The Stag - Issue 70

8/12/2019 The Stag - Issue 70

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EDITORIAL2 The Stag | 9th December 2013 editor@thestagsu

Editor | Nicole [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief | Andy [email protected]

Deputy Editor (Head of Design) | Paul A Richmond

[email protected] Team | Siobhan Harris, Sophia Field, Monti Fernandez, Sam Jewiss, Josie Pullen, Hannah Kaine

Deputy Editor (Marketing) | Matilda [email protected]

News Editor | Shunayna [email protected] Team | Matilda Tasker, Rachel Lowe, Sarah Kendall, HannahRoberts, Alex Tromp Opinion & Analysis Editor | Sam [email protected] & Analysis Team | Ibrahim Sarwar, Katie Sands

Features Editor | Rebekkah [email protected] Team | Tilly Tasker, Jas Smith, Petra-Maria Ilieva

Science and Technology Editor | Siobhan [email protected]

Science and Technology Team | Noah Mesn, James Lake, Melissa Raske,Ben Harteld, Fahmid Chowdhury

Societies Editor | Alice [email protected] Team | Daniel Ashworth, Michael Heyes, Anees Khan, Liz Legge,Réka Blazsek

Dance and Theatre Editor | Ambar Parker [email protected] and Theatre Team |

Film Editor | Sophia [email protected] Team | Ankur Banerjee, Francesca Lampidonti

Music Editor | Candice [email protected] Team | Leo Blanchard, James Campbell

Literature Editor | Shiri [email protected]

Literature Team | Lauren Boland, Leo Blanchard, Emma Hawken

Sport Editor | Santiago Avilé[email protected] Team | Dan Askew, Harry Metters, Sheldon Ford, Jauren Whatley

Web Master | Alistair [email protected]

The Stag is an editorially independent newspaper and is publishedby the University of Surrey Student’s Union.

The views expressed in the paper are those of the individualauthors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editorialteam, the Students’ Union or the University of Surrey.

Trinity Mirror (South)St. Albans Road, Watford

WD24 7RG

The Stag reserves the right to edit all submissions and the right todecide which articles are published.

Letter from the Editor

Okay, so where is this semester going? Alreadywe’ve come to the nal issue of The Stag this

side of the spring break, and to send you off, we aregiving away ten Easter Eggs to our faithful readers.Free food always tastes the best – but free chocolate?How on earth could you resist? See above to ndout how to get your hands on one.

Apart from sugary joys this issue, we havea round-up of the Red Bull Night Master event,a look at the Big Bang revelations and a verytimely analysis of a well-known biblicalmantra.

We’ve got some very exciting things lined

up for when we return in May – one hto be pretty darn sexy… If you’d like to

The Stag committee next year (of courmark Monday 12th May, 6pm in 05Adiary – that’s the date of our AGM, i

2014-2015 team will be elected. why is time moving so fast?! I JEditor, and before I know it, I’lhome watching Jeremy Kyle in – yay for Summer time.

Have a great Easter breakrest up, study hard and party

The Stag Easter Egg HuIt’s Easter! And to celebrate, The Stag is giving ten of our readers an chocolate egg – hooray for sweets!

competition, all you have to do is nd and count the hidden Easter eg gs all over the paper. Once you have the an email with the title “I WANT AN EASTER EGG” to [email protected] by noon on 1st April, and

will be notied by email to collect their egg. Happy hunting

NUS as a Living Wage Emplo

The National Union of Students (NUS) has become anaccredited Living Wage Employer. The Living Wage

Foundation accreditation scheme was introduced in 2011,by a coalition of employers and campaigners led by CitizensUK. There are now over 600 accredited employers in theUK. Accreditation provides a recognised benchmark forresponsible pay, where Living Wage employers agree to payall staff, including contractors & subcontractors, no lessthan the Living Wage.

An independent study of the business benets ofimplementing a Living Wage policy in London found thatmore than 80% of employers believe that the Living Wage

had enhanced the quality of the work of theabsenteeism had fallen by approximately 25%NUS President said; “Poverty pay simply has n21st century. Modern employers understandproud to be able to say that our organisation iemployers. We believe that the education secexemplar employers, which is why it’s imperlead by example and continue our campaigniand universities, where there are handsome savice-chancellors and principals.”

The current L iving Wage of £7.65 for the UKLondon is an independent calculation that strthe genuine cost of living, rewarding a hard daa fair day’s pay.

By Shunayna Vaghela, News Editor

COMPETITION



NEWThe Stag | 24th March 2014News Editor: Shunayna Vaghela

I, like many others, felt a little Surrey pride when RedBull Night Master announced that the University of

urrey students Jordan Fletcher and Aidan Lindsey-

Wood had won the competition and were bringing theAlps to Stag Hill… Rumors of real snow, live music and

ll the Red Bull you could shake a stick at was enoughor the limited number of tickets to sell out almostnstantly, (200 Apres Party tickets disappeared within0 seconds! Wow…) and the ticket site buckled underhe huge demand.

Hunger Games-esq. style of ticket obtaining aside,ime went by and nally it was the night we had all

been waiting for! Throughout the day I watched withnticipation as a huge cobalt-blue marquee, proudly

displaying the big Red Bull logo was erected on thepatio outside of Chancellors bar and then it was showime!

Lights, music, action; the party kicked off at 6pm ashe sun went down and upon arrival, everything was aittle bit too much to take in at rst- a huge 20ft high

makeshift ski jump, ramp and box had been erected in

he far corner of the Chancellors/ Union car park thatwas covered with real snow (that looked suspiciouslylushy by the time I arrived); standing opposite this

was a DJ set on top of a pimped out modied La nd Rover,which rightfully drew a few “wow”s from observers;

nd lastly, the perimeter was kitted out with muralsof Alpine huts with crisscrossed skis dotted about theplace. How cute. My golden All Access Areas wristband

dded to the wonderful feeling that something BIG wasgoing to happen tonight.

Under the Red Bull marquee was a bar, but at £3.50vodka and RB it slightly left me thinking twice…

but as more and more people ltered into the event,veryone relaxed and it was great to see some old faces

mixed in with the new. Everyone was kitted out inheir brightest, funkiest ski garb and goggles, it harked

back to the après ski parties I loved so much during thennual university ski trip to the Alps.

And then the action started. Standing at thevery top of the big ski jump was a bloke on skis, whoproceeded to launch himself off the top, side down theamp, hit the box, do a little spin and then land at thend…. And that was it.

To be honest though, that was enough. In the tinyamount of space provided, they had constructed thisamazing jump AND provided a box to parkour off,seeing a skier/snowboarder perform a 360 (to nonskiers/boarders/skateboarders- a 180/360 is the termused to describe a maneuver where you spin in the air

or along a rail or box) that was about as good as it wasgoing to get.

Or so I thought.As the evening went on, the Red Bull owed freely,

the music was loud and the mood was great, the tricksin the mini ski-park suddenly jumped up a notch. Aftermany catcalls of “do a ip! Do a ip!”, Surrey alumni,Alex McFarlane caved and performed a backip off the

jump. The crowd went wild.And it would have been hoots all round and Mr.

McFarlane hadn’t landed on his face… whoops. Cuemangled chin and a pending black eye, but chipper asever, when asked “Was that fu n?”, Alex responded wit ha big “yeah!” What a champ.

After about 40-odd crashes, I sort of lost count...I came to sad conclusion that just because the skiersand snowboarders always look so amazing on camera,quite often it conceals the truth that sometimes the

awesome trick is followed by a crash and a very sorebum. But we were a sympathetic crowd and every crashor land was met with respective “oohs” and “aahs!”

Health and safety concerns aside, the music gotlouder, the free-stylers got more daring and sooneveryone was dancing along and singing at the tops oftheir voices. For such a drastically limited number oftickets, we certainly made a crazy crowd!

But alas, the hour was getting late (and someonestole my pen…) and soon it was be time to head intoRubix for part deux- The Apres Party! Overall, the RedBull Night Master main event was incredible. Brilliantto see some raw skiing and snowboarding talentbought to us, as well as fantastic live music and mycup runneth over with Red Bull. When Aidan Lindsay-Wood and Jordan Fletcher said they wanted to bringthe Alps to Stag Hill, they did just that. No Folie Doucebar is complete without a saxophone man either, and a

hundred crazy students doing their thing.9.5/10, it’s an absolute outrage we can’ t get this k ind

of entertainment all the time! Everybody, from eventorganizers, competitors and crazy drunken dancers,give yourself a BIG pat on the back!

Red Bull Night Mastery Matilda Tasker,

eputy Editor and Head of Marketing



NEWS4 The Stag | 24th March 2014 news@thestagsur

Apair of thieves that preyed on elderly andvulnerable victims have been sentenced to jail

after an 88- year-old woman fought back.

The judge ruled Ramona Borcoi, 37, was to besentenced to four years in prison at Guildford CrownCourt on Monday 10th March following guilty pleasto seven charges of theft, three of fraud and onecharge of attempted robbery. Accomplice LaurentDadaci, 41, was sentenced to four and half years inprison after admitting six charges of theft and one ofattempted robbery.

The pair used distraction techniques to stealbank cards and cash from several victims acrossSurrey, including the former Mayor. They werenally caught after failing in their attempt to mugpensioner Edith Milligan in August last year.

Prosecutor Chris Prior said Mrs Milligan, usingher walking frame to assist her, had been walking

alone when she was approached by Borcoi. Underthe pretense asking for directions to the station,allegedly Borcoi suddenly grabbed the victim’snecklace and attempted to rip it off, but Mrs Milligantook hold of her assailant’s arm and a struggle

ensued.By this stage passers-by were alerted, forcing

Borcoi to abandon the attempt and ee, leaving herhandbag at the scene. Dadaci also drove off.

Mrs Milligan, was taken to hospital with afractured wrist, lacerations and bruises.

Police used the contents of Borcoi’s handbag, aswell as photos of Dadaci’s car taken by witnesses, toidentify the offenders and arrest them.

Sentencing the defendants, Judge ChristopherCrichlow stated: “You deliberately targetedelderly and vulnerable people, and you choseEdith Milligan as a victim because of herperceived frailty, but she bravely foughtback against you.”

The ooding relief efforts ofSurrey Search & Rescue have

seen the charity awarded £5,000from Sir Richard Branson's VirginUnite, the non-prot foundation ofthe Virgin Group.

Founder Seamus Kearns was

one of the numerous volunteerswho spent an entire week wadingthrough contaminated oodwaterto rescue people during lastmonth's ooding.

Mr Kearns, 28, is one of a groupwho decided to set up SurreySearch & Rescue in 2010.

He said: "We saw that Surreyhad no dedicated search team - itis like mountain rescue but in thelowlands. We worked with SurreyPolice to set up a team so our mainrole is searching for missing people.Our teams are trained to search

rivers so those skills wthe ooding. We werfor the initial emergeThe rst days it was mpeople out of their hwas getting medicawater out to peoplesupplies."

The efforts of Sur

Rescue were recognisas Mr Kearns wasof ve 'ood heroDaybreak. Furthermoand the other 'oodattend a special rePrime Minister DavidDowning Street.

Mr Kearns isabout the good pres"Hopefully it canawareness of who hopefully there arerecruits out there. Wwithout our voluntee

Surrey Searchand Rescue

Awarded £5,0Shunayna Vaghela, News Editor

By Shunayna Vaghela, News Editor

Old woman fights back

Your money. Your chance to spend it!

Afew weeks ago I visited Surrey Sports Park to takesome photographs of the trampoline society

for a project we are running in the alumni anddevelopment ofce, which we have lovingly named‘you’ve bounced’. The aim of it is to send our alumnia ‘you’ve bounced’ postcard if their emails bounceto encourage them to get back in touch. Hence thetrampoline bouncing link!

This got me thinking, as mentioned in my earliercolumns, about the Annual Fund. It was in fact theAnnual Fund that paid for the trampoline society’snewest trampolines, and it could also help studentswith their own projects.

You may already be aware that the Annual Fundis now open for grant applications. In a nutshellthis means it’s your (students) opportunity to putin a bid for some money to spend where you think

money needs spending. This doesn’t mean you cango on a shopping spree! It’s not money to be spentin that way. It’s all about supporting student welfare,improving the teaching and learning environment,providing new equipment to clubs and societies as

well as developing campus and extra-curricularfacilities to help enhance the student experience atSurrey.

This year the Annual Fund has £150,000 in funding

to distribute. It is open to all areas of the University,both academic and administrative, and all st udents,including the Students’ Union and any of its clubsand societies. Projects have to meet certain criteria;all the information can be found here www.surrey.ac.uk/annualfundgrants

You may have hosted or attended an event inthe upgraded University Hall, beneted from theimproved study areas in the library, enjoyed yourlunch on a sunny day on the additional seatingaround the lake, amongst a host of other things, well,this is all courtesy of the Annual Fund.

If you have a project or an initiative that youthink could prot from a grant, put forward

your business case by visiting www.sur rey.ac.uk/annualfundgrants or contact Linda Grossmann,Annual Fund ofcer – l.grossmann @surrey.ac.uk - forfurther information. The deadline for applications is

Monday 7 April. Please note students cannot applyfor a hardship grant via the Annual Fund.

For further information on the alumni networkForever Surrey please visit:www.surrey.ac.uk/alumni

CAREERS

COLUMN

Team Surrey trampolining society enjoying their ne w trampolines, whilst declaring ‘you have bounced’.

So we now only have 2 weeks of teaching left before the 4 Easter break – time is ying by so quickly!Even though university lectures may be suspended ov

break, the Careers Service is open Monday – Friday 9-5pm foof it. We are closed Thursday 17th April – Wednesday 23rd AWhy not take advantage and get your Careers needs covered period? For those about to end your fresher’s year, this is youhead star t on your professional training year. Think about deemployability skills over the summer and updating your CV t

you are now at the end of your rst year at university.Before the Easter break begins, we still have a wide vari

booked in which we hope will be of interest to you. Below is ato expect in the next two weeks;

Mon 24th March -18:00, LTABackpack to Briefcase with Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Tues 25th March - 18:00, LTA

Assessment Centre Workshop (for Engineering, TechnologStudents), led by Astrium

Fri 28th May – 10:00 – 16:00, Careers ServiceCV Checks with BAE Systems

Tue 1st April – 18:00, LTEInternational work experience - Presentation by BUNAC

To sign up; http://www.surrey.ac.uk/careers/whatson

We hope you all have a lovely Easter break and come backthe last few weeks of the second semester!

