Internal League basketball dribbles to success

By Lauren vd Vyver

Pic by: Sean William Messham

High-flying players and out-of-range three-pointers were features at the internal-league basketball. Alec Mullins was host to the first round of internal basketball games on Friday, 15 May, 2009.

Rhodes’ Club of the Year for 2008 celebrates centenary

By Tshilidzi Mutavhatsindi

Pic by: Desiree Schirlinger

The Rhodes Athletics Club is one of the most successful clubs at Rhodes University. Last year, they won the Club of the Year award at the Rhodes annual sports awards ceremony, which took place at the Monument.

Off the mark

By Ollie Field

The end of May has the potential to be heartbreaking for sports fans all over the world, as many of the sporting extravaganzas which have captured our imagination will come to end.

Let’s start with the Super 14. The Chiefs take on the Bulls this Saturday which will wrap up one of the most fascinating Super 14’s ever. Never before has the tournament had so many ups and downs for each of the teams, with even the Cheetahs providing an upset or two.

Make Your Point

Do you think South African soccer is dominated by black players?

I think this is very true. One major reason I suggest this is due to the absence of soccer at both the formerly white government schools as well as private schools. So white boys (and girls) are not exposed to the sport and certainly not given an opportunity to play the game seriously, that is, in a competitive manner. This obviously translates into a lack of players from the white community at the higher levels of the game. Another reason is the strong resistance on the part of school authorities to making the sport available because of the perceived threat that rugby will be displaced by soccer.

Tony Fluxman (BA Political & International Studies)

Bulls secure home final

By Fleur Rollason

Pic by: Desiree Schirlinger

The Vodacom Blue Bulls kept South Africa’s hopes of a Super 14 final alive on Saturday, 23 May by beating the Crusaders 36-23. The Bulls will play the Chiefs at Loftus Versveld in the final on Saturday, 30 May. It was a thrilling game with the Crusaders putting points on the board first, leaving the scores level just before half time – before the Bulls literally ran away with the game.

Open column: Let’s talk about pride

By Lauren O’Brien

What’re we proud of, anyway? Sure, Pride Week’s an institution in every LBGTI community. The ‘queers’ come out and play. It’s a celebration of diversity. Streets are painted pink. Rainbow flags are toted. But what’s the point? And if it’s so important, how come there’s no “heterosexual pride”?

Pride Week attempts to provide a place for the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Intersex people, for those of you not in the know) community to recognise what it is to be ‘non-hetero’ in a heteronormative society and to recognise the struggle for self-determination that is faced by people around the world – and continues to be faced.

Fake it then feel it

By Paige Knight

The past few weeks have been a blur of essays, deadlines, fights with friends and cold miserable weather. You would think that under these conditions, no one would be up to the lengthy challenge of making love or even exerting oneself to go out to find a wild one night stand.

Digging the digs life

By Gabi Falanga & Jonathan Jones

When it comes to moving into digs, Rhodes students need to be on their toes. Juggling estate agents, landlords, bitchy digs-mates, commission and shopping can be quite tricky, never mind those first time mishaps which always seem to creep up on you at some point. However, moving into digs can be one of the most fun and rewarding times of your life. There is no shortage of Rhodents who have interesting digs tales of some kind.

Making cents of student budgeting

By David Shields

Pic by: Jessica Pike

Kirstin Kyle modelling a hat from Nearly New

University life is full of adventure. It’s a time to party, make friends, discover yourself and, above all, study for a degree. It’s the chapter where responsibility is minimal and finances are non-essential. As students, many of us live hassle-free. In residence, meals are provided and clean linen is supplied every week. In digs, students might not have it as easy, but many say that the sense of independence is worth far more than a ready-cooked meal. Nonetheless, every student is taken care of in some way. The problem with this is that students hardly take time out to access their financial status. With a bit of saving here and there, a world of possibilities awaits them.

Not quite the last word

By Babongile Zulu

Every year brings new tidings and for our very own government, 2009 is no exception. For example, the sudden creation of a new ministry strikingly called ‘Ministry for Women, Children, Youth and People with Disabilities’. Oh, and what about ‘Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs’. There are actually more than I can write about in this column, but please do Google it, you would be amazed at the changes befalling our country as we speak. Good changes? Bad changes? Well, I don’t know, let us assess the situation shall we?

Grahamstown: going to the dumps

By Gabi Falanga

Grahamstown’s rubbish dump is filling up and new legislation states that no more permits for new landfill sites will be issued. In other words, when Grahamstown’s rubbish dump is full, it is full.

Last year, Rhodes University generated 279 tons of recyclable materials. This is the equivalent of 46 male elephants. This year, in January alone, a staggering 31 tons (5 male elephants) was collected. Mark Hazell, the Manager of Grounds and Gardens at Rhodes, said the amount of recyclables that Rhodes produces is increasing substantially. “We are not even collecting a third of the recycling. If we were, this figure would be more like 1200 tons a year,” he said. This is the equivalent of 1333 cars the size of a VW Citi Golf.

Zebra and Giraffe top of the food chain

By Jane Rosen & Kirsty Hoggons

Pic by: Marcus Maschwitz

With influences like Marilyn Manson, Bloc Party and Muse, it is no wonder that Greg Carlin, the lead singer and only member of Zebra and Giraffe, would describe his sound as “Dark Pop”. Despite the fact that we are yet to understand the origins of this bizarre band’s name, this man is taking South African music to a whole other level.

