The Stag - Issue 5

Issue 5 Editor : Claire Worgan Editor-In-Chief : Elizabeth Simos Produced in USSU Media Hub, University of Surrey, Guildford Est. 2008

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WHAT A LOAD OF BALLOTS and oversees different aspects of the students union, on issues that affect education, welfare, culture, sports and societies. Together, they decide on the policies and directions that the union should take, by voicing your needs, concerns and views to make your student experience is the best it can be.

Previous sabbaticals have left these roles and incorporated their skills into successful careers. David Varney, a Chemistry Graduate from Surrey, was the first President of the Students’ Union in 1987. After taking on the role of President, By Amy Campbell he worked for Shell International Petroleum he sabbatical elections are taking place where he was appointed Managing Director of this week on campus and give you the Shell UK. Progressing in his career at Shell, he chance to vote in next year’s sabbatical team then joined British Gas as Chief Executive, but of 2009/2010. Voting is open from Wednes- moved to HM Revenue and Customs, where day 25th until Thursday 26th of February from he took on the role as Chairman. 10am- 5pm in the Library Foyer, Austin Pierce Ben MaCauley, Venue Manager of Rubix, took building and the lecture theatre concourse. on the role as VP sports running for two years Candidates who are elected will consist of five as a Sabb in 1990-2001. Before taking on his sabbatical officers who together with full time position as a sabbatical, Ben said, “As a stuunion staff are responsible for the day to day dent at the University of Surrey I was captain running of your students union. Each sabbati- of the Rugby first team and sports executive. cal officer has designated responsibilities

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Stars in your eyes? Horoscopes Page18

Candidate pictures s! w e N , s pages 16 & 17 News, New - 7 Pages 1

I also contributed to the students union working for security in my final year as a Material Science Engineering Student.” He then retuned back to the University in 2002, where he took on his current position as Venue Manager playing a central role in the operation of Rubix. Nicolas Short was elected VP Sport and Recreation in 2006 on a mandate of making sport at Surrey more efficient and improving communications. He said that, “The most memorable aspect of my time as a Sabbatical was that spent helping to design the new Sports Centre for Manor Park, and our lively debates with the architects, who wanted to design their own sports centre, rather than the one we wanted.” Continued on Page 3 ...

Sports news Pages 30 & 31

Issue 5 |26th February 2009 | www.ussu.co.uk/thestag

Feeling Arty Farty? Arts Se ction Page 2 1

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Worgan’s Words Well, to be honest dear readers I have little to say... (Shock Horror). Normally I can’t stop talking in this short paragraph of wisdom. I must say though that I have had a very social two weeks. Black and White party run by the Politics Society was an excellent event and I hope that many of you have also been enjoying the events of RAG Week, not forgetting the night where everyones sins come to light in the form of Fetish!. I have become nocturnal, the interesting delights of night have become a regular occurence for me, in the form of forced insomnia. So maybe the union should hold an all night party to cure my need to stay awake at night, discovering the delights of David Attenborough and the Arctic on bbc at 4am in the morning...... Closing words... Avoid wine that suggests “ Best consumed with french fries and fried chicken.” It’s not worth it.

In this issue.....

News Pages| 3 -8 Including Sabbatical Information Features Campus Boy | page 9 GU2 Update| Page 10 Food| Page 12 Fashion for Spring | Page 13 Not News| Page 15 Candidate Pictures| Page 16 &17 Horoscopes Page 18 Societies Islamic Society| Page 20 PSA| Page 20 Arts Music Reviews | Pages 21-24 Literature |Pages 25&26 Film | Pages 27&29 Editor| Claire Worgan: [email protected] Sports News| Amy Short & Steven Hayton: [email protected] BSA | Page 30 Features| Kim Harris : [email protected] Societies| Justin Waite & Mariam Nasir : [email protected] Ice Diving & Football | Page 31

Claire -x-

Sports| James Simpson & Danielle Gianotti [email protected] Music| Rachael Fitz-Patrick : [email protected] Literature| Amy Barnes :[email protected] Film| Ollie Sim: fi[email protected] Science| Toby Shannon : [email protected] Marketing| Amy Campbell :[email protected] Copy Editors | Joe Kenward & Stephanie Davies

The Stag is an editorially indepedent newspaper and is published by the University of Surrey Students’ Union Media Hub. The views expressed in the paper are those of individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor or her team, the Student’s Union or the University of Surrey. Printed by Surrey and Berkshire Media Limited Stoke Mill House, Woking Road, Guildford, Surrey GU1 1QA

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The Stag reserves the right to edit submissions. Please direct all enquiries to the relevant section editors.

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Continued from front page... When asked about his time as President from 2003-04, Pete Tivers said, “As a student at Surrey, I had the time of my life. I became involved in the Students’ Union through my involvement with GU2 Radio, as well as various other activities. Standing for President of the Students’ Union was my way of giving something back to the Union, the University and the student body. The role was hugely rewarding and helped shape me into the person I am today. I cannot deny it was hard work, but the opportunities and responsibilities given to me as a recent graduate were incredible and thoroughly rewarding”. His role as President made him realise that he wanted to have a career in higher education. He is still working for the University of Surrey as an Education Liaison Centre and as an Assistant Warden.

to you. If I’d recognised that at the start, I would have had a much smoother ride in my first few months and it has subsequently served me well.” After completing a successful year as VP Sports, Nick started work for IBM as a Business Architect, rationalising the operations of multi-national corporations and government agencies. This, he said, was very similar to what he attempted to do as a Sabbatical, just on a larger scale. When asked about the position of Sabbatical Officer, Bob Anderson, Director of the Students’ Union said, “To be a Sabb is a life changing experience that prepares students for their future careers.”

When voting, you will be asked to present your University Campus Card by union officials at the voting polls. Paul Coward, an Election official, said, “Last year we took approximately 1,800 votes which is minimal if you look at the population of the students Andy Blair was a VP communications Sab- at Surrey which is around 12,000. This year batical, a role that no longer exists, but en- we aim to get about 3,000 votes, creating abled Andy to contribute immensely to the a wider depiction.” All placement students Students’ Union. Andy said, “My time as a have been sent an e- mail giving them the Sabbatical was the most influential year opportunity to vote for the next Sabbatical of my life, and gave me the opportunity to team. learn how to represent views, influence through idea sharing, recognise the power Campaigns will start the week commencof team collaboration and expose myself to ing the 24th February, with candidates enchallenges I was totally unqualified to un- couraging you to go and vote for them. Sodertake inside a £2.2million organisation. I cieties and sports clubs should not favour a thoroughly enjoyed every second of it”. Andy particular candidate, as it is important that was responsible for negotiating the £40k individual consideration is acknowledged. that was required to build and launch GU2 Results will be announced in Chancellors Radio. Together with the other Sabbaticals, Restaurant at 6pm on Friday 27th February. he launched the first full version of the Un- The new Sabbatical team will then take ofion website. Andy is still with us at the Uni- fice in July 2009. versity of Surrey, where he is Director of Marketing & Communications for the University, Your vote is extremely important to the furesponsible for global marketing for recruit- ture of your Students’ Union, so make sure ment of students and development of Sur- you choose wisely. Details of the candidates rey’s overall reputation as a premium insti- manifestos can be found on: www.ussu. tution for teaching, learning and research. co.uk/sabbaticals. “The most important thing I learned as a Sabb was to listen to others opinions, as whether right or wrong, they are as important to those expressing them as yours are

What do the Sabbs do? The Union President This is most senior Student Representative at the Uni, acting as the voice for all students on campus by ensuring that representational structures are in place and being used. The President works with the team of full time Sabbaticals and part time Executive Officers to promote the views of students to the University. The role also means being the main point of communication between the Students’ Union and the University in order to make sure students’ views are taken into account in every decision that affects them.

Vice President Education This is the leading representative on all academic matters affecting students, meaning they oversee the student academic representative system, the Student Union’s academic support provision and promote the needs of students to all University committees which relate to studying here. As the representative of the academic experience at Surrey, this position also has a voice nationally and acts as the champion of educational campaigns and activism relating to University fees and other important matters.

Vice President for Welfare This is charged with looking after the wellbeing needs of all students on campus and in the community. This means taking on individual student cases as well as liaising with student care services about provisions for students and the issues that might affect them. They also oversee the Students’ Union amenities – RAG, LGBT, PGA and St John’s Ambulance.

VP Societies and Individual Development This role oversees the Guild of Societies, the ‘DAVE Project’ for the personal development and employability of students, as well as cultural events such as I-Festival and projects to encourage the social integration of all students. ‘Do More’ (student volunteering) and ‘Give it a go’ (workshops and adventures) also come under this position. They ensure that all of these activities are

student led and benefit students.

Vice President for Sport and Recreation This role is responsible for representing the sporting needs of all Surrey Students to the Uni and nationally. Liaising with the Sports Centre team about the development of sport at Surrey, this position is instrumental to the direction of sport on campus in light of the new sports development and 2012 games.

[email protected]

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sabbatical electi ons‘09

vote ! w o n

y r a u r b e f h t 6 2 h 25t choose your sabbaticals at: library ap foyer lecture theatre concourse ballot boxes open 10am - 5pm

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sab_elec_votenow_A3.indd 1

18/02/2009 10:45:48

Dear The Stag, Why is it that every week on campus, I come across yet another advertising campaign consisting of just 100s of the same A4 poster. It’s so rediculously wasteful to have the choice of 50 posters to read, in each direction I gaze not to mention how ugly it makes the campus. Occasionnaly I see posters in places where it would actually be impossible to read them such as on the top floors of the higher buildings. It’s quite depressing for me, and other environmentally conscious students, to see so much paper needlessly wasted in this way. Why not be more imaginative? For instance you could create just a few but bigger more unusual posters to grab people’s eyes and they could even be visually attractive for a change. You boring unimaginative advertising idiots, get with the twenty first century, such flagrant waste is no longer acceptable! Yours,

Post Bag The Next Deadline...... If you want to submit an article to us then please make sure we have it by Tuesday March 3rd to ensure it goes into the paper on time!

Theft on Campus

James

Epsom Downs Racecourse

Saturday 9th May

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On Wednesday 18th February, between 3.00pm and 5.00pm, five laptop computers were stolen on campus. They were taken from the Library, the AA building and the AD building. The police and security officers were on alert and patrol. Having a laptop stolen is a double-dose of bad news, since not only are you confronted with the fact that your expensive laptop is now gone, but you also have to deal with the possibility of data theft. Credit data, email records, license keys, personal documents, all at the fingertips of the kind of person who was willing to steal your laptop in the first place.

tickets on sale from

A message to all students and staff is to always keep your belongings with you at all times, especially laptops.

Monday 23rd February (*)

colours.indd 1

tickets are available at the Students’ Union from TOM HOLDER (sports administrator)

If you know anything regarding the thefts please call 01483 (66) 2002 or 9114 18/02/2009 10:47:10

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Private Sector House Hunting!

By Amy Short

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hose of you who have not been successful in finding yourself accommodation for next year… DON’T PANIC! All Private Sector and Property Managed housing will be advertised on the Surrey University StudentPad, which can be found by going to www. surreystudentpad.co.uk. Property Managed houses will be listed on Monday 23rd February, and Private sector rooms and houses will be listed on Monday 2nd March. But whether you are doing it yourselves or through the University, there are some important issues to bear in mind. Let’s start with the most important issue; gas safety. Twenty people a year in the UK die from inhaling carbon monoxide fumes as a result of faulty or poorly maintained gas appliances. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, nausea, dizziness and drowsiness and can be fatal in a matter of hours. Many mistake these symptoms with having a hangover, and so won’t discover the gas leak.

on the admin fee, so drive a hard bargain. The three professional bodies that cover letting agents are ARLA, NALS & RICS. If it becomes necessary to deal with an agent that is not a member of any of these organisations, be on your guard against questionable practices – Landlords and Letting Agents are obliged to such as charging students to view prospective have gas appliances checked annually by a properties – and avoid those that practice them. CORGI registered engineer (this will change to Capita from 1st April 2009), and must provide It is not unusual for a group of students to tenants with a gas safety certificate. Never move leave signing the Tenancy Agreement until into a property until you have had sight of the the day that they are due to move. While certificate – when it comes up for renewal, you this may be convenient for all concerned, must be provided with a copy within 28 days. it leaves you in a vulnerable position. Don’t be scared to ask and don’t be fobbed off. Although you may have agreed the terms You may also want to buy an audible carbon several weeks before, there is nothing to monoxide alarm (manufactured to a recognised stop the Landlord from changing his mind at British or European standard) although this the last minute. He may be required to pay a should be used as an extra layer of protection withdrawal fee to the agent, but you will not to compliment the regular inspections. receive any redress. Once the terms of the tenancy are agreed, get all parties to sign It is often necessary for students to make use the agreement as quickly as possible; even of Letting Agents to broaden their search. An if that means posting it between the tenants. agent’s main fee will be paid by the Landlord but if you decide to take a property you will be If you do end up in the unfortunate position of asked to pay an administration fee. The level having a Landlord withdraw at the eleventh hour, of admin fees varies considerably between ask the agent if you can pay for you references agents; from £30 to £150 plus VAT per tenant. and save time by using them on another property.

The principle of joint and several liability applies to Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements, so if you and your housemates are on a single tenancy agreement and one of you fall behind on the rent, the Landlord will come after the others to make up the shortfall. The principle also applies to guarantors. Another important issue is deposit protection. A deposit of between four and six weeks rent will normally be required to protect the Landlord against damage to their property. Since April 2007, Landlords, or their Letting Agents, have had an obligation to protect deposits received in one of the authorised schemes. Tenants should be provided with details of where there deposit is protected within fourteen days of payment. There is still widespread abuse of the new regulations, either as a result of ignorance on the part of the Landlord or in many cases deliberate neglect. If your deposit has not been protected within the statutory period, you can commence proceedings against the landlord under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004. The Act states that a court must order the Landlord to pay the tenant three times the amount of the deposit if it has not been protected, although in practice the sanction is unlikely to be imposed if the Landlord has protected the deposit by the time the hearing comes around. The three authorised schemes all offer an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service and although the parties can opt out, the courts are unlikely to look favourably on Landlords and tenants that refuse a free ADR service and clog up the courts. What is clear from the disputes that have gone through ADR so far is that if a Landlord does not have evidence – normally in the form of an inventory - that any disputed damage was caused by the tenant, then the deposit will be returned in full.

Hopefully you will now be in better shape to There is plenty of room here for negotiation. You should be aware of the term ‘Joint and several enter the private rental market with confidence. If the agent uses an external company to take liability’. It means that, in legal terms, a person Remember to make use of the Accommodation up references – and most do these days – the can be held liable for any part or all of a bill, so Department. Even if they can’t help with finding cost to them will be between £20 and £40 per in other words – be careful who you share with. you a property, they are always on hand to offer valuable advice. person. They will not want to miss out on the much larger commission by squeezing you

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Variable Costs

By Peter La Press Officer

perience. This pot of money is referred to as the ‘Access Agreement Fund’.

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n 2006, most universities in England and Wales were allowed to start charging fees of up to £3,000 per annum to Home/EU undergraduate students. This fee system is called ‘variable fees’, and was a recognition by the government that the money allocated to universities from taxation was not enough to preserve the quality of teaching and learning. The University of Surrey, in common with almost every other university, decided to charge the full £3,000, (£3,145 in 2008) whilst offering a generous raft of bursaries and scholarships to students whose personal backgrounds mean they require further financial support. Surrey has a long-standing commitment and track record in ensuring, where possible, students who have the ability to study here are not prevented from doing so by financial considerations. The University has committed about one third of its additional fee income to bursaries and scholarships and a further third to various measures aimed at improving the student ex-

(SPLASH) as well as library resources for new programmes. Projects involving e-learning and new technology include the widening of To date the University has committed almost the campus wireless network access scheme £3 million to projects to improve the student and a text message system for students in the experience. The focus has been on projects Faculty of Management and Law enabling upwhich deal with areas highlighted by students to-date communications to be sent out to large as needing enhancing, with a preference for groups of students. those which will bring benefit to larger numbers of students. The Access Agreement Fund has also been used to provide more welfare support for stuThe projects have included many focused on dents. A successful pilot of peer mentoring in learning and teaching. For example, labora- the residences in Manor Park has been suctories and equipment have been upgraded for cessfully rolled out across the other halls of Science and Engineering students and addi- residence. The Access Agreement Fund also tional teaching staff have been appointed in provides funding for a Welfare and Casework Management and Engineering to reduce the Co-ordinator in the Students’ Union. student staff ratio. A number of pilot schemes have been run including the 24-hour opening The University’s own Access Agreement with of the University Library, allowing students the the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) is available on flexibility to access the resources they need. the OFFA website at http://www.offa.org.uk. A Maths Support Centre in the Faculty of En- For full details of the University’s current fees gineering and Physical Sciences will also be position visit the Registry site at: http://portal. created. surrey.ac.uk/portal/page?_pageid=719,1&_ dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL Extra funding has been allocated to the Student Personal Learning and Study Hub

Channie’s Hit By Vandals

On the second night of RAG week many students ventured to Chancellors for Chnnies Challenge. During this time it is thought that male students took part in drawing graffiti on the walls of the men’s toilets. Unfortunately those responsible are yet to be found. “Last year over £10,000 was spent on vandalism” claims Alan Roy, Commercial Services Manager for the University of Surrey. These unnecessary costs could have been spent on other facilities for the students.

ature Do you have a fe e readthat you think th would ers of The Stag us! love? Then Email

Section Editors

If you have any information regarding the vandalism on the night og Channie Challenge, then please contact either Chancellors or Security. Sara Hadfield

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Grad Ball • • • • • FRIDAY 26TH JUNE 2009

Headline act to be confirmed soon | 7pm – 7am Fun Fair | Casino | Performers | Paparazzi Fortune Teller | Caricaturist | Magician Photographer | Body Artists | Karaoke DJ Leroy | Survivors Photograph Full English Breakfast

Tickets available from the Bookshop soon

By Amy Short

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Glad Rags and Glowsticks

o doubt you’ve seen the posters covering every brick wall, door and window around campus… yes, I think everyone was aware that it was RAG week last week. The University of Surrey Raising and Giving society is an amazing opportunity to make a profound difference to the quality of life for those who are not so fortunate through organising and running amazing events and initiatives. It is a great way to meet new people and develop valuable skills that will enhance your time at Uni and career prospects. An estimated figure of around £5,000 is what the team have raised, which will be going to charities in the area. Monday night saw around 1000 people attend Rubix for Neon Night. £2000 was raised from ticket sales alone, and collection buckets, glow stick sales and face paint sales raised around £300. It was a busy night and there were even some good deals at the bar. Chancellors Challenge on Tuesday raised around £400. Entrance fee was only a pound! 180 people took part in the challenge, so many people they had to get extra chairs from HRB. The night was a success. On Wednesday, there was the biggest inter-society T-shirt pub crawl that the University has ever seen! The night started off at 7pm in Channies, then on to The George Abbot, Wetherspoons (who were giving student discounts on a pub crawl for the first ever time!), Flares and then back to the union where the T-shirt provided free entry to Citrus in Rubix.

