gair rhydd Monday April 27th | freeword | Issue 1051 Varsity Special RUGBY: 22-27 SHIELD: 13-25 WINNERS: CARDIFF Get the full results in our Varsity special pull-out THE FREE WORD EDITOR Michael O’Connell-Davidson GAIR RHYDD CO-ORDINATOR Th is referendum must bind Elaine Morgan Th is week marks the opening of a rare Cardiff Stu- still speak the Welsh language. I feel like I understand as somebody who wishes to embrace Wales as it is NEWS dents’ Union referendum. After an unsuccessful a little better what Wales is, and where it sits along- today. Georgia Hamer senate motion, Steff an Bryn Jones successfully peti- side Scotland and England. I dare not to speak fur- I am not saying that a Welsh language offi cer would Katie Evans tioned the Union to hold a vote on whether or not we ther, because I am no expert, but I have become very immediately bolster the understanding of Wales Alexander Norton should have a full-time Welsh language offi cer. fond of Wales, and I will miss this nation a great deal. and its culture amongst the student body. Perhaps Anna Lewis While there is no requirement for newspapers But I fear that I am in the minority. Don’t get me it would do nothing of the sort. But I am very open to be impartial, it would be wrong for me to take a wrong: I am sure much of the University cohort hail- to this referendum because it has aff orded Cardiff ADVICE stance on the matter; Gair Rhydd is a public service, ing from the rest of the world has grown fond of all University students a reason to think about how they Kirsty Fardell and I do not feel as though it would be appropri- that Wales has to off er. I am less sure, however, that want the Union (and perhaps the University, given ate for me to take an ideological stance beneath the they have had ample opportunity to get to know and that Sabbatical offi cers are tasked with lobbying the COMMENT masthead of this newspaper. understand Wales the way that I have. University) to approach the Welsh language. I can get Anne Porter What I would say, however, is that I have a great One of my housemates (who I met in Freshers’ behind anything that starts a conversation, and I feel Gareth Evans degree of admiration for Steff an’s genuine passion for Week and stuck with ever since) has done a fantas- like this is a conversation that’s worth having. Olivier van den Bent-Kelly the Welsh language and culture. It is no exaggeration tic job of introducing me to Wales and its present And that’s why this referendum must bind. Both to say that this referendum comes very much from cultural and political landscape. Living in close prox- the yes and no campaign seem to agree that Welsh COLUMNIST the heart as far as Steff an is concerned, and it leaves imity to somebody as engaged as he is with policy language provision at the University is simply not Jason Roberts me very happy indeed to see Union politics refl ecting and process has helped me bridge a gap in my un- good enough. Th is shared point of view is good, and what students actually think and what they actually derstanding that I may otherwise have found insur- lends itself well to co-operation whatever the out- POLITICS care about. mountable. come; if a Welsh language offi cer is something stu- Carwyn Williams Regardless of the outcome of this referendum, this I feel as though I am in an enviable position. If eve- dents believe will benefi t our collective understand- Lauren Boyd organisation could do with more people like Steff an rybody left Cardiff University and they felt like this ing of the Welsh identity, then so be it. If it doesn’t, Rhiannon Tapp - people who care deeply about issues closely tied to - that they understood modern Wales as it related then there will be enough interested parties to keep their identity, rather than people who push their ide- to the UK and the wider world, then that would be pushing for the University to do better, and that rep- SCIENCE ology for sport. Th is is not to say that Steff an is the something above and beyond what other universi- resents a massive step forward. Shanna Hamilton only one, as that is evidently untrue. But the world ties off er their students. But I am not sure that this Cardiff Students’ Union referenda require 1,500 Meryon Roderick could always do with more people who care. happens with any frequency, and I do not fully un- votes to be binding, and it would be a terrible shame Since coming to Wales, I have learned a great deal derstand why; it seems as though there is a sort of if this referendum did not attract enough attention SOCIETIES about a culture that I had received eff ectively no subconscious recalcitrance among my English peers to make a diff erence. Such an outcome would leave Hannah Sterritt exposure to before now. It gave me a very diff erent to engage with Wales as it exists today. Th is is seldom too many unanswered questions; neither side would picture of matters concerning the Union; I feel that I spoken about, and I tread uncertain ground doing so be satisfi ed regardless how many votes they received PARK LIFE would have been very dismissive of the referendum - but I do so with only good intentions. relative to the other, and this opportunity for action Vidya Brainerd on Scottish Independence if I still lived in the south Many students go on a year abroad, and, upon re- will be missed. of England, simply because I had no understanding turning, cannot shut up about their time away. Uni- What we need is a way forward, and if this refer- TAF-OD of the cultures that make up this country’s social fab- formly, they pretend to understand the world they endum has enough votes, then we’ll have a picture Steffan Bryn Jones ric. spent time living in: “oh, I went to Germany, and let of what that might look like as early as Friday. If you Morgan Owen I will return to England soon; I am set to graduate me tell you - they do this, this and this...” care about the Welsh language, the Welsh culture, very shortly, and given the path that people in my Yet many English students at Cardiff seem am- and the Welsh identity, then you should vote. It’s SPORT trade normally take, it is unfortunately unlikely that bivalent towards their time in Wales, as though there our responsibility to future Cardiff students to set a David Hooson I will return to Wales in the foreseeable future. And is nothing to understand. Perhaps this is because course that might benefi t them; if that doesn’t moti- Rory Benson yet I feel like I can say that I have at least come to Cardiff is a very “British” city, and hosts a number vate you to add your voice to the conversation, then Joe Atkinson understand this nation a little better. I have come to of decidedly “British” universities. But that does not what will? understand why devolution matters, and why people mean there is a void of things to get your teeth into - MOCD PRODUCTION EDITOR Sum Sze Tam DIGITAL EDITORS Jordan Adams Gregory McChesney THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: GAIR RHYDD 332 SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR 03/5/1989 Maria Mellor Put down that Rubik’s Cube, unplug your Sony Walkman eas there’s a little more to relate to. In a guide to the bur- EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS and stop trying to dance battle me. I’ve told you before geoning appetite for ‘real ale’ supported by the statement Jack Boyce and I’ll tell you again: I’m just not interested. that “Beer for the moment has become not just a fi eld of Eleanor Parkyn What am I on about? What are YOU on about?! It’s knowledge but aggressive knowledgeability to anyone May 1989, at least for the purposes of this exalted feature, who’s been to Urban Tap House (or one of the many es- Want to join the team? and we’ve got another jam-packed issue of Gair Rhydd tablishments of a similar ilk dotted around our streets) Editorial conferences are each (No. 332) to leaf through. Don’t bother trying to visit our of late will confi rm that these pockets of aggression have monday at 5PM. Proofreading website, we’re waiting on Tim Berners-Lee there. mutated into an epidemic of violent hipsterdom”. But I takes place on Thursdays at Th e exclusively paper-based publication of a quarter quite like craft beer, so I’ll leave it. 6PM in the media office during of a century ago didn’t lack moxie: under the promi- In sport, Cardiff City were reported to have eased print weeks. nent masthead it announces to the prospective reader their fears of relegation with a 2-0 victory over South- that it is “a fucking good read”. Th ese days we’re (we end United. So it proved, as the Bluebirds fi nished a Write us a letter hope) a little more subtle in our self-promotion. credible sixteenth - only to plummet to the nadir of [email protected] Once beyond the succinctly-titled ‘Timetable Trou- Division 4 at the end of the following season.