THE LINCFREE | March 2010 | Issue 3, Year 3Online Daily: www.The Linc.co.uk

MORE INSIDE

Politicians want your voteHarold Evans exclusive Take aim, fire The super injuctionThe ladies of the BBC

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With­the­General­Electiondue­in­the­next­fewmonths,­The Linc hastaken­a­look­to­see­whateach­of­the­main­three­po-litical­parties­haveplanned­for­students­andhigher­education.

The decisions taken by theLabour party, who have beenin power for almost 13 yearsnow, have widened access tohigher education, but alsocaused some head aches forstudents.

In 2003 Charles Clarke, thethen Education Secretary,raised the limit on tuition feesfrom £1,100 per year to£3,000, resulting in studentdebts that have reached£30,000 in some cases.

In addition, the Labour gov-ernment has also scrapped thegeneral student grant, meaningthat students who come frompoor backgrounds have bornethe brunt of student debt.

While students from poorbackgrounds can claim a maxi-

mum grant of £2,906, and thosewho are lucky enough to comefrom wealthy backgrounds canafford to live without govern-ment financial aid, studentsfrom middle-income back-grounds have been left strandedby Labour’s policies.

In terms of local support, itappears we cannot even rely onthat since Gillian Merron hasrefused to oppose tuition fee in-creases, saying that the goodLabour has done for educationoutweighs the damage.

However Labour have justpassed legislation that specifiesthat people between 16 and 25who are unemployed for sixmonths will be guaranteed a jobor training placement. Is thisLabour returning to its roots, orjust a display to attract floatingvoters? The latter is more likely.

The National Union of Stu-dents is also rallying troops toget the UK student populationto vote in the upcoming generalelections, in an attempt to slidethe vote in the favour of futureuniversity undergraduates.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Incumbent Students’ Unionpresident won re-election atthe SU elections on Friday,March 5th. He’ll be incharge of the SU for yet another year.

Three other full-time officerswere elected, and four part-timers— three of which ran uncontested.

Five of the nine part-time posi-tions, introduced in a recent SUreorganisation, didn’t attract evena single candidate.

Inside (PAGE 8) we analyse theresults, and look at what the electionsthis year mean for Lincoln students.

­The­charitable­British­purgetheir­moral­consciences­bybuying­fair-trade­coffee.They­think­they­are­doingtheir­little­bit­to­help­the­peo-ple­working­back-breakingfourteen-hour­shifts­in­sun-scorched­fields.­But­as­theysip­their­socially-responsibleespressos,­how­much­of­adifference­does­a­fair-tradesticker­really­make?

Fair-trade coffee works by set-ting a minimum price to pay theproducers, which is based on theircosts. Fair-trade companies mustpay the minimum price for coffee,unless the world market price ishigher, in which case they must

pay that. They are also required toput a premium on their coffeeproducts, which goes towards so-cial, environmental, or economicdevelopment projects.

However, this leaves someproducers of good coffee unable tocompete unless they are fair-trade, as demand is skewed to-wards that end of the market.This, it is said, undermines free-market trading.

If coffee crops aren’t providingenough yield, or are producingpoor-quality coffee, then shouldwe continue to flog a dead horse?It’s argued that fair-trade clampssome otherwise unsustainableproducers to the coffee industry.Instead, investment in new indus-tries is needed, to allow these peo-

ple a chance for a fresh start andto enter markets with plenty ofdemand and growth potential.

Coffee Aroma in Lincoln’s citycentre is an independent coffeeshop which doesn’t buy fair-trade.Ben Drury, a barista at the shop,says fair-trade is a double-edgedsword: “It can bring you trade andbusiness because you’re a fair-trade registered company, so nowthe [hypothetical] fair-tradeColombian Farmers PLC are fair-trade they’ll get business, whereasa smaller farm which produces atiny amount of coffee will not beable to get the same prices in theirarea [compared with others] be-cause everyone else is fair-trade,”says Drury.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Students shaftedup the ballot box

Charnley wins second electionas Students’ Union President

By Jack Dobson

By Shane Croucher

How fair is your fair-trade coffee?

Independent Lincoln-based coffee shop Coffee

Aroma has a different take on fair-trade.

10

www.TheLinc.co.uk

Editor:Daniel Ionescudaniel.ionescu@thelinc.co.uk

Dep. Editor:Harry Lincoln harry.lincoln@thelinc.co.uk

Asst. Dep. editor:Shane Crouchershane.croucher@thelinc.co.uk

News Editor:Rob Wellsrob.wells@thelinc.co.uk

Dep. News Editor:Charlotte Reidcharlotte.reid@thelinc.ouk

Lifestyle Editor /Magazine Editor:Alex Colmanalex.colman@thelinc.co.uk

Dep. Lifestyle Editor:Mark Bowery mark.bowery@thelinc.co.uk

Culture Editor /Magazine deputy:Elizabeth Fishelizabeth.fish@thelinc.co.uk

Dep. Culture Editor:Ashleigh Grayashleigh.gray@thelinc.co.uk

Sports Editor:Adrian Belladrian.bell@thelinc.co.uk

Dep. Sports Editor:Melanie Ruddmelanie.rudd@thelinc.co.uk

Style Editor:Sara Shahsara.shah@thelinc.co.uk

Dep. Style Editor:Stacey Cosensstacey.cosens@thelinc.co.uk

Pictures Editor:Samuel Cox samuel.cox@thelinc.co.uk

Dep. Pictures Editor:Anneka Jamesanneka.james@thelinc.co.uk

Photographers:Samantha FisherRishi Hindocha

Magazine Layout Editor:Adam Matthewsadam.matthews@thelinc.co.uk

Readers’ Editor:Samantha Pidoux sam.pidoux@thelinc.co.uk

Staff Reporters& Contributors

Jonathan CresswellJack DobsonTom FarmeryCalum FullerStephanie BoltonLuke MortonMike Worne

Advertising Head:Carly Smithcarly.smith@thelinc.co.uk

Print Advertising Dep:Charlie Marplescharlie.marples@thelinc.co.uk

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Advertising Assistants:Evelyn ForsythJennifer FarmerySamuel Wilding

— Special thanks to ProfessorRichard Keeble, Professor JohnTulloch, and Chris Brandrick fortheir contribution to this issue.

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The views and opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily the views of the University of Lincoln or Unversity of Lincoln Students’ Union or the LincolnSchool of Journalism. All rights in the design, text, graphics, and other material in this paper and the selec tion or arrangement thereof is copyright of The Linc or other third parties,unless otherwise stated. Any use of the materials from this paper without our prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Should you require permission for republishing content, pleasecontact The Linc: editor@thelinc.co.uk. The Linc strives to abide by the National Union of Journalists’ Code of Conduct [http://is.gd/3eu1k]. We appre ci ate it when read ers and peoplequoted in art icles or opin ion pieces point out to us errors of fact or emphasis, and we will invest ig ate all cases. These sug ges tions should be sent via email to: corrections@thelinc.co.uk.

The Linc has been verybusy over the past fewweeks. Several of ourgrand projects have comeinto place in time for thisfinal issue of the academicyear.

Not only did we bring youthe full-blown newsprint issueof The Linc, but we also movedour Lifestyle, Culture, andStyle sections into a brand-new glossy supplement — TheLinc Magazine.

March has also seen the cul-mination of weeks-long prepa-ration for our bigggest projectand success so far — the liveSU elections simulcast onMarch 5th.

But this final issue of TheLinc is also special because it isthe last one that carries myname as editor.

And to top it all off, it’s mythird and final year at the Uni-versity of Lincoln.

It has been an amazingjourney over the last two yearsfor me at The Linc.

Fast-forwarding from Sep-tember 2008, The Linc has hadan amazing evolution. Overthis period, our website hasseen over 60,000 unique visti-tors and we distributed over16,000 copies of the newspaperin Lincoln.

Where we stand now, hun-dreds of people visit our web-site every day, where we updatewith the latest happenings on adaily basis.

Next to our readers’ appre-ciation, The Linc also prides it-self with the awards it has wonand been nominated for. Toname a few, The Linc receivednational recognition from theGuardian and the BBC.

However, we could havenever achieved this without thehelp of our great editorialteam, which grew alongside

our readership.Also, the tutors and staff of

the Lincoln School of Journal-ism have been very supportiveof The Linc, and a big thankyou is in order.

So where do we go fromhere? Well, my work is notnearly done at The Linc, butjust the right person to takeover is here — Shane Croucher.

Shane has been alongsideme for the ride since the beg-gining of my term as editor ofThe Linc. We have both learnta lot during this time and Istrongly believe he is the rightperson to take over.

Shane is a passionate, fair,and talented individual and hewill have a great line-up of staffto run The Linc for the comingacademic year.

I am positive I am leavingyou in safe hands next year, soit’s goodbye from me.

— Daniel Ionescu

What­a­fantastic­eighteenmonths­I've­had­working­atThe Linc.­I've­seen­Danieltransform­this­publicationfrom­an­average­studentnewspaper­into­an­ambi-tious­hub­for­student­andlocal­news.­

We have a powerful onlinepresence and a thought-provok-ing newspaper. With our exten-sive elections coverage on ourwebsite, including a specialpodcast, culminating in live on-air coverage of the results night— The Linc team have shownexactly why we're the best stu-dent media on campus.

The reason you're readingthis column alongside Daniel'sis because this is an introduc-tion. As he leaves to pursue anundoubtedly successful career,I'm picking up the reins.

Frankly, I'm chomping atthe bit to get my grubby handson The Linc. Next year we have

an enthusiastic and very capa-ble set of editors taking over.With their help, I'm hoping toexpand even further on Daniel'ssuccesses. He has led us to na-tional awards, as well as makingsure we come out on top at thestudent media awards here atthe university.