The Great (Star) Trek

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By Jennifer Moyes
Four out of five popcorn kernels

Despite displaying jumpsuit clad men, Star Trek is also a show that once focused on many controversial issues, such as feminism, racism and the Vietnam War. It even screened the first inter-racial kiss on television and was banned in some countries for this. But when I first heard about the movie, I wondered how it would bring these ideas to a whole new generation, without offending the hardcore Trekkies.

Expecting a lot of “pew pews” and split infinitives, I went to see the new Star Trek movie with a bit of scepticism – but I couldn’t have been more wrong. After the original series and ten movies, Lost creator, J.J Abrams, takes us back to the beginning, when Captain Kirk was rebellious and reckless and Dr Spock was still a young and serious pointy-eared lad.

The movie follows the characters from childhood to their training at the Starfleet academy and their subsequent exciting and nail-biting adventures through the universe. However geeky this may sound, the CGI effects and battle scenes are good enough to keep you tantalised. It is evident that there are a whole new range of CGI effects to play with, especially with Kirk’s green girl, with whom he has a roll in the proverbial hay. Then there are good old-fashioned hand-to-hand fighting scenes, not to mention a captivating storyline.

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto provide more than enough eye candy. Throw in a Scot for humour and you might not go boldly where no film has gone before, but you sure have a hell of a good time. The jumping of backwards and forwards between the future and the past gets a bit confusing, but you eventually catch on when the original Dr Spock, Leonard Nimoy, makes an appearance and does a supercool mind-flashback on Kirk to help you understand. You might also need to prepare a snack because the film is a bum-numbing two hours long.

The movie stays true to all the ideas of the original series, without giving too much away. It does, however spring in a rather surprising romance. Talking about what the previous movies lacked, Abrams says, “I feel we were able to bring to life, in a way we’ve never seen before; what it is to be a member of Starfleet. And that’s kind of cool.” I really couldn’t agree more.

Pirates steals Grahamstown’s booty

By Yashen Moodley

Pic by: Jonathan Terry

Okay, picture this: pre- drinks, then a night out on the town until about two in the morning, followed by a quick sneaky snack before you hit the sack. Now, picture this all at one venue! Pirates Pizza has finally received its liquor license. From a small kitchen with one bench, to a brand new sit-down restaurant and bar on 49 African Street, Pirates’ House of Pizza is the new place to get your drink on.

Journos live on air

By Kate Bishop

Look out for the Journalism and Media Studies second year (JMS 2) radio show this swot week, where two shows will be aired every day, midmorning on RMR 89.7 FM. The shows will range from a wide variety of topics, some of the titles being “Skins Unpeeled”, “Wedlocked”, “Breaking the bank”, to “Daddy’s rich kids”, “Classy colours” and “Extra size me” and several others.

The radio shows will consist of interviews with Rhodes students, which means that what will be aired will be the voices of your fellow students. Each show will have a variety guests, including experts commenting on what is being said and perhaps being able to analyse and explain some issues on and around campus. Some of the issues that will be mentioned concern what it is like being Afrikaans at Rhodes, the body-building mania, homophobia, and the class issues within race.

Japan & I… took over Grahamstown

By Lauren Granger

Pic by: Simone Armer

When Japan & I are on stage, don’t stand too close to the speakers. Your hearing won’t be back in time for your Monday dawnie. That’s how hard these three girls from Jo’burg rock.

Dancing with the staff

By Chris McCallum

Rhodes Ballroom and Latin Dancing Society hosted the ‘Dancing with the Staff’ ball on Wednesday, 20 May 2009. The show, which was modelled on the TV show, Strictly Come Dancing, saw Six Rhodes University staff members paired with six advanced student dancers had to perform one dance in either the Ballroom or Latin section. The event was part of the Dean of Student’s Alcohol-Awareness Campaign.

The politics of politics

By Craig Wynn

For this column I could talk about Thabo Mbeki’s visit, but it’s still Saturday as I write this, so there’s no knowing whether he pitched or not (See: Julius Malema). Time travel would be a cool topic, actually, but nah. How about torture? Now there is a change of subject from South African politics (arguably). Before I sound too random, this idea comes from both the current drama in the States surrounding Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay – and the congress’ disagreement with this – as well as from my awesome English tut about J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians.

Zapiro gives Zuma a break

By Jessica Edgson & Craig Wynn

From edgy satire cartoons to ‘God-Zille’s’ angry ratings and accusations, our nation’s new President, Jacob Zuma, must be getting used to bad, or at least controversial, publicity. It therefore must have come as quite a shock when a little weight was taken off his head recently.

South African cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, otherwise known as Zapiro, removed the controversial showerhead from President Zuma’s head in his cartoon for The Times on Tuesday, 12 May. Zapiro, who was awarded with an honorary doctorate from Rhodes University last year, attached the showerhead for his depiction of Zuma for the first time in 2006, after the latter’s infamous HIV/Aids comment at his rape trial.

Starting off on the wrong foot?

By Camagwini Dolweni

Just over a week after President Jacob Zuma’s inauguration, Minister of Transport, Sbu Ndebele, became caught up in what nearly became another corruption scandal for South African politics.

On 16 May, Ndebele accepted a Mercedes Benz S500 from Vukuzakhe road contractors, worth R1.1 million. Ndebele had been transport MEC for KwaZulu Natal from 1994 to 2004 and in that time, he established the contractors programme, Vukuzakhe. This received contracts amounting to over R400 million. The contractors held a celebratory function in his honour in Pietermaritzburg, where they gave him the car and two cattle.