SUMMER BALL 2007 - Seren - Bangor University

2 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007CONTRIBUTORSEditor: Emma DoddLexi HindleyClaire StapletonRebecca E HusseyJames KerrChris ThomsonSiobhan HoltJennifer StanleyJess HughesSpencer GeorgeKerrie GardnerSophie de l’OrmeDr Rashesh MehtaLucy DigneyAmy GarrettLoran PerkinsJohn JacksonJack PeatCarolan GogginSam BurnettRoss ButlerIan DaviesThomas HechtGemma PlowmanNoellin ImohMark HawkinsBecky FountainPaul SeymourDave MoretonFelicity SnowValentina D’EriccoLuke WilsherClaire MannAlex FarleyJon AndersonJoe ChapmanGary BrownShiran DevakumarPete BanksAlex TrebulMark VarleyRobert MannEdward RogersMike E ShepperdEmma DixonAdam PearceWill VarleyAndrew RedfearnRob SamuelDear Reader,Welcome to the End of Year edition of SEREN – our last issue for theyear and my last issue in charge. I would like to thank everybody whohas contributed to and read SEREN this year – it’s Bangor’s studentpopulation who make SEREN what it is. I have loved my year as editor– I have laughed and I have cried over this paper and I wouldn’t changemy experience for the world. Special thanks go out to Dan ‘the technicalman’; John and Chris for being there when it’s been hard and Lexi forpreparing me for what was to come. Also a big thank you to Carolan forher support.SEREN has come a long way this year and I hope that it continues togrow into the future. Next year’s editor will be Jack Peat, our currentSports Editor and I hope that you will all be as good to him as you havebeen to me. Please continue to send your contributions to editor@seren.bangor.ac.uk. I look forward to reading your articles next year and lookforward to seeing in what direction Jack decides to take the paper.I hope you enjoy this issue, with articles ranging from the Summer Ball,to how to cope with your exam stress. All that remains for me to say, isgood luck with your exams and have a great summer.Emma.PS. Well done to those of you who worked out that the article about the president and I being engaged was in fact theApril Fools’ joke and thanks to those of you who sent their congratualtions! I’m still living that one down.Printed through www.quotemeprint.com 0845 1300 667HAVE YOU GOT A HEALTH PROBLEM?NO TIME TO GO TO THE DOCTOR?LET THE GP COME TO YOU!THE BBC ARE FILMING A NEW SERIES OF BBCONE’S HEALTH SERIES,STREET DOCTOR IN BANGOR AND NORTH WALESON THE FOLLOWING DATESTUESDAY 15TH MAY - SUNDAY 20TH MAYINTERESTED? CALL US 07802 470 442 OR EMAIL kylie.raynor2@bbc.co.uk

4 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007THE BLUDGEONERThe Bludgeoner is feeling green atthe moment – and that’s not simplybecause of the pleasant day he spentin a small yacht off Llandudno fishing forcompliments the other week. It has becomemost fashionable to be a greeny these days,sticking bottles in your blue box and usingboth sides of the loo roll. The Bludge isreminded of that classic story from WorldWar 2 (although it doesn’t quite rank on apar with the Battle of El-Alamein, it is wortha titter) where housewives were encouragedto spend a second away from blubbing overtheir probably dead husbands to rip upthe railings and ship their pots off to thegovernment for smelting down and usingfor tanks.What happened in reality is that thereare now a load of rusty old fences hangingaround the bottom of the North Sea andno-one in the country had anything to cookwith. In a perverse way many historiansprobably credit this with winning the warfor the plucky Brits, ever-strong in adversity.Mainly because it’s sixty years on and they’restruggling for things to talk about.The relevance of this is such; theBludgeoner wonders whether bundling upthe Sunday Telegraph for the local Councilevery two weeks is really going to save thepolar bear from terrible sunburn and mostof East Anglia from becoming a divingresort.Every little helps, though, one supposes– although there is a certain note of irony inusing that particular slogan from a companywith the ethics of a minor royal at a fancydress party. It’s heartening, for instance,to hear from UCAS that the brighteststudents choose the greenest and mostenvironmentally friendly companies whenthey graduate. The Bludgeoner has severalproblems with this – how do they know? Dothey ring them up?“Hello, are you smart? Now tell me, doyou have plastic cups by the water machineat your place? No? Thank goodness! Thatwould’ve buggered up our contrived pressrelease designed to get us into the papersaround application time!”The statement in itself implies that there’ssome discernment in choosing where youend up after graduation. The Bludgeonerwas always under the impression thatfinding a graduate job was always somethingakin to playing 23 bingo slips at once andhoping one of the little buggers will comegood.It’s all very well being all environmental,but where does it get us? It’s no goodrecycling carrier bags because you’re stillusing them, perhaps it would be betternot to buy a newspaper at all rather than abig belching lorry sweeping the streets fordiscarded rags.Still, readers – all the best for theholidays, enjoy your trips abroad, the longjourney home, etc, etc. Don’t forget torecycle Seren once you’re finished with it– or you can keep it on hand as emergencytoilet paper…The Bludgeoner lives in a nuclear powerstation with three cows in Norfolk.GOLA NOT GUCCIPLANS FOR A SUSTAINABLE STUDENTS’ UNIONSustainability is something of a ‘buzzword’at the moment, with everyonefrom politicians to farmers using theterm. There’s a reason for this: it’s importantand indeed necessary to be sustainable andour Students’ Union is no exception to this.There has been a stirring of excitementin the SU recently (more so than usual) withthe forming of a new group – The Students’Union Environment and SustainabilitySteering Group. The group is made up ofSU Executive Officers (the President, CSO,AU President and Education and WelfareOfficer), members of the society ‘Subject toChange’ and other interested parties. Nonstudentinvolvement comes in the form ofoutside ‘experts’ from Gwynedd Counciland other organisations.The first task for the group was to lookat the broad spectrum of sustainabilityissues that our Students’ Union faces.Waste, transport, utility consumption,This will be my last Summer Ball, asit will be for a lot of other final-yearstudents. Well, my last one at Bangor:maybe I’ll go to another ball, summer orotherwise at another point in my cocktailparty-congested,jamboree-jam-packed,shindig-stuffed life. Therefore, footwear isan important consideration. The premiseis simple: don’t wear small, stupid, pointy,high shoes. Why? Because they hurt. Reasonenough. OK, so they look nice…but youwon’t be the one still on your feet at 5am.Taking them off is cheating (your shoes, notyour feet, as that would be just weird…cool,but weird).Anyway, to cut a long rant short, Ipropose wearing trainers (or maybe, if it’stoo horrifying a prospect for you, I can justabout advocate those sparkly little pumptype things) Why? Because they don’t hurt(unless you choose them really badly). Looking cool is all well and good, but where’s the style in being a bleeding (literally,obviously), crying, whinging mess at the end (or maybe closer to the beginning if you pick some truly killer heels) ofBangor’s biggest bash? And, unless you have an occasional smug side which barely gets to see the light of day, no one hasto know about your furtive footwear. My smug side is sure to want an airing on June 2 nd – I’ll be the one in the blue dress,purple trainers, with no blisters. Cue smug smile from me, and look of intense pity from the fashion columnist.Plimsoll Princess, Lexi Hindleyand sustainability awareness are all areasin which our SU can excel at and lead byexample.An Environmental Policy is currentlybeing drafted and a final version detailingthe SU’s aims and targets will be presentedto SU Council for its approval in October.This will be reviewed bi-annually to keeptargets relevant and to embrace new andrelevant research and technologies.So what will you notice about aSustainable Students’ Union? Well, the firstidea, and the easiest to implement in ourcurrent building are recycling bins. Actually,more than that – we want you to be able torecycle as much as you can, so we’re goingmake the SU a ‘drop-off-point’ for all ofyour recyclables. We also hope that smallchanges like setting printer defaults todouble-sided and draft printing will helpcut down of the use of paper and ink. Whilethese are little steps (that you can also do athome), creating a completely sustainableenvironment is not an overnight fix.So what else is happening? We’reinvestigating car-sharing schemes, as well asusing bio-fuel for the SU’s fleet of vehicles.But the biggest idea of all is to integratesustainable thinking into every action thathappens within the SU and hopefully withyou, the users of the building. There willbe a website with useful advice on how tocalculate and reduce your carbon footprint,which should be up and running in the newacademic year.Want to be involved? Get in touch withSam Burnett, the Students’ Union Presidentat sam.burnett@undeb.bangor.ac.uk formore information.James KerrRHYS FOR THE STARSThis July, the University will notonly be awarding students withtheir hard-earned degrees, butalso famous men and women who havecontributed to raising the profile of Wales.One such person is Hollywood superstarand BAFTA award winner Rhys Ifans. Theactor, who has made such films as NottingHill, Not Only but Always and Vanity Fairand who was also the original lead singerof the Super Furry Animals, will be awardedwith an Honorary Fellowship. This is thehighest honour the University can bestow.This award honours his contribution toWelsh film and television.Also Iolo Williams, the BBC presenterand Nature expert is receiving an HonoraryFellowship for his services to the study ofwildlife. Owain Arwel Hughes OBE willalso be receiving a Fellowship. He is thePrinciple Associate Conductor of the RoyalPhilharmonic Orchestra, and the founder ofthe Welsh Proms. He is being honoured forhis services to music.All that remains to be asked is, will Rhysbe wearing grey to the ceremony, becausewomen just love grey!Siobhan Holt andChris ThomsonWe all know the classic game of Monopoly, but there are actually hundreds of editions of the board game outthere. Everything from Star Wars to the Simpsons is represented, but Parker games are about to create a newedition, which they are calling ‘Here and Now’ Monopoly.The difference is that this time they are asking for our input. You can go online and vote for which places in the UKshould be represented and the top twenty-two cities will feature on the new Monopoly board. Bangor is currently atposition forty-three with 3244 votes. So if you fancy Bangor as the next Old Kent Road or even Mayfair, make sure you geton and vote. You can vote once a day at www.monopoly.co.uk/vote until 25 th May 2007 when voting closes. The game willthen go into production and onto the market in October.Caroline Alvarez

TALESFROM THEQUEERSIDEOn the day I was leaving to comeback to Bangor after Easter mygrandparents passed me anarticle they’d read and picked out of theGuardian. It described the differences inlaw and society’s tolerance towards LGBTrelationships and so-called lifestyle acrossthe entire globe. Although it’s somethingI had already researched and thought Iknew quite a lot about, to see it presentedin such a no frills way and for it to grab theattention of two people of a completelydifferent generation was something thatmade me realise just how much more needsto be done outside of the UK for liberationand protection of LGBT people all over theworld.Some countries are literally living in thepast, with Russia’s Nikolay Koryanovichproposing to recriminalise homosexuality,imposing punishment of at least five yearsimprisonment, which is almost exactlythe same as Stalin’s criminal code writtenin 1933. Russia only decriminalisedhomosexuality four years previous to theseproposals, with Putin blaming decreasingbirth rates on the law change.Nigerian authorities made similarproposals to those made in Russia. Clubs,societies and organisations offering similarservices to that of UWB Pride and otherexternal groups are severely punished andindividuals can face the death penalty incertain states that are run underneath Sharialaw. One family, so scared of being punishedfor their son’s sexuality, reported theirchild to the authorities and requested themaximum penalty of death by stoning. Hesought asylum in the UK and was deportedback less than a month after. On the otherside of Africa in Uganda a local tabloidreleased the names of forty-five gay andbisexual men outlining that homosexualitywas “an abominable sin…that goes againstthe nature of humanity”. NeighbouringZanzibar’s government out-right bannedgay sex less than three years ago, giving gaymen a twenty five years prison sentence forengaging in any sexual act with another man,but lesbians are given an incomparable sevenyears. They face a constant threat of gangrapes, beatings and murders in South Africa,whose constitution is surprisingly seen asone of the most inclusive and progressive ofall less economically developed countries.In Iran more than 4,000 men, women andchildren as young as nine have been killedunder draconian laws since 1979 with thearticles 108 right through to 140 in the penalcode referring in detail to the punishmentsacceptable for homosexual acts. Iraq prefersto call these murders “honour killings”.Although sometimes it most definitelydoes not feel like it, here in the UK we havean amazing number of support networks,protective laws and specialist amenities,which should be used more often andwhose combined voice speak for a nationalcommunity against global homophobia.Has this shocked you as much as it has me?Get involved in campaigning and contactUWB Pride and/or Amnesty Internationalwho are continually campaigning againstbreaches of human rights.As I sit watching the television,waiting for the inevitable middleorder collapse of England’s batsmenagainst Bangladesh, I wonder why it isthat Britain is so abysmally bad at sportscompared to the rest of the world.Our national football teams are so fullof promise, yet deliver nothing. Our rugbyteams offer fleeting moments of brilliance,only to undo all their good work by losingto a country with part-time players. Ourcricket teams only win when the oppositionhave a bad day and as for tennis, the poorsaps sat on Henman Hill are foolingthemselves if they think Tim will ever win amajor tournament again before he retires.So where did it all go wrong? Whycan’t the four nations of Britain produceteams that can go out, compete with whatthe world has to offer and, on occasions,I wonder why it is thatBritain is so abysmally bad atsports compared to the rest ofthe world.actually win something?There is of course the argument thatthe influx of foreign players into Britain’sdomestic leagues has hindered thedevelopment of young British players. Forexample, over 60% of the players in thePremiership are foreign. Compare this toSeren - End of Year Issue 2007The RantItaly whose top league is made up of lessthan 20% foreign players and this mayexplain why Italy won the 2006 WorldCup, whilst England bowed out with awhimper. Personally I don’t agree with thisargument. I believe we can only learn fromthe talent that foreign players have to offerand we should develop our own playersaccordingly.Then there is the argument that wethe public and the media put too muchpressure on our sporting idols to go outand win a trophy or two. Yes, the media arequick to pick up on the smallest mistake ateam makes and yes, the public does heappressure onto its superstars, but with theludicrous amounts of money they earnthrough salaries, bonuses and productendorsements, the least we can expect fromthem is to win once in a while. However,with the celebrity status that many sportsstars live with, pressure from the media andthe public is commonplace so should notaffect them. So in my opinion, it’s certainlynot the media and British public’s fault thatwe can’t win anything.So if the influx of foreign players, themedia and the British public aren’t toblame, who must take responsibility for oursporting failures? The answer, my friends,is the British Government. It started offunder the Conservative government ofthe 1990s who started selling off playingfields for housing developments. This trendcontinued under the Labour governmentwho in the last five years have given thego-ahead to build on over a thousandsmall playing fields. How can children beexpected to take part in sports if they havenowhere to play them?On top of this, the Labour governmenthas severely undermined grass-roots sportsby failing to deliver on its 1997 promise of...but with the ludicrousamounts of money they earnthrough salaries, bonuses andproduct endorsements, the leastwe can expect from them is towin once in a while.investing £750 million into projects aroundthe country. To date, only £8.1 million havebeen invested, a far cry from the originalfigure pledged. As if this wasn’t enough,the government also promised to promotesport in impoverished areas by introducing‘Action Zones’. The government gave anassurance that it would set up thirty ActionZones across the UK The current numberset up stands at twelve. And that numberlooks set to remain the same as any availablefinance that could have gone into promotinggrass roots sport, has been raided to helpfund the 2012 British Olympic Games.The future success of Britain’s sports5They think it’s all over...men and women rests on the shoulders oftoday’s young people. If they aren’t given theopportunity to learn and enjoy what sporthas to offer, then we can go on expectingto celebrate nothing but mediocrity andunfulfilled potential for decades to come.In 1997 Tony Blair said “We have underinvestedin sport for far too long.” If thatwas his assessment then, I’d love to hear hisassessment of the current situation. Previousgovernments may have under-investedin sport, but this Labour government hasripped out its heart and soul and it’s hightime they recognise this fact and start fixingthe damage they have caused.Spencer GeorgeP.S. I hear that an environmentallyfriendly concert has been organised to helppromote the dangers of climate change. Theevent is going to be called ‘Live Earth’ andacts such as Madonna, The Red Hot ChilliPeppers and Genesis are set to perform. Theconcert is going to be as carbon neutral aspossible with electricity being provided bysolar panels and transportation providedin the form of hybrid cars. Now it’s allvery well and good using solar panels,and hybrid cars, but what are the eventsorganisers going to do to combat the hot airescaping from Al Gore’s mouth?!Jess Hughes