By Sarah Kendall, Hannah Roberts, Alex Tromp

Careers Ambassadors

LIFE AFTER SURREY

Rachael Lowe - Alumni and

Development Ofce



UNION6 The Stag | 24th March 2014 editor@thestagsur

A Year of Success at the Unio

1,2,3, go!Every member of the sabb team got to live a day on campus either working for students, or

being with students in lectures. We were able to really understand some of your issues, withthings like teaching room facilities, timetables, feedback, etc

Launch of online tickets For years our members have hated queuing in all weathers outside the Union shop for the

chance to buy an event ticket, and this semester we nally launched our tickets online. Thisis only the rst phase, we are continuing to listen to feedback – and sabbs are on the frontdoor at Rubix scanning tickets to hear that feedback at rst hand. There are more excitingdevelopments coming soon!

Welfare support review launched Following our pressure, a University wide review of welfare support has been launched

and we are full members and contributors of this review and we will be representing the many

views that were expressed over the election period about welfare on campus. We have alsorepresented your views in the Residential Support Review and argued strongly that this is anarea that needs reforming. This has been listened to, and expect to hear more soon!

Surrey Decides! What an incredible election, and where to start? A diverse range of candidates and winners,

representing all parts of our student community, an amazing online experience helpingdistance students take part, Surrey students having the opportunity to meet Toni Pearce, NUSpresident directly, and for her to hear what you are talking about. With such a huge turnout,it gives all our student ofcers the authority to speak on behalf of Surrey students next year.

42 societies taking part in STARS Grading the Societies Training & Activities Reward Scheme, is in place this year leading on from

the work of previous years to help societies develop. We have 42 taking part this year, and thismeans they are all showing a commitment to making your experience as a society memberbetter.

Surrey's Got Talent You have told us in the past th at we don’t do enough to encourage home-grown t alent here

on campus. This year Surreys Got Talent lled University hall and showcased the best that weas students have to offer

Challenging the University on appeals Hopefully only a few students will ever have to make an appeal, or face a disciplinary, but

we have pushed very hard on making this process qu icker, fairer and easier to understand. Theimpact on a delayed appeal can mean the difference between graduating with your cohort ornot, or even worse, having your leave to remain removed while your appeal is heard. We havetaken your experiences and used them to gain improvements in the University panel system.

Sport success With our Team Surrey partner Surrey Sports Park, we have helped our amazing sports

clubs on course to an incredible top 40 BUCS nish. To sustain this success, Team Surrey clubs(and of course Union clubs) are always going to need greater support; to this end we are soexcited to be working with Forever Surrey in launching a new direct donation scheme for

sports clubs, and sports projects. This will connect graduates with current teamtime and we hope will revolutionise the support our alumni can give.

Accommodation charter University accommodation is such a big part of the Student Experience, th

believe student deserve to know what they are getting, to believe they are getmoney and not being taken for granted. We are working on agreeing an accharter with the University now and will have it agreed by the end of the yeaspace!

3570 club and society membersAgain, another record breaking achievement this year, that over 3500 surrey

taking advantage of the wide array of Sports Clubs and Societies run by studewithin the Students’ Union. The improved training and dedicated support availabour clubs and societies build on their membership each year – adding more to

experience

PGR Course Rep assembly & Course Rep assem Finally, we have been able to give research problems the attention they d

new PGR rep assembly which gives postgraduate researchers the opportunity problems specic to them. Our course rep assemblies this year have seen De

Nicholls & NUS VP Rachel Wenstone hear your views direc tly on assessment and Nicholls has already acted on the points you raised, making your learning experit can be. We have also secured agreement from the four faculty deans that therep assembly to hear what you have to say.

….and much more This is just a selection of the ways your involvement in the Union has helped

positive impact to your experience at Surrey. There is more happening ‘behind tif you want to get more involved then AGM season is a few weeks away where thleaders for all Sports and Societies 2014/15 will be elected. Watch http://wwClubsSocieties for details

Everything the Union does is for the benet of its members, it is the reason we exist. Below are a few of our sfrom the last few months…



OPINION & ANALYSThe Stag | 24th March 2014Opinion & Analysis Editor: Sam West

Opinion & AnalysisA Tribute To Two Great Men

Only three days apart in mid-March, thepolitical landscape suffered a massive

oss of two great men.The rst was East End born and bred

rade union leader, Bob Crow, who died of aeart attack on the 11th of March. Althoughighly controversial and loathed by many, hendoubtedly did a terric job at representinghose he claimed to represent; transport

workers and some sections of the working

lass. Despite his high salary as leader of theRMT, he lived in a council house and was

damant that it would remain that way forhe rest of his life.

He was probably also one of the last left-eaning political gures who actually andenuinely cared about the working class.

And unlike the current left-wing elite, heecognised the threat of an over powerful EUnd the worries of mass immigration; issueshat affect the working classes more thanhe chattering classes. He wasn’t afraid topeak his mind, holding onto what he saw asight. He fought particularly hard for tradenionism and old socialism, giving a voice to

those who still held those grounded beliefs.The second loss was that of the former

Labour MP and veteran political left-wingcampaigner, Tony Benn, who died from seriousillness on the 14th of March. Above anythingelse, he was a man of deep philosophy andtrue conviction. Whether his socialist politicscan be agreed with or not, his views were wellthought through and held political validity.It was his core convictions which gained himrespect from both the left and right. Thesecore convictions and principles cannot besaid to be present in many politicians today.

He lived his life dedicated to his country,serving as an MP for over 50 years, and evenrenouncing his hereditary peerage in 1963 in

order to continue as one. He was responsiblefor many things we should know of, includingthe postcode system, BBC Radio 1, and aspectsof Concorde. He was a great speaker, both asa parliamentarian and post-parliamentarian,speaking at anti-war meetings and variousother meetings in later years.

While I am not a socialis t and disagree withthem on most issues, these were great men ingreat ways. They fought for what they believedin and stood up for who they represented tothe best of their ability. They had core valuesand true principles; something that won’t beforgotten and something that will be missed.

Let the World Live As O

‘Male’, ‘female’, ‘black’, ‘white’, ‘wife’,‘husband’, ‘doctor’, ‘teacher’, ‘left-wing’,

‘right-wing’, ‘atheist’, ‘theist’. Every termwe use to label others or ourselves, I bel ieve,is a devastating oversight. Your profession,gender or beliefs might dene you to alimited extent, but not in the grand schemeof things - each one of us is a human being.

There are descriptions that have beenseen almost everywhere throughoutrecent history, such as “Obama: rst blackpresident,” “Thatcher: rst female prime

minister,” “Gay marriage made legal”.While these are fantastic sentiments thatrepresent a breaking down of the long-heldhuman cultural tradition to discriminateand dene against each other, they alsobring up a poignant fact: we’re still doingit wrong. We should rightly celebrate thesetriumphs in the name of ‘human rights’,but we should remember just that: they are‘human’ rights.

Having been raised a Catholic, I wastaught to believe things I am ashamed tosay I once followed, oblivious to the pointthis article is making. Perhaps the bestthing that came out of this was the CatholicHigh School I attended. We were taughtto fundraise for those suffering in third-world countries, and I guess that’s really

what started me thinking this.We live in the twenty-rst century,

and some of us live in a democratic state,so it really is just a matter of enforcingthis point into education and the media.Attitudes won’t change unless people’sminds are opened to this concept.

The vision I have for the future isfor barriers to be continuously brokendown, until they reach the point wheregender, religion, politics, race and sexualorientation no longer have to dene us.‘Human’ should dene us in the end.Because in the end, it’s our name that weshould want to be remembered, and whatwe did with our lives – which may well

be our profession, our beliefs, achievements. Let it be for all reasons.

In the name of human rightsget caught up in the mainstrearemember why we began to cathese issues: because of inequainequality calls for a balance.remember each one of us is one the ‘human’ kind. In the wordBeatles’ legend John Lennon:

“Imagine there's no heIt's easy if you tryNo hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the peopLiving for today...

Imagine there's no counIt isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or dieAnd no religion to

Imagine all the peopLiving life in peace

You may say I'm a dreaBut I'm not the only o

I hope someday you'll jAnd the world will be a

Imagine no possessioI wonder if you can

No need for greed or huA brotherhood of mImagine all the peopSharing all the worl

You may say I'm a dreaBut I'm not the only o

I hope someday you'll jAnd the world will live a

Siobhan Harris

Sam West

Opinion Editor



OPINION & ANALYSIS8 The Stag | 24th March 2014 opinion@thestagsur

Guilt-tea: Tetley Tea Condemned

For Lack Of Human Rights

Warning: this article may put you off your cuppa.Tea is intrinsically part of British culture,

often associated with a quintessential English nature.Yet, in reality, the tea plant has always been importedfrom areas such as the Assam region of India,stemming from the trade industry of the BritishEmpire.

The biggest tea brands in the UK are currentlyTetley and PG Tips, who together account for nearly50% of the market. The popularity of tea still remainsin our culture, with approximately 165 million cupsbeing consumed in the UK each day.

Looking away from what tea means as a consumer,tea production is one of the biggest industrialactivities in India, providing the plant to ll a nationof tea drinker’s stomachs.

A report released by the Human Rights Institute

at Columbia Law School on the 12th February hasrevealed aspects of the industry that the average tea-drinker would probably rather not know. The reportvisited 17 of 24 plantations over the course of two

years, and unveiled the terrible working conditionsthat Indian workers are faced with to provide ourcuppa.

The report stated that workers are paid less thantwo pounds a day, live near cesspools in crampedliving conditions, and often spray industrialpesticides with little or no protective clothing. Thereport also revealed the retained cultural stigma ofthe Indian class system and its effect on workers.

Senior plantation managers told researchersnot to listen to their employees because they had‘low IQs’ and were ‘like cattle’. The workers on theAssam plantation come from two marginalised classgroups in Indian culture; the Adivasis (indigenous

people) and Dalits (the ‘untouchable’ caste). Thereport consequently reveals issues not only with thehorrible squalor of the plantation workers, but alsowith their treatment as social inferiors. This type

of caste discrimination is ofcially illegal in India;however the report evidences its retention in Indiansociety today.

I can’t help but make the obvious comparison

between this report and the use of African slaves onAmerican plantations in the 18th century. It’s sad tothink that as a readership this report isn’t quite asshocking as it should be. The reality of the situationis that we already know the facts, but don’t act uponour ethical instincts. Just like how Primark continuesto grow strong on the sweat and blood of abusedfactory workers, Tetley is equally getting away withsuch murder. The complacency of the British publicallows this treatment to go on unnoticed, when weare the population with the power to improve thequality of life for so many people.

A few days after this report was released, Tetley joined with other large tea ma nufactu rers to offer a15-year plan to boost sustainability of the plantationsand to better support the working communities.Whilst it is amiable to see the company respond tothis report, to let fteen years go by with workers

in these conditions and with these wages, it seemshighly inadequate. The abuse of plantation workersmakes me wonder if this problem is our responsibilit yas consumers.

APPL ofcials have told the investigators thatthese labour issues on plantations are not restrictedto Tetley tea, but reveal the stark truths of the teaplantation indust ry as a whole in India. The problem ofthis human rights issue is so epidemic it’s impossibleto even decide what brands are worth boycotting.What UK residents can do however, as a small act ofsupport, is sign the petition to force Tetley to takeresponsibility for their actions (go to sumofus.org toght for people over prots). A company primarilycaters for its customers, and as consumers we havethe ability to push Tetley into action and help theseworkers regain their human rights.

As a student, I feel I can justify being careful with

my money and hunting down the bargains, but thisreport does remind us of the supply and demand thathas been created by our Western ‘needs’ for cheapergoods. I denitely feel, excuse the bad pun, guilt-tea.

Easter: Do To Others As

Would Have Them Do To

Easter will be coming up in April;one of the most important dates

and celebrations in the calendar,appreciated and recognised bybillions worldwide. Easter reectson the crucixion and resurrectionof Jesus Christ. Yet there is also areection on his life in general,mainly his m iracles and teachings.Easter can therefore mean many

different things to many differentpeople.

Countless quotes of Jesus canbe cited to illustrate his overallmessage; predominantly messagesof love, peace, kindness, hope,and so on. One particular quotecomes from Luke 6:31, where Jesusproclaimed ‘Do to others as youwould have them do to you’. It maybe a small quote, but it means sovery much.

It is a message that we shouldall live by or at least try to liveby. If all we lived our lives by this

moral principle, thenliving in a much betta principle of empathand love; somethingworld of selshnesshate.

Yet if we do the opat times, does that make us hypocrites? We are all imperfect

us will ever be perfewrong at times, whichuman nature. Whatimportance is that wto treat others well, fail at times.

Jesus died on tthese imperfectionthat we as humans perfect. The most impis recognising this living our lives by hteachings; the teachi nthat we should do towould have them do t

Katie Sands

Sam West

Opinion Editor

© S e a n M a c E n t r e e



OPINION & ANALYSThe Stag | 24th March 2014Opinion & Analysis Editor: Sam West

Life: The Hope To Be Exceptionally Ordina

Life is an interesting concept. We live our lives tryingto gure it out. What it means. What it will be. But

why must we question every aspect of life? Personally,think it is because of our desire to be great, to achieveur hopes and dreams. The idea of becoming thatuture self that we envision is sometimes too much toear thinking about. This is because of the general fearf failure that is instilled within us throughout life. I

genuinely feel that to be average or standard is what were pushed towards as we grow up.

Undeniably, those that are talented are celebratednd lauded, but I recently re-evaluated who those

people actually were. They were the smartest in theirlasses, the best in their schools, but where are they

now? The answer is staring us in our faces; they arehere and they are us. They are students at university,which now means I am surrounded by those exceptionalhildren, which in turn highlights the fact that we are

not exceptional.As much as I would love to believe that I was or

ruthfully am extraordinary, most likely I am a dimedozen. This doesn’t faze me as much as I thought it

would though, as I know that any person in this world

can have exceptional lives.I have realised that I don’t have to be the amazing

musician or the genius inventor in order to achieve mydreams. All I really have to do is work hard. And bythat I don’t mean more than usual or more than thosearound me. What it means is that I must work harder

than I could even conceive possible at this moment intime. I have to take my current perception of what isachievable and eviscerate it. I can’t let anything standin my way.

For me this train of thought began simply byreading an article. It was written by a woman whowas a promising artist. In the article she states thatshe gave up her dream of being an artist for a job asan accountant or banker, essentially more mundane (inher opinion), that would make her less happy, but morenancially st able.

The quote that my father continuously repeats tome whenever I begin to talk about my next great yetunrealistic extracurricular venture is one from thatarticle. It said “I gave up my dream to put bread andbutter on my table”. He announces it with a wry smileand a look that I can only associate with the experiencesof a life that has seen its fair amount of hardships. As

much as I want to disregard my dad’s comments andfall blindly into my next fantastic idea, I know that heunderstands the traps of this life. In our desire to beexceptional, we often lose ourselves and nd that weare nothing more than ordinary.

