EDINBURGH’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

WWW.JOURNAL-ONLINE.CO.UK

ISSUE 59 THURSDAY 10 MAY 2012

Seoul-mates: why Britain and South Korea need each otherBritain’s ambassador on the importance of Anglo-Korean relations

IN NEWS / 4One-horse race for UoE rector Peter McColl will take over from Iain MacWhirter on 1 March, following uncontested election

IN NEWS / 7Tycoon donates £500k to Napier Hong Kong entrepreneur makes large donation to support Chinese students in Edinburgh

IN COMMENT / 11Local politics: students pay heedA EUSA sabb argues that students need to pay greater attention to local government elections

IN MUSIC / 17Little DragonThe Swedish electro-pop quartet spread their wings and set Liquid Room ablaze

18Don Paterson: rockstar poetThe celebrated wordsmith reflects on the path which led him from performing in jazz and rock bands to a career as one of Scotland’s brightest literary lights

IN BOOKS /

IN NEWS / 3NUS: No change at the topIncumbent presidents of NUS UK and NUS Scotland both re-elected at union conferences

Council Libs Dem-olished in bruising local election» 80% of Lib Dem councillors in Edinburgh, including council leader Jenny Dawe, lose their seats » Re-energised Labour likely to seek to form new coalition in the capital, narrowly beating SNP as largest bloc

10IN COMMENT /

4/5IN NEWS /

2 // CONTENTS @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

THIS WEEK INSIDE THE JOURNAL...

Six graduates of Heriot-Watt University nominated in the 2012 Scottish Fashion Awards 8Heriot-Watt

in vogueOutspoken Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s new film is simple in structure, but with a universal message 20Le

Havre

Chris Rubey

VIEWFINDER

Revellers perform at the twenty-fifth annual Beltane Fire Festival on Calton Hill in Edinburgh’s city centre last week

STUDENT POLITICS // 3@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Incumbents win out in NUS electionsLiam Burns elected to second term as NUS UK president, while Robin Parker returns as head of union’s Scots wing

Sian Williams, Gareth Llewellyn & Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

Liam Burns has been re-elected as the president of the National Union of Stu-dents (NUS), seeing off multiple challeng-ers in a hard-fought campaign.

Mr Burns received 57 per cent of the vote, defeating NUS vice-president Ed Marsh who obtained 43 per cent of the vote. In a statement Mr Burns said: “I am delighted students have put their trust in me and re-elected a second term.”

Robin Parker of NUS Scotland moved to congratulate Mr Burns on securing victory stating: “It’s a testament to Liam’s past achievements as President of NUS Scotland, as well as his more recent work at NUSUK, that students have continued to show faith in his leadership.”

Mr Parker also expressed his delight at the strong influence of Scottish student unions on the national stage, explaining:

“This is the most Scottish delegates to run for NUSUK positions than we’ve seen in some time, and reflects the number of tal-ented student representatives and cam-paigners that Scotland is lucky to be home to.”

In a separate election Robin Parker was re-elected president of NUS Scotland seeing off a challenge from Strathclyde Student’s Union president, Charandeep Singh.

Speaking to The Journal Mr Parker said: “I’m honoured to get the opportunity to carry on working alongside people who have just been inspirational in the last year.

“There’s no doubt about it, a lot of this

year has been measured in terms of the passion, commitment, and dedication that student campaigns have put in, and that’s the best thing about getting to rerun, and getting to do the job again - you get to work alongside those people.”

Mr Parker also hailed the campaign run by his opponent, saying: “A lot of credit to Charandeep for running a very positive campaign, [he] put forward a lot of good ideas for how NUS Scotland goes forward, and it’ll be good to meet up with him once things have died away and talk about some of the good ideas in [his manifesto].”

The elections mean that both incum-bents will remain in office until 2013, both pledge to continue the fight against cuts to higher education and to promote student involvement in politics through the ‘Voice Your Vote’ campaign.

The presidential election took place during the annual NUS conference in Sheffield, which passed a number of ini-tiatives. Speaking after re-election Liam Burns stated that it was vital to continue the fight against fees and cuts to higher education:

“With the government’s abandonment of the proposed higher education bill, scrapping of EMA, and presiding over record youth unemployment, so many of their wrong headed reforms are taking place behind the scenes and we will con-tinue to vigorously contest them out in the open.”

In one campaign, the union urged vice-chancellors and businesses to invest in the new NUS programme to give support for

fair access to higher education.Mr Burns argued that the chancel-

lors had “no excuse” not to contribute to the fund given the tax break received in the latest budget: “The government has increased fees and cut taxes, so that the average undergraduate will face thou-sands more every year in fees, while the average vice-chancellor will be paying £3000 less every year in tax.” Mr Burns claimed that as a result of this close to a million pounds could be raised each year.

The proposal has been piloted by the NUS with student unions organising out-reach activities, but the new proposal is said to be more substantial than existing plans.

However, support from vice-chan-cellors for the proposal has been limited. Brian Cantor, University of York Vice-Chancellor, has already ruled himself out of any contribution despite critics stating that Mr Cantor earned £258,473 last year including employers’ contributions to the USS pension scheme.

A spokesperson for the University explained: “The Vice-Chancellor will be making, as usual, a substantial personal donation to the University of York during 2012-13, and therefore declines to support this cause, worthy as it is.”

In addition to this, the conference also voted for a NUS national demonstration in London next year to oppose govern-ment higher education policy, the first of such events since 2010. A vote also passed to condemn police tactics at the national

‘Campaign against Fees and Cuts’ demon-stration last year.

David Monteith-Hodge

Burns defeated a challenge from VP Ed Marsh

Parker alongside his rival, Charandeep Singh

Gareth Llewellyn

EUSA trustees overturn boycottBoycott of brewing giant SABMiller posed financial risk to union, say trustees

as major mandate from first-ever campus-wide referendum is quashed

Greg Bianchi News editor

Edinburgh University Stu-dents’ Association’s board of trus-tees has chosen to repeal the boycott of brewing giant SABMiller’s products, which was passed by a majority of stu-dents in a campus-wide referendum in February.

In a statement, the trustees said that the decision was not taken lightly. They explained that the decision for the repeal of the boycott “was taken on both financial and reputation grounds”. The statement also explained that fol-lowing the boycott a “serious deterio-ration” had occurred with some of the brewers that supply EUSA.

EUSA has claimed that the SAB-Miller brewery firm does practice an ethical tax structure and other brewers feared that they may be boycotted in the future as SABMiller is seen as an ethical company within the interna-tional market. As a result EUSA stated that some sponsors and suppliers for the festival were withdrawing their contracts which meant the association faced losing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The campaign to boycott SABMiller products was proposed by the Bollocks to Poverty association which is affili-ated with the charity ActionAid, which released a report on SABMiller claim-

ing that the corporation failed to pay tax in many developing states in Africa. The report has been refuted by EUSA claiming that a number of claims made by Action Aid were not completely accurate.

In a statement to The Journal, ActionAid tax justice campaigner Chris Jordan, hit back at claims that the report was unreliable, saying:

“We are extremely surprised that the EUSA trustees concluded there was no “concrete evidence” that SABMiller abuses loopholes in the international tax system to avoid paying its taxes in Africa.

“Our research, recently cited by the IMF and based on SABMiller’s own accounts, show the company is system-atically shifting profits out of Africa and into tax havens.”

In a statement on their official Face-book page, Bollocks to Poverty Edin-burgh stated that they felt the repeal of the boycott was “undemocratic” and lacked transparency.

Despite this, EUSA stand by their decision to repeal the boycott which they felt was misleading and cited the legal obligation they had to protect the association’s reputation and financial stability.

SABMiller brands include Grolsch and Peroni

HW head backs Edinburgh Student Forum manifesto

Greg Bianchi News editor

Steve Chapman, Principal of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh has added his signature to the Edin-burgh Student Forum manifesto.

The manifesto campaigns on a number of important student issues including widening student participa-tion in elections, seeking to stop HMO quotas being introduced and improving student safety in the city.

In a statement on the Heriot-Watt website Mike Ross, President of Heriot Watt University Students Association (HWUSA) has been campaigning to ensure that all political parties speak to students and that all students partici-pate in the local elections on 3 May.

In a statement to The Journal Mr Ross said: “The university’s support for the Edinburgh Student Manifesto recognises [the role] that local govern-ment can play in helping to improve the experience of students within Edin-burgh. Being a campus-based univer-sity gives an excellent opportunity for our students to engage with the local community and really do something excellent.”

The ESF held a hustings for the local elections at Teviot, at which a number of student association leaders were present. It involved candidates from all

major parties and was part of the NUS ‘Voice Your Vote’ campaign for students to become more involved in politics.

In a statement on the ESF website Robin Parker, President of NUS Scot-land congratulated the ESF on bring-ing student issues to light saying: “It’s excellent to see students at colleges and universities in Edinburgh working together to ensure local authority can-didates address issues that affect stu-dents’ lives.”

The ESF represents a number of students associations across Edinburgh in order to create student solidarity across the capital. The forum debates a number of wide ranging issues which affect students including public trans-port and accommodation.

Hannah Killoh

Professor Steve Chapman

4 // LOCAL NEWS @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL ELECTIONS

Low turnout and botched ballot-papers mar crucial Edinburgh council electionsOnly 43 per cent of the capital’s electorate cast ballots — and almost 2,000 votes were rejected by returning officers

Dominique Cottee Local News editor

Changes to the timing of the elec-tion, the banning of election posters, voter indifference and the single trans-ferable voting system are being blamed for low turnout across Edinburgh in last week’s local council election.

Only 42.6 per cent or 141,552 of 331,954 eligible voters showed up to cast their ballots, down from 58.3 per cent of voters in 2007.

Participation was higher than pre-dicted on Thursday night after poll booths shut. After a poor show at the ballot boxes across the city, some can-didates were predicting wards with 20 per cent or less of voters taking part, and only 30 per cent of voters participating overall.

Edinburgh’s turnout was considera-bly higher than elsewhere in the UK - in Manchester and Bristol only 24 per cent of voters turned up.

Sighthill/Gorgie saw the lowest voter turnout of all seventeen Edinburgh wards, with only 34.56 per cent turning up to vote, down from 49.6 per cent in 2007. The seat saw two SNP and two Labour candidates elected.

Forth likewise had one of the lowest percentages of turnout in the city - only 37.7 per cent - a result made worse by the 136 ballot papers that were rejected in the ward.

Colinton/Fairmilehead was the only ward to register turnout above 50 per cent, with a 51 per cent turnout, the highest of all the wards. It saw two Conservatives and one SNP candi-date elected. Nonetheless, it was still 25 per cent fewer voters than in 2007. Meadows/Morningside, where Council

Leader Jenny Dawe lost her seat, also saw a 25 per cent drop this election.

By comparison, in 2007 only one ward - Sighthill/Gorgie - registered turnout below 50 per cent.

SNP leader Steve Cardownie expressed disappointment at the poor showing, adding that “no politician is pleased with a low turnout - it weakens the mandate they have.”

The low levels of participation prompted questions as to the sense of moving local elections to a different day than Scottish Parliament elections.

The last time the local elections were held separate to the Scottish Parlia-ment elections was in 1995, when voter turnout was similarly low, at 44.5 per cent.

It is also the first local election after the SNP and the Conservatives voted to ban the displaying of election posters in June last year. On his blog, unsuccess-ful Pirate Party candidate for Meadows/Morningside, Phil Hunt, pointed to the lack of posters as a reason for the small number of voters, saying: “Posters make people aware that there’s an election going on, and might nudge them to think about the issues.”

Second-year Medical Science student Shinjini Basu told The Journal that she didn’t vote in the local elections

“primarily because I had no idea there were elections.”

She added that if she had seen elec-tion posters around the city, it “maybe” would have encouraged her to vote, but

“probably not because I wouldn’t know if (as a Commonwealth citizen) I would be allowed to vote.”

Other suggestions for encouraging greater voter participation included changing the day of voting from a Thurs-

day to a weekend – a suggestion that was likewise supported by Cardownie.

However, voter discontent with parties across the political spectrum may have also played a large part in the dis-appointing numbers, with many instead staying home either out of protest or general disinterest.

Re-elected Conservative council-lor for Colinton/Fairmilehead, Jason Rust, said it was hard to tell if low voter turnout was a protest or apathy.

Angrier voters chose to register their discontent with the political system by turning up to the booths simply to lodge a protest vote by way of invalidating their ballot paper.

Lucas McGregor-Paas, President of the Edinburgh University Scot-tish Nationalists Association, told The Journal: “I fear that this poor turnout may repeat itself in the European Par-liament Election in 2014 unless the political parties of Scotland start to work together to re-engage the public.”

In Meadows/Morningside, there were reports of a ballot paper with “I hate you all” written on it. Another report came out of a ballot paper with

“TRAMS - ENOUGH SAID, EH?” written across it in lieu of a numbered prefer-ence of candidates. Many other ballot papers were reportedly used to make some reference to the trams instead of being used as a voting card.

Former city council leader Jenny Dawe said following her unsuccessful re-election attempt that “it was the right thing to do, if somebody doesn’t approve of the trams they have the right not to vote for anybody because all the major parties at some stage voted for the trams.”

Other voters had spoiled their ballots by putting an “X” in the box instead of

the numbered preferences required by the Single Transferable Voting system.

Confusion or lack of understanding over voting by numbered preferences as opposed to marking an “X” has also been cited as a reason for voters staying away,

with Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale tweet-ing: “Let’s be honest – this electronic counting malarkey takes all the fun and drama out of the count.”

Overall, 1,868 votes across the city were rejected as invalid.

Ward 2012 turnout (%)

2007 turnout (%)

Colinton/Fairmilehead 51 67.6

Inverleith 47.9 64.4Corstorphine/Murrayfield

47.41 66

Meadows/Morningside 47 62.6Craigentinny/Duddingston

45.9 60.6

Southside/Newington 45.3 57.5Pentland Hills 44.43 61.5Almond 44.29 66.3Drumbrae/Gyle 44.18 60.1Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart

44 59.9

Portobello/Craigmillar 42 54.5Liberton/Gilmerton 39.9 55.3Forth 37.77 63.4Leith 37.6 52.6City Centre 36.6 50.8Leith Walk 36.2 53.3Sighthill/Gorgie 34.56 49.6OVERALL 42.6 58.3

Cllr Steve Burgess, convener of the council’s Green group, campaigning in Newington with former party leader Robin Harper last week

Marcus Kernohan

LOCAL NEWS// 5@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Labour and SNP unlikely bedfellows in new City of Edinburgh Council coalitionLabour’s Andrew Burns tipped to become council leader, with SNP chief Steve Cardownie the likely deputy leader

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Labour and the SNP are to form a coa-lition to lead the Edinburgh City Council for the next five years, after an inconclu-sive council election which left no party with an overall majority on Edinburgh’s city council.

The surprise announcement was made on the evening of Monday 7 May after a weekend of “intense negotiations” following large gains in the council elec-tions held on Thursday.

Labour won 20 of 58 seats in an elec-tion that saw the Liberal Democrats routed and council leader Jenny Dawe

ousted. Although the largest number of seats taken by any running party, it was not enough to secure them the 30-seat majority needed to take full control of the council.

The new coalition with the SNP will see the two parties holding a 38-seat majority, after the SNP grabbed 18 seats overall in last week’s elections.

Labour group leader Andrew Burns said the coalition was formed “after lis-tening to the will of the electorate and and after intense negotiations over the last few days.”

“Edinburgh electors gave a very clear mandate to Labour and the SNP, deliver-ing 38 out of 58 councillors.

“A Labour-SNP coalition will now provide the stability and certainty needed to move Edinburgh forward.”

SNP group leader Steve Cardownie also expressed his confidence in the newly-formed coalition, adding: “The SNP looks forward to working in partner-ship with the Labour group with a pro-gressive and exciting agenda to meet the challenges the city faces.

“With this strong partnership we are best placed to ensure Edinburgh serves its citizens well and emerges from the recession quickly and strongly.

“Our groups’ economic policies are almost one and the same and we are con-fident they will deliver for the people of the city.”

The two parties also reached an agree-ment on how various council positions will be divided. Labour will nominate candidates for the roles of Leader and Lord Provost, while the SNP will nomi-nate candidates for Deputy Leader and Deputy Lord Provost.

Councillors will be appointed to these roles when the new Council meets for the first time on Thursday 17 May.

