T H E I N D E P E N D E N T H I L L S ROA D S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R

I S S U E 4 2 1 J u l y 2 0 1 0

Eight talented Hills Road musicians who make up The Arrangement have made a name for the college and themselves by reaching the semi fi nal of ITV’s talent show Britain’s Got Talent (BGT). The group, which consists of Jono Miles, Tom Curran, Nathan Rasdall, Joe Chivers, Ellie Davies, Hannah Godfrey, Amy Dickens and Lara Le Court De Billot, who are all in their last year at Hills Road, have wowed audiences up and down the country with their unique act. The Phoenix was lucky enough to talk to The Arrangement.

Their act involves a rendition of modern music from popular artists such as Lady Gaga and Beyonce, but with an added twist; they use classical instruments. In their audition on Britain’s Got Talent, which aired on ITV1 earlier this summer, the group earned a standing ovation from the audience, as well as three ‘yes votes’ from the judges. Amanda Holden, one of the judges on BGT, referred to the act as ‘genius’, although the notoriously harsh Simon Cowell was less easily convinced, stating that it looked as if ‘somebody had spiked their drinks’ before they performed. Simon did, however, yield to the majority, as the crowd urged him to put The Arrangement through to the next round.

Fol lowing their audit ion, The Arrangement shot to immediate fame. They soon became a talking point around college, and the video of their audition has since received over 1,500,000 views on YouTube.

On Facebook, dozens of fan pages sprung up within days, and the offi cial Arrangement Facebook site has amassed over 3000 fans. When asked about the support they have received, The Arrangement responded, ‘We have received fan mail and have all been recognized – especially our frontman Jono. It’s been really crazy – it’s so surreal walking down the street and someone you don’t know recognising you.’ However, it was not just support from the British public that The Arrangement received. Superstar Beyonce is also reportedly a huge fan of the group, and in particular of the lead singer, Jono Miles; she supposedly called him ‘adorable’. Such praise from one of the most successful female artists of all time can only boost the confi dence of the lead singer and the rest of the group.

Hills Road’s Got Britain’s TalentWill SimmonsEditor

appears even more impressive considering that they were preparing for their A2 exams at the same time. As they had to juggle work and exams with rehearsals, fame and newspaper interviews, it is remarkable that The Arrangement have been able to hold themselves together and deliver such polished performances.

So, what next for The Arrangement? Well, since competing on Britain’s Got Talent, the Arrangement have performed at the Upper Sixth Leavers’ Ball, which they tell us they ‘thoroughly enjoyed’, and they hope that ‘it’s not the last college event’ they perform at. As for the future of the group, they informed us, ‘We are all doing diff erent things next year but we’d like to think we’ll stay together, playing shows at weekends and over holidays when it’s convenient for the whole group. We

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Oscars EveningCeri Roberts

The Upper Sixth media studies

students, along with their friends

and families, were invited to

the Hills Road Oscar Evening

at the Arts Picture House in

Cambridge. With around 70

guests, including Principal Linda

Sinclair, students were given the

opportunity to see their work on

the big screen.

The ceremony celebrated the

students’ work, and everyone

received their own little golden

Oscar statue. Awards were

given for Best Camerawork, Best

Editing and, the main event of

the evening, Best Film. This was

awarded to the drama ‘3 Doors’

created by Cat Dye, Kay George,

Sophie Brown and Megan Green.

It told the story of a young girl

who had to decide what to do

take after becoming pregnant.

Runner up for Best Film was

a tongue-in-cheek comedy

called ‘Bed Making’, which was

cleverly edited to show the tale

of a three-timing man getting his

comeuppance from his angered

girlfriends.

The judging panel consisted of

both college members and local

professionals, including film-

maker Simon Mullen.

>> Eight piece Hills Road group The Arrangement make it to the semi-fi nals of Britain’s Got Talent

The Arrangement, all of whom are Hills Road students, made it to the semi-fi nals of Britain’s Got Talent

T h e g r o u p m a n a g e d t o g e t all the way to the semi final, and narrowly missed out on the final, despite the mass of support that they had acquired. Although they did not make it all the way to the fi nal, The Arrangement told us, ‘Being on BGT was a great experience. It was disappointing not to make it to the fi nal, however we are still grateful for all the amazing things we were able to do and people we were able to meet.’

To make it into the semi fi nal of such a large competition is a monumental achievement, and something that they should be very proud of. As they put it, “We were never expecting to be as successful as we were … we are so grateful for all the support we received.”

Their progress through the competition

Alex Guttenplan on University Challenge victory, Emmanuel College and the Guild of Assassins

>> exclusive interview, page nine

Reporters, photographers, and other contributors: Ritwika Sengupta · Sharon Stannett · Paoula Sobanda · Rosalie Love · Alex Tyndall · Jamie Smith · Ella Gough · Sarah Moore · Sarah Gashi · Tom Oliver · Carrie Finnerty · Yee Rou Quah · Stephanie Emra · Ruth Slattery · Natasha Kelley · Joe Keeley · Lucy Palmer · Kirsty O’Connor · Alix Palmer · Simon Murfi tt · James McCann · Michelle Janssen · Nei Chauhan · Emilie Murray · Alice Campbell · Sam Esgate · Reuben Cohn-Gorden · Tony Gearing · Tom Clarke · Geoff rey Kirby · Apologies to anybody we may have missed!

College News2 COLLEGE NEWS 21 July 2010 | The Phoenix

Editorial(continued from front page)have lots of dates lined up over the summer so at the moment it seems we are planning to stay together.’

The Arrangement also reserved special praise for Hills Road, stating that they have ‘all really enjoyed [their] time at Hills Road, [thanks

to its] great atmosphere [and] great people’. They also acknowledged the support they received from the college during their time on BGT. We will all be keeping an eye out for any upcoming events, and wish the group the best of luck for the future. It has certainly been very enjoyable watching their progress through the

Editors: Harriet Allen · Jodie Baker · Will Simmons · College News Editors: Jodie Baker · Alice Moden · Local News Editors: Heather Butler · Jacob Dunlop · Features Editor: Tom Oliver · Science Editor: Phoebe Sharratt · Comment & Debate Editors: Alex Stannard · Neil Chauhan · Reviews Editor: James Pritchard · Magazine/Lifestyle Team: Ella Funge · Natasha Kelly · Paoula Sobanda · Becky Wilkins · Kirsty O’Connor · Sports Editor: Amy Ditton

Advertising Manager: Maddie Hickish · Layout & Design: Ollie Kane · Sam Esgate · Photography Editors: Melinda Barbi · Jasmine Whiteside

Britain’s Got Talent (contd.)competition.

(See the September edition of Fawkes, the Phoenix magazine, for the full text of our exclusive inter-view with the Arrangement)

To advertise, contact: thephoenix@hillsroad.ac.uk

It’s fi nally the summer; the season of ice cream, beaches and relaxation. But it wouldn’t be right to leave you without providing one fi nal copy of the Phoenix. We hope that this term’s edition (online and slimmed down for ease of reading) gives an interesting, accurate and amusing account of what’s been going on at Hills Road over the last couple of months.

The college has been participating in events at an international level; trips to China and Geneva have taken place, and students have raised money to further our partnership with the Ndamase school in South Africa.

The Arrangement gained national recognition when they reached the semi-fi nals of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent last month. Look out for an exclusive interview with them in the September issue of Fawkes, the Phoenix magazine.

Equally, the student body has engaged with the local community. See the ‘Local News’ section for our response to Mrs Catherine Tosko’s complaints about the number of teenagers using the bridge on Hills Road, and suggestions about what could be done to resolve the issue.

As ever, there have been numerous activities going on within college itself. These range from the HR4.5 Run, which raised over £10,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust, to plays, gigs and trips.

We also have an exclusive interview with Alex Guttenplan, who led his team to victory in University Challenge. This edition’s features also include a commentary on university applications, and advice for unsuspecting travellers.

A printed, full-length Freshers’ edition of the paper will be distributed in early September. We will also be at the societies fair, giving out cake to encourage people to join us, so do come and visit our stall. New contributors are always welcome; just send an email to thephoenix@hillsroad.ac.uk. Here’s to a great summer – happy reading!

Many thanks to everyone who has supported us this term.

Harriet Allen, Jodie Baker and Will Simmons

One World DayOn the 6th of July Hills Road held a One World Conference day. The aim was to look at three diff erent topics: local citizenship; international citizenship; and learning a new skill. The day was organised by students and teachers.

Students gathered research as part of the Student Voice programme; questionnaires were sent out via email, and a focus group was held to gauge the types of activities that people wanted to do on the day. This information was then passed on to Kirsty Bray who sent out emails to staff and outside speakers to ask for people to volunteer to help run sessions. The day was then put

together, and each student chose three activities that they wanted to do. It was all systems go!

The day started off with a bit of a buzz, with teachers coming to collect the outside speakers, and then showing them to the correct rooms. After this it was time for a quick break and a nosey around what everyone was doing.

First stop was the Army Command Tasks; everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and developing their teamwork skills. Next stop was the wheelchair basketball; this was action-packed, and there were smiles all round! We then glanced into a session called ‘A Taste Of Hinduism’. Everyone was having fun, trying new foods, and dressing up in

diff erent clothes. The second round of intense activity was fast approaching, and it was back to handing out registers and greeting new guest speakers. The day continued in much the same fashion, and there were plenty of smiles in all the sessions that we looked in on. During lunch time, we heard everyone talking about the morning sessions, and looking forward to what was to come. I feel that the day was very successful; it would not have happened without a lot of work from Kirsty Bray and everyone involved. Thank you to all who helped to organise it, and also to those who replied to student questionnaires.

Sharon StannettCollege News Reporter

Teambuilding challenges were just one of many activites on off er as part of One World Day (photo by James McCann)

3COLLEGE NEWSThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

A Snapshot of China

Tea drinking is undoubtedly an es-

sential British activity, and whether

it’s strong black tea, milky and

sugary, or garnished with a slice of

lemon, tea is the UK’s prevailing

panacea. Thus, after a parching

day in the Chinese ‘Hutongs’, the

knowledge that we would attend a

traditional tea drinking ceremony

signifi cantly brightened our already

fl ushed faces. The ‘Hutongs’ are the

labyrinthine old areas of the city,

where even locals would get lost

after a few minutes of wandering

if not accompanied by a seasoned

guide. Thankfully, after only a few

hours in Asia and a limited knowl-

edge of Mandarin, we explored the

winding alleyways on chaperoned

rickshaws and on foot, even visiting

a habitual courtyard residence of a

family that had been living in the

same house for four generations.

A novel aspect of the neighbour-

hood was the sense of belonging

>> Geography students get a taste of China The ‘Hutongs’ in Beijing (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

that was exuded by the inhabitants

and by the structures themselves.

The architecture was based on the

principle of feng shui, whereby

the buildings are designed to align

with the laws of Heaven (astrology)

and Earth (geography). In practical

terms, this meant that doors and

windows were constructed to face

the correct direction for supreme

harmony, statues warding off evil

spirits peppered the homes, and

steps bordered every doorway to

prevent ghosts (and tourists, as

many bruised shins resulted from

these subtle steps) from entering

the houses.

However, despite the wonders of the

Hutongs, the tea house felt like a

calm, air-conditioned oasis, neatly

hidden in one of Beijing’s numerous

concrete high rises.

The ceremony was conducted by

silk-clad ladies who delicately

poured all manner of perfumed

Summer Ball

Let’s face it; we deserve a break. All those long gruelling hours spent cooped up in the Cambridge Central Library, desperately trying to cram our saturated brains with just that little bit more information - we defi nitely need to take it easy for a while! So that’s why the Summer Ball was the perfect chance for everybody to enjoy the glorious weather (at long last), the freedom of no exams for at least a year (okay, until retakes...) and to really ‘let our hair down’. Which is exactly what we did, of course.

After forking out my £12, I hoped that I’d get my money’s worth – after all, Freshers’ was only a fi ver

– what could they possibly add to this college event? I am happy to say I wasn’t disappointed – I take my metaphorical hat off to everyone who managed to engineer such a fantastic evening. How the student council managed to get unlimited use of an ice-cream van and candyfl oss machine (those things are normally £3 a time!) I will never know. From the Rodeo Bull (bet that produced some fl attering photos!) which was entertainingly impossible, to diving down the bouncy castle slide (let’s face it, who doesn’t love a bouncy castle?), there was never a dull moment. And not to forget the music – from the DJ in the recital room belting out everything from the latest Dizzee Rascal to some good ol’ Bon Jovi, to the rave with Matt Bartle

Rosalie LoveCollege News Reporter

in the hall, there was really no excuse for not getting onto the dance fl oor and making an utter fool of yourself (and completely enjoying it in the process, of course). And if you wanted a photo of a slightly higher calibre than from a fuzzy camera phone, there were professional photographers in the cafe who were more than happy to take your picture. And if the dancing, rodeo bull and bouncy castle slide had given you an appetite, free bags of Walkers crisps were being off ered around left, right and centre.

So, the morning after the night before, exhausted with blisters from high heels and friction burns, I can honestly say it was all completely worth it. Bring on the next one!