We put in a lot of hard workand a lot of time into The Linc.As a print-run approaches,you'll find us in our temporaryhome, the media building'snewsrooms. The rest of the timewe're chasing stories across Lin-coln, dashing around the hallsof the university getting quotes,attending all the gigs and the-atre productions to bring youreviews — updating our websitedaily. To date I haven't receiveda single penny for my work. Iguess my cheque's in the post.

So what for the future? Onething that fascinates me injournalism is local news. There

are always lots of things goingon in local communities (yes,even in Lincoln) and thereshould be journalists at thecentre of it all: reporting, un-covering, and scrutinising.

That's why for next year, Iplan to expand our local cov-erage to the point where wenot only are a University ofLincoln publication, but a Lin-coln City one too.

While we have a solid team,we're often short of reporters,many of whom have their handstied up elsewhere. If you wantto make a name for yourself andget your hands dirty, then getinto contact. I'd love to hearfrom you.

So, until May when I offi-cially become The Linc’s thirdeditor, enjoy this issue and thebeautifully-crafted magazine in-side. Thank you for reading andI hope you continue to do so.

— Shane Croucher

Editor’s LetterThe Team

www.twitter.com/TheLincwww.TheLinc.co.uk www.facebook.com/TheLinc

A look back at The Linc through the years:

April­2008 September­2008 February­2009 December­2009

Get involved with the premier student publication from theUniversity of Lincoln. If you want to contribute to The Lincemail an example of your writing to wex@thelinc.co.uk

0 3News

CONTINUED FROM P1

El­Salvador­coffee­costs,­onthe­world­market,­around­adollar­a­pound.­Fair-tradeprices­are­little­more.­CoffeeAroma­pay­£6.07­per­pound

for­the­same­coffee.

“There’s a massive gap in pay-ing for good quality produce thanpaying for a label. That label reallydoesn’t mean much. Most fair-trade coffee is awful quality and itdoesn’t live up to standard. It isn’ttreated well and it’s not handledcorrectly. It’s not even marketedvery well. People just slap a fair-trade sticker on an espresso brandand think it’s fine and dandy,”Drury says.

The 2008 report “UnfairTrade” by the Adam Smith Insti-tute, a right-leaning think-tank,found that four fifths of fair-tradegoods end up in non-fair tradeproducts, and just 10% of the pre-mium price on fair-trade goodsgoes to the producers, as well asother findings.

The report concluded: “Fair-trade is not an answer to poverty.For those who promote it, fair-trade is not even necessarily in-tended to aid economicdevelopment. Instead, fair-tradeoperates to keep the poor in their

place, sustaining uncompetitivefarmers on their land and holdingback the changes that could givetheir children a richer future by en-couraging mechanization and di-versification.”

In response to the report, theFairtrade Foundation “refutes theunsubstantiated claims that Fair-trade ‘does more harm than good’”.

“[The Adam Smith report] ap-plies totally inflexible dogma andoutdated information to criticiseFairtrade producers, without offer-ing any constructive alternative fordevelopment other than ‘leave it tothe market’.”

Stephen Leighton runs HasBean Coffee Ltd and is CoffeeAroma’s roaster. He once used fair-trade coffee farmers, but made thedecision in 2002 to stop buyingfrom them. In an article on HasBean’s website, he justified thismove: “I’m not an evil capitalistthat believes farmers should besuppressed so that coffee roasterscan make all the money from cof-fee,” writes Leighton.

“The only way the specialitymarket can possibly grow and suc-ceed is via sustainable methods, re-warding coffee farmers for the hardwork they put in.”

He pours scorn on one majorfair-trade organisation, who he be-lieves waste money acting like acorporation. “Does the farmer need

a full-page advertisement in TheSunday Times Magazine which,trust me, is very expensive. Doeshe need an army of administrativestaff based in a swanky London of-fice, or many other expensive citiesaround the world? Fairly tradedproduce has the ability to sell itselfon its own merit and doesn’t needall these things,” he wrote.

Leighton also criticises the su-permarkets who push guilt on theconsumer despite their own uneth-ical practices: “Calculating that, ingeneral, and being generous, thefair-trade farmer gets 12p extra fora fair-trade pack of coffee, com-pared to a standard, commercialbrand.

“However, the price on thepack in [one leading supermarket]is around 75p more than their ownbrand offerings, resulting in asmall reward for the farmer fromthe supermarkets, but a large re-turn for the supermarkets hittingthe guilt strings of its customers.

“Consequently, it is the verypeople that drive prices down onmany items, to a degree that makesit difficult to make a decent living,who are making the consumer feelguilty, whilst increasing their profitmargins? This is a perverse situa-tion to say the least.”

The Fairtrade Foundation didnot respond to The Linc's requestfor comment.

What’s the better deal for coffee?Fair-trade Facts

■ In 2008 the UK market for Fair-trade Foundation certified productswas worth £712.6m in sales;

■ There are around 450 FairtradeTowns across the UK;

■ Every day, Britain drinks 8 millionFairtrade hot drinks;

■ Four-fifths of Fairtrade farmer’sproduce ends up in non-Fairtradegoods;

■ 1 in 4 bananas sold in the UK areFairtrade;

■ Fairtrade Fortnight took place be-tween February 27nd and March 7th;

■ Fairtrade products range fromchocolate, to clothing and beer.

White, no sugar: Ben Drury, a barista at Coffee Aroma in Lincoln, says

that they don’t use fair-trade coffee because it’s counter-productive.

Information from Fairtradefoundation.org and AdamSmith.org

By Shane Croucher

0 4 News www.TheLinc.co.uk

The­University­of­Lincoln

has­hosted­two­notable­fe-

male­journalists­from­the

BBC­in­recent­weeks:­An-

gela­Rippon,­a­journalist

and­presenter,­and­Helen

Boaden,­the­director­of

BBC­News.

Angela Rippon became the

first female journalist appointed

to read the news regularly on

British Television in 1975.

However, for someone

working in a male-dominated

world, she never actually felt

that she faced any prejudice.

“There was an awful lot of

comment in the press because

there had never been a woman

before reading the news on a

regular basis, but I was not the

tea girl who had been promoted

overnight.”

Rippon pointed out that she

had worked hard to get her

credibility as a journalist, be-

ginning her career in newspa-

pers at the age of 17 on the

Western Morning News as a

photographer.

She developed her skills by

working on BBC local radio

and eventually moved to BBC

television working as a re-

porter, presenter and a direc-

tor. This, she said, made things

simpler for her.

“I had credibility as I had a

track record as a journalist

[and] as a broadcaster. So,

when I started reading the

news, no one could turn around

and say ‘she’s just there because

she is a woman.’

“I was actually there because

my bosses at BBC Television

Centre recognised that I was a

journalist with credibility, that I

could read the news, and that I

was someone that the British

public took to immediately.”

Helen Boaden, who was

the first woman to be in

charge of BBC News and, un-

like Rippon, felt that women

were not being represented

enough at the Corporation.

“John Birt was Director-

General [and he] felt passion-

ately that the gender balance

at the BBC was wrong… He

did make it clear that he

wanted that to change, and

since women are 51% of the

population they should at

least have some of the senior

roles at the BBC.”

As a consequence of lifestyle

choices, Boaden believes that

women are not represented in

higher positions.

“What’s interesting to me is

that it is very hard to get women

who want to be editors, and I

think that is partly because very

often you’re at a stage in your

30s, which is just when you

have youngish children, and

being an editor for most people

is a 24/7 job.

“So, it’s not that we don’t

have very good women journal-

ists at the BBC — we do — but

actually often they decide that

they don’t want to apply for the

editors’ jobs, the next rung up,

because it just doesn’t work in

terms of their family life bal-

ance… A lot of women think

‘It’s not worth it for me, I do

love my job, I love this particu-

lar job, but I want to see my

children grow up’.”

Rippon is optimistic that the

improved representation of

young women in current affairs

will continue and, in turn, im-

prove the treatment of older

women on television: “The

young women who are now in-

habiting it, there are as many of

them as there are men, and they

are as good if not in some cer-

tain cases better than the men,

[and] they will still be there in

20 years time.

“So, in 20 years time we

won’t be having this argument

about where all the mature

women are… and this whole

question of women in journal-

ism and women in broadcast-

ing will be dead in the water

because it will no longer be

applicable.”

Boaden has a lot of respect

for Angela Rippon and her

work. She agrees that older

women are not treated fairly by

the media, in that the same

standards are not applied to

men: “There are lots of men

over 50, if you look across

broadcasting generally, [yet] in

every genre there aren’t many

women of my age on screen.

“BBC News has got a pretty

reasonable track record, but it is

an industry-wide problem.”

The problem, that Boaden

has identified, is to break a

previously held image of the

BBC, as they have faced criti-

cism for not respecting older

newsreaders: “I talk to a lot of

women in their later 40s who

think we will just get rid of

them in their late 40s. As long

as I am director we won’t.”

The ladies of the BBCBy Charlotte Reid

With­a­lot­of­fuss­recentlyover­the­National­StudentSurvey­of­graduating­stu-dents,­The Linc decided­toconduct­a­survey­of­ourown,­asking­five­questionsto­100­students.

Value­for­money

Overwhelmingly, the stu-dents polled were not happywith what they get for their tu-ition fees. Over two thirds feelthey do not get value for moneyfrom their degree.

Some students feel their de-gree isn’t as valuable as those atother “top ranking” universitiessuch as Oxford, Cambridge, orWarwick and shouldn’t be pay-ing as much. Others suggestedthat the content of degrees was asevere problem, that they justdon’t get enough out of it to jus-tify the cost.

University of Lincoln stu-dents paid £3,225 in tuitionfees for 2009/10, with extrasthat one may expect to be in-cluded on their course oftencosting extra.

