Brighton is named UK’s ‘ghost capital’

Brighton and Hove has been named the UK’s ‘ghost capital’, according to a recent report published by the Argus.

Ghostly spirits are said to be roaming the narrow, cobbled streets of Brighton, including murder victims and drowned sailors from years gone by.

Organisers of the first ever World Horror Convention said Brighton will be the only UK venue due to its “high number of restless living dead.”

Leaders of the conference claim that sailors from the ship ‘The Nicholas’, which sunk off the city’s coastline in the 12th Century, can be seen out at sea in the dead of night, while the old brewer from the Black Lion in Black Lion Street, who was burnt at the stake in 1555, is still hanging around in the pub’s cellar.

More than 300 horror enthusiasts will be meeting at the Albion Hotel in Old Steine from Thursday 25 March until Sunday 28. Guests attending the convention will participate in a number of ‘ghost walks’ and will also hear readings from star authors.

The sold out convention has attracted aficionados from across the globe. The event is themed ‘Brighton Shock! – A Celebration of the European Horror Tradition from Victorian Times to the Present Day.’

Stop the cuts, start the music!

Last Thursday, 25 February, protestors braved the wind and rain to make a stand on student cuts in Library Square. At 1.15pm, representing the 115 threatened jobs at the University of Sussex, a band of protestors took to the square to promote ‘Stop the Cuts, Start the Music!’ to get their voices across in a positive way.

‘Wet and Fun,’ were the two words Scott Sheridan, Activities Officer and mastermind of the organisation, used to describe the scenes. Re-worded versions of such classics as ‘Old Macdonald’ (with a cut-cut here…) and ‘Tequila’ resounded around campus, contrasting the gloomy weather.
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Britain’s “rudest place names”

When locals in West Yorkshire won their battle to reinstate the place name ‘Tickle Cock Bridge’ last week, The Times readily welcomed the news by compiling a list of Britain’s top 30 rudest place names.

‘Cocks’ in Cornwall won the coveted title, closely followed by Worcestershire’s ‘Minge Lane’ and ‘Bell End’, which came second and third respectively.

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Mystery Oxbridge sex blogger

An Oxbridge student, who describes herself as “a closet nympho currently shagging my way through the half-term hump”, has set up an anonymous risqué online sex blog.

The student has recorded five blog entries within the space of five days under the title ‘Sex At Oxbridge’, detailing her sexual exploits while at university.

Her real identity, and whether she is an Oxford or Cambridge graduate or undergraduate, remains a closely guarded secret. But in her candid blog she discusses a one-night stand with a Blues rugby player, losing her virginity at 18, and the penis sizes of different nationalities.

“British men and German men are the best, and typically have the biggest penises,” she reveals.

Comparisons have inevitably been drawn with Belle de Jour, the author of the autobiographical “Diary of a London Call Girl”, which has attracted millions of readers worldwide and was adapted into a television series in 2007 starring Billie Piper.

However, while Belle eventually revealed herself – as Dr Brooke Magnanti, a specialist in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science at Sheffield University – last November, the Oxbridge blogger insists: “I have absolutely no intention of revealing my identity, mostly because in some cases that would involve revealing other people’s identity.

“I want to protect their privacy as much as I want to protect my own. Besides, my mum would kill me!”

Oxford University student denies racial slur

A student at Oxford University has denied claims that he shouted at an Israeli minister speaking at the Union, using the Arabic words, ‘Slaughter all Jews’.

A statement released on Wednesday from the deputy foreign minister of Israel, Danny Ayalon, said that the phrase was directed at him during protests at his appearance at the Oxford Union on Monday night of last week.
Conflicting articles from both Oxford Student newspapers continue to cause confusion, with ‘Cherwell’ describing the abuse as meaning, ‘Slaughter all Jews’. The ‘Oxford Student’, however, published an article on Thursday quoting student Noor Rashid, saying he was using a specific dialect of the Arabic tongue that few people there would have understood even if they had a grasp of the language. The phrase he claims to have used, ‘Khaybar ya Yahod’, commemorates a victory by Mohammed over a Jewish community in Khaybar, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Mr Rashid insists the remark carried “absolutely no derogatory or secondary meanings. My version went: ‘Khaybar, O Jews, we will win’. As you can see, I made no reference to killing Jews.”
The statement from Mr Ayalon’s office, however, maintained that “Itbah Al Yahud” had been called out, which translates as a call to slaughter Jews.
Mr Rashid claims to recognize he may have been misunderstood: “There was a great deal of confusion… I do acknowledge that people may have misheard me and assume that I uttered something else – namely to ’slaughter the Jews’… something that I do not believe.
“I express the deepest regret if my remarks were misunderstood or misheard to mean anything that even comes close to encouraging the slaughter of innocents.”
The Oxford Union has launched an investigation condemning the protests and said: “One individual in particular appears to have made a directly anti-Semitic remark.”

