universe 9

vs Oct/Nov 2005 Volume 13, Issue 2 Circulation 5000 Free

Halloweenorigins!

p08

Crush 1278aminterview!

p30

Tim Westwood exclusive!

p25

How much water do you waste?

p11

David Venning

Craig Stuart

WaggettThe UHSU by-elections are well underway! Well, you’ve all been here about a month and should know what UHSU has to offer: activites, ents, support, volunteering, and of course the Universe plus much more. Over the upcoming weeks you will have the opportunity to exercise your democratic rights and decide who you want representing you and UHSU. Nominations are now closed and all candidates have been revealed on page 3 of this publication. Please take the time to have a look at their manifestos online by logging on to your StudyNet account.

The actual voting will start online on the 31st Oct and will fi nish at 3pm on the 4th November. The count and result will then take place in the Elehouse at 8pm on the last day of the election.

Turn to P3 to view all candidates

02 Issue 2 Volume 13 Editorial [email protected]

Editor in ChiefMarek Nusl

Vice President Communications & Media

[email protected] 285 005

EditorTamer Asfahani

[email protected]

Assistant EditorsNews Editors:

Jacob Clinton, Mike KellyFilm Editor: Ross Billington

Music Editors: Jess Sturman,Matthew KetchellGames Editor: Xavier Mondoloni

PhotosMarek Nusl

Tamer Asfahani

Thanks toMarcus Holland

Dan McCluskey (for photoshopping)Andy Weston (for his socks) Ents & Venue DepartmentsThe Ginger Rich (proofing!)

UHSUCollege Lane

HatfieldHertfordshire

AL10 9AB

Tel: 01707 285 000Fax: 01707 251 118

E-mail: [email protected]: www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk

For all the latest info on our student media check out:

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk/studentmedia

Printed by:Sharman & Co Ltd

PeterboroughPE1 5TD

Masters of the Universe

Sticking your tongue into a USB fan is always fun, and so

is the first month of uni. Its been an absolutly awesome time and I hope that you’re all starting to settle in, find your routines and making new friends. Hopefully you will have also realised what UHSU has to offer. Yes, we all know about the bars, but what about the volunteering, advice and support, media, sports, and of course the democratic process? The UHSU bi-elections are here. Voting is easy this year; it’s all done online via your studynet account were you will be able to read each candidates manifesto. It is important that you vote, after all you will be voting for the students you want representing you and steering the future of the organisation.

Anyway... back to the past month and whats been happening. The new UHSU website (www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk) is up and running and so far so good. Who would have thought they’d let a dyslexic like me fiddle around with complicated codes?

CRUSH 1278am/mw is now up and running full steam ahead, there are many new shows and the timetable (p11) is looking pretty full. You can of course listen online via the UHSU website. For more information on Crush, including how to get involved, timetables, presenter profiles then visit. www.crushradio.co.uk.

The first issue off the Universe has been flying of the stands like hot cakes and this issue has had a remarkable contribution from all kinds of students, including the wired ones. I’d like to thank Tamer who has helped alot on this paper and to you all for your input and apologies to those whos

articles weren’t included.

The AGM has came and gone, and with attendence up five fold on the previous year. I believe that this was a huge improvement, but I will not claim it as a success. All lectures were cancelled for the event so that every one could attend and question your Exec and find out about the University wish to take over your commercial venues and introduce smoking bans (for those lectures that disobyed the orders from above to cancel lectures then you can bite me).

Other then my regular duties, this month it seems that I have become the Ents departments bitch. “Maz... I need someone to check the port-a-loo’s to see if they are full”, “Maz... I need you to take drinks to the El Presidente and the Subways”, oh and then came the big one “Maz... do you want to be the quiz master at tonights quiz,” which a few hours later led to “Right, you’re doing it every Monday.” So you can see myself and Mr T and Micheal every Monday night in the Elehouse (as if that’s the only night you can see us out).

Now on to the next month. There is one more issue of the paper due out before Christmas and so please start sending your articles now. It’s your paper so put something in it, anything. The website will slowly be growing in content, and Crush1278 am will be broadcasting non-stop.

Well, enjoy the paper. There are some great articles including interviews with Tim Westwood and The Subways (p25) and the usual stitched up, lacrosse, games, photos and so on.

Well I wonder what else I can stick my tongue in?

MazMarek NuslV.P Communications & Media01707 285 [email protected]

It’s been another edition, but before I go on on one of my

stupid editorial rants I just have to quickly say a big, huge, massive thank you to all the team. This month the Universe team have worked really hard to make this paper happen, and a special thanks has to go to Xavier Mondoloni who has been in the office a lot with myself and Maz.You other journalists know who you are and I thank you for getting articles to me on the deadline. It is much appreciated.

For those of you that haven’t yet contributed, I urge you to do so, especially you first year journo students, you know who you are. I don’t yet, but I hope to start getting some of your work soon, it’s an excellent opportunity for you to get published and learn about the printing process. I am sure you have been told this many times in your journalism lectures, but this is the best way for you to keep your writing up to scratch and seeing your article for the first time is an unbelievable feeling. So write for us. I am sure you can send some of your in-class assignments.

So what’s new? We have gone a bit more nuts with news this edition and you will find that the arts pages have exploded too. There are some excellent interviews, reviews and features and there are many many interesting stories and projects to get invovled in. My recommendation for this month has to be the News section. Our journalists have taken a bit more of a satircal look on the world and there are some funny yet powerful news stories.

My topic of the month has to be the way of the world at present

and how scary things have become with hurricanes spawning like flies, earthquakes devestating countries and tsunamis battering beaches. What are we doing wrong? Is there someone, something, somewhere trying to tell us something, or are we just destructing the world which has hosted us as its guest for centuries. Is Gaia getting pissed off with us? Is it a hint?Who knows, but one thing is certain, there is something wrong in the world and we are more than likely to blame for it.

There is another thing too, no matter how we look it, how much we advance and however much we achieve as a race, we can never beat our fair lady Gaia. She is our host and our souls and she lives through all of us. Don’t worry, I am not starting a philisophical arguement about God and his existence. All I am saying is that we are treating our host with disrespect and maybe it’s time we started to realise that she won’t be tolerant forever.

But anyway, I just had to get that off my chest, it’s been something I have discussed a lot with one of our resident reporters, Marcus Holland.

While I wonder what will happen my innocent, hairy, Czech friend who has so often kept me amused and entertained, is sticking his tongue into every crevis in this office. Like a mini tornado I hear his laugh as he whizzes past me, finding the next place to put his tongue.

And I can’t keep up with him. I have suggested a couple of places, but the other night I woke up with a really wet bum, it felt like there was a slug in my bum crack. I had forgotten that Maz takes everything so literally! I clenched my bum anyway and now Mad Maz has a bit of a “lithp”.Sorry bud, I did warn you!

ENJOY THE PAPER ALL!

Tamer Asfahani

Domino’s Pizza fueluni[verse]

25% OFF for students!full menu at:

www.dominos.co.ukor call your local branch

for free delivery on:01707 323235

Thanks for our food!!!!

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk UHSU Issue 2 Volume13 03

What a start to the year, absolute mayhem! Long

days, late nights, welcoming 7000 Freshers and catching up with familiar faces. Some of you would have moved into halls being part of the pandemonium trying to take your stuff upstairs without getting lost. Hopefully most of you would have taken the opportunity to fl eece

your family and friends of supplies for the fi rst few weeks as they are most generous at this time, if not go and see them soon and work that charm.There was some eventful entertainment in the evening which all started on the fi rst weekend with herds of people being led down by the Refreshers (who did an awesome job by the way) to the Ele and Font. Chesney Hawkes strutting his stuff to the screaming few. The Subways who started their tour here in their hometown (Ed says: Well nearly hometown!) were without a shadow of a doubt absolutely awesome for those who were there will agree that they rock Hatfi eld literally! For those who didn’t please do check them out you will be amazed.

Kate Lawler was really good as well, so was Westwood but you

should expect that really. However, the best nights have to be the Quiz nights every Monday in the Ele House hosted by yours truly, Maz and our guest quizmaster Michael. Great questions, good prizes and constant entertainment what more could you ask for really. So if you want to take part then come along its only a bit of fun your not being assessed honestly!

Some of you would have been lucky enough to receive an induction talk from myself during the fi rst week. As some of you maybe aware but I was conducting a survey to see which subject made the most noise. I have to say you were all impressive but it came down to Psychology, Sports Therapy & Science with the overall winner by a fraction being Psychology. There are no prizes just bragging rights to the winner of course!

We had the AGM recently with a number of issues being discussed as well as our wonderful guest speaker Gemma Tumelty, NUS National Secretary. Well done to Maz for doing some work for a change and organising the AGM.

The fi rst Student Council of the year is coming up on Tuesday 1st November in A400. It is a great opportunity to get involved with the union and airing your views on different subjects. This is the Sovereign Body of UHSU, which basically means they run the show so its not just a boring meeting trust me.

At the moment you will notice that some by-elections are going at the moment. Information is on StudyNet and the UHSU website about all the candidates along with the dates when voting will begin.

Well what’s left to say, a big shout out to my fan club I have seem to have gathered keep it real ladies. Also I hope anyone who was at the quiz during the blackout enjoyed the singing coz I had a sore throat for days.

Look after yourself

Peace out!

Quote of the month“It’s a bic!“

Word of the month“Mahoosive ”

Tarquin StephensonPresident01707 285 [email protected]

Tarquin’s Titilation...

UHSU By-ElectionsIndependent Chair of Student Council:

The Chair and Deputy Chair shall be responsible for making sure that the duties and powers of Council are carried out effectively

David Venning Craig Stuart Waggett

NUS Conferance Delegate:

To represent UHSU at all NUS Conferences (where appropriate), with specifi c reference to policy decisions taken by UHSU Student Council or Referenda.

Marek Nusl

St Albans Site Coordinator:

Is responsible for co-ordination of the Union’s resources at the St Albans Site and inform the Executive of issues arising. Shall be the chair of the Campus Open Forum, which should be held at least every month

Daniel Rodrigues Ciara Panayiotou

Deputy Independent Chair of Student Council:

Stephen Newnham

RON

If you dont want any candidate to win in

a respective election them vote RON - Re open nominations

How to Vote

With on voting this year, voting could not be easier.. Simply go to www.uhsu.

herts.ac.uk or just login to your studynet account. Hear you will be able to veiw each candidatess manifesto and make

your choice who you want representing your union.

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk/ents

04 Issue 2 Volume 13 [email protected]

page 4... oh yeah

Donna 20, Holly 19,Psychology Students’.

If this isn’t a reason to go to the University of Hertfordshire, then we dont know what is...

Male and Female Page 4 models, email: [email protected]

Why not give your brain a bit of a kick start at the beginning of the week with the Elehouse Pub Quiz every Monday, free entrance and £1 per person who wishes to take part. Traditional rounds are followed by “Punch Drunk” where you get to drink of nominate someone to sample the punch with a reputation. Mr T and Maz host this fun evening.

Factory is a bi-weekly night dedicated to live bands and guitar based music ranging from the Smiths to the Stroke. Past bands to appear at this event include; The Copper Temple Clause, McQueen, The Sudways. Factory is without a bout the biggest and best student live music night in Hertfordshire.Rock on!

If you love to sing or just want to stitch up your mate to sing Man I feel like woman, then this is the event for you. With a big selection of music to choose from DJ Flapper is always willing to give you some support. This is a fun atmosphere with and with a pound a pint there is no reason why you can’t join in the fun.

Flirt is by far the largest event of the week. The font is transformed into 2 fl oors of a party atmosphere, with big name acts and personal appearances. In the past fl irt has played host to Vernon Kay, Pat Sharp, Judges Jules, Joe Scally and many more. With great drink deals why miss out. Check out www.live2fl irt.co.uk.

Bar Footsie is the drinking stock exchange game. The more of a particular product is bought then prizes go up, but watch out for Market Crushes where prizes plumate rock bottom. With Crush 1278am playing some top quality tunes live this really is the best way to form up before going down to the font on a Friday night.

KARAOKE NIGHTKARAOKE NIGHT

A recent report issued by the Welwyn and Hatfield Council and the University of Hertfordshire, has revealed the social and

economic impact the university has on Hatfield and the county of Hertfordshire.

The report, carried out by an independent organisation, PACEC, showed that although there are many benefits of having the university in Hatfield, there are also a number of serious problems. The main problems highlighted included parking, housing and anti-social behaviour. There were also a number of positive aspects identified, including the availability of sports facilities to the county and the increase in local employment.

Michael Saminaden, Chief Executive of Welwyn and Hatfield council said, “There is no doubt that the university is of great benefit to the community. Crucially, however, the report highlights many of the challenges brought about by the university’s success.”

Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Tim Wilson, commented, “The result of this study will be taken forward by a high level steering group of the Council and the University. We are committed to use this report as a catalyst for change.”

The full report is available from the Welwyn and Hatfield Council and also online at www.herts.ac.uk

Key findings of the report*:

• 35% of residents believe the university has improved

sports, arts and leisure facilities in the area

• On an average day in the term up to 2,300 students

drive into Hatfield

• 29% of Hatfield residents have been unable to park in

their own street- 7% higher than the rest of Hertfordshire

• 34% of residents believe that the university contributes

negatively to crime levels

*WHT Oct 12th 2005- advertising feature

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk News Issue 2 Volume13 05

News... because we are a newspaper!

UH and the local community?S.K. Bassan reports

News in brief...Just so you can catch up with what you’ve missed in the last month!

PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE

India is to open relief camps as early as Tuesday the 25th of October for Pakistanis refugees.With more than 50 000 dead and millions of homeless, India and Pakistan are working together so that survivors are allowed to cross the line of control. India has already offered to open three of these camps

BIRD FLU PANDEMIC ON ITS WAY TO UKA mutated form of the infamous bird flu virus could result in 750,000 deaths, according to the chief medical officer.Sir Liam Donaldson said problems would arise due to our existing vaccines not working against it, leading to the virus becoming widespreadA contingency plan is to be released on Thursday, outlining what the government would do in the result of an outbreak.

MURDER TRIAL GRIPS AUSTRALIAThe biggest murder trial in recent Australian history is to begin this week.The whole of the country are gripped by the saga of British back packer Peter Falconio’s death at the hands of a gunman on the long, dusty Stuart Highway, four years ago.Former girlfriend Joanne Lees will come face to face with the man charged with Falconio’s murder, Bradley John Murdoch, at the trial this week.

MAN DEAD IN HOMOPHOBIC ATTACKA 24 year old man has been beaten to death in a hate- fuelled attack on Clapham Common in South London.The man was found unconscious but later died in hospital.Police have confirmed that the attack is being treated as homophobic and are currently on the hunt for two men linked to the killing.

ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS TO BE TIGHTENEDNew laws will result in harsher sentences for those that abuse animals, the government has revealed.Planned laws include double jail terms and quadruple fines for offenders and a national database for convicted abusers.The new law replaces the 94 year old protection of animals act meaning it is the first improvement in animal welfare for almost a century.

Want to be a Universe reporter? Then contact the Universe team on [email protected]

Freshers Fair wrap upRichard Corry, P/T Ents and Promotions Officer

Hello again and welcome to the second edition of

Corry’s column. Firstly I hope all the freshers have enjoyed the opening spell of their time here at UHSU and continue to do so. It has been a marathon 3 weeks at the time of writing with some quality displays of stupidity, drinking and having a great time. It should also be mentioned that many of the returning students have also been out ‘larging it’ and they have made new friends, whilst showing the newbies how it is done.

With regards to the initial freshers week, chaos ensued during the opening weekend, as thousands arrived to both campuses, all with no idea of what to expect. Thanks to all the refreshers who helped them with moving in, and answered many questions about Hatfield and UH. (The most common question wasn’t “Where’s the bar?” as I expected, rather “Is Hatfield really this bad?” Sadly to the students of Telford Court, yes it is!!!) After everyone settled it was time for the entertainments programme to kick in.

