The Oppidan Press Edition 8, 2014

8/11/2019 The Oppidan Press Edition 8, 2014

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-oppidan-press-edition-8-2014 1/12

The Oppidan PressEdition 8, 20 August 2014

RU Volleyballdreams big

12

We’re hiring!Internet in

your digsSettlers Dam

drowning revisited 3 6 9

Photo: KELLAN BOTHA



News FeaturesTe Oppidan Press 20 August 2014

nyi Mlaba and Gemma

dleton

ormer US Secretary o StateHillary Clinton once said,

“[Women] are agents o

nge, we are drivers o progress,

re makers o peace - all we need

fighting chance.” A de cade afer

stablishment o South Arica’s

ocracy, emale academics at

des University created that

nce or themselves in the orm

he Women’s Academic Solidarity

ociation (WASA).

ASA celebrated its tenth anni-ary with a colloquium that ell,opriately, on National Women’sthis year. Entitled “Unheard

des Histories,” the colloquium un-

red personal narratives regardingtruggle that women ace in theiruit o higher education.

We seek to provide a space orible explanations o hidden stories

omen beore and since WASA’sption as the voice o women atdes,” explained WASA co-chairalwa Magoqwana.

Te six-hour roundtable event sawemic laureates rom UNISA and

Human Science Research CouncilRC) travel to Rhodes University tount their stories regarding what itlike to be a woman at Rhodes Uni-ty beore WASA was established.

Te organisation also held a discussionon women’s leadership in post-apart-

heid South Arica earlier in the year.

Te discussion touched on issuesconcerning the gender inequality thatis still ound in areas o academia.

WASA was started by women whoelt that more academic support wasneeded or women seeking to urthertheir academic knowledge. Dr Noma-langa Mkhize, a prominent membero WASA, said the organisation acedmany challenges along the way. “Someo the challenges were around how tocoherently deal with the diverse andnumerous struggles women had acedat Rhodes,” Mkhize commented.

Despite these challenges, theorganisation has become a huge suc-cess, so much so that the University o

Limpopo has started its own branchknown as UL-WASA.

Over the last decade, WASA hasbeen a voice or gender equality in theUniversity. “WASA has made a massive

impact in the lives o many womenacademics at Rhodes and many o theideas that came rom WASA on how tosupport women have been taken up bythe University,” stated Mkhize.

Despite all o WASA’s success, thereremains space or improvement whenfighting inequality. “WASA has been apowerul agitator,” Mkhize said, “butthe work o transormation should bedone properly by Rhodes itsel.”

A decade of women’s academic solidarity

The Women’s Academic Solidarity Association held a colloquium at Rhodes on Women’s Day to discuss recent strides

made in women’s academic leadership. Photo: KELLAN BOTHA

oung women at Rhodes make the differencee National Women’s Day celebrations at Rhodes University have come and gone, but the spirit of Women’s Month still continues. Thisek, The Oppidan Press spoke to female students to gather their thoughts on womanhood. Compiled by Mila Kakaza. Photos by Kellan Botha.

rato Mongale

ato Mongale is a second-yearnalism student and the Vice Presi-o OutRhodes. She attributes her

ngness to accept people rom di-nt backgrounds to her mother. “Iw up with a mother who acceptedyone no matter what, thereore Ied the same perspective,” Mongale

the spirit o womanhood, Mon-has recently spent time research-he literature produced by blackh Arican women. “Tere are a black woman authors who areorthy o being recognised,” sheained.

Anje Niemandt

Anje Niemandt is the Chairperson oGalela Amanzi, a Rhodes Universitystudent project ormed in 2007. “Tewater crisis is a temporary incon- venience or us on campus but or

the rest o the people in the MakanaMunicipality it’s an everyday reality,”Niemandt said.

Niemandt is currently completingher Bachelor o Arts majoring in ArtHistory and Classics. “I want to be oneo the first emale art gallery owners,”she said.

o Niemandt, Women’s Month isa month which celebrates woman-hood. “Womanhood means strength; itmeans beauty rom the inside; it meansconfidence,” Niemandt explained.

Khanyi Nomoyi

President o the Gender Action Project(GAP), Khanyisa Nomoyi is cur-rently in her second year completinga Bachelor o Arts in Law. “I want tobe an advocate and work or public

interest organisations. Te privilege obeing here is a responsibility or me togive back as much as I possibly can,”she said.

Nomoyi stated that the #Phenom-enalWomen initiative run by GAP ontheir Facebook page was an idea toembrace Women’s Month. “Everydayrom the 9th until the 30th o Augustwe celebrate women. You inbox apicture o a woman and tell us why youeel they are phenomenal,” Nomoyiexplained.

Palmira De Oliveira Pio

Zambian-born Palmira De Oliveira Piois in the penultimate year o her LLB.

“I come rom a conservative countrywhere emales are not put in dominantpositions,” she explained.

De Oliveira Pio dreams o becom-ing part o the Zambia State Council.“Currently there is only one emalemember in the State Council whichI eel is unacceptable,” she said. Shebelieves that women should be ableto hold leadership positions. In heropinion, Women’s Month is an oppor-tunity to celebrate and embrace beinga woman.

endai Mauma

endai Mauma has obtained an MScin Biochemistry rom Rhodes Univer-sity and is now in the final year o herLLB.

Mauma stated that women still haveto prove themselves in today’s society.“Academics are thereore important toelevate us as women,” she said.

Mauma argues that the meaning oWomen’s Day is gradually becominglost. “It has become a day to have a pic-nic but beyond the 9th o August thereis nothing more to it,” she said.



News Features20 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 3

a Stein

ollowing the tragic drowning

incident at Settlers Dam that

lef two Rhodes students dead

e beginning o this month, the

ty o those using the dam has

n called into question. Popularlywn as a spot or fishing, canoeing

swimming in Grahamstown, Set-

Dam is requented by students.

Te most recent incident, where twodes students drowned afer theire capsized due to high winds, ishe first case o drowning in a damnd Grahamstown.ttlers Dam is owned by theana Municipality and is registered

municipal and industrial use with

Water and Sanitation Department.e the dam is situated next to themas Baines Nature Reserve, therve also allows visitors to use theor recreational activities such as

ng and fishing. Te cost o rentingnoe is R25 or a hal day and R50

ull day.Upon arrival at the reserve, clientsplete an indemnity orm and [re-e] a permit which provides themss to the reserve and also permits

the clients to do activities such as ca-noeing,” said CEO o the Eastern CapeParks and ourism Agency VuyaniDayimani.

Makana Municipality were unable tocomment on their role in saety on thedam beore publication.

On the day o the drowning inci-dent, the Rhodes women’s rowing teamwas on the dam or practice. CoachMatthew de Klerk commented that theconditions on the dam were bad butthat with proper saety precautions itwas easible to go out.

“We still went rowing because Iwas there with a coaching boat and arowing ours boat is traditionally stableenough to row in adverse conditions,”he said. “I I was in a small plastic

canoe with three others then yes, therisk would be too great.”

While the reserve offers liejackets,the responsibility is placed on theclients to practice saety on the dam.

Currently, there is no sign warningpeople o the possible dangers on thedam, only a liability warning.