Proud­students

The majority of students areproud to be University of Lin-coln students, with over threequarters saying so in our survey.

Whether it’s because the uni-versity leaping 29 universityleague places within two years,the university receiving thehighest commendation possiblein its recent QAA audit, or formany other reasons, studentsjust seem to be happy to be Lin-coln students.

Course­reps

According to our survey,over a third of students polledhave no idea who their coursereps are.

According to the SU’s “Rep-resentation Charter” coursereps are supposed to “effec-tively represent constituents tothe university and and the Stu-dents’ Union.

Perhaps the subtantial num-ber who aren’t familiar withtheir course rep reveals that thetop-down nature of the system isout of touch with students.

Intolerance

One in six students have wit-nessed an intolerant act while atthe university. The question de-fined intolerance as racism, ho-mophobia, sexism, and ageism.

Recently there has been afairly high-profile campaign bythe LGBT society about homo-phobia, and the SU now has a“liberation officer”. Also, thenew vice-president for welfare,Kayleigh Taylor, says she wantsto work with “diverse groups”.

Bullying

Thankfully the vast major-ity of students reported thatthey had not, and don’t anyonewho has, been bullied while atuniversity.

There are already optionsfor students being bullied toget some support, such as fromStudent Services. Also, the uni-versity charter takes a hardline on bullying.

But with over 15% of stu-dents saying that they hadbeen bullied, there’s stillprogress to be made.

The Linc student surveyBy Jack Dobson

Angela Rippon was the first female journalist to read the news on television.

Helen Boaden, the current director of BBC news, visited the university in early March.

Q1.­Do you know who your subject

rep is?

Q2.­Are you proud to be a Univer-

sity of Lincoln student?

Q3.­Do you feel you get value for

money on your course?

Q4.Have you ever witnessed an

intolerant act (racism/ homopho-

bia/ sexism) while at Lincoln?

Q5.Have you, or anyone you

know, been bullied while at univer-

sity?

Feature 0 5

The­farming­capital­of­theUK,­Lincolnshire,­is­fa-mous­for­its­rural­country-side.­However,­it­isn’talways­as­peaceful­as­youmight­imagine.

With the Conservatives’pledge to legalise fox hunting, thetranquillity could soon be dis-turbed with protests and contro-versy once again.

What many people fail to re-alise is that fox hunting is, infact, still carried out legallyacross the UK, as the law onlystates that dogs cannot be usedto kill the animal. On top of thisthere are other types of hunting,such as bird shooting, whichstill continue.

At 9am on a snowy, mid-January morning, I travelled toBethlem Farm in Friskney toinvestigate the truth behindthe shoot.

Delving into a world of tweedand leather elbow pads, the firstthing to notice is that being in aroom with peers dressed in plus-fours may seem slightly preten-tious, but it does show how agroup of young men have a greatrespect for their sport’s traditionsand etiquette.

The farmer’s son, JamesWrisdale, was the host and in-sists the main reason he enjoysshooting is the social side andthe sense of camaraderie.“Shooting is really a social vehi-cle, which is proven by the factthat businesses are using themas corporate days to entertainclients,” he said.

In a world where world-classfootballers use their hands to

cheat, and professional golfersthrow clubs in displays of tempertantrums akin to a toddler, this isquite uplifting.

Owner of Bethlem Farm,Philip Wrisdale, who has spenthis entire life in the farming com-munity, explained how it is a tra-ditional way of life in thecountryside.

He said: “Shooting is a sportpeople enjoy in the country, butpeople don’t realise it is also aform of pest control. From ayoung age you will be introducedto shooting what we class as ver-min, like rabbits and pigeons, aswell as predators such as foxesand magpies. In fact, they are athreat to the ground-nestingbirds like pheasants themselves.”

The plans for the day includea few drives in the morning, sloegin, pork pie, sausage rolls, andsoup for lunch, a few drives inthe afternoon, and then roastpork and drinks in the evening.It sounds like a perfect day inthe countryside.

Janet Wrisdale highlightedthe fact that the dead birds willall be put to use and the day itselfdoes actually support local pro-duce, which the media are sokeen to promote.

“I get the vegetables and meatlocally, even though we are a po-tato farm, although I do have topop to Marks and Spencer forsome things,” she said.

The day's prey was game, pre-dominantly pheasants, with theoccasional woodcock and groundgame, such as rabbits and hares.

After being provided with afetching wax jacket and somewellington boots, we made ourway to the first drive. With

around a dozen guns (shooters)everyone is arranged into posi-tion with the precision of a mili-tary skirmish. Eight gunssituated at the opening of thewood and the rest flanking fromeach side.

With the bush-beaters ad-vancing from the opposite side,waving their arms and shoutingto drive the birds, the situationlooked a little ominous for theanimals. Despite this, after a ca-cophony of gun-fire, I wasamazed to see a few pheasantsmeander to safety and the oddrabbit find sanctuary in anearby ditch.

It is then when it dawns onyou that this is a sport and theopposition are given a sportingchance. In 2010 it would be quiteeasy to use claymore mines andmachine guns, but that is not thepoint and instead antique shot-guns are used.

James Wrisdale explainedhow this is not the point of theshoot: “Not only is there respectfor the animal but you also learnto respect the gun. In this envi-ronment there is a lot of empha-sis on how to use the gun safelyand being considerate of the peo-ple around you. There aren’tmany people who know the dam-age a shotgun can do and at whatrange it can be lethal,” he said.

The lunchtime conversationwasn’t for the faint hearted, asthe morning’s exploits were re-lived and male bravado kickedin. “Did you see it bounce?” and“that one’s skinned itself — it'salmost ready to eat.” But boyswill be boys.

Despite this, he explainedthey do have respect for the ani-

mals they have shot: “I alwayswear a tie out of respect for whatwe are shooting. We try to be ashumane as possible too. The rea-son we have dogs is to make sureanything that is just wounded isdispatched easily.”

As the afternoon went on itbecame obvious that there are alot of rules about what can beshot: no hen birds until you haveshot a cock, for example.

Philip Wrisdale explainedhow it would not be in the bestinterest to stage a mass culling ofthe birds. “It’s all about the en-joyment of the day, not the size ofthe bag. There are commercialshoots nowadays run as a busi-ness, but the whole idea behind ashoot is that you attend friend’sdays and then invite them back toyour own. You just shoot a mod-erate amount of birds and theneat the produce,” said Wrisdale.

I failed to make it through theday without getting blood on myhands. Despite not having fired ashot, I was coaxed into carryinghalf a dozen pheasants. I felt em-barrassed by the way I grimacedas a bird's neck was thrust be-tween my fingers.

Animal welfare is often theargument against hunting, butdespite the bloodshed theLabrador gun-dogs are in theirelement, retrieving the fallenprey for their owners. Comparedwith pit-bull owning, ASBO-laden youths in the city, perhapscampaigners should focus theirattention elsewhere.

The amount of wild game onthe farm has decreased, but it isnot a result of the farming com-munity, according to Wrisdale.

“In the 70s and 80s there

were a lot more birds, but differ-ent pesticides were used whichmeant there were less predatorssuch as crows and hawks. Sincethey have been banned I have no-ticed a lot more of these speciesaround, and I believe they aremore of a threat to the balance ofwildlife,” he said.

Back at the house the day wasrounded off with beer from thelocal brewery and a home cookedmeal, plus a little sweepstake.

Ellie Warner, a medical stu-dent at the University of CentralLondon, who has lived in thecapital all her life, took part inthe shoot.

She said: “I have been onshoots before and I love the dayout, but this is the first one I’vetaken part in. I managed to shootmy first pheasant but I don’t feelguilty at all.”

Everyone writes down an es-timate of how many birds werekilled, with the closest guessclaiming the pot. The number felljust short of a hundred. It is im-portant remember that there willstill be birds there next year andthe farmer isn’t the only predatorthe game has to watch out for.

Many people fantasise abouta quaint life in the country butlook through rose tinted specta-cles. Many aspects of the lifestylecould be deemed cruel but theupkeep of an age-old traditionthat may kill a hundred of birdsseems little to offset against theintensely farmed chickens manypeople eat.

You couldn’t get any morefree range than going to the farm,shooting the bird yourself, andtaking it home with you to eat atthe end of the day

Country bumpkin: a day in the lifeBy Alex Colman

James Wrisdale says that shooting is a “social vehicle”.

0 6 IN THEIR OWN WORDS www.TheLinc.co.uk

Many­students­in­Lincolntoday­would­barely­recog-nise­our­city­in­1997.­Thelast­13­years­has­seen­Lin-coln­transformed,­withover­£100­million­worth­ofgovernment­investment­inthe­university­alone.

Tackling a legacy of Conserva-tive under-investment, Labour hasmade the University of Lincolnone of the fastest growing univer-sities in the country.

I know that some students areconcerned at the savings an-nounced at the end of 2009, butthey must be seen in the context ofa decade of record public invest-ment. Universities will have to dotheir fair share of belt tightening,but no more. That is why I am par-ticularly concerned to hear thatthe University of Lincoln is explor-

ing cutting bursaries, and I want toassure students that I am takingthis issue up with the vice-chancel-lor Mary Stuart.

As students will know, thegovernment has launched an In-dependent Review of Higher Ed-ucation Funding and StudentFinance, which is about ensuringthat the future of funding andstudent support is based on evi-dence and facts. The review is un-derway and its conclusionsshould not be pre-empted.

But I appreciate that stu-dents want to know where Istand on the important issue offinance and who gets a chance togo to university.

The current system, in myopinion, is much fairer than itused to be. Full-time graduates nolonger pay fees upfront, and there

has been a significant increase inthe student support available. Notonly are more young people goingto university, and more youngpeople from poorer backgroundsgoing to university, but thanks tothe huge investment in our stateschools there are more young peo-ple qualified to go to university.

I want a system that is fair,that brings the widest range ofpeople into university, particu-larly those whose backgroundswouldnít have naturally broughtthem there, like myself theyoungest of a big family, from acouncil house in Dagenham -and a system that maintains ouruniversities and students asamongst the best in the world.

This election, students have areal choice about their future andthe future of Lincoln.

The­Higher­Education­de-bate,­organised­by­the­Uni-versity­of­Lincoln­andBishop­Grosseteste­SUs­wasa­great­opportunity­for­themain­political­parties­to­dis-cuss­the­important­issuesrelating­student­funding.­

Funding for education is anissue that ought to have been ad-dressed in the last 14 years andcertainly should be in the nextparliament.

The current economic stateof nation and the skills shortagewe are facing will have farreaching and negative effectson our nation’s economy andsociety’s well being. France andGermany have 50%+ and 60%+educated and skilled work-forces, whilst we have 28%. Thecurrent government’s solutionhas been to cut HE funding bynearly £500million this year

with further 6% cuts plannedfor the next two years.

By restricting funding andcapping admission rates at 2008levels, many who wish to studyare denied this opportunity.There should be no limit placedby government on an individual’saspiration. President Obama isincreasing youth training andhigher educational spending inthe US by 38% because of theeconomic downturn. Our currentLabour government is cuttingspending, and lowering expecta-tion and places at a time whenplanning for economic andskilled workforce prosperity inthe future is a must.

The proportion of youngpeople going to university hasscarcely changed in eightyears. At the current rate, itwould take Labour over a cen-tury to meet their 50 per cent

target. So what will a Conser-vative government do?:

Introduce an early repaymentbonus on student loans thus en-abling more student places to beavailable; offer a fairer deal forpart-time and mature students;and create a clearer pathwayfrom vocational routes into fur-ther and higher education.

Education should be availableto all and there should be no bar-riers to aspiration. As I said re-cently in my closing remarks inthe debate, my late grandma al-ways reminded my two brothersand I “nobody can take your edu-cation away from you.” So to allstudents in Lincoln I would stressthe need to take the opportunityyou have to enjoy and fulfill youreducation needs, and I trust andhope your future will be thatmuch more enriched from yourHE experiences as mine were.

Students­I­speak­to­demandchange.­They­seek­a­fairerworld­built­upon­honestyand­principle;­a­place­wheretheir­talents­can­help­build­abrighter­tomorrow;­freefrom­speculators­who­gam-ble­with­our­economy­for­thewant­of­a­fast­buck.

They seek a country that in-vests in young people because itrecognises their worth. A countrythat is safe, progressive and for-ward thinking.

As an educationist, I am ap-palled by the present state of edu-cation funding and this includestuition fees, student loans, com-promised bursaries and cuts toHigher Education. A graduatewho works for me took out a£20,000 loan in order to fund her

studies. She recently started torepay that loan which has risen,in a few short years, to £25,000.

The Liberal Democrats great-est commitment is to education.We will scrap tuition fees, aswe’ve done in Scotland, so thatgraduates will not be saddled withthousands of pounds worth ofdebt at a time when they are al-ready struggling to find a job andmake ends meet.

Liberal Democrats believethat a university educationshould be free and everyone whohas the ability should be able togo to university and not be putoff by the cost.

Liberal Democrats say educa-tion is important because wemean it. The educated citizen willaccess better pay and return

higher levels of tax payments forreinvestment and their positiveinput into society is priceless. Iam very concerned about the im-pact H.E. cuts will have upon re-search and development inuniversities as this government isadvising that these budgets couldbe used elsewhere.

To maximize our ability tocompete with global competition,it is essential that we have thepeople with the tools to re-invigo-rate and maintain our position asa potent force, with the strengthand depth to help generate thenew industries so vital to our na-tion’s future. We need to redis-cover our talent for making thingsas well as placing bets on the in-ternational money markets. Lib-eral Democrats offer that change.

Reg ShoreLiberal Democrats

Karl McCartneyConservatives

Gillian MerronLabour

We’ve given Lincoln’s prospective parliamentary candidates the chance to tell you why they deserve your vote.

Feature 0 7

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So­if­Labour­don’t­sup-port­student­interests,the­Conservative­partydo,­right?­Unfortunatelynot.­They­certainly­havemore­university-specificpolicies­than­Labour,­butare­no­more­inclined­tosupport­students.

During Labour’s time inpower, the Conservativeshave had four leaders andspent a lot of time jeering atthe government’s policies anddecisions rather than actuallydisplaying any strong, princi-pled opposition.

An example is this quotefrom their website: “The pro-portion of young people going

to university has scarcelychanged in eight years. At thecurrent rate, it would takeLabour over a century to meettheir 50% target.”

Labour have pledged todevelop 20 new universitycampuses if they are re-elected, and unless thesecampuses have a capacity ofless than 500 students each,we can rest assured thatLabour’s plans will absolutelyoutweigh the pledge of10,000 new university placesfrom the Conservatives.

The Conservatives havealso suggested they want to“offer a fairer deal to part-time and mature students,”though the nature of this“fairer deal” is completely ab-sent from any of their policy

or manifesto material. The ambiguity of their

manifesto means they couldbe referring to bigger grants,or a free chocolate bar withevery enrolment, and untilthey clarify what they mean,no one can know what theirplans are.

One of their few policiesthat actually explains itself isthe “early repayment bonus”policy. This policy seeks toprovide students who are ableto pay back their loans imme-diately after graduation witha cheaper cost.

Yes, you read that right.The Conservative party ishappy to aid wealthy studentsby helping them to pay theirloans back at a reduced cost,while poorer students are left

saddled with their debts. It’sabsurd to forget about poorstudents while aiding rich,wealthy students.

They do, however, haveone policy which seems to bebeneficial to the average stu-dent: the creation of a new“all-age careers service”

Students who have usedthe Connexions service, oreven the careers service intheir college or university willbe aware of how much theycan help, though whetherthat’s worth your vote isdown to you.

As for the Liberal Democ-rats, Nick Clegg, the party’sleader, was under fire last au-tumn for appearing to u-turnon their policy to scrap tu-ition fees. Speaking at Birm-

ingham University’s open-day, he said the party neededto be “realistic” on their maineducation policy.

With such obvious hesita-tion, it’s difficult to establishwhether the Lib Dems can betrusted to follow up on theirpolicies, and due to havingnever been in power, it’s stilltoo early to confirm whetherthey will maintain the best in-terests of students anyway.

Regardless of who man-ages to become your MP thiselection, make sure that youget yourself heard.

Writing letters, publiclylobbying them, and talkingto them at their surgeriesare just some of the waysstudents can ensure they arelistened to.

Do political parties reallywork in students’ interests?

By Jack Dobson

Students could form a powerful bloc to determine who gets into the House of Commons. Photo: Maurice Beijer

0 8 Analysis www.TheLinc.co.uk

This year’s SU elections saw an increased amount of peoplevoting but only a small percentage of the student populationtook part. Looking at turnout, satisfaction, and predictions,The Linc has analysed the numbers behind this year’s results.

The numbers have the answer

>>In­the­pictures— Top: (left) Kayleigh Taylor, the new vice-president for welfare, and (right) ChrisCharnley, the re-elected SU president. — Center: (left) Shane Croucher interviewing (right) Dan Derri-cott, the new vice-president for academic affairs at the live elections simulcast. — Bottom (from left toright) Andreas Zacharia, the new vice-president for activities, Phil Krstic, the RAG officer, JonathanHolmes, the liberation officer, Jennine Fox, the sports officer and Joe Hicks, the campaigns officer.

Turnout

Over­1,500­people­voted­inthis­year’s­elections­meaning,roughly,­only­16%­of­the­totalstudent­population­at­the­uni-versity­took­part.­Due­to­regu-lations­over­who’s­eligible­tovote­—­part-time­studentscan’t­—­this­figure­may­beslightly­higher.

Not all of these will have beenin support of the candidates as insome categories as many as 144votes were cast for the option tore-open nominations (RON). So,we do not know what percentageof people actually voted for thepeople running.

This year’s turnout is an in-crease over the 2009 figure (13%)and puts Lincoln above the na-tional average for turnout (13.8%)as reported by the NUS. However,it is still lower than many universi-ties, notably Sheffield, who had a25% response rate in 2009.

The last two years are lowerthan the 18.8% turnout in 2008.

Facebook­groups

Social­networking­sites­weremore­important­than­in­previ-ous­years,­with­each­candidatecreating­a­Facebook­group­tosupport­their­campaign.

The Linc monitored the num-ber of people who joined thegroups as a way of checking popu-larity and engagement with thecampaigns, and used them to pre-dict who would win each role.

All of these predictions werecorrect, with the successful candi-dates having the most members oftheir groups. The most popularperson was Andreas Zacharia, whofinished the elections period with552 people having joined his group,just beating Chris Charnley in thelast week of the campaign (548).

Although Charnley claimed onhis Facebook page that he “wonwith a landslide vote” he only re-ceived 58% of the votes cast forpresident. Whilst 783 people didvote for him this is much less than10% of the total student population.

Breakdown­by­position

The­increased­turnout­is­reflected­in­the­number­ofvotes­for­each­category.­

The overall increase in voteswas 23% and this can be seen inthe full time positions, with 31%more votes being cast for the roleof president, 27% for the vice-president for academic affairs,and 28% for the vice-presidentfor welfare.

The most notable rise is forthe now-combined sports and so-cieties role. Last year the meanvotes cast for the two positionswas 852, while this year saw a60% rise in votes for the vice-president for activities position,at 1367 — the most votes for asingle position.

The paid roles were closelycontested with vice-president foractivities split 42%/58% betweenEmily Gough and Kayleigh Tay-lor. Vice-president for academicaffairs was similarly split 59% /41% in Dan Derricott’s favour.

Student­satisfaction

A­poll­on­The Linc’s­website­during­the­live­SU­elections­simulcast­asked­“Are­you­happy­withthe­elections­results­this­year?”­Out­of­over­350­respondents,­only­36%­of­people­answered“yes”.­Comments­from­readers­on­the­night­included­one­from­“E.C”,­which­said:­“Happy­witheverything­except­president.”

The Facebook tracking alsoallowed for estimating percent-ages for each position.

The differences in the groupsizes were quite large and so forpresident it looked like Charnleywould have 70% of the votes forhis position.

The estimated results forvice-president for academic af-fairs was much closer with only a2% difference in the predictions,59% to 41%, compared to thefinal results.

There has been little changein terms of competition between

candidates throughout the two-week campaign period. The ma-jority of the people joining did soat the start making these elec-tions look more like a contest ofexisting popularity.

— Analysis and graphics byJonathan Cresswell.

SU Elections 0 9

It’s like 2009all over again

The­SU­elections­have­comeand­gone­once­again.Turnout­is­still­abysmal­—just­16%­of­the­total­studentpopulation.­

To be fair to the SU, it's upon last year and it's progress inthe right direction. It just leavesnext year's team to build on this.How can they do that? Well, ifwe had the answer then we’dhave the SU kissing our toes andgrovelling for the secret formula.Our feet are currently SU-free.

Disappointingly, three posi-tions were uncontested (if youexclude RON), meaning therewas no choice. At least thesewere all part-time positionsthough, so no one has effectivelystrolled into a paid position.

We have some hope for DanDerricott, who won the vice-president for academic affairsposition. He seems pragmaticabout his position, realisesthere are limitations, but im-portantly he has specific plans,and not generic manifesto guffabout “enhancing the studentexperience”.

His reps system has flaws,which he realises, but the ideabehind it is positive. Derricottmust steer clear of PR drivel,

otherwise he may drown inwishy-washy flim-flam. If thingsaren't going well, be honestrather than try to cover it up.Then you can spend your timeon solutions rather than distrac-tion from a problem. As ever,The Linc will be on hand nextyear to scrutinise his progress.

Andreas Zacharia won thevice-president for activities posi-tion, and is promising “threewishes” for each club and society— which means they tell himthree things they want and he’lltry to get them.

When we interviewed him,we asked how he'll help toachieve these goals, to which hereplied he is a “strong person”,and if people, for example, askfor more time on the astroturfthen “I'll get them more time onthere”. He firmly believes thathis strength of character, pas-sion, and determination willallow him to achieve these goals.

We like his "three wishes"campaign, and he's right to sayit's a good way of monitoringprogress, but we wonder if hispersonality is enough to deliveron these promises. We fear thatsituational practicality may wellget in the way, leaving him un-able to grant the wishes. As ever,only time will tell.

Until next year, the elec-

tions chaos is over. We'll bekeeping our beady eyes on the2010/11 SU team. It’s importantto those involved, mostly for thepeople running for full-time po-sitions, because it’s an£18,000-a-year job and thechance to add another year totheir university experience.

But for everyone else, it mat-ters little. There will be no real,significant changes taking placebased on what happened on Fri-day, March 5th.

Generally, that’s not becauseof the specific people involved.This isn’t about their skill or sin-cerity. It’s about the way the sys-tem works. It’s about the factthat the SU can’t make any realdifference.

This is clearly realised bythe student population as awhole. This year, like everyyear, the turnout was ap-pallingly low; roughly 84% ofstudents didn’t vote.

If the SU was doing anything,or could do anything, that Lin-coln students thought could havea significant effect on their uni-versity lives then they would ex-press their preferences.

It’s incredibly clear stu-dents think that there will beno ill effect if they boycott theelections entirely.

But this is not coupled with a

rejection of the Students' Union.When asked, students will oftensay that that the SU is generallya good thing.

This difference is fairly easyto square, if you look at the serv-ices the organisation provides,particularly funding and supportfor sports teams and societies. Asa functional body, it works, butas a political or campaigningone, it doesn’t.

Even though candidateslargely confine themselves tofairly unchallenging, uncontro-versial policies, the effect theycan have is limited.

Take Chris Charnley, for ex-ample. Last year he made somefairly vague pledges that no onecould object to. But across theboard the real power to changethings is out of his hands.

It’s the same this year. Takeaccommodation. Regardless ofwhat he claims, are landlords re-ally scared of the SU? Probablyonly if the university — an or-ganisation with some clout —gets involved directly.

Or jobs. How is he going toget local businesses, or even theuniversity, to employ more stu-dents — particularly consideringthe economy’s current state.

As mentioned earlier, thisisn’t about sincerity or skill. It’sabout the system.

Another year, another set of SU elections. And, unfortunately, it’s going to the be thesame old thing over again. The problem with the SU elections is that those involvedtend to get swept up in the “drama” — ourselves included — but when you step backand get some perspective the whole thing is depressingly unimportant.

By Shane Croucher& Rob Wells

1 0 Opinion www.TheLinc.co.uk

Applications­made­to­thecourts­by­zealous­and­per-ceived­powerful­defamationand­“privacy”­lawyers­havebeen­granted­by­judges­whoseem­to­have­forgotten­thevery­nature­of­the­relation-ship­between­the­press­andthe­courts,­and­who­havemore­disturbingly­forgottenthat­an­injunction­is­an­eq-uitable­remedy­and­not­alegal­right.

The recent action againstthe Guardian to stifle storiesabout an oil company went toextraordinary lengths, (deletewhich went) well beyond anyidea of protecting the applicantsprivacy and equitable interests.

The lawyers for theclaimant were not only seekingto prevent adverse commen-taries on the company’s activi-ties but sought to injunct anykind of debate about the issueincluding, apparently, debate

in Parliament.Such an application defies

credibility and represents ar-rogance on the part of the ap-plicant and their lawyers. Themost remarkable feature ofthese applications is that theyare given any credibility at all.

The injunction is a well-es-tablished and commonly-usedlegal tool to prevent an indi-vidual suffering a wrong, andto prevent a wrongdoer fromevading responsibilities.Properly used in the spirit ofthe English legal systems con-cept of equity it is a remedy tobe applauded. When used inless than good faith it repre-sents a fundamental threat tofreedom of expression thatshould not be tolerated in apluralist democracy.

The injunction is an equi-table remedy. Equity is a cor-nerstone of English law,enabling judges to apply the lawin a fair and “equitable” man-ner. It is a centuries-old tradi-

tion that has served those whoseek redress in the courts well.

The reason it is such an in-valuable tool is because it isdiscretionary, and need notslavishly follow the more rigidlegal rules that apply in ourlegal system. The “super in-junction”, as it has come to beknown, is in clear violation ofthe spirit of equity and of judi-cial discretion.

The nature of the super in-junction attempts to entirelystifle debate by acting not onlyon the individual journalist,newspaper, or broadcaster,but purports to silence theworld, expanding its scope toall who may wish to commentof the issues injuncted.

But equity is a right in per-sonam, an equitable remedycannot bind the world and canonly be directed at individualswho by their acts may be com-mitting a tort.

A judge granting a “superinjunction” against all and

sundry is breaking the rules ofequity themselves. The Houseof Lords, in AmericanCyanamid v Ethicon, madeclear that the injunction as anequitable remedy can only beused where there is a cause ofaction, a triable case.

In another pivotal decisionon injunctions, the formerMaster of the Rolls, Sir JohnDonaldson, declared that thecourt may disregard fancifulclaims. A claim that a nationalnewspaper may not discussquestions in Parliament re-garding and injunction isabout as fanciful as it gets.

The rules of equity in themain mitigate against thegranting of injunctions.Great drafts of the commonlaw on both equity and free-dom of expression urge cau-tion on judges beforegranting an injunction.

The “super injunction” isan invention of imaginativelawyers and judges who have

forgotten the very basics of thelaw of equity. Very sadly themyth is perpetuated by imagi-native journalists who chose touse the expression without si-multaneously dismissing it asa fallacy.

“Super injunctions”, werethey to exist, would defy legalmaxims enshrined since timeimmemorial (“natural justice”).

Super injunctions deny thesupremacy of Parliament.They deny the authority ofstatute and treaty (EuropeanConvention on Human RightsArticle 10, Human Rights Act1998 s.12), they defy absoluteprivilege, they abuse the pur-pose of the sub judice rule,they are an abuse of the legalprocess, they are contemptu-ous of Parliament.

They are unlawful! It istime Parliament made them soonce and for all.

— Barry Turner is a seniorlecturer in media law at theUniversity of Lincoln.

The super injunctionIn recent weeks, the media has complained about the use of injunctions, not only to prevent publicationof controversial stories, but to stifle the very discussion of the injunction itself. This has finally come toa head after such a gagging order was sought to save John Terry, captain of the England football team,from embarrassing revelations in the tabloid press. Justice minister Jack Straw has finally decided thatit is time for Parliament to intervene in this gross abuse of legal process.

By Barry TurnerIL

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He­was­the­editor­of­TheSunday Times for­fourteenyears.­While­there,­he­created­the­team­“Insight”,a­group­of­investigative­re-porters,­who­uncovered­thenow­infamous­Thalidomidescandal,­as­well­as­other­notable­scoops.­With­a­plethora­of

awards­under­his­belt,­in2004­he­was­knighted­forservices­to­journalism.­TheLinc spoke­to­Sir­Haroldabout­his­career­and­howhe­sees­today’s­journalism.

