2009 - Edition 8

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>> Racist Rhodents The Oppidan Press responds to the VC’s racism call

Edition 8, 26 August 2009 Edition 8, 26 August 2009

>> The Naked Truth An Intervaristy streaker bares his soul

Distribution subsidised by the Oppidan Committee and the South African Post Office.

Effective leadership or dismal failure? President Kholosa Loni’s presidency has been known for her bubbly and approachable personality. She’s been the type of president that most students can identify with. She received so many votes in fact, that she ditched her position as Vice-President Internal to take up the presidential reins. Unfortunately, however, the 2009 SRC has not done much to change the institutional

culture of Rhodes University, which Loni calls a “white drinking culture”. Nor has it addressed the alarmingly high failure rate in the June exams. Loni’s manifesto promised more open interaction and communication with students, but we are all still waiting for the updated SRC website and a copy of the Purple Press. RATING

Vice President Internal Pumeza Mdangayi ran for President but had to settle for Vice-President Internal. She is, however, quite experienced in her title by now, as last year she was internally elected to the same position after the resignation of former SRC president Ricardo Pillay and Bianca Sampson, former VicePresident External. Handling internal

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matters of the SRC is no easy task, but this year a new disciplinary structure was put in place, which revokes SRC privileges of councillors found to be incompetent. She does admit that the SRC has burned a few bridges and that the next SRC may have to do some damage control. RATING

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Community Engagement Giuliana Colarossi’s efforts as Community Engagement Representative have been one of the most noticeable on campus. The Community Engagement Week in March was a success and the Bring a Learner to Rhodes initiative was very popular. It is, however, difficult to know how much of an impact these projects have actually

Thapelo Tselapedi may have been new to the SRC but as former Deputy President of SASCO, he is no stranger to student politics. Tselapedi has a similar job to the SRC President, but his focus is on strengthening SRC relations with external sources. He has to travel extensively to student and

youth political imbizos although his strong ties with SASCO have made some students question where his allegiance truly lies. Tselapedi also expressed concern about the SRC’s failure to change the institutional culture of the University. RATING

Oppidan Councillor Oppidans now have a wider lunch selection and the option of having supper in the Oppi dining hall, as well as a second Oppi bus - all thanks to Oppidan Representative, Jacyn Mitchley. In her second year in the position, Mitchley was another bubbly and approach-

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able SRC member who attended to the often-neglected needs of Oppidan students. Mitchley is one of a few councillors who have actually delivered on their promises. Thanks to her efforts, Oppidans are finally represented on the SRC. RATING

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Media Councillor

had on the community. Overspending on her budget by R3 000, Colarossi explained that serving the community doesn’t come cheap, and suggests that next year’s Community Engagement Representative finds outside funding. RATING

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One would assume that communication is key to the Media Representative’s success, but many students complain that they haven’t seen the SRC since O-Week, indicating that Aslam Seedat has completely failed to improve communication

between the SRC and students. The SRC website is still outdated and The Purple Press did not come out this year. The only consistent plan of communication he implemented was a regular half-page SRC advert in The Oppidan Press. RATING

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Societies Councillor

Treasurer As SRC Treasurer, Mabocha Mokobane is in charge of monitoring the budget and keeping check of how each profile spends their allotted funding. She also advises the different portfolios on how to spend money appropriately. Although she has kept a hold on the purse strings, she has not done much more than that. And having

Vice President External

good communication skills is clearly not a prerequisite for becoming SRC Treasurer, as discovered by one of our reporters who asked to see the budget. Transparency was obviously not a priority for this year’s SRC. RATING

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Garth Elzerman ran a tight ship as SRC Societies Representative, adopting a strict approach towards society budgets this year. He also created a SRC RUconnected link for societies and is one of few SRC members that has been easy to find and

communicate with. Elzerman admits that the SRC society’s extravaganza at the Great field was a failure. He is now running for president as he believes he can provide solutions to the problems he encountered. RATING

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See page 2 for more.

The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

Got news? Send your news story ideas to us and we will consider them for publication. [email protected].

Seriously Rather Crap (but don't forget our O-Week success!)

President runs out of time SRC piggy bank is empty Robyn McCormick “If you have purple blood, you must show it,” says Kholosa Loni, outgoing President of the SRC. One of Loni’s aims in her role as SRC President was to look at the University’s culture, which she says is “perceived to be a white drinking culture”. The presidency has worked to remedy this, conducting a survey around issues of race and class in connection with the Union Bar, and working towards implementing a policy to eradicate unfair discrimination, which will be implemented on 1 September. Loni counts O-Week as one of her success stories. “It was a big eye-opener for me. People came here and they didn’t even know whether they had been accepted or not. I got these people somewhere to stay.” Loni has also raised the issue of financial aid, trying to make it more accessible to students. “There’s been an increased number of students not knowing where to go, how to get financial aid. We have strong ties with the financial

office, and have represented the students in the University.” Loni has been involved in the resurrection of the SRC website, where documents and information will be more accessible to students, but it is still not fully functional and communication remains a problem. “It is the entire SRC’s fault. We have to make sure we are not only doing our job, but looking left and right; we need to hold the whole team accountable.” An individual issue which Loni has struggled with is time management. “Personally, I’ve lost the balance with academics, so one needs to know how to juggle the two well.” Juggling an entire team has been equally tough. “We are a very diverse group, and you need to take into account that people perhaps aren’t as outgoing as you may be, or as introverted as you, and you need to find that balance,” she says. “I don’t think I’ve found that, but as the year has worn on, we take cognisance of each others’ strengths and weaknesses and work together. Not like a well-oiled machine, but we make it work.”

Broken SRC telephone Ayushi Chhabra Aslam Seedat, Media Representative of the SRC admits his failure to reconfigure the SRC website and to produce the Purple Press in his term of office. The SRC website and the Purple Press are platforms aiming to ensure optimal publication of the SRC’s plans of action, and are also mediums of communication between the SRC and the student body. In the SRC manifesto, Seedat mentions that the key to the success of the SRC as a representative body depends on keeping channels of regular conversation and thought open. However, this goal was not achieved as he failed to maintain the mediums at his disposal. “One of the biggest challenges I have faced as Media Councillor has been

student apathy,” said Seedat. “It is also hard to juggle responsibilities of being a media rep and at the same time being an executive member of the SRC.” The media portfolio was allocated R10 000 by the University. Most of this money goes into publicity for SRC and University initiated campaigns. However, there is a general consensus among students that they were often unaware of the SRC’s plans of action. “I don’t even know what the SRC has done this year. Their existence doesn’t seem to make a difference,” said a second year journalism student. Another second year student said: “I didn't really feel them as much as I did last year, last year they were very much out there.”

Community rep worked to the bone Jade Smith “Community engagement is not about giving a poor person a bread roll, a pat on the back and leaving,” says SRC Community Engagement Representative, Giuliana Colarossi. “This is a person’s life you’re touching. You should build personal relationships with the people you work with.” Colarossi’s aim for the year was to get students more involved in community engagement. “I’m only one person,” she says, “so I try to encourage residences and Oppies to start projects too.” She implemented this strategy by organising Community Engagement Week in March, which brought students into contact with children involved in the Rhodes Student Volunteer Project. Popular events included the human chain, Bring a Learner to Rhodes, and the fun day where children could play games with students. Colarossi also started a programme where local schools elected a Representative Council of Learners (RCL) which is

the school version of an SRC. RCL members were mentored by Colarossi and other members of the committee, who helped them to solve any problems they had. However, these projects don’t come cheap. The Community Engagement fund is almost R3 000 in deficit of a R9 000 budget. “I did overspend on my budget,” Colarossi says, “but hopefully this will urge the incoming community representative to find sponsorship. Nobody has money for transport and resources like art supplies”. While there are numerous projects in the community portfolio, some students have not seen evidence of them. “I’ve been kept in the dark,” says first year student Phathiswa Galeni. Another first year, Mbali Sebaeng agrees. “I haven’t seen much of the SRC since they introduced themselves in O-Week.” “It’s disappointing when you work yourself to the bone and students don’t even know,” said Colarossi. “It’s really up to you to read the SRC posters and open the newspapers with SRC notices – the community rep can’t run up to every student and introduce herself.”

budget is used by the president and the two vice-presidents for transportation to conferences, food expenses and accommodation. The president’s account is used to fund those students who go on conferences, and is currently funding a post-graduate student’s travel to a science expo in Europe. Honours student, Dale van der Lingen requested sponsorship from the SRC to attend a conference and was told that the SRC had no money to give him. When van der Lingen questioned this, he was rebuffed. "She told me that it's none of my business how the SRC manages its funds," he said. Mokobane denies this.

Rochelle van der Merwe The previous SRC left the current one with R52 877.90, which was then added to this years budget, eventually totalling R877 000. SRC Treasurer, Mobocha Mokobane allocated some of this money to projects such as the community engagement conference at the University of the Free State, and to contribute to the more general aim of creating awareness on important issues, like the LGBTI pride week. There has been some speculation about SRC President, Kholoso Loni’s travel budget and account. The travel

Societies' boot camp Vimbai Chikukwa Best known for his authoritarian looks and military style, Garth Elzerman rembers his early days as daunting because the role of Societies Councillor needed some revitalising. During his term, Elzerman created an SRC RUconnected link for societies where they could access information they needed. He has encouraged societies to be more responsible and accountable for their funds.