“We shouldn’t need a sign to tell uswhat is so clear: that in terrible condi-tions like that, you need to take certainprecautions,” said de Klerk.

Te Rhodes Canoe club also usesSettlers Dam when they are not on the

rivers. First-time paddlers are madeaware o saety precautions rom themoment they start paddling.

“We caution new paddlers not tomess around on or around the waterespecially in terms o drinking,” com-mented club member Angela Chappel.

Safety on Settlers Dam

questioned after drowningsWe shouldn’t

need a sign

to tell us

what is so

clear: that

in terrible

conditions

like that,

you need to

take certain

precautions.

– Matthew de Klerk,Rhodes women’s

rowing coach

ers Dam is a popular location for fishing, canoeing and swimming but its safety has recently come into question.

to: CHRIS KEY WOOD

Phelokazi Mbude

Te Intervarsity event scheduled

to take place on 15 and 16 August

this year has been postponed due

to unrest at the Alice campus o

the University o Fort Hare (UFH).

Te news was announced last week

by Vice Chancellor o Fort Hare

Dr om Mvuyo. Afer last year’s

chaotic Intervarsity at NMMU, this

news was unsurprising.

Rhodes SRC President BradBense said there were about 200Fort Hare students participating ina strike which started peaceully on28 July. It became chaotic on 31 Julywhen students blockaded roads,

which resulted in intervention romthe police who orcibly removedstudents rom the campus.

Te strike at the Alice campus wascaused by returning students being

asked to leave due to not having paidtheir ees. Tis was afer the Na-tional Student Financial Aid Schemeannounced that it had limited undsor ees and other necessities such asmeals or students.

Te strike sparked securityconcerns or Rhodes University re-garding Intervarsity which was dueto be hosted by Fort Hare. AssistantManager o Sports AdministrationSiyabulela Magopeni said that the

main concern was the instability othe students’ situation at the Alicecampus.

Tis particularly affected the or-ganisation o the annual afer-party,one o the conditions o hostingIntervarsity. Bense said that theFort Hare SRC had not managed toproperly arrange this party, ailingto organise a liquor licence andadequate security plans.

Despite this, the organisation o

the sporting side o the Intervarsitytournament had run smoothly. “Itwould be a tragedy i somethinghad to go wrong because then therewould be no real sporting compe-

tition or varsities in the EasternCape,” said Bense.

Fort Hare has proposed thatIntervarsity should be rescheduleduntil 5 and 6 September 2014. How-ever, this is problematic or Rhodes

students as their third term endson 5 September and many studentshave already made plans to go home.

“We would want to encourage oursports men and women to attendIntervarsity should we get grace

rom [the] Vice Chancellors o theUniversity o Fort Hare to go ahead,”said Magopeni.

Te postponement caused afinancial loss or Rhodes afer busesand accommodation, which hadbeen booked well in advance, had tobe cancelled. SRC Liaison Eric Oeisaid that it is not worth it to hold theevent this year.

Despite the problems that thepostponement o Intervarsity has

caused or Rhodes, Acting Directoro Student Affairs Dr Colleen Vassil-iou said that she was happy thatthe event was being postponed i itensured the saety o the students.

Magopeni said that the Intervar-sity committee does not have theauthority to reprimand universities,as there is currently no bindingdocument containing universalterms or Intervarsity organisation.

Intervarsity postponed dueto UFH student protests

>> SRC Inauguration

>> Inaugural lecture by Prof Louise Vincent

>> OppiTV celebrates Women’s Month

>> Changes coming to Rhodes Internet C h e c k i t o

u t a t :

o p p i d a n p r e

s s . c o m

Students have also been requested

to behave while wearing their

Rhodes overalls so as not to

endanger to future of Intervarsity.

Photo: ASHLEIGH MEY



PoliticsTe Oppidan Press 20 August 2014

rryn de Kock

Despite massive debate around the c urrent Israel-Palestine

conflict, little mention has been made o its role in the greaterconflict that is brewing in the Mediterranean region. Te on-

oing offensive between Ukraine and Russia orms part o an energy and

source struggle that affects Israel, Palestine (particularly Gaza), the

SA and several major European powers.

Natural gas reserves were discovered off the coast o Gaza in 2000. Rus-a expressed interest in the reserves, while companies such as British Gasceived permission to begin drilling research by the Palestinian Nationaluthority. However, this interest only lasted until the destabilisation o thegion ollowing Yasser Araat’s death in 2004 and the souring o relationstween Hamas and the Palestinianational Authority afer Hamas’ elec-on victory in 2006.Israel’s military presence over theaza coast has allowed it to claimntrol over these reserves, whichrm part o a greater Mediterranean

oject to secure energy reserves orestern Europe. As it stands, Pales-

nian control over the gas reservesould put it in a position to ally withussia as an opposing orce to US-

cked Israel, as it would be able toll control o the reserves to Russianmpanies and entrench Russianesence in the region.In conjunction with this, much o Europe still relies on Russian gas, withailability being urther strained by Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. Tenflict between the two countries escalated when Russia invaded and occu-ed the province o Crimea in February this year, citing concern about thestability o Ukraine ollowing the civil unrest that caused ousted Presidentktor Yanukovych to escape to Russia.“It is becoming evident that the West can no longer control Russian Presi-nt Vladimir Putin or Israeli President Binyamin Netanyahu,” Masters in

ternational Relations student Yvonne Phyllis said.Tis loss o control means that the tensions and different conflicts withine Mediterranean region have created a powder keg o colliding interestsquiring sensitive and complex resolution strategies.Currently such strategies seem ew and ar between. Instead, the Unitedates and EU have placed sanctions on Russia. Russia responded to this bynning imports rom the US, EU, Australia, Canada and Norway. South

rica’s own allegiances could mean that these sanctions imposed on Russiaight make securing Russian imports difficult in the uture.“South Arica seems to be pursuing its strategy o non-intererence in thisnflict, while also making sure it retains economic ties to one o its BRICS-rtners, Russia,” Phyllis explained.

Te current situation in the Mediterranean is being monitored primar-y because o its volatility. Tere are multiple and complex trade, mineral,olitical and economic relationships shifing and straining under the weightnumerous national and corporate alliances and interests, with a need or

orld leaders to begin to choose sides as these tensions spread. Te possibil-

y o a potential conflict in the Mediterranean region have repercussionsat would have a knock-on effect around the world.

Ukraine: A new Cold War?

By Andrea Nevay and Dylan Green

Te Student Affairs Division hosted

events rom 4 August to Women’s

Day to commemorate Women’s Week

at Rhodes. Te events throughout the

week aimed to celebrate womanhood,

with the theme or the week being “I

am a woman o…” where the women

o Rhodes could state or themselves

what being a woman means to them.

An exciting seminar was uesday’skey event. Te Young Gifed WomenSeminar, hosted by the Pan-AricanYouth Dialogue, was a spirited discus-

sion on beauty and strength andwhat those terms mean to womentoday. Zukiswa Kota, Ivy De Vos,Proessor Jen Snowball, Dr NomalangaMkhize and Corrine Knowles eachhosted mini seminars and discussionsessions.

“Te challenge or us is to not lookat what the world tells us beauty andstrength are and find out what it is orourselves,” said Knowles in the finalpanel discussion.