6 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007COSMIC KERRIEGemini (May 22nd – June21st)The past is on your eager mind morethan usual. It seems you can’t moveforward until you’ve solved an issuefrom a time gone by. You’d be best to moveon, but if that doesn’t feel right then stickwith what you sense and not with whatothers tell you. Be your own person, go yourown way.Taurus (April 21st – May21st)Your family are very importantto you Taurus, but that doesn’tmean they should dictate yourlife. They’ve done that before, and lookwhat you lost, so stand your ground.Take a chance on Friday the 11th Mayand you’ll be celebrating. Travel couldalso be important to you this May.Aries (March 21st – April22nd)Cancer (June 22nd – July 23rd)Work and social links come togetherat the beginning of May, and thechance to move up in status andmeet faces that previously you’ve only dreamtof will arise. An ex may start causing problemsfor you, but if you bite you’ll only encouragethem further. Tell them straight, and stick towhat you’ve got.People you thought you could trustare likely to let you down thisweek. So, if you want a job done,you best do it yourself. As you enter May,you start to get a clearer picture of whois a help and who is a hindrance. Keep aneye out for the number five, and lose theimpediment that holds you down.Virgo (August 24th– September 23rd)Sagittarius (November 23rd– December 21st)Aclose one needs more emotional support,but you’re growing tired of giving it.Come on Sagittarius, just a few days moreand they’ll be standing on their own two feet,and the two of you can frolic once more. Newopportunities for the both of you will come if youcan just give that final push!You seem short of energy earlyin the month. You’ve had a loton your mind though, and untilyou take time out to think about whatall your recent dramas have meant toyou, you won’t be able to proceed withconfidence. In truth, you’ve alreadymade your mind up; you just have totell those concerned.Pisces (February 20th– March 20th)Friends are using you and you’re allowingthem to do so. But the good news is thatnow you have all the know-how aboutwho is at the root of all your troubles. A politeword never went amiss. A change in directionmay come towards the end of the month.Make sure you’ve thought it through, don’t goleaping before you look, research and study!Libra (September 24th – October23rd)You’ve upset a close one, but seem unsure as to howto make it up with them. Time is the answer. Itwould seem that this time you went a bit too farwith your words and both of you need some time to heal.The first Thursday of the month is ripe for reconciliations.And remember, actions speak louder than words.Capricorn (December 22nd– January 20th)Love and romance get much moreinteresting..! And it’s not justthe face you’ll be showing to theoutside world, but the things that’ll begoing on behind closed doors. You’vechanged, and a new you has emergedwhich is sure to make for a happier future.Just what you deserve after being a rockfor so many souls.Aquarius (January 21st– February 19th)Resist the urge to work on your own andgain speed and control by working aspart of a team. You’ll soon realise thebenefits when you see how far in the lead thiscan put you, especially mid-May. Remember tobalance your work with play. In love, Scorpiosmay seem like they’re playing games, but theironly looking after your best interests.Scorpio (October 24th– November 22nd)Feeling lazy recently Scorpio?It’s OK to rest a bit, but notif your reputation is on theline. There are things to be done,and your friends can’t work outwhy you’re not behaving how youusually do. A Gemini can help yougain back control, if you’re willingto open up.Leo (July 24th – August23rd)Scorpios prove lucky and makethe first week of May moreinteresting. Travel problemsturn out to be a blessing in disguise asthey offer a chance to try somethingnew. Apologies you owe from aweekend night out must be madesooner rather than later. Swallowyour pride Leo.STUDENT VOLUNTEERING ENDS THE YEAR WITH A BANGWell the year is nearly over, andwhat a long year it has been!Although some of us may beleaving and venturing out into the world toget a ‘real’ job (or at least trying to) othersmay be looking forward to the summerbreak and then back they come for more fullon fun and excitement in Bangor. But eitherway this academic year is coming to a close,which gives me an ideal opportunity toreview the success of the year behind us. Yetagain Student Volunteering Bangor (SVB)has gone from strength to strength this year,becoming bigger, better and all round morebrilliant than it was the year before. Theachievements of the volunteers and SVB as awhole are endless, and in true SVB style theydo not go unrecognised.On Thursday 3 rd May we held ourannual review to bask in the glory of ouraccomplishments, but this was a review witha twist. Not surprisingly, tickets were a selloutand off we all went in our glad rags outinto the country to the Seiont Manor Hotel,in Llanrug. It was a great evening packedfull of awards, amusing speeches, dancing,plenty of laughing and the occasional tearfrom those volunteers just too overwhelmedby the whole thing. I don’t think anyonereally knew what to expect from Andy’s(SVB Manager) presentation but what wegot was an enjoyable and at most timesslightly embarrassing review of the yeargone. All the volunteering projects that haverun this year, with no exceptions, have gonedown a storm not only within the University,but also throughout the local communitywith all projects helping to improve thequality of life for individuals from all agegroups and walks of life. Without thosededicated volunteers who offer their timefreely and unconditionally this wouldn’thave been possible. The annual reviewprovided a great opportunity to awardthose who have contributed so much to thiscommunity, and congratulations to all thosewho received an award.SVB is about more than the fantasticprojects we run, it’s also a chance to enjoygreat socials and raise money for charities atthe same time. Some of you may rememberour brilliant Moulin Rouge SIN night fromback in January (if not you really missedout), well yet again SVB has put on anothergreat spectacle on 8 th of May, simply entitled“Grease Night”. For one night only the 50swere alive and kicking again as a vast arrayof T-birds and pink ladies appeared at thedoors of Academi. The dance club openedthe event with their amazing, synchronizedchoreography to the hand jive whilst the(mostly) in-tune wailing from those brave(or drunk)enough to getup for karaokecould beheard duringthe night.N u m e r o u sDannies andSandies madefor quite aspectacle whilethe themedc o c k t a i l sgave a goodpunch. Withentertainmentthroughout, youcouldn’t help bein the mood fora jive!Overall theSIN night was another great success andraised over £300 for the local homelessshelter, so here’s looking forward to the nextone. A big thanks to those who organisedand contributed to the event and for allthose who attended we hope you had agreat time.On a separate note, I would also liketo thank on behalf of SVB all of thisyear’s volunteers for their hard work anddedication, and special thanks goes toAndrew Wilson, Jenna Hughes and XantheLarcombe: we couldn’t have done any of itwithout you.The last project held by SVB this year willbe the BIG GIVE in which we will be placingbig boxes in halls and asking you to donateany unwanted items of clothing, generalcool stuff from your rooms and unopenedfood still within its sell by date (these boxesare not just a good opportunity to dumpyour rubbish and dirty dishes). On 4 th Junewe will then take it all and donate it to thelocal homeless shelter and charity shops. Sowhilst you are packing up your belongingsready to go home and reflecting on the yeargone by, spare a moment to think aboutthose who have no home to go to, anddonate some of your stuff.So although the year is coming to anend it is not over for SVB, in fact it has justbegun. I leave Bangor with the belief thatfrom here we can only get better, onwardsand upwards so to speak and you, yes that’sYOU, can make the difference next year. Sodon’t put it off any longer, join SVB andnever look back.Becky Fountain

Seren - End of Year Issue 20077HealthTHE GREAT ORMESophie talks health, beauty andfashion tipsFashion may be the last thing on yourmind at the moment, what with workand exams, but with such wonderfulweather, summer clothes are in. The weatheris so gorgeous that it makes it even harder todo any work. Lying in the sun with a glass ofPimms would be ideal.Big this summer is the colour blue andit always sets off a tan nicely. You can weara bright t-shirt or accessorize it up. Thechoice is yours. The miniskirt is back, butstunning as they may be, they require a lotof maintenance. Take the easy option andshave your legs, or be brave and get themwaxed. The benefits last longer, but apartfrom that it’s pretty painful. If you dare, trya bit of fake tan, though an easier option arethe ranges of tanning moisturisers. Let’s seethose pins ladies, give the Bangor men aneyeful.Oversized bags are still in, which is myfavourite trend of the moment, but don’tload them up too much, or there is seriousdentege on your shoulder. Along with theold minis, team with some chunky shoes:platforms, wedges or stack heels. They willmake your legs look inches longer and canmake an outfit.Nu-Rave is in. This means neon, acidand bright colours - eighties smiley cultureis back, be it a t-shirt, bag or earrings. Atthe moment Topshop have a great jewellerysection, go for a browse, the prices are abargain too. Accessories of the momentinclude massive sunnies, the kind thatswamp your face. Pretty headscarves are in,they are cute and keep you cool, wear as aheadband or wrap it around a bun.Statement eyeliner is back, try somevibrant colours to give you a striking look;char kohl (for trash), neon if you dare, newmetal (metallic and gold eyes), try poparthot-pink kohl, and finally why not tryelectric blue.That should be enough to keep yougoing ladies, enjoy the sunshine, bring onthe summer. Also a sad farewell to all thirdyears, good luck with your futures, Bangorwill miss you x xSophie de l’OrmeDOC SPOTIn my opinion there are ten great foods weight and/or retain good health.for losing weight. There is a common • Yams and sweet potato: Great dietdelusion that to lose weight you have foods because they are low on the socalledto barely eat, and the calories you do eatglycemic index. The glycemic indexshould be no more than what is required measures the values of various foods basedby a mouse. But research has shown that on how quickly they break down and arefinding good quality food is more important absorbed into the bloodstream. The slowerthan quantity when it comes to weight loss. the digestion, the lower the score, the betterCombined with adequate exercise, your the food is for regulating blood sugars,meals can be regular serving sizes. The food insulin, and over all metabolism- all ofjust needs to be, well, wholesome. Don’t which affect fat deposition.skip meals. When you want to lose weight • Oranges, apples and grapefruit: Theseit may be tempting to starve yourself – but particular fruits contain high levels ofeating small amounts of food frequently soluble fibre pectin. Fibre slows digestion,can help you maintain a healthy, balanced helps eliminate toxins stores in body fat, andcalorie intake throughout the day. Also, your gives you a feeling of fullness.blood sugar level will be adversely affected if • Killer sandwiches: To lose 40 poundsyou don’t eat often. You can even divide the in 21 weeks, gorge on plenty of heartystandard allotment of three meals into five sandwiches stacked with vegetables, suchor six smaller meals. There are some essential as tomato, cucumber, sprouts lettuce andhealthy foods for anyone who wants to lose onion. For bread choice, anything brownBELIEVE INYOURSELFYour guide to exam stress andhow to deal with itExams are a difficult time for everystudent but Seren is here to help! Hereare our top tips on how to battle examstress and advice for revising.The most important thing is not to panic.Just as long as you allow yourself plenty oftime to revise and avoid cramming then youwill feel more confident walking into thatexam room. And don’t delude yourself intothinking that these exams are the be-all andend-all. Believe it or not, there is life beyondexams!Whilst revising, it is important to beorganised and plan just how you are goingto go about acing that test. Write yourself upa revision plan, detailing how and when youare going to tackle each section of the work.Remember to stick to the revision plan; it’sno good making it if you’re going to spendyour time down the pub. Also, think abouteach topic separately, grouping all of yourrevision together and getting worried abouthow much you have will not motivate youat all.Take regular breaks. It is vitally importantthat you don’t get too weighed down andinformation overload doesn’t set in. Everycouple of hours take a half hour break;go watch an episode of Friends; make asandwich; go annoy your housemates whilstthey’re revising; it doesn’t matter what youdo, just make sure you don’t soldier onpretending you don’t need a break, becauseyou do.Eating and drinking sensibly is alsoessential. Avoid snacking and eating fattyfoods as this affects your attention andconcentration span. However, once a daytreat yourself to a little chocolate as thisreleases endorphins in the brain – thecause of happiness. It is also a myth thatdrinking tea or coffee will increase yourconcentration. It may well keep you awake,but the caffeine will have an adverse effecton your attention span.Regular moderate exercise is a great wayto stay focused and relieve some stress. Ifyou’re a member of a gym then great, butdon’t worry if you’re not, just go for a lightjog or a kick around in the park. You’ll feelbetter afterwards and it will help you settleback into your routine.Exams are stressful times but byimplementing just a few of these steps youwill feel much happier in yourself and thiswill be mirrored in your impending examsuccess. Good luck!Siobhan Holt and ChrisThomsonwith lots of seeds and heavy grains you canactually see, because less-milled ingredientscontain much more fibre.• Cereal: Low sugar cereals packed withprotein and fibre are good and can make youfeel fresh with cold milk.• Salad: If you eat a salad, make itvaluable. Get field greens and add a yoghurtdressing. Plus you need plenty of vegetablesand some good lean protein, like grilledsalmon.• Yoghurt: and other dairy goods thatare great-tasting, low fat products.• Almonds: nuts are loaded withmonounsaturated fats – the good fats thatare rich in omega-3 fatty acids, known tolower cholesterol. Fats are as necessary to ahealthy diet as protein and carbohydrates.Small amounts of nuts are a good startingpoint.• Nut butter: likewise, nut buttersOn 2 nd April,Wales saw theintroduction ofits smoking ban. I’m suremost of us weren’t aroundat that point – a lot of uswere probably in Englandwhere we were all still freeto smoke in public places.After a night out at thepub we would still comehome and have to sprayour clothes to get rid ofthe smell.Whatever your stanceon the matter, the banhas come into force inWales and its mark hascertainly been put onBangor. The High Streetand other areas with pubsare littered with smokersstanding outside, insome cases providing anintimidating entry to thebuildings in question.What of the pubs andclubs of Bangor though?Arriving back the weekafter the ban came in and going to watch thefootball in the Yellow Pub, I was pleased tosay as a non-smoker, how much better I felt.I’d never before realised how intrusive otherpeoples’ smoke was. Nights out in Academiwere never too smoky but the differencenow is still noticeable.The efforts made by pubs to caterto smokers even with the ban in placeare interesting. I read in the Bangor andAnglesey Mail a few times about some pubsapplying for outdoor seating areas or evenjust a canopy for their customers to smokeare a great source of those healthy,monounsaturated fats. Use almond orcashew butter as a much healthier optioninstead of peanut butter.• Hummus: it is great if used instead ofbutter and in wheat pitta bread or organiccorn chips.• Salsa: this dip is great if made at home,doesn’t take much time to make and is ahealthy option for snacking.Don’t forget to exercise! At least 15-20minutes of physical activity a day will ensureyour health and help you lose weight (andnot to mention, firm up those muscles).Weight-bearing exercises are especially greatways to burn those pesky caloriesDr. Rashesh MehtaFor more details,under. Much to the displeasure of pubowners and smokers alike, the plans wererejected for fears of drunkenness and noiseon the streets of Bangor. Some of our chainpubs provide sand buckets for smokers,and some don’t, either way I hope that ourstreets don’t become a graveyard for usedcigarettes.All in all I think that people who don’tlike smoke are enjoying their nights outmore. At the moment, in the warm weather,the smokers seem to be alright with standingoutside. Overall I think there has been ansuggestions or queriesmail: health4u_78@yahoo.comWALES’ SMOKING BANincrease in the number of older peoplespending their nights out in bars and pubssince the ban has come in, making placesa little less student vs. local. I myself amenjoying not having to wash or spray myclothes back to a clean smell after a nightout. Nights out in Bangor have certainlybecome more pleasant since April 2 nd .Jen Stanley

