the next general election has already begun. Many MPs of all party colours kept their promise, but those MPs who broke their pledge cannot wriggle their way out. They are living out their electoral lives on borrowed time.”The march, which began at Temple, followed a route that passed in front of Westminster and was designed to cross the bridge and head into Lambeth.But a large amount of demonstrators ground the protest to a halt outside Parliament to have their voices heard at

The National Union of Students (NUS) protest to the cuts on education on the 21st November disbanded with frustra-tion and resentment.According to the NUS, 10,000 people took part in “Demo 2012” and this was

the cuts were made two years ago.Talking to the Guardian, Liam Burns,

NUS leader said: “There’s a sense of desperation that people have. They’re slowly seeing opportunities being taken away and are powerless to do anything about it.” Burns added: “Most parents would like to see him [Clegg] and every other MP who broke the pledge go before they can do any more harm to the next generation.“As students gather in London today to demand investment in education and employment, the countdown to

the perceived crux of the problem.“It’s a fucking disgrace – no one in Lambeth is cutting our education!” yelled one furious protester as the NUS

to the end of the route in Kensington – where several speakers were scheduled to address the crowd.A brief stand-off ensued between protesters and police but eventually passed without incident.

(Continued pg. 3)

The London Student has launched an attack on a Goldsmiths student after he attendedThe Stretch’s Halloween Club Sandwich dressed as Hitler.The article, written by editor Jen Izaakson, chose to name the student alongside a picture, a choice which Goldsmiths Students’ Union disagrees with, as a statementrevealed.The statement continued, “The London Student did not contact Goldsmiths

Students’ Union before printing the article. The student in question has made contact with the SU andhas apologised for any offence he caused.” the club night dressed as Jimmy Savile. Given the ongoing investigation into Savile’s sexual misconduct, this costume arguably had the same power to cause offence. However, he received no further criticism in the article.The article accuses the student of

having a fascist agenda, yet there is no evidence to support this. The stunt could just as easily have been a puerile prank. To publicly accuse anyone of being a fascist in such a public forum without evidence put the student at the centre of a witch hunt.The student has since stated that he “in no way upholds fascist beliefs.”

(Continued pg. 11)

As reported in the last issue of the Leopard, the Sainsbury’s Local across the road from the Richard Hogarth building has now opened and continues to divide opinion.In a recent poll on the Goldsmiths SU website, just under half of respondents are in favour of the store while around a third are against. In response, the SU have launched a campaign against the new chain store, arguing that it will affect not just other local businesses, but also the GSU shop.

says, “Unlike the GSU and local shops, Sainsbury’s Local is not here to maintain the social glue of New Cross.”

and get involved, contact conrad.grant@goldsmithssu.org. You can also cast your vote online at www.goldsmithssu.org.

Following a student complaint, the SU shop has introduced Halal sandwich options to its Meal Deal. The complaint alleged that by only offering Halal sandwiches as a more expensive option discriminated against Goldsmiths’ Muslim community, as the more expensive Halal option was previously only available outside the existing Meal Deal. Following intervention from the SU President, Samson Osun, Halal sand-

issues that affect New Cross and the local area will be exhibited at the Stephen Lawrence Centre until January. Organised by the Department of Educational studies, three mural artists from Northern Ireland (Danny Devenny, Mark Ervine and Marty Lyons) worked with local school children to create the mural ‘I Am Here’. The artwork draws on events of the New Cross Fire of 1981 as well as some more contemporary issues related to youth and police relations in the area.

John Johnston, co-director of the Centre for Arts and Learning in the Department of Educational Studies, said: “The overarching theme of the project was to emphasise the importance of art in telling the story of the past while also casting new light on the future.”

“Like Belfast, New Cross is an urban centre of tremendous vibrancy with a

wiches are now included in the Meal Deal.“The meal deal is crucial for students saving money and this crucial oppor-tunity should also be extended to all of our students,” said Osun. “It is important that all students feel comfort-able speaking up about these things as it is very important.”

THELEOPARD,

holiday ideas that hopefully will put you into the spirit of winter and Christmas holiday – don’t let those essays bog you down!

Speaking of essays, we would like to wish you all the best of luck with your coursework assignments. Hopefully you all have a produc-tive holiday and won’t end up writing your paper on Christmas/New Year’s Eve (not that there’s something wrong with it).

Stay warm and Happy Holidays,

Nindy and Alice

December already?

2012 issue of The Leopard!

There’s nothing much to say about 2012 really. Not that it’s been bad – if it were, we’re sure the time would have passed slower.

Anyway, let’s recap the events that have happened since our last issue: the NUS demo; the controversy over London Student’s Goldsmiths Nazi Party article – go on to the Comment and Opinion page for further scoop; the planned closure of Lewisham A&E; and the list goes

out more.

Also, we have covered some fashion tips, cooking recipes, and

diverse range of people and traditions living within its boundaries. Similarly, New Cross has a number of extremely challenging issues to face from its past

respect, tolerance and human rights.”

Until recently, Goldsmiths students were plagued with the unfortunate problem of having just one cash machine one campus, with the nearest free machine at Sainsbury’s New Cross Gate. Suddenly, Goldsmiths is under an ATM deluge. On top of the existing NatWest machine, one has appeared in the street near the library, one at the new Sainsbury’s Local, and one at the new Santander branch in RHB.While this is a welcome removal of one problem for most with being charged up to £2 to withdraw cash being a thing of the past, all these machines pose another issue. Who on earth has any money to

Natural History Museum - A staple of Christmas, the ice skating rink at the Natural History Museum is beautiful but pricey at £11.20 a skate.

For a cheaper, indoor option, try the Alexandra Palace rink from only £6, about an hour away from New Cross.

Perhaps not the most conventional of winter activities, it is nevertheless one that will be remembered. Try the Brixton Lido outdoor swimming pool. With limited opening hours during the winter months, a free winter dip might be just what you need.

The Christmas market that can be found among the concrete jungle in the Southbank Centre will provide all you need to get you in the mood for the holiday season, from Christmas trinkets, to boozy, spice-scented mulled wine. For cheap students, it must be noted that it is mainly the atmosphere that’s enjoyable, not the overpriced food!

The Nutcracker at The Coliseum. You can get tickets from £15 in the Balcony, and because it’s such a small venue you can still see everything.

A Season of Five Plays by the Michael Grandage Company at the Noël Coward Theatre; starring actors such as Judi Dench, Jude Law, Daniel Radcliffe and Simon Russel Beale. There’s over 100,000 tickets selling for £10, perfect for students

The stationary group began to move across the bridge, though not everyone was as willing to move. One protestor yelled at the march as it walked by pointing frantically at Parliament,

ones who need to hear you!” But for many of the crowd it seemed that the common belief was no one in Parliament was listening to them either.Chants of “Palestine will be free” joined

those of “One solution: Revolution”, “Tories are scum” and “education for the masses, not just for the ruling classes” as the crowd of students crossed the bridge, walking away from Westminster.As the protest drew to a close the weather, which had been overcast and gloomy all morning, turned to heavy rain, resulting in many students deciding that the revolution could

wait until warmer weather and left via Lambeth North & Oval tube stations.However, despite the rain, the majority protesters reached the end of the route in Kensington Park to show their support for freedom of education.

protest in London since a wave of demonstrations in 2010 against the plan to increase tuition fees, which led to a series of arrests.

Thousands marched in protest against the planned closure of Lewisham A&E and maternity units on November 24.

The demonstration, “Hand Around Our Hospital” was organised by Save Lewisham Hospital (SLH) campaign and comes under the proposals made by the Trust Special Administrator (TSA) to restructure the hospitals in south-east London.

The march started at around 2pm and arrived at the hospital after an hour, where protesters formed a human chain around the building.

The SLH campaign argued that the closure would lead to having one A&E between 750.000 residents. “Lewisham’s children’s wards, critical care unit and emergency surgery may close to pay massive debts at neigh-bouring hospitals. A&E would be replaced with an Urgent Care Centre. Maternity services could be lost too, and 60% of the hospital sold for £17million.”

A TSA spokesperson said the proposals ensure “health services are sustainable in the long term”, the BBC reported.

Community activists, along with local

MPs and Goldsmiths students, who have opposed the planned closure for months, supported the demonstration. Jos Bell, one of the campaigners from Save Lewisham Hospital, said: “It is not just the Accident and Emergency Unit that they are planning to close.

“The highly regarded birth centre, the ICU and the paediatric wards are also under threat. It would mean people having to travel to Woolwich Hospital.”

Save Lewisham Hospital campaigner, Andy Worthington, wrote after the march:“We all did our bit, this campaign is clearly bigger than all of us. I’ve lived here for 16 years, and this was

of Lewisham had solidarity against a grave injustice.”

The Lewisham A&E department was only refurbished in April this year for £12 million.

administration, currently losing about £65 million per year. Administrator Matthew Kershaw announced that £100 million will need to be saved over

where our room resembled a prison cell. However, if you’re going to spend a lot of time out of the room exploring, think of it more as just a place to lay your head at night. Using comparison websites such as www.hostelbookers.com to pick hostels will work out cheaper - you’re able to manage

Comparison sites are also useful for

The most crucial tip to remember that will make your trip less expensive seems obvious, but plan ahead! Being spontaneous and just “going with it” all sounds very romantic, but it can lead to desperation and monstrous

strongly recommend using the hostel bookers app to plan your next destina-tion in advance.

