THE ulTimaTE clEansE Fed up with all the diet fads? We give it to you straight, the best and the worst.

> liFEsTYlE PagE 8

sTuDEnTs scalDED BY HOT WaTER PRicEsTHE FIRST IN A SERIES OF INVESTIGATIONS, MDX TIMES DELVES INTO ANOTHER HOT ISSUE ON CAMPUS.

FacEBOOK:

mdxsumedia

THE BEsT music FROm 2013 anD WHaT YOu sHOulD ExPEcT in 2014

Reviewing the best music out there so you don’t have to!

> music PagE 14

OnE FOR THE BOYs! check out the latest trends for menswear, straight from the cat-walk, plus more fabulous fashion.

> FasHiOn PagE 12

TWiTTER:

@radiomdx

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@mDxsu

mDx TimEs

After students raised a number of complaints regarding cater-ing facilities at Middlesex, the latest problem brought to light concerns various outlets on campus charging students for

hot water. Whether they are using their own cups or not, should students be charged anything between 60p and 80p just for hot water, with different outlets charging differently as

they please, or is this another example of the challenges presented by Chartwells’ mo-nopoly on catering facilities on campus, or is this a justifiable cost associated with running a

coffee shop? MDX Times de-cided to investigate…

CONTINUED PAGE 6

CONTACT US

2

cREDiTs

If you’re interested in contributing to MDX Times please email Media Coordinator, Shahinaz (Naz) Nabeeh at

s.nabeeh@mdx.ac.uk

All correspondance should be sent to Shahinaz Nabeeh at s.nabeeh@mdx.ac.uk or Sayed Alkadiri at s.alkadiri@

mdx.ac.uk

Disclaimer: All news and opinions printed in this publication are those of the writers and not of Middlesex Students Union. We welcome arti-cles from all students at all times. All articles are subject to edit-ing and we do not guarantee that submitted articles will be printed.

Cannabis Cloud Over ColoradoaDvERTs

nEWs Editor-in-chiefsSayed Alkadiris.alkadiri@mdx.ac.ukSarah Bennetts.bennett@mdx.ac.uk

Managing Editor:Shahinaz Nabeeh s.nabeeh@mdx.ac.uk

Deputy Editor:Dipika Grunanieditor@mdxsu.com

News Editor:Sumaiyah Patelnews@mdxsu.com

Politics Editor:Shiva Pouyapolitics@mdxsu.com

Features Editor:Yossie Paul-Olaleyefeatures@mdxsu.com

Lifestyle Editor:Jeyda Karamehmet lifestyle@mdxsu.com

Fashion Editor: Rowena Kinghornfashion@mdxsu.com

Music Editor: Josiah Clarkemusic@mdxsu.com

Film Editor:Alicia Poolefilm@mdxsu.com

Sports Editor:Vacantsport@mdxsu.com

Art Director:Rebecca Dawe

Contributers:Cameron OlkinaEara AsifMarit JohansenJames Land

Do you want this year to be different to the last? Do you want to aim high? This year could be a change for everyone, so why not take the opportunityand let 2014 be the year to de-velop your skills. This year, Guardian Master classes are on hand to help you deepen your passions and take your talents further. Browse all of our cours-es by date or subject, or

check out our handy guide to the classes coming up that can help you turn your ‘what ifs’ into ‘what’s next?

Visit now on: http://www.theguardian.com/guardi-an-masterclasses/cours-es-in-2014

The US state of Colorado is making history by becom-ing the first to allow stores to sell cannabis. As many as 30 stores around the state are expected to start selling the drug for recrea-tional purposes from 1 Jan-uary 2014, dubbed ‘Green Wednesday’.Colorado, along with Wash-ington State, voted to legal-ise the use and possession of cannabis for people over the age of 21 in November 2012.Colorado and Washington are among 20 states to have approved marijuana use for medical purposes. The drug is still illegal un-der federal law.Storeowners stocked up, prepared celebrations and hired extra security in prep-aration for their opening on Green Wednesday.Under the new law, canna-

bis will be sold like alcohol. Residents will be able to buy up to one ounce, while those from out of the state can purchase up to a quar-ter of an ounce.Cannabis can only be smoked on private prem-ises, with the permission of the owners.The sale of the drug will be taxed in the same way as alcohol, and state officials have said they expect it to raise millions - the first $40m of which will be used for school construction.A total of 136 stores have been given licenses to sell marijuana. Most of the shops are based in Denver. Some communities else-where in Colorado have exercised their right not to have the stores.Supporters of legalising cannabis have praised Col-orado’s move.

But critics say it sends the wrong message to the na-tion’s youth and fear it will lead to serious public health and social problems.“There will still need to be a black market to serve peo-ple who are ineligible to buy

on a legal market, especial-ly kids,” said Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Mari-juana. “It’s almost the worst of both worlds.”

lETTER FROm THE EDiTORs

The GuardianSumaiyah Patel

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

We hope you had a great Christmas break and have recovered from whatever you got up to on New Year’s Eve. Here at MDXSU HQ we are still buzzing from a dazzling December, where we were inspired by Jesse Jackson, entertained by the Doritos Mariachi Band and par-tied the night away at the MDXSU Christmas Party with Tinchy Stry-der. With a new year we look for-ward to a new term, and MDXSU has tons of stuff planned over the next few weeks.

We have a number of welcome ac-tivities planned for our new January starters and we hope they enjoy their time here by getting involved with our societies, communities and much more. We also have our stu-dent led communities kicking off at the end of this month, you can find the timetable on page 10 of this pa-per!

In February we look forward to LGBT History Month with our LGBT Assembly planning drop-in sessions

to socialise with other students. If you’re interested in getting involved or have any ideas you’d like to see during this time you can contact our VP Jennie Brown.

VP Sarah Bennett will be working on our campaign against the Gov-ernment’s proposals to cut £4.5mil-lion of a grant which goes towards student opportunities here at Mid-dlesex, so please join us in the days ahead to #SaveStudentOpportuni-ties.

VP Sophie Mckay will be working on one of her top manifesto promises, to improve placement opportunities for Health & Education students, by surveying their experiences on placement and how the university can improve it.

Our Union President, Sayed Alkadi-ri, will be leading on MDXSU’s prior-ity campaigns on improving the cost and quality of food on campus, as well as our campaign which started by our student voice leaders vot-ing for the university to implement anonymous marking where pos-sible, as research shows where

anonymous marking has not been introduced, institution are leaving themselves susceptible to prejudice and perception of prejudice, so join us in saying #MarkMyWorkNotMy-Name.

So following on from a ‘Dazzling December’ we go into a ‘Just Get Involved January!’ The MDXSU Journey just got a bit wilder!

3

Bulgarian And Romanian Restrictions Lifted In 2014

nEWs

Want To Volunteer Overseas Next Summer?VESL runs volunteer projects in India and Thailand for between 4 weeks and 12 months, and of particular interest to students is their sum-mer programmes for 4-6 weeks.

Volunteers teach English in a primary or a second-ary school, and stay with a host family for the dura-tion of their stay.

VESL is a small charity that works closely with lo-cal governments, NGOs and schools to ensure that volunteers are of real and measurable benefit to host communities.

They are looking for en-thusiastic, motivated indi-viduals to join a team of volunteers heading over-

seas next summer!

The blog section of their website is a great place to get more information about their projects from their recently returned volunteers. Check it out here -http://vesl.org/blog

VESL are running an In-formation & Selection day on the 22nd January in London, if you would like to apply for one their pro-jects download the appli-cation form and submit it by the 17th January.