President of Toastmasters International Society, Precious Garayi commended Elzerman for his creation of society workshops. “The workshops held for societies this year were helpful and he kept people willing to work with him on point,” she said Elzerman adopted a strict approach towards society budgets this year. “When a society is in deficit, I tend to watch them closely,” said Elzerman. “Two societies have been red flagged and I have had their accounts frozen because of bad leadership.

Oppies on top Gcobani Qambela “I think the biggest highlight has been my teamwork with [the] Oppidan Committee, specifically Brenda Magwizi, which resulted in a second Oppi bus being attained,” says Jacyn Mitchley, Oppidan SRC Representative for the past two years. She also got Residential Operations to extend the Oppidan dining hall lunch menu options to provide suppers to Oppidans. Mitchley points out that there is a large amount of work done behind the scenes in her portfolio. She represents issues raised at Oppidan Committee meetings at the University Board meetings. “I have also dealt with several individuals’ personal issues whether it be landlord problems, mental health issues, or whatever may arise,” she says. The biggest challenge Mitchley faced was communicating with the

Oppies themselves. “I have found that student apathy is a huge challenge. Lots of students don’t know or care who their representatives are, so they find it easier to complain to other students than to report the problems to the relevant people, thus these issues take longer to resolve,” she says. But Mitchley says some students have noticed what she has achieved in her role as Oppi Representative. “Some students who I don’t know and haven’t seen before knew exactly who I was and what I had done this year and came to say hi at the Intervarsity party, it really made me smile,” she says. Her advice for the incoming SRC’s Oppidan representative: “Being the SRC Oppidan Representative is not a glory position, but if you are passionate about Oppidan issues and serious about serving your fellow students, then it can be incredibly rewarding.”

Rhodes culture has not changed Khanyisa Titus Outgoing SRC Vice President External, Thaphelo Tselapedi found the decisionmaking process within the SRC rather challenging. Team work was needed to make events such as O-week and Intervarsity a success. “We pushed hard. Not everyone participated but those that did stayed committed,” he said. The SRC now has to deal with the repercussions of these events, such as the racism issue that occurred during Intervarsity. Tselapedi stated that overall, the SRC has performed well. “We have to make decisions on a policy level and we have played a major role in this regard,

especially political events that were held on campus,” he said. But the SRC did not reach some of its specific goals, such as making the Union Bar more culturally inclusive. “My heart pains more at the institutional culture of the University,” said Tsepaledi. “In my opinion, Rhodes has not begun to be a home for all. We are losing black students and whether there will ever be a real transformation, only time will tell.” “I’m tired of the SRC and anyone would be two months after O-Week,” he said. Overall, Tselapedi has carried out all that he wanted to during his term of office. “I know that people either love me or hate me,” he said.

Extra admin. SHARC is lobbying for the University to appoint an HIV/Aids officer. Do you think this is necessary? Let us know. [email protected]

Is Rhodes ready for change? Gcobani Qambela

But she did say that the SRC budget is available for anyone to look at. “The budget will be published at the end of the year anyway,” said Mokobane. Mokobane said she wished she had done more to sort out student fees for this year: “I could have done better. I think that we shouldn’t be expected to pay half our fees by the end of January.” She also wishes she could have spent more time on her academics, although she acknowledged that, “my greatest achievement was the advice I gave to all the different councillors”. She hopes the next treasurer will be “vigorous in the budget committee”.

Elzerman acknowledged challenges he faced during his tenure. His goal of creating more cohesion amongst societies has been as unfruitful as the SRC societies extravaganza at the Great Field at the beginning of the year. Speaking of the SRC as a whole, Elzerman felt that, “this SRC has collectively failed at communication”. He is now running for president to provide solutions to the problems he encountered.

Burnt bridges Robyn McCormick “Obviously, it goes without saying that the higher you are, the more work you have to do,” says Pumeza Mdangayi, SRC Vice President Internal, as a warning to future Executive SRC members. “Me, Kholosa, Thapelo and Mr Charlie (the SRC liaison) arrive at 08:00 and leave at 20:00. At Intervarsity we left at 01:00, and at the Street party, we left at 03:00. If a student is stranded at O-Week, we need to be accountable.” One of the problems Mdangayi has faced as VPI is the difficulty of disciplining members. “The problem with the SRC councillors is that they never make a formal complaint, it’s just hearsay. Until I have it in writing, there’s nothing I can do,” she says. However, there have been changes. “There is now a new disciplinary structure being brought into place. Actions can be taken against the offender, depending on the nature of the crime. They will have their SRC privileges, like the use of the office, invitations to events, and their stipend removed,” says Mdangayi. She first joined the SRC as Oppidan Councillor as she was dissatisfied with the service that Oppies were receiving, and is now sad to leave. “I do not regret one minute of it. Of course there are some things we could have done better, some decisions we should have done differently. But all in all, it was fantastic.” “Good luck to next year’s SRC. I’m not going to lie, we’ve burned some bridges this year and amends are going to have to be made. Just remember that the SRC is accountable to students, and no one else.”

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“No more apathy: Rhodes step up to HIV!” “We want an officer. We demand an officer.” This was the chant of students who marched to the main admin building during the ‘{Red}y For Change’ march, held last Wednesday during SHARC’s HIV/Aids Awareness Week. Students are demanding that the University employ an HIV/Aids Officer. The main theme for this year’s SHARC HIV/Aids Awareness Week last week was ‘{Red}y For Change!’ and various activities which ran during the week offered Rhodes students and staff

the opportunity to show their support for the cause. Students were given the opportunity to test their HIV/Aids status for free at the NEWSTART tents at Eden Grove throughout the week. First year journalism student, Ziyanda Ntantiso who tested at the NEWSTART/SHARC testing drive had nothing but praise for the facility. “It was really great. They counsel you before the test and also after the test. Before telling you the results, they tell you what to do if you are infected and how to keep yourself safe if you are not. The test did not even take that long. I am glad I went and tested.” NEWSTART testing sister, 'Ponds'

Nomampondomise Sihlobo felt that the drive was a huge success. “We do parallel testing, whereby we get two results at the same time, so as to ensure the accuracy of the results. The response from students has been overwhelming. We have had to close a little earlier on some days because the counsellors were just too tired from the large number of students who came to test.” SHARC President, Beth Vale said it’s disgraceful that we are in 2009 and the University still does not have a meaningful HIV/Aids policy. “The policy looks good on paper, but there is no substance. SHARC is still doing the work the University is supposed to be doing," she said.

NEHAWU strike discussed Gcobani Qambela NEHAWU was prevented from engaging in the ‘strike back’ open discussion on the recent strike last Wednesday by a University interdict received 30 minutes before the meeting. Rhodes took this action because of its concern regarding unresolved issues surrounding the settlement agreement between the University and NEHAWU. The students and staff in attendance expressed disappointment with the way the University handled and responded

to the strike. Corinne Knowles, from the Rhodes Extended Studies Unit, criticised the University for representing the strikers as irrational and reckless human beings. “We know that racism and classism exists [at Rhodes] and it is time that we all questioned our contribution to it,” she said. Sociology Professor, Jìmí O Adésínà said he had been a hall warden at Rhodes for four and half years and was shocked that the University treated “some of the most remarkable human beings” in such a degrading manner during the strike. He said the paradox

of the strike was that “the people that were disadvantaged in the past, are still oppressed” by institutional inequalities inherent at Rhodes. Young Communist League member, Luzuko Buku expressed his anger at the low pay workers receive at the University. “After [the University] commissioned a company to do the market remuneration comparison, they found that the workers would actually be getting more than other workers in their grades at other universities like UCT and Wits. But this is like comparing one sweat shop to another.”

Pic: Sam Classen

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DILDO DELIGHT The safe sex-po certainly shocked some students with its display of condoms, dildos and flavoured lubricants. The SHARC HIV/Aids Awareness Week focused on educating students about safe sex and providing the opportunity for HIV testing at Eden Grove throughout the week. For more on the safe sex-po turn to Page 8.

SRC money matters Robin McCormick Where has the SRC’s money gone? The Oppidan Press got hold of the council's budget to find out. Many societies and individual students have benefited from the budget, with a total of R25 168 in sponsorship grants to the student body. R4 000 went to the Masincedane community feeding project, and R3 000 to the Rhodes Debating Eastern Cape Schools project.

They also spent R184 600 on the recent Intervarsity, and over R11 000 on community engagement. Quite a few expenditures have been made on the general running of the SRC and its offices, but some of them seem a little unnecessary. The ‘General Account’ of the SRC has spent R3 000 on tea and biscuits for council meetings, and R 7 258 on ‘gifts and flowers’. The SRC leadership weekend cost R 13 522.64.

