GM FORECASTS RADICAL CHANGE - The Founder

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MILLER & BENSON © BOB GROVES EDITORIAL & OPINION Monday 29 January 2007 thefounder & Opinion thefounder john@thefounder.co.uk Editorial POLITICS AMANDA FARRY Does the ‘Green Bush’ blossom? In the ‘State of the Union’ speech given by George Bush last week, some environmental issues were addressed... Does this constitute a change in American environment policy or were the statements made purely for the benefit of the popularity polls? The announcement last week from George Bush of a number of ‘environmentally friendly’ initiatives has caused quite a stir in the media. But what are the motives behind Bush’s announcements? Political popularity boost or can we really believe it’s for the greener good? In last week’s speech, Bush mentioned plans to reduce the US’s petrol consumption by 20% in the next 10 years, perhaps quite an ambitious target for the US, but nevertheless a step in the right direction. Bush’s other plans included more money, £808 million to be exact, to be spent over the next 10 years on research and development of renewable energy sources. These figures did indeed provide a certain amount of hope for the optimists among us, but on closer inspection there are some cracks in Bush’s ideas. For instance Bush at one point says that ‘we must also step up domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways; perhaps a slightly contradictory statement? In order to rapidly increase any oil production without causing some harm to the environment is currently an unrealistic prospect. But this statement may have an underlying meaning; is it hinting that oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), currently fiercely debated among American conservationists, will go ahead in an ‘environmentally sensitive’ way? Or was this statement intended to reiterate Bush’s later comment; that the country is too dependent on the turbulent Middle East for their oil? After reading the entire ‘environmental’ sections of Bush’s speech, there appears to be an absence of hard policies and commitment to these issues. The biggest issue, carbon emissions, is not mentioned and even those that have are somewhat ‘glazed’. However, there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for American green policy: the technology route. Who said the Americans have to follow the direction preferred by many other nations of the world? George Bush’s ‘Technology not treaties’ approach to climate change may be the way forward. After all, technology got us into this mess, so why can’t it get us out? So perhaps the money spent on research and development may reap some benefits after all; only time will tell. The bottom line is that after taking an overview of Mr Bush’s speech, the conclusion we all expected still prevailed: the environment has not moved up the agenda, but has merely been used to create political hype, possibly as an attempt to boost Bush’s diminishing popularity with the American people. There is however one positive outcome, albeit a selfish or unselfish motive, Bush has finally brought the environment some form of hope. For the full State of the Union address go to the BBC website: http:// news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3415361.stm Recycle! Recycle! Recycle! Bins located just outside The Hub (next to ‘Lake Medicine’)
thefounder Monday 29 January 2007 Myalgic Encephalomyelitis does not kill: its effects are much worse. It robs sufferers of their energy, their independence. You lose your ability to perform day-to-day tasks. Things that we would think commonplace, like reading a book, even having a conversation on the phone, can be distressing and tiring. ME: what is it? Until fairly recently, such a debilitating condition was thought by some members of the medical profession to be a figment of the patient’s imagination; some doctors even suggested that ME sufferers were just malingering. ME used to be known as CFS - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - because tiredness was thought to be the primary symptom. The fatigue an ME patient suffers, though, is not the fatigue we have with lack of sleep. Their fatigue is a physical exhaustion. In fact, some ME patients have been known to pass out after low-level exertion, such as taking a brisk walk. Being wheelchair bound is an everyday reality a sufferer will have to face. According to the latest report form a Canadian research panel, more people suffer with ME than AIDS or even lung cancer. A recent Department of Health report estimates anything between 100,000 and 250,000 sufferers in the UK alone. Yet what do we actually know about it? The answer is saddening: very little. New findings The latest, cutting-edge research published in the Canadian Consensus Report points to common physical symptoms that might help to further understand the condition. Many of the patients examined by the researchers showed markedly decreased respiration levels across the body. In other words, their body is unable to process nutrients into energy as effectively as a normal, healthy person, leading to sluggish organ and brain activity and fatigue. MRI scans of the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for conscious thought and learning, correlate this theory. The risk is that organs will fail and patients could die of they over-exert themselves. New research is slowly starting to uncover more about the symptoms, but there is still no known cause. Diagnosis, however, is still by means of a checklist; there are no definitive tests or imaging technologies which enable a doctor to accurately say yes or no. A viral link is a possibility - many people seem to develop ME after a viral infection, but the virus itself cannot be responsible, since patients have reported many different illnesses prior to ME. What is more likely is that the patient had increased susceptibility and ME is EDITORIAL & OPINION The unknown disease silently crippling lives Investigating the latest research in ME y Adam D’Souza It is an utter disgrace that we students are being asked to pay for a TV Licence if we wish to keep a television in the kitchen, as this room is apparently under its own address and therefore is not covered by the six to eight others living in the flat. When I agreed to pay £100 a week for my accommodation in Runneymede, I assumed that meant I was paying for use of the kitchen as well. So not only are the BBC taking over £700 per flat from us poor students, they are now charging another £130 on top of it. This rule needs to be changed, if students want to move a TV set into the kitchen occasionally (in our flat we are partial to a mass karaoke session with the TV) then this should be allowed. The University needs to specify to the licensing board that nobody the body’s terrible ‘shock’ reaction. The Consensus Report hints that some patients might have a genetic predisposition to the illness, though this is not proven. Hurdles: ignorance and isolation You might think that with all of this research the outlook for an ME sufferer is positive. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. There is still an attitude among key members of the medical profession that ME is an ‘imaginary’ condition, despite the World Health Organisation categorising it as a neurological condition alongside Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, for example. The Medical Research Council has turned down many valuable projects, including one developing MRI technology to accurately image respiration levels in the cortex, on the grounds that thy ‘did not meet criteria’. According to charity Action for ME, the disease costs the UK £3.5 billion per year; surely investing just a fraction of this amount in research would help Britain as a whole? Many ME sufferers are young. In fact, the group most at risk from the condition are females aged 10-25. As a result, one of the biggest hurdles the ME community is having to overcome is the lack of access to education. Some ME sufferers are fortunate enough to ROBBERY BONITA NORRIS TV Licence? Stick it up your... lives in the kitchen, numerous people own the kitchen, and therefore no one is responsible for a TV Licence. “not only are the BBC taking £700 per flat from us poor students, they are now charging another £130 on top of it” I say ignore this bizarre and downright rude attempt to squeeze our flaccid student wallets dry and use your TV as you like. After all, there is the age old ‘it’s not mine!’ retort to fall back on should you find yourself caught red-handed. Have any horror stories about TV Licences? What are your thoughts on the whole matter? What if you don’t watch the BBC, why should you pay? Email John at: john@thefounder.co.uk be able to continue their studies in mainstream education. However , these are in the minority. Many, many more have to pull outleaving them lonely, isolated and lacking the formal qualifications the modern world needs. This is a doubly crippling blow: my personal, anecdotal experience of ME sufferers (I have known several people with the condition) is that ME usually hits people with above-average intelligence. Wild speculation, perhaps, but maybe there is a physical link between the brain’s makeup and the risk of developing ME? There’s excellent potential for a PhD thesis there, methinks. Consider the case of my friend, B. She is my age and would love to attend university - she is a passionate scientist, easily devouring anything from Gray’s Anatomy to Hawking. Her school was ignorant about ME and many of the staff believed she was lazy. Somerset County Council kept shifting the goalposts regarding her care provision, leaving her and her family depressed and isolated. Virtually no funding exists for ME provision; the small amount allocated for special needs education is quickly snapped up by local authority special schools, which focus more on teaching individuals with severe learning difficulties basic skills. But this is of little use to the young ME sufferer who requires a personal, tailored education to fast track them towards higher education. In fact, until recently, there was no support organisation focused 7 on providing education for the considerable number of young ME sufferers up and down the country. Falcon Academy was set up by B’s mother, a former special needs teacher and education consultant, to provide tailored courses via the internet and video conferencing direct to the home. Harnessing Academy hopes to link ME patients up, empowering them with the knowledge that they are not alone, that there are others like them. However, there are still challenges for the Academy to face, such as has ringfenced £8.5 million to establish 21 new treatment centres chair by MP, Dr Ian Gibson. This is not enough, though. The report recommends a further £11 million should be spent on investigating the root of the disease. The report is good news for patients: it provides official acknowledgment from the government that that their condition is taken seriously. Gibson writes, ‘It is an illness whose time has come’. For now, though, B and the rest of the ME community must sit quietly, alone at home, and wonder what the this new technology, Falcon securing public-sector funding. Moving forward? The Department of Health nationwide, following a report future holds. B remains anonymous for privacy reasons. If you have been affected by the issues in this article, contact Adam (a.dsouza@rhul.ac.uk) or The Founder (john@thefounder. co.uk) with your responses. Content with RCS? How happy are you with the food at Founders Dining Hall? What do you think of the prices in the Hub and the College Shop? Are you impressed with the service you receive in Café Jules? And how far have College gone to earn your Halls rent? Following a number of requests from students all over campus, The Students’ Union is focusing its campaigning resources on RCS for the remainder of the year, and we need your help. To make sure we are targeting areas of College Services that you are not happy with, we would like you to tell us about your experiences. We want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly- all your best experiences and all your worst. It’s important that when we talk to college we are talking specifics, or we will get nowhere. So do your part and contact the Campaigns Officer, Joff Manning, and make your voice heard. Joff can be contacted by email: campaigns@su.rhul.ac.uk Or you can join the inevitable Facebook group (RCS campaign) and take part in active discussion about the pros and cons of RCS. SURHUL Campaigns Committee
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GM FORECASTS RADICAL CHANGE - The Founder

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