>> Ice cream, candyfl oss and a bouncy slide - what more could we possibly want?

teas for our travel-weary group. The

spectacle of tea preparation was

spellbinding. As we watched, fl ower

buds bloomed under streams of

hot water, magic tea cups changed

colour before our eyes and clay (an-

atomically correct) ‘pee-pee boys’

squirted metre long fountains over

the glass table. The exotic jasmine

and ginseng teas greatly surpassed

the conventionally comforting na-

ture of a ‘cuppa’, with purifying and

cleansing benefi ts that helped the

kidneys, eyes, circulation and skin

(to name a few) with one tea even

claiming beautifying properties.

Thus the tranquil tea ceremony pro-

vided an overwhelming experience

of traditional Chinese culture, and

the magic of the tea-drinking ritual

will long-remain in our memories of

an enchanting land.

Students enjoy the entertainment on off er (photo by Michelle Janssen)

Paoula SobandaCollege News Reporter

4 COLLEGE NEWS 21 July 2010 | The Phoenix

For those of you who have no idea what CERN or the LHC is, you may remember some time ago there were many stories in the media say-ing that the world was going to end because of what was described as the black hole machine. That ma-chine is the LHC, or Large Hadron Collider.

Situated at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research), Geneva, the 27km circumference ring accelerates particles to near light speeds and then collides them together and records the havoc that takes place. The aim of the experiment is to get a further understanding of how the world around us works. Big questions like, ‘What is dark matter?’ or ‘Does the Higgs particle really exist?’ could be answered thanks to the mas-sive technological and scientifi c achievement that is the LHC.

For the past three years the college has brought a group of students to visit the site at Geneva to see what it

is all about, and this year I was one of 22 students that had the privi-lege to visit the site and witness the place where high energy modern physics happens.

About half of the time we spent on the trip was at CERN, and the other half was exploring the lovely city of Geneva.

The trip began when we met out-side the college at 3am. This was defi nitely the worst part of the trip, but it meant that we got to spend a lot of time in Geneva on the fi rst day. The city is picturesque, the lake and the mountains combined with the beautiful architecture make it an ideal spot to travel to.

Our visit to CERN itself began with a talk by a physicist who had been working at CERN for many years. He explained what was happening and what experiments were cur-rently running. We travelled around the large site by minibus, visiting many of the key sites that we were allowed access to.

The fi rst stop on the tour was a

Sam EsgateCollege News Reporter

CERN Tripseemingly mundane warehouse near the edge of the site; the fi rst sign that confi rmed that looks can be deceiving was the radiation warning on the side of the building. This site contains machinery critical to the operation of the LHC, specifi -cally the point at which the protons, which are to be accelerated to near speed of light, start their journey.

We also had the privilege of visiting the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) control centre and observed data being drawn from the machine to the screens and scientists working and monitoring the status of the machine. The favourite location for me was visiting the facility where they test the individual components tirelessly to ensure that they are fi t for use and in working order.

Arguably the most interesting part of the trip was when the LHC projects were explained to us. The four main experiments were mentioned which are fairly familiar, ATLAS, CMS, Alice & LHCb, which are all detectors situated in the tun-nel iself. However CERN also has experiments such as CNGS (CERN

On the 24th June we went to see the

Royal Shakespeare Company perform

Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur

in Stratford upon Avon. This was a

unique experience in itself, as for

once the play was not written by

Shakespeare but by a 15th century

trouble maker, who wrote most of

it whilst in prison for various crimes

such as tax evasion, cattle rustling

and assault. The book is based on

the legend of King Arthur and the

Knights of the Round Table and the

well known tales of the quest for the

Holy Grail and the pulling of the

sword out of the stone.

We set off towards Stratford early in

the morning. On the way we were

given our tickets for the show, a

process that took the better part of

twenty minutes or so. After all this

had been straightened out, we settled

in for a journey of over two hours!

When we arrived, we had about half

an hour to see all the sights that

Stratford aff orded us: a river, some

shops and a hint of an old town

square, with many establishments

holding references to the many works

of Shakespeare, such as the Rose and

Crown (Richard III), the Globe (the

theatre in London) and so on. When

our visiting time was finished, we

moved to the Riverside Theatre, where

we were given a forty minute student

introduction. The assistant director

of the production, Justin Audibert,

held the session, outlining why they

wanted to do a production of a novel

that is longer than The Lord of the

Rings and which aspects they chose to

dramatise, as well as how to set up the

beginning of a play eff ectively. With

the help of volunteers, we saw how

fi ve people could make the opening

of a play highly dramatic. After this

introduction we were given about

Morte D’ArthurTom OliverCollege News Reporter

twenty minutes to make our own way

to The Courtyard Theatre in which

the production took place.

The play is so long and intricate that

even a synopsis would not be brief,

but I will try to give an impression

of it. At over three and a half hours

long - including a twenty minute

interval and a small five minute

break - were it not for the excellent

acting and gripping plot, there would

have been a serious danger of falling

asleep. King Arthur was played by

Sam Troughton of the BBC’s Robin

Hood series and the rest of the cast

were also established Shakespearean

actors. The acts themselves appeared

almost as separate stories, especially

the second act, which was mainly

concerned with the grail quest. In

any case, it was thoroughly enjoyable,

marred only by the very long journey

back to Cambridge.

English students outside the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford (photo by Emilie Murray)

Neutrinos to Gran Sasso), which sends neutrinos through the earth, from Switzerland to Gran Sasso in Italy. It is the scale of these projects and international collaboration that is most impressive, requiring dedication and organization from diff erent teams around the globe.

We also visited other sites, such as the Microcosm, (a collection of demonstrations, exhibits and presentations about the science and engineering behind all of CERN’s projects), the Globe (this featured a light show which introduced some of the background science of CERN and an interactive globe which gives information on all the key locations across the world for CERN), the gift shop, the Atlas visitor centre (where we watched a 3D fi lm about the

creation of the LHC) and more.

While we were not visiting CERN, we had the freedom to explore the wonderful city of Geneva and were able to visit the UN building, the Red Cross building, Lake Geneva, the Chapel, and various restaurants. The best non-physics part of the trip for the majority of the group was visiting the swimming section of Lake Geneva. Fortunately the weather was gorgeous while we were there and relaxing on the beach was a good way to get to know the group and have a brilliant time!

It seems only right that we thank Mrs Wieser for organising the trip, as without her this would not have been possible.

The group gathered at the airport (photo provided by Sam Esgate)

For the adult population, it was time

to vote for a new government. But even

for the dedicated politics students of

Hills Road (who quite frankly know

more about politics than most of the

electorate), there was no chance for

those under 18 to voice their opinion

on the 6th May 2010.

For the fi rst time, however, the Hills

Road Politics Society opened its

ballot boxes to the new constituency

of Hills Road Sixth Form College.

The candidates on the ballot were

in fact the actual candidates for the

Cambridge City constituency, having

previously voiced their views at the

Hills Road hustings, which were held

in February.

With polls opening at 8.45am,

hundreds of students cast their

votes. However, the apathy of the

nation appeared to be mirrored

in the turnout, which was only

533 students, or 29.3% of the college

population. Despite this, further

analysis of the fi gure is encouraging,

as it is above the percentage of politics

students in the entire college. It would,

therefore, seem that the political bug

does extend beyond the classroom!

The results of the Hills Road Election

bring further intrigue, as the winner,

Liberal Democrat candidate Julian

Huppert, won not only the Hills Road

Election with an enormous 41.1%

of the votes, but is now the Right

Honourable MP for Cambridge City.

Again mirroring the offi cial election,

the Conservative Candidate Nick

Hillman was in second place, with

19.5% of the vote. Tony Juniper, the

Green Party candidate, achieved

at the Hills Road Election what he

did not in the general election; he

stormed to third place with 18.1% of

the vote. Labour candidate, Daniel

Zeichner, was left with just 16.7%.

The remaining votes fell to UK

Independence Party candidate Peter

Burkinshaw, who had a mere 4% of

the vote.

The mock election, organised by the

Hills Road Politics Society, proved to

be a major success. Witnessing the

voting station opening disproved

the stereotype of all young people

being politically apathetic. Students

were queuing along the G-Block

corridor to cast their votes. For the

unlucky generation who missed out

on a real vote by a year or two, the

mock election allowed students to

actively participate in modern day

politics.

Mock Election

Alice CampbellCollege News Reporter

>> Students engage with politics outside of the classroom

5COLLEGE NEWSThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

Hills Road’s Modern Languages department is currently collaborating

with Cambridge University’s Modern and Medieval Languages Faculty

on an exciting new project. They are in the process of producing a

‘Multikultura’ web-based resource, which both students and adults

will be able to access in order to improve their language skills.

The project aims to enable people to discover, under stand and

connect with foreign languages. It is based around the idea that

eff ective learning must be driven by a strong sense of curiosity.

With this in mind, the materials available draw out unfamiliar – and

often unusual – aspects of the target language and its accompanying

culture. Examples that have already been uploaded include an

introduction to clothing in 17th century Germany and an exploration

of regional culinary specialities. Interactive online activities test the

learner’s understanding of the content. The entire process provides

students with the opportunity to connect with their chosen language

outside of the prescriptive examined syllabus.

Students have been asked to produce modules for the French,

Spanish and German areas of the website. A number of groups

are working to create reading and listening materials as well as

grammar exercises. The fi nished materials should be of particular

interest to students at Hills Road looking for ideas for independent

or extension work, as they will be relevant, topical and produced by

other teenagers.

The materials available are suitable for anybody studying a language

at GCSE, AS or A level. The project consists of a bank of modules

designed to challenge and extend both linguistic and cultural

knowledge. There are six key themes: art and culture, sport and

leisure, geography and society, history, science and technology,

and literature.

To access the project, please visit www.multikultura.org.uk. To

fi nd out more, or to get involved with producing resources, please

contact Ms Cordula Körner, or another member of the languages

department.

Multikultura Language Project

Politics Society students meet Cambridge City candidates at the Hills Road hustings (photo by Alice Campbell)

‘Lysistrata’ is a success>> Student production of an ancient Greek comedy is well received

‘Lysistrata’, performed two weeks before the end of term by students from Hills Road, is an ancient Greek comedy. That might conjure up an image of dull dialogue and obscure jokes, but if you’re at all familiar with its author, Aristophanes, you’ll know that this isn’t the case. In fact, the play revolves around sexual humour, ranging from double entendre to

more visual and risqué comic scenes. The eponymous Lysistrata is a Greek woman who convinces a whole group of wives to take action to stop the ongoing Peloponnesian war. They plan to do this by withholding sex from the men until a peace is declared, while at the same time tempting the men as much as possible.

The quality of the acting was very high; the whole cast had great comic timing

and a fantastic sense of physical comedy. The play was accompanied by short songs, performed in a fi ttingly exuberant manner and had a brisk pace. In comparison to other plays it was quite short, lasting only an hour, but this meant that the comedy never started to wear thin. Altogether it was a great production and confirmed my opinion that Hills always succeeds in producing

excellent plays.

Reuben Cohn-GordenCollege News Reporter

Jodie BakerEditor

Logos taken from organisations’ w

ebsites

Alice ModenCollege News Editor

6 COLLEGE NEWS 21 July 2010 | The Phoenix

Over the last few weeks it has become evident, even to passers-by, that the landscape of Hills Road is changing dramatically. The college population will benefi t immensely from the programme of rejuvena-tion that is now well underway. The aim of the building work is to establish a better working envi-ronment for students and teach-ers. This includes creating a new multi-purpose atrium, refurbishing the library and creating a much improved student social area and library. Work is also taking place to expand the space available for history of art and textiles.

Major construction work is being undertaken at the front of college. In response to the student ‘bot-tleneck’ that appears during rush hour, the main entrance is being altered. The pavement will be wid-ened to make space for the hordes of students that congregate there. In addition to this, cycle storage

next to the science building should be upgraded with CCTV monitors, meaning that fewer people will chain bikes to the railings along Hills Road. This will eff ectively widen the pavement even further.

As you enter the college, the en-trance corridor has been taken over by builders, who are constructing the new bursary, resources offi ce and assistant principal’s rooms. The old spaces are being used for a new examinations offi ce and meeting room. These areas of the college will be easily accessible, and should make these administrative depart-ments feel more open and friendly.

An extra entrance from the quad to the basement area has been cre-ated, and the removal of layers of multi-coloured paint has exposed original brickwork. Reprographics and the Student Council offi ces will be relocated, which should mean that the basement is larger, lighter and more open-plan. The basement shop is being refurbished, and will provide high quality food and drink at aff ordable prices. A new cyber-

café will provide access to social networking and games websites, which are not accessible from college computers situated in study areas.

Changes have already taken place in several departments, includ-ing biology and psychology, as classrooms have been relocated. New windows in MA6, 7 and 8 should provide classrooms with improved ventilation. Construct-ing a new psychology base room and re-wiring cabling in the maths department has been particularly diffi cult work. This was necessary in order to accom-modate the new multi-purpose atrium, which will be the size of three classrooms, and will con-tain around 30 computers. This work should be fi nished over the summer holidays.