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Thursday’s Pyjama Movie Night in Management School Lecture Theatre went down a treat. Everyone sat munching on their pop corn whilst watching the film ‘Cool Runnings’. Entrance was only one pound and free with a RAG wristband. Friday’s Beer Festival at Rubix saw a large selection of Surrey’s Finest from £1 a pint and free entry! No pints were over £1.50! Three local breweries provided the ales and beers. As well as that it was also Fetish Night number two! Tickets were sold out by Tuesday so it was clearly a popular night! There will be more information about RAG Week in the next issue of the Stag, including how much was actually raised and an overview of all the goings on. If you have a story you would like to share

Campus Boy Fear and Loathing on Campus Don’t sit there, don’t sit there, don’t… oh, superb. She sits. The lecture theatre is barely half full, and she chooses here. This is tantamount to standing beside me in the urinal, something which would render my bladder unable to release its fluid. In such a situation, I’d be forced to pretend to wee for approximately twenty seconds, before washing my hands and exiting as per normal, despite still needing relief. Here, she’s hemmed me in, no escape, and she’s smug, because she knows it. The etiquette of the lecture theatre is to sit amongst friends and vague acquaintances, it seems. I choose wall. Despite attempting to shield my face with a hand, she catches my eye and smiles. Perhaps because she’s expended energy on moving facial muscles in my eyeline, she’ll feel it acceptable to add me on Facebook? Well, the egg will be on her face, because I don’t have an account. Search away in vain, you hunter of profiles, you’ll remain un-befriended.

Suddenly, I identify a threat to my personal space, a pen rolling towards the edge of the desk. Her pen. Is this a test, is she wanting me to crack? It drops to the floor, beside my foot. I sense that this is a moment when beings would be drawn into interaction, a possible point-scoring minefield. I decide to let her scramble for it, fully deserved, I feel, if you fail to control your stationary. I refuse to break, even as she flails a hand blindly at the floor, and she attempts another smile. Is that 3-1? Or does she score for violating my space and fondling my shoe, in her attempts to re-capture her pen, to cause me discomfort? I spend the rest of the lecture trying to decide, until the situation is clarified as the desks flip into the backs of seats. The goalposts move, and I set a final challenge to ascertain the victor. It’s a race to the exit.

I consider the scores even, then, given that she almost fooled me into reciprocating a smile. I might have even done friendly eyes… oh, please don’t let me have done those. She scored early doors, but I was under-prepared, vulnerable to the advances of newcomers to my own little world. I decide to make a move, capturing territory on the armrest, a sneaky manoeuvre to make the score 2-1. I ponder my next… is she calculating hers? She could break wind in my direction, knowing I have only the wall to retreat towards, and pull even in the scoring. Or, I could break wind and race clear? There is no wind. I sit and hope that she’s similarly unarmed.

She’s out of the blocks first, given my disadvantaged position of wallhugger. There’s just one focus now; head down, a single last ditch charge to the doors… got to try and appear normal, lay off the engine noises. Here! An opportunity, she’s chosen the wrong line and is being held up at the lectern. I plough onwards, surely certain to win now, out, out into the cool, victorious air. I beam, cheering internally, to the puzzlement of those waiting to enter. And then I realise. The lecture handouts. My face drops. To those watching, I appear mildly schizophrenic. I attempt to re-enter the room, where I’m met by my competitor, and I’m forced to hold open the door. She smiles, friendly eyes, and thanks me. And I struggle through the groaning hoards into the warm, stifling The lecture is underway, and I’m glazed over, my mind synthesising in- air of humiliation. ner thoughts with the information absorbed from the external world.

MID-WEEK £1.50 SPECIALS Specials will be served ONLY from 3pm till 5pm The specials will be run from Mondays to Fridays

x e M x e T Mucho Mix

CHOOSE FROM 3 OPTIONS A NEW RANGE AT THE START OF EVERY NEW WEEK For further details or other information please ask the Chancellors Bar Staff. Thank you.

ho option X MEX Muc The new TE ncellors rved in Cha se g in be Now

0 JUST £10.0

S E INCLUDE OS TO SHAR ATE OF NACH LE A LARGE PL S or A BOTT R 4 CORONA PLUS EITHE WHITE WINE OR D RE E OF HOUS

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Loads of Stuff Has Happened And Will Happen Soon. So For The Second Week Running I Won’t Have The Space To Tell You How I Bumped Sweet Uglies With Some Of The Planets Most Beautiful Swimsuit Models And Pop Starletts By Andy Vale Sorry if you were expecting explicit carnal details of some of the most famous GQ cover models in recent years. I’d love to give you graphic descriptions of how I touched the untouchables in unmentionable places in front of some famous faces, but the stolen video will hit the net soon enough.

Steve features a student radio station on his show and picked us for that particular week. The interview can easily be found online and has already received over 50 downloads. A final big thing will be in Mid-March. I’ll be doing a marathon 36hour show to raise money for Comic Relief. During that time I’ll be doing interviews, various features, learning to play the ukelele (ukelele permitting) and maybe even attempting a few world records. As the station frequency is 1350am, I’m looking to raise £1350 for many highly worthy causes. Go to www.justgiving.com/AndyVale to donate and I’ll put you on the ‘wall of honour!’

It seems that my calls here have been heard! We have now almost completely filled up all our specialist slots and now you can hear almost any genre of music you could possibly want at evenings and weekends. There are still some daytime slots going as well, we’re looking for people who can chat rubbish, be a little bit entertaining and press play at regular intervals. It’s not all glamour. If this sounds like something you’d like to do then email TRAINING@GU2. To listen to your very own student radio station, go to www.GU2. CO.UK co.uk or tune into 1350 am. If there isn’t something on that you like then you can listen back to any show for up to a week! To be We are now giving away Flirt and Citrus tickets every Wednesday any nicer to you would involve dinner first. and Friday from 4-7pm. So if you don’t feel like queueing, payJustgiving - donate to charity and raise funds online - Andy Vale’s ing and being one of the general populace, then listen in and bag Fundraising Page yourself a couple of tickets for diddly-nothing. Speaking of events, Source: www.justgiving.com we have played/will be playing more events than I feel like listJustgiving the easiest way to fundraise and donate to charity online ing so look out for us at any parties, functions or Rock-a-boogie seminars that you may feel like attending. We even got ourselves a cheeky set during Neon night! It went down damn well, want us again? Tell the Union! Soon we will also be putting on gigs around campus that I recommend you all come to. Early days, but this sleeping beauty is about to be kissed. For about five minutes on Friday the 13th we went national as Steve Lamacq interviewed me on his BBC6 music show. Every week

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                 

                      

   

                 





                              

                

11

So... What’s cookin’?

Scientist in the kitchen Toby Shannon brings you a hearty stew... Veggie style! Hey kids. I’ve managed to break my way out of the lab deep in the cellar of AZ to bring you a good solid supper something to set you up for the night ahead. This stew is a really good way of using up whatever veggies you have lying around the place along with a few storecupboard staples (not office staples... ah, you know what I mean...). So go on - give it a go, it’ll make up enough for a few hungry friends and try serving it with some rice, mash or even some cous-cous (so good they named it twice). The veggies I’ve listed are just what I happened to have to hand - mix and match! A note on Stock Vegetables - this is a really useful storecupboard ingredient. A mixture of lentils, pulses, grains, pastas and dried vegetables that handily bulks out soups, stews, casseroles and so forth. I’ve even used them with chillies and curries and they’ve been jolly nice. Ingredients: 150g dry stock vegetables Vegetable oil, a couple of tablespoons 1 medium onion, sliced 1 pepper (red, green, yellow - your choice), sliced 1 tin tomato soup 1 tin chopped tomatoes Veggie stock cube/powder/liquid Dried mixed herbs Salt ‘n’ pepper Marmite (optional but bear with me...) Firstly, put the stock veg on to the boil - follow the instructions on the bag (cover with cold water, bring to the boil for 10 minutes or so and then cover and simmer for about 30 mins... or something like that). Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry off your peppers and onions until they’re softened and then add your tins of tomato soup and chopped tomatoes and gently warm it through. Add a big pinch of herbs, your veggie stock and S&P to taste. Right - Marmite. I know it sounds odd but it’s a mix of deep savoury tastes and when it’s mixed into the soup base it tastes nothing like neat marmite - use about a teaspoon or so and taste as you add so you don’t go overboard. Stir in the cooked stock veg and allow the stew to bubble away gently until it’s nice and thick. How does it look? How does it taste? If it needs a touch more seasoning go for it and you might try adding a bit of concentrated tomato purée for a more intense flavour or chilli sauce if you like a bit of a kick. Serve it up with your rice or whatever and maybe some nice bread too. If you make too much, sling it in the fridge and warm it up for lunch the next day. Good luck and bonne apetit!

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Top, £4 Skirt, £11 Both from Primark Shoes, £30 Love Label at Littlewoods.com

Grecian Contrast Dress, £55 Lipsy

Metal Bow Waist Belt, £19.75 ASOS

Miso Jersey Batwing Top, £16.62 Republic

Leather Ruffle Detail Across Body Bag, £19.58 ASOS

Spring Clean

Gem Carved Cuff, £15 Accessorize

The cosy season is no more so why hang on to those winter warmers? Wardrobe space is precious (as we all know) so why not get rid of the old and invest in the new... Have fun with these gorgeous treasures... Enjoy!

Dress, £40 Topshop

Faux Snake Grab Clutch, £24.45 River Island

Dress, £15 Shoes, £14 Both from Primark

Punched Metal Layered Hoop Earrings, £8 Accessorize

Crafted Skinny Flare Jean , £34.24 Republic

Colourblock Tulip Dress, £55 Lipsy

Bustier Ruffle Dress, £60 Lipsy

Jumpsuit, £15 Shoes, £15 Both from Primark

13

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******** WARNING ******* THIS IS NOT NEWS!

************************ Annual campus popularity contest gets underway By Pete Nattress The University of Surrey’s annual popularity contest will be in full swing this week, as several candidates duke it out for the chance to spend an extra year at university and add something vaguely interesting to their CVs.

frantically wracking their brains to think up cheap, last-minute gimmicks in order to sway the vote.