The first 3 days were brilliant, with the font a sell out and the elehouse at capacity, but what wasn’t expected was the number of complaints on the Tuesday

night, for the Subways gig. Yes a famous live band were to be playing in the marquee with 3 support acts, and yes it would be considerably louder than the previous nights, but surely it wouldn’t be too loud so the local villagers would complain. Unfortunately they did, time and time again, hence the first two acts were pulled, so that the headline acts could perform before 11 o clock, in order to not wake up Hatfield as an entirety. For those of you that were there

you will remember El Presidente being stopped after 3 songs, (Their best 3 by the way) and taken off the stage by myself. This was due to the noise being too loud, and after turning it down time and time again, it was decided that this would be the best decision to make. However the night did end with an awesome full set by The Subways, and UHSU survived the barrage of complaints to live to fight another day. Also from people that were there,

everyone seemed to have a good time, and enjoyed what we had to offer. The rest of the week resumed similar order with our Bonk, Batchwoods and Chesney Hawkes nights all going down well.

On the Executive side of UHSU, all of us had worked tirelessly to make freshers a success, and that was what has been achieved. We worked all day and night during the opening weekend, most of the week ahead was spent answering queries and questions from just about anybody and everybody, and all of us spent at least one night of freshers out with the rest of you. This past week has seen the ‘wear it pink’ night on Wednesday, which was a success and probably by the time you read this, the AGM will have been and gone. This is the chance to grill your executive so hope you were all there.

The new entertainments guide is now out for you to pick up, and it will almost certainly be in the paper as well. I’m sure Westwood, Twice as Nice, Bonk every Wednesday and St. Trinians will all be sell outs, so buy your tickets early to avoid disappointment!

Thanks for reading and see you next time.

In light of the soon to become law prevention of terrorism

act the Universe looks at its implications for students of UH.

For the journalists among you beware of invitations to report from Osama Bin Laden’s secret mountain training camps. According to Part 1 section 8, subsection (1) (b), (no I did not make that up) it is an offence to be “at a place used for terrorist training.” Further subsections go on to state that “it is immaterial for the purposes of this section whether the person concerned receives the instruction or training himself.” Not only should the ambitious journalist be careful. Beware the hapless and unlucky, if no doubt adventurous student rambler. Should you survive the misfortune of stumbling upon a terrorist training camp and make it back home do not inform the authorities as the home secretary may well have you sent to prison for up to ten years. In fact perhaps best stay there ramblers and terrorists surely deserve each other. Think about it: bulky clothing, rucksacks, unshakable belief

that their path is the right one, eerie similarities!

Eerie similarities are also present in this proposed legislation and its predecessor the Terrorism Act 2000. It is in this act that the law’s definition of a terrorist is found. To quote chapter 11 section 1(1) “In this Act “terrorism” means the use or threat of action where....”(c) The use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.” Subsection

4 (a) of the Act goes on to say “action includes action outside the United kingdom.”

So students do not use or threaten to use violence in order to further your political aims. Do not think you will get away with it by going to another country to do so because that’s naughty as well; even if the leader of that country is a bastard who doesn’t abide by his own rules. Do not think of getting around it by calling such actions

‘liberation’ or ‘sowing the seeds of democracy’ as no one will believe you; besides funding these things will put a huge dent in your student loan which is meant for textbooks, pencils and such like.

Students of journalism, should you ever receive the statements of those proscribed as terrorist organisations be sure to make it clear “that the statement neither expressed [your] views nor had [your] endorsement.” As to how far the statement must be an incitement to terrorism is uncertain. Section 1(2) (a) defines them: “[as] glorifies the commission or preparation (whether in the past, in the future or generally) of such [terrorist] acts or offences...” Good, that means that if in the course of an interview with a terrorist mastermind they express a preference for the malted milk biscuit you do not have to make it clear in your article that you in no way share the evil endorsement of biscuits with a picture of a cow on the front..

On the other hand subsection (4) (a) states “It is irrelevant

for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) Whether the statement relates to the commission, preparation or instigation of one or more particular acts of terrorism.... of acts of terrorism of a particular description.... or of acts of terrorism generally....” Somewhat confusing; so law students knuckle down study hard and rub your hands together in anticipation of the money coming your way if you can understand this stuff.

Picture the scene: mountain hideaway; tea is served, a choice of biscuits presented. Your mind occupied by the fame and fortune to be made from such an exclusive you pick up and dunk the very last malted milk in the whole grim, cold and remote system of concrete bunkers. Battle-hardened fanatical eyes glare in fury at you; knuckles whiten around the barrels of AK-47’s. Should have gone for the rich tea, there is plenty of them because they’re shit. Which is not, of course, to draw an analogy with the many sections, subsections and sub-sub sections of the proposed Prevention of Terrorism Act?

06 Issue 2 Volume 13 News [email protected]

News... because we are a newspaper! The Terrorism Act and YOU! An article by Jason Dyer

With the current climate of fear and the imminent release of the Terrorism Act, Jason asks how this may effect even the most innocent of us...

And now for something a little different...Railtrack Blunders...

The company responsible for the fatal crash outside Hatfield, Balfour Beatty, a company which made £200 million in profit, was fine a paltry £13.5 million and escaped manslaughter charges through lack of evidence.

This repeats the familiar pattern of government associated companies receiving little more than a slap on the wrist for fatal negligence with nobody left accountable to a tragedy leaving four dead and 102 injured.

Following the disaster the chief executive of Balfour Beatty, Mike Welton, remained in his position earning half a million a year up to his retirement in 2004 for which he received a £160,000 pay off. Ten months after the

disaster he was made chairman of the governments railway sector advisory group. The company has also prospered since the crash as part of the metro networks consortium, which service and upgrade the tube network which sent the profits so high it already dwarves the fine.

Tory story...

The race for the title has begun. Not for the premiership, (that’s already been bought) but the race for the undisputed Tory champion. The party which has been also invisible in the last few years is trying to find a new leader after the prince of darkness Michael Howard was caught in daylight, sorry, lost the election.

David Cameron has stepped out of the shadows with his closet open

and skeletons leaping out. This policy of denial with a wink has actually helped his bid for power. Cameron has been involved in an alleged drug scandal in which he neither confirms nor denies his involvement with the taking of drugs, (he may have had a lemsip once we’re just not sure).

Even with his jaded past Mr. Cameron still inspires confidence in Tory voters with six out of ten voters saying that they would still back him even if it was confirmed that he had taken hard drugs. The other four weren’t high enough to comment.

His main adversary in the battle for Tory supremacy, Ken Clarke dismissed the drugs hype as a “silly witch hunt” in the light of Cameron’s campaign manager being snapped with a cocaine

snorting hooker. (Ed says: Ken Clarke eliminated)

Mr. Cameron’s campaign was first engulfed in the drugs fiasco when it was alleged that a relative was addicted to heroin.

Mr Cameron is said to be the new Blair so if he does make it to leader we’ll see if he can hoodwink a nation to vote for a winning smile and a lover of Bush.

Bush diving...

The White House were quick to deny the statement by Dubya that it was in fact the Lord himself that told him to invade Iraq.

The president who was reportedly, “driven with a mission from God” did not confirm or deny that he is on speaking terms with

the Almighty or if it was just the usual voices in his head.

In the statement God had revealed to Dubya that he should fight in Afghanistan and has told him to fight the tyrannies elsewhere to find peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Dubya was quick to explain how he would achieve this by saying “I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state.” How God will help in this matter is not quite visible yet as Dubya has not given us that part of the conversation.

The president was unavailable for comment as he was playing hide and seek while a new administration could be found.

*

Where are our biscuits?!

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Advertisment Issue 2 Volume13 07

08 Issue 2 Volume 13 News [email protected]


Well it’s that time of year again, when the ghouls,

goblins, and freaks come out to play and I do not mean enduring the weekly shopping trip to Asda, Hatfield town centre, it’s pretty much Halloween in there 24/7. Halloween is here! Another slice of pop culture imported from septic tank land the good ol’ US of A (but I shouldn’t really knock the yanks, they did give us Michael Myers: the teenage maiming anti-hero from the Halloween series

of movies and trick or treating) and rest assured there will be kids on the streets demanding sweets. However the actual origins of Halloween lie closer to home.

The term Halloween derives from Hallowe’en a bastardisation of All Hallows Eve, so called because it is the day before the Catholic All Saints holy day, which in turn used to be called All Hallows derived from All Hallowed Souls. Back in the day of pagan worship

and wanton abandonment (wouldn’t it be great if we were all still pagans?) Halloween was a day of pagan religious festival in Northern Europe, until the pesky Christians got their mucky paws on it and gave it a Christian re-interpretation, just as they did with Christmas and Easter which were also originally pagan holidays.

Halloween has long been associated with the occult and many myths and legends. In Ireland it is called Pooky Night, named after the impish Celtic spirit the Púca who appears as a large black goat and incidentally

lends its name to Puck the cloven footed prankster in A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Halloween is also supposedly a time when the spirit world is closer to our own, making contact with the dead a lot easier (if that’s your bag). The humble pumpkin, or when carved for All Hallows Eve the Jack-‘o-Lantern, perhaps the

most easily recognisable icon of Halloween also has its association with Halloween based in myth, although originally Europeans used turnips, yes turnips, until the introduction of the pumpkin from America. Irish legend has it that a dodgy farmer called Jack tricked the Devil into a tree and wouldn’t let him down until Satan promised Jack he would go to hell. Nevertheless Jack was not a good boy and did not rack up enough credit to get into Heaven. Alas poor Jack being in limbo was forced to walk the earth for the rest of his days carrying a carved out turnip with a candle in

it to lead his way, definitely not the best way to spend eternity.

So after eating the innards of your Jack-‘o-Lantern, scaring a few kiddies and coming down off a huge sugar rush there’s not much else to do, however in Mexico the fun carries on. Mexicans pull out all the stops for the day after Halloween when they celebrate Dia de los Muertos: the day of the dead. This festival is held in honour of those dead and gone but not forgotten. This is a huge festival which incorporates massive street parades of people of all ages dressed as skeletons, both cool and macabre.

Long gone are my days of

blagging chocolate on doorsteps, lobbing eggs at those homes that are reluctant to give up any booty and feeling sick the next day. Instead Halloween these days is an excuse to wear a mask and get drunk... inevitably ending up feeling sick the next day anyway.

“The term Halloween derives from Hallowe’en a bastardisation of All Hallows Eve”

The humble bumble bee, not just a vaguely annoying insect that

makes honey but a fundamental part of mankind’s existence. Einstein was quoted as saying that if bees disappeared from the earth, in only one generation mankind would be extinct. Why? I hear you shout. Well trees, flowers and bees have developed a co-dependency over the Millennia. Flowers need bees to pollinate them and bees require pollen and nectar to live. A bees diet consists of nectar their carbohydrate and pollen their protein. If bees did vanish the changes would be startling. The pollination of 80% of cultivated plants depends on bees, without this pollination of common foodstuffs such as strawberries; apples and beans would be in shortage and eventually disappear. So no food equals no people.

So spare a thought for the bee next time you hold a rolled up newspaper in your hand.

5 Big Blistering Bee Facts:

Their wings beat 200 times a second

They can visit up to10, 000 flowers a day

The average hive has over 50, 000 bees and a worker bee dies from exhaustion after only 5 weeks

Bees collect water to use as an air-conditioning system in the hive

A worker bee only collects half a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime, put that on your toast and eat it!

Just Bee-causeHow much do you know about our humble bumble bee?! Marcus Holland finds out more.

WITCHES, BLACK CATS, MAGIC...Resident reporter, Marcus Holland, discusses halloween, its origins and the way in which

different cultures celebraate this international holiday.

“Halloween was a day of pagan

religious festival in Northern

Europe, until the pesky Christians got their mucky

paws on it and gave it a Christian re-

interpretation, just as they did with Christmas

and Easter”

The National Union of Students UK (NUS) today announced

Sport England as a sponsor in this year’s NUS/Daily Mirror National Student Journalism Awards.

A highlight in the student media calendar, the awards recognise the very best in writing, design and web publishing. Sport England is sponsoring Best Student Sports Journalist and will be offering the winner the opportunity to see their work in print, in addition to a cash prize.

This year has seen record number of entries for the award, showing the breadth of sport taking place already at campuses across the country. Twenty-seven students submitted their work for consideration. The winner will be announced on November 12th

at a special ceremony in central London. Prizes include £500 cash and an assignment to write an article for the Sport England annual report that is sent to more than five hundred Chief Executives within the sports industry.

Roger Draper, Chief Executive of Sport England, said:

“Sport England is delighted to be sponsoring the NUS/Daily Mirror National Student Journalism Awards. Sports journalists have a key role to play in helping to encourage people to lead healthier and more active lifestyles. Sport England is committed to increasing levels of participation in sport and physical activity. The more we can promote the benefits associated with sport through the media the better.”

NUS National Secretary Gemma Tumelty said: “Student media is the breeding ground for the journalists of the future. It’s great to see organisations such as Sport England recognising this.”

Sport England has also recently launched a new service to ensure getting active is as easy as possible. Activeplaces.com is a single web-based database that holds information on sports facilities throughout England. It contains information on specific details such as where the facility is, its size, opening times, contact numbers and activities. Sport England will be encouraging students moving to new universities to use Activeplaces.com to find out more about sports facilities in their area.

Sport England shows support for student journalism

(ed: not the view of ed.,uhsu or universe)

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk News Issue 2 Volume13 09


For the first time ever, the University of Hertfordshire

have had a team on the nationally acclaimed TV programme, University Challenge. The team that comprised of of Adrian Lewis (captain), Bob Chapman, Avril Day-Jones, Sarah Williamson and reserve Kulvinder Chadha, will face Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge

in their first round University Challenge match on 31 October, 8.30pm on BBC 2.

Adrian is currently finishing his MSc in Occupational Psychology, Bob is currently in his first year PhD in Astrophysics , Avril has finished her MSc in Astrophysics and has started her PhD, Sarah is finishing her BA

in Humanities and Literature and Kulvinder is finishing his MSc in Astrophysics.

I spoke to Bob Chapman of the team, my mind casting back to my first year in 2000 when I saw the posters and thought for applying knowing that I would know maybe one answer in the whole series. When I said this to Bob he laughed and said that the process was indeed gruelling, but the whole experience was “fantastic”, a word used frequently as he described process.“It wasn’t very well advertised,” says Bob, “it was buried deep in studynet.”Despite the apparent apathy in promotion, Bob attended the informal meeting for the selection process at the Students’ Union. “There were ten people there,” Bob recalls, “and we were selected based on our results from a set of questions we were given.”

After the top five were selected

there came a more formal exam, where candidates found themselves in a “locked room” to answer their questions. The answer sheets were then sent to Granada (yes, Granada. The BBC buy the programme from Granada studios) for grading. Within two weeks the team was interviewed and selected for the programme. Out of around an initial 200 universities, 28 were chosen, a tremendous achievement in itself.

Up in the first round it’s always daunting to take on a reputable

University College, but we certainly shouldn’t be seen as an underdog.The first show for a UH team I could feel the word “fantastic” bouncing around in my mind.

Asked whether he would do it again, Bob said “once you have made a television appearance, you can’t do it again.”He will, however, be getting a lot more involved in the preperation and promotion for next years team.“I would love to be able to help organise the team for next year,” says Bob. He hopes that next year will attract more than just the ten that showed up this year.

Although they have filmed some of the challenges already, Bob refused to tell me whether or not they got into the second round.“You’ll just have to watch it.”I will. Don’t forget, BBC2, 31st Oct, 2030hrs.

Who’s the man in the middle?“Up in the first

round it’s always daunting to take on a reputable

University College, but we certainly shouldn’t be seen as an underdog.”

Universally Challenged!!!The first UH team to reach the TV programmes finalists. Watch them on 31st of this month on BBC2 at 2030hrs.

Four dead and over one hundred other people injured, people

commuting between London and Leeds on a train that overturned just past Hatfield station.

Monday 17th October marked the five year anniversary of an event that brought to light the horrific extent of negligence that occurs in Britain’s rail system. This may not seem so important to a university community with a constant turn over of new non-local students,

especially post-07/07 London terrorist attacks, but it is.