Ibrahim Sarwar



FEATURThe Stag | 24th March 2014Features Editor: Rebekkah Hughes

So I’ve decided to tackle a controversial subject thisweek: pugs. If you put pugs in a jar, you would get

the equivalent of Marmite. Some people love them andsome people hate them. Some people think they areadorable little waddling balls of fur, and some peoplethink t hey are, well, ‘pug ugly’. I have to say that I residein the Pug Appreciation Society, or PugSoc (whichshould totally be a society) nevertheless here are somefacts about our furry friends who divide the nation.

1) Adorably, in Germany, pugs are called mops!2) Pugs are often described in Latin as ‘multum in

parvo’ which means ‘a lot of dog in a small space’.3) Pugs originated from China in 400 BC and are

considered as ‘Holy’ dogs as they were the favourite ofTibetan Monks.

4) A group of pugs is called a grumble. I think I justdied.

5) It is believed that the pugs name comes from theLatin word for ‘st’ as their face resembles a humanst. Personally I don’t see this resemblance, but eachto their own.

6) Pugs are big eaters and if not watched they willover eat and become chubby. This is why some pugslook like little adorable barrels.

7) Pugs are known to snore. This is because theysleep for the majority of the day! Are pugs students?

8) Pugs love human attention. They hunt you down,they will nd you and they will kill you. With face licks.

And snuggles.9) Pugs are social dogs. They love other

other dogs. They can often be found down tha Friday night.

10) Finally, pugs can sing. If you don’t becheck out ‘Pug Sings Batman’ on YouTube. Youdisappointed.

So there you have it! Go team Pug!

The Six Degrees

of Kevin Bacony Rebekkah Hughes, Features Editor

Iwill very happily admit thatI am not a huge fan of Kevin

Bacon. I genuinely feel that the EEdverts in which he appears arehe absolute worst. So, obviouslyt came as a disappointment toealise that A) people do actuallyike Kevin Bacon and B) The Six

Degrees of Kevin Bacon exists.For those of you who don’t

know what The Six Degrees ofKevin Bacon is, in a nutshell,t’s a play on the “six degrees ofeparation”. The six degrees ofeparation is a concept that anywo people in the world are linked

by six or fewer acquaintances,nd it’s now been applied to Mr.

Bacon. Basically, any celebrityan be linked to Kevin Bacon inix steps or less, or apparently soccording to the game’s creators

who invented the game back in994.

Buzzfeed drew my attentiono the whole shebang wheneecting on Bacon’s responseo it all as well as the fact that

we’re not twenty years on fromts initial creation.

In those two decades a

website, a board game, a bookand an app have emerged as well

as a charity, started by Baconhimself. Launched back in 2007,SixDegrees.org was designedwith the six degrees concept inmind, with networking and theconnections between celebritiesand charities being the mainidea.

After I enlightened myself onThe Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,I ventured on to the websiteoracleofbacon.org to challengemyself and see if I could nda celebrity who wasn’t linkedback to Mr. Bacon in six stepsor less. The answer was, no, Icouldn’t. And it’s actually ratherfrustrating. I don’t want to accept

that Kevin Bacon is “the centre ofthe universe”, but I may have toadmit some form of defeat.

It is almost nigh on impossibleto nd someone with more thansix steps! So, I challenge youto have a go, and probably fail,but at least share a little in myirritation. Alternatively, youcould download the app andrefuse to give up until you ndone, and when you do, let meknow.

Have you ever wondered why so many psychologistsand personal trainers insist on ‘knowing oneself’?

It’s amazing how since the very beginning of civilization

people have been suggesting to get a better knowledgeof ourselves if we want to develop. The phrase “Knowthyself ” is one of the Delphic maxims, an Ancient Greekaphorism ( ). No one questions the wisdomof Ancient philosophers such as Plato and Socrates.Later on used by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Samuel T.Coleridge and many more, the popularity of the maximspread so widely that everyone hears it at least once intheir life.

Every individual is interesting and everyone hasspecial characteristics. Some people might wonderwhy they should be interested in their own personalit y,fearing that it might seem selsh. In fact, the greatestsecret of this advice is that by knowing yourself, yougain the ability and willingness to know and appreciateother people. You become more open to explore theworld and more capable to understand the differencesbetween us. This knowledge is power; which gives you

better control – over your perceptions and emotions;over the impressions you make.

But don’t we know ourselves already, after 20+ years of li fe? Probably not. There are some individu alswith a clear knowledge of their innate motivation andbeliefs. I know people who seem to be quite aware ofthemselves and the world around us. They are few,but their number tends to grow. If you feel like youdenitely know yourself, congratulations! It willbe highly valued by others and will help you in theworkplace. For the rest of us, who still feel like havinga lot to learn and discover – the world is such a wideplace, let’s start from ourselves.

We need to think about our strengths and

weaknesses in order to get a better undeof our abilities and virtues. We shouldn’t fothere is always room for improvement. Explolearning about the world and our own personlast throughout our lifetime. If we want to be sand have good friends, we need to know whaoffer. Respectively, having all of this in minanticipate other people’s reactions toward usenhancing our self-awareness we can devgrow as enlightened citizens of the world!

By Petra-Maria Ilieva, Features Team

Know Thysel

Pugs not DrugBy Jas Smith, Features Team

Γνῶθι σεαυτόν



FEATURES12 The Stag | 24th March 2014 features@thestagsur

By Margaret Dunne,

Nurse Advisor Centre for Wellbeing

Last month the Centre forWellbeing hosted a Mind Apples

event to mark University MentalHealth and Wellbeing Day.

A Mind Apple is a day-to-day

activity that is good for your mind.We are all familiar with the “5 aday” concept of eating fruit andveg to help maintain our physicalhealth, but what do we do routinely

to help us maintain a healthy stateof mind? Mind apples work bymaking people conscious of thesorts of things they already do tolook after their minds. It’s not abouttelling people what they shoulddo, but more about asking the

question to encourage us all intoconversations about the health ofour minds and help people realisethey can positively inuence theirown mental wellbeing. Some facts:

We were joined in the lecture theatre foyer byrepresentatives from the Samaritans and First

Steps, our local NHS agency for information, adviceand support on emotional health and wellbeing.We had planned to hang the completed mindapples on a tree outside (Estates and Facilities hadkindly cleared and prepared the area for us) butas the weather was unpredictable we brought partof a tree that had come down in the storms indoorsinstead. We also brought an outreach branch to GSAfor their contributions.

We had a very enthusiastic response fromstudents passing by to and from lectures. After

initial puzzlement about why we had a tree indoorseveryone embraced the idea, completed the apples

and delighted in hanging them up. It was great to

see people thinking about what they do for theirminds and sharing ideas. Some people struggledto think of anything while others could havecompleted more than one apple with all the thingsthey regularly do to keep their mind happy and

healthy. Hopefully, those that struggled wereinspired by what others had written and will benet

from the ideas.We had 99 responses in total. The most popular activities that Surrey

students engage in to look after their mental health are: sleeping, exercise,laughing, spending time with friends & family, eating, being creative,playing/listening to music, and watching TV/lms.

Other activities included: cleaning, shopping, stroking dogs/cats,baking/cooking, hot bath, social media, doing something different eachday, cuddles/hugs, yoga/ meditation/praying.

Interestingly, only 2 people wrote alcohol.Comparing these responses with the MHF suggestions it seems

that Surrey st udents (well, about a hundred of you anyway) have

some very good habits for looking after their mental health.Lots of positive thoughts and activities are going on many ofwhich cost little or nothing.

If you are concerned about your emotional ormental health you can contact the Centre forWellbeing for some advice and support, or one ofthe other agencies listed below.

More information and advice is available at:www.mindapples.orgwww.rst.steps-surrey.nhs.ukwww.mind.orgwww.surrey.ac.uk/currentstudents/health/www.mentalhealth.org.uk

• Mental health refers to how we think, feel or behave.• 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem at some time in

their lives. This might be linked to stress, depression, life events,loneliness, isolation, anxiety, a specic disorder or a number ofother issues. There is frequently more than one factor involved.

• Most people whom have mental health problems will recover.• People who get help sooner get bett er more quickly.• Many people in public life have been open about their mental illness

such as Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax, Alistair Campbell, Lady Gaga, andFrankie Sandford.

• The Mental Health Foundation suggests 10 ways to look after yourmental health (see right).

VP Welfare, Tom Windibank, hangs mind-apples on campus.

The Centre for Wellbeing’s Mind Apples Event 20 FEBRUARY 2014



FEATURThe Stag | 24th March 2014Features Editor: Rebekkah Hughes

Ihave some very keen food critics in my house. I thinkthey’re keen because they want free cake, but I like to

hink that they give me true criticism and when theyay something is good, they mean it… but I suppose

making a cake and having it gone within two days ispraise enough! Although running out of cake is ratherdisappointing: picture an empty plate with a fewrumbs to speak for themselves. It’s all rather bleak.

However, the resolution is to just make more cake.My most recent baking session resulted in an Iced

emon Cake with Vanilla Buttercream, which I’mgoing to share with you. This cake recipe is courtesy ofMrs. Mary Berry of The Great British Bake Off, with atandard recipe for the buttercream.

You need to have the oven at 180°c or 160°c for aan-assisted oven, and have your tins greased and linedeady to go. I made this is two round tins, like a Victoria

ponge, so I could add the buttercream in the middle.In a large bowl cream the butter, and stir in the

ugar until combined. Add the eggs one at a time alongwith the milk. Stir in the lemon rind, and once youhave a fully combined mixture, add and combine the

aking powder and self-raising our to the mixture intages.

Bake this mixture in a pre-heated oven for around35 minutes, or until the cake has left the sides of thetin slightly and is springy to the touch. Leave the caketo cool in the tin.

For the buttercream, cream the butter and add theicing sugar in stages. You can add some condensed milkto give a slightly sweeter nish to the butter cream, oralternatively add some milk for the opposite effect andto thin the mi xture. Add vanilla essence until satisedwith the avour.

For the lemon icing, measure out your icing sugarand add the lemon juice. Mix well until the icing has arunny consistenc y. You can always double this mixt urefor more icing if you’d like! I tend to, but that’s becauseI think it adds that little bit extra to the sponge.

Construct your cake with the buttercream in themiddle and drizzle and spread the lemon glacéicing over the top. The icing will initially

be sticky, but it will eventually harden.Normally though, it stays a little tacky.

Last but denitely not least, serve!It’s lovely and simple, and it’s also niceto have something not chocolate orplain – enjoy your cake!

Lemon Cake WithButtercream Icing

Ingredients:225g (8oz) softened butter225g (8oz) caster sugar275g (10oz) self-raising our2 level tsp baking powder

4 large eggs4 tbsp milkgrated rind of 2 lemons

For the Icing3 tbsp lemon juice225g (8oz) sifted icing sug

For the Buttercream55g (2oz) softened but ter

200g (7oz) icing sugarVanilla essence to taste1 tbsp of condensed milkto sweeten (optional)2 tbsp of milk to thin (opt



SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY14 The Stag | 24th March 2014 sciencetech@thestagsur

In Californ ia, 2010, Dr Craig Venterstunned the world. He and his

team of scientists announced thecreation of “synthetic life”: the rstliving self-replicating organismon the planet. Remarkably,the organism’s DNA was puttogether with just a computerand four bottles of chemicals. The

breakthrough came when a wholeset of DNA (known as a genome)

was successfully moved out fromone bacterium and into another,transforming it completely in theprocess. On that feat of biologicalengineering, Venter had this tosay:

‘If I were to select a single study,

paper, or experimental result thathas inuenced my understanding

of life more than any other, I wouldwithout doubt choose one above allothers – Genome Transplantation.’

Imagine being stripped of yourDNA and replacing it with someoneelse’s, in barely a moment’snotice everything about yourphysical and chemical make-upbecomes unrecognisable. That’swhat happened to the bacteriaM.capricolum. Its genome wasreplaced with that of its distantrelative, M.mycoides – theyshare DNA homology of around76%. Considering humans shareroughly 97% of their DNA withchimpanzees, that’s a non-trivialdifference in genes.

Bacteria are part of theliving kingdom just as we are; ittherefore seems intuitive thatprotective measures would bein place to protect ones identity(think antiviral software on

your computer), and some are –restriction enzymes, for example,chop up any DNA that’s deemedforeign. This protection was easilycircumvented by what biologistscall “DNA methylation” andnothing else stood in the way.This was transformation in everysense of the word. It’s proof of

concept that DNA is like high-techsoftware that can assemble its

own hardware. The software beingcombinations of DNA sequencesusing its four different letters(A,C,T,G e.g. AATCCGGAT) and thehardware being the tiny machinery(proteins) in cells that interpretsthis sequence of letters and uses itto build complex living cells as weknow them.

If we look at on-going researchin this eld, how technologicalapplications could look in thefuture is astonishing. Once genometransplantation is perfected and wehave a cell that can t ake up not onlya distant relative’s genome but anyDNA it’s given, you combine thatwith advances in DNA printing and

biological teleportation becomesnot just an experiment in the labbut a worldwide reality.

That’s Venter’s currentvision. Having what he calls a“Digital Biological Converter” (asmall desktop box) attached to

your computer that can literallydownload a DNA sequence, printit out and transplant it into abacterium that acts as a tinymanufacturing plant to producewhat it’s programmed to. Weare talking about being able todownload and ma ke insulin or the

latest u vaccine for ein your home.

NASA is also gettaction. They envisioDNA sequencer to Many DNA sequence thto Earth and recapMartian DNA into there on Earth, sideproblem of not havincan return to Earthtaken off.

This area of makorganisms is known biology” - a young moving one. David made it one of his topscientic research aown University of Surtheir own synthetic b

California this year. Talready has a wesystems biology teamsister eld to synthet

Innovation has faster, and it’s neveimportant for societstep with scientiadvances, so theethical, societaland practicalproblems can bediscussed timelyand in an openfashion.

Science & Technology

The Future of Species TransformatioBy Noah Mesfn, Science & Technology Team

Breakthrough: Echoes of the Big BaEver since I can remember, I’ve

been one of the people on theedge of my seat – eyes and ears atthe ready – waiting for the latestevidence in support of the ‘BigBang’ theory. Or, should we say,the mysterious unknown.

It’s the key to understandinghow our universe came to be.Over the years evidence has beenbuilding. Just two years ago theHiggs boson particle joined as thelast piece in the puzzle making upthe Standard Model. The course

of the universe’s history is beingshaped before our eyes. 13.8 billion

years later we still don’t have allthe answers surrounding its birth.That is rapidly changing thanks tomodern-day space technology.

The rst direct evidence for‘ination’, which is the period

after the universe’s birth wheregravitational waves are emitted,has been found. Astronomerslooking at the cosmic microwavebackground (CMB), whose newestmap was published last year, havepicked up gravitational ripplesthat were echoed in those rstcrucial seconds of the Big Bang.This evidence has been veriedafter days of speculation.