Website: www.vesl.org

Application form: www.vesl.org/applications

Facebook: www.face-book.com/vesl.org

Citizens from countries such as Bulgar-ia and Romania will be free to find jobs and the right to work freely in Britain, as the restrictions on them were lifted from January 1 2014.

Harsh conditions are a ‘push fac-tor’ for their decision to emigrate to countries such as Britain.

According to The Telegraph, ‘An-ti-immigration groups have pre-dicted that as many as 50,000 extra migrants a year will arrive on British shores. Some local councils have suggested servic-es will not be able to cope.’

With this news, tension is mount-ing as people begin to question how Britain will cope with large numbers of migrants entering the UK.

Many young migrants have no choice but to take advantage of the relaxed European Union rules and enter Western Europe

to start a better life. However, some councils identified areas where large Roma communities have now settled including Yorkshire, Humber, London, North West and the Midlands.

Over in Europe, Spain has the largest Roma population with an increasing number of 750,000 followed by 400,000 in France.

Sumaiyah Patel

Middlesex Research Centre Launched At The House Of Lords

The Centre for Abuse and Trauma Studies (CATS) has officially re-launched at Mid-dlesex University following special events at the House of Lords.

Co- directors of CATS, profes-sors Julia Davidson and Anto-nia Bifulco invited prominent figures involved with child pro-tection and industry to discuss the key child protection chal-lenges in the current environ-ment.

Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Mid-dlesex University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Profes-sor Waqar Ahmad opened the event before handing over to professors Julia Davidson and Antonia Bifulco.

Professor Eileen Munro dis-cussed the importance of placing children at the centre of practice and the link be-tween poverty and neglect. The speakers were joined by

an expert panel that discussed the challenges in protecting children in the real and digital worlds.

CATS is a discipline centre for research, practice and training on issues of trauma and abuse, and moved to Middlesex Uni-versity in 2013 from Kingston University. Led by professors Julia Davidson in criminology

and Antonia Bifulco in psychol-ogy, it has conducted research nationally and internationally furthering the understanding of abuse and trauma and its con-sequence.

Organised Crime In Conflict Zones

Students at King’s College London are organising a Conference on ‘Or-ganised Crime in Conflict Zones’ on 6 March 2014. The event organised by postgraduate students from the Conflict, Security and Development program at King’s College London and supported by the War Studies Department, will be held at the Great Hall of the Strand Campus.

The one-day event will focus on transnational organised crime – a multi-billion pound global business and an area of growing international concern. The programme will ad-dress the conflict-crime nexus and focus on three key areas of organ-ised crime. •Drug trafficking, •Terrorist criminality •Human trafficking.

The conference objective is to ad-dress gaps in policy and scholar-ship, and encouraging research into this subject of growing relevance.

The event will benefit from contribu-tions of leading policymakers, prac-titioners and academics in the field.

Current confirmed speakers include:

* Nigel Inkster, Director of Transna-tional Threats and Political Risk at the International Institute for Strate-gic Studies (IISS) and Chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Com-mittee on Terrorism.

* Charlie Edwards, Senior Research Fellow and Director of National Se-curity and Resilience Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

* Lt. Gen. Jonathon Riley, former deputy commander of the Interna-tional Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF). Lt. Gen. Riley also commanded British peace-keeping forces in Bosnia, Sierra Le-one, Iraq & Afghanistan; he is now a visiting professor at the War Studies Department.

Speakers will address the root caus-es of organised crime, connections to conflict, strategic responses and forward-looking policy implications.

For more information on the confer-ence and our speakers, please visit our website at: http://csd2014.word-press.com/speakers-profiles/

Sumaiyah Patel Sumaiyah Patel

4

POliTics

The University of London Union (ULU) is a symbolic centre of stu-dent activism in the UK.On the 3 May 2013, the University of Lon-don announced that the union would no longer be in the current form, from summer 2014. The closure of ULU was con-demned by some students and campaign groups who are now running a campaign to keep the building in student hands. On the 14 November 2013, ULU president Michael Chessum was arrested under Section 11 of the Public Order Act following a pro-test against the closure the previ-ous day.

ULU condemned the arrest as “a clear attack on the right to protest” and “a transparent and shameful attempt to intimidate students from demonstrating against the actions of university management.”The events lead more than a thou-sand students to protest through-out London in opposition to police presence on university campuses.

The protest took place on the 4 December 2013, and carried on for more than a week.Eyewitness-es claimed violent attacks by the police force, one Facebook page even reported “students beaten, strangled, having teeth punched out, dragged across roads, and violently bundled into vans”. There have been 41 student arrests and 5 students suspended from the University of Sussex. Students from many parts of the UK also participated in the protests includ-ing Birmingham, Goldsmiths, Exe-ter, Edinburgh, Warwick, Sheffield and Ulster Universities.

The National Campaign Against

Fees and Cuts said in a statement: “Birmingham students have faced persecution and court injunctions. Across the country, we are be-ing attacked, but we will not be intimidated.”What is clear is that arrests and suspensions have out-raged university students across the country, leading to another pro-test taking place on 11 of Decem-ber 2013 labelled as the “national day of action”, this demonstration was a response to the police vio-lence against the campaign. The estimated figure of students who attended the protest is between 3,000 to 4,000 according to Chan-nel 4 and National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts.

In addition, the National Cam-paign Against Fees and Cuts said in a statement: “The past week has seen an unprecedented level of police violence on campus, with draconian injunctions from the University of London and bail conditions banning students from congregating in public in groups of more than four.”The demonstra-tors chanted: “Cops off campus!” and “Scum! Scum!” at the police.

The demonstrations began at 3pm outside the University of London Union(ULU) building. Protesters blocked streets as they walked through central London while the police officers monitored the marchers from a distance.How-ever, there was what seemed like inappropriate treatment shown by the police officers towards the end of the protest.

The ULU officers said demon-strators “were assaulted by both police and security: thrown to the ground, kicked and punched, and

dragged to the ground by their hair.”Another eyewitness told London Student: “The man was walking near the police when they pushed him, and as he fell backwards the police kicked away his crutch before jumping on him”.

A second eyewitness has made the same claim, but London Student was unable to verify whether it was true.

MDXSU president Sayed Alkadiri attended the protest on 4 December, in his state-ment he discussed witness-ing police brutality first hand, he also stated “After our col-league from Kings College Students’ Union Vice president Areeb Ullah was arrested the night before, after a peaceful sit-in at Mansion House, it was my duty to attend and condemn the actions taken by Metropoli-tan police.

“On behalf of Middlesex Univer-sity students and Sabbatical of-ficers nationwide, I would like to express my full support to those protesting across the country over the draconian treatment of students and the closure of ULU, an institution that has rep-resented students for decades.”