8 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007Traveltravel@seren.bangor.ac.ukBackpackers Guide to the WorldAs much as I love the summer, I canstart to suffer from cabin fever.Living in a small town and workingnearly everyday can start to take its toll onmy natural inclination to wander, so eachsummer I like to see where I can go andrekindle my exploring desire.Personally I think backpacking is by farthe best way to travel if you want a flexible,affordable holiday. It allows you to immerseyourself in the culture of a country, you cango wherever you want, you don’t have tobe tied into holiday company days out orhotel day trips. Backpacking is synonymouswith students; this is mainly because it isaffordable and can be done with minimaleffort in planning or commitment once youare at your destination. It allows you to getto remote places that other tourists will notsee. The simple act of wandering from placeto place with everything you need slung onyour back is a very liberating experience,but it can turn into a nightmare for theunprepared and the naive. A few simple dosand don’ts can make the difference betweena memorable trip and an unforgettable trip.Don’t travel alone. There is a greatallure to travelling alone and meeting newpeople and going with the flow, but beingon your own makes you an obvious targetfor criminals. Plus you will rarely be able toleave your stuff and have the peace of mindthat it is safe. This should be taken moreseriously by females wishing to travel. A lonewoman is a much more attractive targetthan a lone man. In some cultures womenare not equal to men and female travellerscan become objects of leering or banter asmany cultures perceive western women aseasy. A simple ring worn on your weddingfinger will discourage men from pesteringyou, and women should not go out intotowns alone or unaccompanied by a male.Respect the local culture. Western idealsabout how we dress can come into conflictwith other cultures. If it is the custom forwomen to cover up then it is consideredgood manners to follow these customs.This also goes for behaviour. While in Indiaa guy I was travelling with put a few nosesout of joint by standing in front of a loadof Buddhist monks, drunk as a sailor, tellingthem how much of a f*****g great time hewas having.Preparation is key. Research of yourdestination is one of the most importantthings you can do before you go offgallivanting. Finding out everything abouta place before you leave can give you amassive head start. History, currency,political situation, economic problems,national holidays and events; all of thesegive you a greater insight into the cultureof the place you’re visiting. For instance, Idid some research before I went to Indiaand found out the Taj Mahal is best at fivein the morningas soon as itopens as thereare no people inthe back of yourphotos. Howyou pack yourbag can make adifference to thecomfort of a trip.Weight shouldbe packed closeto the bottomof the bag andup against yourback; anythingthat is bulkycan then beput around theheavy itemsand towards thetop. Travelling light is what backpackingis all about. Things such as toiletries neednot be taken from the UK either as nearlyeverything you would want can be boughtin most countries, and generally for cheaper.Sharing things can also reduce your bulk.Shower gel, shaving cream, shampoo, suncream, etc can be shared between a fewpeople to stop you carrying useless weight.Joining the international youth hostellingmovement means that you can get discountat all youth hostels world wide. The cardcan also gets you into historic or culturalsites for a discount. www.hostelworld.com,w w w . h o s t e l b o o k e r s . c o m ,www.hosteltraveller.com, are all good siteswhen researching a hostel. Some hostelswon’t have the luxury of separate roomsand you can find yourself sharing with otherpeople. Some places will provide lockers foryour belongings but they normally comewithout a lock, so a small padlock is anadvised purchase for peace of mind.Getting sick can be part of travelling.A well stocked travel first aid kit will makeyou more comfortable. Some countries willrequire vaccinations before you travel sowhile you’re there ask the nurse about whatdrugs and things to take with you. Drugs tostop diarrhoea should be stocked piled! Evenjust the heavy mineral contents of water offoreign countries can cause stomach upsets.Water purification tablets are another handyaddition to your medical kit. Iodine basedpurification tablets are the best but shouldnot be taken for more than a month due tothe risk of poisoning; they also taste horrid.Travel wash is handy for when you arenot in civilization and you get fed up withsmelling like a farm. Some people prefer tohave one set of clothes to travel in which willnot be washed and have their other clothesfor best once they’ve arrived and freshenedup. Be careful not to wash in a river thatmight have a village up stream, and don’twash in stagnate water as it will make yourclothes even more dirty. Laundry servicescan usually be found everywhere though.Safety. Travellers’ cheques are essentialif you need to carry large amounts of cashwith you, but be careful as some placescharge commission to change them. Banksare normally safe bets when changingmoney. Don’t take credit or debit cards,as if stolen they will be hard to cancel fromabroad and you’ll be stranded withoutmoney. A money belt should be takenwith you, and in it you should carry allyour lifeline valuables: passport, travellers’cheques, large amounts of money, andmedical papers. Your money belt should gounder your trousers on your front, not wornas a bum bag as I’ve seen people do before.It should never, ever be accessed in the viewof people, if you need to then you shouldgo into a shop changing room or toiletsomewhere. You should carry all the moneyyou will need for each day in your pockets insmall notes spread around your person. Anold wallet with a small amount of money inand a few old plastic cards should be in onepocket as a mugging wallet. If cornered givethe mugger this without hesitation as youknow there is hardly any money in it and nocards or documents of importance.When you arrive at your destination youshould go to the British embassy and reportyourself to them telling them how long youwill be in the country for and what you willbe doing there. You should give them copiesof your passport, travellers’ cheques, medicalforms, and itinerary. If any of these are lostthen you need not fear. A European HealthInsurance Card, www.ehicard.org, give youfree or reduced medical costs in Europe.Pick-pocketing is a real problem fortravellers, especially around tourist sitesor street theatres. Have your eyes peeled atall time and make sure you not only watchyour own stuff but all your companionstoo. Another way is to have your hand inyour pocket at all times but this can be a bitimpractical. Stay on the look out for groupof homeless children, they slash the bottomsof bags and pockets, also don’t let anyonepush your or crowd you as they maybetrying to pick your pocket. Common senseshould prevail when stopping a pickpocket.Backpacking is the best way of gettingout into the wilderness and seeing things offthe beaten trail. You need to be on your toesthough, more so than when on a normalholiday as you will have to be self-sufficientin your trip. Preparation is a big part of yourtrip and vital if you want a smooth trip. Thebeauty of backpacking is that it can be doneat the last minute and need not be a tripacross the Amazon or Gobi desert, it can bea trip to one of Britain’s national parks, orinter-railing around Europe.Whatever your plans or goals, I wish youluck and safe travels.Luke WilsherTravel EditorFrom Bangor toBangorWell this is my last installmentfrom the now gloriously sunnyMaine. Last week the Universitycelebrated ‘Maine Day’. We were given theday off lectures in the hope that studentswould turn out at 8am…..yes 8am, to docommunity service. Although surprisinglynot too many students are up at 8am andeager to go on a Wednesday morningwhen they have no classes; but do notfear - a handy parade, comprising of amarching band, and bizarrely, tractors anda fire engine, swooped round campus towake everyone up! The University put ona free BBQ at midday, which was fantastic.It was accompanied by live bands andoutdoor games: ‘ooozeball’, paintballingand tug of war over jelly. ‘Ooozeball’ isbasically mud volleyball, a foot deep pitchis dug out and filled with mud- well I’m abig kid at heart and I just couldn’t resist, itwas absolutely freezing but so much fun.After our unsuccessful and extremely messygame (when coated in mud it is an effort tokeep your shorts pulled up at a respectablelevel let alone hit the volleyball), a few of usjumped into the river next to the pitch towash off…not one of the wisest ideas I’veever had as it had only recently thawed fromwinter but it cleaned us up a bit!If anyone is planning on going abroadnext year and especially to Maine here aresome tips: Do not forget your thermals,do not underestimate how cold it will get.Bring as much chocolate and British snacksas you can carry…trust me you will neverlike Hershey Bars. Do not panic when youdiscover the delights of the Bat Bus….makefriends with a car owner and if you have totake the bus at least find the origami dudewho gives you free stuff. Girls, don’t bringgorgeous shoes. I brought a truckload andI have ditched them for snow boots or flipflops as the weather requires…… Mainerswill wear flip flops in -24 and 3ft of snow!Make sure you have a good contact in yourdepartment as the International Office athome seem to be rather busy and oftenvery late at communication. Do not expectany quick solutions from them if any at all.Remember you will probably never see mostof these people again so try all the crazystuff they have to offer and get involved. Theinternational community here is fantasticand as long as you go to ‘Oronoka’ you willbe fine!If you want any questions answered aboutgoing on exchange feel freeto send me an email atelu267@bangor.ac.ukGood luck with finals,have a brilliant summerand I’ll see you inWales………..Lucy x xAdventures fromacross the PondSadly this is my last article from theGood ‘Ole US of A (yeehaw!) as Iam now starting my final monthhere at Oregon State. Spring fever has nowofficially gripped the campus, which bringsboth rampant stupidity (drunken midnightrugby with glowsticks anyone?) and theexcessive consumption of beer.With long, hot weekends stretchingbefore me, sightseeing is one of my toppriorities. With the end in sight, I want to seeeverything Oregon has to offer. So, a bravegroup of British students and I decided toventure on a trip to Oregon’s premier themepark, the Enchanted Forest.Unfortunately no one told the EnchantedForest that they were a theme park. ‘Shabfest’was the most effective description we couldcome up with. There were three main rideson offer. One was the thrilling ‘Mountainof Mordor’ which involves sitting in a slowmoving kart, with a gun, shooting at bluelights. The highlight was the tinfoil cave,which looked like someone had been leftalone with a large role a tin foil and staplesand had made the best of a bad job. I thoughtI had stepped into a bad Sci-Fi movie.The log flume was surprisingly decent,with a fair drop and some scream inducingparts. However, all four of us piled into onelog, and almost sank it on the first drop. Ithen spent the rest of the ride sitting in agood six inches of brown water, praying Ididn’t get dysentery.The winner though, for both theshoddy construction and potential deathtrap award, had to be the ‘Ice MountainRollercoaster’. We were sat in somethingthat can only be described as a Perspexcoffin, before being hurtled around a trackthat looked like something a class of fiveyear olds had put together out of Lego. Thecorners were brutal, with the kart lurchinghorrifically, and I think I gave myself a mildconcussion when my head slammed againstthe coffin lid.Upon exit of this ride I felt the urge torun to the nearest church and say a few HailMaries to repent for whatever sins I haddone to deserve that horror. Thankfully Iwill soon be back in Bangor, where the mostexciting ride is the walk down Bitch Hill.Bring it on!Amy Garrett15 Peak Challenge for CharityAlong with three friends from Bangor University, I am going to attempt to walk allfifteen mountains over 3000ft in Snowdonia National Park in one day. We will bewalking for approximately 14 hours over a distance of 52km, and 3635m of incline.By doing this walk we hope to raise money for North West Cancer Research Fund. The NorthWest Cancer Research fund provides grants for cancer research, and has a research unit atBangor University. If you would like to sponsor us and help raise money for this worthwhilecharity then go to http://www.justgiving.com/welsh15peaks, to donate.Paul Seymour

Beach tripStudying abroadI am an exchange student from Italy at the University of Bangor, Wales. I havebeen in Bangor since last September and I am so excited to say that I had a wonderfulexperience. Going to study in another country gives you many opportunities, allowingyou to improve your skills and leaving you with astonishing memories. Spendingone year far away from my country in a different cultural and social environment hasenriched my personality in a special way. My English is much better today than whenI arrived here and I am more outgoing and confident. I had the chance to get involvedin many activities with other English students, who were friendly and helped me withmy language difficulties. As I am studying Drama and Media I found it useful to jointhe Bangor drama clubs, in fact I acted in Macbeth for Rostra and in The Tempest forBEDS and other plays for my drama modules. I also have my own show on Storm FM‘The Big Mix Up’. I tried several sports and at the moment I am enjoying the lovelyweather and landscape by cycling and running around Bangor. I have learnt aboutother cultures, because I made a lotof good friends from all over theworld, who are exchange studentslike me and it has been amazing toshare this extraordinary adventurewith them. Unfortunately the timeis over and I have to leave in June. Iam very sad to leave everything andall my new friends but I am sure Iwill keep in touch with them. I willbe taking home with me a hugesuitcase of remarkable knowledgeand skills.Valentina D’ErricoFirst dayTenerifeIt was simple enough to ask other people to write their fondest memories but when itcame to writing my own it’s only then I realised how hard it is! I’ve had many great nightsout in Bangor but I think the memory I’ll never forget is a biological science field trip toTenerife in November 2006. On the last full day we were taken by bus tothe Barranco de Masca, a beautiful rocky valley. After a horrifying experience of the buslosing control and hitting the cliff barriers we arrived at the start point of the walk. Thesun bounced off the tall cliffs and the views were just spectacular. At the end of the walkthe valley opened out to the ocean. We jumped off the rocks into the water to cool down,and then we weretaken back to alocal town byboat. We even gotto see bottlenosedolphins huntinga shoal of fish onthe way, it couldn’thave asked for abetter day!ClaireMannSeren - End of Year Issue 2007Memories of a leaverI have many favourite memories of Bangor, but one that sticks out is the very firstsummer beach trip to Rhosneigr in the first year. All of my friends, beers, food anda great campfire in the sand dunes made out of an old door we found. I spent allday in the sun, playing frisbee and football with friends. What better way to spend asummer’s day!Dave MoretonMy fondest memory of Bangor has to be the first ever day we got here. My parentshad just left and was feeling a bit daunted about the coming weeks. A few of us gottogether and after introductions we went for a wonder ending up in the Ffridd bar. Itfelt nice knowing that I wasn’t the only one in that position and I knew I would alwayshave people there. It was such a nice feeling, I felt so welcome from the very first day.I will miss Bangor greatly.Felicity SnowPound a pintMy favourite memory would have tobe the pound-a-pint nights in Ffridd Barin our first year when they were still good.There was nothing like getting there earlyto claim the huge tables and then slowlyeveryone you knew turned up and drankthe night away. The Ffridd had some goodnights, JK and Joel, Scott Mills and theHalloween parties were the best!!Joe ChapmanThree blindmice…andStevie WonderFilm-making on a budgetI thought it would be easy choosingmy fondest memory from my three yearsin Bangor. However, when racking mybrains and sifting through the plethora oflaugh-out-loud moments I have had here,it became glaringly obvious that it was notsuch and easy task. Despite this, there is onememory that stands out above all others, andthis was when I, along with several of myfriends, made a film in our second year. Aspart of our course we were required to writeand produce a film of about fifteen minutesin length. On a shoestring budget of preciselyzero, we had to beg, borrow and steal all thatwas needed to construct our masterpiecethat told a tale of love, obsession and murder.Spooky! Although the equipment we usedcan best be described as prehistoric, everyaspect of making the film was an absoluteriot, from filming in Tesco at two in themorning to drinkingexcessive amounts ofsmoothie whilst doingall-nighters in the editingsuite. So, despite thesoaring stress levels andsleepless nights, makingthat film will stay with meforever, and so I wouldlike to say a big thank youto absolutely everyoneinvolved.ChrisThomsonGlam rockSchizophonic launchDressing up as ‘Kiss’for a friends Glam Rock birthday. There were four of us and we all thought we had slackedoff and produced four very bodged costume/makeup jobs. But when we got to the party, wefound that most people had opted for a bit of neon eye-shadow, or a trendy neck scarf! We allwent to Academi and I’ve never felt so self-conscious of the fact that I looked like a maniac.Still, the photos are great and the perfect souvenir from my days in Bangor.Alex FarleyRFeaturesMy favourite Bangor memory has to be when I launched the first Schizophonic towardsthe end of second year, getting all my friends dancing in Academi. It was an awesome nightwith a great atmosphere and an after-party till the wee hours at mine. In a way this alsostarted me on my new career path as a DJ/producer and so has completely changed mylife. Id like to give massive thanks to the Academi guys for letting me put those nights onand a big-up to Bangor for being the place that it is, I’m sure I’ll be visiting next year!Gary BrownSnow in BangorFreshers’ week9emember the Ffridd Bar? Remember eating a Dodgy Derek’s after anight out? Remember Supergrass at the ball? You do? Chances areyou’re a leaver then. For the last features page this year and formy last features page ever here’s something a little different, a trip downmemory lane with some of your fondest moments at Bangor University.For the rest of you, here’s to the many more fond memories at Bangor tocome.Claire Mann, Features EditorSo many tochoose from but onethat stands out isHalloween this year.Bobby, James andI wanted a famoustrio, so we naturallychose the ThreeBlind Mice. Afterreaching the limits ofour costume makingabilities, we all thought we had done a pretty good job. However, as we entered the pub,I was immediately asked, “Who have you come as? Stevie Wonder?? I think it was thewalking stick that did it. Anyway, much hilarity ensued and I will always think of our threedrunk, blind mice stumbling around Bangor with great affection.Shiran DevakumarWalking inSnowdoniaMy fondest memory of Bangor is when itsnowed here last year. Only a few inches ofsnow fell, but the whole place ground to ahalt. Lectures where cancelled and everyoneseemed to revile in the winter holiday wehad. I remember everyone having a cheekyglint in their eyes as they made snowballs,and the good atmosphere going around. Ialso remember slipping on some ice andfalling flat on my ass in front of a car loadof people, but I didn’t really care as the snowmade everything seem so much more carefree.Luke WilsherMy favouritememories fromBangor are when Ihave been walking inSnowdonia with theUniversity MountainWalking Club. Onethat springs to mindis last January whenit snowed heavilythroughout the wholeof the Snowdonia National Park, and we were walking to the top of Moel Siabod. On theway up we had snow ball fights, and had amazing views across Snowdonia covered in snow.Before we started the walk, we all bought plastic bivy pags, so we could sit on them andslide down the other side of the mountain once we had reached the top. I think that wasthe least amount of walking I have had to do when coming off a mountain.Paul SeymourMy favourite memory of uni willhave to be my first Fresher’s Week in04/05. I was last to arrive in Elidir R(top floor) and was a bit behind allmy hallmates who had already settledin and (mostly) started drinking.After our first night together in Timethe rest of the week was a bit of ablur but it was the most fun I haveever had and I was really privilegedto be with a great bunch of people.We struck up friendships with eachother as well as with students in otherhalls and locals very quickly. We werewise enough to make the most of unilife before all the work and inevitablearguments about washing up kicked in! Iwould be very lucky if a time like that evercame round again.Jon Anderson

