it an influx of social members, who are all vying for a spot on the glistening new courts.

Despite the ungodly hour, our team training session is also much more enjoyable now that we have some upbeat tunes, emanating from the distant fitness classes. First semester saw both teams competing almost every weekend in BUCS, with our newly promoted second team having to travel far and wide to their matches – what is even past Glasgow?

Our first team have suffered just one defeat this season, but they certainly didn’t go down without inflicting a few wounds on their opponents.

Though there are fewer BUCS matches this semester, the local league is definitely heating up! Currently sitting second in the table with every chance of taking over first position, the team has also managed to stroll into the semi-finals of the cup, taking on a fierce rival, but Vice President and lo-

cal league captain Krista Plociennik is confident of a place in the finals.

Next week our team captains Danny Myers and Edwin Hui will lead the charge towards Sheffield for the BUCS nationals. An amazing mixed doubles performance from Danny and partner Kirsty Cumming last year saw them break into the

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Hayleigh Edson

Our first team have suffered just one defeat this season

round of 16, which naturally means that this year they are destined for the finals.

On top of matches, the club will be hosting a number of events that are predicted to be very popular amongst both current and past members. Please prepare the drumroll. For the first time ever, the badminton club

will be hosting a current students vs alumni match as part of the alumni festival weekend, an event that our President, Hayleigh Edson, has been working tirelessly to put into action. It’s quite clear who will be victorious, but our beloved alumni do deserve the benefit of the doubt.

The main focus of the semester will be the annual charity singles tournament, taking place on Sunday 6 March from 10am, and it will be open to all members, regardless of experience.

There will of course be prizes for the winners as well as in our raffle, and this year all proceeds will go to CRY – a charity nominated by one of our members.

Our first semester was fun, but the second semester looks to be even better!

Did we mention that we were Saints Sports most improved club of the year for 2015? Well we were. Try not to be too envious.

The club is always looking for new members, beginners or those who have played the sport before. All are welcome.

You can contact the club through their Facebook page to register an interest but also by email through badminton@saints-sport.com.

Alex Hayes Deputy sport editor This semester has already been a success for one of the university’s most unique sports clubs. The University of St. Andrews Rifle Club hosted Robert Gordon University and the universities of Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh at the end of January.

They nearly managed an impressive clean sweep in all of the competitions they participated in, which included Individual, Pair, Ladies, and Team categories.

Despite not achieving a rare clean sweep, the team is still very pleased with their results.

Rory McAlpine and Kathyrn Williamson secured second and third place respectively in the Class A individual. The St Andrews team also had three competitiors in both the Class B Individual section and in the Novice class.

Ewan Scougall came first, Megan Auld second and Yang Jing fourth in Class B. We also won in the novice category, with Tom Williams first, Katherine Nevin second and Gavrilo Stajkovac fifth.

Fourth year member Katherine Johnson was thrilled with the team’s

performance. “It was an incredibly successful and entertaining weekend. I haven’t seen a set of results this impressive in my three and a half years here!”

This Grand Prix was part of the Scottish Smallbore League, a competition where each university holds its own weekend-long tournament. The most recent Grand Prix took place on Saturday 13 February in Glasgow, where the Saints were ultimately successful, securing a pair of second place finishes. Rory McAlpine was the star of the weekend, coming first in the individual classification.

Further down the line, the club can look forward to the outdoor championships and potentially competing in the BUCS finals in Sheffield.

Outside of competitive competitions, the St. Andrews Rifle Club plans to travel to the Highlands in April to go on a big bore shooting excursion, something that will be enjoyable for all those involved and a great way to further integrate with the other club members.

This semester promises to be an exciting one for the sharp shooters at the Rifle Club. The club is still open to interested shooters, at both all levels.

Contact the club through Facebook or via email with rifle@saints-sport.com.

The Saint 20162014 The Saint •1818February September

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Sport Sport 39 35

Saints Rugby and the changing nature of women’s sport

Outside centre India Roche brakes through to score one of her three tries during the game, impressing with her footwork and speed I was still interested to speak to the team and learn about their treatment and if it had changed.

