pugwash news - issue 22

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Issue 22Wednesday 14.01.09

TitleLife & Style » p5

TitleArts & Ents » p11

TitleArts & Ents » p11

William Hobson

Religious history was almost made at the University of Portsmouth last year.

The Sikh Society planned to bring its holiest text into the Nuffield Cen-tre for public display in December, to coincide with the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of their faith. Bringing the Guru Granth Sahib into a public institution such as this would have been an unprecedent-ed event in the UK.

However, where the book can be displayed is limited by the articles of the Sikh faith, and though the Univer-sity’s Sikh society and others within the religious community were in fa-vour of breaking new ground, internal dissent meant the book could not be displayed.

Opposition was raised when the move was discussed at the Sikh’s Guru Gadwa, their temple and com-munal centre, as the Nuffield Centre is a secular building with a secular history - one possibly tainted by inap-propriate behaviour.

The Sikh holy book cannot be tak-en to anywhere where such behaviour as consumption of alcohol or meat has taken place. This means it is limited

in many cases to holy sites, such as the Gura Gadwa’s, or to select Sikh households. Balwant Singh, a British convert to Sikhism who was one of the proponents of the idea, felt that this was a limiting interpretation of the teachings of Sikhism.

“Direct access to the book, the pathway of knowledge in our religion, is extremely important if one is to tru-ly understand it.” Balwant said. “And what better place to bring our knowl-edge than to a place of learning?”

“It’s the knowledge within that’s important, not the material text itself. I think that limiting interpretation of ‘respect’ for the Guru Granth Sahib is stifling our real message, and our abil-ity to reach others.”

Devinder Singh, the head of the Sikh Society, was disappointed by the opposition he faced, but felt that it was “important to respect everyone in the community.”

“Many people are just worried about changes in contemporary Sikhism.” said Devinder. “And I can see their concerns - we’ve had prob-lems with attendance, for example. But people are still committed to the pursuit of knowledge described by the Guru, and what is truly important is still observed.”

Sikh Society stalled

Tom Worman

An estimated 700,000 revellers braved freezing temperatures to see in 2009 on the streets of central London, stretching emergency services to near capacity. Ambulance control centres received a 999 phone call every seven seconds as binge drinkers turned nas-ty in the freezing temperatures. This new years saw the second highest volume of emergency calls since the Millenium. Whilst the majority of calls were legitimate, there were plenty of time wasters. One man even called to ask “if New York was in America”, and asked for the time.

Some areas brought in “booze buses” to deal with injured revellers’ treatment, leaving ambulances free for more serious emergencies. Around 3,300 police officers were on duty in London alone to control the crowds, and made 103 arrests over the night. These included 20 for assault and 10 for drunkenness.

In Essex, so many drunk people

were arrested that all 200 of the coun-ty’s cells were filled, and the overflow was shipped to neighbouring Kent for the night. A huge brawl at a social club in Loughton meant that 600 par-ty-goers had to be dispersed, with two arrested for attempted murder.

The emergency services found themselves directly involved in some of the most tragic events of New Year. In Reading, thugs wrecked an ambu-lance while the paramedics treated a sick baby boy, and in Wales an ambu-lance ran over and killed a 23 year old whilst responding to an emergency call.

Last year the problem with the drunks was even worse, but then it was nowhere near as cold, with far more revellers out on the streets. The tempuratures also added to the risks.

Spokesman Alistair Drummond said: “The high volume of calls on New Year’s Eve put the service under increased pressure. It made it harder for us to ensure we respond quickly to other patients with potentially

life-threatening emergencies. People should not be drinking so much that they wake up in hospital. We would urge them to think more carefully about the consequences of drinking, so that they can enjoy the start of 2009 safely and responsibly.”

Inspector Alistair Nichols, Hamp-shire Constabulary’s alcohol harm re-duction lead, said: “New Year’s Eve is a time when some people like to let their hair down, have a few drinks and enjoy themselves. However some peo-ple take it too far and end up regret-ting their actions the following morn-ing when they wake up in a police cell and are faced with an £80 fine.”

According to the Federation of Small Businesses, the first of January was a “No Show Friday”, with many employees seeking to extend their festive break into the weekend rath-er than bother turning up for work. However, many establishments have included the Friday as part of the Christmas Holiday period, including the University of Portsmouth.

Happy Bloody New Year

The Guru Granth Sahib

New Years revellers in London and Norwich

Kayleigh Marsh

With nine clubs taking part, December 2008 saw the most successful Sportos’ Dance Off in history. The clubs and their sponsors raised over £1,000 for the RAG charities.

The nine clubs that took part were: Rugby (both men and women), Net-ball, Ski and Snowboard, Cricket (both mens and womens), Gym and Tramp, Cheerleading, and Rowing.

All the clubs performed in front of a packed audience, with memorable performances from Women’s Rugby, Cheerleading and Men’s Cricket.

However, someone had to win and, no matter how much the contestents tried to bribe the judges, they stayed

strong, coming up with the top three, being:1) Mens’ Rugby2) Gym and Tramp3) Ski and Snowboard

Ski and Snowboard won the prize for most sponsorship, raising over £125. Congratulations to Mens’ Rug-by, and good luck trying to retain your trophy for next year! Once again, Portsmouth students have shown their initiative and commitment by doing weird and wonderful things for charity.

Thanks to all the sports clubs that took part.

Find out more about RAG at upsu.net/rag

Sportos’ Dance OffNews » Charity

Matt Calmus

A recent survey into the quality of the University’s research placed the Univ-erisity’s Applied Mathematics research level with that of equal standards to the Oxbridge universities.

The recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) report for 2008 shows that 75% of all research in the field undertaken in Portsmouth was world-class. Several other University subject areas, including Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, also scored well.

Findings from the sixth Research Assessment Exercise report, a Univer-sity equivalent of league tables assess-ing research quality by faculty, con-

sidered 50,000 researchers spanning over 270 Higher Education establish-ments across the country.

Professor Roy Maartens, Director of Research for University of Port-smouth, said: “The results show that Portsmouth has research of world-class standard.”

He continued to say that “We have improved every year since the RAE started, which helps us at-tract top students and research-ers, and deliver world-class re-search across a wide subject range,”

Find out more at www.port.ac.uk/news

News » Research

Pompey research rated

2 Pugwash News Wednesday 14th January 2009Pugwash News Wednesday 14th January 2009 Pugwash News Wednesday 14th January 2009

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William HobsonHead of [email protected]

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Elke Morice-AtkinsonLife & Style [email protected]

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Dates for the Diary

Editors

News Amiar Kamal & Henry Tipping

Life & Style Sarah Beer & Nina Tennant

Arts & Entertainment Dominique O’Mahoney & Jack Wells

Sports Chris Hewett & Carl Jackson

Design Sophie Abbott

Sub Editors

Caz Bird, Jordan Boon, Matt Cal-mus, Jeannie Carter, Steph Hall, Lucy Hopkins, Ben Horsman, Robert Joyce, Simon “Darby” Leach, Katie Leaming, Chicos Malone, Kayleigh Marsh, Emily Morgan, Gamel Oki, Nicola Peat, Edward Phillips, William Preston, Kalt Smith, Chris Spackman, Deborah Stone, Henry Tipping, and Tom Worman.

With thanks to:Jane Frost, Peter Hooley, Roy Maater-hans, Aakash Naik, Balwart Singh, Devinder Singh and Jess Wheeler.

Contributors

Greg James DJs live in LUXWednesday 14th JanuaryThe Union

UoP Student’s Photography Exhibition17th - 29th JanPortsmouth Cathedral

Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Band New Year concertThursday 15th JanuaryTime: 7:30pm, St Mary’s Church

Farmers’ MarketSunday 18th JanuaryPalmerston Road

Vampires Rock23rd JanuaryKing’s Theatre Southsea

Ricky Hatton23rd JanuaryGuildhall

Lecture by the Tree CouncilWednesday 14th JanuaryTime: 7:45, Church of the Resurrec-tion Hall

Football ExhibitionAll yearCity Museum and Records Office

Universities Round Up

Photo of the FortnightA Palestinian boy looks up from inside a

damaged house after an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip

Felix, Imperial College London

Proposals at Imperial College London to split the Deputy President (Education and Welfare) role into two separate roles has been abandoned, after concerns that it would cost the Union too much. The role was predicted to have cost a minimum o f£25,000 a year.

Cherwell, Oxford

Oxford University’s U21 Rugby squad is to be sent on a cultural diversity course, following investigations by Univer-sity the into alleged anti-Semitic behaviour by some team members. The decision came as a result of an investigation launched by the University into the “Bring A Fit Jew” social organised by the squad in November.

The Blend, Bedfordshire SU

Professor Les Ebdon, Vice Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, has been awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by the Queen in the New Year’s Honours List. Professor Ebdon is one of the best known Vice Chancel-lors across the country and is one of only a small select number of people who receive this prestigious award each year. It is in recognition of his outstanding contribution and service to higher education.

AUSA, Aberdeen UniversityResearchers in Aberdeenshire have started a project to try to explain the “magic” properties of Bennachie mountain. Headed by a researcher from the University, they aim to speak to locals about what makes the mountain so special: “If you ask them about their childhood experiences of Bennachie you get the most fantastic stories, whether they’re ghost stories or tales from war time.” The mountain is dear to the hearts and central to the lives of many locals, and the team aim to produce a permanent record of tales aiming to demonstrate why this is.

photo: Amir Farshad Ebrahimi

Pugwash News Wednesday 14th January 2009 3Pugwash News Wednesday 14th January 2009 Pugwash News Wednesday 14th January 2009

News

A council in Cambridgeshire used anti-terror legislation against a local paper shop, to protect the nation from paper boys without permits. The Telegraph revealed that over 10,000 surveillance missions have been carried out by Brit-ish councils since 2000.

A wind turbine in Conishol-me, Lincolnshire was appar-ently damaged by a UFO; the MoD has refused to comment. The cover up begins...

Harrods did its bit for the credit crunch and sold a £15 loaf of bread - a “Roquefort and almond sourdough”, in-tended to give people some-thing special for Christmas.

A baby in Colorado had a foot inside his brain. Surgeons thought they were removing a tumour, but discovered a fully formed foot instead - the remains of little Samuel Es-quibel’s potential twin. Sam is fine now, and will definitely have the most interesting baby pictures of any of his peers.

A school in Sheffield dropped the word “School” from its ti-tle, due to “negative connota-tions”, as it made their institu-tion sound “too institutional”.

The world’s least threatening ASBO was issued recently, for-bidding a 49 year old Kent man from carrying felt tip pens.

Israel’s invasion of the Gaza strip, which started over the new year, has continued through to the first week. The fighting in the long contested area has led the UN to suspend all aid operations due to concerns over safety. So far, the Palestinian death toll has reached 700 people, and has sparked protests around the world. In London’s Kensington High Street, over 1000 supporters of Israel gath-ered outside the nation’s embassy. A UN ceasefire resolution has not met with any successful response from either side.

Canada has prosecuted two Mormon men for polygamy for the first time since protecting religious freedom in law. Leftover legislation from the Victorian era conflicts with modern laws, protecting the two men for their religious practices.The two men have 22 wives between them, and are part of a fundamentalist sect which had previously escaped pros-ecution.

German lovers were denied their chance to marry by the police - and their parents. Mika, 6, and Anna-Bell, 5, are probably the youngest peo-ple to ever try to run away and get hitched. The two were on a train to take them to a flight to Africa, when a rail guard alerted police. They want-ed to get married and then “go for a stroll in the sun”.