The popularity contest is a Surrey tradition which has become increasingly important in recent years, and is generally recognised as the ultimate test of how many friends one has and how much tolerance those friends have for a week’s worth of tiresome campaigning. Several positions are up for grabs every year, including the prolific ‘Most friends’ post. Deputy positions include ‘most posters printed’, ‘most fulsome breasts’ and ‘standing unopposed and winning by default’.

In previous years, candidates have published manifestos, but conventional wisdom suggests this is an unnecessary step. Popularity contest campaign manager Hailey James says that posters are the best and easiest way to win a popularity contest. “Posters, posters, posters. Every year we see a direct correlation between the amount of posters strewn around campus and amount of votes cast. It also helps if the candidate has a lot of friends to vote for them. Friends and posters.” Furthermore, the posters rarely need to specify anything other than a candidate’s name and the position they’re standing for. “Putting anything else on the poster for a popularity contest would be redundant,” added James.

Over the next few days the contenders will have their flyer-making and blu-taccing skills tested to the limit as they attempt to plaster as much of the campus’s ugly concrete facade with as many fluorescent posters as possible. In addition unleashing a barrage of visually arresting posters, the candidates will also be harassing the electorate on Facebook, hiring legions of volunteers to harass the electorate in real life, and

With levels of student apathy higher than ever, this year’s campaign is expected to be particularly hard for the contestants. “It’s not just a case of having the most friends any more”, explained Rick Chavinsky, a popularity contest analyst for Ipsos Mori. “Now, to win a popularity contest, you have to have friends who are willing to drag themselves out of bed before polls close at 5pm and correctly fill in a confusing ballot paper. You need a lot of

dedication from your base.” One candidate has repeatedly stood in the popularity contest for many years without success. Ronald Matthews, known on the ballot papers simply as ‘Ron’, attributes his failure to his refusal to ‘play the game’. “I don’t put up posters, I don’t invent fickle manifestos, and I don’t force my friends to vote for me, mainly because I don’t have any,” he said defiantly. Ron is standing for all positions in the popularity contest and Not News has decided to endorse him due to his bolshie, unorthodox campaign style. The popularity contest is completely unrelated to the Student Union sabbatical elections also taking place this week, which offer the valuable chance for Surrey students to participate in a meaningful and important democratic process.

Stag plans scaled back By Pete Nattress The erection of a gigantic stag at the entrance of the University of Surrey has been delayed due to logistical problems. Initial blueprints called for the stag to be a fifty foot tall behemoth which breathed fire and shit electricity from a specially-designed Tesla coil mounted in its cavernous rectal passage. It was also originally supposed to have a pair of monstrous glowing red eyes which would “strike the fear of God” into passers-by and regular visitors alike. However, council planning officials ruled that the statue would be a “health and safety nightmare”, an “unavoidable distraction to drivers” and “above all, a little too ostentatious for Surrey.” Revised plans to capture a real stag and put it in a cage were met with horror from animal rights activists, especially as the Tesla coil feature was still part of the design. The stag has long been associated with the University of Surrey, presumably because of the stag infestation on the grounds which causes

literally dozens of goring and stamped related injuries every year. The university’s rebranding incorporated the stag image into the new logo, but Head of Marketing Sheila Fields claimed that the thousands of pounds spent doing so simply weren’t enough. “We needed an actual stag,” she claims, “because otherwise it’s false advertising, which is illegal. So we built one.”

The revised blueprints for the stag show that it will now be a mere twenty foot tall, but made entirely of gold, with a copper exterior to protect it from inclement weather conditions. At a cost of 23 million pounds, some students have wondered if their tuition fee money could have been better spent on new facilities or equipment, but Ms Fields explained that the stag practically pays for itself. “Look at it,” she said. “Isn’t it marvellous? Who wouldn’t want a humongous stag guarding the entrance to their university and scaring people on the A3?” The stag is due to be unveiled a good few years before the university rebrands again, this time to a squirrel-based theme.

“Copyright clearance issues held the project back initially.”

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presenting your Sabbat union’s president

Elizabeth Simos

Ash Murray Patrick O’Shea

Mike Blakeney

2nd Year Law Student

VP Education

Theo Ieronymides

Nick Entwistle

VP sports and recreation

Kiren Vadher PhD Student

Ben Phillips

Chris Moffatt

Dan “BamBam” Smith

Goku “S” Parmar

For more information on how to 16

manfestos please visit

ical Election candidates Murat Badem Photography Society member

Natalie Forrester

VP welfare

Denise Benson

Malcolm Hunt

Meg Georgiou

VP societies and individual development

Dan Pullen

Justin Waite

Sam Bull

Lisa Shah

Tom Wiblin

Marios Tziortzis Photography Society member

vote and to see the candidates’ www.ussu.co.uk /sabbaticals

17

Madame Za-Za

“ The stars speak to me darling” Aries (20th March – 20th April)

Libra (20th Sept- 21st Oct)

This fortnight is time for you to get back into your old hobbies. Lately you’ve been spending your free time on unproductive endeavours. Time to step away from Facebook and Smallville and go back to the things you used to like doing before student living got the better of you. Single? Ask that friend you’ve been thinking of to share your new hobby with you. Taken? If they’ve been driving you crazy over the last few weeks then maybe it’s time for a week apart.

You’re feeling frustrated right now, and that is understandable. All of your nearest and dearest are on your side, so use them for support because they all want to help you. Single? You know that you aren’t built for random hook-ups, so who exactly do you think you’re kidding? You will only end up hurt. Taken? You don’t like the person you’re becoming when you’re with them. So either change, or walk away.

Taurus (21st April- 20th May) Your best friend needs you right now, and they need your sympathy. Resist the “I told you so” routine- they are well aware that you were right all along. Don’t humiliate them more than they already have been. Single? Perhaps it’s time you stop waiting around for them and make the first move. Taken? Enjoy the good life. But be careful of bragging about your happiness to your friends. Gemini (21st May- 20th June) Your bank balance may be looking a little low right now- after all it has been a month since your loan was paid and you were already in the overdraft from Christmas... So when a friend offers an impromptu shopping trip this week- say no. Your bank statements will thank you for it. Single? The Valentine’s date that you thought had gone terribly may not have been as disastrous as you thought. Taken? Maybe you two should give up arguing for lent, because right now that’s all you seem to be doing together. Cancer (21st June- 21st July) A disagreement with a friend might become increasingly intense over the next fortnight. One of you has to swallow their pride and make the first move or you’ll lose each other forever, and neither of you truly want that. Single? Someone who isn’t your usual type might ask for your number this fortnight. Give it to them- your “type” clearly hasn’t been right for you before. Taken? A meal out will reveal something about your partner that you didn’t know before. Leo (22nd Jul- 22nd Aug) Your part time job may be getting in the way of your studies right now. You need to weigh up the possibility of packing it in, and if you find you could give up the odd night out and still survive, it might be time to put the degree first. Single? Have you thought about giving up dating for lent? 40 days and 40 nights might be just enough to get some perspective back in your life. Taken? Your partner’s mum might be getting in the way right now, but she is genuinely worried about her child’s wellbeing, so cut her some slack. Virgo (23rd Aug- 21st Sept) You’ve worked unbelievably hard over the last few weeks, so you can afford a few peaceful days at least. So lie back, with a free conscience, fully in the knowledge that you are ahead with your work. Single? Forbidden fruit is always more tempting, but be aware of the consequences before you pursue anything further. Taken? Their sudden romanticism may have shocked you last week into thinking there may be a hidden agenda. There isn’t.

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Scorpio (22nd Oct- 21st November) You’re doing your best to help a friend in need this week- but there’s a huge chunk of the story that you’re missing. Make sure you hear both sides before jumping straight in to help, because your “friend” isn’t above lying to get their own way. Single? They are waiting to hear from you after your date last week- don’t let them down. Taken? This will probably be the hardest decision you have ever made. But you’ve been thinking about it far too long now to ignore that feeling in your stomach. Sagittarius (21st Nov- 21st Dec) You seem to be being overshadowed, deliberately, by a friend or sibling. It’s absolutely infuriating, but this person seems to have the golden touch and can do no wrong. So you need to set out to prove you are equally worthy of their attention. Single? A night out at the Union may result in an unlikely pairing. Taken? They seem to have forgotten that you are a pair and that the decisions they make affect you. Tell them how you feel. Capricorn (21st Dec- 20th Jan) You’re putting far too much strain on yourself right now. What with your degree, work, and family commitments, you are overstretched. Whatever happened to you time? Single? Your friend didn’t realise you liked them. Try not to be mad, they can’t help what they don’t know. Taken? It seems like their insecurities are stopping you from doing the things you really want to. It might be time to stand up for yourself. Aquarius (21st Jan- 19th Feb) Your confidence may have taken a knock over the last few weeks, but it’s important not to let that affect the big events that are coming up this month. You’ll regret it if you do. Single? Stay away from the ex- you broke up for a reason and that reason is still there. Taken? Your friends don’t approve- have you taken the time to wonder why? Pisces (19th Feb- 19th March) It’s time to come to a conclusion about the decision you’ve been pondering. Time is running out, and if you don’t hurry that decision will be made for you. Single? You’ve not been interested in dating lately- now might be the time to jump back in the game. Taken? They are trying to get in the way of the two of you- and your paranoia is allowing them to. Show them that you are solid and stand up to them together.

T h e A P S a n d P S Y C H s o c ie tie s p re s e n t. . .