Talking to Fiona Cooper, the women’s captain, and some of her teammates it is clear to see that the stigma is declining but there are still issues.

She recounted to me a recent experience of hers where an orthodontist she contacted to get a mouth guard seemed aghast that a ‘pretty little thing’ like her was playing a sport like Rugby. That comment is an isolated example though and the general treatment they get is improving and their equality within the Rugby club here is at an all-time high.

It was not too long ago that the University women’s team trained and played at the Madras school fields and their fixtures and performance seemed distinctly removed from that of the men’s side. That has changed since the appointment of David Ross as Director of Rugby at the University, with the women’s team now training and playing on the same pitches as the men’s team and the general feeling around the teams is that it is now a club, encompassing both teams, rather than just rugby teams within the University sport programme.

Last season saw the women’s team win the Scottish 1A title with a string of impressive performances but this season has not gone quite as well.

They suffered two defeats in their first six games, meaning the title is probably out of reach for this season. That can largely be put down to a problem that has plagued the club in recent years. Most of the girls that come to the University and take up Rugby are complete beginners and therefore by the time they are at the peak of their game and are playing as a great team with experience together under their belts, it is almost time for several of them to graduate, meaning the team is often reset and has to start from scratch again.

This should not be too much of an issue next year though, as the current squad is quite young and is developing at a great rate. Although they will lose some players in the summer due to their graduation, the vast majority will be retained for next year and that

will be of huge benefit to the club and their prospects for next season. This will hopefully be bolstered by recruitment efforts in Hong Kong, where rugby is quite big and developing quickly, and Canada, where girls are often offered the opportunity to play in high school.

The highlight of the season for the Saints Women’s team was their Varsity game at Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby, against the University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh are widely regarded as the best women’s team in the UK and they currently have five Scotland under-20 internationals who all have bright futures predicted for them. Although they tasted defeat in that game it was a fantastic experience for them and the experience will put them in good stead for the future.

Now on to the game played last

”

Despite the fact that we are in 2016 and we are supposedly freer and more equal than even before, women’s sport is often kept out of the spotlight. In fact, it is often marginalised and subject to derision and ridicule.

Often women are judged as lesser than their male counterparts in the sport and those that take part are often insulted.

One only needs to look at the responses to EA Sports official Twitter announcement in the summer that female teams would be included in their FIFA 16 game, released last September. Needless to say the comments were largely focused on the women’s physical appearance in the game and were ridiculous.

They are professional athletes, just the same as men, and therefore deserve to be treated with just as much respect. It surprised me to be honest, especially considering the Women’s Football World Cup in the summer.

There was a lot of support in England for the tournament as the English team did far better than ever before and the television coverage offered by the BBC allowed more people to see it, hopefully increasing participation down the road. That support and pride that people took in the team seemed to be completely juxtaposed by the debase comments.

I am completely aware those making the comments were not representative of all Britain but the point still remains – this is 2016 and we should behave in a better way and show women the respect they deserve.

With the Women’s Six Nations underway I was hoping that there would be some good coverage of their tournament this year. Sadly they only seem to be offering highlights within the coverage of the men’s games.

The BBC are in the process of making major cuts and the Sport part of their network has taken a huge hit, so I could understand them not showing the games, especially with BBC Three closing down as a television channel and relocating online. However, they now share coverage with ITV and ITV have multiple channels and therefore it is bemusing and disappointing that there is such minimal coverage. If the sport is going to grow then it needs to be broadcast to a wider audience and this tournament, along with the split TV deal, provides the perfect platform for that.

Women’s rugby is often subject of derision, largely by men, with those that play often labelled as butch, masculine and other terms that are neither true nor fair. This stigma that is attached to the sport would decline further if they get more coverage on a wider scale but it does appear to be improving.

St Andrews is probably not the best place to test the notion that the discrimination is decreasing.