With such a long and suc-cessful career, is there anythinghe regrets? “I’d say that mybiggest regret is that our bid totake over Times Newspapersdid not succeed. We made a gal-lant effort — but when sportswriters refer to ‘a gallant effort’you know you’re reading aboutan effort that failed,” he says.

In 1981, Rupert Murdochtook over Times Newspapersfrom previous owners theThomson Corporation. Beforeeventually being given the edi-tor’s job at The Times by Mur-doch, Sir Harold mounted anunsuccessful bid for The Sun-day Times, by trying to create aconsortium of stakeholders in-cluding the journalists whoworked there.

“We failed for several rea-sons. First, and most impor-tant, the Thomsonmanagement, certainly themanagement in London if notCanada, preferred Rupert be-cause they thought he woulddeal with the wrecking printunions. Second regret I had,but don’t any longer, is that Idid not flat out lead a campaign

against Rupert Murdoch’s bidonce it was more or less.accepted by Thomson. The jour-nalists’ chapel saw the writingon the wall, but at the last moment could not muster a majority to risk a court actionunder the monopolies law.

“That apart, Murdoch wasmuch more adroit than wewere, and Thomson sold it tohim for a song,” says Sir Harold.

He believes that with morevision from the banks whobacked him, after he had lots oftrouble getting them to put upthe money in the first place,they could have outbid Murd-pch for Times Newspapers. “Weknew The Sunday Times was agreat enterprise enterprise witha wonderful future if we couldcontrol the union wreckers, [ofwhich] I was chairman of the executive committee. ButThomson [made] The SundayTimes look a poor bet. Havingsaid that, Murdoch did prove tobe a most effective owner interms of getting in computersetc and his planning for thatwas quite brilliant.”

Within a year The SundayTimes was earning around £50million profit.

He believes that, while jour-nalism is in a state of changefrom the traditional models, thefundamentals each journalistshould possess are the same.“Curiosity. Willingness to listento bores. That will neverchange. Nor will the need forpersistence in following a hint, alead. Don’t take anything forgranted - and follow up. Toomany stories die on the vine.”

A “vigilant, intelligent scep-ticism” should be applied to of-ficial explanations and sources,but this doesn’t amount to “cyn-

icism and mean spirited malice”. This is common on theinternet and isn’t journalism,says Sir Harold: “Many peoplewith some kind of authority inpublic life do want to serve andshould not be automatically de-rided or abused.”

He also emphasises the importance for would-be jour-nalists to be able to write sharpcopy: “One of the delusions isthat “writing” is the thing —which leads to a lot of hot air.”

Having previously criticisedUS journalism schools for being“homogenous”, how does hethink journalism should betaught? “I so strongly believethat at The Sunday Times wewere enormously strengthenedby the diversity of staff experi-ence... Most of them had seen abit of the world. They’d learnedsomething of the complexitiesof life, beyond academic theo-rising. If I were teaching I’dtake case histories of importantinvestigative stories and gothrough them - without reveal-

ing the hidden path to the truth.For instance, the DC 10 airlinercrashes killing 358 people.”

Sir Harold had the benefit ofediting a paper which had heavyinvestment into its journalism.This allowed “Insight” to con-duct lengthy and rewarding investigations. He laments theobsession with enormous profitfrom media proprietors, often atthe expense of journalists.

“A good bottom line — via-bility — is essential, but greed isnot. Too many newspapersmilked the market over manyyears, not providing enough re-sources for emergencies — andthen too many cut back on thereason for being.”

Born in Newton Heath,Manchester, on June 28th 1928,Harold Matthew Evans was verymuch a working class boy, hisfather being a railway driver.

After leaving secondaryschool, Evans’ journalistic ca-reer started at just 16-years-old,when he worked as a reporterfor a weekly newspaper in Ash-

ton-under-Lyne. Following his national serv-

ice, he studied politics and eco-nomics at Durham University,before completing a masters inforeign policy.

He subsequently worked asassistant editor at the Manches-ter Evening News, then after ayear studying and travelling inthe United States he returned toBritain in 1957 and became edi-tor of The Northern Echo.

Eventually, having earned agreat reputation, he became ed-itor of The Sunday Times andthen The Times, the director ofGoldcrest Films and Television,editor of The Atlantic MonthlyPress, editorial director andvice-chairman of US News andWorld Report, the founding edi-tor of Conde Nast Traveller,president and publisher of Ran-dom House, as well as workingfor the New York Daily News,and The Atlantic Monthly.

He’s also written 18 books,including “They Made America”and “War Stories”.

Theeditors’editorConsidered to be the editors' editor andone of the finest journalists in moderntimes, Harold Evans is a big name and abig character. He has written many bookson journalism, such as “Essential English”,which have now become standard textbooks for any budding journalist.

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1 2 Sport www.TheLinc.co.uk

Women’s­sport­in­the­UKhas­always­had­to­play­second-fiddle­to­the­morepopular,­most­would­say“higher­standard”,­maleequivalent.

While top male Englandfootballers earn hundreds ofthousands of pounds per weekplaying for their clubs, the females are forced to juggle full-time jobs alongside it, oftenhaving to take their annualleave when competing in sum-mer tournaments such as theWorld Cup.

But football is not the onlyexample where this is thecase, it can be applied to basi-cally any professional sport in Britain.

The All England Clubdidn’t start paying equal prizemoney at the WimbledonChampionships until 2007,when they finally increased thewomen’s pay out to bring themin line with the grand slamtournaments in the UnitedStates and Australia.

When attitudes within offi-cial bodies are seemingly so un-willing to change, it’s nowonder public opinion is oftenas discouraging.

There is often a certainamount of derision at the men-tion of a woman playing a tradi-tionally male sport, and there isoften a certain amount of dis-dain that follows the mention of

girls playing the likes of foot-ball, rugby, or cricket.

But is this fair? Geneticsmean that strength and powerare not equal when comparinga male sportsman to a female,but the same can’t be said forskill and technique, which aresurely the aspects of a sportthat make it aesthetically pleas-ing.

The national women’s foot-ball team made it to the final ofthe European Championshipsearlier this year, while England’swomen cricketers won both theICC World Cup and theTwenty20 World Cup.

With successes such as thisin the nation’s two most popu-lar sports, you would hope thatappropriate media coveragewould be given to celebrate theachievements of our top sports-women. But this hasn’t beenthe case. Even Andy Burnham,the Secretary of State for Cul-ture, Media, and Sport, ex-pressed his concern over theissue in The Observer, saying:“Women's sport is woefully ab-sent from our televisionscreens, radios and newspa-pers. Half of the population isnot being adequately served.We need culture change insport and broadcasting.”

Sue Tibballs, the chief exec-utive of the Women’s Sport andFitness Federation (WSFF),said: “Our research shows thatthe lack of women’s sport onTV means that girls grow up in

a culture which says that sportisn’t really for them.

“Any glance through the TVlistings will show that women’ssport gets only a fraction of thecoverage that men’s sports get,and given that our women arecurrently having much moresuccess than the men interna-tionally we believe this shouldbe reversed.”

University offers a fantasticopportunity for students to takeup a sport and it’s no differenthere at Lincoln, where there aremale and female teams foreverything from badminton tovolleyball.

According to a report bythe WSFF, the highest levelsof women’s participation insport are among students.

The Linc spoke to threekey members of women’steams at the University of Lin-coln to find out how their ex-periences had differed.

Sophie Barker, 19, plays forOOH Lincoln City Ladies, andas a first year is part of theWomen’s Football Club.

“When I was younger noneof the girls ever wanted to playfootball so I always used toplay with the boys. The girlsjust used to sit and watch ad-miring all the boys play, whileI was just trying to be betterthan them,” she said.

“I played in a boys’ teamuntil I was 11, and the standardwas a lot better than the girls. Iused to enjoy playing with boys

more.“I was the youngest player

to have played for LincolnLadies’ first team at 15, and Ifound it extremely difficult tofit in as the other girls didn'treally want to associate them-selves with me at first.

“I nearly quit football be-cause I really didn't enjoyplaying, although now I canexpress myself and get toknow the girls that’s allchanged.

“I have never been pickedon but there is a lot of banterfrom the boys. They say theusual ‘girls can’t play football’.Some girls just look at you withstuck up noses, but I don’t re-ally care what they think, ithasn’t affected my participa-tion in football, although if Iwere insecure I’m sure it mighthave done.”

Jessica Starling, 20, is amember of the Women’s Bas-ketball Club, and says she canunderstand why some women’ssports aren’t as appealing.

“Athletics and tennis alwaysattract a lot of coverage and de-serve to because of the levelthey compete at. Even though Ienjoy watching women's foot-ball, if I had the choice I wouldstill watch men as I think it’smore enjoyable to view.

“Within basketball I haven'tcome across as much sexism asI have when playing football orother sports. Normally peoplejust ask me why I don’t play

netball instead!“I have never been discour-

aged from playing basketballbecause of comments or otherpeople's perceptions. Eventhough I was bullied for being a‘tomboy’, it never stopped mefrom playing.”

Joey Render, 22, is presi-dent of the Women’s RugbyClub, which boasts over 40members.

She said: “I think the cover-age of women’s sport is ridicu-lous. We really don’t get a fairdeal. I think if a national teamreaches a semi-final or finalthen it should be broadcast onan easily-accessible channel.

“In my league games athome the men’s teams alwayscome to support us, which Ifound really suprising, al-though a women’s game willalways be put on the worstpitch because the good onesneed to be kept for the men,which really makes me mad.

“Occasionally you comeacross men who think womenshould not play. One bloke oncetold me it was ‘against nature’!

“But it doesn’t really botherme because I know how happyrugby makes me — it has givenme so many opportunities.”

With the increased level ofparticipation in female sportscontinuing to rise, hopefullythere will be a shift in attitudeso women can stop living inthe shadows of their malecounterparts.