Currently, the target date for the end of construction is 20th August. We will all look forward to coming back to newer, more spacious, and better-equipped facilities in September.

The main thinking behind YOPEY

(Young People of the Year) is to

reward young people within the

community for volunteer work that

they’ve done to benefi t society. Its

founder, Tony Gearing, was frustrated

at the amount of bad press young

people seem to get from ‘the bad

guys – the media’ and did something

about it in 2005 when he held the fi rst

YOPEY awards ceremony. Five years

later and the YOPEY, pronounced

‘yoppee’, is now a national event with

awards ceremonies from Scotland to

Suff olk.

The assorted Hills Road volunteers

had jobs ranging from setting up

chairs and fi lling envelopes to

presenting the entire ceremony

in front of 300 dignitaries and the

fi nalists’ families. All I and my

fellow reporter Will Simmons had

to do was interview the fi nalists

when they arrived at the venue, the

Hemingford Abbotts golf complex.

So, in the four hours between our

arrival and that of the fi nalists, we

slumped on comfy chairs munching

Yorkie Bars and commenting on the

performance of the presenters who

were with their vocal coach. Tricky

stuff to coordinate, all in all, but we

handled it expertly. When the event

itself did kick off , with the volunteers

all suitably togged up in suits and

our offi cial-looking purple lanyards,

we took the opportunity to have a

chat with some of the fi nalists.

The fi nalists were 14 people, or groups

of people, who have been nominated

for being a positive young role model.

This could mean they’ve been doing

volunteer work to raise money for

charity, working to fi x inequality in

society, or that they’ve been through

hell and managed to turn their life

around. Tina Mogg, nominated

for her extensive youth work in

Duxford, said, ‘I’m feeling nervous

but excited – I think everyone is!

I was so excited when I found out

I was nominated – Simply being

nominated is fantastic.’ When we

asked her about her motivation for

her youth work, she told us, ‘I don’t

like the image of young people in the

media. It’s completely wrong. In our

village we had someone beaten up,

and then everyone seemed to think

[all] young people were like that.’

The speeches in the ceremony itself

were provided largely by four Hills

Road students - Katt Smith, Louis

Goddard-Stark, Ravneet Minhas

and Anna Gammans - who told the

audience the stories of the fi nalists.

During the interval, Anna told us, ‘It

went so fast, I kind of want to do it

again.’ Louis added, ‘I was really

Alex TyndallLocal News Reporter

LOCAL NEWS

College Construction

A builder works on the new atrium (photo by James McCann)

Young People of the Year Awards

YOPEY award winners pose with their prizes (photo by Tony Gearing)

7LOCAL NEWSThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

(continued from previous page)

nervous, but getting through that

fi rst speech kind of gives you more

‘oomph’.’ Special praise was given to

our presenters by one of the judges,

the managing director of Spicers in

Cambridge, who stated that, ‘the

presentation skills here could outdo

some of my management teams’.

Once the speeches were done

and winners were presented with

their enormous cheques, we went

to interview the four winners.

Unfortunately the Junior YOPEY

winner, Lauren Wright, wasn’t

available for comment. We did,

however, catch up with the fi rst,

second and third place winners. 12-

year-olds Molly Hares and Holly

Lane, who had single-handedly

raised £1060 for the Haiti Earthquake

appeal, told us, ‘We’re not sure what

to spend the prize money on. Half

of it’s going to the Haiti Earthquake

appeal, but the rest we don’t know

about.’ Zain Awan, second place

winner, who was nominated for his

work as a UK young ambassador,

said, ‘I was up against really hard

competition – they were all great.

I’m humbled to be on the same

platform as them.’ The overall

winner, Edward Williams, who

raised £70,000 by swimming Lake

Windermere and the Channel for

East Anglia Children’s Hospice, told

us happily, ‘I don’t know what to say.

I’ll probably give all the money away.

I don’t really know what to do with it

and it’d be better off going to a good

cause.’

Obviously this is a shortened version

of events and many of the fi nalists

haven’t been mentioned. If you are

looking for more information, the

YOPEY website (www.yopey.org)

has some interesting links and gives

a clearer idea about what the scheme

set out to do.

Hills Road BridgeJacob DunlopLocal News EditorMrs Catherine Tosko recently complained to Hills Road Sixth Form College about her treatment at the hands of students whilst walking across Hills Road Bridge. She claims that as she walked over the bridge her bag was knocked from her hands, her ‘hands-free’ device was broken and she received no apology. She describes the college’s response as ‘immensely poor’ in which it apologises – if indeed the students were from Hills Road. The action she took therefore was to create an ‘e-petition’, which proposes that the college provides stewards to monitor the students crossing the bridge and to ensure that they walk in an orderly manner in single-fi le. This petition has been the target of many abusive and mocking posts by anonymous users of the site, but is it really as ridiculous a suggestion as it sounds?

At a glance, the footpath in question seems reasonably wide. Demanding a military-style, single fi le march seems unnecessary and there are no laws prohibiting students from walking in groups of four or fi ve, providing they are not walking onto the road. Is the problem then the

attitude of the students walking, rather than the number of students?

It may well be the case that students from any college could be unruly, misbehaved or rude in public places. It’s a possibility that the problem for Mrs Tosko is therefore the way in which she was treated, not the system designed for people or students in general to walk on the bridge. Stewards provided by Hills Road would therefore be ineff ective as there is nothing legally empowering them to instruct people how and where to walk on public property. As we don’t have a uniform at Hills it would be hard for such stewards to know who is and is not from our college and they certainly couldn’t just begin to instruct people who look as if they might be a student. Manners are something you learn at home or from an early age – it is not the role of an institute of further education to instruct students on manners, let alone the way they walk on public walkways. They can advise and request students to behave respectfully and considerately but ultimately it is down to students –

grown members of the public – to monitor their own behaviour.

Therefore it would appear that the problem lies, potentially, in Hills Road students lacking conscientiousness whilst walking from the college to the train station. Even if these students are from Hills Road, the college using its state funding to pay for stewards in public places is, unfortunately for Mrs. Tosko, ridiculous. The announcement of a potential 25% budget cut for schools will hamper spending potential as it is, so the suggestion that members of staff who are employed to teach their specialist subjects at a high level should take part in the stewardship of Hills Road Bridge is foolish. As members of the community we may lack politeness at times, unintentionally, but it is not the responsibility of the college to fund staff members to monitor us.

YOPEY award winners receiving recognition for all their hard work (photo by Tony Gearing)

Hills Road Bridge (photo from Google Maps)

8 INTERNATIONAL NEWS 21 July 2010 | The Phoenix

CJV digital is one of the companies that sponsors the college’s Africa Link charity. I interviewed Andy Cummins, the consultant of CJV Digitals. He has been helping Africa Link to gain more publicity and thus more sponsors.

Q. How did you fi nd out about the charity?A. Well, my son goes to Hills Road Sixth Form College. I heard that they were looking for parental supporters for this particular charity. I decided to give them a call, to off er them services of my company.

Q. Why did you decide to support this charity?A. I work with a number of charities but I decided to support this charity to show my support for Hills Road in general, as a parent of a pupil.

Q. How did you help this charity?A. I provided them with information on digital marketing. I also gave them provisional services for free and off ered to produce their digital newsletter for free. I also advised them on marketing – how to promote themselves and in developing marketing communication. Basically implementing digital technology.

Q. How has your sponsorship helped the charity? A. They have been noticed by bigger organisations. Digital marketing is more eff ective and my advice is being used by the charity to gain additional support. Through this Africa Link has been noticed by other organisations such as ARM and, I believe, Virgin.

Q. Have you been involved with any of the events organised by Africa Link?A. No, not yet. It’s only been around two months that I have been involved with Africa Link. It is a very recent thing.

such as an Easter raffl e organised by

Phoebe Sharratt and Jacob Dunlop,

and a paintballing expedition,

organised by Geoffrey Kirby and

Jonny Littlewood, which raised an

impressive total of £320.

Kayleigh Hubbard, Charlotte

Simpson, Binu Kularatne and Char

Edwards raised £375 from their

Concert for Cause at the Soultree, and

combined this with two cake stalls to

raise a grand total of £525. ‘Pirate vs

Ninja’ day, organised by Harriet Allen,

Zheng Ng and Steph Atkins, brought

in £160, along with unleashing hordes

of students dressed as pirates and

ninjas into the college. Students

were also treated to a couple of very

successful ‘Live Lounges’ and a gig in

the basement that raised over £200.

Since January, 12 groups of lower sixth

students have been busy organising

fundraising events to support the

college’s Africa Link project with the

Ndamase school as part of their level

2 or 3 ARC (academic research course)

projects. A multitude of brightly-

coloured posters have advertised

events from cake stalls and raff les

to dress-up days, sports events and

charity gigs. The locations for these

events ranged from college itself,

to venues in Cambridge, such as

Soultree, and places further afi eld,

such as Apocalypse Paintball in

Royston.

The projects were completed by the

end of March. They included events

Ricky SenguptaAfrica Link Correspondent

of serious concerns underpinned the decision, with the completion of certain stadia being one of the main questions surrounding the bid. Potential back-up host nations such as England were already lined up, and to add insult to injury, Sepp Blatter drafted provisional plans to hand over the tournament to Morocco, just months after awarding it to South Africa. Blatter would have hoped that as soon as the tournament had started, the original fears over the safety of supporters could be allayed, and other concerns over the infrastructure of the country could be over shadowed by the wonder and intrigue the spectacle of a World Cup brings. Sadly for the FIFA president, that hope could have never been a reality. Coupled with off the fi eld issues, a number of criticisms were also made with arising problems on the pitch. The ball was called into question when a number of competing nations complained over the inconsistency

It’s a world cup which has been plagued with talk of a badly designed football, lack of ticket sales, poor offi ciating, poor organisation and a whole host of other topics targeted to criticise the decision to award it to South Africa. It was hoped, that the inevitable problems that come with hosting a World Cup could be overshadowed by the warmth and excitement that a World Cup brings to a host nation. However the sheer volume of highly publicized issues investigated by the media has meant that the decision bring the World Cup to African soil for fi rst time in its history has been brought into disrepute, and has undermined the integrity of what looked to be a risky move by FIFA president Sepp Blatter in the fi rst place.

When it was announced back in May of 2004 that the World Cup would be coming to South Africa, a number

The First World Cup in history to be staged in Africaof its fl ight in the air. “Tested and perfected” at Loughborough University, a number of high profi le counties criticised it for being unpredictable when struck, and combined with the diff ering terrain the matches would be played at, the ball was more suited to being played at sea level. Despite the fact that a lot of the games were being played at altitude. Ticket sales were also a huge problem, and pictures of empty stadiums with seats aplenty beamed across the globe, with the local people complaining of extortionate prices that left the majority of the South African public unable to aff ord a ticket. When people were actually able to get in the stadium however, poor offi ciating at a global level highlighted the need for video technology in sport, despite strong opposition from big movers at FIFA for its introduction. Frank Lampard’s goal that never was for England against Germany in the last 16 was not only a prime example of inept

Jamie SmithInternational Reporter

offi ciating from Uruguayan assistant referee Mauricio Espinosa, but also the affi rmation of the stubborn and backward characters that sit at the top of the FIFA hierarchy. The call for goal-line technology by the global football community was met with vehement opposition within the FIFA ranks, despite compelling evidence that video technology can help root out poor offi ciating on the big decisions at the highest level.

The debacle that surrounds this whole World Cup is not only compelling considering the evidence, but tragic at the same time. Tragic in the sense that a move which was supposed to unite a country behind the Bufana Bufana, whilst allowing it’s people to bask in the grandeur of such a monumental global sporting event, was instead a tournament which will be remembered for the failures it failed to prevent.

An Audience with CJV DigitalHarriet AllenEditor

>> Jamie Smith considers the location of one of the world’s greatest sporting spectacles

>> Ricky Sengupta interviews Andy Cummins of CJV Digital, one of the local companies that is sponsoring the college’s Africa Link project

>> Students raise money for the Africa Link Project

Fans watching the World Cup in South Africa (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

ARC Projects

Students participating in the paint-balling event (photo by Geoff rey Kirby)

pointed out that a friend claimed

he had to read 30 books in a week

whilst studying at Cambridge – ‘well

perhaps 30 parts of books’ comes

the reply. That’s all right then ...! He

also warns that ‘everyone comes to

Cambridge getting 90%’ and is then

taken aback when ‘70% is a fi rst at

Cambridge’, because the work is so

much more challenging.

Not that Guttenplan doesn’t

enjoy a challenge. He and the

Emmanuel team competed in

University Challenge without any

revision except ‘reading the Bamber

Gascoigne Quiz Book on the way

to Manchester’, when all around

him other University teams were

swotting up – he saw ‘I think it

was Loughborough, reading the

Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

in the green room’. Impressively,

he also ‘only guessed the answers

to bonus questions [because] you

9FEATURESThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

>> Ella Gough conducts an exclusive interview with Alex Guttenplan at Emmanuel College

Guttenplan on victory, Cambridge University and the Guild of Assassins

The Daily

Mail did turn up at my house ... But we shut the door on them.