This University is often termed the ‘Bubble’ where we live a vacuum that often seems distinctly removed from the rest of the world. Therefore the treatment the women’s team get here could well be different due to the nature of St Andrews than it would be at another major Scottish University or in the rest of the UK. Despite that,

Photo: Sammi Ciardi

Andrew Sinclair Sport editor

They are professional athletes, just the same as their male counterparts, and therefore deserve to be treated with as much respect

week at University Park. The bright weather that started the day set the scene for the game against the University of Stirling. Director of Rugby David Ross told me before the game that he expected a tough encounter as Stirling, much like St Andrews, have undergone a significant restructuring of their women’s rugby and they are a team on the rise and therefore would be tricky to beat.

Stirling began the game by kicking

from right to left and they made a great start. Saints had all the early possession from the kick-off but seemed unable to get out of their own 22 and move forward. That pressure from Stirling resulted in a knockon by Saints and therefore a Stirling scrum. Direct from the scrum their number eight made a powerful run and whilst she was stopped, their fullback was not and she scored after just five minutes.

From the kick-off Stirling were able to secure possession again and they scored another try just a couple of minutes later and whilst it was not converted, they looked dominant. By the time the clock reached the 10 minute mark, Stirling had further extended their lead with a try that Saints will be disappointed with. A few missed tackles allowed them space and freedom to score a third try and this time they converted it to make the score 17-0.

Saints, much as they did in the Varsity game back in September, had made a slow start but as the first half went on they managed to pull themselves back into the game before the break. Some scrappy play from both sides presented an opportunity for Saints and we managed to touch down and score a try through captain Fiona Cooper, but missed the conversion, leaving the score at 17-5.

The next ten minutes saw the game settle down for both sides, with both playing some great stuff and showcasing the great talents that they both have. An amazing line break from outside centre India Roche capped off some great recycling of the ball by the Saints backline and pulled the score back to 19-12 and both sides seemed evenly matched as we got into the second half of the first half.

A converted try for Stirling after 32 minutes saw momentum shift back their way again but Saints were to have the last say in the first half. A period of pressure in its closing stages saw Saints probe and push at the Stirling backline and eventually a gap opened up for Roche, who again excelled and powered through to score again, making it 24-17 at the break and looking like it could go either way

in the second period.

That late try in the first half seemed to boost Saints at the start of the second half and it was India Roche that scored again early on to level the scores. She showed a great turn of pace and some great footwork to break through four tackles and score her hat-trick during the game and the captain got the conversion to make it 24-24 just into the second half.

Saints were showing some much improved defence at the start of the period, repelling attacks where they would have struggled in the first half. However, the game started to unravel for them about ten minutes later.

A mistake at the breakdown saw Stirling steal possession and score their fifth try of that game to go back into the lead and then six minutes later they were to score again. A 22 drop out for Saints was caught by the Stirling full back and she broke through all the tackles in front of her to score a try and it was converted, leaving Stirling 36-24 ahead with twenty minutes to play.

Those two tries seemed to stun the Saints and take the game out of their reach but their opponents were far from finished. Stirling showed some impressive stamina to score another four tries in the last fifteen minutes as Saints’ defensive effort fell apart and the final score ended with Saints losing their second successive game in the league, eventually going down 5824. The results sees Stirling move up to second in the league ahead of Saints but our team will have the change for some revenge on March 2nd, as they make the trip to face Stirling in the return fixture.

Whilst the result did not go the way Saints wanted it to, they showed real heart, desire and commitment and if this is only the beginning for this group of players, the signs are bright. They are part of the changing face of women’s rugby and it is certainly something brilliant to be a part of.

Online this week Canoe Review Club captain Hugo Fairclough provides an excellent review of the first semester for the Canoe Club.

Handball The club provide a detailed account of what the sport is and where it is going for the coming semester, whilst also previewing some upcoming competitions.

Basketball Review The men’s team provide a review of a successful year so far for the team as they look to match the success of the girls team.

BUCS Round-Up A round of all of the BUCS action of all your favourite teams as their seasons start to approaching the closing stages.

THE SAINT