Women’s equality is keyBy Melissa Rudd

Going for the top: the England Women’s Cricket team won

both the ICC World Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup.

Photo: Paddy Napper

Sport 1 3

The­football­world­shookwith­the­news­that­KeithAlexander­had­passed­awayat­the­age­of­53.

When the news broke, I’msure I will be one of many whoshed a tear for the big man. Hewas truly one in a million, notonly because of football, but hewas a lovely, kind-hearted man.You only need to look at themessages left in remembranceof him to see how many livesKeith touched.

Here in Lincoln, Keith wasa legend and adored by fanssuch as myself. The success hehad at Lincoln in his secondspell as manager was, quitefrankly, a miracle. When hetook over in 2002, the club wasliterally on its knees. Just outof administration, the Impswere relegation favourites. Tobe honest, most fans wouldhave agreed. Somehow, Keithassembled a squad made upmostly of non-league playerslooking for a break in the Foot-ball League. Everyone knewthey weren’t the most giftedfootball players, but they rantheir hearts out for the gaffer.

He guided City to the play-off final at the Millennium Sta-dium, where they came upagainst Bournemouth. It wassuch an amazing feat. I waspresent at Cardiff and likemany fans couldn’t believe Iwas watching my beloved Lin-coln City. The Imps lost thegame 5–2, but that resultwasn’t the point. Keith Alexan-der dragged the whole football

club out of depression and intothe spotlight. It was an amazingday and one that I and manyLincoln fans will always re-member and we have Keith tothank for that.

During the following sea-son Keith suffered a cerebralaneurysm.

There’s the saying that youcan’t keep a good man down,and in just four months he wasback in the dugout. Despite hishealth he again guided theImps into the play-offs, nar-rowly losing out to Hudders-field Town in the semi-finals.

In true Keith style, theteam dusted themselves down,picked themselves up, andreached the play-off final againthe following season.

Unfortunately his Lincolnside narrowly lost out toSouthend United after extratime. The following season heagain guided the Imps to theplay-offs, losing out toGrimsby Town in the semi-final. It was a travesty thatKeith couldn’t guide hisbeloved Lincoln City to promo-tion, but nevertheless itdoesn’t detract from Keith’stime at the club.

His time at Sincil Bank willalways be remembered fondlyand every Lincoln fan owes agreat deal of thanks to the bigman. He left the club duringthe summer of 2006 and wentonto pastures new, mostnotably Peterborough andMacclesfield Town.

It shows how much respectthe Imps faithful had for Keithas upon his return he would al-

ways be given a warm welcome,like a family member comingback home.

Away from football he wasa lovely man who would doanything for anyone. Whenreading the tributes to Keith, Icame across this lovely piecefrom a Barnet supporter, whereKeith once played:

“Indeed, we were so enam-oured by the easy-going natureof the striker, that I decided towrite to Alexander via the club,and request some signed photos.Late one evening the followingweek, I was at home with myparents when the doorbell rang.Slightly suspicious that therewas a well-built stranger stoodon the front step, my Mum applied the doorchain and partopened the door.

‘I'm Keith Alexander. Isyour son home? I've a packagefor him,’ he said, my mumblissfully unaware who he was.

Rather embarrassinglydressed in my pyjamas, I racedto the door convinced thismust be some type of wind-upat my expense.

‘Thanks for your letter.Here's what you asked for,’ hesmiled, handing me an enve-lope. ‘I got the whole team tosign them.’ And then he wasgone, but the memory hasstayed with me forever.”

It has been well documentedthat Keith was the first full-timeblack manager in the FootballLeague. The one thing that stoodout to me was that I didn’t recog-nise that. He wasn’t black norwhite, he was Keith, who willnever be forgotten, not just by

me, but by a lot of football fansaround the world, which is agreat tribute to the man.

I’m sure he will carry onwatching the Imps with his well-loved Lincoln City baseball capand lucky yellow socks, probably

still yelling at the referee. He willalways be remembered as a greatservant to Lincoln City FootballClub and a true gentleman.

Keith’s funeral will be held atLincoln Cathedral on Monday15th March at 2pm. 

Rest in peace ‘Big Man’By Adie Bell

Professional­football­is­afull-time­job­and­the­com-mitment­to­a­certain­club­isnever­undermined­or­forgotten.­

However, semi-professionalfootball is totally different aspressures of another job andfinding time in the working weekto train becomes a very difficulttask for the part-time footballer.

There are two major foot-ball clubs in Lincoln. The Impsare the bigger of the two, play-ing in Coca-Cola League Twoand holding the biggest fanbasein the city as its only profes-sional side. Lincoln United, onthe other hand, play their foot-ball in the UniBond First Divi-sion South and attract around150 supporters to Ashby Av-enue — on a good day.

Yet it must be rememberedthat the two sides are dividedextremely far apart in terms oftables and attendances, onlymeeting in pre-season friend-lies. The divide only getsgreater when looking at theplayers of semi-professionalsides. The only amount of

money semi-professionals usu-ally receive is travel expenses,whereas professional teams willoffer salary-based contracts toplayers, and in many deals nowbonus payments.

Lincoln United’s players donot have such luxuries and rely

on lifts from mates or the man-ager, John Wilkinson, to fixtures.Members of the squad train twicea week and then look after theirown diet, however they see fit.

There are no fitness advisorsto ensure that players are inprime condition, which means

players look after themselves.Non-league football is littered

with rough diamonds, playerswho when given a chance couldpossibly play at a higher levelthan their current club. LincolnUnited are no different. In strikerSean Cann they have a fantastictalent. At the age of 24 he hasplayed at non-league level for sixyears and last season scored 23goals in 26 matches. The Lin-coln-born player has previouslybeen linked to Boston Unitedand more recently Norwich City.

Cann is no different to histeammates and has a full-timejob working at first aid suppliersMedikit Ltd, where his managerat Lincoln United coincidently isalso his boss at work.

For some semi-professionalfootballers, balancing footballand work can become difficult.However, Cann believes this isnot the same for him.

“I find it quite easy. It doesn’taffect me too much unless we’replaying away mid-week, in whichcase I need to leave work a coupleof hours early. But working withthe manager [makes it] easy.

“Training Tuesdays andThursdays, twice a week, again

you finish work [and] go home.[You] don’t have time to eat,you’re just straight out to train-ing and then get somethingwhen you get in.

“We play on Saturday and Isometimes play the odd Sundayfor my mate’s pub team, but itdoesn’t affect me that badly interms of fatigue,” Cann said.

Just last year, the hotshotstriker was scouted by LeagueOne outfit Norwich City and this,as well as playing in the FA Cupfixture against Cambridge Unitedearlier in the season, has gone along way in spurring Cann on topursuing his ultimate dream.

Cann said: “When we playedCambridge earlier this season inthe FA Cup it was a big thing. Itwas almost like you’re perform-ing with people watching.

“There were probably more[supporters] at that game thanany other game that we’ve had inthe entire season.

“You want to perform andmake people look at you. Itdoes give you that extra lift ifyou think ‘right I’m doing thisand I want someone to bewatching’ as I want to progressand play higher.”

By Tom Farmery

Football and life as a semi-professional

Gone but not forgotten: Former Imps boss passes away.

Photo: David Ingham

Not yet there: semi-pro Sean Cann taps away at work.

1 4 Sport www.TheLinc.co.uk

Despite­being­quite­spectacu-lar,­roller­derby­is­a­sportthat­has­led­a­fairly­quiet­ex-istence­in­Britain.­It­is,­how-ever,­alive­and­well­in­thelocal­area­in­the­shape­of­theLincolnshire­Bombers­RollerGirls,­who­celebrate­theirclub’s­second­year­in­March.

Roller derby is an Americancontact sport based on formationskating. It takes place on an ovaltrack, with points scored whencertain players lap members of theopposing side.

It is a sport that has gonethrough quite a transition. Origi-nally starting life as a professionalsport for both men and women, ithas since become amateur andlargely female-dominated.

Bombers’ Anna Thomas’,whose skate name is “SynysterMotives”, says that the sport isstill very much developing inthis country.

She said: “Roller derby isstill quite a new sport in the UK.In the USA, where it started andhas been going since the earlypart of the last decade, they playon a national level for the title of

National Champions.“Over here, there is nothing

quite so organised at the moment.We play teams from all over theUK but there is no official tourna-ment. Last year London RollerGirls held the first European minitournament, which they eventu-ally won and a European Inter-league table has just beenorganised so hopefully we are onour way to having a more struc-tured league.”

“It is a wonderful way to getexercise and keep fit without hav-ing to go to a gym,” she added.

“There is also the competitive

aspect. The actual game is so en-joyable, the competitive side andthe skill and tactics that you haveto learn, nothing is as satisfyingas finally perfecting a move youhave been working on. The mostenjoyable part is that I get to doall this with a fabulous bunch oflike minded women who are allgood friends.”

Thomas says she is pleasedwith how the team is progress-ing, and that they are looking toraise the sport's profile.

"We have just played ourfirst bout of the season, whichwe lost 79–130. It is only our

second ever game as a team sowe are pleased with the result.We have at least another twoteams we will be bouting against,so we have at least five moregames to play this year, onehome and one away for eachteam.

“We may also be involved insome exhibition event later inthe year but we have no concreteplans at the moment.”

For more information, theclub are currently offering “new-bie sessions” on Saturday 9am-11am at Yarborough LeisureCentre.

James­Anderson,­StuartBroad,­Graeme­Onions­—watch­out.­There­is­a­newyoung­fast­bowler­from­Lin-colnshire­on­the­block.Andy­Carter­has­just­re-turned­from­South­Africa,having­worked­alongside­fel-low­promising­young­talent­with­the­England­Performance­Squad.­

Carter, 21, burst on to thefirst-class county scene last sum-mer with Nottinghamshire, andafter taking 91 wickets in all com-petitions for the county at bothfirst and second eleven levels, hehad planned a much more re-laxed winter.