Now after five years the companies deemed responsible for the crash have been made to pay compensation. Balfour Beatty, the maintenance firm have been ordered to pay £10m whilst Network Rail, formerly Railtrack, will have to pay £3.5 million. Is this really the cost of human life?

Even five years on it still makes

you think, every time you step on a train going home, shopping or for a night out could your

carriage be derailed at a bend going 115mph? Britain has been awash with terrorist paranoia recently so it is easy to forget the other dangers.

Families of the victims laid floral tributes on Monday 17th, five years on some small degree of compensation has been paid but five years on an incident,

which judge Mr Justice Mackay described as ‘the worst case of industrial negligence he had ever seen’ according to the Welwyn and Hatfield Times, still rolls through the local community.

“Balfour Beatty to pay £10m

Network Rail to pay £3.5m”

WANT TO BE A UNIVERSE

REPORTER? GOT GOOD IDEAS FOR NEWS STORIES? EMAIL US THEN!

Hatfield train crash, five years on ... Jacob Z Clinton

News in brief...Just so you can catch up with what you’ve missed in the last month!

ASIAN EARTHQUAKE

Pakistani Kashmir hit again by an Earthquake of magnitude 6 at around 140km from the north of Islamabad.On Sunday the 23rd of October, the same area hit by the 8th of October earthquake has again been hit but no victims nor damages have been declared by the local authorities.

WILMA FLOODS MEXICO

Hurricane Wilma finally left the Mexican gulf coast after 48hours of pounding over the Yucatan region. However it leaves the region with severe flooding and 7 people have been confirmed to be dead. Thousands of victims wait for the army and the navy to drop aid supplies.

BRITIAN BINGE DRINKING

Drinks Giants are to get more people to drink when the licensing laws are relaxed. Pub managers will get up to £20,000 bonuses for exceeding targets and staffs is to be asked to sell more shots.

Licensing laws are expected to be relaxed on 24th of November.

BRUM MAYHEMBirmingham in chaos as more than 35 people have been injured and one 23-year-old man was found dead after a deadly violent night of crime on Saturday the 22nd of October. It happened after a week of tension between the black and Asian communities in Lozells’ area following the alleged rape of a 14-year-old Jamaican girl.

BIRD FLUThe British government are ready to order two doses of bird flu vaccine per person in Britain. Vaccine manufacturers are preparing to release 120m doses, two per person, to fight against possible bird flu pandemic.

TORY RACEWith Kenneth Clarke out of the running now, David Cameron is in the lead for the battle to lead the Conservative party as ten out the 18 Tory MSPs told the BBC that they wanted Cameron to win. The two candidates, David Cameron and David Davis will have to battle for 6 more weeks as Michael’s Howard will be announced on December the 6th.

10 Issue 2 Volume 13 Awearness [email protected]

When it comes to saving water … we could alldo our bit. Just a few changes here and therecould help reduce the overall consumption onCampus, which means more money foreducation and less down the drain.Did you know that Hertfordshire andsurrounding areas receive 50% less rainfall thanthe rest of our country? That’s a fact … and allthe more reason to save your water.So how can you do your bit? Try out these tips:

• Turn off dripping taps – save 25 litres a day• Take a quick shower instead of a bath – save 55 litres a time• Turn off the tap when you clean your teeth – save 10 litres a time

• Use the washing machine only on a full load – every wash uses 65 litres of water. Why not share a load of washing with a friend?

• Fill the kettle only with the amount of water you need – save water and save energy

That’s the question being asked all over campus by our local water company – Three Valleys Water.There’s been a lot in the news about dry weather and low water resources in this part of the countryand with it, the need to conserve water supplies. So Three Valleys Water has joined forces with theUniversity of Hertfordshire to promote a ‘healthy look at water’.

We’re already working with Three Valleys Water to identify leakage on our private water mains – aventure which will help us save around 65 million litres of water (that’s 26 Olympic size swimmingpools) next year. That’s a saving of £45,000, which can be far better used for education!

But the ‘Do you know your H20?’ campaign is something everyone can get involved in … and there’s even a chance to win a Grand … just by saving water! Look out

for the posters and flyers all around Campus … and remember to bewater-wise wherever and whenever you can. Water is a

precious, live-giving resource and we should all beresponsible for looking after it – both for

ourselves and for future generations.

How would you like to win a Grand? If it sounds toogood to be true, it isn’t! More than 1,000 students

have already gone online to sign their pledges to savewater … and they all stand a chance of winning£1,000. Make sure you don’t get left out.

If you sign the pledge, we’re asking you to promise tosave water for just one month. You’ll probably find itso easy that you stick to the habit for years! But inthe meantime, we’re asking you to do one or all of

the following for the next four weeks:

• Turn the tap off while you’re brushing yourteeth – use a mug of water to rinse your

mouth instead• Take a shower instead of a bath – save

55 litres of water every time• Use the washing machine ly

on a full load –

a full load saves more water than two half loads• Fill the kettle only with the water you need and not

to the brim – saves energy as well water• Drink tap water to stay hydrated – it tastes great

chilled from the fridge• Use your washing-up water for other things – it’s

ideal for washing out your cans, glass and plastic for recycling

If you think you can manage to stick to any ofthese, go on-line to sign the pledge today.

You’ll find the pledge and water surveyon: the StudyNet homepage;www.herts.ac.uk/sustainable orwww.uhsu.herts.ac.uk

How do you know if your

body is getting enough

water? It’s easy … next time

you visit the loo, take a look at

the ‘Do you know your H20?’ posters on the

back of the doors.

They’ll advise you whether your body has

enough water or needs a little (or even a lot)

more. The colour of your urine is an instant way

to check your hydration and keeping hydrated

is an essential part of staying healthy. Pale

straw-coloured is good, but anything darker

means ‘drink up’.

Our brains are made up of 75% to 85% water

and dehydration can decrease attention and

concentration by 13%. So if you want to get top

marks … top up with water.

It’s also important to help us stay physically

fit. Drinking water before any physical

activity will help keep your heart rate and

body temperature lower.

Drinking tap water can:

• Keep concentration levels up

• Reduce infection in your body

• Help keep your weight down and your

metabolism up

• Help banish sunken eyes and dark circles

• Improve your skin tone

• Help keep your breath sweet

Keep a jug of tap water in the fridge and drink

it whenever you can. And don’t wait until you’re

thirsty to have a drink – by that time your body

is already dehydrated. Once you get into the

habit of drinking water, you won’t look back.

LESSCOULD YOU USE A LITTLE WATER?

IT’S TOO!

HEALTHY SIGN THE PLEDGE - WIN A GRAND!

USE IT AGAIN & AGAIN!Next time you go down to the recycling centre,you’ll spot our funky ‘Save the Planet’ postersreminding you to re-use your washing upwater to rinse your cans and bottles forrecycling.

We all know that recycling’s vitally importantin helping to clean up and conserve ourenvironment. But it’s pointless saving oneresource and wasting another. So next timeyou wash your dishes, use the water to rinseout any cans, glass bottles or plastic bottleswhich you’ve set aside for the recycling bins.It’ll save loads of water, which will make ahuge difference to the University’s water bill …and will help to ensure there’s enough waterfor everyone to enjoy!

THE SHOW’S ON THE ROADThree Valleys Water brought their water-savingmessage onto Campus for Fresher’s Week … andbrought their camera’s along with them! Our very ownMarek Nusl (Maz), V.P.Communicationsand Media, beingfilmed for AngliaTV, along withPaula Campbell,Public RelationsManager forThree Valleys

Water.

Students, Rikki Kotecha(kneeling), Simon Dell,Lauren Marshall andDamien Williams picked upsome water saving tips fromThree Valleys Water’s Jodi-Ann Pastorino.

Jonathan Redfordand Dina Dodiawere keen to be inour ‘mug’ shot.

It’s the small things that make a big difference, so just a few changes by each one of us will have a big overall effect.

Keep a look-out for posters on Campus – they’ll remind you of what you can do to use less water.

UniverseAd 12/10/05 3:45 pm Page 1

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Feature Issue 2 Volume13 11

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun 9am -10am Sticky Ami @ Uni 10am - 11am Tom,Kenno & Bob Tom,Kenno & Bob Sticky Ami @ Uni 11am - 12pm Tom,Kenno & Bob Keep it Kosher Tom,Kenno & Bob Sticky Ami @ Uni 12pm - 1pm Up the Junction Keep it Kosher The News Show 1pm - 2pm Up the Junction Up the Junction Alfonst & Rodrieguez The Session Helen & Joe 2pm - 3pm Isaac Up the Junction Alfonst & Rodrieguez The Session Tom,Kenno & Bob Helen & Joe 3pm - 4pm Isaac Henna Khan Tom,Kenno & Bob 4pm - 5pm hOT ¬ BOX hOT ¬ BOX Mike / Adraian hOT ¬ BOX Dj Sumo Davies 5pm - 6pm Push it Urban Essence Mike / Adraian Dj Sumo 6pm - 7pm Indie go Urban Essence Pioneers of Sound 7pm - 8pm Indie go The A Team Matel for the Masses Dan Lawrence Show Indie go Soul,Funk 8pm - 9pm Hatfield Nights The A Team Matel for the Masses Dan Lawrence Show Indie go Soul,Funk 9pm - 10pm Hatfield Nights D sound Metal for the Masses Akeel Dj sumo 10pm - 11pm The Rock Show Dsound Afcab Alex Finucane Dj sumo 11pm - 12am The Rock Show Kaoss Afcab Alex Finucane Kaoss 12am - 8am Sustaining Service Sustaining Service Sustaining Service Sustaining Service Sustaining Service

This article was going to just be an advertorial, but after much thought I decided that I would play a little on

the press release, information and survey that the water company, Three Valleys Water (TVW), sent to us. I must say, when Maz told me to write the report up I really wasn’t that interested because the press release was all we-are-great and we have helped the university save thousands of pounds because we are so great. There was no hard hitting figures, no awareness campaign. However, my cynicism aside, it was and is for the best interest of our planet that I have decided to do this, so I won’t bore you with press release information. Instead I will concentrate more on the survey and the underlying message that I think TVW were trying to get to the students.

The survey that TVW sent along with the press release at first seemed a little daunting, not in length, but I hate sitting down to a questionnaire/survey. They seem so generic and impersonal, but I thought what the hey. After all this is journalism and you have to get as much information as possible, so why not see how good I am with water? The thought of wasted water, having it drilled as a child, makes

me cringe and I can’t stand the sound of a dripping tap. I remember at boarding school we calculated that the amount of water that was lost from an old, broken, dripping tap in that year was enough to contribute to the water shortage of ’95! I can’t remember the exact numbers, but it was ahhh-loooht of gallons.

I surprised myself with how good I actually was with water and couldn’t really fulfil any of the recommended “pledges” that were attached at the bottom of the survey because I already did everything that they had recommended.

This is what TVW was trying to hammer into the all that are living on and off campus. The waste of water is not acceptable. I do find it rather ironic though that if a flat rate is paid for water (like I do), then what stops people from exploiting it? Surely the attitude is “I’ve paid for it so I

am going to use as much as I possibly can” and it’s only a rare few that do try to minimise the amount of water used. Should water meters be compulsory?

Now the water companies will argue that the monies taken aren’t just for providing water, but for water treatment, water management, waste management and all those other things that we don’t really associate with water companies. That is

fair enough, and I commend any company that tries to raise awareness of environmental issues.

The University has also been very good with water this year. A leaking mains, which was repaired by TVW, cost the university £45,000 to repair. This necessary work will not only help to save water, but help to save the university some money (especially with all the new buildings. You never know, it may even contribute to helping the University take over our commercial services…!). TVW “estimates that repairs to the university’s private water mains will prevent 65 million litres of water or equivalent to 26 Olympic size swimming pool running to waste over the next year.” Impressive.

The university have fulfilled the first part of their commitment to “make an investment today that will stand us in good stead for a greener and better future,” said Dr Vall Rasaratnam, Environmental Engineer at UH. The question is will they be able to influence the amount of water used on campus by our students? The university are going to have to run a very tight and powerful campaign in order to make sure that water is not wasted on campus in halls of residents.

It is, however, a step in the right direction. Having someone like TVW keeping their eyes on them also helps as they have been providing water know for the last 130 years. Now that is some experience. Let’s hope they know what they are talking about after all these years. One thing is for sure though, water is a valuable and precious commodity.

To do the survey yourself please go to the uhsu website and follow the link.

This is your student radio station! All presenters are students, and types of shows vary. We’ve got Rock, RnB, Drum & Base and lots of Commercial, Cheese and Pop as well as comedy, games and many features new to CRUSH1278am this year.

You can listen online, in the Elehouse or on your ra-dio. For those of you who claim you can’t pick up CRUSH1278am because your radio does not have am, then let us inform you

now that am and mw are the same thing.

CRUSH1278am also host nights held in the FONT Bar, all of which are broad-cast live on the internet. This happened at all the CRUSH events last year and featured many of crush’s fi nest DJ’s playing hard house, nue sk-ool breakes and all the more underground mix of tunes which aren’t normally heard on CRUSH, all of which proved overwhelmingly popular.

Water way to go Tamer Asfahani

“...especially with all the new buildings. You never know, it

may even contribute to helping the University take over our

commercial services…!”

12 Issue 2 Volume 13 Feature [email protected]

New students- Win £50 worth of vouchers!Want to win £50 worth of

vouchers of your choice from Virgin stores, Dixons, or Waterstones?

To find out how read on…

What to do?

All you have to do is fill out the short survey which has been sent out on StudyNet and also will be sent by email to all new students. Really, it is a short survey!Why should you?

The survey is exploring YOUR views on technology and how much YOU use it. It has been designed by the Blended Learning Unit who focus on enhancing YOUR learning with the use of technology. Because all of YOU will have different views on technology and YOU will have used different kinds before coming to UH, we need to know what this is.

So…

We have designed a survey which tells us about how well you can use technology, and how much you think technology will help you to learn. Basically, if you provide us with your views, we can provide you with the learning you want! Not only that, we are offering a prize draw: 1st prize of £50 vouchers and 5 runner-up prizes of £10 vouchers OF YOUR CHOICE!

Sound good?

Then log onto StudyNet under ‘Student Support’ or check your email to complete the survey.

Fill it out or miss out!!

Deadline for survey and prize draw entries: 28th October 2005. Draw entry will be conditional on valid ID number and email address. Also, only ONE response per person and answering all the questions.

Important: This survey is only open to students who have enrolled for the first time at UH. If you are at any level studying at UH AND new this academic year then we want to hear from you.

For all returning students, the Blended Learning Unit will be asking for your views soon, so look out for us!

This month marked the 200th anniversary of the Battle of

Trafalgar, a defining moment in British history the battle saw the end of Napoleons hopes of invasion and also the death of a great hero.

Admiral Lord Nelson died in the afternoon of October 21st 1805, after having lead his fleet to an overwhelming victory over the combined French and Spanish forces off Cape Trafalgar, he succumbed to the mortal wounds he suffered shortly after the start of the battle.

Nelson is perhaps the greatest naval commander to have ever lived, he came from a humble background and was a small and often sick child, but now his victories are textbook and his name legend. However there is more to any man than a single action and this is especially true of Nelson.

Nelson was by no means flawless, far from it, an overview of his life will show that he often disobeyed orders, he could be reckless and headstrong, he was accused of war crimes and his personal life brought great embarrassment upon himself and the admiralty.

Nelson believed from a young age that he would be a great hero and this belief sometimes lead him to make tragic mistakes. In the years leading to 1797 Nelson had proved himself to be a brilliant tactician and his famous victory at Cape St. Vincent, earlier that year, had reinforced his own faith in his abilities. In late 1797 he lead an attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife, bad weather had delayed the landing and as a result Nelson has lost the element of surprise, but he continued on regardless. With the Spanish aware of Nelsons approach the attack was a disaster, hundreds of men were lost and Nelson himself was shot in the elbow resulting in the loss of his right arm.