“

”

I don’t even have a television, but

this winter I was hooked on the

2010 series of University Challenge.

The fi nal took place on April 5th

between St John’s College, Oxford,

and Emmanuel College, Cambridge,

with (naturally) the Cambridge

team storming to victory. The

captain of the ‘Emma’ team was

Alex Guttenplan, who impressed

audiences, including me, with his

Wikipedia-sized brain. Amazingly,

although he has refused to talk

to any national newspaper, The

Phoenix has pulling power, and so I

found myself biking up to interview

him at Emmanuel College.

As I approached Guttenplan

carefully avoided my gaze – perhaps

a little too used to being stared at by

fans of University Challenge? In fact,

he admits that after their stunning

victory the Daily Mail ‘did turn

up at my house ... But we shut the

door on them’. Being stalked by the

tabloids hasn’t fazed him though;

as we walked through the college he

seemed talkative and friendly.

Guttenplan clearly enjoys life at

Cambridge, despite having ‘quite

a lot of work in his fi rst year’. I

don’t lose marks if you get them

wrong’ which means that when

asked ‘Disenchantment Bay, Glacier

Bay and Pavlov Bay are among the

numerous bays on the coastline

of which US state?’ he knew it was

Alaska.

Having put Cambridge down fi rst

on a formidable application list

that included ‘Cambridge, Durham,

Imperial, UCL and St Andrews’,

Guttenplan then had to decide

whether to opt for ‘sciences or

classics’, but chose to study Natural

Sciences in the end because it would

give him the chance to ‘discover

something new’ (he is considering

becoming a research scientist and

is looking forward to spending July

‘in a lab at Imperial’). His choice of

college wasn’t set in stone either, he

‘was actually considering Downing

[College]’, but having gone ‘to a

lot of colleges at open day’ was

then dragged to Emmanuel as ‘my

parents thought [it] looked nice’. He

says the best thing about ‘Emma’ is

that ‘everyone is really friendly’, and

these don’t seem to be empty words

- as we pass the queue for formal

dinner he stops to compliment a

fellow student on their velvet dinner

Ella GoughFeatures Writer

jacket, he’s greeted by the people we

walk past, and even the undergrad

who is intently typing on his laptop,

his enormous headphones sending

out a message of ‘Do Not Disturb’,

manages a nod and a smile.

Now at the end of his second year,

Guttenplan has just fi nished six

exams and is fi nding that ‘you are

both more and less busy after exams’.

He admits he’s not the most avid

fan of Cambridge’s nightlife, but

that might be partly because ‘after

11 o’clock the prices [of drinks] go

from reasonable to robbery’. Instead,

you might fi nd him out on the river,

which he declares is the best thing

about Cambridge. He punts, and

‘[rows] quite a lot too’, and also fi nds

time to take part in the Guild of

Assassins, a society in which students

compete to ‘assassinate’ each other

in inventive ways (let nobody ever

say Cambridge is all work no play).

His personal favourite assassination,

by the way, was when ‘someone once

dropped a big polystyrene ball with

‘six million million million kilogram

planet’ written on it’ onto their

unsuspecting victim.

Asking about the application process,

he admits that he was very surprised

that ‘they didn’t question me at all

on my personal statement’. He also

off ers some words of advice – ‘they

don’t want to know what you can

remember about a course’ but rather

how you can apply that knowledge.

Should you get past the intimidating

Oxbridge interview, you can look

forward to the Freshers’ events laid

on. When asked for tips for surviving

Freshers’, he considers for a while;

‘well, it is possible to go for four

days without sleep’, but he wouldn’t

recommend it. What he does

recommend is ‘time alone’ to take it

all in. I can only speak for myself, but

I’m sure I’d need time to take in the

enormity of studying at a university

with 800 years of history, where (at

least some) of your peers can tell you

that nyctalopia is a sign of Vitamin A

defi ciency and that parasympathetic

nerves are in control during periods

of relaxation. We’d best be dusting

down our Bamber Gascoigne Quiz

Books, then!

Students

compete to ‘assassinate’ each other in inventive ways

“

”

Emmanuel - Guttenplan’s college (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

10 FEATURES 21 July 2010 | The Phoenix

ThailandThai people hold their King and Queen and the Royal Family in great reverence, and so won’t tolerate foreigners showing disre-spect to them. So be careful what you say.

IndonesiaThere are three regions in Indone-sia that you cannot visit without special permission and approval; these are Aceh, Maluku, and Irian Jaya. If you plan to enter one of these restricted regions, you must obtain special authorization from Indonesian authorities.

AmericaAnd here come the crazy ones…In New York, the penalty for jumping off a building is: death. In California, it is illegal to set a mouse trap without a hunting licence (clearly this is where Stuart Little is hiding).In Florida, you’re not allowed to break more than three dishes a day, or chip the edge off more than four cups and/or saucers. Miami: Illegal to go around imitating animals. Sarasota: Illegal to sing while wearing a bathing suit.In Wichita, Kansas: A father cannot frighten his daughter’s

It is with great misfortune that tourists often find themselves breaking the law with out even realising it, but what laws should you be aware of when travelling abroad? From the life threaten-ing mistakes to the laughable blunders, several foreign coun-tries have laws that would be seen as ridiculous to the UK eye. As humorous as they maybe, or in some cases downright worry-ing, here are the laws you should make a note of before you go on your summer travels. Remember that the more ridiculous laws are generally not enforced.

MexicoThere are no trials in Mexico. Neither is there open court. If a person is arrested, the district attorney “Ministerio Publico” has up to seventy-two hours to make a prosecutorial decision, and if the decision is made to prosecute, then the defendant is taken to prison. However do not panic, as eventually a court is held and you do get your say, but best to steer clear of trouble and you will not find yourself in this tight spot.

>> Sarah Moore looks at a number of unusual laws that might be worth observing if you are going on holiday this summer

Take heed, travellers ...boyfriend with a gun. In Kansas City, Missouri: Minors are not allowed to purchase cap pistols; they can, however, buy shotguns freely. In Washington, all lollipops are forbidden.

FranceIt is illegal to buy or sell an E.T. doll. Yes, that is in reference to the movie as they have a law against selling dolls that do not have hu-man faces.

Athens, GreeceA driver’s licence can be taken away if the driver is thought to be either ‘poorly dressed’ or ‘unbathed’.

SamoaIt is a crime to forget your own wife’s birthday - (they should make it illegal not to buy her any-thing for it too).

SwitzerlandIt is illegal for a man to relieve himself while standing up after 10pm.

And Finally, EnglandIt is illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas day.

Sarah MooreReporter

Sarah GashiFormer Editor

After L6 exams and those tedious first weeks of the U6, your mind turns to university open days and writing your personal statement. Usually, either your parents take part in the sense that they drive you to campuses and proofread your attempts at humble boasting, or they just leave you to it. Infinitely more complicated is the situation in which a parent applies to university at the same time as you, goes to Open Days with you for both of you, and asks you to read over his or her personal statement while she or he reads yours.

In the summer of 2009 my mum and I applied for degree courses at the same time. We did at least apply to different universities for different courses, but the overlapping of our application processes caused a hectic oscillation between cooperation and competition, between the deepest sympathy and moments of callous indifference. At first I was certainly indignant at her timing, choosing to apply for a degree the very year I do (I’m the student here, you’re the mum, so let me whine about the misery of having to condense all my capabilities into that awful 47-line advert for myself without you insisting that ‘it’s not that hard’ when I know that you know it is, etc.)

When the simultaneous UCAS applications were finished and the dreaded ‘Pay/Send’ button clicked, we had to apply to the Student Loans Company together as well. Complications arose in abundance. See, when you and a parent apply to student finance in the same year, that parent is ‘supporting your application’, while creating their own independent application. Your parent has a Customer ID and so do you, but your parent also has an Alias ID for you which is different to your customer ID. Student finance sends emails meant for you to your parent and emails meant for your parent to you. You send and resend photocopies of passports and tax forms and birth certificates, and for some reason it is impossible for them to apply this information to both applications, so you have to send everything twice.

Finally you receive a notice of entitlement, with the grants and loans you most definitely need when your parent is also living on a student loan. Then, in my case, a month later Student Finance ‘corrects’ my notice of entitlement, inexplicably

removing all my grants. £15 of waiting on hold later, I discover this is because my mother’s financial status is being reassessed and therefore I may not need grants. No. Excuse me. My mother’s financial status is being reassessed because her income will now be halved because she is a poor student like me. And you thought you’d just take away my grants?

I am assured that as soon as my mother’s financial status is fully assessed and she receives her notice of entitlement, my application will be reassessed. So it becomes necessary to wait for two months for mum’s notice of entitlement to arrive. A further two months after that, my application remains grantless with no sign of change. Panic sets in - one week until the deadline for student finance applications (I didn’t think they’d care that I originally applied in January). Thirty minutes on hold ensue. ‘Oh, sorry, the system is down today. You’ll have to call again later or tomorrow.’ Thirty minutes on hold the next day. Finally: breakthrough. Apologies received for the complications arising from mine and my mother’s decision to apply for student finance simultaneously. I ignore the subtle implication that the havoc has been my fault, my fault for - shock horror - wanting to be able to eat while I’m furthering my education.

So, mother and daughter prepare for university together. I look at the cost of rooms at my College. Mum examines the difference between the rent for our house and the depleted child benefits following my imminent departure. My younger brother gapes in dismay as mum asks us both for tips on essay writing, a skill she hasn’t exercised since before my birth. Textbooks begin to appear in the house that are neither mine, nor ones I recognise from the GCSEs which my brother is now taking. A labcoat materialises in the wardrobe, glaring at me with a precise immaculate whiteness which I have not yet learned to associate with my mother. I fight back on behalf of humanities, filling up the space for recorded programs on our TV with documentaries from the History Channel which I may or may not actually watch. Mum disappears for a week for work experience, which is apparently still a necessity even when you have twenty-four years of employment under the belt.

Interestingly, the whole process tweaked the relationship I have with my mother, to make it a little less provider-dependent and a little more in the genre of student housemates. This change comes in tandem with my 18th birthday, passing my driving test and finishing at Hills Road, and ultimately it’s a change that I welcome as a part of the process of becoming an independent adult while still staying close to my mum.

>> Tom Oliver contemplates whether testing is really necessaryExams: why?

especially in Imperial China, exams have been used to sort the good from the bad. I don’t speak for all, but this is truly a frighten-ing prospect, as adults still have nightmares about exams!

Of course, they are useful in assessing your abilities. At least, that is the excuse anyway, with horribly prescriptive marking criteria for GCSEs, which require as much hoop-jumping as a dog at a pedigree show. Sometimes, this is the only way for an external invigilator to have a grasp of your abilities, as they are unable to look into your mind and see how (and what) you think. Essentially, short of breaking an essentially unwrit-ten human right and delving into the domain of the mad scientist, it is all they can do to see if you fit the bill.

But, cry some, surely there are other ways, such as interviews, coursework etc. Indeed, these are very good methods for demon-strating ability (or lack of it).

Exams; do they ring a bell? Those in the lower sixth had better get used to it, as there are more to come next year, whether it be re-takes or the A2s. I have yet to meet anyone who would willingly admit that they were looking forward to their exams, yet grudgingly we ac-cept it as a part of life, no different to taxes and school bills for our parents. The question is, why all the fuss?

There are the obvious answers. We need them to get a place in University, where we meet new people, have the best three years of our lives, and at some point it is hoped that we learn something to pass - guess what - even more exams at the end of each year. After that, even then there is no guarantee that there will be an end to them, as some demand tests to be taken either at the start or part way during the beginning of your career. Since ancient times,

There are, of course, difficulties with these too. For those who have trouble vocalising ideas, or lack the ability to speak coher-ently, interviews could be unfair for the brilliant minds that aren’t good with words. Of course, if this is the case, then applying for university or jobs is the least of their worries. As for coursework, it would be a perfect idea, as it provides enough time to plan a co-herent argument, word it correctly and correct any errors that would otherwise cause embarrassment in an exam. It also gives enough time to find an excellent essay online and tweak it to look like yours. In the end, it looks like exams are all we have.

In conclusion, exams are unfor-tunately a necessary evil. That, or get Dr. Evil to use a large ominous device that beeps a lot to take a look into your most private thoughts. Personally, I would go for two hours in a stifling hot room scratching my head in vague panic.

Tom OliverReporter

When parents are students>> 22% more over-25s applied for University places in 2009 than in 2008. Past Phoenix editor Sarah Gashi reminisces about the complications of parents being students.

to illuminate growing affi rmation

of and interest in Britain’s leading

political parties.

Speaking to one person before

election time: ‘Who is David

Cameron?’ and the reply was:

‘um...isn’t he in that show The F

Word?’ Several weeks later and

that same person is poking fun at

11POLITICSThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

Politics: banter or passion?Neil ChauhanReporter

Who is David Cameron?

... Isn’t he in that show The F Word?

“

Sarah GashiFormer Editor

>> Sarah Gashi checks up on our local MPsWhen Facebook gets boring, stalk politicians instead

”

‘track’ Mr Huppert, along with some other trivial items. Interestingly, his speeches (as written in Hansard) are apparently readable by an average 16-17 year old, according to the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.