A New York doctor is suing his wife for the safe return of his kidney. Richard Batista is demanding that Dawnell, his estranged wife, return the organ he donated in 2001 when she suf-fered from renal failure (or compen-sate him with its black market cash value). He claims she is denying him access to their three children after at-tempts to reconcile broke down.

Russia and European Union officials have signed a deal, which could pave the way for the re-opening of gas supplies to Europe. The deal, signed by Russian PM Vladimir Putin and Czech PM Mirek Topolanek, sets out how gas flowing to Europe through Ukraine will be monitored. Hundreds of thousands of European homes have no heating after gas shipments via Ukraine were halted on Wednes-day.

Chris Spackman

Thousands of protesters marched on Parliament Square on December 6th 2008 as part of the “Climate March”. It was part of a day of global climate protests organized by the Campaign Against Climate Change (CACC), co-inciding with the UN climate confer-ence in Poland.

The march was entirely peaceful, and police estimated the number of participants at 5000 people. Some of these were students from Portsmouth University’s old Oxfam Society.

The National Climate Match in London aimed to to put real pressure on Gordon Brown and his cronies to push for the radical action necessary to save this planet from climate crisis. We marched from Grosvenor Square to Parliament Square, passing some of London’s best known tourist attrac-tions, including Nelson’s Column.

The protest called for action on four main issues. Firstly, plans to expand Heathrow Airport; abandoning these is crucial if the government is seri-ously going to reduce our CO2 emis-sions. The building of a third runway also means that the UK will breach its pollution limit as set by the European Union. Not only were there protesters marching about the wider implications of the construction of a third runway at Heathrow for the country, there was also a large contingent of local

residents with personal fears about the plans.

Secondly, there was a strong call to halt expansion of coal power stations in the UK. The government has pro-posed seven new power stations, and faces the most opposition on its plans to build in Kingsnorth, Kent. According to the “E.on F.off” campaign, if built, this power station will emit between six and eight million tonnes of CO2 per year. This is even more than the pro-posed third runway at Heathrow, and would produce an equivalent of the annual CO2 emissions of Malawi.

Thirdly, demands were made to stop the use of bio-fuels, which are misrepresented as being eco-friendly. The use of bio-fuels leads to increased deforestation and in turn destabilises the climate, as well as contributing to a global food crisis.

Finally, demands were made to increase investment into renewable forms of energy. This is the only plausi-ble way to achieve the 80% reduction in CO2 by the governments’ set date of 2050. The committee on climate change’s official reports in late No-vember confirmed that this investment would be crucial in reducing Britain’s CO2 emissions.

On the ground, there was a really positive atmosphere surrounding us. The fact that no arrests were made speaks volumes for the attitude of those involved.

Marching down some of London’s

most famous streets, it felt like I was in the middle of a huge carnival. Us Oxfam students put on green face paint to get into the spirit of things, and it was really good fun walking down the streets chanting about issues that we care deeply about with thousands of other people. The protesters were very diverse, young children marching alongside the old and anti-capitalists protesting along with vegans - all of whom were calling for action on the same cause.

The costumes that some wore were as diverse as the crowd; polar bears, pandas, and even the Grim Reaper! I thought that the face paint was enough!

It’s a shame that this positive and peaceful march was overshadowed by the events that unfolded at Stansted only a few hours later. Sometimes the actions of a minority can drastically harm the image of the masses, although if the government continues to ignore the seriousness of climate change then these drastic protests will only become more frequent. Despite this, the stu-dents that I spoke to who attended the march thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They commented that it gave them a morale boosting reminder that our ac-tions at a University level were part of a much larger national movement. Hopefully the Government will soon take this national movement seriously and enforce their own policies on what is the greatest threat to this planet.

"A call for action"

Henry Tipping

Threats of closure due to a lack of numbers have led to a merger be-tween the Portsmouth People & Plan-et society and newcomers The Oxfam society.

People & Planet (P&P) had seen only four members show up at its weekly meetings following Freshers Fayre, despite a large amount of inter-est on the day. Union regulations on the minimum size of a society meant that the society was in desperate need of new blood.

Aakash Naik of the Oxfam society was made aware of the situation by Pugwash’s own News editor. Seeing

a link and a common cause, he made contact with P&P to see if there was anything his group could do.

After speaking to the group, Aa-kash proposed a merger to save the ailing society. This has met with ap-proval from both Portsmouth P&P committee members and the Students’ Union officers.

After final confirmation from the parent organisations of both societies, it should go forward in a few weeks.

Jess Wheeler of People & Planet said the connection was made “in the nick of time” and is glad of the way the group has been accommodated, in light of their similar concerns over fair trade, climate change and universal health care.

Aakash originally set up the Oxfam Student group on the premise that Oxfam is more popularly known and more likely to gain a response from students. He foresees a “joint move-ment at Refresher’s Fayre” (in Febru-ary) as their first act of collaboration.

“People & Planet do amazing things” he said. “The important things here are the issues, not the names.”

“’Campaigning is really important for students. This is the time to devel-op and push your concerns and ideas on world issues.”

Find out more about Oxfam and the People And Plant merge online at: peopleandplanet.org

Oxfam and People And Planet merge

Royton Villa and Mosborough FC’s regional cup match was called off after an enraged fan burst onto the pitch, carrying a sword and a golf club.

A new Doctor Who was an-nounced, but don’t worry: you’ll have a year to get used to the idea before you even see the debut of 26 year old Matt Smith in 2010.

William Hobson

Students in part-time employment could be entitled to a tax refund of around £100, according to HM Rev-enue and Customs (HMRC).Statistics show over half of students at Portsmouth have a part time job, and the government office says that many will have over paid taxes on their earnings.

However, if you earned less than £5,225 between April 5 2007 and April 5 2008, then you can apply for a rebate. Like all those under 65, stu-dents are allowed a limit of £6,035 in earnings in the current tax year before deductions are valid.

Due to the nature of the tax sys-tem, eligibility to pay is often decided before the end of the tax year. Deduc-tions are then made on the assump-tion that anyone due a refund will ap-ply for it when the time comes.

Those who believe they are entitled to a rebate are encouraged to contact the HMRC or the Union’s Jobshop for advice

Jane Frost from HMRC said: "We encourage students to make sure they check the facts about tax, and make sure they don’t miss out on a vital tax refund.”

Check if you're entitled to a refund online, use the calculator at:apps.facebook.com/uktaxrefundcalc

Tax Break for Student WorkersNews » Societies News » Finance

photo: World Development Movement at flickr.com


News

Caz BirdStudent Support Offi cer

First of all, RAG would like to say a massive thank you to all the people who have help contribute to an awe-some first semester of fundraising for charity. A special shout out has to go to all those clubs who participated in the Dance Off, and Kayleigh Marsh, who organised a magnificent show.

I watched all the dance perform-ances, and even though I am a netball girl through and through (and was so proud of my team), the sheer comedy value of the Rugby boys dance was definitely show winning!

I would also like to say thank you to Tom Harrison and the Music soci-ety, as they have been out carol sing-ing and putting on music events to fundraise for charity. Your effort and enthusiasm is outstanding.

The RAG jail on the last Wednes-day of term was a massive hit; plenty of Freshers were put in there by their club superiors, and I even found my-self in there for many minutes at a time. (Even the big President of your Students’ Union was put in there for an hour by some of his so called friends!) The RAG team were fabulously effi-cient at making sure convicts were in the jail for the correct amount of time and were also selling neon glow neck-laces, which brightened up the festive Wednesday night to no end.

The total amount of money raised to date (end of December) for RAG is £3228.33. This is an impressive fig-ure, but it’s not enough (sorry to put a negative on this peeps). We need any-one and everyone to get involved and

put the fun into fundraising. Last year RAG raised a record breaking £8,000, and the target this year is to smash this figure by a mile.

RAG, the Raising and Giving part of the Union, raises money for charities through fundraising events amongst students and the local community. The three charities that RAG is sup-porting this year are Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, Women’s Aid and Diabetes UK.

The RAG team have a few mon-ey raising ideas for the upcoming months, such as more themed RAG Raids around the South, and a jail break. The jail break is a new idea for RAG to embark on, but it has proved quite popular in other Student Un-ions. It will involve you trying to get as far away from the Union as you can for free (some people have even got as far as Tokyo). Something for you to think about doing, maybe?

However, these are only a few ideas; if you have any better ways to raise money or promote the charities, then please get in touch and let us know your ideas.

We also have, back this year by popular demand, the RAG sky dive, which raised a phenomenal amount last year. So, if you fancy throwing yourself out of a plane for charity, then keep a look out on the Union’s website for further details in the future.

If you want to get involved with a RAG event or maybe plan one of your own then get in touch with RAG at:[email protected] Alternatively you can contact Caz Bird at: [email protected]

RAG Thank you

photo: Jacob Leverett

Caz BirdStudent Support Offi cer

Those of you who came to Student Council last month saw a fair few de-bates, including responsible drinking, and how Sabbatical officers have to submit their expenses and hours. One motion in particular caused a massive stir amongst the council and observ-ers, which was: “to increase attend-ance at Student Council: All Clubs and Societies to be represented at each meeting.” This motion was not passed, as we ran out of time, but it will be discussed at the next Student

Council on 22nd January.Student Council is one of the most

powerful things we do here at the Stu-dents’ Union. It helps you take charge of the Union, and has the possibility to change anything within its legal limits. If you have anything you want to change, or are unhappy with, come along to it, and voice your views; they will be heard and something can be done about it. If you don’t come along, you can’t complain about the decisions made as you weren’t there to voice your concerns. Student Coun-cil 22nd January Function Room 2 at 5pm. Come and have a go if you think your hard enough.

Student CouncilCompulsory?

William Hobson

North End in Portsmouth has ap-peared on a list of '”environmentally unfriendly” locations within the UK.The area in the north of Portsea Island was deemed the fourth most eco-hos-tile area by marketing specialists CACI after conducting a survey into green attitudes.

Over 34% of North End’s popula-tion was identified as "environmental-ly unconcerned" by the same study.

This group were also identified as having a lack of concern with regards to recycling, although this was envi-ronmentally offset slightly by their in-creased use of public transport.

Eco UnfriendlyAnna Wardell

On January 20th one of the most an-ticipated events of this century will occur; Barack Obama will take office and will become one of the most pow-erful men in the world. For many, this date cannot come too soon - especially with his predecessor still in power.

George Bush seems to be contra-dicting the name given to the period between an election and an inaugu-ration (the "lame duck presidency" period), and doing everything in his power to leave his mark. But unfortu-nately for Bush it seems to be seen as more of a stain.

Bush has been doing everything in

his power to pass new laws in his final months. Whilst Bush’s White House staff claims these have been in con-sideration and in the process of im-plementation for some time, they will certainly cause problems for the new president. These laws will, if passed through, further allow the use of fire-arms and limit abortion procedures, which are traditionally considerate to be more Republican than Democrat policies, yet it is Obama's presidency that will have to implement them - and inevitably who will have to work hard to reverse them later. Simply ig-noring these laws when he comes into power is not an option for the Presi-dent Elect, so Bush is making his job hard for him in a way.

Other laws passed in this under-hand manner are going to impact on the environment. In a time when con-cerns about climate change are more prevalent than ever, Bush is passing laws that endanger the environment, such as allowing coal-fired power sta-tions to increase their emissions. An-other such law will enable coal com-panies to dump rubble into rivers.

Many of these laws will benefit the large corporate companies, making it even harder to overturn them. The companies could take the issues to court if they feel the laws that benefit their interests are being threatened. A period of public consultation would also be required, which, added to court cases, could take years.

