The Journal - Glasgow Issue 13

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ISSUE XIII THURSDAY 13 SEPTEMBER 2012

IN COMMENT / 11Unlocking Scotland’s potentialNUS Scotland president Robin Parker on the year ahead for the student movement

IN A&E / 16-17Freshers’ Bar BibleYour guide to Glasgow’s fi nest watering holes, courtesy of The Journal’s crack squad of critics

3James Weir chaosLectures moved to cinema while Strathclyde building gutted by fire is redeveloped

James Weir chaos IN NEWS /

Full CitySA Full CitySA Full CitySA election results election results election results revealedrevealedrevealed» The Journal uncovers the result college management tried to suppress 5

IN NEWS /

13Michael Jamieson: hometown heroFresh from his triumphant performance at the 2012 Olympics, The Journal meets the Scots swimming star as he returns to his home-town

IN FEATURES /

EXCLUSIVE

2 // CONTENTS @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 13 September 2012

THIS WEEK INSIDE THE JOURNAL...

Aimee Beveridge News editor

Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery is to host the national tourism Oscars for the first time. VisitScotland has announced that the Glasgow museum

will host the final of the Scottish Thistle Awards in November.

Businesses throughout the country faced regional heats in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Stirling in May, with the winners going through to face each other in the national final.

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotland said: “We’re delighted that we’ve been able to secure Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for the final of the Scottish Thistle Awards in November.

“The venue offers grand surroundings in what is without doubt the flagship tourism

event of the year, and is sure to be a fantastic celebration of Scotland’s most vital industry.

Scott Taylor, chief executive of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, a sponsor of this year’s Scottish Thistle Awards, said: “It is fantastic news that the Scottish Thistle Awards are travelling West and we’re

delighted that VisitScotland has chosen Glasgow as their home this year.

“It’s an extremely important night for the industry and we look forward to welcoming finalists and businesses from throughout Scotland to the grand setting of the city’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.”

Kelvingrove to host tourism Oscars


It started off as a joke, but just months after the first filthy Glasgow-themed status update, the creator of

50 Shades of Glasgow has signed a book deal with Glasgow firm, Cargo Publishing.

The Fifty Shades of Grey spoof has more than 36,000 likes on Facebook, and more than 21,000 followers on

Twitter, but it is unlikely many fans would have foreseen a book deal.

But the team at Cargo recently tweeted: “We’ve not published anything shockingly filthy or piss yourself funny in a bit. So we’ve signed @50Shades-

Glasgow. Book soon, ebook sooner.”Mark Buckland, managing direc-

tor at Cargo Publishing, this week con-firmed the book signing but was unable to comment any further.

A book deal for the authors behind

the social media-driven content is the latest example of people taking advan-tage of the surge in interest for EL James’ Fifty Shades trilogy.

@50ShadesGlasgow

50 Shades of Glasgow signs book deal

London Met lock horns with UKBA over withdrawal of license to sponsor international students 7LMU visa

face-o� At 87, the socialist stalwart re� ects on a storied life in and out of front-line politics 14Tony Benn

Ignore the doomsayers: there’s hope for the post-Ranger SPL 29A� er IbroxOur music team spent the

summer at Europe’s � nest festivals - now it’s time to hear their verdicts 20Festival

agenda

ACADEMIC NEWS // 3@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

Further disruption for Strathclyde studentsLectures moved to cinema as university accelerates redevelopment

of James Weir Building which was devastated by fire in February

Gareth Llewellyn Deputy managing editor

Strathclyde University stu-dents face continued disruption as work to repair the James Weir building continues.

The university’s teaching students will see lectures take place in a movie theatre in Cineworld on Renfrew Street from September.

The move comes as the university accelerates plans to upgrade its teach-ing and research spaces in the Montrose Street building.

The building development is costed at a reported £28 million, but it is unclear when it will be ready for students to move back in.

A spokeswoman for the university said: “We are investing £350 million in our campus over 10 years. This includes bringing all our staff and students onto our city centre campus this summer, where our Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences will benefit from a £38 million dedicated quarter in the heart of the city.

“A fire in one of our major buildings in February led to the temporary loss of some of our teaching spaces. We are using this short-term closure to accel-erate our £28 million investment plan for the building’s teaching and research spaces, in addition to upgrading 105 teaching spaces across campus this summer alone.”

The disruption began on 7 February

when 150 students had to be evacuated as a fire started in the Roche Lab in the uni-versity’s chemical engineering depart-ment, forcing the university to relocate lectures across the campus including the Royal College, and Students’ Association building on John Street.

In addition to hiring the use of the movie theatre, the university is also paying for special temporary lighting to be installed.

Teaching students have already faced disruption following the universi-ty’s decision to dispose of its Jordanhill Campus in favour of a new £50 million building for the education faculty as part of the ambitious long-term plan for a modernised single-campus in the city centre.

Open University sees surge in applications from young ScotsAlmost 50 per cent more applications from

Scots under the age of 25 in last five years

Gareth Llewellyn Deputy managing editor The Open University in Scotland has seen a 48 per cent increase in students aged under 25 in the last five years. The Milton Keynes-based distance-learning university has seen more than 1,000 additions under 25 in the last academic year swelling its numbers to over 16,000.

With an open-access policy that allows anyone to study undergraduate degree-level courses, the OU is seen a second chance for young people who do not have the entry qualifications to study at campus universities. The university accounts for four in ten part-time undergraduate stu-dents, and is also popular with part-time adult learners whose circumstances dictate that they cannot study full-time.

Speaking to The Journal, NUS Scotland president Robin Parker said: “The Open University provides an excellent range of opportunities for non-traditional students, including those whose circumstances dictate that they can only study on a part-time basis.

“These courses are sometimes the only way that people with caring responsibilities, for example, can advance their education, an issue we are particularly keen to address.

“It should also come as no surprise that during these difficult economic times that more and more young people are taking

advantage of the part-time study opportu-nities presented by the Open University.

“That is why last month’s decision by the Scottish Government to respond to years of campaigning by NUS Scotland and elimi-nate tuition fees for the poorest part-time students is such a huge victory.

“There is no one right way to get an education, which is why it is so important for there to be as many options as possible for non-traditional students to advance as far in education as their talent will take them, no matter their background or bank balance.”

Director of the Open University in Scot-land, Dr James Miller, said: “As far as the OU is concerned, failure to achieve traditional entry qualifications is no barrier to entering and succeeding in higher education.

“Indeed, around 25 per cent of OU stu-dents in Scotland do not have the standard university entry qualifications.

“So, for pupils who do not achieve the required standard in their Highers, the Open University offers a viable opportunity to undertake their subject of choice and be supported through their qualification with individualised tutor arrangements.”

The OU in Scotland has been in the top three places for overall satisfaction in the National Student Survey since its launch in 2005, and was third in 2011 tied with Oxford University.

GCU eco-friendly phone app wins development grant University team win first prize in government-backed competition


Glasgow Caledonian University has won a Scottish Government-sup-ported SME Enviro App competition, a £50,000 development grant.

The university’s school of engineering and built environment joined Renfrew-based Green Oak Solutions to produce innovative web and phone apps at the finals of the nationwide challenge at Microsoft’s Waverley Gate offices in Edinburgh.

The Care to Compare app is designed to help small and medium companies reduce their carbon footprint as part of the Scottish Government’s target to cut emis-sions by 42 per cent by 2020.

Caledonian Environment Centre director Professor Jim Baird said: “We teamed up with the developers at Green Oak Solutions to work on this project and are delighted to have won the competition in the face of some very stiff competition.

“The Care to Compare app will encourage SMEs to engage in the carbon

debate and work towards playing their role in a low carbon economy for Scotland. The app could play a vital role in carbon cutting among SMEs over the next few years.”

The competition’s judging panel was made up of representatives of the 2020 Climate Group and competition sponsors including Ian Marchant, CEO of Scottish and Southern Energy, David Sigsworth, chairman of SEPA, John Mason, director of business at the Scottish government, and Lars Lindstedt, principal software economist at Microsoft.

GCU students Max Engesu and Martin Garrett with two other members of the Green Oak Solutions/GCU team will travel to the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington to work with the Microsoft Global Apps and Environmental teams to develop app though the Windows 8 app store.

The £50,000 grant will be used to further develop the app as well as deploy-ing it to SMEs around Scotland on the widest variety of platforms.

Katharina Dziacko

ACADEMIC NEWS// 5@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012


Former City of Glasgow Students’ Association (CitySA) president Emma Iwanow would have won this year’s elec-tion, The Journal can exclusively reveal.

Iwanow had been the pre-election favourite to win the presidential race, but as The Journal revealed in June, the events management graduate sensation-ally resigned her position as the election descended into fiasco when the results were delayed by six weeks without explanation.

Following Iwanow’s decision to resign as president and withdraw from the election on 23 June, the results were announced just four days later, again with no reason given for the delay.

Previous communication to candi-dates and the wider student body had indicated ‘unforeseen circumstances’.

Data uncovered by The Journal shows that had Iwanow remained in the race, she would have won in the first round with 353 votes to Mark Farmer’s 110 votes as 570 votes were cast with a quota at 286.

Speaking to The Journal, Iwanow said: “To see the results of the elections is a huge honour as it shows the work we

achieved as an association last year is rec-ognised by the students at City of Glasgow College and to know they put their trust in me to lead CitySA this year is greatly appreciated.”

Such was Iwanow’s popularity as choice of leader, many chose not to select a second preference.

With second preferences distributed using Singular Transferable Vote (STV), Farmer came out on top with 218 votes to Helen Grant’s 79, with Peter Hobson securing 69 votes, and Arron McNamara securing 64 with 430 votes cast and a reduced quota of 216.

Candidates were initially told that the number of votes for Iwanow would not be released.

Iwanow added: “I want to thank eve-ryone who took the time to vote for me, but unfortunately due to personal reasons I withdrew from the elections prior to the announcement of the results which has resulted in Mark Farmer being elected.

“The association was awarded college union of the year at the NUS Scotland Awards and I hope CitySA maintain that this year.

“I wish Mark and his team all the best in the year ahead, it will be the most chal-lenging but rewarding time for them.”

In a response to The Journal’s call for

answers as students questioned the integ-rity of the results, a statement was put out by the college and chief returning officer, Natalie Maver, on June 22.

It read: “Due to ongoing circum-stances, outwith the control of the chief returning officer, the college has not been able to announce the results of the CitySA executive election.

“The college realises that this delay is frustrating to all students and candidates, and we will endeavour to announce the results as soon as is possible.

“The chief returning officer is confi-dent that the election has been carried out in a free, fair and democratic manner and this delay will not compromise the result in any way.”

However, The Journal has discovered that the college used an in-house e-voting system for the election, and it has been confirmed that there are no electronic logs to verify the accuracy of the results, and if the data could have been compro-mised between the close of the polls in March and the results being announced on June.

Iwanow said: “Hopefully next year they will be quicker at releasing the results, but it is a concern that there are no electronic logs to uphold the integrity of the elections.”

Voters were again denied the oppor-tunity to reopen nominations (RON) as was the case in the 2011/12 presidential elections.

This comes despite RON being an option for voters in the November 2011 elections for other executive positions within the association.

The National Union of Students - to which CitySA pays a reported annual membership fee of around £7,000 - includes RON being available for all elec-tions in its model constitution for FE stu-dents’ unions, but this was omitted from the 2006 Glasgow Metropolitan College Students’ Union (GMSU) constitution.

Without a new constitution follow-ing the merger of Glasgow Metropolian College, Central College, and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies, this version was adopted by the college in 2010 despite several fundamental flaws.

A new CitySA constitution was forced through by the college board of manage-ment this summer without full student approval.

Despite stepping down as president in May, Iwanow has not fully left student politics and continues her position as Pri-ority Campaign Convenor on the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland’s Scot-tish Executive Council.

Aimee BeveridgeNews editor

The Principal and Vice Chancel-lor of University of the West of Scotland (UWS) has announced his plans to retire next year.

Professor Seamus McDaid CBE who joined the then University of Paisley as Vice Principal in 2003, before being appointed as Principal and Vice Chancel-lor in 2005, said he will retire in July 2013.

During his time as Vice Principal and Principal, the University has gone through significant changes, with the merging of University of Paisley and Bell College, and the development of the Ayr campus.

Richard Blackburn, chair of court, the University’s governing body, said Profes-sor McDaid’s period in office has made an “outstanding” contribution to the University.

He said: “Transformation is a much overused word, but in the case of UWS it is absolutely true. Professor McDaid has led the University through one of its most significant periods of development and ensured UWS is in a very strong posi-tion to continue its mission to deliver accessible, highly quality learning and research across the West of Scotland and internationally.”

Professor McDaid said: “I have thor-oughly enjoyed my time as Principal of the University and I am fortunate to have been working with a very strong and ded-icated group of colleagues.

“Their energy and commitment has allowed UWS to flourish and achieve a position of strength within international higher education. The changes put in place over recent years have been chal-lenging but hugely rewarding and the University has a bright future ahead of it.”

In the past year, Professor McDaid has taken on the role of Convenor of Univer-sities Scotland, and Vice President of Uni-versities UK in addition to his position at UWS.

He is no longer Convenor of Uni-versities Scotland, with Professor Pete Downes of the University of Dundee now filling that post.

Exclusive: Former CitySA president would have won a second termFormer president Emma Iwanow would have won 2012/2013 election, new data reveals

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Glasgow University Student Representative Council (GUSRC) suc-cessfully halted plans by the university to reduce opening hours for the Wolfson Library.

The University angered students in August with new proposals to reduce the library’s opening hours to 8am to 8pm on weekdays.

The proposed 64 per cent cut in opening hours would have seen medical students’ access to the library limited to just 60 hours a week amid University concerns of students’ behaviour during unsupervised hours.

In response to this, GUSRC set up an online petition, which garnered 981

signatures. Claiming victory in a statement on the

SRC website, president James Harrison said: “We are delighted at this outcome. Whilst the University has been experi-encing some operational issues associated with the 24/7 opening, we consistently made it clear (since becoming aware of the decision) that cutting opening hours is the wrong response.

“The University have accepted our position and we are pleased that the hard-working students, to whom this service is invaluable, will continue to enjoy unre-stricted access to the service”.

The University will now move to improve security in the building, and work closely with the SRC and students to ensure high standards of conduct at all times.

GU shelve Wolfson opening hours cut SRC intervention prevents university from limiting library access to medical students

Principal of UWS to retire next yearProf Seamus McDaid has led university for seven years

6 // LOCAL NEWS @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


Aimee BeveridgeNews editor STV and Glasgow Caledonian Uni-versity (GCU) have submitted an official bid to Ofcom for a TV licence to produce a new local Freeview channel, GTV.

If the application is given the go ahead, the two organisations will to work together to broadcast news, current affairs, and magazine-style shows to viewers across the city of Glasgow.

Julian Calvert, Media and Journal-ism Subject Leader at GCU, said: “We already work closely with STV and this is a further opportunity for our stu-dents to engage with such a high profile broadcaster.

“The STV bid places a lot of emphasis on enabling local communities to make their voices heard on the city’s televi-sion in a way which has never happened before, and the type of programming that is being planned further enhances our reputation for community engagement.”

The plans for the new station also include the implementation of a gradu-ate recruitment scheme which would have GCU Principal and Vice Chancellor Professor Pamela Gillies sitting on the

board of the new company.Professor Gillies said: “I am delighted

that we are forming a partnership with STV as it submits an application to deliver GTV.

“We have always placed great empha-sis on employability and the launch of GTV would give our talented and com-mitted graduates even more of a head

start.”Bobby Hain, director of channels at

STV, said: “STV is well placed to offer innovative and viable local TV options. We’re delighted to be working with GCU to offer informative content that focuses on relevant, community news. Engaging with local communities is at the heart of GTV.”

Glasgow Caledonian University joins bid to broadcast Glasgow’s rst local TV station The Glasgow institution partners with STV to submit bid to Ofcom

EDITORIALNews• Local news editor• Student news editor• Academic news editor• Student politics editor• Beat reporters

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Current vacancies

INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM?

JOIN

We’re still looking for people to join our editorial team for the 2012/13 academic year:

if you’re a student at any of Glasgow’s higher or further education institutions with an

interest in journalism, design or photography, The Journal is the place for you!

The Journal is a fantastic place to gain invaluable experience in journalism. We are Scotland’s largest independent student media organisation, and our all-student editorial sta� produce award-winning citywide student newspapers in both Glasgow and Edinburgh, alongside an ambitious and fast-paced web presence.

We have won awards for print excellence and digital innovation, and our alumni have gone on to work at — among others — The Guardian, The Scotsman, The Financial Times, Channel 4 News and the BBC.

If you’re interested, or for more information, email [email protected].

Mr eNil

SPT hike subway prices by 9 per cent Some commuters could find themselves spending an extra £72 per year on fares


Students could find themselves spending up to an extra £72 a year on subway travel as SPT increase fares.

As of Monday this week all Subway tickets went up by an average of 9 per cent.

But if buying two single tickets in one day, you’ll find yourself facing an increase of almost 17 per cent – an extra £72 over the nine-month university term.

It is the first time Subway fares have gone up in three years after they were frozen in 2009. But Gordon Maclen-nan, SPT chief executive, said the prices are still “well below equivalent bus and rail fares,” adding: “We believe that the Subway is still one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to travel.”

He said: “Everyone is dealing with tough financial times at the moment and SPT is no different.

“Subway fares have remained static for the last three years. Over the same period, rail and bus prices have risen by 12 per cent – the new subway fares, which reflects an annual 2.3 per cent increase during that time, is well below

that.“One of our key aims is to reduce

subsidy whilst keeping fares affordable.“Although a single journey on the

Subway will go up from £1.20 to £1.40, SPT has introduced a saving on the return journey ticket which offers better value for money.”

Jassy_Earl

ACADEMIC NEWS// 7@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

LONDON METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

Chaos and recrimination as LMU lose visa license

Greg Bianchi News editor London Metropolitan Univer-sity has vowed to contest the decision taken by the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) to revoke its license to grant visas to students studying at the University from countries that are outside of the European Union.

LMU have expressed shock and disappointment at the decision, with the Vice Chancellor of the university claiming on the BBC website: “London Met will fight this revocation, which is based on a highly flawed report by the UKBA. The university will continue to give top priority to the interests of our international students who have been

so distressed by this precipitate action.”A number of MPs have criticised

the move by the government saying this decision will harm the reputation of higher education in the UK whilst student leaders have roundly con-demned the decision.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has added its voice to the criti-cism facing the UKBA’s decision. In a statement seen by The Journal NUS president Liam Burns stated: “It is disgusting that international students continue to be used as a political foot-ball by politicians who seem either incapable of understanding, or are simply uncaring about the impact of their decisions on individuals, univer-sities and the UK economy.

“Politicians need to realise that a continued attitude of suspicion towards international students could endanger the continuation of higher education as a successful export industry. This heavy-handed decision makes no sense for students, no sense for institutions and no sense for the country.”

Universities Scotland director Alastair Sim also contributed to the debate, emphasising how universities work alongside UKBA to both recruit students and ensure that immigration rules are followed. Mr Sim also high-lighted the advantages that incoming students bring to Scotland.

