The Founder Volume 5 Issue 4

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26 The Founder | Thursday 4 November 2010 Features Carbon Emissions at RHUL Ashley Coates examines the inconvenient truth of just how much our energy demands costs Royal Holloway Following the publication of a plan for higher education spending created by the retired executive of an oil and gas firm it seems appropriate to highlight the issues facing universities with regards to their carbon emissions. If you thought the Browne Report made for a scary read – and obviously any student making a fuss about it would have read the actual report and not just the ‘At a Glance’ section of the BBC News website – then you should take a look at some of the documents coming out of the Environment Agency and the Carbon Trust – they are not a pretty sight. Having said that, in an aesthetic sense they are, like the Browne Report, actually very pretty to look at. Most of them are plush pdf files filled with expensive graphics that tell us unwelcome news in fancy, colourful bubbles. Even the Carbon Reduction Commitment guides outlining fines for universities potentially in excess of £100,000, look like friendly nursery school prospectuses. Appropriately enough the Browne Report is misery set to a brown background, perhaps in deference to its mighty creator or in an attempt to discourage you from printing the document and giving it a good read for fear that your magenta cartridge wouldn’t handle it. Anyway, I digress. in 2006 Royal Holloway released carbon emissions equivalent to 7,000 return flights to New York. One of the more disturbing of these beautiful documents is the lengthily named “Higher Education Carbon Management Programme: Strategy and Implementation Plan”. Unlike the Browne Report, the Carbon Trust tends to make the terror facing universities as clear as possible and it hits you straight away: in 2006 Royal Holloway released carbon emissions equivalent The Energy Efficeny Table in the Moore Building. Photo Courtesy of Amy Taheri to 7,000 return flights to New York. The document and the subsequent revised report of 20th January 2010 based its considerations on energy consumption for the academic year 2005-6. It estimated that in that year the university emitted 14,131 tonnes of CO2. This is roughly the same as the average yearly emissions of 4,500 motorists. As well as the effect on the environment, this level of consumption will come to account for an increasingly significant proportion of Royal Holloway’s annual expenditure as energy bills get more and more expensive. The Department of Trade and Industry estimates that gas and electricity bills will increase at an average of 3.5% over the next 10 years. Royal Holloway spent £1.8 million on energy in the year 2005-6, so assuming consumption continues increasing at the same rate, the year 2013-14 will cost the university £3.6 million. Given that in the financial year 2008 Royal Holloway was left with only £4.3 million of the £125,949,000 that came into the university coffers, this is not a cost that can be ignored. Our university is committed (as are all higher education institutions in England) to reducing its carbon footprint by 34% come 2020 and 80% by 2050, based on 1990 levels. The recommendations of the Carbon Trust report were to tackle buildings emissions first, as they accounted for 94% of the total emissions produced. The Trust suggested inter-hall energy efficiency contests and a ‘switch-off campaign’. They also recommended that each department have an ‘environment champion’ that looks after green issues at the departmental level. Less innovative were such recommendations as ‘adopt an energy policy’ and ‘adopt a heating policy’ but there is still a fair amount of work to be done here. Adding further pressure is the introduction of the UK’s first mandatory carbon trading scheme. In the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, the government is to start charging non-energy-intensive institutions that consume more than 6,000 MWh of energy a year on a per-tonne of carbon basis and universities will be included in this. Institutions that exceed 6,000 MWh/year will have to purchase allowances from the government, starting at £12 per tonne. The payment of these allowances was to begin next year but following the Spending Review released last week it will now begin in 2012. Should university emissions remain around 14,000 tonnes of carbon per year the Carbon Trust estimates that Royal Holloway could end up paying between £112,000 and £210,000 a year in carbon allowances. Royal Holloway spent £1.8 million on energy in the year 2005-6 What all this could mean for Royal Holloway is increased costs at a time of restricted spending as the government cuts funding for higher education. The college has already responded by carefully considering the efficiency of their new buildings and has plans to start smart-metering in order to analyse when and where the greatest consumption of energy takes place on campus. But effective energy saving will require a change in attitude and a greater awareness of the problems that face both the environment and the college. Royal Holloway is going to be squeezed into reducing its carbon footprint over the next few decades and everyone is going to have to help reach the emissions targets. Please recycle this newspaper when you are finished Recycling bins are located at: Arts Building, The Hub, Gowar and Wedderburn Halls, T-Dubbs
The Founder | Thursday 4 November 2010 27 Features Is the Hype About Fashion Over Before it has Even Begun? Josh Minopoli In the world of fashion, it could be said that things are done differently. If we were to consider the account of one Vogue intern who recalled having to send a plate of turkey sausages to Hermès via blacked-out limo, all in the name of fashion, then we could say things are definitely done differently. These particular ‘things’ could include matters that concern being practical and conventional. It simply would not be fashion otherwise. For example; is it at all practical to import a 265 ton iceberg as a feature for a fashion show? It absolutely is if you’re Karl Lagerfeld, as he proved when he did exactly that for one of his Chanel runways in Paris. Furthermore, is fashion in itself conventional? Fashion certainly has a tendency towards artistic eccentricity and even pretentiousness, which may cause some to view the industry as inaccessible and make it impossible to describe it with a word like ‘conventional’. However, among the almost frivolous endeavours and the glamorous aura of fashion (not forgetting the sausages and icebergs, of course) there is one so-called unconventionality that requires more thought: the previewing of collections six months before they are actually released for sale. After reading an article by Belinda White in The Daily Telegraph, I was prompted to ask: “is fashion too ahead of itself for its own good, so much so that today’s fashion becomes yesterday’s news in the blink of an eye?” The article discussed the illustrious designer, Tom Ford, and his attempt to keep his collection current and out of the grasp of the internet. Ford has taken steps to ensure that his new Spring/Summer womenswear collection is not exploited in any way by the press, barring celebrities and photographers alike from his private launch at New York Fashion Week last September. This meant that only a lucky few could cast their eyes on what is likely to be a masterpiece. Part of his reasoning for taking such drastic measures and rejecting the vast majority of the fashion pack did seem to make sense. “You see the clothes – within an hour or so they’re online, the world sees them,” went his argument. “It’s everywhere – all over the streets in three months and by the time you get it to the store, what’s the point?” And the painful truth is that Mr Ford does have a point, and a rather sharp one at that. Is it wise to parade a cherished collection six months before it is even due to enter the boutiques? Its eventual release for sale risks being labelled an anti-climax if everyone has already seen the clothes. In Ford’s case, however, his collection will only be published online in December, before appearing in fashion magazines in January – perhaps a clever way of keeping his brand fresh. By not permitting any sort of visual publicity until he dictates otherwise, Ford is stating his desire for fashion collections to remain under wraps until later in the season. Why even bother going to the runway shows, people might end up asking, when you can view collections online within hours? Of course, the highly publicised and photographed runway show is a system which has worked for years and continues to generate Louis Vuitton trunks-full of interest, and is one which, atmospherically, cannot be contended with. I simply cannot remain so cynical about something I love so much. A more positive way of looking at the situation is to compare the long wait for collections to enter shops to the build-up to Christmas: you know it’s coming; you know what you want months in advance, and when it finally arrives it is all the more special having waited. If we start attributing staleness to something that is so unique and brilliant then everything becomes so boring and ‘has been’. Culling visual publicity and refraining from using the internet might well be a way of keeping a collection unspoiled and preserving consumers’ eagerness at the same time. But when everyone else is happily inviting the press in, Ford’s attitude seems to border on being snobbish in an industry that cannot cater for any more snobbishness. When everyone else starts following Ford’s idea, however, it will be another story. Pay attention – your results don’t lie! Ailson De Moraes Have you ever asked yourself why you decided to do a degree? I bet you have! If you haven’t, I am sure you parents have done it for you! Anyway, if you are reading this article it means that you are now here, at Royal Holloway, and therefore that you have decided to get a degree (or maybe you are still thinking!) “Man is a goal-seeking animal,” wrote Aristotle. “His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” The fact that you are studying for a degree means that you, like Aristotle, are striving to achieve the goals in your life. Life is much more interesting when those goals have been reached. It has to be said that finishing a degree feels great (and I have finished a few), but I can assure you that the very best thing is the journey to achieve it; or at least, that piece of paper called a degree diploma (which, by the way, it is a very plain A4 piece of paper). When I completed my first degree and was awarded the diploma, I thought to myself: I have worked so hard to get this piece of paper – but now what? Well, that piece of paper opened the doors to my professional career and to a better salary, among other things. But it takes courage to continue this journey and, at times, many of us stop and think seriously about dropping out and starting another journey elsewhere. However, whether you do drop out or continue your degree, you will have to decide for yourself, and I am not here to decide for you, simply because it is your responsibility to face the challenges in front of you. Some time ago, I heard an interesting story about a man who, after many years of poverty and hardship, decided to walk into a church. The man fell to his knees, looked at the altar and said, ‘God, I’ve done my best to be a good man, I’ve worked hard, but I have nothing to show for my life. If only I could win the lottery! Please help me.’ A few weeks later, having had no luck, the man went back to the church and went down on his knees once again. ‘Please God,’ he implored, ‘I’m begging you. Help me win the lottery, just once – lift me from this wretched life of poverty so that I can experience what wealth can give a man.’ Nothing happened. But he was a stubborn man, and a determined one. Finally, he went back to the church, dropped to his knees, looked upwards, and with tears in his eyes, he said: ‘Please God, I’m begging you! Just once. Reward this humble, holy man who has done his best to serve you well! All I ask of you is that you please, please, please let me win the lottery.’ Finishing his prayer, the man sat and looked at the altar, when suddenly, there was a rumbling in the sky. A beam of light shone down into the church and a deep, Godlike voice said: ‘Okay, I will, but do me a favour – go and buy a lottery ticket first!’ If you fail to set yourself a well-defined goal, you will more than likely end up wandering around with no luck at all. If you fail to read and prepare for your assignments, essays, presentations, reports and exams, you are failing to take real responsibility for your life as a student. Your results will reflect this! It is easier to wander around and get lost if your goals lack clarity, and it is definitely very easy to get lost here at university, and later to cry about not having taken things more seriously. I am not telling to you to stop enjoying your life as a student – on the contrary, I am inviting you to enjoy your student life fully while you are here. But by organising yourself, you will be able to take full responsibility for your life. As Goethe said, “what you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” Remember you can only achieve good results if you ‘buy the ticket’. Define your goals and fight for them!
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The Founder Volume 5 Issue 4

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