Milne who started by focusing his attention on how the media have spread the belief across western countries that the occupation of Afghanistan and places nearby will lead to their liberation. However, this was deemed as completely untrue and simply an attempt to hide the destruction caused.

The genuine aims of this war therefore appear to be the control of

western power on other countries. However, instead of showing the Western supremacy over the rest of the world and its myth of being “better” than anything else, it reveals its limits and contradictions. This failure of the “War on Terror” lead media to play a key role in shaping a new reformulation of its agenda by not reporting certain facts but focusing on others. This

-tion of what is commonly shared among the political elite as a way to

condemned the misinformation too often recycled and published as facts in everyday news coverage.

On behalf of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Michelle

“Media and War: Challenging the consensus” was a one-day conference held at Goldsmiths on November 17. It attempted to analyse the impact of the media on the “War on Terror,” focusing on the press coverage from the 9/11 attack to present days.

During the opening plenary: “Serving the military or the public? Covering the war on terror,” speaker Victoria Brittain, former associate foreign editor of the Guardian, argued that wars play a central role in serving governments more than anything else. She also suggested that the expert in wars are not the media, as we often tend to believe, but people who have lived and seen wars through their own eyes. However, even if most of the citizens know what is happening in the war

and threatening who is in power and

reporting has been challenged by independent and alternative forms of media, that have gone into reporting what was happening, focusing on true facts rather than just assump-tions and fantasies.

Another important point was made by The Guardian journalist Seamus

Stanistreet appears to be against a conservative regulation of the media, but she supports an independent regulation, detached from the government and the media industry.

Peter Oborne, journalist and political commentator, makes clear his disagreement with possible State regulation over the press and, in particular, over the National Union of Journalists, because it would limit the freedom of expression and generate many misinformed reports which would protect politi-cians and market’s interests. He also suggests that there are two types of press war reporting, one that fosters nationalism and patriotism, gener-ating stereotypes and anger against foreign people; another which exag-gerates the facts, giving too much attention to danger and fostering a sense of terror among its readers.

Finally, Stanistreet and Oborne seem to agree on how the media and National Union of Journalists (NUJ) should be independent from the State, therefore rejecting any government control over the press.

Two workshops were held after the conference. One about “Islamophobia, terrorism and war” and another on “The media and the movement: how do we change the agenda?”

In “Islamophobia, terrorism and war” professor Milli Williamson from Brunel University held a pres-entation on “Human rights, the Cultivation of Islam and Racism”. What emerged here was a negative representation of the Muslim population which is often reduced into a single category, opposed to the so-called “British values” and therefore associated with the idea of “otherness.”

Another speaker in the panel was Gholam Khiabany, Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at the University of Sussex, who suggested that war is often closely related to racism. The permanent state of the “War on Terror” seems to be a propaganda of hate and rage which feeds human anger towards difference, generating the belief that Islam is a cancer which needs to be defeated.

“Humanitarian Interventions: reframing the war on terror”, Sanum Ghafor reminds the public how the media often freely associate terrorist organisations with Islamic backgrounds even without any evidence, creating the assump-tion that muslims are terrorists. This fosters ‘Islamophobia’ within politics, the police, media and public opinion.

The whole conference was intro-duced by Des Freedman, journalist and reader in Communication and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, whose book: “Media and Terrorism. Global prospectives” has just been published by Sage. It brings together leading academics to explore different ways in which media have

the war on terror and its role in the public sphere.

Relaxing in the sunny South of France, and visiting some of the most historically important sites of Berlin seems like a long shot - especially for a student who’s partial to a carton of Tesco value wine before a night out. It seems equally impossible to imagine that you’d be able to travel 3 weeks around Europe for a grand. However, with careful planning, and saving from a part time job, this is more than conceivable with Interrail.

An interrailing pass is the golden ticket of the traveling world - access to nearly all main railway lines, in 30 exciting European countries. Spanning Portugal to Bulgaria, this service has something to offer everyone; whether you’re looking to soak up the sun, or become immersed in the culture. Youth tickets range from £145 for 10 days, to £350 for 1 month. This includes your travel by train to each country, and discounted (or free) ferry travel. My train from Madrid to Barcelona could have been £113 when I embarked on this experience, so this seems extremely reasonable.

With an agreeable £213 for 22 days, my friend and I managed to explore from Madrid to Berlin, and stop at some great spots in between - Barcelona, Montpellier, Paris and Amsterdam. Although traveling by train isn’t the most practical way to get around, it’s a lot cheaper than doing this experi-ence by air travel, and the thought of hellishly long train journeys can be eased by choosing stops closer together.

When it comes to accommodation, it’s still possible to keep the cost down. The most sensible idea is to go for hostels. It’s more economical to go for mixed dorms with a lot of people - although the idea of sharing a room with about 10 strangers does seem crazy, they are usually much cheaper than private rooms. “La Posada de Heurtas”, a hostel located in Central Madrid, was one of the cheapest - we paid £22.62 each for 3 nights (only £7.54 a night), which was extremely cheap for such a fantastic city. The hostel was spotless, provided free breakfast and had a great atmosphere for young people. They had a lot of events and bar crawls going on, which was a brilliant way to start our trip. The hostel can be found at www.posadadehuertas.com/en/.

One initial worry with sharing rooms is the safety of your possessions. During my Interrail experience this wasn’t a problem at all - most rooms provide lockers with a secure lock, and you can also request a safe in most cases. Another issue with hostels that puts people off is the lack of a “luxury” element - they’re not the most glamorous of places to stay at. This was made clear to us in Amsterdam,

opted to stick with the originals, citing better control over the game.

As you’d expect the games at the Electronic Sports World Cup focus

person shooters, yet responding to a clear market the introduction of Tekken and FIFA games presents are more mainstream shift that may well appeal to wider audiences.

The most popular shooter games

with the winners from each country are all automatically added to the countries player list where, much like the World Cup each team must successfully progress through

Goldsmiths is a politically active

we really know; and how much do we

the answers. A survey was conducted to sample the political awareness of 50 random students at Goldsmiths.

Students were asked to describe their current interest in UK politics and also their current interest in the economy on a scale of 1-5. Each student was then asked to identify: 1. The PM and the Deputy PM, 2. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, 3. The Leader of the Opposition, 4. The local MP for this constituency (Lewisham Deptford), 5. The form of government in the UK, 6. The organisation that regulates interest rates in the UK, 7. The names of the Upper and Lower houses of Parliament, 8. The year the current Government was elected, 9. The name of the inves-tigation into the culture, practices and ethics of the British Press.

The responses elicited some inter-esting results, as will be described below:

Only 62% of respondents could name both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. Fewer still could correctly identify the Leader of the Opposition, with 48% of respondents correctly identifying Ed Miliband.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, was known to 28% of students.

Some of the more interesting responses included: That Gordon Brown is the deputy PM of the UK, the UK is a Republic, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls had taken the role of incumbent George Osborne, our local MP was someone by the name of David Clegg, the current Government was elected in 1991, and, of course, that David Miliband was the leader of the opposition.

The average overall score was 3.33 out of 9, with a median score of 3 and a standard deviation of 2.18. The average age of students who responded was 23.46, with a median age of 21.

With 18 of the 50 respondents, the average male score was 3.86, while the average score for women was 3.03. Although this may fall within the error of this sample, it is, however, what the results show.

On a scale of 1-5, where 5 is the highest, the average level of interest in UK politics was 3.19, with women being slightly more interested than men, with an average of 3.27.

None of the 50 respondents were able to identify the Local MP for Lewisham Deptford (which includes New Cross). It seems that Labour‘s local member, Joan Ruddock, who has held her seat

to Goldsmiths’ students.Only 12% of people were able to

identify the form of government in the UK as a Constitutional Monarchy. Representative Democracy was also accepted as correct.

78% of students couldn’t identify the Bank of England as the organisation that regulates interest rates in the UK.

70% of students were unable to identify the Leveson Inquiry as the investigation into the British Press.

There were six students that scored 0 on the survey, and only one individual who achieved the highest result of 8 out of 9; a post-graduate student from the USA.

There were 31 British students who gave responses, achieving an average of 3.92. The average of Continental European and non-European students was 2.83 and 1.95 respectively.

On the 1-5 scale, there were only 4 students who described themselves as ‘extremely interested’ in UK politics, achieving an average score of 3.75 between them. One of whom achieved a score of 2 out of 9. For those who answered either 2/2.5 on the political interest scale, the average score was 2.17. The average score for those who answered 3/3.5 and 4/4.5 on the scale was 3.1 and 4.5 respectively.

The most common course undertaken was English/English joint degrees with 10 respondents, scoring an average

of 3.05. Students in the art depart-ment at Goldsmiths had the second highest number of respondents with 8 students, scoring an average of 2.06. MA and PhD students scored rela-tively highly with an average of 3.92 amongst 6 respondents. Anthropology and Psychology students each had 5 respondents, scoring an average of 3.6 and 2.6 respectively.