The agreement came as a surprise to many observers, who had expected a newly-emboldened Green group to play

a kingmaker role. But group leader Steve Burgess announced that the party had ruled out a coalition role, saying: “We looked seriously at various options over the weekend but recognised that the arithmetic meant that Green councillors would always be dispensable and that would be a major weakness. However, by making our intentions not to enter coali-tion clear earlier today we ensured that a Labour-Conservative coalition was no longer attractive to Labour either.”

Last week’s election saw Labour claiming 20 seats, SNP with 18, Conserva-tives with 11, Greens with six and Liberal Democrats with three.

Labour gained five seats in the wards

of Drumbrae/Gyle, Forth, City Centre, Leith Walk and Craigentinny/Dudding-ston, giving them the highest number of seats in council, in what the party called

“a great day for Edinburgh and Labour.”Labour have spent the past five years

in opposition after losing 15 seats in the 2007 elections.

Fifteen Labour councillors - including Group leader Andrew Burns - were also returned to their wards.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats saw their numbers plummet, losing a total of 14 seats and holding on to only three. Leader of the Edinburgh Council and of the Lib Dem group Jenny Dawe was unseated in her Meadows/Morning-side ward, polling only 1,285 votes. She blamed her loss on anti-Clegg sentiment and on a combination of national and local issues.

Transport convener Gordon Mac-kenzie was also voted out of his ward in Southside/Newington in what was seen to be voter backlash against the mishan-dled trams project.

In a demonstration of just how badly the Lib Dems fared, Independent can-didate Mike Ferrigan, aka “Professor Pongoo”, a six-foot ‘intergalactic penguin’, gained 74 more votes than rival Lib Dem candidate Stuart Bridges in Pentland Hills. Neither were eventually elected.

In Liberton/Gilmerton, the Lib Dems were voted out in favour of a Conserva-tive candidate.

Other nearby councils likewise saw devastating result for the Lib Dems, with East Lothian Council losing all six of their Lib Dem councillors. Midlothian Council similarly didn’t return any Lib Dem candidates.

The Greens saw their best results yet, gaining three seats on the last elec-tion, and winning six seats overall. They were particularly successful in the wards of Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart and Southside/Newington, where they took

the majority of first preferences.The party gained seats in Inverleith,

Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart and Leith, and retained their seats in Southside/Newington, Leith Walk and Meadows/Morningside.

Former Liberal Democrat Councillor Tim McKay blamed the loss of his seat on the order of the ballot paper, where suc-cessful Green candidate Nigel Bagshaw was listed first.

The SNP also saw favourable results, gaining six more seats than the 2007 local election, in the wards of Costorphine/Murrayfield, Sighthill/Gorgie, Fountain-bridge/Craiglockhart, Meadows/Morn-ingside, Southside/Newington and Colin-ton/Fairmilehead, giving them an overall win of 18 seats.

But their strategy of nominating more than one candidate in the same ward did not pay off for the SNP in Leith, after Deputy Lord Provost Rob Munn was not re-elected.

SNP candidate Ian McVey instead claimed victory in the ward, again prompting questions about the order of the ballot paper, where McVey appeared before Munn.

SNP Group leader Steve Cardownie, was returned as a councillor in Forth.

The Scottish Conservatives main-tained a steady seat count of 11. Despite losing a Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart seat to Greens candidate Gavin Corbett, Conservative candidate Nick Cook took a seat in Liberton/Gilmerton from the Liberal Democrats after eight stages of counting.

Across Scotland, the SNP and Labour both made gains, with the former winning 424 seats, and the latter winning 394 seats. Lucas McGregor-Pass, Presi-dent of Edinburgh University Scottish Nationalists Association, heralded the results as a “phenomenal achievement for us, as this year we have not only won the highest number of councillors in our

history but also won an overall majority in two Councils for the first time.”

He told The Journal: “I personally feel that the people of Scotland have rejected the centre-right politics of the current Westminster Government and are con-tinuing to support the social democratic policies of the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Greens.”

Meanwhile, the Conservatives lost 16 seats, bringing their total across Scot-land to 115. The Lib Dems also performed poorly across Scotland, losing 80 seats and in the end grabbing only 71.

Party Councillors ChangeLabour 20 +5

Scottish National Party 18 +5Conservatives 11 0Greens 6 +3Liberal Democrats 3 -13 Burns (centre, seated) with Labour parliamentarians and council candidates

Edinburgh Labour

A referendum on the coalition?

10EDITORIAL & COMMENT

6 // ACADEMIC NEWS @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

Heriot-Watt graduates nominated for Scottish Fashion AwardsRecent Heriot-Watt graduates up for designer awards

Jenny Kassner // Staff writer

Six Heriot-Watt University graduates have been nominated in the 2012 Scottish Fashion Awards.

Natalie Traynor, Joanne McGillivray, David Black, Catriona Clark, Coryn Dickson and Deborah Morgan have all been short-listed for the Graduate of the Year category of the Awards which is now in its seventh year.

The ceremony will be hosted by Alexa Chung and will be held on 11 June at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

Tessa Hartmann, founder of the Awards in 2006 said in an interview with The Herald: “It’s a big step for us to move to this impressive venue that is the Clyde Auditorium, but year on year we receive so many requests from young fashionistas all desperate to attend this global event.

“We are delighted to welcome our incredible judging panel flying in from across Europe, Australia, the US and Dubai all contributing to our aim of placing Scottish fashion talent on the global map. With style icon Alexa Chung as our host, all eyes will for sure be on Scotland’s most fashionable red-carpet night of the year in 2012.”

Among the 15 categories are nominees for Scottish Designer of the Year, Scottish Retailer of the Year and a Hall of Fame Award.

The nominees will be evaluated by a panel of judges made up of professionals in the fashion industry, including design-ers and journalists.

The awards are a chance for young and upcoming designers to have their work presented to the attending fashion community, consisting of designers, models, retailers and celebrities, and be recognised by influential people in the industry. At the same time it celebrates the best of what the Scottish fashion industry has to offer in fashion, design and textiles.

Edinburgh University to host GB swimming team’s Olympic Swim Camp ahead of GamesTeam GB will use Commonwealth Pool and Pleasance Gym for strength and conditioning

Katie Richardson Academic News editor

The GB swimming team has chosen the University of Edinburgh as the venue to host their final preparations for the Olympics this summer. 

The team will use the newly refur-bished Commonwealth Pool and the university’s Pleasance Gym for strength and conditioning sessions from 18 to 24 July.

Jim Aitken, Director of the Centre for Sport and Exercise, told The Journal: “We are delighted to have secured the Olympic Swim Camp, and the Volleyball Camp too (in June), and this has really captured the imagina-tion of everyone who has an interest in sport.

“These events have created quite a stir, and we are really excited about the benefits they will bring and it’s a real privilege that we’ve been chosen to host them.

“It’s clear GB Swim officials were much impressed by the fantastic new Royal Commonwealth Pool and the sporting facilities and performance sport culture we have at the University.

 “We all want the Edinburgh Camp to be the perfect preparation for the swimmers ahead of the London Games, and everyone’s working really hard to achieve that.”

The university has been in discus-sions to secure the deal for over a year, with its reputation for combining both sporting and academic achievements being an influential factor. The univer-sity is already renowned for its sport-ing legacy, the latest being Sir Chris Hoy’s triple cycling gold in Beijing in 2008.

Mr Aitken added: “The university is rightly respected world-wide for the quality of its teaching and learning, but

we are now thrilled that talented stu-dents view Edinburgh as a place they can come to combine their higher edu-cation and sporting ambitions too.

“Many national sports agencies, such as GB swimming, value our com-mitment to identifying and developing sporting talent, and we are seen as a willing partner in promoting sporting excellence.

“Our Individual and Team Per-formance Sport programmes seek to provide a rounded multi-disciplinary package of athlete support around coaching, sports medicine, fitness con-ditioning, flexible study, cash support and the like, which have helped produce a growing number of interna-

tional athletes from the university.” Swimmers who will be taking part

in the camp include the university’s Michael Jamieson, who also swims for Bath, and will be competing for the title in the 200m breaststroke.

Mr Jamieson said: “It’s a fantastic place to come and I think that’s shown with the fact that the British team have chosen Edinburgh to host the holding camp for the Olympic games and to entrust it with the final stages of prep-aration really speaks volumes for it.

“Obviously at the university here you’ve got everything under one roof, the gym, the physio and the sport staff are all on hand and that’s important in selecting a training base.”

Mr Jamieson is excited to be on the team and competing for an Olympic place: “It’s great to be following in the footsteps of sporting idols here from Edinburgh and hopefully we can deliver some similar results. Edin-burgh is a home away from home for me.”

Chris Jones, Head of Performance Swimming at the University of Edin-burgh said: “The University has con-tinued to invest in facilities such as this to train the athletes to train and find that extra cutting edge, as a coach it’s going to be amazing.

 “Facilities here are among the best in the world and that’s why GB swim-ming will keep coming here to train.”

British hopefuls are set to train at Edinburgh University’s athletic facilities

Daniel do Rosario // Staff writer

Queen Margaret University (QMU) has announced that it has been awarded a Cycle Friendly Employer (CFE) award for providing a “full range of incentives” for staff and students to cycle to the campus.

The award is organised by Scotland’s largest cycling charity, Cycle Scotland, and is contingent on meeting a set of 12 criteria that display a commitment to increasing travel to work by bike.

The university provides services including bike-lockers, showers, work-shops and repair kits, which they claim has led more staff and students to travel to university by bicycle than ever before.

Matt Sanders, QMU’s Cycle Friendly Employer Green Travel Champion, said:

“We are continuously promoting the ben-efits of cycling to work and it’s wonderful to know that our efforts in this area are resulting in an increased level of people travelling by bike.

“We are also pleased that our drive to support cycle users by providing a range

of good facilities, useful information and advice as well as group activities is being recognised in this way.”

The university campus is based on the eastern fringe of Edinburgh, near Mus-selburgh, and is approximately 6 miles from the city centre.

Students or staff travelling from the city centre can expect to burn around 160 calories and save almost 2kg of Carbon Dioxide emissions with a low-intensity cycle to campus, according to Cyclestreets.net, a cycle route-planning website.

The Scottish government has commit-ted to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, but Scotland’s trans-port alone emits enough carbon to cover the 14 million tonne total emissions target for 2050.

It is estimated that a decarbonised transport sector would have to be well on its way by 2030, and sustainable transport initiatives will have a key role to play in reaching this target.

QMU, which prides itself on its sus-tainability credentials, has said that it is

“delighted” to win the award.

QMU wins award for peddling sustainabilityMusselburgh university commended as a ‘Cycle Friendly Employer’ by charity Cycle Scotland

QMU has introduced several cycling initiatives

Stuart Caie

Scottish Fashion Awards

Chris Rubey

ACADEMIC NEWS// 7@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

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Napier seek inspiration on how to enhance the student experience ‘Open Minds’ competition includes £3,000 prize towards postgraduate study

Jenny Kassner // Staff writer

Edinburgh Napier University is giving students the chance to win £3000 to put towards their postgraduate degree.

The ‘Open Minds’ competition asks existing or potential students to submit their ideas on how to enhance student experiences at Napier university based on three key areas of academia, technol-ogy and social life.

The best ideas will be chosen by a panel of judges made up of lecturers from the faculties of Business, Health, Life and Social Sciences Engineering, Computing and Creative Industries at Napier Uni-versity and the winning entry will win £3000 to put towards their postgraduate degree.

The judges will also ask the general

public to pick their favourite submis-sion in a separate competition and the idea that proves to be most popular with voters will win a Kindle e-reader and a £100 Amazon voucher.

Paola Renucci who is a judge on the panel said: “This is a chance to make a positive difference to student life and we’re looking for creative and innovative ideas to help us do this.”

However, it is not guaranteed that the winning ideas will actually be imple-mented by Napier University. A univer-sity spokesperson told The Journal: “We don’t say that ideas will be implemented so prospective student submitting are not under that impression. It really is just looking for ideas at this stage. If the idea has real potential and is feasible the uni-versity may well look in to it further”

Jon Baldie Comment & Features editor

A Hong Kong entrepreneur has invested £500k into Edinburgh Napier University, to help students from China, Hong Kong and Macau study there.

Lawrence Ho’s fund will also be open to applications for Edinburgh-based students wishing to study abroad for a semester, or a full year. This is the second donation Dr Ho has made to Napier University, the largest UK provider of international educa-tion in Hong Kong.

Professor Dame Joan Stringer, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: “Today’s graduates are faced with a highly competitive jobs market where standing out from the crowd has never been more important.

“This very generous gift gives stu-dents both in Scotland and in China, Macau and Hong Kong the chance to benefit from a once in a lifetime oppor-tunity to study and work abroad, and

will help further grow the economic, educational and cultural ties between the two countries.

“The fund will also allow us to increase our business and education collaborations in a region we have operating in for over 20 years now, producing thousands of graduates who have contributed to the economy and long term prosperity of Hong Kong.”

Edinburgh Napier University announced the launch of The Law-rence Ho Scholarship and Research Fund at a ceremony in Hong Kong on Thursday 2 April. The launch was attended by the Principal, Professor Dame Joan K Stringer, Sir David K P Li and Dr Lawrence Ho.

Hospitality management student Rosalynn Dinnen spoke of the benefits she personally experienced from pre-vious money donated by Dr Ho: “I am now undertaking a PhD in Hospitality and Tourism and I hope to focus on the various aspects of Human Resource Management with the approval of Mr Ho.

“As I won the Lawrence Ho award,

I have decided to do my case study on Mr Ho’s organization, Melco Interna-tional Development Limited, located in Macau on the southeast of China. I hope to go out to Macau early next year for six months to work with the Vice President of Melco.”

34-year-old Mr Ho is the chair-man and chief executive officer of Hong Kong-listed Melco Interna-tional Development Limited, and was elected as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” in 2006. His personal fortune is currently estimated at over $1 billion.

Mr Ho is the son of the Honourable Dr Stanley Ho, one of the richest men in Asia, who held the monopoly on gambling in Macau for several decades before deregulation of the gaming industry in 2002.

Mr Ho built his first large casino in 2007, followed in 2009 by a major casino resort during a boom in casino construction that has seen the tiny special administrative region become the biggest gambling destination in the world. 

Sim Scammell

A donation of £1.3 million has been made to the Heriot-Watt Uni-versity International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS) by the Engineering and Physical Sci-ences Research Council (EPSRC). They hope the grant will assist the ICMS in continuing its work hosting research workshops for mathematical scientists.

The grant is to cover the work of the ICMS for a total of four years, from 2012 to 2016. The EPSRC expect that their donation will help young mathematicians, in particular, benefit from the work-shops which they claim provide them with the chance to work with senior researchers, industry and the government.

In a statement in response to a query about their reasons for

making the donation, the EPSRC praised the high quality of ICMS’s workshops, saying:”[the work-shops] nurture the next genera-tion of mathematical scientists by encouraging the participation of young researchers at the events.

“The events offer consider-able opportunity for networking, opening up wider possibilities in terms of career paths for younger participants. There is also greater scope for them to be offered crucial training opportunities either in the UK or overseas.”

The EPSRC also emphasised the global relevance of the ICMS, con-tinuing: “The meetings also attract scientists from all over the world so offering a forum for communicat-ing new ideas and techniques from their country.”

The EPSRC say that the work-shops can effect change by develop-

ing ideas within multi-disciplinary sciences that will be of aid to busi-nesses and the government in the future.

While the grant’s benefits aim to maintain and possibly improve the standards of the ICMS’s work-shops, by cultivating knowledge in the mathematical sciences, gradu-ates of these disciplines might enter into better working environments in which to develop new ideas. This fits in with the EPSRC’s long-term goals in promoting innovations which also have commercial bene-fits, as stated on their website.

With regards to the relevance of the ICMS itself to academia, a spokesperson for Heriot-Watt Uni-versity said: “I am told [that] the professors get support to organ-ize workshops at ICMS and the PhD students get funding to attend them.”

Casino magnate donates £500k to NapierHong Kong entrepreneur Lawrence Ho’s grant will help support Chinese students wanting to study at Napier

Mr Ho, 34, is CEO of a major casino conglomerate

Horasis

8 // STUDENT NEWS @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

Plans for Edinburgh ‘super college’ put to Scottish GovernmentProposed merger of Jewel & Esk, Telford and

Stevenson colleges is a cost-cutting move

New union bar for Napier Students’ AssociationA year after the closure of the old premises, NSA president Tom Zanelli reveals plans for new bar to open in 2013

Leighton Craig Student News editor

Plans have been published for a merger between three Edinburgh col-leges potentially creating a ‘super college’.