The Harvard scientistswho detected the ripples thatwere to begin the space-timecontinuum are among hundredsof astrophysicists searching for

‘primordial gravitational waves’since they were predicted byAlbert Einstein’s theory of generalrelativity in 1916.

The gravitational waves werefound using a specialised telescopebased in the South Pole called BICEP(Background Imaging of Cosmic

Extragalactic Polarization). Thelocation for their search is due tothe South Pole being the clearestplace on Earth for stargazing.They were able to detect the wavesbecause the light emitted after theBig Bang (cosmic radiation) swirls.

The ripple that has been foundbegun during the period knownas ‘ination’ where particlesexpanded and formed after theuniverse had burst into life. Thetheory for what happened after isto do with gravitational waves; thekey to nding the early echoes ofthe Big Bang.

Proud project leader JamieBock has said, “The implicationsfor this detection stagger themind. We are measuring a signalthat comes from the dawn oftime.”

By Siobhan Harris, Science & Technology Editor

The NASA Ames Research Center are also gettting in on the action.

© A l e x a n d e r v a n D i j k



SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGThe Stag | 24th March 2014Sci/Tech Editor: Siobhan Harris

The Start of the Great Reclamatio

Elysium, Avatar, The Matrix, even Iron

Man? Writers and artists love to createdeas, machines and predictions of what

Earth in the future has to offer, and most ofhem are way off (see A Clockwork Orange!).

However, a few hit the mark surprisinglylose; exoskeletons are now hot property

with a large number of specialised companiespopping up around the world.

One particular specimen developed byhe Perceptual Robotics Company in Pisa,taly, is quite impressive. It has been dubbedhe ‘Body Extender’ and it can lift 50kg in

each arm and multiply the force you exertby a factor of 10. It is described as the mostomplex wearable robot ever built. In an

army tan colour, it’s a rather bulky strap-on (oo-er) machine with a lot of exposedhydraulics, coupled with the double pronged

laws reminiscent of Sir Killalot that give it avery futuristic look.

The machine has 22 degrees of freedom,which is close on the exibility of a humanhand. These movements are all powered with

an electric motor in modular components,meaning the skeleton can be rebuilt to suitthe application or size of controller. Creators

have listed potential applications of thismodel as rescuing earthquake victims orassembling complex products like aircraftdue to its great exibility.

There are several other variants allaimed at different uses: Israeli companyArgo Medical Technologies have developedthe ReWalk device to help people with legdisabilities walk with crutches; LockheedMartin have created the Hulc – lightweight,bone-like structure which is aimed atassisting soldiers carry up to 90kg in theeld; and Japanese Cyberdyne has a hybridassistive limb (Hal) system with its whiteplastic exterior complemented by blue LEDrings that would see it right at home in anyvideo game.

However, there is for any developing

technology a limit; namely, batteries.Thankfully much work is being done toget batteries smaller and lighter whilstholding as much power as possible becauseof their use in phones and laptops. These

exoskeletons will need an awful lot of juicein order to use them over longer periods oftime so the evolution of these machines

is directly correlated to that ofbatteries.

Exoskeletons are quitecommon in nature; from ants,spiders and crickets to tortoises andturtles, each of these possessboth internal and externalskeletons. These provide supportfor the body but crucially protectionfrom predators; the skeleton making thepenetrating of vital organs with teeth andclaws much harder.

There is a quote from Rich Walker: “Safetywill be vital for ‘on the body’ robotics. Thereis a new ISO standard covering this, but wehaven’t yet seen what happens when anexoskeleton goes wrong.” A fair observationbut he nishes pessimistically. I believe that

this equipment will have countless uses;from military, to construction, to medicalcare, and we will be one step away fromclaiming a true future technology.

y Ben Hartfeld, Sc ience & Technology Team

of Sci-Fi Technology

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD)has bolstered its cyber forces

with the conception of the Jointyber Reserve Unit (JCRU). This is aeam of hundreds of reservists whoserimar y role will be to help defend the

UK against large-scale cyber-attacks.According to UK Defence Secretary

hillip Hammond, the JCRU will alsohave the ability to proactively strikeoreign forces or other threats inyberspace.

The unit – which is effectively theyber equivalent of the Territorial

Army – will be formed of three classesf recruits: suitably experienced

military staff already leading in theUK armed forces; current and formereservists with the necessary skills;nd most interestingly, civilians with

no previous military experience thathave a rm technical knowledge.This is an exciting opportunity forxperts to put their skills to good useor the nation, protecting our vitalomputer systems and capabilities,”ays Hammond. He believes that thiss a vital step towards full-spectrum

military cyber capability for the UK.The news has been well-

eceived on many fronts, withhe acknowledgement that theovernment is upping its game inoing whatever it takes to keepur cyber defences intact. The new

head of the JCRU, Lieutenant ColonelMichael White, believes this canonly be a good thing given the veryreal prospect of full-scale cyber war.

Speaking on the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’programme, he said that deployingan army to face the battle head-on isa sensible move.

There is some concern, however,with regard to the type of personnelbeing recruited for the unit. Of thosein the country who have the level ofcomputing expertise required, someare likely to be convicted hackers.This presented an issue for Whitewhich he addressed on Newsnight.His response was somewhatunexpected: “If they can get throughthe security process… then why not?”he said. His view is that emphasisshould be placed on the capabilitiesof the individual rather than their

personality traits. The very idea ofa convicted hacker working for thegovernment, when generally hackerstend to be rather anti-establishment,is what makes some people uneasy.One such person is Ross Brewer,vice-president of security vendorLogRhythm. Brewer, unsurprised bythe government’s move to strengthenthe country’s military cyber power,says “The government needs totread carefully if looking to employconvicted criminals and ensure noblurring of the lines of morality”.

UK Cyber DefencesStrengthenedBy James Lake, Science & Technology Team

Asecond baby diagnosed with HIV, the viruswhich leads to AIDS if untreated, may have

been cured of the infection after treatment wasadministered just hours after birth.

The baby girl born in California about 9 monthsago was born to a mother who had not been givenantiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. Fourhours after birth, treatment was startedwith three drugs: AZT, 3TC and Nevirapine.Eleven days after birth the virus was nolonger detectable in the blood and it hasremained that way in the months since.

Although it is impossible to tell ifthe girl is truly in remission because sheis still being treated, the tests so far look

promising. Further research would needto be done to determine if the babyis HIV free, however as Dr DeborahPersaud, a virologist at John HopkinsMedical Centre, said at a conferencepresenting the second the case: "This has to bedone in a clinical trial setting, because really theonly way we can prove that we've accomplishedremission in these cases is by taking them offtreatment, and that's not without risks."

The rst case was a baby born in Mississippiin the autumn of 2010 and was given treatmentshortly after birth. Interestingly, after 18 monthsthis baby stopped receiving treatment whenher mother stopped administering it and has

remained in remission since then. In Mathe Mississippi baby was declared “funcured”, “functionally” being used becauvirus was still present in the body, it walow levels that it was not detectable byclinical tests.

One of the reasons people that havefor some time cannot be cured is becvirus develops dormant reservoirs in w

virus is resistant to drug therapy, howtreatment is stopped the virus can r

and cause illness. One of the presented by researchers explaithe Mississippi baby is remaremission is that the rapid treatmbirth destroyed the virus before it

to establish these reservoirs.This suggests that the treatm

not be applicable to adults disease but could be vital fborn to HIV-positive motdo not receive the treatmeat preventing the transmissivirus to their baby duri

pregnancy.Clinical trials are expected to start

determine whether or not this treatmebe effective on a broad scale. If the repositive, the treatment could help to prworld’s 250,000 babies born annually virus from having to undergo a lifetime and expensive treatments.

Second HIV Baby Remains Viru

Free After Rapid Treatment

By Melissa Raske, Science & Technology Team

First Mississipi baby declared “functionally cured”, now Calibaby virus-free after recieving rapid treatment straight after



SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY16 The Stag | 24th March 2014 sciencetech@thestagsur

By Fahmid Chowdhury, Scienc

Team

Top in T

The UK has announ

for schools to fundamentals of cyto children so that

can be amongst thoto handle futuTeachers will bedeliver this new acurriculum.

Schools to Receive CSecurity Training

Microsoft, creaWindows Ph

going give a coupphone makers theirforegoing their ufee. It does this wof increasing Win

adoption in the cou

Microsoft Offer FreePhone OS

ALego robot poARM chip w

to beat the worldsolving a Rubik’s seconds. This ARMis similar to that fSamsung Galaxy S4

Lego Robot to AttemRubik’s Cube Record

Vodafone Comes LasMobile Test

In one of comprehensive

mobile networks, Vcome last with EE cThere were 100 including reliabildata and text servic

According to rOfcom, Britain

the fastest internetAbout 73% of thehas a connection30mbps or above them, up from 60%

UK Tops European BList

Twenty-five Years of Internet: How it Began

Sending mai l? Remember to pay for the stamp. Booking a holiday? Havea long talk with the travel agent about your needs, desires and how

on earth to move around at your destination. Want to get your opinion

heard? Call in to your radio station.These are some of the ways people used to tackle various issues 25

years ago. Then came something that completely changed the way webehave, interact and go about our daily lives: the World Wide Web.

It was Sir Tim Berners-Lee who created a proposal whilst working atCERN (Yes, that big physics lab in Switzerland) that describes a pool ofinformation that could “evolve” and “grow” within the organisation. Itwas initially meant to improve communication between the thousandsof scientists working at CERN and the aim was to create a “universallinked information system”. It was however not received with muchenthusiasm, with his boss writing “vague but exciting” on the cover.This did not stop Sir Tim though; he went on to write HTML, HTTP andthe rst ever web browser. By 1993, CERN allowed scientists to use thisinnovation which was then followed by millions of people ever since.

It is truly amazing as to how this “vague but exciting” proposal haschanged our lives. Firstly, it has created an ease of passing informationsuch as emails and instant messaging. Billion-dollar companies have alsobeen formed with the sole premise of using the Internet to undertake

various tasks. Amazon, Facebook and Twitter are a few that most of ususe daily. Furthermore it has sparked revolutions and promoted theuse of free speech in various nations, alongside improving and creatingimaginative technology which people of the past could never haveimagined. These are just a few ways in which the Internet has changedour lives. Without it, the world would be a much different place. It trulyboggles the mind when a moment of thought is given as to how this onesingle proposal changed the world forever.

The twelfth of March marked its birthday and it is natural that thismilestone should be recognised. However, one should also notice thatthere is still work to do and that the next 25 years have some importantmilestones to achieve. Approximately every 3 out of 5 people on theplanet do not have access to the web. ‘For the Internet to be truly for all,

it must be shaped by al l and be accessible to a ll.’ These are not my words;these are the words of Sir Tim. He also mentions that it should empowerus to ‘achieve our dignity, rights and potential as humans’. The Internetis something that was not much to begin with, but now it can make us a lltruly amazing in various ways.

By Fahmid Chowdhury, Science & Technology Team

GM Foods Controversy:

To Grow or Not To Grow?Iwill never forget being asked recently whatmy stance is on ‘GM foods’. Perhaps if I’d

been more aware of the situation I’d havegiven a more articulate answer than just “I’mnot sure – maybe we should wait.” It seemsI’d hit a key note there, one that I now knowresonates throughout Europe. Anyway, it hasmy attention now, and here’s why.

It seems that the topic is full ofcontradictions; here, there and everywhereconicting statements are appearing fromthose who are considering producinggenetically modied (GM) foods here in theUK. Ultimately, production and manufactureis down to the strict regulations of the EU

parliament in Brussels.Europe currently grows only a few GM

plants itself for research, such as the odd-looking purple tomatoes that appeared last

year, but most of its imported animal feed isGM, for instance being imported from Canada.

As commonly done, example is led by theUS whose scientists provided the evidence tosupport that GM foods are safe.

The new technology appears promisingto UK Prime Minister David Cameron’sscientic advisors who have been urging himto follow the US’s lead. However, since the USagricultural giants had a hard time sellingoff their GM produce, Britain’s supermarket

chains are reluctant to follow suit.Alas, Cameron has commissioned a new

report on GM crops asking for more UK eldtrials and fewer EU restrictions. The Councilfor Science and Technology (CST) calls for‘public good’ varieties to be grown and testedin the UK. It defends the cause by saying eachGM crop should be assessed individually, as

pharmaceuticals are.The environment secretary Owen Paterson

has declared his support for increasing UKresearch into GM produce, saying it offersthe “most wonderful opportunities toimprove human health.” The purple tomatoespreviously mentioned are a prime example of a

GM crop full of antioxidants which would be ofvital use for public health if consensus deemsthey’re safe.

Professor Cathie Martin, a co-creator of thetomatoes, said “NGOs complain that GM onlybenets multinational companies – but that’sbecause they’re the only ones who can affordit. We can’t afford to trial crops for the publicgood.”

However, opponents to the cause includingthe environmental group Friends of the Earthare not convinced. They say GM will not makefood more affordable or susta inable: “GM cropshave been hugely over-hyped. Despite decadesof research they have failed to deliver thebenets they have promised – and have beenan expensive distraction from real solutions to

the challenges we face.”There’s also the perspective of the executive

director of the Food Ethics Council, DanCrossley, who says: “In a resource-constrainedworld where a billion people go to bed hungryand a billion are obese, we must also tackle thescandal of food waste, as well as the issue ofwhat we eat.”

The controversy is likely to continue, andwith the EU’s strict regulations it is unlikelythat we’ll be seeing GM foods stocked in oursupermarkets any time soon – unless Cameronand the team of scientists leading the newreport can persuade otherwise.

By Siobhan Harris, Science & Technology Editor

Fahmid reminds us of the world before the launch of the Internet, and how it began

© m a c g a t e w a y

© d a n i e l p i n k



SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGThe Stag | 24th March 2014Sci/Tech Editor: Siobhan Harris

Asimple new test to detectprostate and bladder cancers

developed by researchers athe University of Surrey will be

brought to market after a licence

agreement between the Universityand Randox was announced earlyn March.

The test, which focuses onhe detection of the EN2 proteinn a urine sample, was developedn a three-year study which was

published in the journal Clinical

Cancer Research in 2011. TheEN2 test is quicker and simplerto conduct than the PSA testcurrently being used for prostatecancer, which was developed 30

years ago. The EN2 test is al so ableto detect a greater percentage of

prostate cancer cases and picks upfewer false positives than the PSAtest.

Clinical trials conducted inthe US and Europe conrmed theefcacy of the test which couldhopefully be available for use inGP surgeries by 2015. The original

research, which could help in theearlier detection of prostate cancerwhich kills more than 10,000 menin the UK annually, was originally

jointly funded by the Universityand the Prostate Project charitybased in Surrey.