There were near-equal numbers of respondents within the age groups of 18-19, 20-21 and 22-25, and each average score fell within a +- 0.1 differ-ence of 3.0, therefore, showing no great deal of difference between these age groups. However, for those respond-ents between the ages of 26-30 and 31+, the average scores achieved were 4.6 and 3.8 respectively.

Considering that half marks were awarded where applicable throughout this survey, these results were lower than expected. The most common reaction received either during or after the survey was, ‘Now that you’ve asked me these questions, I am going to go and look them up.’ Perhaps this is a sentiment worth considering.

When you mention sports, elec-tronic computer games are hardly what everyone pictures. Overweight middle aged men living in their mum’s basements are the usual stere-otype, yet in only a few years elec-tronic sports have become incredibly popular with large money incentives, free products and even extremely lucrative sponsorship deals being offered to those at the top of their game. Maybe to the average person

certainly in the last few years a rapid expansion in the gaming market has opened up a seemingly niche market.

To the casual gamer the introduc-tion of Call of Duty series really

living room and not surprisingly it didn’t take long for people to begin

as a way to crush opponents and earn yourself your fallen foes loot at the same time. Yet the whole idea has become so popular often many modern day games will offer the choice of gambling your hard earned money away, with later Call of Duty games offering game modes dedicated to holding your in game credits up to the ransom of someone 10,000 miles away. The FIFA Football franchise has even started offering real cash incentives to daring enough players, although I doubt they’ll be making the same amounts as their real world counterparts.

Yet these tournaments are not actually a new commodity, back in 2000 Valve software released the Half Life series, which acted as a base for the stand-alone game Counter Strike. The concept by today’s standards seems highly unimaginative but it really was ground breaking at the time, pitting the Counter Terrorists against the Terrorists. The latter’s objective was to plant the bomb without it being defused.

aside for the relatively now concept was the substantially more realistic weapon physics and character control methods. Even by today the game is used as a benchmark for all tournament run games, with people considering it to be one of the most challenging games available due to its easy to pick up, yet hard to master nature. It’s because of this that despite more recent versions being realised with better graphics and larger maps, many people have

the group stages. Once 10 teams have progressed they are all set in a league-based system of 5 v 5 each

tournament. This year France, America, Germany, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Russia,

are all currently battling it out until mid-November.

Thanks to the continued exposure garnered from word of mouth and the media businesses have begun designing games around tourna-ments, most notably a French developer Nadeo who developed a large following after creating a video game especially for the Electronic Sports World Cup with hot wheels styled loops and jumps. Originally a relatively small company they were not long after bought out by video game giants Ubisoft and earlier this year released a high paced, adrenalin

with rocket launchers. The game pits players in multiple, low intensity

same weapon, because of the slow bullet trajectory a certain amount of movement prediction and unpredict-ability are needed to hit and avoid being hit respectively.

While heavily engineered towards this tournament style the game does offer plenty of multiplayer options for those that are, like me, less than adept to the video game world. The current Electronic Sports World Cup is held in France this year with the tournaments currently being held. From the 02 to the 04 November

different game tournaments will be

Natalie Fenton, head of the Media and Communications department at Goldsmiths University, was invited to the “Battle of Ideas” held on the 20th and 21st October 2012 at the Barbican Centre in London.

Since the Occupy movement developed in New York in the autumn 2011, it has received a great deal of media coverage. In the conference “Occupy: illusory radicalism?” speakers on the panel expressed their contrasting opinions

as: what does Occupy say about the meaning of radical anti-capitalism today? Fenton takes into considera-tion the occupation outside St. Paul’s Cathedral (in October 2011) also known as Occupy LSX to analyse the situation.

It is the current state of economic, political and social crises that underline the need for change. The Occupy movement has been a great opportunity to challenge the role of democracy, and our position in the world today. Realising that democracy is not working anymore

its lack of morality and its roots in contemporary society. But what exactly was being celebrated in the Occupy phenomenon? According to Fenton, the Occupy movement could be seen as a peaceful, collec-tive attempt to rethink democracy by saying “no” to every form of

lobbying and its regulations, cuts to culture and banker’s bonuses. People started rejecting their role as consumers with no freedom of

I took part in Movember last month. If you didn’t know, Movember is a funny little play on the words ‘November’ and ‘Moustache’. The general idea is you grow a moustache, or, if you already have a moustache, you keep your moustache. It’s to raise awareness for Testicular Cancer, or something.

Originally I hadn’t planned to take part in Movember. Sure, my house-mates and I made tentative arrange-ments, but I knew two of them wouldn’t properly take part because they have to be clean-shaven for work or some stupid bollocks like that. And the other two grow facial hair about as well as my four-year-old goddaughter so they don’t count. But then ‘ol Halloween rolled around and everything changed. Everything.

After much (about three minutes) planning, I decided I would dress up as Ron Burgundy. To do this, you need a colourful (preferably red-ish) suit, and a moustache. Luckily, I live with someone who, even by Goldsmiths standards, is in possession of one of the most ridiculous wardrobes this side

took about 30 seconds. As I already had a beard, acquiring a moustache wasn’t going to be too hard either.

About six hours later, my moustache and I were sitting at home. Back from what I hear was a reasonably all right Club Sandwich. We had fun, but only about four people all in all had correctly guessed that I was dressed as Ron Burgundy. Not a solid amount. Especially considering I had to drasti-cally alter my appearance for it. Now I was just a bloke with a moustache and a semi-interesting Halloween-based story.

‘Why not just shave it off and not

asking. ‘Don’t be bloody ridiculous’, I’d reply. As a wise philosopher (my friend, John) once said: ‘A Moustache isn’t just for Halloween, it’s for about two weeks or so’.

Apart from anything else, though, without any facial hair at all, I look maximum 17 and a half years old. And I get I.D’d for Calpol as it is. So, the moustache had to stay. Initially I decided to grow other stuff around it, but then I thought I could go ahead and keep it for the month and do the ‘ol Movember thing!

days weren’t too bad. Mainly because I didn’t leave the house. But the 3rd of November rolled around and things started to get a bit tricky, as I had arranged to visit my family. Seeing them was lovely, of course. But, the downside is that they reside in a little place called Slough, which, apart from being an absolute hole of a place, is also the European Capital of Intolerance (probably).

Slough is one of those places where you either hang out in prison, or outside of the prison, or outside the big Budgens. This time, I decided to go for Budgens. Unfortunately, it soon became quite obvious that Budgens wasn’t for me. My presence was less than welcome. People of all ages were staring and pointing at me like I’d just physically assaulted their Grandmothers. It soon became quite obvious that Slough, as a whole, wasn’t overly aware of ‘Movember’. Or maybe it was, but

atmosphere was frosty to say the least and, as the word ‘tosser’ (Slough still likes to use insults from 1994) had been shouted at me four times before I’d even reached the vegetable aisle, I made the professional decision to leave Budgens. Shortly afterward, I made the professional decision to leave Slough.

The following couple of mousta-

The threats died down, for sure. A compliment or two even cropped up on occasion (not really). People were approaching me in the street for a quick chat about moustaches and all sorts. I

even started checking mirrors again.The backend of November rolled

around and, whilst in the library, my friend, Clive, enquired how much money I had raised for ‘Movember’.

‘Money. Movember is a charity. You do know it isn’t just about having a laugh and running about with a

‘I haven’t raised any’, I conceded.He was unimpressed. Clive gets

unimpressed by stuff sometimes. I replied by smugly explaining how it’s not all about raising money, it’s about raising awareness, but I soon realised why I don’t rendezvous with Clive that much and left the room. I also realised that if you have a moustache, you need to wisely consider who to hang out with. A friend of mine once explained the concept of ‘negging’, which is giving someone a backhanded sort of compliment to try and pull them. His one usually involves telling people they have nice shoes but then asking if they got them from Primark. It turns out that having a moustache attracts a lot of that. One I’ve heard twice in the last three weeks is:

‘You look a bit like Tom Hardy!’ (I don’t)

‘Oh, sweet. Cheers!’‘... In Bronson’Overall though, I would say that

nothing really comes close to the exhilaration and thrill you get from having a moustache. And, the whole ‘Movember’ thing is a bloody great time to give it a go because (in theory) you can’t really receive too much abuse about it and you get to look like a chari-table 80’s American Fireman, which is always a good thing. Although, I’d recommend maybe attempting to raise a bit of money with it, as a lot of people ask why you haven’t and it’s hard to come up with an excuse.

choice by rethinking themselves as “political subjects” and, therefore, rediscovering a more ethical way of living.

She was then asked to express her view on the role of the media within the Occupy movement. What emerges is that the mainstream media positively represented what was going on in the protests against the current decline which started with the economic meltdown in the United States in late 2007. Therefore the whole movement received positice attention from the press, which managed to handle the entire situation well, even if sometimes some protesters were slightly stere-

political or ideological group. Last in the panel to speak, Natalie

Fenton underlines again the positive attempt of the Occupy movement to make the world a better place. Therefore its opposition in the current political system shows a desire for change among people and their will to redistribute wealth and power. Citizens become active in understanding the problems and try to repair them. This experiment

countries around the world gener-ating hope for our future.

For more information about Natalie Fenton’s point of view, see the article she wrote with Nick Couldry on Open Democracy called: “Occupy: Rediscovering the General Will in Hard Times” (9 January 2012).

