The Stag - Issue 66

Newspaper of the students of the University of Surrey

Issue 66 – Monday 9th December 2013

Interview with Surrey’s Physics Professor and TV Star Jim Al-Khalili on p16

Election Manifestos for NUS Delegates Inside!

Farewell Madiba
By Alistair Walker

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ormer South African President and civil rights icon, Nelson Mandela, died in his home in Johannesburg last week. “He passed on peacefully in the company of his family”, South African president Jacob Zuma announced late on Thursday 5th

December. In the hours that followed, the world seemed to unite in grief as news of the death of apartheid’s most respected opponent, and racial equality’s best known campaigner, spread. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, aged 95, was a global icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner and inspired

those suffering racial oppression by championing their rights in the face of adversity. This led to his democratic election as South Africa’s first black president in 1994, ending the previous government’s 46-year long persecution. However, his story has only relatively recently become one of triumph. Mandela’s struggle,

known worldwide as the tale of ‘prisoner to president’, began when his work as an African National Congress (ANC) activist led to his arrest in 1956, which resulted in his appearance at the first of two trials. Although this first trial was acquitted, Mr Mandela was later convicted of sabotage in 1964, after founding the military arm of

the ANC as part of a campaign to defend against the violent white minority rule. It was the three-hour long speech that Mandela gave at his second trial which continued to inspire the continued efforts of the ANC and foreign governments in Continued on page 2...

The Stag Team Wish You A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

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EDITORIAL

The Stag  |  9th December 2013
Continued from page 1... ending the apartheid system. His work in founding a new South Africa led to his award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 alongside F. W. de Klerk who in 1990, as president and leader of the previously oppressive National Party, had freed Mandela from his infamous 27-year imprisonment. After serving five years as head of government and changing South Africa’s constitution for the better, Mr Mandela stepped down from politics to pursue his efforts as a philanthropist, and enjoy freedom with his family. In keeping with previous passings of great political figures, heads of state including The Queen and Barack Obama paid tribute by publically passing on their condolences and declaring their admiration for the values he stood for. Obama, who was an attorney before becoming a politician, referenced the closing statement that Mandela gave in 1964, noting that he

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went on to achieve “more than can be expected of any man”. Meanwhile, Prime Minister David Cameron also summarised the sentiment of our nation, saying “one of the brightest lights of our world has gone out”. Mandela will be accorded a full state funeral to commemorate his life.

News Editor: Shunayna Vaghela

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

NEWS

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Editor | Alex Smith [email protected] Editor-in-Chief |  Andy Smith [email protected] Deputy Editor (Head of Design)  |  Paul A Richmond [email protected] Design Team | Rebekkah Hughes, Siobian Harris, Sophia Field Deputy Editor (Marketing)  |  Nicole Vassell [email protected] Marketing Team | Vacant News Editor  |  Shunayna Vaghela [email protected] News Team  |  Leo Blachard, Rachel Weaver, Katie Sands, Sacha Fourneir Opinion & Analysis Editor | Sam West [email protected] Opinion & Analysis Team | Ibrahim Sarwar, Jess Kipling, Dan Davidson Features Editor  |  Rebekkah Hughes [email protected] Features Team  |  Lily Pearson, Saskia Perks, Jas Smith, Tilly Tasker, Daniel Gautrey, Alex Watts Science and Technology Editor  |  Siobhan Harris [email protected] Science and Technology Team  | Laurence Stant, Francesca Gillard, Fahmid Chowdhury, Edward Luff Societies Editor  | Alice Wilkinson [email protected] Societies Team  | Sophie Vickery, Lizzie Andrews Dance and Theatre Editor  | Amy McGivern [email protected] Dance and Theatre Team  | Film Editor  | Sophia Field [email protected] Film Team  |  Daniel Müller, Hayden Lloyd, Ankur Banerjee Music Editor  |  Candice Ritchie [email protected] Music Team  |  Kyra Hanson, James Campbell, Leo Blanchard, Arran Coe Literature Editor  |  Shiri Shah [email protected] Literature Team  |  Lauren Boland, Leo Blanchard, Emma Hawken Sports Editor  |  Santiago Avilés [email protected] Sport Team  |  Gareth Raynes, Michael Dawson, Laura White Web Editor  |  Alistair Walker [email protected]

NUS Responds To Girlguiding UK Report On Sexism
By Shunayna Vaghela, News Editor

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he National Union of Students has responded to a report on sexism published by Girlguiding UK. The report, Equality for girls, shows that 75 per cent of girls aged 11-21 feel sexism is so widespread in UK society that it affects most areas of their lives. It also disturbingly shows that girls feel sexual harassment is commonplace, that their appearance is intensely scrutinised and that their abilities are undermined.

It echoes research conducted by NUS which revealed that that 50 per cent of study participants identified “prevailing sexism, and a culture of harassment” at their universities. In 2010 NUS published the ‘Hidden Marks’ report which produced the staggering statistic that 68 per cent of respondents had been the victim of one or more kinds of sexual harassment on campus during their time as a student. Kelley Temple, NUS Women’s Officer, said; “This report will

make uncomfortable reading for many of us and these findings echo those that we found in our research into lad culture at universities. Young women and girls should grow up and feel empowered to become leaders and an inspiration to others, but unfortunately this report highlights just how deeply these perceptions and barriers for women are ingrained in our society. We need to take action to tackle this culture within our communities that cuts women out whenever it rears its ugly head.”

Party Leader Visits Surrey Young Greens
Monday to Friday The biggest brands. 08.30am - 6.00pm The widest choice. (subject to change)
Letter from the Editor
By Leo Blachard In February, I’m going to be going to placement in Vienna. This means I will no longer be able to commit enough time to ensure content flows-in and everything flows smoothly. It brings a tear to my eye to know that I will have to abandon my sole motivation at uni so that I can spend a few months in the heart of Europe. I trust that my loving and more than capable team will be able to continue without me at the helm for the next few months and hope a glorious and committed editor emerges after my departure. I wish everyone at The Stag the best and hope many readers will be inspired enough to contribute to their student newspaper. Thank you to everyone who’s read and volunteered for this wonderful newspaper. Many thanks, Alex Smith, Editor

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their education. Bennett explained that her party’s believes that the benefit of higher education extends beyond the individual themselves into the economy and society as a whole. She also talked about the benefits that a clean energy society could bring beyond reducing climate change, such as the thousands of jobs that it would bring to the British economy; careers that Surrey graduates could potentially be entering into. The importance of local economies was also stressed, drawing attention to the way in which the government’s handing of contracts to large companies such as Serco was harming local businesses. She finished her talk by encouraging the audience to vote in next year’s European elections, regardless of who they will be voting for. Jonathan Essex, a Surrey County Councillor, was also present to give a talk on ‘Thinking Globally, Acting Locally’ about his personal experiences of the impact of climate change overseas. He spoke about how flooding caused by climate change had severely damaged small communities in Bangladesh and how we have a responsibility, as members of a developed nation, to engage in local action to help these problems. Although every one of Surrey’s MPs is a member of the Conservative Party, the Green Party leader presented an alternative to Britain’s three main parties that would probably resonate strongly with the average Surrey student.

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The Stag is an editorially independent newspaper and is published by the University of Surrey Student’s Union. The views expressed in the paper are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editorial team, the Students’ Union or the University of Surrey. Trinity Mirror (South) 8 Tessa Road, Reading RG1 8NS The Stag reserves the right to edit all submissions and the right to decide which articles are published.

hristmas is a time where you’ll find yourself having to say a relatively long sayonara here and there. You may not see people for a month as they return to their old lives for a festive month, or sadly, some people may not find themselves venturing back to campus. Sometimes striking the right tone for the moment is near impossible. This is my attempt: The past few months have been by far the best and worst months of my life. There is nothing quite like the pressure and pace of life experienced when running a newspaper – albeit a student one. But there’s also not many situations like this where being able to drop everything you’re doing and putting all of your efforts, day and night, into fixing a problem or fighting a cause. Just knowing that being able to pester a few people here and there to get last minute content is a phenomenal feeling - And it’s even better when you actually do it. Sorry if you were on the receiving end of such requests (you’re a lifesaver).

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ero tuition fees, a sustainable approach to energy, and greater support for local economies were the three policies put forward by Natalie Bennett, the Green Party leader, during her talk on ‘The Green Alternative’ at the University of Surrey on the 25th November. The Green Party is the political wing of the UK’s environmental movement and had its first MP, Caroline Lucas, voted into Parliament in 2010, representing the constituency of Brighton Pavilion. After the Liberal Democrats went back on their promise to prevent the introduction of tuition fees as high as £9,000 a year, the Greens have emphasised the fact that they are firmly opposed to charging university students for

£45

JUS

EVERY MORNING

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NEWS

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Christmas is Here!
ello! My name is PC Jane Christmas and I’m the new police liaison officer for Surrey University, covering for PC Emily Collier whilst she is away on maternity leave. I will be working alongside PCSO Kie Minns, who is already a regular around the campus. Up until recently I’ve been working in Guildford town centre so a few of you may already have seen me around whilst shopping or on a night out. Prior to this I worked for the Metropolitan Police in the busy borough of Lambeth before deciding to transfer to Surrey. I’ve enjoyed policing in Surrey and found Guildford to be a challenging and rewarding place to work. On a crime prevention note, please remember that Christmas is a busy time for burglars so look after your property. Make sure your doors and windows are kept locked, and all of those presents are kept out of view. I’ll be working throughout the festive period so if you see me walking around please come and speak to me, even just to say hi. I’m intending to spend a lot of time on the campus! Otherwise I can be contacted via the Surrey Police switchboard by dialing 101. In addition my Facebook page will soon be up and running and I’m also a regular user of Twitter where you can find me at Guildford Beat.

Finance

Bitcoin – the currency of tomorrow?
As the ‘crypto-currency’ breaks the $1000 barrier, questions are raised about the future of Bitcoin.
Sacha Fournier, News team

NUS Welcomes New Law To Cap The Cost Of Payday Loans
By Rachael Weaver, News Team

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he NUS has welcomed the Government’s announcement on introducing a new law to cap the cost of payday loans. Their successful campaign to encourage colleges and universities to become “shark free zones” has prompted the Government to take action against high interest loan companies that target the most vulnerable in society. The NUS has previously expressed their concern over proliferation of payday lenders on campus. Vice President Colum

McGuire has said, “In the current financial climate, and with students facing a cost of living crisis, many sadly feel that they have no other option than to take out one of these loans, and they can subsequently face significant financial consequences for doing so for years afterwards”. Research carried out by the NUS has shown 50 per cent of undergraduate students regularly worry about meeting basic living expenses like rent and utility bills. It also found that students who are carers for dependant adults are three times more likely to take out high-risk debt.

The NUS have always recommended students to contact their Student’s Union for financial advice. McGuire stated that “No student should ever feel that they have to turn to payday lenders”. He went on to say that “it’s good to see the pressure we have been putting on for government action has now spurred this announcement.” The NUS have also recently signed up to the cross party ‘Charter to Stop the Payday Loan Rip-Off’, which supports regulating payday lenders.

Survey asks young people what they need from Guildford
By Katie Sands, News Team

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he local council have undertaken a public survey in response to Guildford’s local plan, collecting comments from over 150 Guildford residents. The Survey hosted a number of consultation sessions where young people aged between 16 and 35 were encouraged to feedback to the borough council on the experience of living in Surrey. The general consensus of these sessions shed a light on the difficulty for young people to find affordable housing, the lack of job opportunities in the area and the need for cheaper public transport.

Many citizens noted that brown belt, and then possibly green belt land, should be considered building for new housing. The survey leader, Councillor Monika Junega, said to a BBC reporter “Lots of young people are talking about the plan… Their views are different from those in their 40s, 50s and 60s who have their own homes.” She commented the council have to ‘balance and manage’ the needs of different groups in society, including young people. The survey will be taken into consideration for further council action in response to these needs.

itcoin has been dubbed by critics as the future of the financial world, but what exactly is this mysterious and intangible currency? Developed in 2008 by a computer programmer using the pseudonym ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, Bitcoin is a ‘virtual currency’ that is decentralised and can be traded anonymously with anyone around the world. Bitcoins can be made by anyone with a modern computer by a process known as ‘mining’. Bitcoins are stored in virtual wallets and can be traded directly between users for fees far lower than those charged by major financial institutions. An individual’s Bitcoin wallet is completely anonymous and cannot be frozen by any government or institution. Supporters of Bitcoin argue that due to its anonymous and irreversible nature, Bitcoin lowers the risk of fraudulent transactions. Despite this, critics argue that it facilitates the sale and distribution of illegal drugs and child pornography on what’s known as the ‘Dark Net’. In October the FBI seized 144,000 ($144m) Bitcoins from Silk Road – the world’s largest online market for illegal drugs. As interest in the ‘virtual currency’ grows, more merchants are beginning to accept Bitcoin as a method of payment. Users can buy goods ranging from alcohol in certain British pubs, Virgin Galactic Space Flights, or even a degree at the University of Nicosia. Despite fast growing acceptance of Bitcoin, it is still far from being classed as a true medium of exchange and is yet to be adopted by any major offline retailers, its predominant use based in niche and online markets. Last month Bitcoin topped the $1000 mark on one of its major currency exchanges MT.Gox. The value of the currency has been volatile, almost quadrupling from its previous high of $267 three weeks prior. Analysts claim this price-hike to be a result of increased consumer awareness and a campaign to make the currency mainstream. Dr Stephen Kinsella from the University of Limerick described the virtual currency as ‘a speculative asset people are buying primarily to flip onto someone else’. Proponents have been more forgiving of the infantile currency, claiming its value is truly uncapped if there is sufficient demand. Only time will tell if Bitcoin is just another bubble waiting to burst, or a viable and mainstream global currency.

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OPINION & ANALYSIS

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Opinion & Analysis Editor: Sam West

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

OPINION & ANALYSIS

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Opinion & Analysis
The True Meaning Of Christmas A Liberal-Modernist
Siobhan Harris

A Revolutionary Theory on How to Reduce Road Deaths ...Just Slow Down!

Debate Society Column: Faith’s Future
By Dan Davison, Debate Society Vice President

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Perspective On Freedom
‘Tradition’ is not everyone’s cup of tea. I really dislike the word ‘feminist’, but I guess you could label me that on one level. I believe life can only be enjoyed fully if you design it yourself. Modernism has changed the first world for the better, and introduced exciting opportunities for current and future generations. It’s up to individuals to continue traditions, discover the world for themselves, or incorporate both. Personally, I like to think I don’t totally reject traditions. There are many I still follow, comfortable in the knowledge that I can still pursue the life I want to live. If that sense of comfort were to be taken away, I’d no longer feel ‘free’. This meaning is best described in a quote by John Stuart Mill, a 19th century philosopher and contributor to social thought: “The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it”. To take that freedom away, to strip an individual of their life choices and interests, is dehumanising in our society to say the least.