Shiva Soleimani-PouyaFarewell ULU

POliTics

5

POliTics

Student Rights’ have claimed that 46 events explicitly promoted gen-der segregation in 21 universities, leading to meetings and lectures over gender segregation being withdrawn after the Prime Minister made a statement that segregation should not be allowed. David Cam-eron said “I am absolutely clear that there shouldn’t be segregated audience for visiting speakers to Universities in Britain. That is not the right approach, Universities shouldn’t allow that and I am very clear about that.”Universities UK (UUK) said a controversial case study setting out the guidance was being withdrawn while it reviews its stance. However, it insisted that the legal position is “unclear” on whether the voluntary separation of men and women could be allowed at events such as lectures on Is-lam presented by guest speakers.But the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC ) said that, although the law accepts segrega-tion by gender in premises being used for religious purposes,it was “not permissible” in an academic

meeting or in a lecture open to the public.Some believe that the issue of gender segregation can lead to Islamophobia as Jay Stoll, Presi-dent of LSE Students’ Union said that “there is an agenda against the same groups. To Islamic societies, there seems to be a constant kind of push to monitor the kind of events they are running.” Jay Stoll believes the gender segregation issue to an extent links to Islamophobia. After the guidance form about the gen-der segregation was published, UUK, which represents higher edu-cation institutions across the coun-try, has requested help from the EHRC in establishing clarity about the legal position. The controversy has caused protests from students and outrage from some politicians.Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “We should not pander to ex-tremism. Speakers who insist on segregating audiences should not be indulged by educators.”This guidance is wrong and harmful. Universities UK should withdraw it immediately.”And Mr Cameron’s of-ficial spokesman told a daily West-

minster media briefing theprime minister felt “very strongly” about the issue and believed it raised “an important issue of principle”.”He does not believe that guest speakers should be allowed to ad-dress segregated audiences, so he believes that Universities UK should urgently review its guid-ance,” said the spokesman. He stressed that the PM’s comments did not relate to religious services in places of worship or on univer-sity premises: “There is a distinc-tion here between how individuals choose to practise their faith and requests that speakers may make when they come to give a talk at a university.”However he said that the PM did not believe segrega-tion by gender should be allowed in lectures and debates, even if it is voluntary.Asked if Mr Cameron was ready to legislate to stop seg-regated audiences on campus, the spokesman said: “We want to sup-port universities in taking a tough approach, and if more may need to be done then of course the gov-ernment would look at that.”Nicola

Dandridge, chief executive of Uni-versities UK, said: “Universities UK agrees entirely with the prime minister that universities should not enforce gender segregation on audiences at the request of guest speakers.”However, where the gender segregation is voluntary, the law is unclear. We are working with our lawyers and the EHRC to clarify the position.”Meanwhile the case study which triggered this

debate has been withdrawn pend-ing this review.” A student equality group stated that preaching by ex-tremists and discrimination through segregation at student events has become a “widespread” trend at many UK universities.

International students are being forced to par-ticipate in fingerprint checks in Universities in the UK as evidence of their attendance of lectures.The National Union of Students (NUS) dubbed this as discrimination, while academ-ics described it as liable.Daniel Stevens, NUS’ International Students’ Officer, said: “It is appalling that certain insti-tutions have required physical checks of any quantity and have discriminated against inter-national students when implementing moni-

toring procedures.”Ulster University and Sunderland Univer-sity have both defended the implementation, which was introduced following Home Office demands that international student attend-ance be strictly monitored.A spokesperson for Sunderland said: “It is es-sential that we monitor attendance in order to enhance student retention and achievement.” They added the students were “really com-fortable” with the system.But Kirat Raj Singh, an MA political theory stu-dent, disagrees: “It’s disgraceful that interna-tional students are treated this way even after all the evidence of how much benefit they bring to the economy.”Ulster University, which has brought in the checks on its Birmingham and London cam-puses, added: “Biometric scanning was in-troduced in response to changing UK Border Agency attendance monitoring requirements.”Furthermore, 280 academics signed a letter published in the Independent Newspaper on Thursday condemning the controversial move as “reprehensible”.“We write as academics concerned with the way in which the rhetoric over security is un-dermining the university as a place of learning and open discussion,” the joint letter read. “The latest move by the universities of Sun-derland and Ulster, singling out international students to give fingerprints to prove their at-tendance at lectures, is reprehensible and to be condemned in the strongest terms.

“We call on the universities of Sunderland and Ulster to withdraw the use of this system, and for all other universities to take seriously their commitment to equitable treatment of all their students.”In 2012 Newcastle University’s student union rejected proposals to introduce a fingerprint-ing register system.

Shiva Soleimani-Pouya

Shiva Soleimani-Pouya

Universities’ Fingerprint Faffing

Gender Segregation, Coming To A Campus Near You

6

FEaTuREs

More Water Woes...

Have you been experiencing inconvenience on campus? Having toilet problems like the lack of water in taps; toilets being out of order and hand dryers not working? Do you have to pay 80p when all you wanted was hot water? Well before the Christmas holidays, many students have been complaining about these issues. Deputy Editor Dipika Gurnani explains…

It was a weekday of mid December 2013 and as many students are hysterically typ-ing on their keyboards to minimize the pile of work before Christmas, I thought I should do the same. I settled down in the quiet law wing area preparing my desk with a green tea filled flask, a container packed with herby pasta and seasonal oranges for dessert, all set to have peaceful study time all day. At first it seemed like it was going to be a perfectly productive session, but what I did not predict

was that an hour later I would be sprinting to the pub round the corner with my bladder about to burst. This unpredicted inconven-ience was due to a massive water draught present in every single toilet that services the four-storey building of the Sheppard’s library. Not only are our drinking fountains drier than the Sahara desert on a daily basis, but toilets are regularly found stuffed with smelly tissue papers, probably not cleaned from the day before.

By the time I complained to security, many others had also gathered around the recep-tion desk asking for a valid explanation and a rapid solution. However, their vague answer just gave us the feeling that the night was going to be frustratingly draughty for all stu-dents.

But it does not end here; what seems to be

a bigger issue is the communication failure between the university and the students. Similarly, throughout this first semester many sport teams have complained about not having drinking water accessible in the

few fountains around campus. This needs to be brought to light and we demand changes. Water is a basic necessity it is not a luxury.

Dipika Gurnani

We decided to interview Compass Group, the parent company for Chartwell’s, to dis-cuss why students are being charged and to explain why different outlets on campus are charging different prices for hot water. How-ever, Compass Group were unavailable to comment at the time.

With so many concerns surrounding catering facilities, the issue of water, or lack thereof, has raised many alarms. We spoke to Stu-dents’ Union President Sayed Alkadiri, who told us that he welcomes “the improvements that have been made this year both to the cost and quality of food on campus; how-ever I recognise that this remains a priority issue for students. We believe that for learn-ers hydration and nutrition are a right and a necessity, and we will be looking to work with Chartwells to further improve students access to affordable nutrition and hydration on campus.”

Upon investigation, MDX Times found that a medium cup size hot water at Sheppard’s library’s Circle Café and at Starbuck’s in the Forum building would set you back 80p, while a cup of hot water at Costa in the Grove building cost 60p. Stranger yet, there was no set feature to enter hot water into the tills and so staff were required to enter alter-native products to make up the cost.

These days it seems that students are not only paying a disproportionate amount of money for an education, but also for hot wa-ter on their campus! Different outlets charg-ing varying amounts only emphasises the idea that students are victims of a market.

Sayed went on to add that “hours reading in the library, studying in lecture theatres

and dancing in studios leave the best of us dehydrated, tired and in need of nourishment, and yet this comes at a cost.”

The question is whether or not we, as stu-dents at Middlesex University want to see change. Do we believe that Chartwell’s need to take responsibility and realise that they’re

not simply a chain operating on the high street, but that they are a partner on campus, providing a vital service to students, or shall we continue to be scalded?

Continued From Front Page... Watergate at MDX...Sumaiyah Patel

7

FEaTuREs

. . . And next year’s words await another voice.”

The above is one of the most famous sen-tences written by the renowned poet, T. S. Eliot, and it should come as no surprise that you are reading it in the first issue of the New Year. When December draws to a close and people begin talking of New Year’s resolu-tions, the quote springs to mind – probably because of the extent to which we relate to the sentiment expressed. For many, New Year is a time to start afresh – in education, in personal or spiritual development, and, unsurprisingly, in physical growth. Who does not want to burn off the excessive food eaten around the Christmas period? And we all know that winter is a particularly good time to get as much exercise as possible.In any case, the T. S. Eliot’s quote means many things to me, especially in the context of the poem from which it originates – Lit-tle Gidding, from The Four Quartets – but it mainly speaks to my unrelenting strive against indifference and constant repose; the desire to be better with each new day. Given the bustle and spirit surrounding the last few days of December and first few days of January, I assume that this is the case for many people – exultantly awaiting the New Year and the feeling of freshness it brings. These are fantastic, positive experiences, and we should collectively encourage them. On the other hand, there are some for whom the spirit of New Year brings disappointment or disdain, and this is perfectly fine; perhaps the time of year conjures memories of past misfortunes, or it reminds them of their loneli-

ness. To these people we should always offer a kind word, or a gentle smile. The disdain for the spirit of New Year only becomes callous when it comes from a place of a misunder-standing of the concept of New Year’s resolu-tions and why people may not always keep to them as time goes by.If you are active on social media, you will know that the most used saying by con-trarians is, “Resolutions are made to be broken.” As a matter of fact, they are not. I have always taken issue with the statement because it is false: resolutions, or – a much better term – goals, are not factually made to be broken. Resolutions are not dissimilar to goals; in fact, they are like the objectives - or steps - we are required to complete in order to achieve a desired result. Such a task requires discipline and motivation, and these can come from the support of a group of friends, family members, or even a mentor. To understand why resolutions may be bro-ken during the year, we must understand that some people do not have the privilege of the support of which I speak. As students, em-ployees, and more importantly, as people, it is natural, or expected even, to have goals: it is natural to be dissatisfied with something in our lives and to desire change. Now, change can begin at any point in our lives, but there is no time like the start of a new year to feel invigorated and determined to work on these changes.Of course, it is unwise to say that people can change overnight, and of course it may be similarly frightening to some to watch how people are dedicated to the idea of change when a new year arrives, but we cannot deny

that in the world today, such an idea is en-trenched in positivity and is of a good nature. In my family, we welcome the New Year with solemnity. We come together on New Year’s Eve to watch the fireworks on the television, and then we pull out a whiteboard from the corner it usually hides. There are seven of us, with different interests and similar values, and so we take turns to discuss the past year – what our goals were, the steps we took to achieve them, what worked and what failed, and how we plan to achieve the goals for the New Year. Throughout the year, we have a monthly goal review session in which we come together to see how we are working toward our goals and share our obstacles, if there are any. This is what I mean when I speak of support: a safe environment to share your worries or successes with people who care about your goals.Whether you are a student or a member of staff, there must surely be something you would like to change or do better, especially to make life at Middlesex University more en-joyable for yourself and others. As the year begins, we should all endeavour to spend some time alone, introspectively, think-ing about the past year and the things that worked well or the things that brought about disappointment. Doing this makes it easier to review our behaviours – in many aspects of life – and make changes where necessary. If you are alone or without a friend to talk to, the university and the Students’ Union have various support services suited to the needs of everyone. Let us all make use of these ser-vices so that the problems of the year past – the words and language of last year – can

remain past, and a new voice – a new lan-guage – can emerge in 2014.

For university experience to be an extraor-dinarily positive one, each of us must play a role, be it the practice of patience, under-standing, or respect toward members of staff who have lives and troubles of their own. We all have a part to play as members of the space we occupy to make it a better place for all.I wish you a wonderful 2014 and urge you to think about the changes you are making this year, as a student, a relative, an employee, and, importantly, as a person.

“For Last Year’s Words Belong To Last Year’s Language...”Yossie Paul-Olaleye

MDX RAG At London Soup KitchenSumaiyah PatelThis January the MDX RAG Society signed up to volunteer at a soup kitchen in Muswell Hill. Middlesex students had the opportunity to learn the ropes at an established kitchen, run by the Muswell Hill Baptist Church.Sophie McKay, the vice president of Science, Health and Education schools and RAG soci-ety president has been passionate about vol-unteering since the age of 16. She has been involved in a large number of projects and was always interested in looking for a local

Soup Kitchen to help out with.Muswell Hill Soup Kitchen started in Febru-ary 1994 in response to several people ask-ing for spare food after the evening services. Doors open from 19.45 to 20.45. And they serve a wide range of dishes, not just soup. Muswell Hill Baptist Church doors are open five nights a week offering a two-course meal for 40 to 60 homeless people every night. The guests are not just homeless though; everyone is welcomed and treated equally. The guests can be anything from teenag-ers to pensioners and the meal can be quite a social thing as everyone sits around and catches up and gets to know each other.The church also offers a clothes bank from donations, which then go to the homeless and needy.

Over 50 Middlesex Students registered their interest through the RAG Society, and on both nights that MDX RAG attended, a good number of students turned up to take part.The volunteers helped preparing the food, stocking the pantry, setting up tables, setting out the clothes donation shop, mopping the

floors and serving the visitors, one of the stu-dents even painted the female guests’ nails!Sophie McKay also stated “I think there is something truly special about doing some-thing kind for other people. I think the stu-dents are not only helping the guests at this soup kitchen but they are also learning and growing themselves too. So I guess personal development, time management, communi-cation, motivating people, organisational and general people skills”.

Everyone’s story is different and you never know what has happened to these people that brings them to the soup kitchen. The atmosphere is friendly and the guests have loads of talents, one man paints beautiful paintings and another turns up with his guitar and plays songs for everyone. The experi-ence can be very eye opening as a few of the guests have severe addiction issues and mental health illnesses. It is very rewarding helping these people and even more so just to talk to them and get to know them.

Overall everyone’s feedback has been spec-tacularly positive as everyone had a new ex-

perience and enjoyed the night greatly. They had so much fun they are willing to help out again.

Middlesex students have the opportunity to volunteer at this soup kitchen every Sunday and Monday from 6 – 9pm and if you’re in-terested just email Sophie on s.mckay@mdx.ac.uk

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liFEsTYlEDetox Diets - The Best And The WorstEsra Asif

If you have gained extra pounds over the Christmas holiday, and if your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, you would be looking for a diet to follow. Fad diets, es-pecially detox plans endorsed by celebri-ties have been popular in 2013 and there is a new bunch for 2014. We, at MDX Times have tried them all and now we bring you the best and worst…

The two-week water with lemon juice, cay-enne pepper, and maple syrup was one of the most popular detox fads last year. Al-though cutting down on processed foods, alcohol and caffeine helps detox your body, this detox is dangerous as it kick starts your metabolism with the cayenne pepper but provides your body with no nutrition, and has been rated as one of the worst detox diets to follow.

Popular diets for 2014 include the ‘two-day fast’, and the ‘Kaeng Raeng cleanse’. Be-yonce’s new album launch provided the two day fast detox with a lot of publicity. This de-tox requires the individual to eat 500 calories per day for two days a week, with a balanced but somewhat relaxed diet for the rest of the week. Whereas the ‘Kaeng Raeng’ cleanse followed by Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez requires you to consume vegetables and fruits in a raw form, along with replacing the three main daily meals with ‘Kaeng Raeng’ powder drinks.