Obstacles for Obama as Bush makes his final stand

News » Environment News » Politics

We asked a few of you among us to comment on the “credit crunch”, asking whether or not you’ve been affected by it and, if so, how.


Comment & Opinion

I don’t really ever get the chance to put my own tuppence’s worth into the paper so please ex-cuse me for grabbing at

this chance with both hands.It must be something with me and

companies whose name begins with ‘w’. I used to work for Woolworths and that went under a few weeks ago and I currently work for Whittard of Chel-sea, which very nearly suffered a simi-lar fate not long after! I think I should have a go working for Wal*Mart after-wards and see if I can bring down the (evil?) corporation... Who would have predicted that all of this would come out of our current financial situation?

When I first heard of this so-called “credit crunch” I dismissed it as noth-ing more than an exaggeration by the media of someone else’s problem. In-deed, this is still the case even if I can no longer deny that whatever it is, its effect extends far beyond the United States’ mortgage crisis or indeed the Icelandic banks’ dilemma which led to the situation at my current place of work. You always think that these things affect other people without really realising we’re all “other peo-ple” in the eyes of other people. Does that make sense? Probably not. Then again, neither does this poxy econom-ic crisis.

It has hit the retail sector most, that’s for sure. I think that this is where quite a lot of the students that have

part-time jobs are employed, which means that there’s a chance of this whole thing having a direct impact on our community. Where does it leave us now that many retailers are closing their doors for good or shutting some of their shops in that wonderful thing known as a cost-cutting exercise? Not all of us fit into that category of stu-dent that is able to support himself or herself on what they get as a loan, perhaps with the additional contribu-tion from their family and we need to work in order to make ends meet.

I’m not saying that we need work more than those that have families to support; I’m saying we need work just as much. Please, if you hear someone who says that it doesn’t matter if stu-dents lose their jobs during what will no doubt become a full-blown reces-sion (I’ve heard a few of these insensi-tive fools and so I know they are out there), correct them. Tell them we don’t spend all of our money on go-ing out and getting drunk or on cheap clothes in the sales. Remind them that we have to buy books and food and that we have to pay rent and bills.No-one has made any nasty comments about the now ex-Woolworths staff, have they? No. So why are nasty com-ments made about people who have lost their jobs at other companies or small businesses? Loathe as I am to quote High School Musical, but seeing as we’re all in this together I think it’s time to start acting like it. Tom West

The Credit Crunch - affecting you?

The Editor reserves the right to edit and omit contributions. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not of UPSU Media. E-mail to [email protected] I'll try to tell the world about your views!

To be honest, the credit crunch hasn’t affected me in a negative way. If anything, it’s been

good for me! Things getting cheaper meant that I had a little help in us-ing the remainder of my student loan to buy presents and to put towards what I like to call “essential socialis-ing”. The downside of it was that I ended up spending more money than I probably would as I took advantage

of the early sales and the last days of Woolies - God bless it. I still can’t be-lieve it’s gone. Unfortunately, it’s been one of the main victims of the crunch. For me, it probably didn’t affect me as much as it would if I were older or not a student. I don’t have to worry about things like a mortgage, or providing for other people and I guess in a way that as students and because of that, we are the lucky ones.

Steph Hall

The credit crunch ate my job! There is no other way to describe how I felt when I was told that the

company I worked for (no it wasn’t Woolworths) was going bust and I had lost my job, other than to say I felt bad. I really felt bad. In a rather un-professional manner, I burst into tears at my desk and mid-way through my terribly informal dismissal excused myself to the bathroom, hoping that when I came back they’d say, “you’re on candid camera!” They didn’t. I was driven home by the person who dis-missed me and on the way he said, “I wonder which of us will be next?”

The credit crunch sucks. I know this may make me seem somewhat silly and out of the loop, but I don’t even really understand it. All I know

is, it ate my job and has now somehow made the job market for everyone (in-cluding recent graduates, which I am soon to be) incredibly tough. With ‘difficult trading conditions’, ‘redun-dancy’, ‘in administration’ and ‘rising unemployment’ and ‘terrible time to graduate’ being bandied about on the news everyday in recent months, it makes the thought of leaving univer-sity seem like a stupid idea, but as a third year fast on the way into semes-ter two – it’s inevitable and not fair. We’re about to join the ‘real world’ at a time when getting a mortgage is im-possible, getting a job is near impos-sible and the credit crunch is still out there, free and roaming the streets ready to eat someone else’s job.

Elke Morice-Atkinson

Fortunately for me, I ha-vent been greatly affect-ed by this credit crunch thing. I was welcomed

back to Portsmouth after the Christ-mas holidays with an easy yet well paid job, which was much needed as the money tree (aka the holy student loan) was bare! Christmas shopping took its toll despite the cheap offer-ings out there at the moment and then the rest went on what appears to be a never-ending clothes sale. I’m

also going to make a Christmas con-fession here: when it came to buying presents for the family I could make out that they were more expensive than they actually work thanks to the huge price cuts the shops were making! Bad for businesses, brilliant for bargain hunts! So for now I’ll just wait for the new leaves to grow on my money tree before spending it all over again...

Nicola Peat

We asked a few of you among us to comment on the “credit crunch”, asking whether or not you’ve been affected by it and, if so, how.


Life & Style

I graduated from the University of Port-smouth in the summer of 2005 with a BA(Hons) Degree in Architecture, and subsequently returned in 2006 to do my Diploma in Architecture, which I finished in summer 2008.

One of the major benefits of my degree and diploma was their focus on both the practical and theoretical. Part of the practical side of the course involves preparing a CV, portfolio and covering letter, as well as taking part in a mock interview with a real prac-titioner. I would advise any student to take this seriously, as it will really help you to stand out from the crowd at interviews. In a time of recession, and therefore a time of greater com-petition for fewer jobs, this has never been more important.

Another opportunity to exploit is the employers’ evening, where repre-sentatives from various practices visit the University to make presentations on the work they do and the potential work they could offer you as prospec-

tive employees. It is through this that I found out about my current employ-er, HLM Architects. HLM Architects presented to us and explained how they could offer the right experience, with interesting and varied projects, regular design reviews, professional development, and a friendly family company ethos.

Like most other students, I was nearing the end of my degree and was keen to secure a job as soon as possi-ble, so when I got home I Googled the practice, found their website, and got in touch to see if the Guildford office had any vacancies. At this point the Director was away, and I was told he would contact me on his return.

It is essential when trying to find a job after your degree or diploma, that you examine all the options available to you. The RIBA online Directory of practices is an excellent place to search for Chartered practices in your area, and, once you have found the companies that appeal to you, don’t

be afraid to ring them up and ask if it is okay to send them your CV. Despite the ease and non-confrontational na-ture of email, I cannot stress enough how important it is to phone the com-pany and to keep ringing them (at least until they give you a definite an-swer!) This shows enthusiasm and de-termination and will not, as you might think, be seen as annoying.

While I was waiting for the Direc-tor of HLM to return, I was offered another job in Tonbridge, which I ac-cepted. One week before I was due to start, HLM got in touch with me and offered me an interview. The interview with HLM really reflected the friendly and relaxed atmosphere they had spo-ken about at the employers’ evening, and it wasn’t nearly as frightening as I imagined it might be. I presented my portfolio of work to the Director and another Architect, and explained my design reasoning and process. The next day they got in touch and offered me the job.

While this put me in an awkward position - because I had to let the Ton-bridge practice down - I do not for one minute regret this. As cliché as it sounds, it is important to do what is best for you, both personally and pro-fessionally, and I found HLM to be the best choice for both.

I worked with HLM for one year, until I returned to start my Part 2 Di-ploma in Architecture at the Universi-ty of Portsmouth, and during this time I gained excellent all-round experi-ence on a variety of projects, ranging from a hospital to military accommo-dation. I also had a mentor who con-tinually monitored my progress and encouraged me to complete my PEDR sheets.

After my first year of Diploma, I contacted the company, and was wel-comed back to work for the summer, partly because I was already familiar with the CAD system and procedures used, and partly because I had kept in touch with the company through the

occasional impromptu design crit or pint down the local

I have recently returned to HLM Architects for a third time, having completed my Part 2 Diploma. The company has since expanded into a new office, but the friendly atmos-phere and familiar faces remain. As a Part 2, I now have expanded responsi-bilities on projects, with the company pushing me to my full potential and encouraging me to begin my Part 3 studies.

All in all, I consider myself lucky to be working for HLM in the current economic climate, as the company operates in many different sectors. A lot of the work is public sector, i.e. schools, hospitals, justice, which is funded by the Government and thus is less likely to feel the pinch of the recession. Remember this when look-ing at your options – you need a place that’s right for you, but also one that will be able to keep you.

An Architect’s life

Robert Joyce of HLM Architects tells Pugwash News how he stepped onto the career ladder after graduating from the University of Portsmouth

Deborah Stone (3rd Year Law)

My Christmas was spent at home with my family, very traditional. It was a rare treat to have us all together. We spent the day doing the usual present opening, and the big fat Christmas dinner. The highlight of my Christ-mas break was going to Edinburgh for New Year with a group of my closest friends, for the famous “Hogmanay”. What better way to see in the New Year than by soaking up the atmos-phere of an amazing street party with 100,000 other randomers, topped off with spectacular fireworks? They re-ally go for New Year’s in Scotland, and I will remember the experience for a long time.

My Christmas in briefLife & Style » Christmas

Ben Horsham (3rd Year Architecture)

For a change, I had a Christmas with a bit of a difference. Instead of the regu-lar heavy roast dinner at home, I spent it cruising down the sunny slopes of It-aly on two planks of fiberglass. It was fantastic, apart from the fact that the ski routes marked as reds turned out to be blacks, which led to much bum sliding down hills. The most memora-ble event was skiing back down to the hotel with only 10 minutes until the ski lift closed, only to be chased by a member of the mountain police who informed us that we were too late. We were escorted off the mountain and taken back to our warm hotel. Overall a memorable event!

Katie Leaming (1st Year Journalism)

Christmas, as usual, was a time for polite conversations. I nodded and smiled as relatives described in detail their new diets, fitness plans and sew-ing courses, while they disapprovingly eyed my short skirt and the hole in my tights. As I gazed admiringly at my Grandma’s selection of newly embroi-dered handkerchiefs, my slightly se-nile dog hobbled into the centre of the room and showed us exactly what she thought of the proceedings, by peeing all over the floor and my Granddad’s new shoes. Cue horrified silence from all, except my Gran, who continued to describe the thrills of handkerchief embroidery. No escape!

Lucy Hopkins (3rd Year Law)

I really enjoyed my Christmas va-cation. I spent Christmas Day the traditional British way; turkey and Christmas pudding, grandparents, uncle, auntie, and cousins. We all sat around the table, and pulled crackers (and told bad jokes and wore the silly hats!), and played games after the meal.

My friends and I went out on Christmas Eve, which was spent in a club dressed in a full-on elf costume.

New Year’s eve was also spent clubbing, with my nearest and dear-est. Then, before I knew it, it was time to come back to Portsmouth. Where did the holidays go?

Jeannie Carter (Office Manager UoP)

For the first time in my life, myself and husband Nick, spent Christmas away from home, in Gibraltar. We arrived on the 22nd December, time to relax, drink, and celebrate our es-cape before Christmas day. We walked around the peninsula and ate in lovely restaurants. Christmas day we awoke to champagne breakfast and had a present opening session; lovely, though friends and family were miss-ing. At 9.30 am Glenn, Nick’s son, called – “Merry Christmas Dad and Jeannie, or should I say Gran and Granddad!”; Glenn’s daughter was born at 4.16 am on Christmas morn-ing!


Life & Style » Travel

A Christmas in Canazei, Val di Fassa

Elke Morice-Atkinson

There are 223 kilometres of ski runs in the Val di Fassa. I’ve skied 65 kilo-metres of them.

My Christmas began at 2am on the 20th of December, when I found myself standing outside my parent’s house in Portsmouth, waiting for an airport taxi. After a teeth-rattling jour-ney, our party of six - tired, with the grumps on - arrived at Gatwick.

We flew Thomas Cook to Brescia, Italy (cramped conditions, but good breakfast), where our holiday com-pany, Neilsons met us. We originally thought the transfer to Canazei would only take two hours, but were quickly informed by a pleasant Northern holi-day rep (who, impressively, actually spoke Italian to the coach driver) that it would be three and a half hours, four if anyone wanted the toilet.

“ Corvara was full of blue

runs - great for

beginners or intermediate ski-

ers having a quiet day

The transfer was smooth; we dropped off some other families at hotels on the outskirts of Canazei, then headed into town. We stopped outside the Pensione Genzianella, our home for the next seven days. It was a typical mountain building; pitched roof with thick snow and icicles, wooden shutters and an ornate im-age of the Dolomites painted onto the walls. Gino, the Genzianella’s owner, showed us to our rooms, which had en-suite bathrooms (tiny and oddly arranged), tonnes of storage for our gear (fantastic), a working television, lounger and desk. Absolutely great for £247 each (which included flights, ac-commodation and breakfast).

We ditched our bags and headed out to hire equipment. After a quick cruise around the village we found Sport Walter, next to the Belvedere Gondola. Sport Walter was easy to get to, and even offered a place to store your equipment (it was 1.50 euros a day for a secure ski locker, with a 5 euros deposit). If you’ve ever been ski-ing, you will know this is a godsend - no more having to walk gingerly down steep steps in ski boots to your hotel’s ski room. A set of skis, poles and boots was 49 euros for six days, while a snowboard was 32 euros (that’s with-out boots). The staff in Sport Walter didn’t mess around either; the elderly man behind the counter had all six of

us kitted out in about 20 minutes.The next morning we hit the slopes,

after spending a mind blowing 198 eu-ros on the Dolomiti Superski lift pass. Though, the pass did let us onto every single gondola, chair lift and drag lift in sight, not just those near Canazei. The lift pass also enabled you to check your ski times and kilometres skied with the help of a website.

We had a range of skiing abilities in our party: fearless with a need for speed (Dad), cruisey and cool (broth-er), technique but easily rattled by steep slopes (me), complete beginner (boyfriend), committed to nursery slopes but could be pushed to blues (Mum), and hadn’t skied since 1984 (Mum’s friend) – Canazei was mostly a red run village, which left three of us needing to search elsewhere for our dream runs.

We heard from two guys from Manchester in the rooms next to us that Arabba and Corvara were the places to go if we wanted to ski blue runs. However, these were hard places to get to if you didn’t want to ski red runs at all; I have never experienced this phenomenon in other ski resorts. We opted to hire a car, and drive to the fabled blue runs instead.

Corvara was full of blue runs - great for beginners or intermediate skiers having a quiet day. We also discovered that Passo Sella had some lovely blue runs (about half an hour driving from Canazei). You could ski an entire blue circuit without having to touch any red slopes at all.

If you’re not a skiing maniac, Ca-nazei is also good for mountain walk-ing, photography opportunities (the weather was fine and sunny the entire week) and restaurant adventures. The Hotel Italia is the place to eat (recom-mended to us by our local rep). This restaurant is Canazei’s local; not a hint of an English translation on the menu. Do try the “Stinco”; it’s a melt-in-the-mouth pork shank with roasted potatoes and vegetables of the day, about £15. Just gorgeous, but be warned, it’s huge!

If photography’s your thing, head on up to the Sass Pordoi. Reached by a cable car, it’s the highest peak in the Val di Fassa at 2950 metres. The views are spectacular. There’s a restaurant and sun terrace, where you can watch expert skiers head off-piste down these crazy slopes. These are so dan-gerous that skiers must go down these with a guide, wearing an avalanche detector - not for the faint hearted!

After making it to Val di Fassa’s highest peak, it was time for us to leave the mountain. We wound our way back to Brescia to fly home, pass-ing more coaches full of eager skiers. If you’re looking for a place to ski, complete with breathtaking views, head on over to Canazei. It won’t dis-appoint.


Life & Style » Guide to...

Tom Worman

January traditionally plays host to the most depressing day of the year; so, in a bid to aid your new year’s resolutions, break bad habits and shed the Christmas wobble, we are going to show you how to free your mind, think positively, eat properly and radiate the youth and beauty that us university students deserve to have on show. As a larger than life character (yeah, I guess that means “fat”) I’ve been doing my research into how to rejuvenate myself, and hope that you might find the following useful.

Rejuvenation: A new you for 2009

Occasionally, if you’re lucky, you’ll manage to chuck out those mouldy carrots stinking out the back of your fridge; just as you would try and cleanse these recesses you should declutter your thoughts once in a while, and seek out new ingredients for a more vital life.

Choose your direction: It is only by deciding what your priorities are that you can discover a sense of pur-pose. So, imagine yourslef a year from now. What have you learnt? How do you feel? Where are you working? Re-member, you can’t do everything, so choose what is most important to you and focus on it.

Make it happen: Give whatever you are doing your full attention; half measures just don’t cut it. Set aside a fixed time to achieve a task and just do it. If this involves wearing a Do Not Disturb hat. then so be it. Take that thing you’ve been putting off for ages, grab a stopwatch and give it 10 min-utes. When the alarm goes off, stop. Just starting will go a long way toward making it happen, and you’ll probably find it wasn’t so bad after all.

Slow down: How many times have you had to go back for your wallet because you rushed out of the house? As you probably already know, rush-ing gets you nowhere. So, stop. Iden-tify the moments when you regularly feel rushed, and design a system that will get the task done with the least amount of effort. If you’re always late in the morning, get things ready the night before, so it becomes less of a stressful rush and more of an enjoy-able start to the day.

Lose the negativity: Become an eternal optimist and you won’t just think you’re better off, you actually will be. So says the psychologist Mar-tin Seligman, who has demonstrated that mildly deluded optimists have more successful careers, live to ripe old age, attract more friends and have more fun. If your thoughts normally err on the dark side, then challenge yourself: try the opposite view and see where it takes you. You might find that you like it.

Break your routine: Chose foriegn cinema instead of your usual block-buster selection. Be open to as many new experiences as you can, from painting to paragliding, sailing to singing. We spend so much of our time blinkered in order to get through the day that we forget to open our eyes.

Next time you’re on the bus, look out of the window for five seconds, then look away and try to recall all the new things that you hadn’t noticed before.

Play to your strengths: We all feel good about ourselves when we’re do-ing something we’re good at. It’s ob-vious, really. Work out where you’re using your skills, and explore how you can get more out of them in your everyday life. Where can you use the skills you already have to the best ad-vantage?

Get out of your comfort zone: Setting yourself realistic goals that challenge and excite you can help you find your “groove”. Anything that is too hard or too easy won’t get you there. To increase motivation, share your goal with others, make sure there are as many benefits as possi-ble and keep the payoff tangible and specific. So, if your goal is to run the Great South Run, friends asking you how your training is going, gaining sponsorship for a charity and keep-ing the health benefits in mind will all serve to motivate you when the going gets tough.

Surround yourself with inspir-ing people: As you change and develop, you need the world to open up in new directions. Keep adding to a pool of positive people who in-spire and excite you. Don’t ditch your old and loyal friends, just keep your group fresh. Get to know the people around you, organise a party with col-leagues or do an evening class. Simply start saying “yes” when people sug-gest new things. The more people you know, the more people you’ll meet and the more possibilities will present themselves.

Take control: Sometimes, it can feel as though you are powerless when faced with a problem that’s bigger than you, but it can always be solved. Once you understand the culture in which you live, you can begin to com-prehend the impact it has and use this knowledge to rejuvenate your own life.

Seasonal variations: keep it fresh: What gets you up in the morning now (other than lectures) may feel very different in three month’s time. Keep experimenting by chopping and changing the ingredients in your life; as you spice up the recipe, your morn-ing leap will follow suit.

No doubt the gym will be packed out with us fattys trying to burn off that extra weight as part of our New Year’s Resolution. We all know that they very rarely work, and we struggle to keep up that motivation to meet our fitness goals. Let’s inject a fresh look at your exercise routine and help you hit your targets on time.

Try a new form of exercise: Vari-ety is important, both physically and mentally. If you don’t usually swim, head for the pool once a week. If you always do the same gym work out, get a new one. If you always run, try cycling. However you change the routine, your body will have to work harder to adapt and, as it does, it will become fitter, leaner and more toned.

Stay hydrated: Whether your goal is, weight loss, weight gain or in-creased fitness, no programme will be effective if you are dehydrated. Fill a 1.5 litre bottle with water in the morning and make sure you drink it all by the end of the day.

Reward yourself: Everyone needs a reward, but maybe not in the form of a box of chocolates or a crate of beer. Why not try a massage; it’s a fantas-tic way to reduce the toxins and lac-tic acid that accumulate in the mus-cles during exercise. A massage will increase your recovery rate, which means you are able to train harder in your next work out. Some would even suggest that massages can help increase your sex drive!

Don’t become addicted to the scales: Your weight fluctuates naturally by a few pounds every day - girls will tell you they have their fat days and their skinny days - so constantly monitoring it is potentially demoralising and mislead-ing. Instead, check your weight once a week, at the same time of day, so the measurements are con-sistent.

Enter an event: Without direction, your fitness programme may flounder. Try signing up for the Great South Run, or take a walk somewhere, or even a bike ride (London to Brighton springs to mind). A little nervousness about an event can produce a real sense of urgency and commitment to a routine.

Head to the great outdoors: Central heating and air conditioning can play havoc with our bodies, slow-ing down circulation and making us lethargic. The great British climate doesn’t always allow for it, but try and exercise outdoors at least twice a week. Plus, running outdoors burns more calories than on a treadmill, as there is nothing helping to propel you.

The 48 hour rule: Make sure that you exercise at least every 48 hours. This means you are regularly boosting your metabolism and thereby maxim-ising your calorie-burning potential.

Get a work out partner: The fact that you will be letting someone else down if you skip a session is a great motivator. Find a friend with similar aims and make a plan to exercise at set times each week.

Use exercise as your mode of transport: Providing you don’t live too far from where you work, walk, run or cycle the distance to make the most of your time. Exercising before work also boosts concentration.

Keep an exercise diary: By writing

down what you ac-tually did during

each session, you can see if you are skipping parts of your training and not compensating.

Honesty is vital if you are intent on

attaining your goals.

1: Refocus your mind

2: Push yourself to fitness


Life & Style » Guide to...

Rejuvenation: A new you for 2009

Going on a drastic diet? STOP! You don’t need to (and can’t) live on a cel-ery stick a day to help get a spring in your step and feel light years younger. Incorporate some of these strategies for a month, and feel your energy levels soar - just what you need when it comes round to the dreaded exams.

Eat something raw at the start of every meal: By eating foods in their natural state, you can access their valuable nutrients more easily. So, without going to extremes, begin every meal with something raw - for example a kiwi at breakfast (I know exotic fruits are an oddity to students, but they do exist), or a stick of celery or chopped cucumber with lemon juice and olive oil at lunch and sup-per. Raw fruit and vegetables hydrate the skin better than water, leaving it looking plump and youthful!

