May the ball begin

After weeks of persistent rain, the skies cleared for the annual Kate Kennedy Charity May Ball as Kinkell Byre played host to some 1,500 revellers, enjoying one last hurrah before the exam season.

Pitched as the “ultimate celebration to end the year and a fantastic way to welcome the summer”, guests were invited to “add a touch of luxury to your day” and travel in style via helicopter over St Andrews bay.

When it came to entertainment, fairground rides kept guests occupied between performances from club scene sensation, Jack Beats, and Dundee’s own, Seedy Soundsystem.

Stathtyrum Catering and the SeaFood Restaurant offered dinner guests an “exceptional culinary experience” while Ten Dollar Shake were charged with keeping guests’ glasses full. The ball’s website offered “A classic champagne all night long. We also have a fantastic range of spirits and professional bartenders to provide perfectly mixed cocktails for every taste.”

However, second year classicist James felt that alcohol quickly became scarce. He told The Saint: “By 11 o’clock, all the bars had run out of lemonade, beer, and alcopops. I think if you’re paying £40 for a ticket then there should at least be a decent bar”. He added: “I was reduced to drinking gin; I never drink gin.”

Mark Jones however, due to be convenor for next year’s Opening and May Balls, praised the Club’s efforts. He said: “This year’s May Ball was fantastic. It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves so much and to see the Club’s hard work pay off. I can only hope to try and recreate the amazing atmosphere at next year’s balls and I can’t wait to see everyone there.”

Money raised from the Ball will be donated to DAPL (Drug and Alcohol Project Limited), an organisation offering counselling, support, information and advice to individuals and families affected by substance abuse who live in Fife.

This year’s May Ball’s sponsors included Absolut Vodka, Beefeater, Malibu, Havana Club, Chivas Regal, Perrier-Jouet and Ma Bells.

Fine Food and Dining grab victory at Societies Awards

Venue 2 hosted the third annual Societies Awards on Wednesday 6 May as over 140 affiliated societies vied for the £1000 prize of Best Society. The Fine Food and Dining Society were announced the eventual winners for the second time in their short three year history.

The society’s Facebook page announced: “This is a fabulous reflection on the hard work of all the executives, as well as the wholehearted collaboration of every member of the committee. We wouldn’t have achieved what we managed over the past year without each of you!”

£5,300 was shared between the winners and runners up of the six categories which, as well as Best Society, included Best New Society, Best Charitable Society, Best Event, Best Contribution to the University and the Town and Gown award.

The Winners

Best New Society Award

Winner: Craft Society

1st Runner-up: Barbeque Society

2nd Runner-up: Dance Society

Finalists: Blood Donation Society, Mary’s Meal’s Society

Best Charitable Society Award

Winner: UNICEF on Campus

1st Runner-up: One Water Society

2nd Runner-up: Macmillan Society

Finalist: Friends of MSF St Andrews

Best Event Award

Winner: History Society

1st Runner-up: Psychology Society

2nd Runner-up: A Cappella Society

Finalists: Management Society, Surgical Society

Best Contribution to the University Award

Winner: Astronomical Society

1st Runner-up: Geological Society

2nd Runner-up: LGBT Society

Finalist: Literary Society

Town & Gown Award

Winner: Pool Society

1st Runner-up: Music Society

2nd Runner-up: Teddy Bear Hospital

Finalist: Real Ale Society

Best Society Award

Winner: Fine Food & Dining Society

1st Runner-up: Foreign Affairs Society

2nd Runner-up: STAAG

Finalist: Greenpeace Society

Union shows solidarity after violence claims students’ lives in Egypt

Patrick O’Hare, President of the Students’ Association, has expressed his “devastation” at the death of Ain Shams University (Cairo) students after demonstrators clashed with soldiers during protests against military rule.

On the morning of 1 May, armed thugs attacked and killed at least ten demonstrators as they slept during the ongoing sit-in outside defence ministry headquarters in the nearby Abbasiya district. The attacks mark the worst spate of violence in months since the unseating of former President, Hosni Mubarak.

Abbasiya square is directly in front of Ain Shams University campus and students had been joining in the demonstrations.

The violence came just a week after the President and Vice-President of Ain Shams University Students’ Union were in St Andrews to commemorate the twinning of the student unions of two of Scotland and Egypt’s foremost universities.

The violent clashes also claimed the life of the President of Ain Shams University, Dr Alaa Fayez. He was killed in a car crash while on his was to visit students who had been injured in Abassiya Square. The University website confirmed that: “Ain Shams University has announced mourning for three days as of today, after ASU President, Professor Dr Alaa Fayez, passed away earlier today in a car accident.”

O’Hare said: “I am devastated that our Egyptian colleagues have returned to Egypt to face such a tragic situation. The violence in Abassiya Square looks like it has clearly been orchestrated by the SCAF, and we should stand in solidarity with our brave brothers and sisters who are flocking to the square to defend the occupation.

“The bravery of the Egyptian visitors was clear when they spoke here and I am sure that they will persevere in their struggle for a fairer and more democratic Egypt in what looks like a long and difficult road ahead.

“In addition, I express my sincere condolences to the whole Ain Shams community and to the family of Dr Alaa Fayez. His untimely death in truly tragic circumstances and when his leadership was needed most is a bitter blow and we’d like to support Ain Shams students in any way we can.”

Rana Sharif Mostafa, outgoing vice-president of Ain Shams, who recently visited St Andrews, said: “ Dr Alaa Fayez was the first elected President of the University after the Revolution and he was a great, honest leader whom we are all mourning. Typical of the man, he died while on the way to visit injured Ain Shams students who were in hospital.

“I ask you to pray for our University which is now in very difficult times given the death of the President and the killing of protestors in front of our campus, meaning that students are unable to attend University and are instead on the streets defending their rights.”

President of National Union of Students visits St Andrews

On Wednesday in School II the president of the National Union of Students UK (NUS) Liam Burns spoke to a small audience of students encouraging the involvement of the St Andrews Students’ Association in this nationwide collective. Following a request for Burns’ visit by the Student Association President Patrick O’Hare, the recently re-elected NUS President delivered a short speech concerning the NUS and the benefits of St Andrews participation in it.

Within his rather informal discourse on the NUS, Burns, currently on a speaking tour of Scottish universities including Aberdeen and Dundee, provided background on the NUS explaining its aim to “promote, defend, and extend student rights” in addition to acting as a “champion for strong and active student unions.”

O’Hare recently released a statement applauding the Students Representative Council’s decision to reconsider the Students’ Association stance on the NUS saying, “I’m delighted that the SRC has voted unanimously to give students the chance to have their say over membership of the National Union of Students” (NUS).

Burns laid out the NUS’s involvement in student union development and financial support in addition to the promotion of student association infrastructure and student accommodation. By “putting student unions in the driver’s seat”, Burns suggested the NUS as a “consultancy” giving students a collective voice and acting as a go-between for student unions and governmental bodies.

Such governmental involvement, explained Burns, would include such hot button topics as rising tuition fees, placement for international students, and study abroad funding. Concerning tuition fees, Burns made clear the NUS’s stance on eliminating hidden course costs: “We have a whole cohort of students coming onto campus that balk at the idea of paying for their lab coats and textbooks and fieldtrips over and above what they perceive to be in tuition fees.”

Illustrating the NUS’s focus on education, Burns elucidated his rejection of tuition fees and the irresponsibility of targeting education in order to decrease the deficit explaining, “You should never have to pay money to be academically successful.”

Directing the conversation towards what it would mean for the St Andrews Students’ Association to join the NUS, Burns turned towards cost. As it currently stands, the St Andrews Students’ Association would pay £21,000 in order to join. Burns clarified this figure, saying, “We have gone from a 90% reliance on affiliation fees 10 years ago to 40% this year with a commitment to get to 30% in three years time (i.e. we are and have been reducing affiliation fees year on year).” Burns added that this figure could be further reduced by government funded grants and programmes such as NUS Extra and NUS Digital.

Reiterating the NUS as a collective, Burns explained the need for a belief in collectivism, without which there could be no belief in the NUS.

Diffusing the concern of St Andrews as being a smaller university, Burns pointed out that regardless of size, the St Andrews Students’ Association would be “disproportionately vocal within the NUS” rivalling the likes of Edinburgh.

Emphasizing the importance of student involvement, Burns drove home the point that, “We [the NUS] want St Andrews students to have the say on whether or not to join the NUS.”

In the same vein as Burns, Students’ Association President-Elect Freddie Fforde voiced his impartiality on the matter saying, “This is for the student body to decide and I hope that we can build on our record election turnout with another high level of participation in this decision.”

In closing, Burns made clear that regardless of the Students’ Association’s decision “the NUS will fight for students across the nation with or without St Andrews.”

Fife Constabulary reassures worried St Andrews residents about Police HQ relocation

The planned move of police headquarters from North Street to the former health centre on Pipeland Road will not affect policing in St Andrews, it has been reported. The reasons for the move have been cited as a way to save money and cut carbon emissions.

Students may be worried about the possible effect of moving the main police station away from the town centre. However, Fife Constabulary have assured that there will still be a police presence in the town centre, as the council offices on St Mary’s Place will offer a public counter service.

In addition, a public intercom at the council office will connect to the force’s main contact centre. The Constabulary have also noted that the new location on Pipeland Road is in a more densely populated area of St Andrews and could therefore be a more reassuring presence for many residents of the town.

A spokesman for Fife Constabulary said: “We will continue to have high-visibility patrols through the centre of St Andrews, as we do at present, no matter where the police office is located. Police officers attending situations in the centre of town at night are usually already out on patrol and not leaving from the police station. We already have a police presence on campus, where PC Shirley Steele is based, and we intend to continue to have a public contact point in the centre of town.”

In a press release from the Fife Constabulary, Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Tom Ewing said, “the new police station at St Andrews will be part of our long-term strategy to upgrade and improve police stations to provide a better and more efficient service to the people of Fife.”

The Courier interviewed local councillor Bill Sangster who said, “Certainly it will do St Andrews a lot of good being where it [the new police station] is and if we can have a front desk at the local office then I think it will be ideal”.

Candidate Interviews for Council Elections 2012

DOROTHEA MORRISON – CONSERVATIVE – OPTIMISTIC

Dorothea Morrison has served on the council for the last five years. Her main concern as a councillor has been the lack of affordable housing in St Andrews. She believes that the influx of buy-to-let landlords has driven house prices up, leaving first-time buyers priced out of the market. She was influential in the imposition of the moratorium on HMOs, in order to attempt to create affordable accommodation for both students and young adults looking to get onto the property ladder. As a former chairman of the Preservation Trust, she doesn’t want to change the town, and looks forward, if re-elected, to working closely with the newly established Housing Commission, within which she wants to encourage “no-holds-barred proper dialogue” in order to solve St Andrews’ housing problems. Furthermore, she wants people to go out and vote, to engage with local councillors, and to choose the councillor they think will represent them best. She also wants to make more decisions on a local level, without suffering edicts from above that might not be appropriate for St Andrews. She feels she has worked very well with the other three St Andrews councillors, and that they are united by a common cause – a love of the town.

BENJAMIN BRIDGMAN – SCOTTISH GREEN – DEDICATED

Ben has been a student at the University for five years, and sat on the SRC for two years, one being the Environment and Ethics Officer, helping found the Transition University of St Andrews Group. He has been a member of the Scottish Green party for five years and felt it was his responsibility to stand as a candidate for the St Andrews ward. His campaign seeks to encourage the development of brown-field sites in St Andrews for the development of low-cost, energy efficient social housing, which he sees as more appropriate alternative to the proposed western development of the town. He sees this as part of an answer to the housing problem in St Andrews. The Madras College redevelopment is also a feature of his campaign. His plan is to propose the building of a new, smaller school in Newport, which would be a more environmentally friendly solution. The South Street site would be kept open in the meantime, with the situation being readdressed at a later stage. His support of local business is also great, and Ben plans to use the council’s buying power to realise this, using local suppliers to source food for schools, for example. Ben is not in favour of the HMO moratorium, believing that it will not address the problems that it set out to solve. Ben would also set out to pressure the University to do more to help with the affordable accommodation situation.

WILLIAM SANGSTER – LIBERAL DEMOCRAT – COMMITTED

William Sangster was a member of the Royal Air Force until 1977, working in motor transport, and throughout his service with the RAF he took time to look after and work for RAF families. When he left he became involved in town politics. Bill has been a councillor for the last nine years, sits on the Liquor Licensing Board, which organises alcohol licenses Fife-wide, as well as on the Regulations and Licensing Board, which deals with HMO Licensing, and is involved in many other schemes and initiatives throughout the town. He considers his work in the Bassaguard area of town over the last four years especially significant, having worked to revive the area by encouraging the light industry facilities that used to occupy the area to return. Bill has also worked to reinstate the Market Street fountain, which has lain dormant for fifty years, as a working feature, and as a result the fountain should be in working order come June. He has also been involved in the dredging of the Kinness Burn and the restoration of the Martyr’s Monument. If re-elected, Bill hopes to continue the work he has done for the town locally, and get more involved with town and gown initiative. Bill voted against the HMO moratorium, and encourages people whose license-renewal applications are turned down to appeal the decision.

BRIAN THOMSON – SCOTTISH LABOUR – HONEST

Brian Thomson has a degree in Town Planning and has worked in that field in Perthshire, managing projects to build affordable housing, before moving to St Andrews, the town of his birth, to bring up his family. He now works for the University of Dundee in their Estates and Buildings Department. He was motivated to run for the council by the Madras College redevelopment project: if elected he would put his expertise to work by conducting a full and proper assessment on all available sites, taking the community’s wishes on board as well. Owing to his background he is also very passionate about creating more affordable housing in the town. He believes that the University is not providing enough housing, which puts pressure on the private sector, and that the landlords need to look after properties better, describing the condition of some of the houses he has visited on his campaign as “shocking.” He is in support of the moratorium on HMOs in the town centre, but also accepts that the whole issue needs to be reviewed. Brian is keen to stand up for St Andrews on a Fife-wide level as well, making decisions based on the town’s needs, and to put his knowledge to use  to make sure the right decisions are made in the fields of housing and construction.

HENRY PAUL – INDEPENDENT – COMMITMENT

Henry Paul has been in the RAF for the last 34 years. He has lived in St Andrews for the last 28 years, and his wife works for the University. He believes in practical action, not just sitting on committees. His priorities are both to find a solution to the Madras school issue and to solve the housing problem for the full spectrum of society. He has always been opposed to the HMO cap, as he believes that it is no way to solve the issue of student accommodation in the town centre, believing a more holistic view of the problem is necessary in order to address it. He is interested in looking at private halls of residence for students, believing that this would be a better solution than simply moving out into town after the first year. Henry is disappointed with local press coverage of the election, feeling it to be ‘muted’, and feels that the democratic approach from people is being lost. While he feels that at the grass-roots level town-gown relations are fantastic, he also believes that there is a disconnect with the higher echelons of the University, and feels that the senior management of the University does not do enough for the town. He is opposed to the idea of turbines being built on the land, being a strong advocate of large, offshore arrays, which would benefit from economies of scale and would not be an eyesore to the local countryside.

KEITH McCARTNEY – SNP – FANDABIDOZI

Keith graduated from Dundee with an MA Honours in Geography, and taught in many Fife secondary schools, retiring from teaching in 2009. Now that he is no longer employed by the Council as a teacher, he is looking to continue serving the community as a local councillor. He has served on the community council for eleven years, five of those as Chairman. He has been a trustee of the St Andrews Preservation Trust, and is an active member of many local clubs. He sees the councillorship as an opportunity to carry forward the ideas he developed in these positions. His campaign focuses upon trying to carry forwards the work of the current SNP council, working in partnership with the Scottish government. He plans to focus on the housing issue, and hopes to provide a solution to the Madras school crisis to allow the students there to have the best educational experience. With regards to the HMO moratorium, he can understand why it was brought in, but he looks at the HMO issue in relation to the wider housing issues in the town, and the shortages that face every section of society. He is in favour of the Housing Commission proposal, which would take a holistic view of the housing issues and look to solve them.

MURDO MacDONALD – INDEPENDENT -  HONESTY

Murdo MacDonald moved to St Andrews in 1986 to start up his own insurance company, having worked in London then Glasgow as a city inspector in a large insurance company. His children were both schooled in St Andrews, a town he loves, but he believes that standards have slipped in the town since he first arrived. He has sat on the Students’ Association Board, and now wants to sit on the council in order to restore the town to its former glory. He think students in the town are very important, and that the student body doesn’t do enough to advertise the good it does in the town, such as the £112,000 already raised by the Charities Campaign this year. He believes that the standard of housing, both interior and exterior, is “diabolic,” and as a landlord himself he wants to improve standards across the town. He also wants to solve problems such as poor rubbish collection, road surfaces, and parking issues, by applying simple common sense. With regards to the freeze on new HMOs, he realises that this is an issue that needs to be discussed – the University has been in this town for 600 years, this is a University town, and the students are also residents and should be treated as such.

ROBIN WATERSTON – LIBERAL DEMOCRAT – DETERMINED

Robin Waterston is a St Andrews “lifer” – he was born here, studied at the University here, and became the Head of Maths at Madras College. He is vice-chairman of the Fife Education Committee, in which capacity he feels he has done a good job, and the improvement in results reflects that. The Madras College redevelopment is naturally very close to his heart. He has been heavily involved with the campaign to build a new school on the University land on the North Haugh, behind Andrew Melville Hall, and if re-elected he would push for the land to be bought from the University in order to facilitate that development. He is also interested in the possibility of the current Madras College being used a starting point for further housing in the town. On the issue of housing, he points out that the problem is unique and very acute, especially in the centre. He supported the moratorium on the grounds that the resident population in the centre is shrinking, and he believes that the mix of town and gown is what makes St Andrews so special. Therefore he hopes in the long run “for a much more coherent policy, St Andrews-wide, for addressing the housing needs of both students and residents.” He is firm in his belief that the University needs to step up in its investment in housing in order to make this a possibility.

FRANCES MELVILLE – LIBERAL DEMOCRAT – DEDICATED

Frances Melville is currently the Provost of Fife and chairs the Fife Council, as she has for the last 5 years. Before becoming a councillor, Frances worked as a journalist, an events manager, and even in the University library. She is very proud of Fife, and is greatly uplifted by the work she does and the people she meets. She is delighted with work done on the Kinness Burn, which she backed at council level. She is also very keen to hold evening meetings to allow anybody, even those with other jobs, to run for the council in order to improve the diversity of  the council. In the next 5 years, she would like to keep the decision-making local and open. She also realises that money will have to be saved, and that some difficult decisions will have to be taken. When asked about the HMO cap, Frances stressed that she voted against the decision, but accepted that the University’s accommodation is not sufficient, which is the responsibility of the Strategic Partnership Agreement, and has vowed to look into every possibility on the subject. “Students are residents, and they are all treated the same.”

ELECTION INFORMATION:

If you are registered to vote, you can do so between 7am and 10pm today at the polling station indicated on the poll card you would have received in the post. The polling stations are as follows:

St Andrews Central:   St Andrews Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens, St Andrews

St Andrews South:   Canongate Primary School, Maynard Road, St Andrews

St Andrews South-East:   Boys Brigade Hall, Kinnessburn Road, St Andrews

St Andrews West:   St. Leonard’s Church Hall, Donaldson Gardens, St Andrews.

Four councillors will be elected for the ward of St Andrews in this election.

Student delegates from Egypt tour UK

The visiting students included the President and Vice-President of Ain Shams University Students’ Union, the President of the Helwan University Students’ Union and a representative of the German University of Cairo. All these members have participated in protests in Tahrir Square and are contributing to the re-establishment of the Egyptian Student Union (ESU).

The St Andrews Students’ Association President Patrick O’Hare said: “I’m delighted that St Andrews has played a leading role in bringing such inspiring young people to this country. The courage of the Egyptian and Arab youth has been an example to the world”.

They gave the opening fraternal address at the National Union of Students (NUS) national conference on Tuesday 24 April in Sheffield. They also visited the Scottish Parliament.

The students have also given talks to the Universities of Edinburgh, St Andrews, Glasgow and SOAS, speaking about the importance of the Egyptian student movement in the Egyptian Revolution.

O’Hare also said of the Egyptian Students’ Associations, “The delegation reminded me that students should be leaders, motors and a moral compass in society and thus it is fitting that it is the student movement which is taking the lead in creating links between Scotland and the Arab Spring. I hope that other sections of civil society can follow suit.”

From left to right, Mohammed Dawood (GUC), Amr Ibrahim (Ain Shams), Patrick O'Hare, Louise Richardson, Rama Sharif Mostafa (Ain Shams), Omar Mohammed (Helwan)

US Democrats Abroad hold primaries

Democrats Abroad are holding international primaries around the world at 91 locations across 33 countries between the 1st and 4th of May. Democrats Abroad is a political organisation that represents Americans supporting the Democratic Party that are living temporarily or permanently outside of the United States. The organisation is treated as a state party just like the state political parties across America. Democrats Abroad receives eight votes within the Democratic National Committee.

This Democratic presidential primary provides Democrats living abroad with an opportunity to vote for their choice for the party nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in September of this year. “Of course, Barack Obama is the only candidate running for the Democratic Party’s nomination, but by holding the primary we give voters in St Andrews and the surrounding area the opportunity to select the delegates to represent Democrats Abroad at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina this September,” remarked St Andrews’ voting centre manager Andree Dean.

The Republican Party does not provide delegates to Americans living abroad so the Democratic primary is the only opportunity for overseas Americans to vote at a physical location during an election cycle. However, for the general election all Americans must vote via absentee ballot. The website VoteFromAbroad.org is a helpful resource for Americans living abroad who are seeking to register to vote or request an absentee ballot.

The Democratic global primary in St Andrews was held at the Union on Tuesday 1 May, and is also taking place today, between 11am and 6pm. In order to be eligible to vote in the St Andrews primary, you must be a Democrats Abroad member, over eighteen, and cannot previously have voted in a state presidential primary during this election cycle. You can find out about becoming a member at DemocratsAbroad.org.

It may seem like an unusual place to have held a presidential primary, especially since it is one of only five locations in the UK to have one. Dean explained the reason for a primary in St Andrews by stating that, “holding a Global Primary here gives the large numbers of Americans that make up our St Andrews community the opportunity to take part in the same democratic process that our family and friends back home have been engaged in over the past few months.”

Coalition brings the Congo back onto the radar

The Coalition for a Conflict-Free St Andrews, which is the first university group of its kind in Europe, organised a thought-provoking discussion on the evening of Tuesday, 24 April. The talk focused upon putting the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) onto the public agenda. Bennett Collins (STAND member), Callum Bryce (President of Left Society), Elena Georgalla (President of Feminist Society) and Jamie Marshall (Amnesty International member) jointly organised the talk, which saw two representatives of the Scottish Congolese Coalition give harrowing accounts of the current situation following the December 2011 Congolese elections, which were widely believed to have been rigged.

Despite the DRC being extraordinarily resource-rich, for instance despite the country having 64% of the world’s coltan and 30% of the world’s diamonds, the Congolese people themselves are amongst the poorest on earth. The country was ranked 187th out of 187 countries in the 2011 Human Development Index, and in the last fifteen years an estimated eight million people have died. This brings the gravity of the Congolese conflict to a much higher level than the ongoing Syrian crisis, which is currently receiving vast media attention. The talk aimed to unravel these seemingly incomprehensible facts.

Bennett Collins became involved with the Coalition when he became the DRC Education Coordinator for the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition (STAND) from 2010-2011. Before introducing the four speakers, Collins pointed to the ignorance of the global media regarding the harrowing conditions of many Congolese people, and also to many European and US-based Multinational Companies’ blatant disregard for basic human rights when mining for ‘blood minerals’. These include the extremely sought after columbite-tantalite, or coltan, a metallic ore used in the mass-manufacture of electronic devices such as mobile phones, DVD players and computers.

Beneath a banner which depicted two Apple iPhones with crossed machine guns, the first speaker, Dr Mattia Fumanti of the School of Philosophy, gave a condensed historical explanation of the current lawlessness in the country, pointing to Belgian colonialism’s extremely detrimental effect upon the lives of millions, and the political turmoil which ensued post-independence in 1960. It was revealed that the current violent scramble for the rights of coltan mines, as well as copper and diamond mines, was a direct cause of Multinational Companies (MNCs) trading unashamedly with the warlords who rule the country by force. Dr Fumanti also pointed to the disillusion felt by many Congolese regarding the United Nations’ (UN) peace mission which was deployed in November 1999 and has failed to prevent the bloodshed and, most worryingly, on occasion has caused it.

Following Dr Fumanti’s succinct historical introduction, Mr Jean Paul Kasusula, a representative of the Scottish Congolese Coalition, took the stage. Mr Kasusula gave heartfelt thanks at the beginning of his speech for the impressive audience turnout, stating that he and his colleague, Mr Gregoire Watupa, had previously felt “lonely” thus far in their struggle to spread awareness about the Congolese plight to the Scottish population. Mr Kasusula denounced the current Congolese President of eleven years, Joseph Kabila, and was visibly exasperated when stating that the DRC was ranked as having an alarmingly high global hunger index in 2010. Mr Kasusula added: “Congo is a country where you only need a seed to get food, the rains come every year, the sun shines… so why is there so much starvation?” Mr Gregoire Watupa then went on to discuss the recent December 2011 elections, which were widely believed to have been rigged. Showing gruesome images of opposition party members shot dead, