november 2008
DESCRIPTION
Issue 3 of The Linc from November 2008TRANSCRIPT
the premier newszine from the university of lincoln | www.thelinc.co.uk
freeissue 3 | year 2nov - dec 2008
Foreign studentsto get ID cards inthe new year07
05 Lincoln students’ horror film wins national awardWhat’s inside yourstamina booster?We reveal all11 Style Special:
Getting ready forthe Snowflake Ball13
No More Happy HoursProposed legislation couldmean end to students enjoying cheap nights out
linc*
02 thelinc* home November - December 2008
The Linc is printed bywww.quotemeprint.com
0845 1300 667
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The views and opinions expresed in this newszine are not necessarily the views of The University of Lincoln or Unversity of Lincoln Students’ Union or the Lincoln Schoolof Journalism. For more information on our policy go to www.thelinc.co.uk/policy
The Linc strives to abide The National Unionof Journalists’ Code of Conduct which setsout the main principles of British and Irishjournalism since 1936. This is part of the NUJrules and all journalists joining the unionmust sign that they will strive to adhere to it.
Harry Lincoln I Deputy [email protected] Croucher I Asst. Deputy [email protected] Cook I Sports [email protected] Rudd I Deputy Sports [email protected]
Samantha Pidoux I Reader’s [email protected] Cox I Pictures [email protected] Purdon I News [email protected] Shah I Style [email protected]
Krystin Dean I Features [email protected] Fish I Entertainment [email protected]: Adrian Bell, AndrewBoyers, Chris Roberts, David Methold,Leanne Wells, Nicholas Sell, HollieCowan, Chris Brandrick.
You’ve certainly noticed when youpicked up this copy of The Linc that wehave changed — again.
The Linc has embraced a brand newformat that perfectly fits into your bagso you take it anywhere with you, evenon that long journey home.
We also had a slight change in ourapproach to the content we publishwith every issue. First of all, The Lincbecame a newszine, a hybrid between anewspaper and a magazine.
Basically, we are taking the best ofboth worlds — the freshest news thatactually matter to you and grippingfeatures that inspire or bring you up tospeed with your interests.
Also, a couple of new sections hadtheir debut in our pages, namely Style(pages 12 - 13) and Entertainment (14 -17). Their content is self-explanatory, soI will let you discover them by yourself.
As usual, you’re welcome to checkout our website [www.thelinc.co.uk]and comment on our articles. Alterna-tively you can get in touch with mewith your opinions and feedback viaemail or our website.
Daniel Ionescu, [email protected]
EDIT
OR
IAL
More inside:06Beating the crunch
Queen Vintage and the musician behind the shop
08The Christmas MarketWinter Warmers will kick o! the shopping spree
SU By-elections resultsThe winners, the losers and the meaning of it all
11 Boosting your staminaBut do you know what you’re dinking?
16 Top 3 Console GamesKeeping warm and entertained this winter
07Foregin students get IDsNovember 25 is the day for overseas students
09Spiked drinksFind out how to stay safe this holiday season
10 Your education moneyAre you getting the best value out of your course?
14 Memories are made of thisReview of the intriguing LPAC theatre play
17 Up & ComingLatest and greatest albums and films
Did it again
news theli nc* 03www.thelinc.co.uk
Harry Lincoln I Deputy [email protected] Croucher I Asst. Deputy [email protected] Cook I Sports [email protected] Rudd I Deputy Sports [email protected]
Samantha Pidoux I Reader’s [email protected] Cox I Pictures [email protected] Purdon I News [email protected] Shah I Style [email protected]
Krystin Dean I Features [email protected] Fish I Entertainment [email protected]: Adrian Bell, AndrewBoyers, Chris Roberts, David Methold,Leanne Wells, Nicholas Sell, HollieCowan, Chris Brandrick.
Cheap alcohol’s unhappy hour
A Government report calls for legisla-tion to set a fixed price on alcohol ina bid to encourage sensible drinking.
BY SHANE CROUCHER
THE HOME AFFAIRS SelectCommittee has issued a re-port damning supermarketsand pub ‘happy hours’ forselling cheap alcohol, oftenat a loss. The report calls forlegislation to set a fixedprice on alcohol in a bid toencourage sensible drinking.
The report states that thelegislation “should include aban on drinks promotionsand measures to ensure re-sponsible labelling and stafftraining.” The recommenda-tions come as official figuresshow that almost half thevictims of violent crime al-lege that their attacker wasunder the influence of alco-hol. Critics emphasised thatthe amount of police timedevoted to dealing with alco-hol-related crime was toohigh. The figures also revealthat in one year alone,£1.7billion was spent by theHome Office on handling al-cohol-related crime.
Professor Mike Saks, Sen-ior Pro Vice Chancellor withresponsibility for the SU andthe Student Experience at
the University of Lincoln,said: “Excessive consumptionof alcohol can lead studentsinto unsafe or anti social be-haviour, which can be dam-aging socially, academicallyand emotionally — and havelong term consequences interms of health and wellbeing. We would support anyactions which can be taken,locally and nationally, to en-
courage all retailers of alco-hol to act responsibly andnot to target students withunhelpful and unsafe drinkspromotions.”
Many Lincoln studentstake advantage of cheap al-cohol promotions in bars andsupermarkets. Frequently,deals are specifically targetedat the student market withalcoholic beverages sold foras little as £1 each.
Vicky Wieczerzynska,
Welfare and Liaison Officer atthe SU, believes that theproblem goes further thancheap drinks. She said: “Ithink it's the culture oftoday, with more peoplegoing out and socialisingwith their friends ratherthan staying in and watchingthe television or going to thecinema.”
Wieczerzynska was also
concerned that if bar andclub prices escalated toohigh, students may searchfor a “cheaper alternative toalcohol”. She was, however,in favour of controls on alco-hol prices so that “peopledon't binge drink excessivelydamaging their health andtheir studies, and that thereis a healthy retail industrynot competing drasticallywith each other, where ifthey can't compete it would
result in that pub or clubclosing down”.
Chris Martin of the MezzBar in Lincoln was also keento see fairer competitionwithin the city. He said: “Ifeverybody in the city was onthe same fixed price it wouldbe fair all around, becausethere are certain venues thatput on less than £1 drinks of-fers. On a mass scale you cancompete against them ifyou’ve got a big capacity asyou can sell a higher volume,but if you’ve got a small ca-pacity you can’t.”
Mr Martin was pes-simistic as to whether thiswould help to solve binge-drinking. He stated: “No mat-ter what the price is peoplewill still drink.”
Dean West, 2nd yearMedia Production student,doesn’t believe that fixing al-cohol prices would preventbinge drinking, or any of theproblems surrounding it. Hesaid: “People surely will stillbinge drink, whatever theprice is. They’ll still get thatkick out of it.”
The recommendations come as o"cial figuresshow that almost half the victims of violentcrime allege that their attacker was under theinfluence of alcohol.
04 thelinc* news November - December 2008
EX LINCOLN STUDENT MarkChambers and publisher TangoBooks won the Best Children’sBook Award at the National As-sociation for Special EducationalNeeds Awards 2008.
The 28-year-old, who grewup in Sleaford, studied Illustra-tion at the University of Lincoln.He signed for the Bright Agencyin London five years ago after
graduating with a 2:1.The winning publication, a
pop-up book called Best Friends,tells the story of a wheel-chairbound boy and his female friendwho go on a series of colourfuladventures using the power oftheir imaginations.
He has been commissionedby some of the UK’s biggestpublishers. He worked on illus-
trations and promotional mate-rial for the redesign of the chil-dren’s zoo at London Zoo.
He has just finished an inl-lustrated book for Simon &Schuster called The Adventuresof an Aluminium Can.
Mark lives and works in Lin-coln, using a studio at The Ter-race which is just a short walkfrom his home.
Illustrator Markpops up with award
MILAN RAI, notorious politicalactivist and editor of PeaceNews, recently visited Lincolnto speak about the difficultieshe faces in his crusade for fair-ness and truth.
Rai notes Noam Chomskyas an inspiration, claiming hehas “shaped my thinkingacross a whole range of issues,not just to do with politics.He’s been an enormous influ-ence”. Rai has written severalbooks, one of which was co-authored with Chomsky, enti-tled War Plan Iraq: 10 ReasonsAgainst War with Iraq.
“War Plan Iraq started
off...as a self-published proj-ect...and it just happened toget taken up by a mainstreampublisher. That’s how I got intoworking on other books.” Onthe day of the launch for hisbook 7/7: The London Bomb-ings and the Iraq War, Rai wasdue in court for organising anunauthorised demonstrationwithin 1km of Parliament. “Idid point this out to the judgewhen he set the date...so whenit came to the court case hefinished by saying ‘now I un-derstand you have to go off toyour book launch’ ...luckily hehadn’t sent me off to prison
immediately at that point.”Rai spoke of the nature of
the newspaper he edits. Heclaimed that they use“counter-journalism...takingwhat was reported in themainstream media and thenusing it against itself...a lot ofwhat we do is trying tocounter misrepresentation, aswe see it, in the media.