It would be misleading to say that I have now completely settled into my new life at Goldsmiths, as this would imply a sense of peace and routine. Instead, it would perhaps be more accurate to say that I have become accustomed to an erratic lifestyle with an ever-changing sleep pattern in a world of various escapades. The only measure of routine is currently being found’ through the infamous yet inexpli-cable allure of Wednesday night’s Club Sandwich.

I have, however, come to think of New Cross as my home. Regardless of whether it is the love/hate rela-tionship I have towards Chick Chicken, or the late night warm embrace of the college library

becoming attached to this place and all it has to offer.

The daily struggles with money have even led me to value and appreciate the joys of Sainsbury’s Basics shopping. A week’s supplies

was a cause for celebration over

the need to focus on the fact that we may indeed have reached the

Money lessons may be tough, and strict cut backs are not pleasant, but nothing tastes as good as basic survival feels.

Cut backs, I have now learned, are not just limited to funds, but also time and energy. It is only with the arrival of Reading Week that it became apparent to me that university life actually involves a fair amount of work.

This realization, which every Fresher will have at some point throughout the year (although I’m sure most succeeded in it long

before me), has thankfully now led me to lead a new attitude and a steadfast dedication to my studies.

to attend every lecture of the week and do the appropriate reading, and would very much recommend it.

We are here, after all, to study, to think, and to prepare ourselves for the rest of our lives and careers. It’s a rather daunting thought, but the three or four years we spend here will be our anchor and founda-tions as we launch ourselves into a somewhat miserably competitive job market.

have I made the right degree choice? I feel as unsure of my future as I ever have done, yet simultane-ously get the impression that society expects me to be more assertive and sure of my ambitions whilst being well on the way to achieving them. Choosing a subject to spend the rest of my life with seemed far easier when it was done in the comfort of my own home through UCAS. It is not until the experience of real university life that the harsh realities of uncertainty and doubt have surfaced. I imagine that this confusion is probably common among a lot of university students. But nevertheless, a trip to careers advice may well be in need.

It is also possible that I may simply be in need of the chance to contem-

experiences here so far, which the approaching Christmas holidays will soon be able to offer. But in any event, the end of term break may at least do me some good by allowing me to once again feel settled (albeit

-tures of a new year begin.

see the date. 18th of September, 12:03 AM. ‘Well, happy birthday to me.’ I mumbled. I shyly got back inside my apartment and heavily made my way to the sofa. I remember crashing and laying there for a couple of minutes before unwrapping my mysterious gift. I felt knackered and the whole room was spinning with me. All that from less than a bottle of wine, what a light-weight I used to be. I took hold of the gift and saw something that had gone unnoticed

ribbon there was a small, white note. Dear Derek,Wish you didn’t leave in such a hurry. Happy Birthday! -A I ripped the note into tiny bits, not giving it much attention, and threw them above my head, thinking that confetti was needed for the occasion. I tore the medium-sized box apart and to my drunken surprise, inside of what used to be a perfectly wrapped, pink box, lay a pair of shoes. Not just any pair of shoes, though; my pair of shoes, the black ones with the grey laces. The ones I had left behind a week before. When it hit me what had just happened, I sobered up in an instant, grabbed my coat and started running into the warm night.

The night went on and so did my life. The quaint feeling about my existence persisted and I remember some sleepless nights, but not too many. I

a phase, you know, the whole tortured artist kind of thing. To be fair, it had been quite a long time since I’d painted anything. I wasn’t really doing much with my life – a couple of strolls down Central, a glass of whiskey or seven per night, but nothing of great relevance. It had been a week and all had been forgotten. This one night, though, I was in the company of three too many glasses of wine and my paintbrush. I was gently tickling the canvas with it without using any colours. My eyes were closed and I was trying to establish some sort of connection with my inner self, but he just couldn’t come out. He was disappointed in me for selling out, he didn’t see himself as an artist anymore. He saw himself as nothing. I went to the kitchen to pour myself another glass and I saw him in the hallway mirror. There he was, with his brown, shriveled hair and his emotionless facial expression. He had some sort of a beard going on, but I don’t think he had grown it on purpose, I reckoned he was just lazy. I smiled at him and naturally, he smiled back. Not because he wanted to, though. I didn’t think that he’d smile at me for a long time.

Before continuing poisoning myself, I heard a loud knock on my door. I didn’t answer it immediately; I went on examining the stranger that lived inside my mirror for a couple more seconds. By the time I got to the door, the knocking had stopped. I couldn’t be bothered to answer it anymore, because the wine was clearly shouting my name, but I forced myself to do it. I gave myself a couple of slaps across the face and put on a fake smile.

opened the door, nobody was there. I looked around, but there was no trace of intelligent life. ‘Mister Douglas! Sir!’ ‘Don’t ever call me Mister Douglas, Mike. We’re no strangers.’ Mike was the doorman, he seemed pretty shaken up at that time. He always did, for some reason. ‘This is from the lady that just left. She wishes you a happy birthday and so do I, Mister Douglas!’ he said as he took off.

He handed me a pink package, which was very carefully wrapped. It had a black ribbon and after giving it a little shake, I could hear that there was something rather substantial inside. I stood in the hallway, with the pink package in my hands, trying to remember whether it was my birthday or not. I tried to keep my balance by holding the door knob, as I leaned to

ShortStories

ShortStories

Having waited patiently to see Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest Oscar fodder

hour that the palpable anticipation felt throughout the cinema audience as the opening credits rolled had turned to confusion and for the most part boredom.

Allegedly, though Anderson denies

and their esteemed leader L. Ron Hubbard. In doing so The Master charts the collision of a psychologically damaged ex-US navy man, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) and the titular Master – Phillips Seymour Hoffman’s Lancaster Dodd.

Using regressive techniques and programming to reach new recruits and bring them into The Cause, his seminal religion, Dodd’s philosophy is based on expanding ones own human potential through past life regressions. Though for the audience real clarity of the

‘religious’ foundations of The Cause is never really gained.Twisting and turning through their world, from one scene to the next it is sometimes hard to determine what the hell is going on. The masturba-tion scene with Peggy (Amy Adams), Dodd’s much younger wife, is particu-larity odd and seemingly disconnected.

into the world of The Cause, Dodd takes it upon himself to cure this tortured soul. The scenes where they

sessions seem to hold a weight of sexual tension between the two, whether real or perceived there seemed to be subtle references to something more between

As with most Paul Thomas Anderson

by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood underpinning the beauty in some of the more visual scenes. With an oddly

meandering story punctured throughout by Dodd’s strange programming instructions to Quell, we are presum-ably to feel a part of their strange world, within the bosom of The Cause, away from the reality of the outside world.

Unfortunately succumbing to confusion and boredom, I was left not caring for any character, particularity towards the end when its clear Dodd is a delusional phoney and Quell is a fuck up beyond help. In the end we’re left wondering what the point of it all was.

Phoenix is surely a shoe in for an Oscar, if the Academy can get past his Bane-style gruff mumbling and his twitchy face. However, I have yet

masterpiece of cinema, as opposed to

good at best, and tedious nonsense at worst time.

Pic: Eric Magnuson

Merhaba, restless minds. Welcome to the Overthinker’s Guide, a column for those with a workaholic brain. Each month I will try to ease your analysis paralysis by sharing some tips on several life situations. This December, I’ll cover the art of

Christmas shopping, which is probably the second most nerve-wracking act of love after proposing.

PThe clocks have turned back. It’s

dark by half four. This year, more than ever, the twelve days of Christmas have become more like two months. Whilst children learn the nativity songs by early November, and the recently cast Mary, Joseph, and the bitter faced Inn Keeper skip out of school a matter of days later, “We wish you a merry Christmas,” turn into the parents groan.

Mariah Carey greeted our ears a matter of weeks ago; declaring that we were all she wanted for Christmas. This was after Radio One decided that with two months till Christmas it was about

hearts. Of course, this is debatable. A

Christmas tree, dusted from its, well... only ten months in the attic. We only

shouldn’t we give autumn a chance to

Oxford Street turned on their famous Christmas lights, unusual pots of gold marmite suspended above the bustling

us we either ‘love it or hate it’. Whether they are referring to marmite itself or the matter of Christmas appearing months early is questionable. Starbucks began their Christmas menu, with their

bright red cups ten days later. Two days earlier, the GB Olympics team turned on the Regent Street lights, just a month or so after they won their gold medals at the summer Olympics.

A population who, at the start of November, probably would rather not be reminded that Christmas is lurking two months away. It is said that the average family in Britain will spend £800 on Christmas each year, with £200 spent alone on Christmas cards, wrapping paper and decorations. Despite Santa and his elves, statistics reveal that a parent in London spends £164 on each child, proving that despite the current chilling economic climate, parents still feel the pressure to ensure a merry Christmas. Wish lists will have already been sent out, pages of the Argos catalogue carefully folded, and not so subtle hints addressed to parents around the country. But does hearing Wham’s “Last Christmas” blast out of shopping centre speakers just a week

We’ve dressed up as skeletons, and

now, it appears, all we have left to do is count down until the big day. Advent calendars should be sold for both November and December, as after we’ve eaten our entire bag of trickle

mouldy, is it really necessary to drape our kitchens with tinsel and baubles

autumn has vanished. Harvest becomes a forgotten tradition we only remember from primary school, and kicking the fallen leaves is an act only for the play-ground. We’re becoming far too eager to hurry time along. Before the leaves have fallen, we’re already eagerly

So: It’s that time of the year again – the consumerist bonanza that is the holiday shopping season ! This is the time when you can a) channel your inner Oprah by being über-generous and b) spend money on pretty-but-unnecessary things, just cause.