Te Young Gifed Women Seminaremphasized individuality and per-sonal strength. Te seminar aimed tohighlight that women have the powerto uplif people and to change the way

society views and values beauty.Mkhize challenged the ideas we have

around womanhood and beauty inher seminar. Snowball said in the finalpanel discussion that “beauty doesn’thave to be external: it can be what youare and what you can do,” and thatpeople can be beautiul regardless otheir gender.

Tese ideas could be seen as anecessary step towards re-imaginingthe current standards that society has

dictated to women and men aboutwhat it means to be beautiul.

One o the key issues that needsto be addressed is the role o menin these events. While it cannot bedisputed that emale empowerment isnecessary and useul, whether theseevents isolate or exclude men romnecessary dialogue needs to be criti-cally interrogated.

It is difficult to conceive o inclusivegender relations when men are not

encouraged to take part in events thattouch on the issues o their taken-or-granted, ofen unrecognised privilege.

On Tursday, Acting Vice-Chancel-lor Dr Sizwe Mabizela held a Male Res-idence workshop in Eden Grove Red.Exclusively or males, this workshopaimed to highlight the roles that menought to play in improving the worldsocially, especially with regards to howmen perceive gender roles. During hispresentation, Mabizela said that “as a

man in a patriarchal society, by vir tueo being part o that society you have acertain set o privileges and rights thatyou earn by virtue o being a man”.

Mabizela went on to say that men

traditionally do not think about thesethings and that this needs to change.He said that men needed to recognisetheir privilege and take social respon-sibility or it by working with womento create “opportunities or women tomake their rightul contribution inour society”.

At the end o the presentation,

the two – and only – emale guestsin attendance were asked or theirinput. Tey lamented the disappoint-

ing attendance as they elt it was aneducational experience that many menstill need to have, and that the ‘menonly’ status o the event underminedthe need or men and women to learnand grow together. Mabizela agreed,saying that “in the next version o thiswe should have women, so that theycan say ‘this is how we are eeling,this is who we are, [and] this is what’simportant’”.

At the final event, the Women’s Day

Picnic, Dean o eaching and LearningProessor Chrissie Boughey presenteda speech, saying, “I will continue aslong as I live to wr ite and speak, topromote the creation o those work-spaces and living spaces which valueall people and which nourish and careor all people, but that work is sharedby al l.”

While many o the events weredubbed ‘women only’ (such as theWomen’s Day Picnic), there were op-

portunities or men to come orwardand participate in this week’s numer-ous discussions, meaning that theweek’s dialogue about gender was notone-sided.

Tis instance o inclusivity, whichcan only be improved upon in yearsto come, is essential to all discussions,engaging people o all gender expres-sions in women’s issues and osteringnot just a sisterhood o solidarity,but rather a ‘personhood’ o peoplewho can come together and reflect ongender issues.

Rhodes tackles the role of men this Women’s Week

It is becoming

evident that

the West can

no longer

control Putinor Netanyahu

Students parody Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous V-J Day kiss photograph (left) with the g ender roles reversed.

Photo: GABRIELLA FREGONA

– Yvonne Phyllis, Masters in International

Relations student



Opinion2 May 2014 Te Oppidan Press 9



OpinionTe Oppidan Press 20 August 2014

The Oppidan Press staff and contact detailsitor: Amanda Xulu. Deputy Editor: Stuart Lewis. Executive Consultants:

nwe Adebayo, Kyla Hazell. Managing Editor: Sindisa Mfenqe. Financial

anager: Lorna Sibanda. Advertising Managers: Chiedza Guvava, Tariro

unu. Marketing Manager: Sarah Taylor. Community Engagement

fficer: Abigail Butcher. Online Editor: Chelsea Haith. Assistant Online

itor: Liam Stout. News Features Editor: Emily Corke. Assistant News

atures Editor: Mila Kakaza. Politics Editor: Tarryn de Kock . Assistantlitics Editor: Mitchell Parker. Opinion Editor: Ben Rule. Arts &

tertainment Editor: Jenna Lillie. Assistant Arts & Entertainment

itor: Matthew Field. Scitech Editor: Bracken Lee-Rudolph. Environment

itor: Mikaela Erskog. Sports Editor: Douglas Smith. Assistant Sports

itor: Kimara Singh. Chief Photo Editor: Gabriella Fregona. Assistant

ief Photo Editor: Kellan Botha. Chief Online Photo Editor: Alexa

dgwick . Assistant Online Photo Editor: Ivan Blažić. Chief Sub-Editor:

itlin Cunningham. Chief Online Sub-Editor: Melian Dott. Sub-Editors:

te Jennings, Danica Kreusch, Leila Stein, Jessica Trappe, Amy Wilkes.

ief Designer: Madien van der Merwe. Assistant Chief Designer:

nnah McDonald. Junior Designers: Alex Maggs, Amy-Jane Harkess,

hle Mtshiselwa. External Content Advisors: Tope Adebola, Ndapwa

weendo, Lucy Holford-Walker. OppiTV: Chief Editor: Natalie Austin.

ntent Editor: Vimbai Midzi. Output Editor: Lilian Magari. Webcast

oducer: Marc Davies. Ombudsperson: Professor Anthea Garman.

tters to the Editor: [email protected] details: [email protected]

ww.oppidanpress.com

ww.facebook.com/theoppidanpress

ww.twitter.com/oppidanpress @oppidanpress

e Oppidan Press publishes letters which are bona fide expressionsopinion provided that they are not clearly libellous, defama-ry, racist or sexist. We publish anonymous letters, but as an act of

ood faith on your part, we require your full name. We reserve theght to shorten letters due to space constraints and to edit themr grammatical inaccuracies. Letters that do not make it into ourint edition will be publ ished on our website.

Michelle Du Toit

“Approach me, I promise I

don’t bite”. But who are

you? And how do I know

you won’t bite? Te anonymity be-

hind the posts eatured on the Rho-

des Crushes Facebook page should

be a warning signal, not a beckoning

call. An undeniable security rests in

keeping your identity secret when

exposing your eelings or intentions.With this security comes a huge

amount o power, and it is a power

over the person on the receiving end

o the ‘compliments’.

Rhodes Crushes. “I’d lick wine off oyou any day”, “Can I smell your hair?”“my BabyLips rom Legal Teory”.Te place where these messages existis essentially a public noticeboard.Everybody can see them. So what is itabout the Facebook orum that makes

such blatantly creepy and somewhatsuspicious behaviour more acceptable?Why are we are okay with this whenthere is a little blue ‘’ in the corner? It

seems to be a ollow-on rom RhodesConessions, but Crushes has a moresinister element.

I somebody mentions you in a post,and says they’re in your Econom-ics lecture, you now have to spend atleast our lectures a week knowingyou’re being watched. And you don’tknow who you’re being watched by.Although this page provides a platormto voice what might otherwise be kept

to onesel, we need to ask ourselves i itis worth it.

With people suddenly wary o everyriendly stranger, cautious o everynew meeting, hostile to every newonlooker, such posts do not alwayshave the envisioned reaction. Perhapsnot intended to offend, scare or inflictsel-consciousness, they neverthelesscould have those results. Te greyarea created by the anonymous veil oRhodes Crushes covers a spectrum o

compliments, offensive remarks andthe kinds o bad taste comments whichpeople wouldn’t be brave enough tosay in person. Tis grey area is surely

not the intention o the page, yet isinevitable given the protection o ano-nymity that it offers.