Despite his injury Nelson was back on active duty by the end of 1797 and the following year won a tremendous victory at the Battle of the Nile, he then found himself in Naples where he began a darker period of his life. While in Naples Nelson met the beautiful Lady Emma Hamilton, the wife of the British ambassador to Naples and after a short time she became his mistress. Some believe that a head injury Nelson received during the Battle of the Nile unsettled his personality

during this time and this is what caused his actions. Whatever the reason his relationship with Lady Hamilton wasn’t Nelson’s only embarrassment during the Neapolitan campaign, he also allowed British ships to hold prisoners of the king of Naples, most of whom were then executed . This action, although not a war crime, was not received well by the admiralty and Nelson was relived of command and returned to England with Lady Hamilton.

The scandal of Nelson and his mistress preceded their return to England and the public’s opinion of Nelson changed, after a number of incidents the admiralty felt it best to return Nelson to sea, where he would regain his reputation as a tactician and commander once again.

Despite sometimes stepping over the line, Nelson’s habit of disobeying orders was usually founded. On once such occasion during the Battle of Copenhagen Nelson’s ships were taking heavy fire from Danish shore batteries and his commanding officer ordered him to retreat, Nelson then promptly placed his telescope up to his blind eye and proclaimed

“I really don’t see the signal”. Nelson carried on fighting and eventually gained the upper hand forcing the Danes to surrender, in hindsight the admiralty overlooked his disobeying of orders in light of his now famous victory, and he was awarded the title of Viscount Nelson for his actions.

4 years later Nelson’s final battle took place, he had planned it many months in advance and had informed all his officers of their duties. He then sat and wrote his final dispatch, a portion of which read “For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may his blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend”.

Just after midday Nelson flew the signal “England expects that every man will do his duty”, then the battle began. Outnumbered 27 to 33 two lines of British ships broke apart the French/Spanish line, then followed hours of close ship to ship combat, for most of which Nelson spent bellow decks on H.M.S. Victory, suffering from a mortal bullet wound incurred 45 minutes into the battle. The

bullet passed through his left shoulder and lodged in his spine, Nelson managed stayed alive for 4 hours, long enough to hear that he had won the day taking 19 ships overall. Nelson’s death overshadowed his great victory, one sailor wrote “chaps who fought like the devil now sit down and cry like a wench”, even Vice Admiral Collingwood, Nelsons immediate subordinate wrote “my heart is rent with the most poignant grief for the death of a friend”. Nelsons body was returned to England, preserved in a barrel of brandy, he was given a state funeral attended by thousands and buried at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Some say that Nelsons ability to inspire all his men (the so called “Nelson Touch”) was his greatest achievement, but we should not forget that Nelson wasn’t a nobleman at birth, he was the simple son of a rector, born Horatio Nelson, but he died Vice Admiral of the White The Right Honourable Horatio, Viscount Nelson, Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath. So I believe that Nelson’s true legacy is that he showed how even the smallest, sickest child can grow to be greater than they ever imagined they could.

I vow to thee my country…With the 200th anniversary of Admiral Lord Nelsons death. David Randall educates as all

on the life of one of the greatest naval commanders to have ever lived.


They say that you have to suffer for your art. By that token

then, Sky Sports must indeed be art. How do I know, well I am currently suffering thanks to their wish to film the Hurricanes for a piece on American Football in universities. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about being filmed for TV (even if it will be for a satellite TV channel when I don’t have a Sky dish at home). It’s just that I’m still a little stiff and bruised after being pummelled by my team-mates as we stepped up the level of work in our training session. It was all about looking right, you understand. There’s no point in hauling a TV Crew (well one man and a camera) out to the wilds of Hatfield if all there was to film was a few guys wheezing through fitness training. So we put on a bit of show. Best kit, cheerleaders on the sidelines and lots of cheering each other on. Oh yes, and lots of hitting people at full pace. That’s when we began to suffer for our art. It’s difficult to describe to anyone who hasn’t been through it, but there’s a huge difference between the level of work and frankly,

pain, between the kind of training we have to do to teach people the basics of football and the kind of training you have to do once you start playing matches. And it was that more intense training that we wanted to showcase. So the biggest, nastiest and downright meanest guys available were forced into Hurricanes kit, and then as numbers were a bit short I got roped in as well. At least it gave the others a target. The weirdest bit was that most of the time we were just being ‘background’ to interviews. What that meant was that while the rest of us inflicted pain on each other, sweated, wheezed and generally

ran ourselves ragged a few select individuals got to stand in front of the camera and chat with the interviewer. We were just there to make it look right, suffering for Sky TV’s art. I hope it looks good when it’s eventually broadcast.

This got me thinking about how we are generally prepared to suffer for things we enjoy. It’s not just American Football training. Most sports I’ve been involved in work along the ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy. I recently spent a weekend in a very wet and cold Welsh river for the ‘fun’ of running whitewater in a 16-foot canoe. I’m happy to experience that strange burning sensation of total muscle exhaustion that you get in your legs after belting down a mountainside with two planks strapped to your feet when I go skiing. (Skiing is a particularly strange, masochistic activity for someone who doesn’t deal well with heights.) I’ve played rugby in ankle-deep mud, and had small leather balls bowled at me at high speed by cricket-mad clergy. You’ve got to wonder why. It’s not only traditional sports where

people suffer in this way. I’ve known dancers who continued to dance with shin splints (or in certain cases stress fractures) despite intense pain. I’ve come across photographers willing to literally climb mountains to get that shot. So when so many people are prepared to go to such extremes to get what are, after all, quite insubstantial rewards, why do we find it hard to do things that we know will do us good?

I’m sure you know what I mean. Given the choice between running around in Hatfield’s delightful weather chasing a man holding

a football or actually studying or trying to get that piece of work done in good time rather than at the last minutes my response is usually along the lines of ‘just let me get my boots on’. So I have to apologise to Universe’s illustrious editor (again) that I’ve been so busy hitting people (and being hit by other people) that I’ve pushed another deadline to the limit. There is of course a large part of me that knows I could have done this over last weekend (when I was playing

in that cold Welsh river) or during any of the many hours I’ve spent down the gym (desperately trying to improve my strength and speed to keep ahead of the new intake of young players). But it was never going to happen. It’s the same in so many areas of our lives, we

overlook the long term goals for short term rewards. We fail to get our priorities right. Sooner or later we have to face those horrible grown up questions of where we want our lives to go, what we think we’re here for. It much easier to just wonder about where you might be going tonight, but sometimes you have to fix on that bigger picture. There’s a passage from the Bible that comes to mind that puts things into perspective. “Everyone who competes in the games goes

into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.” (1 Corinthians 9:25) If we’re willing to put ourselves through discomfort and even pain to win the insubstantial trophy that comes with a sporting triumph

(trust me, the trophies I have from National Championships are just shiny plastic at the end of the day) then how much more should we be willing to go through to answer the deeper questions of life, and of what is beyond our lives. Then we’ll start to face the questions of how we can help relieve other people’s suffering by giving up or going through something ourselves. What little difference would it make to us as individuals if gave up the price of a pint to help the victims of the Asian earthquake? Together it could mean the best part of £40,000 across the University. If we could do so much with so little effort, what might we achieve if we really tried.

Allan Smith, University ChaplainTel 01707 284456 (University internal 4456)Email [email protected]: http://www.herts.ac.uk/services/chaplaincy

Life, the Universe and EverythingBy Allan Smith, University Chaplain

“If we’re willing to put ourselves through discomfort and even pain

to win the insubstantial trophy that comes with a sporting triumph... “

“...then how much more should we be willing to go through to answer the

deeper questions of life, and of what is beyond our lives.”

Cola

variants 2 for

£1.30

Christmas Tubes 2 for

£2.00

The Sun 20p

Lucozades Sort 500mls 75p Evian 50cl for £1.30

14 Issue 2 Volume 13 Features [email protected]

Being a student and looking for a good home isn’t easy; that’s why

UHSU has its own letting service especially for UH students.

Other agents may take advantage of your situation, giving you bad management service from reluctant office staff and charging high administration costs, but UHSU Lettings has over the last 3 years, developed a service for students, free from administration costs, conforming to legislation, with dedicated staff members who understand student tenant’s safety and rights.Trough experience, and listening to previous tenants, UHSU Lettings has devised 2 payment plans:

• 3 equal instalments over a standard 41 week tenancy agreement.

•£1000 initial payment before September, then 2further instalments to coincide with personal loan payments.UHSU Lettings has focused on a service tailored specifically for landlords

choosing UHSU Lettings over others, the standard of lets gets better and better.

• No Administaration Fee.

• £250 Standard deposite.

• 41 weeks (9.5 month) std length of tenancy.

• On Cumpus

• Member of ARLA

• Prizes for the best tenents

The leetings office is located in the Elehouse on the College Lane Cumpus and is open 10am till 5pm Monday to Friday. For more information call 01707 286 152.

For all you need to know about housing issues then visit the studnet union house docter page www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk/support/housing

Housing Matters Government to cut teacher training

places. Commenting on news that the numbers of teacher trainers will be slashed over the next three years, NUS/NUT scholarship holder and NUS National Executive Member Wes Streeting said:

“Coupled with the decision to charge trainees fees, this marks a significant step backwards for a government that has done much to boost the numbers of teachers in this country through ‘golden hellos’ and teaching bursaries. We share concerns that the cuts will see a return to the ‘boom and bust’ pattern of teacher recruitment and retention.”

He added: “We call on the government to think again before embarking on cuts which will be bad for schools, bad for students and bad for training providers.”

Julian Nicholds, Vice President Education of NUS added: “Once again the government’s actions don’t seem to match their words. They talk about the importance of investing in early year’s provision yet they plan to cut places for trainee teachers. How can the government explain this latest attack on education and where is the strategy that matches their supposed priorities?”

Trainee teachers under threat

Young drivers out to avoid high insurance premiums by insuring

their car in their parent’s name run the risk of driving without cover, warns online insurance specialist screentrade.co.uk.

The practice known as ‘fronting’ involves insuring a car in a parent’s name and then adding a younger driver. With many teenagers looking to save money as they head off to university this month, ‘fronting’ may seem like a cost effective option.

But this could result in the insurance being declared invalid in the event of a claim and a hefty bill for any damage to the car.If the car was being used by a student to travel to and from college that would probably be enough evidence to invalidate the policy. In the worst case scenario the young driver could be fined and get six points added to their new licence if convicted of driving without insurance, which in some cases would mean a loss of licence.

“It is clear that a number of young drivers think they can save money by insuring their car in this way,” said Simon Hargreaves, direct business

director at screentrade.co.uk.

“Both they and their parents may be unaware that they could be breaking the law and risking heavy fines and points on their licence. It really is a false economy. If insurance cover is found to be null and void the young driver, or more likely the parent, will end up paying the price for some considerable time.”

Screentrade.co.uk advises youngsters to insure the car in their own name and to shop around for the best deal. Many insurers have introductory offers and

discount the cost when buying online. Starting a policy as soon as possible allows a new driver to build up their no claims bonus, which can dramatically reduce premiums over time.

For an online quote visit www.screentrade.co.uk

Screentrade.co.uk is the UK’s longest-established online insurance specialist providing car, home and travel insurance. Screentrade is a trading name of Lloyds TSB Insurance Services Limited.

Insurance warning for new drivers


Recently my house had a call from NTL, not something

generally to worry about as NTL have been everywhere around the College Lane, they were even at our fresher’s fair handing out leaflets and encouraging us to sign up to broadband and phone and digital. Nothing too dodgy about that. Right? I used to think so, but my thinking was altered in the nastiest way.

One weekday afternoon a man claiming to be from NTL called my house. Now they have called before, were very nice and even

left their contact details, however we decided not to go with them for reasons of our own. This time we thought it would be another sales call, how wrong we were. My female housemate answered the door and was greeted rudely but this NTL engineer claiming that installation had been paid by the landlord and he had come to carry it out. Now let me just confirm now that the landlord (my father) did not call NTL to install anything and we certainly did not. This man became increasingly aggressive stressing the importance of carrying out his job until other house mate who

was male eventually told the man where to go.

Now some of you may think that this was an easy mistake to make, however I am not so sure. After clarifying with my dad that he did not pay for NTL to come and install anything I thought that it would be good to phone NTL to, of course, complain about the incident. Oh what a hassle that was. I phoned, was told to put my home phone number in, was put on hold, was passed through to the department for my area, was put through to the complaints department who

then put me through to the sales department and only then were they able to tell me that they had not even got an account for the property yet alone sent an engineer to install anything.

So that leaves us with two very nasty conclusions. Either NTL are lying and are using nasty sales tactics to edge out the competition or, even worse, that there are people trying to gain access into properties. I am more inclined to believe the latter as NTL being a big company would not want to risk its reputation using aggressive

sales tactics.

This article, which started as a critique of NTL has now manifested something more sinister. These days it is not people pretending to be salesmen that prey on old age pensioners, but rather pseudo salesmen preying on students.

These men are no Willy Lowmans, however with your help we can hopefully see the death of the phoney salesmen.

*

We all love NTL?

So the name- George Alagiah ring a bell? That is because

he reads the BBC1 Six O’Clock news for you every evening! George is one of Britain’s most successful journalists and has been widely known for his work as a foreigncorrespondent. So I grabbed the chance of attending a talk by him, giving me an insight to his career. Even better, I was lucky enough to have an exclusive interview with George Alagiah.

George started off by revealing his sense of humor; he made the audience laugh, by telling amusing stories of when he was a foreign correspondent.He then went on to talk about more serious and important matters; such as the conflict in Rwanda that he experienced. He spoke about the division between the rich and the poor in the world and the poverty in Africa. He revealed how we as a country, could be more effective in helping third world countries, rather than only relying on the government of our country to do something. One of the ways he stated we could do this is by ‘Fair Trade’ which he supports.

At times it was hard to distinguish him between the George Alagiah who is on television reading the BBC1’s Six’O Clock news and the George Alagiah away from work. He read out so many precise figures and facts to the audience, as if he is still at work; you soon realize that journalism is a major part of him and you cannot separate the two. As well as being a man with great intellect and knowledge, you can also tell that he is family man, sharing experiences such as when his son was born.

When asked, who George found to

be the most inspirational person, he had interviewed; from the Likes of interviewing people such as Nelson Mandela, George surprisingly answered, ‘Desmond Tutu’. Stating that Desmond, “made, being good, fun”.

George said that the highlight of his career is learning something new everyday; there are no two days that are the same. He believes that journalism has allowed him to experience in one week which many people may experience only in their lifetime.

George told the audience that it was the ‘Watergate’ affair that influenced him to become a journalist from the age of 16. Loyal to his career, he revealed how he could not think of any other way he would

rather earn his living; even though he experienced great danger as a foreign correspondent. One word that describes George Alagiah is ‘optimistic’, which shines through him as he speaks about how he believes tomorrow the world will be better tha yesterday.

He has already written a book and hopes to release his next one on multi-cultures next year. George hopes to do something creative and imaginative in the future, and hinted he would like to write a novel.

Overall, it was an entertaining evening, which could not have been better. It was a once in a life time experience for me, that I shall never forget.

by Amarachi Ndukwe

in[George]Henna khan talk’s to George Alagiah

Well, well, well! A bit of an eventful freshers fortnight

we had there! Hope you guys all enjoyed it and have finally got over your hangovers enough to be able to settle into doing some work (yep at some point you’ll have to do work!).

Once again for any of you de Hav guys who don’t know me, I’m Levi Thorne, aka Spike, the de Havilland Site Co-ordinator, the voice of de Hav! Also just to clean up a bit of confusion from my last article, my email address is [email protected] and not [email protected] - Maz used an older copy of my article and so that issue of the universe somehow gave me two different emails.

Over the past month or so, lots of points been brought through to me, via email and through the open forum on the 10th October. Do not worry if you missed it though, I’ll be holding another one on the 3rd November. Also, many of you guys have been speaking to me during the kitchen meetings, which is giving me a good idea of where to direct my attention.

Lots of you have been coming to me with the same issues, most of which are not new but I haven’t had time to work on yet. I have had lots of complaints about parking issues, lack of a bus shelter, and having to pay so much to use the facilities at the sports village. As well as numerous complaints about the quality of the shop.

One thing I would like to bring to the attention of the students living on de Hav, we currently run night buses back from the Font every half

a hour starting when the Font closes. This is currently a free service but will be soon be charged at £1 to get you back to de Hav. What do you guys think of this? Please let me know of your opinions on this matter via my email address.