These powders form a juice like drink when mixed with water, and are made of freeze-dried fruits, soybeans, vegetable fibres and

probiotic cultures. They even have different lev-els of intensity such as ‘beginner, veteran and master’, to enable you to benchmark yourself when detoxing. This de-tox lasts from three to six days depending on the desired weight that is to be achieved. It is rec-ommended that this par-ticular detox technique is conducted 4 times a year.

Despite the new innova-tions in dieting and detox plans, nutritionists still en-courage regular exercise and healthy balanced di-ets while cutting out on sugar and food with high saturated fats. One of the ways to follow this is through the Youtube fitness craze of ‘Blogi-lates’. Being a student with not enough cash to splash on a personal trainer, this blog pro-vides free tools for weight loss with the feel of having a personal trainer dedicated to you. Cassey Ho, is a trainer who releases pop Pilates videos each week along with meal plans to follow and a monthly exercise plan. She treats fitness routines as a party and encourages it to become part of a healthy lifestyle. With workouts released to Top 40 songs of the year, this is an often exhausting, but fun way to lose weight. Being a part of a community like ‘Popsters’ helps encourage a healthy lifestyle, and has made Cassey

one of the most popular women on Youtube as according to Forbes magazine. Detox diets aid in reducing large amounts of water weight in a short time frame, giving the impression of actual weight loss, therefore a combination of both healthy eating and regular workouts is required to sustain the achieved weight loss. Although ‘yo-yo’ diet-ing is harmful as it slows down the metabo-lism and can overtime cause to reduce the amount of weight loss.

Whatever plan you choose to follow, make sure you do it safely without compromising your health and wellbeing.

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liFEsTYlE

From Film To Reality: NASA’s Iron ManCameron Olkina

Google Launches Android-Based Car Cameron Olkina

Simple Ways To Live Better

Cameron Olkina

Advice: Wear the clothes that are favourable for the task you are going to do – studies show that suits help to concentrate, while some say that a T-shirt and teamed up with funky accessories are effective during creative work. Adam D. Galinsky, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, reported these results after the experi-ment as a phenomenon scientists now call ‘En-clothed Cognition’: the ef-fects of clothing on cogni-tive process.

Psychologists ascertain that students in lab coats made far fewer mistakes on a test than students

dressed in everyday clothing. It doesn’t mean you have to pass your exam in a lab coat, but this experiment shows that clothing affects how other people perceive us as well as how we think about ourselves.

If you are going to spend the day in the office, wear a white shirt and dark trousers or skirt; if you need to create something unusual - go ahead and experiment with textures, colours and proportions.

To work more productive-ly, think about what kind of symbolic meaning relates to particular businesses or even the type of work you do. In case you can’t

think of any, think about a person that may be a role model, for example, Steve Jobs and how he dressed as a professional in the world of technologies.

Google has announced on Monday 6 January, at CES 2014 in Las Vegas, that Audi, GM, Honda, Hyundai, and chip manufactured NVIDIA are cre-ating a partnership to integrate the Android operating system into their cars.

The idea behind the alliance, accord-ing to Google, is for people to be able to use Android devices and apps di-rectly in their car. Along with GM and NVIDIA, the Open Automotive Alli-ance (OAA) will speed up innovation in the car industry. By tying them-selves to a mobile OS, carmakers will enjoy the possibility of frequent feature-laden updates without having to develop these recourses in-house.

Patrick Brady, Android’s director of engineering, wrote on his blog that OAA would create a “driving-opti-mised experience,” customising An-droid to make driving “safer, easier and more enjoyable for everyone.”Both Google and carmakers empha-sise that car safety is a paramount

concern and they plan to collaborate with The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure driv-ers can stay focused on the road. With Apple’s forerunner of iOS in the Car, Google promises that the auto-motive infotainment system may run until end of 2014.

TEcHnOlOgY

HOW TO DRESS FOR SUCCESS

NASA Johnson Space Centre is developing a next-generation robot nicknamed Valkyrie. This huge 6 feet 2 inch tall (1,9 metres) humanoid machine with a glowing NASA logo on its chest, is a worthy response to Marvel’s superhero Iron Man, and doesn’t have any similarity with the robot-cleaner that committed suicide on a kitchen hob.

According to The Verge, Valkyrie has strong legs, which means it is capable of moving around “de-graded environments” typical of disaster-stricken areas with

cameras mounted on its head, body, fore-arms, knees and feet, allowing it to provide visual information back to its handlers. Valkyrie doesn’t re-quire a tether, running instead on a 2kWh battery stored on the machine’s back, just like Iron Man has. Valkyrie looks, moves, and even dresses like a human, wearing lay-ers of fabric over its metal limbs.

Valkyrie’s “father”, Nicolaus Radford, said, “These robots will start preparing the way for the humans on Mars, and when the humans arrive, the ro-

bots and the humans will work together.”

Other than space ex-ploration, Valkyrie will be used in dangerous situations such as war or disaster areas.

Lifehack Of The Week

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While some of us may have still been reeling from our New Year celebrations, the fashionable types of London town were up bright and early on the 6th of January to commence the first fashion week of the year, London Collections: Men.

Lou Dalton kicked things off with a 10 o’clock start on the Monday, at the BFC (British Fashion Council) Show Space at Victoria House. Bleach wash denim (in blue and pink), tan corduroy and camo all featured within the collection, as well as calmer fabric textures and patterns for subtler folk. A particular highlight was the double denim/woolly jumper combo which gave great connotations of the nineties.

Many other bold colours were evident on the catwalk, as demonstrated by Jonathon Saunders Autumn/Winter 2014 collection. Although confident in colouring, the collection applies simple tailoring to allow the colours to stay graphic and come into their own. The garments with stripes of pattern in alternative rich and paler shades really stood out as a must have. They contrast to Autumn/Winter’s typically darker colour palette, which is very interesting. This will be a key transitional idea for the season later in the year.

J.W Anderson supported a unique choice of footwear on his models for his day

two show. With each model strutting down the catwalk in large platformed brogues, it appears the trends are evolving.

But Anderson gave reason to the madness “I love the idea that when you look at portraits in old houses, they’re always positioned really high. That was the idea with the shoe, that idea of elevation. When you look at the face, you have to look up at it.”

At J.W Andersons menswear show, there was a prominent hint of femininity to the clothes modelled. Details such as mock floral prints, handbags, frills and pleats all enhanced this feel.

Another show that had an underlying theme of femininity, was Burberry Prorsum. Showing on the finale 3rd day, Christopher Bailey exhibited a display of silk scarves and shawls. Amongst a reasonably dark and neutral colour pallet, these warming accessories added a striking intervention of colour. They also co-ordinated with a selection of very oversized man-bags that models walked down the catwalk holding. The fishnet vests were a questionable component to the looks, but did allow for all the attention to be drawn to the stunning silk scarves.

Perhaps a look that might not make it into your

Autumn/Winter wardrobe at the end of the year, is the pink monstrosity designed by Bobby Abley for the collaborative MAN catwalk show. The pastel toned outfit included a very fluffy oversized t-shirt, embroidered with a soccer style name and numeral. However, instead of a name the word, written in a Disney style font, states Brains followed by a zero.