The proposals were put forward to the Scottish Government by the city’s Telford, Stevenson and Jewel and Esk Colleges last week.

The plans come amidst a nation-wide reorganisation of higher education facilities in a bid to help cut costs. The individual boards of the three colleges approved the business case and merger proposal for submission to the Scottish Government in late March.

The new college will be named Edin-

burgh College and, if approved, has a planned vesting day of 1 October 2012.

As well as cutting costs, a poten-tial merger will open a range of possi-bilities for college education in Edin-burgh. A statement on the Stevenson College website says: “The merger will ensure that, given the constraints and challenges of the economic and public funding environment, the new college will maintain and, where appropriate, enhance the services currently pro-vided. Building on educational, com-mercial and international successes of the partner colleges.” Over the past year, the Scottish Government have held a number of consultations and released publications outlining their aim for edu-cational reform in the country.

Education Secretary Mike Russell told MSPs in a statement last year: “Ideally I would wish to see emerge regional groupings of colleges, with a spread of specialist, higher-level and access-level provision delivered locally, greater collaboration between univer-sities, with the possibility of mergers where that makes educational and finan-cial sense.”

The merger comes as the govern-ment revealed the need for budget cuts to colleges earlier this year. Colleges across Scotland have voiced concern that they will struggle to meet costs in the next educational year. However, par-ticipants in this new merger are hopeful that it will ensure a more stream-lined approach to college education in Scot-land as well as being more economically

viable.Jim Ewing, chair of the three col-

leges’ Merger Partnership Board, said: “Working together as one college will provide more opportunities for students, staff and the community, and reflects the growing desire of the Scottish Gov-ernment for colleges to work together to deliver a smarter, more economical model going forward.”

Trades unions condemn government over new youth unemployment revelations Figures show that unemployment has risen dramatically during last five years, prompting criticism from STUC

Greg Bianchi News editor

Youth unemployment in Scot-land has reached a five year high, new figures show. According to figures obtained by The Scotsman, the number of young people claiming job seekers allowance for more than 12 months in Scotland has risen by more than 1,100 per cent in five years.

The news comes at a testing time for Scotland’s youth as graduate pros-pects appear bleak for some final year students. The rise in unemployment has affected all areas of the United Kingdom but Scotland has been hit particularly hard.

Figures released by the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC) stated that 5,210 Scots between the ages of 18 and 24 had been receiving job seekers allowance for more than 12 months.

Georgina Wardrop, who is a member of the STUC’s youth commit-

tee is set to lead the campaign against youth unemployment. In an excerpt of a speech obtained by the BBC Ms Wardrop said: “It is time that gov-ernment at all levels takes meaning-ful action to provide hope and avoid another lost generation”. In addition to this Ms Wardrop also called for the coalition government in Westminster to “abandon austerity”.

Stephen Boyd, who is the STUC’s assistant secretary supported Ms Wardrop when he stated: ““The increase in the number of people unemployed for more than a year dem-onstrates the scale of the problem and it’s a message that’s in danger of being lost.

“We will be left with the human, economic, and social consequences of this decade for some time.”

The news comes following moves by NUS and NUS Scotland to guaran-tee more places for students at uni-versity in the ‘Funding Our Future’

campaign. In a statement on the NUS website the campaign claims that poli-cies being passed by the coalition gov-

ernment are “pricing students out of education” and that there is a need to ensure a prosperous future by invest-

ing in education and encouraging stu-dents to attend university by cutting tuition fees.

Telford College, one of three Edinburgh colleges set to merge under the plans

Leighton Craig Student News editor

Plans are in place for the building of a new state of the art student union bar for Edinburgh Napier University students.

Napier students have been without a recognised social space since the failing and unprofitable old union bar in Merchis-ton closed down last September.

Since then, NSA has launched a suc-cessful weekly club night at Opal Lounge on the city’s George Street, however many students have deemed this to be unaccept-able. The lack of a union bar was one of the biggest issues which NSA received feed-back on in their recent ‘1 Thing’ campaign in which students were asked to write down one thing they liked and one they disliked about their university.

Since taking office, NSA president Tom Zanelli has campaigned for a student bar making it his remit to instil one through lobbying the university and creating a peti-tion which garnered over 3000 signatures.

Mr Zanelli initially faced opposition from the university on the matter, he told The Journal last October that “It seems I have to prove to everyone at Napier that a union bar is needed. If it’s done right, it can

be successful.”However, it would appear that he has

persuaded the university and says in a recent statement: “When I started less than a year ago, nobody at the university was interested in having a union bar for Edinburgh Napier students which is a joke considering it was the issue which kept coming up time and time again as the main thing which our students disliked about

the university.”As well as the very important learning

side to university it is equally important to enjoy the student experience.”

The new bar is likely to open in 2013 and will be located in the centre of town. Mr Zanelli has also revealed that he may look in to the possibility of having a tem-porary student bar until the new one is unveiled.

JISC infoNet

Anti-cuts campaigners at a recent Edinburgh demonstration

Allan MacDonald

NATIONAL POLITICS // 9@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Rory Scothorne // Staff writer Billionaire American tycoon Donald Trump brought Hollywood to Holyrood this month when he appeared in front of a Scottish parlia-mentary committee.

Mr Trump, who has faced criti-cism from environmental groups for his controversial golf course develop-ment in Aberdeenshire, was called to give evidence to the Scottish parlia-ment’s economy, energy and tourism committee.

The committee of MSPs had invited Mr Trump to give his views as part of an inquiry into renewable energy after his outspoken criticism of the Scottish Government’s support for wind farms.

Mr Trump claimed that he had received assurances from First Min-ister Alex Salmond and former First Minister Jack McConnell that a pro-posed 11-turbine offshore wind farm near his golf course would not be built if he went ahead with his project.

With his executive vice-president George Sorial at his side, he said he felt

“betrayed” by Mr Salmond and his pred-ecessor, telling MSPs:

“What they did is lured me in. I spent this money and now I might regret it. I think that other people that want to invest in Scotland are watching me and they’re watching what happened, and I think they’re going to say: ‘We’re not going to invest in Scotland’.”

However, Mr Salmond’s office has dismissed the claims that Mr Trump received assurances as “total nonsense”.

“Absolutely no assurances have been given at any time by the First Minis-ter or anyone in this administration to Mr Trump or his organisation, and any claims to the contrary are wrong.”

“The suggestion that any assurances were given at a dinner in New York in October 2007, which was attended by other businesspeople and potential inward investors in Scotland, is merely the latest in a long line of bizarre twists and claims.”

Mr Trump attacked turbines for their appearance and cost, encourag-ing the committee to “recognise the serious situation and to encourage the Scottish government not to destroy Scotland with these horrendous, costly and highly inefficient industrial turbines.”

He added: “Your pristine coun-tryside and coastlines will forever be destroyed and Scotland will go broke.”

Mr Trump’s appearance drew pro-tests from both pro- and anti-windfarm groups, who greeted the billionaire with both jeers and cheers as he left the building.

Many of the pro-windfarm cam-paigners were also there to protest Mr Trump’s golf development on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire, which has been the subject of controversy since its announcement in March 2006.

Mr Trump’s handling of the golf course development has come under fire after alleged mistreatment of local residents was exposed in Anthony Baxter’s documentary ‘You’ve Been Trumped’, which has won a number of international awards. Scottish Green Party leader Patrick Harvie hosted a screening of the film at the Parliament on the eve of the enquiry.

Mr Trump’s appearance intensi-fied pressure on the SNP, who are keen to deflect charges of being too close to wealthy elites after revelations over Mr Salmond’s relationship with beleaguered News International chief Rupert Murdoch.

Donald Trump gives evidence to Scottish Parliament committee over wind-farm plansProperty tycoon has lobbied against proposal to build wind-farm near his Aberdeenshire golf-course development

Andrew Barr National Politics Editor

Students from Northern Ireland may be entitled to free educa-tion at Scottish universities due to dual British-Irish citizenship.

The Scottish Government has kept university tuition free for students resident in Scotland, and due to Euro-pean law has had to offer the same free education to applicants from the rest of the EU.

As some residents in Northern Ireland have dual nationality and the right to opt for Irish passports this means that many applicants are con-sidered as EU rather than UK appli-cants for Scottish universities.

However, it is understood that some universities in Scotland have told these applicants they will be classed as UK nationals and will have to pay fees.

Scottish education secretary Michael Russell has said universities would have the final word stating:

“The purpose of the regulations is to guarantee Scottish students free access. It is not to find ways around for other people. Because of European law, people coming from other juris-dictions do get the same treatment as Scottish students but those in the rest of the UK don’t.”

The DUP East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell said: “Northern

Ireland’s citizenship issue is unique to that of the rest of the United Kingdom in that someone living in Belfast can hold both a British passport and an Irish passport. They can officially be an Irish citizen and a British citizen.”

“With such a unique situation, the Scottish executive should take an equally unique approach to Northern Ireland students.”

Mr Campbell went on to explain that the system shouldn’t force North-ern Irish students to adopt Irish citi-zenship and that fees for students from Northern Ireland should be scrapped by the Scottish government to avoid a situation where Mr Campbell claims that Northern Irish students who wish to retain British citizenship would be

“disadvantaged to the tune of £27,000.If such a decision was taken it

would likely raise the issue of UK citizens from England and Wales being charged to attend university in Scotland.

In August, human rights lawyer Phil Shiner announced his intention to mount a legal challenge to the RUK regulations, claiming that they breach both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Equality Act.

Mr Shiner previously represented two students seeking a judicial review of England’s fee structure. In February, the High Court ruled that the rules did not breach human rights legislation.

Northern Irish students could avoid RUK feesDual-citizenship loophole means students could receive free education under EU rules

Jon Baldie Comment & Features editor

First Minister Alex Salmond has rejected a call from MSPs to hold a phone-hacking inquiry, calling it unnecessary.

Last week Mr Salmond defied a report by the UK House of Commons culture, media and sport commit-tee that said that Rupert and James Murdoch demonstrated “wilful blind-ness” to phone-hacking in News Corporation.

According to evidence released in previous weeks, Jack McConnell, Mr Salmond’s predecessor as First Minis-ter, and Joan McAlpine, his parliamen-tary advisor, had their mobile phones hacked by the News of the World.

The first minister was accused by MSPs of “arrogance” and of treating the Scottish Parliament with “com-plete contempt” after he declined to confirm whether his phone had been hacked.

Mr Salmond will appear before the Leveson Inquiry on 13 June, and has said that he will not confirm or deny any details of his phone being hacked until then. His reluctance to reveal whether he had been a victim was con-demned by opposition leaders, piling more pressure onto his struggle to justify being the world’s only political leader still enjoying a close relation-

ship with Mr Murdoch.The separate Leveson Inquiry

last week learned from emails that Mr Salmond offered to lobby the UK government for Rupert Murdoch’s planned takeover of BSkyB “whenever” News Corporation wanted.

Johann Lamont, the leader of Scot-tish Labour, said: “The First Minister treated his party, the parliament, and the people of this country with com-plete contempt, refusing to answer questions and failing to justify his lob-bying for Rupert Murdoch. Three times he was asked by three party leaders if his phone was hacked, three times he

ignored the question, and he refuses to be held accountable for his actions.

“When a Nationalist leader is hiding behind an inquiry in London as a reason to resist calls for a parliamen-tary inquiry here in Scotland, then we really are through the looking glass.”

Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said: “In the last few days we have learned that phone hacking reached the very top of gov-ernment in Scotland. It is right and proper that the Scottish Parliament has the opportunity to look into the phone hacking scandal in its own way and in its own time.”

First minister vetoes calls for Holyrood hacking probeAlex Salmond is accused of “arrogance” by opposition MSPs, as he refuses to confirm or deny whether his own phone was hacked

Donald Trump

Gage Skidmore

Tobias Hase

James Murdoch

10 // EDITORIAL @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

A pox on all your houses

Ritual defamation begins with The Sun

Local government elections

Roy Hodgson

EDINBURGH’SSTUDENT NEWSPAPER

REACTIONSLord Steel warns against bungled intervention in independence debateActually, SNP party membership received an 8% boost over two to three weeks after David Cameron’s inter-vention, with almost 1, 600 new mem-bers joining the party. The SNP are currently at 49% in the polls, whilst Labour (their nearest rivals) are at 23%. The issue of independence is the stick that will drive Westminster towards granting the electorate in Scotland further powers for the Scottish Parlia-ment. If that stick is taken away, it is unlikely that a second referendum will

appear. If Nick Clegg and others want a separate referendum on devolution, they should bring it forward before the independence referendum. Those who hope the SNP support will evaporate after losing a referen-dum on independence are deluding themselves; it is more likely that the momentum for change will remain and be channeled towards greater powers. Given that this is the likely scenario, it is baffling why the so-called devolutionists are not bringing forward their proposals now.

- Gregor, via web

Incensed, interested or confused?Write to us at editor@journal-online.co.uk

SU DOKU

Chris Rubey

PUBLISHER Devon WalsheEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Marcus KernohanDEPUTY EDITOR Megan TaylorMANAGING EDITOR Marthe Lamp Sandvik

DEPUTY EDITOR (NEWS) Amanda Svensson Falk LOCAL NEWSDominique CotteeACADEMIC NEWS Katie RichardsonSTUDENT POLITICSGreg BianchiSTUDENT NEWS Leighton CraigNATIONAL POLITICS Andrew Barr

DEPUTY EDITOR (C&F)Jonathan BaldieCOMMENT Dominic SowaFEATURES Daniel KellerINTERVIEW/PROFILE John Foley

DEPUTY EDITOR (ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT)João Abbott-GribbenTHEATRE Amy TaylorFILMMatthew MacaulayMUSIC Sophie AlexanderARTEmily BurkeFOOD & DRINK Caroline Bottger

DEPUTY EDITORS (SPORT) Sean GibsonJamie TimsonASSISTANT EDITOR (SPORT) Ruth Jeffery

ART DIRECTOR James McNaughtLAYOUT DIRECTOR Alina Mika

PICTURE EDITOR David SelbyDEPUTY PICTURE EDITORSStanley LiewElla BavaliaChris Rubey

CHIEF SUBEDITOR Jen Owen

VIEWFINDER

Last week, The Sun chose to herald the selection of Roy Hodgson as the new manager of the England football team by running the spectacularly mean-spirited headline ‘Bwing on the Euwos’ on their front page. The jibe, a reference to Mr Hodgson’s speech impediment, was dutifully branded “disrespectful” by the FA, and the newspaper faced a wave of complaints – including their own former editor David Yelland, who took to Twitter to condemn the “point-lessly cruel, pointless hurtful” headline.

This was not merely an example of a newspaper running short of ideas

and taking their eyes off the ball in a moment of deadline-induced haste. The carefully-selected accompanying image and the crude hammering-home of the rapidly-deteriorating ‘joke’ in the standfirst (punchline: ‘Fwance’ and ‘Ukwaine’) point to the kind of thor-ough and well-planned hatchet job for which the red-top is notorious.

There was no angle being worked – the only news to report was that of Mr Hodgson’s appointment – so the joke was nothing more than a lame crack at the expense of sufferers of rhotacism; a mild disability, but a disability nonethe-

less. If it were at least a clever cheap-shot, there might have been a defence for it – but alas, no. It was senseless, insulting, and laid bare the paper’s cynicism – particularly towards the England manager, whomever it may be: even before there is any material to exploit, the papers are ready to tear him apart.

But surely, with this latest cross-ing of the line, it is finally time to reas-sess this most base and distasteful of approaches. It’s an anachronistic prej-udice, and reflects poorly on all who were associated with it.

Left-of-centre pundits are still, days after the event, lining up to reliably inform us that the electoral cataclysm which befell the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in last week’s UK-wide local government was a watershed moment; a premonition of certain political doom for this government come the 2015 general election. But while that prediction is surely premature, this was nonetheless an impressive political detonation by two of Britain’s largest political parties.

The election results make decid-edly grim reading for David Cameron and Nick Clegg. The prime minister’s party lost a dozen councils, and over 40 per cent of all Conservative coun-cillors nationwide. For Mr Clegg’s Liberal Democrats, the toll was even greater: 75 per cent of Lib Dem councillors were unseated, including almost 90 per cent of their Scottish cohort. Conversely, it was a remark-able night for the Labour party, who gained control of 32 councils and added over 800 new councillors to their ranks.