Drink fresh juice every day: Invest in a juicer and use it every morning (available from Amazon from £20). Drink the juice on an emp-ty stomach, so that the vital vitamins, minerals and other antioxidants are absorbed into your system. Use what-ever you have to juice from apple to carrot, tomato to orange, or even do a combination of several different fruits. With the various cold and flu bugs go-ing round, you might be interested to know that the betacyanin in beetroot helps to detox the liver and maximise immunity.

Eat essential fats: Eat healthy fats every day to keep cells well oiled - so they can hold onto water - and you will notice any dry skin soften. Hemp and flaxseeds sprinkled on porridge or yoghurt are a great start to the day; use their oils in smoothies and salad dressing, and snack on pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Eat two portions of green vegetables daily: Green vegetables are packed with detoxifying nutrients. From humble vitamin C to the glu-cosinolates in broccoli and kale, green veggies contain a spectrum of antioxi-dants that make your skin firm, keep the liver efficient and protect against illness. A happy liver means more en-ergy, clearer skin and brighter eyes. Enjoy two servings of green veg daily (in addition to your usual five-a-day portions), especially seasonal spinach, broccoli, rocket, asparagus and water-cress.

Eat eggs: Eggs are a nutrient-packed, high protein food that are essential to help make sex hormones, along with the stress hormones necessary for handling our busy lives and exam wor-ries. Eggs are also great brain food, as they are packed with choline, which is needed for healthy brain cells, and to make the memory messenger ace-tylcholine. You can eat up to seven eggs a week, boiled or poached, but not fried or scrambled. An egg is only as healthy as the chicken that laid it, so ideally buy organic, but definately free range!

Get rid of all the trans fats: Banned in Denmark, compulsory la-belled in the USA and linked to heart-disease - trans fats must go. On a trans-fat-free diet, you will eat less of the junk that clogs your gut, leaving you feeling sluggish and bloated. In the long term, you also help to stave off high cholestrol. Most “manufac-tured” foods contain them, including margarine, cakes, pies, biscuits, some vegetable oils, ready meals, cheap chocolate and ice cream. Watch out for hydrogenated fats on labels, as this is the nutritional (sneaky) term for trans fats.

You’ve had three months to get used to them by now, so now it’s your chance to find out really what makes your head thump, your mouth dry, and your memory patchy. Human beings have suffered from hangovers for thousands of years and yet we’re still largely in the dark as to exactly why they happen, and, more importantly, how to cure them. Researchers this week revealed that many hangover cures simply don’t work. The only sure-fire cure, they say, is not to get drunk in the first place. Simpler said than done, right? Well, this is what the scientists have to say...

Headache: Scientists believe that those throbbing headaches are due to a multitude of factors. The main one is dehydration; alcohol prevents the release of a hormone responsible for retaining water in the body and there-fore the kidneys no longer conserve water and more fluid is excreted as urine. Added to this, alcohol widens the blood vessels in the head, creating even more pain.Concentration: Avoid any task that requires more than half a brain - no this does not count as a doctors note to get you off lectures! Studies sug-gest that hangover misery interferes with both short-term memory and concentration. Some studies suggest that dehydration might be to blame, while others believe that acetaldehyde, a product of alcohol breakdown, may have an impact, along with sleep deprivation. Despite alcohol sending us to sleep, it worsens the quality of our shut-eye, leaving people incredibly tired in the morning (not just because of the endless shapes you’ve been throwing on that dance floor.)Mood: Unless you’ve woken up next to the partner of your dreams or something equally spectacular happened, the world is not always the hap-piest of places after a big night out. Hangovers increase depression, anxi-ety and irritability. Scientists are still unsure exactly how alcohol exerts its mind-bending affects, but believe that it is a combination of sleep depriva-tion, a lack of serotonin - a mood-enhancing chemical in our brain - and an alcohol-induced drop in blood sugar.Eyes: Alcohol causes blood vessels in the eyes to dilate, and dehydration leaves them feeling dry - a sure tell-tale sign of a heavy night out when your eyes become puffy, sore and bloodshot.Mouth: The mouth and throat feel dry, furry and generally disgusting. This is caused by dehydration and is worsened by smoking. Solution: drink lots of water before going to bed!Nervous system: As anyone who has fallen asleep in the corner of a pub knows, alcohol is a sedative. But, to make sure that we don’t slip into unconsciousness, our nervous system steps up a gear and becomes more alert. When the alcohol leaves our body, however, the nervous system re-mains in a hyperactive state, leading to sweating, shaking and sensitivity to light, sound and touch. Further to this, sleep deprivation can aggravate these symptoms.Heart: Heart rate increases, possibly as a result of alcohol interfering with the body’s nervous system. Long-term alcohol abuse can lead to cardiomy-opathy - damage to the heart muscle.Liver: Alcohol cannot be stored in the body, and so is broken down in the liver. In this two-step process, alcohol is turned into acetaldehyde, which then becomes acetate. However, this process is slow - one unit of alcohol is metabolised every hour. It is widely believed that acetaldehyde may con-tribute to the misery of the hangover, as accumulation in the blood causes rapid pulse, sweating, skin flushing, nausea and vomiting. Some people lack a molecule that breaks down this compound and become ill soon after drinking. Further, alcohol metabolism leads to an accumulation of fatty compounds in the liver and lactic acid in the body fluids. These inhibit glucose production, leading to low blood sugar.Body temperature: Ever felt a bit hot under the collar when you’re suf-fering with a hangover? Alcohol may interfere with the production of hor-mones that control the 24-hour body clock, leading to body temperature being abnormally high.Stomach: Alcohol irritates the stomach lining and delays it emptying, leading to nausea and vomiting.Kidneys: Alcohol affects the hormones that control water balance in the body. As a result, the kidneys fail to reabsorb water and the body becomes dehydrated.Intestines: The intestines begin to work faster after alcohol is consumed and food and liquid take less time to pass through. The ability to absorb water out of the stools is also impaired, leading to diarrhoea.Pancreas: Production of digestive juices is increased, leading to upper abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.Muscles: Everything is an effort when you have a hangover. Muscle weakness and general fatigue are a result of low blood sugar and dehydra-tion. The latter, together with an accumulation of lactic acid from alcohol metabolism, can cause foot and leg cramp.

Hangovers2: Push yourself to fitness

3: Re-think your diet


Eat out from £5 (In a Michelin Guide Recommended Restaurant)

Lemon Sole in Old Portsmouth The South’s first pick your own fresh Fish & Seafood Restaurant and we have a brilliant offer “Eat Out from £5” which gives you the opportunity to dine out with friends and family at lunch or dinner for a fraction of normal prices. This legendary OFFER allows you to have a TWO COURSE “LUNCH FROM JUST £5” and THREE COURSE “DINNER FROM JUST £10 from a set menu, valid for Lunch from Monday to Saturday (on Sundays THREE COURSE ROAST LUNCH from just £10) and for dinner reservations between 5.30 and 7.00 pm seven days a week in the friendliest Lemon Sole Seafood Restaurant or historic, candle lit & Crofts Wine Cellar located in the basement.

All you need to do to claim this offer is to book in advance by calling

023 9281 1303 and quoting “EAT OUT FROM £5” when you make your reservation.

Then cut out this voucher and hand it over to staff on arrival.

On Sundays this voucher can be redeemed for a Three-Course

ROAST SUNDAY LUNCH from £10 per person

Terms and Conditions: Offer is subject to availability. Prior reservation is essential quoting “Eat out from £5”. Offer cannot be combined in conjunction with any other offer. Price includes VAT but all drinks and service is extra.

Maximum 6 persons per booking. Offer limited to special set Menu.

Lemon Sole Seafood Restaurant & Crofts Wine Cellar

123 High Street • Old Portsmouth • Hampshire • PO1 2HWTel: (023) 9281 1303 • www.lemonsole.co.uk


Life & Style » Food Reviews

Yuan SiuSt James Road

2/5

William Hobson

This rather unassuming chippy/Chi-nese combo lies just in Somerstown, behind the Eldon Building – next to a Co-op and a post-office/minimarket for all you ignorant First Years – and as such occupies the vague grey area that most students don’t seem too aware of until their forced to move out of Halls. It’s the closest chippy to the Guildhall, and the only other Chi-nese besides the Palace (hidden be-hind the Co-op in the square, more of a restaurant but it’s a bit better), but unfortunately it doesn’t have much to recommend it beyond that. The prices for the Chinese food are very stand-ard, with the deals offered not being too great – a feature shared by the food. The Singapore style chow-mein I had used the wrong kind of noodles, was a little bit greasy and, aside from being pretty bland, featured some mi-niscule “king” prawns - and they sub-stituted the roast pork I’d expected for chicken without telling me. Things are much better on the chippy side to be fair, where you get a lot more bang for your buck, and standard-fare food is a lot more satisfying, but it’s nothing special. Still, better than Kens!

Life & Style Enterprise

Lemon SoleCastle Road

4/5

William Hobson

Possibly the most upmarket place I’ve been in the last year, this seafood specialist in Old Portsmouth (about 5 mins straight down from the library) has just started an offer that brings it into affordability. With fresh fish from the local waters and inclusion in the Michelin guides for the last three years, Lemon Sole is definitely one of Port-smouth’s special places to eat. Unfor-tunately the a la carte menu is a little bit too pricey, even for a special night out - £16 a main meal - but now that you can get a three course set menu for £10 its become a lot more accessi-ble. The restaurant itself is extremely classy, and would be a perfect place for something or someone special, es-pecially considering the huge range of wine on display next to the fish counter. (Unfortunately I don’t drink the stuff but even I was impressed by their display.) Lemon Sole’s set menu is limited in range compared to the normal menu, but it’s still im-pressively varied, and definitely offers value for money, considering how re-fined it is. Out of what we sampled, I have to recommend the mackerel salad as the best dish, though closely followed by the fried whitebait and the meaty and exotic bacon-wrapped pangasius fish fillet. The chicken salad my friend ordered was excellent too, though naturally this place excels at the seafood so I think you’d be fool-ish to stray from those. Your set meal includes a dessert, which is re-ally the only low point of the menu - solid standard restaurant fare, but nothing beyond that. I recommend getting a dish that relies more on the fillet than the dressing as well, as my lemon sole was obscured a bit by its dressing. And the prawn cocktail was a great example of a standard dish - but in a place this classy, we know we missed out on something special with these choices. All in all, somewhere for a more refined dinner out, and though the set menu doesn’t include sides (some dishes don’t really need them though), you’re basically look-ing at a high-quality meal for £15 a head (with two solid side dishes split between you) - not bad at all for an extremely posh fish supper!

Life & Style Reviews...

Jordan Boon & Elke Morice

Jordan Boon, business fanatic, tells Pugwash a bit about his entrepreneur-ial career so far, and how the Port-smouth Centre for Enterprise can help you in your business ventures. All you need is an idea and the enthusiasm to take it forward.

Jordan’s business career began at a young age – he frequented car boot sales at age 12, buying and selling items. Jordan’s business sense was growing; soon he was buying items at wholesale, and quickly discovered the miracle that is eBay at age 15. Jor-dan started up a number of businesses on the website, firstly selling almost everything in his family home (which

his family did not take kindly to!) His wheeling and dealing continued on to buying electrical items cheaply at auctions, then selling them on eBay. He discovered a great niche market with the introduction of DVD players; many people still used VHS players during this time, and Jordan made a great profit selling second hand VHS players to people not quite ready for the changeover.