Now, Parliament is a world where MPs still generally address each other as the ‘honourable member’. only the Speaker may use an MP’s name, and people still talk like this: “Before Opposition Members start chortling away, let me say that my honourable Friend makes a very good point. I would merely remind Opposition Members which Government raised council tax so steeply” (Chris Huhne, 24th June 2010, Hansard). Now Julian Huppert fi ts right in with the crowd with the whole ‘talking to people by referring to them in the third person’ thing, but it’s still quite comforting to know that both his choice of vocabulary and the length of his sentences are considered intelligible to sixth form

In the dying wake of the General Election, it is easy to slip back into the political apathy that engulfed most of our generation before election fever took hold. The ongoing toddler steps of a very interesting coalition probably should be enough of a motivation to follow politics, but let’s be honest: sifting through Hansard is just way too much eff ort. But there is a solution – anyone can ‘track’ their MP, and the MPs of other constituencies, at www.theyworkforyou.com.

For example, I can see that Julian Huppert, Lib Dem MP for Cambridge City Constituency, spoke this June about a selection of issues including alternatives to child detention, the availability of human tissue in medical research, and the Cambridge guided busway project. I can also see that 132 people

students.

TheyWorkForYou also enlightens me that Mr Huppert has used 3-word alliterative phrases in Parliament only four times, which, it seems, is below average for MPs. Goodness knows what that is supposed to mean about his performance as a politician (the website defends its inclusion by saying “we’ve added the silly statistic to catch your attention”), but apparently Tony Blair’s usage of alliterative phrases was copious, and David Miliband and Andrew Lansley are also rather fond of them. It’s a little embarrassing to think about.

Unfortunately, as Mr Huppert has only been a Member of Parliament since 6th May this year, he has not yet voted on enough proposals for www.theyworkforyou.com to be able to organise a comprehensive picture of his voting choices by issue. Andrew Lansley, on the other hand, has been a Member of Parliament since 1st May 1997. I admit that earlier today

I turned gleefully to his profi le on the website, eager to fi nd a record of snobbery, scandal and political dirt, and found myself faced with a healthy dose of realism. Now, I was already aware that it’s really quite unlikely Andrew Lansley is even half as bad as my somewhat anti-Tory upbringing has made me inclined to believe. It’s hard not to pick up on your parents’ and peers’ opinions of the Conservatives (fox-hunting, EU-hating rich elitist ancient fuddy-duddy twits), but Lansley voted strongly against introducing student top-up fees, voted very strongly for laws to prevent climate change, and while he did originally vote for the Iraq War he also then voted strongly for an investigation into it.

Okay, he did vote strongly against the hunting ban, vote strongly against EU integration, and vote strongly against removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords. (Fox-hunting EU-hating elitism?) But hey,

he’s pro-green and sympathetic to students – and as I’m at a time in my life where my waitressing job earns me £5.63 an hour, my university room will cost about £100 a week, and student fi nance is proving to be a beacon of incompetence, Lansley’s opposition to top-up fees takes him a long way in my good books.

And I got all of this from

www.theyworkforyou.com.

Julian Huppert, MP for Cam-bridge (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Staying up all night couldn’t have

reduced the cheeky banter of the UK

2010 election in May. Either caff eine

managed to fuel souls for original

election jokes or, alternatively, Britain

can be pleased to hear that its younger

generation’s interest in politics is

disproportionate to its interests in

booze and clubs. But the question

still stands: was enthusiasm for this

year’s election sustained through

genuine passion and excitement for

politics? Or was it a showcase of a

momentary period of spasmodic

ambitious ridicule? Should it be

the latter then congratulations

are due to Hills Road’s witty and

humorous characters (who won’t be

named). But the former seems even

more intriguing, since it appears

new revelations on how many

members of the Conservative party

are Oxbridge graduates, and is

classing them as living in a fool’s

paradise for claiming to represent

the working population. In an ideal

world, the assumption could be

made that expansion in that person’s

wealth of political knowledge was

contingent on the extra political

info fed through newspapers, TVs,

radios and teachers. Should this

have been the case, this is surely

encouraging for politics, economics

and history teachers. But what if this

particular interest was dependent

on the prospect of waking up the

next morning to ridicule and taunt

the Conservative supporter in your

History class?

We could look at previous events

catching the national media’s

attention to assess the issue. The

Telegraph’s apocalyptic discovery

of the MPs’ expenses scandal took

front page headlines in nearly every

newspaper. Additionally, Nick

Griffi n’s Holocaust denial in October

2009 sparked considerable fervent

protest, debate and discussion

amongst students at Hills Road. There

appears to be legitimate curiosity

and concern over these ethical and

political issues. Conversely however,

there is an argument that might

suppose this intellectual inquisition

is a spur-of-the-moment exploration

of political events that are mainly

underlined by scandal, rumour and

gossip.

Therefore politics cannot just be

consumed by the economic plans

developed by the parties. It cannot

revolve entirely over the budget

defi cit. Nor can it focus meticulously

and perpetually on nitty-gritty details

of bills and legislation. Indeed,

politics should be fun; it should

be a discipline allowing students

to design caricatures of political

leaders. Yes - students will continue

to read articles on politics often

deemed ‘boring’ but the comical

banter that follows it is simply a long

tradition in culture adding laughter

and amusement to the framework

of national political events. “

”

Politics should be fun“ ”

the London Metro starts spill-ing secrets about the “diffi cult life story” of another random woman towards whom Simon Cowell, in his infi nitely dislikeable bad-guy role, spewed his usual clichéd, dream-crushing put-downs. So? How is this person any more deserving of pity than a person who didn’t spend 5 minutes embarrassing themselves in front of 6 million people? It’s a demonstration of just how desper-ately we as a nation are clinging to some way of relating to celebrities. We care about the intricacies of the life of a person who had a quick chat with Ant and Dec before get-ting taken off the stage screaming at Piers Morgan.

I don’t buy into the suggestion that Britain’s Got Talent is off ering a

12 COMMENT AND DEBATE 21 July 2010| The Phoenix

It seems that the Lib-Dems and the Conservatives are acting in a way which I don’t quite understand, or we, if I am speaking for us as a collective whole. How does cutting the budget improve the economy? Not only does the announcement of the Emergency Budget dump many people into a deep, dark hole with a feeling that the future does not look too optimistic or bright, it also contributes to social problems, increasing unemployment and making people on average worse off . So what is the logic behind it?

My understanding of economics renders this idea of less consumption as making no sense, because stimulating consumption is useful as it has an important multiplier eff ect. With more people spending, fi rms are likely to see a revenue increase, which prompts them to produce more, meeting the demands that are increasing. In order to do that, fi rms will have to employ more workers, create more jobs and thus people have more income and they are more likely to spend. And so the circle goes round. By cutting the budget and announcing to us how bad the economic situation is, the Conservatives and the Lib

negative eff ects of this decision? Osborne admits, ‘I’m not claiming that people are immediately better off as a result of the Budget - I have said that everyone is making a contribution.’ Studies have shown that the vast majority of the British Public will not be better off . On the 2nd March 2010 the Mail Online published an article claiming that 25,000 council jobs would be cut as a result of the Budget. Reporters have interviewed various people who are directly aff ected by the freezing of diff erent kinds of benefi ts; many believe that they are going to have to rethink their spending decisions.

Perhaps however all these are short term eff ects, perhaps in the long term the Government will be able to increase supply-side policies, which would increase unemployment as they have forecasted. By increasing tax revenue the government will be able to repay its debts and improve Britain’s current account position. It would be very damaging for foreign investment for our credit rating to plummet. It will also allow the Government to invest and create jobs; establish policies of education and training which will all lead to a prosperous future once the recovery is underway. The question is, ‘Can we trust the Coalition?’

Dems are showing us an austere future, which bears no glimmer of hope. This will most certainly aff ect consumer confi dence - people will be less willing to spend when they are uncertain about the future. As unemployment rises, there are increased social problems that are linked—higher crime rates for example, and higher NHS spending. However, you could say that at least they are showing us reality instead of wrapping us in a warm, comfortable bubble of fantasy that will eventually burst. The government is £166bn in debt and to put off stabilising this debt could lead to even worse problems in the future.

George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer explains why the current Government has come to this decision, ‘…by increasing the personal income tax allowance for people on the basic rate what I have done is tried to protect low and middle income earners, people who are in work, I wanted to reward work.’ He is confi dent in his ambition to ‘reward work’ which he feels is a stark contrast to the Labour Party’s rewarding of those on benefi ts which the Conservatives are ideologically opposed to.

But what about the short term,

The Budget - ‘The Only Way’?

Proud to be talentless?

The people in charge of thinking up new programmes for ITV have pos-sibly the easiest job in the world. Take the bare bones of X-Factor and insert ‘general talent contest to attract peo-ple not quite stupid enough to admit they can’t sing but who still entertain the delusion that burping on cue will somehow end up on the Royal Variety Performance’. It’s a guaranteed hit. What followed is unquestionably the worst thing that has happened to television since Channel Five.

Britain’s Got Talent seems to unify the country in a sense of endearment towards the incurably talent-free. Days after the punishment begins,

Alex TyndallComments Writer

platform for talented people to gain recognition that they wouldn’t oth-erwise have. I appreciate that fi nd-ing a way into the upper echelons of, for example, the music business is diffi cult, but that’s a good thing. Without it, you end up as we have; with about fi fty diff erent female singers who all sound exactly the same, partly because the same per-son is writing songs for them. You end up with groups like Jedward or JLS infi ltrating adolescent girls’ bed-rooms faster than Taylor Lautner’s abs. You end up with Susan Boyle as a national treasure. Again, I accept that the people who end up win-ning are talented individuals, but in these cases it’s the ‘quick fi x’ attitude which frustrates me. They want to end up as nationally recognised dancers or something like that but

they’re not willing to try and do it themselves: if they did, they’d only have themselves to blame if they failed. This way, the public makes the fi nal decision so the British part of the brain, which always seeks to make bad things someone else’s fault, is satisfi ed.

At the other end of the spectrum are the people who discuss the idea of auditioning the night before in the pub. The way the programme is set out, you’d think that everyone in Britain was either chronically stupid or naturally gifted; the people who don’t quite get to the next round or those who are bad, but not in a way that makes them funny, don’t get a look in. That’s odd in a nation which has always prided itself on being perfectly average. Therein lies

the insidious thinking behind the idea – you sit average people down in front of a television and make them feel better about themselves watching another Elvis imper-sonator who sounds like he uses gravel as a mouthwash, then give them something to aspire to with a musical act which takes modern songs and adds violin and a classi-cally trained opera singer. Has our collective self-esteem dipped so low that we need to watch two women with tambourines getting bullied by three cosmetically perfect celebri-ties to feel good about ourselves?

The entire concept is utterly despi-cable. But the worst part about it is that it suits our national psyche, and there’s no escaping it.

Yee Rou QuahFeatures Writer

George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

13COMMENT AND DEBATEThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

Carrie FinnertyFeatures Writer

Do men make better Prime Ministers?unequal. However, it is to say that they exist for individual purposes and roles. It is clear that women are extremely capable and successful in high power jobs and to restrict them entirely to the home seems wrong. Yet, there are still professions, such as being Prime Minister, which require very masculine qualities. A Prime Minister needs to be strong and to have a signifi cant presence on the international stage. They need to be able to make decisions based purely on facts and ignor-ing emotion. Most importantly, it is necessary for them to inspire confi dence from the people. Of course I’m far from suggesting that women have no managerial skills- they manage the kitchen perfectly and they’re usually pretty good at leading the cleaning. By attempting to attribute women with the same qualities as men, we undermine their unique abilities and suggest there is nothing diff erent or special

In 1972, Sheridan and King asked students to shock a puppy with increasing voltage up to a level which they believed was fatal. The majority shocked all the way to maximum voltage. What is most interesting however, is that out of the male participants 50% shocked up to maximum voltage. It is clear that if a woman was Prime Minister we’d all be electrocuted: darn PMS! Yet out of the female participants 100% obeyed completely. Of course a great deal of research has failed to fi nd any gender diff erence; much agrees that any variation is down to social conditioning. However, as a result of centuries and centuries of social conditioning, men and women are very diff erent. This is something we must accept, but it is not necessarily a negative.To argue that men and women are diff erent is not to say they are

between the two genders. Indeed Eva Burrows, an infl uential leader in the Salvation Army, said, ‘We have to be careful in this era of radical feminism, not to emphasize an equality of the sexes that leads women to imitate men to prove their equality. To be equal does not mean you have to be the same.’Of course, it is impossible to discuss the ability of a woman to be Prime Minister without considering Margaret Thatcher. As one of the most infl uential and debated Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom she surely seems to be proof that women can be Prime Ministers. Thatcher was ruthless and she became one of few to stamp her own ideology, ‘Thatcherism’, on Britain. However, it is notable that in order to be so successful she was largely required to behave as a man, to the extent that she even lowered her voice. To her credit, Thatcher maintained her feminine dress

sense – she always wore a skirt and was never without a handbag. Yet, during her years there was only one female Cabinet minister and much that Thatcher did undermined women rather than helped them. She contradicted herself in arguing, ‘why not a woman chancellor? Or foreign secretary?’ yet then left tal-ented female MPs loitering outside of the Cabinet.In modern society it is still viewed, rightly, that men are better leaders. A study in 2007 found that 33% of women believed men to have better leadership qualities. This belief ex-plains the behaviour of women- at-tempting to behave as men in order to succeed in a male dominated world. However, if in order to be a leader women must act like men it is implied that women are not right for that role. Of course women have many important leadership qualities of which men are lacking, they are better able to emphasise,

often better at languages, better at persuasion. Yet, they lack the most fundamental quality necessary in order to be Prime Minister – confi -dence from the people.And yes, by the way, I wrote this from the kitchen.

>> Carrie Finnerty claims that women are less suited to national leadership roles than men

Thatcher - not suited to leadership because she is a woman? (Photo: Wikime-dia Commons)

SCIENCE

Science Technology& Science Technolo& Science TechnoloJodie BakerEditor

two gold medallists in the national

competition. Frodi Markan-Jones

and David Mestel both scored in

the top 20 of over 1000 contestants.

Entrants from Hills Road also

earned two bronze medals and one

commendation at national level.

In addition to this, four students

received certificates for attending

Villiers Park courses on engineering

and cosmology.

These successes are the result of

the hard work of both individual

students and the Physics Department;

everybody involved ought to be proud

of such impressive achievements.

A prize giving evening was held on

Wednesday the 19th May to celebrate

successes at all levels of the British

Physics Olympiad.

In the lower sixth, entrants participate

in a single national contest, The AS

Physics Competition. A total of 19

Hills Road students received awards.

Doug Buisson and Regina Lio both

earned gold awards. Doug came

second out of all UK participants.

Those in the upper sixth face a more

complex challenge, and must battle

their way through both a local and

a national

round. Hills Road students gained 11

awards in the regional heats, and had

Physics Successes OU BiologyPhoebe SharrattScience Editor

on both courses if there was space.

The courses did not involve much additional work. The genetics course was really helpful for a later A2 Biology topic. The fi nal assessment of the course was not too hard.

All in all, students who attended the courses would defi nitely recommend them as a brilliant way to expand your biological knowledge.

The Biology department currently off ers two Open University courses. These are ‘Human genetics and health issues’ and ‘Molecules, medicines and drugs: a chemical story’. Hills students have had the chance to participate in these.

The trips and lectures organised by the school were ‘fantastic’. This year students have visited the Sanger centre (which was involved in sequencing the human genome) and Glaxo Smith Kline (a pharmaceutical company).

The genetics course involved some really interesting sessions on the ethics of genetics, all of which covered up-to-date topics. The trips and lectures were open to students © Wikimedia Commons

Doug came second out of all UK participants

“”

Everybody involved ought to be proud of such impressive achievements

“

”

The Phoenix | 21 July 2010 SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY

environmentally friendly but also means that the electricity supply provided by them will be constant.

When solar panels were installed to provide power for computers in Nigerian schools, the project was a great success. The reliable power supply meant computers could be used by students during school hours and the wider community when the school day had fi nished, providing information technology education for a whole range of people, who may not have had access to these facilities at home. The solar panels proved more eff ective than generators used to power computers in other schools in Nigeria. The generator powered computers went out of use soon after installation due to lack of a sustainable energy source or generator breakdown, unlike the solar powered computers which remained functioning reliably for several years afterwards, even with no maintenance.

This year, many lower sixth students decided to organise a fundraising event as an alternative academic research course project. The money raised was to go towards our South African link HIV/AIDS orphanage and school. The money raised for the school was to help them to buy solar powered computers, to enable the students to have more interactive lessons and to ensure that students and teachers of the school could keep in regular contact with us via e-mail.

The major benefi t of purchasing solar powered computers for their school is that in many remote areas of Africa, the electricity supply is unreliable, some areas have no power and in areas with power, there is regular disruption due to power cuts and other faults. The fact that the solar panels provided to run these computers are powered by renewable solar power is not only

>> Phoebe Sharratt investigates whether solar powered computers could facilitate communication with our partner school in South Africa

Solar powered computersHowever there are some disadvantages to buying computers to facilitate better communication with our partner school by means of the internet. The national telecoms operator in South Africa (Telkom SA) has struggled to provide broadband in remote and rural areas of the country, meaning that dial up is still the main way of connecting to the internet in many areas of South Africa. Dial up relies on telephone access being available and is aff ected by being many kilometres from the exchange and other interferences even, for example, electric fences. Also, an increasing amount of internet content such as streaming media is not compatible with dial up connections. This means the students may not be able to make the most of their new computers as they may encounter problems when trying to use the internet to keep up-to-date with our communication, as well as events around the world.

Another disadvantage is that a solar

Phoebe SharrattScience Editor

Obesity: nature or nature?Obesity (having a BMI (kg/m2) over 30) has become increasingly com-mon during the 20th century. In 1997 the World Health Organisation recognised the condition as a global epidemic. Though it was originally considered a problem of high-income countries, obesity has risen globally with sub-Saharan South Africa being the least aff ected area.

What is causing this escalation in the prevalence of obesity? Many of us would assume that becom-ing overweight is a person’s choice, infl uenced by modern eating habits; a person can choose to eat cheap palatable food, which is abundant, whilst taking little exercise and so not burning the calories they con-sume. However, a talk by Stephen O’Rahilly that I recently attended disputed this idea and attempted to remove the stigma associated with being overweight.

Generally we consider our physical traits to be primarily caused by ge-netics; it has been observed that our

height is, so why do we not think of our weight as being infl uenced in the same way? Evidence suggests that would not be wrong to assume our weight is inherited.

A study by Dr Albert Stunkard, a psychiatrist, looked at identical twins that were separated at birth and raised by adoptive parents. He found that each twin’s weight had zero correlation with their adop-tive siblings whereas there was a high correlation (0.6-0.8) of weight between the identical twins. This shows that the weight of each twin was not caused by their diff erent en-vironments and was instead heavily infl uenced by genes, which are identical in monozygotic (identical) twins.

This evidence raises questions about how these genes express themselves in the body in a way that infl uences our susceptibility to obesity. In 1901 Alfred Fröhlich, an Austrian neurologist, wrote a paper on a form of obesity which became known as ‘Fröhlich’s syndrome’. It is characterized as feminine obesity and sexual immaturity and results

Phoebe SharrattScience Editor

from tumors on the hypothalamus in the brain. The hypothalamus controls body temperature, thirst, fatigue, our body clock and, most importantly, hunger by secreting and receiving many diff erent chemi-cal signals.

In 1973, Coleman experimented with ob/ob mice (meaning they had been bred to be obese). He conducted a parabiosis; the creation of synthetic conjoined twins, using one ob/ob mouse and one normal sized mouse. He found that the obese mouse returned to normal size, indicating that there was some signaling molecule circulating from the normal sized mouse into the obese mouse which was received on the hypothalamus and decreased its weight. It was discovered that this molecule was leptin - a protein hormone produced by adipose (fat) cells, which controls energy intake and expenditure including appetite. The absence of leptin or receptors for leptin in the brain can lead to obesity. Complete leptin defi ciency causes

The OLPC XO-1, an example of a solar powered compu-ter (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

power station to provide energy for a computer can cost as much as £1,300. This means we may not be able to buy enough for a whole class to use. However, if the opportunity to fundraise as part of an ARC project is continued for new students, and

we all contribute generously to these fundraising projects, then perhaps we can raise the money which would enable us to develop an even stronger link with our partner school.

obesity; fat cells do not secrete leptin and the hypothalamus does not receive the signaling hormone which tells it to lay down fat and causes the person to feel the need to compulsively eat. Proteins are coded by genes in our D.N.A.; a mutation in a gene can lead to a malfunc-tioning or absent protein. People with leptin defi ciency have been treated by administering the leptin molecule into their body and in all cases the obesity was reversed and they maintained a healthy weight. This suggests that their obesity was caused purely by internal factors and that their eating habits were no more down to choice than our automatic reaction to touching something hot.

Though the leptin gene is known to directly cause obesity, there are at present around 40 diff erent genes which are known to have an aff ect on our weight, a vast majority of which are expressed in the brain. One of these is FTO which also aff ects appetite. Around 40% of the population has one copy of a particular FTO allele (a variety of a

gene) and, research has shown, on average they are 1.5 kg heavier than controls (those of normal weight). About 16% of the population has two copies of this allele and in the same research were found to be on average 3kg heavier than controls. This evidence suggests that obesity is unlikely to be solely a lifestyle choice as it is infl uenced by many diff erent genes in our D.N.A. It in-dicates that the increase in obesity is partly due to food being cheaper and more readily available, so those who have a predisposition to weight gain are more likely to become obese as they have the resources and spending power to do so. There is evidence to suggest that physi-cal activity does reduce the eff ects of a predisposition to weight gain. However, the fact that the tendency to gain weight is primarily due to our genetic make-up illustrates that negative stereotypes about over-weight and obese people may be unfair and that we can use a greater understanding of biology and genetics to help those who struggle with obesity.

14

Fawkes 15

The Phoenix Magazine

T4 On the Beach>> Natasha Kelley describes the highs - and lows - of this year’s festival

The sun was shining for the tens of thousands of music fans who made their way to Weston-Super-Mare in the early hours of Sunday morning, all excited about seeing their favourite artists perform, while soaking in the exhilarating atmosphere. This was the seventh T4 on the Beach, and it certainly did not disappoint fans this year. With acts such as JLS, Dizzee Rascal, Kelis, Jason Derulo, Alexandra Burke and Plan B, it was no surprise that tickets had sold out months beforehand, and 46,000 people visited the seaside town for the event.

With the gates opening at 11am, the majority of the crowd had arrived hours beforehand, some even camping overnight, in order to be at the front of the queue. While DJs warmed the crowd up before the main acts came on, fans had the chance to look around the site, with fairground rides and various stalls selling an assortment of food, drink and souvenirs all around the beach. In addition to the main stage, the T4 Sessions stage was also very popular. Although smaller in size, the big acts were keen to perform here too, with Plan B, Diana Vickers, Example, The Hoosiers and Tinchy Stryder entertaining the crowd throughout the afternoon.

Another addition to the event this year was that of the Rimmel London Celebrity Disco arena. This played host to a number of well-known performers, actors and presenters all day, while they tried their best to take control of the decks. The casts of Skins and Hollyoaks did their bit, as did Gok Wan. A few of the more musical acts joined in too, with Scouting for Girls, Ellie Goulding and Basshunter to name but a few, spending time pleasing the audience.

Back on the main stage, Dizzee Rascal opened the festival with his best known songs, and definitely set the standard for the day. Ellie Goulding followed him, singing ‘Starry Eyed’ and ‘Guns and Horses’ and then Tinie Tempah took to the stage. In between several of the acts were the annual competitions between two of the T4 presenters, Steve Jones and Rick Edwards. The ‘Penalty Shoot Out’ game was played, in celebration of the World Cup, where balls were launched into the crowd, only to be thrown back into goals, with the presenters doing their best to save as many as possible. This was slightly unfair, as Rick turned up dressed in a huge goalkeeping glove outfit, which received many laughs from the crowd.

As the afternoon continued, many more acts came to the stage, such as Pixie Lott, The Saturdays, Chipmunk and Iyaz, all performing throughout the day. Even Jedward made a surprise appearance, to the delight and dismay of many people. Unfortunately, (or not, according to some), one half of the act, Edward, managed to hurt his leg dancing and limped off the stage at the end.

With the headliners JLS, came the dedicated followers of the group, the girls who cannot control their screams when the group’s name is even whispered. The group were set to be the last act to perform, and they took to the stage, accompanied by those expected shrieks from the girls who had waited all day for this moment. Unfortunately, the weather failed to hold out for them, with the rain that had been threatening all afternoon suddenly pouring out of the sky. Yet, a considerable number stayed to watch the boys end the show.

Whatever the weather, T4 on the Beach has an amazing atmosphere every year, and the acts are always thankful to the crowd, and very happy to be there. Kelis was even said to have cooked a BBQ backstage, to help celebrate Independence Day with her fellow Americans. The event was a definite success this year, and is set to continue this way for years to come (although hopefully with better weather).

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

16 FAWKES 21 July 2010 | The Phoenix

Peggy Sue: Fossils and Other Phantoms

by James Pritchard

Fossils and Other Phantoms is the debut album release of Peggy Sue upon signing to Wichita Recordings in 2010. After four years of battling to become known on the indie-pop scene, with small-scale gigs and several single/EP releases, Peggy Sue collectively wrote a themed handful of new material, as they felt that an album ‘should be a proper album, not just a collec-tion of songs’ – separating them from any other contemporary indie-pop artists in the charts today.

Peggy Sue now, though, are so much more than just indie-pop. Fossils and Other Phantoms holds a gripping theme through-out; Katy Young and Rosa Slade express their grief over the misfortune of their experiences of love and the shattering of their hearts by men. With stunning vocals and folky harmonies, this is a thrilling album. Leading single Yo Mama sets the scene, boasting lyrics such as ‘Found someone new to make me blue, Now that we’re done,’ before sobbing, ‘I won’t say a word, and we can go our separate ways,’ in the song Watchman. It would appear that the pair have been tragically bruised by love.

Peggy Sue give us an enlightening view of their fascinating perception of the world. In I Read it In The Paper, the philosophi-cal meaning behind something so simple as the clocks turning back an hour is considered. In Yo Mama the two women cry ‘I’m praying to Gods I don’t believe’, conjuring up how we can fi nd comfort from religious practices in times of despair, even if we are non-believers.

There’s no doubt that Peggy Sue are extremely talented in their use of such a wide range of musical instruments – from drums to keyboards to accordions. The pair’s stunning lyrics and voices are often complimented by beautiful harmonies created by instruments. It may seem, however, that the instruments can sometimes drag out the album, disguising its true brilliance. Despite this, Fossils and Other Phantoms really is a fl awless album. Commercial success may not be on the way, but that’s not what this album is intended for; the duo simply make a point and tell of their unluckiness in love; tell their fascinating tales, so sweet and charming throughout. So the fact that every song is a killer track is simply a bonus. Peggy Sue are certain to continue making fantastic music.

Horoscopes

Aries: 20 March – 20 April Mercury is ascending, your stocks will plummet. Now is a good time to add a ball pit to the castle.

Taurus: 20 April – 21 MayThe moon glows red. Pancakes will be your fortuitous food for the month.

Gemini: 21 May – 21 JuneJupiter is waning. An old friend will visit and his large dog will pee on your bonsai tree.

Cancer: 21 June – 22 JulyTemperatures are rising. A man named Cuthbert will come bearing shoelaces and great tidings from the east.

Leo: 22 July – 23 AugustFinances will trouble you. Investing in jelly beans or Disney would be a mistake.

Aryno: hmm...You are going to have a great week! *cough*sarcasm*cough*.

Virgo: 23 August – 23 SeptemberYou may feel that everyone is staring at you this week. It’s true, they are.

Libra: 23 September – 23 OctoberStressful times lie ahead. Taking it out on the amphibious pop-ulation of your porch is not the solution.

Scorpio: 23 October – 22 NovemberPluto has been de-classifi ed. There is a better than average chance of your pet mongoose being hit by a motorcycle driver wearing a false moustache.

Sagittarius: 22 November – 22 DecemberGuilt will consume you (literally), until you confess to your friend that it was you who ate the last of the Pringles.

Capricorn: 22 December – 20 JanuarySaturn is in alignment. It would be a prudent time for a visit to the doctor concerning the orange growth on the sole of your foot.

Aquarius: 20 January – 18 FebruaryThe stars indicate that now is a good time for a grand gesture of love. We recommend Soy sauce.

Pisces: 18 February – 20 MarchVenus moves towards Neptune so your love life will fl ourish. You will not be heartbroken, but your liver is another matter.

By Stephanie Emra and Ruth Slattery

by Alex Tyndall

At fi rst glance, Mancunian act Delphic’s debut foray into the world of big-label albums doesn’t look promising. The song titles are pretentious and the album cover…well, I’m trying hard to fi nd a more encouraging colour than beige. However, if you persevere as far as listening you are rewarded with a sound which bursts with electronic originality and vibrance.

The songs are characterised by no-frills drum beats which contribute hugely to the pace and energy present throughout the album. The melodies are supplied mostly by keyboards with rhythms provided by guitar, underpinned by simple yet prominent basslines which give the songs great depth of sound. Delphic top off the combination with hypnotic lyrics and a variety of computer-generated sparkly noises for which I haven’t managed to fi nd a function other than that they sound cool. The resulting sound couples the gentleness of an indie album with the simplicity and intangible compulsion to listen of dance music.

The eff ect of Delphic’s eff orts is most visible in the track Acolyte. Longer songs can seem strained and disjointed eff orts but this soars and pulses its way through its nine minutes with an eff ortless smoothness. The song feels like a coherent whole and not a note is wasted. Ethereal voices and a myriad of glossy keyboard tones mean the track can be listened to again and again without the sound becoming wearing. Other notably brilliant tracks are Counterpoint and Red Lights – both energetic off erings which fl ow seductively.

Of course there are disappointments on the album. Doubt, released as a single earlier in the year, feels comparatively mini-mal when compared with the rich sounds of other tracks. Lead singer James Cook’s singing, here better described as talking loudly at diff erent pitches, jars with the fl owing style present everywhere else on the album. The result is that the song seems unfi nished and dull. Equally disappointing was Halcyon, which again digressed from the simple sound which makes the rest of the album so good.

All in all, it’s a promising start for Delphic. This album is very good, but it could so easily have been brilliant. Delphic are a group who know where their strengths lie. If only they acted on that knowledge, we’d have an exceptional album on our hands.

Delphic

Album Reviews

Crowds gather at the Prince of Persia premiere (photo from Wikimedia Commons)Commons)

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

>> Joe Keeley

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a fi lm based around the 2003 video game of the same name, but the marketers won’t let you in on that. Truth is, most games adapted for the big screen have always turned out to be complete rubbish. So to say that The Sands of Time is an enjoyable watch is an achievement in itself. With Mike Newell (director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – you may once have heard of it) in the directing seat and some fairly competent acting chops behind it, Prince of Persia is a decent standard action-packed viewing.

When framed for the murder of his father, Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) runs off with the princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton). It’s from here that he begins to get hold of a sacred dagger, the wielder of which can turn back time. The plot sticks to the destiny formula and holds to it well throughout, but it doesn’t break any new ground. If you’ve come into it expecting some superb character development then you’ll be sorely disappointed. Dastan and Tamina’s dialogue exchanges are usually cringe-worthy, and it’s fairly obvious that Arterton’s role is just an excuse for her to stand around, look pretty and spout mythological blather.

The acting isn’t bad by any means, and there are indeed some memorable moments within – Alfred Molina as a shady sheik with a love for ostrich racing is the particular highlight and provides some amusing comedic relief. The only quarrel would be with Ben Kingsley, the evil father, who never really comes across as entirely convincing. He meanders a bit, and it would have been better just to see him go full out backstabbing villainous rather than the composed method he takes for most of the fi lm.

The big action scenes aren’t overused and are paced out to give the fi lm some breathing space. When they are, they’re done well and are memorable sequences. From invading the city at the beginning to leaping from collapsing rocks near the end, all of these parkour-esque scenes are thrilling to watch and downright entertaining. Although the dagger’s time-turning abilities do take away the suspense if you think about it for a moment, the chances are you’ll be too caught up in the Prince’s wall hopping and roof jumping to care or notice.

Ultimately, Prince of Persia is a popcorn fi lm. You don’t need to be paying much attention to get a grasp of what’s going on, and the real draw here is the visual spectacle rather than a beefy script. Fans of the video games will appreciate the occasional nods, but I forgot I was watching what I’d played on screen back home. See it, enjoy the romp and be entertained for what it is.

Film reviewsThe Bounty Hunter

>> Yee Rou Quah

Regardless of what ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ says, I really like this! And that’s not just because of Jennifer Aniston (…well, maybe a little); I thought it was funny, thrilling and romantic. It’s a triple-threat! Isn’t that what they would say in showbiz, no?

Well, maybe the fi lm is not so realistic after all. Would this happen? You were madly, deeply, inexplicably and completely in love with your boyfriend and dated for six months, then marry him for the next nine months and then get divorced? Months after (or wait, or is it years? I can’t tell! Celebrities don’t age!) you meet again because you jumped bail and your ex-husband lost his job, and is now a bounty hunter. So both of you go on a journey that makes you fall back in love again, mainly because you realise how much you understand each other, and partly because your ex-husband decides to take you to your honeymoon suite for a hide-out. And people are trying to kill you - now that I think of it, not likely? What was realistic about James Bond? A guy who sleeps around and shoots people? Nothing - point proven.

But one of the best moments, and one that I always think back on, is a genuine one where Aniston and Butler are having dinner, wearing granny clothes (literally!) and, out of no where, they started admitting their own fl aws. Aww, isn’t that sweet? After years of insisting that their failed marriage was neither of their faults, this is such a true moment when it suddenly becomes so clear that they are still in love with each other. In granny clothes. It must be true love! Moreover, the action parts of the fi lm are just the icing on the cake. Or maybe it’s the romance that’s the icing…and the action is the cake. Well, either way, it involves a drug-dealer, the police force, golf clubs and tattoo parlours. The scriptwriters did make Peter Greene, who really looked like a very bad guy, and I would say highly dangerous (not someone you would want to hang out with because…well, you don’t wanna die?), a very bad shooter. Oh wait, he did kill people - but I bet they were standing still then.

What about the not-so-good parts of the fi lm? I managed to deceive myself into thinking that the real reason Gerald Butler gambles in the fi lm is because he was hurt and upset over his divorce with Jennifer Aniston and thus uses this as some sort of get-away. You see, he still loves her and he didn’t want to get a divorce but he couldn’t do anything about it because of his huge ego that just won’t let him say sorry. But if not, then maybe all those bad reviews on ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ are true, what did attract our dear Jen to this junk? The fi lm then becomes closer to a thumbs-down for me. Men who gamble are just so off -putting. And, what’s worse, men who gamble and manage to make women like Jennifer Aniston, as beautiful and lovely and genuine as she is, to fall in love with them. Come on, what world are we in? Pluto? That’s not even a real planet!

I would say that there are mixed opinions about this fi lm. I fell for the romantic parts of it. And, if you’re like me, I think you might like it. Otherwise, watch it and decide what you think for yourself!

17FAWKESThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

Armadillo Heels: How high is too high?

The 10 inch heels to die for. It may be more literal than you think.

Does anyone actually want to buy them? The 10 inch ‘Armadillo’ heels that McQueen sent down the run-way during his Spring 2010 collection have apparently been innovated with success. And why not we say? Although our fi rst thought was probably somewhere along the lines of ‘what?!’ it was shortly turned into ‘wow’ Whether they were bought to actually wear (and I take my hat off to those courageous enough to even consider it) or whether they were purely pur-chased as a piece of artwork, the alien-inspired shoes are certainly not to be sniff ed at.

The collection, inspired by Charles Darwin’s ‘The Ori-gin of the Species’, includes heels made from materi-als such as animal skins and sequins. It’s no surprise that our favourite stunt woman, Lady Gaga, was fi rst spotted wearing these awe inspiring heels in her re-cent video ‘Bad Romance’. Not particularly striking then that shortly after she took a tumble at Heathrow airport in another pair of 10 inchers.

Although we were glad she didn’t break an ankle, the fall bears a caution to all other woman wanting a cut of the fl ourishing fashion trend. Three models, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Natasha Poly and Sasha Pivovavrova were cut from McQueen’s runway after refusing to wear the heels over safety concerns.Indeed model Abbey Lee Kershaw had already tempt-ed fate with McQueen’s famous designers after col-lapsing wearing a tight corset in one of his shows last year. It shows that sometimes, you just have to put your foot down. So are the Armadillos to die for? Or could they actually kill you?

FASHION18 FAWKES 21 July 2010 | The Phoenix

If ever there existed a fashion designer who could call his work ‘art’ without sounding egotistical or pretentious, it was the late Alexander McQueen. In-deed, his designs were often better suited to a mu-seum than everyday life, with catwalk shows more like elaborate plays than simple showcases of next season’s looks. Yet beneath the extravagance and bizarreness, there lay the work of an impeccable tailor who understood fashion to be just as much about the quality of the designs as the shock factor. McQueen was born in East London in 1969 and quickly discovered his talent for fashion, escaping from the bullies at his all-boys school by designing imaginary collections. In 1986 he gained a foot-hold in the industry when he became a tailor’s ap-prentice on Savile Row, and in 1992 he launched his eponymous label after graduating from the re-nowned Central St Martins College of Art and De-sign. However, it wasn’t until 1994 that McQueen began to receive the accolades he craved, after the notorious Vogue fashion editor Isabella Blow (who committed suicide in 2007) watched a grad-uate collection in which his work featured. Blow was so entranced that she bought the entire col-lection and became both a muse and mentor for the young designer. It has been remarked upon that Blow’s death came as a great shock to Mc-Queen and perhaps even inspired his own suicide. From 1996 until 2001, McQueen acted as creative

director not just for his own label, but also for Givenchy, a French label best known for dressing Audrey Hepburn. Unsurprisingly, the traditional elegance for which Givenchy was known did not correspond with Mc-Queen’s experimental aesthetic and his ap-pointment was generally viewed as a failure. Conversely, McQueen’s own label moved from strength to strength, often shocking (his 1995 ‘Highland Rape’ collection was much criticised for its connotations of vio-lence) but always undeniably imaginative and beautifully constructed. McQueen is perhaps one of the few who truly ‘pushed the boundaries’ of fashion, sending mod-els out in 2005 onto a human chessboard dressed in outfi ts inspired by the Edward-ian novel ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, and streaming his show in 2009 (which, in the lwords of The Guardian, featured “holograms, sea aliens and robot cameras“) live across the internet. The fact that the website crashed due to the level of demand speaks volumes about the compelling nature of McQueen’s vision.