Superficially, at least, it would appear that the British public have

resoundingly rejected the coalition’s agenda — and understandably so. Sleaze, scandals, needlessly brutal austerity measures and an abject fail-ure to rescue the UK’s economy from recession have painted a picture of a consistently and spectacularly wrong-footed government. On the NHS, on higher education policy, on integrity in public life, this government has had precious few successes.

But the public aren’t yet ready to jump back into bed with Labour. Brit-ons have a long memory of thirteen years of war, sleaze and economic chaos, and the public are far from convinced by the party’s bland leader Ed Miliband. Indeed, a YouGov poll on 6 May put Miliband’s party 12 points clear of the Tories — yet Labour’s approval rating nonetheless topped out at an anaemic 43 per cent.

Equally, in Scotland, the SNP fell short of expectations. Party insid-ers were convinced last week that they could break Labour’s decades-long grip on Glasgow’s council, but in the event Johann Lamont’s party defended their stronghold at the cost

of just one councillor. In Edinburgh, a ferocious SNP assault did not produce quite the expected result: Labour nar-rowly beat the nationalists to become the largest party, and as The Journal went to press the two parties agreed a surprise coalition agreement — thus avoiding the unpalatable alterna-tive of a partnership with either the increasingly toxic Tories or Lib Dems.

What these elections show is a British public increasingly dissat-isfied with Britain’s entire political establishment — so much so that less than a third of voters turned out to the polls. Labour should be pleased with their result, just as the coali-tion parties should mourn theirs, while the SNP can hang their hats on a mildly underwhelming advance in their political dominance north of the border. But in the long term, this was a victory for none of them: it is abundantly clear that, at this moment in time, the public dislikes and dis-trusts politicians, and there is much work to be done if any of the parties wish to restore the electorate’s faith in politics.

COMMENT// 11@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

DISCUSSION&DEBATE

COMMENT

Philippa Faulkner

I consider myself pretty interested in politics and yet I still couldn’t manage to get excited about this year’s election. In my ward all the candidates were men and the majority of winners are over 45. It’s dif-ficult not to roll your eyes and dismiss local government as out of touch, not relevant to students and unimportant. Well the first might be true but your council has influ-ence over some pretty important stuff: transport, housing, schools, waste man-agement to name a few, all of which have an impact on students.

The Edinburgh Students’ Forum which is a collaboration of all college and university student unions in Edinburgh launched the Voice Your Vote campaign this year which aimed to raise the profile of student issues during the council elec-tion through a student manifesto. The manifesto had cross party support and unions will be working to make sure those promises become reality.

A commitment that is particularly important is the one to not introduce House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) quotas which would mean a cap on the number HMO properties in places like

Marchmont. Some councillors think that HMO quotas will reduce the number of dodgy landlords and improve housing quality but we know its a lazy solution and quotas just price students out. What we really need is the council to follow through on threats to remove bad landlords from the landlord registration list and prosecute them if necessary. The Edinburgh Private Tenants Action Group have been doing some great work on this but you should also write to your councillor if you feel strongly about it.

Perhaps a slightly more subtle impact is the effect local election results have on

national politics and how that might affect the students of the future. The Conserva-tives and Lib Dems took a huge hit on Thursday showing, I think, how fed up people are with cuts and giving a slight glimmer of hope for the 2015 general election. Now is the time for students to be increasing the pressure for publicly funded not privatised universities and col-leges and in my mind these election results smash the idea that students can never win public support for those ideals. I was also very pleased at the gains the Green party made in Scotland because lets face it stu-dents are the ones who are going to be

dealing with the future effects of climate change not members of the current cabinet. Councils are the places where national campaigns gain momentum.

If you are reading this piece and are one of the many who weren’t registered to vote this time you can still be involved in your local community. Join a community council, lobby your councillor and visit aboutmyvote.co.uk to get ready for next time

.Philippa Faulkner is Vice President (Services) at Edinburgh University Stu-dents Association

Councils have a huge impact on your student lifeLocal politics is where potentially national ideas gain momentum, argues an Edinburgh University student officer

Penguins, politics and prospects for democracy

Meryl Kenny & Fiona Mackay

Yes, Edinburgh trended worldwide as the city where the Liberal Democrats were beaten by a penguin in the May 3 elections. But there is more to the Scot-tish local council elections than Professor Pongoo. A focus on Edinburgh provides a window to wider issues and trends in local, Scottish and UK politics – and gives us reasons to be optimistic as well as pes-simistic about democracy.

Local elections are viewed as ‘second order’ elections which test the (un)popu-larity of national governments. But local issues are also important and can decide outcomes. In Edinburgh, this resulted in a double whammy for the Liberal Demo-crats: damned for their part in UK Coali-tion government; and damned for presid-

ing over the trams debacle; with former council Leader Jenny Dawe losing her seat.

What were the wider trends? Politi-cal pundits generally agree that the results have been Good News for the SNP: cementing its position as the largest party in local politics with the majority of the popular vote. Good News, also, for Labour: demonstrating a strong resur-gence in support after modernizing and building up from the grassroots again, and securing key victories in Glasgow (with a working majority) and Edinburgh (as the largest party).

Can we read anything off these results for the forthcoming independence refer-endum? We know there’s no straightfor-ward relationship between voter party choice and constitutional preferences:

there is significant support for independ-ence amongst Labour supporters and there are SNP voters who support the union. In short, there’s everything to play for.

What do the elections tell us about the state of democracy? Local government in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK is seen to be ‘in crisis’ around issues of legitimacy, representativeness and quality. Predic-tions of low turnout and voter apathy were widespread. And the options avail-able to prospective voters appeared to be ‘male, pale, and stale.’ In short, the general consensus was that the ‘health’ of local democracy in Scotland was failing.

Scottish politics isn’t off the danger list yet – but the results of the 2012 elections have served as a wake up call for parties, councils and governments to consider

decisive action on equality and turnout. In terms of councils ‘looking like’ the communities they serve: while women are less than a quarter of Scottish council-lors elected (24.3 per cent), these results represent a modest increase on 2007 - and a new high in women’s representa-tion in local government. We don’t have figures yet on ethnic minority councillors because there is no routine monitoring. But we do know that the numbers will be small.

Turnout reached a record low in Scot-land (38 per cent overall, falling to 20 per cent in some areas). In Edinburgh, the turnout was above the national average at 42.6 per cent. But, as Ross Martin of the Centre for Scottish Public Policy observes, while 40 per cent is a pass at university, turnout could and should be much higher,

particularly among young people. Indeed, calls are growing for compulsory voting, such as that used in Australia where turnout is regularly above 90 per cent.

Local politics matters for the quality of everyday life. In Edinburgh, we have the first Labour-SNP coalition in a major city. This is a heartening move, which should ensure stability and strong leadership for the city and the challenges it faces. And, who knows, maybe some of you may even get to ride the trams before you graduate!

Meryl Kenny is Visiting Fellow at Uni-versity of Edinburgh and Vice-Chancel-lor’s Fellow at University of New South Wales, Australia. Fiona Mackay is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Edinburgh.

Can an interesting local council election show political trends on the national level?

12 // FEATURE @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

Cyber-war: keep calm and log on Bleddyn Bowen explains why talk by doomsayers of an imminent ‘cyber-war’ is nothing more than alarmism,

Bleddyn Bowen

The BBC recently published two articles (to coincide with a radio docu-mentary) pushing the theme of the dangers inherent in the cyber realm. The first, by  Katia Moskvitch, lists the five ‘biggest threats’ in an interview with the Chief Executive of the Russian anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab, Eugene Kaspersky.  

The second article, by  Michael Gal-lagher, looks at intentional government-sponsored cyber-meddling and how this may define the “blitzkrieg of the future.”These two articles are classic cases of cyber alarmism (hyping the threat and constantly playing on worst-case scenarios), use the metaphorical meaning of the word ‘war’ to death, and miss the most important characteristic of activities in cyberspace: the difficulty of attribution.

I wish to clear up some of the points made and language used – public debate and government policies are increasingly confused, and conflate many different phenomena in the cyber realm under such terms as ‘cyber war’.

According to Kaspersky, the Stuxnet virus which sabotaged Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges in 2010 is “exactly” what cyber warfare will be about in future. “Entire nations could be plunged into darkness if cyber-criminals decided to target power plants. And there is nothing – nothing – anyone could do about it.” Kaspersky has conflated many different phenomena together into one vague doom-saying statement. Putting aside the discussion over cyber ‘war’ for later, the kinds of offensive operations in cyberspace can vary greatly from just

inserting a clever virus. Stuxnet is one kind of cyber sabotage, designed to attack very specific equipment without affect-ing (after infecting) every computer system it touches.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) activities are another kind, which are well known due to extensive media cov-erage and examples of them on Estonian and Georgian websites in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Subtler offensive operations can be to use the enemy’s information infrastructure to produce certain results (for example, by turning the heating up in the Wall Street Stock Exchange so

that the computers fail to function and disrupt normal trading). Stuxnet is not the be-all and end-all of offensive cyber operations. These are a few, not all, pos-sibilities within what is known in the field as ‘strategic information warfare’. It is particularly odd that Kaspersky claims that no-one could do anything about cyber-sabotage (as that is what disrupt-ing/disabling infrastructure is, short of a physical military offensive). Protecting computer systems is Kaspersky’s busi-ness. Is his entire industry impotent and taking anti-virus subscription money for nothing?

I do not think so. The global computer anti-virus industry is incredibly robust, in both financial and capability terms. Gov-ernments more often than not depend

on companies like Symantec, and others, to provide the latest intelligence on new virus forms and patterns, as their anti-virus software is constantly being tested by hackers and coders across the globe. Iran’s Stuxnet incident proves this point – Iran effectively crowd-sourced solu-tions to Stuxnet, and international anti-virus companies were eager to deal with it as it had infected tens of thousands of computers globally.

Computer viruses only work where there are weaknesses – once a virus is out, work begins immediately by the private anti-virus industry (and gov-ernment agencies if they are targeted) to create patches to provide immunity. Therefore, an incident like Stuxnet may not be repeated, at least by using the

same software method.And if claims over its complexity are

to be believed, it may take some time to develop another virus to achieve similar results. Developing ‘immunities’ to com-puter viruses is something that is often overlooked and leads to cyber alarmism – this is exactly what happens in Gallagh-er’s article:

“The attack vectors and exploits used by Stuxnet - they can be copied and re-used reliably against completely dif-ferent targets. Until a year ago no one was aware of such an aggressive and sophis-ticated threat. With Stuxnet that has changed. It is on the table. The technol-ogy is out there on the internet.”

The Stuxnet virus is out there – but so is the anti-virus software. Also, the

vulnerability of energy grids are only assumed in most media (and academic) accounts. If it was so inherently difficult and complex to create a virus such as Stuxnet, which only disrupted, and didn’t stop, the Iranian nuclear enrichment efforts, wouldn’t crippling a complex energy grid be more of a challenge?

Kaspersky believes that social media can be used for all sorts of organisational purposes. He believes that some organis-ers in the Arab Spring were based outside of the countries involved. He may be right, he may not be. Either way, it is irrel-evant to understanding ‘threats’ from cyberspace.

Crime in cyberspace is indeed a problem; I do not dispute that. However, there is yet an element of alarmism with Moskvitch: “No computer is safe from viruses. Every day, cyber criminals are infecting thousands of machines around the world.” But the world continues to function.

This is a valid concern by Kaspersky – any prolific users of the internet strug-gle to avoid handing over information to companies on the internet. Recent UK government attempts to allow Govern-ment Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) to access private telecommuni-cations information is a case in point.

However, as with all information, it is usually a two-way street. The prolif-eration of information and connected-ness has made it much harder for gov-ernments to control information in the hands of the citizens – cracks in the Great Firewall of China are old news. Another thing that is old news is the fear of an erosion of privacy. Bureaucratic capabili-ties from the nineteenth century in the UK could reach a new level of informa-tion about citizens. Concerns about the government (mis)using this kind of data is not new. Furthermore, if one is con-cerned about a police state, one needn’t have the internet to construct one. The answer, as usual, lies in politics – not technology. Removing personal data on the internet, or any government bureauc-racy, does not make the government less likely to be autocratic.

The second article, by Michael Gal-lagher, mentions DDoS attacks, indus-trial sabotage, and the future connected-ness of everyday devices to the internet. For him, DDoS attacks and industrial sabotage come under the terms of ‘cyber war’, and the US military and its allies have ‘cyber warriors’ to perform cyber ‘attacks’. The connectedness of everyday devices in future serves to dramatise the point Gallagher tries to make about how dastardly an enemy would be if s/he, with envious eyes, could turn our refrig-erators against us.

Cyber ‘war’ will not happen – but cyber espionage, subversion and sabo-tage may not have much of a future either. Understanding the limits of using the cyber realm from the point of view of governments trying to control an actual war hopefully puts a wet blanket on cyber alarmists.

We’d sooner need Bruce Willis to save us from a meteorite impact than a crip-pling nationwide cyber sabotage.

Bleddyn Bowen is a postgraduate student at the University of Aberyst-wyth’s School of International Politics

“According to Kaspersky, the Stuxnet virus which sabotaged Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges in 2010 is “exactly” what cyber warfare will be about in future.”

Everaldo Coelho

COMMENT // 13@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Battle for the Élysée: the inconvenient truthIn light of François Hollande’s election as president of France, Chris McCourt argues that although they don’t realise it yet, the French will miss Nicolas Sarkozy

Chris McCourt

Nicolas Sarkozy developed a repu-tation ahead of the election in 2007 as someone who was not afraid to say what needs to be said, or do what needs to be done. This was really his greatest strength coming into the 2012 election on Sunday, and in my view it was gener-ally to Mr Hollande’s detriment that he tended to take a diametrically opposite approach and thereby draws attention to the contrast. It is widely accepted that Sarkozy’s program of long-overdue reforms was somewhat derailed, or at least significantly diluted, by the advent of the financial crisis in 2008.

Sarkozy’s conception of political leadership was one in which the presi-dent takes the country where it needs to go, regardless of popular opinion, as dis-tinct from leadership which follows the flavour of the month and seeks short-term gains in popularity at the expense of a longer-term, sustainable vision.

Of course any elected official must strike a balance between leading his people and being led by the whim of his people. A politician who acts in defi-ance of popular opinion will not and should not last. But neither will those who leave themselves open to the accu-sation of telling their constituency what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear (a good definition of pandering).

Mr Sarkozy’s election tally of 48.3 per cent on Sunday was more to do with style than substance (which is not entirely trivial, but more of that later); let us not forget that he won a con-vincing victory in 2007 and that while unions and other vested interests were strongly opposed to his reforms (fancy that), the majority was clearly in his favour.

Starting with economic matters, president-elect Hollande is quintessen-tially anti-business. He is on record as having said he just doesn’t like the rich, and he plans to complicate France’s tax system by introducing two new bands of income tax. French politicians of all stripes tend to favour a bigger state, but Hollande doesn’t seem to have noticed that the coffers are bare, pledging 60,000 new teachers over five years and 1000 new police per year.

There were fundamental tempera-mental differences between the two: Sarkozy is a real son of the Fifth Repub-lic (which strengthened the execu-tive after the weak and vacillating par-liamentary Fourth Republic) and is

admired by many for his decisiveness; Hollande favours taking the country in a new direction constitutionally, away from the Fifth Republic (while not quite endorsing the establishment of a Sixth Republic as outlined by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and others).

A look at Le Figaro’s comparison of the two men’s positions on a variety of subjects re-inforces this distinction: Sarkozy finds himself, almost without exception, either Pour or Contre, while on a number of important issues

Hollande finds himself Entre Deux (Undecided).

However, Mr Hollande was not honest with the French electorate. His highly questionable flagship policy to tax the incomes of those earning over €1 million at 75 per cent (amounting to almost 90 per cent when other levies are taken into account, a policy described by The Economist last month as “dottier than a pointilliste painting”) is not only a potential disaster for a French system which is already uninviting enough to many businesses; it also risks making France the laughing-stock of Europe (and beyond).

Either Mr Hollande will not get away with imposing such a levy or France will lose all credibility as a pro-business nation for doing so. Either way, his potential for credibility is low, and the potential for significant damage to France’s business credentials is high. The Economist again:

“The ambitious will risk their savings, borrow money and toil punish-ing hours to create new businesses that will, in turn, create jobs and new prod-

ucts. But they will not do this for 25 per cent (or less) of the fruits of their labour. Zurich is only an hour away; French politics seem stuck in another century.”