Professor of Medical Oncologyat the University, Hardev Pandha,spoke about the test saying, “Unlikein previous tests that requireinvasive procedures to producea trigger, our studies show thatthe EN2 test immediately showsup and that levels of the protein

correlate strongly with how far thedisease has spread. This may thenhelp a doctor assess whether thedisease may be safely and activelymonitored or whether it hasspread more widely and requirestreatment.”

Key materials wil l be supplied bythe University of Surrey to Randoxand they will then manufactureand market the product.

The founder and managingdirector of Randox Laboratories,Dr Peter Fitzgerald, discussed thelicence agreement: “With prostate

and bladder cancers beinthe top ten common ccancer death, accurate diincredibly important to intype of treat ment. We are delighted to be working University of Surrey to dev

commercialise and EN2biomarker.”

Surrey Diagnostic Test in GP Surgeries by 201By Melissa Raske, Science & Technology Team



MUSIC20 The Stag | 24th March 2014 music@thestagsur

Music

An Interview with The JezabeBy James Campbell, Music Team

Amidst the scattered twinklings ofhandheld mobiles and poised ash

cameras, a sudden eruption of rapturousbellows from gleeful audience membersricochets around the intimate walls ofShepherd’s Bush O2 Empire on Wednesday5th March, as the lights dim and The Jezabelstake to the stage, much to the delight of aclamouring London audience.

A few hours before, I caught up withkeyboardist Heather Shannon and leadingfront woman Haley Mary backstage to ndout just what’s so special about this UK tour,their new album release, ‘The Brink’ and

their guilty pleasure for yoga…

Hi guys - It’s great to see that your UKtour is now in full swing. First of all, let’sbegin with a bit of context. How did theband meet?

Haley: Heather and I went to primaryschool together and remained staunchfriends during high school. We had a group;I think we might have even started to callourselves the Jezabels back then, although wedidn’t take the music we were writing veryseriously. Afterwards, we went to SydneyUniversity and met the guys. We had ourrst show in 2007 as a proper band, which wemanaged to pull off without a hitch, luckily!

Heather: We were all still studying atUniversity but realised there was some real

potential in what we were doing and so oncethe band started picking up, we nished ourdegrees gradually and dedicated more timeto writing and playing music together.

As an emerging group, situated onthe north coast of Australia, were youinuenced by the local contemporarymusic scene around you? Was ‘indie’ themost prominent genre?

Haley: It’s funny but I think that’s whywe have specically referred to ourselvesas an indie band, as that was the musicthat everybody listened to and found cool.Ironically, we felt we weren’t directlyinvolved but still inuenced in the same vein.

Heather: Yeah, a lot of bands that becamepopular in places like Sydney at the time

were really cool and fashionable, such asbands like Los Valentinos and Ghostwood,local Australian groups that are now nolonger together. I think we managed to makethe grade when these groups couldn’t.

Rumour has it that you have coined your particular style of indie music,‘intensindie’…

Heather: (Laughs) It was meant to bean absolute joke! Unfortunately, we arestill trying to live down the pretentiousassociations which the media have labelledus with: I guess it means whatever you wantit to mean, especially as we don’t think our

sound is that intense.Haley: We think we’ll have the last laugh

though (grins).

How do you think your sound hasdeveloped since your debut album,‘Prisoner’ on your latest release, ‘TheBrink’? How have the musical andthematic elements changed?

Haley: Some would say we have takena retrogressive step back to what we weredoing on our EPs, with more of an emphasison poppier sounding music than anythingdarker or deeper, like what’s featured on‘Prisoner’. I think ‘The Brink’ is denitelymore optimistic sounding, but more concise.

Heather: It’s slightly less indulgent thanwhat we have produced in the past. Thissecond album is more honest and open, moreof a personal journey for us. I don’t wantto suggest that our earlier music is morecontrived than what we are doing now butour songs now sound more like songs beingsung.

Haley: Exactly, nothing is being hidden inthe production this time around.

For the ‘The Brink’, you were workingalongside a completely differentproduction team: do you think this hashad a big impact on how the album wasconceived overall?

Haley: Oh most denitely. We workingwith Dan Grech-Marguerat, who had a big

say in the sounds which were utilised andthe soundscapes that we wanted to createthroughout the album. I think he broughtus out of our comfort zones and pushed ourlimitations, which has been great. By beingable to write songs as an artist, a producercan paint it in many colours, which makesa huge difference to the way an album isperceived by fans and media critics alike.

When dealing with the nitty gritty ofsong writing, who comes up with the lyricsand music? Is it a collective effort?

Heather: It’s everyone but a confusedprocess (laughs). It can stem from a beat,from piano chords or even just a simple guitarriff or a melody plucked out of nowhere.Eventually, lyrics are added on top – mostly

the melody is what comes rst and then thelyrics follow suit.

What have your lyrics been mostlyinspired by, especially in ‘The Brink’?

Haley: For me, considering our repertoireto date, I feel that I am constantly battlingagainst cynicism: I still need to be inspiredby different things and make a real effortto not feel cynical or put this across in themusic. I am always hopeful and if we releaseanything in the near future, I would reallywant to keep that idea of optimism going.

What do you nd more exciting:writing in the studio or being on the road?

Heather: For me, personally, I love thewriting component, that’s denitely what Iget off on!

Haley: Yeah, writing can be a realchallenge yet rewarding – whereas touring iswhere you reap the rewards of what you’vedone. There can be a lot of self doubt duringthe writing process, so being able to tour andperform it live, helps you understand what’sgood and what’s not. Touring can be reallyphysically taxing, but denitely worth it.

So far, how do you think the 2014 tour

has been received in the UK and in Londonin particular?

Heather: Overall, British audiences aredifferent from London audiences: Londonis like a completely different country andcrowds are often a lot more enthusiasticoutside of the capital.

Haley: There’s a lot of criticism in Londonand it takes its toll on your ego, with criticismafter criticism. Mostly though, audienceshave been really responsive to our shows…so far so good (winks). It feels now a lot morelike how Australia did a couple of years ago:we can meet people after the shows whogenuinely want to talk to us. It’s still earlydays in the UK but I think there’s promise, asort of solid foundation.

Heather: Critics can be really standofsh

here though, but that’s ne because it’s their job, right?

Now for the juicy bit: have there beenany shocking on-tour scandals? Anyhorror stories or wild af ter-parties?

Haley: Haha, if only! I wish we could saythere were plenty of crazy after parties even,but we don’t tend to party that hard thesedays! We play it safe. You perform, you thenget bundled into the tour bus and you sleep.And repeat.

Heather: We’ve taken up yoga though…(both exchange glances, chuckling). I guesswe’re pretty nerdy underneath it all! We just

don’t have the stamina to drinlike we used to and it’s much respite and a form of relaxationstrength up during a tour.

What do you feel has been ymusical accomplishment to d

Haley: Having been in the b years solid is quite an achievedenitely perceive a longevity whether we pursue particularor not. It’s pretty amazing to g

year mark and still enjoy writi

spending time together nonsto

What will the future h Jezabels?

Heather: It’s quite hardespecially after coming from w

year’s worth of music.Haley: Yeah, but I’m sure

making a third album’s worth oleast; we now have the ability tlove so we have no intention towithout a ght.

That’s the spirit. Finally,would you have for any edglpursuing a career in music?they take on the current indu

Haley: Well, forget the idea o

stardom! (laughs). There’s so beauty associated with makinmusic. It’s not about making about making music for the rIf I could suggest two things, always pays to be nice t o peopledenitely are going to have to get where you want!

The Jezabel’s new album, now available to download viAmazon. For current tour dattheir ofcial website: http:com/



MUSIC22 The Stag | 24th March 2014 music@thestagsur

Newton Faulkner returned to

Guildford on the 6th Marchto perform a sold out concert atGLive. As arguably one of ACM’smost successful former students,the crowds were visibly excited tohave Newton back on home soil.He played songs from all four ofhis albums, rousing the audiencewith classic renditions of ‘DreamCatch Me’ and ‘ Teardrop’, right upto songs from his latest release,Studio Zoo, including ‘Where toStart’ and ‘Indecisive’.

This twenty-three day tour isin support of Studio Zoo, whichwas released in August last

year. The creation of this albumwas captured via webcam and

offered his audience a uniqueopportunity to watch the album’sformation over a ve week period,twenty-four hours a day. Thisinnovative idea clearly worked, asStudio Zoo has become his fourthconsecutive top 10 album.

With his iconic long reddreadlocks, Newton Faulknerhas become unmistakable on thestage. For those who haven’t seenhim play live, he leaves everyaudience member slack-jawedin awe at his breathtakinglyunique musical and vocalability. Constantly pushing theboundaries and developinginnovative ways to perform, he

even re-tunes his guitar as partof a song, sings into the pick-upsand of course, uses the body ofhis guitar as percussion.

But what is so enchantingabout Newton Faulkner is hisability to become a full band,

using just his own body. Hiscoordination is unrivaled, ashe manages to sing and play

complicated guitar, whilst alsoplaying a kick drum with hisright foot, and triggering pianonotes with his left. That said,for the rst time in years, healso brought other musicians tothe stage including a cellist andanother guitarist (his brilliantsupport act, Sam Brooks). Whilsthe is great alone, the additionof these instrumentalistsmade for some spine-tinglingmoments; not forgetting theenchanting harmonies providedby the backing singers, includingNewton’s brother, Toby. If youthought his music was enjoyablein recorded form, you have to see

this man perform live.With each tour, Newton treats

his fans to a new cover, whichare usually very interesting andambitious. These have previouslyincluded ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’(you’ll want to YouTube that!),and ‘Superstition’, and this year’scover of Justin Timberlake’s ‘LikeI Love You’ didn’t disappointeither. He also delighted theaudience with a performance of‘I Need Something’, a classic andperhaps one of his most-lovedhits, which was written on thesteps of Guildford’s very ownElectric Theatre.

Seeing Newton Faulkner live is

an uplifting experience. Not onlyis his music magical, but he alsoseems like a genuinely charmingguy, joking and laughing with theaudience. Let’s hope he doesn'tleave it too long before he returnsto Guildford again.

Newton Faulkner

– GLive reviewBy Sophia Field, Film Editor

Last year was probably the shakiest year in Ross’scareer to date, plagued by controversy over his date

rape lyric in Rocko’s ‘U.O.E.N.O’ and being dropped fromhis sponsorship deal with Reebok because of it. Thatwould probably make you think he’d be doing all hecould to avoid controversy, and in many ways he did dothat on this album, with a few exceptions. Interviews

with the rapper have made it abundantly clear that he’snot one for music politics and would rather focus onmusic and the wealth it affords him, putting last year’scontroversies behind him.

So it’s no surprise that 2013 saw no full-lengthreleases from the Florida-based rapper, probablybecause he was recovering from his disappointing LP‘God Forgives, I Don’t’ and the nauseat ingly-bad mixt apethat followed it up, ‘The Black Bar Mitzvah’. Instead, hefocused on features and hyping up Mastermind with aseries of promotional singles, including the listenable‘No Games’ and the decadent and explosive music videothat accompanied it.

Ross was never one for rapping about life’s moreprofound matters, but listening through his last full-length, ‘God Forgives, I Don’t’, felt nauseating merelydue to how limited his subject matter was: Maybachs,money and coke-pedalling. You denitely won’t nd

reections on Congressional politics or thoughtsabout the Ukraine uprising in Mastermind, but what

you wil l nd is enough diversity to keep you on yourtoes or at least your feet. The album opens with anacknowledgment of the genre itself - “If you love hip-hop bust them shots” - and as simple as this is, it’srefreshing to hear Ross even mention something thatisn’t about himself. Lighter moments like these providecomic relief just when the seriousness of Ross’s personahas been going on a bit too long, case in point: “A sweetpotato pie, oh me, oh my/Showing no remorse watchingthe others cry”. You can’t help but laugh. With this inmind, few listeners wouldn’t cringe when they hear“Trayvon Martin, never missing my target” in ‘BLK &WHT’; the reference feels uncomfortable, unwarranted

and surprising for a rapper who shouldcontroversy at all cost.

But even Ross’s harshest critics wouto deny that his beat selections are on poa satisfying return to the form we saw onback in 2012. As lacklustre and slow to stMike WiLL-produced lead single ‘War Rmore like Young Chop’s signature drill stywho spent most of last year producing for

The Weeknd’s contribution to ‘In Vein’ imellow to the coke-fuelled excitability of tracks, bringing out a smoother and moreof Ross that unfortunately invokes mothan enjoyment. This frustration is onlyby the album’s seemingly inevitable unnecessarily long skits, which only listening experience when they reach thparody.

Ross’s greatest virtue on Masterminand anyone familiar with his music knhas been the case in most of his muIt’ll never get the same exposure as ‘Supreme’ is undoubtedly the album’s cedelivery sounding unmistakably at homthe lush instrumentation of brass and characteristic of Southern hip-hop. Fans III will get similar feelings of reassura

Wayne’s contribution to ‘Thug Cry’ whicreturn to form from a rapper whose ocunnilingus wore thin several years ago.

The massive anticipation and prolonsurrounding Mastermind has made it hsinging the praises of it, simply becausdisappointment it could have so eas ily beehits with the same infectious catchinesor ‘B.M.F.’, but ultimately, the Maybach has put together a set of tracks that is ogood quality and with very little ller. Richave a tendency to come across as hyperaggrandising, but if that ruined your enj

you’d be missing the point.

Rick Ross – MastermiBy Leo Blanchard, Music Team

© G O G O V i s u a l



MUSThe Stag | 24th March 2014Music Editor: Candice Ritchie

By Leo Blanchard, Music Team

If you weren’t looking for it, there’s a slim chance you’d st umble upon the music venue at the rear of

the Star Inn; a pub that manages to feel traditionaln the age of ‘Spoons 2 for £12 cocktail pitchers’. But

somewhere as unmistakably Guildford as this, made a

tting home for ‘Sense the Music’, a night of live musicput on by a selection of local talent on the 9th April.Madd Elizabeth, Kingdom and Cultural Other — madeup of a mix of ACM and University of Surrey students— all played their own varieties of guitar-driven musicto a crowd of eager music fans.

Madd Elizabeth were the rst act, setting the paceof the night with a groove easy to fall into - thinkThe Killers with Jack White’s vocals on top. As theyploughed through a decent range of original songsyou couldn’t help but feel the front man was c arry ingthe rest of the band a bit, as they largely remainedstatic throughout the set, but the music felt on pointnonetheless.

While it can be difcult not to compare everymodern rock band with a piano to Muse, their inuencecould denitely be heard in the music of ‘Kingdom’,whose melodic sound was distinctly reminiscent of the

band. The instrumentation felt a bit crowded at times,but their penultimate song was much slower than theothers, giving it an atmospheric feel and allowing thepiano to add depth instead of being drowned out bythe other instrumentation. This also gave a bit of ahint of the sound to come from the headlining act.

