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06 The award-winning student newspaper of Imperial College . 11 Guardian Student Newspaper of the Year . 09 Issue 1,443 ffelixelix felixonline.co.uk This week.... Noam Chomsky talks Middle East Facing the annual enemy: The grgreateat political philosopher talks to flu! Imperial PPS and London students, see page 6 Science, Page 13 Hush! A quiet affair at the Royal Albert Hall Nutt sacked Prof. David Nutt fired for criticising the Music, Page 20 government’s deaf ears, see pages 6 & 7 Japanese cinema suprise: Love Exposure Review Film, Page 21 Eating out: Sake No Hana Riposte restaurant review CGCU and RCSU respond to the claims made against them in last week’s issue, see pages 4 & 5 Food, Page 27 2 felix FRIDAY 06 NOVEMBER 2009 News Editor Kadhim Shubber NEWS [email protected] Class of 2010 Councillors elected Afonso Campos reports on a new team to attend Council this year The world beyond ast Friday saw the announce- College walls ment of the Central Union L election results. The newly elected students are now full members of Council. For those un- familiar with the concept, Council is the sovereign policy-making body for our Union; it is a place that tends to Afghanistan encourage democracy and civilised discussion (for the most part) on is- sues that affect students. The newly Hamid Karzai has been declared president of Afghanistan after officials elected members have as their duty to scrapped the second round of voting. represent the views of the student con- The second round, which was due to be held on November 7th, would have stituents of their Faculty and do so at seen Hamid Karzai pitted against his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, but the monthly meetings. latter withdrew from the race earlier this week. The first round saw Mr Kar- According to an email sent out by zai come in with just under the 50% of the votes required to avoid a run-off, Mark Chamberlain, last year’s Medic whilst his opponent obtained just under a third of the votes. Hundreds of President and this year’s Council thousands of ballots were discounted because of fraud allegations during the Chair, the elections were not without marred elections. Indeed, Hamid Karzai lost a third of his votes between the hiccups. In said e-mail, an allusion was first and final counts. A day into his new five-year term, the President vowed made to the fact that there were indeed The new councillors will be joining Union President Ashley Brown and Council to battle corruption, and to lead an inclusive government. He also renewed Chair Mark Chamberlain. Pastel shirt and ICU lanyard compulsory his call for the Taliban fighters to put down their arms, but they quickly re- plied that they would continue their fight against the ‘puppet government’. Mr Karzai’s pledge to root out corruption from his own government will be Faculty of Graduate School issues that needed to be looked into meeting. closely watched by his American allies, as President Obama is considering Engineering of Engineering by saying that “complaints have been If you have any issues that you would sending 40,000 more troops to fight in the country. Undergraduate and Physical Sci- dealt with”. felix is unaware of what is- like to see raised in Council, you are Councillors ences Postgraduate sues there were. welcome to attend and make your Edward O Hare Councillors He-in Cheong RON As usual, there are some positions voice heard. The meetings are open to Apostolia Matraki that remain yet to be filled; six in total all members of Imperial College Un- Europe Rikki Norris Graduate School of this year. The Non-Faculty position, ion and everyone has a say. If you feel Life Sciences and oftentimes taken up by the current particularly strongly about an issue, Faculty of Medicine Postgrad- felix editor has not been filled either. you may also write a paper and see it A consortium of 12 Europe- Medicine uate Councillor It is understandable as this position debated and voted upon. It is suggest- an companies has launched Undergraduate RON is not open to a very great number of ed you approach one of your Faculty a sustainable energy initia- Councillors students. You can still stand for elec- councillors (list in the box on the left) tive to source European en- Richard Hewitt Non-Faculty tion in any of these empty Councillor and speak to them about your paper. ergy from the Sahara desert. Alexander Walls Councillor positions. Refer to the table on the left So you have an idea, in the past, Coun- The Desertec Industrial Initia- Agneish Dutta RON to see exactly what roles are still va- cil has discussed varied issues such as tive will start with a solar pow- cant. There is further information on the Beer Tax, the twinning of Imperial er project based in North Af- Faculty of International Council and the roles you can run for College Union with