The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

4 The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

Tumelo Tladi 072 589 7230 [email protected]

Shea Karssing and Rhett Quin

Pic: Amy Attenborough Illustration: Abongile Faxi

Everyone has sobered up and recovered from the purple-fueled weekend of Intervarsity. With the inclusion of Walter Sisulu University, I’m sure students had four times the fun. But the drunken misbehaviour of students has once again placed the future of Intervarsity in jeopardy. We should feel very embarrassed to call ourselves Rhodians after the racist incident that occurred during the weekend, involving a lecturer, his family and some rowdy and racist Rhodes students. It is shocking that students subjected one of our lecturers to racial prejudice and abuse and the incident certainly taints the reputation of a fine institution. It’s probably the most embarrassing incident to happen to a respected member of the Rhodes community and sadly, it is not an isolated case. We were all outraged by the racist video from the University of the Free State that surfaced last year, and were no doubt relieved and proud to live in such an open and accepting university environment. But unfortunately, as much as we might think we live in a purple bubble, we are not separate from the rest of the country. The fact is that racism never disappeared from Rhodes. I know students on this campus who have been victims of verbal abuse, and I have personally fallen victim to racism. The digs hunt is difficult for every Oppidan, but imagine how frustrating it is when door after door is slammed (figuratively) in your face because of the colour of your skin. I didn’t think that this kind of thing still happened, especially not in Grahamstown. Racism has become an everyday occurrence and many students don’t see the point reporting these incidents because we don’t think it will make any difference. But isn’t this passive response to racism just allowing it go on? The University Administration and the student body need to acknowledge that racism is a problem on this campus. At least the recent incident has prompted Dr Badat to encourage everyone to “actively act against racism”. The Oppidan Press would therefore like to call on anyone, staff or student, who has been a victim of any form of racism at Rhodes to speak out. In publishing your letters in The Oppidan Press we will be taking a stand against racism. Racial prejudice and abuse cannot be tolerated. We want to do our part in breaking the silence about racism. At least then we can all walk on campus conscious of the fact that we need to make a change. If we are not constantly aware of a situation we will never feel the need to change it. We need to put an end to prejudice ourselves. Send your accounts or messages to [email protected] and say no to racism at Rhodes.

The naked truth

POST STRIKE LIFE Municipal strikes over the last month have caused chaos and disruption all over the country. A ministerial strategic team has been established in an attempt to help minimise strikes in the country. Co-operative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka hopes that the team will look at building a relationship between the employer and the unions in all sectors of the economy. The team will look at the wage gap between the workers and the unions, a problem which union members raised during recent municipal strikes.

Editorial cartoon >>

Racist Rhodents

BARE BUM Intervarsity streaker, Rhett Quin, momentarily escaped the eyes and clutches of The Control to sprint down the rugby field, cheered on by hundreds of spectators.

Letters to the editor >> I would like to comment on the ‘Strike for strike’ article and respond to the question you posed on what students think of the strike. Well let me tell you what I think, as an SRC member, but above all, as a student at this fine institution. Firstly this needs to be stated: the problematic flaw with the conceptualisation of programmes and policies, with the SRC and its substructures, of University administration and others alike is that we assume that there is one homogeneous student body, which will act, think, be one. Although this may make our (SRC management’s) job easy, it is not so. Our different and diverse cultures and backgrounds not only give this University a cosmopolitan environment but it also dictates how we feel and interact with different challenges. Clear example: depending on which student you approached, you would have heard different views on the consequences or even on the industrial action itself. Some would be pro-NEHAWU or working class; others pro-Rhodes University Admin or fiscally-sound policies, most (which I found) ‘neutral’ (still have not grasped that one, personally). So what might be a ‘food/comfort issue’ to some is bread and butter to others. With that said let me state that by the third day of the industrial action by NEHAWU, some students were fed up with the status quo and were threatening to take matters into their own hands.

The SRC decided to facilitate the student protest (note: NOT strike; PROTEST) to have it run smoothly (security, contacting the Municipality, the police, the Traffic Department etc under the Public Gatherings Act) to ‘legalise’ the protest. And mostly, to see to it that when the students arrived at the Admin Building, there was someone to meet them and accept the memorandum. Now I will not waste my time debating the merits and demerits of this protest and why it was held etc but I will say this: within three hours of students marching to the Admin Building, there were cup-a-soups handed out at the Oppidan dinning hall to ‘top up’ meals. Cup-a-soup you may ask, is she serious? Well at least it’s something. What did you do? Within two days, Residential Operations publicly apologised to students for the “inconvenience caused” and introduced in the interim, some hot meals. Again I ask: What did you do? I can tell you what the SRC did. If anything I have learnt one thing in this SRC: in students’ nonhomogeneousness you cannot please everyone, because everyone is different – but we sure as hell made a difference to some students’ lives. Again I repeat: Besides complain on side corners about how ineffective the SRC is, what did you do? Think you can do better? Voting for the new SRC is now open.

Benjamin Fogel During the last set of exams, Rhodes recorded some of the worst results and highest failure rates in its history. Some of the blame for this can be attributed to the new school curriculum which the majority of first years passed through. I matriculated in 2008 as a guinea pig for the Further Education and Training (FET) curriculum imposed by the education department. At first, being the government’s lab rat was just an inconvenience and a mild irritation. But the sudden changes to curriculums and previously neverbeen-taught work which popped up in the classroom from Grade 11 onwards,

Nicolene McLean

Letters Community Engagement: Hlengiwe Kweyama

News Editor: Robyn McCormick

Deputy Editor: Siphosethu Stuurman

Community Engagement: Nicole Wilson

News Editor: Vimbai Chikukwa

Managing Editor: Dagmar Kahn

Designers: Andisa Ndlovu, Joy Niemack and Marshall Patsanza

Opinion Editor: Shea Karssing

Multimedia Editor: Lisa Bringham

Chief Sub-Editor: Cath Boulle

Pictures Editor: Amy Attenborough

Multimedia Editor: Paul Harris

Chief Sub-Editor: Laura Durham

Pictures Editor: Jess Hall

Marketing Manager: Mohammed Shabangu

Chief Sub-Editor: Cath Sackville-Scott

Pictures Editor: Megan Lewis

Advertising Manager: Sam Masilakhe

Arts Editor: Lauren Minnie

Politics Editor: Lonwabo Fayo

Financial Manager: Garth Alistoun

Business Editor: Marcelino Nkuna

Sci-Tech Editor: Zukiswa Kota

Distribution Manager: Gugu Baduza

Entertainment Editor: Melissa Radebe

Sports Editor: Anesu Chingono

Assistant Distribution Manager: Qcobani Qambela

Environment Editor: Nicole Venegas

Ombudsman: Robert Brand

Technical Manager: Andrew Lynch

Features Editor: Sarah Cohen

Printers: Dupli-Print

as well as the lack of past papers from which to study, had a serious impact on our education. I attended Reddam House, a private school in Cape Town. Although the school had top facilities, and good teachers and resources, there was a perpetual state of confusion regarding my year’s subject matter and how it should be taught. Many strange experiments were attempted in my all-important Matric year (perhaps because the education department was making things up as it went along). For example, our English Literature paper was divided into two essay sections – a short piece on our Shakespeare set work, and a longer essay on another set work. Our short essay only

counted for a third of our mark, taking the focus away from writing the essay and developing the argument so that all we had to do was write a good plan and then fit in enough information to get by. Small things like this were part of the overall problem – shifting the focus from developing skills to getting easy marks. Another cause of confusion reared its untried head in the form of a new subject, Maths Literacy. None of us really knew if universities would recognise it or not, but we feared that it might be awarded less entry points. As the Mathematics curriculum got harder, more people dropped to Maths Literacy and the issue was clarified when various universities made presentations at our school.

My fellow ‘learners’ (the appalling new description given to us by the education department) and I were told by the University of Cape Town that they would indeed award less points for Maths Literacy, and that many departments such as Economics would not accept Maths Literacy students. Stellenbosch and Rhodes told us otherwise, confirming that subjects which require mathematical competence would accept Maths Literacy students. We are now seeing the not-so-fruitful results of this decision. The most irritating thing about FET was the sheer mind-numbing political correctness of it all – from the horrific new label ‘learners’ to the painful classes of Life Orientation, which was essentially brainwashing by people who could not succeed at

anything other than the instruction of bullsh** . From self-help books, to making us explain our ethical leanings using a marking grid, the subject was an utter waste of time. As was the endless stream of politically correct material wheedling and whining its way into various other subjects. FET did not adequately prepare me for university – it taught me how to bullsh** my way through exams and still get a good mark. Very little of what I learnt at school has helped me at university. High school did not teach me how to think critically and I was not challenged to question the world around me. Rather, I accepted everything I was ‘taught’ and learnt how to repeat it, so I could get an A.