“We also report on whatpeople are doing against warand injustice. Peace Newsstarted off as a pacifist news-paper and that is the core ofits support base. It’s a newspa-per that is committed to non-violence...our strap line is‘non-violent revolution”.
Rai was keen to put for-ward Chomsky’s “propagandamodel” as the system under
which he believes the presscurrently operates.
Allowing for the shortamount of time he had topresent an example, he gave ashocking piece of evidence, re-flecting Chomsky’s theory. “InSeptember last year, a pollingagency called ORB went to Iraqand they surveyed over 1,000households to ask how manymembers of their householdhad died violently since the in-vasion in 2003. From that, ex-trapolated up to the nationalestimate, they came up withan estimate of 1.2m people hav-ing died violently. Since the vi-olent death rate was very lowpreceding the invasion, basi-cally that’s all excess. It’s plau-sible that this is all due to theinvasion occupation.”
Peace News —Milan Rai speaksat the Universityof Lincoln
THOUGHTFUL: Milan Rai spoke abouthis journey against injustice
news theli nc* 05www.thelinc.co.uk
YOUNG FILMMAKERS wholearnt their trade at theUniversity of Lincoln havewon a national industryaward.
Jamie Rae and DanielAnscombe, who graduatedfrom Contemporary LensMedia this summer, wonthe Total Film Award forBest Trailer at the inaugu-ral Icewhole.com Quar-terly Awards.
Their 80-second trailerfor their low-budget hor-ror film, 8ight Limbs, im-pressed a panel ofindustry experts with itsgritty realism.
Jamie (22), originallyfrom Northamptonshire,and Dan (22), who is fromNottinghamshire, rubbedshoulders with film heavy-weights like John Hurt andCharles Dance as they col-lected their award in a cer-emony at the EverymanCinema in London earlierthis month.
The trailer wasadapted from the 28-minute film which the pairoriginally produced as partof their coursework at theUniversity of Lincoln.
Jamie said: “We de-cided to do a conceptualpiece where we wouldkeep the same themesand characters but wewould each take half thefilm. We would write anddirect one half ourselvesand piece it together tomake a cohesive story.From that we set aboutmaking the trailer in Feb-ruary this year.
“We just uploaded itonto various film websites.Before we knew it, the in-terest was spiralling. Itwent way beyond what weanticipated.”
The pair did not evenrealise their trailer hadbeen nominated for theaward until they receivedan email telling them they
had been shortlisted.Judges from Total Filmmagazine then decided itwas the best of the bunchon the Icewhole website.
Icewhole.com is a net-working site where bud-ding actors, directors andwriters can share ideaswith other aspiring film-makers and professionals.
Following this year’ssuccess Jamie will travel toLos Angeles, USA, in Janu-ary 2009 to spend sixmonths working as secondunit director on a low-bud-get horror film called TheReckoning. The film, pro-duced by Cupsogue Pic-tures, will be go on limitedtheatrical release in cine-mas in the USA and UK be-fore a DVD release.
8ight Limbs will be re-leased on DVD in early De-cember this year.
To see the award-win-ning trailer visit www.cup-soguepictures.com.
Graduates’ horror filmwins national awardThe film is a horror-thriller inthe style of cult low-budget hor-ror classics Saw and Hostel. It isabout a young journalist asked
to carry out background re-search into a series of grislymurders by a serial killer knownas the Twin Torturer.
SHEA TAYLOR and Steve Langstaff’s paro-dies — which they posted on video web-site YouTube — have become an onlinesensation and earned them rave reviewsin the national press.
The graduates, who became friendswhile studying at the University of Lin-coln, have even been mentioned incelebrity gossip magazine Heat.
The sketches poke fun at the hopefulscompeting to win the TV talent show,fronted by Simon Cowell.
Shea (24), who is originally fromDerby, studied Media Production andcompleted a Masters Degree this summer.Steve (25), who comes from Hull, studiedJournalism.
They perform as the duo Him & Me –a title which stems from their early com-edy performances at Siren FM.
Shea said: “We have always wanted todo comedy - we started off at Siren, doingsketches on radio. When we finished uni-versity we continued doing sketches andrecording them on my video camera. Weput these X Factor sketches on YouTube,not really expecting anything from it.Then the Daily Mirror website featuredthem on the Editor’s Blog. It just esca-lated from there.”
More than 27,000 people have nowviewed the parody of X Factor favouriteDiana Vickers on YouTube over the lastfew weeks.
Shea andSteve’sspoof videoshit all theright notes
FUNNY: Watch the clips at:http://www.youtube.com/user/himandmetv
GRIPPING: Watch the 8ight Limbstrailer at www.cupsoguepictures.com
MILAN RAI, notorious politicalactivist and editor of PeaceNews, recently visited Lincolnto speak about the difficultieshe faces in his crusade for fair-ness and truth.
Rai notes Noam Chomskyas an inspiration, claiming hehas “shaped my thinkingacross a whole range of issues,not just to do with politics.He’s been an enormous influ-ence”. Rai has written severalbooks, one of which was co-authored with Chomsky, enti-tled War Plan Iraq: 10 ReasonsAgainst War with Iraq.
“War Plan Iraq started
off...as a self-published proj-ect...and it just happened toget taken up by a mainstreampublisher. That’s how I got intoworking on other books.” Onthe day of the launch for hisbook 7/7: The London Bomb-ings and the Iraq War, Rai wasdue in court for organising anunauthorised demonstrationwithin 1km of Parliament. “Idid point this out to the judgewhen he set the date...so whenit came to the court case hefinished by saying ‘now I un-derstand you have to go off toyour book launch’ ...luckily hehadn’t sent me off to prison
immediately at that point.”Rai spoke of the nature of
the newspaper he edits. Heclaimed that they use“counter-journalism...takingwhat was reported in themainstream media and thenusing it against itself...a lot ofwhat we do is trying tocounter misrepresentation, aswe see it, in the media.
“We also report on whatpeople are doing against warand injustice. Peace Newsstarted off as a pacifist news-paper and that is the core ofits support base. It’s a newspa-per that is committed to non-violence...our strap line is‘non-violent revolution”.
Rai was keen to put for-ward Chomsky’s “propagandamodel” as the system under
which he believes the presscurrently operates.
Allowing for the shortamount of time he had topresent an example, he gave ashocking piece of evidence, re-flecting Chomsky’s theory. “InSeptember last year, a pollingagency called ORB went to Iraqand they surveyed over 1,000households to ask how manymembers of their householdhad died violently since the in-vasion in 2003. From that, ex-trapolated up to the nationalestimate, they came up withan estimate of 1.2m people hav-ing died violently. Since the vi-olent death rate was very lowpreceding the invasion, basi-cally that’s all excess. It’s plau-sible that this is all due to theinvasion occupation.”
06 thelinc* news November - December 2008
SOUTH WEST LONDON musi-cian Leroy Palmer wonderedwhat he could do in betweentours and recording with hisband. Now, 2 months later he’srunning a successful businessand clothing label.
The owner and joint pro-prietor of Queen Vintage, on inthe upper high street of Lin-coln City, was an ideal placefor the Londoner to experi-ment with the beneficial finan-cial market. With Londonvintage clothing being ‘waytoo heavy [expensive]’, inLeroy’s opinion — Lincoln is ofa smaller community and has amore defined target market,making it easier to place vari-ous limited products in.
Leroy sources his 60’s/70’sclothes from wholesalers inthe UK and all over the world.Ordering in bulk from rag millsfrom Canada, the US, Hollandand Germany gives his busi-ness the quantity it needs tobe able to not only sell a pairof Levi jeans for £10 but alsomake the store rotate stylesweek by week.
“What Primark, Topshopand other massive department
stores don’t realise is that ro-tating stock on a weekly basisdoesn’t play to their advantage.People will see the same thingif they visit the store morethan once in a month whereashere it’s all new old stuff!”
“Vintage stores in Londonwill sell limited quantity be-cause of the extortionateprices. Here if you play a closegame, promoting to students,offering discounts and lower-ing prices you can’t lose!”
In addition, businessessuch as Topshop and the likebarter out stocks and shares.Since Queen Vintage is a pri-vate business there is full cre-ative control in terms ofmarket appeal;
“The credit crunch will hitthe big boys in a way that Ican only laugh about, really.It’s very beneficial not to betied up in a business whereother people can own it.”
Leroy is now researchingmanufacturers in the Far Eastto source his own label; ‘QueenVintage Clothing.’ He hopes,along with his music, tobranch out to London whenthe time is right – being in thenear future for such a success-ful hobby.
BY HARRY LINCOLN
Beating the crunch
news theli nc* 07www.thelinc.co.uk
SOUTH WEST LONDON musi-cian Leroy Palmer wonderedwhat he could do in betweentours and recording with hisband. Now, 2 months later he’srunning a successful businessand clothing label.
The owner and joint pro-prietor of Queen Vintage, on inthe upper high street of Lin-coln City, was an ideal placefor the Londoner to experi-ment with the beneficial finan-cial market. With Londonvintage clothing being ‘waytoo heavy [expensive]’, inLeroy’s opinion — Lincoln is ofa smaller community and has amore defined target market,making it easier to place vari-ous limited products in.