An unusual feature on a handful of models in the MAN show supported a strong metal mouth piece. Connoting ideas of dentistry equipment, we hope this is simply a show piece and isn’t a genuine item of the collection. Unless you have exquisitely beautiful teeth, we’re guessing most people will ‘opt out’ of this accessory.

Other designers selected to show with MAN this season were Alan Taylor and Craig Green. Colourful tailored overcoats preceded the metal mouthed urban Mickey Mouses & Maleficents, which were followed by a selection of looks with strong oriental essence through shape and pattern.

S u p e r d r y ’ s ‘ R e a d y - t o -Wear’ Autumn/Winter 2014 collection presented both men and women’s wear. The pieces were much more practical and suitable for everyday wear. The range was smart but flirty with the sparse inclusion of sparkles

Mens Fashion Week: The Good, The Bad, And The Maybe Not...

London may have been a man’s world at the beginning of January, but it would have been nothing without attendees of the infamous FROW (Front Row).

A stand out FROW-er was Paloma Faith, who graced the Burberry Menswear A/W

Let’s Hear It For The Girls2014 show with her presence. Dressed as a walking plug for the Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2014 collection, she brightened a landscape of dull-weathered tones. Paloma oozed candy tones as she rocked the pretty girl, longer length skirt trend combined with this season’s must-have,

the lavish spring coat. Both luxury garments were from the aforementioned label. The ensemble paired with her new lighter locks made for the epitome of a crisp spring morning. Just what we’re all dreaming of amidst the January blues.

FasHiOnin the womenswear looks. The menswear boasted suave, smart jackets relaxed with the layered combination of winter woollies and half tucked shirts.

With these new trends emerging in menswear, we can’t wait to see what the next seasons bring.

Paloma Faith wears English Tiled Lace Shirt, £495; English Tiled Lace Pencil Skirt, £595, Both in Pale Rose Pink From Burberry Prorsum .

Catwalk and Press Photographs showing the collections of (From Top Left, Clockwise): Lou Dalton, Jonathon Saunders, Bobby Abley for MAN, J.W. Anderson.

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Spring Coats

Anya WalshFirst Year, BA Fashion Communication & Styling

I’d describe my style as quite particular. I like garments to have certain features, especially my bags. They have to have strong structure and be able to fit in all my Uni sketchbooks. I spent nearly an hour in River Island trying out all the bags before I made my choice on this one! On the other hand, I also have a really varied style. The fit, shape and silhouette of a garment are really important to me. But I also delve into vintage styling too, which isn’t so fitted.

MDX Student Street StyleEbay is my Holy Grail when it comes to picking out new additions to my wardrobe. There’s such a rich variety of pieces and styles, I can always fit in a quick 10 minute browsing session. A guilty pleasure of mine is the 40p jewellery from Japan! In terms of bricks and mortar shops, River Island and H&M are solid favourites.

Charity Shops can be an amazing Aladdin’s cave for vintage clothes and accessories. Charity shops are one way to minimise the splurge on clothes. But another way is to buy factory seconds, which can be massively discounted. At

FasHiOn

home, a shop called Steals sells these defect garments, which sometimes only have the smallest tear. It’s so easy to fix and sew back together again, and you’ve got yourself something which could have been 3 times the price!

If you find yourself wearing an outfit to your lectures that you think needs to be seen, get in touch! Send a photograph of yourself (taken on campus) in your best beaut of an outfit. Send it to fashion@mdxsu.com with a little description of your personal style & what you’re wearing, and you may well see yourself in this paper!

As we try to convince ourselves that spring is upon us, there’s nothing like getting a new lightweight coat to welcome in the new season. In the winter sales, these pieces are total bargains!

Lavish AliceBlossom into the spring with this embroidered bomber jacket from lavishalice.com. £21 SALE

TescoBe pretty in pink with this girly fit and flare coat, which is super sixties. From F&F at Tesco. £40

Daisy StreetFluffy like a spring chicken, this cropped jacket is perfect for an evening do. From daisystreet.co.uk. £17 SALE

Babble streetStay on top of your fashion game with this trendy two tone knee length coat from bablestreet.co.uk. £40 SALE

Daisy Street, ZaraPink coats are everywhere! Why not pick up this stylish, smart oversized boyfriend blazer from daisystreet.co.uk. £30 SALE

The past couple of months have been full of excitement and gift giving, but as the festive period ends it may be now you’re realising some presents aren’t really your thing...

It can be hard for family and friends to hit the nail on the head when it comes to buying clothes. First, they must get the right size and that appears to come before whether or not the garment in question is even your

Customising Clothesstyle! But have no fear as we have thought of some fabulous ways to customise your new clobber.

Shortening the length by taking up the hem or making a smaller (or larger) waistband are easy alterations. Adding Studs or dyeing a garment are great customisations to make a truly unique piece.

Take Up the HemFold back the current hem and iron on the fold of the new hem so it lies flat. Stitch parallel to the fold to secure the new, shorter hem. Remember: You can always take more off, but can’t put back what you’ve removed!

Elasticate the WaistUnpick stitching at one end of the waistband & thread through elastic, the size of your waist. Place a safety pin to each end of the elastic to help feed it through. Secure by sewing over the waistband catching elastic.

Add StudsMost studs work by separating the stud and pin, piercing the fabric from the bottom and replacing the stud on top to secure it into place. Some use a pierce and fold method.

DyeingFor even colouring, put the garment in the washing machine with powdered fabric dye and salt. To create a tie-dye pattern, tie string around different parts of the item & colour in a bucket filled with dye mixture.

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REviEWs

music Best Music Of 2013

2013 is now over and it has been a good year for music. Several bands have release-drecords and songs many have fallen in love with. Some of these bands are also touring inLondon this year, so if you have the oppor-tunity to see them, we recommend you start-buying some tickets. Here are my top five best songs and albums of the previous year

Albums:

Foxygen - We are the 21st Century Am-bassadors of Peace and MagicA favourite record of 2013 was made by the American indie rock duo Jonathan and Sam,or Foxygen, as they call themselves. Al-though the album was released in January, I have listened to it constantly ever since, and I can still listen to the record with the same engagement and awkward finger snaps as the first time.Suuns - Images du Futur Probably one of the best live bands on the scene at moment. This album is an odys-sey consisting of Canadian smooth elec-tronic rock, perfect for an intimate and dark venue,which I was so lucky to experience at Roskilde Festival in Denmark last year. Ben Shemie’s enchanting vocals seduce you through the mysterious world of Suuns, which make the experience so much better. Phoenix - Bankrupt!Phoenix released one of my favourite albums of all time in 2009. An album called ”Wolf-gang Amadeus Phoenix”. I found it hard to believe they would be able to make a decent sequel for that album. Luckily, with Bank-

rupt they did it without any problems! The genre is mostly indie rock, and if you get the chance, we recommend seeing them live on 12 February at O2 Brixton Academy, LondonDisclosure - SettleThe most danceable album of 2013. The bal-ance of guest artists and “just” Disclosure songs is perfect on this album, and we lost count of how many times we have played this record on repeat since it got released in May last year. We also recommend to put on the record at a pre-party, because these tunes will guarantee you a good vibe.Live: 08 March at Alexandra Palace, LondonParquet Courts - Light Up Gold (re-re-lease)Although the original album got released in 2012, we want to mention this album as well. Especially since the re-release came out in 2013. This garage rock album makes you want to sing, dance. This is also one of those bands you really want to meet in real life.Live: 16 February at Electric Ballroom, Lon-don

Marit Johansen

Singles ReviewsMarit Johansen

Song: Can’t Remember To Forget YouArtist: Shakira ft. RihannaReleased: 13 Jan 2014

This freshly released single caught me a lit-tle by surprise as I was recently saying we hadn’t heard from Rihanna for a while – com-pared to how busy she’s been over the past few years. She’s featuring here on Shaki-ra’s track and while it might be considered a catchy tune, it’s not totally different from so many mainstream songs that have gone before. I can imagine hearing it in any club and certainly as a background track as you stroll around Topman or Topshop! If you like mainstream, you’ll love this I imagine.