However, the UKBA says its report was comprehensive and blamed “sys-tematic failings” by LMU which it claims was previously warned about its actions in awarding overseas students the opportunity to study in the UK.

In a statement on the UKBA website a spokesman said: “These are problems with one university, not the whole sector. British universities are among the best in the world - and Britain remains a top-class destination for top-class international students.”

In a statement published in The Independent the UKBA claimed that one in four students out of a sample of 101 didn’t have valid visas while a number of other students had issues surrounding their attendance at University. This, the UKBA claims, informed their decision to revoke the license to issue visas by LMU.

The UKBA has granted students 60 days to reapply for permission to study in the UK at alternative institutions. A number of institutions have already offered places to affected students in the hope that they won’t face deporta-tion despite having previously thought they could study in the UK.

A number of students at LMU have reacted angrily to the news that they may be deported with one student interviewed by the BBC stating that she felt “petrified” by the possible outcome of deportation.

University promise action as thousands of students face deportation after UKBA strips university of visa license, citing “systematic failings”

Peter Alfred Hess

Student leaders cry racism over UKBA decision on LMURepresentatives from EUSA and NUS Scotland accuse government of xenophobia, expressing solidarity with students facing deportation

Greg Bianchi News editor Student leaders from around Scotland have roundly condemned the decision by the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) to revoke London Metro-politan University’s licence to grant visas to overseas students.

Some student leaders have gone as far as to state that the decision by the UKBA was a racially motivated act. The National Union of Students’ (NUS) National Exec-utive Councillor Surya Prakash Bhatta published personal tweets which sug-gested that the decision of the govern-ment was both racist and xenophobic although he later moved to clarify that these were his own views and not those of the NUS.

This view was supported by Edin-burgh University Student Association (EUSA) president James McAsh who told The Journal: “My personal view is that this draconian treatment of interna-tional students, and foreign-born people in general, is xenophobic and intended to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment. The coalition government wants people in the UK to blame the lack of jobs on foreign

workers, when it is the government and tax-dodging corporations who are really at fault.”

The NUS released its own statement condemning the government but stopped short of claiming that racist attitudes informed the decision. NUS president Liam Burns stated: “It is disgusting that international students continue to be used as a political football by politicians who seem either incapable of understanding, or are simply uncaring about the impact of their decisions on individuals.

“This decision will create panic and potential heartbreak for students not just at London Met but also all around the country.”

London Metropolitan University have vowed to challenge the decision by the UKBA and on 5 September staff and stu-dents from LMU staged a protest outside the Home Office.

In the meantime the UKBA has set up a task force to help affected students and has given students 60 days to reapply for visas to remain in the UK. Other higher education institutions have moved to offer places to students and the UKBA sought to assure students that this was an isolated incident and not indicative of the higher education sector in general.

dannyman on Flickr

NUS launch petition over ‘political football’ with student visasInternational students officer Daniel Stevens calls for a change in the way students are viewed by the Home Office


The National Union of Students (NUS) has launched a petition calling on the government to remove students from migration statistics.

Set up by NUS international stu-dents officer, Daniel Stevens, the peti-tion on the direct.gov website follows a UK Border Agency (UKBA) decision to revoke London Metropolitan Uni-versity’s highly trusted sponsor (HTS) status.

Stevens has already hit out at the latest HTS revocation by the Home

Office after a number of Scottish colleges were stripped of the status earlier this year.

In his petition, Stevens adds: “International students are being treated as a political football, the negative impacts of which could have implications for the UK economy – further emphasising the need for international students to be removed from immigration statistics, as has been recommended by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

“International students constitute an industry worth £12.5 billion a year to the British economy, and contribute

a great deal to our education system and society. It would be extremely misguided to take this for granted. We call on the Government to support this call for international students to be taken out of migration statistics.”

Stevens’ petition has around 300 signatures, but should it receive 100,000, the issue could be discussed in the House of Commons.

The LMU revocation was addressed in Parliament after Isling-ton North MP Jeremy Corbyn initi-ated a debate which forced immigra-tion minister Damian Green to answer MPs’ questions.

8 // LOCAL NEWS @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


Glasgow MSP appointed to cabinetHumza Yousaf speaks to The Journal about his new role as Minister for External Affairs and International Development


Young men all over the world dream that one day they will get an opportunity to lead their country in their chosen profession, or at least be a part of it.

Whatever their age, politicians are no different in their dream of reaching the top, despite the expec-tation of enormous responsibility and unwavering scrutiny in every-thing they do.

Last week, Glasgow backbencher Humza Yousaf, 26, joined the Scot-tish government as part of Alex Sal-mond’s cabinet reshuffle as the Scot-tish National Party prepares itself for the impending independence referendum expected to take place in 2014.

It is the first time there has been a Minister for External Affairs and International Development in the Scottish Government, and Yousaf is looking forward to taking on the new role.

“I’m deeply honoured,” he told The Journal. “It’s almost akin to what I imagine a sportsperson feels like when asked to represent their country! I’m nervously excited at the challenge ahead but also well aware of the huge burden of responsibility it now places on my shoulders.”

The new position will see the University of Glasgow politics grad-uate work closely with Fiona Hyslop, the cabinet secretary for Culture and External Affairs, in building up trade, cultural and diplomatic connections in countries Scotland has already established links with, and - Yousaf hopes - emerging key markets.

He said: “Scotland could play an even greater international role in the community of nations, partici-pating fully on the basis of equality, responsibility and friendship – for example, in the fields of renewable energy and climate change.

“I’ll be pushing for Scotland to consolidate her position as a good global citizen in the fight against poverty and social inequality. That will involve working with Scottish-based Non-Government Organisa-tions to improve the lives of as many vulnerable people round the world as possible.

“I also want to showcase what Scotland is doing in partnership with other countries to bring more resource to bear in addressing the needs of the poorest.”

The past week has been a busy one for the MSP as he has been pre-paring himself for cabinet. But what exactly has that involved?

“Reading, reading and more reading,” he said, “meeting with various officials and organisations. Just doing what I can to gain a good understanding of the new portfolio and the inner workings of the Scot-tish government.”

The new position will certainly see an increased workload for the politician with lots more late nights on the horizon. But it won’t take away from his duties as MSP for Glasgow, a position he has ful-filled since 2011, and having already worked closely with Salmond and

deputy Nicola Sturgeon will hold him in good stead.

He said: “It’s just going to mean managing things a little better between constituency matters and events and government responsibilities.

“I was very busy even as a back-bencher with lots of late nights - I don’t expect things to get any less busy!

“In Parliament, I will now be speaking for the Scottish govern-ment in debates and answering oral questions. On the international development front, there is likely to be a series of visits and meetings with NGOs and interest groups.”

In dealing with international development, the nationalist wants to build on Scotland’s links with other peoples and nations, be that economic, educational, or cultural.

He said: “Working in partnership is the only way to address major challenges that are beyond the scope of any one country, for example, meeting the food, energy and water needs of the growing world popu-lation; tackling income and health inequalities; and acting to address climate change. I’m very much looking forward to the challenge.”

In 2010, Yousaf was recognised as a ‘future force in politics’. Having joined the government less than 18 months after becoming an MSP in the 2011 elections, the future is bright for one of the SNP’s rising stars.

Plaid Cymru

All change

The surprise cabinet reshuffle came as Bruce Craw-ford, MSP for Stirling, retired as Cabinet Secretary for Parlia-mentary Business and Govern-ment Strategy after the death of both his parents in the last 18 months.

Another three new Ministers were appointed to government with Margaret Burgess, MSP for Cunninghame South; Joe Fitz-patrick, MSP for Dundee City West; and Paul Wheelhouse, MSP for South Scotland, taking up new positions.

Burgess is now the new Min-ister for Housing and Welfare, Fitzpatrick has replaced Brian Adam as Minister for Parlia-mentary Business, and Wheel-house replaces Stewart Steven-son as Minister for Environment and Climate Change.

But the biggest surprise move was Nicola Sturgeon being appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, after a five-year term as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, which made her the longest serving Scottish health secretary.

Alex Neil MSP for Airdrie and Shotts has now moved into this position, with the Depute First Minister also taking responsibility for Government Strategy and the Consultation.

NATIONAL POLITICS // 9@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE

Campaigns make their pitch to referendum votersEditorial

For The Journal’s first issue of the 2012/13 academic year, and in light of a fresh influx of students from outside Scotland to the country’s universities, we would set out to provide students with an overview of the pressing political debate of the day, which looks set to play out over the next two years: whether or not Scot-

land should be an independent nation, separate from the United Kingdom.

For many current and future students, this decision will have a dramatic impact on our lives and choices. Education has already become a significant policy battle-ground in the debate over independence, particularly on the subject of funding. On the changing status of RUK students in Scottish universities, for example, the

nationalist camp has expressed confi-dence that the a likely decline in revenue from RUK students could be cancelled out by increased international recruit-ment, allowing the Scottish Government to stick to its pledge to preserve free higher education for Scottish students - a position the unionist campaign have criti-cised as too risky to leverage Scotland’s education sector against.

It is expected that agreements on the nature of the referendum will be reached in the next few weeks, amid high-level talks between the two parliaments. Even-tually Westminster has to give its consent for Holyrood to hold an independence referendum, in the form of a Section 30 Order that transfers the necessary powers to Holyrood. Provided that a consensus is reached soon, the Scottish National Party

have set their preferred date for the refer-endum for Autumn 2014.

Here, we have interviewed the leaders of both official referendum campaigns - Blair McDougall, chief executive of the unionist Better Together campaign, and Blair Jenkin, campaign director of the nationalist Yes campaign, on their objec-tives for this debate, which is likely to rage furiously until the polls open.

Downing Street

Yes campaign: voting for independence is a chance to make Scotland “what it could and should be”Campaign director Blair Jenkins tells The

Journal that current education funding policy

shouldn’t be conflated too heavily with the

constitutional debate over independence

Greg Bianchi & Gareth Llewellyn

The Yes campaign has set out why students should vote in favour of independence in 2014 when a refer-endum on the future of the union will take place.

In their central Glasgow offices chief executive of the Yes campaign Blair Jenkins spoke to The Journal on a wide variety of issues from the economy to education. Mr Jenkins was named chief executive earlier this year having enjoyed a distin-guished career in the media which included being the head of news at BBC Scotland.

Speaking on education Mr Jenkins had a great deal to say on the issue of fees stating that whilst he believes fees should be abolished around the UK “like every other policy whether or not it continues into the indefinite future in an independent Scotland would depend very much on who was elected into government.”

However, Mr Jenkins moved to suggest that he couldn’t envis-age a Scotland without free univer-sity education but that university is a “privilege and not a right” and that students have to ensure that the investment made in them through free higher education is repaid in a positive way for society.

On the issue of RUK fees, under current European legislation stu-dents from European Union (EU) member countries, which in the event of an independent Scotland would include students from the rest of the UK, Mr Jenkins confirmed that students from the rest of the UK would also be entitled to free fees. This issue is of great importance

to universities which have recently announced £9,000 fees for RUK stu-dents which forms a great deal of funding for universities.

However, Mr Jenkins believes that the international reputation of Scot-tish universities would ensure that international students would still choose Scotland as their choice for study. Mr Jenkins cited his role as a visiting professor at Strathclyde Uni-versity as evidence of his knowledge surrounding the education sector.

When asked whether this reliance on international students would be used to bankroll the free higher edu-cation for EU students Mr Jenkins said that this would be up to indi-vidual institutions but felt that this would help to fund the education sector which itself would be under-pinned by a sustainable economic policy.

The economy is often raised by critics of independence stating that Scotland could not survive outside of the union. According to Mr Jenkins the offshore oil is vital to explain-ing future prosperity of Scotland post-independence stating: “It’s not the only pillar on what the Scottish economy depends but how fantas-tic is it that we’ve got a guaranteed source of income for the next forty years.” Mr Jenkins was also keen to emphasise the importance of renew-ables and life sciences as other pillars of the Scottish economy.

When asked for a summary of why students should vote in favour of an independent Scotland Mr Jenkins applied a broad statement, describ-ing the campaign as “making Scot-land into the country what it could be and should be.”

Better Together: the Union ensures prosperity and securityChief executive Blair McDougall argues that the nationalist argument

is dangerously ambiguous, especially for current and future students

Greg Bianchi & Gareth Llewellyn The Better Together campaign has spoken to The Journal outlin-ing its arguments for why students should vote against independence in 2014. Chief executive Blair McDou-gall spoke at length about the poten-tial dangers facing Scotland should the majority of Scots vote yes.

Speaking on education Mr McDou-gall was keen to emphasise the advan-tages Scottish students enjoy under the current system. According to Mr McDougall Scottish students wishing to study in the rest of the UK receive a support of £16,000 from the govern-ment. However, under this arrange-ment Scottish students would become overseas students and would there-fore incur fees which have rocketed south of the border.

In addition to this Mr McDougall stated that in the case of independ-ence, Rest of UK (RUK) students would become students from the European Union and as a result would be entitled to free fees should they

wish to study in Scotland. This would be a likely scenario in Scotland post-independence after Alex Salmond famously stated that “rocks would melt in the sun” before he intro-duced fees for Scottish students. Mr McDougall warned that this arrange-ment could cost Scotland up to £1.25 billion.

Mr McDougall also spoke at length about the economic problems facing an independent Scotland, and when pressed on the question of oil stated that “independence is forever”. Mr McDougall highlighted that basing an economy on oil reserves is a risky strategy considering that oil prices can fluctuate — research by Channel 4 News has suggested figures can vary by as much as £6 billion. Mr McDou-gall also warned that the economic depression is an overarching reason why Scotland is ‘Better Together’, stating that the UK’s triple-A credit rating is vital to protecting Scots from the harsh realities of the global depression currently affecting smaller independent nations such as Ireland and Greece, adding “things can and

should be better.”Another important reason for

union according to the Better Together campaign refers to the cul-tural and institutional ties to the rest of the UK. Speaking of the cultural, familial and political links through institutions such as the BBC, Mr McDougall warned that “these are the real institutions that are at stake in this debate and underpin this union”.

The Better Together campaign also claimed that Sterling currency is one reason why Scots should vote to stay in the union. Mr McDougall also stated that the Governor of the Bank of England was appointed by a Scot and that monetary union without political union would be a damaging system. The most damaging aspect of this according to Mr McDougall is that there is no guarantee that mon-etary union without political union could be created.

Mr McDougall stated that stu-dents should vote against independ-ence to ensure prosperity and secu-rity, warning against the potential pitfalls of an independent Scotland.

10 // EDITORIAL @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


GLASGOW’SSTUDENT NEWSPAPER

REACTIONSLord Steel warns against bungled intervention in independence debateActually, SNP party membership received an 8% boost over two to three weeks after David Cameron’s inter-vention, with almost 1, 600 new mem-bers joining the party. The SNP are currently at 49% in the polls, whilst Labour (their nearest rivals) are at 23%. The issue of independence is the stick that will drive Westminster towards granting the electorate in Scotland further powers for the Scottish Parlia-ment. If that stick is taken away, it is unlikely that a second referendum will

appear. If Nick Clegg and others want a separate referendum on devolution, they should bring it forward before the independence referendum. Those who hope the SNP support will evaporate after losing a referen-dum on independence are deluding themselves; it is more likely that the momentum for change will remain and be channeled towards greater powers. Given that this is the likely scenario, it is baffling why the so-called devolutionists are not bringing forward their proposals now.

- Gregor, via web

Incensed, interested or confused?Write to us at [email protected]

SU DOKU

PUBLISHER Devon WalsheEDITORIAL DIRECTORMarcus KernohanMANAGING EDITOROlivia PiresDEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR Gareth LlewellynLAYOUT DIRECTOR Alina MikaART DIRECTOR James McNaughtCHIEF SUBEDITOR Jen Owen

DEPUTY EDITOR (NEWS) Aimee BeveridgeDEPUTY EDITOR (C&F)Jamie BrotherstonDEPUTY EDITOR (SPORT) Fraser Glen

MUSIC Tom CollinsARTKatharina DziackoFILMBlair Dingwall

Taking widening access seriouslyThe minimum income guarantee

When elections go wrong, they go spec-tacularly wrong. The City of Glasgow College Students’ Association elections are a far cry from the US presidential race, but there is still an outcry, uncertainty, and consequences.

This summer’s election fiasco at City of Glasgow College has done much to highlight much of what is wrong with student govern-ance in the college sector.

Delays in announcing election results are not uncommon, but a six week delay with candidates and voters kept in the dark is either contemptuous or negligent, perhaps even both.

For all the bluster from the Scottish gov-ernment, Scotland’s Colleges, and college principals ahead of a the radical overhaul of the sector, the reality is that student represen-tation and governance is one of their lowest priorities.

In the majority of colleges across Scot-land, students’ associations appear little more

than another department college manage-ment work harder to suppress than they do to offer appropriate support.

For too long, colleges have failed to fund adequately their students’ associations com-pared to universities, failed to support stu-dents who volunteer their time to better the lives of their peers, very often to the detriment of their studies, and failed to fully appreciate the benefits of having an engaged student body.

The ongoing problems at CitySA are not unique. Colleges across Scotland are very supportive of their student leaders making loud noises at the doors of the government and local councils when it is in their favour, but there is an expectation they must obey their masters when it comes to internal affairs. How much did City of Glasgow College management influence the resigna-tion of its former president Emma Iwanow?

A pungent smell akin to that found in

Glasgow’s Subway tunnels hangs over her departure after a string of successes last year which elevated CitySA to the forefront of the student movement. Iwanow clearly still had the support of the student body as our article on page five reveals. Her passion for improv-ing the lives of all students at her college and beyond did not go unnoticed by the National Union of Students and other political circles.

What almost certainly goes unnoticed outside of the student movement, however, is that colleges consistently neglect student representation to the point of illegality.

It is not just governance of the college sector which needs an overhaul, but the atti-tudes of college management towards the rights of students.

As a newspaper which values college stu-dents as equally as university students, the flagrant disregard for student representation by college management cannot continue to escape criticism.

For all that we — and the rest of the fourth estate — have been quick to lambast the SNP administration at Holyrood for their frequently short-sighted or wrong-footed approach to tertiary education policy, especially on matters of funding, once in a while you have to give the powers that be credit. The announcement late last month of a new minimum income guaran-tee for Scotland’s poorest students is one such occasion.

The decision to increase the maximum financial assistance available to the poorest students to £7,250 from 2013 is a serious gesture in support of widening access, and a welcome shift away from months of lip service. Equally, the increase of the minimum student loan, available to all Scottish students, to £4,500 from £900 is a praiseworthy move by education secretary Michael Russell. Credit must also be given to NUS Scotland, whose dogged campaign-ing for the minimum income guarantee seems to have been taken seriously.

This is not a perfect solution. The increase in the maximum financial assist-ance has caveats: namely, the fact that a greater proportion is to be made up of loans, rather than bursaries, which will increase students’ post-graduation debt. But fundamentally, the new funding pledge will improve the lot of Scottish students immeasurably, lightening the burden on parents and making tertiary education a viable option for many more young people.