10 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007THE BIG INTERVIEW WithThank you for agreeing to have achat, I wanted to start with Vice-Chancellor stuff. You started backin 2004 and it’s been seen asa modernising period in theUniversity - a couple of yearsin, how do you think theUniversity has changed?Iformally started back in2004, having been actingVice-Chancellor [VC]for a period and I had alsobeen Pro-Vice-Chancellor[PVC] for some years, 6 yearsactually - because I’d been aPVC for quite a long time and because I’dbeen acting VC, I think I was very aware ofwhat needed to be done.A major part of the first two yearswas to ensure that we have a much moretransparent and efficient managementsystem – for a purpose, though, for theachievement of excellence and particularlythe emphasis on improving our researchreputation and performance, increasingstudent recruitment, improving our estatefor staff and students and a whole rangeof other things – getting degree-awardingpowers, trying to attract major researchcouncil funding, those are all things whichwe have achieved in the first two and a halfyears.That’s quite a quickturnaround – haveyou got more thingsto achieve, or is it just a caseof improving on what you’vegot now?Ithink we’re in a periodnow where there willbe a certain amount ofchange; it was necessary atthe beginning to get a lotof things done – we needto consolidate and makesure that the new college structure worksproperly, which means a certain amount ofdevolution in responsibility to the colleges.And aiming to look again at the studentexperience more generally – we need to beconstantly improving.Talking aboutstudent expectationimproving theproduct – are studentscustomers these days?I’m an old-fashionedchap really, I find itreally difficult to think ofstudents only as customers.It makes me wince.Well, having taughtfor 35 years, I stillsee students aspeople you work with, youteach, but there is no avoiding the culturalshift, which is a long-term one over thepast 20 years, where people see themselvesas customers and are more demanding andwant a better product. We’re operating in adifferent environment. There’s also the issueof student fees – once students are payingindividually for their educations then theytechnically do become customers, and onehas to be conscious of that. There’s a directlink between the student and the product...I’m always a bit nervous about takingthese terms and applying them to highereducation, but they do have a force.When the Students’ Union President, Sam Burnett volunteered to interviewthe Vice Chancellor of the University, Merfyn Jones, SEREN leapt at thechance to print the interview. Armed with a dictaphone and Sam’s ownpressing questions, he set off up the hill with the aim of getting to thebottom of what makes the VC tick. Out came a fascinating 5000 wordinterview. An abridged version is printed here, but for the full version logonto www.samburnett.co.ukIimagine it’s quite difficultfor the University,because you’re not justgiving an education; it’s alifestyle as well. How does theUniversity meet a challengelike that?Being at university, if one is a full timestudent, is a crucial period in people’slives – of course the education youreceive is central, but so are all the otheractivities. I think there aretimes in higher educationwhere that can be lost sightof. In some larger institutionsthey do think entirely interms of the product, ratherthan seeing it in terms of amuch broader experience.That experience can strongly affectstudents’ lives, – I wasn’t eventhinking of politics when I came toBangor, but when I came toUniversity and got involvedwith the Students’ Union…it’s quite a strong influenceon people’s lives we’ve got asa university.Ithink the whole idea of aUniversity is somethingwe need to think aboutfor the future. We can seeelements of it clearly – theenvironment in Bangor is aninfluence, part of the Bangorexperience. There are other things as well -accommodation, interaction students havewith each other, social life. Bangor has manyfeatures of a campus university, in that itfeels like a campus, but actually it isn’t,because it’s in this small city.I see this area where the University is asmore of a student village really. Perhaps theFfriddoedd development, another thousandstudents there, will allow us to do that. But Ithink you’re right, we have to think outsideof teaching and learning.Ididn’t realise untilrecently that Sian Hopeand Meri Huws werethe first women PVCs theUniversity has had - was thata natural progression, or is ithard to challenge academicsin some areas?It still remains the casethat across HE withinsenior managementwomen are few and farbetween. I think there areonly two or three femaleVCs out of 120 institutions– as a lifelong feminist I find that difficultto accept - that cannot reflect the talent thatis available. By saying that I’m a lifelongfeminist – I should explain that I attendedthe first women’s liberation meeting inOxford in 1969, I think it was…That was brave. Higher education, is itmore forward thinking than forwarddoing? Academics are very…thoughtful people; does thatnot necessarily translate intopractical things? There’s thatold saying isn’t there – “thosewho can, do…”Idon’t buy that – HEhas actually changedphenomenally over thepast 30 years or so, in termsof numbers of students,responding to challenges.It’s unfair to say thatuniversities, academics are thinkers ratherthan doers. Academics can be very activein changing their environment. I genuinelydon’t share that view of ivory towers,dreamy academics and so on – academicslive in the real world, more so than peoplegive them credit for.I’ll give you that one. I’dlike to talk more aboutyou now – how do youbecome a VC? Is it somethingyou can set out to do? Whendid you start wanting to beone?Idon’t think I’d be in aposition of how to writea manual on how tobecome a Vice-Chancellor. Ican’t say it’s been a burningdesire throughout my career.Looking back I can see that ithas been a long apprenticeship, if not beinga vice chancellor then doing somethingsimilar. From a very early point in myacademic career I found myself being askedto carry a certain amount of managerialresponsibility.I’ve found as Presidentthat when you take ona title or a job like that,people tend to depersonaliseyou, or treat you in a certainway and assume certainthings about you... I alwaysfind it important to have things that I’vealways done like hobbies, to get away fromit. Did you find the same sort of thing andhow do you maintain Merfyn Jones outsideof work?It shouldn’t havesurprised me, but it did,because people see youas the Vice-Chancellor ratherthan ‘me’ and I suppose thatthere is a certain kind ofsomething that goes withbeing a VC but it can be depersonalising,you’re right. There are two ways I counterit – I try to be myself…I’m quite open andinformal, there’s no ceremony or statusissues – my approach is informal and myapproach is to treat everyone as equals. Thisis reinforced as I don’t live in a VC’s lodge ona leafy part of the campus as many do – myhouse is actually in the centre of Caernarfon,airs and graces wouldn’t see me to the end ofthe road! Once I’m at home I’m just anotherguy in the street.INTERNATIONALSTUDENTSstudents from more thanseventy-one countries, Bangor’sinternational student populationis growing rapidly. During the academicyear 2002/03, it was as low as 290. A surveyfor the academic year 2006/07 shows thatUWB international students have increasedin number, up to 580. However, it’s stillgrowing. The campus has attracted theinterest of many students worldwide withits natural environment and low crime rate.Most students who have studied or alreadystudying tell friends and family about thequiet and friendly campus, while studentssearching for the best campus to study findBangor interesting and attractive.The majority of students who wonscholarships over the years throughorganisational bodies such as theCommonwealth have also chosen UWB, andfrom experience they weren’t disappointed,and highly proud of what they will achievein their studying environment.While international students makeBangor their second home, with the helpof the Students’ Union they can meet andinteract with other international students;award bodies such as SHINE also give themthe opportunity to express their feelingsand knowledge. SHINE helps internationalstudents all over UK by asking applyingstudents to write a “letter home” to familiesand friends. Students use this opportunityto express themselves and what they haveachieved while studying abroad.A regional winner this year, Yusi Liu,22, from China, brightened up the yearfor other international students by makingthem aware of such award bodies. The 3 rdyear psychology student has wide experiencein travelling and volunteering work. Whenshe became Welsh International Student ofthe Year 2007, she inspired a large numberof other students who have undergone aninteresting and stunning experiences whilestudying.Yusi came to study at the University inlate 2003, and started an English course.While thinking of studying abroad, shesearched the net and had a wide rangeof other universities and English schoolsto choose from, but had her eye fixed onBangor, “I wanted a quiet and nice placeto study, so when I read about Bangor, themountains, Snowdonia and mostly, the lowcrime rate, then I knew it was the right placefor me”. She said “with help from people inthe nice friendly environment, I felt for thetown and decided to do my degree in theUniversity.”Yusi won the Welsh InternationalStudent of the Year and a £1000 prize money,hosted by the British Council. She headed toLondon for the finals, and even though shewasn’t the chosen one, she has done Bangorinternational students proud. “I was verylucky to be chosen to sit on the top tablewith the Chairman of the British Council– the Rt Hon. Lord Neil Kinnock, the BBCnews presenter Moira Stuart OBE, and thefamous shoe designer Dato Professor JimmyChoo, OBE” she said. “The whole ceremonywas well organised and I got my trophy asthe Wales International Student of the Year2007 on the stage” she added.Alan Edward, the International StudentsWelfare Adviser adds that Bangor specificallyis a beautiful place to live, has a cheapstudent environment and is in a low crimearea. His advice to international students isto get involved in both student and local lifeactivities, see and experience, take part andtry as many helpful things as you can”.Bangor has helped its internationalstudents in a variety of ways, from a goodwelfare service to scholarships. It is now leftup to these students to be active and effective,participate and help make people aware ofboth the university and themselves.“There is no place like home, Bangor ismy home”, said Xavier, 24, a student fromthe English and Literature department,originally from Martinique. Something thatmost international students are also proudto quote.Noellin Imoh

Seren - End of Year Issue 200711ONE MINUTE WELSHBooksSHOPAHOLIC &BABY -SOPHIE KINSELLAAs the tagline from the publishersproclaims – “Becky Bloomwood isback… with a bump!”Shopaholic & Baby is the 5 th volumeof the immensely popular ‘Shopaholic’series by former financial journalist SophieKinsella. Newly-married Becky Bloomwooddiscovered at the end of the last book thatshe was pregnant. This book picks up a fewmonths later, when in true Becky style, shemanages to embarrass herself when havinga simple scan!Ever the fashion freak, when Beckydiscovers that the current must-havecelebrity obstetrician has moved to London,she becomes fixated on becoming her patientand wangles a spot on the coveted ‘list’.However, things aren’t what they seem, andduring her first appointment with VenetiaCarter, Becky discovers that her husbandLuke dated Venetia when they studied atCambridge together. Venetia and Lukerenew their friendship and Becky slowlybecomes convinced that their friendshipis in fact a full-blown affair. What starts asreading Luke’s text messages quickly takes adownward spiral and ends with a desperateand heartbroken Becky hiring a privatedetective to tail Luke. Things come to a headwhen Venetia herself informs Becky aboutthe affair. But is it all as it seems?Despite all this action, Becky still managesto spend excessive amounts of money, andthere are a couple of pointless sub-plots thatsee Becky single-handedly saving the sinkingdepartment store where she works, securingthe purchase of a new home and arranging aphotoshoot with Vogue.Apart from those minor niggles,Shopaholic & Baby is a hilarious addition tothe series and another winner for Kinsella,but perhaps for hardcore fans only!Loran PerkinsROMANTICISING OURFEMALE AUTHORSfacts for the sake of a good film?In a word, yes. The newest biographicalfilm about an author, Becoming Jane starringAnne Hathaway in the title role, is based onJane Austen’s early writing career,although it centres on her factualromance with her youngneighbour, Tom Lefroy.Lefroy actually existed,in fact, he went on tobecome Chief Justiceof Ireland, butthere is littleevidence tos u g g e s tt h a ttheirRecently, it has felt like not a weekgoes by when there isn’t a perioddrama being shown on TV. At thetime of writing, huge amounts of fuss wasbeing made about the BBC’s latest costumedoffering, Miss Marie Lloyd – Queen of theMusic Hall, and it doesn’t seem fiveminutes since ITV screened theirJane Austen season, featuringadaptations of herthree less-knownnovels. Andit seems thatHollywood isalso jumping onthe bandwagon.In recentyears we’ve seenadaptations of suchBritish literary classicsas Pride and Prejudice andthe Lord of the Rings trilogy.But the trouble with theseclassics is that the authors inquestion are dead. Unlike HarryPotter and The Da Vinci Code,there will never be another book toadapt for the big screen. So how tosatisfy the apparent literary cravings ofthe cinema-going masses?The big studios think they have thesolution. The current in thing in Hollywoodare biographical films concentrating on theauthors and examining how events in theirown lives influenced their work. But havethe studio executives over-embellished therelationshipwas anywhere near asserious as it is portrayed tobe in the film.A much more factual and truthfulbiopic was January’s Miss Potter starringRenée Zellweger as celebrated children’sauthor, Beatrix Potter. It follows her strugglefor freedom from her repressive parents, hersearch to find a publisher, and ultimately,her search for love. It needed only a littleHollywood exaggeration of the facts to turnit into a gripping film. Beatrix was secretlyengaged to her publisher, Norman Warne,who sadly died before the wedding couldtake place. Following Warne’s death,she used money earnedfrom the saleof herbookst obuy afarm inthe LakeD i s t r i c t ,where shec o n t i n u e dto writea l o n g s i d ecaring for hermany pets. Itwas during thistime that shemet and marriedsolicitorWilliamHeelis, who hadhelped her purchasemany other pieces ofland in the surrounding area.So now we can only wait and wonderwhich author is next in line to have their lifedrastically exaggerated for the purpose ofmass entertainment!Loran Perkins