Yet despite the awards and critical acclaim (he was named British Designer of the Year four times), McQueen was far from precious about his designs, famously commenting that ‘at the end of the day it’s just clothes’. Whilst others may have called his work art, the notoriously shy and modest designer would have shrunk away from such a descrip-tion, and perhaps it is this realism that allowed him to be so daring. Would any other designer have had the vision to spray beautiful chiff on gowns with paint live on the catwalk? Who else would have thought to use Paralympic athlete Aimee Mullins (who has both legs amputated from the knee down) as a model?

With the death of Alexander McQueen, fash-ion has lost someone who forced a rather serious industry to laugh at itself, someone who injected humour into seemingly ba-sic items such as jeans (who could forget the 1996 ‘bumster’ trousers), and someone who refused to follow the rules of decency or conventionality. He will be much missed.

A tribute to Alexander McQueen>> Lucy Palmer

>> Kirsty O’Connor

2008 McQueen designSource: http://www.fl ickr.com/photos/26611992@N02/2533625070 Armadill0 heels on the runway (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Despite a truly awful showing from the England team in South Africa this year, I was lucky enough to witness England’s high point of the campaign (though this itself says a lot about the campaign), a 1-0 win over Slovenia, in a showing at Hills Road.

About 30 people crammed in front of a small, low-quality television (we had had diffi culties streaming the match on the internet through the projector), Hills Road England fans turning out to show their support for their national team. Even with the bad quality of the TV in the science classroom making it diffi cult to keep up with the play at some points, it did nothing to spoil the atmosphere in the room. With faltering England needing a win over Slovenia to progress through group C, the tension was unbearable. Every shot on goal by either team met with an ‘ooh’ or an ‘aah’, and occasionally even a ‘Thank God for that!’

Though I am in no way inept in my football knowledge, I am not exactly a football nerd, and not the one to shout at the TV at every poor pass and missed tackle that England make. But

Sports

this game was diff erent. Along with the other spectators, I found myself on my feet having to hold on tightly to the nearest object to prevent me throwing something at the television. It wasn’t that England were not performing well; they did, after all, get the job done. Unfortunately, the performance was the best England performance of the entire World Cup. I am, however, always struck by the fact that England can never just perform better. Take teams like Germany, Argentina and Portugal, for instance, who have all recorded big wins in this World Cup. When they get themselves ahead in a match, they continue to push and look for more goals, but England simply decide that enough is enough and sit back. I sometimes wonder whether the England team, that has performed so badly in almost all major international competitions since 1990, always faltering and going out when we meet the fi rst challenging team, actually deserves the ardent fans that come out in numbers to support them.

The support that the Hills Road spectators off ered, unlike the England team, never faltered. With our England shirts on, willing our players to do well, we were fi nally rewarded by a Jermain Defoe goal half way through the fi rst half, and then forced to sit through an

agonising 60 minutes while we waited for the fi nal whistle to be blown. Though when that goal went in, the mood in the room was suddenly lifted. England just had to hold on, and everyone knew that if we could beat Slovenia, we would win the World Cup. Even dismal misses from Wayne Rooney, and last-ditch tackles from Terry and Upson as Slovenia piled on the pressure, couldn’t lower our moods. When the whistle was blown, there came a huge roar followed by a sigh of relief. We were told that England had qualifi ed top of group C, and would probably not have to face the dreaded Germany. The two Slovenia fans behind me were also happy, seeing their country qualify from the group. That was of course until Gary Lineker then announced that we had actually fi nished second, thanks to a Landon Donovan goal in the last minute for the USA that also knocked Slovenia out.

Unfortunately, despite the Hills Road support, all England could muster up in the World Cup was a 1-0 win over Slovenia, before crashing out to Germany in a crushing 4-1 defeat. A devastating loss, though I am happy that the Germany game was on a Sunday, as, had I watched that performance at college, I may now be having to fork out some money for a new TV in the science block.

The World Cup comes to Hills Will SimmonsEditor

>> Will Simmons reports on the showing of the England vs. Slovenia match at college

19SPORTSThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

Advertised as the event of the year for Hills Road sportsmen and women, the Sports Awards Evening 2010 at the Roy-al Cambridge Hotel proved to be both excellent entertainment and an oppor-tunity to catch up and socialise with members of the various teams repre-sented. Ranging from the major teams such as rugby and hockey, to the far smaller squash and badminton teams (plus the lone individual representing the Hills Road cross-country team!), it’s fair to say that the evening highlighted the diversity within the sporting com-munity at Hills Road. The evening began slowly, with many people choosing to make a fashionably late arrival. Despite the sparse quanti-ties of food on off er, the drink fl owed freely and levels of inebriation were rising rapidly as the awards presenta-tion approached – particularly so on the

rugby table... As the presentations began, the intense rivalry between teams became apparent – not one speech escaped the raucous, mostly derogatory, comments made by members of other teams – although the ensuing banter proved to be possibly the most entertaining component of the evening. Sadly, the majority of it was un-suitable for print but it takes little imagi-nation to comprehend the nature of the comments made! For most teams, both a Player’s Player and Coach’s Player of the Year were awarded, as was both Sportsman and Sportswom-an of the Year. The most coveted prize, the Hills Road Team of the Year, was awarded to the rowing team, followed by cries of outrage from the rugby boys, who stressed their unbeaten record to no avail – the decision was fi nal. In conclusion, an enjoyable evening was had by all who attended, and many thanks to Jaclyn Lai of the badminton team, who managed to organise the entire evening, on behalf of the sports teams of Hills Road!

Alix PalmerSports Reporter

Sports Awards Evening

Review of the sporting year >> A run down of Hills Road’s sports achievements

This year has been a very successful year for sports at Hills Road. Hills Road prides itself not only on its academic prowess but also its sporting ability, and this year’s Hills Road students have proven just why this is.

The college was one of 250 affi liated colleges which took part in the presti-gious British Colleges Sport Competi-tion organised for a total of 35 diff erent sports. Each of the nine regions includ-ed are represented by just one college team, and the fi nals were held at the

end of the Easter holidays at Lough-borough University. Once again, Hills Road students were winners in badmin-ton, hockey, squash, tennis, swimming, trampolining and cross country (our chosen sports) and became representa-tives for the East against eight other re-gions. The East fi nished second overall, and our students contributed signifi -cantly to this success.

Elsewhere, there was no stopping the men’s rugby squad who managed to stay unbeaten and were named champi-ons of the British Colleges East Premier League and Knockout cup. They were also winners of the Cambridgeshire 10s, as well as becoming East Region Final-ists.

Congratulations also go to our mixed doubles teams in badminton and ten-nis, who both won gold this year. Sam Pickup and Jaclyn Lai won gold in bad-minton while Robin Goodman and Amanda Black also won the mixed doubles tennis tournament. It was also a very successful year for other sports, with numerous medals in swimming, trampolining and cross country, na-tional fi nalists in women’s football, and a strong performances from the rowing and netball teams.

The Annual Sports Award Evening was again held at the Royal Cambridge Ho-tel on 14th May and was well supported by the various teams and individu-

Information taken from the Hills Road Sports Bulletin

als that have represented the college in the numerous diff erent sports. This was an eve-ning of celebration, promoting the achieve-ments of the year by each team nominating a ‘Player of the Year’. The evening also saw the presentation of the female and male sports personalities of the year award. Sam Pickup was awarded the male personality of the year for an unprecedented second year running. Kayleigh Hubbard was the female to pick up the prestigious prize for her excellent perfor-mance in the women’s football team, as well as in basketball and table tennis.

All in all, it has been an incredibly success-ful year. Congratulations to students and staff alike for all the work they have put in to make these achievements possible.

The Men’s rowing team, this year’s winners of the Hills Road Team of the Year. From left to right: Douglas Buisson (bow), James Haynes, Sandy Perkins, Charlie Rutter, Matt Meissner, Ben Adey-Johnson Admiral), Thomas Cooke (Rear Admiral), Seb Perkins (stroke) and Bee May (cox).

A fun run like no other took place on Wednesday 21st April. The HR4.5 run raised over £10,000 and allowed participants to miss their last lesson of the day (in the name of charity).

This year’s chosen charity was the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) which is helping to build the new Teenage Cancer Unit at Addenbrooke’s hospital. They are ‘devoted to improving the lives of teenagers and young adults with cancer’.

In addition to building specifi c cancer wards for teenagers, TCT are also dedicated to providing a family support network for those aff ected by cancer, helping research into the causes of teenage cancer, and educating teenagers about the best possible ways to prevent cancer.

To help motivate everyone for a great afternoon there was a six minute warm up, organised by five students on a stage in the Quad. This was followed by a countdown to the start, and then they were off !

The event attracted more than 450 students and staff , including the Hills Road Principal, Linda Sinclair. Although many pupils

Sports

chose to run traditionally, some went for a more unique approach. Steph and Ruth chose to do the whole route on space hoppers. However, the madness didn’t stop there; there was also a Morris dancer, two people carrying someone else around on a pole, and a juggler. As with any fun run, there were plenty of three-legged and four-legged runners.

For those that chose a more traditional approach to the event, there was strong competition for first place. John Baslington came fi rst by some margin at 14 minutes 59 seconds, followed by Chris Butterworth at 16 minutes 20 seconds, and Samuel Pickup

at 16 minutes 25 seconds.

As if the participants didn’t stand out enough, they all wore luminous green t-shirts. These were sponsored by Napp Pharmaceut ica l s L imi ted . Local companies were also very generous; Bella Italia, Cineworld, Core Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, Iceni Waters, Jordans Cereals, Pizza Hut, Savills, Subway and Cambridge Tenpin Bowling all provided prizes and donated to Teenage Cancer Trust.

For those not directly participating in the run, charity bands, T-shirts

HR4.5 raises £10,000Amy DittonSports Reporter

>> Amy Ditton reports on this year’s charity run

20SPORTSThe Phoenix | 21 July 2010

and badges were sold to help with the fi nal fundraising total.

And of course, we cannot forget those that helped with the organisation of HR4.5 2010. Particular thanks go to To n i a S c h o f i e l d , L e e Steele, Rob Lesl ie and Sarah Buckley. Unfortunately, Tonia Schofi eld and Sarah Buckley were unable to attend the actual event;the volcanic eruption left them stranded on holiday. Nevertheless, HR4.5 ran as smoothly as ever, and raised a grand total of £10,059.

So congratulations to everyone that took part in such a worthwhile event; we raised an amazing total, and had a great afternoon.

Copa Del Hills was a fi ve-a-side football competition held last term. The tournament involved over 300 players in 36 teams, as well as over 200 spectators.

The tournament uses a UEFA Champions League style group and knock-out format. The group stages began on the 12th February, and the fi nal was held on the 26th March. After the group stages the tournament split into two competitions; the cup and the shield.

Throughout the duration of the competition, ‘Copa’ became the word on everybody’s lips. This was furthered by the Facebook groups that teams created in order to reach prospective fans. The Copa Del TV group also emerged, which gave people the chance to relive their favourite Copa moments by viewing matches on YouTube.

The Copa Del Hills fi nal was a breathtaking encounter between last year’s winners, the Roos, and the highly talented Sclungethorpe United side. It was the latter who came out on top in a 3-2 win, with Tofael Hussain scoring a hat-trick. After going a goal up, the Roos were expected to go on and retain the trophy. But Sclungethorpe had other ideas and hit back with three well taken goals. The shield was won by Athletico Potato after they won 1-0 against Sammy’s Asian Babes to win the game 1-0.

Copa Del Hills 2010 was a very successful event, with some great football. There were also the big shocks and underdog stories which all great cup competitions off er. The tournament was a fun event; many teams took a light hearted approach from the start. Team names such as Urine Trouble, and the feminine kit displayed by Acceptable in the 80s, will never be forgotten.

Copa del HillsSimon Murfi ttTournament Organiser

How did you come up with the idea of cycling the HR4.5km and doing 45km instead?Me and my mate David Collett decided that we didn’t want to run so picked to do cycling instead, as it’s one of our hobbies.

We decided that 4.5km on a bike was a bit pathetic so we scaled it up so it was relevant to the HR4.5km but a bit more of a challenge!

So what route did you take to make up the 45km?We cycled out to Willingham, going through the city centre and then out to Fen Ditton, Waterbeach and then on to Cottenham. This came to roughly 25km so then we turned around the same route back to college.

Who completed the cycle with you?David Collett, Matt Moore, James Deering, James Walker and Tom Cooke. There were a couple more of us but due to punctures couldn’t join us.

How much did you raise, personally?I raised around £120 from my sponsorship.

How long did it take you?About half an hour I think.

Are you glad you did it?I am; I did it because it was a challenge but it was defi nitely fun as well, especially the start. We all got a rush but towards the end when we were all quite tired it wasn’t as great.

Anything to add?We want to do something diff erent for the next year’s HR4.5, if anyone has any ideas it would be awesome to let us know. If not we will just cycle again. More people are welcome to join us too!

Runners gather in the quad before the race (photo by Alice Kelley)

Interview with George White: HR4.5 Cyclist

Tom ClarkeSports Reporter