Leroy sources his 60’s/70’sclothes from wholesalers inthe UK and all over the world.Ordering in bulk from rag millsfrom Canada, the US, Hollandand Germany gives his busi-ness the quantity it needs tobe able to not only sell a pairof Levi jeans for £10 but alsomake the store rotate stylesweek by week.
“What Primark, Topshopand other massive department
stores don’t realise is that ro-tating stock on a weekly basisdoesn’t play to their advantage.People will see the same thingif they visit the store morethan once in a month whereashere it’s all new old stuff!”
“Vintage stores in Londonwill sell limited quantity be-cause of the extortionateprices. Here if you play a closegame, promoting to students,offering discounts and lower-ing prices you can’t lose!”
In addition, businessessuch as Topshop and the likebarter out stocks and shares.Since Queen Vintage is a pri-vate business there is full cre-ative control in terms ofmarket appeal;
“The credit crunch will hitthe big boys in a way that Ican only laugh about, really.It’s very beneficial not to betied up in a business whereother people can own it.”
Leroy is now researchingmanufacturers in the Far Eastto source his own label; ‘QueenVintage Clothing.’ He hopes,along with his music, tobranch out to London whenthe time is right – being in thenear future for such a success-ful hobby.
THE 25 NOVEMBER hasbeen marked as the datewhen some foreign nation-als, including non-EEA over-seas students, applying fora visa will be issued withcompulsory ID cards.
The International stu-dent market brings £8.5 Bil-lion into the UK economyand chunks of the HigherEducation sector are nowreliant on this income.
NO2ID (organisationagainst government's plansto introduce UK ID Cardsand the associated NationalIdentity Register) have con-cerns that treating over-seas students as criminalsby compelling them tohave their fingers scannedand register for ID cardswill adversely affect univer-sities such as the Univer-sity of Lincoln's ability tocompete in the volatile In-ternational student market.
In addition to the re-cruitment risk this legisla-
tion will place an addi-tional administrative bur-den on Universities. Someof the new requirementsplaced upon Universitystaff include keeping copiesof all their foreign stu-dents' passports; updatingtheir students' contact de-tails; alerting the UKBA toany students who fail toenroll on their course; re-porting unauthorized ab-sences to the UKBA; andinforming the UKBA if anystudent stops their studies.
University staff willalso be made responsiblefor checking ID cards andensuring this informationis reported to the UKBA.Section 8 of the UK BordersAct 2007 enables the Uni-versity to use the data col-lected from us in almostany manner it seems fit,contributing to concernsraised by the InformationCommissioner in 2004 thatwe are sleepwalking into a‘Surveillance Society’. Justas concerns were raised byAcademics about the
prospect of reporting ex-tremism on campus, simi-lar worries are being raisedby support staff about hav-ing to report on their stu-dents in this way.
Finally, the introduc-tion of ID cards for foreignnational can be seen asnothing else but a step to-wards the widespread in-troduction of ID cards forthe British public - this isexplicit in the Home Of-fice's plans, making stu-dents guinea-pigs for thatscheme.
James Elsdon-Baker, theregional campaign coordi-nator, says "The IPS hasidentified students as a tar-get group for their intro-duction. Once we allowoverseas students to beregistered with ID cards wewill be a step closer to allstudents being issued withID cards. If we don't speakout against the Introduc-tion of ID cards for a vul-nerable group such asoverseas students then thescheme could be coming
for you next. Once studentsare registered under thescheme they will for lifebecome victims of a‘stalker-state’ trackingthem throughout their lifeand bringing them under abureaucratic regime ofstate Identity management.Your Identity will be con-trolled by a governmentthat has recently admittedit can't control data-leaks."
The University of Lin-coln has declined to com-ment on this matter andforwarded to us a quotefrom Liam Byrne MP, Minis-ter of State for Borders andImmigration:
“This year we begin thebiggest shake up of our im-migration system for 45years, and amongst ourmost important objectivesare steps to selectively con-trol migration. Key to thisis the introduction of apoints system like Aus-tralia’s, so that those mi-grants we need fromabroad can come to workand study in Britain.”
BY DANIEL IONESCU
ID cards arrive for overseas students
Eleven nations inthe European Union
now have someform of ID card,
even if they are notcompulsory. Apart
from the UK, theonly members
without any formof identity card
scheme are Ireland, Denmark, Latvia
and Lithuania.
08 thelinc* features November - December 2008
LINCOLNERS CAN GEAR UP forthe Christmas Market thisyear by attending LincolnWinter Warmers, a series ofspecial events for the commu-nity organised by the City ofLincoln Council, Balgate Busi-nesses and Mouchel. Thesefun-filled proceedings willtake place from December 1-3in the Lawrence Hall at TheLawn.
“The Winter Warmershave been created to enhancethe offer of events for mainlyresidents of the city in thelead up to the Christmas Mar-ket. We also wished to workwith local businesses in themarket area to both help pro-mote their excellent busi-nesses and to provide varietywithin the event,” said artsand cultural sector officer MsSara Bullimore.
The Winter Warmers pro-gramme includes a cookerydemonstration by Old Bakery’shead chef, a wine tasting withthe Wig and Mitre, a flowerarranging demonstration withFlowers by Suzanne and aChristmas fashion show with
Lucette and Belles and Beaux.“These events are a taster
of what could follow in futureyears. They are a great way ofmeeting up with your friendsand getting into the Christ-mas spirit, whilst also learn-ing about new wines on offer,how to cook lovely local win-ter warming food and how tofind good gift ideas for Christ-mas. Each event promises tobe unique and exciting and isa great and affordable way tospend an evening,” said MsBullimore.
After “warming up” forthe main event, Lincoln willreceive thousands of visitorsfrom miles around to cele-brate the Christmas Market,which commences at LincolnCathedral at 6:15 pm on De-cember 4. One of the majorhighlights of this year’s Mar-ket that people won’t want tomiss is the new opening cere-mony on the West Front ofthe cathedral, where the Deanwill be giving a Christmasblessing,” said marketing teamleader Ms Amanda Bathan.
For the next four days,guests can explore over 300stalls boasting hand-crafted
gifts including jewellery,hand-blown glass, woodentoys, photography, ceramics,paintings and candles.
Locally sourced foods willbe a major presence at thisyear’s market, including Lin-colnshire sausage, local alesand various cheeses.“This yearwe will be having reducedfairgrounds and reduced fastfood, and we will feature aLincolnshire Larder at theback of The Lawn which willbe selling foods that are pro-duced within the county,” saidMs Bathan.
The Christmas Market isnot all about shopping forpresents, as the event alsoboasts various forms of enter-tainment throughout theweekend, including carollersin Victorian costumes, handbell ringers and street theatreperformers.
A new stage located atThe Lawn’s will also showcaseexcerpts from The NutcrackerBallet and a recital of TheNight Before Christmas.
The Christmas Marketbegan in 1982 with a modest14 stalls in Castle Square,which has grown yearly into
one of Europe’s largest Christ-mas events that spreadsacross Lincoln’s CathedralQuarter. According to MsBathan, students should lookforward to taking in theunique atmosphere and set-ting the festival provides inorder to get into the Christ-mas spirit.
“We have an amazingbackdrop here in Lincoln.Where else in the world canyou go to a market that is setbetween a Norman castle, agothic cathedral and a me-dieval square?” said MsBathan. “I think it is part ofyour experience of living inLincoln as a resident whilst atthe university to join in thefestivities, even just by pop-ping in to buy some Lin-colnshire sausage or enjoyingsome mulled wine.”
ChristmasMarket tostart withfun-filled
specialevents
Winter Warmersbring cooking,
wining andshopping together
BY KRYSTIN DEAN
Christmas MarketOpening Times
Thursday, December 4: 4pm - 9:30pm
Friday, December 5: 10am - 9:30pm
Saturday, December 6: 10am - 9:30pm
Sunday, December 7: 10am - 7pm
The busy Lincoln Christmas Marketlast year. PHOTO: Adam Rhoades
features theli nc* 09www.thelinc.co.uk
WHETHER IT’S A NIGHTout with friends or a gath-ering with co-workers,there’s no denying thatmany of us will partake insome pre-Christmas drink-ing. Whilst the bars startto get busier in town, it’simportant to rememberthat drink spiking is aheightened danger at thistime of year.
Third year Universityof Lincoln student StacyGooch (22) claims she mayhave been on the receivingend of drink spiking whilstout in Lincoln a few weeksago. Stacy consumed threedrinks at a steady pacethat were purchased byher boyfriend. She says sheoccasionally left her drinkunattended in order to goto the bar or toilet.
“All of a sudden I re-member feeling reallydrunk. I don’t really re-member much after this
point but, according to myboyfriend, my behaviourchanged dramatically,” saidGooch. “I started acting re-ally erratically and becamereally forgetful. He told meI would go to the toilet orthe bar and when he askedme where I had been Icouldn’t remember.”
According to health ad-vice service NHS Direct,Stacy’s symptoms coincidewith that of someone whohas experienced drink spik-ing. These indicators include disorientation,paranoia, amnesia and pe-riods of blackout.
Some bars on campusare aiming to prevent andlearn how to deal withdrink spiking by receivingspecialised training. TheTower Bar educates em-ployees regarding how todetect and handle drinkspiking situations, while Li-brary Bar manager Do-minic Mcgowan regularlyattends courses to help his
staff combat drink spiking. “The course involves
first aid and helps you tospot the symptoms as itcan look as if the customeris just drunk,” said Mc-gowan, who recognises theheightened need for thistraining around Christmas-time.“I think drink spikingis always a problem at thistime of year as there aresuch a large proportion ofpeople out, but I don’tthink that it is on the in-crease. You just have to bevigilant and keep peopleinformed on how to drinksafely.”
What advice would Do-minic give students onhow to stay safe whendrinking out on the town?
“If someone buys you adrink, make sure you go tothe bar with the person.Also, buy a spikie to put inthe top of the bottle whichwill stop people from put-ting something in yourdrink.”
BY LEANNE WELLS
STUDENTS’ UNION BY-ELECTIONS wereannounced last week for the positionsof AU Part-Time Officers and NUS Con-ference Delegates. Voting was held be-tween 9am Monday 10th Novemberand 12pm Thursday 13th Novemberwith the results announced on the14th. Stacie Ridley and Amina Babiryetook the AU officer roles and Dan Der-ricott, Tom Haughton and Hayley An-drews fill the roles of conferencedelegates.
Student turnout in these electionsincreased four-fold from last year, with320 individuals voting compared to 80previously. Daniel Hutchinson, SU Pres-ident, was happy with the potentialthat the winners offered. He said: “Thenew Officers will be welcome additionto the current Officers. As they are stu-dents right now, the most importantaspect that they can bring to us iswhat is actually happening in reality.The delegates offer a very good diverserange of experiences. From first yearstudents to a former Sabbatical Officer,I am confident they will bring a wealthof experience and ideas.”
The election of new NUS Confer-ence Delegates is especially important .The NUS held an extra-ordinary confer-ence on Wednesday 13th November tovote on proposals aimed at revampingthe organisation. The current system isblighted with messy bureaucracy andfinancial inefficiency, and is in desper-ate need of change. The reforms aimto convert the NUS into a union ableto react speedily, campaign whenneeded and “create more opportunitiesfor involvement by students”.
The proposals, which passed with82% of the vote, could be ratified earlynext year, meaning a new NUS by Sep-tember 2009.
Students’Unionresults, as NUSvote on reform
Spiked drinks indicators include disorientation, para-noia, amnesia and periods ofblackout. PHOTO: Scott Dean
LINCOLNERS CAN GEAR UP forthe Christmas Market thisyear by attending LincolnWinter Warmers, a series ofspecial events for the commu-nity organised by the City ofLincoln Council, Balgate Busi-nesses and Mouchel. Thesefun-filled proceedings willtake place from December 1-3in the Lawrence Hall at TheLawn.
“The Winter Warmershave been created to enhancethe offer of events for mainlyresidents of the city in thelead up to the Christmas Mar-ket. We also wished to workwith local businesses in themarket area to both help pro-mote their excellent busi-nesses and to provide varietywithin the event,” said artsand cultural sector officer MsSara Bullimore.
The Winter Warmers pro-gramme includes a cookerydemonstration by Old Bakery’shead chef, a wine tasting withthe Wig and Mitre, a flowerarranging demonstration withFlowers by Suzanne and aChristmas fashion show with
Lucette and Belles and Beaux.“These events are a taster
of what could follow in futureyears. They are a great way ofmeeting up with your friendsand getting into the Christ-mas spirit, whilst also learn-ing about new wines on offer,how to cook lovely local win-ter warming food and how tofind good gift ideas for Christ-mas. Each event promises tobe unique and exciting and isa great and affordable way tospend an evening,” said MsBullimore.
After “warming up” forthe main event, Lincoln willreceive thousands of visitorsfrom miles around to cele-brate the Christmas Market,which commences at LincolnCathedral at 6:15 pm on De-cember 4. One of the majorhighlights of this year’s Mar-ket that people won’t want tomiss is the new opening cere-mony on the West Front ofthe cathedral, where the Deanwill be giving a Christmasblessing,” said marketing teamleader Ms Amanda Bathan.
For the next four days,guests can explore over 300stalls boasting hand-crafted
gifts including jewellery,hand-blown glass, woodentoys, photography, ceramics,paintings and candles.
Locally sourced foods willbe a major presence at thisyear’s market, including Lin-colnshire sausage, local alesand various cheeses.“This yearwe will be having reducedfairgrounds and reduced fastfood, and we will feature aLincolnshire Larder at theback of The Lawn which willbe selling foods that are pro-duced within the county,” saidMs Bathan.
The Christmas Market isnot all about shopping forpresents, as the event alsoboasts various forms of enter-tainment throughout theweekend, including carollersin Victorian costumes, handbell ringers and street theatreperformers.
A new stage located atThe Lawn’s will also showcaseexcerpts from The NutcrackerBallet and a recital of TheNight Before Christmas.
The Christmas Marketbegan in 1982 with a modest14 stalls in Castle Square,which has grown yearly into
one of Europe’s largest Christ-mas events that spreadsacross Lincoln’s CathedralQuarter. According to MsBathan, students should lookforward to taking in theunique atmosphere and set-ting the festival provides inorder to get into the Christ-mas spirit.
“We have an amazingbackdrop here in Lincoln.Where else in the world canyou go to a market that is setbetween a Norman castle, agothic cathedral and a me-dieval square?” said MsBathan. “I think it is part ofyour experience of living inLincoln as a resident whilst atthe university to join in thefestivities, even just by pop-ping in to buy some Lin-colnshire sausage or enjoyingsome mulled wine.”
The busy Lincoln Christmas Marketlast year. PHOTO: Adam Rhoades
In the spotlight:No more spiked drinks
10 thelinc* features November - December 2008
Are you gettingwhat you pay for?
THE GOVERNEMENT are re-viewing tuition fees, looking topush the cap up to £7,000 peryear. The current cap is around£3,000. Each University cancharge as much or as little ofthis as they want, dependingon the needs for each course.
Once you graduate, underthe current system you payback 9% of your gross incomewhen you earn over thethreshold of £15,000 perannum. Perhaps the idea of tu-ition fees is fair. You pay to-wards your education so thatthe University can afford lec-turers salaries, all the top-notch equipment and hoardsof resources for each studentto use so they can achieve thevery best out of their degree.But in the interest of fairness,what about if certain studentrequirements aren’t met?
What if the teaching or fa-cilities aren’t up to scratch?Maybe it would be time tostart viewing yourself as a con-sumer. After all, you pay to-wards these things, right?
There is a common ethosthat those in authority are al-ways right, and always doingbest by us. But these people
are only human. So yes; yourlecturers may slip up. Stan-dards can drop for whateverreason. The question is; shouldyou foot the bill for it? Yourdegree is not guaranteed, yetpayment is mandatory.
Portions of fees have beenclaimed back from Universitiesaround the country for varyingreasons. Since 2004, LondonSouth Bank University has re-paid 17 students a total of£30,821. Other Universities,such as Leeds Met and Derby,have also paid back sums ofmoney to their students.
So if you believe you de-serve some of your moneyback, how would you go aboutdoing it?
Keep a running diary ofany seminars or lecturers thathave been cancelled. Make sureyou keep a note of the dateand time of each one. Usingyour course fee, you should beable to work out roughly howmuch each one of these costsyou, giving you an idea of howmuch you have lost out on.
Also, the standards whichyour lecturers and tutors pro-vide should be questioned. Dothey mark work on time, howis the quality of their lessons,is there a consensus that the
standard of teaching is not upto scratch? Obviously you can’tgo around launching witch-hunts on people you don’t like.But if there is genuine concernthat you aren’t getting whatyou need then you have everyright to hold that person to ac-count.
If you don’t believe thatyour facilities are up to stan-dard, write down where youthink there are shortfalls. Dosome research towards this,looking at the facilities otheruniversities have for the samecourse, assessing their fees,and seeing if you are paying asimilar amount for less of aservice.
It could help if there is agroup of you complaining.With more of you, you canback each other up. You mightlike to write a detailed letter ofcomplaint, outlining everyqualm you have with yourcourse and get all those whofeel the same to sign it.
Don’t forget that you haveevery right to demand thestandards that your fees neces-sitate. However, with this rightcomes responsibility. Thisshouldn’t be a money grabbingexercise. It’s about gettingwhat you pay for.
BY SHANE CROUCHER
features theli nc* 11www.thelinc.co.uk
IN TODAY’S SOCIETY, we like toknow where our food comesfrom. We cry out for free-rangemeat and organic vegetables,yet we continue to consumedrinks with potent ingredientswe know little about. Names ofenergy drink ingredients suchas taurine and aspartame maysound vaguely familiar, butwhere they come from andwhat they do to the body arerarely given a second thought.
The organic acid taurine isa key ingredient in many popu-lar energy drinks including RedBull and Rockstar. It was alsoused this year in Limited Edi-tion Snickers Charged energy
chocolate and candy bars. Taurine is a major compo-
nent of bile. It’s produced bythe body where it is usuallyfound in the lower intestine.When this acid is mixed withcaffeine, the results it can haveon the body are questionable.