Unfortunately, cynics have pointed out a darker motivation than genuine altruism may be at play with this announcement. The idea has been mooted elsewhere that the new funding regime, likely to prove immensely popular among young Scots, is part of a concerted attempt by the current government to rewrite its record on educa-tion funding and shore up support among Scots likely to be taking advantage of the package when the impending referendum on Scottish independence rolls around in 2014 — not to mention the 16- and 17-year-

olds who will then be considering their next educational steps, and who Alex Salmond is desperate to see enfranchised in that plebiscite. This may be partisan speculation, but the fact remains that wid-ening access, and a responsible approach to education funding, is a crucial policy priority for any enlightened nation — not a convenient political weapon in the govern-ment’s arsenal.

We have in the past criticised this gov-ernment’s far-from-inclusive attitude towards RUK and international students, and we echo that criticism now. New funding arrangements for Scottish students are one thing, but academic protection-ism should be reined in. It is the diversity of Scotland’s education sector that makes it among the strongest in Europe: the govern-ment’s current course is likely to continue making Scotland seem less and less attrac-tive to students not seen as potential voters by the government of the day, and will inev-itably harm our campuses.

Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, uni accommodation crisis hits new peak... by Jen Owen

College SAs must be respectedCitySA elections

We’re still recruiting writers, editors, photographers, graphic and layout designers and salespeople to join our team and help us produce Scotland’s best student newspaper. If you’re considering a career in journalism, and want practical experience, contact us by email at [email protected] or call 0131 560 2826.

COMMENT// 11@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

How to unlock Scotland’s potential

Robin Parker

If you asked anyone to describe the difference between Scottish students and students from the rest of the UK, what do you think they’d say? Prob-ably that students from Scotland don’t pay fees to study here. And it’s right, they don’t – and this is something we should be proud of. While down south, students are facing debts of tens of thousands of pounds for fees alone, in Scotland, students can start the year without this hanging over them.

But it’s not luck or accident that has made this difference. For the past few years, Scottish students and students’ associations have led the way in the UK when it comes to winning for students – not only have tuition fees been abol-ished, but university places have been protected, with record investment at a time of massive cuts elsewhere. And just a few weeks ago, we celebrated another huge victory on student support.

Minimum income guaranteeThe story begins five years ago,

when NUS Scotland began campaign-ing for a £7,000 minimum income for students in higher education. At the time, low levels of student support in Scotland meant students were being forced to drop out, were struggling to focus on their studies, or were shut out of education altogether.

In the following years, students and

students’ associations up and down the country campaigned and lobbied politi-cians, leading to some small improve-ments in funding.

Then, in a big push ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, NUS Scotland’s ‘Reclaim Your Voice’ campaign – again through the hard work of students across the country – secured commitments from 87 per cent of the MSPs elected to not only protect places and rule out tuition fees but also to improve student support.

This commitment has now become a reality and from next September 120,000 new and continuing Scottish higher education students in colleges and universities will have access to the best student support package anywhere in the UK.

Students from the poorest back-grounds can get up to £7,250 a year in grants and loans to help with accom-modation and living costs, while every single student will be eligible for a £4,500 SAAS loan.

There’s good news for part-time students too. From 2013, those from poorer backgrounds will no longer have to pay fees. This ends a clear injustice as before many part-time students who could not afford to study full-time were forced to pay their own fees, while full-time study was tuition-free.

Winning for FE studentsWe have to admit that the picture

for students in further education has been slightly less rosy. We have suc-cessfully saved EMA, which has been scrapped down south, we have secured a commitment to protecting college places, and have seen our students’ associations become stronger.

However, our colleges have been under attack from budget cuts. We won two huge victories on college funding, first getting millions added to college bursary budgets, and then, as part of the ‘Our Future, Our Fight’ campaign, pro-tecting that funding from cuts.

But the threat is still there. Right now, many colleges are discussing mergers or federations. Where mergers have happened, like at the Edinburgh colleges, we’ve worked to ensure stu-dents were listened to in the discus-sions and that the students’ associations came out of the process stronger. It is a blueprint we’ll be working to ensure that the rest of the sector follows.

What now?Our priority this year is to get uni-

versities and the Government to take action to make access to university fairer – creating a Scotland where ability, not income or background determines how far a person can go in education.

Currently in Scotland, the numbers for students going to university from the most deprived backgrounds are the worst in the whole of the UK. At our

most ‘elite’ universities there are more than 16 students from the most privi-leged backgrounds for every student from the most deprived.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take action to change this, as NUS Scotland’s recent report ‘Unlocking Scotland’s Potential’ shows.

We aren’t saying universities can do everything to improve Scotland’s access rates, but they have the responsibility to do a lot more. In the coming months, we’ll be unveiling plans for how we can put pressure on principals to do just that.

With the threat of more college budget cuts looming, we will also be mobilising students in even greater numbers to make sure colleges have the funding they need, to strengthen the student voice during the merger process, and to make bursary support an entitlement – something a college student can count on, from the begin-ning of their course to the end.

What you can doOf course there isn’t room here to

explain all of the projects, activities and campaigns NUS Scotland will be working on this year, though we hope they’ll be hard to miss.

Our liberation campaigns, having won guaranteed childcare funding for lone parents in FE and having secured widespread support for equal marriage, will continue to lead the fight against

discrimination in Scotland.If you’re an international student,

you may meet one of our international ambassadors at the airport, and if you’re a home student, you can find out more about study-abroad opportunities as part of our ‘Scotland Goes Global’ events.

You can take part in our ‘Think Positive’ project to improve student mental health, get involved in student-led teaching awards projects, campaign against UK Government policies that punish international students or join the fight against high tuition fees for students from the rest of the UK.

And you can join us on 20 October in Glasgow for a demonstration against UK Government cuts, or hop on a bus to London for the NUS ‘Educate, Employ, Empower’ National Demo on Novem-ber 21.

For more information on all this and more, contact your students’ asso-ciation, or check out our website, Face-book pages or Twitter feed.

So do get involved – there’s almost no end to the opportunities you can take advantage of, just as there is clearly no end to the energy and enthusiasm that students in Scotland have to make change.

I look forward this year to making that change alongside you.

Robin Parker is president of NUS Scotland.

Robin Parker, the recently re-elected president of NUS Scotland, sets out his policy priorities for 2012/13

DISCUSSION&DEBATE

COMMENT

FEATURE // 13@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

Olivia PiresManaging editor

Glasgow-born swimmer Michael Jamieson won silver in the 200m breaststroke at the London 2012 Olympics, breaking three British records in the process. Visiting the Glasgow Club Scotstoun Swimming Pool as part of the British Swimming Heroes Tour he spent some time in the water with local children: “Obvi-ously I was really excited to come back here today. I managed to bump into some pupils from my old school this morning which was great. This sort of peer learning environment, the kids can relate to us and they enjoy having us in the water and having races which is good fun.”

The tour, sponsored by British Gas, will take members of the swimming, diving, water polo and synchronised swimming squads across the country aiming to encourage children to be more active and inspire them to carry on with sport whether at a professional or merely recreational level.

“I do feel privileged to be in a posi-tion to get involved in events like this. First and foremost I hope everyone enjoys it and that this kick starts some-thing even better”, said Jamieson. “It is important to be approachable for them to feel like I’m just a regular person. The support on Twitter in the last month has been amazing. I’m just like everyone else, I just chose to be a swimmer and fortunately managed to get a medal last month.”

Glasgow was the fourth city to be visited with members of the British Paralympics team set to join for the final two dates in Swansea and Cov-entry and hopes an increased partici-pation in aquatics sports will be the legacy of both games. However the

event is primarily about the children having fun:

“In swimming terms there’s such a strong social aspect and, for the kids that are here today, just the enjoyment from it is the most important thing. I think if they are enjoying it, that kind of work ethic and competitive attitude will go hand in hand with it. The social benefit is probably the most important, for their age.”

Students often find it difficult to continue with sport alongside their academic responsibilities and the 24-year-old athlete stressed how vital the support of his school was in his development into a professional swimmer.

“From experience, I went to the Glasgow School of Sport which is obvi-ously the perfect set up for that. I didn’t do the extracurricular subjects like art and drama, but I’m not the most artistic guy anyway. I think that a pretty good set-up there from quite a young age, provides all sorts of life skills that will be applicable to any field, not even just sport”.

“I was only 12 when I decided I wanted to go to the school of sport and I do think I have had a bit of a head start being at the school and being taught all those values that I need now as a pro-fessional athlete. It’s a great school and I do encourage anyone to give it a shot because it absolutely helped me prepare for my life as an athlete but beyond that as well.”

Funded by the Scottish Government and run as a partnership between Edu-cation and Social Work Services and Glasgow Sport, The Glasgow School of Sport is dedicated to sporting excel-lence, nurturing its current 132 special-ist sports pupils by tailoring training and coaching sessions around their academic timetable.

With the establishment of such institutions Jamieson believes main-taining interest in sporting activities in conjunction with school subjects is achievable:

“When they get to that early teen stage that’s where the kind of crossover is, where most people decide if they are going to go down the competitive route or if academics take precedence. I think it’s much more feasible now to balance the two.”

“Things are getting much better now, obviously the last couple of years with the lead up to the games there has been so much focus on sport at the elite level and now that the games are fin-ished the focus switches on to the next

generation.”Likewise at a university level

the issue of maintaining involve-ment in sport is often outweighed by the demands of an academic course, however Jamieson advocates that this can be overcome if universities make provision for participation at both a lei-surely and competitive level.

“I think it’s again about getting that balance. For the more academic courses it’s obviously quite difficult to find time to do other sports and to have other hobbies, but I do think it’s important.”

“I like to play golf away from swim-ming and for me that’s an outlet and somewhere I can get away from uni-versity work and from swimming as well. From a psychological perspective it’s probably as important as the physi-cal benefits of playing sport and just having something to unwind with.”

Jamieson will be starting his final year of a Sports Performance course, also previously attended by Olympic judo silver medallist Gemma Gibbons, from which he hopes to graduate with a First.

“I’m based at the University of Bath and I know they have got quite a strong hand in sport and they do their utmost to make sure there’s always things available, there’s always sports clubs and associations to kind of be part of and to ensure that you keep participat-ing in sport even if it’s just a few hours a week.”

The BSc degree is aimed at athletes who wish to follow a career that com-plements their competitive interest in sport such as talent development, phys-iology and strength and conditioning.

“The course that I’m on was ini-tially for the rugby academy players at Bath and it was so successful that they opened it up to other sports. It has a good track record and the staff

and support there have been great and understanding with training commitments.”

In addition to finishing his degree Jamieson is to commence training in preparation for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and is opti-mistic that he can better his Olympic achievements.

“I don’t want the Olympics to be my career highlight I want to go on to win more medals. Glasgow is two years away but the work starts now for that and I definitely hope to be there and to be amongst the medallists as well.”

With the Games taking place in his hometown Jamieson confesses that there is an increased expectation to perform.

“I guess the swim next probably will change peoples’ perception of me as a swimmer and there will be more pres-sure, but I guess that comes with the territory and it’s up to me to find a way to deal with that. I want to be winning medals as much as everyone else wants to see it”.

The upcoming Commonwealth Games has potential to sustain the awareness and excitement surround-ing elite sport generated by London 2012 and could hopefully encourage the public’s continued involvement in sporting activities on a community level.

“The job for us now is to create this legacy and continue to have these par-ticipation levels rising and the longer we can maintain that the better. I think the Glasgow Commonwealth Games is going to come just at the right time and if we can maintain this momentum from the Olympics until Glasgow and beyond that I think things will really catch on. Although there’s a two year gap between them it’s just great to see so many excited about other sports.”

“The job for us now is to create this legacy and continue to have these participation levels rising, and the longer we can maintain that the better. I think the Commonwealth Games is going to come at just the right time.”

Olympic hero Jamieson’s glorious Glasgow homecoming

Scottish silver medallist Michael Jamieson takes a swim down memory lane

14 // FEATURE @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


TONY BENN’S FIFTY YEAR CRUSADENow 87, the veteran political heavyweight and intellectual elder of the Labour party reflects on a half century in and out of government — and occasionally on the wrong side of the political establishment

John Hewitt Jones Literary editor

Tony Benn’s serviced apartment in Notting Hill Gate feels like some-thing between a parliamentary office and the rooms of a university profes-sor. In the bookcase at reception sits a purposefully-chosen selection of books that includes a copy of Tony Blair’s autobiography. Surprising perhaps, given this is the residence of one of New Labour’s most vocifer-ous critics and Britain’s most ardent electable socialist.

Reclining in an easy chair, puffing gently on his pipe, Benn emanates the air of a benevolent grandfather; an image reinforced by his response to the question ‘how would you like to be remembered?’ (Note the avoid-ance of the word legacy.) “If when I died somebody said: ‘Tony Benn, he encouraged us,’” he answers, “I would regard that as the finest tribute, because I have tried to encourage people.” Teaching and encourage-ment, it seems, are at the very heart of his interpretation of socialism: “There are two people in society,” he says, “the rich and the rest, and you have to decide whose side you are on…

Benn is accustomed to standing up for his moral convictions in the public arena, having gained notoriety for the central roles he has played in numer-ous political campaigns: supporting the Indian Freedom movement, sup-porting trade unions in their fights against Thatcherite cuts, and most recently leading the opposition to the war in Iraq. Of all of these cam-paigns it seems that he is most proud of his part in the anti-colonial move-ment: “It was an unpopular thing to do because the British Empire was sacred; you couldn’t say anything about it without being disloyal.” Many of the views he has argued for have been unpopular at the time, but he points out that for many of these

issues “It turns out that everyone supports them in the end.” He cites the Freedom of Information Act as a strong example of this.

Benn’s vocal opposition to the Iraq War has proven more contentious. It was soon after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 that he was invited to become the president of the Stop the War Coali-tion, and in 2003, a month before the start of the Iraq War, he flew to the Middle East to interview Iraqi dic-tator Saddam Hussein in a last-ditch attempt to encourage negotiation and avert war. Years later, he recalls the questions he put to the tyrant. “I asked him: ‘Do you have weapons of mass destruction?’ And he said no... I said, ‘do you have links with Al-Qaeda?’ He said no, and I knew that was true.”

But the interview enraged the British establishment, and Benn still seems disillusioned with the way the media depicted him at the time. “[They] were not keen on any alter-native view... I was putting a differ-ent view and it was very strongly attacked. But if you believe some-thing and say it, you have to take the consequences.”

And Benn has never been afraid of consequences, at times paying a high price for his outspoken views and criticisms of government. During his successful campaign in the Ches-terfield byelection in 1984, The Sun attempted to discredit Benn with an article, based on a supposed report by an American psychiatrist, that Benn was clinically insane. The article was later shown to have been wholly fabricated.

Benn’s conviction that politi-cal debate boils down to a discus-sion of morality — a driving force in his political life — is inherited from his mother, he explains. “My mother was a Scot. She was a very religious woman. She taught me to belive that all political issues were really moral issues. Is it right or is it wrong? You can argue about that, but that’s what

you should be arguing about.” He is adamant that politics should be based on principle and moral conviction, and seems to have an optimistic view of the electorate’s willingness. “If you can reveal what the moral element is in a decision,” he says, “you can win a lot of support.

Loss has clearly had an impor-tant impact on Benn’s life, and the death of his wife, educationalist and writer Caroline Middleton DeCamp in 2000 is a significant feature in his published diaries. Benn speaks of her with enormous affection, reflecting on their close relationship that “she had a huge influence on me. I met her in 1948. A friend of mine, an Ameri-can said she was coming over and that I would like to meet her, so I did meet her in Oxford. I was a bit shy

and I didn’t propose for nine days. I met her on the 2nd, and proposed to her on the 11th. And I realised I would never see her again if I didn’t, because she was going home to America... so I asked if she would marry me, and to my great delight she said yes.

“She died twelve years ago. She had a huge effect on my life. She was a very tender, scholarly person.” He recalls that later on he bought from Oxford council the very bench on which he proposed to her, and installed it in their Holland Park home.

So how does he view the political class in Westminster today, and is it representative enough? “When I was elected to parliament there were fifty miners there… they brought the expe-rience of their lives into the work they did… Now it does tend to be a career.

“I get letters from people saying ‘I’d like to be a Member of Parliament,” he says, shaking his head. “Being an elected MP is a vocation; a crusade.” He eschews persona politics. “This idea that an election is about who you vote for to get the Oscar is a com-plete misunderstanding,” he tells me. “It’s about democracy, which is a very precious thing. Everybody has the right to destroy the government that governs them just by putting a cross on a bit of paper, and therefore you have to think in terms of the policies and the issues... it isn’t about who you want to be prime minister.”

A longstanding critic of New Labour, Benn is vocal in his disdain for Blair: “He set up a completely new party and he tried to get it estab-lished and it ended up with a war and all sorts of difficulties and led to our defeat in 2010.” Whether he refers to internal conflict within the party or the 2003 Iraq war isn’t entirely clear, and the objections he raises are pri-marily economic and constitutional: “[Blair] and his colleagues came to the conclusion that you couldn’t win elections unless you adopted Mrs Thatcher’s economic policy. That was

the very essence of New Labour. It was really a Thatcherite subgroup,” he remarks.

“When Mrs Thatcher was later asked what was her greatest contri-bution, she said ‘New Labour’.”

Benn is still fiercely critical of the changes made to the party’s constitu-tion — particularly the weakening of Clause IV, which defined Labour’s relationship with the trades union movement. This has a particular resonance for him, as he was born next door to the original authors of the constitution, Sidney and Beat-rice Webb. The constitution was re-written in 1995, after Blair became leader of the opposition in an attempt to distance the party from its union roots and persuade the electorate that Labour now occupied the politi-cal centre.

This is an issue that arises again when he talks about the Leveson Inquiry’s recent examination of the relationship between politicians and the media. Benn sees the redefini-tion of the party’s socialist roots and Blair’s determination to woo media organisations as part and parcel of the same problem: “New Labour was really the product of a decision by Blair that you could only ever win if you could get Murdoch to support you… he [Blair] went to Murdoch and said “the Labour party has completely changed now; it’s no longer a social-ist party.”

“And then Murdoch supported him in ’97.”

On his desk lies a volume of Engels, among unruly stacks of letters. Staring out of the fireplace in his living room is a metal bust with a red communist tank cap rammed on its head; Benn chuckles and explains it’s a copy of a statue of himself that stands in both the House of Commons and the Bristol Council Buildings. With that, the 87-year-old Benn relaxes back into his easy chair, a political giant in repose, and attends his pipe, gently puffing it into flame.

“New Labour was really the product of a decision by Blair that you could only ever win if you could get Murdoch to support you... he went to Murdoch and said ‘the Labour party has completely changed... it’s no longer a socialist party.’”

FEATURE // 15@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

THE LAND THE WEST FORGOT

Jamie TimsonDeputy editor

As the train passes through green hill after green hill, it’s easy to be lost in the beauty of Herzegovina’s surround-ings. However, in each rustic village that is passed through, a perfect white marble Muslim cemetery, settled below the hill-tops, hints at the nation’s troubled past and uncertain future. Bosnia and Herze-govina is the land that the West forgot.