12 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007GamesS.T.A.L.K.E.R.:Shadow of ChernobylSTALKER is THQ’s newestPC first person shooter (FPS)on the block.The game is set in 2012, six years aftera second explosion in Chernobyl andtwenty-six years after the original in1986. Known simply as ‘Stalker’, a genericname used for all those living within theirradiated zone, you arrive in the game inthe back of a truck, carrying the dead outof the centre of Chernobyl. You are the onlysurvivor to come from one of the so-called“death cars”, but you have no recollection ofwhat you were doing there, or even who youare. The only thing you know is you wereon a mission to find a man named Strelok.You are delivered to a trader, someone whoprofits by buying and selling items found in‘The Zone’. He gives you your first missionand instructions for getting around, as wellas some basic plot information.The first thing you notice when you enterthe world, as you stand in the office of thetrader, is how graphically stunning the gameis. When you throw in the dark, moody areaof the game with high graphical settings, thegame is beautiful with detailed shadows andrealistic lighting effects that really bring thegame to life and set the mood. One problemhowever, is that after only several minutes inthe game I was clicking around the advancedgraphics options menu working out how toactually get a decent performance on thegame without sacrificing too much ingraphical quality. Despite turning most ofthe graphical features down, I still foundthe game to be sluggish in places, withdistracting drops in the frames per second.I found some of the lighting to be buggy asI went through the game, with areas oftenbecoming simply too dark to see anythingin, even with the Stalker’s torch turned on.Stumbling around outside in the middle oftwo battling factions in virtually pitch black,wondering where the road is and avoidingtrees and various other unseen obstaclesisn’t a lot of fun. It had me straining at mymonitor trying to see what to do.The game’s missions are pretty linear,but you don’t feel cramped as you haveplenty of space to roam free and scores ofoptional extra missions you can take toimprove your standing with the variousfactions of the game. Factions build up animportant part of the game, with certainmissions increasing your reputation withcertain groups, and others decreasing yourreputation, determining whether you areallied or hostile with these groups. As wellas that, STALKER is an open ended game,with a number of possible endings thatcould take place, depending on the path youchoose to take through the game. Will greedget the better of you as you profit from TheZone, or will you seek to leave The Zone andmove on? However, I felt detached from mycharacter and the factions because I didn’tfeel any connection as such and thus, didn’tcare much about what happened to them.The only reason I felt compelled to keepplaying the single player mode was to seewhat the next stunning area would looklike.The audio of the game really helps to adddepth to the areas in the game, with silenceaccompanied by only the quiet cracklingof your Geiger counter, often being just aseerie as hearing distant rumbling from whatit is that lies ahead of you. The music canbecome a bit repetitive with only one trackactually working, but at the time of writingthere’s a mode to unlock music that wasnever used for some unknown reason.The online mode sadly only hasthree game-play modes. Your standardDeathmatch, Team Deathmatch and anew mode named ‘Artifact Hunt’ in whichyou play as either The Stalkers or theMercenaries and seek to control the artifactsthat are spawned on the map and returnthem to your base before the other teamcan. Surprisingly, the one class you’d expectto see, your standard ‘capture the flag’, ismissing. There’s a decent choice of mapsto choose from, ranging from train yardsto abandoned military bases. Whether themaps are enough to keep players entertainedfor long remains to be seen however. I didn’ttry multiplayer out too much, as the clunky,heavy game-play controls were only made tofeel worse online. It’s more spray and prayrather than many other titles where goodaiming and planting that headshot would beall important and it didn’t appeal to me.Hopefully as time goes on, the usercommunity will generate new content forthe multiplayer mode to advance it, asthere’s a huge amount of possibility withthe game. A number of mods have alreadysurfaced, mainly unlocking features thatwere never implemented such as vehiclesand graphical/audio modifications.If your PC hasn’t got a strong heart, don’twaste your time with this title, so be sureto check what the minimum specificationsare, then make sure your machine surpassesthem by a fair amount to actually get adecent experience. The game is definitelyworth a play, but it might be a good ideato hold on for a couple of patches to let thegame mature slightly. One major problemwas that the first patch invalidated allprevious saved games, thus resetting yourprogress in the game.The game can feel unrefined in places,but it’s still a strong title worthy of a lookinto if the sound of an atmospheric shooterappeals to you.Alex TrebulWith the release of twonew Halo games soon, Serentakes a quick look back at theseries so far and looks aheadto the future to see what wecan expect from these eagerlyanticipated titles.Halo began development in 1996 byBungie Studios as an RTS title forthe Mac platform. Several years onMicrosoft on the verge of releasing the Xboxconsole, snapped up the outfit and the rightsto the game. Work began on building thegame for the Xbox and had, by this point,evolved into an FPS.In 2001, Halo was complete and ready toship with the Xbox as the main launch titlefor the system. It featured graphics neverseen before on any console platform, solidgame-play and a strong storyline. While thegame was not overly innovative, it got highratings across the board and helped boostsales of the Xbox.After a couple of years in waiting, in2003, PC gamers got a slice of the Halopie. The PC version ported by developmentstudio Gearbox Software featured manyimprovements over the original Xbox title,namely, an online multiplayer mode whichcame with several new maps, a new weapon,use of the Banshee and a new Warthog.After having to wait several years forthe ageing game to be brought to the PCplatform, PC gamers found the game wasfar from perfect. It lacked support for usercreated content, something which had beenpretty much standard in PC games sincethe dawn of the FPS genre without hideoushacks and workarounds. It also sufferedfrom a number of multiplayer problems.Initially, there was no dedicated serversoftware available and because the onlinecode had been poorly developed for 56kusers at the request of Microsoft, the onlinemode suffered from severe latency problemswhich were never corrected in the variouspatches that were released.Roughly a year after the release of thePC title, Gearbox released a standalonemultiplayer only version of the game tosupport multiplayer maps named HaloCustom Edition. Along with the game, theyreleased an editing kit to help with thecreation process for those seeking to maketheir own maps. Since this update wasreleased as a separate program, it servedto split the already small community intwo, resulting in a swift death for the HaloCustom Edition version of the game.At the E3 trade show in 2004 the worldbegan to get glimpses of what Halo 2 hadto offer. Stunning graphics, radical changesto the game-play and a promising storyline.After many delays, the game came out inNovember once again on the Xbox platform.It became a record breaking game, beatingtop-seller GTA in sales and raking in $125million on the first day of release alone.However, what gamers saw at E3 andwhat they got in game were quite different.The storyline turned out to be lacklustre andmany of the anticipated features had beenremoved without warning from the game.The biggest disappointment of all turnedout to be the ending of the game which wasHalo 2as abrupt as a car crash.In face ofa huge number of returns from disappointedfans, the saving grace of the game turned outto be online mode supported by the XboxLive service. The online mode saw tensof thousands of gamers logging millionsof hours played in total. That doesn’tmean to say the online side of the gamedidn’t have problems. Thanks to the lackof any dedicated server, cheating becamecommonplace in the game, which led toplayers’ ranks being reset, undermining thevery reason why many players continueto play the game - to increase their rank.Accompanied by what was generallyconsidered to be an immature player baseas well as a fleet of other problems, manygamers turned off from the game.Later this month we’ll be seeing therelease of Halo 2 for the PC after over twoyears of waiting. The game has already beendelayed at the last minute, but hopefully isnot a sign of things to come.Just as the original Halo was used topush sales of the Xbox, Halo 2 is beingused to push sales of the new WindowsVista operating system and their ‘Live forWindows’ service which essentially is theequivalent of Xbox Live for the PC. Opinionson the Live for Windows service have been amixed bag. On the one hand you can have afree account to play, but on the other handto make the most of the game you have topay a subscription fee, something many PCgamers are unhappy about.Halo 2 was developed by a small team inconjunction with Microsoft known as HiredGun. This time the game will feature a mapeditor and user created content straight outof the box. Details on the title have been a bitsketchy, but it looks to bring nothing muchnew to the table. It will lack the anticipatedco-op modes, support for rankings, fullmodel and textures changes for higherresolution modes and single player customcontent support. It will however support‘Gamer Achievements’, giving you points forcompleting certain tasks within the game.The game looks set to have little success dueto poor sales of the Windows Vista operatingsystem, and may drive away much of thehardcore FPS gaming crowd by the moveto support Xbox controllers and integratingauto-aiming into the game.Halo 3 is set to be released in the latermonths of this year. So far little has beengiven away about the storyline and thedetails on multiplayer mode are a bitunclear, though with an online beta testbeginning later this month, we’ll soon startto hear a lot more about the game.As for other games in the Halo franchisewe’re set to see two more games. Althoughone is completely under wraps for themoment, the second is being developed asan RTS named ‘Halo Wars’ by EnsembleStudios, however no details have beenrevealed for this title as of yet either. Planshad been rumoured for a movie adaptationwhich are reportedly still on hold due to theoriginal studio pulling out.Only time will tell what else is in storefor Halo, but the future looks bright withanother three titles on the way following therelease of Halo 2 this month.Ross ButlerBANGORLEAVERS2007Am gonna miss all you guys and ourTrash Wednesdays. Especially Baz’sferret-related ‘incident’. Good luckwith your exams John, Mark, Andrea, Jenand Andy.- Mark FieldingHey Candice, remember thechocolate sandwich we had?Ecstasy.- Pete SmithTo all the art crowd, Seren, hill walkers,Phil de la skill (but not so skill when itcomes to keeping tea vertical and publunchist), Liz (she likes the sound of cars ongravel and the smell of blown-out candlesdon’t you know) Catrin (known for herwhirlwind romances on the aisles of Tescos),Matt (Storm’s whiz-kid), Tim (frequenterof charity shops in search of pensionersclothes), Eilian (master of mysteries), Mark(mathematical mastermind and squire ofthe shire), Ruth (BA, LLC, QC, MC, PHD,MSC, DJ), Sam (sue-star superstar), CatrinC (lecturer extraordinaire), Adam and KJgood luck with your exams and have a greatsummer. Enjoy the festival season and havea good life. :-)- Ross ButlerBest wishes for the future to John,Ellie, Pete, Emma, Lexi, Chris andSean. For future reference Sean, whena barmaid asks how much head you’d like,that’s not what she means.- Jennifer KnottsGood byes to the geography thirdyears especially Elizabeth and herquality map reading skills on ourfield trip.- Tony HarrisStorm FM would like to thank third yearleavers and wish them lots of luck:Tom GiddingsMatt WoontonHailey WhittakerSean ClementsClaire StapletonDavid HoodAshley Fishman(and Spencer, but he’s staying!)SEREN would like to say goodbye to alltheir wonderful third years who haveinvested so much time into the paperand wish them all the best:Chris ThomsonClaire MannLuke WilsherLexi HindleyRoss ButlerTo all those who ran in the electionsand are now leaving, good luck.- Pete Banks

Spiderman 3 (12A) Seren - End of Year Issue 2007City of God (18 DVD) 13Bridge to Terabithia It’s time to get those spidey-sensestingling again and dust off that not-atallgay spandex for the latest instalmentin the Spiderman series. The first of thissummer’s four threequels, Spiderman 3 seesthe web-slinger battle with his inner demonsas well as those terrorising the streets of NewYork City. After finally feeling like he hasfound the balance between being your localneighbourhood Spiderman and spendingtime with the love of his life, Mary JaneWatson (Kirsten Dunst), Peter Parker (TobeyMaguire) is on top of the world. However, ashis self-confidence slowly turns to arrogancehe pushes Mary Jane into the arms of hisfriend-turned-foe Harry Osborn (JamesFranco), who is still mourning the death ofhis father at the hands of Spiderman. Duringa restless night’s sleep, Peter’s Spider-suitbecomes possessed by an alien parasiteknown as Venom that amplifies his newfound self assurance, heightening his powerswhilst also turning him into an insufferable,egotistical chauvinist.Meanwhile, escaped convict Flint Marko(Thomas Haden Church), on the run fromthe police, unwittingly stumbles into aforbidden testing site, resulting in Marko’sability to turn into and manipulate sand atwill. Attempting to rob a bank to pay forsurgery for his daughter, Marko, now theSandman, comes to blows with Spidermanand vows to get his revenge. However, Spideyisn’t the only one with his card marked, asPeter’s job at the Daily Bugle is under threatfrom new kid on the block Eddie Brock.With both Peter and Spiderman facing theirgreatest adversities yet, they must overcometheir own shortcomings in order to onceagain triumph over evil.As per usual the special effects areThe Grindhouse TravestyHad American Airlines not lost mybag at Chicago airport, there was avery good chance that I could haveseen Grindhouse whilst I was in Los Angeleslast month. Not only that, I could haveseen Grindhouse the way it was MEANTto be seen. Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll getthat proper chance for a very long time.Momentum Pictures who are distributingthe film in the UK have decided to pull thefilm from the 1 st June release date, and splitup the film, with Death Proof being releasedin September, whilst Planet Terror has nofixed release date.Why is this such a travesty? First off, itproves that distribution houses believe socallednegative buzz far too much, withoutallowing us to make up our own minds.The fact of the matter is that the film wasnothing short of stunning, in particular therendering of Sandman, something I’m surewill have given the SFX departments morethan a few headaches. Also, the long-awaitedrealisation of Venom is spectacular, if a littlebrief, although it is sure to be enough to puta smile on the faces of diehard Spidermanfans. In the previous two movies, directorSam Raimi has made a conscious effort tolimit the bad guy count to one. However,in Spiderman 3 it triples, leading the plot tobecome a little too busy and disjointed inplaces. That Venom’s screen time is minimalis an issue that really should have beenaddressed as he feels somewhat shoehornedinto the script, and could (and should) haveeasily had a film of his own. That thereis so much going on in the film means itfeels a little on the long side despite it onlyclocking in at around 2hrs 20mins, and thelack of character development from mostindividuals may leave fans feeling a littleshort-changed.However, this should not detract fromthe film as a whole, as there are someexcellent performances, namely from JamesFranco and the ever-brilliant J.K. Simmonsas ruthless newspaper tycoon J. JonahJameson. What the film does well, it doesvery well. The action sequences are the sameheart-pounding thrill rides we have come toexpect, and the love triangle of Parker/Dunst/Osborn really makes you feel for allinvolved. On the other hand, you do feel asif they have tried to do maybe a little toomuch with this film, and whilst by no meansis it a disaster of X-Men 3 proportions, youdo wonder whether it could have been somuch more.Chris Thomsoncritically well received in the States (it isstill tracking at 81% on Rotten Tomatoes atthe time of writing). But of course, criticalreaction does not always translate to BoxOffice Gold. That must mean that we areexactly the same as the Americans then! Wewill not go and see it either!Rubbish. We are a differentbreed of cinema goer, andwe are far more willingto see something that willchallenge us. To those whoare dismissing the runningtime as the major flaw, theyare only partially right.Whilst it may be that thefilm is a victim of its ownhubris (the individual filmswere meant to be just underan hour, rather than a good90 minutes each), Titanicand Return of the King have proven thataudiences can be seated for over three hoursand come back for more.Perhaps the main problem is thatTarantino and Rodriguez were attemptingsomething that just did not sit right withthe American public. The Grindhouseform has never been the most popular inAmerica, and for pundits, critics and moviemoguls alike to expect a massive summersmash, well, maybe they were just a bit tooambitious. This does not change the factWinner of Best Foreign LanguageFilm at the 2002 Oscar ceremony,City of God is a powerful andblistering look down the mean streetsof Brazil’s capital Rio de Janeiro whichfollows two individuals growing during thesixties. One, Li’l Dice who quickly shows hiscolours as a psychopath who grows up to bethe local kingpin of the drug industry, rapistand mass killer. The other, Rocket, grows upwith ambitions of being a photographerand hopes to escape his surroundingsfor a better life. The attention is focusedmore on Li’l Dice’s rise to power which isunflinchingly portrayed as he literally killshis way to the top from a very young ageof around nine or ten. His recruitment ofgangsters involves testing children’s abilityto kill other people (children if necessaryin one testing scene in which a kid underLi’l Dice’s wing has to choose betweentwo children which to kill). Despite thesemoments of uncomfortable tension, the filmis never less than gripping, entertaining andis hard to take your eyes of with its strikingvisuals, lavish cinematography and frenziedinventive editing. The performances are allfirst rate and add to the realism of the filmas many of the actors were non professionalswho were inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro’sslums. Dialogue was also improvised to addauthenticity to the proceedings.City of God is strongly reminiscent ofMartin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, with its useof voiceover narration from the film’scharacter Rocket and the storyline whichfollows in the same style as Goodfellas withaction taking place over three decades.There is also an underline of dark humour,again reminiscent of Goodfellas. Thecharacter of Li’l Dice is also comparable toGoodfellas’ Tommy played by Joe Pesci. Theperformance by Douglas Silva (Li’l Dice) isjust as good, if anything, more dangerousthan Joe Pesci’s in portraying the scary,menacing unpredictability of someonefuelled only by violence.Director Fernando Meirelles (TheConstant Gardner) has created a trulyexhilarating adrenaline rush of a film, fullof hyperkinetic action, a lightning fast paceand a riveting storyline. The film is a veryoriginal take on the gangster movie andfeels fresh despite previous gangster movieclassics such as Goodfellas, The Godfatherand Scarface. The realism and authenticityof the film’s visuals, performances andimportant messages about the state of lifeand the only way for children to survive inRio de Janeiro’s slums is resorting to crimeand violence makes City of God stand alonefrom the rest.The extras for the DVD aredisappointingly sparse, totalling withjust one documentary highlighting crimeculture in Brazil’s capital city. Apparentreports of a dangerous and difficult shootfor the director within the slums would havemade an interesting commentary or behindthe scenes documentary.Mark Varleythat we should be seeing the film as it wasintended. If you are at all annoyed by thisturn of events, write to Momentum, tellthem that you want to see Grindhouse in itsfull, uncut form. Other than that, rumoursare circulating that there might be a quickRegion 1 DVD release of the full feature,possibly by the end of the summer. Thechoice is yours.Ian DaviesWhen it was released in Americamany moviegoers weredisappointed with Bridge toTerabithia, largely due to misleading trailersthat make it appear that the film is anotherfilm like Narnia about children discoveringa real magical kingdom. The film actuallyhas considerably more to offer than Narniaor other similar films, in that it is actually avery realistic account of how two kids dealwith very real issues such as young love andcompanionship, bullying and loss. Producedby Walden Media who have previously madefilms like Charlotte’s Web and of courseNarnia, this film is definitely a rewardingexperience in many ways.The film’s protagonists are Jesse Aarons(Josh Hutcherson) and Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb), two kids who are prettymuch outcasts at school. Jesse is a poorfarmer kid with a talent as an artist andLeslie is a well-off city girl with a giftedimagination. Despite being very differentthe two fast become friends. Leslie comesup with the idea of creating a place justfor them that no one else will know about,and this leads them to wander into thewoods where they find an old disused treehouse, and a tree so high that they view allthe land around for miles. Together theycreate the magical land of Terabithia, animaginary world in the woods that only theycan experience, and where they must facenumerous threats from the mystic creatures.And the only way there is a rope swing overa stream. Over time they live both their livesin the real world and their imaginary livesin Terabithia, gradually rebuilding the treehouse, creating somewhere that is trulytheirs. It isn’t long before they are usingideas from their fantasy world to deal withreal life problems such as the school bullyJanice Avery (Lauren Clinton), who actuallyturns out to be as much a victim as those shepicks on. Things are going well for Jesse andLeslie until one day when he is invited on aday trip with his favourite teacher (ZooeyDeschanel), leaving Leslie alone to go overto Terabithia, leading to a tragedy that willchange everything. Jesse’s grief and guilt fornot being there for her drives him to despairas his life comes crashing down around him.When his sister May Belle (Bailee Madison)wants to go to his magical world he is at firsthostile towards her but he sees a chance atredemption and builds the titular bridge sothat she can see it for herself.First off I will make it clear that Bridgeto Terabithia is not The Chronicles of Narnia.That film saw a group of kids discoveringa real magical world, but here the magicalkingdom is entirely imaginary, and a terrificrepresentation of the ability of a child toimagine beyond what is real and create awhole new world. Even though we do seethe magical kingdom of Terabithia as seenthrough the eyes of the young characters,and the visual effects are pretty good, it isn’tsimply for the sake of visual spectacle, it’spurpose instead being to show the creativityand talent of the two protagonists, and alsohow they deal with a world in which theyseem out of place. In addition, it shows howthey learn new ways and attain the courageto deal with real life problems, with theirreal lives being what the film is really about.Outside of Terabithia they have to deal witheveryday problems but all those disappearin their imaginations. All this is done in avery convincing manner thanks to a wellwrittenscript, brilliant direction by familyentertainment veteran Gabor Csupo (ofRugrats fame) and brilliant acting from theentire young cast, with Hutcherson, Robband Madison all standing out by a mile. Thegrown-up actors generally fail to stand outamongst all the talented kids, with RobertPatrick as Jesse’s father seeming particularlyunderused, but the highlight is the alwaysdelightful Zooey Deschanel.Overall, Bridge to Terabithia is anextremely well executed family movie that isvisually spectacular but never at the cost ofbeing a heart-warming, moving, meaningful,and sometimes quite said film. It is also asuperb example of why Walden Media arethe masters when it comes to producinghigh quality family entertainment. I highlyrecommend this film as it is an extremelyrewarding viewing experience.Robert MannThanks forreading this year,enjoy the Summerblockbusters,and see you inSeptember!Ian - Film Editor