You can’t help but pay attention to CulturalOther’s lyrics when listening to them; if anything, it’sbecause the sparseness of their music draws you tothem straight away. That’s not necessarily to say thattheir instrumentation is forgettable or even bad, thetemptation to cram all possible instrumentation intotracks is something that seems to be resisted by few.

Cultural Other’s ability to create music as calm as theydo, does a good job emphasising the intensity of theirperiods of heaviness, characterised by rumbling basswhich worked well in the mix live.

The band took a short break to elaborate on theirname, explaining that it was because one of them isPolish, one of them is Italian and one of them is… Brit ish.The drummer was quick to remark “It sounds likewhen you say ‘Cultural Other’ it would be anything butBritish”. True. The 1942 classic B&W lm ‘Casablanca’was projected on a screen behind the stage throughoutthe night; I thought this was a nice touch that reallyenhanced the entertainment visually and served as agreat contrast against the music’s heavier moments.

Sense the Music was a testament to the dedicationof local artists, to promote the Guildford music scenethrough organising and performing at intimate venueslike the Star Inn. All three bands showed potential,

but more importantly they displayed the kind ofenthusiasm that makes for genuinely enjoyable liveentertainment. Denitely make sure to check out anyof these bands if you have the opportunity.

Search for ‘Cultural Other’ on Facebook andSoundcloud.

Sense the Music Review

Cultral Other



LITERATURE24 The Stag | 24th March 2014 literature@thestagsur

LiteratureIs India’s illiteracy rate a justification for

the West to represent them through fiction?

Monica Ali’s rst novel, Brick

Lane, tells the enthrallingstory of young Nazneen, onlyeighteen years old, as she’s sentoff to England from her hometown in Bangladesh to marrya man through an arrangedmarriage. This realist novelportrays hard hitting realitiesmany immigrants face whenentering into a new culture andway of life, yet has a comicaltouch, making it an enjoyableread.

Beginning in theMymensingh District inEast Pakistan, we get a briefintroduction into Nazneen’schildhood and her fateful birth.

However, the novel quicklyswitches to East London’s TowerHamlets where she is to livewith new husband, Chanu. Shesoon nds herself a mother withtwo feisty daughters who aredetermined not to move back totheir parent’s original village,a tense decision Nazneen hasto make nearing the end of thenovel.

Shortlisted for the ManBooker Prize, Brick Lane exploresideas of freedom and community

as Nazneen strugglsurroundings, knowEnglish phrases, “th

“sorry.” She soon immigrant neighboher advice and suembarks on her queway in London.

In her passionwith Chanu, we reagruesome scenes cuts off the corns But, lust is soonthe introduction a erce young strong political vieNazneen that therlife and that it’s wfor, as she abandona good Bengali wifeon an impassione

explosion of physiand self-fullmentheart-warming cowhich Nazneen immin the freedom of L

The success of tonly the beginningof Nazneen, as itproduced into an alm in 2007. DescObserver as a “gripwould urge anyoneNazneen’s journey w

India has an illiteracy rate higher that 50%, yet themythology the west had imposed unto it during the

colonial era remains, with the leftovers of exoticismand mystery. There are probably more books writtenabout India by white men than Indian individuals.

So why then, are issues of representation andproblematic notions put forward when the likes of

Salman Rushdie and Monica Ali attempt to break offa fragment of the essence of India to present to theWestern audience?

It could perhaps be because these authors havelived a comfortable and privileged life in the west, somuch so that their attempts at authentic accounts arenothing but supercial. Does the colour of one’s skinand their South Asian name give them the right torepresent the traumatised minority, especially if thatminority won’t even read the accou nts? Why then, doesthe British audience need the entertaining magicalrealism of Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children”,and Monica Ali’s “Brick Lane”? Surely India has manyintellectuals living and breathing in the country togive more honest accounts? This could be a simple

question of selling stories, a result of capitalist survivalfor a writer in England.

Because of India’s traumatic and blood stainedhistory, in contemporary terms, imposed onto it byWestern colonisation, writing a pseudo-accurateaccount of monumental events in India during thepartition, I would say that employing magical realismis somewhat tasteless. Using a western technique thatsugar coats the deaths, injustice, and inhumanity

of India in the 1940’s that was because of Westernenforcements, undermines what Rushdie probablyfeels very strongly about.

As an Oxford educated man with Kashmiri roots,of course there would be reason to speak about thehorrors your family and people from your motherlandhave faced. But to attempt to squash it all into one bookwith language sometimes too rich to comprehend, witha representative of one or two farfetched characters,was not one of his smartest decisions.

All of that aside, Rushdie and Ali are talentedwriters that engage the audience in a captivatingnarrative. “Midnight’s Children” and “Brick Lane” arenow highly esteemed lms.

Review: Mon

Ali, Brick Lan

By Shiri Shah, Literature Editor

By Lauren Boland, Literature team

© s u n i l g a r g



LITERATUThe Stag | 24th March 2014Literature Editor: Shiri Shah

George Orwell’s literature

still impacts us todayBy Leo Blanchard, Literature team

Spring in Literatur

By Emma Hawken, literature team

The recent revelations over theextent of the NSAs operations

have caused a lot of people to think

bout the surveillance we’re allunder. This is particularly the caseor us Brits, who are under theonstant watchful eye of roughly.2 million CCTV cameras - more

per person than anywhere else inhe world. Discussion about theight to privacy almost alwaysnds up mentioning George

Orwell, whose satire made himn important gure in literarynd political history. The word

Orwellian’ itself has come todescribe threats to individualreedoms, originating from theociety in his novel 'Nineteenighty-Four’. Admittedly, thiss an unfortunate legacy

or a man who spenthis life warning

thers about threatso individual liberty.

In fact,George Orwell isesponsible forhe existence of

many phrases thatontinue to exist

in our collective vocabulary,even after his death over 60 yearsago. Many of them come from‘newspeak,’ a ctional languagecreated by Orwell for the dystopian

society of ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’,responsible for words such as‘doublethink’ and ‘Big Brother’.If you read ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’, you’ll probably nd a lot ofparallels between the society itdescribes and the one we live intoday. For example, much like thenever-ending war that’s used to

justify the absolute control overAirstrip One’s inhabitants, the ‘Waron Terror’ has arguably been usedas a justication for continuousreductions in our civil liberties.

Thankfully, the world ofOrwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’

is still a great deal differentfrom the one we currently

live in today - we stillhave democracyand protection offreedom of speech.Still, it’s hard not

to be reminded of‘prolefeed’ when absent-

mindedly watching ‘TheX Factor’ as you shovel Ben

& Jerry’s in your face.

Spring is nally starting to arrive with thewarm(ish!) weather, the plethora of daffodils

popping up all over campus and the excitementat how close the Easter break is – only a few moreweeks! The season of spring has been the subjectand inspiration of many different poems, novels, andplays. When this time of year rolls round again andMarch the rst ashes up on my calendar, I alwaysget a ashback to when I was in school and learningWilliam Wordsworth’s “I wandered lonely as a cloud”.

Just to recap, or for those that haven’t come acrossWordsworth’s affectionately named ‘Daffodil’ poem, itdescribes an experience of someone walking around,a bit down-in-the-dumps, and then unexpectedlycoming across some ‘golden daffodils’ which are‘tossing their heads in sprightly dance’. This ourishof owers and emersion within nature reawakens the

happiness within the poet and makes him smile again.Granted, this poem isn’t complex, full of allusions, orabout to spark any epiphany-like truths, but it doesshow how even the smallest, seemingly insignicantdetails in everyday life can be just the thing to change

your mood or make you stop and th ink. I’m not surethat each time I walk past the daffodils on my wayhome from lectures that ‘my heart with pleasure lls’or that I would ever be someone who ‘dances with thedaffodils’ (not in my right mind anyway!). However, ifI imagine Wordsworth pirouetting among the owersit might lighten the moment and make me smile alongwith him.

I wandered lonely as a cloudThat oats on high o’er vales and h

When all at once I saw a crowdA host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the treeFluttering and dancing in the bree

Continuous as the stars that shinAnd twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending liAlong the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly da

The waves beside them danced; butOut-did the sparkling waves in gl

A poet could not but be gay,In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thouWhat wealth the show to me had bro

For oft, when on my couch I l ieIn vacant or in pensive mood,

They ash upon that inward eyeWhich is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure And dances with the daffodils.



FILM26 The Stag | 24th March 2014 lm@thestagsur

Film

IMDb Top 100 – Do You Ag

Ican’t be the only one who runs to IMDb for suppochoosing a lm to watch. In an attempt to avoid wastin

of my life watching terrible movies, checking out the ratireceived by our trusted peers and critics is essential in nthe score. But do we all agree with these ratings?

Going in to watch The Lego Movie I was scepticalof whether it would actually be good, or just a

merchandising ploy to turn toys into a movie gone toofar - like the 2012 critical op Battleship. I generallytend to dislike animated lms because I often ndthem simplistic in terms of themes, with changeable‘characters’ (toys, cars, sea life), created with one eyefocused on the merchandising rights.

Despite this context, The Lego Movie was a pleasantsurprise. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller usetheir tried technique of making smart contemporarypop culture references from their previous effort 21

Jump Street and tell it through charming, retro-styleanimation, afforded by using Lego characters. I was

very impressed by the clever casting, picking actorswho are big in internet pop culture: Chris Pratt fromParks and Recreations, Will Arnett from ArrestedDevelopment, Alison Brie from Community, CharlieDay from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia andElizabeth Banks from The Hunger Games trilogy.

If that top billing of voice actors with niche andrabid fan bases online doesn't get you interested,there's also Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, and Liam

Neeson among top Hollywood actors - each, again,being favourites of the internet crowd.

This self-aware casting is what elevates the dialoguein The Lego Movie from just jokes on paper, to in-jokepop culture references, adding another dimension tothe lm. Although, these will likely be the jokes thatonly older viewers will recognise and appreciate. Theretro animation style captures the fascination kidshave with Lego toys and is sure to make anyone whoenjoyed playing with them in childhood reminisce.

It's overall a very cheerful and uplifting lm, butthe scenes showing father-son bonding moved meto tears, because of the troubled relationship thatI have with my own family. Besides that, there are

also undercurrents of commentary about capitalistculture and mental health issues; perhaps that wasme projecting my own views on to the lm, but muchin the way of Lego pieces, the lm's plot gives you thecanvas to interpret scenes in your own way.

The Lego MovieBy Ankur Banerjee, Film Team

Whether you prefer Cannes, Hollywood or just yourlocal Odeon, we are looking for you! Get in-volved and become part of The Stag, just by

reviewing releases new, old or obscure. Get intouch through: [email protected]

Interested in lm?

#51 Django Unchained (2012) – IMDb ra

One of the newest movies to hit the IMBD top 100 Unchained. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, who is fa

his non-linear plotlines and dark violence (Pulp Fiction, Dogs), it was no surprise that his most recent venture wgreat success. With a stellar cast of Leonardo DiCaprFoxx and Christoph Waltz and an incredible soundtracUnchained was potentially the best movie of 2012. Ttackles the dark subject matter of slavery and portrays it iand in-your-face way, making some scenes difcult to wstand out performance for me was Leonardo Dicaprio as and callous owner of ‘Candyland’, one of the biggest plin Mississippi. He is intensely terrifying and intimid ain the scene where he rants at his guests over the dinnhe is rumoured to have really smashed a glass into his continued to act regardless. So the blood in that scenDjango Unchained pushes the boundaries of what is acce

cinema. With its profuse violence, and often dark humor,have to step back and think about what we are laughing aacts as a tool to give the lm even more impact. For fansTarantino’s previous work, this is a must watch.

By Sophia Field,



FILThe Stag | 24th March 2014Film Editor: Sophia Field

300: Rise of an EmpireBy Francesca Lampidoniti, Film Team

The cinematic ction has alwaysdrawn rich material from antiquity,

giving the general public spectacles

with super-smart, brave women andunbeatable super-heroes, who ghtn epic battles and always come out

on top. These are the characters thatcarry us away from reality and takeus to our lmic dream world. 300: Riseof an Empire falls into this descriptionperfectly, bringing added value inhe form of rich effects and three-

dimensional images, making the lmeven more immersive for the viewer.

Following Zack Snyder’s 2007production of 300, Israeli director,Noam Murro takes the reins for followup lm, 300: Rise of an Empire. Murropresents a new version of the myth of300, basing his work on the graphicnovel by Frank Miller, as Snyder did

for 300. The movie follows the heroeshrough a stunning set of images

depicting the confrontation betweenhe Greeks and Persians in the naval

battles of Artemisium and Salamis (480BC).

Varied and wide shots, as wellas sudden camera movementsenhance the uninching courageand sacrice of the Greeks in battleso protect their homeland and their

families from the enemy. The lmalso exhibits the aggression, thirstfor conquest and vengeance of thePersians. The representatives of the

two main opponents are the narrators,Themistocles and Artemisia. SullivanStapleton enters the role of Themistocles,the politician and commander wholured the Persians in the straits ofSalamis, leading several ships in thedisaster. Stapleton deservedly brings tolife this mythical gure, emphasizinghis intelligence and the bravery thatmade him distinguishable. He is a visualmodel of the morally, intellectually andphysically developed citizen, an idealfor the Athenian state.

On the antipode is Eva Green, who istransformed into the cruel and cunningArtemisia, an expert in the art of war.Her rage for revenge and her bravery,

as seen in Green’s interpretation, issummed up by Xerxes, as he declares inbattle that ‘My men became women andmy women, men.’ However, the desireand attraction that Artemisia feels forThemistocles and their relationship ispurely cinematic ction or a creationby Frank Miller to make the narrativemore ‘spicy’.

The lm 300: The Rise of Empire isboth brutal and violent, with successivescenes that demonstrate extremebravery in the face of adversity. If youare a fan of the original 300 movie, youwill love this one.

The Grand Budapest HotelAs a self-confessed Wes Anderson fan, I

had been looking forward to the releaseof The Grand Budapest Hotel for a long time.What I wasn't expecting - when I caught it atthe Odeon in Guildford on première weekend- was to nd a completely packed theatre.Somehow, I never thought Guildford wouldbe a place full of Wes Anderson fans!

Let me take a step back here. If you'venever heard of Wes Anderson, he is knownfor such lms as The Darjeeling Limited,The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life AquaticWith Steve Zissou - and, my personalfavourite - Moonrise Kingdom. His lms are

critically renowned for their unique visualstyle, deadpan dialogue, and ensemble casts(often) featuring Bill Murray, Adrien Brody,

Jason Schwartzma n, Jeff Goldblum, OwenWilson, Edward Norton and Willem Dafoe.What sets Anderson apart is his abilityto dive into deep, emotional topics of lifeand represent them in a visually strikingfashion.