Hollande’s position is completely self-serving and he has jumped the bandwagon (or scooter) of finance-bashing which has become very popular among French politicians (and elsewhere).

Furthermore Hollande will par-tially reverse Sarkozy’s most impor-tant reform, the gradual increase of the pension age from 60 to 62, and restrict the tax exemption for employers and employees on hours worked beyond the disastrous 35 hours to companies with fewer than 20 employees. This would take France back ten years and would represent the reversal of hard-won if modest steps forward in the much-needed reform of France’s bloated social model.

I do not have space to go into the foreign policy dimensions, in which Mr Sarkozy was stronger (think Afghani-stan, NATO, Libya, Georgia), but the most important distinction is that Hol-

lande plans to withdraw all French troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year (another potential disas-ter for that country), whereas Sarkozy, who has been hard on Hamid Karzai in recent months, plans a more reasonable and measured drawdown.

In short, the strongest argument in favour of Mr Hollande seems to be that he is not Mr Sarkozy. It is difficult for outsiders to understand why there is such visceral anti-Sarkozy feeling among some French voters, even among some in the centre or on the right.

Sad to say, it seems mostly to be an image problem: Sarkozy was considered to be too “vulgar” and “bling” and not sufficiently an embodiment of a tradi-tionally very solemn post (though much of that erstwhile solemnity was superfi-cial, as we know from Mitterand’s secret taxpayer-funded family and Chirac’s corruption). There are no serious sug-gestions of impropriety surrounding Mr Sarkozy’s conduct; as banal as it may sound, he just seems not to be liked.

Then there is the media. The Elysée blog, which has followed the elections

for the past month or so, has highlighted the peculiar nastiness of the media cam-paigns against Mr Sarkozy, concluding:

“French journalists tend to be left-wing. I’ve just looked up the election results for the works council at France Télévisions, for instance, and the top place (with 37 per cent) went to the Communist-backed CGT.”

It is true that Mr Sarkozy veered to the right with some absurd talking-points such as halal meat, which should hardly be a priority in a time of financial crisis, but the electoral facts are what they are: regardless of his performance in the first round (and let’s remember there was very little in it), he would have always needed to attract some of Marine Le Pen’s votes in both rounds.

French voters did not make the sane choice on Sunday. What they did choose was to play an unintentional practical joke on Europe, but more importantly on themselves and on their country’s global standing.

Chris McCourt is project manager at translation agency Oxford Conversis.

“Hollande’s position is completely self-serving and he has jumped the bandwagon (or scooter) of finance-bashing which has become very popular among French politicians (and elsewhere).” Jean-Louis Aubert

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FEATURE // 15@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Ambassador Scott Wightman

Korea. Mention the name and many people’s thoughts are of a secretive state and despot dictators. Others may think of Park Ji-Sung or leading electron-ics brands. On a divided Peninsula, split since 1953 by the communist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the north and the thriving Republic of Korea to the south, both sets of impres-sions are pertinent in my role as Britain’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

The mystery, intrigue and, occasion-ally, fear generated by the DPRK can’t be ignored in South Korea’s bustling capital, Seoul. However, the reality is that as South Korea’s famously hard-working and fast-paced citizens jostle for space on the subway, cheer on their favourite baseball team or enjoy a postwork soju, they spend far less time thinking about their northern neighbours than others in the international community.

This is a country that, in just 40 years, escaped the clutches of poverty and rose to become a major G20 power and twelfth largest economy in the world, with a per capita GDP four times higher than China’s. A country that is home to huge conglomerates like Samsung,

LG and Hyundai. And a country where speed matters – with superfast broad-band that can reach 1Gb per second and KTX trains capable of reaching 220mph.

Through this rapid economic trans-formation and the presence of a stable, democratic and forward-looking govern-ment, South Korea has become a crucial partner for the United Kingdom and a country with which we enjoy a long, close and fruitful relationship.

The British Embassy in Seoul has stood on the same plot of land for 130 years. The foundation stone at the Resi-dence that I am lucky to call my home was laid in 1890. From those days of the first British Legation through the tragic Korean War, in which over 1,000 British service people lost their lives, to the present day where we have an embassy employing more than 70 staff, the two countries have stood together in friend-ship and solidarity.

Korea’s vibrant economy and focus on international trade make it an increas-ingly important partner for the UK. In 2011, UK goods exports to Korea were worth £2.4bn; exports of services were even higher. The recently concluded Free Trade Agreement with the EU should create up to £500m per year in additional opportunities for UK busi-nesses. In the other direction, cash rich Korean companies are keen to diversify their investments. According to the most recent figures, Korean investments into the UK were worth £550m in the first half of 2011. The UK is the first choice destination for Korean firms in Europe, attracted by our qualified and flexible labour force, knowledge-base, innova-tion, creativity and business-friendly environment. Most recently, global giant Samsung announced plans for its first European offshore wind project in Fife.

This is expected to create more than 500 new jobs and could be worth up to £100m to our economy.

It’s not just businesses that are looking to the UK either. Approaching 20,000 Korean students a year come to our world class universities like Edin-burgh to study and prepare themselves for the global job marketplace. Edin-burgh’s Pro-Vice Chancellor, Professor Stephen Hillier was in South Korea last month to explore the scope for strategic links with top Korean universities.

Korea has contributed more than 400 troops to NATO operations in Afghani-stan and is a contributor to UN peace-keeping operations around the world. We work together on issues like human rights and cyber security and have just increased the size of the embassy’s politi-cal section to enable us take advantage of the opportunities for cooperation in these and other fields.

So the depth and sincerity of the part-nership is clear. But, as is always the case, there is a great deal more to be done.

We recently commissioned a survey looking at Korean perceptions of the UK. The affection for the UK that I encoun-ter in my daily business was borne out, with the UK ranking amongst the most favoured foreign nations and the most popular country amongst under 30s. Koreans also seek out information about the UK more than they do for any other country – 34 per cent of respondents said they look for information about our country. But the reasons for this affection and interest are often based on stere-otype and are outdated. We are seen as a nation of gentlemen (sic), blessed with great buildings and a world class foot-ball league (sadly EPL not SPL) but bur-dened by incessant rain. We should cer-tainly make the most of such impressions where we can. But in the Embassy we are trying to move perceptions towards a more modern, creative and innovative United Kingdom. And, in actual fact, Edinburgh is drier than Rome!

The Deputy Prime Minister recently launched our GREAT campaign in South

Korea. This draws out the UK’s many strengths across sectors as diverse as shopping and education, music and the environment. It also combats the mis-perception that we don’t make things any more. Yet automotive manufactur-ing alone is worth more than £10bn to the UK economy. And our innovations are world famous. The internet, GSM services for mobile phones, fibre optics – some of the most successful innova-tions of the last 25 years all have key parts designed, developed or made in the UK. A core part of my job is explaining these strengths to Koreans and encour-aging business leaders, politicians and the media to take a fresh look at the UK.

While our relationship flourishes and South Koreans continue their relentless push for success, we can’t ignore events in North Korea when carrying out our business. We maintain a small embassy in Pyongyang that pursues a policy of criti-cal engagement with the DPRK authori-ties. In our view, having diplomats in situ who can report on developments, make representations and contribute to a more international perspective is a valuable asset. Project work is the principal focus for the team in Pyongyang, with pro-grammes like English language training

for teachers – run in conjunction with the British Council – a centrepiece.

In the wake of Kim Jong-il’s death last December, our embassy in Pyongyang was able to provide invaluable analy-sis of the situation on the ground. They told us the atmosphere was subdued but calm, as North Koreans pondered a future without their “Dear Leader.” They watched carefully as power began to shift towards Kim’s youngest son, observing the reactions of ordinary people on the streets rather than the staged images on North Korean TV. We all hope for the day the Korean Peninsula can be peacefully re-unified, but for now stability, and pro-tecting South Koreans’ peace and pros-perity are more realistic goals.

But the DPRK often surprises. Two weeks after striking a deal with the US on food aid in exchange for commit-ments to allow nuclear inspections and stop nuclear and missile development, they announced their intention to launch a satellite. Most observers see this as a thinly veiled test of long range missile capabilities, a move that would violate UN resolutions. By the time you read this, that test may well have taken place and, if so, will have led to international condemnation.

The DPRK’s actions can rarely be pre-dicted and, when trouble flares, I spend many hours talking about North Korea with colleagues here in South Korea, in Pyongyang and back in London. But we can’t and don’t allow it to be the exclu-sive or even primary focus of our work in Seoul or to impede the tremendous progress we are making with South Korea.

If Korean views on the UK can shift away from Big Ben and Buckingham Palace towards innovation and renew-able energy, then I hope UK views on Korea will focus more on the bustling land of opportunities to the south than the unpredictable neighbour to the north.

Scott Wightman is Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

strange-lands.com

Korea: the land of contrasts

The UK’s ambassador in Seoul gives a broad view of South Korea, a country with a flourishing economy and a unique culture

// IN BRIEF Source: CIA World Factbook

1953 Establishment of ROK

99,720km2 Total land area

48.8m Total population (2012)

$32k GDP (per capita)

97.9% Literacy (2011)

3.4% Unemployment (2011)

4% Inflation (2011)

2.7% (of GDP) military budget

“We can’t and don’t allow the DPRK to be the exclusive or even primary focus of our work in Seoul, or to impede the tremendous progress we are making with South Korea.”

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Stewart Terrace, 440, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9460Stewart Terrace, 425, 1, 1D, 0844 635 3700Wardlaw Street, 425, 1, 1D E CG O, 0844 635 9592

Haymarket Eglinton Crescent, 2280, 6, 6D G Z, 0844 635 9334Torphichen Street, 1400, 4, 4D G O, 0844 635 4830Duff Street, 1155, 3, 3D G CG P, 0844 635 2287Morrison Circus, 1155, 3, 3D W P, 0844 635 9320Spittal Street, 1080, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Morrison Street, 1020, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9322Duff Street, 990, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 3780Morrison Street, 930, 3, 3D W, 0844 635 9318Morrison Street, 725, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9318Morrison Street, 575, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9318Torphichen Place, 575, 1, 1D G Z, 0844 635 9679Morrison Street, 510, 1, 1D E Z, 0844 635 9560Caledonian Crescent, 495, 1, 1D P, 0844 635 6450

Hillside Leopold Place, 2000, 5, 5D G Z, 0844 635 4830Montgomery Street, 1050, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700Montgomery Street, 1095, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9320Wellington Street, 1050, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9558Brunton Gardens, 1000, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Bellevue Road, 990, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Brunton Place, 990, 3, 3D W CG O, 0844 635 9422Dalziel Place, 950, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Cadzow Place, 930, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Montgomery Street, 750, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Brunswick Road, 600, 2, 1S 1D G CG Z, 0844 635 9578

Leith Wellington Place, 1500, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700Bonnington Road, 1250, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700Leith Walk, 1200, 5, 1S 4D, 0844 635 3700Crighton Place, 1280, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 2267Easter Road, 1200, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Easter Road, 1200, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Pitt Street, 1125, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Kirk Street, 1050, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Ferry Road, 1000, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700Great Junction Street, 1000, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Madeira Street, 1000, 4, 2S 2D, 0844 635 3700Portland Street, 1000, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Brunswick Road, 1200, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 2418Portland Terrace, 1100, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9322Iona Street, 950, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 3780Duke Street, 930, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9424Bernard Street, 900, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Madeira Street, 900, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 2267Leith Walk, 870, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Chancelot Terrace, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Dickson Street, 850, 3, 3D O, 0844 635 3700Easter Road, 850, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700Easter Road, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Great Junction Street, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Leith Walk, 850, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700Leith Walk, 850, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 2267Portland Place, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Great Junction Street, 825, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Taylor Place, 600, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Albert Street, 595, 2, 1S 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9424Allanfield, 595, 2, 2D W P, 0844 635 9424Great Junction Street, 595, 2, 2D G O, 0844 635 9679Great Junction Street, 585, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 3330Elbe Street, 575, 2, 2D W P, 0844 635 9460Balfour Street, 565, 2, 2D W CG O, 0844 635 9330Leith Walk, 550, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Maritime Street, 550, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700

North Fort Street, 550, 2, 2D W CG O, 0844 635 9558Rossie Place, 550, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Dickson Street, 550, 1, E CG O, 0844 635 6872Duke Street, 425, 1, 1D G O, 0844 635 9456Seafield Road, 425, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 2418Duke Street, 420, 1, 1D G Z, 0844 635 9560Duke Street, 420, 1, 1D G O, 0844 635 9560Duke Street, 420, 1, 1D G Z, 0844 635 9560Leith Walk, 395, 1, 1D E O, 0844 635 6450

Leith Walk Kirk Street, 1250, 5, 5D G O, 0844 635 9234Antigua Street, 1750, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9679Leith Walk, 1450, 4, 4D G O, 0844 635 9679Barony Street, 1350, 4, 4D G P, 0844 635 9460Leith Walk, 1250, 4, 4D G O, 0844 635 9460Leith Walk, 1100, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Albert Place, 1040, 4, 4D G P, 0844 635 4830Allanfield, 1050, 3, 3D P, 0844 635 9460Mcdonald Road, 960, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 9460Dalmeny Street, 850, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Arthur Street, 795, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9679Dicksonfield, 765, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 3330Leith Walk, 750, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Allanfield Place, 700, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 6872Balfour Street, 700, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 6872Leith Walk, 695, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Leith Walk, 650, 2, 2D G O, 0844 635 9460Smith’s Place, 645, 2, 2D G PG P, 0844 635 9316Smith’s Place, 610, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9316Duke Street, 495, 1, 1D E CG O, 0844 635 9679Leith Walk, 495, 1, 1D E, 0844 635 2152

Marchmont Sciennes Road, 1625, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Marchmont Crescent, 1600, 4, 4D G PG Z, 0844 635 3780Argyle Place, 1575, 4, 1S 3D G O, 0844 635 9322Spottiswoode Street, 1575, 4, 1S 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9322Spottiswoode Street, 1500, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 3876Thirlestane Road, 1395, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 3780Marchmont Road, 1350, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287Warrender Park Road, 1339, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 3330Spottiswoode Road, 1290, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9322Strathearn Road, 1250, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 3780Marchmont Crescent, 1200, 3, 3D CG O, 0844 635 9314Thirlestane Road, 1185, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9322Warrender Park Terrace, 1185, 3, G Z, 0844 635 9322Arden Street, 1150, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9322Warrender Park Road, 1110, 3, 3D W CG Z, 0844 635 3876Marchmont Road, 1100, 3, 3D Z, 0844 635 9314Marchmont Road, 1075, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9322Spottiswoode Street, 1075, 3, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9322

Marchmont Crescent, 1070, 3, 1S 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9322Marchmont Crescent, 1070, 3, 3D E CG O, 0844 635 9322Spottiswoode Street, 1070, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9322Marchmont Road, 960, 3, 1S 2D 1B G CG, 0844 635 9318Warrender Park Road, 960, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9560Roseneath Place, 900, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Gladstone Terrace, 715, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 2287Moncrieff Terrace, 460, 1, 1D CG Z, 0844 635 9334

Meadowbank Dalgety Avenue, 600, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 6872Wolsley Terrace, 595, 2, 2D O, 0844 635 9318Meadowbank Terrace, 575, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 6872Dalgety Road, 550, 1, 1D W P, 0844 635 2418Dalziel Place, 530, 1, 1D G O, 0844 635 9234Hawkhill, 525, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 3330Wishaw Terrace, 495, 1, 1D E CG Z, 0844 635 2418Dalgety Avenue, 485, 1, 1D CG O, 0844 635 9460Dalgety Street, 475, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9424Parsons Green Terrace, 475, 1, 1D G O, 0844 635 6450Dalgety Road, 425, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 9312

Morningside Morningside Road, 2100, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 2287Morningside Road, 1900, 5, 5D G CG Z, 0844 635 2418Morningside Road, 1875, 5, 1S 4D, 0844 635 9334Strathfillan Road, 1500, 4, 4D G CG O, 0844 635 2154Morningside Road, 1400, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9334Tipperlinn Road, 1400, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 2418Morningside Road, 1380, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Morningside Road, 1380, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Morningside Road, 1350, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Morningside Road, 1200, 4, E CG, 0844 635 3880Morningside Road Edinburgh, 1100, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9324Morningside Road, 1095, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Morningside Road, 1050, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9334Craighouse Park, 1025, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 2287Steels Place, 1020, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700Comiston Gardens, 1010, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 2418Comiston Gardens, 995, 3, 3D G PG O, 0844 635 9330Comiston Road, 990, 3, 3D G O, 0844 635 9322Balcarres Street, 980, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9330Falcon Avenue, 975, 3, 1D E CG Z, 0844 635 9558Balcarres Street, 970, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Ethel Terrace, 960, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Falcon Avenue, 950, 3, 1S 2D O, 0844 635 9314Balcarres Street, 945, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Comiston Road, 900, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Craighouse Gardens, 900, 3, 3D W P, 0844 635 7736Morningside Road, 900, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 3780