Song: Drunk In LoveArtist: BeyoncéReleased: 13 Dec 2013

This song was released over a month ago now and you’re probably familiar with it, but this is the first chance I’ve had to give a ver-dict. Initially, it sort of just passed over but as time went on and I heard it more, I realized that it was so reminiscent of the ‘old Beyon-cé’ but yet there was something so new and fresh about it. The song is full of innuendos which I’m sure are obvious to all and to me, it seems that Sasha Fierce and Beyoncé have finally become one. This song comes highly recommended.

Song: HappyArtist: Pharrell WilliamsReleased: 16 Dec 2013

Never tired of Pharrell, this song is fresh and clean. Taken from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, Happy is upbeat, lively and has a good vibe to it. It’s almost like a metaphor for Pharrell’s youth (we all know he doesn’t age somehow). The sound reminds of something from Earth, Wind & Fire, but with Pharrell’s own flavor added to it. It’s a feel good song, no doubt, so if you need a pick-me-up…then try picking this one up, it must might make you feel ‘happy’.

Song: Million Pound GirlArtist: Fuse ODGReleased: 29 Dec 2013

This track is brought to you from the man be-hind ‘Azonto’ and ‘Antenna’. I think this song will be as big as the earlier two and it has a slightly different vibe, but he has a sound that is so distinctive and loyal fans will be inter-ested to hear this one. This time he’s wooing a lady – instead of getting everyone one the dancefloor. Probably more of a background song rather than a club mover.

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music

Songs:

Temples - MesmeriseA great track that can remind you of both Tame Impala and The Beatles, and just by saying that should convince you to listen to them. Great psychedelic band, who finally are re-leasing their debut album “Sun Structures” on 10 February.Live: 12 February at Rough Trade East, London 08 March at 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

Disclosure - You & Me (Baauer remix)Disclosure + Baau-er = True. A magnificent remix by Baauer, who (as you may know)became one of the biggest Youtube sensations of the previous year with his 2012 song ”Harlem Shake”.

London Grammar - Wasting My Young YearsThe most beautiful song of 2013, sung by the most beautiful vocal of last year. Decent live band as well!Live: 04 February at Troxy,

LondonThee Oh Sees - I Come From the MountainA great song that is really worth mentioning. Cool garage rock from Thee Oh Sees latest record “Floating Coffin”.

Joanna Gruesome - Secret SurpriseAwesome punk band discovered at the end of the year. Still, this song was absolutely worth putting on a “Best Songs” list. Live: 09 January at The Lexington, London 20 January at The Old Blue Last, London13 February at The Lexington, London (as supporting act for Speedy Ortiz)

Best Music Of 2013, Continued...

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Film

5 Book To Screen Adaptations Coming In 2014!

James Land

Film nEWs

BAFTA 2014 - Nominees and Predictions

So it’s officially that time of year again; not the epic post-Christmas gym sessions, not the relentless human swarm upon the Janu-ary sales, not even (despite the assurance of most retailers) is it the countdown to the annual bore and cheese fest that is Valen-tine’s Day, to which I refer. Although sadly all of the above may be true, it is however, the time of year where something much more sa-cred and altogether, well...important occurs. For one night in February the crème de la crème of cinema will cascade (along with the

rain) on the red carpet at the Royal Opera House for the BAFTA awards to celebrate the last year in film. Although most would claim that the ceremony is of less significance than the Oscars, few can deny its appeal. The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in participation from the nominees and other A-listers alike and the dreaded “Accepting the award on his/her behalf will be...” speech is seldom heard these days. With the ceremony being the filling of an indulgence heavy, van-ity doused, thespian fried, awards ceremony sandwich between the seedy American (pun intended) buns that are the Golden Globes and the Oscars.Last Wednesday (8th Jan) the BAFTA nominations were announced in London. Below are the major categories and my predictions from each.

- BEST PICTURE: 112 Years a Slave; Ameri-can Hustle; Captain Phillips; Gravity; Philom-ena PREDICTION: 12 Years a Slave- BEST BRITISH FILM: Gravity; Mandela: A long walk to freedom; Philomena; Rush; Sav-ing Mr Banks; The Selfish GiantPREDICTION: Gravity- DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity; Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips; Steve Mc-Queen – 12 Years a Slave; David O’Russell - American Hustle; Martin Scorsese – Wolf of Wall Street

PREDICTION: Steve McQueen- ACTOR: Christian Bale – American Hustle; Bruce Dern – Nebraska; Leonardo Di Caprio – Wolf of Wall Street; Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave; Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips PREDICTION: Chiwetel Ejiofor- ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine; Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks; San-dra Bullock – Gravity; Judi Dench – Philom-ena; Amy Adams – American HustlePREDICTION: Cate Blanchett- SUPPORTING ACTOR: Burkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips; Bradley Cooper – American Hustle; Daniel Bruhl – Rush; Matt Damon – Behind the Candelabra; Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a SlavePREDICTION: Burkhad Abdi - SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine; Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle; Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave; Julia Roberts – August: Orange County; Op-rah Winfrey – The ButlerPREDICTION: Lupita Nyong’o - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Eric Warren Singer and David O’Russell – American Hus-tle; Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine; Alfonso and Jonas Cuaron – Gravity; Joel and Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis; Bob Nelson – NebraskaPREDICTION: Woody Allen - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave; Richard La Gravenese

– Behind the Candelabra; Billy Ray – Cap-tain Phillips; Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena; Terence Winter – Wolf of Wall Street PREDICTION: Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope - ANIMATION: Monsters University; Despic-able Me 2; FrozenPREDICTION: Frozen

So, there you have my predictions. I expect Gravity and Captain Phillips tocollect most of their wins in the technical categories and American Hustleto go away without much more than the award for hair and make-up. It would be nice to see Judi Dench win for her great performance in Philomena as it would Emma Thomson for Saving Mr Banks, but after years of consistently brilliant acting without significant recognition, I feel it’s Cate Blanchett’s year. I predict 12 Years will be the big winner on the night, but academy voters have surprised me numerous times before. Whichever way the cookie crumbles, it’s been a decent year for British cinema and if the top awards do go to a British film/ direc-tor/ writer/ actor/actress then for this year at least it can be said it was for genuine merit and not favouritism towards films produced here. It will therefore be fascinating to see how the nominations and winners compare to those at the Oscars.

1. Vampire Academy: From the young adult book series by Ri-chelle Mead, the first book is brought to the screen this year. Following character Rose Hath-away, a half human/half vam-pire whose job it is to protect the mortal and discrete vampires, the Moroi from the blood thirsty, immortal vampires, the Strigoi; this is her story. Directed by Mark Waters and starring Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Daniella Ko-zlovsky and Sarah Hyland. Vampire Academy is due to be released mid-February.