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Sam West

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ncreasingly and increasingly, people seem to be forgetting the true meaning of Christmas. In recent polls, such as one conducted in November 2012, 81% of the British public stated that ‘the true meaning of Christmas has been lost’. In our society today, everyone seems to be hustling and bustling, getting on with their own lives. We are often too busy to sit down and reflect on the true value of Christmas, and what it actually means. This is not surprising. The main reminder of Christmas we get through the Christmas period is that of commercialisation; highly expensive gadgets and gifts, adverts of Santa or a polar bear swigging a Coca-Cola, and pop stars fighting to the death for that Christmas number one. This isn’t to say Christmas music, gifts and adverts are a bad thing. They are wonderful things that bring us much entertainment and enjoyment. Although these things should be embraced, it is important to remember that Christmas has a greater meaning and a greater joy. The true meaning of Christmas is that of love. It is about spending quality time with our loved ones at the most special time of the year. Not just immediate family, but family can include extended family, family friends, and significant others. Most of us spend this quality time by eating Christmas dinner together, watching Christmas television, and playing games. We all have different Christmas traditions, but it is the value behind the traditions that count. However we celebrate Christmas, it is important to share great love

and joy. Part of the Christmas love is expressed through kindness, such as by giving gifts to those most close to us. Although we may be excited by the commercial product, it is important to treasure love and kindness itself as part of the gift. After all, it is the thought that counts. In modern society we appreciate all these great components; food, fun and presents. Yet we sometimes forget about the greater meaning behind them, by which we instead look at the face value. Even when we do reflect upon the greater value and meaning, we often restrict this to the big day itself. There is no reason why we cannot reflect and truly appreciate Christmas throughout the whole season. Of course the big day will be the most special and exclusive, but the days either side can still express such qualities. The core values of Christmas can be traced back to The Nativity. The love Mary showed for the baby Jesus, and God showed for us. The family togetherness of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. The kindness the innkeeper showed Mary and Joseph in their time of need. The act of giving by the three wise men and the shepherds. The joy to the world by the birth of the saviour. These values aren’t exclusive to adherents of The Nativity story, but to all mankind; values that are exclusive to all those who cherish love. So please, have yourself a merry little Christmas; have big meals, open lots of presents, and take part in fun and games. And although we are busy and bustling, it is also important to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, with the values of love, joy, kindness, togetherness, and giving. Keep loved ones close to your heart, and enjoy the season!

any people take for granted what it means to be ‘free’. What I want to explore, briefly, is one of the meanings of what it is to be ‘free’ in Western society. Given recent headlines about mental slavery in London, its high time we re-evaluated what exactly ‘slavery’ means, because we simply don’t expect it anymore. The headlines certainly shocked me into this mode of thinking. To me, one of the most important meanings of ‘free’ is being able to live the life I choose within legal boundaries. It means breaking away from what ‘traditions’ often hold so many of us down, and feeling able to reject them without looking like, in most cases, an outcast as we would have in the past. One instance is the awful ‘Angel in the House’ ideology. I certainly won’t be dropping my career for a family, and I’d hope not to be expected to. Nor will I be confined to the house, bored out of my wits when I could be living my own life. I’m all for having a family at some point in the future, but not if it means giving up my own life.

n Tuesday 3rd December, the Debating Society hosted a debate on whether religion is becoming less relevant in the 21st century. On the religious side stood Dr Matthew Knell from the London School of Theology. Pitted against him was Dr David Savage from the British Humanist Association. Armed with the facts and figures one would expect from dedicated scholars, the pair threw themselves into the fray to the audience’s delight. In support of religion’s declining relevance, Dr Savage pointed to the increase in Britons who do not associate with any religion, as seen from how 25% of those who responded to the 2011 Census identified themselves as non-religious, as well as the decline in Church attendance. In response, Dr Knell proposed that even if nominal believers are becoming less involved in institutional religions, amongst those who remain there is a higher concentration of faith,

thereby supporting the ongoing relevance of religious belief. Interestingly, Dr Knell also asserted that the continuing invocation of spiritual concepts in society, such as prayer for those in need, indicates how the idea of the transcendental remains central to the human experience. Dr Savage, however, noted that even amongst those who self-identify as religious, the emphasis has shifted away from matters of supernatural belief and towards the more pastoral question of how to cope with one’s current life. In this respect, there would appear to be a shift away from what Dr Savage considers to be religious morality’s basis on a hierarchical relationship and towards one based on a ‘common humanity’. Whichever side one ultimately takes, the question of faith’s future remains as relevant as ever. Whatever role religion may come to play in our century, one can only hope that whether theist or atheist, we can consider the matter seriously and draw our own conclusions.

© Ian Britton

Mohammad’s Not Invited To Christmas Dinner
Jess Kipling
are obsessed with their mobiles, but I see more middle aged men and women bombing it around with their iPhone held to their ignorant, big heads. If the call is that important; pull over. If your car is that new; you can afford Bluetooth. If you can’t stick to the laws of the road; get the bus. Too many people think they’re too good for the law - this attitude has to change. Imagine having to stand up in court and give your defence as to why you killed someone’s daughter and you say “well, I was late to get to work”. It’s not a good enough excuse, is it? Someone has lost their daughter’s life because you insist on having those extra 5 minutes in bed. In 2010, 324,579 people in the UK were diagnosed with cancer. We sadly cannot prevent deaths from this. We do have a way of preventing deaths from car accidents, though. It’s so simple. In the UK, 400 people are killed every year from someone exceeding the speed limit or driving too fast for the conditions. 280 people die every year in crashes where someone was over the legal drink drive limit. 200 lives each year could be saved if everyone wore their seat belt. More than 300 deaths a year involve someone being ‘careless, reckless or in a hurry’, and a further 120 involve ‘aggressive driving’. If everyone followed the law, losing a loved one due to someone else’s stupidity would be less common. We might not find a cure for cancer soon, but in the meantime, we have an easy prevention of death. It’s not a ground-breaking discovery; it’s common sense.

Ibrahim Sarwar

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cientists have discovered a ground-breaking way of preventing deaths from car accidents. They say it could save thousands of lives a year and make the UK’s roads safer. Geniuses say “if people just abided by the laws of the country, fewer people would die from being hit by cars”. It seems absurd to try and get citizens to live in line with the law, but they don’t realise their dangerous driving could lead to killing an innocent person. Our country is obsessed with finding a cure for cancer. Fair enough, it’s a pretty evil disease. Everywhere, campaigns are begging us to donate ‘just £3’ to beat cancer. We’ve all given loads and we’re still yet to find a cure. We have a prevention for deaths from car crashes, but people aren’t using it. What do motorists do when they see a red light? Presumably; stop. So why when there’s a sign that says ‘30’ do people ignore this? We can’t simply choose what regulations we abide by depending on how late to work we are, because we’re too lazy to set our alarm 5 minutes earlier. The classic excuses ‘everyone else does it’ and ‘I know these roads, it’s fine!’ – Does this give you the right to put others at risk? People like this should not be on the roads. We are taught the correct attitude towards driving when we’re learning, so why change? It’s not just speeding. Adults think teenagers

hristmas. The mantra seems to have stayed the same throughout the years. ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year’, and I can’t help but agree. The streets are nicer, as are the people, and ultimately the whole month of December receives this intoxicating aura, yet I am Muslim. I nevertheless loved and celebrated Christmas when I was younger with extended family gathering round the dining table, coupled with the smell of turkey and mince pies wafting through the house. It was always a special time for me that was filled with joy, and this sense of comfort that I feel only the yuletide season can bring. As of the last four years this has all changed. My mother made an interesting statement to me that rang through my mind “Christmas isn’t for us”. Now, from an Islamic point of view, I can completely understand the concept that she was putting forward, but that didn’t change the fact that I loved it. A lot of me had forgotten the concept that it was categorically a religious holiday, and I feel that this is something that has been engrained into me over the years. Religion is hardly the be all and end all when it comes to the 25th of December and I can’t say that many of my childhood

conversations concerning Christmas were about the birth of Jesus. One thing I will say is that as I have grown older, I feel more and more of the religious connotations with the holiday are slipping away. It seems more Santa Claus than wise men, and more North Pole than Bethlehem. This may however be wishful thinking and a way in which I try to justify my love affair with the festive time of year. In this lead up to Christmas it has been particularly hard to distance myself from the atmosphere. Being away from home, combined with the fact that I live in a house that is Christmas cuckoo, is bringing back my desire to fully submerse myself into the traditions that I feared I had lost from my existence. This is bringing a new dilemma into my mind, and where do I go from here? While rediscovering the spirit of Christmas in regards to the traditions and the excitement that builds exponentially throughout the month, I find myself not wanting to let it go. Does that make me a bad Muslim? One thing is for sure, there are a whole host of other reasons why one might consider me a bad Muslim, but is this one of them? It seems that this is an issue that requires deep contemplation and a clear mind away from all of the glittering Christmas distractions. Most likely though you will find me watching Elf, eating mince pies, and humming ‘Santa Baby’ because it has been stuck in my head for the past two weeks.

© Herry Lawford

©Takver

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FEATURES

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Features Editor: Rebekkah Hughes

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

FEATURES

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Events Of 2013
What can you remember of 2013?
by Rebekkah Hughes, Features Editor

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t feels weird to write it down, but 2014 is only just around the corner. We’re going to have to adjust to writing the date differently all over again, which will always pose a challenge when I continually blend one month into the next… So, in celebration of another year passing, here’s a round up of 2013:

July 22: Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge, our future king, was born. August 2: A new primate, the Lavasoa dwarf lemur, is discovered in Madagascar. August 5: The world’s first bovine stem cells lab-grown burger is cooked and eaten at a news conference in London. August 26: All 25,000 applicants to the University of Liberia fail their entrance exams. August 28: 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. August 30: Poet Seamus Heaney, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, dies aged 74. August 31: Veteran British broadcaster Sir David Frost – who famously interviewed U.S. President Richard Nixon – dies on board the MS Queen Elizabeth, aged 74. September 20: Surrey jumps to 12th in the Times/ Sunday Times Good University Guide league table. Surrey is now ranked number two in the South East, second only to Oxford. September 21: Unidentified gunmen attacked the upmarket Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. October 8: Peter Higgs and François Englert were awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics. October 10: Alice Munro is awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature. October 28: The St Jude storm hits England and Wales, causing at least one death with flights and train services cancelled. November 8: Typhoon Haiyan (“Yolanda”) hit the Philippines causing mass destruction and thousands of deaths. November 12: Three Studies of Lucian Freud, a series of portraits by the British painter Francis Bacon, sells for US$142.4 million, setting a new world record for an auctioned work of art. November 23: Doctor Who celebrated its 50th Anniversary. December 5th: South African President and revolutionary Nelson Mandella passed away aged 95. Unfortunately, I can’t quite finish off December because of the release date of the last issue of The Stag, but I hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

‘Selfie’
by Lily Pearson, Features Team

The Word of the Year
experienced the confidence shattering moment in which you unknowingly turn on your selffacing camera to be met with the unprecedented horror of your gormless face looking down, you may share the same relationship with the selfie as me. In my rare practice in the art of the selfie, I approach with caution and am left with a lingering sense of shame. But is there really anything wrong with the selfie and its accompanying ego boost? A recent piece on The Guardian looked at the dos and don’ts of selfie-taking; dos included checking behind you and don’ts forbade the duck face and the bum selfie a la Kim Kardashian. I’d also be careful bringing the selfie into the public realm – trying to look seductive on the 5o’clock train mostly does the opposite. While I utterly abhor the recent Tumblr phenomenon of the ‘funeral selfie’, I see little harm in an occasional bit of selfie-indulgence (forgive me). Disregarding the vacuous plight for ‘likes’ that sometimes comes with the selfie, it a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek part of a social media generation. Go on, give us your best pout.

‘Twas the Last Night of Term
by Jas Smith, Features Team 'Twas the last night of term, when all through the flat Not a student was stirring, they all felt like crap; The washing up piled by the sink without care, In hopes that the cleaners soon would be there; Yes, the students were nestled all snug in their beds; While visions of seminars danced in their heads; One slept in her onesie, one slept in his cap, And just settled their brains for a post-night out nap, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, They sprang from their beds to see what was the matter. Away to the window they flew like a flash, Tore open the curtains and threw up the sash. The moon on the face of a person below, Who marched up on the pavement really quite slow, When what to their wondering eyes did appear, But a flatmate, with no key and covered in beer, And he tapped on the door so lively and quick, And they said to each other ‘Oh it’s only Nick.’ He knocked on the door and when no one came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called his flatmates names: "Now, Ashley! now, Alex! now Emma and Dan! Come on, let me in! Come on it’s cold, man! I’ve forgotten my key, and my train is at 9, I must catch this one, I must be on time!" Reluctantly someone did jump out of bed, Ignoring the pounding within her head; So down the stairs to the front door she flew To acquire a drink; and to let Nick in too, And then, in a booming, she heard up above A song playing; Haddaway’s ‘What is Love?’ As she drew her water, and was turning around, In through the front door Nick came with a bound. He had found his key in the depths of his jeans, Pleased with himself, he seemed full of beans; He then grinned ‘Sorry’ and slunk off to his room, And then wouldn’t surface, t’next day until noon. His eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! He had woken the house; they were all out of bed So they each had hot chocolate and chatted instead. The term had ended and they all did agree, Not seeing each other ‘til mid-January; Would be a long time; they’d need time to adjust A night out on return? Definitely a must! The trains come tomorrow, they’d go separate ways, Be at home for more than a couple of days, For Christmas had come; time for family, And a bit of a break from university; After a solid three months of hard work, A break would be welcome, and much deserved, To be at home! Yes, although it is bliss, It is always the amazing flatmates you miss; Hung-over and tired they sprung out of bed, Half-showered, half-dressed, to the station they fled, Then they hugged and waved ‘til all were out of sight— “Happy Christmas!” they said, and “What a good night!”