Red Bull came under inves-tigation by the Swedish govern-ment in 1991 when threepeople died after drinking it.One person consumed it duringa rigorous exercise routine,while the others mixed thedrink with alcohol. However, alink between the events andthe taurine within the drinkwas not established.
The same drink also cameinto question in 1991 when 18-year-old Irish basketball playerRoss Cooney collapsed on thecourt and died after drinkingfour cans of Red Bull. Althougha direct connection was notproven, this incident causedsome countries, includingFrance, to pull the drink fromshelves.
Regardless of these events,this popular beverage contin-ues to thrive. More than threebillion cans of Red Bull weresold in over 130 countries in2006 alone.
Another controversial en-ergy drink component, aspar-tame, is a calorie-free artificialsweetener. Aspartame is usedin nearly 6,000 consumer foodsand drinks worldwide, includ-ing many soft drinks.
Although the EuropeanFood Safety Authority reaf-firmed the safety of aspartamein 2006, the health effectscaused by this sweetener arestill under extensive investiga-tion. Up until 1981, aspartamewas not accepted in dry foodsdue to the brain tumours andseizures produced by the sub-stance in lab animals. Aspar-tame has also recently beenlinked through scientific evi-dence to leukaemia and lym-phoma.
The main component of anenergy drink is, of course, caf-feine. Other common elementsare B vitamins, ginseng, ginkgo
biloba, creatine and guarana,which also contains large quan-tities of caffeine.
Cocaine Energy Drink waslaunched in the UK this yearcontaining 280mg caffeine, oreight times as much caffeine asa can of soda. Energy drinkswith more than 150mg caffeineper litre are labelled “high caf-feine content,” but there is nolimit to the amount and drinksare not required to carry caf-feine overdose warnings.
While consuming energydrinks from time to time can-not cause caffeine addiction,two or more cans a day canheighten the risk. Some side ef-fects that can result from ex-cessive caffeine consumptioninclude irritability, insomnia,stomach upset, irregular heart-beat and nervousness.
So when you are stressedout about your next exam andinstinctively reach for yourfavourite energy drink, thinktwice. You may just be betteroff with an old-fashioned studysession followed by a goodnight’s sleep.
BY CAL PURDON
Many of us willreach for ourfavourite energydrink to get the“boost” it isadvertised toprovide. But doyou knowwhat’s inside it?
Inside your stamina booster
12 thelinc* style November - December 2008
Snowflake Ball Special
I’VE BEEN QUITE BUSYthese last few months put-ting together this newstyle section in The Linc.
Although I thought itwould be a piece of cake togather my own team, itproved to be quite a chal-lenge. However, I managedto get the collaborators Iwas looking for, so manythanks to those who hadpatience with me.
So I'm proud to presentyou with the first issue ofThe Linc to open up to newaudiences interested infashion and beauty. We'vealready had two photo-shoots during the pastmonth, with the latest oneshowcased on these pages.
Showing off theirSnowflake Ball outfits areJason Bechtle, Tajah Brown,Stephen Burdett, GloriaDei, Becky Howse, A.J. Nti-Kari, Kirstie Latham, HarryLincoln, Leanne Lisbon,Jacqueline Marlow, KathrynMiller, Jade- Emma Milling-ton, Chris Ralphs, ArySharif, Sam Thompson andAndreas Zacharia.
Obviously, not all thephotos from our shoothave made it into theprinted version of The Linc,but we are now preparingour Linc Style blog, whereyou will be able to find allthe pictures from theSnowflake Ball photo-shootand also pieces on the lat-est trends and more prod-uct reviews.
I hope you enjoy thesepages as much as we en-joyed preparing them foryou. Also, if you have anyquestions or comments,don't hesitate to drop mean email.
Sara Shah,Style Editor
The Linc Style Blog is launching on Decem-ber 5th so don’t forget to check it out at www.style.thelinc.co.uk
With performances from Radio One’s ReggieYates, dance acts and stilt walkers, the SnowflakeBall night looks to be eventful and magical. Fakesnow, ice luges and Christmas decorations willset the scene and watch out for the Yeti, he maylook cuddly but he can get very grouchy.
style theli nc* 13www.thelinc.co.uk
Snowflake Ball Special“PERFECT CLEAVAGE” is part ofan award-winning line of prod-ucts highly appreciated by theex Beauty Director of Voguemagazine, Kathy Phillips.The "This Works"beauty productsare heavilyreliant on aro-matherapy andthis doesn't comecheaply, as the com-pany uses the purestessential oils.
In case you wonderedwhere the line's namecomes from, apparently thatis what testers constantly saidabout these products: "ThisWorks.""Perfect Cleavage" con-tains a tightening, nourishingand shimmering serum de-signed to plump and tone theneck and chest areas. More ex-actly, this serum uses Larch ex-tracts and Pomegranate oil, aswell as essential oils of Rose,Tonka Bean and Frankincense.
However, "Perfect Cleav-
age" will not fulfill the wishesof those who want to havebigger breasts. But if you al-ready love what Mother Na-ture gave you and you want tokeep your décolleté lookinggorgeous, then this might bethe answer.
I personally tested thisproduct but I can't say it
has smoothed out cleav-age wrinkles for me, as
I'm a bit too young tostart having them.
Still, I can say thatI did feel and
noticed a dif-ference inmy skin's
quality. As Isaid, "This Works:
Perfect Cleavage" does-n't come cheap. This productcan be found in high-streetshops for around £35 for a 50ml bottle, but whichever wayyou look at it, a gorgeouscleavage is always expensive tomaintain. BY SARA SHAH
This Works: Perfect Cleavage
The Snowflake Ball will take place on December6th at the Engine Shed. Tickets for this event arebeing sold from the Engine Shed Box O"ce for£12 so make sure you get yours soon.
14 thelinc* entertainment November - December 2008
CROATIAN THEATHRE companyBadCo are touring the UK this No-vember for the first time. This pro-duction, loosely based on Scott FFitzgerald’s posthumous work‘Memories Are Made of This’ is acomplex amalgamation of digitalart, dance and sound. Directed byGoran Sergej Pristas with graphicdesign provided by GordanKarabogdan.
My experience at the LincolnPerforming Arts Centre began inthe foyer with the cast giving theirown uniquely interpreted guidedtour of the theatre. Sat in a chairI’m immediately knocked back bytheir most direct arrival. All haveshort dark hair. Wearing matchingblack tops, shorts and shoes theyappear militant, almost indistin-guishable from each other. As a rel-ative newcomer to theatre thisalmost aggressive nature of notbeing able to take to your seat andrelax is an odd if not excitingproposition. I’m immediatelyaware that this will be a perform-ance based on unconventional attitudes.
Tour concluded we are finallyled into the main theatre, althoughyou have to remind yourself whereyou are exactly. The stage has beenreclined and the lights are downlow. Scattered around lay smallwooden tables, set in all mannerof disjointed angles. The audience
arrives and finds just a handful ofplastic chairs around each one. Isit myself down at the first one Icome across and take note of mysurroundings. On the tables them-selves lay a spotlight and a radio.On the floor sit a few small whitetable lamps. A large canvas drapesitself over the entire width of thevenue, joined closely by anotherhigher up on an adjacent wall. Pro-jected on these periodically arebizarre messages, drawing your at-tention away from the folly aboutto unfold.
A performer sits next to meand begins whispering his nearlyinaudible secrets. The other castmembers begin doing the same attheir respective tables. Each mono-logue appears to be different, withthe collected sounds beginning tomake me feel oppressed and sick.This is followed by the most won-derful displays of dancing prowessI have ever seen. Graceful move-ments silhouetted by the ambienceof the room. When a curtain pullsback revealing a screaming, bat-tered tuxedo-wearing man pokingat his eyes with his thumbs I ambeyond the conventional realms ofsensibility. I am lost and thrilled.
You could go to this show ahundred times and never quite getthe same experience. Each audi-ence member will have memoriesunique to them and no one else.
BY NICHOLAS SELLWide-eyed and openmouthed, with thoughts unable to collect...
Memories AreMade of This
UPCOMING@LPAC: The Rosamunde Trio - Martino Tirimo, Ben Sayevich, Daniel Veis - Wednesday, 3 December | Romantic Gems -Steven Isserlis & Dénes Várjon - Sunday, 11 January | Pillars of the Piano Repertoire - Paul Lewis, Piano - Sunday, 8 February
entertainment theli nc* 15www.thelinc.co.uk
THE TWO WORDS “period” and“thriller” can be a huge turn offpoint for an audience, but a newfilm potentially set to go to num-ber one in the UK Box Office is thefilm 'Changeling'.
Directed by Clint Eastwood(known for films such as 'MillionDollar Baby' and 'Mystic River'),alongside a solid cast headed byAngelina Jolie and screen legendJohn Malkovich, the film has al-ready won a nomination at thisyear's Cannes Film Festival.