Hall of the Month!

This is a new feature. During my travels around the halls of de Havilland and talking with the RAs and student, I hear some weird and strange things and have decided to big up the hall that can make me laugh the most.

So this issue, my hall of the month is Welwyn Hall! I hear that there appears to be 5 guys showering together in flat 3 in the little pod showers :s, also Caroline in flat 5 has received a lot of complaints about her loud music during all hours being Charlotte Church. She then comes to me to request we do a Charlotte Church night in the font! Aww bless her little heart (no wonder she’s still single!). Finally a big up to my man Dipz in flat 10, a man so bored of ideas and too lazy to wash up a sensible cup thus resorting to him drinking a mix of beer and tuna out of a condom!

So yeah, big up to the whole of Welwyn Hall, you bunch of nutters! Also a big up to John, Random Dan and Glowstick man!

Levi ‘Spike’ Thornede Havilland Site [email protected]

P.S – Please no more emails about the cash point! I already know we need one and we are getting one!(Ed says: Really?!)

deHaviland IssuesYour deHaviland site Co-ordinator lets you know whats happening on the Dehav cumpus.

Freshers of the yearThese two freshers go by the name Stu and Damo and, from the fi rst day they arrived at uni have been out and about with their trade mark hats from Somerset (which no student has been able to nick yet). The Universe salutes you and awaits to see more of your crazy antics over the coming year.

Reasons for freshers of the year:• Over 30 phones numbers in 2 weeks.

• Wacky costumes

• Thilthy sence of hummor

•Out every night

If you know of any other freshers that are as mad as these two then contact us immedately. There will be a special prize at the end of the year for the most outrageous freshers

18 Issue 2 Volume 13 UHSU [email protected]

DON’T! Serious MisconductDrunk/Disorderly 1 week to 1 month ExclusionVomiting £10 fi ne (Exclude until fi ne paid) Serious Misconduct Verbal abuse of staff 3 month exclusion & ApologyMinor Vandalism Payment for damage – Exclude until paidTheft ( Un-authorised entry to premise) 6 month exclusionTheft (minor-obtaining drinks/self service) 6 month exclusionFighting 6 month exclusionMajor Vandalism 6 month exclusion – Payment for damage (Exclude until paid)Harassment 6 month exclusion & ApologyDiscrimination 6 month exclusion & ApologyThreatening Behaviour 6 month exclusion Possession Drugs – Personal Class C - 6 month exclusion Class B - 6 month exclusion Class A - Lifetime Ban

Possession drugs – Non personal Lifetime Ban

Assault 12 month exclusion - Lifetime BanViolent Assault Lifetime Ban

Serious Misconduct Possession of illegal weapons Lifetime Ban Repeat Offences 1st Repeat offence Double original action2nd Repeat offence Lifetime Ban Breach of Exclusion 1st Breach of exclusion Double original exclusion2nd Breach of exclusion Lifetime Ban

Going out is fun and a big part of student culture, but

what’s the price when you go to far? The Universe does its bit to help every one be aware of the penalties for misbehaviour. Please remeber that internal and external staff are there for your safty and to help you enjoy your nights out.

All Students’ Union licensed premises are pro-active in the checking of members and their guests at the point of entry to ensure our services are used by the correct persons. If your NUS card does not have your photo on it you must show it in conjunction with your University ID to enjoy entry into our venue.

This is achieved by ensuring that registration card checks are performed at all times where possible. If you have an NUS card then you are allowed to sign in two guests who must provide photographic identifi cation and sign in.

If you do not provide your NUS card then you will have to pay a pound and sign yourself in (with you university ID card).

No NUS card, your not comming in!

That’s a £10 fi ne my son!

Right! Your barred!

Please note this list is not exclusive.

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Arts Issue 2 Volume13 19

Once again the universe team sends me on a job I can not

refuse.

‘Dave, your going to fabric’ was the message I got from above. ‘Sweet’ was my reply, a well needed night out in front of the decks instead of behind had been planned for me and all I had to do was turn up!

I pack up my records as I finished my set in Hutton Hall, my nights work as a DJ was over and now it was my turn to be the punter. I grab my friends and jump in to my motor to make the short trip down the A1 to London’s most famous club. The club which stands in a former Victoria meat cellar has now fully established itself as the UK’s number one venue.

This is only my second visit to the super club, but it didn’t feel like it. As soon as you get through the doors you feel like you have come home. Talking about getting in, the door staff were as welcoming and friendly as ever, they are polite and helpful and make you

feel very safe. (Although I didn’t see people being searched which I must say is quite rare these days). We make are way to the main room where the music is mix between Live bands and DJ’s. The nights’ line up included so many big names I simply have not got the space to name. One man that did stand out thought was Jon Carter. His late DJ set in the main room was the highlight of the night. He has a way of blending dirty house music with the newest breakbeats and is something quite special which has to be heard. I

acted like a true punter and stood watching, and of course listening to the beats and breaks.

The bass line ripped through my chest like an express train passing a station and with the crowd shouting and begging for more it just added to the experience. So much so I needed a fag, a visit to the cigarette machine was now on the agenda, as I make my way, Tom Middleton decided it was his turn at the controls. Yet another superstar DJ which the trendy crowd welcomed with open

arms (or hands in the air to tell the full story).

As I wait in the queue for a pack of Marlborough lights I meet this cool kiwi geezer. He was 70p short for some B&H so I was happy to feed his habit. We sit on the stairs and he tells me that he found clubbing some two and a half years ago. His friends dragged him to a club one Friday night; he went kicking and screaming, saying it was not his ting’. 7 hours later the same friends found themselves dragging my man once again, this time it was not to get him in the club, but of course it was to get him out. And the name of that club that changed my new friends life… You’ve guessed it, it was Fabric baby!

Thanks to Danna for the press list and nice one to everyone else at Fabric, you once again threw the best party in town.

(Check the fabric web site at fabriclondon.com more details)

The music echoes through the air; the trees and the crowd’s

eardrums, making their feet move, their hands sway and their skin tingle. The grass beneath is slightly muddy and flattened and is littered with empty beer cans and plastic cups. Everyone is singing and dancing along, their faces expressions of pure carefree happiness. Here at the festival, whether the heavens open or the sun swelters, they can listen to music and drink without the worries of work or anything else. People who normally fret about washing their hair forget for the weekend, hide it beneath a headscarf and ‘grunge it’ or dread it.

That was the general picture when I went to Glastonbury two years ago. This summer I went to the Chelmsford based V; it had an excellent line up from Oasis, to the Prodigy, KT Tunstell, Chemical Bros to Maroon 5 and Kaiser Chiefs. Apart from the company and the line up the festival lacked

what I would refer to as ‘festival atmosphere.’ People appeared more concerned with their appearance than the music (my group excluded) it was almost as though, they went to the festival because it was the fashionable thing to do.

I knew when I set out to V that it was known for being the ‘cleaner of the festivals’ (note to readers it doesn’t differ greatly in cleanliness to Glastonbury.) What I didn’t expect to see when we arrived at the gates was people trudging through the mud and rain, pulling wheeled Louis Vuitton suitcases behind them. I was baffled to say the least. Several questions ran through my mind. For starters who in their minds would take an expensive case to a festival (if authentic) and, if fake, who in their right mind would decide to take a case to a festival when clearly a rucksack or holdall is easier to carry and more in keeping with the traditional festival experience?!

I know what you’re thinking; if they can afford to ruin a suitcase leave them to it. The thing is, the situation got worse, and I began to sense a divide between people like myself with our ruckies and battered trainers and these designer divas. This was when I was watching the bands on stage. Yes, the floor was undoubtedly littered with empty beer cups but the people seemed to stand and listen in an almost zombie

expressionless state. As though it was their duty to fashion. (This may sound harsh I know) But can you imagine a band almost pleading with its audience to jump about and look lively- you could understand if the music was bad, but if the set was good you would expect a fair bit of crowd

movement. The band ‘Embrace’ had to ask the crowd to do it, and the crowd obediently did it like a dog. The point I’m trying to make here is that the majority had to be asked, cajoled even. I’d never seen anything like it.

When I went to see ‘Idlewild’ at V they were as usual incredible. Their set was early in the day; I think it kicked off about eleven. They too had the same problem,

and commented on the lack of crowd involvement. In total there were four people dancing to some of their faster hits such as ‘The modern way of letting go’ and I was one of them. Two designer clad divas fresh out of secondary school, glared at me through their Dior sunglasses and tapped their

heeled booted feet in disgust as if to say ‘what on earth are you doing- you idiot?’ I was fuming. What right did they have to do that? Yes, I may have looked minging in scruffy jeans and a tee shirt, but I had gone there to listen to music and drink- not to parade around as though I was going to the Font on a night out!

Idlewild also played an early set at Glastonbury when I went there, and all I can say is what a difference- I have never seen a crowd so mental and infused with energy.

All in all I’m not saying people who have Louis Vuitton cases should not listen to Indie or Rock music, what I am trying to say is that if you’re only listening to the music because it’s the ‘in thing’ to do- stop now. PLEASE before you kill it for the rest of us who have followed it so avidly years before ‘alternative music’ became mainstream.

Clubs, Gigs and FestivalsWhilst Jesica tells us about the festivals she’s been to, and Isaac schpeels about the Prodigy, the Universe sends

DJ Sumo to a slightly different musical event. So what ever is your scene, read on...

Ranting of a festival goer By Jess Sturman

The Prodigy - Their Law: Singles 1990 - 2005Release date: 17-10-2005

Prodigy’s career came to the end after four albums? Sure not! When a bandr eleases a ‘best of’ album, we usually conclude that its discography is finishing soon. But before making any conclusions, Liam Howlett rushes to announce that the next Prodigy album is on its way, expected to hit the shelves at the end of 2006. While on tour in Europe for the promoting of “Their Law” compilation, he has written 3 tracks for the next album. And not to forget to mention their astonishing performance in Radio 1 Maida Vale studios recently! So, what’s this album? It consists of two CDs, one with their main hits and one with live material, rare releases and remixes. The first single from the widely anticipated “Their Law” album - Voodoo People/Out of Space remixes was released on 3rd October 2005. Despite no real media coverage (Radio 1 has started playing it this week) the single came at a respectable No.20 in the UK charts.

in[verse]

By DJ Sumo by Issac

“Here at the festival, whether the heavens open or the sun swelters, they

can listen to music and drink without the worries of work or anything else.”

THE NEWS STUFF

20 Issue 2 Volume 12 Video Games [email protected]

in[games] with Burnout Revenge

Played, tested and tried on the PS2 console.

Burnout Revenge is a game I cant review without looking back to childhood and noting that had I been given this game at say ten or eleven years old I would most likely have developed a messy bladder disorder. This being so, I’m not the man I used to be and critically

speaking the game has a couple of faults.

New cars and tracks are thrown at you every step of the way and though they look very sexy the performance barely alters between vehicles. Same way traffic can now be crashed into, taking out some of the dodging skill and It feels at times as though your CPU

competitors have been asked to take it easy on you.

I know a theory which divides humanity into groups based on how they react to sand castle’s. There are builders and there are destroyers and if you want to complete Burnout Revenge you’ll need both. Reason being that when you start to drive at speeds

in excess of 200 mph and then add nitros boost your gameplay choices become largely reactionary. I’ve noticed that people are instinctively driven to either avoid the blurry bits or aim for them, which is handy as there are disciplines in racing and crashing for both.

Despite any Gripes I have to say this game is the nuts. Intense and hectic throughout, a quick sesh will have you grinning and sweating. So let your analytical self take a break and have the child inside take over. Playing

just for fun kick back and let the wee wee fill your socks.

The King of football is back, are you up for it?

With its rival FIFA 06 already out, the PES series take a new spin with the release of PES 5 on October 28th. This time, the game includes more licenses so that now clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea can get their genuine strip.

In terms of gameplay, PES 5 includes even more detailed moves so

that the players’ animation seems more and more realistic. Watching the players running will make you think you are actually watching a match instead of playing a video game!

Furthermore, some players have been given specific attention and unique moves. For instance, it is now possible to recreate Henry’s famous curling shot if you hold R2 while you prepare your

shot.Other improvements have appeared in this year’s edition with for example new graphic improvements like shirts being pulled out or even smoke coming out of the players’ mouth

when they breathe.At last but not least, the referee has been improved as well as he seems to finally intervene when he really should. That means that playing non fair play strategy like it was possible in

the previous game won’t be possible in this PES.Konami with this game does not revolutionise the PES series but offers a solid simulation that all football fans should be happy to possess.

*Specs:

•Publisher: Electronic Arts.•Developer: Criterion Games.•Consoles: PS2, Xbox.•Online: Yes.•Players: up to 2 players.•Price: around £30

*Ratings : •Gameplay: 4/5 •Lifespan: 4/5 •Looks: 4.5/5

Release date: 20.10.05 on Ps2, Xbox, PSP 27.10.05 on PC

This section is dedicated to usually a game that really impressed us. It is mainly to give you a useful internet link where you can actually access a playable version of the game (mainly for PC then!) or useful information and videos.

This month choice goes to FEAR, an amazing FPS (First Person Shoot) from Sierra (Swat 4) that will have you wet your pants!

Link for the demo: http://pc.ign.com/articles/639/639680p1.html

Useful information about the game: h t t p : / / p c . i g n . c o m /objects/681/681912.html

Discovery Section

Useful WebsitesThis section will offer you the possibility to access a couple of websites that we think you might find useful.

www.gamefaqs.com: as its name will tell, this website is mainly for those of you who want to access tips and cheats for your favourite games.

www.ign.com: an excellent website for general information about videogames, if you mind the ads though!!

www.games.net: as you can guess, this is the official website for the Games shop. A good site to pre-order your games.

Have your say! Have your say! Have your say! Have your say! Have your

If you find an interesting tip for a game, a useful website or if you simply just loved a game, let us now!!E-mail us at :

x.j.l.mondoloni.herts.ac.uk

Next Month’s Releases:

Your Games Fix

Consoles

PC

PC

Ps2, Xbox

PSP

Ps2, Xbox, NGC, PC

DS

NGC

Title

Age of Empire 3

Battlefield 2 : Special Forces

Call of Duty: Big Red One

GTA Liberty City

King Kong

Mario Kart

Mario Smash Football

Dates

04.11.05

24.11.05

28.10.05

18.11.05

17.11.05

25.11.05

18.11.05

Microsoft is to release Xbox 360 on all three continents before Christmas.It’s never fun watching news round and seeing Japanese kids having fun with games you’re only dreaming about. So respect to Microsoft who are planning the new Xbox 360 launch to occur almost simultaneously worldwide. December the 2nd 2005 and £209-£279 are the figures you want and with first generation titles’ expected to include Dead or Alive 4, Perfect Dark Zero and Project Gotham Racing 3 (boasting 80,000 polygons per car) the Xbox 360 looks to have the first jump on the next-gen console market.

The PS3 release date is currently set for the spring and Sony’s newly hyped CELL microprocessor will be “thirty times faster than that of the PS2”.A list of games “most likely” to come include Half Life 2 and new titles from the Need for Speed and Medal of Honour series.Director Steven Spielberg has signed a contract with Electronic Arts to create three games for the PS3.

Crazy crap frog hunting you on your consoles as well.The most annoying frog in the universe (apart from the French maybe) is back not for a horrendous new tune but for a videogame! Crazy Frog Racer will present a Mario Kart like race game with the annoy-ing frog being able to com-pete on 12 circuits. And for those who love it, you will be able to race with a friend. For those who re-ally want to, more infor-mation can be accessed on this website: http://www.crazyfrog-game.com/

Xbox 360

Playstation 3

Crazy FrogRacer

MORE NEWS STUFFDomonic Jarvis reviews this new, crazy, eye-blurrinly fast game

in[games] with Pro Evo Soccer 5Xavier Mondoloni gives the low-down, is it worth getting?Or should you go to lectures instead?!