2. Divergent: From the novel of the same name by Veronica Roth, Divergent is based around a teen called Beatrice Prior who has a special mind and finds herself in danger when an au-

thoritarian leader seeks to ex-amine Beatrice and others of her kind, to try and take control of their divided society. Direct-ed by Neil Burger and starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Miles Teller and Ansel Elgort. Divergent is due to be released in early April.

3. The Fault in Our Stars: The Fault in Our Stars is a novel by John Green about a sixteen-year-old cancer patient named Hazel Grace Lancaster, who is involuntarily put into a cancer support group by her parents, where she happens to meet the wondrous Augustus Waters. Di-rected by Josh Boone, the leads of Hazel Grace and Augustus are taken by Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, also starring

Nat Wolff and Willem Dafoe. The Fault in Our Stars is due to be released mid-June.

4.The Hunger Games: Mocking-jay Part 1: The first half of the fi-nal installment to Suzanne Col-lins’ book trilogy, The Hunger Games. Katniss has escaped the arena for a second time and has now risen as a symbol for the rebellion against the Capi-tol. But what happens next? Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hems-worth, Sam Clafin, Woody Har-relson and Elizabeth Banks. The Hunger Games: Mocking-jay Part 1 is due to be released in late November.

5.The Hobbit: There and Back Again: The third and final in-stallment to the trilogy film ad-aptation of J. R. R. Tolkiens novel 'The Hobbit', Thorin and his company have reached Smaug's lair; but, can Bilbo and the Dwarves reclaim Erebor and the treasure? And, if so, can they hold on to it? Directed by Peter Jackson and starring Martin Freeman, Evangeline Lily, Luke Evans, Richard Armit-age, Aidan Turner and Benedict Cumberbatch. The Hobbit: There and Back Again is due to be released mid-December.

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Film REviEWs

Director: David O. RussellCast: Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence Runtime: 138min

When a con man and his partner-in-crime are caught by the FBI they agree to help catch 4 other criminals in exchange for their freedom. However, when the FBI agent decides he wants to go after bigger fish and starts targeting congressmen and some of the biggest criminals around, things

get much more dangerous. Now the con man and his partner must figure out a way to not only get out of their jail sentence, but also get out alive.

Verdict:

First of all, only go to see this film if you have a lot of patience and time to spare. Even though the pace of the film is decent and there aren’t many dull moments, at 2hrs 17min, nobody can argue that it’s a long film. Three quarters

of the way through, I was starting to wonder whether the film would ever actually end. With an all-star cast and 7 Golden Globe nominations, four of which were for the four leading actors, it’s certainly an enticing option at the cinema. It has an interesting and engaging storyline and, for the most part, you can understand what’s happening. I found it got a little confusing nearing the end, but didn’t leave the theatre with my head spinning. If for

nothing else, see this film to experience Amy Adams’ British accent and Jennifer Lawrence’s somewhat Bronx accent. After all, fake accents are fun for everyone.

American Hustle

Saving Mr. BanksAlicia Poole

Dirct: John Lee HancockCast: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, B. J. Novak. Runtime: 125min

Author of Mary Poppins, Mrs P. L. Travers, is in the process of being convinced by Mr Walt Disney to sign over the rights to her beloved story, for the film to

go into production. During the process of writing scripts and designing sets and costumes, Mrs Travers reflects on the troubling memories from her childhood and, in doing so, slowly reveals what reasons lay behind the legendary book.

Verdict:

Be prepared to never watch

Mary Poppins in the same way, ever again. This film, to say the least, was awesome. Emma Thompson as P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, two outstanding actors who tell a sad and heart-wrenching story, revealing the truth behind the tale of Mary Poppins. With wonderful characters, good pacing and a script to make you laugh and tear up;

a great combination for any film! If you go to see this film, do make sure you stay for the credits; there is a real voice recording of P. L. Travers discussing plans and ideas from the film- how awesome is that! “Let’s go fly a kite...”

Frozen The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

Dirct: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee Cast: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff Runtime: 102min

When a young princess’ power to control ice and snow gets out of control, she becomes a recluse in her castle, shutting out everybody in her life. Years later, on the day of her coronation, she accidentally unleashes her powers, leaving her kingdom covered in ice. When she flees to a secluded mountain, her sister goes on a magical, musical adventure to not only bring her sister back, but to save the place that they call home.

Verdict:

This film is essentially the winter version of the popular Disney flick ‘Tangled’. In other words, it’s practically perfect. From a snowman who dreams of summer, to a boy and his reindeer who sell ice, it’s full of characters that you just can’t help but love. It has you laughing and crying from the very beginning and will have you singing its soundtrack by the end credits. This is not just a film to be enjoyed by children, but people of any age! On your way out of the cinema, you’re guaranteed to be asking the question, “do you want to build a snowman?!”

Sam Potochick

Dirct: Peter JacksonCast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom Runtime: 161min

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the epic second instalment of book to screen adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit, continuing Bilbo Baggins journey alongside Thorin, Gandalf and the

thirteen Dwarves.Peter Jackson and his film team have created yet another outstanding piece of work! Throughout the film, we see the vast amount of amazing effects, costumes, make-up, props (even a dragon!), used to complete this stage of the story.In The Desolation of Smaug, we also see the return of great characters on their adventure towards the Lonely

Mountain, seeing a p p e a r a n c e s from Stephen Fry, as Master of Laketown and Sylvester McCoy, as Radagast.There are many brilliant parts throughout the entire film, with bits keeping you on the edge of your seat wondering what’s next; but, for me, the introduction to Smaug is one of the most memorable scenes from the film. The set up of Erebor, Smaug’s

lair, is amazing- the sheer detail created is undoubtedly impressive.Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Luke Evans (Bard the Bowman), Lee Pace (Thranduil) and Hobbit: There and Back Again.Overall, an amazing piece of film work- a must see!

Alicia Poole

Sam Potochick

18

SPORTsPORTsWhat It Takes To Conquer Your Fears - Sophrologie

As a martial artist for more than seven years - not counting those periods when you hang your belt and forget about training for months- I have always encountered fear, nervousness and a pathetic impulse to re-consider why I put myself under so much pressure. It happens to the best of us at some point. Despite our hunger for winning medals, we all have our own hidden emotions that either hold us back or push us forward. Behind every achievement, there is a strict regime martial artists follow, without it, your success doesn’t last long. Personally, what allowed me to conquer my fears has been a mixture of many aspects ranging from experi-ence to teammates’ unconditional support to discovering a practice named Sophrologie. Sophrologie is a scientific based discipline that focuses on the relaxation of mind and body through your consciousness in order to discover your inner emotions, strengths and/or capabilities, it is not hypnosis, and it can be applied to every aspect of life for a specific goal.

Aside from sports, its effectiveness can be reflected on other areas such as stress dur-ing exams, to family members seeking har-mony in the household.One basic technique involves a therapist specialised in the discipline to assess an in-dividual or a group with simple techniques of relaxation through breathing, twisting nega-tive thoughts into positive conclusions, meth-ods for sleeping well and much more. Initially, the therapeutic room should be free of distracting elements to maximise the ef-fects of every technique applied. Once mas-tered, the subject is encouraged to try this whenever and wherever neededIn my case, sophrologie has taught me how to section my chaotic thoughts previous to a tournament in order to stay collected regard-less of whether or not I win.

For those interested in this curious dis-cipline visit: www.sofrocay.com

Dipika Gurnani

19