WEDNESDAY Wednesday June 17th 2009 e Independent Cambridge Student Newspaper since 1947 Issue no 698 | varsity.co.uk »p12 Features »p5 Ball Reviews »p7 Fashion John Micklethwait: Last night’s Balls Vestal virgins press and politics reviewed inside! ZING TSJENG Jesus ents shut down after noise complaints er the Council were overly stringent in Helen Mackreath their enforcement. Varsity attempted e Jesus May Ball ended in disap- to obtain comments from Katrina pointment on Tuesday morning a er Hewitt and Ben Hosford, Presidents of complaints from local residents forced the Jesus May Ball Committee, but was the Committee to shut down the music unable to do so. an hour and 20 minutes before the ad- Varsity spoke to residents living in vertised end. close proximity to Jesus and found that e move is unprecedented in May many were unconcerned by events: “it’s Week history. e Survivors’ Photo was nothing to do with me,” said one resi- brought forward to 5.45am in a depar- dent, while another admitted that this ture from its traditional time of 6am. year’s Ball had been “surprisingly loud” With ticket prices at £105 for a ba- but that it didn’t bother him. One of sic ticket and £135 for a dining ticket, the complaints about the noise levels the abrupt end to the Wizard of Oz may have come from a Jesus graduate themed evening le many students student occupying graduate student feeling short-changed. Carly Hilts, a accommodation. graduate student at John’s said, “loads Some students complained of gen- of students ended up just leaving early eral confusion amongst the partygo- and were very cross about paying so ers. “No-one knew what was going much money and having the evening on.” said one student, who did not e ectively cut short. We had nothing wish to be named. “ ere was no in- to do except eat and wander about in formation provided about the reasons the cold.” for the closure”. e ceilidh, advertised for 5am, was e Council’s Environmental Health cancelled, as was other acts such as the Manager, Selwyn Anderson, said that Bohemian Ukelele Band and the Shut “We do try and work with Colleges and Up And Dance DJ set, scheduled from Ball Committees in advance of events 4-6am. to try and ensure they do not give rise Environmental Health O cers, from to noise problems for the community. the Cambridge City Council, were We try to be proactive.” alerted to noise emanating from Jesus e Environmental Health Service College by “a number of calls” made to of Cambridge City Council releases an the Council’s out of hours noise service. Organisation Handbook to ensure that Following these calls “more than one May Balls comply with Council regula- visit” was made to the College by the tions, which includes speci c informa- Environmental Health O cers. Varsity tion and advice on noise levels. ey understands that, based on their nd- highlight that May Ball Committee ings, the O cers made an agreement members should be “patrolling the pe- with the Committee that led to the clo- rimeter of the college and listening for sure of the ents. noise, visiting the houses nearest the It is not yet clear whether the Jesus college to assess whether noise is likely May Ball Committee was at fault for to be disturbing and, in particular, us- outing Council regulations, or wheth- ing a sound level meter.” St John’s May Ball » p5 Anglia Ruskin dropout rate is second highest in UK Emmie Hodges hs of students who began their degrees cation. e remaining students drop gree’ students to ‘diploma’ students. She tion that our reclassi ed students have at ARU in 2006-7 did not complete their out of higher education altogether - an also cited the relatively large number of dropped out - which is not the case,” the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has the studies. Only the London Metropolitan increase of 14 percent from comparable students who switch degree course mid- spokeswoman said. second highest student dropout rate in University has a higher non-completion gures for last year. way through their studies. e study also showed that the Univer- the UK, according to a recent study. rate for undergraduates. Speaking to the Cambridge News, a “ is reclassi cation has distorted the sity of Cambridge has one of the lowest e study, conducted by the Higher Of the 43.9 percent of ARU students spokeswoman for ARU explained that non-completion rates as they have only non-completion rates in the country at Education Statistics Agency (HESA), who do not nish their degrees, around the change in gures was in part a result included degree students, as opposed to 3.1 percent, with just over 1 percent of which looked at all 157 higher education half will transfer