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Arts Reviews Issue 2 Volume13 21

During the First World War over 300 British men were

executed by the firing squad of their own armies. Soldiers who had left their families and given up their lives to fight for their country were accused of treason and cowardice for as little as falling asleep at their posts. Even now, equipped with the knowledge that many soldiers were traumatised by shell shock, the British government refuses to acknowledge the abysmal punishment imposed upon them. Posthumous pardons have never been granted.

Children’s Laureate, Michael Morpurgo, however has recognised the blatant crime committed. He visited a war cemetery in Ypres, read the telegram sent home to a mother breaking the news that her son had been shot for cowardice, read through the soldiers trials- ‘some lasted less than twenty minutes-twenty minutes for a man’s life’. Through his most recent work, the award winning Private Peaceful, he hopes to highlight the injustice and work towards ‘setting the record straight’. Morpurgo expresses his disgust with a remarkably touching story of a young First World War soldier. Tommo Peaceful, awaits the

firing squad at dawn for refusing to abandon his injured brother.

The story has been adapted into a staggeringly intense and impressively animated stage production by Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director, Simon Reade. Tommo is played by the charismatic and energetic young actor Alexander Campbell. Single-handedly, Campbell reveals the short life of Tommo through his memories of growing up in rural

Devon. We join Tommo in his first day at school, in the forest where his father dies, in his adventures with the love of his life, Molly, his acts of bravery in the front line and eventually we are with him in his cell awaiting his death. It’s a straightforward storyline, yet so heart-wrenchingly true and far too common for comfort.

The quality of acting is superb; when we hear rain, Tommo is actually drenched, when the birds go ‘sweeping through the hymns and prayers’ we see those birds and we feel the sting of that white hot shrapnel at the front line. Minimal props include a steel frame bed, a helmet and a steel dish. The backdrop is simply a grey sky with a few distant

planes. In the relatively small auditorium at the Maltings Art Theatre in St. Albans, the actor was allowed adequate intimacy with the audience creating an electric atmosphere. In return, the audience was undoubtedly moved by Campbell’s ability to mesmerize them, alluring them into the life and trials of Tommo Peaceful. I believe Tommo and his brother Charlie will remain in the hearts of all who see the play, even long after the curtains have been drawn.

Being given the lead in a one-man show is a rarity for most actors. Some actors go their whole life without earning such a responsibility. Playing over twenty characters, Campbell takes on a huge obligation to the writer, director, the story itself and most importantly the soldiers to whom the story is dedicated. Though, despite such pressures, he fulfils each role with complete clarity and confidence. He totally exceeds expectations, showing an absolute respect and

understanding for each and every one of his roles.

This is a performance which takes the audience through all the emotions life throws at us; it will make you laugh and bring you close to tears. Effectively crossing audience boundaries this show can be enjoyed by adults and children alike. Private Peaceful is a magical production which should not be missed. Due to popular demand Private Peaceful is set to hit the West End on February 27th 2005. For tour information, dates and bookings visit www.bristol-old-vic.co.uk or call 0117 987 7877. *

“Minimal props include a steel frame bed, a helmet and a steel dish.”

“Campbell fulfills each role with

complete clarity and confidence”

Arts and Entertainment Reviewsin[theatre] with Morpugo’s Private Peaceful

Kate Norton trundled over to St. Albans to watch this unique production utilising the talents of one man, Alex Campbell, re-living the tragedies of soldiers condemned death by their own country.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was recommended to me by an overly successful Australian dentist whom I met while travelling in Israel. He attributed all of his success to this very book and told me it is a “must read!” After putting it off for a few months, I got around to reading it and now pass it on to you as just that, a must read.

Written by Stephen R. Covey, a man whose actions are as in

tune with his ideologies as Peter Singer’s, the book teaches us how to live principle centered lives. A chapter is given for each of the seven habits that successful people supposedly have. Those being: 1. Proactivity 2. Beginning with the end in mind 3. Putting first things first 4. Thinking win/win 5. Seeking first to understand, then to be understood 6. Synergizing and 7. Sharpening the saw. Some of these are self explanatory. What it means to sharpen the saw I still don’t understand, but if you want to find out what it means read the book!

Covey gives excellent wording to concepts we may have bumped into at times but were unable to grasp. He depicts his lessons via examples and provides the reader with ‘learn how to do’ exercises at the end of each chapter. If you prefer to learn pictorially, the book is full to diagrams representing the seven habits and much more!

For those who shy away from self help books, have no fear, Stephen R. Covey writes in a manner possible for all to enjoy. Although a bit cheesy at times and generally found in the Business Self Help section of your local bookstore, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is applicable for all walks of life. From the guy who claims to beat his children because his father beat him to the Business management student who wants to get ahead to the burnt out stoner who wants to better manage his time.

If you are too lazy to sit through a four hundred page book on “Powerful Lessons in Personal Change” you can find an outline for Covey’s basic concepts on his website at www.franklincovey.com. If you are familiar with these seven habits and want to go beyond feel free to check out his new book entitled Beyond the 7 Habits.

*

in[books]a review by “our Vita”

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Heart of Stone

They say that your heart is made of stone,That you have no feelings for anything

Living orDead.

They don’t know how your heart was ripped apart,

Shattering, into a million pieces.They never saw you weep through the

night,How you remained quiet to avoid a fight.

They don’t know your heart is made of stone.

You feel older as every minute passes by.Your cold, heart of stone is the only thing

that makes youSurvive.

The End

in[poems]written by S.K.B

22 Issue 2 Volume 13 Games [email protected]

Fun and Games... oh, and prizes

Su

du

ko

Doodle Space

DoodleSend us your random doodle and

we’ll give you a prise

Q1.Need to get freshened up? What’s kinder to the environment?

a) taking a 5 min showerb) taking a bath

Q2. Need to sweeten your breath for a hot date? When you clean your teeth, what’s kinder to the environment?

a) don’t be a mug, use a mug to rinse b) just leave the tap running throughout wasting at least 10 litres of water

Q3. Feeling drowsy, got a headache and your urine’s the colour of straw! What’s the best tonic for your body?

a) drink a couple of glasses of tap water to re-hydrateb) slurp a sugar fi lled fi zzy drink

Or for a chance to win £1000 visit www.herts.ac.uk/sustainable or Student Union home page www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk and do the Three Valleys Water servay.

r u a gunner ?Whether you’re a Gunner’s fan or relish the opportunity to be popular with someone who is, we’ve got an offi cial Arsenal pennant with certifi cate of authenticity, signed by the team up for grabs. All you have to do to be in for a chance of winning this top prize is answer three simple questions and

send them to Send to Three Valleys Water, ‘Gunner win?’, PO Box 48, Bishops Rise, Hatfi eld, AL10 9HL

If you like to quizs’ and prizes why not come to the Elehouse

Quiz every Monday Night with your hosts; Maz, Mr T and Micheal. Cheating is encouraged.

[email protected]

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Stiched Up Issue 2 Volume13 23

UPSTITCHED The student spirit is very much

alive, with you crazy kids getting up to all kinds of shenanigans and your mates taking pictures of it. So why not have a little fun and maybe a bit of revenge and

stitch them up.

Just send them to Maz:[email protected]

These guys took the phrase “ the more the merrier ” way to seriously

Hmmmm...... And they say you shouldn’t mix your drinks...

WRONG!!!

Blind Bob regained his sight at the moment he looked at the mirror and realised his friends had lied to him

about his babe magnet shirt

Send your bit of revenge to stitched up at [email protected]

This is the reason camara phones have been invented.

“Hmm... this guy is blatanly looking at my boobies”

NEW MUSIC

24 Issue 2 Volume13 Music www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk

Over a decade since ‘Lovefool’ and seven years since ‘My favourite

game’, the Cardigans are a strange proposition. They’ve morphed into a band with no discernible reason for existence. This isn’t to say we should shy away from giving them a reason to; it’s just that few people will jump for joy when they hear the band is back.

The new offering, with its excellent title finds them in the middle ground

between Gran Turismo and Long Gone Before Daylight. The muscular, cold sound of Gran Turismo is fused with the fuzzy dreaminess of their last album making this a quality piece of pop that hits the right mix.

The album, Extra Super Gravity, is sounding promising too. Maybe they aren’t missed greatly but it’s always good to have them back.

Cardigans back in fashion?I need some fine wine and you, you need to be nicer

Elbow, a hard-working band!Leaders of the free world

I’ve always had a problem with pop music. The sys-tem of pop is designed so what we hear is never the

best, but a sample of what is preferred by the masses. No amount of pleading will get a hardened Coldplay fan to seek the inner beauty of an Elbow album if they don’t care enough. It can be a frustrating life, being a music fan. More so when an album of such beauty, such as this, offers itself up to the world.

Leaders of the free world is Elbow’s third long player and it shows them taking notes from their debut and comparing them with their less impressive second ef-fort. This has resulted in an album rich in everything that we fell in love with first time round, such as the epic nature of Elbow’s sound and their gifted way with melody. Standout tracks include ‘Forget Myself’ which alongside ‘Leaders of the free world’, ‘The everthere’ and ‘The stops’ demonstrate their up and down sides perfectly.

What appeals most about this album is its warmth, which permeates through the songs before trickling into the between-song banter and snippets of the band in the studio. This helps make the album sound crafted and human, the opposite to Coldplays’ X and

Y, with its production sheen stripping away the soul of the record. The limited edition DVD of short films and scenes of the band working reminds you that music is all about people interacting and enjoying the creation. In this art-driven approach, Elbow are closer to Radiohead than Coldplay could ever hope to be. Of course, the al-bums of Radiohead and Elbow have little in common musically but both excel at warm and clear produc-tion, musical skill and the inherent skill of moulding sounds to fit their ambitions. In Elbow’s case, the gui-tar/drum interplay in ‘Forget Myself’ and ‘Mexican Standoff’ are really impressive highlights alongside Guy’s vocal delivery in ‘Leaders of the free world’.

Whilst Leaders of the free world may not bother the charts greatly, it sets the band a challenge to aim even higher. Judging by this offering they sound more than capable of delivering the goods and outshining their cohorts in the process.

feature exclusive feature exclusive feature exclusive feature exclusive feature exclusive feature exclusive feature exclusive featur

Music mix fix

The Editor boys have come home for a gig and everyone has come out to see

them. The atmosphere in the Irish centre is incredible so we should feel sorry for We Are Scientists who display some good songs trapped in a very formulaic set of spiky New York numbers. Somehow their energetic songs sucked all the energy from the band itself.

When they leave the stage, the audience quickly fill all the space in the venue and wait for their new heroes to come on. As soon as they do, the applause is deafening; the band has a renewed sense of confidence in front of this adoring crowd. Opening with ‘Lights’ the band take control of the situation and launch us into a set that equals the album and in some cases, betters it.

Tom, the lead singer and guitarist, is the focus point of the band. His stage presence is based on his ongoing battle with his guitar, which he throttles to get the best out of it when he isn’t perching it on his head.

‘The Back Room’, Editors stunning debut, simply quivers with the tense, nervous energy of a band trying to capture the tightest of sounds and somehow allow it enough space to soung big. Not Departure big but Interpol big, the big that gets people moving and juddering in the most indie of ways and if songs like ‘Bullets’ and ‘Munich’ sounded impressive on record, a live venue is where the band can

really do them justice. A sense of urgency and tension runs through these songs with Tom spitting the words out as if his life depends on it.

A caveat though; Editors won’t be playing small venues for long. If you miss them now, you will miss the opening acts of what should turn out to be a very exciting career.

Editors hitting the big time?

Brought to you this month by our music team: new albums, gigs and exclusive reviews and interviews with the fantastic Subways and Tim Westwood. Look out for a chance to win a Subways signed universe

Brought to you by C. Butler

To win a signed Subways Universe paper answer this question:

What are the first names of the three musicians in the

band?

Send answers to [email protected]

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Music Issue 2 Volume13 25

You can say what you like about Westwood but the stats don’t lie, he’s the man behind the UK’s most successful RnB / Hip Hop radio show that’s still going from strength to strength ten years on “any big act coming over to the UK does two things man, MTV Europe and Westwood radio one”.

He proudly lists an impressive array of recent achievements to back up the well known Westwood front “we had Fidy Cent down for an interview last week and Pharrell is down end of the month”. He is clearly an ambitious man and keen to get more exposure on television, talking about his most recent attack on the TV world, the highly criticised ‘Pimp My Ride UK’ he points out that it had one of the highest budgets ever given to a

MTV Europe show and gathered the second highest ratings of the

year after ‘The Osbournes’. The second series is being filmed soon but the ratings may not be as impressive this time round as many felt it failed to live up to the original US version.

Don’t worry he still rides in the pimped out Westwood van, “yeh we still roll in that, but we’ve gotta couple other rides now”. Other pies his fingers are in include this tour with Reebok he is currently promoting in Uni’s around the country “there’s a real vibe in uni’s man that’s different

from DJing a club, I love tearing it up at Herts uni its one of my best, there’s that whole London thing goin’ on up here”. He has another ‘Westwood TV Show’ DVD coming out which will be in the shops for Christmas as well as a compilation CD that will rap up a pretty successful year for UK hip hops biggest ambassador, not bad for the son of a retired Bishop.

As well as those projects he continues to campaign for more UK hip hop exposure although he says he isn’t bothered by the lack of recognition for UK artists in America “that doesn’t worry me, I just care about their success at home and if it happens in the states then great, I’m really pleased for the likes of Dizzee and Kano at the moment”. Talking about the big names from the US like the

recently retired Jay-Z, Westwood claims “he’ll definitely be back man, they love him too much, he’s basically running Def Jam at the moment but he’ll be back”, he’s interviewed anyone who is anyone in the world of rap in the last ten years so you can’t argue

with that. It’s easy to be critical of Tim Westwood but he has stood up to all the obstacles put in front of him and his reputation continues to steadily grow and without ‘The Big Dawg’ UK hip hop would be in a poorer state.*

It can be a scary thing interviewing a band just after

they’ve exited stage right a cauldron-like atmosphere of an (almost) home town gig, it can be made even more scarier when your editor rings you up the day before to tell you that your doing it (cheers Tamer). That said meeting Mr Billy and Charlotte Subway straight after their ferocious performance during freshers week couldn’t have been a more pleasurable experience.

Initially you are struck with how down to earth they are and their normality makes you question how the hell have these three

randoms from Welwyn Garden City have just tantalised 2,000 blood thirsty students. “Our music is kind of sub-urban, it’s different between cities and the suburbs there’s a lot more heart and soul in the city”. Clearly coming from a small suburb hasn’t got in the way of their aspirations. They are fresh from the stage after a furious opening gig, the 1st of their headline tour yet band are keen to remain open minded. “We’ve just abandoned expectations” an enthusiastic Billy Lunn explains to me and who can blame him for his enthusiasm, he has just stood on stage and listened to songs penned in his bedroom a couple

of years ago being sung back to him by a few thousand people, “they were even singing the more obscure songs!”. It’s a feeling few will experience and a night he’s been practising for in front of his bedroom mirror with a tennis racket for a good few years.