The Grand Budapest Hotel, unlike manyof his previous lms, is loosely inspired bythe real-life events of Stefan Zweig - a famousGerman wr iter. The story is set during WorldWar II, with Ralph Fiennes leading the castas M. Gustave, the manager of The Grand

Budapest Hotel. Gustave is a wowho loves ‘pleasuring’ his elderlyguests, and through that, ends ubequeathed a famous painting. It's amurder, prison break, and troubled- far more bloody and gory than Anprevious work, but perhaps tting theme of the times during WWII.

The plot is decidedly less quemploys less of the tracking shots different locations that Andersofamous for. Little-known actor Tonyas the lobby boy Zero plays the protégé to Fiennes' character with

Fiennes himself is assuredly funnybleak situations; he slips so perfethe character of a British hotel man

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a gwell-crafted lm which I would recwithout hesitation to fans of indieand / or Wes Anderson. I'm not surethe average punter would enjoy itbecause the lm is not ‘accessiblesame sense that Moonrise Kingdom

By Ankur Banerjee, Film Team



FILM28 The Stag | 24th March 2014 lm@thestagsur

Television Corner

Try to consider all the series that you follow, or have ever followed. How many of them have female leads? If you actually started counting, you would nd that most of theconsume relies on men in the central role and it is quite a challenge to nd female role models, even in today’s television. The famous Bechdel test, which originally applies

is used to monitor the female presence in Hollywood Blockbusters. It has only three simple rules:#1 Are there two or more female characters in the lm?

#2 Do these female characters have names?#3 Do these female characters talk to each other about anything else than men?Obviously Sex and the City failed the criteria, but how about all the lms you saw during this year’s award season? The Bechdel test is not asking for much, still result s can be

That said, television shows have played a great part in emancipating women from the late 50’s onwards. In the early 20th century in American television, women were only prerole of the more or less perfect wife, but with the st art of women’s liberation, this tendency has changed a great dea l. Moreover some sitcoms could have been the agships of worepresentation in Western societies. If you are interested in this topic, denitely watch the rst episode of America’s primetime. Until then here are the 3 best series with a fem

Top 3: Series with a female lead

It is hardly deniable that Jenji Kohan, the creator ofWeeds, is a true agent provocateur, but we must forgive,as her comedy/drama could not be more entertaining.In Weeds, Nancy the soon to be ex-soccer mom from thesuburbs (played by Mary-Louise Parker) decides to nourishher two children after her husband’s death by sellingnicklebags to the local community. Through eight seasonsNancy becomes a version of Breaking Bad’s Heisenberg, but

in an adorable and caring mother kind of way. Throughthese years she does make questionable decisions and shesometimes fails as a mother, as a warlord or as a mistress,but that’s what makes the plot and Nancy’s charactergenius. The last seasons might seem like a bit far-fetched,but Nancy is surely one of the greatest heroines of today’stelevision.

Nurse Jackie is not your ordinary medical drama. Thisshow is a about a middle aged women, who helps peoplefor a living, but does not care about the norms of society.She is seeking her own truth in a rather special way whilstbeing a wife, a mother, a heavy user, and often deceptive.Somehow following the show from episode to episode

you cannot help but wonder if you have ever met a betterperson before. Jackie Peyton is a very strong character and

the show would probably not worth a penny if Nu rse Jackiewas played by anybody other than Edie Falco, but in case

you wanted to know what kind of di fferent roles a real-lifewoman has to perform daily, without being schizophrenic,

you should watch the pilot at least.

The pilot’s rst scene is nearly as powerful aof Californication. In the rst seconds of the sera high-prole politician who has to resign, becarecent scandal he went through. We all know tThe man steps up to the stand and sincerely afor his misjudgement, and praises his counthis supporting wife stands by his side, speechumiliated. After all this we would suppose tha

follow the story of the Bill Clinton counterpart, binstant he gets slapped in the face and we pick upof the wife six month later, who is attempting to reinto a law-rm after not seeing a courtroom fo

years. This story has a lot of potential and abelieve the series eventually goes into the wrong if we are talking female leads, Alicia’s character icannot be overlooked.

Weeds Nurse Jackie

By Daniel Mül

The Goodwife



DANCE & THEATThe Stag | 24th March 2014Dance/Theatre Editor: Ambar Parker Monroe

Dance & Theatre

PYGMALIONALISTAIR MCGOWAN reprises his West End role asHenry Higgins in a new production of Bernard

haw’s Pygmalion, which comes to Guildford’s YvonneArnaud Theatre from Monday to Saturday, April 7 to 12.

The aristocratic and egocentric Professor ofPhonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet with his friend,he amiable Colonel Pickering, that he can transformhe manners and speech of Cockney ower girl Eliza

Doolittle and pass her off as a lady in society.Packed with a host of larger than life characters

ncluding Alfred Doolittle and lovelorn FreddyEynsford-Hill, Pygmalion remains one of the mostpopular of Bernard Shaw’s plays and is perhaps bestknown as the inspiration for the musical My Fair Lady.

BAFTA Award-winning Alistair McGowan starsas Henry Higgins, a role he played at the GarrickTheatre in 2011. Regarded as one of the most talentedpeople working in entertainment today, he is a writer,mpressionist and comic and has established himself

as a formidable actor in recent years, receiving criticalacclaim for several West End appearances includingLittle Shop of Horrors, for which he received an OlivierAward nomination.

Rula Lenska joins Alistair to play Mrs Higginsand Jamie Foreman will play Alfred Doolittle. Rula is

a one of our leading stage and television actors withappearances in several major TV series including herrole as Claudia Colby in Coronation Street.

Jamie Foreman has over th irty lm credits to hisname including Layer Cake and Polanski’s Oliver Twist.His television credits include the long-running role ofDerek Branning in Eastenders and Pygmalion markshis return to the stage.

Rising star Rachel Barry will play Eliza. Rachelwas most recently seen in the West End in MichaelGrandage’s acclaimed production of A Midsummer

Night’s Dream. Tony Award-winning David Grindleydirects.

A classic British drama, this ever-entertainingtheatrical tour de force is full of Shaw’s trademark wit,style and provocative insights, as well as a beguilingand enduring humour.

Tickets for Pygmalion are on sale now! You canbook yours by calling the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre BoxOfce on (01483) 44 00 00 or by visiting the website atwww.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

Choreographers andcomposers weekend only

happens for one weekendnnually but the works created,long with the relationshipsorged between collaboratingrtists, stick in your mind for aong time afterwards. This is theecond time I have participatedn this weekend; the rst time

was as an impressionable dancern my rst year who would have

never had the courage to take onhe challenge of choreographingn 8 minute piece in 9 hours,he second time as a nal year

horeographer who took on thehallenge.

Some students come with setdeas of what it is they want to

work on, others come as a blankanvas but all end up creating

piece that is full of thoughtnd interest, and ultimately,ngaging to watch. Maybe it ishe liberation from assessmentriteria and the usual university

hours, but my experience ofhoreographers and composers

weekend is that students arencouraged to take risks with

their work, spurred on by a newenvironment and strangers thatthey have never worked withbefore. The atmosphere of theweekend is one of curiosity andexperiments: “What happens if Itry this? How will you respond?”

Together dancers andmusicians are given a studiospace and a day and a half tocreate a piece in collaborationwhich is then performed witha post-performance discussionon the Sunday evening. In the3 years that I have attendedthis performance I have seen

theatrical mime, motion-tracking visuals, minimalistsolos, movement that mimicsinstruments, musicians dancing,live instruments and computer-generated sounds. And havingnow attempted to initiate myown creative process during thisweekend I can comment on thestriking sense of achievementfelt at how quickly ideas cancollectively come together andinuence each other in a shortspace of time.

A weekend of

collaboration

Monday 7 – Saturday 12 April

Alistair McGowan Stars as HenryHiAlsongside Rula Lenska and Jamie Fore

Femature dance company explores notions of fear,vulnerability and desire, creating a journey of self

discovery. We encourage people to forget taboos, tounderstand that the body is an exceptional tool, andthat although we all differ; mechanically we are builtthe same.

There are comical elements to our movement, withan underlying stor y, which has helped the developmentof Femature dance in the past year. As a company wehave grown and embraced what is most feared to talkabout, enabling our very own journeys of discovery.

The aim is to perform in the area withinfew months with possibilities to expand, shwhat we have achieved so far. With help fromusicians we have original movement anmaterial for a very entertaining show.

There is nothing more important tacceptance of oneself. You are here for a reaneed to love that.

For more information or to get in touch plour website and Facebook page.

Femature



SOCIETIES30 The Stag | 24th March 2014 societies@thestagsur

Societies

This year’s jailbreak was run by Enactus. Groups ofstudents are charged with the task of getting as

far away from the university campus in Guildford aspossible in a limited space of time, without spendingany of our own money on travel. This is the story ofDaniel Ashworth, Michael Heyes and Anees Khan.

We got some early help from a lady in a local shop,Guildford Cobblers, What-not’s & Eagle Radio. Wherepresenter Simon Rose kindly gave us a radio shoutout and appealed for help, not something we thoughtwould happen!

Almost immediately after this, a kind heartedstranger saw our signs and offered to give us a lift tothe A3 junction towards London. Once dropped here,we retreated back towards a lay by and began anothersign waving session to attract help. This led to a lift toWoking train station from a very nice man who aftera quick sele with us, revealed he was still hung-over,and we were his rst ever hitchhikers!

A long conversation with National Express (othercoach companies are available) led to nought evenwith a very willing and helpful driver. Whilst at thetrain station, we talked with taxi drivers and stationattendants who gave good advice and encouragement,but unfortunately were unable to lend us a hand.

We then moved to the train station car park exitwhere further waving of the signs hitched us a liftwith a very kind couple who took us to West Byeetstation. Whilst looking into trains at West Byeet

station, we encountered some Eagle Radio listenerswho recognised us from Simon Rose shout out earlierin the day and donated what they could. Thank you tothem and those who helped us whilst we ate lunch.

Refreshed after our brief lunch stop, we attemptedto catch the eye of one of the many drivers passing byin the trafc as this tactic hadn't failed us yet. Thisfruitless search happily ended, and you must believe uson this, when one of our parents who was independentlyon his way to London for a meeting, was able to pick usup and dropped us at Morden tube station.

Now in London, we decided to venture into the tubestation and asked for help from the gate attendant.This proved to be very benecial as he enthusiasticallylet us through into the tube system. This man was oneof the many tube attendants who looked the other wayat the gates so thank you to all that helped us out.

From Morden, we travelled towards Heathrowairport using the advice of the attendant who told usto get off one stop before, at Hounslow West. We thenwalked about 4 miles in an attempt to walk to theairport. Eventually, with very tired legs, we decidedto ask at a passing business car park for a lift on ashuttle to the terminal. This again turned out well as

apparently you can't in fact reach the airport on foot.Once inside terminal one, we ran into another

Jailbreak team who were busy talk ing to Aer Lingus.Unfortunately, they were unable to get any help, andadvised us they had been asking for hours with nosuccess from any of the airlines. We decided we wouldtry any way and were offered help from TAM Airlineswho said with the money we had raised, we could geta one way ticket to Brazil! The catch however, was thatreturn tickets were £1000 each.

On the Heathrow Express back to Paddington,which we had unwittingly boarded not knowing theindividual ticket price is at least £21 we contemplatedour next move. Charitably given the ride for free by theticket lady, we set off on the tube towards Victoria.

At Victoria, we headed to the coach station anddrummed up extra funds for a coach ticket to as faraway as possible. Everything we could do done, and

no sway from the coach companies, we purchased anovernight journey to Cologne, Germany.

An uncomfortable and interrupted night throughFrance, Belgium and Germany meant at 0900 Germantime, we were as far as our resources could get us.

Thanks to all the help and encouragement wereceived, we had arrived 350 miles from our startingpoint, and are eligible to collect the entire £450 thatwas pledge before and during the event. This moneywill be split between Sports Relief and Enactus Surreyto share.

Jailbreak: From Guildford to CologBy Daniel Ashworth, Michael Heyes & Anees Khan, Jailbreak participants

Enactus



SOCIETIThe Stag | 24th March 2014Societies Editor: Alice Wilkinson

University of Surrey Gospel Choir has been selectedas one of the eight nalists in the annua l University

Gospel Choir of the Year competition (UGCY) 2014.These national nals will be held on the 5th April in

ondon at the Old Carlton Cinema, Islington.This will the fourth annual University Gospel

Choir of the Year competition which promises to ben uplifting evening with entertainment from the

UK’s Universities top vocalists and brilliantly talentedyoung singers. The nalis ts for 2014 include VeracityGospel Choir from London City University, CoventryGospel Rhythms from Coventry University, RevivalGospel Choir from the University of Nottingham,Portsmouth University Gospel Choir, Royal Holloway

Gospel Choir, 2012 and 2013 UGDY winners ManchesterHarmony Gospel Choir and last but (hopefully) notleast The University of Surrey Gospel Choir. Judgingthe competition is resident host, and MOBO-Awardwinning Rachel Kerr.

Why not show your support for the University ofSurrey while enjoying an event that guarantees toleave you feeling uplifted and inspired? If you wouldlike to watch University of Surrey Gospel Choir battleit out against seven other UK Universities for the titleof ‘University Gospel Choir of the Year 2014’, ticketsare £15 and available online now at www.ugcy.co.uk.Tickets will be available on the door. The event istaking place on Saturday 5th April at 7.30pm at the OldCarlton Cinema, Islington.

y Alice Wilkinson, Societies Editor

The Battle for the Gospel

Choir of the Year Award

Gospel Choir Lit Soc

One World



SOCIETIES32 The Stag | 24th March 2014 societies@thestagsur

Ideas EmpoweredStag Hill Campus saw a beautiful spring day on

March 15th with clear blue sky, sunshine and duckstoddling through the park. Also, it was the very rstTEDx event on campus, which marks a milestone inthe history of the university: Surrey has joined themovement devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading that goesbeyond the borders of countries. TEDx is everywhereand it brings the little mosaic pieces that make up ourworld together.

The School of Management, where the event washeld, was host to former a TV presenter, nance expert sand professors in environmental technology andeconomics. The attendees heard tear-jerking storiesof blind people learning how to take photographs,teenage boys in prison who wanted to pursue a careerin telecommunications, nance or taking care ofchildren, and a group of people in Zimbabwe whowent from being victims to self-conscious citizens by

raising their voices against the ruling regime. Therewere 11 speeches altogether: 11 points of view on life,11 approaches to making a difference in the world, 11ideas that became actions. Surrey students had theopportunity to be inspired in a way they hadn’t before,and the framework provided by TEDx guidelines madethis possible.