Te saety net o remaining a stran-ger could in act be seen as a danger.Tere is a fine line between a grandromantic gesture and a sinister kind o

stalking. Getting mentioned in a postcan be like having to play poker withno cards in your hand, against some-body who is using the whole deck.

Hey, I haven’t met you and yes, this is crazy The new Rhodes Crushes web page has left many students wary and fearful of potential “stalkers.” Photo: SHEIL A DAVID

And we want you.

We hope to hear from you!

We are looking for candidates to fill editorial and managerial

positions on our team for 2015.

The vacancies arise as a result of our normal terms of service

coming to a close and we are looking for talented individuals

from within our team and beyond to apply.

Applicants must submit a

CV and a short motivationalletter to

[email protected]

before midnight on 22 August. They will then be scheduled

for an interview on one

of the evenings the following week between 6pm and 8pm.

Successful candidates willbe notified by email and

will be expected to serve a

full year term starting from the last day of this term

which will include a shadow

period under the currentperson in their particular

position.

Sports Editor

Assistant Sports Editor

Arts and Entertainment Editor

Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor

News Features Editor

Assistant News Features Editor

Environment Editor

Scitech Editor

Business Editor

Opinion Editor

Politics Editor

Assistant Politics Editor

OppiTV Editor

OppiTV Content Editor

OppiTV Output Editor

OppiTV Webcast Producer

Chief Sub-Editor (Print)

Chief Sub-Editor (Online)

Sub-editors (Online and Print)

Chief Photo Editor (Print)

Chief Photo Editor (Online)

Chief Designer

Junior Designers

Ad Designer

Web Designer

Editorial

The available positions are as follows:

The Oppidan Press is hiring!

Managerial

Managing Editor

Financial Manager

Advertising Manager

Advertising Representatives

Community Engagement

Officer

Marketing Manager

There is a

fine line

between

a grand

romantic

gesture and

a sinister

kind of

stalking

Te month o August has become a historically significant time or

many South Aricans.wo years ago on 16 August, a part o this coun-

ry died. Te Marikana Massacre was a severe blow to South Aricans’

aith in the state and the justice system. Tis ollowed the brutal k illing

o 34 miners at the command o the South Arican Police ServicesSAPS), Lonmin and high-ranking government officials. Tis moment

hould not be orgotten.

As it stands, Te Marikana Commission o Inquiry is still nowherenear a conclusive answer as blame continues to shif between the SAPS,Lonmin and the state. Countrywide, a number o events were held to payribute to the 34 lives lost and to demand that justice be served on thoseesponsible or their deaths. However, it seems that these calls or justicere alling on dea ears, as the SABC and eV are still reusing to air

Miners Shot Down, a Rehad Desai film critically chronicling the eventseading up to and ollowing the Massacre, and the roles o SAPS, Lonminnd the state. Tis gesture seems to reflect a general unwillingness to acehe truth o the brutality o the state and its perpetual undervaluing ooor black lives in this country.Tis continuing disregard o poor black lie seems to be universal,

with the most recent events in Ferguson, Missouri being another painul

eminder. On 9 August - Women’s Day in South Arica - 18-year-old

Michael Brown, a young, unarmed Arican-American man, was atallyhot by Darren Wilson, a white American police officer. Brown’s shootingaw segments o American society riot against another senseless andeemingly racially-motivated death, with President Barack Obama callingor calm and promising a ‘ull-scale investigation’. Tis moment too will

not be soon orgotten as people are reaching a crossroads o sorts anddemanding that honest conversations about race occur in America.

Te recent events at the University o Fort Hare could also be seen as aontinuation o this disregard o poor black lie, again at the hands o theouth Arican state. Fort Hare students have been protesting because the

National Student Financial Aid Scheme has discontinued unding due tonadequate resources. Teir demands or education and ood have been

met with indifference rom the University and the government.Positively, August also marks National Women’s Month in South A-

ica, a time to commemorate the strides that women have made in theirdvancement or social, political and economic equality. Tis editionakes another moment to celebrate these strides but also recognises that

he challenges or equality are ar rom overcome.Te time has come or the demands o the people to be taken seriously

y all o those in power. Society’s disenranchised and most vulnerablere standing up or their inalienable rights to dignity and respect buthese are not being taken seriously by those with influence. However, with

ritical reflection and by taking an unequivocal stand or the advance-ment o all disenranchised groups, we at Te Oppidan Press hope thisdition positively contributes to these conversations.



Opinion20 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 7

Rule

m purported Pick n Pay boycotts to vigils

he whirlwind o memes pervading the

rnet, the current situation in Gaza seems to

brought some sort o emotion out o most

s. But we are not just emotional about the

ation in Gaza; we are also getting emotion-

th each other.

ne o the common threads in social mediaversations is a pervasive hostility towardody who attempts to deend Israel. o many,ituation in Gaza seems so clear cut that one

not possibly justiy the holding o a position

h involves any type o agreement with Israel.ple who express support or Israel are ac-d o deending apartheid – something manyis country understandably have an issue. What needs to be made clear is that when

ple criticise or attack Israel on one hand, andort and deend it on the other, they are notys talking about the same thing.case in point is Josh Broomberg, who hasved widespread support or his stance on

Gaza conflict and his statement in responsee storm on the internet has been applauded.is statement he criticised the Israeli govern-t or some o its actions. What many people

m to have overlooked in the statement is thatescribed himsel as a Zionist – a positionh usually attracts a very hostile response.

hen people criticise Israel, they are criticis-he actions o the government. Tis is partcommon language globally: we speak oce banning the burqa or the USA bombinga. It is normal practice or governments to

quated with the people they represent. Tus,n people are seeking to criticise the actionse Israeli government, they simply criticise

el. Tey understand Israel to be a state – alature, an executive, a judiciary and an armydisputed territorial lines.any o the people who have deended or

ported Israel have a somewhat different view

o what they are deending. Every disagreementto the objections to Gaza is not a deence o themurder o innocents. While there are plenty othose floating around, they cannot automaticallybe equated with every supporter o Israel. It israther an objection to the global media equatingthe ownership o the idea o Israel with a govern-ment which many Jews do not agree with.

For a large proportion o the internationalJewish community, Israel is not simply thoughto as a state. Israel is an idea with massive spir-itual and historical baggage. Te idea o Israelhelped a people to recover rom the Holocaust.Most importantly, Israel has become an integral

part o that people. And Israel is a people who(like in any democracy) are not all in agreementwith the actions o their government.

I somebody supports Israel, it is possible thattheir support stems not rom an agreement withgovernmental action, but rather a deep love orand connection to an idea and a community.

Supporting Israel is as much an agreementwith the actions o its government as beingpro-Palestine is an endorsement o the actionso Hamas. Beore we engage in arguments witheach other, let us first attempt to understand ourrespective positions.