1. It’s not just shopping. Okay let’s face it, in the hyper-materialistic society we’re living in now, shopping is like an extension of the self. You are what you buy – better put some thought into it. That brings me to my second point,

2. It’s not for you. Overthinkers know that life gets pretty complicated once other people (whose brain may or may not be as preoccupied as yours) are involved. That’s why gift-giving is terrifying because although it’s not for you, still to an extent it is about you. You are making your mark in people’s minds. And you want to leave a mark, not a scar.

Seriously,

Have you included your

these are the people who can tolerate your a) love for spicy, smelly food, b) daily habit of taking a one-hour shower, c) excessive/lacking cleaning habits, and d) whining on an hourly basis. You better open your wallet and get them something nice.Do you really care about this

impress them, b) get in their pants,

- You’re not Oprah. And that’s okay. Maybe someday you will be able to af-ford giving an iPad mini or two tickets to Sydney to everyone on your Santa’s list, but until that day comes, a box of chocolate is a perfectly acceptable gift.- At the end of the day, it’s the in-tention that counts. A hand-written

it comes with a homemade cake – desserts always work. Just saying.

One last thing, while Christmas shop-ping is ideally done before Christmas, so many people are doing it on Christ-mas itself or even after (because most things will be on sale by then!) so there’s no need to panic if you can’t

society of procrastinators and the thing about procrastinating is you’re never ever alone. There’s always another lazy prick out there. It’s just human nature.

4. Now that you have

out what they like. One way to do this is to ask them directly, which of course, will make things a whole lot easier. But if guessing and surprising are more your thing then you probably need to do some closer investigation. Either way, it can be tricky. See point no. 2.

A new jewellery brand has been attracting the attention of public and press alike. Bill Skinner is a talented craftsman and designer who has worked for the likes of Vivienne Westwood before launching his own range in January 2012.

His designs are essentially inspired by

nature – featuring oak trees, acorns, and animals of the African plains. Elements from the natural world are combined with luxurious precious metal plating and Swarovski stones to add sophisti-cated touches, perfect for any occasion.

personalities but are all intrinsically

beautiful in their own right. The detail in the pieces, not done justice by photography is immense, achieved by each piece being hand crafted by Bill himself before being cast. This truly is couture worthy jewellery without the couture price tag.

With the start of festive advertising months ago, the Oxford Street lights illuminated and the Coca Cola ad in full swing, Christmas shopping is surely on the agenda.

With many beautiful pieces around or even below the £50 mark, Bill Skinner jewellery would make a beautiful gift this Christmas.

Ingredients:

Getting rid of the proverbial Scrooge on your shoulder can be a bit of a hassle. We still have deadlines, we don’t break up for Christmas for weeks and whilst we’re meant to have already signed, sealed and delivered our Xmas wish-lists to all and sundry getting into the spirit of things can often be a little…

only for a day and don some clothing

we scoured campus for the festively dressed; those unequivocally unafraid to dress suitably for the season. The

Scott, a Sociology third year.

Get the look: Team timeless British brands such as

and vintage stores. Many high street stores now do Barbour equivalents if you’re not keen on the splurge however a Barbour, whatever style you choose, will last a lifetime. If trawling through thrift stores isn’t your thing, winter-scene knit essentials can be found anywhere from Burberry to Primani. Adding a little sparkle is easily done with a statement collar or cuffs, which is something you can customise yourself with a little time,

wear basics in places such as American Apparel which you can effortlessly team with your sparkle and Christmas knits.

Have fun with what you wear this season and don’t forget the Christmas earrings!

Method:1. Put all ingredients into large-ish mug and stir until completely combined2. Place in microwave on full power for 45 seconds and stir.3. Place back in the microwave for a fur ther 15-20 seconds.Disclaimer: I can not be held responsible for any brownie explosions.

Ingredients:

“‘Tis the season to be jolly,” says the song. But fashionably speaking, all I see around me so far the season goes is a miserable, drab and glum use of colour. It seems to me that the second the weather decides to get dark and broody, people do too. Summer fashion was all about

never fails to bring about dark pastels that are as glum as the days go by – what a shame! So, rather than falling into a deep depression, why not take winter by

some of my favourite male and female alternatives that will not only brighten up your wardrobe, but will brighten up those somber winter days.

that are trendy without being too over the top. A coat should have an element of class and simplicity, without being too

Flare red belted coat, like the one from the ASOS Collection is an ideal piece for winter. Red is a spectacular colour that will instantly draw attention to you and it is the colour of Christmas, which is an added bonus. The smooth wool blend will ensure you are comfortable and

you so rightfully deserve.

Guys tend to shy away from patterns that seem to be a little ‘outrageous’. (Questionable at Goldsmiths I know, but still true on some level). However, the Varsity jacket with tapestry panel from Reclaimed Vintage is just too good to miss! This retro jacket has a divine print that is reminiscent of traditional Middle Eastern tapestry, something that will surely get all eyes looking, for all the right reasons of course! Why wear something boring when you can edge it

As for accessories, hats and gloves are ideal for the winter season and so much fun to play around with. For the women, Alice Hannah, have quirky and cute alternatives that are so wonderful

stripe diamante gloves are a very girly choice that will ensure your hands to look colourful (and obviously warm) with its stripes of peach, mango yellow and purple. Pair it with a purple Chiffon

As for the guys, a touch of red is exactly what you need this winter. The red tartan scarf from Barbour will put you in the Christmas spirit instantly! Tartan can be questionable at times, yes, but this scarf by Barbour is just so colourful that it will no doubt lighten up your entire ensemble in an instant.

There you have it. Don’t forget to keep it cheerful, creative and colourful!

ASOS: Alice Hannah Stripe Diamante Gloves £15 ASOS: Alice Hannah 3D Chi!on Flower Beret £23 ASOS: Barbour Tartan Scarf £25

ASOS:

Reclaimed Vintage Varsity Jacket with Tapestry Panel

£60

This past week has seen an intense escalation of hostilities between Hamas and Israel yet again, with a seemingly familiar and largely expected pattern.

good and bad parties are instantane-ously formed. Unfortunately this plays right into the itching hands of Hamas, who are engaged in a parallel battle: the art of controlling public perceptions.

powerful quote attributed to Aeschylus just so naturally describes the undercur-rent hand at play here.

damning picture. Notwithstanding the

civilian to militants are with a ratio of roughly 1:2, the lowest in history in a case of asymmetrical warfare, with over 120 of the 177 killed belonging to Hamas (recognised as a terror organi-sation by the EU, amongst others). Additionally, bear in mind efforts taken by Israel include placing phone calls,

surgical strikes and aborting operations when risk of civilian casualties will be high. As Colonel Richard Kemp, former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan observed during a

army in history has taken such care to avoid harming civilians living in the same area as that in which an enemy is operating.Regardless, deaths of civilians, even the death of one civilian, are chilling and not to be discounted, cheapened and treated as a mere number or statistic. Inevitably, war is ugly, cruel and innocents always shoulder the monstrous consequences and are the unfortunate victims. What is crucial here for the sake of self- honestly is to digress beyond petty numbers games and calculate the more salient and meaningful question; appreciating

for Israel’s engagement in operation Pillar of Defence.Let’s take a step back and focus on how this explosive scenario came about.

missile onto a tank 100 meters into the Israeli border, injuring four soldiers.

Nov 10-12th: Israel warns that it cannot and will not tolerate having one million of its residents under constant rocket

The on-going situation between Is-rael and Palestine is perhaps one of the most intense and polarising

resurgence of violence erupting in the Gaza Strip this month, our con-tributors battle out their views.