Project Sunlight
by Rebekkah Hughes, Features Editor

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January 10: The London Underground celebrated its 150th birthday. February 2: The Harlem Shake went viral. February 11: Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation, making him the first pope to resign since 1415. March 9: Three times “Best Restaurant in the World”, Noma, is accused of giving 63 customers food poisoning. March 11: The European Union bans the sale of cosmetics developed through animal testing. March 13: The European Parliament rejects a European Union budget for the first time in its history. March 21: Nigerian writer and literary icon Chinua Achebe dies at the age of 82. March 23: Opening of the ‘David Bowie is’ exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum. April 8: Baroness Margaret Thatcher passed away aged 87 after suffering a stroke. April 15: During the Boston Marathon two pressure cooker bombs exploded killing 3 people and injuring an estimated 264 others. May 22: British soldier Lee Rigby was attacked and killed by two men near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, southeast London. June 3: Surrey ranked 8th in the Guardian newspaper’s new league table. June 9: Scottish author Iain Banks loses his battle to cancer, aged 59. Banks’s career launched with the publication of The Wasp Factory. June 30: Massive demonstrations spread across Egypt calling for the resignation of President Mohammed Morsi. June 30: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into policy anti-gay law. Under the new laws, openly gay tourists can be arrested. July 1: Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union. July 7: Andy Murray defeats Novak Djokovic to become the first British man to win a Wimbledon tennis title since 1936.

eating the likes of ‘twerk’ and ‘bitcoin’, ‘selfie’ has been named as Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year. Described as ‘a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website’, the selfie has become ubiquitous part of life on the Internet. Whether it’s an integral part of your daily routine (I know people for whom ‘cheeky selfies’ are as integral to their morning rituals as cleaning their teeth), or whether you think they are a shameless practice of a society obsessed with their looks, we’ve all taken one. Admit it. The other day at a train station a schoolboy asked me for a photograph for his GCSE art project. In a matter of seconds his iPhone was carefully poised for our first selfie and I began to muse on the changing status of the selfportrait. The rise of social media websites like Instagram have been accompanied (along with the increasingly popular hashtag of #nofilter) with the usage of selfie rising by 17,000% in the last twelve months. If, like me, you’ve

nilever have launched Project Sunlight – an initiative created to inspire people to live more sustainably. Ultimately, it aims to make sustainable living desirable and, most importantly, achievable. The project launched on November 20th 2013, which was also Universal Children’s Day. On the Project Sunlight website, this is their answer to “What is Project Sunlight?”: “We believe there has never been a better time to create a better future for our children; a world where everyone has enough food to eat and no child goes to bed hungry. Where every child lives to their fifth birthday and has the right to a happy childhood. Where every home has enough water to drink and to wash, cook and clean. And where everybody can enjoy life today while protecting the planet for future generations. Project Sunlight is a movement that has already started. It’s made up of a growing community of people who believe it is possible to build a world where everyone lives well and lives sustainably. Who recognise we can only achieve this if we all work together to do small actions every day that make a real difference. And who inspire others to join us in making this the way everyone chooses to live. Unilever released a new short film to inspire people to view the world in a more optimistic and less cynical manner.” Unilever Chief Marketing & Communications

Officer, Keith Weed, explains: “In the first stage of Project Sunlight, we are inviting people to take three simple actions. We want to help people SEE a brighter future; in order to do this, we are inviting people to watch a film online which aims to inspire and motivate people. We want to encourage them to ACT by doing small things which, added together, contribute to a better society and environment. Ultimately, we want people to JOIN the movement and become part of a growing community of likeminded people and organisations who all want to play their part in building a brighter future.” Unilever are a global consumer goods company, and they’ve aimed their film at parenthood and the inspiration and drive that bringing a child into the world creates. Project Sunlight has been informed by the wealth of Unilever’s consumer insight, including a new international piece of research commissioned by Unilever. This shows that children are key to motivating adults to want to adopt more sustainable lifestyles and a powerful influence on parents changing their behaviour. The research shows that there are key child-related moments, particularly around the birth of a first child, when people are more open to changes in their own behaviours and lifestyles. Asking “How Are You Creating a #brightfuture for the Next Generation?”, Unilever are promoting many focuses for their campaign, from how you throw away your teabag to cleanliness and hygiene programmes. Check out www.projectsunlight.co.uk for more information and to see how the project is doing.

A screenshot from Unilever’s new short film ‘Why Bring a Child Into This World?’

You're Not a Turtle!
by Daniel Gautrey, Features Team

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July 17: The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill completed its journey through Parliament to become law. Women and Equalities Minister Maria Miller also announced that the first same sex wedding could take place by as early as summer 2014.

nock, knock. Who's there? (I assume you respond). “It's me, Santa, I've got gifts.” I'm sure you're going to say: "It's me, Santa, I've got gifts, who?" but that's not really where I'm going with this, clever clogs. It's Christmas time everyone! (Insert numerous cheers and excited 'whoop' noises). You're pretty much half way through your advent calendar, you've been buying gifts for your friends and family, and you finally get to wear that jumper with a reindeer on it without people throwing garbage at you. Now I know this time of year can be a little depressing, it's cold outside, exams are just round the corner and you have to stop wearing your short shorts. I understand; I've been there. I know you want to just curl up in a ball and pretend to be a turtle because your little turtle shell is nice and safe. Well, I've got news for you! You're not a turtle, well you're probably not a turtle – I'm 65% sure you're not a turtle. Cheer up already, Christmas is fantastic. You'll get a chance to see your family for a few weeks,

take some time off to relax and you can eat a really excessive amount of chocolate. Christmas is basically just an excuse to eat chocolate anyway. I don't really get a chance to see my family during term time, so I can't wait to spend a little time at home. I like to think of my visits as a chance to push the boundaries on human laziness. I can get up in the afternoon and then spend hours watching television. I can go shopping or play video games without thinking about deadlines. Don't get me wrong, I do these things during term time, but I am lazier than most. Also if you are a turtle, I'd like to apologise for suggesting that being a turtle is a negative thing, everyone loves turtles. So all in all, Christmas is great. It’s something to look forward to: start counting the days and put on those festive songs because Christmas is on its way, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Oh, and thank you for taking the time to read this rather turtle heavy article. Merry Christmas!

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10 FEATURES

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

[email protected]

by Tilly Tasker, Features Team

Five Fabulous Beauty Buys for a Tenner
BFFL Buying presents for your bestie should be the easiest thing in the world, right? But, shock and horror, you actually find yourself questioning your choices at the checkout. Will she really like that? Will she get the joke? Will she be able to use it with her intolerances and allergies? After much debate and thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes it’s best to avoid ‘solution’ products. Those are those beauty products that offer a remedy for something: be it a firmer bum or banishing the bags under your eyes. Stick to something neutral! (LUSH Joy To The World gift box- Includes ‘Snowflake’ soap bar and ‘Dream Cream’ body lotion. £8.45) Your Grumpy Flat Mate Oh god, you just HAD to pull her name out of the Secret Santa hat. You don’t like her that much and you’ve never really said much other than the occasional, cold ‘morning’ while passing in the corridor. You don’t really want to spent heaps of money on her so lets get this silly Secret Santa business over and done with! A perfect solution would be Ice Cream Lip Balms (twin pack) for £6.00 from ASOS. And Just a Little Something for the Most Important Person here…. Cor, all this gift buying business is exhausting, isn’t it? You deserve a nap after all that… better yet, you deserve a little something too! Boots Soap & Glory Bright and Bubbly Fruitigo gift set at £10.00 would be perfect!

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h, I love Christmas, don’t you? As the one festive time of year that can bring together friends and families that are often spread out around the planet, Christmas is the best time of year to try and put a smile on the faces of those you love… including those you don’t love quite as much! But ah, we’re students. We can’t exactly shower our families, friends and flat-mates with the kinds of presents we want to give them. In this day and age all the good stuff is either unavailable or just bloody expensive! Mum It’s official. There is no gift on this planet good enough for our Mums, those lovely ladies who pour nothing but love and affection into us (as well as plenty of home roasts!) and expect nothing in return. But here is a little cheap and cheerful item that will bring them a bit of luxury! (Crabtree and Evelyn Floral Hand Therapy Gift Set £12.00) Little/Big Sis The loveable rogue that either shut you in cupboards when you were younger or ate all your hidden sweets the moment your head was turned (that was never me, I swear!) She too needs a bit of affection at this time of year! Now, if your sister is anything like mine, she likes a bit of pampering with stuff that will last a long time. The Body Shop do some smashing gifts for under a tenner, here’s my pick: The Body Shop Honeymania Shower and Moisture set for £6.00.

Christmas Leftovers
by Saskia Parks, Features Team

A Home for Student Start-ups

Studio
unique to give for Christmas - from quirky jewellery to pretty coin purses. You can find me and my goodies in the Studio shop next to Santander, just down the steps from the library. The shop is currently open from 10am to 2pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, or check me out at facebook.com/Lycheegirl. You will also find Be Dutch! Bicycles in store. They provide the UK with genuine Dutch bicycles. High quality, maximum comfort and style are what these bicycles are all about! Additionally Fix your bike Friday is back every Friday, so bring your bicycle in and we can fix it for you! (http://be-dutchbicycles. co.uk) As well as that, you’ll find Unipar candles who are producers of high quality candles with modern designs and are ideal for creating that warm glow of Wintery nights indoors in the warm. (http://www.unipar.cz) If you think you have a business idea worth pursuing, email: [email protected] and see where your ideas can take you.

Features Editor: Rebekkah Hughes

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

FEATURES

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CAREERS SERVICE
“Relevant, interesting activities and sensible advice” “vibrant atmosphere” With the end of the year fast approaching it is time to think of the new year’s resolutions for 2014, scary prospect! The 3 week break from university is the perfect opportunity for you to get your CV and careers ideas back on track! The Christmas holidays are the perfect time to gain a part time job and boost your CV enhancing your prospects for that professional training year or graduate job, with graduation just 6 months away any experience will help with the graduate job search! Please visit http://www.surrey.ac.uk/careers/ current/index.htm for helpful hints and tips! Don’t forget to like us on Facebook for live updates. Never miss a valuable opportunity! Thanks for reading! Sarah Kendall, Hannah Roberts, Alex Tromp Careers Ambassadors Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ surreycareers Twitter: @careerssurrey

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ooking for something a little bit different to the classic turkey and cranberry sandwich this boxing day? Here’s a delicious recipe that will convert your leftovers into an entirely new meal, courtesy of Jamie Oliver.

ith Christmas just around the corner and everyone trying to cram as much in as possible before the break, we must not forget how important it is to use the time productively, enhance your CV and also to return to university with a plan for 2014. The Careers Service is here to help with all of this! Employer events continue again in February so make sure to get involved. Placement is fast approaching for 2nd years and graduation will be 6 months away for final years! So there’s no better time to polish up your employability skills than the present. We have recently held a pilot of a Career Development Workshop, which was very successful and we hope to roll it out to all students next year. Politics, Law and Chemical Engineering students have been involved in the workshop and here is some feedback we received: “I believe the exercises we did throughout the day helped me narrow down my options for a future career as well as identifying my strengths and weaknesses” “I really enjoyed today, I’ve changed from thinking I was looking for a job to thinking I was looking for a career” “Entertaining” “should be compulsory”

Turkey and Leek Pie
2 rashers of smoky bacon 1/2 bunch of fresh thyme Olive oil Large knob of butter 2kg Leeks (chopped) 800g cooked turkey meat (torn into chunks) 2 tbsp. of flour 2 pints of turkey, chicken or vegetable stock 2 tbsp. of crème fraîche 1 x 500g puff pastry packet 12 jarred chestnuts, roasted and peeled (optional) 2 springs sage (just the leaves) 1 egg for glaze 1. Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Add a glug of olive oil and your butter to a large pan, and then add your bacon and thyme leaves, fry on medium heat. After a few minutes add your leek chunks. Coat leeks in the buttery bacon mix and leave to fry for 3 minutes. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Pop the lid on and let simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring every 5-10. 2. When your leeks are looking soft, stir in the turkey meat. Add the flour and mix in well then pour in the stock of your choice. Add crème fraîche, stir well then bring to the boil then turn off the heat. Pour mixture over another large pan through a sieve, this will separate your gravy from your contents. 3. With your baking dish, approximately 22 x 30 cm by your side, roll out your pastry to the size needed, then crumble your chestnuts over one half of the pastry, followed by your sage leaves. Fold the bare side of your pastry on top then continue to roll. 4. Spoon the leek and turkey mixture from the sieve into your pie dish and spread out evenly. Lay your pastry over the top and tuck the sides under. Then score the top gently with a knife. Beat the egg and brush over your pastry for a golden glaze. 5. Cook for 35-40 minutes, until the pastry has puffed up and is a glistening brown. Reheat your gravy and serve! Method: Ingredients:

by Rebekkah Hughes, Features Editor

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Drab Tidings We Bring
by Alex Watts, Features Team

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he botanic ornament that has so kindly given up its short life to decorate your hallway will soon begin its shedding process crying out to visit the compost heap. But as one holiday door shuts, another one creaks open like an unwanted grey squirrel at a nut party... But as the London eye prepares to once again host the noble exhibition of sparkly explosions, it’s time to ponder the question, ‘what are you giving up for the new year?’ A compilation of your past New Years’ exploits has provided an incentive to achieve some sort of goal in life. You know whatever mountain you choose to climb;

you might as well just Photoshop yourself onto Kilimanjaro. But then again, you probably couldn’t even achieve that. For every resolution you choose, an excuse will always shadow close behind to mark your trail of shame. Here are some resolutions that you may attempt to complete and the cause of your impending failure: 1. The classic, ‘I will save more money this year,’ Yeah, sure you will. Until you realise that there’s a bluetooth watch to purchase that allows you to control your phone from a distance… 2. The guilt ridden, ‘I am going to lose weight rather than blame the dryer for shrinking my clothes,’ resolution. Perhaps you

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might for a week. Then you’ll just miss your advent calendar and cry yourself to sleep resulting in an imminent confectionary purchase. 3. The typical student, ‘I’m going to start washing my own clothes’. Yeah you wish! You will try to use the washing machines once, forget the powder, give up, and just buy more deodorant. 4. The scrounger, ‘I’m going to start paying for haircuts,’ gag. Have you seen the price of haircuts! But more importantly have you seen yourself! You look like a Dulux dog! 5. The almost excruciatingly painful, ‘I’m going to stop repeating my stories,’ claw at your ears. Don’t you feel like they’ve told you that before? Yes, last year… 6. And finally, the ‘uh… um… maybe I should have written it down?’ resolution. With the memory of a sieve you can’t even remember what you intended to achieve… Damn alcohol.

n campus shop Studio is a student retail incubator and is the first permanent space of its kind in the United Kingdom. It has been designed to give students a chance to test their business idea in a safe environment, minimising the risks associated with start-up companies. Virtually anything can be sold in Studio – leading to a wealth of variation in product as well as giving those who use the space a valuable head start to getting where they want to be. One student currently using the space revealed a little more about the products in Studio at the moment: “Hello, I’m Nancy and I have just moved into the Studio shop on campus. My alter ego is Lycheegirl and I am a ninja with a badge machine, nifty at sewing and rather creative with resin, but my superpower is crochet. I love to make mega cute creatures called ‘amigurumi’. My handmade creations make perfect gifts and can be personalised for that extra special touch. Come and find something

Christmas Style Sorted
by Tilly Tasker, Features Team

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hristmas time often calls for the following: huge amounts of food and wine, awkward conversations with relatives you haven’t seen in ages, slightly-tipsy dog walks and THAT moment when Dad decides to whack out the camera. Christmas just simply cannot be done in tracksuit bottoms and your old jumper. Although it’s a far call from a Paris catwalk, the old Xmas and all it’s occasions are a perfect opportunity to show off what a trendy young whippersnapper you’ve become. The Christmas Party Time to wow your boss, colleagues or lecturers with your amazing sense of style. It’s always a good idea to avoid clothing that may be passed off as ‘suggestive’, especially when you’re around people you need to impress. You can’t go wrong with a Little Black Dress on this occasion. (Dress: Topshop)

Turkey and all the Trimmings! Every fashion lovers dream and nightmare – the day of shameless eating. The day where you can just eat, and eat, and eat until you’re upside down on the sofa and every breath you take is blissful, delicious agony. When dressing for Christmas day I have only a single piece of advice: never, ever wear anything with a restrictive waistline, you want to make as much room for food as possible! And of course, one must never forget the customary Christmas jumper! (Top: Miss Selfridge)

For those of you interested in our products, enjoy our Special Online Offer! To claim your exclusive Studio offer of 15% off, use the voucher code at www.ilovehearts.etsy.com

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Christmas Eve Glamour Everyone’s reunited and it’s time to crack out the vino! Time to shine, show your family your best style before the Dad Dancing and binge eating begins. (Sequin Skirt: Miss Selfridge)

Boxing Day Relaxation Another year, another Christmas. If your body wasn’t so hardened by time spent at University, you would have surely have suffered from yesterday’s over-indulgence. Today is all about recovery. Celebrate by dressing bright refreshing colours that will soothe the impending hangovers and keep the festive cheer going with some sparkle. (Cardgian: New Look)

16 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Sci/Tech Editor: Siobhan Harris