Why people support Israel

An affiliation to Israel is often met withhostility. Photo: KELLAN BOTHA

Rule

he recent violence in Gaza has capturedglobal attention. Tis is hardly surpris-

ing – some o the things which have hap-

ed in Gaza over the last month have been

thy o such scrutiny. But there has been

ething strange about the media response to

Gaza situation.

xpected the reaction o the g lobal media. Teal media is a place o current events, analysisdiscussion o issues. Gaza rightly took itse at the centre o that. What surprised me isthe situation in Gaza also took its place atentre o the social media. I do not remember

me when my Facebook newseed was moredated with pictures o live explosions and

d children, accusations o anti-Semitism andmophobia and general pronouncements (one

or the other) on the issue by the residents onternet.rhaps it is an inherent human tendency.aps it is the way we’ve been taught to think

ut this by the global media. Perhaps it’s as

ple as the language used to describe it (theel/Palestine conflict) – but whatever it is,ems that it is impossible or us to speakut this issue without taking sides, some lessrmed than others, but all demanding thaton be taken.

Te purpose o this article is to ask about theons or the specific ocus o the social media

Gaza. Following the global media as I do, I

learned that tens o thousands o people (reports

vary as to how many, but consensus seems to bethat it is at least 30 000 Yazidi reugees) have beentrapped and stranded on the Sinjar Mountains innorthern Iraq, displaced afer their town was at-tacked by militants. Tey have been stranded oralmost two weeks. Tis is an international crisis,which I would not have ound out about rom aFacebook session.

Te situation in Syria is worse. Since the

beginning o the war (which has now been going

or three years), it is estimated that over 150 000people have been killed. At least a third o thoseare civilians and (depending on whose numbersyou believe) between 5000 and 10 000 children.

Tere are currently over a million Syrianreugees in Lebanon – a number that is increas-ing. So now Lebanon is acing a humanitariancrisis. Somehow the situation in these countrieshas ailed to get the same coverage by the global

media which instinctively ollows incidents in the

Israel/Palestine situation. On social media, Syria

does not seem to exist.How are we not outraged by the brutality o

this ongoing civil war? Why are our variousnational bodies not constantly condemning this?Is it because the conflict in Syria has become oldnews? Are we bored? Has the protracted nature othis crisis resulted in it simply becoming part othe world’s décor?

It is mystiying to me that very ew o us seemto know what is going on, especially consideringthe scale o the human rights violations. It seemswe are more interested in a Jewish matric boywearing a Keffiyeh.

I suggest two possibilities or our lopsidedocus on Middle Eastern politics. Te first is thatthe extent o our engagement with any event inthe region is directly proportional to how much

western interest there is. Israel gets unding romthe USA. Tere are communities in almost everyfirst world country that are actively pro- or anti-Israel. Tus, whenever anything happens in Israelthere is an existing western interest which we in

South Arica orm a part o.Te other possibility is that we are unwilling to

engage with the situations in Syria and Iraq be-cause they seem much more complicated than thesituation in Israel and Palestine. Tere are clearsides in the latter conflict and each has becomean almost cartoon-like villain in the other’s nar-rative. Te sides and arguments are already there,we just have to pick one.

f Gaza, why not Syria or Iraq?

Members of the community hosted a vigil to commemorate the children who have been at the

brunt of conflict in Gaza. Photo: SHEILA DAVID



Features



Demi Drew and Bracken Lee-Rudolph

Scitech

From the complex venue control systems, to the smart-

phones in our pockets, technology is common in our

lectures. Many lecturers and course coordinators are

aware o this and are attempting to use a number o tech-nological tools - including students’ smartphones - in the

teaching process.

Organisational Psychology 1 lecturer at Rhodes Univer-sity Richenda Koeberg has started using a service calledSocrative in her lectures. Te service is an online studentresponse system, which allows students to answer questionsand interact with materials uploaded by the lecturers.

Koeberg says that she was interested in using a differentplatorm to engage students and integrate technology intoher teaching because o the high number o devices she sawbeing used in her lectures.

“I like Socrative because it allows teachers to engage[with] and assess students in real time,” Koeberg explained.“My hope is that using Socrative will help develop sel-assessment skills, reduce eelings o isolation in large classesand increase understanding and ability to think cr itically

about content.”Te service is ree to use or students and teachers - and

Android and iOS apps are available or most devices.Socrative itsel is ar rom perect though. Questions

have to be set well in advance on the service, and studentswithout a laptop or smartphone on hand will be excluded.Additionally, students can set any username or themselvesand i results are shown on screen then immature or inap-propriate usernames may be displayed in lecture theatres.

Educational echnology Coordinator Markus Mostertdiscussed how engaging with students in lectures with thesetechnologies may benefit and improve learning.

“I believe that learning technologies have the potential to

help us shif our ocus rom ‘teaching’ in ‘the lecture’ andto ‘learning anywhere, anytime’. Our challenge is toprevent ‘anywhere, anytime’ becoming ‘nowhere, never’,”Mostert said.

Mostert explained that these technologies allow or thecreation o situations where students engage with the con-tent and actively evaluate both their own answers as well as

their peers’ responses and the inormation provided.Mostert emphasised that the value in these technologies

comes solely rom how they are used: “It is possible, orexample, to use PowerPoint presentations as interactivelyas Socrative by simply asking students to decide on the bestresponse to a multiple-choice question in their heads andthen to deend their choice within a small group o studentssitting next to them,” he said.

echnology is an exciting tool or the expansion o inter-active learning and Rhodes University seems to be adaptingto the opportunities it provides. Services such as Socrativeand RUConnected all tap into an ever-expanding networko phones, laptops and the eager students who use them.

Features20 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 9

ken Lee-Rudolphech

Moving out o residence and

into digs in Grahamstown

can be a daunting task.

ween the new financial burdens,

ing belongings out o residence

filling the digs with suitable ur-

re, a lot can all by the wayside,

uding making provisions or

rnet connectivity.

ith systems like RUConnectedRhodes Online Student ServicesSS) in place, it is vital or any Op-n wanting to access these sites tointernet connectivity. Tey have

w internet options to choose rom,t notably 3G and ADSL/Broad-d connections.DSL is the most stable orm ornet connectivity available in Southca at the moment, but it requiresoadband line rented rom elkoman ADSL subscription rom annet service provider (ISP). elkomides competitively priced ADSLces, but their customer service isriously poor.

Tis makes other ISPs like MWEBArihost better options or ADSL.EB’s services run through elkom you run your subscriptionugh MWEB, they will arrange the

L line installation and providenical support.rihost works slightly differ-y. Teir web ser vices run throughN, although you still have to rent aom line. Te pricing o these twopanies is very similar and whichs best depends on which packageyour needs best.

esidential ADSL packages cannot

reach the same speeds that RhodesUniversity’s Resnet can. Standardresidential packages have a speed o2 megabits (an eighth o a megabyte)per second (Mbps), whereas Resnet

can reach up to 80Mbps depending ondemand. Te astest speed achievableoutside o the university is 10 Mbps,according to elkom’s ADSL Broad-band Availability ser vice.

Te other option or internet is 3G,which runs through a mobile networklike that o MN, Cell C or Vodacom.Tis works exactly the same way as in-ternet on your phone and it is entirelydependent on signal.

Te most reliable providers o 3G

internet locally would be either MNor Vodacom, which both have a strongnational presence.