Mobilise then criticise

Ms P Mdangayi SRC 2008/9 Vice President Internal

Editor: Tumelo Tladi

He bared his body, and now he bares his soul. The Oppidan Press did some uncovering of its own, asking one of the infamous Intervaristy streakers how it feels to shed your overalls in favour of your birthday suit. Rhett Quin: This is it. The moment I’ve planned for the last 20 minutes (Ok, I lie, probably since first year). The threat of spiked fences, CPU guards, and disciplinary action requires meticulous planning. Having left all but my trusty purple and white overall with a Rhodent in the crowd, I stroll casually and inconspicuously down to the edge of the field. Nervous adrenalin, spurred on by copious amounts of Dutch Courage, courses through my veins. Taking careful note of the position of the authorities I pick a gap in the spiked fence, and with one last swig of the cane and coke that I’ve cleverly managed to conceal from the ever-watchful eye of The Control, I jump the fence. Before I’ve hit the ground my overall is off and I’ve let it all hang out…well perhaps not “hang” as it was a lot colder than I thought. My feet are moving as

quickly as they can, fuelled mostly by what is sure to be pure ethanol! I’ve been careful to hold on to my overall and keep an eye out for guards. In my excitement I can’t even hear the crowd so, to give them something to cheer about, I run up to the opposition fly half and show him a Rhodes hakka like he has never seen. Turning quickly, I see the authorities bearing down on me. I swiftly elude one guard and make for the fence on the far side. If I can just make it over the fence and up the benches I’m away…I think. I climb the fence and fly up the stand. Almost there, I jump to clear the last step, EFFFF! The guard ankle-taps me just as I leap! I fall with a thud on the other side of the stand as CPU and The Control dive on me. But it’s over – I’ve done it! I lie there shouting, “I surrender!”, grinning and laughing the whole time. As they carry me off I cling tightly to my overall, covering what is most important to me. They threw me out the grounds, but a happier man I couldn’t be! Streaking in front of hundreds of people during the rugby at Intervarsity was the stuff legends are made of. I feel privileged to have joined the many that have gone before me in this timeless tradition.

We don't need no (FET) education

Response to 'Strike for strike' Dear editor,

Opinion

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On campus I stumbled upon a large notice reading only: ‘Hello Larissa, it’s the guys’. Initially I was amused by the naïveté of the message, and then greatly annoyed by it. It seemed to imply that ‘the guys’ felt left out, ignored by our Student Services Officer, Larissa Klazinga. Some may forget that there is a men’s organisation/campaign – Men as Partners. Perhaps this is where guys should place their energies. Do some research and get involved. Activism doesn’t come to you, you go to it. Women (and men) involved in 1in9 and the Gender Action Project (GAP) went to these organisations and put their names on lists to do something. No one is going to help you out until you mobilise constructively. In other words, instead of forming an antifeminist organisation, pull yourselves together to challenge gender inequity

and patriarchy. Guys, it is not about you, anyway. It’s about challenging social relations. If you’re not up to putting your energy behind gender-based activism, perhaps it’s because you feel uncomfortable about what’s being said. Realise that your insecurity, defensiveness and wondering about what’s being done for ‘the guys’ is probably directly related to your fear of having to give up your positions of power. You should be targeting the institution of patriarchy, rather than an individual. Question why it is necessary to only focus on women’s issues. Perhaps it is because patriarchy is so institutionalised that it is natural or invisible. Hence, you are incapable of seeing the necessity for groups of people such as the 1in9 campaign and GAP who pull together and make it visible. This goes back to the issue of feeling defensive and under attack for reasons unknown to you – it is

unknown because you have not stepped out of your space, and are yet to look in on patriarchy. If you want to address an individual, make your statement upfront. Only cowards make an unattributed public display of it. Maybe you realise that Larissa is not responsible for your neglect. Hold yourselves accountable: what are you doing about gender inequity, gender-based violence, rape, and hate crimes? This response is not only addressed to men, but to women, too. It is easy for men and women to criticise an individual, an organisation or a movement – far easier than it is to criticise yourself for doing nothing. Acknowledge that you are yet to contribute to making Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa safer places and more equitable spaces. Stand beside the individuals working so hard at creating a fair society, and then, when you have contributed your energy in your own way, you may criticise.

Pic: Warwick Preddy

Opinion

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The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

6 The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

Entertainment Celebrity Recipe >> RJ Benjamin: South Africa's soul sensation RMR keeps raising the bar

Celebrity recipe. Have you tried any of our celebrity recipes? Let us know. [email protected]

Slikour from Skwatta Kamp's favourite recipe Barbecued Baby Back Pork Ribs Prep: 10 min, Cook: 2:15 • 1.8 kgs baby back ribs

Andiswa Leve RJ Benjamin, the 30 year old who burst onto the music scene with his debut ‘Who I am’ and hasn’t looked back since, is deemed by many to be South Africa’s most soulful singer. “My parents weren't keen on me studying music after school,” Benjamin recalled. “I did body double and basic stunt work after school and after seeing how cruel the film industry could be, I convinced my parents to let me study the one thing I knew I had always been good at – music.” Benjamin is both a singer and songwriter, but feels that he was definitely born a songwriter, as writing his own music adds sincerity to his performance. He has written for, and with, an array of well-known South African singers, including Tamara Dey, Lira and Danny K, as well as idols contestants Karen Kortje and Gift Gwe. His latest offering, entitled Swimming in the Soul of Music, was released

this year. “Personally this album served as a goodbye to note the period after my father’s death and a five-year relationship which ended in a very ugly manner,” Benjamin said. “My writing has always been a reflection of my life, my own diary entry of that moment in my life.” Benjamin’s dad raised him on soul music legends like Lou Rawls and Bill Withers, and on Jazz artists such as Al Jareau. The songwriter also lists the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson among his musical influences: “Michael, like many people, made me fall in love with music and the dream of being a musician one day”. Benamin learned a lot, too, from listening to Prince and Stevie Wonder. He enjoys listening to artists such as Maxwell, to whom Benjamin is often compared, and to D’Angelo, Eryka Badu, John Mayer and India Arie amongst others. Benjamin hopes to work with Proverb, Gloria Bosman and producer 37MPH in the not too distant future.

Ettione Ferreira Rhodes Music Radio (RMR) celebrated its 28th birthday on 1 August, making it the oldest campus-based community radio station in South Africa. “This year we want[ed] to celebrate that fact by inviting alumni,” said RMR Station Manager, Gugulethu Mhlungu. In 2008, RMR celebrated its inception by holding three parties in one night with different styles of music at the three different venues. “This year we decided to split the events up during August,” Mhlungu said. “The point is that it is a family affair. RMR is lucky enough to have many good DJs, and RMR was the platform for their careers,” she noted. Most of the events in celebration of RMR’s birthday will involve ex-RMR DJs or musicians. RMR’s second and biggest gig for the month was the highly successful Intervarsity party on the Great Field, which featured big-name bands like Prime Circle and Flash Re-



Intervarsity: your head is your canvas

• 1 cup barbecue sauce, Preheat oven to 150° C. Place ribs in a shallow pan, cover with foil and bake 2 hours. Prepare grill. Remove from oven and grill for 12 minutes, turning frequently and basting with barbecue sauce.

public. Mhlungu said it was the biggest event ever hosted by RMR. But let’s go way back to August 1, 1981 and take a look at the life and times of RMR. The station began by narrowcasting for the Rhodes University Cafeteria, only expanding to residences on campus later. Six years after this humble beginning, RMR was narrowcasting to 16 residences on Rhodes campus. In 1990, five RMR presenters broke the record for the longest non-stop broadcast by a campus radio station, with a monumental 336 hour show. The last few minutes of this groundbreaking event were broadcast live on Capital Radio. The event set off a revolution for campus radio. In June the following year, RMR was granted permission to broadcast at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival to Grahamstown listeners within a 15km radius, and received a temporary licence as ‘Festival-FM’. This was another groundbreaker for the station as it was the first temporary licence in the coun-

Arts

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7

Nthabiseng Moroane It’s no surprise that, after this year’s chaos, rumours of Rhodes being banned from future Intervarsity events are flying. Rhodents go absolutely mad for the duration of the tournament: bar a sprinkling of black, blue and yellow from other universities, Grahamstown was completely purple as Rhodes students proudly displayed allegiance to their teams. Students take advantage of Intervarsity to express themselves creatively through their overalls and various unique hairstyles. From purple cornrows to peroxided mohawks, Rhodents go all out, taking extreme measures with longterm repercussions. Even now, two weeks after the event, many a purple tinge can be spotted amongst the student population. Third year BCom student, Kudzai Chanakira teamed up with a friend, ManAcc Honours student, Ronald Chindeka to create a crazy hairdo for their grand finale Intervarsity experience. Both dyed their hair blonde, shaving lines as well as the letters R and U on opposite sides of their heads.

try to counter SABC’s monopoly. RMR continued to cover the National Arts Festival until June 1994 when their application for a temporary broadcasting licence was rejected by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). The result was that, a year later, RMR applied to run as a community broadcaster. This was successful and RMR was given licence to go on air for a year. 17 May 1995 was a big day for RMR and the Grahamstown community, as the station finally went live 24 hours a day as a community broadcaster. A few years later, RMR finally received their four-year licence. Reflecting on RMR’s development and success over the years, Mhlungu said: “The fact that the station is so dynamic stands out. The kinds of people that come out of RMR are some of the country’s best broadcasters. For me it is inspiring. As a station manager, I have a big legacy to look after. People all over the world are tuning into RMR. The audience is constantly growing. RMR is constantly growing.”