Inspired by actual events thatoccurred in the 1920s-era Los An-geles, Changeling tells the story ofsingle mother Christine (Jolie)driven to confront the corruptedLos Angeles Police Departmentafter her son Walter, who was ab-ducted, is retrieved and she beginsto suspect that the boy returnedto her is not actually the same boyshe gave birth to. Angelina Jolieportrays a classic heroine in thefilm- a mother abandoned by Wal-ter's father and left to raise a childalone, and he is all she has, contin-ually having to challenge the Pro-
hibition-era Los Angeles policeforce at every turn. As a result,Christine is slandered and paintedas an unfit mother. In this city, awoman who challenges the sys-tem is putting her life on the line,and as the situation grows desper-ate, the only person willing to aidher is benevolent local activistReverend Briegleb (Malkovich).
Jolie's performance has beencritically acclaimed as an authen-tic, anguished and powerful por-trayal as a single mother who triesto find the LAPD's involvement inevery mother's worst nightmare.
Although the film has receivedcontroversial reviews in America,'Changeling' is well worth going tosee for any film fanatic. The filmslasts the long length of two hoursand thirty minutes, so for thosewho switch off easily, this wouldprobably be a miss. However,Changeling is a film full of corrup-tion, mystery, emotion and vio-lence — a mixture for the perfectthriller.
Changeling is out in cinemasfrom November 28th.
BY HOLLIE COWAN
Prev
iew
: Ch
ange
ling
16 thelinc* entertainment November - December 2008
Guitar Hero: World Tour
As Chad Kroeger keeps telling us,he wants to be a rockstar, andlike the Nickelback front-man nodoubt millions of others want tobe too. Thankfully a simpler solu-tion is available for any wannaberock gods through the most re-cent introduction to the musicbased series “Guitar Hero”. Thelatest instalment takes elementsfrom last year's rival title, RockBand, and introduces a full bandset up with lead guitar, bass,drums and vocals all catered for.A blast in multiplayer and perfectfor any christmas party. Thewhole band set sure is expensive,but fun will be had! Available Now (Multiformat)
Gears Of War 2
A must have for any Xbox 360owner this Christmas. Gears OfWar 2 sees the return of MarcusFenix and his COG Delta Squadteam mates as they take thefight direct to the increasinglypowerful Locust enemy, in whatthe game describes as 'human-ity's last stand'. New weapons,new characters, and new ene-mies make Gears Of War 2 an es-sential game; with engagingco-operative play, multiplayerfor up to ten players, and ofcourse the series' trademarkgore. Highly recommended.Available: Now (Xbox 360)
Little Big Planet
Often praised as the PlayStation 3'ssaviour, Sony's Sackboy has finallylanded, and with him he brings ahighly innovative game. LittleBig-Planet is the ultimate creationistsdream. Amazingly presented withmasses of gameplay options, endlesscustomisation choices all of which areseamlessly integrated into an alwaysonline world. You play, you create andyou share, and you have tons of funin the process. A PlayStation 3 classic.Available: Now (PlayStation 3)
CONSOLE GAMES3TOP BY CHRIS BRANDRICK
entertainment theli nc* 17www.thelinc.co.uk
Still reeling in the success of Viva la Vida,legendary alternative's Coldplay releaseEP “Prospekt's March”. The tracks aremade up of leftovers from the band’sfourth studio album, and will also beavailable in a deluxe set alongside Viva laVida. Includes a special guest appearance
from Jay Z on the new version of Lost+,plus a vocal version of the now-classicLife in Technicolor ii, an alternative mixof Lovers in Japan and tracks like Life InTechnicolor II, Postcards From Far Away,Glass Of Water and Rainy Day.Realease date: 25 November
Coldplay | Prospekt’s March
The cheeky pop punk foursome returnwith brand new album “Folie a Deux”. Ru-mour has it that there are collaborationswith Panic at the Disco, Lil Wayne andDebbie Harry from Blondie. The band tolda packed audience about the release atthe 2008 Democratic National Convention,
when they headlined the "Rock the VoteBallot Bash."After their well conductedtake on Michael Jackson's “Beat it”, this isone to check out for Christmas. Thealbum was produced by Neal Avron atThe Pass Studios in Los Angeles. Release date: 16 December
Fallout Boy | Folie a Deux
It's been a while since Hip Hop favourite50 Cent released a record, so what bettertime than the Christmas market to releasehis newest work and greatest hits “BeforeI self Destruct”. 50 Cent explained thatyou "should not expect to see guest ap-pearances like you saw on Curtis".
He also described Before I Self Destruct asan entirely different concept, which willsetup "the next batch of records" in hiscareer. Rumoured to be the last album hemakes with Interscope Records, it’s a bigcontender for the Christmas top spot. Release Date: 9 December
50 Cent | Before I Self Destruct
Animation favouriteMadagascar returns thisChristmas. The loveableAlex the Lion, Marty theZebra, Melman the Gi-raffe and Gloria theHippo leave the Mada-gascan island, but endup in Africa, where Alexmeets his family, thoughliving in a zoo takes itstoll when he tries tocommunicate with
them. With military pre-cision, the penguinshave repaired an oldcrashed plane — sort of.Once aloft, this unlikelycrew stays airborne justlong enough to make itto the wildest place ofall--the vast plains ofAfrica, where the mem-bers of our zoo-raisedcrew encounter speciesof their own kind for the
very first time. Over 60%of crtics reached theconsesus that "Madagas-car: Escape 2 Africa" isan improvement on theoriginal, with even morefleshed-out characters,crisper animation andmore consistent humor."Another sequel of Mada-gascar is planned for2011.In cinemas December 5th
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
In this third sequel, FrankMartin (Jason Statham)has been pressured intotransporting Valentina,the kidnapped daughterof Leonid Vasilev, thehead of the Environmen-tal Protection Agency forthe Ukraine, from Mar-seilles through Stuttgartand Budapest until heends up in Odessa on theBlack Sea. Frank will
reteam with co-star Fran-cois Berleand, whileRobert Knepper ("PrisonBreak") has joined thecast. Along the way, withthe help of Inspector Tar-coni, Frank has to con-tend with the people whostrong armed him to takethe job, agents sent byVasilev to intercept him,and the general non-coop-eration of his passenger.
Despite Valentina's cyni-cal disposition and his re-sistance to get involved,Frank and Valentina fallfor each other, while es-caping from one life-threatening situationafter another. JasonStatham again drives anarmored Audi A8 W12. Thefilm was shot in France,Russia and Ukraine.In cinemas December 6th
Transporter 3
Final Third UpdateViIVA FUTBOL rounds of its season onWednesday 3rd December with the 2008Winter Cup competition.
After nine weeks of league actionsplit across three divisions, Viva Futbol’stwenty-nine teams will all come to-gether on one night for this straightknock-out cup competition.
Whereas Viva Futbol league gameslast for thirty-four minutes, the cup ismore of a cut and thrust affair withmatches lasting just twelve minutes
“In a thirty-four minute match on atight pitch you’re unlikely to get anupset as there is always plenty of timefor stronger teams to assert themselves,”said Glen Wilson.
“However with shorter games, theplaying field is levelled somewhat andteams who may not have fared that wellin the league have every chance of hold-ing their opponents and doing well.”
None of the previous three cup win-ners are involved in this season’s compe-tition, but two past runners-up willcertainly fancy their chances.
Team Twenty Men III, winners of theNight League, were losing finalists inMay 2007, while Engine Shed Later, of theAfternoon League, were runners-up inMay this year. Both teams have enjoyedsuccessful league campaigns and bothwill be looking for cup success as well.
Other teams who will be amongstthe contenders for this season’s trophyinclude AC Milincoln who reached thesemi-finals in May and two-time After-noon League Champions HedgehogsUnited.
Winners of the afternoon league, Mc-Clarence Wonders, will also be looking toadd to their league victory with a cupwin. Two of the league’s newer teamsPoksoccer and Greestone Lodgers will belooking to compliment excellent debutseasons with a strong cup run, whileViva veterans The Lincoln Bankers will belooking to follow up league victory witha first ever cup victory.
The Viva Futbol Winter Cup will beheld from 4:30pm-9:30pm on the five-a-side courts at the rear of the UniversitySports Centre on Wednesday 3rd Decem-ber. Further details can be found in theViva Futbol section of www.final-third.com.