14 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007MusicArctic Monkeys - Not just a flash in the panArcticMonkeys -FavouriteWorst NightmareAlittle over a year on, the NorthernFoursome have released the followto their critically acclaimed debutWhatever People Say I Am, That’s WhatI’m Not. New bassist in tow, Alex Turneret al have done the unthinkable and haveproduced an album that matches, punch forpunch, the quality of their first.After a relentless year of touring and anEP to boot, it is surprising that they have hadthe time to somehow squeeze in an albumso meticulous in construction. Displaying amuch more mature sound, both in style andcontent, it is evident the Sheffield boys havegrown up a lot over the past twelve months.Gone are bashings of chav culture and inare the more autobiographical musingsof a band that have experienced life at thevery top.However, that’s not to say they have losttheir sense of fun or the ability to pull peopleonto the dancefloor, first single ‘Brianstorm’being perfect proof of this. Everything onthe album feels slightly more polished andthought through, and although some fansmay see this as the band losing their rawedge, it is testament to how much they havelearnt over a relatively short period of time.Favourite Worst Nightmare is a veritablesmorgasbord of indie hits, with tracks suchas ‘This House is a Circus’ and ‘FluorescentAdolescent’ sure to instigate dancefloorhysteria in the future, whilst ‘Do Me aFavour’ and ‘505’ demonstrate a more subtleand understated side to the album. Thoughperhaps not as instantly accessible as theirfirst offering, the album does warrantrepeated listenings, each one revealing alittle more than the last.With Sheffield bands seemingly ten-apennythese days, it would have been alltoo easy for the Arctic Monkeys to slip intomediocrity and disappear under the radar.However, they have proved that they arenot merely a flash in the proverbial pan,and have shown bands such as Razorlighthow to properly produce a second album.With the superbly executed Favourite WorstNightmare, the Arctic Monkeys have boldlyconceived one of the defining albums of thenew era of Britpop.Chris ThomsonKings ofLeon -Because ofthe TimesThe four-piece from Tennesseehave set up a perfect backdrop totheir UK summer tour with theirthird offering, Because of the Times. Aftera magnificent follow-up to their debutYouth and Young Manhood, it was alwaysgoing be difficult to produce a third albumwhich rivalled the brilliance of the firsttwo.Whilst the first two albums followedsimilar veins in terms of style andsubstance, this new album seems to hailin a new era of the KoL brand, and it’s notto everyone’s taste. Much like the Strokes’disastrous third album, many fans havedubbed this a new ‘mature’ KoL sound,and with the first track an epic sevenminute monster entitled ‘Knocked Up’,this certainly seems to be the case.Don’t be mistaken, the Kings of old arestill hiding in there somewhere – CalebFollowill’s voice still has it’s uniquelyraw, strained edge, the riffs and melodiesare still as catchy, and the sense of fun isstill there. But the boys have grown up,and so have their talents as musicians.Technically, the album is far more complexthan the previous two; thumping beatsand pulsating, distorted bass lines featurethroughout the album – particularly in‘My Party’ and ‘Mcfearless’.This album won’t immediately grabyou. Give it a week. Two weeks. As longas it takes – but eventually it will grow onyou. As a certain fictional barman oncesaid: “Change ain’t lookin’ for friends.Change calls the tune we dance to” – andI’m dancing.Edward ‘Coach’RogersKings of Leon - A Royal OfferingPorcupineTree -Fear of a BlankPlanetThis is not going to be a track-by trackreview. This album deserves anddemands something more. Walls ofintricate sound carried by surging urgencycrafted from the orgasms of angels willcreep into every corner of your mind withinseconds of this record’s spin.There is a frantic yet still beautiful lyricaldelivery in place of Wilson’s trademarksoothing vocals. Instantly recognisableas Porcupine Tree, the sound of easterninfluencedguitar licks encompassedby wailing atmospherics and ambientsoundscapes is music to write to, to feelinspired to, to scream to, to meditate to,to toke to, to plot murder to. Is this musicas it never was, yet perhaps, should alwayshave been?Few singers can claim to match thegushing-from-the-heart pleading andpreaching of Wilson, who leaves us withthe conviction that he is truly singing forhis life. The sound on FOABP slinks backfour albums to the more Floyd-influenced(effortlessly deserving in comparison)sounds that were ripped into the millenniumby a more band-orientated sound. Withtrack ‘Anesthetize’ weighing in at 17.42minutes, this is a record for those who canlook beyond 3 minutes of the safe music thatpromises not to encourage anything new toignite in your heart, and delve into the coolfreshness of Porcupine Tree’s secret art.This is not the raping of the senses thatfalls clumsily from the instruments of somany fleeting bands that lurk around everycorner of the current music world. This is anintelligent and subtle take over. Prepare tobe seduced by Porcupine Tree…yet again.Mike. E. Sheppard.Maximo Park - OurEarthly PleasuresProbably one of the most underratedbands of the moment, Maximo Parkfollow up their critically-acclaimeddebut album A Certain Trigger with this, OurEarthly Pleasures. Overshadowed by similarsounding bands such as The Futureheadsand Franz Ferdinand, Maximo Park don’tseem to have commanded their fair shareof media attention despite being nominatedfor the Mercury Music Prize.The problem is that Maximo Park seemto have emerged in the aftermath of theart-rock fad which at the moment seemsto have recoiled having experienced asomewhat saturated market. This has madeit a challenge to establish a unique identityto help them stand out from the crowd.Hopefully Our Earthly Pleasures shouldsee this change with a veritable plethora ofradio-friendly catchy tunes sure to garnermainstream attention.Leading the charge back into radio-landis the single ‘Our Velocity’, an energy-packedriot of a track which charted at number 9.‘Our Velocity’ is representative of abouthalf the album, namely the half that is whatcould only be described as a spring-loadedsing-along rock-athon. The other half is abit more country sounding – think an uptempocatchier version of Idlewild (of whichthe second single from the album, ‘BooksFrom Boxes’, is a good example). There arefantastic tunes to be found on this albumsuch as the beautiful piano-laden ‘YourUrge’ which retains an upbeat feeling, butblends it with a sprinkling of melancholy.If you enjoyed A Certain Trigger, youcertainly shan’t be disappointed by this –Maximo Park have kept true to their sound,producing another energetic offering butwith refined lyrics and an emotional aspectto every track lending depth to the album.Ross ButlerRhythms DelMundo, Cuba.Contempory artists have joinedup with the Buena Vista SocialClub, a band made up of mainlyoctogenarian Cuban musicians in orderto create an album for climate changeawareness. What this means in practiceis modern tunes that we’re all familiarwith, getting put to a Cuban beat, as wellas classic songs translated into Spanish,all wrapped up in an environmentallyfriendly package.Strange as it may seem, but the ArcticMonkeys do in fact translate surprisinglywell when put to a Cuban beat, withRhythm Del Mundo’s version of ‘DancingShoes’. Jack Johnson’s ‘Better Together’however doesn’t fair so well, but therest of the album more than makes upfor it. There’s a stirring Spanish versionof ‘Killing Me Softly’ as well as U2’s ‘IStill Haven’t Found What I’m LookingFor’. Other modern classics, such asRadiohead’s ‘High and Dry’ get the Cubantreatment, as well as Franz Ferdinand’s‘Matinee’.Other tracks include songs witha climate change message, such as‘Fragilidad’, sung in Spanish and outliningthe fate the world if climate changecontinues. A highlight for any Buena Vistafan is a version of ‘As Time Goes By’ sunghere by the late, great Ibrahim Ferrer, afounding member of the band. Whetherit’s hearing some of your favourite songsdone a bit differently, or you love Latinobeats, Rhythms Del Mundo is somethingvery appealing and a little bit different.Emma DoddCoachella andRage Against theMachine - £700well spent?For the majority of this decade,a promotions company calledGoldenvoice have been hosting whatthey feel is the American Glastonbury inthe California desert, a little festival namedCoachella. This year, they extended it tothree days, after the success of the previousyears. Not only that, they convinced one ofthe greatest bands of our generation, RageAgainst the Machine, to reunite for whatwas meant to be a one off gig. I never gotto see them back in their heyday, thanksto partially over-zealous parents unwillingto take me to one of those horrible rockconcerts (my first gig was Coldplay in theManchester Apollo back in 2000 for godssake). Naturally, this seemed like the perfectopportunity to unite a much neededholiday, my annual festival trip, and a oncein a lifetime opportunity into one crazy sixday trip. So, here’s a few tips and thoughtsabout the American festival scene.1) If you are going over purely forCoachella, DO NOT fly to LA. If you’refeeling brave enough, rent a car. But gettingto and from LA to Indio (where the festivalis held) can be more hassle than it’s worththanks to a horrendously run Greyhoundservice. Palm Springs is a much closerairport, and should not be too hard to getto and from.2) Ensure that any taxi services arerunning the meter, you can get ripped offquite easily.3) Take plenty of sunscreen, hats andloose clothing. It was 100 degree Fahrenheitweather all weekend, which seems likean oven to those of us used to the Welshclimate!4) Queues can be ridiculously long,so ensure you have enough water for thequeue, you can only take one sealed bottleof water in with you, and you will NOT beallowed re-admittance to the arena if youcome back to the campsite.Despite all this, the festival was prettywell run. The campsite was gorgeous, withtoilets that were actually a pleasure to useand plenty of showers! There was plentyto do without having to resort to tattyfestival shops or £5 a pop Oxygen tubes(I can’t be the only one sick of those).Coachella is a chance to see some prettyincredible art on display, a lot of whichtruly comes alive at night, such as hugetesla coils and light displays. The arenaitself was well contained, and each tentwas within quick walking distance fromeach other (a godsend, as I had to runfrom Arcade Fire to LCD Soundsystem toensure a decent spot). The atmosphere wasridiculously friendly, without the need toresort to alcohol, which was too expensiveand rubbish to drink regardless. And allof it was set in one of the most beautifulenvironments I’ve ever seen a festival heldin, every day affording a wonderful view.Overall, if the lineup is as good as it wasthis year (http://www.coachella.com to seewho was playing this year), I may well payanother visit.However, I was only truly there forone band. And boy was it worth it. I’venever experienced a more electric crowd,brimming with anticipation before I sawthese guys. Opening with Testify, the crowdliterally exploded, with no end to the moshpit in sight. Zack, looking a bit aged in allfairness, looked as though he was havingthe time of his life. They blasted throughclassics such as Guerilla Radio, Bulls onParade, Bombtrack, Wake Up (whichafforded Zack a moment to reflect on theBush administration) and closed with thealways incendiary Killing in the Name Of.Coupled with the atmosphere, the beautifulsetting, and the feeling that we were part ofone incredible night, it easily added up tothe most amazing hour of music I have everwitnessed. Welcome back Rage, we havemissed you.Ian Davies

Seren - End of Year Issue 200715Bangor University’s Star PublicationSERENFestival Guide 2007McFly - What is the one on the right doing?Caught Live:McFly @Venue Cymru,Llandudno23/04/07On 23 rd of April, chart-topping bandMcFly brought their ‘Up Close andPersonal’ Tour to Venue Cymru inLlandudno. As a big fan, I was eager to go,but it took the offer of four free front-rowtickets to convince three of my friends toaccompany me.As support acts go, it didn’t sound verypromising. Lil’ Chris (aka Chris Hardmanof ‘Rock School’ fame) isn’t someone anyof us would normally listen to, but he wassurprisingly entertaining, even though itwas slightly disturbing to hear someone whois barely legal themselves asking 14 year-oldsif they are ‘Gettin’ Enough’.McFly were on top form. They openedwith their latest single, ‘Friday Night’ andwent straight into a number of songs fromtheir most recent Motion In The Oceanalbum, including the #1 hits ‘Please Please’and ‘Star Girl’. From our seats (which werepractically ON the stage), it was clear that allfour boys were really enjoying themselves,and this came across in their banter betweensongs, as they spent most of the timewinding each other up and mocking eachother for making mistakes during songs.Although occasionally their comments wereslightly inappropriate considering therewere younger children in the audience, us 20-year-olds were very amused. They roundedoff a great set with new single ‘Transylvania’(out now), and old favourite, ‘Five ColoursIn Her Hair’. Surprisingly, the highlight ofthe evening was Lil’ Chris joining them onstage to perform a cover of ‘Fight For YourRight’.Despite their previous two tours bothtaking place in Arena venues, the energy inthe rather tiny Venue Cymru was brilliant.All in all, a bloody fantastic evening. Ithink my friends may have been converted.Result!Loran PerkinsAdieu!Well that’s it. This is my last evermusic page as I shall be leavingthis summer hopefully to go onto bigger and better things. A big thank youto everyone who has contributed over thepast year, without you it would not have beenpossible. Well that’s a lie, it would have beenbut I would have had a lot more work to do.We haven’t always seen eye to eye, you andI. Although a lot of you didn’t like my LilyAllen review and my grasp of Renaissancecomposers apparently leaves a lot to bedesired, I feel I have done an adequate job inkeeping you up to date with the music scenein Bangor, as well as bringing you reviewsof the latest albums. I shall be leaving yourmusical needs in the capable hands of yournew Music Editor, Miss Emma Dixon. She’salright I guess.Chris ThomsonFestivalSurvivalGuideAs students I’m sure many of you areregular festival-goers and don’t givea second thought to the dos anddon’ts of festival survival. However, it isvery important that you go fully prepared,especially for those festival virgins amongyou. There is nothing worse than gettingyourself all geared up and excited just torealise when you get there that you haveforgotten a load of vital kit. Fortunately,help is at hand with the Seren FestivalGuide.Presumably you have booked your ticketsfor your festival/s of choice, but what aboutactually getting there? If you are travellingby car then make sure you have the relativecar parking permits as without them youcould be refused entry. An excellent wayof getting to and from the festival is byorganised coach travel. Check with NationalExpress coaches to see if there is one fromyour hometown.If possible take as much food and drinkwith you as you can to avoid paying thefestival prices. You can pay up to a coupleof quid just for a bottle of water andyou’re looking at least a fiver for any sortof food. The food in general is fairly goodquality, ranging from burritos to Yorkshirepuddings. However, be warned, glass bottlesare not permitted at any time and will beconfiscated.It’s amazing how many immaculatelydressed girls you see at festivals with perfecthair and make-up. So what is their secret?Gas-powered hair straighteners are theanswer for those who can’t live withouttheir GHDs, and apply make-up sparinglyas you’re likely to get more than a littlesweaty. You can always nip back to thecampsite if necessary. Rolling your clothesrather than folding them is also a great wayto get that straight off the hanger look. Andmost importantly, be prepared! Pack yoursuncream as well as your wellies and anorakas we all know how unpredictable the Britishweather can be.Location. Location. Location. Where youpitch your tent is more important than youthink. If you like a good night’s sleep thendo not camp next to the dance tent, and tryand avoid camping at the bottom of a hill,as you will end up sleeping in a puddle.Make friends with your neighbours. Ifyou get on well with them then it can reallyenhance your weekend. However, get offon the wrong foot and expect a weekendof hostility.Finally, festival toilets are simply horrific.Unfortunately there is nothing you can doabout it so simply grin and bear it. Justmake sure you have plenty of loo roll.Follow these simple tips and you can’t gowrong. Seren wishes you all a happy festivalexperience!Emma Dixon and ChrisThomsonGlastonburyFriday 22 nd – Sunday 24 th JuneArctic MonkeysKasabianBjorkThe KillersShirley BasseyThe WhoKaiser ChiefsBabyshamblesArcade FireChemical BrothersHot ChipThe FratellisLily AllenV FestivalSaturday 18 th – Sunday 19 th AugustThe KillersKasabianFoo FightersSnow PatrolPinkKanye WestManic Street PreachersLily AllenMikaBasement JaxxAmy WinehouseThe FrayJarvis CockerDizzee RascalT in the parkFriday 6 th – Sunday 8 th JulyArctic MonkeysBloc PartyThe KillersRazorlightJames MorrisonSnow PatrolScissor SistersKings of LeonAvril LavigneThe KooksMy Chemical RomanceQueens of the Stone AgeSinead O’ConnorBrian WilsonKasabianWakestockFriday 20 th –Saturday 21 st JulyIsle of WightFriday 8 th –Sunday 10 th JuneCarling Weekend: Reading and LeedsFriday 24 th – Sunday 27 th AugustRazorlightKings of LeonInterpolRed Hot Chili PeppersArcade FireBloc PartyFall Out BoySmashing PumpkinsNine Inch NailsThe ViewKlaxonsCSSJamie TDownloadMuseThe Rolling StonesSnow PatrolFriday 8 th – Sunday 10 th JuneMy Chemical RomanceVelvet RevolverWolfmotherLinkin ParkMarilyn MansonSlayerIron MaidenEvanescenseStone SourKornMotley CruePorcupine TreeDream TheatreReel Big FishThe BraveryDirty Pretty ThingsGet Cape. Wear Cape. FlyFestival Internacionalde BenicassimThursday 19 th –Sunday 22 nd JulyArctic MonkeysMuseHuman LeagueCreamfieldsSaturday 25 th AugustChemical BrothersGroove ArmadaLCD Soundsystem