Duncan Fleming, a second year BSc student, has somewhat of a reputation for his past crazy Intervarsity hairstyle. This year was no different. In preparation, Fleming went bald and grew a beard that put Dumbledore to shame. The beard was dyed purple just in time for the big weekend. Another digs unleashed their wild sides with streaks of purple and blonde in their hair. Management Honours student, Adam Seager whipped out a rather 90’s look with a head full of blond and purple pigtails, while third year BA, Nick Luksich went for the popular blonde/ purple not-quite-a-mullet look. DipAcc student Mark Knox, however, seemed to have dipped his head into whatever came his way, and then whipped out some snazzy razor work on his stubble. Consider these individuals in isolation and they seem supremely odd. But in the context of Intervarsity weekend, they fit in just perfectly. Outsiders casting their eyes over the rugby stands at the big game on Saturday could be forgiven for thinking that Rhodes University is in fact a hairdressing academy…where first year practicals went really, really wrong. Some call it lunacy, we call it art.

Hair mare: (From clockwise from top right) Nick Luksich, Adam Seager, Kudzai Chanakira and Mark Knox did not hold back in getting creative this Intervarsity.

Ribbons and rubbers on the runway Yvonne Nhuta The SHARC Anti-Fashion Show held at the Great Hall last Friday night was more than a display of mainstream fashion culture and did not conform to people’s expectations. “Typical models are tall and skinny. Our models were different and they had a message,” said one of the show co-ordinators, Ithuteng Mashabela. Co-ordinated by Mashabela and

Veronica Malebye, the Anti-Fashion Show, which will now be an annual event, was the finale of SHARC’s HIV/ Aids Awareness Week campaign. The show substituted the dramatic conventions of a traditional fashion extravaganza with features which helped emphasise of the purpose of the event. The absence of a ramp, the poetry recited at intervals, and the appearance of Condoman reminded the audience and participants of SHARC’s important cause. Scantily-clad young men and

Young Directors' Season 2009 This year's Young Directors' Season will take place from 26 to 29 August. Tickets can be bought from the Theatre Café for R20. The following short 30-minute drama pieces will be showcased: Revolutionary Road by Justin Haythe directed by Natasha Lech: The pervading thematic concern of this text is the notion of trying to escape the constant human state of being stuck; the idea that once a career has been established, a marriage has been realised and children have been attained; one ends up stuck in the empty routine of day to day living. 19:00 on 26 and 20:30 on 28 August Closer by Patrick Marber directed by Saint-Francis Tohlang Closer is a text raw in emotion, action, feeling and sound. It carefully dissects modern relationships and questions the collusion of lust, love, desire and intimacy in relationships. The core of Closer, just as of human nature, is sex.

20:30 on 26 and 19:00 on 28 August The Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker directed by Roshnee Guptar The Love of the Nightingale is about asking questions. It is about interrogating the past to try and gain an understanding of the present. It is about sex, guilt, shame, vengeance, gender roles and how those roles influence how we think as men, and as women. 19:00 on 27 and 20:30 on 29 August Withnail and I by Bruce Robinson directed by Byron Davis London: 1969. Two down-on-theirluck actors (Withnail and Marwood) fed up with the damp and cold, the piles of washing up, mad drug dealers and psychotic Irishmen – find solace in drinking (and other narcotics). Seeking respite from their uneventful lives they leave their squalid flat for an idyllic countryside holiday. 20:30 on 27 and 19:00 on 29 August

women strutted their stuff across the stage, donning placards with messages such as 'It’s sexier sealed', 'Embracing femininity' and 'Real men don’t rape'. Some models showcased some extraordinary clothing designed by third year design student, Bonolo Diseko from the University of Johannesburg. But the main attraction was the body paint and the newly-coined, “Condom Couture”. One of the body-painted models, Nomathamsanqa Mhlakaza said: “I did it to show people that you should feel

comfortable in your own body. I think people are still ignorant and take the message in the wrong way. It’s not all about fashion. It’s about you.” Audience members were impressed by the creative use of condoms in the design of some garments. “It is a nice way you can relate to the issue, saying that the condom is there, it exists. Use it,” Mhlakaza commented. According Mpho Raborife, another model in the show, “being half-naked on stage was liberating. Promoting the strength that a woman has within

Pics: Mary Hensman and Nthabiseng Moroane

her…We were different models and it wasn’t only about what the body art was saying, but we also had to embody the emotions being expressed in the art.” “We wanted to challenge people to really think about HIV/Aids and to consider that abstaining is actually an option,” Mashabela said. The show was sponsored by Pick ‘n Pay and included a raffle for a handy ‘Safe Sex Hamper’. Proceeds from the raffle and the show will go to various charities such as the Raphael centre.

Spring Music Festival 30 Aug - 4 Sept Rhodes University is hosting a variety of local and international musicians at the Spring Music Festival. Here is the concert schedule: Roberto Bonati & Stent Ensemble St Andrews, Drill Hall Sun 30 August 16:00 R50 Adults, R30 Students/Pensioners Odeion String Quarte Masterclass Music Department, Beethoven Room Mon 31 August 15:00 Free! Robert Rollin Lecture Eden Grove Blue Mon 31 August 19:00 Free! Terence Marais -MMus Chamber Exam with Odeion String

Quartet Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat major Op 44 Music Department, Beethoven Room Tues 1 September 13:00 Free! Malcolm Nay - Masterclass Music Department, Beethoven Room Tues 1 September 15:00 Free! Han Jonkers - Masterclass Music Department, Beethoven Room Wed 2 September 13:00 Free! Robert Rollin & Han Jonkers Concert

Music Department, Beethoven Room Wed 2 September 19:30 R50 Adults, R30 Students/Pensioners Robert Rollin, Juan Munoz & Mariel Ilusario in concert Music Department, Beethoven Room Thur 3 September 13:00 R50 Adults, R30 Students/Pensioners Undergraduate Performance Medelsohn Trio Arnold van Wyk 5 Elegies Dvorak Piano Quintet In A major Op 81 Music Department, Beethoven Room Fri 4 September 19:30

The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

Features Your safe sex-po is on fire Lara van Zyl A few passed-out purple smurfs had to be moved aside before SHARC could begin to paint the campus red for HIV/ Aids Awareness Week last Monday. The safe sex-po, held at the Kaif on Monday and Tusday, aimed to educate students in a fun and interesting way, with the sex toys on display causing many a gasp from passersby. The sex-po was comprised of four sections: Abstinence, Be Faithful, Condomise and the

Do it Yourself section. Many Rhodes students are sexually active, so one of SHARC’s goals is to make everyone aware of safer sex options – condomise and be faithful to one person whether you’re in a relationship or not. There seems to be a stigma attached to safe sex – that it isn’t sexy – but the sex-po proved that this is definitely not the case, judging by the wide variety of condoms, femidoms, dental dams, chocolate body paint and lubrication (in all its heat, tingly and flavoured glory) on display. Lubrica-

tion is an important aspect of safe sex practice as it lessens friction, which helps prevent tearing and wearing out of the condom. There is no need to feel that safe sex isn’t sexy. Why not try flavoured, ribbed, featherlite, or tingly condoms? Or spice up your love life by using a femidom instead? If a guy says he’s allergic to latex, no problem: rubber condoms are also available. This may seem a little heterosexist, but it isn’t. The LGBTI community’s safer sex options were also included in the exhibition through things such as

To Sweden and back again dental dams and posters. Some people may feel that oral sex is not ‘real’ sex, but it is and you can still get an STI, so why not use flavoured condoms and dental dams to protect yourself– it’s sexy, it’s fun and let’s face it, it does taste better most of the time. Masturbation may be taboo for some, but the Do it Yourself section of the safe sex-po promoted it as a risk-free way of releasing sexual energy. Who better to know what turns you on than yourself? Sex toys are becoming a prominent feature in many people’s sex lives, and

SHARC used the toy display to educate students about safety with regards to sharing, cleaning and using condoms. Whether you choose to abstain or not, we all need to take safety precautions, not only for ourselves but also for the people with whom we choose to share such an intimate act. Stop thinking that being safe will extinguish the sparkle in your sex life, and have some fun with different ways to enhance sexy time that won’t compromise your health or that of your partner – after all it takes two to tango.

Rhodes student makes beauty pageant history Farook Khan

Pic: Supplied

SITTING PRETTY Second year journalism student, Ayushi Chhabra is a beauty queen in her spare time, having been named first runner up at the Miss India South Africa pageant earlier this month.

Rhodes journalism student, Ayushi Chhabra was first runner up at the Miss India South Africa Pageant held earlier this month at the Durban City Hall. Her pulsating dance routine enthralled the audience and judges, particularly as it was the first time a contestant chose Punjabi performing art for the pageant’s competition sequences. The art forms of Northern and Southern India tend to dominate the proceedings, so Chhabra’s medley of dances drew a rapturous response from the audience. She enhanced her performance by incorporating a traditional Punjabi musical instrument, the kaichi (a wooden concertina-like instrument).