3G works in two main payment op-tions - prepaid and contract. Prepaidcustomers will purchase a SIM card(which requires proo o residence andan ID document) and put data onto it.Vodacom is the most expensive or thisservice by a long way, whereas Cell Cand MN share similar pricing.

Te alternative way is via contract,

which works exactly the same as acellphone contract but instead o aphone and ree SMS bundles, youget a network device - which can beanything rom a USB dongle to a 3G

router, depending on your contract.All three service providers share simi-lar pricing here.

Te best package or each house-hold will be dependent on your needs.ADSL is generally preerred or gam-ing and downloads, since it is less reli-ant on inconsistent cellphone signal,but 3G is better or small downloadsand inrequent use.

Getting online,off campus

Smartphones for smart learning

e several alternatives are available when accessing the internet, Rhodes

ersity’s Resnet still offers the fastest internet speed in Grahamstown. Photo:

RCED

Meet your meat: the ‘life’ of a cow

We seldom consider the processes that animals go through in the commercial meat industry. Cows are taken away

from their mothers and placed into pens at six months of age. The cows spend most of their lives on concrete

floors or crammed into small mud lots. They generally get fed carbohydrates, fat supplements and protein, which

is unnatural for the cows, so drugs are placed into the food to prevent the cows from becoming sick and dying.Cows used in the meat industry often only live for fourteen months or until they weigh enough to be sent to the

slaughter house. The above is the usual (mis)treatment of a cow being slaughtered. Illustration: MIKAELA ERSKOG

andard ADSL Packages

vailable at www.mweb.co.za andww.arihost.com

Mbps Uncapped with line rental:

WEB: R339rihost: R397

ood for normal browsing, lightwnloads and music streaming.

Mbps Uncapped with line rental:

WEB: R449rihost: R597

ood for gaming, more demandingwnloads and video streaming.

Standard 3G Packages

Available at www.cellc.co.za, www. vodacom.co.za and www.mtn.co.zaor local network provider stores(Nashua Mobile, Chatz Cellular and

MN).

2GB data cap per month:

MN: R129 (with 3G dongle), R149(with wireless 3G router)Vodacom: R129 (with 3G dongle)Cell C: R119 (with 3G dongle)

2GB data prepaid (own device and

SIM Card required):

MN: R245 (with an extra 2GB ree)Vodacom: R249Cell C: R199

“Our challenge

is to prevent‘anywhere,

anytime’becoming

‘nowhere, never’.

– Markus Mostert,Educational echnology Coordinator



EnvironmentTe Oppidan Press 20 August 2014

Barras-Hargan

one who has spent time in Grahamstown k nows that

r shortages are a requent problem, especially affect-

hose involved in agricultural industries. In order to

vide better ways o managing agricultural practices

ainably, many are turning to hydroponic technology

n alternative water solution.

hydroponic system involves replacing soil and ertilis-

with a solution o water and specialised plant ood whichains micronutrients essential or plant growth. Tisem is portable and results in high-quality produce as thets grow as well as genetically possible. Additionally, soil-

ne diseases are easily avoided, as the plant only interactsthe solution.

nother method o growing plants without soil is aqua-cs, which is different rom hydroponics in that it incor-tes fish into the water cycle. Te fish are ed and theire is converted into nitrates. Tis nitrate-filled water is

ulated around the plants which take up these nutrients.quaponics Innovations, the oremost supplier andultant on aquaponics in South Arica, explained the

advantages o the system, “water is not lost or dumped romthe systems, the only new water that is used is to replaceevaporation and transpiration.”

Tese relatively new orms o agriculture thus promisesustainable water use, which may be useul or those strug-gling rom water shortages in arid areas such as certain partso Arica. Even the Massachusetts Institute o echnologyhas identified it as a step towards ood security in their“Mission 2014: Feeding the World” project.

Hydroponic and aquaponic systems can be installed al-most anywhere. Te Aquaculture Academy, located in Gra-hamstown, sells all the necessary equipment needed or thestart-up o an aquaponic system, at a price o around R20000-R25 000. Although this figure may seem very high, theconstant recycling o water and nutrients rom fish to plantsmay cut out many costs needed or growing field crops andcan be a long-term, resource-conscious technology.

With water shortages affecting the livelihoods o armersand the ood supplies o consumers, the integratedapproach o hydroponic and aquaponic technologycould be a huge step towards sustainable ood securityin South Arica.

Understanding globalwarming and climate change

Hydro technology towards sustainability

The Aquaculture Academy located in Grahamstown employs an aquaponic

system to grow vegetables sustainably for local use. Photo: KELLAN BOTHA

The compatibility of

planet and profitsikaela Erskog

An ever-evolving society coupled with the contin-

ued destruction o natural environments calls

into question the role o big businesses and the

nction o corporate social responsibility (CSR).

o better hold companies to account, the South Aricanvernment created the King Report on Corporate

overnance. Tese reports, designed or companies listedn the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, articulate the bestternational practices or responsible corporate activity.owever, this document is non-legislative and, as such,SR is sel-regulated by individual corporate entities.

As Manchester Metropolitan Business School Proessoridings Ndhlovu put it, “While [CSR] has increasinglybecome a ashionable concept... there remains a naggingeeling that its abstractness can render it meaningless.”

eaching Assistant in the Management DepartmentKundai Chaka explained that CSR was initially a hollowconcept that was ofen misused. “It was a way to evadetax, to gain popularity and to make people aware o you,”stated Chaka.

Yet in the 1970s CSR began to move towards moreserious efforts o alleviating so cial and environmentalproblems. Te ‘riple Bottom Line’ o people, planet andprofits was established by consultancy firms as a more

cohesive oundation when trying to implement CSR.Once companies began to consider that proper resourcemanagement was essential to the long-term survival obusinesses and profits, CSR became a valuable businesspractice. “It became something that everyone was doing

because it made sense,” remarked Chaka.South Arican Breweries took CSR to heart when they

began a project o getting their bottles back to the brewer-ies or reuse, while Standard Bank is involved in the SouthArican Government’s Renewable Energy IndependentPower Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme.Tis programme is acilitating the creation o a commer-cial wind energy acility in the Eastern Cape. Tese twoprojects are supposedly what CSR is about, as they tackleenvironmental issues (planet) and satisy the needs oshareholders (profits).

Opponents o CSR argue that private businesses

should not be outsourced as contractors or govern-ment mandated duties, saying this could lead to misuseo public unds. But to some degree private businesseshave standards within their structure that could regulatetheir practices. In an era that demands environmentalsustainability, stakeholders may look more avorably on acompany i they are adapting to changing social concerns.

While the ‘riple Bottom Line’ and the King Reportattempt to engender a mutual accountability o whatshould be on the CSR agenda, there is no ormal regula-tory system that can hold them to the promises they makeor compel them to do anything at all. With no external

regulation o CSR by non-stakeholders, CSR does notnecessarily guarantee environmental protection.

Photo: BRONWYN PRETORIUS

Southern Africa is likely to experience severe food and water shortages in the

near future. Photo: KELLAN BOTHA

Lauren Buckle and Mikaela Erskog

In the spirit o the recent National

Science Week it is important to iden-

tiy what distinguishes global warm-

ing and climate change, and consider

to what extent human beings play a

role in these phenomena and how it

is a problem.