When asked to write about the Israel-

I knew anything I did produce would be

the Israeli government and those who condone its actions. I have come to the conclusion the best approach would be to simply state the facts.Israel has illegally occupied, blockaded, seized, settled, destroyed, brutalised, and killed thousands of

state in 1948. These unfortunately are facts and cannot be dismissed, marking themselves as central to the ‘debate’ at

taken up a notch and upwards of 100 rockets are rained upon the citizens of Israel, injuring 8 civilians.

mediated between Israel and Hamas.Nov 14th: The morning, four rockets hit southern Israel. Article 51 of the

defence against armed attack. No other nation would tolerate incessant terrorist attacks from neighbouring territories and Israel acts decisively, taking out the military commander of Hamas, Ahmad Jabari - an individual with much blood on his hands. Jabari is responsible for a

the Gaza strip since 2006, bringing the count of rockets bombardments rained upon the citizens of Israel to a grand total of over 13,000.

the assistance of Iranian imported fujr rockets, places a total of 3.5 million residents in range, having between 15-105 seconds to take shelter in a bunker at any given moment. That’s 13% of its population sleeping in bunkers at night, which is equivalent of the entire population of London. Israel

-tunately innocents are killed and this is where the typical rhetoric has a hollow ring of familiarity.In my view, several things are

hand. Israel’s military assault on Gaza in 2008-9, which saw to the deaths of 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, was continued earlier this month.

of six Israelis and 167 Palestinians, including 103 civilians, 33 of which were children. In addition to the deaths, hundreds were injured and thousands of homes damaged. Gaza is made up of a population of 1.7 million civilians, mostly refugees, all of whom were affected by the shelling and attacks. On

violation of the ‘truce’ called just days prior, as another two young Palestinians were shot dead in Rafah, south of Gaza.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the military attack on Gaza was necessary, as Israel has the right to defend itself

Gaza against Israeli people, and US President Barrack Obama has similarly backed Israel’s right to this so-called self-defence. Justifying Israel’s coun-terattacks on the Gaza Strip, Obama stated that the US shows “support for Israel’s right to self-defence in light of the barrage of rocket attacks being launched from Gaza against Israeli civilians.” This has sparked major controversy throughout the world, making the irony of Israel’s war crimes and recent violations of the truce almost biblical. Furthermore, son of former Israeli

damningly clear: Israel did not choose

an enemy who thinks of its citizens as expendable and has an open policy of using human shields; Israel did not choose an enemy who stockpiles weapons in hospitals, civilian resi-

mosques and schools; and Israel did not choose an enemy who openly boasts of its deadly weapons and loves death as much as Israel loves life.So, on behalf of the 61 dead, 1719 injured and the one in four citizens of the Israeli city Sderot suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from years of Rocket attacks, I ask: what

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Gilad Sharon, wrote in the Jerusalem

all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima – the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too,” advocating mass genocide and Hiroshima-esque

views have been coupled with those of Israel’s interior Minister Eli Yishai, who has also commented “the goal of the operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages. Only then will Israel be calm for 40 years.”

Israel has time and time again violated numerous international laws, 61 to be precise. Yet it has still defended its right to defend itself against a nation with no coherent army, no navy and no air force; a nation that has been oppressed and colonised for over 45 years based on its race. The apartheid regime being run has for so long denied basic necessi-ties to Palestinian civilians and resulted in the killing of innocent families and children as collateral damage. All of which essentially boils down to imperialism. In any war between the oppressor and the oppressed, support the oppressed. Support Palestine. Defeat Imperialism.

Should we curb our thoughts for fear

over a student dressed as Hitler while inside the Students’ Union caused the Sabbatical Team to issue a statement condemning the actions of the indi-vidual and his attire. The Leopard spoke

She gave reasoned argument about the SU’s condemnation of this incident; however, in substantiating some of her claims, she spoke alarmingly about the expression of students’ beliefs.When asked if fascist students have the same rights to speak as communists or others, she responded, ‘Someone who is here and is talking, whether they be communist, socialist, gay liberation,

fascist… then no.’ She went on to say, ‘So we’re not going to have, even if it’s in a debate forum, we’re not going to have a fascist debating someone who’s not, because they don’t see those other people as having the right to very basic things, like their lives.’ This commentary, which acknowledges individuals that deny basic rights to others, is self-contradictory. In denying

the rights of a debate forum, whether it is political, social or otherwise, she denies another of these ‘very basic rights’, the right to free speech.It seems inconsistent that an organi-sation which preaches equal rights, and takes great pride in their libera-tion campaigns and LGBTQ society, demands fewer rights for those with whom they disagree. This is egocen-trism, this is cynicism and most of all it is illiberal and inequitable. Importantly though, it is symptomatic of societal consciousness, and is something which we can extrapolate and discuss.By denying the expressions of those you despise, you act no better than them. Consider the possibility that fascists were to deny us the rights to intellectual debate on the topic of liber-alism or representative democracy. We would surely cry from the heavens that our freedoms had been curtailed; we would revolt against our oppressors, even if faced with a majority. By all means, let us stand up to those who seek to propound an agenda of intolerance and violence, let us protest against them, let us show them that reason and experience is on our side. Let us not, however, do as they would

our rights to speak, only to relinquish

our opponents’ rights once victorious.

ensure basic rights for all. Let us take no prisoners in these realms of debate and reason, but let us not suppress their ability to have their voices heard, for in doing so we betray ourselves.By controlling the freedom to think, speak and express beliefs we become our own thought police. We dive deep into the psychosis of all opinions are equal, but some opinions are more equal than others. Kenan Malik summed it up well, ‘One of the ironies of living in a plural society, it seems, is that the pres-ervation of diversity requires us to leave less room for a diversity of views.’By denying those of whom you deride the avenue to speak, you deny yourself a chance to prove them wrong; to show them the error of their ways. By closing the door to expression, you ensure that

an individual’s beliefs can germinate and root themselves into the depths of vitriolic conviction. By denying discus-sion, you achieve only the opposite of your original desire.To those who claim that these people don’t deserve our rights, let us say nay! Let us stand behind dissenting voices. Let us stand in solidarity with those like Salman Rushdie, let us support the Danish Cartoonists, and let us allow the histories of David Irving. Let us

but let us not restrict these actions, for defending their rights doesn’t mean defending their views.Marxist comrades, I call on you to heed the words of Rosa Luxemburg, ‘Freedom is always the freedom of the one who thinks differently.’ To all liberals, I call on you to heed the apoc-ryphal words of Voltaire, ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to

The headline that The London Student chose – Goldsmiths Nazi Party (complete with SS symbol)– is arguably damaging not just to the reputation of the student, but of those who appeared in the photograph with him and indeed, the entire Goldsmiths’ student body. It is also damning to the dedicated staff of the GSU and The Stretch, in claiming that they were lacksadaisical in their handling of the situation on the night by not removing the student from the premises.Students have raised concern to the Leopard over the wording of the London Student piece which included references to “LGBTQ people” and

“the disabled”. A campaign against a student for disrespectful behaviour is one thing, but sections of our student community should be afforded the same respect.Goldsmiths as an institution has been represented as cold and uncaring and as any Goldsmiths student knows, we as a community pride ourselves on our tolerance and respect for our peers. The London Student is read on every University of London campus and hasa circulation of over 130,000 readers. This gross misrepresentation of our university off the back of a single incident is completely disproportionate to our ethic as an educational institution.

the death your right to say it.’ And Mill, ‘If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind

that one person, than he, if he had the

mankind.’This is a rally call to all students to change the general consciousness. Let us acknowledge the freedom of others, despite our opinion of them, and ensure that we all share the same basic rights. As long as we suppress others we acknowledge our fear of them. Let us free ourselves from the shackles of single-mindedness, let us liberate ourselves from fear. Do not forget that direct intimidation, threats and incitement to violence are not ensured freedoms, but the right to think differ-ently most certainly is.

Talking to the Leopard, several students have expressed surprise that this issue of London Student was allowed to be

place. Interestingly, London Student editor Izaakson has previously made a name for herself at Goldsmiths while studying Media & Communications. She was elected as the Campaigns &

winning by a narrow margin. However, it is alleged that her campaign involved rounding up students in halls of residence in the middle of the night, armed with a laptop, and at times waking them up, to gather the much-needed votes. We also know that she resigned from her position following an investigation into questionable behaviour.

This article represents the second major attack on Goldsmiths from the London

-gations of Goldsmiths’ complicity over racist connotations of its local Deptford Town Hall building on campus on the 8th October issue.

The real debate with this issue is not as

Halloween costume is. Irrespective of the student’s folly, we still have a duty of care to all students. Risking the welfare of a student and unfairly attempting to tarnish the reputation of Goldsmiths through disproportionate misrepresentation in what is the largest student newspaper in Europe is simply unacceptable.

Earlier this year, my friend and I visited Khartoum, the capital and second largest city of the Republic of Sudan. My friend’s main purpose was to investigate the extreme censorship and how it affects the population. On the other hand, my purpose was just to document the trip through photography.

When we arrived at Khartoum Airport one of the policemen told me to be very careful with my camera because people would not like someone taking

Everybody is welcome to send some of their work (maximum 5 images) to photoed.leopard@gmail.com. Best work will be published in the next Leopard´s edition. Submission deadline: 23rd of January 2013.

thought it was only because we were inside the airport, but I was wrong; everywhere I went, I could not make use of my camera - not even in street markets! I kept on wondering why photography was prohib-ited, but not even one person could give me a reason. One thing for sure was that I could not (and would not) take any photograph while I was there.

Being unable to use my main skill, I was ready to come back to the UK. Fortunately,

just a few days before I was set to leave Sudan, someone told me about a special trip to the Desert, where we could spend a marvelous week riding camels and enjoying the one of the most beautiful sceneries in Africa. And the most exciting part of it all: I

These are some pictures from the communities we found during our trip into the desert of Africa.

Enjoy.

Cambridge four-piece Alt-J are by a

OF THE MOMENT. Emerging only last year from the independent label scene they’ve become kings of daytime Radio One and recently swept to glory by taking the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, as well as gleaning envious attention across the pond. Andy Hill caught up with them late in the summer...

The devil is, as they say, always in the detail. Alt-J are a bunch of guys, I

Take the name, which is technically

press the Alt key on a Mac and hold

that rare and spectacular holy trinity of band-name perfection - it’s interna-tional, it looks good on a t-shirt and it reads like a nerdy social media in-joke.

with the aesthetic” says bassist Gwil Sainsbury “it’s often used in mathemat-ical equations to show change.”