Having secured her place in the finals at the City Hall after winning the Miss India Gauteng Pageant, Chhabra was among the competition’s favourites. She was awarded first runner up, which means she will represent the country at Miss India Worldwide next year, if the current Miss India South Africa, Kajal Lutchminarain, cannot. “I am delighted that the audience responded so positively to my dance medley, more so that it was something very different from what they normally are offered from the dance stage,” said Chhabra. She said that while the record books would reflect her standing in the pageant, she was extremely proud to have been the very first contestant to present a traditional Punjabi rendition on stage. “I have been told that a special point will be made in the history of the

pageant that I introduced a new dimension into the talent pageant,” she said. The organisers of the 19th Miss India Worldwide Pageant, which will take place on 27 March 2010 at the International Convention Centre in Durban, are planning to include her as one of the cultural performers. Pageant spokeswoman, Roberta Reddy, said that Chhabra had won many friends and that she now expected Punjabi dances to be very popular in South Africa. “We are always looking for talent which we can use to bring all South Africans together. The Indian dance forms enjoy considerable popularity throughout the world,” said Reddy. For now, it’s back to class for Chhabra who will have to put her talents aside, just for the time being.

Behind the veil: a peak into the lives of Muslim women Wilhelmina Maboja National Women’s Day is not just an opportunity to redeem yourself after forgetting your significant lady’s birthday. Helen Joseph, Lillian Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa and Sophia WilliamsDe Bruyn did not risk their lives by marching to the Union Buildings on 9

August 1956 for a bunch of flowers. Some cultures still do not recognise the role women play in society. Or perhaps it is just that those looking at these cultures do not understand, or bother to understand what it means to be a woman in that society, simply because it is different. National Women’s Week followed Muslim Awareness Week on cam-

pus this year, rehashing the topic of women in Islam, after the usual burqabashing debates had subsided. Many questions surround Muslim women’s clothing and their role behind Muslim men. Western media portrays Muslim women as oppressed and subdued behind soft drapes of clothing, but do these women feel oppressed? “A Muslim woman’s hair is more

valued in her husband’s eye than to anyone,” says Mufti Ismail Menk, who held a talk on women in Islam during the awareness week. “This is why they cover their hair with a hijab,” he explained. But it inevitably returns to the Muslim woman herself. “I believe that wearing a burqa or hijab is a very personal choice and as such should

be respected by everybody,” says Sarhanna Hassim, a Muslim first year student. “There is a lot of misconception that surrounds being a Muslim woman. Women’s Day brings into focus all the different types of women that make up this world, and gives insight into their different religions and cultures.”

Star of Eluxolweni Children's Shelter shines brightly Enathi Mqokeli “A lot is troubling me but I will not think about it,” said 17-year-old Simphiwe Matina, who stays at the Eluxolweni centre. At the age of ten, Simphiwe moved into the Eluxolweni Children's Shelter due to difficult family circumstances. Although happy to have a new home, he was nervous about the challenges he would face in the different environment. Matina was introduced to soccer at the Eluxolweni shelter and by the age of 14, he was able to referee the game. He began teaching his skills to others, sharing the thrill of being a soccer player. He was part of the Eluxolweni soccer team which competed in a soccer tournament at Dlephu Stadium in Joza in 2007. Out of eight teams they managed to claim second prize and Matina and a team mate each received a gold medal for

scoring a goal in the final match. Matina has also participated in the President’s Awards Programme. In 2003, he completed his bronze award, and was presented with a silver award by Prince Edward in Port Elizabeth in 2008. As part of the programme, Matina has to do some form of community service. He helps out at an old age home by washing windows and walls and he has also volunteered at the day clinic, working in the garden. “I have dreams of becoming a well-known player on television,” said Matina. He continues to play the game, enthusiastically chasing this dream. “I encourage him to continue playing soccer because I can see he likes it,” said Matina’s caregiver, Luvuyo Botha. At the moment Matina is focusing on his studies and playing for the first rugby team at Nyaluza Secondary School. “I want to balance school and sports,” he said.

Rhodes Honours student, Sheldon Goss recently returned from Sweden – the land of Vikings, IKEA and Sony Ericsson. The purpose of his visit was not only to soak up the Northern summer sun, but to learn from the Swedish green mentality and work on his renewable energy project. Goss is doing a joint Honours in Geography and Botany, a combination he admits is very challenging. It is through the Rhodes Geography Honours course and the Linnaeus Palme Swedish exchange programme that he and two other Rhodes students were able to do the exchange. Thinking back on his trip, Goss says it was “a fantastic opportunity to build character”. He enjoys traveling and relishes a challenge, so a trip to the little fishing town of Fiskebäckskil was right up his alley. Goss focused his research project on renewable energy and why (Swedish) people have chosen to adopt it. He looked at whether it is because they are concerned about climate change or whether they choose to go the sustainable route for financial reasons. The latter reason might seem strange to South Africans as renewable energy is generally seen as the more expensive option in our country. However, in an effort to reduce their carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020, the Swedish government subsidises individuals if they decide to buy renewable energies. According to Goss, “the government will give individuals 60 percent off the price of solar panels”. The Swedes also use heat pumps, which require one third of the amount of electricity of a normal heater. Goss does note that Swedes are not as green as they would like us to believe. Most of the popoulation have turned to renewable energy as it is cheaper for them, and not out of concern for our planet. He also adds that renewable energy does not necessarily amount to the

The world's big five of green cities Tommie Gilbert

SWEDISH RHODENT Rhodes Honours student, Sheldon Goss returned from Sweden with greater knowledge of renewable energy. He hopes to combine it with sustainable development practices, which will be useful for creating energy policies for developing countries. best option. He describes it as “energy recycling”. Sweden uses wood from their abundant forests to power heating systems, and though they might plant trees after them, the rate at which the trees grow is not fast enough to completely justify this source of energy. Windmills and solar panels are not ideal either, as their fabrication emits a lot of carbon

dioxide and, according to Goss, they do not last very long. Coming back to South Africa, Goss has renewed hope in the possibility of change. Although his outlook on the continent may seem pessimestic – “Africa needs development and the governments are too useless” – he does believe that something can be done.

I recently received an email which labeled Vancouver as one of the greenest cities in the world. Being Canadian myself, it immediately caught my interest and I decided to research the claim to see if it had any merit. Turns out it didn’t come in at number one, but it did make the top five. At number five is the southern Swedish city of Malmö, home to roughly 280 000 people and a host of renewable technologies. Sweden is a leader in green electricity technologies – most of the country runs on hydropower and nuclear power. However, it is unclear whether or not nuclear power is a renewable source of energy. One neighbourhood, Western Harbour, runs entirely on solar, wind and hydro power in addition to biofuels made from organic waste. All buildings are made from sustainable materials and designed to be energy efficient. Other areas have botanical roof gardens, created to insulate buildings, such as Augustenborg, which is also home to the world’s first emission-free street trains. In fourth place is the Danish capital of Copenhagen, where water and windmills are used to power the city of roughly 1.7 million people. Winner of the European Environmental Award in 2006, Copenhagen is most famous for its over 5 600 windmills. These windmills supply ten percent of Denmark’s electricity and in 2001 they built the world’s largest offshore windmill park, generating electricity for 32 000 homes. In addition, the Danish government has installed a water quality warning system to monitor pollution levels. Portland, in the Northwestern state of Oregon in America, is the third greenest city in the world. Its 500 000 residents have been a model for sustainable living for some time now. Since 1903, citizens have been encouraged to integrate green spaces into their urban

planning and 30 years ago, a six-lane highway was demolished and a waterfront park built in its place. Portland was the first American city to make a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and it is constantly hovering around the top of greenest cities in the world lists (such as this one). By next year, Portland aims to supply 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources, with creative ideas such as solar-powered parking meters. At number two is Vancouver, not only the world’s most livable city, but also the model for Canada’s aproach to using renewable energy. 90 percent of Vancouver’s 560 000 residents live on hydroelectric energy – the largest number in the world. This is part of Vancouver’s ambitious 100-year plan to green the city and decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent of the figure reported in 1990, when the Kyoto Protocol was formed. The city hopes to invest in wind, solar, wave and tidal energy systems to reduce fossil fuel emissions. And with the Olympic Games around the corner, many of the city’s stadiums have gone green to keep Vancouver’s carbon footprint as small as possible. Finally, drumroll please, at number one is Reykjavik, Iceland, home to 115 000 people – roughly a third of Iceland’s total population of 300 000. It may be small, but this city’s, and indeed this country’s, impact on the world has been enormous. While Vancouver may get 90 percent of its energy from hydropower, Iceland gets all of its electricity from this form of renewable energy. Iceland aims to be totally independent of fossil fuels by 2050 and to become an economy based on hydrogen gas. Already three of its city buses run on hydrogen. Many cities and countries are getting a huge head-start in greening up their act. South Africa is slowly on its way too, with Cape Town’s Green Goal Project which aims to green up the city in time for and during the 2010 World Cup.

Eco Fact >>

Sweden is one of the leading countries in recycling; it recycles over 95 percent of glass, 85 percent of newspapers, 70 percent of metal and 65 percent of plastic.

Look out for >> SOCCER STAR ON THE RISE Simphiwe Matina, from the Eluxolweni Children's Shelter tries to balance his school work with soccer practice. He hopes to make it big as a soccer star.