He maintains a startled rabbit look throughout the course of the interview which takes some getting used to but merely adds to passion he conveys for his band, something which is unavoidably obvious from the moment he opens his mouth. Although this is ‘his’ band playing ‘his’ songs he has alongside him a rock steady accomplice in the shape of his girlfriend / bass player Charlotte. She is stunning, an assured bassist and can sing, on stage you can’t take your eyes off her and the duelling guitars with Billy make for fairytale rock and roll. Frequently during the gig they’ll break from their mic’s to face each other, it’s a special moment and the way Charlotte sees it “on stage its all feeling and emotion, everything about us is organic, playing live is purely organic, we’ve had the same manager from day one which is a real help too”. Completing rock and rolls version of The Walton’s is drummer Josh who’s Billy’s younger brother and he manages to get one almighty sound out of the most basic of drum set ups. I’ve seen buskers on the tube with more equipment but

Dave Ghrol junior still conjures up some impressive beats that perfectly compliment the grungy subway sound, “he forgot his hi-hat for one gig and found a whole new range of sounds playing without one and hasn’t used it since!” explains Billy. While the roadies haven’t got too much to worry about the drums they have got Billy’s fondness for kung-fu kicking mic stands to deal with and it takes several batterings as Billy plays the moody lead singer role to a tee “the roadies get paid loads, its okay”.Prior to this tour ‘the ways’ had

been touring with Oasis “the pinnacle of our career”, they also appeared at the main festivals over the summer which has served to fuel the bands desire to keep on gigging. “We had some time off after playing constantly for two weeks during a European promo tour but I’ve been having sleepless nights because I’ve been wanting to play again” explains Billy, underlining his hunger for success. He’s got the attitude to back the tunes up and if that wasn’t rock and roll enough for you, he cuts his own hair! The band are ambitious and keen

to be heard over seas “we’ve just been signed to do some tracks for ‘The OC’, something a lot of other bands were turned down for” they are learning from the mistakes made by tour buddies Oasis who’s quest to ‘break America’ went famously tits up early in their career “they lacked concentration” something The Subways won’t be guilty of.Exciting times lay ahead for the band and debut album ‘Young for Eternity’ is one of the most diverse records to be released in the last 10 years, it’s produced by Ian Broudie of ‘The Lightening Seeds’ who graced us with guitar laced Britpop gems such as ‘Sugar Coated Iceberg’ and of course the goose bumpingly brilliant ‘Three Lions’. Ian’s Britpop influence is evident and traces of ‘Elastica’ can be heard between the lines, a comparison the band find “really refreshing”, “Ian uncovered an open nerve within the band, he tamed the sound and brought out the character in the songs, he wasn’t afraid to experiment in the studio and he was good to drink with!”

The Subways are touring the UK until Christmas before embarking on America, they’re passionate, sexy and they’ve got the tunes, those yanks’ll love em.

“you can’t take your eyes off the duelling guitars

for fairytale rock and roll”

“those yanks’ll love em.”

in[terviews]Brought to you this month by one of our music editors, Matthew Ketchell. This month Ketchell has gone behind

the scenes with THE SUBWAYS, and TIM WESTWOOD. Keep your eye out to WIN A SIGNED SUBWAYS PAPER

“Don’t worry he still rides in the pimped out Westwood van”

THE SUBWAYS...

TIM WESTWOOD...

fresher than a fresher with Matthew Ketchell

another victim to Matthew Ketchell’s questions!

26 Issue 2 Volume 13 Advertisment [email protected]_264x350_new:New layouts 5/10/05 11:37 Page 1

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Arts Reviews Issue 2 Volume13 27

The next James Bond is revealed and it is Craig...Daniel Craig! who? I can hear you say. Daniel has been acting in films such as ‘Layer Cake’ and the brilliant ‘Road to Perdition’.The news that Daniel will be playing the sixth James Bond has been officially unveiled at a press conference by Royal Marine speedboat on 14th October. There has been speculation that his mother, Carol naively told the press that he had landed the part even before the official announcement. Daniel 37 is the first blond actor to play 007. Personally I prefer the dark- black hair look.My first impressions where, he so does not look like a Bond! His looks just don’t fit the mysterious and handsome category for me. I was hoping for some one who looks younger and has similar looks to the past Bond’s. Maybe we need a bit of a change and he will prove me wrong- I hope!

Chicken Run was distinctly average. The animation was breath-taking

as always but the script wasn’t funny enough and the characters generated a quarter of the warmth that W+G produce. Like me, when the whole Chicken Run hullabalooza came about, there was no excitement, just disappointment. I felt dirty, was I cheating on Wallace? With a chicken? Suffice to say, my thought process was vivid, probably illegal in some countries, but vivid nonetheless.

Have you ever met someone who doesn’t like Wallace and Gromit? Even the Yanks get the bald cheese lover and his obedient hound, and why not? Wallace and Gromit are the perfect antidote to, well, pretty much anything. Optimism, happiness and friendship, it’s enough to thaw the coldest heart.

In the fourth outing for W+G, the 2-inch clay heroes are protecting veg all over their small town from a rabbit epidemic just in time for the 153rd annual Giant Vegetable competition. Evil toff Victor Quartermaine has other ideas though, to put W+G out of business for good, whilst Wallace

fights off the attention from an altogether uglier threat.

Nick Park and his Aardman team really would have had to drop a bollock to make a mess out of this one. Saying bad things about Wallace and Gromit is tantamount to having funky feelings about your Nan, it doesn’t happen, I hope. The whole experience is so innocent, so simple yet so refreshing.

Nick Park’s creations represent all that remains right in the world. Wallace’s relentless optimism, Gromit’s un-wavering loyalty and the sincere traditionalism of English quirkiness.

The most encouraging aspect of all the Wallace and Gromit films are the elaborately staged action sequences. Big budget Hollywood productions rely so heavily on CGI and in the

process kill off any soul or realism resident in the action on screen. With a bit of clay and most importantly a decent creative imagination the Aardman team can increase our heart rate in seconds, instead of relying on a machine to blow up the universe. Unfortunately, W+G inevitably are a dying breed.

Wallace and Gromit works on a variety of levels for even more reasons. Watching the chalk and cheese two-some harks back memories of Christmas’ past, your childhood, the simplicity of youth and most vividly to this critic, my Grandad. Peter Sallis’ incredible voice talent as Wallace is basically bringing your Grandad onto screen. It’s a wonderful thing.

•

Film news and reviewsBrought to you by Ross Billington

“ ...was I cheating on Wallace?...”

War is bad; this is true on a practically global scale.

The act of killing another person or pillaging their homeland for the benefit of your own is an unpleasant thing. Nonetheless, war is also an extremely lucrative and profitable business. This is where Lord of War resides, telling

the story of successful gun-runner, Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) and his globe trotting exploits trading weapons, shagging supermodels and snorting silly amounts of illegal substances.

In Lord of War, Yuri Orlov a Ukrainian-American tired of living a third-rate existence in New York’s Little Odessa, spots an opening in a specialised black market. He then proceeds to stuff that gap with a metric fuck-ton of guns, bombs and tanks. He’s a natural and swiftly finds himself top dog, living a life normally reserved for movie stars and Peter Stringfellow.

Director Andrew Niccoll’s film shouldn’t work and very nearly doesn’t. Some poorly underwritten supporting characters combined with a hasty and, at times, nauseating narrative would generally send a film dealing with such a delicate

subject matter down the u-bend. Massive chunks of the narrative disappear in minutes. The choice to have the film span 20 odd years, Goodfellas-esque, seems an ill-advised move, resulting in the story feeling rushed. As a result, Bridget Moynahan’s role as supermodel wife to Yuri is nothing more than a minor distraction in comparison when it could have been so much more.

But then Lord of War Is a strange beast, only once the credits have rolled, are the numerous creatively beautiful elements of Lord of War evident. The opening sequence

tracking the life of a bullet is truly something to behold, in much the similar way as Fight Club’s introductory voyage of Jack’s brain. Cage smoulders over the lead role in just the right measures, due to the morally corrupt manner in which Yuri operates, Cage applies the magnetic charm that has been absent in his recent work, Adaptation aside. Without a sly wink to the audience every now and then, Orlov would easily become a complete villain, but Cage makes sure that whilst you want to smack him square in the balls, you still wouldn’t say no to a night on the piss with Orlov.

Unlike Michael Moore and his gigantic ham-fisted way of putting a point across, Niccoll’s script opts for a laconic and sardonic treatment of what is essentially an utterly debilitating issue. To an extent that sees the film almost fall morph into a black comedy. One liners from Orlov claiming he

“has supplied every army except the salvation army” serve to sugar the extremely bitter pill.

Ultimately, the subject matter will divide opinion. What Orlov does is morally corrupt. His weapons fuel the deaths of millions. But then as Orlov himself puts it “I don’t put the gun in their hand and tell them to pull the trigger, If I had it my way, they’d miss”. Whether you agree or not, it’s refreshing for a film to force an ultimatum from its viewers. Right or wrong, Lord of War demands attention.

Were oh were is dat wabbit?

Universe takes on the Lord of War

“...with a chicken?!”

Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit opens on the 14th October and can be seen at the Hatfield UCI Cinema

situated in the Galleria.

“...stuff that gap with a

metric fuck-ton of guns, bombs

and tanks...”

Lord of War, starring Nicolas Cage, opens on the 14th October and can be seen at the Hatfield UCI Cinema situated in

the Galleria.Ed says: If anyone out there finds Ross then please tell him to come

home. We miss him so!

The name’s Blonde, James Blonde!

28 Issue 2 Volume 13 Culture [email protected]

Muslims all over the world are fasting as Ramadan began

on the first week of October. For those of you who don’t know much about it then keep reading!

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar as Muslims follow a lunar calendar- where each month begins with the sighting of the new moon. Ramadan lasts a month and Muslims cannot eat during day light hours. They stop eating very early in the morning- shortly before sunrise. The fast is then broken in the evening after sunset, the timing of breaking the fast changes everyday as the days get shorter. They are not allowed to eat or drink anything- not even a sip of water!

Families come together in the evening to break their fast. A lot of money and effort is spent on food to break the fast with- my mum makes a wide range of delicious dishes.

Ramadan is important for Muslims because it is believed to be the month during which the Holy Quran (Holy book) was revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h)

Muslims fast to acquire self-control, purity, spirituality and generosity. It also reminds them of the suffering of the poor, who may rarely get to eat well. During Ramadan Muslims give a percentage of their annual savings to charity this is called ‘Zakat’.

The month of Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, prayer, doing good deeds and spending time with family and friends. Ramadan is not commercialised unlike some other religious festivals; it is only about devotion to Allah (God). Muslims recite a special prayer at night which is 2-3 times as long as the five daily prayers that take place as normal. Men have to read their prayers in the mosque as they follow the recitation of the Quran during this month and for women it is optional to read at mosque.

Certain People are exempt from taking part in the Ramadan fast, anyone who would be putting their health at serious risk by fasting and children under 12. (Ed says: Also women on their period, sick people and those travelling for long distances to name a few others)At the end of the month, when the fasting is complete a big celebration takes place, called ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’, the festival of the breaking of fast.

Ramadan Henna Khan explains:

This is perhaps the most well-known of the Indian festivals:

it is celebrated throughout India, as well as in Indian communities throughout the diaspora. It usually takes place eighteen days after Dusshera. It is colloquially known as the “festival of lights”, for the common practice is to light small oil lamps (called diyas) and place them around the home, in courtyards, verandahs, and gardens, as well as on roof-tops and outer walls. In urban areas, especially, candles are substituted for diyas; and among the nouveau riche, neon lights are made to substitute for candles. The celebration of the festival is invariably accompanied

by the exchange of sweets and the explosion of fireworks. As with other Indian festivals, Diwali signifies many different things to people across the country. In north India, Diwali celebrates Rama’s homecoming, that is his return to Ayodhya after the defeat of Ravana and his coronation as king; in Gujarat, the festival honors Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth; and in Bengal, it is associated with the goddess Kali. Everywhere, it signifies the renewal of life, and accordingly it is common to wear new clothes on the day of the festival; similarly, it heralds the approach of winter and the beginning of the sowing season.

Having been living in Hatfield for a few years being able

to go out for a good meal was a rarity. Apart from the Font Bar and Ele House the other options for students to go out and eat for a good deal doesn’t appear to be that great. However, being a fan of the good old ruby murray = curry, I heard that the Hatfield Tandoori in the town centre was under new management and they were doing student nights.

Intrigued by the proposition a few friends and myself went along to see what was on offer also to see what the quality was like. What was the food like you ask? Well it was very good one of the best curry’s I’ve had in a long

time. The manager made a few recommendations to me, as I like my curry’s medium hot, while one the others prefer their food really hot so they had a Phall that can only be describe a rocket fuel. I’m sure I could see fumes coming off the sauce, anyway they were very happy with the curry.

So what’s the deal then? Well Tuesday and Thursday 4 dishes for a measly £6 that includes poppadums, main dish, side dish, rice or naan bread plus you can take your own drinks with you! Also they offer half price meal on a Sunday.

What more can I say than indulge yourself once in a while with a something different but one thing I do advise if you do try it is to get down there early because its not a big restaurant (which I prefer) and we wouldn’t you to be disappointed now would we?

Good deal on a Ruby Murray!

Aye-up peps! I assume that by now most of you have

seriously started to bite it that wonderful thing: The Student Interest Free Over Draft! I’m still in it from my first year. It’s about now that you will realise that every penny counts, and that the £0.89 you spent in the SU shop (or Onion) on a bottle of coke could feed you for the week! Asda “Smart-Fox” noodles

are 8p per bag! Though, not as good as bachelor’s they are tasty (especially if you combine them with chicken stock cubes). Also, economy rice and economy stock cubes (coming to about £0.70 in total); can be combined to make flavoured rice, nice… Also, if you are willing to experiment try the evangelical Pizza-Burger! For the recipe see below.

Also, to save money try taking part in some non-financial centralised events (stuff that doesn’t cost very much/anything). Try joining societies such as Drama or Psifa that don’t require you to fork out in kit or travel costs… For instance, spending 2 nights a week rehearsing for the winter pantomime for drama will keep you away from the shops/bar for a little longer and keep you

entertained with out a price tag. The same can be said of Psifa; watching free films or whiling away the evening playing D&D or Magic (of which I have just finished a deck and am waiting in anticipation of the first tournament of the year…).

Flavoured Rice

1 Pack of Rice1 Cube of Stock (whichever flavour you desire)

Boil up twice as much water as there is rice and season with a little salt. Dissolve the stock cube and pour in the rice. Simply boil until most of the liquid has evaporated and then serve. Easy! ;)

Pizza-Burger

1 Pack of economy Burgers1 Pack of economy mini pizzas

Cook the pizzas and the burgers separately, then place one burger between two pizza. Voila a Pizza-Burger! Try adding more cheese or chilli sauce for variations ;)

Right, I’m off to do some work….So, till next time!

Food Aid... The Wonders of Poverty

Dawali... the festival of light

By Andy Skinner

If you have any crazy food receipies then

let us know [email protected]

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Travel Issue 2 Volume13 29

Egypt- land of the pyramids! Well that’s what you were

thinking right? There is a lot more than just about 105 magnificent pyramids. During the summer I went to Cairo- the capital of Egypt, for two weeks and I did feel like I was being cooked in the oven- but it was worth it!

Cairo- what can I say I saw when first arriving- apart from it is over populated, over polluted and the roads are congested and there are basically no rules or lanes on the road. The taxi felt like an ant which could be crushed any minute by the many other careless drivers- driving where they pleased. Thankfully I came out alive! The people are very welcoming though- constantly telling you, you’re welcome to Egypt! and asking where your from.

Guess what I visited on the first day? The three main pyramids and sphinx in Giza, the largest pyramid is ‘Khufu’, then the second largest is ‘Kafhre’ and the shortest pyramid is ‘Menkaura’.

The reason why these pyramids are more important than others is because each pyramid is a tomb to a different king (Pharaoh) of Egypt. I got to see the pyramids in real style too- no, not by my jet but by camel!

The view of the pyramids from the camel in the Sahara desert was amazing, as I was high up and could see the pyramids from a distant- where they looked so smooth and then from close up- where they had a very rough and uneven texture. As I moved closer the damage on the pyramids was evident and the different shades of colour as some of the outer crust of the pyramids were missing. They did look even more extraordinary in real life- I remember thinking, this even looks better than in the movies!

It is frightening just to think about the great lengths the labourers went to, without any machinery back then to build such a masterpiece, it is believed that it took about 20,000 labourers to build a pyramid. I was also sad to hear that all the workers were ordered by Pharaohs to be killed soon after building

the pyramids, in order to keep the building plan a secret.

In front of the pyramids lies the Sphinx, the Sphinx is a creature that was made with the head of man, body of lion and long hair. The head of man represents intelligence, the body of lion represents strength and the long hair represents beauty. The nose and beard of the sphinx had been broken. I don’t blame the Egyptians for calling the sphinx the “father of terror”, it does look rather scary. It was huge, with a very long body and great detail, but amazingly was only built from one block of stone!

I had an exhausting day- spending hours riding the camel in the desert. I felt like I had been to an aerobics lesson. So I had a relaxed evening on a really nice cruise on the river Nile. I enjoyed a delicious dinner and was entertained by some great, Egyptian music and performances including a fantastic belly dancer!