That last statement, rather nicely, summarises the profound level of geekiness we’re dealing with here. I mean of course ‘geek’ in the modern sense, as in to be unspokenly coupled with ‘chic’. They’re cool. Jo Whiley said so. “Ha, that was pretty funny. We saw her the other day in the street when we were trying to hail a taxi. Would

I wanted to shout out ‘HEY, WE’RE ALT-J, YOU LIKE US!” But no, off she went”. The band certainly don’t go out of their way to court recognition, instead, shying away from standard facial shots in all their promotional material. “We think it’s better that way” says singer and lead songwriter Joe. “It’s really embarrassing to just stand there, leaning against a wall, staring into the middle distance, looking all moody for a photo. I’d hate to see my own mug staring out at me from a record cover. No thanks.”

description I’ve heard yet is probably “folk-step”; plaintive themes and sunlit harmonic verses give way with scant notice to dirty dancehall drops and fat beats throughout “An Awesome Wave”, their strange sprawling beast of a debut LP. “We worked really hard on getting everything perfect. We’re competent musicians and all that, but it’s the dedication and attention to detail that I think really set us apart.” It’s like

dance record and a really good movie soundtrack, which is apt because a lot

about the movie Leon, by Luc Besson. Tesselate references The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, as well as being basically just a metaphor for sex. At the beginning I went through a period

fact we were called Films for a while, but we decided to change because there was already a band called The Films.” Were you worried about a potential

beaten them to a pulp!” adds drummer Thom, with a Sheldon-from-the-Big-Bang-Theory-esque honk of laughter.

“I’m joking, they’re in America so it wouldn’t have mattered.”

Well, steady on there Thom. Earlier

a couple of showcase gigs in New York and LA, and wound up signed to heav-yweight US label Atlantic. Marvels keyboardist and former choirboy Gus Unger-Hamilton - “There we were all

of Mahattan, with our lawyer on the phone. They weren’t going to let us go without signing. It sounds stupid now I guess, but believe it or not, it was a pretty tedious day. All that stuff - the run up to gigs, even recording - just feels like work when you’re doing it. You’d think you’d be star-struck, but it all just feels normal. The most surreal thing of all was when we started getting played on the radio. You think when you hear a band on the radio it’s like, ‘they’ve

whatever Fearne Cotton says we were still all living in a 2 bedroom terraced house with my girlfriend and signing on. Of course then you go home and it all stops and you’re like, whoah, I’ve just been to LA”

Currently touring the UK, I’m curious how such thoughtful and introverted chaps cope with the attention of big crowds. “I don’t suppose you ever really get used to it” says smiley, soft-spoken Gwil, “It’s pretty amazing though, to see two or three hundred faces just looking up at you. In Brighton they were singing all the words to (current single) Breezeblocks. I just can’t help myself laughing at the’ surrealness’ of that.”

“And yeah, it’s strange to be on the other side all of a sudden” chimes in Gus. “When I used to go to gigs I’d make a point of picking a member then just shouting out their name again and again to get their attention. Once made Caleb Followhill out of Kings of Leon smile at me; big moment.”

* * *Time has somewhat gotten away

from us and I must leave the band to prepare for their set. Somehow, I imagine as I roll a cigarette and drain my second pint, their preparations more run along the lines of a crate of Innocent smoothies and a crack at the Su-Doku. Just saying.

The venue is packed with eager expectant faces, and as they take to the stage, I’m genuinely taken aback by the fact the crowd know almost all the words to the songs. The lads are

Thom on drums who uses saucepans rather than cymbals (which may sound gimmicky but is in fact a welcome breath of fresh air, allowing the palimp-sest of motifs weaved by the others to really shine out). Joe as a front man is modest in his banter, but belts out the big numbers with gusto, grinning almost to himself every time the crowd goes nuts. You can tell watching that the adulation means so much to these quiet, serious and unfathomably talented guys who just want to share their songs. The rest, after all, is just detail.

Black Manila; It’s snappy, powerful, and the name of Britain’s most exciting new band who’s intense raw energy and real rock and roll appeal has been taking London’s underground scene by a storm.

Creating a buzz whilst playing a winter residency at East End hangout The Macbeth, the trio are hell bent on raising the rafters in their home country and abroad. With no one brain behind them, they collectively write their songs coming up with

their instruments, marking out an unstoppable tightness that engages

for the long game, so far the band have well trodden the live circuit whilst dropping a slew of decent tracks. This direct approach is sure to launch them into the lime light.

The husky voiced Gareth Hoskins sings and plays guitar, whilst Conrad

Armstrong shares the vocals and plays bass, and the rough and ready Liam Ramsden is the bands assertive drummer. Together as old friends and like many young men, they have jammed in basements, shared a united love for The Velvet Underground and decided to form a band on the back of their interests.

Together the trio spark a San

with an underlining darker edge. This colourful spectrum of sound

them forward and pulling together their love for American music, whilst maintaining an un-holy British swagger. Their debut single ‘June 95/Tap Dance The Hangman’ is due to drop via new label Fatal Justice Records on December 10th.

If you fancy drinking yourself under the table and causing havoc then ‘June’ 95’ is the song for such an occasion. From the opening bars

it swings into action: rowdy vocals, crumbling riffs and a stocky rhythm section collide chaotically with one intention, to rock and roll in a way that makes good music, great. B-side Tap Dance The Hangman, plays out against a wall of fuzzed out riff’s, pricked by vocals that hook you into a mind-expanding riff.

At present, Black Manila are a band that don’t fuck about, every-thing down to their very core comes out of their pores, seeping smoothly into their instruments and standing as a sentiment to something they strongly believe in. This exact belief illuminates their music, reaps excite-ment in their live shows and hits out at those that listen.

The band celebrate the release of -

dence at The Macbeth on December 7th. You don’t want to miss it.

Peace are a new indie foursome from Birmingham, consisting of brothers Harrison (vocals and guitar) and Sam Kossier (bass), Douglas Castle (guitar) and Dominic Boyce (drums). The band started making their way onto the scene just this year, and released their debut single “Blood” earlier this year, sporting zingy guitar riffs and beautiful husky vocals. The fact that they’ve already supported the likes of Tame Impala and The Vaccines tells you that these guys mean business. Although sounding like a perfect cross between Wu Lyf and The Maccabees, Peace have a sound distinct enough to put

them aside from their musical peers, but still echo the Math Rock elements of the likes of Foals. Their newest track “Wraith” does not disappoint - jittery guitar notions and a catchy chorus make this a must hear for the week.

EP “Delicious” is now available on Spotify. Tracks like “California Daze” give a slower, hazey sound, but still reeks with a funky guitar motif and a trance like feel. Talk of an album isn’t on the horizon just yet, but the hope of the band touring the UK in March next year certainly is.

It comes as a surprise to many to learn that there is a cheerleading squad at Goldsmiths. This is probably because of our long lasting, and rather accurate reputation of being a hipster Arts University in which sporting comes a long way down the list of many students’ priorities. Think cheerleading, and you’re probably envisaging the jazz hands of Bring It On and cliché American high schools with bitchy blonde girls. Nevertheless, Goldsmiths does have a cheerleading squad, and a successful one too, that was founded in 2008.

some myths about cheerleading as a sport. To begin with, it’s not all about waving pom-poms and supporting the local football team – In fact, the Goldsmiths Lions squad doesn’t even own a set of pom-poms between them. Instead, competitive cheerleading is made up of four main elements – stunting whereby people are thrown in the air, tumbling which is best to think of punch fronts and back handsprings,

jumps and a very little bit of dance.Out of the four, the Goldsmiths

Lions tend to excel in stunting which is incredibly hard work. It takes about six months to get competition ready, with the training of the Lions focusing on intense conditioning of abs, biceps, and just about every other muscle in

-ibility. There are inevitable injuries,

eye, but as strength and teamwork

and accuracy.

Last term, this training paid off and at their most recent competition the Lions stunt groups achieved second and third place, while earlier in the year at the group competition they achieved a

Speaking to the new captain, Claudia Rose Carrington King, vice captain, Jenny Rose Kendrick and one of the new fresher recruits, Grace Ignacia See, about cheerleading at Goldsmiths, a little more insight can be given into the squad:

How have you found captaincy so far this year?

Claudia: We’ve had a lot of new people, and it’s probably been one of the best years for recruitment so far. Hopefully it will set down foundations for future years.

And vice captaincy?Jenny: It’s been really hard because

we’ve literally started from scratch with only six returning members, but we hope we have a nice little legacy going. We feel we’ve got the cheerleaders better known around university now, like we’ve made it more publicised. A lot less people are asking me now “What the fuck, why do Goldsmiths

Why would you say that cheerleading

Claudia: Other team sports require team tactics and stuff like that, but cheerleading is obviously really physical, and also requires a lot of technique too. Not in terms of winning and being cunning, but in ways of working together. I guess it requires skill, technique, teamwork and strength all put together.

Jenny: And you get to know people so much better because you’re with them like 24/7. There’s a nice little homely feel at training.