16 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007Seren’s Radio TimesStormstudio@stormfm.comForecastBangor’s Student Sound 87.7FMMONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY7am: Storm In A Tea Cup- Storm’s morning mainstream mix,with various hosts.9am: Bangor’s Student Sound - Non-stop music11am: Storm BitesVarying presenters with a mid-morning mix of music,including ‘The Votes’ on Mondays & Thursdays, and Ryan & Jack on Tuesdays.1pm: The S.U. ShowAll the latest news, chat & happenings from yourStudents’ Union, hosted daily by various members of the Union’s Executive Committee.Bangor’s StudentSoundNon-stop music12pm:TheSaturdaySessions7am: SundaySessions9am: Sunday Servicewith theChristian Union12pm: The SundayRoastmainstream music& chat.2pm:2pm: Music ThroughThe AgeswithJon Gauaghan4pm: HomewardBound...The PJ Showwith Peter & Jack2pm: ConnectionsFriday Jones&Sam Slater4pm: HomewardBound...2pm: The Big Mix UpClaire Moor-Smith&Valentina D’erico4pm: HomewardBound...Jack Jack & Isa Wilson2pm: Welsh ShowwithHuw Parry4pm: HomewardBound...Huw & Tomhosts,Huw Parry&Tom Lansley2pm: PlektrumwithMartyn & Rob4pm: HomewardBound...Spencer’s TrainingShow2pm: The Back PagesSaturday sports showwithSpencer George,Alex LidellandTom Lindsay(the man who loves theladies!)Claire Stapleton, JackJack & The Other One4pm: The ClassicalShowPete & Jenwith aclassicalmix.6pm: The TimeTunnel - Warm-upfor Time/Amser, withSpencer, Alex & Tom.8pm: The ForumJohn Jackson hoststhe debating panelshow,with ‘Your Forum’.6pm: The Text SessionYour txt requests withDJPJ, Claire Stapleton& Kayleigh Evans,withthe Facebook groupriddle of the week.8pm: AlternateUnsigned/unknownLocal/National/International Bands.6pm: Welsh RockHuw Parry7pm: Society SlotA different society eachweek.8pm:6pm: SomethingBorrowed, SomethingBlue - Eclectic mix of oldand brand spanking new.7pm: UltrasoundNew, classic & obscureIndie with Storm’s headof music, Sean Clement.6pm: Sioe LauraLaura Parry7pm: The Sound of theAUA different club eachweek.8pm: Solid Gold SoulBest in northern Motown& funky soul,with Will Geldart.7pm: The MotelwithAlex Thomas& Sarah Clinton6pm: The SundayForum - Storm’s newsteam with political chat.7pm:The HelpdeskatThe MotelwithAlex Thomas& Sarah Clinton.9pm:9pm: Café AmericanaTrash DJ Holly withalternate music fromacross the pond.Pre-Trash warm-up withTom Giddings& Keira Ring.9pm: The Jazz ShowwithJack Baker9pm: No Added Sugar9pm: LIVE Lounge& Something A BitDifferent- Live bandsin-studio9pm: Sin RocGymraeg - mainstreammusic & entertainment10pm:WelshBoyRap ShowwithMike Walsh& hisprotegéPimpasaurus10pm:10pm: Gary BrownDrum ‘n’ bass10pm: TheUndergroundColonel Kirkham’sLIVEdance mix.David Pallant & JackGreen (Mancunians &music) with ‘The WeirdWeekly’ & a film quiz.10pm: Ed and BobShowNon-stop music10pm: The Dead AirShow!?????????????11pm: My Hood11pm: The Parry Show11pm: The Sounds ofGraycoming soon...Interested in radio? Want to get involved?Join the Storm FM team and get your voice heard.Or not!! It’s not just presenting - you could work in marketing,news, production, I.T. and much more.Contact Storm today...E-mail - studio@stormfm.comPhone - 01248 38 8048 (or 8048 internally)Txt - storm + msg to 60300Compiled by John Jackson

PUZZLEs,osers &roblemsCryptic FootballUsing thecryptic cluesgiven below,work out thenames ofthe Britishfootball teamnames...E.g. “Latest fort merged”= Newcastle United1. Glass mansion?2. Wild dogs?3. Steel city day?4. Cattle cars together?5. Heavy-weight toilet?6. Organ of small lake?7. What children might sayafter parent’s illness?8. Royal leisure areaguardians?9. Always weight?10. Sound of a prison clock?11. Smashes things up?12. Dirty water?13. Where Wombles metMcEnroe?14. Cotton factory barrier?15. Professor of rollers?16. Tardy on the Far East?17. Needed to live?18. Bond parked outsideSpanish mansion?19. Male meadow?20. Naked light of candle?Compiled by John JacksonEXPOSEitiveWordokulast issue:-“EASTER-DAY”answersIMAGEinativeE S A E T R A Y DE Y D S A A T E RR A T E D Y S E AS E Y A E D R A TA T R Y E A D S ED A E R S T Y A EY D S A R E E T AA R A T Y E E D ST E E D A S A R YIMAGEinativeWhat’s Up Doc?this issue:-Seren - End of Year Issue 2007Who are the famousdoctors, andwhich film or TVprogramme are theyfrom?9 4 7 8 5 3 1 6 28 3 1 2 6 4 7 5 95 2 6 7 1 9 4 3 86 5 4 9 8 1 3 2 73 8 2 5 7 6 9 4 17 1 9 3 4 2 6 8 51 7 3 4 2 8 5 9 64 6 8 1 9 5 2 7 32 9 5 6 3 7 8 1 4Sudoku - Just for Fun...The prize puzzle this issue is the End-Of-Year Wordoku (below).FACTiveGeneralKnowledgeinQUIZitive1. Which coloured ball is closest to thetriangle of reds at the start of a game ofsnooker?2. What is the name of Emily Bishop’scurrent lodger in Coronation Street?3. What is the title of Star Wars: EpisodeII?4. What were the first names of theEverly Brothers?5. How many players are there in acricket team?6. How many and which colours arefound on the Welsh flag?7. By which process to plants convertlight into energy?8. Which monkey is the loudest landanimal?9. What is archontology the study of?10. Which African country only sharesland borders with Western Sahara andAlgeria?11. Which three nations won the footballWorld Cup in the 1990s?12. Which Asian country is borderedby China to its north, and Laos andCambodia to its west?13. Which fully grown adult cat weighsmore on average, the cheetah or the blackpanther?14. Who was the first actor to portray thecharacter of the Doctor in Doctor Whoon TV?15. How many eyes does a spider have?16. What are the 3 ‘earth’ signs of thezodiac?17. Which metal is used to galvanisesteel?18. What name is given to ameteorological front that is neithersignificantly cold nor warm?19. What gift was given on the 7th dayof Christmas, according to the famoussong?20. What are the cheapest and the mostexpensive properties in standard LondonMonopoly?FACTiveFACTive17E-mail your answer to editor@seren.bangor.ac.uk or cut it out andhand it in at the Students’ Union reception, marked “Seren”. Don’tforget to put your name, tel no. and Uni e-mail address with yourcompleted entry! Winners will be selected at random from the correctentries and fantabulous prizes will be awarded by 08/06/07.1The holes under the chocolateand caramel layer on a TWIX areplaced in the cookie-biscuit to allowthe chocolate to contract withoutcracking, and also to preventexpansion of the cookie duringbaking.The purpose of life is to produce the highest andmost comprehensive indivuality; therefore, everystate of life which is not progressive is dead orretrograde...Morocco; 11. France, Brazil and West Germany;12. Vietnam; 13. Black Panther; 14. WilliamHartnell; 15. 8 - one at the top of each leg;16. Taurus, Virgo & Capricorn; 17. Zinc; 18.Occluded front; 19. Seven swans-a-swimming;20. Old Kent Road & Mayfair.Wordoku“END-OF-YEAR”63 2 7 92 6 9 84 8 72 6 99 4 57 3 8 66 1 2 31Same rules as number Sudoku, but the letters from“END OF YEAR” are in place of the numbers 1 to 9.Note though that there are 2 ‘E’s !!!The “Ig-Nobel Prizes” are aparody of the Nobel Prizesthat are awarded annually.In 2000, the “Ig-Nobel Prize forPublic Health” was awardedto 3 doctors from the GlasgowWestern Infirmary for a casereport they had prepared on“wounds sustained to the buttocksby collapsing toilets”!Cryptic Football:1. Crystal Palace; 2. Wolves; 3. SheffieldWednesday; 4. Oxford United; 5. Luton; 6.Liverpool; 7. Motherwell; 8. Queens ParkRangers (QPR); 9. Everton; 10. Celtic; 11.Wrexham; 12. Blackpool; 13. Wimbledon; 14.Millwall; 15. Doncaster; 16. Leyton Orient; 17.Ayr or Hearts; 18. Aston Villa; 19. Mansfield; 20.Berwick.inQUIZitive:1. Pink; 2. Norris Cole; 3. Attack of the Clones;4. Don & Phil; 5. 11; 6. 4 - White, Green, Red &Black (outline of the dragon); 7. Photosynthesis;8. Howler monkey; 9. Study of Important Officesof State (E.g. monarch/bishop/dictator); 10.Just for fun...SudokuE O Y A EEOA E NR NO Y E E DN DF R OARO E E A F23“Toadfish” is not just thenickname of Jarrod Rebecchiin the Australian soap operaNeighbours!They are ray-finned fishes(whose colourings resemblethat of toads), found on themud-bottoms of coastal watersall around the world. Severalspecies are also venomous.IMAGEinative - Mr Men?:1. Mr Funny; 2. Mr Rush; 3. Mr Bump; 4. MrGrumpy; 5. Mr Noisy; 6. Mr Happy; 7. Mr Small;8. Mr Tickle; 9. Mr Nosy; 10. Mr Forgetful; 11.Mr Messy; 12. Mr Impossible; 13. Mr Greedy;14. Mr Nonsense; 15. Mr Strong.IMAGEinative - What’s Up Doc?:1. Dr Bones McCoy - Star Trek; 2. Dr Teeth - TheMuppet Show; 3. Dr Who (Colin Baker); 4. DrQuincy ME; 5. Dr Karl Kennedy - Neighbours;6. Dr Chris Steele - This Morning; 7. Dr SamBeckett - Quantum Leap; 8. Dr David BruceBanner - Incredible Hulk; 9. Dr Octopus -Spiderman/Marvel Comics; 10. Dr Evil - AustinPowers.