An evening with the SEX THERAPIST! Ever wondered what a sex therapist does? Learn about:  Dysfunction,  Relationship issues  Sex therapy techniques  And more…

OPEN TO ALL S TUDE NTS AND S TAFF

Monday 2nd March 2009 7.30-9.00pm in LTL Wine and biscuits provided Advance tickets £1 from the bookshop from the 16th February 19 Limited £2 tickets on the door

Islamic Awareness Week We greet you with the Islamic greeting: Peace and blessings of Allah (meaning God Almighty) be upon you. The Islamic society would like to invite you to its Islamic Awareness Week, from the 9th to the 13th of March 2009. During the week, a poster exhibition will be held at the Lecture Theatre Concourse and literature about Islam can be obtained for free. There will also be a series of interactive talks delivered by international speakers on different topics including:

submission and peace. A Muslim means in Arabic, ‘the one who surrenders; submits; obeys with sincerity and in peace to the will of God’ (Allah in Arabic). The week ends with a charity dinner on Friday the 13th of March, where volunteers cook food from around the world and sell at a cheap price. All the money goes to charity to sponsor orphans. Last year, three orphans from Sri Lanka , South Africa and Lebanon were sponsored for at least one year each.

The Islamic society at the University • God between science and of Surrey consists of Muslim stureligion dents at the University and works • What do you really know very closely with the Muslim comabout Islam? munity in Guildford and the sur• He was called the trustwor- rounding areas. Our aim is to serve thy: Mohamed P.B.U the Muslim community and provide • What do you know about the an environment where members Quran? can practice their religious duties • Islam among world religions in the best possible way. We also • Islam: A way of life aim to provide a platform for un• One message, several mes- derstanding and dialogue between sengers Muslims and non-Muslims across all cultures, religions and backMuslims and non-Muslims are in- grounds. vited to take part and ask any question on any issue. Lunch time talks We currently hold our five daily are at 13:00 and free lunch is pro- prayers in the prayer room located vided. Evening talks are at 6:30 and in the Cathedral Court Reception refreshments are provided. Times Building. Jumma (Friday prayers) is and Locations will be advertised being held at the University Hall bearound campus soon. tween 1:10 and 1:35. The aim of the Islamic awareness weeks is to promote awareness of the true teachings of the religion of Islam, especially in the midst of negative connotations associated with Islam in the media. Two of the meanings of the word “Islam” are

Hope to see you soon. Peace and blessing of Allah be upon you Written by Islamic Society committee members Email:[email protected]

Have you got news to share from your society? Let our Societies’ Editor know at [email protected] 20

Pakistan Students’ Association (PSA) performance in the fall of 2008 - 9th February, 2009

After deciding on the first blog for PSA Surrey, I started to think what it is that makes this society members different than others here at Surrey University. Instantly, I recalled the evening of 16th October, 2008 when Annual General Meeting (AGM) was organized by the former committee members. And to my surprise out of five, only two committee members were present. They were antagonistic to answer few simple questions on the events they organized during their term as in charge. I witnessed an evening where few people were looking to achieve something and at the same time few to interrogate and within next half an hour we had our new committee for 2008-09. I want to call this new team ‘Pakistani Celebrities’, few want to get famous with little effort and few with sheer luck. Whether our new team redesigns PSA’s vision or keeps the traditional vision we need to wait till the next AGM. Today, I do see a spark of light in the dark room of PSA since some promises made by the elected President during the election are becoming a reality. From the Facebook page of PSA-Surrey, I can say Pakistanis studying here at the University certainly shown interests in the working of PSA. With the event list unfolding, PSA very quickly have organized two events so far. First one was the sports event of Cricket and the second, the Earthquake Relief campaign for south western province of Pakistan. Let me just give you a brief on the sports event first, it was on a fairly dry, cold afternoon. I was expecting nothing amazing that day and it remained the same. Three matches were played, each team had six players and guess what rules were modified to suit the conditions? Anyway it was a good sporting event in the end and we managed to gather crowd.

The most important event so far is certainly the ‘Earthquake Relief Fundraising’ event. It was organized in two days and the outcome was definitely beyond my expectations, as the society gathered almost £2000. Hats off to the member sisters, as they put up a stall of Henna Mendhi in the cold weather (temperature dropped to 6 degree Celsius) in front of the University library. Sisters were supported by volunteers throughout the day and this made the event a success. I personally was one of the volunteers and was amazed by the brave sisters sitting in severe weather for a noble cause. This shows the caring nature of international students studying thousands of miles away from their home country and their hearts feeling the pain for the homeland people. This was the most exemplary display from the Pakistanis, showing every person in the University the true meaning of humanity. Fundraising money was given to the Edhi Foundation UK office on the 28th November. This is a story of PSA performance so far from the fall semester of 2008 and lets see how PSA gets along in the New Year. As a Great Poet said once, khudi ku kar buland itna ka har taqdeer se pehle khuda bande se khud poche bata teri raza kiya hai (Allama Iqbal)

Written by: Hamza Javaid (PhD Researcher) Treasurer, Pakistan Students’ Association (www.ussu.co.uk/psa) For comments please email at: [email protected] or [email protected] Edited by: Mariam Nasir

MUSIC Lily Allen - It’s Not Me It’s You Well Lily is back! You’d have been hard pushed to miss her over the past few weeks, you name a chat show she’s been on it, along with her number one single ‘The Fear’ played every five minutes on the radio. It has to be said I was one of the doubters, after so long away…. well it’s felt like ages, and with Kate Nash filling that void would she be able to pull it off again? The answer is yes, the sound has evolved since her first album ‘Alright Still’ and although the songs tell of similar stories, they are more mature and with a slightly dancier feel.

I certainly like it, partly because she appears to sing honestly about her life and in a weird geeky way it seems like you get to know her a little better through listening to this album. Is it better than her first one? Well it’s definitely on a par, so if you liked that one chances are you’ll love this too. It seems I’m not the only one to think this, my housemates are fans as well…. they are also girls so not a truly balanced poll, but I value their opinions! Rachael Fitz-Patrick 4/5

John Frusciante – The Empyrean Fans of Frusciante’s work will undoubtedly have waited on this album with bated breath, his tenth solo record since 1994 and perhaps the most hotly anticipated. That is not to say, however, that it is just for die-hard fans of the Chili Peppers guitarist and the musical left wing; The Empyrean has many shades of musical influences, from Jimi Hendrix to Captain Beefheart. ‘Unreachable’, the first pre-release from the album, features long-term collaborator Josh Klinghoffer (whom many know as the ‘Fifth Chili Pepper’ as he was seen with the Chili Pep-

Kid British - Leave London EP Hotly-tipped for success this year, Kid British’s Leave London EP covers everyday events from the confusion of ‘Lost in London’ to the heartache of ‘She Will Leave’. The songs are carefully constructed, at times sounding like a Mancunian Hard-Fi, but unfortunately that is not the only aspect of their music they share with the Staines-based band; shal-

low lyrics and weak rhymes plague the EP; “This takes the biscuit, how the hell did I miss this?” If you are a fan of Scouting For Girls then Kid British may well be the natural progression for 2009. Michael Gray

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pers on their Stadium Arcadium tour), as well as the familiar sound of Flea on bass. Typically emotive, the song moves between a powerfully driven first half into a subtle electric piano section, paving the way for a guitar solo with more parts than Frankenstein’s forehead. The production is rich and extensive but without seeming over-produced. Frusciante follows the Brian Eno philosophy of using the studio as an instrument and The Empyrean is a perfect example of this; sumptuous.

Tom Jones Give A Little Love Released: 23/02/09

Tom Jones may be the ripe-old age of 68, but after 50 years in the business he is still going strong. This brilliant record from his album 24 Hours is a catchy number, and can appeal to people with all musical tastes. With a big band sound, and the female backing vocals, this is a classic sure to be popular. And of course, it’s still about women and ‘giving a little love’... Rachel Fitz-Patrick 5/5

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Esser Work It Out Released: 23/02/09 Esser is a London-based producer/composer, who is quickly gaining ground within the electronic music circuit. With some great vocoder work in the chorus, and some brilliant remixes from the likes of Sinden, this is a great single for pop and electronica fans alike. Catch him on tour with the Kaiser Chiefs towards the end of February. Rachael Fitz-Patrick

The Hours Big Black Hole Deceptively simple, Big Black Hole is the latest offering from Indie heavyweights The Hours. Now a seven-piece band, it seems The Hours’ tracks have grown with their line-up as BBH combines brutally honest lyrics with a lucid rhythm section. Expect to wake up to this most mornings on Radio 1. Michael Gray

‘Say Something’ Music Night Date: 5th February 2009 Venue: Wates House

perform with laptops and computers has always been an interesting and challenging experience. For one of his first performances, it was really tight, and the Sex On Fire cover with a vocoder was genius.

The Say Something music nights have been a feature at Wates house over the past year or so, and it’s a chance for some of Surrey’s finest musicians to perform in a relaxed environment. The event is Last up was Toy, a band from the free, and it’s always a great night ACM. They played a style of reggae-inspired pop, with some really to pop down to on a weeknight. catchy lines and vocal melodies. First on was Becky Woolls, a music Toy also included a saxophonist, student here at Surrey, who is an which was great to see in a live amazing pianist and singer. Hav- band, away from the regular guiing turned up slightly late, I only tar/bass/drums. It did start to get managed to catch the second part a bit repetitive after a while, but of her set as more people began you couldn’t fault them as good to mill in, shrouding around the musicians. corners and door. Woolls has an awesome voice, and played some All in all, it was a great night, and great covers, including one of my the sound and atmosphere was favourite Zero 7 songs, Home. She great. One of the best things is played a huge back catalogue of you can duck in and out without songs, and was a great way of get- feeling guilty that you’ve paid. I ting people into the room, away can safely say that it’s much better than some gigs that I’ve had to from the bar. pay to get in. Next up was Starsmith, the alterego for Fin Dow-Smith, who has By Mark Allen been growing in popularity in recently weeks. His style of electroindie is about as popular as it gets at the moment, and seeing people

Suburban Sprawl is coming!! When: 6th - 27th March 2009

In terms of live music, it is a popular belief that Guildford leaves much to the imagination, but perhaps those people need to scratch the surface and take a proper look. Suburban sprawl is the perfect opportunity to seek out new music, as it seems like it’s literally going to be everywhere, from the more obvious locations such as The

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Boileroom to the slightly more obscure Friary Shopping Centre. We’re in there too as the University, in fact there are twenty venues involved over twenty-two days (627th March) featuring 200 bands. Surely in amongst that there will be something for everyone?!? The list of events is far too long for me to list in this tiny little article, but there is a lovely large web page that shows them all: www.myspace.com/suburbansprawl2009 . One thing is for sure, if Uni work and suburban sprawl were to

have a fight, the sprawl would always win, so at least check out one event and see what all the fuss is about. Rachael Fitz-Patrick

Our Music Editor Rachael Fitz-Patrick and her team of reviewers presents you with some more ear tingling reviews for the New Year !