Discover Islam comes to Sussex

Sussex Islamic society is hosting Discover Islam week on campus, starting Monday 22nd to Friday 26th February. The society hopes the line-up of different events will allow students the opportunity to learn more about the religion that the media love to discuss. The Islamic society at Sussex (ISOC) will be presenting a wide variety of talks and fairs as well as a variety of food throughout the week.
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Students set to film documentary about university cuts

Two Sussex students are filming a documentary about the proposed cuts at the university. Carl Salton-Cox, a first-year history and film student, and Kit Bradshaw, a politics student, want to examine the cuts from a human angle, looking at specific individuals and the feelings evoked by the management’s proposals, which would see the elimination of courses, services, and over 100 jobs.

The students intend to present a reasoned perspective on both sides of the cuts, for and against, rather than engaging in the sort of visual polemic that filmmakers like Michael Moore use in their films.

“We’re not trying to be particularly partisan or Marxist about it,” Salton-Cox said. “I’m a Marxist, but Kit is a Conservative, so we’re coming from different perspectives.”

The pair, both from Sidcup in Bexley, are childhood friends. They have made films before as teenagers, including a drama about sexuality and self-harm called “The Only Release.” Their second film, “Shoots Her,” won an award at the Rob Knox Film Festival, renamed in memoriam of the young actor who was stabbed to death in Bexley in 2008.

“We’ve never made a documentary before – our experience is with drama, so we’re going for more emotive because that’s how we construct a film,” Salton-Cox said. “But we know that costs have to be cut, and we want to be fair to both sides. If the management are right, the film should show that.”

Their plan for the film is to ask questions of students and staff and then present these questions to the senior management, juxtaposing the arguments in context with each other. However, the two students have had some difficulty speaking with the management, and say they have only recently received replies to their emails requesting interviews.

Many members of staff are hesitant to speak to them too, which Salton-Cox attributes to an “atmosphere of fear” on the campus.

“It’s weird—people in the history department used to be in the hallways chatting to each other. Now it’s just silence.”

The students are aware of the reluctance staff have about speaking out and have considered conducting private interviews, which would then be transcripted and voiced by actors in order to preserve the anonymity of staff concerned for their jobs.

The two undergraduates hope to present a well-rounded perspective on the cuts and the Stop the Cuts campaign, but worry that this will prove difficult with the management and staff unable or unwilling to be interviewed.

“We can’t be objective if the management won’t talk to us.”

Union blows cash on coach for seven students

The University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) recently lost an estimated £465 hiring a coach to transport students to the National Convention Against Fees and Cuts, the Badger has learned.

The USSU hired a 50-person coach to transport students to the event at University College London (UCL) on the 6 February. However, only seven people booked and paid for a place.

The cost of the coach is currently unknown as the USSU finance office has no record of the invoice. A Brighton coach hire company estimated the cost of the journey at £500.

The seven students on the coach were charged £5 for the return journey, meaning that the USSU lost around £465 overall.

The funding for the trip was granted by the Operations Committee, which approves all funding for campaigns and conferences. Of the six people sitting on the committee, four voted in favour and one abstained.

The minutes from the operations committee, 14 December 2009, record: “Tom Wills [USSU President] also asked that Ops [Operations Committee] approve him to book a coach to take students to the Convention, on the basis students would be charged for the transport in order to make the booking cost neutral for the Union. This proposal was approved with 4 votes in favour, and one abstention.”

Tom Wills also asked the committee for £100 towards the project, “to go towards the cost of publicity and organisation for the event.” This was also passed.

Patrick Rolfe, who is part of the Stop the Cuts campaign at the University of Sussex, reported to the Badger that he had a ‘verbal agreement’ with Tom Wills that he would pay for the remaining cost of the coach not covered by students’ tickets.

Rolfe added: “I took over organising it. It became my responsibility, so I’ll take the financial bullet. I’m sure that I’ll be able to recoup the costs.” Patrick is organising a fundraising event with bands and artists in order to raise the money. Rolfe was not asked to do this by anyone, and no formal agreement has been made.

On this subject the USSU has commented: “The student who organised the coach has agreed that the shortfall resulting from the poor turnout will be met by his campaign group which is independent of the Students’ Union. There will therefore be no cost to the Students’ Union.”

If the funds cannot be repaid then the financial loss to the union budget would be significant. The money to pay for the coach came from the Campaigns and Conferences budget, which is around £2000 for the entire year. Exact budgets are not available because the university has still not confirmed the USSU’s block grant for this year, which is likely to receive a 5 percent cut.

The students who did attend the UCL event appear to have found it to be a positive and useful experience.

One student commented: “It was a really great opportunity to link up with people from other university campaigns and coordinate national action, since these issues affect us all.”

BNP have ‘no confidence’ union president

USSU push for National Student Survey boycott

The University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) has urged all final year undergraduates to boycott the National Student Survey (NSS) in protest of the proposed cuts to jobs, courses and services at the university.
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