18 Seren - End of Year Issue 2007Mountaineers tackleScottish highlandssupermarket, all of which areobviously essential for a weekaway. After a 40 minute walkthrough a neighbouring golfcourse, all their troubles weresolved however, and their hikefor necessities certainly provedto be quite fitting considering thenature of the club. After a goodnight’s sleep, the team was fullyprepared for their first climb ofthe week. It was tobe the relatively lowpeak of Faragorn,that boasted quite animpressive distance and bogjumpingto boost. The wildlifewas also rather impressive inthe form of vast herds of deerand big yellow toad. The nextday held host to a far moregruelling challenge, taking on thefirst two Munros (a mountaincharacterized by a) being inScotland, and b) being at least3000 feet and c) having a certainamount of drop-off between it and the nextone (i.e they must be quite distinct from oneanother as hills). The snow on the mountainsseemed to be the most pleasurable (if notdistracting) aspect of the hike, atpoints becoming meters deep. Bythe time they reached the top ofBenn Lawers the sun was shiningand the clouds were well belowthem. The beautiful scenery wasof course reason for celebration,Jack Peatand how better to celebrate at the Adam Pearcetop of a mountainthen build an Iglooand a snow-hole, aswell as taking the timeto slide around thepeak before startingthe decent.The team tookWednesday as time to recuperateand explore the lower landsof the highlands. After a briefwalk through the nearby forest,they visited Aberfeldy World ofWhisky, where is distilled thefamous Dawer’s Whisky. After aThe Mountain Walking Club recentlyleft the Welsh valleys behind anddeparted for the Scottish highlandsand beautifully scenery of Aberfeldy. Thetown is situated at a bend of the mightyRiver Tay (the UK’s largest) and 5km downstream from Loch Tay. “Seventeen membersof the club, all of whom share a commonlove for walks and mountains, endlesshorizons of adventure and exploration; notto mention dedicated photo-snap shootersof moments that dominate the memory foryears, went on a trip to Aberfeldy, Scotlanda couple of weeks ago. Walking somemysteriously wild, beautifully spread andgenerously offered to the world ranges andpeaks was the objective.”After an eventful journey to the northernlocation, managing to crash both thevehicles into each other, they arrived attheir destination to discover a picturesquebunkhouse, with all they could ever wishfor apart from any sign of a pub, bank, orAfter a full year of domestic sportvarious Bangor teams decided tocap it off by entering tournamentsin the heartland of sunny Europe. Joined byuniversities from around the UK, competingin a vast amount of different sports, theteams headed to tournaments in Calella(Spain) and Rimini (Italy).Festival Italia (Rimini) is located on thenorth east coast of Italy, and this year it heldhost to both the Women’s Rugby team andthe Ultimate Frisbee team as well as 1500other excitable students. The festival recentlyadded Ultimate Frisbee to its events and thisprovided a unique chance for the up- andcomingBangor team to ‘strut their stuff’on foreign soil. Its attractions were obviousfrom the start, with the frisbee tournamentbeing hosted on the warm Italian beach withthe soft sounds of the Adriatic Sea lapping atmiles of beautiful golden coast in the gentlespring breeze. “Rimini-bathed in glorioussunshine was a massive success withUltimate Frisbee hogging the limelight”(as quoted in the recent newspaper). Asa relatively new sport, it also allowed theteam to play universities from around thecountry. The Women’s Rugby team joinedthe Frisbee team, after having a successfultournament in Rimini in 2006, they decidedto make it a traditional getaway for the team.The festival, that took place between the9 th to the 15 th April, maintain that it’s thebest place to go for the beach, best sportsvenues, best clubs and bars and the bestreps and officials. On arrival to the resortthe clubs are welcomed by their reps, andhave the first night to relax, drink, and dressaudaciously for their first night’s fun. Thenext morning the clubs participate in theirfirst day of sport, enjoying competitionfrom clubs from around the UK that theywould not necessarily compete againstin their domestic BUSA league. After theday’s events are over, buses are on hand totransfer students to Altro Mondo Studiosnightclub, home to Europe’s largest lasershow. The next day sees all the finals playedout, and then, inevitably, back to the task ofdrinking, socialising and soaking the Italiannightlife up to the max. All that is then left isthe gruelling coach ride home, and the weekdraws to a conclusion, where the students,(and often their memories) depart sunnyItaly for colder climates.Calella played host to the other threeteams departing for tour. The Men’s RugbyUnion, Netball and the Dance team allheaded to the south east coast of Spain toenjoy the sizzling hot weather. Described as“an extension of the events that were packedinto your introduction to student life,” it isset in the fantastic beach resort of Calella(near Barcelona), with each night lined withentertainment and specialist DJs that setthe tone for CalellaFest’s unrivalled socialexhilarating tour (made so by the ample freesamplers), the team headed back for a mealat the local pub and pool competitions withthe locals.Two groups went into the peaks onThursday, one of them taking on thechallenging prospect of six peaks, fourof them being Munros. The other groupclimbed the third Munro. After a harddays walking the team took a well earnedrest, before travelling back via Glasgow thenext day.The week (which has become somethingof a tradition within the club) was anobvious success, and the reports from itreally emphasised what a good week it was.Check out the club’s impressivewebsite for all other blogs and news atwww.umwc.org.ukBangor heads Eastreputation. As the students arrive into theresort, they are welcomed with informationpacks, and given the chance to purchasewristbands that entitle them to free entryand drinks in the nightclubs throughout theweek. They are then straight into their firstnight of frivolous audacity. The studentsthen depart to the sports facilities the nextday for the first day’s events, and in similarstyle to the Italian festival, the games arewrapped up with eventual victors thefollowing day (obviously separated by thenight’s social affairs). The lucky winnersof the set tournaments are rewarded witha three course dinner and an exclusive VIPnight. The following day is aside set foreither relaxing with volleyball and footballon the beach in Calella, or taking the shorttrain ride to Barcelona to check out itssights.Both tours have become something of atradition within the participating clubs, andthey certainly play a noteworthy role in theirsocial life. Although clubs are often reluctantto reveal the events of tour, abiding by theage old “whatever goes on tour, stays ontour” motto, the reaction from their weekaway is certainly positive and to them itseems to play a momentous role within theirlives at university and their time within theirsports teams.Jack PeatRugby League roundupStaffordshireUniversity 24-26Bangor UniversityBangor once again played heroicallyto pull off a remarkable win againstStaffordshire. A nightmare start,similar to the one against Manchester inNovember, saw Bangor concede two tries inthe first five minutes. On paper it looked asif the match was already slipping away.However, for Staffordshire, thedanger signs were already appearing.They continuously lost possession due totough Bangor tackling and their own poorhandling under pressure. Aled Williams,playing a superb game on Bangor’s left wing,began the reply by scoring his first try for theclub under the posts, collecting a long passfrom Tom Bradfield after the stand off’spowerful run to race in from 45 metres.In a see-saw game the lead changedhands more than once and, even afterBradfield’s two impressive tries from farout and John Wilkins’s show of strength tosqueeze in the corner, Bangor were behind24-22 early in the second half.A gale force wind made conversionsdifficult, as Staffordshire’s kicker found outin the first half, missing three attempts atgoal. Luckily Jamie Temple had rememberedto bring his kicking boots for Bangor as hesucceeded with three conversions at theother end. Will Varley took Bangor intothe lead, beating the full back on his way tothe line after a determined run from DannyWright had put the centre clear.With twenty-five minutes left atthis point, the game turned into a battle.Staffordshire desperately needed the ballbut when they did have possession they werehit by a ferocious defence, especially fromBangor’s cricket season got off to asuccessful start to the season afterdismissing Liverpool University 2 ndteam for a mere 116 runs. They triumphedby 124 after they notched up an impressive240 all out in their first match of thesummer. They previously lost to Manchesternarrowly, after been bowled out for 183.Liverpool are currently top of the table,after beating both Salford and Huddersfield,both of whom Bangor have to face next.After the team’s comfortable victory overLiverpool, they should be hoping to givea repeat performance in the remainingTom Hughes who threw all of his nineteenstone bulk in midfield. Matt Davies leftthe field concussed after a brave tackle andTemple produced a try-saving tackle in thedying moments, forcing a knock on in theprocess.The final minutes saw both teamslose possession cheaply which pointed outStaffordshire’s desperation but also Bangor’sinexperience when defending a lead.Team Captain James Fleming, close totears at the final whistle, said that he wasproud of everybody’s performance and waslooking forward to the next round.Bangor will only be losing one playernext year: the excellent Joe Smith who hasnever missed a game for the club duringhis three years at the University. With nextyear’s freshers to boost the team further, it’slooking to be another successful season.Bangor versusLoughborough AAfter only being behind 16-12 at halftime, Bangor let Loughborough run awaywith the match in the second half as theyscored five unanswered tries. However thehard determined rugby played by Bangor inthe first half clearly rattled the visitors andthis type of team work will build a definitetitle contending side for next season’s BUSAcompetition. Try scorers for Bangor wereJames Fleming, Tom Bradfield and DannyWright.With only friendlies left to play, theteam look to set up matches against ChesterUniversity, Aberwystryth University, BangorCity and the much anticipated BangorUniversity Rugby Union TeamWill VarleyCricket seasoncommencesmatches that will considerably stregnthentheir league positionThe team who have been in trainingat Normal Site since before Easter, haveManchester and Huddersfield to play away,and will play host to Salford on 13 th May.The team plays at Bangor City cricketground and any support would be welcomedfor a game that would make perfect drinkingconditions.Jack Peat

End of yearreviewAfter many months of competing,the sporting season came to a closefor most of Bangor’s Athletic Unionclubs and sporting teams. After the awardsdinner, Athletic Union President AndrewRedfearn took the time to reflect on theyears events and the progress of the AU andBangor sports.He believes it has been a good year forBangor, especially for smaller clubs, as isreflected by the many awards been takenby our once smaller clubs. This seems tobe a good way forward, and when we’re soisolated here in our part of North Wales, itsnice to see some high class athletes comingout of the network. Tennis have had agood season and we will be entering bothMen’s and Women’s teams into BUSA nextyear. In a time when their facility has beentaken for the Ffriddoedd development, it isnice to have a club carry on regardless, andovercoming adversity and getting on with it.Golf has been resurrected in the past yearsand, led by Matt and Daniel, has gone on tocompete well in BUSA. While their resultsbarely do them justice, they have had the willand drive to succeed and we wish them thebest for the 2007-08 season. BUMS, again,have outdone themselves. Led by Theo theywent to BUSA and brought us back secondplace. Riding have also done well this year,and are able to enter two teams into BUSAnext year, their success is certainly inspiringconsidering the bigger universities that theycompete against. Canoe Polo have showntremendous gusto also, with travellingnot on their sides, the finances a problemand being the underdogs at many of thetournaments they enter could certainly haveheld the club back, however they have showntremendous fighting spirit throughout theiryear and indeed since their foundation,achieving success that will surely be takenthrough to the future years.Jack PeatAfter a year filled with physicalattainment, emerging diversity andcontroversy on and off the field,this years sporting events finally boil downto the AU dinner; where the university takesits place in recognising the personalities andteams that have excelled in their sportingfields. The prestigious event is to manyteams the highlight of the year, where alltheir hard work and effort is rewarded,and an outlook for next year can be cast. Tomany of the sportsmen and women leavingthe University, it also plays host to their finalnight in a team that surely played such apivotal role in their university experience.The awards are unique in that they aren’tspecifically designed to honour the clubsthat have won the most matches. They alsodon’t necessarily outline those who havetallied the most points. Moreover, they aredesigned to credit those who have showncommitment to their sport, outstandingeffort and achieving high levels ofparticipation. To many of the clubs that havespent the year building on their foundations,creating a buoyant team and in many casessignificantly building on their team of old,it is just reward for their outstanding effort.Andrew ‘Frodo’ Redfearn, the Athletic UnionPresident who has spent the last year dealingwith and monitoring all the clubs within theAU, has dealt with both the highs and thelows of the Bangor University sports. Hisjob as the Au President is surely made mucheasier by those clubs who maintain goodclub moral, and those clubs who endeavourto push themselves forward.The first awards of the night weredecided upon by the Colours Committee,who present the Blues awards, designedto recognise the AU members who haveexcelled in their chosen field, playing atthe highest level. The first of the four bluesawards was presented to Archer: ElizabethYork. Last year she won every competitionOn Sunday 29 th April the Athleticsclub held their Crazy SportsDay in aid of the North WestCancer Research Fund Institute, a centreof excellence for molecular cancer studieslocated within the School of BiologicalSciences at the university.It was perfect weather for the event with agreat turn out! Special thanks go to rowing,fencing, sub-Aqua team, women’s rugby,rugby league and Amnesty for providingsuch enthusiastic people to make up theteams!Various events were held throughout theafternoon with fierce competition as eachteam strived to be crowned Crazy SportsDay Champions. The shouting and cheeringfrom each team told the story – everyoneone was having fun, but secretly, all wantedto win! At one point the Athletics team evenmade an informal complaint towards theRowers for fielding the same person twicein the same event. This added to the fun andrivalry between the two teams, with eachteam being great sports!Eventual winners by the margin of onlythree points over the athletics club werethe Rowing team. They were very worthywinners, with each member receiving aprinted mug kindly donated by Blue RoomPromotions (www.blueroompromotions.co.uk). Other prizes donated by local businesseswere also given out for good performance invarious events.Of all the events, welly wanging wasparticularly close, with many tactics beingused to ensure the welly was thrown as far aspossible. Debates within teams were centredaround whether heel first or toe first wouldyield the best results. Even with these heatedSeren - End of Year Issue 2007discussions, some competitors managed tothrow the welly further behind them thanthey did in front, and this was met withmany laughs.The three-legged race was also quitestrategic, although at one point twomembers of the sub-Aqua team seemed toresult to crawling to try and get themselvesover the line. Unfortunately this was to noavail as Amnesty just beat athletics to theline to finish in first, with the dive teameventually bringing up the rear in style.Other events included the traditional eggand spoon race, wheelbarrow races, skippingraces, and many more.But this isn’t the only club with somecrazy facts to its name!Archery for example; apparently inChester you can only shoot a Welsh personwith a bow and arrow inside the city wallsand after midnight. Also, the first hockeypuck ever used was a frozen piece of cowpoo and a ‘face-off’ in hockey was originallycalled a ‘puck-off’.If you hear a rower bellow that he caughta crab, they aren’t talking about marinelife or an undesirable social disease. Whenthe oarblade enters the water at an angle,it can get caught beneath the surface. Theoarblade drives into the stomach, and hasthe potential to toss the rower out of theboat and into the water!For those tennis buffs amongst you,24 tons of succulent Kent strawberriesare ordered for The Championships atWimbledon each year!The origins of the frisbee flying disc arein New Haven Connecticut (USA) wherelong ago, people began tossing and catchingthe pie tins from the Frisbie Pie Company.For those speed demons out there, thecurrent world record for 500m course on awindsurf is 48.70 knots, that’s 56 miles perhour! However, spiking is volleyball’s mostdramatic and offensive manoeuvre, withball speeds reaching about 100 mph. Fasterstill, a badminton shuttle easily travels at112 mph!The flea can jump up to 350 times itsbody length. For a human, that wouldbe equivalent to jumping the length of afootball field! In basketball, dribbling onlybecame a major part of the game aroundthe 1950s as manufacturing improved theball shape. On that note, it is often citedthat rugby balls are oval shaped because thatwas the natural shape of a distended pigs19SportBangor sports teams compete in crazy sports dayin her category, she has been North Waleschampion in both 2005 and 2006 andover the summer she represented NorthWales shooting out of her category. Thesecond went to the Athletics Captain RobSamuel, who has had an excellent season.His performance placed him in the topfive of nearly every race he entered, hiscommitment and drive are second to none.On top of this, he successfully led the largestAthletics team Bangor has sent to BUSA inrecent years and his personal results therewere exceptional, with him being chosento race for the Welsh Universities. The thirdof the Blues awards went to Tom Laws, whospent the year competing in a sport that isrenowned for being non-competitive. Hisexpertise and contribution to the club overthe years has been excellent, organising andtaking extended coaching sessions for themembers. This year he achieved secondplace in his category at BUSA and is onthe UK level 6 sponsored canoe team. Thefinal blues award of the year went to RugbyLeague member Joseph Smith. Josephplayed every competitive game since hisclubs beginning and since arriving here inBangor three years ago he has been a largepart of the team and has done a lot to aidthe clubs progression over the years. He hasbeen selected to play for Scotland, he’s beenselected to play for Great Britain, and he’sscored a try at international level.Preceding the Blues awards were theAU awards, decided upon and awarded byAndrew Redfearn. The first of these to begiven out was the Spirit of the AU award.This is awarded to a club that has shownoutstanding effort and commitment. Thisyear it went to one of our smaller clubs,who have expanded over the recent yearsincreasing their participation dramatically.The Athletics Club have been enteringand achieving good performances inmany events, sending a big contingent toBUSA and achieving impressive results.The Women’s Badminton Team were thenext to receive an award for the Team ofthe Year. The team have trained hard andplayed even harder. They won 5 out of 7BUSA league matches placing themselves atthe top of their group, pushing themselvesthrough to the knockouts. In the knockoutsthey performed well but in the end theyunfortunately lost out at the university finalsin a close match against Sheffield. The Clubof the Year was the subsequent award to begiven. It is awarded to the club that excelsin any of the following areas: recruitmentand retention of members, excellence intraining members, excellence in managingthe clubs activities, excellence in socialsand fundraising and/ or high results in theirrelevant competition. The Fencing Club haveticked nearly every box, their membership isat a high, being one of our smallest clubs inprevious years it now has over 40 members.The training of their members is excellent,with a dedicated coach and skilled members,they’ve been training their new recruits andless experienced members to competitionlevel. Fundraising, with some cheeky salesand hosting competitions, they’ve rakedin the money allowing themselves toupdate much of their old kit and they arenow ready for next year’s intake. The tworemaining awards presented by the AU werethe Sportsman and Sportswomen of theYear. The sportswoman was the first to beawarded, and this year it went to ElizabethYork. Over her years in the AU, she has goneover and above what is expected of her,taking on extra jobs other than her role andensuring that they get done. She has singlehandily organised trips, meals and eventsfor her club and she is always on hand toshare her expert advice and knowledgebladder, the original rugby ball. Golf is theonly sport ever played on the moon - on 6thFebruary 1971 Alan Shepard hit a golf ball.Last but not least, since the beginning ofthe modern Olympic games, only Greeceand Australia have competed in every singleone!Now the Sports Day wasn’t the Olympicsbut people are already talking about trainingfor next year! The day was a completesuccess raising just over £140 for the NorthWest Cancer Research Fund Institute, muchneeded money for this very worthy cause…watch this space!Rob SamuelAthletic Union recognise sporting acheivementwith the clubs members. She draws a fineexample of outstanding sportswomanship.Her competition performance is excellenttoo and by her captain, she has been referredto as ‘one of the best archers this universityhas ever seen and will see for quite a while’.The Sportsman of the Year was the final AUaward. For his outstanding performancewhile representing Bangor at high levelcompetition and for sportsmanship duringhis time at Bangor, the award went to RobSamuel. In his years at the University,he has been instrumental in expandingand developing his club, organising theirtraining and always encouraging his fellowsportspeople. His personal performanceshave been of the highest standard setting thebenchmark of what he expects and alwayspushing himself to develop. With the aid ofhis committee, he organised an event for allstudents of Bangor, encouraging them to getout and raise money for charity.The last award of the night was apersonal award presented by the AthleticUnion President. It is for the contribution tosport and for overall outstanding service tothe AU and its members over the year. Thelast minute decision went to the RowingClub. The club has expanded a lot, theirparticipation is on the up and they are nowflourishing. They have consistently badgeredthe AU President and constantly raised theissues that really mattered to them, and theirefforts have paid off. Extensive work hasbeen carried out this year and more is dueover the summer. Led by two outstandingcaptains, Ed and Hannah, both of which willbe missed next year, the award was given tothem for their constant hard work all year.Jack PeatAndrew Redfearn