Jordan started his first fashion business when he came to university. He used stencils and spray paint to design t-shirts and hoodies, and again sold them on eBay. This wasn’t his only venture, though; he also had a market stall on Commercial Road sell-ing clothes, memorabilia and music.

In 2008, Jordan was given an office in Mercantile House, where he now runs clothing printing company, and is cur-rently working on other businesses, as well as helping others start and im-prove their own.

Jordan now works closely with the Portsmouth Centre for Enter-prise, and always has a heads up on events and competitions run by the Centre. Every year the Centre for En-terprise runs competitions (for bigB sums of money - perfect for starting or improving your business) and also runs an Enterprise Week once a year.

Tip for success: Relationships build businesses

Embrace the Entrepreneur inside

Life & Style » Trivia

1. Cumbria is the safest county in Eng-land and Wales

2. Every year, the world’s deserts pro-duce 1,700 million tonnes of dust

3. St Kilda has no rats

4. 23% of plastic bags used in the UK are from Tesco

5. Prison pay is (on average) £9.60 a week

6. Men eat more Brussel sprouts and broccoli than women

7. The Olympic torch can withstand wind of up to 65km an hour

8. Some 1.3 million yoghurt pots are thrown away each day in the UK

9. The Ministry of Defence has amassed 8,000 sightings of UFOs

10. Pears sink, whilst apples float

11. One of the earliest Mars Bars was pineapple-flavoured. It flopped

12. Pigs can suffer from mysophobia, a fear of dirt

13. £13,400 is required to enjoy a minimum standard of living in the UK

14. Camels urine is sells in India for £1.34 a litre for its medicinal effects

You didn’t know this last year


Arts & Entertainment

Singles

Morrissey -

I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris

Decca

“Nobody needs my love/Nobody wants my love”; it’s hard to say “Cheer up Morrissey”, seeing as his entire musical career is based on the fact that, 99% of the time, he’s really miserable, and therefore feels the compulsion to sing about it. It’s hard to isolate this track from all of the dazzling back-catalogue that comes with Morrissey’s name, but I think you’ll have to. It doesn’t show the spark that his previous solo album had, which seemed a lot more genuine that this - at times it seems limp and without feeling. It leads to that old question: can we forgive the present sins of an artist whose past work is outstanding?

Tallie Kane

Lily Allen - The Fear

Parlophone

Welcome back Lily Allen; it seems you’ve become aware of the issues of the world and become, shock horror, satirical. It’s not that bad either. With an accompaniment of several bubble-electric instruments, Lily’s track challenges issues such as the absence of talent in our rich and fa-mous and the diamond trade, and offers a comment on the inner work-ings of our economy. “I am a weapon of massive consumption/It’s not my fault, it’s how I’m programmed to function” shows a conscience to Allen’s sickly sweet Cockney warbling, and rather overpowers the actual melody itself, which provides a backdrop to Lily’s words rather than harmonising with them. Not a bad effort, and you can expect it to raise an eyebrow or two, but it’ll be interesting to see if Allen practises what she preaches.

Tallie Kane

2.5/5

La Roux - Quicksand

Kitsune

A bit of a musical underdog, but set for stardom in 2009, La Roux is a London based electro duo (Elly Jackson and ex-Kubb member Ben Lang-maid). The pairing create epic, synth filled pop songs that have dark lyrical undertones which aren’t picked up until after a few listens. “Quicksand” has already been pounced on by the BBC, and rightly so; it is a triumph of 80’s electro revival that the charts has missed, thanks to the drones of empty melodied guitar bands and cereal box girl bands. Jackson’s voice is airy but with a certain power that gives the band its trademark sound; Langmaid is the silent production partner who is undoubtedly behind the finely crafted electro goodness. If you want another taste, look up the faultless beats of “Fascination”. Expect big things of La Roux - we’ll be keeping a beady eye on them.

Tallie Kane

Tubelord - Feed Me a Box of Words

Big Scary Monsters

Self described as “balls-out math Emo”, this Kingston three piece’s debut single is a highly fuelled explosion of driving beats, intricately picked guitars and over-excited vocals. It’s not to be classified with the type of music that is often associated with Emo - this harks back to an earlier, punkier form of the genre, which sees the music as the main outlet for heart-grabbing emotions, rather than the intent of the lyrics. Tubelord’s lyrics are not to be scoffed at however, although not as fluent as you’d expect. The jumpy shouts and perfectly crafted vocals of lead singer Joe give away more than you originally assume. The last moments of the song are almost post-coital; the aftermath of xylophones and harmonies show versatility that stops critics from calling them a shout-y rock band. For fans of the Mars Volta and Fall of Troy, Tubelord are something to be excited about.

Tallie Kane

Pure FM Show of the Fort-night: A Pure Pot of Tea and a Handful of Chris

Thursday 12pm- 2pmThe idea of the show is to spend an hour having fun, not only for ourselves, but for you listeners as well. We play quite a bit of new music, mixed in with student classics that everybody knows and loves. Our regular features include No Pain, No Game, with special guests, in which we throw random objects at our guest, and they have to guess what the objects are. Also, we take at look at past memories in our It was Kool at Skool feature, where we ponder the objects that kept us entertained at school; previously we have had objects like yoyos and tech decks. So basically, if you like pain and memories on the radio, but not at the same time, then we are the show for you. Tune in on Pure FM every Wednesday 12-1pm for A Pure Pot of Tea and a Handful of Chris.

3/5

4/5

5/5

TheatreThe Thief of BaghdadLinbury Studio, The Royal

Opera House, Covent Garden

Dominique O’Mahoney

Opening with a bang,The Thief of Baghdad is set in a bombarded city, with fantasy thriving amid the city stage. Two sisters and a friend stum-ble across an old theatre and embark on a storytelling adventure in the style

of the Arabian Nights. In a dance-the-atre format, the tale comprises a loopy Sultan, an unhappily betrothed prin-cess and pet monkey, an evil king and of course, a thief.

The plot is brilliantly backed up by a small group of musicians in the pit; they orchestrated the mood of the tale extremely well. My favourite part would have to be with the magic carpet - hydraulics were used to raise the carpet up and smoke machines emulated the clouds. The Genie in the story is somewhat different from the classic, as is the winged horse, which you will either like or dislike. Cast members emerged from openings all over the stage, from giant vases to a

piano. The props they use are rather imaginative and well constructed, and the dance sequences seamlessly added interest to this production.

GamesRock Band 2

William Preston

Hairsprayed blonde perm? Check! Tight spandex jumpsuit? Check! Grade 8 music talent? Ah, it’s only a game! Ever since the Guitar Hero se-ries rocked the world with it’s mock rock stylings, gamers and rock fans alike have been air guitar-ing to such an extent that it was only a matter of

time until they turned up the amps of rock experience on the series. Rock Band 2 perfects itself as the sequel to the greatest music-based party game of all. As well as being able to download songs off the internet (for a fee of course), songs from the first Rock Band can be uploaded as well. But with that said, Rock Band 2 has a fantastic set list in its own right. With classic songs such as AC/DC’s “Let There Be Rock” and the legendary “Living On a Prayer”, you’ll be the envy (and annoyance) of your neigh-bours for weeks to come. Players can take part in the new and improved

“World Tour” mode, where you take your freshly created band on the road, earning fans, money, and even staff, along the way. With Rock Band be-ing such a perfect game, there wasn’t need for many improvements in a se-quel, but Rock Band 2 went above and beyond, by adding a drum trainer, an improved song select screen and “No Fail” mode; perfect for first timers/drunken friends. Providing you pay the extra money for the complete in-strument package, you have yourself the party experience of a lifetime. But as AC/DC said; “It’s a long way to the top…”

Gears of War 2

Gamel Oki

Marcus Fenix returns in Gears of War 2, as the COG (Coalition of Organised Governments) have been pushed back to their final strong hold, “Jacinto, by the brutal Locust Horde. The time has come to take the offensive to the gen-ocidal Locust; it’s time to win the fight for the survival of humanity.

Simplicity is bliss, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Gears of War 1 was a simple game; they’re bad (the

Locust Horde), you’re good (the hu-man race), here’s a small assortment of guns and a plethora of equally in-teresting and gruesome ways to kill your opponents (such as slamming a grenade into their face and then re-treating to cover).

Gears of War 2 expands all the ways which count in such a simple game; more guns, more enemies, more grenades, more enemies and more interesting and gruesome ways of killing the enemies. Oh, and more enemies. The sequel also provides a highly pleasing facelift (finally, a half decent reason to buy a HDTV), and brings a new sense of scale, immers-ing the player in a truly epic and bru-tal war for the survival of humanity.

Gears of War 2 works for one rea-son - you don’t go into it expecting a deep and meaningful plot (like Metal Gear Solid) or huge amounts of char-acter development through dialogue and interaction (like the Final Fantasy games). Instead, you go in expecting to spend the majority of your time running from cover to cover and kill-ing the enemy in multiple disgusting and original ways, and essentially you get just that. With enough action to hold the attention of an ADHD kid who’s just ingested a whole pack of blue Smarties, Gears of War 2 is must have for any Xbox 360 owner.

Could’ve been longer though...

A&E Stereo - Bands to Watch in 2009

Mumford & Sons - Soulful indie-twee darlings that sing hopelessly romantic songs about life, the universe and everything.

Thomas Tantrum - Rising to fame from “that T-Mobile ad”, this band have about as much energy as a Skittles factory, with talent to match.

Strange Death of Liberal England - Portsmouth Locals who are becoming the talk of the town, an odd bunch of musicians that make eclec-tic, indie-funk.

Orphans and Vandals - A darker Belle and Sebastian, with lyrics to make you blush and melodies to melt you completely.

Empire of the Sun - Australian fantasy-electro outfit that are guaran-teed to make you want to dance your space boots off.

Florence & The Machine - A bizarre, big voiced beauty, with magi-cally crafted music and an equally odd band of musicians to accompany.

The Temper Trap - Epic Australian mood-rockers, that build guitars into a beautiful, heartfelt fortress.

Sway - Just signed to Akon’s label and propping up the UK hip hop scene, expect an explosion of exposure from this fast thinking chap.

CheIt’s a startlingly ambitious two part movie from director Steven Soder-bergh, about the medical student turned legendary Marxist guerrilla, Che Guevara. The first movie looks at the high points in Che’s life as part of

Star TrekIt’s finished... but you can’t see it yet, to many Trekkies’ dismay. Since the Phantom Menace debacle, the world has learned to be cautious about ret-ro-novelty event films, but the Guard-ian says this film is “still a gripper”. JJ Abrams has bestowed his very own Christmas gift upon the hordes of

Monsters vs AliensIt looks like a cross between Monsters Inc and The Incredibles; Monsters Vs. Aliens is a CGI animation following the adventures of Susan Murphy, a young girl who is hit by an asteroid which causes her to grow 50ft tall. Alerted to the threat of this new monster, the military jumps into action, and Susan is captured and secreted away to a covert government compound. There, she is renamed Ginormica and placed in confinement with a ragtag group of other monsters: the brilliant but in-sect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestruct-ible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confine-ment is cut short, however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country. In a moment of desperation, The President is persuaded by General W.R. Monger to enlist the motley crew of Monsters to combat the Alien Robot and save the world from imminent destruction. This film is either going to be fantasti-cally brilliant, like Madagascar, Ice Age and the Pixar Films, or be an incred-ible let down; judging by the trailer, which had me in absolute stitches, its going to be a great easy-watch movie. Watch the trailer online at: upsu.net/p/3938Expected release: 27th March 2009

UPSimilar to Monsters vs Aliens, UP is a CGI animation comedy adventure about a 78 year old balloon sales-man, Carl Fredricksen, who finally

Role ModelsRole Models is one of the funnier films you can expect to see out this year. The poster for it explains a lot towards the theme of the film; you see the charac-ter Danny relieving himself against a wall and Wheeler, his partner in hilar-ity, drinking from a brown paper bag. The film tells the story of two energy-drink company executives, sentenced to community service mentoring kids, only to find their young charges more


Arts & Entertainment

“World Tour” mode, where you take your freshly created band on the road, earning fans, money, and even staff, along the way. With Rock Band be-ing such a perfect game, there wasn’t need for many improvements in a se-quel, but Rock Band 2 went above and beyond, by adding a drum trainer, an improved song select screen and “No Fail” mode; perfect for first timers/drunken friends. Providing you pay the extra money for the complete in-strument package, you have yourself the party experience of a lifetime. But as AC/DC said; “It’s a long way to the top…”

Film 2009At the begining of the year we look forward to some of the top films of 2009. Here we give you a rundown of a few of the biggest and best due out in 2009.