How unlikely that statement must have seemed just 20 years ago, when the horrors of the Bosnian conflict raged on every television screen across Europe and America. The war’s position as the first extended conflict to take place in the context of 24/7 global TV coverage meant few in the West were not aware of the atrocities and the horrors that occurred in those green hills. The visible scars of the war are now fading. Grass grows in the land that was once laden with land-mines. Sarajevo - the scene of the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare – now buzzes with its moniker as ‘little Istanbul’ and that great symbol of freedom in our time: Bosnia’s first McDonalds. The emotional wounds however will remain, an ethnically patch-worked nation where a population of 48 per cent Bosniaks (Muslim), 34 per cent Serbs (Christian Orthodox), and 15 per cent Croats (Catholic) once lived harmo-

niously, torn apart by the great shadow that hangs over the breaking up of the former Yugoslavia.

The death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980 heralded the end of communist Yugo-slavia. With the final collapse of Com-munism in the 1980s across Europe, the restive population began seeking solu-tions to provide economic and political stability for Yugoslavia in a post-Cold War world. In this state of indecision and uncertainty, the Serbian Commu-nist party leader Slobodan Milosevic began pandering to Serb nationalism, and quickly became the unchallenged ruler of Serbia - the largest country within Yugo-slavia. Milosevic’s main concern was the consolidation of power across Yugoslavia and he used the Yugoslav National Army to achieve that aim. The Bosnian govern-ment - critical of Milosevic’s attempts at control of the federal government – sought independence. Milosevic, through Serbian army general Ratko Mladic, enacted brutal attacks on the Bosnians in an attempt to consume them within Milosevic’s ideal of a Greater Serbia. The ruthless control of Yugoslav state media meant there was fierce propaganda from Serbia, directed at Bosnian Serbs, depicting Bosnian Muslims as extrem-ist fundamentalists and showing images of Serbian-led atrocities whilst claim-ing they were being carried out by Bos-niaks. This immediately polarised the nation and caused many of the Bosnian

Serbs to support Milosevic’s plan for ethnic cleansing as a means of creating Greater Serbia. Since the Bosnian Serbs did not inhabit a single specific territory in Bosnia and lived alongside Muslim and Croat neighbours, the prospect of war across Bosnia in every town and village was very real.

The siege of Sarajevo is perhaps the most well known aspect of the con-flict. Muslim, Croat, and Serb residents opposed to a Greater Serbia and the rule of Milosevic were cut off from food, utilities, and communication. The Bosniaks were unable to defend themselves as an arms embargo had been placed by the West on the region. Through three long and cold winters, Sarajevans dodged sniper fire as they went to markets and sourced fuel whilst trying to get to their jobs. The most chillingly post-modern aspect of the war, was the ability of those who had been shot to watch footage captured by televi-sion cameras of their own injuries whilst recovering in the hospital. The average weight loss per Sarajevan was more than 30 pounds. More than 12,000 residents were killed, 1,500 of them children. All the while the West stood by, typified by British Foreign Secretary, Douglas Hurd, criminally claiming that arming the Bos-niaks would be escalating the fighting. Of course no one could have foreseen the atrocities that were committed by the Bosnian Serbs, however when they began much more could and should have been

done to intervene.The most upsetting part of the West’s

failure and the hardest-hitting as a Briton is the attitudes of the British government in response to the conflict. Britain’s politi-cal leaders encountered a situation where the 24/7-television coverage was bring-ing images of unimaginable horror to the screens of its constituents. The British people were quite rightly questioning what could be done for the Bosniaks and Croats living in Bosnia at the time. The public consensus was one of shock; the Yugoslavs were like themselves in every conceivable aesthetic capacity. However, to justify the lack of political action by the government, statements from the Foreign Office continued to refer to the victims as ‘Muslims’. The process was one of disengagement, to refer to the people of the Balkans as different, to make their plight seem less identifiable. The policy of using the terms ‘fundamentalism’ and ‘ancient ethnic quagmires’ was designed to distance everything that the British audience was seeing and to make the lack of intervention during genocide more acceptable. The British attitude charac-terised the sentiments of the UN at the time, which treated the siege of Sarajevo as more akin to a humanitarian disaster such as a drought – one that should be managed rather than stopped – than a conflict.

The West will argue that there is peace on the streets now: the Dayton agree-

ment stopped the violence in late 1995, at which point the war had been going for three years – an inhumane amount of time when you consider the land mass involved – Iraq is 8.5 times the size of Bosnia and Herzegovina – but the Dayton agreement also irrevocably damaged the relations between the ethnicities. The Bosnian Serbs were given ‘Republika Srpska’, a separate political, constitu-tional and judicial entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina, a measure which is hard to view from the Bosniak side as anything other than unjust. No longer do the two ethnicities mix so easily; prior to the conflict mixed marriages between the ethnicities were not unusual, however a recent UN study has shown that 60 per cent of Bosnian citizens are against mixed marriages. It seems that even though the violence has stopped, the tensions have not diminished within the country.

Earlier this year President Obama set up an Atrocities Prevention Board, a signal to the rest of the world, no doubt, that America is planning tough action in the fight on crimes against humanity. However, it also implies awareness that genocides, holocausts and the like don’t just happen – there are steps that can be taken to prevent Auschwitz, Rwanda and Bosnia from ever happening again. Steps that, in the case of Bosnia, could have been made far sooner and with far greater force, had the West not failed the Bos-nians so completely some 20 years ago.

In the year of the 20th anniversary of the Bosnian conflict, The Journal explores a nation neither certain of her future nor fully free of her past

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16 // A&E @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


PARTICK AND KELVINGROVEFIREBIRD 1321 Argyle St, G3 8AB

Even if you’ve just popped in for a drink, the unmistakable smell of the stone pizza oven will have your mouth watering at Firebird. Quirky and con-temporary, this modern bar and grill specialises in gluten-free meals, includ-ing pizza and pasta dishes suitable for coeliacs. Grab a German-style stein of Glasgow’s own WEST St. Mungo lager, or venture for the fresh and frothy Samuel Smiths.

WEST ENDCOMMON ROOMS 77 Byres Road, G11 5HN

The Common Rooms makes no bold statements of greatness with its blackboards on Byres Road, promising ‘average service’. However, The Journal never found any cause for concern with this student favourite. Situ-ated at the south end of Byres Road, Common Rooms is instantly recognisable for its ski-chalet style log cabin exterior – a stark contrast to the delicate art nouveau signage of its neighbour, The Uni Café. The rough-and-ready interior, reasonably priced menu and live music make Common Rooms the Glasgow Uni-versity student’s mainstay.

TENNENT’S BAR 191 Byres Road, G12 8TN

The dimly-lit, comfortable surroundings of Glasgow’s historic boozers are, sad to say, becoming a thing of the past, as chic bistros and gastropubs continue to pop up on Byres Road. Curlers has been reborn as The Curler’s Rest; Whistler’s Mother is now a cool, monochrome cocktail bar; and Cresswell Lane’s Bar Buda is now a sterile, overpriced Italian. Meanwhile, Tennent’s refuses to cave and change its ways. Property developers lust after the bar’s prime corner spot, but this popular and friendly pub, with its hidden snugs and quiet corners, continues to offer a wide range of cask ales and lagers at its vast horseshoe-shaped bar as it has done since the 1800s. The great value Beer and Burger menu comes in at £4.95.

ASHTON LANEBehind Hillhead Subway Station

Sadly, these days you’re more likely to see tribes of baldy, 46-year-old men clad in Diesel jeans and Lyle and Scott polo shirts down the Lane than bohemian artisans and poets. But the cobbled street and whitewashed buildings retain an undeniable charm. Jinty McGuinty’s pulls a mixed crowd seven nights a week - but arrive on Valentine’s Day if you want to get near the bar on St. Paddy’s. Brel offers top quality European beers on draft for those with deep pockets. For a real student friendly atmosphere, try the lively Nude and Radio at the south end of the street.

HILLHEAD BOOK CLUB 17 Vinicombe Street, G12 8SJ

Tucked in behind Fopp on Byres Road, the high ceiling and quirky décor of this former cinema has obviously been carefully thought-out. As the name suggests, the entire bar’s theme is based around the bookish and eccentric – the menu informs diners that they are welcome to bring their own Bovril. Beef-based hot beverages aside, the menu is excellent value – the Book Club boasts that no main meal will ever be more than £10. They also serve a varied vegetarian and value lunch menu at around £4.

ÒRAN MÓR Byres Road, G12 8QX

There is very little The Journal can say that has not already been said about Òran Mór. Gaelic for the Big Song, this restaurant/bar/theatre/club/venue has picked up Scotland’s Pub of the Year for 2011, as voted for by Sunday Mail readers. With an epic ceiling mural painted by Glasgow polymath Alasdair Gray, the labyrinthine interior is richly and tastefully decorated – traditionally Scottish yet modern, without being twee or tacky. The range of single malt Scotch whisky is unrivalled in the city and the selec-tion of bottled and draft beers are also excellent.

NAKED SOUP 6 Kersland Street, G12 8BL

Organic produce and a wide range of soups and sandwiches make Naked Soup a perfect lunchtime retreat. With freshly-made coffees and a range of vegetarian options, this alcohol-free café more than merits a place on our list as an exceptional example of the independent, family run options Glasgow has to offer. Ditch Costa, Caffè Nero and the ubiquitous Starbucks and relax under Naked Soup’s canopy just off Great Western Road.

THE WISE MONKEY 508 Great Western Road, G12 8EL

NEXT door to student favourite Viper, the Wise Monkey is developing a reputa-tion for quality live music most nights of the week. Still bearing the scars of its previous incarnation, the spit-and-sawdust Hubbard’s Bar, this pub offers student-friendly pub grub as well as some cheap and cheerful pricing – cans of Jamaica’s ‘finest’ Red Stripe lager at £2.20.

nouveau signage of its neighbour, The Uni Café. The rough-and-ready interior, reasonably priced menu and live music make Common Rooms the Glasgow Uni-reasonably priced menu and live music make Common Rooms the Glasgow Uni-

BREWDOG 1397-1403 Argyle St, G3 8AN

BrewDog had already gained notoriety for producing the world’s strongest commercially available beer - the 32 per cent ABV Tactical Nuclear Penguin - before their bar facing the Art Galleries was even thought of. However, there is so much more to these Fraser-burgh-based microbrewers than head-lines. They sell no large-scale production beers on the premises and only specially selected wines and spirits – no Smirnoff or Bacardi in sight. Their flagship lager, 77, comes in a £3.20 a pint – but the diffi-culty in getting in the door is a testament to this pub’s quality offerings.

THE LITTLE CAFÉ 28 Hastie Street G3 8AE

Not a bar per se but this cute coffee shop merits a mention. The big boys of Glasgow coffee, Beanscene, are right across the road, though theirs is a brand that has grown stale and expensive in recent years. The Little Café is a light, airy and well-run alternative to their ever-popular neighbours. Service comes with a smile as standard here, and the paninis are freshly made to order, and always delicious.

GALLUS 80 Dumbarton Road, G11 6NX

The Gallus has all the hallmarks of a traditional Glasgow boozer – puggies, a snooker table, Premiership football on the TV, Tennent’s on tap and a border collie tied up outside. However, this bar has a young feel, great personality and reason-able prices. Regular live music nights and quizzes keep this popular spot bustling. And it should flourish now that the new student flats behind Boho are open.

THE LISMORE 206 Dumbarton Road, G11 6UN

Considered by some to be the ‘baby sister’ of Byres Road’s Òran Mór bar, the Lismore is a fantastic pub in its own right. Home to nearly 200 single malt scotch whiskies – together with just as many characters - there are no TVs or live sports. Prepare yourself then for bizarre conversations with stran-gers beneath the beautiful stained glass windows. The staff will be happy to recommend a single malt, or stick with the Malt of the Month at £1.85. The Hauf an’ Hauf deal is incredible value at £2.25. Scheduled live music is also on offer here.

The Freshers' Bar BibleSEPTEMBER IS UPON us once again, and students from across Scotland, the UK and Europe will be � ooding Glasgow’s colleges and universities – many of them for the � rst time. But in a city renowned worldwide for its nightlife and bar culture, the choice of venues can be staggering for Freshers looking for a quality night out on a budget, or even just a cheeky one (or seven) between lectures.

Worry no more. Whether you’re after a pint in Partick, a cider in the City or a wine in the West End, let The Journal be your authority on Glasgow’s top water-ing holes. We’ve done all the legwork for you – all genuine � rst-hand reviews and all prices are correct at the time of print.

A&E // 17@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

FINNIESTONIVY 1102 Argyle Street, G3 7RX

Finnieston is fast becoming a hub for Glasgow’s coolest new bars and IVY is right in the centre of it. Specialising in rums from across the Caribbean, the bar’s selection is stun-ning and the staff are quick to recommend classic cocktails for your rum of choice.

\

DENNISTOUN TAPA 21 Whitehill Street, G31 2LH

Searching for a good Freshers Week pick-me-up? Why not go down the organic route and have a strong Guatemalan coffee with some home-made Irish soda bread? This coffee and bakehouse in Dennistoun prides itself on only using organic ingredients, making all of its breads, tarts and cakes by hand and offering eight different blends of coffee.

CITY CENTRESAUCHIEHALL STREET

Bars, clubs and restaurants come and go like the seasons on Glasgow’s main nightlife thorough-fare. Hen nights spill from Wether-spoons, rugby lads get tanked up on cheap cider in Yates’s, boozed up yobs throw kebabs and punches, while droves of students queue for hours only to be knocked back from the Garage – again. As bleak and dis-turbing as Sauchiehall Street can often s eem, there are a few diamonds in the rough along Glasgow’s favourite weekend destination. The Variety Bar and The Griffin are shelters in the storm, well loved and well staffed bars for a quiet pint or the launch pad for a wild night out. For late night live music, The Box and Nice’n’Sleazy are good neighbours, and artistic types can seek out cultured discussion or heated debate at the CCA’s Terrace Bar. If all else fails, Nico’s Bar can’t be beaten for low-price libations.

THE FLYING DUCK 142 Renfi eld Street, G2 3AU

The Duck offers a range of unique events in a unique setting – imagine your daft Auntie Mary’s council flat, complete with washing hanging up, hot but-tered toast and MFI kitchen units, only filled with indie kids sipping draft beers and ciders. The furniture looks like it has been salvaged from a skip, and some of the wall art was last seen in 1976 but don’t let that put you off – the Flying Duck offers some great quizzes every Monday, and vodka or gin mixers are only £1.50 through the week.

MAX’S BAR 71 Queen Street, G1 3BZ

A rock bar since time immemorial, the latest incarnation of The Rock Garden is Max’s, a cool and comfortable bar with some classic features, snug booth seats and big screen televisions. A decent selection of beers and spirits, Max’s offers the excellent William’s Brothers Scottish Joker IPA and Brooklyn Lager on tap. Other ales include Cairngorm Brewery’s guest offerings, such as the rich and delicious Black Gold and the worryingly titled Sheepshaggers Gold. Pints of Fosters start at £3.

THE HORSESHOE BAR 17 Drury Street, G2 5AE

The Horseshoe Bar is a Glasgow institution, world renowned for its high-standard karaoke lounge upstairs. It is also the only bar in this list to feature in the Guinness Book of World Records – the Horseshoe boasts the longest single bar in the world. Ever popular, the bar is always well staffed and well stocked and pints of Carlsberg start at a bargain basement £2.15.

BAR BLOC 117 Bath Street, G2 2SV

A bar inspired by the imagery of the former Soviet Union, Bar Bloc offers live music seven nights a week and promises no football shirts, no winching and no bams – which is fine by us. Specialising in laid back acoustic and lo-fi tunes, you can enjoy a great value munch while you listen in. The student staple of two-for-one pizzas start at £8.95 – around a pound cheaper than similar deals around town – and a late lunch can be sorted with two meals for £10 between 2 and 5pm.

THE UNIVERSAL 57-59 Sauchiehall Lane, G2 4JD

When this reviewer told a close friend that an extensive bar guide was being written for Freshers Week, he suggested — neigh, insisted — that the Uni-versal be included. Confession time: until yesterday, I had never even heard of this well hidden bar and kitchen. We immediately headed over for a pint and The Journal was thoroughly impressed. Crouching down a cobbled lane behind the Watt Bros department store, the Universal is a large and airy bar with bare pillars and stripped-back wood flooring. A full menu is on offer, although not particularly vegetarian friendly, and the pub also has a large upstairs space for events. Pints start at £2.65 and vodka, gin, Sailor Jerry or Jim Beam mixers come in at a reasonable £2.95.

THE ARK 42 -46 North Fredrick Street, G1 2BG

While we are not necessarily the biggest fans of chain pubs, The Ark along with its sister pub The Hall will always have a special place in the hearts of Glasgow’s student population. Cheap beer and grub are the order of the day in this purpose-built, two levelled venue that is always kept busy due to its central location, a stones throw from George Square, City of Glasgow College and Strathclyde University.

rough along Glasgow’s favourite weekend destination. The Variety Bar and The Griffin

the Garage – again. As bleak and dis-turbing as Sauchiehall Street can often s eem, there are a few diamonds in the rough along Glasgow’s favourite weekend

the Garage – again. As bleak and dis-turbing as Sauchiehall Street can often s eem, there are a few diamonds in the rough along Glasgow’s favourite weekend

THE 78 10-14 Kelvinhaugh Street, G3

Candlelight, open fires and jazz are the order of the day at this cosy, cot-tage-style bar and restaurant. The 78 is widely regarded as one of the city’s finest vegan and vegetarian venues and it has

a wide range of beers and guest ales on tap to suit every palate. Serious building work was underway next door when The Journal visited – noisy, though don’t let this put you off.

THE BEN NEVIS1147 Argyle Street, G3 8TB

Interior designer Ranald McColl - the enigmatic artist behind the GI Bride statue in Partick Station - has certainly put his stamp on this tiny whisky bar. The décor is rich and comfortable with natural wood and stone floors, and over 180 whisky bottles tastefully warmed by the soft under-lighting. No food is served but the lager and Guinness are near perfect in this highland hideaway – great for relaxing with the papers at lunch-time… and even dogs are welcome too.

rums from across the Caribbean, the bar’s selection is stun-

guest ales on tap to suit every palate. Serious building work was underway next door when visited – noisy, though don’t let this put you off.

CAFÉ TIBO 443 Duke Street, G31 1RY

Tibo is not the sort of place you would expect to find at the heart of the city’s east end - and this independently owned café bar is well worth a visit for that very reason. Its eclectic interior and bohemian feel make it seem like it would be more at home in New York than in Glasgow, and three years ago it was nominated for a Britain’s best café gong at the Theme and Restaurant awards. It’s a little bit pricier than some of its east end neighbours, but the food is delicious and the service is friendly.

Compiled by Adam D'Arcy, Aimee Beveridge & Stuart FindlayDesign by Ross Jardine & Jamie Galbreath



Elizabeth Morrison

Jake Bugg; an Oasis fan with a mod haircut whose upcoming tour dates include a run of European shows sup-porting Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Hardly the most inspiring of premises for a Nottingham teenager tipped for big things by all the usual media-hype suspects (see: Zane Lowe, The NME). So it comes as a pleasant surprise when Bugg’s self-titled debut album opens not with the compla-cent wall of guitars and heavy vocals that Liam and Noel resorted to in their dying days, but instead with the Sixties twang of ‘Lightning Bolt’. Folky and catchy, as an opening track and a single it’s a smart choice; it puts Bugg’s best foot forward as a nimble songwriter with a back to basics rock’n’roll influence that set him far apart from other acoustic guitar-bear-ers of the moment like Ben Howard or Ed Sheeran.

With all the tracks hovering around the 3 minute mark, Bugg’s distinc-tive Dylanesque voice doesn’t get the chance to grate. Whilst songs like ‘Two Fingers’ and ‘Trouble Town’ – lament-ing the dull reality of life on a council

estate – retain an air of humour that has far more in common with the arch lyrics of Alex Turner than with the anthemic hollering that was so ubiqui-tous in later Britpop. Sharp lines like

“Hear the sirens down the street/ The kids get light on their feet/ Or they’ll be in the back seat” and a fresh take on retro production struggles to sustain an entire record. The attempts at more traditional songwriting fodder such as

‘Country Song’ come off as more twee than profound, even if the change in pace is welcome.

When Bugg refrains from affecting wisdom beyond his years his emotions are displayed convincingly enough;

‘Broken’ movingly tells of heartache through the eyes of a youngster and

‘Ballad Of Mr Jones’ takes on the story-telling form of a Simon and Garfunkel delight for the modern day.

The album is an undoubtedly prom-ising debut – it might not win awards for its originality, but Bugg shows such a charming aptitude for the short and sweet that his reluctance to deviate from a tried-and-tested formula is easily forgiven. His relative youth can only work in his favour too; still in his teens and beginning to make his way in the musical world, it seems that Jake Bugg is an artist who is only just beginning to grow into himself, hope-fully with bigger and more diverse endeavours on the way.

Jake Bugg Promising self-titled debut from the Dylanesque Nottingham youngster

Jonathan Whitelaw Stomping onto the scene in early 2011 with one of that year’s most her-alded albums, The Vaccines return with Come of Age. With the savage energy and dedication to their music that is both infectious and clear to hear, the feisty Londoners look set to capitalize on a hugely successful debut with an even stronger second entry.

Formed in 2010, The Vaccines were hailed as the saviors of the post-punk revival movement. A scene that had long deteriorated into a languid, damp squib of an offshoot, 2011’s What Did you Expect from The Vac-cines? both invigorated and inspired a whole new generation of rebel-lious young rockers. The attraction, however, was not limited solely to the hipster-clothed, glasses-without-lenses-wearing crowd.

Instead, their debut album proved to be one of the biggest hits of the year. Sounding very much from an era when punk was dying, saccharine sweet pop plagued the charts and

‘Achy, Breaky Heart’ battled Miley for a twinkle in Billy Ray’s eye, the post punk anthems of The Vaccines seemed strangely at home in modern Britain.

Now, just eighteen months on

from that glorious announcement to a wider market, comes the ever-tricky second album. What initially strikes the listener about Come of Age is the indefatigability of the band’s feroc-ity towards their music. Picking up where they left off, opening track ‘No Hope’ offers a thunderous welcome back into their world.

Highlights come in the shape of ‘Aftershave Ocean’, ‘I Wish I Was a Girl’ and the aptly titled ‘Weirdo’, which will surely strike a chord with the teenage angst and compli-cated feelings all pubescent ado-lescent girls and boys are supposed to have according to TV and film. With a concurrent, unapologetically morose and somber theme through-out, The Vaccines balance the down-right moody with a tongue-in-cheek playfulness.

This ability to balance the listen-er’s emotions on the tip of a knife edge, or a drum stick if you want to be musically technical, is what serves the band best. Album closer,

‘Lonely World’, neatly book-ends the work with a more subdued and emo-tionally evocative track that serves as a perfect dichotomy to the album’s opening. Come of Age is more of the same that has come to be expected of the group as a whole. There is no radically different approach to the

album, or indeed its delivery and writing.

Sure the production is a little crisper and there is an overall more professional and litigated feel about the work. But that can only be expected of a band that are coming off the back of an album that reached number 4 in the UK Album charts - the highest debut for any artist in 2011.

What is important is the energy and fight that made their debut album such a stonking hit. That same attitude is still residual in Come of Age, albeit a little harder to come by; the listener has to look that little bit harder than before. For fans of the group, casual and hardcore alike, this will more than stand the test of their scrutiny. For the average listener, who perhaps stumbled on their debut through word of mouth, that same feisty, “grab a hold of this” feeling is a little lacking from this work.

At eleven tracks long, however, the eclectic mood of Come of Age is sure to please everybody at some point. A strong and satisfying second album from one of Britain’s more individual, creatively original bands, Come of Age is a perfect complement to the drawing nights and long study sessions that kick off around this time of year.

The Vaccines Solid sophomore e� ort hints at more sedate tendencies

Kmeron

MUSIC

Win tickets to see Marilyn Manson and Rob ZombieTwins of Evil, Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson announced their highly anticipated UK tour earlier in the summer and to celebrate their coming, The Journal has two tickets to give away, absolutely free, for their Glasgow show at SECC on 24 November. All you have to do is answer the following question:

What are Rob Zombie What are Rob Zombie What are Rob Zombie

and Marilyn Manson’s and Marilyn Manson’s and Marilyn Manson’s

birth names?birth names?birth names?

Answers should be emailed to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘TWINS’.

Entries close on Wednesday 31 October 2012. Submissions after that date will not be counted. The winner will be picked at random and announced on the website on Friday 2 November 2012.

MUSIC


This year’s hot tips Music forecast from BBC Scotland Introducing

Ally McRae Miaoux Miaoux - Recent signing to the super prestigious Chemikal Underground label electronica, wonderboy Miaoux Miaoux is like a modern day one-man band. He blends beats, synth and looped guitar riffs to create the dreamiest party music you could imagine; throw into the mix his delicate vocals and you have a sound like no other coming out of the UK right now, be it alone on stage with heaps of equipment or with various collaborators who will feature on his up coming LP.Live, you have to hear this man.

Carnivores - Paisley three-piece make rock music. The kind of rock music that I would imagine Josh Homme would be all “yeah, its cooool” about. These men deal in riffs, soaring choruses and MANIC yelps

(oh and samba breakdowns if the last free single Lion Tamer is anything to go by). An obvious comparison for me is the mighty Pulled Apart By Horses, with Carnivores bringing a more focused sound with new material, could their debut album propel them on a similar trajectory? To be honest, whether they get obscenely famous or not, I don’t think they will really care, they’ll just keep at it. A band you can believe in and one you can properly lose your shit too.

Hector Bizerk - Scottish hip-hop is under-represented in the Scottish music media; fact. For such an active, vibrant and inventive scene to be so vastly overlooked by the majority of the Scottish music scene beggars belief. Hector Bizerk offer real cross-over potential, one drummer and one MC is all it takes. Edgy, political, passion-ate and party-starting, live and on record this pair have something. Former session guests on my BBC Radio 1 show the reac-tion was off the scale, such is the striking nature of their sound. Drums. Rap. Yes.

Popular Glasgow pub looks to drop anchor in new Sauchiehall Street surroundings after search for new home

Tess Hokin

In what has become one of Glasgow’s most well-known pubs and music institu-tions, The Captain’s Rest struck a chord in the hearts of many since opening its doors on Great Western Road.

Having hosted such acts as Mumford and Sons, Django Django and Future Islands on its dungeon-like basement stage, the pleasantly dingy establishment has developed a distinct sense of identity and maritime character.

“I really like the idea of people making rooms that are not meant for gigs into venues; small rock and roll shows always sound great in basements.” said Captain’s owner Paul Cardow.

“I’m a big believer in getting ‘a feel’ for a place, and I really did with the new building.”

The announcement that the pub was to close came as a shock to the diverse band of regulars, with the Palma Violets providing the curtain call on the 29th of July.

Luckily, although the Captain has put his Great Western Road location to rest, he has not closed his doors for good; and will be reopening on Sauchiehall Street this

September.“The main reason for the move was a

change in licensing, which reduced our capacity, and by sheer coincidence I was passing the new place just as the for sale sign went up. I made the call that afternoon.” said Cardow.

Wedged cozily between fellow live music pubs Nice’n’Sleazy and The Box, The Captain will be taking over what was once The Local, and creating a buzzing strip of live music venues right in the heart of town.

The ‘new’ Captain’s Rest promises to deliver equal measure of nautical joy to its patrons as the old, and vows to retain what made the original establishment so popular.

“Of course, its going to be different- I feel that keeping things too similar would make the new place stagnant. It won’t be such an old mans pub, more a posh pub gone wrong.” said Cardow.

Their reasonably priced menu will remain largely unchanged, and even their website is sticking to the same minimalist theme. While the deco will undoubtedly be receiving an revamp, it would be hard to imagine the pub as anything but the cosy haven of worn-out seats and dark-stained wood that it was before.

While The Captain’s Rest sails on to a new port, its famous sense of tradition will remain unchanged; with a reputation for

great live music looking to continue full steam ahead. Acts like The Torche, Hooded Fang and the Cosmic Dead are already booked, with a boatload more coming soon.

“The music will still be similar, I always like things to match my tastes, which are quite eclectic. There will be a lot more room to be more adventurous with food and drinks, and there will be much more vinyl usage. “ said Cardow.

Faithful local followers need not despair, as in it’s place they’ll be treated to The Hug and Pint; the new project of Brian Reynolds and Andrew Maitland of The Arches. Named after the Arab Strap Album, ‘Monday at the Hug and Pint’, it promises to be a hub of live music, great beer and mouth-watering Mexican food. While it’s being kept largely under wraps for now, it will open on mid October and has some excellent live performances lined up. Interestingly enough, the Palma Violets will also be playing the opening gig, making them first hand witnesses of the ‘death and rebirth’ of this much loved Glasgow venue.

Even though The Captain’s Rest has hoisted the sails and moved on, the move looks to reinvent one of Glasgow’s most well loved and distinctive establishments; and will no doubt become a familiar part of the city centre’s already vibrant live music strip.

Jared Cohen

Recently achieving radio play on Radio 1 and Xfm, Manchester’s polyony-mous four-piece band, under their latest guise The 1975, have released their first EP – Facedown.

The elusive band have been playing together for over a decade now, some-thing instantly noticeable in the band’s

work.The album starts off with title track,

Facedown. Drawing a lot of inspiration from The xx and M83, this record sets the tone for what’s to come. Gloomy group vocals surrounded by swirling guitars and pianos creates an ambi-ance that resembles that of Bon Iver on synths.

Their well-known hit, ‘The City’, the second track on the album, takes a change of direction and is far more upbeat.

It is an example of the variation that the band is capable of as if one were to

listen to the first two tracks without prior knowledge of the artist, you would assume that they were from separate artists.

Antichrist returns to the bands firm equanimity that they have managed to create in this album. This song is a perfect example of the bands talent. Powerful synth organ and drums accom-pany this track throughout with the vocals at the beginning sounding closer to that of Editors’ Tom Smith.

The final track in this EP is the hauntingly beautiful ‘Woman’. It proves a dramatic conclusion to their work;

stripping away their drums and only leaving vocals and an atmospheric synth.

The solid songwriting and instru-mental beauty of this EP makes it very worthy. It will be interesting to see what

direction The 1975 decide to take for their full length album.

This a beautiful little EP and perfect for anyone who enjoys ambient pop music.

The 1975 - Facedown EPManchester’s mysterious veterans release first EP in current guise

BBC

CAPTAIN’S SETTING SAIL

MUSIC

MUSIC

Jassy Earl

Rosie Hardy

MUSIC



Erica Lennie

Not sure if you’ve heard but Scot-tish hip-hop is taking over; and the Wickerman Solos and goNorth tents are no exception. Pitched side by side without an overlap, ensuring maximum music exposure, both tents offered up some of the most exciting new rap acts in Scotland.

Kicking things off on Friday were the genius Bigg Taj & Spee Six Nine, who make mind-blowing rap and beatbox sounds and set the stand-ard for the rest of the weekend. The LaFontaines absolutely killed it on with tracks ‘Superstar’ and ‘Stop It Now’. Kerr Okan is the ultimate front-man; possessing enough arrogance whilst maintaining that elusive like-ability factor.

Saturday saw the unstoppa-ble Hector Bizerk take to the Solos stage to perform tracks from their debut Drums. Rap. Yes. His witty and flawless lyrics combined with their melodic rhythms worked per-fectly, and Louie’s Glaswegian slur is refreshing in a genre so often plagued

with transatlantic tones. The mighty Stanley Odd headlined goNorth on Saturday night with MC Solareye’s ferocious, unmerciful tongue com-bined with Veronika Electronica’s silky vocals. Sounding incredible on Antiheroics, Carry Me Home and Join The Club ensured the night ended with a raucous applause and an ener-getic chant of “When I say Stanley, you say ODD”!

Of course Wickerman 2012 wasn’t only about hip-hop, and those with more delicate ears watched the gor-geous Rachel Sermanni and friends perform a beautiful set in the Acous-tic Village. Sounding pitch-perfect on tracks such as ‘The Fog’ and ‘Song To A Fox’, Sermanni was as sweet and charming as ever. This acous-tic theme continued with whisper-ing, lullaby-style performances from Quickbeam and an incredible per-formance from Peter Kelly, the man behind Beerjacket, and Julian Doogan (from Julia and The Doogans). It’s a real testament to the artists when their live performance sounds just as good, if not better, than the original recording.

The stand out performance of Wickerman undoubtedly went to electro-indie rockers Fridge Magnets, who drew in one of the wildest crowds of the weekend. With his Liam Gallacher-esque attitude and

confident stage presence, lead singer Steven Winton has a stadium-pleas-ing vocal to be reckoned with. The fabulous performances continued throughout the weekend with alter-native rockers There Will Be Fire-works who showcased some tracks from their eagerly awaited second album.

For those more interested in household names, Wickerman didn’t disappoint. The View sauntered on the main Summerisle stage thrash-ing out fan-pleasing tracks such as ‘Same Jeans’ and ‘5 Rebeccas’ to their adoring, boisterous crowd. Their typi-cally rowdy and chaotic performance sounded much more polished and professional than previous shows, which was especially evident on new tracks ‘How Long’ and ‘AB (We Need treatment)’. Accomplished perform-ers Scissor Sisters provided a Rocky Horror-esque show and delighted the audience with sing-along-tracks such as ‘Laura’, ‘Filthy/Gorgeous’ and ‘Take Your Mama’; however their set fea-tured too many tracks from their new album Magic Hour. Saturday night saw Scottish veterans Texas grace the main stage for the final perform-ance of the festival, before the famous burning of the 40ft Wickerman and an impressive fireworks display to round off what was a inspiring and wonder-fully varied weekend of music.

Wickerman catches alightBig-name stalwarts mingle with the best new native indie,

acoustic and hip-hop at the Scottish alternative music festival

Bryan Duncan

‘It’s hard not to resort to the tried and tested cliches when describing Scottish weather, but the monsoon rain and ridiculously viscous mud is frankly typical of a summer afternoon up in Balado. By the end of the weekend, T in the Park saps the energy of every human being on the site. Legs are fatigued, faces are caked with mud, and ankles are chafed by wellies. By Sunday night, some people don’t even know they’re in Scotland, let alone Balado. However, that didn’t stop revellers embracing the 19th year of Scotland’s biggest festival.

One of the first few acts that graced the T Break stage on the Saturday was Largs three-piece Brown Bear and the Bandits. Their fiery Celtic acoustic pop resonated well with the crowd, and a cheeky cover of Black Eyed Peas ‘I Gotta Feeling’ provoked a positive response. Later at T Break, Vukovi riffed away with their commercial heavy punk rock, while pop wizards Django Django added a dash of technicolour to the Transmissions stage, complete with matching attire and perfect pop songs . Eclectic, eccentric, and indeed electric, songs like ‘Skies Over Cairo’ sounded like something The Specials would pen

for a 60s Supermarionation show, while WOR was a surf-pop mosh fest.

Glasgow band United Fruit were a bit rawer and trashier on the BBC Introducing Stage, while following act Fatherson played anthemic guitar pop to what seemed to be their own posse of fans. Back at the Transmissions stage, We Were Promised Jetpacks took eve-ryone’s senses hostage with clattering guitar hooks and soaring vocal melodies. Sore Thumb was epic with its infec-tious guitar riffs, which seemed to last for infinity. Of course, the outstanding comeback of the Stone Roses was prob-ably on everyone’s agenda by the end of Saturday night - unless by some freak occurrence you’re a massive David Guetta fan.

Open Swimmer gently eased us into Sunday’s proceedings with beautiful melodic folk pop. Meanwhile, Glasgow-based four-piece Chris Devotion and the Expectations cranked up the amps with no-nonsense punk. On the BBC Introducing stage, Laki Mera played songs that glide along a backdrop of pulsing synths and pastoral acoustic guitar, like they were living on some distant planet.

Back on planet Earth, Admiral Fallow singer Louis Abbott asked the probing question:- “Why arent you watching Nicki Minaj?” to a sweaty BBC Introducing crowd. “Cos she’s shite!” answers an enthusiastic punter. Armed

with a rousing Scottish folk sound, the stage headliners thundered through the best of their back catalogue effortlessly.

Dundee lads Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher continued the party at T Break. Veering more towards Americana than Admiral Fallow, they moved between heartfelt Band-esque ditties, to tongue-in-cheek songs which saw them dip into genres as diverse as

hip-hop. Next act Capitals changed the tempo with their danceable indie pop, but headliners TeKlo took it one notch further with a demented mix of dubstep and electronica.

TeKlo’s set finished like a punch in the face, while Main Stage headliners Kasabian were still swaggering along to a crowd of thousands. Frontman Tom Meighan ended their set with an a cap-

pella chant of The Beatles’ ‘She Loves You’ to adoring fans. Afterwards, the tartan-clad bagpiper played his annual round of Flower of Scotland, and fire-works burst into the blackened sky. Hazy heads floated back into their tents, cars, buses and cardboard boxes. Next year marks the twentieth anniversary of T in the Park. Whatever the weather, it should be a very special occasion.

T in the Park: the storm before the stormFans’ fierce embrace of the quagmire leaves a tough act to follow for 2013’s big 20th birthday celebration

Jane Stockdale

Festivals

Festivals

Erica Lennie


Tom Collins & Jamie Brotherston

If one were to venture amongst the trees and meadows of Lowther Deer Park in late July, you may be forgiven for expecting to see nothing but stunning Cumbrian countryside and the songs of summer birds amongst the hedgerows.

Unfortunately for advocates of peace and quiet, the sights and sounds at this particular time of year are at the other end of the spectrum.

Friday 27 July will go down as one of the most important dates for Britain this year. Of course, it was the first day of Cumbria’s annual music festival Kendal Calling. There was an athletics competitions going on further south too, apparently.

Still a comparatively young festi-val, founded in 2006 by an opportunis-tic local group of music lovers; Kendal Calling has sold out for 7 straight years now. In addition it has also won Britain’s Best Small Music Festival award for the past two years and is a heavy favourite to pick up the prize again at this year’s UK Festival Awards.

Contrary to its title, Kendal Calling

isn’t actually in Kendal. Due its increas-ing success over the years, it is now neighbouring Penrith proclaiming to music lovers all over the land. On first entering the festival, one can notice the stereotypical camp sights – the land-

marking flags, fresh wellies and many weary travellers tiredly deciding the best place to pitch their tent for the musically injected merriment that was to ensue.

For a small festival, Kendal Calling

2012 packed a punch. With a line up that included Dizzee Rascal, James, Feeder and Maximo Park; Kendal Calling had the appeal of major names normally associated with one of its much larger counterparts. However, the small size

of the fields turned out to be one of its one of its biggest draws. Whilst the likes of The View, Scroobius Pip and We Are Scientists rocked the main stage it proved remarkably easy to float into one of the smaller venues, such as the com-mercially hippie Chai Wallahs; to see real up and coming (and mostly British) talent. Chai Wallahs transpired to be the hot spot for this fresh crop of musicians; with names such as Rae Morris, Karima Francis and Lucy Rose surely smoulder-ing embers set to blaze into acclaim.

Perhaps the best embodiment of the overall vibe of Kendal Calling was the man that brought the curtain down on proceedings. The unmatched Craig Charles and his ‘Funk and Soul’ Show, curtain closers of Kendal for a number of years, bopped and jived long into the night; with a seething mass of revellers crammed into the tent and dancing with gusto.

Just a short two-hour drive from Glasgow, Kendal Calling provides a great alternative to anyone looking for a festival experience without the satu-rated crowds while maintaining the big names and talent throughout every tent. Kendal Calling is the Tardis of festi-vals, small by appearance and yet if you explore inside you’ll discover a myriad of musical gems.

Kendal Calling more each yearThe Journal makes a short hop south to sample the increasingly rich festival offerings of The Lake Disctict

Hannah Cordingley

Tom Collins & Jamie Brotherston

Norway, land of the fjords, is renowned for its natural beauty, quiet efficiency and Scandinavian style. This, the 14th Øyafes-tivalen, sought to embody this reputation through music, and did not disappoint. Set amongst the ruins of medieval Oslo, Øya promised a stunning showcase of Norwe-gian musical talent intertwined with inter-national heavyweights; including Björk, The Stone Roses, and Bon Iver.

Launched in 1971 as Kalvøyafestival, named after the island it was situated on just outside of Oslo, Øya has hosted some of music’s all time greats including Nirvana, Eric Clapton and Frank Zappa. After moving to the city in 1999 it has achieved increasing success and now boasts four full days of music, over 15,000 visitors and has been nominated for Europe’s greenest fes-tival three years in a row; winning in 2010. Unusually for a major festival it has not had a single arrest since it started.

The modest layout of the festival, backed by Oslo fjord to the south, the Ekeberg Hill to the east and the newly developed and spectacular harbour to the west, did not detract from the impressive management and running of events, while the musical acts seemed genuinely energised by their surroundings.

The Stone Roses headlined the first night. Fading slightly during their set, they re-gathered to their imperious best on the Enga stage, followed by the elaborate enigma that is Björk on the following night. Also on show was the old school rock-and-

roll cool of the Black Keys, the Black Swan himself, Charles Bradley, and the rabid hip hop swarm that is Odd Future. Although Øya had brought in some of the best inter-national talent around, they also showcased the unexplored and undeniably intriguing realm of Norwegian music. Acts such as the haunting Susanne Sundfør, enigmatic Death by Unga Bunga, rock and roll star Amund Maarud, and soulful Ane Brun immediately raised questions as to why they are relatively unheard of on the inter-national scene.

Speaking to Norwegian star, Mikhael Paskalev, we asked him what it meant as a native to be playing at Øya: - “It is a huge honour to be playing here [at Øya]. As a Norwegian this was the one place I really wanted to play and I was so happy when I heard the news that I was.” The Norwe-gian music scene is a vibrant and distinctive movement, and it would be a crime against music were it to remain under appreciated outside its own shores. However, one can take solace in the fact that, if the standard on show at Øya is anything to go by; this is but a short time concern.

Only a short two hour flight from Scot-land, Øyafestivalen is a very accessible option for anyone who has an appetite to taste a foreign music festival. Øya’s only negative, however, is of course the cur-rency. Norway is notoriously expensive for tourists and you can expect to pay around 55 NOK (around £6) for a pint. But that shouldn’t put prospective party-goers off, for what you spend on food and drink is meaningless when you experience the friendliness, beauty and warmth of the Nor-wegian people and their stunning country. This is by a considerable margin The Jour-nal’s best festival of 2012.

Off to ØyafestivalenTom Collins and Jamie Brotherston journey north to experience the Scandinavian sounds and Norwegian style

Festivals

Festivals

Markus Thorsen



Blair DingwallFilm editor

Often slated by critics for his lavish, glossy, mostly action-packed movies; cel-ebrated the world over by audiences and fans – the death of British filmmaker Tony Scott will undoubtedly be a blow to the film industry.

After his debut feature Loving Memory and the success of his 1983 vampire-flick The Hunger, Scott managed to success-fully blast his way out of the shadow cast over him by his ground-breaking brother Ridley with films such as Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Enemy Of the State and – more recently – actioners like Unstoppable and Man On Fire.

Born in North Shields, Northumbria - it was through his elder brother that Tony was first given an insight into the world of filmmaking with a small role in Ridley’s Boy and Bicycle. It was the 1980s that saw his film career truly kick off, taking him to Hol-lywood, where besides his tireless directing work, he flourished as a producer of both film and TV via the two brothers’ Scott Free productions.

Tony Scott’s modest funeral service was held on Friday 24 August, leaving an unri-valled legacy of Hollywood movies behind. Filming on Ridley Scott’s latest film, the Cormac McCarthy-penned The Counsellor was halted due to the tragic events, and the

director has only recently returned to work.As expected, the Twitter tributes from

celebs and fans alike came flooding in as the news broke.

Collaborating frontman Tom Cruise tweeted: “Tony was my dear friend and I will really miss him. He was a creative visionary whose mark on film is immeasur-able. My deepest sorrow and thoughts are with his family at this time” – TC

True Romance star Christian Slater also took to the web to say, “Shocking and dev-astating news. He was the best and will be greatly missed. Love ya Tony, always have, always will.”

Actor Ben Stiller extended his sympa-thies saying: “Tony Scott made so many movies that influenced so many others. A genre to himself. A real loss. He entertained so many people.”

Fellow Hollywood director Ron Howard, tweeted: “No more Tony Scott movies. Tragic day.”

Following his death in Los Angeles, Scott’s family have set up ‘The Tony Scott Scholarship Fund’ through the Ameri-can Film Institute (AFI). The fund aims to encourage future generations of creative filmmakers.

Scott was renowned for his faith-ful, faded red baseball cap on the sets of his films, and may be best remembered by film buffs for his excellent direction of True Romance – in which he gave Quentin Tarantino’s gritty, demented romance story a visual flair, atmosphere and – above all else – heart.

A tribute to Tony Scott, 1944-2012The loss of the director who came to typify the over-the-top action movie genre is a hard one for cinema fans worldwide to bear

FILM

Reading fest as intense as everEmotional sets abound but it’s expert showmen Green Day who steal the weekend — and some camera equipment

Harris Brine

It’s the second day of Reading Fes-tival. It’s not even past noon and one of the biggest bands in the world, American punk-rock giants Green Day, are halfway through their ‘secret’ set. Amid the back-drop of a spectacular light show and in stereotypically rock-star fashion, a silhou-ette, in centre-stage, energetically thrusts a clenched microphone into the air as the whole audience rapturously repeat his name in adulation.

The idolized figure, however, is not Green Day’s lead singer Billie Joe Arm-strong; it is in fact a shocked member of the audience - ‘Adam’ - pulled up at the front-man’s demand to see out the rest of Know Your Enemy. Although a selfless attempt from the band’s boyish lead singer to make Adam’s experience unforgettable, the gesture was also symbolic of the fes-tival’s essence itself: sincere appreciation from both musician — s and fans in perfect symbiosis.

Aiming to fill the spot that Two Door Cinema Club haven’t yet relinquished, Leeds’ Marsicans initiated the weekend’s antics and it was only two hours before the first jewel of the weekend was unearthed in Family Of The Year. Their sugar-soaked melodies stirred the sound-waves with

unbridled optimism, a spoonful of eupho-ria that was carried through Angels And Airwaves and safely out the other side of Crystal Castles’ version of insanity.

As Bombay Bicycle Club took to the Main Stage, a different kind of fix emerged on the BBC Introducing Stage; Wet Nuns spat out their heavy blues-rock with vocals that make Louis Armstrong sound like he’s spent the night getting high on helium balloons which helps explain ‘What A Wonderful World’.

Friday may have involved search-ing for a fix but the night culminated in finding The Cure. Pictures Of You had - with Robert Smith’s transcendence into seniority - seemed to gain, not lose, its sense of fragility, and was indelible amongst the thirty-one songs played.

Fast-forward fourteen hours and everyone is excitedly vacating the NME tent after Green Day’s exceptional set. After being repeatedly harassed to finish early due to time-constraints, Billie Joe reeled away and bawled,“You know what Reading? Fuck time, this is my show and I’ll do what I want!”, before doing exactly that.

Their blistering show left a discon-certing feeling that nothing could possibly eclipse it, and although nothing did, it cer-tainly didn’t stop The Vaccines, The Black Keys, Django Django and Justice from trying their hardest. Many vivid moments were not lost, but merely diminished in its wake.

I could mention the haunting yet tender Kasabian cover, with Serge on vocals, of The Korgi’s ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’, or a pensive Hayley Williams pulling an overwhelmed fan up on stage to sing out the remains of Para-more’s ‘Misery Business’ Or the reams of wide-eyed wanderers racing to catch Azealia Banks rattle out the nearly-indis-cernible lyrics of ‘212’, At The Drive-In’s emotional reformation speech before exploding into ‘One-Armed Scissor’, or even an emotional Dave Grohl dedicating a song to Kurt Cobain and Kris Novoselic because they “couldn’t be here tonight” twenty years after Nirvana’s infamous Reading performance.

None of it, however, captures the magic of the weekend as when Green Day’s lead singer climbed onto a speaker and hijacked a cameraman’s apparatus. It was in this moment, when the audience were projected onto the large screens from Billie Joe’s first-person viewpoint, that the symbiosis was most transpar-ent. He had turned the focus on the fans, acknowledging that the experience is evenly shared and without them his career would not be what it is today. In a world where a musician’s complete artis-tic output can be downloaded for free in less time than it takes to listen to their debut album, playing a sincere, unforget-table performance is worth its weight in gold. And this weekend had vaults of the stuff.

Marc Sethi

Festivals


Blair Dingwall Film editor

Glasgow’s cinema screens shall get a taste of controversy this month as Scala Beyond’s UK-wide film season kicks off at the Glasgow Film Theatre.

Starting this week, the GFT will exhibit an ‘Out of Bounds’ season in accordance with the organisation, giving Glaswegians the opportunity to see some of the most controversial films ever made on the big screen.

According to Scala Beyond’s pro-ducer, Michael Pierce, the festival aims to, “shine a spotlight on all the people who are doing stuff outside of normal cinemas.”

‘Out of Bounds’ started at the GFT on Tuesday the 4th of September with a screening of Tod Browning’s bizarre Freaks, and will continue with Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom on 11 September - often regarded as the most controversial film ever. Following this is Freder-ick Wiseman’s documentary Titticut Follies on the 18th and the Marlon Brando-starring Last Tango in Paris on the 25th.

The season finishes in Glasgow on Friday 28 September with Stanley Kubrick’s demented masterpiece, A

Clockwork Orange.The mini-festival was conceived

last year as ‘Scala Forever”’– a cin-ematic celebration of the infamous Scala cinema at London’s Kings Cross.

Says Pierce on its origins: “There was a sort of nostalgia for the Scala cinema itself - which was a cinema in King’s Cross which used to be quite notorious for the films that it showed. Exploitation films, punk films, rock and roll films. A big range. And old films, not new releases.”

After the building’s completion in 1920, the Scala went on to become one of North London’s most loved cinemas. It was the 1970s that redefined the Scala, beginning in 1971 screening adult films and ending the decade as a primatarium, after which it closed. It reopened as an art house cinema in the 1980s, until being closed following a court battle in the 90s over an illegal screening of A Clockwork Orange.

The Scala now runs as a popular London venue.

“It was a two-edged festival really that we wanted to look at the past and look at the legacy of that cinema and then also look at what’s happening now in terms of film clubs and festi-vals,” he continues.

This year marks the first year that the Scala season has branched so far out of London, with Edinburgh and Glasgow participating for the first time.

“I think this year was very much an experiment. To get so many partners on board is really great,” Pierce says.

“It’s great to see more events hap-pening further away from London, the likes of Scotland, and around New-castle and Manchester. Loads of new places are taking it up which is great.”

Potential exhibitors from across the nation were asked by Scala’s organ-isers to submit to them proposals – in any form – for cinema exhibition.

The finished product pieced together an immense line-up of films from throughout history, all given the big-screen treatment in venues ranging from cinemas to homes.

However, many films such as these showing the GFT have now been in cir-culation for years, and with attitudes changing towards film censorship in the modern world, and what is right and what is wrong to show in a movie – do the films at ‘Out of Bounds’ still have the power to shock audiences?

Pierce believes so: “It seems like the shock factor could fade over time, but the things they’re talking about are still shocking. Like Freaks, it would be really hard to make that film now because people would be up-in-arms saying it’s insensitive.”

‘Scala Beyond’ began this year on 18 August and runs until 29 September in cities all across the UK.

Blair Dingwall Film editor

Brutal. Bloody. Hard-as-nails. It could only be John Hillcoat’s Lawless, a western set in a time and place where laws can be bent and abandoned.

This place is Franklin County, Vir-ginia during America’s years of prohibi-tion; and the people are the Bondurant Brothers – Jack (Shia LaBeouf ), Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke)

– moonshiners in “The Wettest County in the World.”

Based on real events and adapted from the book of this name by Matt Bondurant – grandson of Jack - Lawless mixes the hardened violence of a Sam Peckinpah film with the spirit and struc-ture of a good ol’ fashioned John Ford western.

With a host of cult acting talent (Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman), gritty visuals and a solid script by Nick Cave to fall back on, Lawless is great from the brutal, pig-slaughtering opening scene.

Lawless deals with themes of mortal-ity, brotherhood and – that old Peckin-pah favourite – the violence of men, and in Cave and Hillcoat’s vision of Franklin, heroes have as much bloodlust as villains and policemen are bitch-slapped when they step out of line.

That’s not to say that Lawless is perfect; this film does have its flaws.

First and foremost being the absence of Gary Oldman for most of the film’s 115 minutes. When he’s on-screen, he hogs it, but his role as gangster Floyd Banner is so brief it’s almost a cameo.

Another problem is the lack of devel-opment for some of the biggest, best

characters – Chastain for one, excellent as always – who feels thrown very sud-denly into the mix of the film at early stage.

It’s Guy Pierce – followed closely by Hardy - who stands out from the crowd in Lawless. Pierce is genuinely terrifying as the eyebrow-less, cruel Chicago agent sent to the sticks to bust the boys’ moon-shining operation wide open.

Next to Hardy’s tough, cowboy Forrest – it doesn’t take long for Lawless to rope you in.

Even LaBeouf-haters will notice a new maturity to his performance of Jack; a seriousness not seen much since 2006’s excellent A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. He’s far from the gobby nerd we’ve grown to love/hate in the Trans-formers movies.

There’s some marvelous scenes in Lawless, most of them featuring Hardy or Pierce to some degree, but just as often it’s LaBeouf – as the film’s protagonist – who’s keeping us interested.

One of the best moments in the film is a scene when Jack - drunk and sweaty – attends a church service as he attempts to

‘court’ the young, beautiful and devoutly religious Bertha (Mia Wasikowska).

It’s a riveting scene with a very strong sense of redemption; playing to the film’s themes of lawlessness, and the South as a Godless and cruel place.

Besides this there is an abundance of shocking, gripping moments – from the rowdiness of the “Have you met Howard?” scene, to Gary Oldman floor-ing a henchman with a spade.

It’s funny at times, but more often than not Lawless is in-your-face aggres-sive and – more than anything else – cool without glorifying its violence.

At the end of the day Lawless is a western in spirit, themes and style; and like all memorable westerns it uses vio-lence, fear and revenge as tools as it careers towards a fantastic final show-down of Law vs the Lawless.

Glasgow looks beyondLondon-based film season branches across the UK

LawlessJohn Hillcoat’s film is effortlessly cool, with a

surprising performance from Shia LaBeouf

c scalaheart.co.uk

FILM

FILM



Caroline Armour

Hillhead, the first of the Glasgow Subway stations to undergo renovation, is awaiting the unveiling of a huge mural in its foyer area by local artist Alasdair Gray.

The artwork is currently covered by a black board sporting in large white letters “Work as if you live in the early days of a better world”. Underneath the board, sitting in wait, is Hillhead Station.

Intricately drawn so that much of the Hillhead skyline can be seen together, Alasdair Gray, the artist behind the mural, has not only seen to represent this area of the city but also the people and their idiosyncracies.

SPT Vice Chair David Fagan said: “Glasgow is one of the great international cities of culture and I believe that it is important that the Subway contributes to that cultural vibrancy. The stations offer a unique opportunity to integrate art in a way that enhances the quality of the internal space for staff, passengers and the wider community, so it made sense that SPT should place public art at the heart of its subway modernisation plans.”

Either side of the cityscape, there will be tiles depicting amongst others: Lovely Mums; Hopeful Children; Sharp Sting-ers; Wise Old Owls; Bold Explorers; and Kind Friends. The project aims to give users of the subway station opportunities to identify with a tile or see similarities in the faces of their fellow travellers. And with that, a new travel game has been born.

The final piece is still very much under wraps but in order to brave the unusual weather conditions Gray’s design has been transferred onto tiles, suited to withstand changes in tempera-ture and the high levels of human traffic

the station is accustomed to.The cityscape is based on an illustra-

tion from one of Gray’s books titled ‘Old Men in Love’. His career is one which has swung between writing and art, often combining the two. This means that his work can be found all over the Hillhead area - either in the bookshops, the library and in The Ubiquitous Chip or Oran Mor, who have his paintings on display.

However, questions could be raised as to why an impressive work of art - care-fully tailored to represent the area - has been placed in a location where people generally try to spend as little time as possible. It may seem fairly unlikely that, during rush hour, people would linger to appreciate artwork regardless of its quality; although at 7ft tall and 40ft wide even the most rushed of commuters

would be hard pushed to miss it.Fagan argues “as Hillhead was the

first station to be refurbished, it was vital that any artwork installed there should have real impact. Glasgow artist Alasdair Gray was a natural first choice and I’m convinced that people will be inspired when they see the scale and detail of the work he has created.”

Either way, the mural is set to be

the show stopper of the £287m Subway refurbishment which has seen the Hill-head station transformed into a bright and modern space, a far cry from its pre-vious cave-like state.

The series of renovations continues with Partick station in the Spring of next year, part of the ambitious and extensive program to regenerate and rejuvenate Glasgow’s famous underground.

Mural Marks Subway RegenerationMural by Glasgow artist Alasdair Gray sits at the forefront of Subway revamp

Hannah McAvoy

Walking into the current exhibition of the work of Scottish Colourist George Leslie Hunter held in the City Art Centre in Edinburgh, one is immediately struck by the range of work on display.

And this range is not confined to the dates of the pieces, although the array of work spanning from the artist’s early drawings to his wonderful finished can-vases is particularly impressive.

Leslie Hunter: A Life in Colour draws us in to a range of style, influence, medium and, perhaps most importantly, colour.

George Leslie Hunter was born the youngest of five children in 1877 in Rothe-say on the Isle of Bute. Following the death of two of his siblings in their early twenties, Hunter moved with his family to California in 1892, where they would spend the next seven years.

When his family decided to return to Scotland, Hunter remained in America

and moved to San Francisco which was to become the setting of the early stage of his artistic career.

The exhibition in Edinburgh, with pieces from both private and public col-lections across the UK, displays a number of examples of the artist’s work from his stay in San Francisco. During this time Hunter produced illustrations for books, newspapers and magazines whilst pre-paring for the first solo exhibition of his work. He then spent two years paint-ing and sketching in Paris, Holland and London during which time his pursuit of colour flourished and he produced some of his finest pieces, from his Velázquez-inspired still life paintings to his depic-tions of the southern French landscape.

Unfortunately, when Hunter returned to San Francisco he found that his studio had been destroyed in one of the many fires which resulted from a massive earthquake in the city in 1906. Dejected by the loss of his work and the subse-quent impossibility of holding a solo exhi-bition, Hunter returned to Scotland.

Although the least known of the four Scottish Colourists, the others being

S.J Peploe (1871-1937), J.D Fergusson (1874-1916) and F.C.B Cadell (1883-1937), Hunter produced some of the greatest examples of the group’s understand-ing of French painting, many of which can be found throughout the exhibition. Provençal Landscape (c.1928) shows us the mature skill of a painter who never received any formal training, the Post-Impressionistic treatment of form testa-ment to the influence of the painter who stood at the forefront of Post-Impression-ism, Paul Cézanne. He also sought inspi-ration in the work of Vermeer, Velázquez, Van Gogh, Matisse and many others, a better understanding of which we might gain by visiting the complementary exhi-bition one floor up in the City Art Centre; The Scottish Colourists: Inspiration and Influence.

Sadly, George Leslie Hunter was neglectful of an ongoing health problem and died from a ruptured gall bladder fol-lowing an emergency operation in 1931. For further biographical information, the exhibition is accompanied by the first biography of the artist for 70 years. The current exhibition in Edinburgh brings

to light the work of one of Scotland’s most celebrated artists and is part of the internationally renowned Edinburgh Art Festival. Curator Bill Smith believes that revisiting Hunter’s work will provide a

greater understanding of his aims as an artist: “It is hoped that people will appre-ciate what Hunter was trying to do in terms of Scottish Art, he was in advance perhaps of his time.”

Leslie Hunter: A Life in ColourThe Journal takes a look at the life and work of Scottish Colourist Leslie Hunter

dvdbramhall

Jassy EarlVisual Art

Visual Art


Jassy Ear l ‘With the Olympics drawing to a close, the torch has been passed onto Scotland as Glasgow prepares for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Of course, the precious moments we all shared as part of the Olympics, whether in London or elsewhere basking in the unavoidable national pride, are still fresh but decades down the line what will we have to hand to look back on? Scotland Can Make It!, an exhibition at The Peoples Palace and Winter Gardens, presents six prototypes inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Glasgow 2014 Common-wealth Games that aim to offer a lasting material legacy of the events whilst articulating the rich cultural and imagi-native landscape of Scotland today.

Souvenirs serve as physical traces of our experience and provide a nar-ration to the world we inhabit and the worlds we may have forgotten. In light

of the impending Glasgow 2014 Com-monwealth Games, local independent curator duo Catriona Duffy and Lucy McEachan, aka Panel, invited Scottish artists and designers to submit propos-als for original souvenirs that could be created to go on sale alongside the Games. Key manufacturing companies throughout Scotland including Tun-nocks and Rogano have come together to produce a nostalgic and personal approach to souvenirs whilst forging local connections and placing an empha-sis on their cultural context, deliberately calling us back to the place of their pro-duction. Within the six designs a variety of ideas and mediums are presented, all challenging our expectations of the tra-ditional Scottish keepsake.

Emlyn Firth, Angharad McLaren and Johnstons of Elgin have collaborated to produce a scarf; a traditional signifier of sporting allegiance, that celebrates the concept of Home [h] and Away [a] and the pride supporters feel whether in their home city or away competing elsewhere. Firth - a graphic designer - and McLaren a weave designer worked

together to create a contemporary design that maintains a rich sense of Scottish textile heritage. The herringbone struc-ture of tweed has been abstracted into a series of geometric shapes; redeveloping the traditional expectations of textile production and achieving a great degree of depth and rhythm within the pattern.

Textiles have been further utilized with Atelier EB and Marc Camille Chaimowicz alongside Begg Scotland and McRostie of Glasgow. They have produced a lambswool and cashmere blanket to encapsulate experience rather than boasting any logos or pre-scribed visual identity. The ownership of the souvenir has been taken from the claws of the conglomerates concerned with generating revenue and placed in the hands of those who cherish their own memories.

There is also room for the more whimsical but equally delightful mementoes in the shape of the Tun-nocks medal. Claire Duffy, a freelance designer based in Edinburgh has worked with Tunnocks to produce affordable medals people can use to celebrate their

own achievements; actively encourag-ing community spirit during the Games. Tunnocks confectionary is celebrated globally for its iconic packaging and it’s family values hailing back from 1890. If there was ever a slice of Scottish nostal-gia, it’s definitely located in the marsh-mallow of a Tunnocks teacake. The medals are assembled inside the pack-aging for limited edition gold, silver and bronze foiled covered teacakes; instantly recognisable but entirely unique.

The intricacy of dye casting and jew-ellery has been explored in the impres-sive casting of a single gold model ten-ement. Neil McGuire and Marianne Anderson have used the language of architecture and its capacity to carry a narrative to investigate urban regenera-tion and displacement at the hands of

‘mega-events’ like the Olympics. ‘The Golden Tenement’ calls attention to the story of one resident’s eviction. The prevalent image of the Scottish building type is encased in Olympic gold, pur-posely playing on the connotations of medallions to build a legacy but also for people to elaborate their own narratives

of regeneration and to reconnect that with their city and the Games.

Whilst the Games can be explored visually and texturally there is also the audible experience to be accounted for. The Edinburgh based Arts Collec-tive FOUND along with CHEMICAL UNDERGROUND have produced an audiovisual postcard of Glasgow in the shape of an iPhone app. ‘Great Circle’ is an interactive app with images and pictures that will change in relation to your direction of travel in Glasgow but more importantly in relation to the Commonwealth Sports Arena. Exactly how you experience the Games depends on where you are; a distinctly different experience every time it is played.

The prototypes are a promising reshaping of an often disconnected and misunderstood image of Scotland. Could the days of Scottish souvenirs dominated by tartan objects and shortbread tins armed with a novelty bottle of whiskey and a bagpipe be gone? A Scotland that is at the forefront of creative and cultural innovation could indeed reign over the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

A thoughtful and original reimagining of the idea of the souvenir - and a great retort to Scotland’s traditional tourist tat

Scotland Can Make It!

Jassy Earl

Visual Art

Jassy EarlJassy Earl

26 // A&E @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


Nadine WalkerFashion editor

Glasgow’s The Lighthouse beamed grand pockets of light for Deben-hams last week, perfectly fitting for the department store’s Autumn/Winter press launch on a warm August evening.

With a predictable festive and party-season theme, the products boasted glamour and convenience - an often impossible pairing.

Beautiful Vegas still dresses ticked all the modern boxes, 1920s flapper and leather paneling standing out as a favourite.

Mingling around the impressive get-ups were fashion-design royalty in the form of Henry Holland and a beauti-fully fresh-faced Louise Redknapp.

Debenhams continue to surprise the fashion pack with collaborations that sur-prise and reek of street cred.

Last season gave Holland a chance to step out of the fashion-tights-pigeon-hole with his pretty dresses and quirky prints.

Both Holland and Redknapp have worked closely with Debenhams on their aptly-named fashion and beauty collections.

This caused a stir during the evening, revellers almost threatening to steal the products on show.

Redknapp’s beauty range focuses strongly on skin care typical of a woman with a fresh-faced glow that rebels against her birth certificate.

Designers at Debenhams came up

trumps again, especially the two-piece tweed leather skirt and jacket from Henry Holland, transforming the typi-cally vintage fabric and colour palate into a trendy piece for the twenty-something.

With all this mention of Henry Holland, you would think his dapper skinny suit and sparkly brogue shoes caused some sort of dazzling trance.

Well perhaps, but it didn’t stop Red Herring’s demure prints and Julian Mac-Donald’s gorgeous pony-skinned bags from demanding attention across the vast corners of the room.

From Van Gogh to KandinskyThe Journal visits the Scottish National Gallery’s summer presentation of avante-garde symbolist paintings

Katharina DziackoArt editor

This summer’s main exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery presents a selec-tion of impressive symbolist landscape paintings by the world’s most famous avant-garde artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky.

According to curator Frances Fowle, symbolism is not very well known in Britain. The exhibition shall help to explore different definitions of this spe-cific art section. Frances Fowle said: “One thing that we wanted to do is to explain symbolism to the public.”

Concentrating on the natural world around them, symbolist artists were able to suggest a reality of more signifi-cance and deepness behind the ordi-nary everyday life. “Symbolist imagery was inspired by the imagination, and led artists to respond to their surroundings freely as shown in this remarkable collec-tion of landscape paintings,“ said Michael Clarke, director of the Scottish National Gallery.

In many ways it was the reaction against materialism of the 19th century. “It was expressing people’s anxieties about their place in the world. Initially, it began as a literary movement in France. Jean Moréas was a poet and he published what is known as Symbolist Manifesto. It was a kind of statement about writing and how it should present reality,” explained

Fowle.The exhibition is organised themati-

cally. It reveals how symbolism spread from France to centres like Belgium, Germany, Poland and Finland. Fowle said: “We are looking at the impact of symbolism right across Europe, and there is a particularly important section of the exhibition, which focuses on Nordic, Scandinavian and Finnish Art.”

The first room of the exhibition presents Arcadia with images of unspoiled regions by artists like Chavannes. It goes on with sections on the Nordic, Scandi-navian art presenting paintings between naturalism and symbolism by artists like Gallen-Kallella.

The Symbolic Dream section presents among others works by painter Munch. Almost monochromatic and dark paint-

ings by artists like Whistler are to be found in the city section. The Rhythms of Nature section present more colourful and vivid works by artists like Van Gogh and Mondrian and the final room reveals the link between painting and music with works by artists like Kandinsky.

To gain some sort of understand-ing from the paintings, you are asked for more imagination in each section. The meaning seems to be hidden deeper and more and more in colours and abstract-ness. From rather dark but natural images right at the beginning you move towards images of some sort of colourful mystery. “Kandinsky painted recognizably land-scapes but then moved into something much more abstract, sort of spiritual art. He talks about links between colour and emotions, colour and music and this

kind of spiritual dimension, so he seems like the fitting point of the exhibition,” explained Fowle.

As the final section reveals: “In his 1911 manifesto, concerning spiritual in art, Kandinsky drew parallels between colour, emotions and music, writing that ‘colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul’.” Stands with iPads within the exhibition make it possible to listen to music or poetry when looking at key works.

This gives visitors great opportunity to experience certain paintings in combi-nation with other artistic or music pieces, known to have had some inspirational effect on the artists and their works.

Henry Holland dominates Debenhams launchSurprises continue with department store’s latest

collaborations

Visual Art

Visual Art

Katharina Dziacko Nadine Walker


Edinburgh International FestivalInternational Festival Edinburgh 2012 presents Szymanowski and Bramhms Symphonies

Olivia PiresManaging editor

Scotland’s first authentic Russian restaurant with a menu as varied as the former USSR itself, Cafe Cossa-chok serves up dishes reminiscent of traditional Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian and Moldavian cuisine in a suitably vibrant folksy setting complete with art gallery, rustic furniture, a ceiling adorned with Russian shawls, blood red walls and the ever-recognisable matry-oshka dolls.

Surprisingly quiet for a Saturday lunch hour, the service was friendly and prompt with starters and light dishes from as little as £3.75 and mains starting

at under £10. The vegetarian options are thoughtful and enticing rather than an afterthought and there is everything from fresh salads to hearty veggie dumplings and musaka.

A customary bowl of borscht to kick off the meal was unexpectedly tasty despite its simple ingredients, followed by succulent Babushka Blintzes: pan-cakes filled with mixed vegetables and spices drizzled with a pleasant orange sauce.

The drinks menu is almost more impressive than meals offered with a choice of imported Russian and Czech beers, plain and flavoured vodkas, famil-iar cocktails and house specials such as Russian Coffee complete with a shot of vodka and Hot Black Cranberry – a Latvian herbal liqueur with cranberry juice and grenadine syrup. A bottle of Budvar went down smoothly but I decided to save the stronger brews for perhaps an evening visit to one of Cossa-

chok’s live folk music nights.Desserts do not disappoint with most

of the sugary vanilla jammy delights on offer for under £5. My Blini Mamuska

– fluffy pancakes served with jam and honey topped with smetana, a sort of sour crème fraîche which favourably cuts down the sweetness of the dish – were duly satisfying. My guest’s Kutuzov Cake was similarly moreish offering up soft sticky layers of sponge honey and walnut.

Café Cossachok is an escape from the city’s traditional Italian heritage, tapas bars and pub grub. For the diner who wants something different, an authentic Eastern European experience with lively welcoming atmosphere at affordable cost, this culinary paradise on the edge of the Merchant City is a must.

10 King Street, Merchant City, Glasgow G1 5QP www.cossachok.com

Gallery CossachokThis Russian cafe provides a welcome escape from Glasgow’s traditional Italian heritage, at reasonable prices

Katharina Dziacko

Katharina Dziacko Art editor

As part of the world-famous interna-tional festival of Edinburgh, this year the Usher Hall played host to an impressive partnership of conductor Valery Gergiev with the London Symphony Orchestra, performing the complete Szymanowski and Brahms Symphonies on the first of several European events.

In 2011 Valery Gergiev was nominated Honorary President of the International Festival in Edinburgh. Gergiev is famous for his work as director of the Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra for Prokofrev’s Cin-derella, cheographed by Alexei Ratman-sky. With great pianist Denis Matsuev and violinist Leonidas Kavakos at his side, the final concert on 19 August became a great success.

Conductor Gergiev decided to con-clude the festival residency of the London Symphony Orchestra with the final sym-phonic creations by both Szymanowski and Brahms, their respective Fourth Sym-phonies, as well as the K. Szymanowski - Violin Concerto No 2.

According to the International Festi-val team Szymanowski’s Symphony No 4 is ”a piano concerto in all but name, its percussive brilliance tempered by magical

moments of lyrical reflection”.Brahm’s Fourth Symphony on the

other hand represents the summation of his orchestral music: “serious yet tran-scendent, passionate but intellectually rigorous. It’s hard not to feel moved by the slow unfolding of the final movement’s towering passacaglia, based on church music by Bach”, as they discovered.

The passion with which conductor Gergiev, as well as the musicians Matsuev and Kavakos were working stayed highly visible all night long, still each of them managed to reveal a special form of indi-viduality in their work and to bring it closer to the audience.

In a highly focused manner, con-ductor Gergiev led the London Sym-phony Orchestra through the evening. The passion with which pianist Matsuev was playing was filled with energy and a special form of elegance; and violinist Kavakos, known as one of world’s finest violinsts, managed to express an intense form of intimacy in his music.

Festival Director Jonathan Mills said: “Every year, since 1947 we have set out to create an event to inspire and uplift audi-ences. In the words of Sir John Falconer, Lord Provost of Edinburgh at the time, the Festival exists to ‘provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit’. In hard times as well as good the Festival remains one of the world’s most important exam-ples of the power of culture and the arts to transform individual ambitions in lives.“

Visual Art

Food & Drink

Kaitlin M

28 // SPORT @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


Ruth Jeffery Sport editor

We have never asked our sports stars to be perfect. Never have we wanted shining poster-boys who toe the party line. Legends of all sports have usually had moments of indiscretion. One thing that is getting tiresome, however, is the constant misunderstanding of Twitter which seems to plague modern would-be-heroes.

The line between flirtatious internet banter and professional misconduct has been debated time and time again, with history repeating itself and a foot-in-mouth apology offered. Often the press are guilty of over-reaction, but anyone in the public eye should be aware of the delicacy needed when tweeting. And the famous of the sports world are rep-resenting not only themselves, but their sport and, in some cases, teammates. This week the miscreant under scrutiny

was Lewis Hamilton.The Formula 1 driver posted a pho-

tograph last week which showed telem-etry data highlighting the differences between laps by himself and Button. Speed, tyre pressures and ride height

were all included, information which would have been valuable to rival car engineers.

Hamilton was not fined or banned, but was forced to take down the picture and later apologised. Whatever one’s

views on the appropriateness of the post, the fact that Hamilton should have known better cannot be denied. A sportsman of his fame should be aware of the interest in his online presence. The photo, which could be damaging to the McLaren campaign, was re-tweeted and sent across the world in a matter of seconds.

Not the first one to overstep the mark on the internet, Hamilton only had to look at the rest of the sporting world to see that Twitter now matters. Ryan Babel, Rio Ferdinand, Amar’e Stoude-nire…the lessons of what not to write on Twitter are there in black and white.

Hamilton might have been given an easy ride by McLaren publicly, but behind closed doors he surely received a royal rollicking. For an internet blunder which was only damaging internally for the F1 outfit, this seems appropri-ate. Babel, Ferdinand and Stoudenire, however, posted tweets which were

potentially offensive to the public, and directly brought their sport into disrepute.

Babel’s error was the mocked-up photo of referee Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt; Rio Ferdinand referred to Ashley Cole as a ‘choc-ice’, a slang phrase meaning black on the outside, white on the inside, during the John Terry race trial; and Stoudenire called a Twitter follower a ‘faggot’. The three were fined £10,000, £45,000 and $50,000 (about £31,000) respectively.

This, it seems to me, is not enough. Fining sports stars — particularly foot-ballers and basketball players — does not work as a deterrent because of their abominably high wages. And whether or not the three cases were truly terrible, a preventative measure is needed to stop internet slandering and bickering spiral-ling out of control. Ryan Babel was the first football player to be fined by the FA. The first, but not the last. Had he been

given a three-match ban, he might well have been the last.

Exaggeration, possibly, but the truth remains that a boundary has to be firmly set on the internet. Our poster boys can have personality without offending.

The sport stars’ ignominious Twitter hall of fame The social media website continues to serve as an all-too-accessible outlet for sport’s most temperamental icons

by Ruth Je� ery

Shelvey and Walden cue off at Melwood

Liverpool player Jonjo Shelvey faced opposition of a different kind when he squared up to snooker world number ten Ricky Walden in Melwood recently. Keen ‘Pool fan Walden challenged the Anfield midfielder to a best-of-three snooker match, and won 2-1. Kop fans will be hoping Shelvey’s table defeat isn’t a sign of things to come after the Reds’ poor start to the season.

Pietersen’s international career on the slide

Kevin Pietersen has not been given a new contract with the England cricket team, furthering reports that he has been sidelined from international action. Pie-tersen faced discipline from the Interna-tional Cricket Council for texts to South African players which allegedly con-tained tactical advice and abusive com-ments about former text skipper Andrew Strauss. Pietersen was dropped from the England team for their third test match.

Domenicali calls for higher driving standards

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domeni-cali says Formula 1 should take action to curb aggressive driving after Romain

Grosjean caused a four car pile-up during the Belgian Grand Prix last week. Domen-icali’s star Fernando Alonso was involved in the crash, leading the chief to call for higher driving standards to be taught to junior drivers. Grosjean was given a one-race ban after causing the crash.

Roddick retiresAndy Roddick has retired after a four-set defeat by Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth round of the US Open. The American served his last ball on the court where he claimed his only Grand Slam title — the US Open in 2003. His exit from tennis means that there is currently no American male playing who has won a Grand Slam singles title.

Garcia boosts Europe’s Ryder Cup team

Ryder Cup holders Europe had another team member confirmed this week as Sergio Garcia secured his place on the team. The Spaniard won the Wyn-ndham Championship in North Carolina, meaning he will be travelling to Chicago at the end of September to take on the Americans. Garcia has had a welcome return to form recently, and his pres-ence will be welcomed on the European team as he has helped them win three out of the four Ryder Cups in which he has participated.

“The lessons of what not to write on Twitter are there in black and white.”

Scotland storm 2012 Olympics Team GB’s third place at the London Olympics showed o� top Scots athletes

Jonathan McIntosh

Scottish athletes won a record number of medals at the London 2012 Olympics, with seven gold, four silver and three bronze medallists. As a sep-arate team, Scotland would have fin-ished 12th in the medals table, narrowly behind Australia.

After a relatively disappointing start to Team GB’s Olympic campaign, Heather Stanning from Lossiemouth won Britain’s first gold medal of London 2012 in the women’s coxless pairs. This was the first gold medal ever won by British female rowers. Another rowing medal came in as Edinburgh Univer-sity graduate Katherine Grainger finally won gold in the doubles sculls after winning silver in Athens and Beijing.

Scotland’s poster boy Andy Murray also tasted success in the tennis, beating Roger Federer in the final of the men’s singles to grab a gold medal. Hours later, a silver medal came from the mixed doubles with British youngster Laura Robson. Another much-talked about Scot was Edinburgh cyclist Chris Hoy. The cyclist become the most suc-cessful British Olympian of all time with two golds at London 2012. He found success in the Team Sprint with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny. He also won the Men’s Keirin.

Despite Team GB’s disappoint-ing showing in the pool, Glaswegian Michael Jamieson won silver in the 200

metre backstroke. After breaking three British records in the process, he was only denied gold by a world-record-breaking swim.

Dan Purvis was part of the men’s gymnast team who won a historic bronze medal in the Team All Around. The un-fancied British team had last won a team medal in gymnastics in 1912. Another unlikely looking medal came from Aberdeen’s Luke Patience. After his final race was delayed by a lack of wind, the 470-class sailor was delighted

to finally get his hands on the silver.Water-sports were afloat as Team

GB’s success in the C2 Canoe Slalom resulted the gold and silver medals. Beijing silver medallist David Florence added another silver medal, but it was Timothy Baillie who took the gold, beating his teammate by a fraction of a second.

Great Britain finished a massive third in the Olympics this year, with many suggesting that a home Olympics was an important advantage.

mbevis on Flickr

SPORT// 29@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

Snippets from a sensational sporting summerFaster than Farah, a thrilling sports line-up made the summer fly by

Jak Purkiss Staff writer

The summer of 2012 will be forever remembered as the time when people from across the globe lost touch with the real world and escaped. Not to the sundrenched beaches, but to their television sets, to their radios, to their newspapers, to anything that would enable a glimpse at the next big sporting event. We’ve had it all, from records broken to dreams shattered. Never before has ‘summer’ and ‘sport’ been so compatible.

The Spanish Conquer Europe: A sensational feat, having won the World Cup, Spain went into the Euros knowing they could do something no other team had managed to do before. They did it, easily; at the same time banishing the press grumbles about ‘boring’ football with a thrilling 4-0 final win over Italy.

Murray Magic: Andy Murray became the first British tennis player since Fred Perry to reach a Wim-bledon final only to be beaten by the seemingly unflappable Federer. Incredible events only weeks later saw a sublime resolve of character from Murray. Removing the nightmares of losing on centre court, he clinched an Olympic gold medal against none other than Roger Federer in a straight sets demolition.

Ernie is Open Champion: While others simply couldn’t handle all the final day pressure that comes with this magnificent sporting spectacle, one man could. Ernie Els’ victory speech touched on the mixture of emotions that come with professional sport. He could barely accept the reward for sympathising with fellow competi-tor Adam Scott. A touching accept-ance speech that reached the hearts of many.

‘Wiggo’ wins the yellow jersey: Bradley Wiggins became the first Brit to win the Tour De France. An awe-inspiring achievement considering he brushed himself down to win gold at the Olympics only a few weeks later.

Olympics Mania: there are almost too many contenders for this as we were treated to a spectacular games which saw records smashed and history books re-written.

Michael Phelps: the greatest Olympian of all time, enough said?

Usain Bolt: a phenomenal advocate for the sport of athletics; a true cham-pion on the track combined with an infectious attitude off it. This simply, is how sport should be portrayed.

Jessica Ennis: an incredibly daunt-ing and potentially dangerous task lay

ahead of the so-called ‘golden girl of the games.’ The nations’ hearts rooted for her before she had even begun but they came together as one to roar her onto that magical moment.

Mo Farah: One gold medal wasn’t enough for Farah as he not only smashed the field in the 5000m but thought he ought to do the same when it came to doubling the distance. A very humbling, human touch was added when his pregnant wife and daughter came onto the track to celebrate.

Ben Ainslie: The best Olympic sailor of all time. This particular triumph was one for both the individ-ual and for the sport of sailing, raising its profile and deservedly so.

Sir Chris Hoy: The Edinburgh man rode proudly to become Britain’s most celebrated Olympic athlete and even shed a tear or two when collect-ing his medal; a poignant touch from a brilliant man.

The real beauty of this particular summer has not just been the aes-thetic brilliance that all these athletes have displayed for our enjoyment, but the way that all this brought a nation together. It removed talk of bleak eco-nomic outlooks and replaced it with joyous celebrations, and a feeling that we can come together to achieve and succeed.

DeGust on Flickr

Life without RangersThere is much to be positive about in the SPL this season

Gary Paul Staff writer

The summer months brought with them many comings and goings in the world of football, but perhaps none quite so controversial as the departure of Glasgow Rangers from the top table of Scottish football. Entering liquidation on 14 June, Rangers were forced to form as a new company and reapply for Scot-tish Football Association (SFA) membership.

Fans of the remaining 11 SPL clubs were vocal in their demands that the new Rangers were not read-mitted directly to the SPL as any such special treatment would surely bring the integrity of the league into dispute. The SPL clubs’ chairmen voted to reject Ranger’s application and they start life in the third divi-sion this year.

Despite scaremongering from Rangers fans and journalists, and even SFA chief-executive Stewart Regan forecasting a ‘slow lingering death for Scottish football’, things are not quite as grim as you might expect in the SPL right now.

Sky Sports and ESPN have con-firmed their continued financial support, so the ‘lucrative’ TV deal remains intact giving clubs much more room to manoeuvre in the

transfer market than many had pre-dicted. We have seen Hibernian, Dundee United, Aberdeen and St Johnstone all add to their starting eleven’s over the summer, although most clubs would admittedly have preferred a little more strength in depth.

However, this lack of squad depth may be a blessing in disguise as it affords first team opportunities to many younger players. Already this

season fans have been raving about performances from Gary Mackay-Steven at Dundee United, Callum Paterson at Hearts, Ryan Fraser at Aberdeen and Kenny Maclean at St Mirren. Motherwell’s back four last Saturday had an average age of just 20 and put in a solid performance in the absence of several first team reg-ulars, while Kilmarnock’s Matthew Kennedy earned himself a £250,000

move to Everton on the back of his start to the season.

Elsewhere, Celtic’s qualifica-tion for the Champions League group stages offers a chance to improve Scottish football’s standing in Europe, as well as forcing them to blood their own youngsters as their squad stretches to tackle both domestic and European competition.

After five rounds of fixtures Motherwell sit atop the SPL, but just three points separates them from ninth-placed Aberdeen. Newly promoted Ross County were just seconds from defeating Celtic, and this season has peculiarly seen more draws than any other at this stage; the league really is tighter than ever before.

This increased competition is exciting: attendances have increased and with several sides still to really get into their stride, there is much to be positive about in the SPL this season.

And all this is happening without the Rangers we supposedly depended upon! Sectarian chants have already been heard back in the stands at Ibrox and their manage-ment continue to offer exorbitant wages, albeit now in a league of part-time clubs. Rangers may not have changed but the rest of Scottish foot-ball is evolving.

Matthew WilkinsonSCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE (?) FOOTBALL

“Despite the scaremongering, things are not as grim as you might expect.”

30 // SPORT @GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal


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Paralympics a Team GB success story Brits shone in London to come third in medal table, with 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze medals at the final tally

Jonathan McIntosh Staff writer

The London 2012 Paralympic Games have taken the nation by storm, with at least as many moments of con-troversy, joy and heartbreak as the Olympic Games that preceded it..

With full arenas and a packed stadium every night, the Paralym-pics have never had so much positive attention in any previous games and the 16 hour-a-day Channel 4 coverage has helped to bring the games into the homes of millions of Brits.

Team GB outdone all expectations, taking home 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze medals. They finished third in the table behind Russia and China.

British athletes did not have it all their own way though. Cyclist Jody Cundy was the favourite to win the C4/5 1km time trial, but his bike slipped at the race start. Cundy believed that the starting gate had not worked prop-erly but the technical delegation ruled that it was due to rider error. Cundy launched into a foul mouthed tirade which he later apologised for. He went on to win bronze in the C4/5 4km pursuit.

Another moment of controversy came in the T44 200m. Oscar Pistorius was beaten by Brasilian Alan Oliveira. The South African told Channel 4 that it was an unfair race because Oliveira’s blades were too long. He apologised for his comments the day after. Pistorius did win gold in the T44 400m, thrash-ing the rest of the field. Brit Jonnie

Peacock won the showpiece T44 100m event in a time of 10.9 seconds. Pisto-rius could only manage to finish 4th.

A number of Brits won multiple medals in the Games. Ellie Simmonds, who competes with dwarfism, was a revelation in the pool once again. She won two gold, a silver and a bronze.

The Storey couple dominated Para-lympic cycling. Barney won gold in the 1km time trial B whilst piloting Neil Fachie, while his wife Sarah stole the show. She won a gold medal in every event she entered, finishing with four in total.

Also with four gold medals was wheelchair racer David Weir, who became a national hero. The Weirwolf won his medals in the 800m, 1500m, 5000m and Marathon.

Sophie Christiansen continued to dominate the world of Paralympic equestrian. She finished the Games with three gold medals. And Hannah Cockroft won Team GB’s first athletics gold medal, in the T34 100 metres. She also went on to win gold in the 200m.

After the success of the London Paralympics, it is expected to create a long lasting legacy. Rio 2016 Paralym-pic hopeful Stefan Hoggan believes it will change the mentality towards dis-abled people. He said: “Before people might see that I am missing half an arm and think it was weird. I was at the pool as a spectator and one boy came up to me and said ‘Wow. That’s so cool. You could be in the next Paralympics.’ Kids will now know about disabled people and will not think it is weird.”

Swamibu

SPORT// 31@GlasgowJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 13 September 2012

GUMBC in landmark Glasgow Rocks partnershipPro basketball team Glasgow Rocks look to cultivate young talent with Glasgow University partnership


Glasgow University Men’s Basketball Club (GUMBC) and the Glasgow Rocks basketball team have announced a historic partnership to cultivate young basketball talent.

The two clubs announced the first deal of its kind in Scotland on the eve of the Rocks’ final game at the Kelvin Hall Arena against a USA Select, while GUMBC begin their National League campaign against the Troon Tornadoes.

Daniel Bajwoluk, General Manager of Glasgow Rocks said: “The Glasgow Rocks are delighted to be partnered with Glasgow University who have such a rich history in academic excel-lence and at the same time have a very passionate outlook on the future.

“This ground-breaking relation-ship should see more home-grown basketball players progressing into the professional ranks within Scot-land and at the same time it should also give us the opportunity of intro-ducing talented basketball players from all over the world to the city of Glasgow.

“It comes as a result of a lot of

hard work off the court and comes to the fore at a very opportune time. With the excitement of our move into the Commonwealth Arena, our continually growing community pro-grammes through affiliated charity Scottish Sports Futures and now our confirmed partnership with Glasgow University, 2012/13 is looking to be a very significant season for the growth of the Glasgow Rocks Franchise.”

The new players will train and play with both the University and the Rocks, alongside community pro-grammes already run by Scotland’s only professional basketball club.

The Rocks are enjoying a purple patch after reaching last season’s British Basketball League play-off semi-finals, and will move from the Kelvin Hall Arena to the new Commonwealth Arena in Glas-gow’s east end ahead of the 2012/13 championship.

GUMBC are also on a rising curve following their promotion to the BUCS Northern Premier Division two years ago, going on to reach the play-offs in successive years, and are one of Glasgow University Sports Associa-tion’s (GUSA) premier clubs winning GUSA’s 2012 Team of the Year, and

2011 Club of the Year. GUMBC coaches will provide

functional and statistical back-room support to the Rocks as well as gaining experience of coaching in the BBL, while Rocks players will provide support for GUMBC train-ing sessions, and offer student ath-letes position-specific training on the court.

Julie Ommer, Director of Univer-sity of Glasgow Sport and Recreation Service said: “With the recent success of the Basketball Club entering the Scottish National League, as well as gaining promotion to the top flight British University League, the part-nership with Glasgow Rocks marks another milestone in the sports’ development here at the University.

“The University has a world-wide reputation for academic excel-lence and we are looking forward to working with the Rocks in attracting the best young stars to Glasgow.

“As the Glasgow Rocks move into their new home in the Common-wealth Arena, this marks an excit-ing period for basketball in Glasgow, where we hope more success will come for the University and our pro-fessional counterparts.”

Glasgow to host London 2012 heroes parade this week First Minister among the dignitaries set to turn out at George Square to welcome triumphant Team GB to GlasgowGareth Llewellyn Deputy managing editor

Glasgow will recognise the achievements Scotland’s Olympic and Paralympic heroes with a homecoming parade on Friday.

The parade begins at Glasgow’s iconic Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and will head though the west end and city centre, ending up with cel-ebrations in George Square.

The athletes will appear on stage at

around 5.30pm before joining guests and dignitaries at a reception hosted by First Minister Alex Salmond at the Old Fruitmarket - the scene of jubilant cel-ebrations in 2007 when Glasgow was announced as the winner of the bidding process to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Dignitaries are set to include the Scottish minister for Commonwealth Games and sport, Shona Robison, and British Olympic Association chairman, Lord Moynihan.

Most of Scotland’s Olympians and Paralympians have already confirmed their attendance, and will include Sir Chris Hoy, Katherine Grainger, Michael Jamieson, and Neil Fachie.

Glasgow enjoyed a taste of London 2012 as a host for Olympic football, and preparations are well under way as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2014, and bids for the Youth Olympic Games in 2018.

Louise Martin, chair of sportScot-land, said:

“These celebrations are a fitting tribute for all of the Scottish athletes in Team GB and ParalympicsGB, and are a great opportunity for the people of Scot-land to salute them for their tremendous efforts.

“There is a terrific sporting momen-tum from the London Games’ success, and we will build on that in the run-up to Glasgow 2014, where Team Scotland is aiming to make 2014 the most successful ever Commonwealth Games.”

Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader

of Glasgow City Council, said: “This city loves sport and I know Glasgow will give our Olympic and Paralympic heroes a welcome they will never forget.”

The athletes will travel on three 7.5 tonne wheelchair-friendly, flatbed vehicles during the parade before being invited on to the stage at George Square to engage with the crowd.

Both the street parade and entry to George Square, which has a 17,000 capacity, are free and on a first-come, first-served basis.

Gerard Ferry

SPORT // Hacker: Up Twit Creek

Sport stars still � ock to join colleagues in the digital doghouse

28

IN SPORT / 23A sensational sporting summerThe higlights of the summer in spot, as seen by The Journal

IN SPORT / 23Triumph for GB ParalympiansBritish athletes confound all expectations with medal haul

UPCOMING UNI SPORT FIXTURES

Full standings available at:www.bucs.org.uk

Weds 26 September

BUCS MARS FOOTBALL - SCOTTISH 1A MEN’S14:00 Heriot-Watt (Men’s 1st) vs. University of Aberdeen (Men’s 1st), Sports Academy, Heriot-Watt

14:00 University of Stirling (Men’s 1st)vs University of Glasgow (Men’s 1st), Gannochy Grass, Stirling

BUCS LACROSSE - SCOTTISH 1A WOMEN’S14:00 University of Edinburgh (Women’s 2nd) vs University of Stir-ling (Women’s 1st), Peffermill

14:30 University of St Andrews (Women’s 1st) vs University of Aber-deen, University Sports Centre St Leonard’s road

BUCS TENNIS - SCOTTISH 4A MEN’S15:30: University of St Andrew’s

(Men’s 3rd) vs University of Stirling (Men’s 5th), St Andrews LTA

16:00: University of Glasgow (Men’s 3rd) vs Heriot-Watt (Men’s 1st), Hill-head Tennis Club

Weds 3 OctoberBUCS MARS FOOTBALL - SCOTTISH 3A MEN’S14:00 University of Dundee (Men’s 1st) vs. University of St Andrews (Men’s 1st), Riverside Sports Ground

14:00 University of Edinburgh (Men’s 3rd )vs University of Strath-clyde (Men’s 1st), Peffermill

BUCS RUGBY UNION - SCOTTISH 2A MEN’S14.00: University of Edinburgh (Men;s 2nd) vs University of Glasgow (Men’s 1st), Peffermill

Slam dunk deal for GUMBCGlasgow students to link up with Glasgow Rocks in landmark partnership

Hero’s welcomeOlympic homecoming in Glasgow

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The Journal - Glasgow Issue 13

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Transcript of The Journal - Glasgow Issue 13