How have you found joining cheer-

Grace: Everyone thinks it’s going to be pom-poms and stuff, but it’s so much harder than that and it’s really fun. You get to know people really quickly because you have to, with them touching you all over!

What would you say was the hardest thing about cheerleading?

Grace: Just getting to know every-thing in the beginning, getting comfort-able with being thrown in the air. It’s not a very comfortable thing.

Best thing about joining cheerleading?Grace: The team! Getting to know

everyone, and making new friends. Being an actual team.

There’s recently been a drive to get more boys involved with the sport.

What would you say to any boys out there?

Jenny: Be a man and join cheerleading!

Goldsmiths Lions train every Monday 6 – 8pm, Wednesday 5 – 7pm and Friday 4.30 – 6.30pm in the upper gym, inside the design department and next to Club Pulse.

Come see ‘Sinful’ and unleash your dark side with Goldsmiths Dance!Goldsmiths Dance annual show will be taking place on December 8th in The Stretch. This year we will be cele-brating all things dark and wicked in our seven deadly sins themed show.Tickets are £5 or £8 for two and you will get to see perfor-mances from street dance, ballet, burlesque and contem-porary as well as a few songs from Goldsmiths’ very own Emily Ady.There will also be an after party for you to let your hair down at and, of course, plenty of treats for you to indulge your gluttonous desires!Doors will open at seven and tickets can be either bought in advance or on the door. Please contact goldsmithsdance@googlemail.com for more information.

By Olly BellamyWith only 1 game left in each of the Champions League groups managers will have to juggle struggling league performances with the glory of lifting the ultimate cup in club football. We investigate the direction some managers will take while taking a completely uneducated and random

Group AAnalysis: After beating PSG 1 – 0 at

about retaining their position at the top of group a, however PSG hold the home advantage this time round and with only 1 point separating the two

keeping the on form PSG at bay who have shown an impressive run, espe-cially at the Parc des Princes.Expected outcome: PSG face OGC Nice on the 1st and Evian TG FC on the 8th of December, while both aren’t high table teams Carlo Ancelotti may still decide to rest some of his key players as regardless of the outcome PSG will progress through. With Porto’s less than forgiving line up we predict 1 – 0 to Porto. Group B Analysis: Both Schalke and Arsenal are both guaranteed to go through, raising the only question of who will end up top. With the reasonable assump-tion that both teams should win their

prove the deciding factor. Expected Outcome: With Schalke currently sitting at the top and Arsenal’s shaky form contributed to a unpredict-able season the prediction is set Schalke to win 3 – 1 and Arsenal to scrape a 1 – 0 win. Group CAnalysis: Despite losing their main playmaker to Arsenal during the summer Malaga have continued to impress internationally, while Milan are faring less than well in Serie A. With their league suffering considerably it would be a surprise for Milan to show a particularly strong line-up given their guaranteed position in the group stages.Expected outcome: Malaga to win 2 –

with Zenit. Group DAnalysis: With Manchester City out of the loop they’re unexpected to show a strong force against Dortmund, who look like strong favourites after beating Real Madrid. Dortmund’s strong and

breadth and versatility while Madrid are struggling to keep up with Barcelona. Mourinho will likely want to the likes of Luka Modric a start ahead of Ozil.Expected outcome: don’t expect a thrilling game between any of the group d teams. Dortmund to win 1 – 0,

Real Madrid to win 2 – 0. Group EAnalysis: Possibly the most room for manoeuvres. There’s still everything to play for in this group and it could be an exciting set of games to watch. Di Matteo’s dismissal was one of the most inevitable yet surprisingly cold changes in structure for some time, however despite their strong campaign; the loss

Abramovich, who has now shown his hand and will probably request his team go in all guns blazing in an attempt to still qualify. Shakhtar Donetsk have a promising set of attacking players but the form and discipline, especially along the back line of Juventus will make it a mountain to beat the Serie A giants. For Chelsea to progress Juventus must lose to Shakhtar.Expected outcome: Chelsea to win 4 – 1 through an over the top squad, with Juventus winning 2 – 1 against Shakhtar, knocking the current Champions out. Group FAnalysis: A straight forward set of

an incredible run of play so far and along with Dortmund are my hot contenders to challenge Barcelona for the Champions cup. Valencia too, are guaranteed to head through but won’t be upset coming second behind

2 up playing a similar squad to previous games, may play some less experi-

– 2 with Lille in a lacklustre game. Group GAnalysis: Celtics shock win against Barcelona has left the table in more of a scramble than was expected, Barcelona are guaranteed to progress and may set on the auto pilot against

Barcelona playing anything other than fantastic football. Celtic will need to

Moskva out, they may be able to clinch victory from the potentially unmoti-vated side. Expected outcome: Barcelona to draw

victory from Moskva 2 – 1.Group HAnalysis: CFR Cluj would need to better Galatasarays result to ensure their

a team with so many players at their disposal. Both teams are desperate but it’s likely Manchester United won’t go down easily even if Cluj will enter the game with nothing to lose.Expected outcome: Manchester United to win 1 – 0 and Galatasaray to win 3 – 0 against Braga.

By Courtney Greatrex

In a massive 26-goal lead against SOAS on November 20, Goldsmiths

9.The Goldsmiths home game, played at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College in Brockley, left the Netball team in high spirits after their spectac-ular win against SOAS 1st’s team last week.

the huge the team’s success is highly attributed to the exceptional goal shooting by team captain Emily Davies and Annie Rouse, who managed to score spectacular, wide range goals every time. Charlotte Clerlow, centre player, who won woman of the match, also played exceptionally Captain, Emily Davies was ecstatic with the win, saying ‘As a team we really needed this, so I hope we’re able to keep the energy going.’

Relegation is a strong term in football that to any fan denotes negative conno-tations. Watching your team tirelessly play, the blood, the sweat and the occa-sional tear shed, each a step towards their impending demotion. Every fan, no matter how high up the table, always has that thought of seeing their team relegated, even if it is a much more realistic possibility for some rather than others. In the Premier League, 3 teams are bumped down a league every year with only a handful managing to sustain top-

conception. However, relegation can also serve as inspiration, as most recently displayed by Newcastle. Last year the team managed one of their best

of the year and secured themselves

as well as a place in the Europa League.Goldsmiths 2nd team found them-selves at the beginning of the season in the very position Newcastle were in only a few years ago. Having been demoted, the objective for them now

anybody became too accustomed to the league. This time, the pressure is on the captains to deliver a set of players, tactics and motivational techniques to get the team back to where they belong.

To say that Goldsmiths 2nds achieved this would be somewhat of an under-statement with them currently sitting at the top of their division with absolutely no intention of letting anyone past.

Goldsmiths against King’s College London Men’s 4th with the University itself garnering a reputation in a manner of sporting disciplines. Despite the expectations Goldsmiths 2nd team

with a 6 – 0 win under the belt, dispel-ling any sense of hastiness in the team. If there were any inclination of luck behind the win, the 2nds dispelled of

against the Royal Free and University College Medical School 3rd team only a week later, leaving the goal keeper with little to do after such a dominant game. The following game proved to be a trickier encounter against University College London. 70 minutes in Goldsmiths were 3 – 1 down and had been reduced to 10 men, with seemingly impossible odds the 2nds reversed the score line in an Arsenal style fashion, ending 4 – 3 in favour of

Despite not holding quite as graceful a goal difference as the 2nds, Goldsmiths 3rds also sit at the top of their table

with 9 out of a possible 9 points accu-mulated so far thanks to wins against Kings College London Men’s 4th and 5th as well as Roehampton Men’s 1st. With Goldsmiths accruing an early domination over their rivals, the win from the 2nds this year against UCL

in score proved that even when the

a Greyhound and he goes by the name of Tom Ross, or Curly as his team mates call him. Missed greatly against LSE, he came back with a vengeance and didn’t take long to make his mark on a very solid Imperial team who have had a good start to the season, winning two games already. This was also a side that the hounds struggled to beat last year and then lost in the second tie.Playing at a central position, Will Barnes made a quick dash down the wing and shipped the ball out wide, it was a move that might have made ground but would not have led to a try had Tom Ross not been there, with

move from one side of the pitch to the other. Captain Nial added another try with a quick break before Tom Ross got his second of the day with a great run onto a loose kick from Rory Singh. Goldsmiths got a fourth with newbie Andy, scoring a well worked forward move, where the hounds drove a scrum ten yards forwards for Andy to

Leigh Simmons reports on Gold-smiths latest game against Imperial College London at the Loring Hall Sports Ground, thrashing them 37 – 7. With their recent wins Gold-smiths currently sit 3rd in their divi-sion.

then pick up and drive over the line. Imperial gained a cheap try in the second half, however this didn’t stop powerhouse Nial scoring a second and kicker Daniel Armistead converting

two penalties ending the game 37 – 7 to Goldsmiths.The team are making amazing strides in ability and newcomers to the team have been strong. There is a real feeling

amongst the team that they could create something special this year and with their back to back wins more recently over University of East London and London Metropolitan University 20 –

mount of play is against you, with a bit of courage and sheer determination any score can be overturned. The 3rds play Kings College 5ths again on the 05 December and then University of Greenwich after Christmas, hopefully the brilliant run of form from both University teams can run into the New Year.

13 and 0 – 33 respectively, few would doubt this belief.