When out on the streets in Cairo most stores were of perfume oils

and glass bottles. The beautiful glass bottles are of all shapes, colours and sizes- which are great decorative pieces. The perfume oils did smell great; they consist of the essence of flowers- no chemicals added. There were so many different types of perfume oils, my favourite had to be the smell of the Secret of the Desert! Some of the perfume oils can only be brought from Egypt such as the lotus flower perfume oil. Since the ancient times in Egypt, the lotus flower has represented upper Egypt- places like Aswan and the papyrus plant has represented lower Egypt, places like Cairo.

The papyrus plant is a very important plant for Egyptians and has been in Egypt since the ancient Egyptian times as it was used to make papyrus paper which the pharaohs use to write on. The papyrus plant can only be found on the river Nile; it has a long green, thick, hard, triangle shape stem. This is softened and rolled out to produce the papyrus paper. There are many stores in Cairo that sell papyrus paper which has pictures painted of ancient Egyptians. Many of the stores that sell this go by the

name of ‘Papyrus Museum’, which I also thought was a museum.

One needs to be careful when shopping in Cairo, as most stores do not have a fixed price on items so will try to sell their item as high as possible to foreigners. An area to shop which is more upmarket than the rest of Cairo is ‘Zamalek’, where there are great leather bags and shoes for fixed, low prices! Trust me girls Zamalek- is heaven!

‘Khan el-Khalil’, is a never ending bazaar, the open stalls go down forever! You can buy anything from souvenirs, jewellery, spices, carpets and even belly dancing dresses. It is situated within Islamic Cairo in the old, medieval part of Cairo. I do have to warn you, ‘Khan el-Khalil’, is a bit more of a down- market place to shop in Cairo. You will get sellers shouting over each other to get your attention to buy something from their stall. If you even dare to gaze at something that has your attention- the stall owner won’t let you just walk away- no he won’t leave you alone until you buy it! If you would like a change to your average day of shopping in England and are prepared to haggle then this is the place to go.

In old Cairo I also visited the ‘Mohammed Ali mosque’, which had the most beautiful architecture; the mosque was made in 1857 in the Ottomans period by Mohammed Ali. Today his tomb lies in the mosque. Mohammed Ali was the founder of the country’s last dynasty.

I really enjoyed the ‘Sound and Light show’, which is held during the night at the pyramids in Giza. This show consists of special effect lighting on the pyramids and stories are told about the history of the pyramids and sphinx- interesting to know the methods that could have been used to build the pyramids. The pyramids look really beautiful with the different colour lights and there are various drawings shown on the pyramid to illustrate the story.

The Egyptian Museum was truly a fascinating place to visit and I had a guide to show me the museum. It is much more interesting to have a guide with you, as they know a lot more about each piece and it saves you time from having to read all the information your self. My highlight was seeing Tutankhamen’s coffins, made from solid gold and precious stones. There were three different sizes of coffins that fit into each other like Chinese boxes; Tutankhamen was found in the smallest coffin which was found inside a shrine made from gold too. After seeing this, I do believe that I have seen the world’s most valuable treasure.

Apart from Cairo I spent a day in Alexandria- which can only be described as the Mediterranean! It is only a 2 hour drive from Cairo but is the total opposite to Cairo. The air is not as polluted! - Cars drive normally and there are many beautiful sites, such as the beach and gardens. It is more peaceful and it does not feel overcrowded. It is hard to believe that I was still

in Egypt as the atmosphere is not Middle Eastern like Cairo but Mediterranean. I still think if you want to visit the true Egypt, then Cairo is the place but if you’re more interested in lying around in the sun all day, then Alexandria is for you.

One of the last places I visited was the Cairo Tower, which has a significant view of Cairo at night- the thousands of lights of buildings look beautiful. The tower is a magnificent 187 meters tall, which ranks fourth among the worlds highest towers. It is a tube shape and has two floors at the top, while on the elevator up I could feel my ears pop. The top floor has the view to the city in which you can have an amazing 360° circle view of Cairo as you move round. The second floor, is where I had my dinner, the restaurant was rotating very slowly while I had my dinner. Outside the glass windows I could see the spectacular view, whilst moving round.

I have just shared with you some of the many places I visited in amazing Cairo. There is so much more out there and it really wasn’t how I expected it to be- a totally different atmosphere. The images I had seen of pyramids before visiting Cairo- on the television does not compare to actually being in Cairo and seeing it for my self. Visiting Cairo was a very different experience for me, a total change from England and one that I will not forget. I felt bonded with the place and felt sad when I left- a feeling I only get when I leave home.

The Jewel of the Nile By Henna Khan

“Egypt- land of the pyramids! Well that’s what you were thinking right? There is a lot more than just about

105 magnificent pyramids.”

On Saturday 15th October a group of students

volunteered to help out at the Cat Survival Trust.

The Cat Survival Trust was registered as a charity in 1976. It is based on a twelve acre site in Hertfordshire, England, where a small band of unpaid staff manage its affairs in an office above a shop (which sells mainly animal foodstuffs and accessories) and also care for

the cats, maintain the site and buildings and do most of the construction work. The shop sponsors much of the food for the cats; everything else is paid for out of the subscriptions of members and donations from generous people. It currently cares for about 40 cats at its headquarters in Hertfordshire, many of which are rescued animals, and the Trust desperately needs to build accommodation for more. The cats are not on public view, but Trust members and educational groups can visit by appointment.

When the volunteers went along they helped around the site preparing for the future development work. They cleared a dried up riverbed, levelled off some ground where future enclosures will be built, and other small tasks. Although the jobs didn’t seem particularly glamorous all the volunteers agreed it was worth it after seeing all the cats that are there at the trust.

Cat Survival Trust is run solely with volunteers and they are always looking for more people to help. They are particularly interested in people who can spend time on a weekly basis helping to build their new enclosures, they

could also do with someone to help with their website. Also if you are interested in environmental issues and would like to be involved with research, possibly even as a project for your course.

There are many ways in which you can volunteer. At the Volunteer Centre we will help you find what it is you are looking for out of volunteering. We will also offer support

through volunteering, training, and also the opportunity to gain certificates for volunteering. Last year we had a Volunteer Recognition Evening to celebrate and thank everyone for all the help and work they had put in throughout the year. Tim Wilson the Vice Chancellor attended and awarded certificates to all the volunteers in recognition for the good work they had done.

Some of the latest voluntary opportunities include:

• Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th November 9.45am – 4pm. Helping at Camp School St Albans, to clear an allotment area and help rebuild a poly tunnel so that school children can learn about and grow plants and vegetables.

• Rag (Raise and Give). Every year students’ raise money throughout the course of the year to give to a few chosen charities. If you have any fundraising ideas or would just like to get involved contact the Volunteer Centre. •Media Volunteers. The Students’ Union has a Radio station called Crush (1278 am) and a newspaper called Universe, which are always looking for new volunteers.

• Volunteers are needed to help with a local Charity called Chrysalis School for autism. There are many ways in which you can help, from helping with basic office tasks like writing envelops, to helping with fundraising plans. • Hatfield Resource centre is a busy community centre based in the town centre. They are looking for someone to help out in their office, and they are also looking for people who would be able to help teach English as a second language to both adults and also people in the crèche. • Victim Support is a national organization that offer a number of schemes like supporting victims of crime, and also they have a witness support program. Victim Support Hertfordshire are interested in someone helping them to develop a campaign to raise awareness of Hertfordshire residents. • Earthworks St. Albans is a registered charity, which offers trainees, often with learning difficulties or mental health problems, work experience and training in horticultural and land-based skills. They have a two-acre site in Hixberry Lane, St. Albans, which is managed on environmental principles and which is open to the general public a number of times a year or by appointment. They are always looking for volunteers who have an interest in horticulture and also working with people with learning difficulties, to come and work with them.

If you are interested in any of them please come and see me in the Volunteer Centre, or email me at [email protected]

This is by no means all that there is on offer, if you have an idea of how else you would like to volunteer or would to find out about other ways please come and speak to me. Naomi MarshVolunteer Co-ordinator01707 285 [email protected]

Show name: hOT ¬ BOX

Show time: Mon 4 -5 pm Tue 4 -5 pm Thur 4-5 pm

“If anyone is experiencing any difficulties tuning in, I will personally come and tune in your radio for you.”

Real Name: Domhnall Cosgrave

Studying: Err, he doesn’t actually know…

What has hOT ¬ BOX got to offer? Firstly you’ll get the funniest in real life news, witty comments on current events and you get to listen to all of this is in Domhnall’s very hot Irish accent.

Not only this, but the show will bring you the most unique feature you will ever hear on radio ‘Piking it’*. This is “hOT ¬ BOX”`s newest feature offering you advice on how to ponce your way through life in todays ever-more costly world.

*Those of you not familiar with the term ‘pike’ it is defined as; ‘an individual who will take as much as they can in any situation.’ There is great controversy as to how the word ‘pike’ should be spelt; If you think that it should be spelt differently or you have some of your own “Piking It” experiences to tell us about, text or call the show on 07915672059. You may even be eligible for this years “Piking It 2005” Award.

WARNING:- Following Domhnall’s advice given out on the show, such as calling up Macky D’s and asking them for leftovers may result in arrest and/or severe embarrassment.

Another wacky feature on hOT ¬ BOX is a call in quiz conducted live on air. Previous questions have helped people to find out more about themselves, including ‘How chav /rudeboy are you?!!’ (Also coming up in the next few weeks ‘How gay are you?!!’)

Domhnall has recently been voted into the position of Crush Director- How exactly did he manage this? Why did people vote for him? Well, apparently it was

all down to a poem he wrote before hand and read out. It went like this:

“I tink bout it nite and day, and wish everyone would stop being gay, I’m doin dis job, I don’t pucking* care, I’m gonna put Crush back on the air. I’ll do it wit style, I’ll add me own flare, Keeping people tuned to Crush everywhere.”

* “Pucking” is an alternative to the other word, taken from Channel Four’s Father Ted

Now Domhnall has all the power at Crush1278am I asked him, what he was going to do with it?“I am initiating a bold and brave advertising campaign starting with getting local businesses committing to playing Crush on their premises in return for advertisement. We can then build a pretty big and consistent listener base increasing our profitability, thereby increasing funds to run some more promotional events for you guys.

Some ideas I’ve had for these events are a scratching competition, rap competition, battle of the bands, dj competition, comedy competition or even an X Factor-style event. The potential is endless and the sky’s the limit.”

One final interesting fact about Domhnall: “For over two years cannabis was the most important thing in my life, then one day I saw the light of Crush1278am and I followed that light. Now Crush is my only drug.”

Contact the show on: 07915672059 or send Domhnall an email at [email protected].

www.crushradio.co.uk

Helen Dewey speaks to Domhall Cosgrave... CRUSH 1278am Director

30 Issue 2 Volume 13 UHSU [email protected]

He r t f o r d s h i r e H u r r i c a n e s

sponsored by Shark Energy Drink held a special training session on the sports fi eld over at de Havilland campus. The training session was being fi lmed by Sky Sports no

less for an editorial they were doing on British American Football.

The feature will appear on a NFL Sunday show in the near future where the topic is about the growth of American Football in the UK at university level. They decided to choose a well-established programme to show how

rookies select this sport and in particular develop as players. I couldn’t have picked a better team!

Whilst the session was going on some interviews were taking place with the Head Coach Jim Messenger, Team President James Richards and three rookies were given the opportunity to be on TV!

Once the team batter the hell out of each other, which they seemed to enjoy as ever, the proceedings moved to the bar with more interviews about the game and whether or not a regular season game should be played at Wembley stadium (of course there should one a year!). The guys socialised to the full extent in some cases and at the end were asked to make as much noise as possible, not too diffi cult for them!

Special thanks should go to de Havilland sports & social who were very accommodating with 70 players marching in the bar with a fi lm crew, also a huge thanks to Shark who provided some extra merchandise to the players.

www.uhsu.herts.ac.uk Sport Issue 2 Volume13 31

We’ve lost half our squad, we’ve lost our Germanic coaching

infl uences, we’ve lost the ability to train with our sister club… Those of you cynical readers may be examining this and thinking ‘damn you Comets people are careless’ but we are in fact the total opposite of careless. We don’t NEED half our squad – we have our new Rookies. We don’t NEED our German – we still have his dulcet tones ringing in our ears. We don’t NEED the Welwyn Warriors – we’ll fl atten them come Christmas (stop laughing, all of you). The point I’m so elaborately trying to make here is that after a reasonably successful inaugural year, in which we didn’t win a single match, the Comets are back bigger, harder and hairier than before. We deliver harder knocks, showcase more beautiful ladies and consume more lagers than ever.

The summer has seen the participation of squad members in several tournaments, most notably the famous (in the Lacrosse world at least) Berlin Open, which you all hopefully read about courtesy of the greater-headed Mudger (#30) in the previous issue of Universe. Second to that, Dan McCluskey and I had the opportunity to play with Welwyn, for what looks to be the last time, back in August at the Bath 6s tournament against some very strong opposition…yeah alright we didn’t win there either. So looking ahead to the 2005/2006 season (which may well be my last - get the tissues ready to say goodbye) we have an interesting few months ahead of us. This year sees the return of the Mixed squad competing against the likes of Oxford, Kings, Northampton and UEA to mention a few. Those brave boys and

girls with no protective equipment play on Sundays and their upcoming match is against our old adversaries Cambridge – maybe they’ll buy us a few drinks this year (once again, stop sniggering). The newly formed Comets Mens team has been entered into the South of England Mens Lacrosse Association’s Eastern Division, in which we intend to make a severely large impact. We face teams such as Cambridge, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and our old buddies Welwyn themselves. To use an understatement, we’re looking forward to it all. We began our 05/06 campaign this Saturday with a visit from our university compatriots at Royal Holloway (not the prison, as we feared) and after the game commenced we started the year as we meant to go on – by getting into a fi ght. In the fi rst 10 minutes. Now I’m not going to say I was entirely blameless by taking the guy out AFTER he had stepped off the pitch, I’m just going to say that I was sure he was still in play when I mowed him down. And I’m sure I didn’t hear a whistle. Now I don’t think that’s a reason for a man to punch a guy in the head, even if he IS wearing a helmet. Impressed as I was at getting the fi rst penalty call in the season I don’t believe it takes any glory here at all – neither then do the other fi ve fi ghts that nearly broke out in the course of the remaining 70 minutes, sometimes started by the very people that kept telling us all to calm down in the fi rst place (God love the Germans). I take my hats off to the Rookies, as they’re affectionately known, at this point and say that when the more experienced guys were thrashing away through the red mist and making hideous mistakes, they were keeping level headed and actually playing some impressive lacrosse. The Boys done good. Actually

we must have all done really good because the fi nal score was 8-6 to us, handing us our fi rst league win ever. Of course kudos has to go in some part to the four German chaps, Jonas, Julian, Christian and the Effervescent Henning, who fl ew over from the Fatherland to train, play and drink with us. Between them Jonas and Julian managed to notch up 7 goals with the fi nal one going to our Fearless Leader™ Dan Vickers. Bravo Skipper. We look forward to our tricky fi xture against the former Division 2 team Buckhurst Hill this coming Saturday. By the time you read this we’ll have been battered by them somewhat.

Off the pitch this year we’ll be enjoying ourselves in both the Comet Bar and the Elehouse on most Saturdays (as well as any other random time we happen to drop in and commandeer a corner) and we’ll be organising some top socials including our initial Halloween jolly, the Christmas Dinner and everything in between and after (like my birthday). Those of you who’d rather get a taste of lacrosse on the big screen and with a pint, we’re hopefully going to be arranging some games to view in the Elehouse IF we ask very nicely. Also keep an eye out for us at RaG this year – we’ve got something special lined up/up our sleeves/bubbling away (select or delete favourite euphemism as appropriate).

On a fi nal note I’d like to share the rumour that has spread amongst us that apparently Prince Harry is to play Lacrosse for Sandhurst this year. I can only hope to meet a fellow Ginger of such impressive stature on the fi eld. And introduce him to my long pole.

Another Year, Another Set of Bruises by Ginger Rich

Sky is the limit?

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