He said: “It was brilliant to beinvolved with the squad, some-thing that I had not planned atall. I only played a handful ofone-day games and two first classgames. Either way, getting thechance to go away and do some-thing you love was amazing, evenif it was hard work.”

‘Carts’ as he is known by histeammates, has taken the fast-lane approach to professionalcricket. “Being a first-class crick-eter is amazing! To go from beinga plumber from the age of 15 tobeing a professional cricketer at19, is such a different life. I trynot to take the privileges of whatwe get for granted.”

Although Carter hasn’t hadthe luxury of progressing through

an academy set-up, he was satis-fied with his three weeks away inPretoria. “You are always playingcatch up with some things suchas fitness and technical areas ofthe game.”

But, Carter’s short stop inminor counties cricket certainlyhasn’t affected his mindset, andhis feet are being kept firmly onthe ground. “I have always en-joyed the game rather than let-ting it completely take over mylife. The games that I have repre-sented Lincolnshire in have beengood because it was the naturalstepping stone to the profes-sional game.”

The start of the cricket seasonat the end of April will be the be-ginning of a hectic summer for

Carter, who is aiming to cement aregular spot in the Notting-hamshire bowling attack, along-side England stars Broad, RyanSidebottom and Ashes heroGraeme Swann.

“The next step for me now isto make sure that I am on thesame form as last year and that Iam bowling at high speeds all thetime, rather than just spells.Preparations for the new seasonare going well, plenty of timespent in my most loved place, thegym (not), and a trip to India.”

Carter hopes that with thebacking of Lincolnshire coachMark Fell he can carry on mak-ing strides. And who knows,maybe a trip down under thiswinter could be on the horizon?

Successful stint in South Africa for Carter

Lincolnshire Bombers on a rollBy Calum Fuller

By Mike Worne

Get your skates on: roller derby is an American contact

sport based on formation skating. Photo Jason Ruffell

Sport 1 5

When­you­watch­the­two­walls­ofplayers­crash­into­each­other,you­could­be­forgiven­for­think-ing­that­you­were­watching­abrawl­rather­than­a­sport.­Butthis­collision­is­second­nature­tomembers­of­the­Lincoln­Colo-nials,­the­University­of­Lincoln’sAmerican­football­team.

The Colonials, who formed back in2003, are part of the British Universi-ties American Football League and cur-rently play in Conference Two South, adivision which they

currently prop up. After five straightlosses this season and 177 points con-ceded, it looked as if the Colonials’ sea-son was destined to be adisappointment.

However, the recent 20–14 victoryover their fierce rivals, the Hull Uni-versity team UCH Sharks, has givenSam Deakin, the president, and histeammates a much-needed boost.Speaking after a midweek training ses-sion, wide receiver Sam Hunt said thatthe win over Hull had given the team ahuge lift.

“It definitely relieves the tension,”said Hunt, a second year media

production student.“It makes us feel better about our-

selves as a team and we can take theenthusiasm we have into the games wehave left.”

There was a time when Americanfootball was something of an unknownentity on this side of the Atlantic withthe majority of British sports fans seeing the game as too lengthy, compli-cated and tedious.

But with the success of NFL Lon-don and increased coverage on television giving more exposure toAmerican football, its popularity is nowgrowing rapidly. It is not uncommon

for passers-by to stop at the astroturfon Tuesday evenings and watch theColonials train, grimacing as helmetsclash and bodies slam into the ground.

Hunt believes that the growing status of the sport has definitely bene-fited the team.

“There was a huge turnout for try-outs this year and we now have loads ofnew players,” he said.

“We also had a party for the SuperBowl where around 200 people attended, so interest is definitely grow-ing.” It looks as if the Colonials aregrowing too, it would certainly take abrave person to argue against it.

Chris­Farrell,­the­Students’Union’s­vice-president­forsports,­has­admitted­thereare­no­definite­plans­in­thepipeline­to­enhance­sport-ing­facilities­at­the­univer-sity,­despite­a­host­of­clubsbeing­unable­to­fulfil­theirhome­fixtures­on­campus.

Building work to improve theHuman Performance Centre iscurrently ongoing, but there is aworrying lack of grass pitches oncampus, required by varioussports teams, meaning they have

to travel to alternative venuesoutside of the city.

The Men’s and Women’sRugby Union Club are amongthose teams that have to travelthe furthest, playing at SleafordRugby Club — almost 20 milesfrom Lincoln. Men’s RugbyLeague play at Newark RugbyClub, whilst Women’s Football,Gaelic Football, Lacrosse, and theEquestrian society are all based atthe Riseholme campus.

“I think the lack of grasspitches on campus is a problemfor universities nationwide withcity campuses,” Farrell said.

“Many teams have to playgames away from their university.But realistically if you join a clubanywhere you have to travel to getthere and play.

“The University of Lincolnhas excellent facilities. Com-pared to similar establishments,I feel we are very lucky to havewhat we have.

“At the minute the HumanPerformance Centre build is goingahead. And then after that I thinkit’s a case of what we need to do tomake sure the university can pro-vide high quality facilities to thedemand of the students.”

By Bradley King

Colonials bank on American football boom

No grass plans for ‘lucky’ Lincoln students By Melissa Rudd

Back on track: Lincoln Colonials on the up after defeating Hull.

LINC SPORTFREE | March 2010 | Issue 3, Year 3Online Daily: www.The Linc.co.uk

Dreams­in­sport­can­bechased­for­years­withoutany­end­result.­A­foot-baller’s­dreams­might­fea-ture­playing­in­a­World­Cupfinal,­tennis­players­oftenpicture­themselves­on­thecentre­court­at­Wimbledon,whereas­for­motor­racingdrivers­it’s­the­adrenalinerush­of­turning­yet­anothercorner­at­the­famous­MonteCarlo­circuit.

However, to call yourself anOlympian is something else —that little bit extra that sets youapart from the rest. The gru-elling daily training sessions areneeded just to qualify for warm-up events, let alone to representyour country on the grand stage.

The Olympic Games and theglobal circus that follows will ar-rive in London in 2012 and is aperfect opportunity for the na-tion’s athletes to fly the flag forGreat Britain. Competition forplaces adds extra pressure toathletes attempting to qualify asa second, metre, or point couldmean the difference between representing Team GBor letting years worth of traininggo to waste.

Matthew Bowser, a highly-successful runner who competesacross the board in running dis-ciplines, with 5,000 metres hisfavourite, is currently in trainingfor the World Championships.

However, last year’s Lin-coln 10k winner is hoping thatwith the help of a new coach hewill be encouraged to workhard to improve his chances ofachieving a place on Team GB— with the London 2012Olympics etched very stronglyin his mind.

“This year on the track I low-

ered all of my [personal bests],which enabled me to go to theNational Championships. I gotselected for England to runabroad in a couple of races.

“To get in the Grand Prix allaround the world my times willhave to drop a few seconds, andthat’s what we’re looking to dothis year.

“The Olympics is obviouslythe gold event. For me, I’ll be 29and at my peak for 1,500m atthat age, and I just think itwould be amazing to make anOlympic final,” Bowser said.

In the past year, he has ac-quired a new coach, who takes alot of the strain and stress offhis back leaving him to concen-trate on one thing only: runningthe best he possibly can.

“I’ve been sitting down withmy coach and I think a lot ofmy problems have been psycho-logical. I kind of get in a raceand say ‘I’m going to try andrun this time’ and forget thatyou’re actually racing the guysin front of you.

“We’re working on it a littlebit more, surrounding the areathat we are actually going to winraces instead of getting in a raceand seeing what position youcome in.

“I’ve been able to run top-20 in the country without thehelp of anyone, so putting thework in should hopefully leaveme in the top five or six inBritain, that’s the main aim. Iwant to make the Olympics, Iwant to make the Common-wealth games.”

All of the true runninggreats such as Haile Gabrse-lassie, Kenenisa Bekele, and Se-bastian Coe have all stressedthat having a strong, winningmentality is crucial to achievegreat successes.

The 26-year-old also followsthis same viewpoint and be-lieves your mindset can be thedifference between winning arace or finishing second.

“You can have all the abil-ity in the world, but if you’venot got the right mindset forit, it doesn’t matter how goodyou are.

“I used to know people whowould talk themselves out of arace even before they’ve got tothe start line. It’s a great weaponto have to use against someone,as you can knock someone andgo ‘I’m training great’ and you

can see them getting nervous.“As an athlete you’ve got to

channel that energy into theperformance rather than worry-ing about what someone else isgoing to do. I’ve not seen asports psychologist, but the mo-ment you’ve got a losing mental-ity it’s difficult to get off it.

“I go with the LincolnshireSports Partnership to go andhelp schools. You put the GreatBritain kit on and the kids loveseeing it, but kids are taught notto be competitive because thepeople who are unable to do thesports are left out. Well, I’m not

being funny, but we live in acompetitive society and when I was young Iused to love beating everybody.

“If kids aren’t taught a win-ning mentality from a young agethey aren’t going to be competi-tive in anything they do.

“There are loads of facilities.Up at our track now [at Yarbor-ough School] we’ve got a kids’starter day so they come up on aTuesday at six o’clock and basically they can have a bit ofcoaching. It’s all light-heartedand good fun with a little bit ofcompetitiveness.”

Bowser: ‘It would be amazingto make an Olympic final’

MORE INSIDE

Semi-pro footballersRIP Keith Alexander Colonials go boom No turf for sports centreBombers on a roll

15914 15 1313

By Tom Farmery Aiming higher: Bowser has set

his sights on Olympic glory.