Pic: Enathi Mqokeli

Nicole Venegas

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National Arbour Week

National Arbour Week is an annual event which takes place during the first week of September. This year it will be from Tuesday 1 to Monday 7 September. The idea originated in the American state of Nebraska in 1872 when the editor of the state’s newspaper, Sterling Morton, encouraged his fellow townsmen to plant trees. He wrote numerous articles on the benefits it would bring. This led to the creation of the Arbour Day holiday. It was celebrated for the first time in South Africa in 1983 and later, the South African government decided to make it a weeklong event, to promote the importance of planting trees. Every year, two or three trees are highlighted. This year’s are the Acacia galpinii (Monkey Thorn), Halleria lucida (Tree Fuchsia), and Pterocarpus rotundifolius (Round-leaved Teak). Grab your shovels and get your hands

dirty! Also look out for some of the trees being planted around campus. Many are being planted in honour of retiring professors, such as Professor Paul Walters. For more information, visit the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs website at http://www.dwaf.gov.za/ events/ArborWeek/default.asp

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Greenworks

If you are looking for useful tips and information on how to lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle it is definitely worth your while to check out the Greenworks website at http://www. greenworks.co.za/

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Mother City Living

The Mother City Living, living green in Cape Town website is also quite useful

and user-friendly. It has a few links under Green Guide and Green Topics which provide information on events, as well as tips and advice on how to take small but positive steps towards living a green life.

• The Digs Greening Project GRASS wants to help you green up your digs. So if you are interested in participating in this project or want to find out more, contact GRASS at: grass.info@ gmail.com.

•

Farmers’ market

Every Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00 there’s the farmers’ market at the Old Gaol, where you can buy fresh and healthy locally grown vegetables, crafts, and other goodies.

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Environment

Green living. Are you living a green lifestyle? Let us know what tips and tricks you use. [email protected]

Have a knack for creative writing? Join the features team. Just drop us a line. [email protected]

Pic: Supplied

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SSS Take Aways Open from 9am - 2am Tel. (046) 622 9121 • Best food & services in town • A variety of food to choose from • Hamburgers • Chicken • Fish & Chips • All day Breakfast

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The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

The Oppidan Press 26.08.09

Business

Credit crunch: Have you been directly affected by the world economic meltdown? [email protected]

Get dressed for business success Marcelino Nkuna First impressions are important. Fact. People even knew this way back in the 18th century when none other than Jane Austen considered naming her most famous novel, First Impressions. But today, nowhere is the truth of first impressions more true than in the working world, where how we dress can have a tremendous influence on our

chances of getting hired. And, in the current economic climate, whether we are employed or not, is a big deal. So dressing appropriately for a job interview is of the utmost importance. As human resources professionals will tell you, how you should dress depends on the nature of the job. Someone being interviewed by an accounting firm will suit up, whereas someone interested in a creative job like advertising should opt

for a more casual vibe. Bryan Thomas, CEO of advertising agency Thomas, Taber & Drazen notes that suiting up for interviews for advertising and writing positions may work against you. He suggests going for a hip look without being over the top. For those of us who are keen to crack the corporate world, there are a number of important tips to bear in mind. Do not show up in your Prada or Armani suit wearing the Rolex you got for

graduation. Your potential employee will assume that you will demand a large salary, so keep it simple. Suits should be classic blue or black, and ladies shouldn’t wear anything too revealing or extravagant. Like it or not, appearance is almost everything when going for an interview. Final year Oppidans should think seriously about how to make a ‘suitable’ first impression at interviews with potential employers.

Pic: Supplied EVERYONE'S MAD AT MADOFF White-collar criminal, Bernard Madoff conned big-time American investors out of billions of dollars.

When it comes to investment, if it sounds too good to be true it usually is. In America, companies like Enron posted above average earnings and profits, and many people, enticed by the encouraging numbers, invested their life savings into these businesses. They lost every cent. Bernard Madoff will go down in history as the man convicted for defrauding people for a total of nearly $50 billion – the largest act of fraud ever committed by a single person. In South Africa, we had our own Ponzi scheme that took many people for a ride. Destination: bankruptcy. A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation which pays returns to separate investors, using investors’ own money or money paid by subsequent investors, rather than any actual profit earned. Ponzi schemes usually offer benefits which other investments cannot guarantee, such as short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of these returns, which make a Ponzi scheme so attractive, requires an ever-increasing flow of money from an ever-increasing list of investors. The scheme effectively runs itself. The most recent South African Ponzi scheme was masterminded by Barry Tannenbaum, grandson of Harold Tannenbaum – one of the founders of South African pharmaceutical

A golden solution for Zimbabwe

giant, Adcock Ingram. Mainly aimed at wealthy South African families, the scheme offered returns of 200 percent per year to investors who put money into Tannenbaum’s pharmaceutical business. The Mail & Guardian reported last week that Tannenbaum’s estate was sequestrated and that the National Prosecuting Authority will proceed with their case against him. High profile businessmen, such as former Pick ‘n Pay CEO, Sean Summer and Former OK Bazaars CEO, Mervyn Serebro, and other investors are said to have lost almost R10 billion in the scheme. This sort of careless behaviour and greed can be linked to the recession we are currently experiencing. At what point in business transactions does ethics go by the wayside and greed take over? The sub-prime mortgage crisis shows that when banks get greedy, bonds are given to people who are unable to pay them back and disaster ensues. The collapse of a number of banking institutions and businesses attests to the fact that dicey business practices have long-term effects, and unassuming investors are almost always hardest hit. So if you feel the need to invest your hard earned money into a business, do your research. There are many tempting get-rich-quick schemes out there, but you might do well to keep your money in the bank where it’s safe. For now.

In a move that may shock even the most cynical of men, a smidgen of sense has come out of Zimbabwe recently. And – hold on to your wigs – the topic is money. Life never ceases to baffle. That’s right, Zim has proposed a way to lower their ridiculous inflation that might just work. The country’s central bank governor, Gideon Gono recently suggested the reintroduction of the Zimbabwean dollar, but this time it should be a gold-backed currency. In other words, Zimbabwe wants to introduce the gold standard. The gold standard is a system in which a region’s medium of exchange is paper notes that are convertible into fixed quantities of gold. The gold standard is not currently used by any government and, if you paid enough attention in history class, hasn’t been since World War Two. This means Zimbabwe would keep the actual gold in its central bank. The value of paper money distributed to the public would be physically linked to the amount of gold in the bank as well as the current price of gold. Gold is a commodity that has become more like a currency nowadays. With the recession, stocks and hedges become risky investments so instead people have turned to cold, hard gold. The gold standard would limit the power of the government (always a good thing in Zim) to inflate prices through excessive issuance of paper currency. It may also encourage more foreign investment as the situation would no longer be so hideously volatile. The only flaw in the plan is this: the total amount of gold that has ever been mined is estimated at around 142 000 tonnes. Assuming a gold price of $1 000 per ounce, the total value of all the gold ever mined would be around $4.5 trillion. That is less than the value of circulating money in the U.S alone. Adopting the gold standard, therefore, is not a worldwide solution. Gono proposed the currency didn’t have to be backed by gold, but could instead be backed by other locally available assets such as diamonds or platinum, both of which Zimbabwe has resources in. I think the only way Zimbabwe can reduce their inflation is by going back to basics. And hey, if the gold standard worked after world wars to reduce inflation, why can’t it work for Zimbabwe? The affected countries were basically in the same situation – starving people, a crazy dictator, violence, despair. Need I go on?

Science & Technology

Twinkle twinkle Swift-Tuttle comet Mathilde Brassine

Ines Schumacher

Get rich quick and poor even quicker Marcelino Nkuna

MATERIAL GIRL >>

WTF? Seen anything weird and wacky online lately? Send us a link. [email protected]

If you happened to look into the sky on Wednesday night two weeks ago, you may have seen a lot of streaking lights. Or maybe not. From the late hours of Wednesday 12 August through to the early hours of Thursday 13 August, people around the world settled down and readied themselves to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower. A meteor shower takes place when the Earth passes through a comet’s icy, dusty debris stream, in this case the Swift-Tuttle comet. The debris (rang-

ing in size from grains of sand to huge boulders) burn when they strike our atmosphere at speeds of up to 50 km per second, 97 to 193 km above the Earth’s surface, creating a light shower visible to the naked eye. The SwiftTuttle comet, which was ‘discovered’ in 1862 by two American astronomers, Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, orbits the sun every 130 years and last passed near the sun in 1992. At the shower’s peak, up to 100 comets passed through the sky per hour, a count known as the Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR). The meteors all seem to originate, with their tails pointing in the same direction, from

a point called a ‘radiant’, which lies in the constellation of Perseus, hence the name Perseid. I say ‘seem’ because the meteors do not actually have anything to do with the constellation, they just appear to come from it; they are in fact much closer to us than stars. The Perseid meteor shower is also known as the Tears of St. Lawrence as it often appeared around the saint’s feast day, 10 August. This year the meteor shower was, unfortunately, more visible in the Northern hemisphere and in South Africa few, if any, Perseids could be seen. Grahamstown weather further prevented residents from appreciating the event as cloud

cover and rain blocked the action. Pollution and light from the moon also interfered with viewing around the world. A 48-hour Twitter marathon called Twitter Meteorwatch was set up as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and allowed skywatchers around the world to live-tweet photos of the meteors and other celestial objects. According to a Newbury Astronomical Society Twitter-monitoring programme, there were an estimated 10 000 tweets by 11 August, beating the #WeLoveYouMiley topic, about the Hannah Montana star, off the top spot for 2 hours.