Global warming reers to theincrease in global average temperatureand is ofen considered to be a resulto human activities. “Global warmingis the process, driven by CO2 [carbondioxide] emissions, which result inthe surace warming o the Earth,”said Head o the Department oEnvironmental S ciences Proessor

Sheona Shackleton.“Tis in turn drives changes in glob-

al circulation patterns and the climateor weather as well as sea-level rise,”she added. Global warming is largelyattributed to greenhouse gases whichabsorb radiation and prevent ultravio-let rays rom escaping the atmosphere.Tese rays heat up the surace o theearth – creating global warming.

Climate change is considered to bea shif in the behaviour o particular

weather conditions over a period otime. It is a more natural process thatis constantly occurring and has beenoccurring or millions o years dueto volcanic eruptions, changes in the

water cycle, ocean circulation andmovements in the tectonic plates.

However, Shackleton commented

that, “Climate change is much morethan just surace temperature increase.It is a change in all aspects o climateresulting in significant other impacts.”

Te question now is whether global

warming is a natural process o climatechange or whether it is human-caused,as it has become crucial to determinewhat the impact o global warming ison our current way o lie.

Staple crops and horticulture growunder specific climate conditionsthereore a rapid increase in tempera-ture will create less conducive growingconditions. Being that the majorityo scientific research considers globalwarming to be a result o human activ-

ity, it is also important to establishthat human beings are playing adecisive role in changes in climate – arole that is directly destroying ourlong-term survival.

Arica has one o the highest rateso ood insecurity across the globe.According to a 2011 World Health Or-ganization Survey, o the 814 millionundernourished people in developingcountries, 204 million live in sub-Saharan Arica. Changes in climate

will create urther problems o oodsecurity or nations that already strug-gle to meet the needs o their people,with the United Nations predictingthat “Southern Arica will be the most

vulnerable region to climate change-related ood shortages by 2030.”



Arts & Entertainment20 August 2014 Te Oppidan Press 11

The Useless Artist Collective have used the labelling of ‘useless’ to their advantage and are engaging

with the idea of failure. Photo: SUPPLIED

Ellen Heydenrych

Rhodes University will hold its

annual Multilingual Colloquium

early in the ourth term. Tis year,

the Rhodes University Language

Committee, under the School o

Languages, is hosting their inaugural

Multilingual Writing Competition as

part o the colloquium.

Tis new project aims to “promote

multilingualism and sensitivity inlanguage usage at Rhodes in such away as to create and oster a support-ive, inclusive and non-discriminatoryenvironment to which all members o

the University can eel they belong,”said Dr Sam Naidu, convener o theMultilingualism Colloquium.

Te theme o the wr iting competi-tion is Eastern Cape Heroes: Past andPresent. Participating students will beable to tap into the locality as a broadtopic, as well as its context with regardto individual heroes.

“We want to engage the imagina-tions and linguistic virtuosity o ourstudents. You would be surprised toknow that students rom every acultyon campus enter the competition,”explained Naidu.

“Trough creative writing, studentscan share their lie experiences with

the rest o campus, using languageswith which they eel comortable andconfident,” she added.

While the majority o SouthAricans’ first language is isiXhosa, isi-Zulu or another indigenous language,English and Arikaans still appear tobe dominant in ormal spheres in thecountry. Tis is especially apparentwith regard to the education system.

“Both o these languages have beendominant in the South Arican educa-tion system or nearly a century now,

with the concomitant denigration andsuppression o indigenous languages,”said Naidu. As a result, the promo-tion o indigenous languages is a keycomponent o the colloquium.

Te Multilingualism Colloquium

will take place on 22 September 2014.Te event will eature speakers on thesubject o multilingualism in Arica,an announcement on Rhodes’ revisedLanguage Policy, a multilingual choirand a comedian. Te winner o theCreative Writing Competition will alsobe revealed at the event.

With this competition, the RhodesUniversity Language Committee hopesto revitalise an interest in indigenouslanguages and discover Rhodes’ hid-den writing potential.

Multilingualism reachingnew heights at Rhodes

Local hotspots for creative inspirationsh White

rahamstown is most amous or its annual National

rts Festival, but the creative energy that permeates

is little town is certainly not confined to those 11

ays. In act, Grahamstown is ofen celebrated as a cre-

ive hotspot and its many bars and caés have inspired

host o artists, perormers and writers over the years.

Te Rhodes Drama Department is a meeting point orrious creative minds. Given its range o perormanceaces as well as its bustling caé, numerous students con-rge there to experience and eed off the area’s creative

uzz. “What’s lovely about that building and the spacesside is that they are open and welcoming o ideas and oay. I love playing, so to be in a room with like-minded

ople, having un is pretty much what makes me eel theost creative,” said ormer Drama student ristan Jacobs.Mishka Hoosen, a ormer Masters in Creative Writing

udent now preparing her nonfiction book Hollow theones or publication, cited Grahamstown’s numerousés as inspiration or her productivity. “I’ve had somecellent conversations and thinking spells at Red Caé,ad Hatters and Te Provost,” she says. “People here areceptionally riendly, open, and good-humoured.”Likewise, many artists acquire creative stimulation in

e company o riends at local bars. “It’s not so much theace I’m in that’s inspiring as the people I’m with ande state o mind I’m in,” said Fine Arts graduate Dee

Ellis. “For example, a riend and I would sit in Champsor hours discussing the ideas I was playing with. I wouldhave my sketchbook in my hand to jot down ideas andmap out what I was thinking.”

Ellis also mentions the monthly Reddit’s poetry openfloor events run by Harry O wen. “It is a really greatplatorm or upcoming poets and there’s always a bril-liant variety in the types o poetry and perspectives youencounter there. I always come away rom that with anexceptional sense o hope, camaraderie and energy,”she explained.

Te atmosphere at Te R at and Parrot has also inspired various Rhodes alumni. “It did amazing things or mywriting,” said Eemia Chela, a ormer student whose shortstory “Chicken” was shortlisted or the Caine Prize or

Arican Writing this year.“It was always an excellent place to eavesdrop on con-

versations. As a writer it can be very difficult to get downhow people speak accurately. I would pick up snatches opeople talking and try and note the rhythm, the back andorth o natural conversation and emulate that ease in mywriting,” she explained.

Grahamstown’s vitality extends past academic pursuitsand nightlie endeavours, as artists can find inspirationwherever they go. “Grahamstown taught me a lot,” saidChela. “Te experiences I had there, and the way the townshaped me, have definitely inormed my work.”

The Useless Artist Collective: satirising “success”van Heerden and Kate Jennings

Being labelled ‘useless’ is not something

many artists aspire to. Te Useless

Artist Collective, however, has takenabel and made it its own. Te collective

mprised o a group o satirical postmod-

ournalists, dancers, actors and photog-

hers. Tey hosted their first perormance

rifice” on 13 August at the Rhodes

ma Department.

Te idea o being a useless artist is engag-with the idea that there is somethingesting about ailure. Work should not be

egarded just because it is a ailure accord-o a particular conception o what successld be,” explained the group’s ounder Ester

der Walt.an der Walt and her project personalter A”, came up with the idea or thective two months ago. It is rooted in post-

ern choreographic concepts and ocuseshemes like historical recreation, peror-ce ailure and the question o authorship.e are 37 artists in the collective, who alsohrough the historical personas o past

eographers According to van der Walt,ona work is challenging because the artiststo ground their personas in something

real about themselves to achieve more authen-ticity. “I don’t really like her [Walter A], butthere’s something in her that I recognise in

me,” van der Walt said.