Springvalley Terrace, 730, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9478Falcon Court, 700, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 4478Springvalley Terrace, 695, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9324Craighouse Gardens, 625, 2, 2D E P, 0844 635 9322Steels Place, 550, 2, 1S 1D G, 0844 635 9318Springvalley Terrace, 500, 1, 1D 1B G, 0844 635 9318Ethel Terrace, 315, 1, 2D W CG P, 0844 635 9234

New Town Gayfield Square, 2000, 5, 5D G Z, 0844 635 9320York Place, 2000, 4, 4D Z, 0844 635 9314York Place, 1980, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9362Henderson Row, 1760, 4, G CG, 0844 635 9362London Street, 1735, 4, 4D G, 0844 635 9316Dundonald Street, 1600, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 2418Dundas Street, 1400, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9316East Claremont Street, 1400, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9320Barony Street, 1390, 4, 1S 3D G Z, 0844 635 9688Brandon Terrace, 1360, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9320Great Stuart Street, 1300, 4, G Z, 0844 635 9392Canon Street, 1220, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Drummond Place, 1225, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700St Stephen Street, 750, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700St. Stephen Street, 725, 2, 2D G CG, 0844 635 2418Cornwallis Place, 720, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9578Royston Terrace, 700, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Jamaica Mews, 650, 1, 1D G CG Z, 0844 635 4830Gayfield Street, 560, 1, 1D G O, 0844 635 9302Jamaica Mews, 475, 1, 1D P, 0844 635 9324

Newington Nicolson Street, 3200, 8, 8D G Z, 0844 635 9679Newington Road, 2100, 7, 7D, 0844 635 2418St. Leonards Bank, 2250, 6, 6D G PG Z, 0844 635 9302East Preston Street, 2100, 5, 5D Z, 0844 635 9314Dalkeith Road, 1725, 5, 5D, 0844 635 3700Dalkeith Road, 1600, 5, 5D, 0844 635 9558Viewcraig Gardens, 1500, 5, 5D E P, 0844 635 9302Dalkeith Road, 1300, 4, 4D G O, 0844 635 9340Dalkeith Road, 1280, 4, 4D, 0844 635 3700Newington Road, 1450, 3, 3D Z, 0844 635 9314Dalkeith Road, 1100, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9560West Savile Terrace, 1100, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 3920Brown Street, 1080, 3, 3D G P, 0844 635 9302Mayfield Road, 1050, 3, 3D E O, 0844 635 9558South Oxford Street, 1050, 3, E Z, 0844 635 9314Blackwood Crescent, 1010, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700Sienna Gardens, 995, 3, G CG P, 0844 635 3780South Oxford Street, 990, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9424Lutton Place, 980, 3, 3D Z, 0844 635 9384

Oxford Street, 975, 3, 3D G, 0844 635 9318Grange Loan, 950, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9334Mayfield Road, 950, 3, 1S 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9334Montague Street, 900, 3, Z, 0844 635 9314Ratcliffe Terrace, 775, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 6604Dalkeith Road, 750, 2, 2D, 0844 635 3700Lutton Place, 730, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9560Causewayside, 725, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9592Findhorn Place, 725, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9334Causewayside, 715, 2, 2D W CG Z, 0844 635 2287Blackwood Crescent, 650, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9324West Nicolson Street, 635, 2, 2D E Z, 0844 635 9434East Crosscauseway, 550, 2, 2S G Z, 0844 635 9312Mayfield Road, 595, 1, 1D 1B G CG O, 0844 635 9302Buccleuch Street, 575, 1, 1D G Z, 0844 635 9424West Newington Place, 525, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 2287Drummond Street, 475, 1, E, 0844 635 6872Causewayside, 405, 1, W CG Z, 0844 635 9688

Old Town South Bridge, 1200, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3931Bread Street, 1050, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 3876Teviot Place, 1000, 3, Z, 0844 635 9314High Street, 850, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9324High Street, 795, 2, 2D E, 0844 635 3780Inglis Court, 750, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 3931Jeffrey Street, 750, 2, 1B Z, 0844 635 9384Bells Wynd, 700, 2, 2D, 0844 635 9316Causewayside, 700, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 9602Greyfriars Place, 650, 2, 2D G Z, 0844 635 9474Canongate, 550, 1, 1D E, 0844 635 6872

Polwarth Polwarth Gardens, 1470, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9322Polwarth Gardens, 1400, 4, 4D G CG Z, 0844 635 9592Polwarth Gardens, 1395, 4, 4D G CG O, 0844 635 9334Polwarth Gardens, 1350, 4, 1S 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9334Polwarth Gardens, 1275, 4, 4D 1B G, 0844 635 9245Polwarth Gardens, 1250, 4, 4D G CG O, 0844 635 9334Polwarth Gardens, 1200, 4, 4D G Z, 0844 635 9392Tay Street, 1100, 3, 3D G CG O, 0844 635 9468St Peters Place, 1050, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9460Mertoun Place, 1000, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9446Polwarth Gardens, 990, 3, 3D G Z, 0844 635 9478Fowler Terrace, 960, 3, 2S 1D, 0844 635 3700Polwarth Crescent, 895, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 6450Dundee Terrace, 850, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9334Ardmillan Terrace, 795, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9324Thistle Place, 725, 2, 2D G CG, 0844 635 9330Tay Street, 695, 2, 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287Watson Crescent, 695, 2, G P, 0844 635 2418

Watson Crescent, 695, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 2418Watson Crescent, 695, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 2418Watson Crescent, 695, 2, 2D G P, 0844 635 2418Angle Park Terrace, 610, 2, 1S 1D G CG, 0844 635 9330Watson Crescent, 600, 2, 1S 1D G CG O, 0844 635 0020Mertoun Place, 645, 1, 1D 1B G CG O, 0844 635 6450Watson Crescent, 510, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 9560Watson Crescent, 510, 1, 1D W O, 0844 635 9324Watson Crescent, 495, 1, 1D G CG, 0844 635 9318Bryson Road, 475, 1, 1D E, 0844 635 9318Watson Crescent, 475, 1, 1D G CG Z, 0844 635 9592Watson Crescent, 450, 1, E O, 0844 635 9334

Portobello Ramsay Place, 595, 2, 2D G CG O, 0844 635 9330Magdalene Drive, 585, 2, 2D G PG O, 0844 635 1312Portobello High Street, 475, 1, 1D G, 0844 635 9334

Prestonfield Dalkeith Road, 1850, 5, 5D G O, 0844 635 9478Dalkeith Road, 1700, 5, 5D G, 0844 635 9558Dalkeith Road, 800, 3, 3D O, 0844 635 9314Prestonfield Avenue, 595, 2, 2D G PG O, 0844 635 9558

Sciennes Fountainhall Road, 1750, 5, 5D G Z, 0844 635 9560Livingstone Place, 1070, 3, 1S 2D G CG Z, 0844 635 9322Sienna Gardens, 835, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9322Sciennes, 500, 1, 1D G CG Z, 0844 635 2287

Slateford Slateford Road, 995, 3, 3D G CG P, 0844 635 9234Slateford Road, 750, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 2154Appin Street, 650, 2, 2D G PG P, 0844 635 2287Hermand Crescent, 650, 2, 2D CG, 0844 635 8696Slateford Road, 650, 2, 2D W P, 0844 635 9318Ardmillan Terrace, 498, 1, 1D W O, 0844 635 9688Slateford Road, 495, 1, 1D G CG O, 0844 635 2287

Stenhouse Gorgie Road, 1450, 4, 4D E P, 0844 635 9314Stenhouse Gardens, 625, 2, 2D G CG P, 0844 635 9362Stenhouse Street East, 610, 2, 2D G, 0844 635 3330

Stockbridge Royal Circus, 1800, 4, 4D Z, 0844 635 9314St. Stephen Street, 1250, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3780Perth Street, 1100, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 0020Cheyne Street, 1060, 3, 3D, 0844 635 3700St Bernards Crescent, 1050, 3, 3D E Z, 0844 635 9314Dean Street, 1025, 3, 3D G CG Z, 0844 635 9340Dean Park Street, 850, 3, 1S 2D, 0844 635 3700

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A&E // 17@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Charles Tyrer

Harold Pinter once remarked ‘I’m not an authoritative or reliable commentator on the dramatic scene, the social scene, any scene’ he was also reluctant to divulge or even acknowl-edge the politics and critical theories in his work. However, it’s a common consensus that society reflects itself and its thousands of faces through art, and regardless of Pinter’s view, by looking at the landscape of the late 50s and 60s and analysing his early works The Lover and The Dumb Waiter, we can be sure he was a voracious social and political commentator from the outset of his career.

Both of the one act plays in this double bill explore human themes in interpersonal relationships; trust, sub-servience, and dominance. They focus

on two characters (or three, depending on your interpretation). However, it’s the deviation within these two shows that consume one’s interest.

The Lover unfolds in the opulent home of a couple in the late 60s and early 70s. Focusing on the bourgeois middle class, it deals with concepts such as free love in a traditional mar-riage. Its counterpart, The Dumb Waiter, follows two hit men in a base-ment waiting for orders from above. The class contrast enables a more rounded examination of relation-ships, as, despite our predetermined preconceptions regarding the level of intimacy the couples supposedly share; two equally dark environments unfold, in which the need for power and control manifest themselves in perpetually passive narcissistic games.

Director Jonathan Kemp balances these dark worlds perfectly with the abundant comedy ever prevalent in Pinter’s work. The pieces are so arrest-ingly enticing that jealousy is felt towards those on the front row. Both pieces were written amidst the cold

war, in a time of great distrust within society, as an ever prevalent counter-culture was developing and state insti-tutions were increasingly distrusted.

The general consensus was that human behaviour mirrored the tech-niques used in war strategies such as ‘game theory’ where people were selfish and uncommunicative as a result of the suppression suffered within the current system they lived. Interpersonal relationships were as a result inevitably affected.

Arguably, in the aforementioned sense, contemporary society is mirror-ing its predecessors, and what makes this double bill all the more introspec-tive is the difference in social class. How Pinter could ever have concluded he wasn’t political, or a social com-mentator is unimaginable. The fact remains that his work continues to resonate meaning in the 21st century.

Sophie Alexander Music editor

Edinburgh’s Liquid Room is the busiest I have ever seen it. From my position on the balcony, looking down upon the heaving mass of tangled limbs, I get a fairly concrete idea of why some bands develop such God complexes.

Thankfully Little Dragon, the

Swedish electro-pop four piece, hold no such complex. Perhaps because of the muted reception to their third studio album Ritual Union, or perhaps because despite being fairly commer-cially successful, the band haven’t quite ‘made it’ yet, Yukimi Nagano and her boys shimmy on stage and praise the crowd for turning out to see them. Little Dragon capsize the omniscient musician mould and illustrate how in this oh-so-fickle business, the power really does lie with the punters.

Through the Looking Glass is a fairly solid place on which to build, but I have to peer very closely at Nagano to see if she is actually singing.

So powerful and pulsing is her voice, that there is no dissimilarity to be found from her studio sound to her performance this evening. Musi-cians are often criticised for the con-tradistinction between their live and recorded outputs, but Nagano simply sounds superb. The sonorous notes of her voice explode into the rafters like a firework, and continue to float onto

the heads of the devotees long after she has moved on to another resonat-ing note.

High praise indeed from this reviewer: seeing Little Dragon live seems to renew my interest in them. They are not a middling electro pop quartet as first thought, but an edgy, slick, dance act complete with ready-made keneticism and pulsing bass.

Add to this mix one heck of a front-woman and three guys in matching white tees - repping their lanky swag like stick men on a mission - and the formula seems pretty much perfect.

The Dumb Waiter & The LoverDespite what Harold Pinter thought, his work remains an incisive document of social trends of his time and ours

Seher Sikandar

Theatre

VENUE: BRUNTON THEATRE

DATES: TUE 27 MAR, 7:30PM

PRICE: £11.25 ( £6.00 - £9.25)

VENUE: THE LIQUID ROOM

DATES: 28 FEBRUARY

PRICE: £10.00

Little DragonThe Scandinavian quartet prove they are

less puff and more fire as they set the Liquid

Room ablaze

MUSIC

Books agenda by Jon Vrushi

MARK FORSYTH THE ETYMOLOGICON(Faber, £14.99)

This is a book for people who revel in language, taking the reader on a delightful trip through the exotic origins of English words. Forsyth’s

account is tumultuous, whisking the reader between Viking invasions, Starbucks and monks as he meanders from one word to the next, exploring their linguistic connections.

His misanthropic tone makes it highly enjoyable to read. However, someone looking for a more focused

exploration of the English language will find it a little disappointing. At moments Forsyth employs a meth-odological approach to demonstrate the root of European languages, but many of the explanations seem uncon-vincing, and appear to amount to little more than folk etymology. Some of

the historical details are also rather dubious (he uses the example of a cabal formed against Charles II, for which there is no evidence) and the author is not afraid to admit that he has used Wikipedia for much of his research. Thoroughly entertaining, nevertheless.

How did chicken stoning in France lead to the betting pool? Mark Forsyth talks us through it...

18 // A&E @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

John Hewitt Jones Literary editor

It’s hard to tell from the unassum-ing exterior and corduroy trousers that Paterson is a writer who began his career playing jazz and rock gigs. Neither is it immediately obvious he’s won every major poetry prize in the UK, including the T.S. Eliot award on two separate occasions. An OBE came in 2008, followed by the Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry in 2010.

Glass of white wine in one hand – he excuses the choice of drink, muttering “bloody beta blockers” – Paterson adjusts the microphone and begins to read in a quiet, reflective tone, drawing the audience in with verse that ranges from the comic to the positively bleak. Particularly mem-orable is his recitation of ‘The Forest of the Suicides’; a poem taking inspi-ration from the thirteenth canto of Dante’s Inferno, written in memory of Sylvia Plath.

Paterson came to poetry through a different route. Instead of pursuing further education, he left school to focus on a career in music, and after several years playing with local rock and jazz bands in his home town of Dundee, moved to London in the early eighties. There he spent much of his time taking guitar lessons and per-

forming with improvisation groups. Writing, it seems, wasn’t an urge that came to him until fairly late on: “that’s how it works with compulsions like this; they’re kind of wound up, ready to go. It takes a certain convergence of circumstances before it kicks in and interacts. In my case I was 21, living in London, working as a musi-cian, and I saw Tony Harrison on television which made a big connec-tion; I was blown away by him. The density of what Tony was saying, and the emotion of the language was very striking.” Music is still very important to Paterson; he was a central member of the jazz-folk group Lammas until it disbanded in the early 2000’s, and continues to perform on the guitar.

Around the time of his move to London Paterson started to write, publishing his debut collection Nil Nil in 1993, which took the Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection. Six collections of poetry and three books of aphorism later, I wonder how he perceives the connection between the role of musician and poet: “these two things occupy the same physi-cal space, so you draw connections between the two; they’re naturally expressive of the same temperament. The one thing I would say is that I think people get it wrong when they equate poetic performance with

musical performance; the real analogy is to do with poetic composition and musical performance. You prepare for them both in the same way – you do your reading and your studying in the same way that you do your five-fin-gered exercises and your arpeggios, so that you’re prepared when it comes to the gig. A musical training also hones your ear. If an aspect of poetry is to do with the tiny calculations about the timbre and the heft of vowels, then there’s no doubt that a training as a musician is going to tune you into it.”

One of Paterson’s most recent pub-lications is an accessible commentary on 101 of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. He’s adamant that the content of a poem is

much more important than the form, but says that sonnets fascinate him because of their intrinsically human force. “If you could take it out of every-body’s head, give it twenty-four hours and it would be back again.” It seems the Elizabethan Bard’s form of choice is perfectly constructed; the length of fourteen lines constitutes an optimum length of text for us to absorb; it also adheres surprisingly closely to the Golden Ratio.