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Brakes Supported by HIPSLINKY and THE THIRD MAN as Walter and looked more like a dishevelled li- ticked the rock box. On the flipside of this, was Date: 30 January 2009 Venue: Boileroom, Stoke Fields, brarian, held the crowd with his infectious yelp Hamilton’s tender rendition of ‘Jacksonville’, and an impressive guitar collection. If you like during which his wife joined him onstage. DeGuildford There’s nothing better than live music (awaits cries from people arguing that this, that and the other are indeed better than live music). For the sake of argument, go with me on this one. I had no expectations for this particular gig, as I hadn’t heard of any of the bands. I had a quick peek at the critical acclaim on Facebook but that was as far as my research stretched. This, however, made for an interesting evening. Hipslinky opened, providing a melodic set packed with fantastically catchy indie-flavoured songs. The lead singer, who introduced himself

Pull Tiger Tail, you’ll like these guys. Following this energetic start, The Third Man took to the stage. Fronted by ex-Kook member, Max Rafferty, the band resembled a Doherty/ Borrell/Followill hybrid. Whilst I shuffled my feet obligingly through the set, The Third Man failed to rouse the enthusiastic toe-tapping in me that Hipslinky achieved. Headliners Brakes appeared fairly unremarkable. This was until singer Eamon Hamilton strutted to the stage wearing a shiny body suit and helmet, punching the air with his fist. Thundering through charged, punk-spirited rants about pineapples, chickens and people who try to talk to you when you’re at a gig, Brakes

spite their name, Brakes showed no signs of slowing down in this dynamic whirlwind of witty banter, cider for the audience and a deliciously raucous and fun set. My feet were sore from all the floor-pounding (I like to think it wasn’t the stack heel boots I was wearing.) If you like your bands fast, furious and funny, check out Brakes. Amy Barnes

Look out for the next CD handout for your chance to review

soundaffairs...

Boulevard of Broken Dreams MUSIC: CHARLIE BARBER CHOREOGRAPHY: JEAN ABREU PERFORMERS: MAVRON STRING QUARTET, JEAN ABREU & DANCERS 8th March 2009 The Electric Theatre, 7.30pm Spring 2009 sees the World Premiere of Boulevard of Broken Dreams - a unique collaboration between live music and dance. Featuring a specially-written musical score by composer Charlie Barber, and with choreography by Jean Abreu, Boulevard of Broken Dreams brings four stunning young dancers and four brilliant young musicians – The Mavron String Quartet - on stage together. The result is an explosive mix of Latin influences, live music, world beats, dance and physical theatre. Boulevard of Broken Dreams opens at Taliesin Arts Centre in Swansea on 12 February 2009 and takes in sixteen venues across Wales and England. On 8th March 2009, as part of the 10th Guildford International Music Festival, The Electric Theatre, will play host to this exciting collaboration. Boulevard of Broken Dreams explores how people meet in unpredictable ways, the tension created between characters in public spaces and how bonds can be created and dissolved in the space

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of a day. The music takes its starting point from ‘Plaza de Armas’ (Place of Arms), the name of the main square in many Latin American cities surrounded by government buildings, churches, and other structures of cultural and political significance. The name derives from the fact that this would be a refuge in case of an attack on the city, from which arms would be supplied to the defenders. The work exploits the interaction between the two quartets as characters converge and compete in this portrayal of the urban condition Jean Abreu will draw on his mix of Latin dance roots, capoeira and contemporary dance whilst Charlie Barber will explore his passion for world music, electro-acoustic soundscapes and new trends in classical composition. Featuring four dancers (including Jean Abreu) and the Mavron String Quartet, the work will explore and contrast aspects of gender as well as exploiting the interaction between the two quartets. The Mavron Quartet will perform on stage as part of the action and the overall visual concept of the production. The string quartet will also be amplified. The live music will have a cinematic soundtrack quality, both in scale and content, and will be mixed and manipulated by a sound technician who will interweave the live sound material with electronically generated soundscapes.

Cardiff-based composer Charlie Barber has a strong local and national following. His prolific output as a composer, and talent for combining musical influences and genres, have brought him acclaim from audiences and critics alike. His recent performance and touring programmes have featured musicians, dancers, DJs, street performers and multi-media content. Jean Abreu was born in Brazil and is now based in London. His distinctive choreographic style merges his Latin dance roots and his British contemporary dance training, and has led to him winning The Jerwood Award and The Place Prize commission. The Mavron String Quartet formed in 2002. It has since worked with artists as diverse as Judie Tzuke, Alex Parks and Sibrydion. Based in Cardiff, the Quartet is resident at the Gate Arts Centre and recently gave a series of recitals in Ischia, Italy.

Literature

Get those creative juices flowing....

Toby Shannon goes on a journey through time and space... With pizza, hackers, mobsters and a cat called Cat.

number9dream by David Mitchell I stumbled across this in your friendly neighbourhood bookshop the other day. My New Year’s resolution (other than my annual “Make it smashing”) is “Try books you normally wouldn’t think of...” and, boy, I’m glad I did. Number9dream is a really rather marvellous book that chronicles 19 yearold Eiji Miyake’s search for his estranged father, taking him from his family farm on a remote Japanese island right into the very heart of urban Tokyo. It flits from fantasy to reality, past to present and back again and there are many moments when the lines get blurred just a little bit... Eiji is a really incredible narrator and it’s a thrilling journey that peers into the heart of life in modern Japan and the stories behind normal people and extraordinary events. The novel deals with love and loss, fantasy and reality, family and forgiveness and it’s full of little moments, perfectly described, that make you feel like you’re treading Tokyo’s sweltering streets right along with the narrator. From the claustrophobia of his rented capsule bedroom to his vivid but tragic childhood memories, the book leaves you wondering... Where does the dream end...? If you’re looking for a bit of an adventure, a change of scenery or you’re just interested in a great modern novel, give it a go. I think you’ll be glad you did too.

Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn By Stephenie Meyer

As for Bella, anyone who was ever an awkward teen will find it easy to empathize with her. She’s the new girl at a small school, is accidentprone and hates being the centre of attention. Viewing the world from her perspective makes falling in love with Edward unavoidable. I have Reviewed By Jessica Lamb to admit that as Twilight progressed I started to find her slightly too It made me laugh when I read a review on Amazon calling Twilight ‘a obsessive, making it harder to relate to her. Luckily the growing role masterpiece.’ A literary phenomenon is something Meyer’s series is of her friend Jacob makes up for her faults. He is a stereotypical, cool never going to be. But the saga has taken America by storm; the newest teenager, with a disregard for the rules. He certainly adds a more comic edition, ‘Breaking Dawn,’ selling over one million copies on the first element to the romance, which would otherwise get too much for even day of release. The hype seems to have missed the UK, only recently the most hardcore chick-lit fan. hitting the bestseller list. I, however, discovered the books early and As the story continues, Bella unsurprisingly finds that having a along with millions of American teenage girls and the middle-aged office vampire boyfriend is really quite dangerous. From meetings with other worker I saw carrying the latest instalment at the station last week, I am carnivorous vampires, to accidentally bleeding in front of the Cullen family, hooked. Bella’s close proximity to the undead starts to pose a risk to herself, her The story follows seventeen year old Bella Swan as she falls in family and her friends, leaving to face some very difficult decisions. The love with vampire Edward Cullen at her new school in the small, rainy saga is certainly not for everyone. The over-sentimentality means that town of Forks. Whilst I’ll admit Meyer’s writing is not that of a classical anyone cynical about romance should avoid it at all costs. It is not really novelist (in fact it gets worse as the series progresses), it is of little aimed at men either, though obviously I don’t want to stereotype. As importance as she adopts the informal, chatty voice of her protagonist, for age, it is irrelevant. In fact, the majority of reviews on Amazon went allowing for colloquialisms. And there is something strangely compelling along the lines of: ‘I thought I’d be too old for a book aimed at youngabout Meyer’s seductive, dreamy prose. I found myself falling in love adults... but it’s the best book in the world.’ It is aimed at teenagers, but with Edward like a gushing thirteen year old. He has golden eyes, a is perfect for an easy, compelling read when you’re procrastinating from mesmerizing voice, and silky white skin. He possesses incredible studying. powers, speed and strength. He’s polite, courteous, rich, clever... And don’t worry; he’s a good vampire. Along with the rest of his coven he The first three in the series are available from most bookshops for under £5 and Breaking Dawn is only a few pounds more. does not drink human blood. What’s not to like? (Not available in the campus bookshop)

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Bonfire of the Brands by Neil Boorman Reviewed By Rachael Fitz-Patrick Bonfire of the Brands is a web-blog-turned-book which follows the journey of one guy who decides, perhaps crazily, to live without brands and to literally burn them all in a massive bonfire in the middle of London. On the surface this may not seem easy, but when given a bit more thought it leads to questions such as: how will he live without Tesco for food or Colgate to stay cavity free? The answer: he visits local markets and makes his own toothpaste. This book documents his initial obsession with brands, his counselling sessions and the beginnings of his new life. He raises questions that made me look at my own brand usage, and the complete power they have over us without us even realising. For instance, when buying a bottle of water which do we choose and why? Surely they are pretty much all the same give or take the odd mineral. When two objects we are looking to purchase are the same, it is the emotional attachment to a brand and what we think it stands for, that makes us buy one over the other? Neil Boorman provides the history of brands and how they first dipped their toe into manipulation of the public and have never looked back since. He does at times labour the same point, and some sections especially quoted articles I have to admit I skim-read. However, this isn’t the anti-brand tirade I think he started out to make, the book shows a journey that ends in general acceptance that brands are a part of life and you need to keep your wits about you to make sure they don’t rule it.

The Stag would like to apologise for an error in the last issue. The Review of Second Chance By Jane Green was actually reviewed by Mariam Nasir.

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Film Get the popcorn ready.....

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (12A)

I have a confession to make and it is that I really like David Fincher. I think he’s a masterful director and he has a real competence when it comes to filmmaking. He has made some really good films, that are suspenseful, nail biting and in my opinion, underrated marvels. Not least of all being Seven, which I have to be very honest, is one of my favourite films. There, I said it.

I have a philosophy and that is, any film over two hours has to tread carefully in order to justify its running time. In other words, it has to maintain our attention as an audience because a film over two hours is longer than an average film. The problem with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is not just because it’s overlong, it just says so painfully little.

Now why is it someone like David Fincher has gone and made this whimsical, snail-paced and most of all, huge fuss of a film? Why does the film take ages to say absolutely nothing? The best review I have heard of this film is from Jon Stewart who says it’s, “Forrest Gump meets (snore)”.

To give credit where it is due, the direction almost makes the film have some value. Only some. David Fincher certainly knows how to organise a shot and you can trust him to try and make a film look polished. Also, the guys and gals at the helm of the special effects department deserve every award that comes their way.

Adapted from the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a man who ages ‘backwards’ and, like with all these things, has wild and quirky adventures. Along the way he travels to Russia, Paris and he also falls in love with a dancer named Daisy (Cate Blanchett). While telling this story (Julia Ormond given the most thankless role), an elderly Daisy is lying in her deathbed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Low and behold, she has Benjamin’s diary and we start to stare at our watches.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is basically a whimsical folly. Aside from the fact it’s too long; it has many pretensions of preaching to us about the ‘value of life’ or even how ‘everything happens for a reason’. There is one moment where the ballerina gets run over by a taxi, and that was the most entertaining moment of the whole film...and I was laughing. In short: it’s a film that aspires to be something, but is nothing. Ollie Sim 2/5

He’s Just Not That Into You (12A) With a deep disheartened breath, I think: here we go again. It’s always the problem that when someone like me comes along and trashes a ‘chick flick’, women retort, “It’s because you are male”. However, here is the problem, there were ‘feminist films’ some time ago that were sassy, entertaining, and also had a sharp edge. Let me refer to you to; When Harry Met Sally, Now, Voyager, George Cukor’s The Women (recently remade, that wasn’t good either). There are whole back catalogues of ‘feminist films’ that are satisfyingly funny and full of wit. Even I have a soft spot for Steel Magnolias.

This, girls, is not good enough. He’s Just Not That Into You is begging for one thing and one thing only; your hard earned money. In return, you have two hours of horrible characters and trashy dialogue. The two writers of Sex and the City have written the screenplay, and from that alone, everything falls into place. Believe me all females out there; I’m on your side. Please don’t see this. Ollie Sim 1/5

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Doubt (15)

Bolt (PG)

Primarily an actor’s piece, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by John Patrick Shanley (who also directs). Set at a convent in the Bronx, Meryl Streep plays a strict nun (we all saw this coming), who suspects a fellow clergyman (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of offering wine to a lonely African-American pupil at the school. Amy Adams also plays a young nun, who thinks she catches him in the act, although somewhat resembling Audrey Hepburn in The Nun’s Story.

If The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is overlong, then Bolt is just about the right length. Oh, and says more about the human condition (pun very much intended). The story centres on a dog, Bolt, who is the star of a superhero franchise along with his owner, Penny. One day, Bolt escapes from his compound to try to rescue Penny from the ‘real world’. The only problem is that he believes he has superhero powers, and that Penny has been ‘kidnapped’ by the main villain from the show.

Vitally, because it’s a ‘Pulitzer-Prize winning play’, it says so much about its roots in the theatre, and perhaps it should have stayed there. While the camera is trying its best to try and have some filmic credentials, it’s all too claustrophobic and staged. While the ideas are there, I couldn’t help thinking I would have enjoyed this more in the theatre. Still, if you want to see Meryl Streep give it some welly, look no further. Ollie Sim 2/5

For what the film is, it is entertaining for the most part and it has its funny moments. It’s certainly better than the most recent Disney films, but what is lacking is most of Pixar’s charm and wit. It’s carefree, it’s generic, it does not play on anything new, but in the end it’s all you need it to be these days. I have to say though (just a note), the hamster almost steals the show. Ollie Sim 3/5

Milk (15) Milk, one of the latest in a long line of films tipped to win big at the Oscars come February, stars Sean Penn as the charismatic San Francisco-based political activist who was assassinated by one of his former colleagues and then-rival in 1978. The film intersperses archive footage of the area in the 1970s, together with a realistic modern-day recreation of said locations. Along with these shots, the audience is told the story of Harvey Milk, his political beliefs (not prevalent until later on in the film), his love life and how he came to be so passionate about the issues he risked his life for. Director Gus Van Sant, known more for his unconventional and more indie films as well as a rather mediocre remake of Hitchcock’s Psycho in 1998, chooses Milk as his first mainstream film in years and he has certainly chosen well, opting for a controversial subject but treating it with dignity and the respect it rightly deserves. As the film progresses, outside interference from various political parties threatens the gay community in the Castro district of San Francisco where Milk lives and works and an openly gay establishment has been accepted. However, Milk remains determined and understands the negativity from rivals and outsiders is merely a result of their fear and confusion. The final third of the film tells of how his nearest rival, Dan White, a family man whose own campaigns are somewhat overshadowed by Milk’s building success, attempts to gain voters. The two build a partnership which both figures believe will strengthen their own

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campaigns, and there are occasional scenes here where Milk is portrayed as outlandish and aggressive in his approach to dealing with fellow political associates. The kind nature of Milk is built-up well throughout the entire film, he offers shelter to those in dire need, he tries to befriend outsiders who see him as a threat and Van Sant does an excellent job in picking Penn to play the lead role, for he is an actor who naturally exudes generosity and friendly mannerisms. Penn’s final scene, that of Milk’s death, is fantastically executed. The entire scene is in slow motion and conveys Milk’s dying moments as a shocking turn of events, the quick nature of the murder following the earlier confrontation between Milk and White echo the shallow nature of the politics on offer. The aftermath of his death is fantastically portrayed by director Gus Van Sant, who shows the thousands of loyal activists who once gave their lives to Milk through their over-eager protests, walking the streets holding candles in memory of the great man. I found this scene particularly poignant, for the realisation of his widespread support was not obvious until then, such was the magnitude of the moment. Having been a fan of Penn’s for years, I was expecting a brilliant performance. I was not disappointed. The film faithfully pays respect to the life of a man who risked his all to help others live their lives to full effect, and is highly enjoyable to watch as well. 4/5

Have you been to see a film lately and fancy telling us what you thought about it? fi[email protected]

Gran Torino (15) Clint Eastwood brings a magnificent presence as a Korean War veteran as well as xenophobic crank. If this is the “last” Clint Eastwood performance, you have to admit, it’s a great swansong to a persona that has been mocked for yonks. Unlikely as it would be in any ordinary circumstance, we root for the old codger all the way. Why? Because he’s Clint Eastwood, at probably his most meanest. However, his character is as much a variation on previous characters, with a certain twist.

image. With a climax that tears away from ‘The Man With No Name’ image, you come to appreciate where the film’s heart is; and that’s completely in the right place. Ollie Sim 4/5

Clint Eastwood plays Walt who has just lost his wife, and spends much of his time guarding and protecting his territory. That is until an Asian family move in next door and he instantly takes a disliking to them. What is also a problem is that an Asian gang invade his neighbourhood and are seen as a threat towards the next-door neighbours and him. To start off, it is obviously a B-Movie. Clint Eastwood has always has his roots in B-Movies (Play Misty for Me, The Eiger Sanction) before he directed the well-known Westerns we know today. It’s because of his roots of being a technician in B-Movies of the fifties and sixties, that he has become such an accomplished director. What is evident in this film, as with most of his other films, is that he never fusses and he always cuts the crap. Anyway, it is a vintage piece of work and it is sometimes a pleasure to see films that are thrilling without being in anyway pedantic. Clint Eastwood as a performer takes it on the chin and in the wrong hands could have been the average drama/thriller that would have wafted by. What is interesting with Gran Torino is that it mostly achieves an anti-violent

Pink Panther 2 (PG)

Oh Steve Martin, what hast thou done to thy career? Seriously, it is not funny anymore to see Steve Martin in gruesome slapstick comedies such as Bringing Down The House and Cheaper by the Dozen. I start to worry now if it’s going to get any worse for Steve Martin. From my experience of seeing The Pink Panther 2, I seriously hope it doesn’t. As if the first one wasn’t funny enough, this one is like a pillow being pushed against your face (and no kids, I’m not talking about bedtime). Hopefully people will have the sense of mind to take their kids elsewhere and the makers will get the message. If your kids want to see The Pink Panther 2, then have them watch the trailer because the film isn’t any different. You’ll be saving money as well. Alfred Molina, John Cleese, Lily Tomlin and Jeremy Irons need to fire their agents.

I Y E R SU R are e r e h t , k e fran b o t t ge...) n u a (b h c d ’ ings I h t w e f a

Ollie Sim 1/5

Take part in the 2009 survey by visiting

www.thestudentsurvey.com

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Organisational Body BUCS Up! By Tom Waller (Mens Captain) On February 6th 2009, a team of fourteen brave runners travelled the immense 550 miles via plane, train and automobile to reach Aberdeen for the BUCS Cross Country (XC) championships. The journey was almost brought to an abrupt halt only two hours out of King Cross, when the organisational body BUCS thought it would be pertinent to cancel the event to the dismay of most of the teams, who were either already in or travelling to Scotland. In spite of this the majority of the University teams chose to continue their journey and organise their very own inter-university social run and show BUCS how XC should really be done. After a good night’s sleep, Team Surrey travelled to Balgownie playing fields in what can only be described as arctic conditions. There was plenty of snow on the ground and some in the sky, serving the purpose of making the run more interesting and providing plenty of ammunition for an ensuing snow ball war. Spearheading the organisation on the day were the Universities of Aberdeen and Birmingham, who manage to plot an excellent course, giving a taste of what the proposed BUCS course would have been like. The run commenced with a barrage of snowballs (mostly thrown by Trung) with the front

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runners taking off like gazelles and others travelling at a much more social pace. The course was extremely challenging with a number of massive hills (think outside of Channies), with deep snow and mud all over the route providing plenty of opportunities to sap some energy. Despite this, the course was exceedingly enjoyable and the huge university turnout created a fantastic atmosphere. The standard of runners at the event was very high with future Olympic champions present from the large elite university running clubs of St Marys, Birmingham and Loughborough. However Surrey held its own, doing exceptionally well in the rankings; with the men all finishing in the top 150 out of the 650 entries, and the ladies finishing in the top 80 out of 400 entries, a massive achievement for the club first year in spite of a number of setbacks. Leading the men home were Huw Margetts and Chris West with times of 21:35 and 21:43 respectively, while the ladies were bought by Anne Doyle with an outstanding pace of 17:49 minutes. In support with photographic and video coverage of the race was Murat Badem who also kindly volunteered to marshal part of the course to allow smooth operation of the run.

6 km Mens Run Runner Position Huw Margetts 57 Chris West 65 Jack Cooper 125 David Williams 133 Thomas Waller 141 Trung Nguiyer Le 142 Oliver Deavin 147 Rob Greenwood* 148

Time 21:35 21:43 25:07 26:00 27:41 27:50 30:00 30:41

4 km Ladies Run Runner Position Anne Doyle 57 Alex Gold 66 Rachael Openshaw 71 Adele Hug 76

Time 17:49 19:03 19:46 22:49

The day’s festivities were followed by a night of entertainment hosted by the University of Aberdeen at Liquid nightclub. A mass turnout from all the running clubs, stilt and fire dancers made for a memorable evening for all of those who attended. It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend for all those who attended and I would like to wish congratulations to all those who ran in what turned out to be a fantastic result for the club. I would also like to thank the chairman David Williams for organising an amazing weekend and to the secretary Solmaz Golchin for ensuring nothing went missing. If you are interested in doing cross country or in running in general the University of Surrey Running Club holds regular training sessions at Guildford Spectrum on a Wednesday afternoon (which are completely FREE). The club welcomes runners and joggers of all abilities, for more information about the club please visit surreyrunning.com or drop us an email at [email protected]

Surrey Reserves Come Up Smelling of Roses By Rob Harrison

ward Jim Salmon who was suddenly through on goal, he slipped the ball past the oncoming Surrey Reserves overcame Royal Holloway Old Holloway keeper with ease. Boys 2-1 on Valentine’s Day in the top of the Surrey’s second came five minutes later. A free table clash at the Varsity. kick clipped into the box was dealt with poorThe game started at a very fast pace with ly, again, by the Holloway defence. The ball chances at both ends which was to be expect- dropped to Georgi Slavchev, Surrey’s Bulgared from two very competitive teams. Surrey put ian brick wall, who fired into the roof of the net their wide players to good use, Jason Alawo to make it 2-0. Surrey looked confident at this had plenty of running to be done, along with point, though Holloway are top of the league Nima Aase who put in 100% effort despite hav- for a reason, they showed their spirit by piling ing been out at Rubix the night before (that’s on the pressure for a ten minute period which for the benefit of Nima’s housemates whom he resulted in them pulling a goal back. A through had a no drinking bet with). ball from the midfield found the Holloway Twenty minutes in, Surrey struck first. Surrey’s number nine who was being tightly marked. He keeper launched a long ball up field, the two somehow stumbled through Surrey’s defence Holloway centre backs both attempted to clear and tucked the ball under Jon Creswick. but due to a lack of communication neither did, Surrey could have gone into halftime with a the ball bounced through nicely for centre for- slightly more comfortable lead, however Jim

Salmon shot narrowly wide in a great counter attack move. That was Jim Salmon’s (the University’s top scorer) final act of the game, having to leave at half time to go on a date with his girlfriend. We are told it wasn’t really worth it. The second half was less eventful than the first, Surrey put in a great defensive display as Holloway piled on the pressure. In the final ten minutes Surrey could have wrapped the game up having multiple chances and a disallowed goal from Nick Boutal. It was a great performance by Surrey who have won every game in 2009. Special mentions go to Slav, and Steve ‘Disco’ Cole, who put in great performances in defence.

Ice Diving... By Matt Head Well it had been a couple of warm, dry, indulgent weeks off over Christmas, so some people were itching to do a spot of New Year’s diving. In typical USSAC style it was an early start, meeting at the lockup for 7.30 which is a frightfully uncivilised hour for a Saturday morning. Despite the fact that it was -5° and snowing, nobody had thought better of it and opted to stay in bed so we were off to a good start. After we picked up the kit from the lockup we made a brisk run up to Wraysbury dive centre which is a 15 acre lake near to Staines. When we arrived all the jokes we had been making about having to break through the ice to get in turned out to be pretty much bang on the money and the entire lake was frozen over, with up to an inch of ice covering the most part of it.

er, they did inform us that they had tried to break the ice from underneath with a sledge hammer and couldn’t, thus advised us to plan our dive ‘very very’ carefully. To add to this they also mentioned how ‘sharp’ the ice was, meaning we also had to be careful with our equipment and dry suits. I was at this point fairly glad I wasn’t going in first, but three of our enthusiastic Ocean Diver trainees on their first open water dive seemed to overlook the subzero temperatures and couldn’t wait to get in (Even with having to perform mask clearing!). After the shock of the freezing water wore off the novelty of diving under the ice was quite fun and everyone present managed [email protected] to get in for at least two highly invigorating dives........and all came out again! If you fancy hearing more interesting divGot a sports article? ing stories and coming to get wet, contact one of the below and we’ll organise a try Then email our sports dive for you!

The Staff at the dive centre did not see this as a problem and a handful of them suited up and proceeded to smash up all the ice Adam S: Chairman at the side with hammers and clear most [email protected] of the shallow training platforms. Howev- Mark H: Training officer –

editors

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Surrey Spartians fight to the last By David Murton Treasurer Surrey Rugby Football Club On Wednesday 18th February 2009 the University of Surrey Rugby 2nd Team played the best rugby to be seen in a long time, away to St. Mary’s 3rd Team. We went expecting quite possibly the hardest game of the season. The game began with St. Mary’s dominating, and on the most part this was how it continued, with them having most of the ball inside our half. However, Surrey were resilient, and refused St. Mary’s any line breaks, making every tackle count, so that St. Mary’s rarely threatened the try line. Special mention of Adam Double has to made here, with him making more than his fair share of tackles, and we even saw our very own captain, Alex ‘Chunder’ Tsang, at scrumhalf making a couple of tackles himself for once. However, after about twenty minutes of Surrey holding off St. Mary’s, we gave away a penalty within striking distance of our posts, which St. Mary’s happily sent sailing between the uprights, to take a lead of 3-0. We then started on the offensive ourselves, and began to threaten to St. Mary’s with Nick Adebanjo making some great scything runs from either great ball down the line, or from near-perfect cross-field kicks from Sam Curtis. However this wasn’t enough to allow us to cross the line, and soon enough St. Mary’s had another penalty, which they took advantage of to take the score line to 6-0 going into halftime. However the second half saw a change in Surrey. With the realisation that we really could win this game, we started chasing every chance that came our way. This eventually saw us inside St. Mary’s twentytwo, and then Man of the Match, Sam Curtis, took his chance, sending a beautiful grubber through the opposition line from 15 metres out, only to collect it himself and to score just left of the posts, to the wild jubilations of his team-mates. Matt Allen sent the kick over for the extra 2, to take the score line to 7-6, and silencing the home crowd, which was an added bonus for those of us that had travelled to the game. The game quickly settled back into the state of the first half of St. Mary’s with the ball, and Surrey making the tackles. Desperation began to show, with the home team making ever more elaborate plays in a hope of reclaiming the lead, but which led to many handling errors and penalties being given away to Surrey, from which we made back our losses in field position due to Sam Curtis’s

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boot. However the scariest moment for Surrey came when Dick of the Day, and captain, Chunder sent a quick overhead throw back in field, nearly gifting St. Mary’s a try-scoring opportunity. Thankfully this went Surrey’s way and the danger was avoided. As time ticked away and the clock hit seventy minutes, Surrey were on the verge of winning, at which point St. Mary’s took the underhand action of bringing on a star fly-half, obviously from one of there higher ranked teams. As Surrey was pushed back close to their twenty-two, we saw the first of three drop-goals threaten the Surrey posts, which thankfully went to the left. However Surrey was not so lucky the next time, and with only three minutes on the clock, they were somewhat deflated, but hoped to do the same in return to the home side after the restart. Sadly, this wasn’t to be Surrey’s day, and St. Mary’s made a resounding surge, to take another punt at a drop goal to try and rub the salt in, but thankfully went wide. The final score line of 9-7 to St. Mary’s was an incredible achievement, but was felt to be an untrue reflection of Surrey’s performance on the day. Next season we can but hope to make them regret this day.