to other institutions or of the “reclassi fcation” of many students degree and diploma students. It therefore students choosing to leave higher educa- institutes in the UK, found that over two- stay on to complete an alternative quali- following NHS-funded courses from ‘de- seems that the gures make the assump- tion entirely. Wednesday June 17th 2009 2 Yesterday in pictures varsity.co.uk Got a good picture? Email it to [email protected] News MICHAEL DERRINGER MICHAEL DERRINGER »p1-4 Cheating » p3 In an exclusive investigation, we talk to the ones that got away with it. Cambridge Spies » p4 The latest sizzling hot gossip from last night’s revelries. Ball Reviews PETER NICKALLS »p5 John’s, Downing & Queens’ All of last night’s Balls are reviewed on these pages. We still haven’t had any sleep. Comment »p6 The end of the party Ed Cumning says goodbye to Cambridge. PETER NICKALLS Fashion »p7-10 Vestal Virgins See the darling buds of May Week. Features »p12-13 John Micklethwait » p12 We talk to John Micklethwait, the editor of The Economist. GEOFF ROBINSON GEOFF ROBINSON Theatre »p14 Yesterday’s drama As ever, May Week is a time to see some wonderful outdoor productions. Sport »p16 Sport Quiz Got a news story? Text ‘Varsity’ + your thoughts to 07797 800 300* We round up the sporting year the only way *Standard network charges apply we know how, with a quiz. Let us see if you have been paying attention to the Varsity Editors Joel Massey, Emma Mustich & Avantika Chilkoti [email protected] News Team Beth Staton, Gemma Oke, Helen Mackreath, & Anna Harper [email protected] Sport pages. Sub-editor Colm Flanagan Sport Editor Jamie Ptaszynski Comment Editor Dan Hitchens Theatre Editor Katy King Reviews Editor Tom Morris Fashion Team Zing Tsjeng, Ben Margereson, Sienna Manon Maybe & Joanna Della-Ragione Photographers Tim Johns, Sean Jones, Tom Moriarty, Lizzie Robinson, Charlotte Runcie, Dhaneesha Senaratne & Zing Tsjeng [email protected] Illustrators Corrections Claudia Stocker, Anna Trench & Sarah Woolley In Issue 697, we referred to a ceilidh at Jesus May Ball, Business & Advertising Manager Michael Derringer [email protected] Board of Directors Dr Michael Franklin (Chair), Prof. Peter Robinson, Dr Tim Harris, Mr which was cancelled after we went to press. Chris Wright, Mr Michael Derringer, Miss Lizzie Mitchell, Mr Elliot Ross (VarSoc President), Mr Thomas Bird, Mr George Grist, Mr Patrick Kingsley, Miss Natasha Lennard, Miss Anna Trench, Mr Hugo Gye, Mr Michael Stothard & Miss Clementine Dowley Also, in the same issue we called the Cambridgeshire NEWSPAPERS Varsity, Old Examination Hall, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RF. Tel 01223 337575. Fax 01223 760949. Varsity is published by Varsity Publications Ltd. Varsity Publications also publishes BlueSci County Council Elections the ‘Cambridge City SUPPORT RECYCLING and The Mays. ©2009 Varsity Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, Recycled paper made Council Elections,’ and failed to mention that George up 87.2% of the raw mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher. Printed at Iliffe Print Cambridge — Winship Road, Milton, Cambridge CB24 6PP on 48gsm UPM Matt Paper. material for UK newspapers in 2008 Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. ISSN 1758-4442 NEWSPAPERS SUPPORT Owers was also a student candidate. RECYCLING Wednesday June 17th 2009 Got a news story? varsity.co.uk 01223 761543 / [email protected] News 3 NEWS FEATURE Beth, Trinity Hall In Brief Cheating the system I don’t really see the big deal about cheating - not for English, anyway. It’s not like you’re writing Famous Cambridge vista at risk down one specific fact for one specific answer; The view along the Backs of the Jamie Pollock aminations comes across only a ‘hand- it’s more for reassurance. During the Part I Tri- ful’ of cheating incidents each year to pos exam I wrote down nifty quotes on a small River Cam is undoubtedly one of Regulations to prevent cheating in Tripos be passed on to the Senior Proctor, the piece of paper and stowed it down my bra. I wrote the city’s most famous views, fea- examinations have become progressively number of cheaters who go uncaught dates I wanted to know on my thigh, and made turing on many a postcard and more strict over the past several years. is unclear. How the few foiled cheaters sure I wore a skirt, and there is always all sorts countless tourists’ photographs. Recently, for example, a fine of £50 was are dealt with and whether deterrents of blurred bits and bob scrawled across my hand. However, over 100 horse-chestnut introduced for possession of a phone in are proving sufficient is also uncertain.