CheIt’s a startlingly ambitious two part movie from director Steven Soder-bergh, about the medical student turned legendary Marxist guerrilla, Che Guevara. The first movie looks at the high points in Che’s life as part of

the 1959 Cuban revolution. Che and his soldiers wrestle the nation’s re-sources and affection from Batista’s grasp. Though considered a hero by some, Che becomes a hugely contro-versial figure, even appearing at the UN in 1964. At the height of his fame and power, he disappears. Entering South America incognito, Che recruits

another band of guerilla fighters in the harsh Bolivian jungles, which forms the plot of the second movie, detail-ing the drawn-out, agonised endgame where Che meets a very violent end.

Released: 2nd January and 20th February

Transformers: Revenge Of The FallenIf there’s one film out next year that epitomises the word “blockbuster”, it’s Michael Bay’s monster sequel to 2007’s Transformers. It’s perhaps ap-propriate, then, that Transformers 2 gives our 2009 preview a little kick start. Whilst rumours are ripe about the actual plotline (including the usual explosions, car chases and even filming on board a US Aircraft Carri-er), there has been no official release. Director Michael Bay says on his blog: “[I’m] back from Egypt and Jordan – we had a wonderful shoot over there. I

will miss the crew, they were an amaz-ing bunch of people and a lot of fun.” So, again we can assume that this sequel sees the characters travelling all over the world to accomplish their mission! Josh Duhamel, who played Captain Lennox in the original film, tells Empire Magazine that the biggest change in the sequel is “who [Lennox] is working with”, emphasizing that point. This seems to confirm specula-tion that the Autobots might have to form an alliance with the Deceptions to fight something bigger. Whilst any written summary of the plot doesn’t seem to exist yet, Pugwash News has scoured the internet to find some re-vealing photos, which all help to raise the hype of what should be another fantastic film.

Star TrekIt’s finished... but you can’t see it yet, to many Trekkies’ dismay. Since the Phantom Menace debacle, the world has learned to be cautious about ret-ro-novelty event films, but the Guard-ian says this film is “still a gripper”. JJ Abrams has bestowed his very own Christmas gift upon the hordes of

Trekkies worldwide by letting us all know that the final changes to Star Trek were being made over Christmas. Posting on Facebook, Abrams had the following to say: “We’re just making fi-nal tweaks to the movie - we should be totally locked next week. Then we’re going to flash-freeze it so it’s totally fresh for you in May. I can’t wait for you to see the movie. The cast is awe-some. The action and effects pushed

the stunt team and ILM beyond their limits. I’m so grateful to this cast and crew - and to all of you for your in-terest and patience. We’ll continue to update this page with new info and exclusives, so check back when you think of it. In the meantime, have a happy, healthy, fun holiday!”

Expected release: 8th May

Monsters vs AliensIt looks like a cross between Monsters Inc and The Incredibles; Monsters Vs. Aliens is a CGI animation following the adventures of Susan Murphy, a young girl who is hit by an asteroid which causes her to grow 50ft tall. Alerted to the threat of this new monster, the military jumps into action, and Susan is captured and secreted away to a covert government compound. There, she is renamed Ginormica and placed in confinement with a ragtag group of other monsters: the brilliant but in-sect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestruct-ible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confine-ment is cut short, however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country. In a moment of desperation, The President is persuaded by General W.R. Monger to enlist the motley crew of Monsters to combat the Alien Robot and save the world from imminent destruction. This film is either going to be fantasti-cally brilliant, like Madagascar, Ice Age and the Pixar Films, or be an incred-ible let down; judging by the trailer, which had me in absolute stitches, its going to be a great easy-watch movie. Watch the trailer online at: upsu.net/p/3938Expected release: 27th March 2009

UPSimilar to Monsters vs Aliens, UP is a CGI animation comedy adventure about a 78 year old balloon sales-man, Carl Fredricksen, who finally

fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old

Boy Scout slash Wilderness Explorer named Russell. This latest offering from the great team of Disney/Pixar looks like their most creative yet.

Expected release: October

Role ModelsRole Models is one of the funnier films you can expect to see out this year. The poster for it explains a lot towards the theme of the film; you see the charac-ter Danny relieving himself against a wall and Wheeler, his partner in hilar-ity, drinking from a brown paper bag. The film tells the story of two energy-drink company executives, sentenced to community service mentoring kids, only to find their young charges more

trouble than they bargained for. Dan-ny is paired with the decidedly dorky Augie, while Wheeler is the latest vic-tim to take on foul-mouthed Ronnie. After a bumpy beginning, both Danny and Wheeler connect with their kids over everything from sword-and-sor-cery role playing to the chick-scoring power of the band Kiss. But when these two presumptive adults put their charges’ well-being in jeopardy, they both face jail time and the loss of everyone’s respect. With their own friendship on the brink of ruin, Danny

and Wheeler - with a little help from the magic of Kiss - must reach deep inside to prove to the world how re-sponsible they can truly be. In the spirit of films like Knocked Up and The Forty Year Old Virgin, Role Mod-els features a healthy dose of sharp humor and juvenile gags, balanced by a feel-good message that growing up doesn’t mean giving up what makes each of us special.

Released: 7th January

14 Purple Wednesdays Wednesday 14th January 2009Purple Wednesdays Wednesday 14th January 2009 Purple Wednesdays Wednesday 14th January 2009

Sports

ing part (all subject to change):Come and support us! Whether your

club is involved or not, please come and be part of “Team Portsmouth”, and get involved in the rivalry that is shaping up to be one of the fierc-est University rivalries in the country. Check out www.upsu.net/varsity for travel details; a small charge will be attached to cover costs.

Cheap drinks and food will be available, as well as loud music and entertainments; it really will be a fun day out for all!

I hope this is an event everyone can get behind and support, as it will be the largest sports event in the Athletic Union’s History and, I hope, one of the most memorable!

Varsity 2009 continued...

Participating Teams

American FootballBadmintonBasketball

Indoor RowingCricket (indoor)

FencingFootball

GolfHockey

Roller HockeyTaekwondo

LacrosseNetball RugbySquash

SwimmingSnooker

TchoukballTenpin bowling

TennisUltimate Frisbee

VolleyballSailing

Ski & Snowboard Wakeboard

Ben Endley

Sports Editor

Hello everyone, and welcome back and a happy new year to you all. Be-fore I begin my inevitable rant, I'd like to say a massive congratulations to the Boxing Team. I'll admit that I don't have a great basis of knowledge on boxing, however even I could tell that they are something special fol-lowing their exemplary display at the English National Championships. I'm sure anyone who was there would agree with me that the commitment and fanatical dedication for which the Boxing Club are renowned is paying off in a big way.

This leads me on to the subject of this fortnight's editorial. Let me start by stating that this week has been one of the most manic I have ever had in all my years at uni; I won't bore you with all the details, but needless to say I have been struggling to balance my role on the paper, my commitments to the Lacrosse club and, last but prob-ably not least, my course. I am very fortunate in all three of these to have excellent people around me, without whom I would have broken down, become a missionary and gone to live on an island years ago. Anyway, my point is that it is paramount for all Sportos to find a balance in life, and this is much harder than a lot of peo-ple think.

This is more true than ever at this time of year - no one needs remind-ing that exams are on the horizon. Everyone from parents, lecturers, the university chancellor and even fellow Sportos would tell you your course comes first. To an extent, they are right! Many of us will leave uni with debts in the region of £20,000, how-ever, although very few of us will end up with a career directly attributed to our time playing university sport, it is undoubtedly an extremely important part of uni life. Without even going into the fitness element or the social side of things, reserch from NPR has shown direct links between increased physical and neurological activity and development.

The most manic week so far!

Sport » Purple Wednesdays Editorial Sport » Ski and Snowboard

Chicos Malone

British University Dry Slope (BUDS) Championship is the biggest dry slope event each year, and each year we miss it, for many reasons. This year Loughborough University had the op-portunity, and hassle, of running the largest event on the calendar. It was the first time Pompey had entered this competition and we entered it with great enthusiasm and excitement, and also nervousness, as we had been told that BUDS was at a much higher level of ability than Kings, which we were used to. So…Scotland here we come.

BUDS was held in Edinburgh, a long 10 hour drive away. We took a

minibus full of our first Ski and Snow-board team and also a car full of lug-gage, which club mascot Alex “Naked Boy” Sherman obliged to drive, ac-companied by Vice President Andy “Scotty” Berwick.

At half six on day one, alarms rang, as everyone had to be up and ready to be on the slope for seven. The slope, which was huge, was packed with people; University teams, all wearing hoodies in all the colours of the rain-bow, except orange. In true Pompey fashion, we were late, and started our hike up the “mountain” with everyone looking at us - you could hear them saying things, it was like the first day at a new school. The skiing kicked off and the flow of free Red Bull and

The BUDS weekend

Not only did Portsmouth University Win the English Championships for the second year in a row, but they also hosted a faultless 3 day event to a standard never seen before in Uni-versity Boxing or Hampshire. Port-smouth Uni entered a small team of 8 boxers in the 140 competitor event, it may have been a small team but they were a strong team. The team consist-ed of 2 female boxers and 6 male box-

ers totalling 50 bouts between them with only 13 losses, not a bad average at all.

First to compete for Portsmouth was James Williamson in his debut bout, James was given the oppor-tunity to box due to his unwavering commitment to his training. James was competing against Farag from Bath University and James did not disappoint. He held his ground well

against a much more experienced op-ponent landing some beautiful rear hand counter punches. As the bout progressed Farags experience started to show and James was starting to flag, so coach Wayne Gardiner re-tired his boxer at the end of the 2nd round. “One for the future” was the only words from the smiling coach. Next up was also another low expe-rienced boxer in the squad in Adam

Insam, also coming against a strong opponent Adam rallied and gave his all but was 1 point shy in the judges decision, a brave effort from another future prospect.

The Portsmouth team then sprung into life with a kick start from Bran-don Jones at cruiserweight. Brandon put on a fine display of boxing over the first two rounds of his bout against last years English & British Cruiser-weight Champion and then upping the pace to finish comfortably with a unanimous win to take him through to the Finals on Sunday. On Sunday Brandon then went against a strong opponent in Angelise from LSE, Bran-don did not hold back and with flur-ries of combinations stopped his op-ponent in 1 minute and 37 seconds of the first round to take the Gold Medal and the 2008 English Cruiserweight Title.