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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Jim Al-Khalili: Blowing Minds and Sparking Reactions
because it’s important, more so these days.” In this field, it is important to differentiate between scientists who want to become science communicators professionally, science journalists who work outside the scientist group as a full-time job, and those like Jim - scientists who want to carry on doing science but also enjoy science communication. A few friendly words of advice, for those entering science communication: “Don’t jump in with two feet – take it slow. Particularly for academic scientists like me, you have to build up your reputation in your field and gain credibility as a scientist before anyone is going to want to listen to you anyway. Be careful not to leave the academic side behind. If you want to be the practitioner, maintain a balance. That’s not an easy thing.” Jim’s latest documentary, Light and Dark, aims to educate and entertain the public about some rather in-depth scientific theories. We asked Jim whether he defines a difference between science education and science communication. “Science education serves a purpose: it’s a means to an end. Whereas science communication serves a dual purpose: it serves to educate and entertain. For distracting. They say things like ‘Well I don’t come to your lecture with a ‘ghetto blaster’ to be really hip and cool.’ But that’s the point – it’s not a lecture. It is entertainment. What I am doing on TV is a film so it has to be aesthetically pleasing: entertainment-wise as well as educational. That’s the difference I think – communication can be entertainment on top of education.” The popular events ‘Jim Meets’, held at the university and organised by the university, have featured guests such as Brian Cox, Dara O Briain and David Attenborough. Out of the 5 he has had, none were women. We asked Jim whether he had any coming up: “I was hoping I would. I told them [the university] I’d be really keen to do more because it’s really easy for me – if they invite the people, I’ll spend a couple of hours before scribbling down some background research and plan on having a chat. I do that on my radio programme now. I would love to do more. The students have to tell the university who they want and invite me some more interesting people. The next one I do has to be a woman! Give me an interesting woman – there are lots of them out there – and I’ll be happy to do it.” And, as always, Jim ended things on a lighter note… “I was aware by my late twenties that my hairline was receding from the front. The first time it really grabbed me was when I was in an off-license and they had a CCTV camera. I remember looking up at the camera and the screen, thinking: there’s a bald bloke with the same t-shirt on as me! It was me. I must have been about thirty then. I’m actually very happy with it now because I save lots on shampoo. Unlike Brian Cox, that’s why he has a bigger budget because he spends it all on his hair.” Joking aside, Jim says it’s vital to keep a healthy balance in all aspects of life. Oh and, make sure you sleep lots. (Keeping energised on the search for the mysterious dark matter, black holes and mannedspaceflight is key!) In whatever you choose to discover, study, or pursue – remember to maintain a balance, because whatever seeds you sow now, you will harvest later.

Science & Technology

The Rise Of The Selfie
What’s the big deal about Selfies, anyway...........?
the sociological implications of a society that values narcissism is. Most news reports on this story omit the fact that this “title” is not chosen by linguists, but through a popular vote on the Oxford Dictionaries blog. It’s a common omission in news reports that mention surveys, and any reader should be on their guard whenever a survey does not mention its methodology and sample size. For instance, in this case, the sample was a subset of blog readers who chose to do the poll – thus creating the possibility of a self-selection bias that could skew data. The Word of the Year title is more popularity contest than linguistic zeitgeist. Once it’s accepted that this survey is unscientific, questions on the impact that technology has on narcissism are put in better light. Usage of the word “selfie” has definitely taken off in 2013, although the first occurrence of it was detected by the Oxford Dictionary in the wild in 2002. From a sociological perspective, humans have always been narcissistic creatures: there’s a rich heritage of self-portraits across various mediums through the ages such as self-paintings, and even the use of photography itself since its inception to take selfportraits with clever positioning of mirrors. It’s a psychological construct called the “looking By Ankur Banerjee, Science & Tech Team

Flash News
By Fahmid Chowdhury, Science & Tech Team
Sex Show On Great Barrier Reef

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he word “selfie” was recently picked by the Oxford Dictionary as Word of the Year 2013. Since then, much ink has been spilled – the irony of this article being the same isn’t lost on me – on what

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glass self”, which theorises that a person’s sense of self-esteem develops based on the perceptions of those they interact with. Current technology trends have given boost to this expression of narcissism. Studies have shown that in part, the phenomenon is closely linked to greater prevalence of smartphones with front-facing cameras of increasingly greater quality. At the same time, sociologically, there has been a shift towards ephemeral images as evidenced by the meteoric rise of social networks such as Snapchat, where 400 million pictures are shared daily – roughly the same number that Facebook and Instagram combined have achieved after years of existence. The implication on the “looking glass self” theory is that since individuals interact with more people, – because of social networks – the perceptions of others plays an even greater role in an individual’s sense of selfesteem.

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he world’s largest living organism has been reproducing in a show that has delighted divers and tourists. Fascinating to watch, eggs are released out of the coral and drift up slowly in the clear and warm waters. A stunning sight.

Dinosaur Skeleton Sold In West Sussex

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skeleton of a 160 million year-old dinosaur has been sold for £400,000. Seems like a bargain to be honest, but the 56 foot-long skeleton, unearthed in the US and assembled in the Netherlands, was valued in between £400,000 - £600,000. It’s a beautiful thing that ordinary people can get their hands on these amazing artefacts.

‘Love Test’ By Scientists Proves Almost Accurate

Jim Al-Khalili, science broadcaster and Surrey professor, takes a moment out of his busiest applicant day to talk to The Stag.
By Siobhan Harris, Science & Tech Editor and Alex Smith, Editor scribbling maths.” Did Jim have any idea where he’d be today? Absolutely not... “All the way up till almost graduation, I had a job lined up at National Physical Laboratories, which is a civil service research lab. It was only after graduation that I was offered a PhD by one of our final year lecturers. Once I started my PhD, that’s when I knew I wanted an academic career. Of course, I had no inkling about any media career.” So how did he get here? “I wanted to move up the ladder to professor, that was my longterm goal. It was only halfway through that journey that I started dipping my toe into science communication. “As a young lecturer in the early 1990’s I started giving talks to local schools. I started to become the person in the department that, if there was a news story, they’d point the journalist in my direction. By the mid 90’s it started to get a bit more serious. One thing led to another. But of course there wasn’t anyone I could look to as a role model, even by the late 90’s.”

Our Topsy-Turvy Sun
By Francesca Gillard, Science & Tech Team

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n a quiet corner of the university, sits Professor Jim Al-Khalili behind a computer screen adorned with scientific plots at a desk covered in notebooks. We caught up with Jim as he took a break from his busy applicant day. As he flicks through application forms, Jim says he scans personal statements for mentions of himself or fellow science communicator, Professor Brian Cox. We had to chuckle. Surrey’s poster-boy is a hard man to track down, which hardly comes as a surprise considering the number of positions he fills; President of the British Humanist Association, Professor of Physics, Admissions Tutor, presenter and popular author to name a few. His journey started in Surrey 31 years ago as a physics undergrad, not knowing where his career would take him. “Along with most undergrads I don’t think I had any idea what I wanted to do. I made one decision on my Professional Training Year, which was that I didn’t like experimental physics – I like theoretical physics. I like equations and computer programs and

In Britain, Jim was one of the first academics to become a science communicator to the public, alongside Brian Cox. It really hit off, and has advanced so much that Britain is way ahead of any other country in the world now. “My view on this is why do something interesting, discover something new about the universe,

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if you’re not going to tell the world about it.” Jim always had a knack for explaining scientific stuff to nonscientific people, and he enjoyed it long before it became an official part of his career. It is also important for scientists to justify what they do: “If scientists are spending public money, it’s important to them to justify what they’re doing and to consider moral ethical issues to do with the research they’re doing. Also, we want people to be more scientifically literate,

instance, a lot of people who watch my programme are watching it because they just want to be entertained, not because it’s going to help them with their homework. They want you to blow their minds and hit them with some really clever stuff that they’re going to go ‘wow’ at. They’re not going to be tested at the end of the programme.” Funnily enough, Jim tells us the complaints Brian Cox receives are usually from older people... about the background noise. Of all things! “People say the music is too loud because it’s very annoying and

ATLAS Unveil New Results
By Laurence Stant, Science & Tech Team

©CERN

“Why discover something new about the universe, if you’re not going to tell the world about it.”

ntergalactic weather fronts. Large solar flares. Both of which could disrupt satellites as far out as the Voyager probes on the edge of interstellar space. Why? Because the sun is preparing to flip upsidedown. But, before you jump into your spaceships and escape to a galaxy far far away, we should probably let you know - this is completely normal! Around once every 11 years the sun’s magnetic poles swap during the max-point of an internal mechanism known as the Solar Cycle. In August, Todd Hoeksema, a solar physicist at Stanford University, said that the complete field reversal would happen in no more than three-four months time – a date that is now fast approaching. Throughout the Solar Cycle sun-spots (dark blotches) appear near the equator of the sun’s surface where there is intense magnetic activity. Over time these spots disintegrate and the built-up magnetic activity is attracted to one of the sun’s poles, eroding the existing polarity. Toward the max-point of the

Solar Cycle there is a large increase in the number of sun-spots. This accelerates the flip and causes more, and larger, solar flares. The concentrated magnetic activity decreases the movement of the sun’s plasma, heating up the centre to extreme temperatures. When the spot disintegrates this heat is released as a solar flare. Wilcox Solar Observatory, run by Hoeksema in Stanford, has been monitoring the sun’s magnetic poles for the last 37 years. Their latest observations show that the sun currently has two south poles. The North Pole has already changed sign but we are still waiting for the South Pole to catch up. When the reversal does occur, Hoeksema says ‘This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system’. Most significant to us here on Earth will be the disruption to satellites and possible radio blackouts. It’s not all bad news, though; the increase in magnetic activity means an increase in occurrence of the phenomenon known as the Aurora or the ‘Northern Lights’. We will not know if the poles have fully reversed for another couple of weeks, so for now, we shall have a stellar reason for our Sat-Navs misbehaving!

‘love test’ created by a team of scientists have led them to believe that generally, your gut reaction to a partner is somewhat accurate. They interviewed 135 newly-wed couples and assessed them over four years. On average, the couples with a negative gut feeling were unhappy as the marriage wore on, as compared to those who had positive gut feelings.

NASA To Grow Plants On Moon

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he project is designed to further humanity’s chances of colonising space and is set to launch in 2015. A 1kg habitat containing the necessities for germination will be sent to the moon. The idea is that if the plant can thrive, so can we.

Scientists from the ATLAS experiment at CERN have recently published results showing strong evidence that the Higgs boson can decay into two tau particles. The image above shows an electron (blue track) and muon (red track) which are hopefully products of the taus subsequently decaying. In order to give mass to a particle, there must be a chance that the Higgs will decay into it. Researchers are using this fact to try to prove that the new boson gives mass to all particles. Previous findings have shown decay modes leading to W and Z bosons – the force carriers of the Standard Model of the Universe – but until now it has not been observed with fermions, such as electrons, muons and taus – which give us matter. The result carries a probability of 4.1 sigma, which on the six sigma scale means it is a serious result (>3) but not a discovery (>5). ATLAS will continue the search...

Comet Of The Century

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comet, dubbed the “comet of the century”, will pass approximately 1.2 million km from the sun. The force of gravity and effect of the intense heat from the sun will be very problematic. However, if it were to survive this, we could see this beautiful sight sometime in December.

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The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Bizzare Corner
By Siobhan Harris, Science & Tech Editor

Powering The Brain With Exercise
By James Lake, Science & Tech Team

Breeding Well: Promiscuous Mice Have Sexier Sons
By Siobhan Harris, Science & Tech Editor

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he world’s most difficult tongue twister:

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Ri Christmas Lectures:

A brief history of the Royal Institution’s Christmas Lecture series which began with the likes of Michael Faraday in 1825. If you miss them you can tune in at www.richannel.org from January.
By Laurence Stant, Science & Tech Team

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©Jose Maria Cuellar

Searching For Water On Mars
By Edward Luff, Science & Tech Team

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spacecraft took off from Cape Canaveral, USA last Monday in NASA’s umpteenth initiative to find out what happened to the water that used to be on the red planet. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (Maven) is supposed to analyse thin traces of gases and evaluate the effect of solar wind, in order to let scientists understand the process that left the planet so dry. This mission echoes the Curiosity Rover mission launched in 2011 which collects rock samples and supports the evidence that there was once water on Mars, which was protected by a thick atmosphere that could have maintained primitive life. Maven will orbit between 3.864 and 77 miles above the desert surface and is expected to show how the atmosphere on Mars was gradually peeled away

over billions of years due to the sun’s radiations. Among the many hi-tech instruments aboard the spacecraft there is a magnetometer that will let scientists detect the changes in the magnetic field around Mars, which would once have preserved its atmosphere from solar wind. It will take nearly a year for Maven to reach the planet and Nasa estimates that its first results will be sent back to Earth early 2015. The idea of a warmer, wetter, more Earth-like Mars has been cemented by all previous missions during which it was discovered that ancient rock bears chemical fingerprints of past interaction with water. As a matter of fact, the planet’s surface is full of geological features carved by water such as channels, dried up riverbeds and lake deltas. "The atmosphere must have been thicker for the planet to be warmer and wetter. The question

is where did all that carbon dioxide and the water go?" said lead scientist Bruce Jakosky. Only two places are likely to have held such an atmosphere: down deep in the ground and up into space. It is argued that some of the planet’s carbon dioxide ended up on the surface and joined with materials in the crust. However, even with the Curiosity mission, the ground inventory is not large enough to confirm this process. Scientists rather suspect that this atmosphere was lost into space due to the planet’s sudden change in its magnetic field. Maven’s main mission is due to last one year, after which it will be used as a communication relay for Curiosity during the next 10 years. Following its launch, the spacecraft is expected to reach Mars on 22 September 2014, hopefully with no serious problems.

hhh Christmas - That jolly time of year bringing families and friends together, filling children with excitement and stomachs with far too much food! However, for those with a curiosity for science it provides an annual feast of a different kind... The Royal Institution (Ri) was founded at the turn of the 19th Century for “teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life”. Throughout its many successful years, the Ri has been supported by leading scientists of the time, including Henry Cavendish, Sir Humphrey Davy, Sir William Henry Bragg and perhaps most famously of all, Michael Faraday. Like all charitable bodies faced with the task of raising awareness, capturing their audience’s attention was an important challenge for the Ri. In 1825, Faraday thought to offer a series of lectures around the holidays, including Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide. Two years later, these had been reduced to a single series over Christmas, and it was time for Faraday to take the stage. His first set of lectures was titled ‘Chemistry’ and proved immensely popular. The lectures continued every year without fail, except for 1939-1942 during WW2. More recently, the subjects have diversified from life sciences to include robotics, communications and cosmology, but the roots of

the lectures remain with biology, chemistry and physics. The 2011 series from Prof. Bruce Hood delved into the intricacies of the human brain and finished at the cutting edge of neuroscientific research. For many families, the Christmas lectures are now regarded as part of tradition, circled in the Radio Times alongside the Queen’s Speech and Wallace and Gromit. But their true value lies in the excellent publicity they achieve for science, being one of the quintessential examples of ‘public engagement’. It’s not hard to notice how primetime televisual programming has adopted more dramatic and reality-show features in recent years, giving science shows and documentaries less of a chance to inspire the next generation of innovators and discoverers. One physicist working hard to engage the nation is Surrey’s very own Prof. Jim Al-Khalili, who believes the Christmas lectures play an important role - “For years, the Ri lectures have inspired generations of school children. In fact, many of the top scientists today will tell you that they were first switched on to the wonders of science when watching the Christmas lectures”. This year’s lectures are titled “The Life Fantastic” and will be delivered by Dr Alison Woollard from Oxford University. Filming occurs throughout December with the series broadcast over the days following Christmas. However, if you miss them you can watch them for free at richannel.org from January.

Investigating Typhoon Haiyan
By Ankur Banerjee, Science & Tech Team

Is climate change the cause for Typhoon Haiyan? Ankur speculates.

©NASA Goddard

Engaging The Nation

©PW95

et your high heels on, girls. If you’re a mouse, that is. Turns out the sexier you act around male mice, the more likely you’ll pull. Also, the sons you bear will smell sexy. Want to know why? Read on. University of Utah biologists say female mice that compete socially for mates bear sons who produce more urinary pheromones, making them more attractive to female mice. The study focused on these pheromones, the key component for sexual attraction between mice. It studied domestic mice who usually lived in paired cages and would therefore only mate with one

partner. They placed several mice in mouse barns, which were divided by mesh in order to construct territories. Some territories were made more desirable than others, creating social competition. This field is known as epigenetics, the study of how differences in a parent’s environment can influence how its offspring’s genes are expressed. What they found was astonishing - male mice whose parents freely competed for mates in the mouse barns produced 31% more pheromones than male mice from caged monogamous parents. Unfortunately, their reproductive success came at a price. The male mice producing more pheromones had

shorter life spans than the other mice. Only 48% of them lived to the end of the experiment, compared with 80% of the male mice whose parents lived monogamously in cages. Study authors concluded this must be because it takes a lot of energy to produce the high levels of pheromones. They believe the behaviour of the mice shows an epigenetic process working to increase the mating success of sons. This is supposedly because female mice wish to get their genes more efficiently into the next generation. This study may be helpful in preparing captive animals for life in the wild, and in increasing their reproductive success.

“Pad kid poured curd pulled cold”
Psychologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, had volunteers recite this phrase ten times, at fast speed, finding many stopped talking altogether.

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ym-junkies can now expect a boost in brain power. It has long been suggested that the mind responds positively to an active lifestyle, underlined in sayings such as ‘a sound mind lives in a healthy body’. However, research suggests that the mental impact of exercise goes much further than just the vague glow of wellbeing from those feel-good endorphins. The physical benefits of exercise are well-known and well-publicised, ranging from a reduced risk of cancer to preventing the onset of type II diabetes. Many regular exercisers are now finding that physical activity has a profound long-term influence on cognitive abilities which shape your IQ. Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois published a paper in Nature, showing that previously inactive adults who undertook a six-month aerobic fitness plan managed to boost their cognitive performance in drills that required executive control. That’s the kind of concentration that helps you switch between different tasks without making mistakes, and it is a key contributor to more general intelligence. Many similar studies exist which track people’s fitness over a number of years, sometimes even decades. A significant number

of them point to the lack of exercise being a catalyst for dementia. Although there are fewer studies of younger people, the current evidence suggests that physical activity enhances brain health at every stage of life. It is not hard to see in children – exercise helps power the brain through the many changes that help us to mature into adulthood. What’s behind the link? A short term mood boost may bring some of the benefits. “People really enjoy that euphoric aspect of a runner’s high and the clarity of mind you get from a routine workout,” says Brian Christie of the University of Victoria, Canada. Stress can inhibit your brain’s responses when solving a problem, so removing that stress will naturally improve performance. “If you go for a walk, your stress levels usually plummet, and that’s when the answer comes to you,” Christie says. Exercise is likely to contribute to more permanent changes too. The brain is one of the most energyhungry organs. It is thought that physical activity can encourage the construction of blood vessels to the brain, and it can also ease their maintenance. Therefore, the brain will have a better supply of energy so cognitive performance can be maximised. Another long-term change

that regular exercise can bring about is the release of more neurotransmitters like serotonin, which help regulate signalling in the brain. This is a similar effect to that of taking anti-depressants, which is why a stint on the treadmill is vaguely comparable to taking a mix of Prozac and Ritalin! The roots of this connection between body and mind probably lie deep in our evolution, according to David Raichlen, a biological anthropologist at the University of Arizona. “Physical activity is a strong part of our evolutionary history. Our whole physiological system is built on being athletic,” he says. He points out that humans have far better athletic endurance than our primate relatives – you wouldn’t find a monkey running a marathon. The vast exploration and trekking of our ancestors perhaps stimulated this athletic superiority, with improved brain power being a by-product. It is clear that the benefits of exercise cannot be underestimated. Its importance may well be relentlessly impressed upon us, but regular physical activity has the potential to transform an individual on every level. To doctors, it is the best medication. To us at university, it is a tool for pushing our academic boundaries.

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he recent tragedy of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines has made shockwaves around the world, with the death toll climbing to more than 5,000 people and tens of thousands more affected by the devastation left in its wake. As the world community responds in dealing with the aftermath, questions are starting to be asked: could it be that climate change is the reason why a typhoon of such force was created? Political consensus veers towards a yes as an answer. David Cameron speculated climate change was the reason and called for cuts on greenhouse gas emissions, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon making similar claims. The calls coincide with a UN climate summit at Warsaw which saw an impassioned speech from the Philippines representative that has now become a rallying cry for political action on climate change. Yet, as comforting as it may be to the human tendency to affix blame, it remains fundamentally unclear whether climate change has any role at all to play in this case. Climate change – and global warming in particular – is a very real problem, but scientific studies on this area found no linkage between global climate trends and major hurricanes. In fact, trend for

strong hurricanes in the vicinity of Philippines, on the whole, has been on the decline since 1950. The severity of hurricane events is measured using an index called Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) which measures the total energy unleashed by hurricanes in any particular year. Here too the data shows that for the Pacific region, the ACE has been declining for the last two decades – and that’s including Typhoon Haiyan. Officially, the ACE index classifier shows that hurricane seasons have been “below normal” in recent years. Media increasingly portrays “non-standard” weather events as a result of climate change, even when global climate change models typically do not predict anything at such minute scales that happens within local regions. Summer too hot? Climate change! Freak storms? Climate change! Too much or too little snow? Climate change! The truth is that the Earth’s climate system is an intricately complex one, and while human activities have indeed accelerated aspects of this change, crying wolf on climate change without hard evidence ultimately is bad science. Political measures on how to tackle human contribution to global warming must be based on science, not a knee-jerk reaction based on unsound arguments in the aftermath of natural disasters.

Omega, Rolex...Samsung?
By Ben Hartfield, Science & Tech Team

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he latest bit of must-have tech has arrived at our doorsteps; the Samsung Galaxy Gear. The first smartwatch from a major mobile company gives Samsung the chance to take center-stage and ultimately...disappoint. If your product is out before anybody else, you have an immediate advantage. However, it seems Samsung have squandered this spectacularly. Reviews are poor: citing a high price tag at £300, low battery life and the fact that it is a companion device only to other Samsung devices. Reports from Business Korea show that approximately 50,000 have been sold so far, which is a massive shortcoming for a company whose

last product had 9 million preorders! A few specifications: • 1.9 megapixel camera with up to 15 seconds of 720p video. • Speaker and two noise cancelling microphones. • 4GB memory with 512MB of RAM. • Accelerometer and a Gyroscope. • Android OS with voice command and gesture navigation. This is less than impressive in a time where most phones now have at least 5 megapixels with a wide range of features and near unlimited video memory. Having said all this, Samsung say it is a ‘prototype’ so they were expecting flaws. Why do this, though? It seems counter-intuitive when there was a great opportunity

to stamp their product down like Apple did with the iPod all those years ago. I admit, these baby steps are very exciting for the future of handheld tech. The possibilities from here can extend to Google Glass and start a new generation of wearable gadgets. I’m looking forward to Sony’s Smart Wig, no seriously, they’ve filed a patent! Others who were holding out for Samsung may now look elsewhere, such as the Kickstarterfunded Pebble. This boasts 7-day battery, waterproofing and an accelerometer all for $150/£93 with free worldwide shipping. If you have been pining over the galaxy gear then I’d wait for a Ver2.0 and if you have already bought one, well let’s face it - you’ve probably already returned it!

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Thanksgiving In Space & A Festive Farewell From Your Editor!
ASA astronauts joined in on the festive season this year! Aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are Americans Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins, who released a video announcing their plans for a traditional holiday feast. The crew of six enjoyed their feast on Thursday 28th November. NASA’s team of food scientists sent the astronauts into space with thermostabilised, canned and freeze-dried food pouches. On the menu was turkey, green beans, potatoes, and cherry-blueberry cobbler. A delicious treat indeed!

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recently treated myself to an early Christmas treat: The Particle at the End of the Universe by Sean Carroll, winner of the Royal Society Winton Prize 2013. I recommend you do the same.
In other news, I came across a large stag beetle on my way to design the section today. It was an experience. Anyway, It’s time to say goodbye for the holiday season, and wish you all a very merry christmas... May the force of goodwill be with you!

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The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Film Editor: Sophia Field

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

FILM

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Happy Holidays!
“Home Alone is probably my fave… I like how the people he finds scary (pigeon lady, snow digger) always turn out to be the nice guys!” Alice Wilkinson, Societies Editor

Film

Only God Forgives (2013)
By Hayden Lloyd

There is nothing better than snuggling up, grabbing a hot chocolate, leftover turkey sandwich and a blanket to watch a movie at this time of year, so here are a few of our favourites!
“For me, it has to be the animation of Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas. It takes me right back to my childhood and you’ve got to admit, it is BLOOMIN MARVELLOUS!!” Sophia Field, Film Editor

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IMDb Top 100 – Do You Agree?

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can’t be the only one who runs to IMDb for support when choosing a film to watch. In an attempt to avoid wasting hours of my life watching terrible movies, checking out the rating it has received by our trusted peers and critics is essential in finding out the score. But do we all agree with these ratings?

#47 The Shining (1980) – IMDb rates 8.4
“My favourite Christmas movie is Love Actually, it is just so Christmassy and so fun. Really cheesy but it gives you all you need for that festive spirit!” Nicole Vassell, Deputy Editor & Head of Marketing “My favourite holiday film is Home Alone because it is a good family movie, seeing what Kevin gets up to with the burglars and it makes me want to be home alone too!” Sam West, Opinion & Analysis Editor “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation… because it’s really old, it was from 1989 and there is a scene where they had the best Christmas decorations. Only people who have watched it will understand!” Alex Smith, Editor For any horror film fan, The Shining is a classic because of its collaboration between Stephen King – one of horror’s best genre writers – and Stanley Kubrick, probably one of the most visionary directors Hollywood has ever had. The film is eerily suspenseful in its own right, full of iconic scenes and a masterful performance from Jack Nicholson. However, the reason The Shining gets special respect from me is because of the insane story behind how it got made. Originally the film was supposed to be shot over 17 weeks, but Kubrick took a full year to film because of his devotion perfectionism – in one instance, doing a record-breaking 127 takes for a single line of dialogue (the scene where Shelly Duvall picks up a baseball bat to defend herself from Nicholson). Kubrick made his own secretary spend “literally months” typing out every single page of the “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” Nicholson’s character is shown to write in his descent into madness. He also terrorised Shelley Duvall to the point her hair started falling out from stress, just so that she could re-enact her terrorised state accurately. These are only a few of the insane stories behind the origin of The Shining. Once you start digging into the symbolism and the creation legends of the film, the performances, the direction, and the editing form such a rich story that it’s hard not to admire why it’s considered a classic. By Ankur Banerjee

“Elf is my favourite because it is really innocent and cute and he is like a little baby!” Siobhan Harris, Science & Tech Editor

“It’s got to be The Santa Clause because not only is Tim Allen a legend, it's a classic 90’s film!” Alistair Walker, Web Editor

Don Jon (2013)
By Sophia Field, Film Editor

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ans of Joseph Gordon-Levitt should prepare to see him in a whole new light. Having previously perceived him in fairly PG roles, whether it’s skipping along the street singing a Hall & Oates classic in 500 Days of Summer, or making a sweet YouTube clip with pal Zooey Deschanel, Gordon-Levitt has often graced our screens as a fresh-faced boy next door. But all of that is about to change with his latest movie, Don Jon. Perhaps in a conscious effort to break out of a pigeonhole, Joseph Gordon-Levitt writes, directs and stars in this new movie. A bold move for the heartthrob, but as his Hollywood writing and directing debut, it is a successful one. He plays a deluded porn addict and serial womaniser whose life begins to change when he meets the beautiful Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) who pushes his buttons just as he can push the buttons of his single purpose laptop. His fascination with online videos offers a unique take on modern romantic comedies, even presenting cameo roles for Anne Hathaway and Channing Tatum, as stereotypical Hollywood actors. The parallels between the cheesy

romcom and Jon’s much-loved porn videos provide comedy as well as food for thought! The most bizarre feature of the movie is the addition of Jon’s unlikely friend and lover Esther (Julianne Moore). The audience’s empathy with her character is fairly empty, despite a deep and fairly dark character background, as the plot is entirely focused around Jon. The movie seems to have stock characters in the manly father figure, controlling girlfriend and grandchild obsessed mother, but it doesn’t take any time to examine the point of view of other characters. In fact, there is barely a scene without the presence of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Perhaps this is a commentary on the self-indulgent nature of Jon, but it could also be egotistical writing as Joseph Gordon-Levitt authors a film with him as the star. Don Jon well and truly warrants its 18+ certification and if you are a viewer who secretly rejoices when a ‘strong sexual content’ warning is announced; this film is certainly for you. Although the acting is solid throughout the movie, the real genius is down to the cinematography and direction. The repetitive shots of Jon’s favourite things; ‘my body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church,

my boys, my girls, my porn’ act as a structure to the plot and the return to the same scenarios aids plot progression and his character development. The stop motion effect to show Jon sitting at his laptop over extended periods of time, and the soundtrack are excellent. One of the comedy highlights is Gordon-Levitt singing along to Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch, in a beautiful falsetto whilst driving to church in his car. Don Jon is certainly not a film for everyone. It is vulgar throughout and definitely isn't a family friendly watch, but overall it is simply a humorous and tongue in cheek observation of society. If you look deeper into the underling message, it can be seen as a commentary on the objectification of women. GordonLevitt was heavily influenced by feminism as he was growing up and this is reflected in the film. It also ridicules the church, as Jon’s is bemused at getting the same amount of Hail Mary’s despite his changing attitude and behavior. This film will not offer closure when the credits role, but it certainly provides hope. A must see for fans of Joseph Gordon Levitt, and for those regular online visitors who sympathise with his needs!

ritics at Cannes universally derided Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2013 visual feast, Only God Forgives, Refn was accused of having fallen from grace, not able to reach the heady heights he once did with the Pusher trilogy. However, there are those, who ferociously disagree with this consensus. The film tells the story of Julian (Ryan Gosling), an expatriate American running a boxing club as a front for a drugs operation in the dirty heart of a luridly imagined Bangkok, haunted by a traumatic past. Through a series of interconnected events, Julian is drawn into an otherworldly duel with Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), a mysterious samurai swordwielding ex-cop, encouraged by his matriarchal mother, Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas). Gosling gives a thoroughly decent performance as the laconic protagonist – perhaps channelling Mad Mikkelsen’s One Eye from Refn’s earlier work Valhalla Rising -enjoying only a modicum of dialogue throughout the film. It is Pansringarm and Scott Thomas however who truly shine. Pansringarm is superb as the enigmatic Chang, gliding through scenes with an ethereal quality, belying the violence he is capable of. We never truly learn of his purpose (the finished film bares little resemblance to the screenplay available online); but an uncomplicated antagonist he is not. A Zen master, preaching forgiveness, a Machiavellian master of manipulating people for violent ends or the Angel of Vengeance, while we don’t know for certain, what is clear is that Chang lifts the film beyond the reach of comparable violenceentrenched titles. Larry Smith’s cinematography is spectacular, meticulously composing every shot we see to elevate tension and extract the maximum visual connotations he can. For a film with such metaphysical ideas, the heart of the film is entirely primal and Smith presents this with pleasure. Bathed in a vivid blood red, Bangkok is a nightmarish visage in which the characters are left exposed and unprotected, save for Chang. For self-confessed ‘pornographer’ Winding Refn, the attention-grabbing violence in the film is surprisingly mature – constantly being questioned and never particularly irreverent. Only God Forgives is a gloriously sinister acid trip into the theme of retribution, throwing the audience

Only God Forgives is a gloriously sinister acid trip into the theme of retribution, throwing the audience into the despair and isolation of the world Julian inhabits. Bathed in a vivid blood red, Bangkok is a nightmarish visage in which the characters are left exposed and unprotected...
into the despair and isolation of the world Julian inhabits. Critics have said that the film is devoid of any emotional attachment, a stunted study of self-indulgence and the grandiose pretentions of director Refn. Perhaps what is most important is what is left unsaid by the piece. The imagery stayed with me for months after first viewing, begging me to question my own views on old-testament retribution. Only God Forgives is sitting on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 40%, with 57 positive reviews contrasting the 87 negative reviews. This truly is reactionary filmmaking, with the audience decisively split between admiring the film and deriding it. Perhaps this is the point. Sick to death with franchises and reboots, anything that can elicit such reactions as critics walking out of screenings at Cannes deserves a certain level of respect. I love Only God Forgives because it doesn’t try to be liked. It is what it is, a demented imagining from the mind of Drive and Valhalla Rising. I love Only God Forgives because it’s stunningly cerebral, encouraging you to engage your brain and take from it what you will. I love Only God Forgives because I haven’t seen anything like it before.

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The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Television Corner
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By Daniel Müller e are asked about our hobbies on many occasions, and except those who can answer fishing or knitting, we all come up with the same answer. Whether it is a networking party with fingerfood or the first lesson of a language course, the usual boring answer is reading, listening to music or hanging out with friends. But let’s face the truth - we all watch TV! Maybe not on a television, we are poor students after all, but on our laptops: streaming and downloading the best series the world has to offer, from high budget sci-fi mini-series to reality TV and everything in between. For this reason The Stag introduces its brand new TV Guide where you can find all your favourite shows, or in this case shows you might have missed:

Top 3: Most underappreciated series
This show is about a married British writer producer couple, who have a successful TV show in the UK. After winning a BAFTA award they get an offer from a big-time Hollywood network executive to make the U.S. version of their series. Of course after moving to the Hills everything goes wrong. And the cherry on the top is that the Lincolns end up with Matt LeBlanc as the leading actor for their show, who is possibly the worst fit for the role. Matt LeBlanc playing the ‘douchebag’ version of him-self is simply hilarious and fantastic. With many references to Friends, which is without a doubt the ultimate sitcom (if not Seinfeld) makes the show very believable and entertaining. Also it gives an insight to British Television and the American industry, making Episodes a must for everybody who calculates their sleeping time by subtracting 20 or 40 minute slots.

Episodes

In this show we follow the everyday lives of a group of friends, living in a metropolis (Chicago). Their relation to each other is very dynamic, and sometimes they are very infantile, which leads them into relatable, yet farfetched situations. Sounds familiar? Yes, Happy Endings is arguably the next Friends. However, the 90’s concept needed an update. This show is fast paced, the characters are very well formed, and they actually make you laugh out loud.

Happy Endings

Masters of Sex is this year’s phenomenal new drama debut. Bringing back the 50’s of America on screen was always a rewarding task, and Masters of Sex just does it beautifully. Luckily not only the cinematography is breath-taking in this show. The actors perform beyond expectation, and the interlocking character story lines are both intriguing and emotive. What makes watching this show worthwhile is the persistent tension between the characters and the different mind-set we need to fully understand the era and the characters inner motivation. If you are taking your “watching” seriously and you don’t only sit in front of the TV to switch off your mind after a long day at the gym, this is definitely the next show for you (based on true events).

Masters of Sex

Literature Editor: Shiri Shah

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

LITERATURE

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Literature
Why I think “50 Shades Book Review of of Grey” isn’t so bad Lindsey Kelk’s

About a Girl
By Emma Hawken, Literature Team

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s an avid reader of Lindsey Kelk’s, “I Heart” series I was excited when her new series was published this summer, beginning with About a Girl. A brief summary of the plot is as follows: Tess, recently jobless, broke and single, lives with her demonic flatmate Vanessa, a photographer. After Tess accidently answers Vanessa’s phone, she impulsively, in her despairing mood, pretends to be her flatmate and accepts a photography job in Hawaii. Her logic being, how hard can it be? However, soon Tess comes up against big trouble. The relaxing break she thought she would get turns awry. Kelk’s account of Tess’ misfortunes, the hilarious situations she finds herself in; from an awkward romantic entanglement with egotistical journalist, to strange photo shoots, juxtaposed with heart-warming friendships make you desperate to have Tess as your best friend! The story is packed full of pop culture references and descriptions of fabulous outfits you’ll want to covet, that make the novel a joy to read. With Kelk you are guaranteed to get a witty, relatable and strong female protagonist with a light and fun storyline. This novel did not disappoint. I cannot wait until the

second in the series What a Girl Wants is released next summer; About a Girl ends on a massive cliffhanger! For those that love chick-lit and want a read to take your mind off your own life; jump into Kelk’s novel and live vicariously through Tess!

E L James’ book has sold 5.3 million copies in England alone. By Lauren Boland, Literature Team shame in reading erotica, and are embarrassed to be caught publically with such a lascivious novel. May this be due to cultural reasoning or being overly restrained, should we not support a novel that admires those willing to express themselves and experiment openly? This 21st century novel plays out our own fantasies of physical domination, and the idea that you can let yourself go and fully enjoy sexual satisfaction. Although the writing itself has been criticised due to poor characterisation and a cringe worthy internal monologue of Anastasia’s subconscious “inner goddess,” I think the majority of us girls can admit we would not say no to embarking on an erotic and stimulating adventure with our own rich and handsome Mr Christian Grey.

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ith millions of copies sold, 50 Shades of Grey is undeniably popular. But why do we enjoy it so much? Personally I love a good romance story- especially when it is spiced up with so much adventurous eroticism, yet there are many people who equally detest it. The explicit sexual acts referenced in the novel have been described as both “creepy” and “disgusting,” however I prefer to read this as a depiction of acceptance and personal confidence. Honestly speaking, do we not all long for our own relationship full of passion and pleasure, where the other accepts us for exactly who we are? It appears some people feel

The annual, free-to-enter competition for Britian’s politically minded writers.
By Leo Blanchard, Literature Team

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s the author of classic political fiction such as Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, as well as a series of political essays, George Orwell was extremely successful in his aspiration to “make political writing into an art”. The Orwell Prize is an annual award that encourages Britain’s best politically-minded writers to strive for much the same thing, with this quote by Orwell being the main criteria by which entries are judged. Its winners are often well-respected journalists, with the award acting as the ultimate recognition of high-quality reporting; last year’s winners of the journalism prize were Andrew Norfolk and Tom Bergin, reporters for

The Times and Reuters respectively. Submissions must be appropriate for reading by the general public, and so writers are encouraged to convey their ideas in a way suitable to a wider audience than just academia and professionals. Whilst the list of past winners may appear daunting to writers who have had little or no work published, an important principle of the Orwell Prize is that anyone may submit an entry and that doing so is free. The closing date for entries to this year’s Prize is 15th January. But even if you won’t be submitting an article, visit the Orwell Prize website for more details including diary entries from Orwell himself. More details can be found at www.theorwellprize. co.uk

24 MUSIC

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Music Editor: Candice Ritchie

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

MUSIC

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An Interview with Jazz Morley
By Candice Ritchie and Arran Coe

Music

The subversive power of music

Pussy Riot:

A Perfect Circle – Greatest Hits

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n a day and age where artists are thrown all too willingly into the music industry from reality TV shows, Jazz Morley is an inspiring example of one who has worked hard to get to where she is. Since taking part in the BBC Introducing Musicians Masterclass in 2011, Jazz has appeared at countless festivals and even performed at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games – there’s no stopping her! After two successful tours, Jazz is currently in the midst of her third, on account of the release of her new EP ‘Trying to Make Sense’. On Sunday 27th October, Jazz headlined at Guildford’s intimate and atmospheric hub The Boileroom – her idea of a perfect venue. As she sung an array of emotional tracks and displayed her incredible, self-taught piano flair, her strong and soulful vocals left the entire room in awe. With a powerful and mature tone well beyond her years, she performed new songs ‘Paper Walls’ (the video of which has since been released!) and ‘Dancing with Death’, along with her debut single ‘Stories’. We made sure to get there early (even before Jazz herself, funnily) so that we could take her aside for a few words before the gig. The Stag: Hi Jazz! Congratulations on the release of your new EP – what’s the message behind it? Jazz: For me, it was like pushing the boundaries creatively. I’ve always been the girl behind the piano and I wanted to experiment– I think that’s what being an artist is about, you shouldn’t be afraid to be creative. Each song has a lot of meaning, and I wanted to explore the darker side of the production – it’s a bit darker and richer than before. TS: It’s quite heavily produced, whereas your live sound is very down to the basics – how do you transfer the sound of the EP to your live performances? J: I play one of the songs from the EP as piano and voice, because it derived from that, but the other two were built on much more. I don’t want to be just me behind a piano – for the amount of gigs I do, that’s the way it’s the most manageable – but I also want to have a band and I want it to be a bigger sound. TS: You’re a soulful singer-songwriter; what are your musical influences? J: All sorts! When I was younger, I was all about Whitney and power ballads. I’ve always liked old-school soul – it’s always been a big part of my life. Gladys Knight, Donny Hathaway and Aretha Franklin were all big idols. But equally, newer artists and music that isn’t technically soul – I’ve been listening to Lianne La Havas a lot recently; she’s soulful but it’s not soul music.

TS: So you like the word ‘soulful’? J: Yeah, because it doesn’t have to be soul as a genre. You can tell when someone’s singing soulfully because they mean it – I think that’s what’s important to me. TS: How’s the tour been going so far; where have you been? J: Yeah, good! The tour goes all around the country, but I’m only about a third of the way through, so there are still a lot of places to go – we’re going from Newcastle to Falmouth, and everywhere in between. TS: But you had to postpone some dates earlier in the month due to illness? J: Yeah, I think I just overdid it a bit! It’s hard being a singer sometimes – your instrument is inside, so you have to take so much care. With the music I do, I can’t not be everything I need to be, and with the type of songs they are, I feel them, which is what’s difficult, but it’s important I’m able to do that because I don’t want to do a bad job. TS: This tour is 47 gigs in total! Why so many? J: I’m still building up a fan base – I’m doing it the long, hard way, but I think it’s a great way to do it if you want to create a long lasting career for yourself. I’m not really interested in the whole rising to fame in two minutes and going back down again. If you don’t have the foundations, you don’t have anything to fall back on, and I want to create a sustainable career for myself. Plus, performing is my favourite thing to do, so it kind of makes sense (laughs). Don’t get me wrong, it is tough, especially emotionally – you’re on your own a lot or with people that don’t know you, but that’s part of it – you have to ride it! TS: How does this tour compare with your ‘Love Me Not’ Spring Tour? J: I don’t know, I haven’t got into the flow yet. I’ve had some time off, and it’s been here and there, but from now it gets really busy so I’ll know soon. But the spring tour was great! TS: What’s your favourite kind of venue to perform in? J: Ones like this. I did an amazing gig the other day in Leicester; it was a tiny Café come music venue. It was so small, cute and intimate, and the people there were really understanding and loving of live music. It creates a great atmosphere - you can tell when people are in it for the right reasons. TS: You recently released the music video for ‘Dancing with Death’ – tell me about that! J: There’s a funny story behind this! I’d recorded the song and I was living in an old, run-down theatre at the time but I had

to move out in two days. I randomly got chatting to an old friend and he said he was doing films now. He was like, “It’s a shame, you should have done a music video for your new EP” and I said “Ahh that’s so annoying, I’m moving out of the theatre in two days, it would have been perfect.” So he was like, right let’s do it tomorrow! He came down the next day, his flatmate happened to be a contemporary dancer, and my dad works in lighting and sound so I was able to get those very last minute. TS: So what’s the song about? J: It’s about feeling like you’re in a rut just going along in life, existing and not really pushing yourself or realising time is passing, and you suddenly think, “where have the last few months gone, I haven’t done anything, I don’t feel like I’ve even been alive.” But to feel alive again, you almost have to die, or to do something crazy. So it’s ‘dancing with death’, and the guy in the video is like death personified – he’s this masked character that I hate to love. TS: Do you like theatre? J: Yeah, I do. It’s something I used to do. The thing I really love about this video is that I’m not singing, i’m just in it – I enjoyed that, it was really refreshing. It’s nice to experiment with that again.

TS: What age did you first learn to play the piano? J: I wouldn’t say I learnt the piano – I’m not a pianist. I’ve just taught myself a bit over the years. My voice is my instrument and my piano is just the accompaniment. I’ve sung since I was 4 in public – I really enjoyed it and probably liked the attention (laughs)! I’m from quite a musical family, my mum was a musician and my dad was an actor, so I’ve come from a very understanding background. TS: What’s coming up after you’ve finished the tour? J: I’m doing a few band dates, which will be really exciting. I’ve never done my own music with the band. The musical director and lead guitarist is a great session player, he’s worked with people such as Amy Winehouse; he’s curating the rest of the band. Jazz has recently released her own version of Wham!’s ‘Last Christmas’ – check it out on iTunes! By James Campbell, Music Team ‘Judith’ will strike a chord with the spiritual sceptical, a tongue in cheek, hard hitting rock belter, with lyrics dripping in sardonic criticism of religious dependence, ‘you’re such an inspiration for the ways that I will never choose to be.’ Nevertheless, ‘Rose’ is arguably the most varied track of the collection, boasting a flavour of eastern sounding influences, which are underpinned by a garbled bass line which splutters and heaves like a straining car exhaust. Meanwhile, Maynard Keenan’s vocal lines trickle through, meandering over the rising din of sound, accentuating a melody peppered with poetical adroitness. After more than thirteen years of being, the band seems to evidently have gone ‘full circle’, hence the aptly titled ‘360’, which offers a well rounded perspective on the band’s accomplishments to date. ‘A Perfect Circle’ have constantly battled against the reputation of fellow contemporaries, including Tool and Nine Inch Nails, as a group still somewhat forced to live in the shadows, acting like the eclipsed and neglected older child of the family, forced to chafe on the sidelines whilst the younger siblings are smothered with the entirety of praise and recognition. Nevertheless, this album is a perfect taster to represent a group who offer an alternative take on hard rock. If these passing comments of mine have perhaps sown some seeds of curiosity, then you can explore the complete discography for A Perfect Circle on iTunes. ‘360’ features a hotchpotch of live and studio recordings from four featured albums: ‘Mer de Noms’ (1999-2001), ‘13th Step’ (2002-2003), eMOTIVE (2004). Wishing you all a rockin’ Christmas!