DNA unravelled Ntsika Kota People often ask me, “Ntsika, how is it that you’re so clever and irresistibly sexy?” Well…actually they don’t but if they did I’d say, “It’s in my genes”. I recognise the potential for denimbased phallic references but, don’t worry, I shall refrain and continue with the article. Today’s topic is inheritance —can you say Paris Hilton? Actually the inheritance I speak of is the genetic variety. According to my biology book, the talking supercomputer that I built myself, inheritance is the transmission of genetic information from one generation to the next. This is an altogether quite complex…thing,

but let me simplify it so everyone (including myself) understands. In humans, the inheritance of sex (stop giggling) is determined by one pair of chromosomes (threads of DNA) of the normal 23 that humans have. The pair is made up of an X and Y chromosome (sort of). Depending on how these chromosomes combine from the male and female (delivered courtesy of their respective sex cells), the resulting spawn will either be male (XY) or female (XX). If you didn’t know, now you do. * The writer is a learner at Sifundzani High School. The article is the product of an exercise in science communication and writing that learners participated in*

Private health care not so healthy Nokwanda Kota The nationalisation of South African health care has been a topical issue of late. The National Health Insurance document is not available in the public domain yet but you’ll be able to tell when it is by the public eruption of mass hysteria. In effect, the document means that unless you’re willing to pay for two

medical aid schemes (one national/ public and your current medical aid scheme), private health care is a thing of the past. It’s called the National Health Insurance (NHI) system and it’s the ANC’s way of “cementing social solidarity in the health system”, so that the rich subsidise the poor and the healthy subsidise the ill and we all live happily and healthily ever after…sorry, did you say something Mr

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Castro? So what does this mean to you? Essentially it means that: all tax-paying South Africans will contribute to the NHI (which will mean an increase in personal taxes plus a mandatory payroll levy); all South Africans will be registered members of the NHI plan and will be assigned to specific health care facilities closest to them. Each citizen will have an NHI card which must be

produced when seeing a doctor, and members will be allowed only three visits to the doctor a year. If a member visits a private doctor or specialist without an authorised referral form within the NHI system, he will pay out of his own pocket for the treatment. While everyone will have equal access to health care services, these services will preferably be public sector clinics and hospitals. What are the implications of the NHI plan for your current family doctor sitting in his air-conditioned consultation rooms with pictures of his family on his desk? What of his polite but cold receptionist with the pink nail polish and complimentary mints in little glass bowls between the breast cancer pamphlets? The world is going to be a darker shade of grey for them. While the private sector will not be actively dismantled, the survival of private health care services is not a priority. Private health care providers contracted by the NHI authority will earn much less per patient than they have with the medical aid scheme scale of benefits. This will, in all likelihood, not only herald the further exodus of doctors but of private hospital and pharmaceutical companies too (the state plans to manufacture its own drugs). But all is not lost. While the NHI plan is an ambitious one, it is not impossible. If all goes according to plan, the ANC will succeed in addressing the downward spiral that has occurred in the quality of health care in recent years, aggravated by sub-Saharan Africa’s overwhelming burden of disease.

Health and fitness >>

The art of running Zukiswa Kota At the end of our Friday morning 06:15 run (a decidedly slow slog this time), my running partner and I stumbled onto the topic of gym buddies and running mates and what makes for a perfect pair. Having similar goals and being of well-matched fitness levels is really important, but what I’ve come to appreciate is that rising before dawn three times a week to brave Grahamstown winter mornings calls for really good company. I usually prefer solitary exercise to partnered training but running is different. Besides the concessions one has to make for personal safety, there is a certain strength that comes from hearing someone else’s footfalls and breathing on a quiet trail. This is not to be confused with people who breathe, sniff and hock all the way or insist on finishing off the pre-run conversation, wheezing and shouting. I’ve even had the pleasure of running with someone’s house keys jiggling in my pocket as she had no pockets of her own. It was the perfunctory end to our running relationship. Running with my mum years ago was little more than a short-lived ego booster. Having been a ballroom dancer and tennis player, she assumed running would be a ‘breeze’. Not so. Hello sport-specific fitness and training. While we’ve been training for the half-marathon for a while, Faye and I realised the importance of performance-geared training only recently. According to Eric Harr, world-class triathlete, runners need to focus more attention on strengthening their hamstrings, quadriceps and calves. Not surprisingly, all leg muscles. Building total body strength is also important, as is the need to build endurance and strength as opposed to increasing muscle size. Harr’s numerous recommendations point to the fact that getting the best out of your running is something of an art. A strategy used by elite runners is concentrating on the core; strengthening the abs. Carrie Tollefson, a 1 500 metre Olympic competitor advocates adding interesting challenges to a basic plank and using the Swiss ball to balance on. Using moves that mimic the running motion as part of your regular workout adds a fresh feel to old-school crunches. The ability to discuss goals and share ideas related to our training regimen is really important. My running partner is a qualified spinning instructor and overall fitness enthusiast (with rockhard abs to match) so I can often garner interesting training tips as we stretch. I like to think that my experience as an instructor adds to her bank of knowledge too. Most importantly, there is nothing as sacred as the confidences shared between running partners on quiet Grahamstown streets and in the solitude of Mountain Drive as the sun rises.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE…

The Death of Private Health Care Page 11

Pics: Amy Attenborough PURPLE PEOPLE Supporters, swimmers, sports spats and streakers. All in a day's play at Intervarsity.

Moments of madness and mayhem Taona Karidza Purple overalls, purple faces and purple streakers decorated this year’s momentous Intervarsity held at Rhodes. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), Walter Sisulu University, Fort Hare and Rhodes collided in a sporting frenzy like none other. Yet, the highlight for most supporters, unsurprisingly, was not the sport itself but rather the classic moments of madness which followed the alcoholinduced excitement of the weekend. The over enthusiasm of supporters started early on Friday 14 August at water polo: students blew up condoms

and threw them into the pool while the water polo was taking place, one of many instances where students took things too far in support of their respective teams. Another notable act of stupidity took place at the rugby, where confident and not-so-sober students decided that nudity was the best way to prove their status as diehard fans. Four particularly keen supporters took the opportunity to don their birthday suits for players and spectators for the duration of Saturday’s games. And apparently the three female streakers were part of our very own student body. Once again, Rhodes proved itself at the forefront of general misconduct,

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although reports claim that none of these students was under the influence of alcohol. Sporting disturbance is not particular to Intervarsity, however, nor to Rhodes. In fact, streakers have been known to make appearances in all corners of the globe and in numerous sports, ranging from tennis to the gentleman’s game – golf. In the football world, however, disturbance is on a different level altogether. Globally, soccer fans are infamously ranked as the most violent and passionate supporters in the world, with actual brawls occurring between rival club fans across Europe and South America. When teams with such intensely loyal

fans come head to head, injuries are not probable; they are expected. These can range from broken noses to, on occasions, loss of life. Players often join in on the madness, like Manchester United’s legendary Eric Cantona, who will forever be remembered for his flying kick into a supporter during a match against Crystal Palace. Bringing the madness back home again, the misbehaviour of Intervarsitygoers is generally regarded as being “all in good fun” by the student body. But that was before Vice-Chancellor Saleem Badat’s report of an incident of racism. Now the mischievousness of excited Rhodents has taken on far more disturbing overtones.

Triumph and tragedy Anesu Chingono World football is undergoing a real revolution as Real Madrid captures the attention of millions with their extravagant transfer activity. The return of the so-called galactico era has become a source of much excitement for football lovers, and with the FIFA World Cup only ten months away, football is on a natural high. The athletics world is also experiencing a coup d’é tat of sorts: Usain Bolt continues to claim the sport for his own with eccentric yet brilliant sprinting performances. On the topic of sporting greats, it may be prudent to reflect on the deserved, or perhaps not so deserved, winners of the fifth and deciding final test of cricket’s oldest rivalry – The Ashes. But away from the glory, screams of fans, and sheer joy provided by our favourite sportsmen and women, there is also a far less pleasant side to be seen of world sport. Dani Jarque, the captain of FC Barcelona’s regional rivals Espanyol, died from cardiac arrest in his hotel during pre-season training. His death has stunned the football world, and what’s more, it comes only two years after the tragedy of Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta who collapsed during a league match and died of multiple organ failure three days later. But football has not been the only sport to suffer. Argentine rugby player, Juan Cruz Migliore died recently, after being hit on the head at the bottom of a ruck. And who can forget the incident that nearly cost Ferrari’s Filipe Massa not only his Formula 1 career but his life? When a detached suspension on the road flicked up and hit Massa on the helmet, he was knocked unconscious and drove straight into a barrier at full speed. Us sports fanatics are no strangers to the joy that sport brings: we gather in thousands in large stadiums to cheer on our heroes, we sit at home anticipating the various upcoming sporting attractions, and we gather with friends to make each game a social event. But it should be remembered that not too far off from the excitement that surrounds the world of sport, tragedy often lurks.