Big Georgakakis at Heavy weight had two very strong opponents in the semi finals and finals. George who reached the National semi finals this year looked that little bit more com-posed and in control than both oppo-nents. In the final round of each bout George was in his stride landing solid straight shots almost at will, credit to the opponents as they did not fall and pushed George all the way to two black eyes. George smiled with his Gold

Brian Ogweno the Portsmouth Uni-versity team captain had a very hard draw and boxed three times within the three days of competition. In the quarter final Brian stopped his op-ponent with the referee stating (out-classed) due to Brian basically hitting at will. In the semi finals Brian again picked his punches with precision, dropping his hands in the final round then striking with speed as his oppo-nent lunged in for the attack. Brian carried this forward to the final and finished with style beating strong boxer Houghton from kent University Unanimously earning the Gold Medal. Brian was also awarded Best Male Boxer of the Championships.

Holly Keats, the president of the boxing club yet again led by example adding a third title to her belt by stop-ping her opponent Bell (Durham Uni-versity) in the third round due to per-

Portsmouth University English ChampionsThe University of Portsmouth Boxing Club won the chanceBoxing Club coach Wayne Gardiner takes a look at the

Purple Wednesdays Wednesday 14th January 2009 15Purple Wednesdays Wednesday 14th January 2009 Purple Wednesdays Wednesday 14th January 2009

Sports

Air Malta, the newly appointed of-ficial airline partner of Portsmouth FC, is offering Pugwash News read-ers the chance to see Pompey take on Aston Villa on 27th January. The Fratton Park fixture will be one of the first home games of 2009 and is your chance to get behind the team!

With double daily flights from London Heathrow and a daily service from London Gatwick, Air Malta pro-vides the best value full service route to Malta, from just £99 return includ-ing taxes and charges. Plus, for those keen on visiting the home of “The Godfather”, Air Malta also flies three times a week to Catania in Sicily from London Gatwick, for the same com-petitive price.

Just three hours from the UK, the Maltese Islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino are ideal destinations for a weekend in the sun, offering a fantas-tic year-round climate, great Mediter-ranean cuisine, and a calendar of an-nual cultural and sporting events.

The busy hub of Paceville is the place to go for nightlife, with a wealth of bars and clubs often hosting inter-national DJ’s. In June 2009, the Isle of MTV Festival will return to the island, set to once again attract the biggest names in music, with stars including The Kooks and N*E*R*D amongst the headliners of 2008.

For those who fancy something a bit more sporty, the island is a Mecca for dive enthusiasts, offering some of the best conditions in Europe. Water-sports such as paragliding, windsurf-ing, wakeboarding, and water skiing are available all round the island, and sailing enthusiasts are greeted with regular regattas between April and November, including the Comino Re-gatta in June, the Malta-Syracuse race for keelboats in July and the Rimini-Malta-Rimini Yacht race in August, as well as the famous Rolex Middle Sea Race in October.

Culture vultures won’t be disap-pointed either, with historical sites dating back to 3600BC and further. Highlights include the UNESCO world heritage city of Valetta, the an-cient medieval city of M’dina and the Ggantija Temples in Xaghra, Gozo, which are one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, dat-ing back further than our very own Stonehenge.

For further information on the is-land and to book flights, accommoda-tion and car hire, visit www.airmalta.com or call 0845 607 3710.

To win a pair of tickets to the game, all you need to tell us is which two coun-tries Air Malta flies to from the UK? E-mail [email protected] with your answer, name and contact phone number. The competition closes on Friday 23rd January

Win two tickets to see Portsmouth FC vs Aston Villa

The BUDS weekendToffee vodka started; everyone was soon enjoying themselves. At midday, Vice Pres “Scotty” got an angry Scot-tish phone call from the caravan site, threatening to kick us out for our an-tics last night, unless we paid a £750 fine. We thought it would be wise to save the cash (as we didn’t have any), and look for new accommodation. “Scotty”, Comms Officer Rob “Kenny” Kenefeck and myself spent the next six hours driving around Edinburgh looking for a place to stay.

Meanwhile back on the piste, our GB and Welsh Skier, Alice Thelwell, came 2nd in the Ladies Individual Slalom, with Club Skier Kat Hutch-ings coming 19th out of 250. Half way through the day, a girl from another

University took a big tumble and lay motionless; medics rushed to the scene and all races were postponed. A helicopter needed to be called in and attempted six times to land on the slope. Everyone feared the worst, but to our relief she was back on the slope later that day with just a compressed spine. When the racing finished, we headed back to our new accommo-dation, had dinner and prepared for what turned out to be a great night out in Scotland’s capital city.

After another night of only a few short hours sleep, we all got up and headed to the slopes for seven am. The heavens had opened during the night, and the slopes were a mud bath. The sight of 1500 students drinking and

listening to live music in the mud was somehow reminiscent of Glastonbury, but with a twist. This was the last day of the competition and it was the Boarders’ turn. Snowboard Captain Mike “Fresh” Hall came eighth in the Boarder-X, and our Board Team nar-rowly missed out on podium, having to settle for fourth place. The compe-tition ended with the Freestyle finals, and everyone gathered round the freestyle jump and watched some cra-zy tricks and some awesome stacks. In the end, we were very happy with our performance, especially considering this was the first time we had entered the competition and the level of com-petitors was a lot higher. We finished fourth in the Boarders’ dual slalom,

and second and fourth in the female individual slalom and giant slalom.

The competition finished with one final night out - the BUDS ball. This year the theme was a Medieval ban-quet, with food, alcohol, an award cer-emony and live music. In true Pompey spirit, we arrived at the ball in bright orange medieval tunics and dresses - only to see a room full of black and white tuxedos and ball gowns. Unem-barrassed by this, we had one of the best nights ever.

After the awards ceremony, where our very own Alice Thelwell accepted a winners medal and bag of goodies, we hit the dance floor with a head-phone disco. All in all, it was an amaz-ing weekend.

Portsmouth University English Champions

sistent rear hands landing with force. Holly who was boxing a weight above her usual category due to illness be-fore the championships can not wait for the British Championships in Shef-field.

Kingsley Walker is a new member to the Portsmouth University Squad and he does not disappoint. Kings-ley defeated a more experienced and stronger opponent in Ojomo (Harrin-gey) in the semi finals, using quick footwork and movement to move hit & move. In the Finals Kingsley came against future England prospect Max-well (Liverpool Hope Uni) who was just that little bit bigger stronger and faster than Kingsley. It was a crack-ing final and Kingsley put on a very good performance hopefully catching the eye of the England representatives

in the room. Kingsley will now be moving down to 57kg for the British Championships in Sheffield.

Portsmouth University Coach Wayne Gardiner stated “ The team has done me very proud and to get the ti-tle when we had to pull out 5 boxers in the last week prior to the competi-tion due to a virus hitting the squad, I could not be happier. I expect all these boxers to progress and aim for the British University title in March. University boxing has progressed im-mensely in the past two years and to all clubs that think university boxing is of a lower standard than club box-ing, please just give us a call as we will happily come for a team match and prove them wrong”.

to host the English University Boxing Championships, successful event held in December last year.

Overall Championship results:

Females54kg Lee (Oxford) Gold Sidgh (Kingston) Silver57kg Veries (Oxford) Gold Williams (Kingston) Silver60kg Mellor (Liverpool) Gold Garcia (Kingston) Silver64kg Keats (Portsmouth) Gold Bell (Durham) Silver Mens Under 10s54kg Dorne (Leeds Met) Gold Gohar (LSE) Silver57kg Massally-(Kingston) Gold Gulati (LSE) Silver60kg Ishad (Middlesex) Gold Devonish (LeedsMet) Silver64kg Woodward (Leeds) Gold Khan (Coventry) Silver69kg Ogweno (Portsmouth) Gold Hulston (Kent) Silver75kg Hammond (LeedsMet) Gold Atwall (Coventry) Silver81kg Farag (Bath) Gold Burns (Leeds Met) Silver86kg Jones (Portsmouth) Gold Angelis (LSE) Silver91kg Geogakakis(P’mouth) Gold Hall (Leeds Met) Silver91+kg Charles (R’hampton) Gold Gubsky (Bristol) Silver

Mens Over 10s60kg Maxwell (Liverpool) Gold Walker (Portsmouth) Silver64kg Cuddy (Coventry) Gold Dowdall (Leeds Met) Silver69kg Channing (LdnMet) Gold Horgan (UWE) Silver75kg Taylor (Sheffield) Gold Macharrafie (Bristol) Silver81kg De Banks (Manc) Gold Hubber (Leeds Met) Silver

Best Technical BoxerJ Mellor (Liverpool) Best Female Boxer B Lee (Oxford) Best Male Boxer B Ogweno (Portsmouth) Boxer of the tournament ”Maxwell” (Sheffield Hallum) Team Champions 2008 Portsmouth University (4 Golds & 1 Silver)photos: Sam Shulman

PWs needs your club news! ...and features, and photos, and socials, and anything else you want to tell us about your club! It’s easy to get a mention in PWs - just e-mail every-thing to [email protected], visit www.upsu.net/newsdesk, or come in to the Sabb Office at the Union and have a chat with us any time!

For more information, see:upsu.net/p/2166

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Simon “Darby” Leach

Sports Offi cer

Ever wondered why the cities of Port-smouth and Southampton are rivals? Ever thought the rivalry is always a lot more fierce than others? Ever wondered why Southampton citizens are known as “scummers”? Below is a brief history that attempts to answers these questions.

Southampton and Portsmouth are separated by hundreds of years of inter-city conflict; from the twelfth century until 1835, Southampton of-ficially owned the port of Portsmouth, which led to constant disputes over who controlled trade in the docks. Therefore the animosity between the two cities is one that stretches back for almost 800 years.

The term “scummer” originates in history within the Portsmouth and Southampton docks. There was a strike, and Portsmouth agreed with Southampton to close both ports to improve conditions and pay for the workers. However, the Southamp-ton port secretly opened whilst Port-smouth was striking, and took all the trade. Portsmouth workers then referred to the workers as “scum”, which soon evolved to '”scummer”.

The choice of the word “scum’ is specific, as it is an acronym of the Southampton Port workers’ Union at the time, “Southampton Community Union Members”.

The University of Portsmouth has always had a friendly rivalry with the University of Southampton, but we have had no real opportunity to adopt the city rivalry to the level it should be, as most of our sports clubs do not play against each other due to being in different regional leagues – until now!

This year marks the first ever an-nual Varsity day between the Univer-sity of Portsmouth and the University of Southampton (scum!).

The event is to take place on Sun-day 22nd February, with Southampton hosting. It will be the largest event of its kind in the South of England, and among the top five in the UK!

There will be over 1000 par-ticipants, taking part in 45 different events and fixtures, in 24 different sports. Multiple venues across the city of Southampton will play host to these matches.

For one day, and one day only, we will become “Team Portsmouth” in an effort to try and defeat the South-ampton resistance. It will be tough though, as the “scummers” have a good reputation for sport and are ranked highly.

Below is a list of sports tak-

Varsity 2009University of Portsmouth vs University of Southampton (Scum)

Kaly Smith

The biggest University Netball Club in the UK is getting even bigger! If you want to play netball with a team, or create your own with a group of friends, then join the University In-tramural League. Every Thursday you can have a game of netball; it’s a great way to keep fit, meet friends, win tro-phies and get involved! The league is catered to all abilities, and the chance of extra training by an England coach is available. All this fun can be yours for the bargain price of £10 per team (7 - 10 people),

The events start on February 12th, and at the Langstone Campus.

Play Netball

English Universities Boxing Championships - page 14

Sport » Intra-Mural

P W D L

Promote your team

photo: Sam Shulman

pugwash news - issue 22

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