Viva Futbol Cup Preview Viva Futbol Autumn Season League Tables
Final Third Student Netball League
22 thelinc*sport November - December 2008
1. McClarence Wonders2. Engine Shed Later?3. AC Milincoln4. Hedgehogs United5. The Brazil Nuts6. Substandard Liege7. Heroes FC8. Players Only9. Giggity Giggity FC10. Inter Mi-Gran
McClarence Wonders win Afternoon League by one point
P W D L F A GD Pts9999999999
8665552111
0321100111
1013347777
6354533849623637308
30212129454860454665
+33+33+32+9+4+14-24-8-16-57
1615141111104311
1. The Lincoln Bankers2. Poksoccer3. FC Un Banan4. Not so Athletico5. Dum Dum FC6. The Units7. The Uni Imps8. Sp. Club de Pavilions 9. Flat 35 FC10. Inter Lager FC
Lincoln Bankers win Evening League on goal di!erence
P W D L F A GD Pts9999999999
8854443222
0022101110
1123455557
50545048543936315826
20303932434141559252
+30+24+11+16+11-2-5-24-34-25
16161210987554
1. Team Twenty Men III2. Greestone Lodgers3. The Emile Heskeys4. Brayford Bulls5. Pathletico Madrid6. Lincoln Wasps FC7. Societat Catala Lincoln8. Adriaaaan Athletic9. Honey Badgers AFC
Team Twenty Men III comfortably win night leagueP W D L F A GD Pts888888888
875443210
001201000
012244678
857958535838332110
152049494041708665
+60+59+9+4+18-3-37-65-55
1614111087420
1. Team D2. Team A3. Team C4. Team E
P W D L GS GC GD Pts3333
3110
0101
0122
86505422
47515460
+39+10-38
6321
Tables correct up to and including Wednesday 26th November 2008
Tables up to and including Sunday 23rd November 2008
With thanks to Glen Wilson
THE EXPLOITS OF Bradley Wig-gins, Chris Hoy and their bandof tree-trunk-legged friendswere arguably the story of thisyear’s Beijing Olympics, sweep-ing all before them in a sea ofspeed and lycra.
Closer to home however,and currently leading the na-tional cyclo-cross Champi-onships, Lincolnshire borncyclist Gabby Day is plottingher own course to world dom-ination in a slightly less-cham-pioned, discipline – that ofcyclo-cross.
Whilst not as popular ascycling, cyclo-cross is by nomeans short of action:
“It’s a little like mountainbike racing but the races areonly around 40 minutes longfor ladies and hour for themen,” says Gabby.
“The races are run on a
mixture of tarmac, grass andwoodland and often if it is toomuddy to ride or the hills areto steep you have to run withthe bike too! It’s very excitingto watch.”
So who got Gabby involvedin cycling in the first place?
“My granddad was a cy-clist when he was youngerand he introduced me to itwhen I was 15, I found I couldbeat the boys! That gave methe confidence to keep goingand my hard work has paid off– I now have a contract toride with the Olympic cham-pion Nicole Cooke next year.”
Nicole Cooke is one of themany cyclists that enjoyedsuccess this summer in Bei-jing, where GB cycling teamtook home fourteen medals,eight of which were gold. Itseems the trend has finallybegun to transfer to the road,too, with the likes of MarkCavendish at this year’s TourDe France and Cooke in theWorld Road Racing Champi-onships.
Gabby says that it’s a re-
sult of moving to where thecompetition is strongest thatroad racing has started toenjoy similar success.
“The track riders have thebest facilities in the world inManchester so the road ridershave now taken their lead andmoved to where the racingand training is best.
“The GB under 23 Academyis now based in Italy and thereare lots of Brits basing them-selves in Belgium, France andHolland where the racing isvery hard.”
It’s something Gabby hasbeen able to apply to her owntraining in cyclo-cross byspending much of her year inBelgium this winter, which hasbegun to pay dividends withher form.
“Most of my winter isspent in Belgium as that’swhere all the top riders basethemselves and it also means Ican travel easier to the worldcups. I needed to step up alevel and it seems to be work-ing well as my results aremore consistent this season.”
Currently leading the na-tional cyclo-cross Champi-
onships and performing wellin the World Cup, Gabby isdestined for big things.
It is something she wantsto build upon for the future: “Iwant to be the NationalChampion within the nexttwo seasons. I’ve been runnerup for the last two years but Ithink next year will be a bet-ter thanks to my new coach.”
Does she harbour ambi-tions of following in the foot-steps of Nicole Cooke, RebeccaRomero et al and compete inLondon 2012?
“I would love that, but re-alistically I don’t think it willhappen, as road racing andtrack are not my specialities. Icould try mountain bike rac-ing as a route to London, butrealistically, I’m looking to-wards CommonwealthGames.”
But Olympics or noOlympics, Gabby certainly isn’tshort on determination to suc-ceed. It’s a simple answer forher when I ask what drivesher ambition: “I want to bethe best, simple as that.”
And who can say fairerthan that?
Local cyclistGabby Day hopesto become theNational cyclo-cross championin the next twoyears.
Olympic hopes for cyclistBY ANDREW BOYERS
19thelinc*sportwww.thelinc.co.uk
“Although there are so many sportspeoplewho deserve the award this year, I reallythink swimmer Rebecca Adlington willwin.
“She is such an inspiration for somany young athletes. Her performance atthe Olympics was outstanding and I thinkthe British public will agree.”
thelinc*panelWith the BBC Sports Personality of theYear Award announced on Sunday 14thDecember and a number of succesfulcandidates nominated, The Linc sportsteam discuss who should win the prestigious award.
“It’s a tough call, but I can’t look past Re-becca Adlington for this award. She wontwo gold medals at such a young age.
“It was a great year for sport and it’stough choosing between the likes ofother sportspeople like Lewis Hamiltonand Joe Calzaghe again, but Rebecca getsmy vote.”
“I wouldn’t pick just one person forsports personality, but give it to all thegold medal winners at the Olympics.
“When they came back to Britain, theathletes were treated as heroes and gal-vanised British support like no-one elsehas in the past year and I think they alldeserve the award.”
“The award is wide open this year. If AndyMurray had managed to win a major tro-phy, he could have been a front-runningcontender.
“For me though, Lewis Hamilton willbag the prize and despite it being well de-served, we need to remember a lot ofsportspeople did us proud this year.”
Imps Talk
THINGS AT LINCOLN CITY never go smoothly, and thepast couple of weeks is just like an episode of Corrie!
First of all the positives; Imps boss Peter Jackson wonOctober’s manager of the month and promising young-sters Lenell John-Lewis and Danny Hone have signed con-tract extensions.
Well that’s rather depressing - only a few lines ofpositives!
After a fantastic run in October which got the Impson the edge of the play offs, Imps fans must be prettyconfident going into November.
Unfortunately not. As Imps we all dread November. To be honest, I hate
the month. It always means Lincoln are guaranteed tolose and get dumped out of the F.A Cup.
On cue, the first game in November saw us lose athome to Port Vale despite dominating the game.
The F.A Cup saw the Imps travel to Blue Square Pre-mier side Kettering and guess what? Lincoln lost out in areplay at Sincil Bank 2-1.
That result however was over shadowed when Impsboss Peter Jackson claimed a Kettering fan at RockinghamRoad racially abused Imps assistant manager Iffy Onuora.Subsequently a man has been arrested and released onbail pending further inquiries.
Back onto the pitch, the depressing month continued.Against ten men you expect the team with the man ad-vantage should dominate and win.
Not with the Imps though. Lincoln travelled to high fliers Darlington and despite
centre half Steven Foster being sent off early in the game,Lincoln didn’t capitalise and ended up losing 2-0.
Last Saturday, Shrewsbury visited Sincil Bank and theytoo had a man sent off after just three minutes whenstriker Richard Walker was given his marching ordersafter a deliberate elbow on Danny Hone.
The game summed up Lincoln’s season so far. Lots ofpossession but no penetration and despite what seemedto be 1,000 shots they just couldn’t stick in into the net.
Being an Imps fan is tough at the hardest of times butin November it’s suicidal.
Roll on December!
Hayley Cook - Editor
Stephen Rudd - Deputy Editor
Adrian Bell - Columnist
Daniel Coles - Contributor
20 thelinc*sport November - December 2008
BY ADRIAN BELL
THE MARATHON MAN
REYNOLDS’ VIEW
LOYALTY IS A word that is often givenleverage within professional football.
As fans, we expect the same loyaltyback from our idolised players, as weshow by consistently packing out thestands on these miserable evenings.
Yet constantly we are left disap-pointed.
Matthieu Flamini and Alexander Hlebleft Arsenal with dollar signs etched intotheir eyes, Dimitar Berbatov left whenSpurs were in need of their hero, andChristiano Ronaldo needed all of Fergu-son’s persuasive might to remain at Man-chester United.
On the surface, the English PremierLeague is the most exciting league on theplanet, yet now players are leaving theirclub just two years into a five year deal.
Why has greed and impatience re-placed the virtue of loyalty?
The answer does not lie with the pre-miership footballers themselves, but withthe clubs who give no time or trust in themanagers they appoint to control theirclubs.
Just one glance at struggling Totten-ham Hotspur underlines this point.
They have been through seven man-agers in the past ten years, with the mostrecent Juande Ramos given just eightgames of the new season before he facedthe axe at Spurs.
Clubs like Manchester United, Arsenaland more recently Liverpool, prove thatsuccess breeds when a manager is given along spell in charge, and the support ofthe board.
Yet premiership chairmen are stillstruggling with this concept. Sven GoranEriksson was brought in by ManchesterCity, recorded their highest ever premierleague finish, and was promptly sacked forhis troubles.
Why should a player, expecting a longand fruitful career under Eriksson, showany loyalty to the club that treated thegaffer so poorly?
Respect and loyalty starts from thetop, and I’m afraid it’s something thatmany clubs have lost.
It’s a fine balance between keeping thefans happy and being loyal to your man-ager, but it’s this tightrope that many un-derachieving clubs must venture forsuccess.