other universities rica which is expected to meet Natural Sciences Officer on http://www.imperialcollegeunion. in Gaza and as recently as this week, 15% of Europe’s energy needs Undergraduate Matthew Fitch org/representation. To stand, email the status of mitigating circumstances by 2050. It will require $400bn (£240) in investment, which will be provided Councillors the Council Chair your small mani- for students sitting exams. by companies including Deutsche Bank, Siemens, and E.On. The consortium Hannah Short Student Trustee festo as soon as possible, stating why Alternatively, you can just come will be based in Munich, where one of the initiative’s founders, Munich Re, Deep Shah you would make a good representative along and watch the evening’s antics. is based. Throughout North Africa and the Middle East, vast arrays of solar- and come along to the next Council It can be fun and there’s tea and coffee. thermal plants, which direct the sun’s light to heat water, will produce energy throughout the day (and night). The super-heated water will drive steam tur- 06 bines to generate electricity. A network of hi-tech cables which limit conduc- Felix, Beit Quad, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BB. Tel: 020 7594 8072. tive loss will then transmit the electricity back to Europe across the Mediter- Fax: 020 7594 8065. Printed by The Harmsworth Printing Ltd, 17 Brest Road, . ranean. Desertec has stressed that some of the power generated by the Sahara 11 Derriford, Plymouth. Registered newspaper ISSN 1040-0711. solar fields will also be used to power North African countries directly. Jigsaw font by typotheque.com. RIP Lepton. We loved you, we lost you. felix 1,443 . Copyright © Felix 2009. 09 felix was brought to you by: South East Asia Editor-in-Chief Deputy Editor Deputy Editor Copy Chief Dan Wan Kadhim Shubber Gilead Amit Sasha Nicoletti The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) hosted a summit last week which also included some of the regions heavy-weights, China News Editor Business Editor Travel Editor Clubs and Socs Editor and Japan. Kadhim Shubber Sina Ataherian Dyldo Lowe Alex Kendall South-East Asian countries are either rapidly recovering from the recent economic crisis or have avoided it altogether. But the financial mess brought Medic News Editor International Editor Science Editors Sports Editors on by America has certainly succeeded in renewing talk of a free-trade zone Dina Ismail Raphael Houdmont Brigitte Atkins Mustapher Botchway that would link the world’s most dynamic economies. Japan’s Prime Minister Nathan Ley David Wilson Yukio Hatoyama has said that such a zone should have a single currency and Assistant Editor Film Editors Indy Leclercq ‘lead the world’. Over the past decade, ASEAN has made much progress in re- Jovan Nedić Zuzanna Blaszczak Nightlife Editor Copy Editors ducing tariffs, particularly on manufactured goods, but has so far avoided re- Eddy “The OH” Knock Charlotte Morris Arts Editors Rhys Davies forming trade regulation on farm imports. Intra-East Asian trade flows rose Layout Editor Caz Knight Matt Colvin to 42% of total trade in 2008, up from 32% in 1990, according to the Asian Carlos Karingal Technology Editor What’s On Editors Rosie Milton Sabrina Castiglione Development Bank (ADB), and there is scope for further improvement. Samuel Gibbs Rachel D’oliviero Lucy Harrold Lizzy Griffiths All this talk of economic rapprochement is nothing new, and to some ob- Ayyub Kamaludin Comment Editor Lily Topham servers seems to be nothing more than a distant vision. Indeed, political Joanna Cai Ravi Pall Fashion Editor Photography Neil Dhir disputes within the region are as hot as ever, particularly between Thailand, Kawai Wong Coffee Break Editor Ben Smith Tabitha Skinner where the summit took place, and neighbouring Cambodia. Politics Editors: Charles Murdoch Tom Roberts Jamie Beal The two countries’ armies have clashed several times over a disputed tem- James Goldsack Music Editors Alex Karapetian Richard Howard ple at the border. Katya-yani Vyas Kadhim Shubber Puzzles Commodores Stefan Zeeman James Lees Alex Ashford Sean Farres Games Editors Rox Middleton Phillip Murray Luke Turner Milli Begum Mike Cook Peter Evans By Raphael Houdmont, International Editor felix FRIDAY 06 NOVEMBER 2009 3 [email protected] NEWS Drug Chief sacked by Home Secretary James Goldsack reports on Professor David Nutt’s departure and the future for Science and the Government ast Friday, the UK’s chief drugs “disappointed” by Alan Johnson’s view neuroscience at Oxford University, Prof adviser was sacked by Home adding “whilst I accept that there is a Colin Blakemore, said that independent L Secretary Alan Johnson af- distinction between scientific advice advisors should be expected to voice ter criticizing government and government policy there is clearly concerns if their advice is rejected.