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By Kyra Hanson, Music Team

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TS: I hear you’ve been doing ‘house concerts’ – what are they? J: They’re amazing! The owner will charge their friends around £10 to come in and they’ll get around 30 people. Everyone turns up, we all have a drink and it’s lovely because everyone knows each other – and I get to know them. Then I’ll do a set, and everyone will eat together in the middle, then I’ll do another set. Everyone is in a lounge, it’s so intimate, and they’re all there for one reason. It’s a rare thing to do, so it’s special for the people that host it as well. At first it was a bit weird, but for my type of music it’s perfect – it really works. TS: You performed at the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics – how did you get asked? J: A company called Emerging Icons had a stage - I’d done a bit of work with them before, and they asked me if I’d sing on their stage. It was quite relaxed because it was in the park, but in an area where everyone was sat on the grass, so it was really special. It was a lovely atmosphere.

ussy Riot are the punk feminist group notoriously known for their performance in Russia’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral in which they screamed ‘it’s God shit’ and asked the Virgin Mary to ‘rid us of Putin’. For this thirty second or so performance, Pussy Riot members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokronnikova were sentenced to two years imprisonment in a penal colony. This sentence caused international uproar with public figures like Madonna donning a balaclava and calling for their release during her concert in Moscow. Even now as we are approaching 2014, nearly two years after that subversive act, the battle for freedom continues and Nadezhda in particular has become a symbol of those repressed by the Russian regime. Pussy Riot chose to express their political action in artistic forms. They wanted to expose the corrupt relationship between the church and the state; to free Russian society from its totalitarian, authoritarian leader; to fight the misogynistic, sexist patriarchal culture and become the voice of the voiceless. Yet where is freedom of speech when you are imprisoned for speaking (or singing) your mind? The three girls were accused of being motivated by religious hatred - even if this was the case, where is the law against blasphemy? If music didn’t have a subversive power then authoritarian governments wouldn’t have denied these girls their right to perform. Yekaterina Samutsevich, who was released on appeal, has said that because of increased security and monitoring Pussy Riot members may have to stop performing and turn to educational talks instead. The continued repression of Pussy Riot performances in Moscow suggests that the utilisation of punk music

is a political choice in itself. Expression through the voice and the body is a kind of democratisation of political thought and activity. We all have a voice and our body acts as a vehicle to transport that voice, therefore we can all subvert the political order while we have a means to expression and thus to make music. Their performances remove the strictures imposed through church and state through subverting power structures which say that only figures of authority should have access to political thoughts; music is essential to Pussy Riot as a means of enacting their own power struggles against a sexist and repressive regime. In halting the music and locking up the singers, Putin is hoping to put an end to the subversive messages present in their music. Yet physical confinement cannot stop the music and the lyrics spreading across borders and nations (therefore translations of these songs are essential!) You might not enjoy listening to Pussy Riot screaming at you in Russian but the anger displayed in the cacophony of sound that Pussy Riot members produce is very real. With punk music’s unforgiving associations with rebellion, political anti-establishment lyrics, and striped down instrumentation, it is a very fitting mode of expression for Pussy Riot. Both Nadezhda and Maria are due to be released in March 2014, yet while they are imprisoned their music continues to reverberate its feminist agenda across the word and expose the plight faced by Russian citizens under Putin. I feel it is fitting to end this article with the lyrics uttered by Nadezhda during the closing statement of their trial, ‘Open all the doors, throw off your uniforms, come and taste freedom with us.’

he countdown to Christmas has begun! Festive cheer is catching on around campus, as are the excitable conversations about suitable stocking fillers… So, let me make a suggestion in the form of a greatest hits compilation; treat a ‘rocking robin’ to A Perfect Circle this Christmas. Formed in 1999, these American rockers have offered up an original incarnation of hits since their coming to prominence, more than over a decade ago. The range of material featured on this album caters for a wide array of musical palates, ideally for those whose musical preferences teeter toward a cocktail of melodic, progressive rock. A Perfect Circle add a ‘shaken and stirred’ approach, blending their sound with a real zest of heavyweights such as ‘Tool’,‘Soundgarden’ and ‘Audioslave’. The particulars… First up, ‘360’ features the dark and foreboding cover of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, a portentous anti- war anthem in its own right, featuring dystopic and discordant piano chords which bitingly contrast the utopian ideals of the original. Secondly, ‘The Hollow’ is the shining highlight on this collective repertoire, featuring soaring vocals, reinforced by ethereal guitar parts, which lull and hang in the air before dissipating and erupting into volcanic surges of epic riffage. ‘The Package’ builds from a timid rumbling of various instruments to a thunderous breakdown by the denouement, as the track almost seems to froth at the mouth through a rampancy of distortion and powerful vocals. The damning message of track

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The Stag  |  9th December 2013

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Death Grips – Government Plates
By Leo Blanchard - Music Team

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overnment Plates was released earlier this month by Death Grips with no prior notice given; just a free download link posted via the band’s various social media accounts. This kind of behaviour has come to be expected of a band whose mystery is notorious, including multiple public disputes with their label about release dates and ultimately being dropped as a result. Despite this, the band made three full-length releases, all of which have been received favourably by critics; their debut mixtape, Exmilitary, received nearuniversal critical acclaim, making many end-of-year lists and establishing itself as an experimental hip-hop classic. Sonically, Government Plates is largely what we've come to expect from the band; a distinct combination of aggressive percussion, abrasive synths and the demented yelling of the band’s frontman ‘MC Ride’. ’You Might Think…’, whose lengthy title is surprisingly taken from a Bob Dylan lyric, opens the album with the sound of glass smashing; Ride has a few seconds to yell atop screeching synths before the listener is badgered with unrelenting, pulsating bass. Listeners are never allowed to become too attached to any rhythm on the album, as the moment it’s seized it breaks loose, plunging back into a stateless anarchy. Death Grips’ sound satisfies the internet-generation mindset that is never able to lend its attention for long before demanding something new and something different. On Government Plates, Ride is an end-times prophet competing with the noises that surround him, hysterically shrieking fragments of angry poetry into

the void. Occasionally we are able to decipher what is being said, giving us a glimpse into a nihilistic mind whose raw energy is only matched by the darkness of his lyrics, such as the calm command to “drink this bleach” on ‘Birds’. Listeners of the band’s past releases will notice Zach Hill’s percussion, including his signature ‘trash’ cymbals, often taking a backseat in favour of more prominent synths and greater use of sampling. The album’s synths are pummeling as ever, but the album often lacks the violent industrial edge that has made their previous releases the perfect soundtrack to bonecrushing mosh-pits. The album speaks on issues of power, drugs and governmental control, but to say for certain that the album’s lyrical content discusses any one particular aspect of society requires a very loose interpretation. On the album’s closer, ‘Whatever I Want’, a paranoid Ride speaks of someone always watching as noises stagger off into nothingness; it would be dangerous to take anything he says too seriously, but in the twentyfirst century, he’s not far from wrong. Death Grips will never be a band whose sound was designed for commercial radio airplay, however, Government Plates is a particularly inaccessible offering; new listeners of the band would do well to listen to Exmilitary or The Money Store beforehand. This album may not have the ferocity of their previous releases, or the hooks of The Money Store or Exmilitary, but it definitely does something new and original when it would be easy to do the exact same thing. Government Plates is available now for free download

Local Music

The Cultural Other T
he Cultural Other is a Guildford based group on a musical mission with a simple objective; to deliver powerful, hard hitting and laconic rock music which will excite, entertain and be recognised in its own right both in the studio and through exhilarating live performances. Although still in the preliminary stages of creating a name for ourselves, The Cultural Other are determined to establish a reputation through our musicianship by striving to create a musically diverse and evocative repertoire of material. We are not currently signed with a label but are now in the process of recording a 3 track EP which we aim to have released by January 2014. Collectively, our ‘secret weapon’ lies in the cultural makeups and origins of the band members. Drummer Kuba Mlezcko’s Polish-American roots, guitarist Andrea Venerus’s hot-blooded Mediterranean flare and bassist James Campbell’s hot headed Hispanic temperament accentuates the band’s distinctive musical ideologies, with lyrics which seek to explore the labyrinthine nature of the human condition and represent a podium for our staunch political affiliations simultaneously. The band’s formation owes a lot to serendipitous circumstances, as a chance conversation between bassist James Campbell and drummer Kuba Mlezcko at a coffee bar in Guildford in October 2011 led to musical discussions and the forging of a strong rhythmic relationship after some initial jam sessions.

Finding the missing piece to the jigsaw came about a few months afterwards through an inquisitive request from Kuba, approaching guitarist Andrea Venerus with his very ‘best’ Italian. There were no communication difficulties when it came down to creating music however, as after an initial practice it became clear that our three separate and distinct personalities were beginning to engender real musical chemistry. We draw inspiration from a plethora of musical genres and artists but predominantly are collectively influenced by hard rock band from the 90’s, including Deftones, Rage Against the Machine, Alice in Chains, Tool and Soundgarden to name a few! Each of us instils our own musical blend into the overall product; guitarist Andrea experiments with a lot of blues and jazz styles as well as rock and metal whilst James and Kuba reinforce the rhythmic backbone of the band by feeding off Latin inspired rhythms and expressive bass lines. For information on our latest news and upcoming gig dates from 2014 onwards, check us out on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/ CulturalOther Our three latest demos to date are available to download and stream via Soundcloud: https:// soundcloud.com/the-cultural-other We hope you can make a show and spread the sound of C.O!

Dance & Theatre Editor: Amy McGivern

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

DANCE & THEATRE

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An Interview with a Dancer
When it comes to dance, I will be involved in anything, I do all types of dancing so it helps being versatile too, and I also love teaching and choreography and directing too. So far, what is a career highlight for you? Probably dancing at the MOBO’s with Jason Derulo , it was an amazing show with lots of celebrities and artists around. I loved having the opportunity to dance on the SECC stage in Glasgow and getting lots of free stuff. Also dancing on the XFactor with Cher Lloyd and dancing on Nicole Scherzinger’s music video ‘Boomerang’. I also performed at the Olympics opening ceremony, two months of full time intensive dancing was so good within a massive stadium and a big audience. What advice would you give to anyone aspiring to be a dancer? You need to train hard in order to be good at your profession. Be friendly and open to everyone you meet. It is important to be proactive because no one else will get you there, it’s about yourself and you always need to be on it. You need to research in to everything to know what is going on and where you need to be and who it would be good for you to know. Remember to never forget your dreams and why you first started dancing and where you want to be , your goals can get easily lost in the struggle.

Dance & Theatre

The Tin Ring

think it is safe to say my knowledge of dance is very limited. I know that people do it and that I am not very good at it. Corinne Holt however is a professional and embarrassingly good. I thought I would take this opportunity to find out a little bit about what it is like to be a dancer and if she had any tips for anyone brave enough to venture into the world of performance. It is probably worth noting at this point that Corinne trained at Rambert and now dances professionally, teaches and directs. When did you first decide you wanted to dance as a career? Since I first started dancing when I was about three years old! I always knew I wanted to be a dancer and that has never changed. How do you feel your training has impacted you? Training is the number one thing that has got me to where I am today, without training there is no career or a good one anyway! What is the worst part of being a dancer? I don’t think there is a worst part about being a dancer as long as you remain proactive and train hard you will get good work coming your way, or you will find it! Other dancer’s say the work is not steady enough however I think it could be because they are a bit pickier or perhaps prefer to do bar work or something.

By Amy McGivern, Dance & Theatre Editor

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hen Jane Arnfield and Mike Alfreds collaborated in 2012, the result was a thirty minute production of ‘The Tin Ring’. Now, a year on the production has doubled in length and already played to a sell-out audience at The Lowry theatre. For those of you who missed the performance at The Ivy, The Tin Ring follows the story of one woman’s experiences during the Second World War. Based on a true story, the one woman show documents the life of Zdenka Fantlová who survived numerous concentration camps and eventually started a career in Sweden. As we walked into the auditorium there was already tension, I was intrigued to see how someone could tackle such a delicate subject matter. It turns out Arnfield had been watching us all walking in from the front of the stage; I am still not quite sure how I feel about this. However, it must be noted that her acting was incredible. The range of accents she performed,

with such ease and precision was staggering. With only a chair as a prop she managed to convey such a rich and harrowing story, switching seamlessly between different characters within the narrative. My only critique and it is a small one, is the lack of an interval. Because it required so much concentration and attention from the audience I feel it would have benefitted from a small moment in which people could reflect on what they had just seen. Because of the minimal staging and small cast, at times I felt it was slightly relentless; it is a credit to Arnfield’s talent that she can sustain such intensity and focus for so long but I suggest an intermission could be beneficial. To attempt (and successfully) devise a piece of theatre on such a sensitive time in history is credible enough as it is, but to do it with such taste and decorum is a triumph. If you can see The Tin Ring at any point, do, because not only is it entertaining but a beautiful piece of art.

Societies Editor: Alice Wilkinson

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

SOCIETIES

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Societies
Why you should add an imprisoned writer to your Christmas card list
By Alice Wilkinson, Societies Editor

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Kunchok Tesphel Gopey Tsang
Kunchok Tsephel Gopey Tsang is a Tibetan internet writer and Editor of the ‘Chomei’ website, which provides a platform for Tibetan language writers to voice their concerns, experience and opinions. ‘Chomei’, meaning ‘The Lamp’, is closely monitored by the Chinese authorities and has been shut down several times in the past. Gopey Tsang was arrested in February 2009, and after nine months of being held at an undisclosed location, was convicted of disclosing ‘state secrets’ and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. The precise reasons for his arrest are still unknown and sadly, no lawyers want to take Gopey Tsang’s case on and appeal. In August, he was moved to a harsher prison and there is now series concern for his health. His family are allowed to visit him just once every two months and are only permitted to talk to him in Chinese despite the fact that most of them do not speak the language. PEN International believes that Gopey Tsang has been imprisoned solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and is therefore calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

hile sitting in AC03 at the University of Surrey, the issues of imprisoned writers across the world seemed like worlds away. But the discussions held here, at a meeting organised by Surrey Student PEN to mark “The Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2013”, made the dangers that these writers face frightfully real. Following an informative Introduction from the society’s president and vice president, Sophia Smith and Sophie Vickery, attendees heard from Surrey Student PEN members who had researched the 2013 focus cases. The team shared the harrowing experiences of these six writers who have suffered as a result of their literature. Hearing these accounts reemphasised the importance of societies such as Surrey Student PEN, who work to increase awareness and support for imprisoned writers. On Wednesday 4th December 12pm- 3pm Surrey Student PEN were manning Christmas card making stations where you can send a Christmas card for free to one of these writers. In the hope that this article spreads the word, if only across the University of Surrey, a brief account of each 2013 focus case is included below. Thank you to Becca Foster, Kirsty Tiernam, Grace Blencow and Sophia Smith for the information that follows. After the unjust abduction and torture of her brother in 1989, Dina Meza, an award winning human rights journalist and author, used her writing to expose the human rights violations in Honduras. In leading the campaign for his liberation, she has experienced threats to her own personal and family safety. Her son has been held at gun point; she has been followed, watched and received malicious threats containing violent and sexual content. She has reported these violations with no avail; none were investigated and she received no protection from authorities in Honduras. Turkish pianist Fazil Say, an internationally renowned classical composer, was sentenced to ten months in prison for blasphemy against Muslims. Say was charged with “religious defamation” through his use of Twitter. Say used Twitter to express his viewpoints through freedom of speech and he now faces a ten month prison sentence and a probationary period of two years. Say has a strong belief that the charges were politically motivated. Since 2011 Zahra Rahnavard and her husband have been held under unofficial house arrest. There have been no legal proceedings or any official arrests relating to their case. After an allegedly corrupt election in 2009 which awarded Muhamoud Ahmadinejad presidency, Zahra and her husband and a fellow presidential candidate peacefully protested against the result. It is thought that their founding of the opposing party led to their house arrest.

Kunchok Tesphel Gopey Tsang

Zahra Rahnavard

Rodney Sieh

Dina Meza

Fazil Say

Rodney Sieh is a Liberian journalist and editor of FrontPageAfrica, an online and print newspaper responsible for exposing many political scandals within Liberia. In 2011, Sieh accused a former minister in Liberia of corruption. After this minister was found not guilty in court, he sued Sieh for libel in an allegedly corrupt courtcase. Lieh was ordered to pay over 30 times the newspaper’s annual cost in damages and court costs. Unable to pay the debt, Sieh was jailed and sentenced to an excess of 5000 years until his debt was sufficiently liquidated. Sieh has now been released as a result of appeals from his lawyers and PEN international and as of 14th November FrontPageAfrica is back in print. Surrey Student PEN is the University of Surrey’s English PEN Society. We work to defend and promote free expression and to remove barriers to literature. For more information, please email [email protected] like us at facebook. com/SurreyEnglishPEN and follow us on Twitter: @ SurreyPEN

Dina Meza

Zahra Rahnavard

Fazil Say

Rodney Sieh

30 SOCIETIES

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

[email protected]

The Stag
by Alice Wilkinson, Societies Editor, & Candice Ritchie, Music Editor

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he Stag editorial team travelled to London Victoria on Friday 29th November to attend a student journalism masterclass. It was held at the Press Association headquarters and had been arranged specifically for the staff of student newspapers. It is safe to say the team were quaking in their boots, at least a little bit, as Pat Hagan, Deputy Head of Foundation Course Training at the Press Association, spoke on defamation and how to steer clear of libel claims. Jaws were dropping at the sheer amount of money libel claims can be awarded, the ease with which such mistakes can be made and how difficult it actually is to avoid. I think readers of The Stag will begin to notice a much more diplomatic tone to Surrey University’s student newspaper in future issues. After a generous (free) lunch, the team were given a tour around the London newsroom, which had a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere despite it being the central hub of news stories in the UK. Its professionalism was transparent, with up to three monitors for each member of staff (so as not to miss a single newsbite) and a large team dedicated to creating news broadcasts. In fact, a live video was coming in from a reporter in Iraq as we took our tour. It definitely inspired the would-be journalists among us.

We then sat down to hear from experienced journalist Keith Elliott who ran a masterclass entitled “News; What is it? Where to find it.” We gained valuable insight into the skills of news writing and, at the end, even received some constructive critique from Keith himself. I think the whole team would agree that it was an enjoyable day well-spent. On behalf of the whole team I would like to thank Editor Alex Smith for organising it.

Plans for a Campus Community Garden at University of Surrey
Lizzie Andrews, Go-Green Society

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By Sophie Vickery, Vice President of Surrey Student PEN

‘The Cutting Tradition’
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ustin Pearce, Lecture Theatre One, became a place of stunned silence and horrified gasps on Monday 25th November as the University of Surrey played its role in commemoration of the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, a campaign run by ‘Zonta Says No!’ during the 25th November and 10th December. Surrey Student PEN were keen to attend the evening following its role in exposing the struggle for freedom of choice and speech among victims who suffer such a severe violation to their human rights. The event involved a film screening of ‘The Cutting Tradition’, a documentary aimed at provoking thought and encouraging discussion regarding Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Narrated by Meryl Streep, the film offered a shocking but sensitive approach towards the subject which affects women in 28 African countries and several Middle Eastern nations. Whilst resistance to the practice is beginning to become more common, the majority of parents and young girls themselves favour circumcision in pursuit of virginity, purity, marriage and cultural tradition. They fear that without it they will be insulted, an embarrassment to family and dismissed by men in a world where marriage is crucial for a female’s future. Girls are often aged between just ten and fifteen when they undergo the circumcision which is commonly carried out by elders in the village in conditions where there is poor hygiene and sanitation. The procedure also holds serious health implementations as the elders often have poor eyesight and there are many cases where girls suffer HIV, infertility and psychological trauma as a result. The pain is excruciating and the documentary captures this effectively with an explicit viewing of the process, which is rather unimaginable for Western audiences who are accustomed to associating such practice with anaesthetic, yet for these women this is simply not used. What is perhaps more disturbing is that the horror does not stop here; upon marriage the circumcision is to be cut in order to have children and the woman may be resealed and re-cut during her life. This incites further serious health problems along with grave discomfort everyday. The documentary also sheds light on the disagreement among religious and political scholars within Sub-Saharan countries on FGM and highlights the different views of women themselves towards the issue. Nancy Durrell Mckenna, founder of the charity SafeHands for Mothers and co-director of ‘The Cutting Tradition’, was present after the showing of the documentary for questions. The audience embraced this opportunity to find out more information and Nancy fulfilled such wishes with anecdotes which shared her own first-hand experiences to enhance the film’s message further. The final question of the evening was asked by a gentleman who voiced the thoughts on everyone’s minds; “how can we help?” Nancy explained that it begins locally, with events such as this one, where members leave with greater awareness and prepared to communicate this with others. She expressed her value for a university audience as a place of articulation to spread the charity’s campaigns and give a voice to these women in a place where cultural practice prohibits such a freedom.

s of next term there will be a new way for Surrey students to socialise. Gardening! The University is opening a campus community garden which is to be managed by students. The community garden is being introduced to the University campus as NUS promotes its new ‘Student Eats’ Campaign. Universities nationwide are being encouraged to provide a space whereby students can grow fruit and vegetables. Their produce will be sold at a low-cost price and shared between student volunteers, staff and local community members. Susan Nash, Vice President of Society and Citizenship of NUS, said: "Recent NUS research has shown us that 42 per cent of students would grow their own fruit and vegetables if given the facilities and tools.” The garden will provide an opportunity for those greenfingered students to share their

knowledge and skills on how to cultivate organic fruit and vegetables. It offers a gentle source of exercise as students will be landscaping and developing the ground and also a peaceful space outdoors where students can find some peace and quiet. Campus community gardens are a growing trend amongst UK Universities. Roehampton University have named their campus garden ‘Growhampton’ and Bradford University have named theirs ‘Ecoversity Growing Project’. The University of Surrey community garden will need a name and Go-green society would love to hear any ideas you have. E-mail us at ussu. [email protected]. So, if you are still unsure what to put on your Christmas list, ask for a pair of gardening gloves and we will see you next term. More information on how to get involved with the campus community garden will follow in the New Year.

Sport Editor: Santiago Avilés

The Stag  |  9th December 2013

SPORT

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Surrey Women’s Cricket

Surrey Football Club

Female Cricket on the Rise
By Laura White

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ith Britain buzzing over the Olympic success in 2012, the sporting buzz continued into 2013 with England’s cricket team doing us proud amongst the world’s greats, including dominating the Ashes. However, it isn’t just the gentlemen who are giving the world’s greats a run for their money, as the ladies have also stepped up to the plate. This year we have seen the likes of Charlotte Edwards, Sarah Taylor and Katherine Brunt follow the men’s lead, by showing the Australians that both sets of Ashes belong in our hands. Women have beaten male teams to several milestones in cricket, and the number of women participating in this predominantly male sport is on the rise. With the women’s England cricket team to be widely acknowledged as one of the best in the world. With Guildford being the first recorded place for a cricket game to be played in England, there can’t be a sport more suited to the University of Surrey than cricket! Significant investment into women’s cricket in recent years has seen it more up and coming than ever, with women stating that it is an incredibly social sport with an

UoSFC Report, BUCS Week 6
23/11/13
By Harry Metters, Wed Admin/ Head of Media & Communications

excellent team base. Here at Surrey University, women’s cricket is also on the rise, with the University Cricket Club (USCC) launching their first women’s cricket sessions earlier this year. Currently running once a month, we need you to help take it further! With the club aiming to have a fully functioning ladies XI playing in BUCS competition in the coming years, there is no time like the present! It’s never too late to try a new sport, and you could well unveil a talent you never knew you had! USCC also has close ties with Guildford Cricket Club, based on Woodbridge Road, who have run ladies cricket since 2002 and provide our students

with opportunities to train and play competitive cricket during the summer months when the University is closed. So if you’re female, interested in cricket and keen to be a member of Team Surrey, then join us for a training session! Meet new friends and give the boys a bit of healthy competition. Whether you’re a complete novice or the next Charlotte Edwards, search for us on Facebook via ‘University of Surrey Cricket Club (USCC)’ or drop us an email at the Union email address (ussu.cricket@ surrey.ac.uk) and we’ll arrange the next step! We look forward to seeing you!

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Ist XI

aturday saw a bit of an embarrassing performance to be honest from the 1s as they lost 6-0 away at Chiddingly. The side went into half time 3-0 down and with Sam Turner & Harry Metters both injured which changed the team’s structure entirely. Babel got man of the match with the only acceptable performance on the day Surrey played well this season but had nothing to show for it, going down 2-0 to Brighton 2's at SSP, before pulling 1 back to make it 2-1. Despite controlling possession for long periods of the game, 2 lapses in concentration proved to be their undoing. Ben Ellwood managed to win and score a penalty. On another day Surrey could have easily taken 3 points. MOM – Richie

were secure to the satisfaction of the on looking supporters. MOM – Besty. The 2s were defeated on Wednesday 4-2 by New Bucks 2's at SSP. Despite controlling possession for long periods of the game, 3 set pieces proved to be their undoing. That and the naughtiest of back heeled lobs from their number 10. Andy Best managed to grab a poachers brace. MOM – Andreas

3rd XI
Saturday took the 3’s to an away game to play a hardy team on unfavourable pitch conditions. Despite players being punched, stamped on and threaten to be killed, we battled on like soldiers. They missed a penalty and Dom Davidson made a series of saves keeping us in the game. We then went up the other end and scored from our only shot on target with a Samie Aldoori header from a Cristi Apetrei corner. We then managed to hang on to the points with Michael Buckley and Ben Durkin giving it their all at CB. We went away to Sussex with a strong side. We played very well all game with great shape and fantastic effort, however we went 1-0 down to what can only be described as a fantastic finish. Surrey created chance after chance however they were unable to convert those chances into goals. They kept pushing for the equalizer before Sussex caught us on the break and won the game 2-0. MOM - Michael Buckley

Surrey Judo

2nd XI
On Saturday the 2s started off well dominating early, and were rewarded with a goal from Besty. Shortly after, a quick break from Holloway with an arguably offside equalizer. Early in the second half Holloway again took Surrey by surprise scoring against the run of play. However Surrey's lead was restored as fouls on Henri and Besty led to two penalties, both of which were dispatched by Paris. Another from Besty and a goal for Tom Chambers on his second start for the side ensured the 3 points

University of Surrey Judo Club
By Michael Dawson

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ost people will associate Judo with pain and being dropped on your head a lot, this was definitely the case when I first put thought in to finding a club close to me to join. However I have been pleasantly surprised so far with my experience. Every Thursday at 8pm we gather at the Surrey Sports Park for our practice session, which, though tiring, are a good laugh and leave you feeling pretty good by the end of it. Each member from the club has proved themselves to be fun, friendly, and nowhere near as scary as they look. Our trainers, Doc and Martin, have offered the best help that they possibly could to ensure that Judo is as enjoyable and pain free as possible. It's somewhat empowering when you realise just how easy it can be to topple someone much taller

and much better at all of this than you are, and when it comes to their turn, they are much more gentle. The trainers are also very understanding about being reluctant to let yourself be thrown. You don't have to do it until you are fully ready, and even when you do bite the bullet, they ensure that it is done carefully,

allowing you to build confidence gradually. Anyone is welcome to come and try it, or even just come and watch and meet the rest of the club before fully joining up. For more details email us on ussu. [email protected] or join us on Facebook

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The Stag  |  9th December 2013

[email protected]

Sport
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Surrey's Monica Petrosino to represent Great Britain
onica Petrosino of the University of Surrey has been included in the Women's Ice Hockey squad chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2013 World University Winter Games in Trentino, Italy. For Petrosino, who studies Adult Nursing, this is just the latest sporting achievement in what has already been an impressive sporting career. She has been selected to play for England and Great Britain at U16, U18 and senior level, attending several world championships from 2009. She has also captained GB in inline hockey, including at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in 2010, when she was just 16 years of age. Also a keen 800m runner, Petrosino cites Jessica Ennis-Hill as a role model, and she was a 2012 Olympic torch bearer. Participating in these Games, located in northern Italy, is sure to prove an interesting experience for Petrosino, who is half Italian. She will not, however, face a team from the host nation - instead GBR are scheduled to start against Japan on 10 December before playing the USA, Canada, Spain and Russia in a roundrobin tournament format. The event is put together by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), who describes each Games as 'an international sporting and cultural festival which is staged every two years in a different city’. Trentino is expected to welcome approximately 1,800 student athletes from 59 different nations. Organised by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), Team GBR is composed of 52 athletes from across the UK, with teams participating in curling, ice hockey, cross-country skiing and snowboard cross. The Stag wishes Monica and team GB the very best in the upcoming competition.

Surrey Swordmasters

Surrey Fencing

By Gareth Raynes

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he weekend of the 22nd of November saw Team Surrey Fencing play host to ‘The Quadrangle’, a two-day, four team event forming part of the women’s fencing BUCS Premiership. Competing against Imperial, Oxford and Cambridge all in the space of two days is an unenviable task, but was by no means beyond our Women’s Team! Saturday morning saw the Epee fights; representing Surrey were Abbi Mathews, Liz Ng and Rebecca Mayle. Imperial managed to pull a 45-39 win against Surrey but both Oxford and Cambridge were quickly despatched, with impressive scores of 45-27 and 41-35 respectively. After this excellent start, the weekend looked promising! The foil match began against Oxford, where Lizzie Ng, Emily Ruaux and Abbi Matthews put up a great fight against their opponents; the score fluctuating until Oxford took the lead halfway through and just managed to maintain their advantage, taking the match with a score of 45-42. Our girls did not falter nonetheless, and continued to perform to their very best abilities in the next

bout against Imperial, where they swiftly gained the lead and continued on to win with a score of 45-30. The girls performed extremely well in the final match against Cambridge. The tension rose when Cambridge gained the upper hand halfway through, but our girls fought on to take a narrow 45-44 victory. On Sunday morning, Surrey’s Sabre team, Emily Ruaux, Liz Ng and Grace Edmund went into the event up in points against all three of the visiting universities! The other teams didn’t roll over and die just yet though; each of the three matches for our team were absolute nail-biters. The sabreurs performed incredibly, holding their own against very determined competition, and despite narrowly losing all their matches, maintained the overall point’s victory over each of the other teams for the whole weekend! The final scores were victories of 125-120 against Imperial; 126-124 against Cambridge and 130-117 against Oxford. Special thanks to the fantastic fencing from the members of the Fencing Women’s 1st team! Special mention goes to Liz Ng for fencing in all three weapons over the weekend.