“I HAVE TWO main problems withthis. First of all, it’s a race againstproper runners – people who take thisjogging malarkey really seriously. Theyare clearly going to be very, very fast,all donned in their club vests lookinglike virtual Paula Radcliffes. I was toldthat the winner of the race did it 28minutes last year!
“I, clearly, am not going to be run-ning that fast. I’ll most likely be at theback with the old woman and theman with one leg and suffer the ig-nominy of being lapped. It’ll probablyprove as great an embarrassment ofmy athletic ability as when I triedgymnastics at school in Year 9 and felloff the pommel horse in front of myclassmates. I can see it now - I’ll becoming through the finish line asthey’re packing everything away; theycouldn’t possibly think anyone couldrun the race this slow.
“My other issue is the location of
the run. I’m not entirely sure why anorganiser would consider a run alongthe coast of the North Sea on a cold,wet November morning appealing onany level, but he has, so I have to livewith it. But I would just like to say, Ihave enough trouble running dis-tances at any sort of speed as it is –with arctic gusts and crashing wavesraining down on me as though I’vehad a lover’s tiff with the God ofThunder, I’m sure it won’t be easier.
“Apparently these sorts of racesare good practice for the real thing –you’re racing against people betterand faster than you, so obviously yourun faster too – or that’s how it’s sup-posed to happen, anyway. But you canforgive me for not really caring aboutthat at this point – that just makes itall the more daunting.
“You never know, Cleethorpesmight be very temperate on this spe-cific November morning. It might belike running in the South of France -the sun may shine, the wind mightabate and I might set a new courserecord.
“Clearly this won’t happen, butyou can’t blame a man for hoping.”
“I’ll be at the back withthe old woman and theman with one leg!”
Is loyalty to the badgea thing of the past?
Andrew Boyer’s preparation for the London Marathon contin-ues this weekend with a 10km dash along Cleethorpes sea front.Here, he takes us through his preperations.
BY ADAM REYNOLDS
18 thelinc*sport November - December 2008
Andrew Boyers hopes of completing the LondonMarathon successfully next year continues this weekend.
BASEBALL IS NOT usually a sport that youassociate with Britain, but the game infact originated in England, and not Amer-ica, where people mostly assume itbegan.
One student is hoping to make itmore popular in the area by starting aBaseball Society at the University of Lin-coln that he feels makes a welcomechange from the usual ‘mainstream’sports, such as football, rugby and cricket.
Jonathan Stone, President of the Base-ball Society says:
“Baseball is something different. Youdon’t get to do it much in the UK as it isa niche sport. When you join this club,there’s no pressure. There are not a lot ofsocieties where you can fit in straightaway, and you can do that here. We wel-come all ages and all levels of ability. Noexperience is necessary.”
Students wishing to sign up for thisunique opportunity should make theirway down to the SOAP centre, oppositethe Library. It does cost £35 to sign up,but this contributes to the purchase ofequipment and kit. It’s relatively cheap incomparison with other sporting societieswho can charge upwards of £50. Trainingtakes place every Saturday at 1pm onWest Common playing fields offCarholme Road.
“It’s a new society and we hope to getthe 15 members we need to become afully fledged AU society fairly soon. Afterthat, we can progress to where we wantto be. With most societies, you have tohave trials before you get in the team butthat’s not the case with us. If you’re goodenough at practices, you’ll be in theteam.”
When asked how far he hopes to takethe society, Stone responded with opti-mism: “Initially we want to be at a com-peting level for next year. In Marchthere’s going to be a British UniversityBaseball Association league set up whichwe hope to compete in.”
If you wish to get into contact withJonathan Stone you can e-mail him [email protected].
21thelinc*sportwww.thelinc.co.uk
BY DAVID METHOLD
Wednesday 26th November 2008
HOMESPORT FIXTURE RESULTS
Badminton Mens 1stBasketball Mens 1stFootball Mens 2ndFootball Mens 3rdFootball Mens 5thGolf Mens 2ndGolf Mens 3rdHockey Womens 2ndNetball Womens 2ndRugby Union Mens 1stRugby League Mens 1stTennis Mens 1st
Nottingham Mens 2ndNotthingham Trent Mens 2ndLoughborough Mens 4thNottingham Mens 3rdCambridge Mens 2ndBedfordshire Mens 1stDe Montfort University Mens 1stBedfordshire Womens 1stWorcester Womens 3rdNottingham Mens 4thCambridge Mens 1stBirmingham Mens 1st
LostWonLostLostDrewWonWonLostWonWonLostLost
3 - 5102 - 220 - 41 - 42 - 24.5 - 1.55 - 10 - 742 - 2432 - 1210 - 200 - 10
AWAYSPORT FIXTURE RESULTS
Basketball Mens 2ndBasketball Womens 1stFootball Mens 1stFootball Mens 4thFootball Womens 1stGolf Mens 1stHockey Mens 1stHockey Mens 2ndHockey Mens 3rdNetball Womens 1stRugby Union Womens 1stVolleyball Mens 1stTennis Womens 1st
Cambridge Mens 2ndBedfordshire Womens 1stBirmingham Mens 1stLeicester Mens 2ndBirmingham Womens 1stBirmingham Mens 1stUEA Mens 1stNottingham Trent Mens 4thDerby Mens 2ndDerby (Buxton) Womens 1stBirmingham City Womens 1stNottingham Trent Mens 2ndOxford Brookes Womens 2nd
LostLostLostWonWonLostLostWonLostWonWonLostWon
55 - 5936 - 520 - 23 - 212 - 01.5 - 4.51 - 43 - 10 - 346 - 4420 - 171 - 310 - 0
Compiled by Chris Roberts, AU Sports and Teams Ocer
AU Results
Lincoln Hockey Women’s in action against Harper Adams University College on Wednesday.
SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT:Baseball Society
ROBIN WRIGHT PLAYED a pivotal role in get-ting the new Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI)scheme up and running.
Earlier in the year, the University’s sportsdepartment received money from Lin-colnshire Health to develop an IFI centre inthe gym, and this has led to a number of dis-abled athletes improving their fitness and
being able to play sports.The scheme does not justhave to be for people withphysical disabilities but isalso for people with im-paired vision, hearing dis-abilities and mentaldisabilities.
Robin Wright feels that the whole systemhas been a success so far. “We have made thegym facilities inclusive for students and staffand although the centre is approved, whichmeans we have some super facilities for dis-abled people, to actually hit the standard re-quired was amazing. It wasn’t just aboutkitting out the gym facilities. It was aboutgetting the required level needed to makethis a success and I feel we’ve done that.”
At this present time, the university hasnot entered into any leagues of any kind butRobin Wright feels that it will only be a mat-ter of time before athletes start recognisingwhat sport they’re good at and friendlymatches can start to be arranged.
“I’d like to be able to see the universityput together a wheelchair basketball team orsomething of that nature, if the students sodesired. This would mean we could cater forpeople with disabilities who would like tostay active and competitive in their lifestyle.
“At this present time, there isn’t anythingin the BUSA leagues to do with disabled com-petition but it’s definitely something we needto explore. I’m sure what there will be is theopportunity to play friendly’s against otherteams and other university teams.”
New equipment for disabled athletes
Ridley achieved three per-sonal best scores and wonfive gold medals at the Gym-nastics and Movements forPeople with a Disability(GMPD) British Champi-onships in East London lastmonth.
“It was brilliant,” she said.“There was a few of us that
went down to London includ-ing my boyfriend, my mumand my friends.”
“I’m now looking forwardto trialling out for the Britishteam in March as the gym-nasts who won silver andbronze in my category bothcompeted nationally.”
Ridley first started gym-nastics when she was six inher home town of Mansfield,but at 16 was diagnosed witha spinal fusion which meant
that she couldn’t bend thetop half of her back.
“They told me I’d never dogymnastics again, and that’swhat motivated me to carryon. I had to relearn every-thing after my operationfrom handstands to cart-wheels.”
It wasn’t until Ridleycame to the University of Lin-coln and the gymnastics soci-ety was set up last year thatshe began to train competi-tively again.
As well as competing in
these competitions, Ridley isnow President of the Gymnas-tics society, and has recentlybecome a part-time AU officerin the Students Union, but in-sists it’s just “good organisa-tion” that enables her to doso much.
“The university have gen-erally been very understand-ing about my condition. Ican’t sit for a long time atcomputers or in exams for ex-ample, so essay writing isquite difficult, but my lectur-ers are very understanding.”
New facilities for disabled athletesat the University of Lincoln are proving to be a success, says the Director of Sport, Robin Wright.
University ofLincoln gymnastStacie Ridley isthe GMPDBritishChampion.
British Champion GymnastBY HAYLEY COOK
BY DAVID METHOLD
23thelinc*sportwww.thelinc.co.uk
linc*
Society Spotlight:Baseball
19 Olympic hopes for local cyclo-cross champion
Viva Futbol CupSpecial Preview222018 Reynolds’ View:
Football Loyalty?
BRITISHCHAMPIONGYMNASTUniversity student Stacie Ridleywins five gold medals and setsthree personal best records