Paterson has held the position of Writer-in-Residence at the Univer-sity of Dundee and is now Profes-sor of Poetry at the University of St Andrews. In 1996 he was appointed Poetry Editor at Picador. I ask him if the experience of having to teach and edit other peoples’ work has influ-enced the way he approaches his craft: “Self-consciousness is the death of art…but later in a poem’s composi-tion you need to be able to stand back and anticipate the condition of pub-lication and to see how other people would read it; to make those final and often brutal revisions to the thing. You have to develop a sort of stereoscopic vision. One skill is technical graft, the other purely creative. I am conscious though that I don’t want to do so much teaching and editing – as has hap-pened to friends of mine – that I lose the very basic childlike, primal feeling

for the poem.”Having moved between London

and Scotland several times, travel is an understandably important theme of his poetry. The question of whether or not he regards himself as a Scottish poet provokes a strong response: “I see myself as a Scot, but just to think of oneself as a Scottish poet is utterly meaningless; I don’t think nationality has anything to do with art in that way. There’s no doubt that it influences you in as much as it’s part of your make up, but I think to call yourself a Scottish poet is utterly pointless. It’s accurate, but it’s the same as calling yourself a male poet, or a heterosexual poet, or a materialist poet; what does that mean? There tends to be this absurd attitude of self-censorship…but I think the notion of a Scottish poet is ridiculous. A writer’s country is his language, and I write in English. That’s as far as it goes.”

Most of his poems require a ges-tation period of around a year before they are ready for publication. I ask him how he manages to balance the jobs of university professor, editor and poet:”Really really badly.” He responds “I don’t sleep, that’s my secret.” before taking another slug of wine.

Paterson’s most recent collection, Rain, is published by Faber (£12.99)

David Selby

Don Paterson: “I don’t sleep. That’s my secret.”The Journal meets the celebrated poet after a reading at the University of Edinburgh to reflect on his life and unusual career path

“The real analogy is to do with poetic composition and musical performance. You prepare for them both in the same way.”

A&E // 19@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Caroline Bottger Food & Drink editor

When one edits a newspaper section devoted to life’s culinary pleasures, one is often asked the same questions: “Are there are any nice restaurants in Edin-burgh?” “Isn’t it all deep-fried?” “Do you even like whisky?” While those questions are tiresome, the question I live for is of course “What is your favourite restau-rant?” because my response is practically instantaneous: Calistoga Restaurant on Rose Street.

Calistoga is a Californian restaurant, I explain. Does California have a unique cuisine? they enquire. No, I respond, but they only serve Californian wine, so there you have it. Calistoga’s very existence is based on the state’s oenological output. In a lesser restaurant, the food might suffer due to this emphasis on drink over food, but since Calistoga is anything but a lesser restaurant, this is not true.

The menu changes every month based on the machinations of Gordon Minnis, the owner, and is reminis-cent of The Kitchin’s capacity to come up with fascinating, unique combina-tions which seem familiar but are prob-ably like nothing you have seen or tasted before. The starters are typically unex-pected marriages between meat and veg-

etable: from their May menu, Calistoga offers smoked haddock, corn, potato, and pepper chowder or pressed smoked pork, shallot, and sweet pepper with raisin citrus honey to start. What even is raisin citrus chutney? Order it and find out, because that’s the American way.

The main selection of grills, sauces, and sides (all for under £20 and excel-lent quality) is also a more than compel-ling reason to cross the Princes Street divide. For dessert, you’d have to be a cheese-eating surrender monkey to not be moved by the blueberry and vanilla cheesecake.

But Calistoga would not be what it is today without the American pioneer-ing spirit of doing things Europeans do, except better and weirder. At the Judg-ment of Paris in 1976, a Californian char-donnay and a red wine beat out their French cousins, and the French have been smarting ever since. Calistoga’s wines, from its pinot noirs to its zinfandels, may make you question your allegiance to the Old World wines which are the staple of supermarkets and drinks cabinets in this country. But Gordon Minnis acknowl-edges that Californian wine is a difficult beast: “Californian wines comprise some of the best and the worst in the world.” But what would dining be without varying pitfalls? Calistoga will lead you off the beaten path, but you will never go over a cliff as long as you stay critical and alert. A unique evening guaranteed.

Calistoga Restaurant, 70 Rose Lane EH2 3DX

Calistoga: New Town’s hidden-gemShake up your routine by discovering this delightful Californian eaterie tucked away in the depths of New Town

Caroline Bottger Food & Drink editor

‘At the beginning of the academic year, we told you where to bring the parents when they came to Edinburgh to drop you off to begin your new life. Please now imagine that you have fast-forwarded three and a half years, and are now on the cusp of an even newer life: that of the univer-sity graduate. Therefore, celebrations are in order! Make your dinner memorable by going to one of these classy joints.

The Kitchin (78 Commercial Street) down in Leith is part of the area’s growing status as a popular culinary destination. Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin and his predominantly French waiting staff create an ambience that is slick and elegant but also very enjoyable - a difficult balance to strike. The menu is, in a word, fascinat-ing: octopus carpaccio to start, followed by hake, with the most delicate, impossibly tasty lemon souffle for dessert. Also go for the adventure of exploring the area, and profit from the fact that Bond No. 9, one of Edinburgh’s best cocktail bars with some top-notch motown on the sound system, is right next door.

Hotel du Vin (11 Bristo Place) is closer to McEwan Hall and therefore more acces-sible if you want to start celebrating as

soon as possible. It has a wine and whisky bar attached to the main restaurant in case you want to hit the booze more directly and have the food be a side attraction. The menu is an eclectic choice of macaroni and cheese or devilled calf’s liver for mains. If it’s all a bit overwhelming, opt for one of the excellent burgers and end the night with a whisky from the restaurant’s extensive selection.

The Witchery by the Castle (The Royal Mile) will appeal to family members enam-oured with Edinburgh’s castle. (And you as a graduate can enter it now! Accord-ing to legend, if an Edinburgh University student crosses the threshold before they complete their degree, they will fail.) Built in 1595 and called Boswell’s Court after James Boswell, the underground dining space is a cross between a Scottish queen’s boudoir and a Roman symposium without the couches, with velvet drapes illuminated solely by candlelight and ludicrously atten-tive servers. A word of warning: emerg-ing back into the 21st century after an evening at the Witchery will result in mild disappointment.

Whether you go to a chippy or a 600-year-old cloister, this is an evening first and foremost about you and the people who got you to where you are today. Good luck everyone!

The Kitchin, 78 Commercial Street Hotel du Vin, 11 Bristo Place The Witchery by the Castle, Royal Mile

Food & Drink

The Last Supper: how to celebrate graduationBe even more of a financial burden on your parents by celebrating the end of your degree in style

Food & Drink D. Wilkinson

20 // A&E @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

Le HavreAki Kaurismäki’s new film has a simple storyline but universal significance

Alexandre Johnston

One of the most attractive features of Aki Kaurismäki’s films is their setting: the Finnish director has a talent for cre-ating warm, vivid atmospheres from places that one would usually consider drab and uninspiring. He has done this many times in Helsinki (notably in The Man With No Past), but Le Havre, with its post-industrial waterfront, was an ideal candidate.

The story centres on Marcel Marx (André Wilms), an ageing man living modestly on his job as a shoe-shiner,

whose life is disturbed suddenly by two momentous events: his wife Arletty’s (Kati Outinen) sudden illness and depar-ture to the hospital, and his encounter with a young illegal immigrant from Mali (Blondin Miguel) who is fleeing the police.

On a superficial level everything is straightforward: the story, the dialogue, the character’s actions and their moti-vations – yet this apparent simplicity only serves to bring out the film’s depth of vision. The dialogue appears arti-ficial: the actors, especially the excel-lent André Wilms, speak few words and slowly enunciate each of them. However, what they say is always pregnant with meaning – and often, as if unintention-ally, very funny.

Reviewed at Filmhouse

FILM

Tony SwainThe broadsheet takes on a new form through the work of Tony Swain, elegantly displayed here at the Fruitmarket Gallery

Isaac Nugent

If a reviewer were being face-tious he might say that Tony Swain’s subject is The Guardian. In his new exhibition at the Fruit-market, the ubiquitous broadsheet is pasted, painted, and generally altered to the artist ’s content.

But Swain does more than just collage; he constructs paintings in which newspapers play a key role. Interlaced with the collaged ele-ments, he paints in acrylic with the relish of a Post-Impressionist amidst a tonal palette of greys, rusty reds, and rich blues. It ’s the

interplay between the printed ele-ments and the hand-painted ones that makes his work all the more contemporary.

The exhibition has been spaced thinly, giving the viewer plenty of room to peer closely at the rela-tively small works individually. Hung without frames, the transi-tory nature of the work is empha-sised (newspaper will, of course eventually fade), even if it makes the smallest pieces look a little sparse.

Swain has a knack for exploit-ing the gap between representa-tion and abstraction. Whilst some works conjure up exotic locations, others are highly ambiguous and some border on mere pattern. Newspaper photography is crowded with bits of other news-papers and patches of painted

colour.Notwithstanding the exhibi-

tions variety, Swain makes works that look tactile and visually appealing. Giving works titles such as The liar’s several attempts  or First time with a lasso  displays a certain flippancy towards subject matter. He clearly places more focus on qualities like colour and surface, not trying to do anything exeedingly complicated with what each piece might represent. This decision is overwhelmingly posi-tive, meaning that he can spotlight formal merits to an extent that one might even call beautiful.

Visual Art

VENUE: THE FRUITMARKET GALLERY

DATES: UNTIL 1 JULY

PRICE: FREE

With Peter Arnott’s take on genomics, it’s survival of the funniest

Jared Cohen

Applause and laughter flood the audience as Peter Arnott leads an hour-long performance flitting between the  philosophical, religious and moral.  Arnott is the  playwright in resi-dence with University of Edinburgh’s ESRC Genomics Forum and the piece being performed,  Talent Night in the Fly Room, is the result of his partnership with the Traverse Theatre - genomics has never been so amusing.

Strewn with live piano and scientific sing-a-longs, the play is set in a library that once held all the genetic information

of mankind. Attempting to recapture the information lost and the meaning behind it, four scientists tune in via headphones to the database that once held so much clarity for them. The resulting hypnotic hymns are strewn with a history of genom-ics, realisations about who they really are and insights into the genetics of all living things.

Although a comedy, Talent Night in the Flyroom approaches some very serious questions: is genetic modification morally permissible; do we have the right to culture hybrids of animals or crops, just because we have discovered how to do so? What might be the implications of such actions where we, in a sense, ‘play God’?

Working with experts as they explore the subject of genomics which Arnott states is a “catch all term for techniques and research developed in the life sciences since the specific event of the sequencing of the human genome”. Arnott’s goal is to raise awareness about the various discov-eries within genomics, and stir up excite-ment and interest in the field. He sees Talent Night in the Flyroom as a prelude to a fuller performance that he hopes will run at The Traverse permanently.

Talent Night in the Fly Room Theatre

VENUE: TRAVERSE THEATRE

DATES: THU 29 MAR, 7:30 PM

PRICE: £6.00

Tony Swain and the Fruitmarket Gallery

SPORT// 21@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Jamie Timson Sport editor

1. ALL HAIL THE GREAT SCOUTING NETWORK OF THE NORTHEAST.

It’s grim up north, or so they say, however this season’s dark horses have galloped into Champions League reckoning from their hal-lowed turf on their country’s north-easterly tip. Newcastle United look set to get their passports out next season and its in no small part down to Alan Carr’s father. Yes that Alan Carr, of the Frankie Howard/Noel Coward/Graham Norton (delete depending on age/taste) variety, the camp comedian’s father Graham heads the Geordies’ prolific scouting network. Not content on serving up one unknown African goal-machine from the Bundesliga named Demba, in Demba Ba. Carr’s scouting network

ensured Manager Alan Pardew picked up another unknown African goal-machine from the Bundesliga named Demba, in Papiss Demba Cisse. Through Ba’s goals in the first half of the season and Cisse’s astonishing return of 13 goals in his first 12 games in the second half on the season, Newcastle have rode roughshod over many Premier League defences. “Re-Demba the name” The Geordies shout, after this season how could we forget.

2. TACTICS WIN MATCHES.

This has been the season for the chalkboard Charlies to have their say. Paul Lambert’s Norwich and Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea have been the best promoted sides the Premier League has seen in quite a while and its got a lot to do with the way they set their teams up. Norwich’s formation has chopped and changed to great effect

and this was no more so the case than when the two promoted clubs met in February. A 1-0 lead for Swansea quickly became a 3-2 defeat as the Norwich 4-4-2 became a 4-3-1-2 and Lambert’s men enjoyed an extra man in midfield that stymied the quick passing of Swansea’s Xavi-light mid-fielder Leon Britton. Lambert’s on the fly reading of the game has been a breath of fresh air and has rejuve-nated those who love to re-invert the pyramid.

3. ASHLEY YOUNG’S NOTHING BUT THE FALL GUY.

Ashley Young looked ready for a season of success, serenity and sil-verware when he expertly curled in a shot from 25 yards as his Man-chester United side beat Arsenal 8-2 in August. However, it was not to be as he became embroiled in one of the most debated topics…well ever.

Forget evolution vs creationism, good vs evil even eagle vs shark. To dive or not to dive became the question of the moment. That was until Gary Neville spoke the most sense since his grandfather decided to name his baby Neville. Using his giant iPad screen thingymajig on Sky Sports, Neville pointed out that which every foot-ball fan has known yet oddly refused to accept. Diving is part of the beau-tiful game. The defender who fool-ishly sticks his leg out in the penalty box might as well have gift wrapped it for the attacker to make contact and go to ground. Some do it more spec-tacularly than others – Ashley we’re looking at you here – but its not going to be eradicated any time soon.

4. BLUE SIDE OF GLASGOW LEFT LOOKING LIKE LONE RANGERS.

It’s still not really clear to football fans in Scotland, just how disas-

trous this season might turn out to be for the Old Firm. The millions of pounds are still owed, the players are leaving Rangers in their droves, and the boardroom is still in turmoil. The only fans who really know the ins and outs are Celtic’s, who take great glee in regaling anyone who will listen, just how up the spout Rangers truly are. However, there is an element of sadness to the story, after all who hasn’t fallen for a charming man promising riches beyond their wildest dreams. As far as Rangers do fall – which incidentally isn’t that far considering even a new football team will still start in the SPL it seems – one can’t help but wonder what this says about the state of Scottish foot-ball as a whole, surely its time for the SFA to take control once and for all

5. That No.10 for Barca still looks pretty handy…shame about his teammates though...

Five things we’ve learnt from the 2011/2012 seasonA lot has changed in football in the past year. The Journal considers five key learning points from across the game

Opera.Worth a second look.Get £10 tix if you’re under 26. Any seat. Any performance.

Tosca23 • 25 • 27 • 31 May | 2 JunFestival Theatre Edinburgh0131 529 6000

For more info, visit scottishopera.org.ukRegistered in Scotland Number SCO37531 Scottish Charity Number SCO19787

22 // SPORT @EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe Journal

Thursday 10 May 2012

CLASS ACT

Alexander Dale Oen 2011 world champion,

100m breaststroke

One of the gold-medal favourites for this summer’s Olympics, Alexan-der Dale Oen, died last week of a sus-pected cardiac arrest at the age of 26.

Attending a high-altitude train-ing camp at Flagstaff Arizona in the United States, Dale Oen’s sudden passing has rocked not only his home country of Norway, where he had become a sporting icon, but the whole swimming community.

Dale Oen won Norway’s first-ever world swimming medal in 2006, before winning the country’s first-ever Olympic swimming medal with a silver in the 100m breaststroke at Beijing 2008. 2011 saw him reach new heights by becoming World Champion at Shanghai in the 100m breaststroke, overcoming trauma to qualify and win gold in the three days following the Breivik attacks which claimed 77 lives in his home country. He became a national hero and dedi-cated his triumph to the Norwegian people.

His final message on Twitter expressed happiness at the prospect of returning home: “Two days left of our camp up here in Flagstaff, then it’s back to the most beautiful city in Norway – Bergen.”

In a country more renowned for its winter sports, Dale Oen proved a tremendous inspiration to his coun-try’s young and aspiring swimmers, who are still pushing for improve-ments in facilities and funding. Trib-utes flowed in from peers, rivals and even the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg – the latter remark-ing: “A small country has lost a great athlete.”