As part of the team bringing TEDx to campus, I sawthe difculties arising during the planning process. Itwas all worth it and I have strong faith in TEDxSur rey. Ibelieve it will continue to motivate students to take the

initiative and make some kind of change in the worldin the years to come.

If you missed the event, visit the ofcial websitetedxsurrey.com to watch the talks. If you haveany questions or comments, nd us on Facebook(TEDxSurrey) and share them with us. We’d love tohear your thoughts, which will most certainly help instrengthening this movement.

By Réka Blazsek, Societies Team

By Liz Legge, EARS Secretary

ScraphEE

On 7th February 2014Electronic and Amateur

Radio Society (EARS) held aScraphEEp event for many staffand students at the University.We had a very successful day,with a large number of peopletaking part and more coming towatch. The event was the secondScraphEEp challenge, following aprevious one last year.

You may have seen theScrapheap challenge on TV, ourone was similar. Last year thechallenge was to get a bouncyball to the other side of apolystyrene wall. Which led tocontraptions that melted and

sawed through the wall. This year the ch allenge was t o createa Robot to travel from start tonish across an obstacle course.Obstacles included a tunnel,seesaw, slanted bridge and a

house robot. The hoa weapon and wou

contestant’s robot the shorter route. Bon the course to allto create a line follo

Each group created a robot fromworked better thaeach had their ownof attempting the cwinners built a remcontraption, allowcomplete the wholwinning team weNinjas’ and to throbot is shown cocourse.

We plan to run tchallenge again n

carry on the succeslike to take this to say thank you who helped in anymaking the day asit was.

The University of Surrey Chemical Engineeringdepartment took great pride in participating in the

Frank Morton Sports Day this year at the Universityof Strathclyde, Glasgow, on February 11th. Over ftyChemEng students travelled by coach the night beforeto ensure they arrived bright and early at BraeheadArena in Glasgow on Tuesday morning. For many of the

students, this was the rst time they had ever been toScotland!

The day itself consisted of a careers fair with awelcome breakfast of Scottish oats followed by overthirteen sports competitions and a bar crawl in theevening. Twenty three of the UK’s Chemical EngineeringUniversities were present, and competition for thetrophy was erce. Surrey showed great strength in allareas of sport, and qualied for quarter nals in six of itseight sports tea ms including Touch Rugby, Football andBasketball. A winner amongst all participants was SamIlelaboye, a second year student, who demonstratedexceptional skill on the obstacle course and rodeo bull(for which he came rst and second place respectively),

winning Surrey points. Additionally, Sam was asked tocome onto the stage during the awards ceremony andreceive a special prize of sweets, drinks and snacks –which was more than welcome after a long day of sportand eight and a half hours on the coach.

Following the successes of the day the studentswere free to roam around Glasgow for a couple of hours

before the big Bar Crawl. For many this meant sleep,food and relaxation, for others this meant getting aheadon the alcohol consumption and seeing what Glasgowhad to offer! Surrey students had the opportunityto re-group before witnessing an impressive closingceremony consisting of comedy and bagpipes, beforesetting off on the crawl to see Glasgow onelast time…

All of our attendants said thatdespite the savage hangovers, tiredlimbs long coach journeys, FrankMorton was an event neither to bemissed nor to be regretted!

TEDxSurreyUniversity

Chemical Engineering Soc EARS



SPORT34 The Stag | 24th March 2014 sport@thestagsur

By Lauren Whatley, Sports Team

An incredible journe

I’m sure those of us in nal yearlook back on rst year with a

degree of envy, yet we must alsoconsider how far we have comesince then. Coming to university,many of us join sports and societies,and I for one have had the pleasureof watching my sport grow; not

just in terms of performance, butalso in the experience the clubcan offer. The Rugby Club, whichincludes both the men and women,enjoys a great social scene and astrong work ethic to rival it.

In the days of my rst year, the

men and women seldand the women bcompetitive team. Hclub now enjoys w

epic tours and a crelationship with Rwe come together aclub atmosphere. Thibefore we even amazing progress maperformances on the including reaching thof the Cup and beuniversity Brunel: 37

you to consider howsocieties have chang

you could help along

Surrey Women’s Rugby

This past Monday, Roger Federer and NovakDjokovic fought a thrilling nal in California at

the 2014 Indian Wells tournament with the Djokoviccoming out on top, taking the game 3-6, 6-3 7-6.

The Serbian came back strongly after losing aseemingly one-sided rst set, displaying much of his

famed ‘mental’ strength. Novak upped his game byring in 3 aces and 11 winners to take the seconddecisive set. The third set was a nail-biter whichwent down to the wire, Djokovic held his nerves towin the nal set in the tie-breaker 7-3. Overall, in allATP competitions, the head-to-head tally now sits at16-17 in the Swiss’ favour.

The rst shock exit of the tournament was thatof number one seed. Rafael Nadal was eliminatedby Ukrainian rising star Dolgopolov (whom he beaton clay at the Rio Open late February) in the secondround. Dolgopolov went on to face Federer in thesemi-nals, losing in straight sets in little over anhour. Following Nadal’s lead, Andy Murray (5) and

Stanislas Wawrinka (3) also lost their respectivethird-round matches.

Overall, Roger Federer has seen his fortunes takea turn for the best having reached 5 semi-nals and 2nals in 2014, claiming the Dubai Open in the process.Djokovic has just won his rst title of the year and

will be hungry to add Miami to his tal ly and reclaimhis spot at number one. Nadal will look to win hisrst Sony Open in preparation for Roland Garros inMay, where the ‘King of Clay’ will attempt to cementhis position as the greatest player on the surface, bybecoming the rst man to win the French Open noless than nine times. Defending Sony champion andOlympic gold medallist Andy Murray will be rearingto reach his pre-injury level of tennis.

In a generation of Tennis blessed with countlessprodigies, this is one of the most exciting timesin men’s tennis in a long while. The Indian Wellstournament has showed that the world’s elite areindeed human.

Djokovic vs Federer



SPOThe Stag | 24th March 2014Sport Editor: Santiago Avilés

The University of Surrey MountaineeringClub has enjoyed some success in the

ecent BUCS Climbing Championships. Twoeams of three travelled up to Shefeld onhe 22nd February to take part in the annualompetition which sees competitors gatherrom Universities and Colleges across the UK.t is held at the Climbing Works, regarded ashe world’s best indoor bouldering wall, nearhe beautiful Peak District. Bouldering is aorm of rock climbing performed withouthe use of harnesses or ropes. The onlyquipment generally used is a specialised

pair of climbing shoes, chalk in order to keephands dry and a safety mat to prevent injury,

hould the climber fall.Climbing competitions are based on a

limber’s ability to ascend a route withoutailing. If they reach the top of a route on their

rst attempt, they are awarded 10 points.ewer points are awarded on any successivettempts. The University of Surrey’s own

Thomas Foschini boasted an impressiverd place in the Men’s Individual with 231

points. After proceeding to the nals, the“Italian Stallion” managed to get furtherthan his rivals on the specially set routewhich is meant to break all but the toughestof boulderers. His high score resulted in theSurrey Men’s Team taking 6th place overallwith 623 points. First and second place wereachieved by Shefeld Hallam and ShefeldUniversity respectively. This achievement isfurther augmented by Surrey Sports Park’slack of appropriate training equipment.Most climbing centres will make use of angerboard or campus board, tools used toincrease the strength of one’s ngers.

The club have also recently competedin LUBE: the London University BoulderingEvent. It is held over four stages at differentvenues around London. Although we did

not place, it served as a great introductionto competitive climbing for some our newermembers. If you’ve ever fancied yourself asbeing the next Shauna Coxsey or climbedtrees in your youth, then we urge you tocome along and try your hand at rockclimbing. We meet every Wednesday, from3-5pm at Surrey Sports Park, after which weall head out for drinks and a chat. We aim

to organise fortnightly weekend trips toclimbing hotspots around the country as wellas our annual trips. Join us and we’ll teach

you everything you need to know to climball by yourself at Surrey Sports Park; you’re

already paying for it!For further information pleas

on Facebook, or contact: m00056ac.uk

Rock Climbing Rocksy Sheldon Ford,

Mountaineering Club Chairman

Surrey Rock Climbing

The last few weeks have been fantasticfor the University of Surrey Football

Club. Firstly both the 2nd and 3rd XI madet through to the semi-nals of the South

Eastern Conference Cup. Never before had twoof our sides made it this far in competitionsand it is a fantastic achievement by allnvolved. Unfortunately on Wednesday, botheams did not make it through to the nal ashe 2nd XI lost to Brunel 1st, and the 3’s were

knocked out by Anglia Ruskin.The 2nds made it through to the semi-nal

with a 3-1 win against New Buckinghamshire3’s. Despite going 1-0 down, the side bounced

back and scored 3 goals through JamieBurnett, Jubril & Emeka. The game showedcharacter and a high work rate came from theeam as a whole. The following week, the 2’s

built on this momentum in the BUCS leaguewith an impressive 2-1 victory over the top-of-the-league opposition, who incidentallyhappened to be New Buckinghamshire’s 2ndXI. Andy Best played an exceptional game,coring both of the goals on this occasion.

Brunel overall has some of the strongestides throughout the BUCS leagues, even

decimating Surrey’s rst team 7-1 earlier onn the season. Despite this, the side came in

full spirit, upholding tradition by wearing

unusual hats on route to the game. Theside went out matching the opposition andprevented them from having a single shot ontarget in the rst half. The second half againwas tight but Andy Best swung the game inSurrey’s favour by scoring a precise headerinto the bottom corner from a Tom Chamberscross.

The goal brought the realisation to theplayers that they could potentially be playingin a cup nal at home, in the Surrey SportsPark. With this, and players starting to tireafter having to chase down possession,Brunel started to dictate play. Brunel thenequalised with 10 minutes to go with ascrappy goal. Surrey went into extra time

with their commitment and belief still intacthowever their energy levels were not. Bruneldominated the extra time and scored 4 goalsin this short period to leave the nal score at5-1. Everyone involved should be extremelyproud of what they achieved in the cup runand to match a side like Brunel 1st XI for 90minutes!

The 3rd XI won their cup quarter-nallast week after thumping Sussex 4-0. DanChada, Aldoori (2) & Adam Rawling werethe goal scorers as they smashed their waythrough into the semis.

The semi-nal against Anglia Ruskinstarted well as they scored in the rst

minute. However the so-called Anglia Ruskin“4’s” seemed to be playing many playersfrom higher teams and looked an extremelytalented outt. The 3’s played well and foughtvaliantly throughout the game and with 20

minutes to go, the score was 2-2.with not long to go, the oppositiowith a fantastic effort, knocking Sof the competition.

UniS Football Club Makes History Harry Metters, Sports Team

2nd XI preparing for the big day with the tradition of wearing unusual hats to semi-nals!

Surrey Football Club

Surrey 2nd & 3rd XI reach further than ever before



SPORT36 The Stag | 24th March 2014 sport@thestagsur

The men’s New York half-marathon st artedat a relatively slow pace, it was clear f rom

the onset that a new course record would notbe set; the current one standing at 59:24, setby the legendary Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassi.

Mo Farah started the race hiddenamongst the mass of professionals and stayedthere for the rst quarter of the race. As thefavourites started to make a noticeable gapbetween themselves and the mass, Farahemerged fresh-faced and established his

position amongst the elite. A warm Mo thenstripped, ridding himself of a heavy jumperand hat, responding to the new pace set bythe Kenyan leader Geoffrey Mutai.

It was around the half-hour mark thattragedy befell the British athlete. On adownhill gradient, a stray leg clipped Mo’strailing foot, sending him hurtling towardsthe hard concrete. Shaken from the hardfall, it took Mo several minutes to regainhis momentum, however by that point, alarge distance lay between him and a medalwinning position.

The ensuing half hour produced a nespectacle and a strong testament to thepower of will. In order for Farah to catch up,

he would have to run at a faster pace thanthose ahead as the elite never drop pace atthese distances.

On the west side of Manhattan is whereMo caught up to the stragglers of the originalpack, but it was clear the extra exertion wastaking its toll as his face was an image ofpain. Despite this he fought on and continuedto close the gap between himself and the twoKenyans; Sambu was now tantalisingly closebut Mutai remained far on the horizon. Thethrilling nal kilometre saw Mo utilise hisspeed, gained from his experience on the

track, to overtake the rst Kenyan; his pacewas remarkable and for a moment it seemedhe would indeed be able to contest Mutai forrst place. Alas the former NY marathonwinner proved indomitable, crossing thenish line with a beaming smile. Farahsubsequently crossed the line 18 secondslater, his body collapsing under the stress offperforming at such a high intensity.

Over the past year Farah has ditchedtraining in Portland, USA, insteadundergoing high altitude training in Kenya;the fair weather, mountainous terrain andhypoxic environment adding intensity to histraining.

The Olympic and IAAF double gold

medallist now turns his sights to the LondonMarathon on the 13th of April, aiming tobreak the cur rent British record of 2:07:13, setby Steve Jones nineteen years ago in Chicago.

The unwavering support of thespectators will surely aid oursurpassing his goals.

Sport

Mo Farah Set for Marathon DebBy Santiago Aviles, Sport Editor

7 Am, 1° C, New York City, 13.1 Miles

Surrey second best ToucheOn Saturday 15th 13 students selected

from USRFC and Thursday night 6 o’clockPlaySport touch sessions came second inEngland’s rst University Touch tournamentin Bath.

The team was drawn againstLoughborough for their rst match of thegroup stages which started positively withCaptain Dan Askew scoring immediat ely fromtap off. From here, however, began an up-hill

struggle with the squad’s inexperience indefence allowing Loughborough back intothe game ending with a score line of 6-6.

The second game was against the hosts,Bath 1sts. Their England touch centre taughtSurrey a lesson in the importance of the basicsforcing Mark Grimshore to make a nger-tiptry saving touch. Surrey re-grouped withthe aid of touch pro’s Zan Hudson and Lucy

a score difference larger than 7 for the stagsto get through to the cup and the pressurecaused them to deliver! Joe Smith put in agreat performance dancing his way over theline 5 times in one game and Dan Patten leftplayers sprawling at his feet. A sensationalteam effort put Manni Cort in the corner toensure Surrey a massive 15-1 win.

Having nished above Loughborough inthe group stages Surrey faced Bath 2s in theSemi Final. The team showed developmentwith a well organised defence and fast

effective attack through precision passesfrom James ‘where did you nd that hat’Dale and the safe hands of Dane Stickings,comfortably winning 5-3.

The nal was now set between Surreyand the Hosts Bath 1s. An intense game gotunderway as both teams threw everythinginto the ght for the title. The experiencedcool head of Adam Smith combined with the

By Dan Askew, Sport Team

The Stag - Issue 70

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