Te concept o postmodern choreographybelieves that movement should not be re-stricted to only dancing, but should be allowedto be expressed through other movements suchas drama, perormance art and even writing.

“Sacrifice” was centered around enduranceart which uses acts o physical pain, trauma,survival or deprivation as a means o artisticexpression. Te perormance eatured some othe artists, their personas and their personas’great artistic works.

Te Useless Artist Collective is ironic andpurposeully satirical. It is meant to toy withexpectations and preconceptions o how artshould be. Te artists’ ailures and uselessnessare contrasted with the ser iousness and confi-dence with which they produce their art.

Van der Walt delegates concepts to the artistsand gives them the historical reerence pointsrom which to work. Te majority o artists inthe collective are local, but there are two otherartists based in Johannesburg. Van der Walt

also said that non-local artists are starting tocoordinate their own perormance projects.

aces like The Provost Café provide a creative space for students and locals to work on their ideas.

hoto: KELLAN BOTHA

“ Through

creative

writing,

students can

share their life

experiences

with the rest of

campus, using

languages with

which they feel

comfortable

and confident.

– Dr Sam Naidu,convener of the

MultilingualismColloquium



Sports

ara Singh

itans secured their second

trophy o the season by beat-

ing Retie Renegades in the

rnal League Cup Final by three

s to nil on Wednesday 13

ust. Despite the final score,

e rose above their underdog sta-

nd showed immense endurance

heart to challenge itans

he day.

Te final came in a tough week with

sides having to juggle a numberher pressures such as Internalue fixtures and Rhodes First eam

es. However, the game producede scintillating action as the teams

ght their best game plans andtivity to the pitch.n early goal in the first hal by

Kudzi Nzombe put itans in a strong

position to control the rest o thegame. Unortunately or Retie, an-other minor error by their keeperallowed itans to score their secondgoal and a third was soon to ollow,both being netted by utility playerHama Sachikonye.

itans captain Mandla Nkondosaid, “I think the scoreline speaks oritsel. It wasn’t easy, but then again,who enjoys easy victories? We [are]now fixing our eyes on finishing as

well as we started. We want to win theInternal League.”

Retie captain ony Mampuruexpressed his side’s intention to pickthemselves up and move on rom the

loss. “What is lef now is to ocuson the Internal League and make surewe qualiy or the knockout stages,”

he added.

“I think, overall, it was a well-deserved win or itans. Tey’ve had agreat run to the final and beating Abu[Dhabi] along the way was no easytask,” said Internal League and Reer-ees Coordinator Marc Lovatt. Lovattalso mentioned that he backed AbuDhabi as avourites or the League.“I think it would be a dream final iitans and Abu Dhabi were to makeit all the way, and when it gets to thatstage it’s always [about] who turns up

on the night.”Tis victory adds another trophy

to itans’ growing pile, which includestheir pre-season St Patrick’s Day win.itans are yet to lose a game in the

2014 season and continue to hopethat they will progress to the InternalLeague finals later on this term.

itans grab their second major trophy

ns defeated Retief Renegades last week to claim the Internal League Cup Final. Photo: NICK DAKIN

A well-shaped column:

USA scholarship opportunityfor young swimmer

Douglas Smith

amlyn Price is just five seconds

off the 100m backstroke qualiy-

ing time or the 2016 Olympics

which are going to be held in Rio

de Janeiro, Brazil. Te 19-year-old

matriculated rom Kingswood

College last year and has since

dedicated hersel to pursuing her

Olympic dream.

Price currently trains at the Di-ocesan School or Girls swimmingpool under the watchul eye o hercoach and mother Sheena. At theend o the year, she will be movingto the United States on a swimmingscholarship to Oklahoma BaptistUniversity.

Price has until April next year tocut her 100m backstroke time downrom 1:05 to 1:00 or the South A-rican Long Course Nationals, whichserve as an Olympic qualifier. Her200m backstroke time is also justeight seconds off the pace at 2:18.However, seconds are hard to comeby in this strenuous sport, particu-

larly considering that the SouthArican qualiying standard is one othe toughest in the world.

“We don’t have a lot o money, sothey want to make sure that you aregoing to do well beore they sendyou,” explained the swimmer. “I youqualiy, you are basically already inthe top 16 in the world.”

She believes that the move abroad

under her mother’s training. “She isa mom when she needs to be and acoach when she needs to be, but it’sstill a amily thing,” said Price.

When it comes to the Prices, itcertainly is a amily thing. amlyn’solder brother Calvin is already in theUSA at Olivet Nazarene Universitywhere he swims and studies. Havingher older sibling just one state awayrom where she will study makesleaving home slightly easier orPrice. She will also be meeting twomore swimmers rom her home clubin Oklahoma.

Fortunately, Price still has ourmore months to enjoy in South A-rica beore she leaves in December,although most o that time will bespent training. She currently spendsclose to 20 hours a week in the pooland is working in the gym with apersonal trainer to improve her coreand leg strength, as well as her mus-cular endurance. Mental endurance

Tamlyn Price is off to Oklahoma Baptist University to pursue her Olympic

dream. Photo: SUPPLIED

If you qualify,

you are

basically

already in

the top 16 in

the world.

“

– amlyn Price

ara Singh

Rhodes University Volleyball Club (RUVC) has

yed a successul 2014 and is looking orward to the

lenge o finishing the season on a high note. Te club

es to acquire resh talent in order to secure its posi-

s in both the Amathole and University Sports South

ca (USSA) leagues.

urrently, the men’s and women’s teams are first and sec-in their respective Amathole Volleyball leagues. In the

A standings, the men are ranked third and the womenourth.was one o Rhodes volleyball’s biggest ans rom 2011,did not have enough courage to join because I thought

s not good enough. However, in 2013 I was encouragedmy riend to be part o the committee and I joined the

actively rom then onwards,” said RUVC Chairmanes Ssekisambu.ekisambu said that his team encourages other studentsin the club, which boasts a range o local and interna-

not without its challenges.“We always get young players each year and it gets di-

ficult to find enough time to train them into quality nationalplayers because each year we have to start rom the basicso volleyball. Te club also does not have enough unds togo and play in different provinces because there are notenough volleyball coaches or both men and women teams,”explained Ssekisambu.

Although the RUVC includes a number o first-time play-ers, the club does have members who have been active and

loyal to the club or many years. Nomsa Chemuru has beena member or the past five years and has represented theEastern Cape Province on many occasions. Ezekiel Madovihas also been with the club or six years and Ssekisambu hasno doubt that he is going to be a great volleyball coach inthe near uture.

Te club continues to improve in every perormance andSsekisambu is confident that all the players that made theUSSA volleyball team will be uture stars.

“My prayer is that Rhodes students get inspired to sup-

U Volleyball Club stands firm in Amathole and USSA leagues

Reflections onWomen’s Month

Not so Uselessafter all

Stranger dangeron Rhodes Crushes2 116

Documents

The Oppidan Press Edition 8, 2014