This summer’s Olympics will be much poorer without the presence of such a positive and influential athlete who, approaching the zenith of his talent, was set to make his career on the biggest stage.

by Sean Gibson

Classic World Championship serves up the perfect potWith action on and off the table, The Crucible stands steady in the eye of a snooker-crazy storm

Ruth Jeffery Assistant editor (Sport)

Exciting action both on and off the tables has made this year’s Snooker World Championships a limelight-stealing tour-nament. Controversial comments, broken records and the retirement of one of the sport’s greatest players have made the whole world chalk up a cue.

Mark Allen has accused a whole nation of cheating; Mark Williams called the spiritual home of snooker a ‘shxt-hole’; legend Stephen Hendry got a 147 and then bid the sport goodbye, and Luca Brecel became the youngest ever debu-tant. The viewing figures are 20 per cent up on last year and the prize money has more than doubled since the takeover of Barry Hearn as Chairman in 2010.

Mark Allen accused Cao Yupeng of failing to declare an illegal push during the first round clash where Allen went out. He went on in the post-match press conference to say that other Chinese players had been involved in ‘fouls and blatant cheating.’ The Irishman’s com-ments were called into question, and he was rewarded with a £1,000 fine. Allen’s comments were seen as damaging to snooker’s legacy abroad, as the sport is growing ever more popular in China. Five ranking tournaments are to be held there next season. He had also made deroga-tory comments about the place he was staying during a tournament in China in March. Hearn has said: “Time and time again Mark seems unable to control himself in public statements. Sometimes I am speechless.”

Mark Williams also found himself on

the wrong side of the respected Chair-man when he tweeted “World Champi-onships just around the corner. Shame it’s being played in the Crucible, shxthole, hopefully it will be in China soon.” The treasured Sheffield venue has been home to the World Championships since 1977, and is seen by many as a sacred arena. The two time winner’s comments were heavily criticised by the Crucible faithful, and Hearn himself retaliated by saying that he would host the tournament there “until the day I die.”

Both of these outbursts, whilst seen as scandalous and disreputable for the game, have actually done it a big favour. The sport is being talked about by non-snooker fans and is causing much excite-ment in the mainstream press. With the BBC a loyal as ever commentator, the sport is in roaring good health.

The legend Stephen Hendry has delivered many surprises this season. The seven times World Championship winner got his 11th Crucible 147 against Stuart Bingham in his 27th consecu-tive appearance at the competition. The holder of the most world ranking titles with 36, Hendry retired this season in a blaze of tributes, sadness and admiration. His retirement comes after a long run of bad form, and his decision to quit while ahead has been viewed with respect by fans. The announcement prompted a surge of tributes to the Golden Boy, adding to the current hype around the tournament.

There is nothing quite like a few sur-prises to add some intrigue to a sport. The demise of so many top seeds in the early rounds of this World Championships

has shocked the Crucible. World number one Mark Selby, last year’s winner John Higgins and tournament favourite Judd Trump have been amongst the fallen, upping the competitive spirit of the event. Youngest ever debutant, 17 year old Luca Brecel, joined them on the way out but made his mark in an impressive first round match against Stephen Maguire. He lost 10-5.

It’s no wonder the eyes of the sporting world have turned to the World Champi-

onships this season. Critics were becom-ing cynical about the future of a seem-ingly declining sport, but will be swiftly swallowing their words as the excitement around the sport heightens. The off-table drama appealed to non-snooker fans this season, but there have been plenty of sur-prises on centre stage to satisfy the old timers too.

The Crucible — ‘shxthole’ or not — is as good as it gets, and this year that’s very, very good indeed.

The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield: the spiritual home of British snooker

Vanessa Chettleburgh

SNOOKER

Sean Gibson Sport editor

DWAIN CHAMBERS WINS 100M OLYMPIC GOLD

Having scraped into the final, Cham-bers is out in lane 1. Usain Bolt in lane 5 runs so fast that he disappears into thin air after 40 metres – the trail of flames left by his feet engulfing Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake either side of him. In the confu-sion, Chambers nicks the win ahead of elder statesman Kim Collins. The result is subject to Bolt managing to get back to the future, but for now Chambers takes home the gold.

ENGLAND DOMINATE EURO 2012After a humiliating defeat in the

opening game, Hodgson’s men execute a spectacular recovery to reach the final, where a 1-0 win is secured in extra time. Emile Heskey latches onto a Gareth Barry through-ball and coolly slots home. Heskey’s immediate panicked reaction to being so far from his comfort zone is quelled as he is mobbed by team-mates Danny Murphy, Paul Konchesky and all the other greats whose names will go down in the history of English football.ANDY MURRAY CAUSES WIMBLE-DON STIR

Andy Murray exits Wimbledon in

straight sets in the first round, defeated by a 15-year-old wonderkid. Murray cele-brates wildly, as this is enough of a balls-up to drop him to fifth in the world rankings – the monotony of fourth is thus broken. “I’m glad I could give the fans something to get excited about after years of struggle,” says the Scot. “This new approach came a lot more naturally to me.”HAMILTON-SCHERZINGER LOVE OVERCOMES FIA VILLAINY

After a hit-and-miss start to the season, Lewis Hamilton is finally showing his champion pedigree and dominating the European Grand Prix in Valencia. Sod’s Law dictates though that the McLaren

runs out of fuel on the last lap and Fer-rari’s Fernando Alonso spares the stricken Britain a cheeky wave as he cruises past him into the final corner to win his home race. There is, though, a touching homage to British athlete Derek Donovan’s run in the 400m final of the 1992 Olympic games when Nicole Scherzinger sprints out of the McLaren garage, vaults the pit wall and pushes Hamilton’s car inch by inch over the finish line. Hamilton is later disquali-fied from his eventual ninth place by the heartless and biased FIA stewards – the British media pointing out that this move sees German champion Michael Schu-macher claim a point in tenth.

The Journal charts a sporting map to summer 2012. Place your bets now, thank us later...

You heard it here first!

SPORT// 23@EdJournal // journal-online.co.ukThe JournalThursday 10 May 2012

Jak Purkiss & Sean Gibson

Believe it or not – Scotland are in a football World Cup.

Neil ‘Zorro’ Irvine, a member of Edin-burgh University AFC, has been selected to play for Scotland Seniors at a World Cup tournament in Thailand next month.

The national stadium in Bangkok will host the competition and with football enjoying a swell in popularity in Thailand right now, big attendences are expected.

The squad of 22 players is divided into three age categories which are 38-43, 44-49, and over 50s. Zorro qualifies in the second category. Although Scotland finished in last place at the 2011 tournament, 2012 has brought a fresh approach that sees only three players remaining from that squad.

Zorro told The Journal: “We have a good squad, full of winners.

“We have been playing several matches and things are taking shape. All the players have played at senior level and fitness in

most cases is really good, so we are going over to have a real go at winning the cup.”

The opposition in Thailand will include representatives from England, Iran, New Zealand, Australia as well as the host country. The holders, Iran, had nine former internationals in last year’s victori-ous squad.

During their ten-day stay the Scottish players will be coaching football to young children who lost their parents in the 2004 tsunami. In an effort to raise funds the

team has been running various events in the past month across Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, including an auction of signed football tops, a race night and an Irish bingo night.

Zorro concluded by revealing the importance of his involvement in the Uni-versity set-up: “To be honest if I wasn’t training and playing with the University, and fighting for a jersey, I don’t think I would be in the squad, so my thanks to all the guys for pushing me.”

Edinburgh University’s Zorro joins swashbuckling Scotland SeniorsUniversity player set to represent Scotland at international tournament in Thailand in June Edinburgh athletes leave

mark onOlympic Stadium

The BUCS Outdoor Athlet-ics Championships took place at the Olympic Stadium in London last weekend, with the Edinburgh University contingent more than holding their own amongst some of the best young athletes in the country. There were personal bests for women’s captain Nicci Chapman in the 1500 metres, Claire McNicol (400m), Claire Taylor (200m) and Steph Lawrie (800m). Kirsty Barr (High Jump) and Faye Nicholson (Long Jump) reached their respective finals, while early medals were delivered by Julia Siart (gold) in the Shot Put and Emily Stewart (silver), fresh from her fourth place in the World Universities Cross Country Championships, in the 2000m Steeplechase.

Four-time Irish Hen-nessy Cup winner diesThe legendary racehorse Florida Pearl died on Saturday aged 20. The Irish thunderbolt suffered from a malignant cancer of the blood vessels which caused vets to put her down. Owned by Violet O’Leary and formerly trained by Willie Mullins, the horse won a record four Irish Hennessy Cups. Other career highlights included winning the Punchestown Gold Cup, the Martell Cup at Aintree and the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Out of 33 starts Florida Pearl won 16 races, nine of which were in Grade One Company. He spent the last five years of his life at the Kildare-based Irish National Stud. His retirement in 2004 came after his fourth Irish Hennessy Cup win, a fitting end to the career of a much-missed horse.

Caught-out cricketer Asif released from jailPakistani cricketer Mohammed Asif was released from jail this week after serving half of a 12-month sentence for his part in a fixing scam. The 29-year-old former world number two test bowler was one of three Pakistani cricketers to receive custodial sen-tences last November. Salman Butt, 27, was jailed for two and a half years; Mohammed Amir, 19, was released from Portland Prison in February after serving six months. Sports agent Mazar Majeed, 36, was a key figure in the scam which saw a News of the World journal-ist bribe him with £150,000 to set up the scam. He was jailed for two and half years. Majeed paid Asif and Amir to deliver three no-balls at specific points during the test between Pakistan and England in 2010. Each of the three cricketers received a five-year ban from the game.

Jamie Timson Sport editor

The legacy of the 2012 London Olympics has been called into ques-tion numerous times since the winning bid was announced in 2005. However it has never been so per-tinently posed as recently, as it has become apparent that Scotland will get little of the benefit the rest of the country - the southeast in par-ticular – has been promised. It has become widely known that following the closure of the 30th Olympiad in the UK capital this August, the flag-ship legacy programme heralded by Games chairman Lord Coe amongst other luminaries will focus solely on England. This programme which has promised to pump £135 million into grassroots sports facilities and coach-ing initiatives over the next four years will greatly enhance the future gen-eration of sports stars – but for the English only.

This news has been announced amongst widespread disbelief from those who cite the £150 million of Scottish National Lottery money that is being ploughed into the ‘greatest show on earth’ this summer. While those behind the Games legacy cite the benefits of the Games to the nation’s wellbeing and morale, those in Scotland are quick to point out that the funding for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 is 24 times less than the windfall England is to receive as part of the programme put in place by Coe. While the legacy pre-viously promised to Scotland was the economic boost that the two Olympic Football events held at Hampden Park there are fears that the stands will be embarrassingly empty, as tickets for the women’s group stage match between Columbia and North Korea are hardly flying off the shelves. It is also a worry that holidaymakers not wanting to attend the games will avoid the rest of the UK particularly Scotland as they look to warmer and

potentially less busy climes. This lack of tourism might affect the economy at a particularly inopportune time for those north of the border. The prevail-ing optimists mention the hope that the Edinburgh Festival will entice the masses after the Olympic Games, but there is a thought that the Olympics will detract from the festival’s charm this summer.

Despite the wealth of training resources and spectacular scenery north of the border, only two nations

– Namibia and Zambia, neither of whom are quite powerhouse athlet-ics nations – are to site training camps

north of the border. SportScotland has consistently invested more than £6 million pounds in total for facilities this year and most will receive little or no use in the run up to the Games. Of the companies awarded tenders for contracts relating to the construc-tion and running of the Games’ infra-structure, only a tiny proportion have been awarded to Scots companies. This is all under the auspices of an Olympic Programme for the whole nation and millions of pounds of Scot-land’s regeneration funding has been diverted to London from investment in local infrastructure. Grassroots

sports clubs north of the border have also claimed the diversion of the cash has left them short of funding.

“I think the question we have all been asking is ‘what legacy’?” said Graham Bell, spokesman for the Scot-tish Chambers of Commerce (SCC).

“It will be absolutely minimal. The promise that this will benefit the whole country has not been realised. They have run away with a large pro-portion of our Lottery money to pay for the Games – it is a very poor show and as a share of the dividend, what we stand to gain is nothing like 10 per cent.”

Scots will be left without legacy from London’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’Legacy of Olympic Games not set to reach Scotland as England alone benefits from funding

Shawn Carpenter

The Olympic legacy programme is set to pump £135 million into grassroots initiatives — but only in England

2012 LONDON OLYMPICS

FOOTBALL

by Ruth Jeffery & Sean Gibson

Sean Gibson Sport editor

Anna Donegan has been elected Edinburgh University Sports Union president for the 2012/13 academic year.

Donegan told The Journal: “The other two candidates were quite strong, so I went into today think-ing ‘who knows what’s going to happen?’”The intriguing three-way battle ended in disappointment for Kirsten Chung and Michael Hend-erson-Sowerby. Despite the defeated

candidates featuring more signifi-cantly at the hustings several days prior, Donegan was suitably impres-sive to secure the students’ approval. Said Donegan: “I didn’t get asked that many questions so I wondered if they actually knew who I am.”

Asked what her first priority for next year will be, the president-elect said she would be “working on making sport inspiring to everyone involved.” The election result was announced to generous applause at EUSU’s Annual General Meeting, held in George Square Lecture Theatre, before elec-

tions were held for the Union’s other executive offices. An Alternative Vote (AV) system was used in the presi-dential election, with students able to cast their votes through their MyEd accounts over a two-day period.

This year is the first in which elec-tronic clickers have been used to reg-ister votes, resulting in perhaps the most fast-paced Sports Union AGM ever. Sweeping painlessly through the President’s and Treasurer’s reports, the election of next year’s executives gave the crowd a chance to try out the new equipment. It was, perhaps sur-

prisingly, a simple voting method with few if any teething problems.With voting open for one minute, return-ing officer and current presidential incumbent Sam Trett expressed his disappointment at being unable to secure a Countdown-clock for the evening.

Rob Tate was elected unopposed as honourary treasurer before Josh Hooper beat Catherine Sykes to the post of vice president. Saul Gerald was elected unchallenged to the post of vice president of intra-mural sports while Sally Abernethy, Kirsty McCo-

nnell and Carla Santoni were elected similarly unopposed to the posts of publicity officer, alumni officer and intra-mural coordinator respectively. Sarah Nimmo then edged the absent Jo Richardson to secure events officer.

The evening concluded with Trett in bullish mood, ensuring proposed new measures were pushed through. The University’s cheerleading and kickboxing clubs have each been made full member clubs for next year, while the clay pigeon shooters have achieved associate member status.

IN SPORT / 23

IN SPORT / 21

2012 Olympic legacy won’t extend beyond the borderEngland the sole beneficiaries of the 2012 financial windfall

You Heard It Here First!The Journal charts a sporting map to summer 2012. Place your bets now, thank us later.

LEAGUE TABLES

HOCKEY

HOCKEY

Scottish Conference Men’s 1A

Scottish Conference Women’s 1A

P W D L F A GD Pts

Edinburgh 1st 8 6 1 1 31 14 17 19

Heriot-Watt 1st 8 4 0 4 24 18 6 12

Dundee 1st 8 3 1 4 14 24 -10 10

Glasgow 1st 8 2 2 4 16 26 -10 8

Strathclyde 1st 8 2 2 4 22 25 -3 8

P W D L F A GD Pts

Edinburgh 1st 8 8 0 0 39 4 35 24

Glasgow 1st 8 5 1 2 19 14 5 16

Edinburgh 2nd 8 3 2 3 8 13 -5 11

St Andrews 1st 8 1 1 6 7 24 -17 4

Strathclyde 1st 8 0 2 6 2 20 -18 2

FOOTBALL

RUGBY

BUCS Scottish Conference Women’s 1A

BUCS Men’s Premier North B

P W D L F A GD Pts

Robert Gordon 1st 8 8 0 0 48 9 39 24

Edinburgh 1st 7 5 0 2 39 14 25 15

Abertay 1st 7 2 0 5 10 29 -19 6*

Aberdeen 1st 7 2 0 5 17 28 -11 6

Heriot-Watt 1st 7 1 0 6 14 48 -34 0*

P W D L F A GD Pts

Nottingham 1st 14 11 0 3 349 225 224 33

Durham 2nd 14 10 0 4 415 221 194 30*

Birmingham 1st 14 9 0 5 340 237 103 27

Loughborough 2nd 14 9 0 5 333 242 89 27

Edinburgh 1st 14 8 0 6 344 279 65 24

Manchester 1st 14 6 0 8 325 263 62 18

Nottingham 2nd 14 1 0 13 119 548 -429 3

Worcester 1st 14 2 0 12 139 447 -308 3*

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21

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Full standings available at:www.bucs.org.uk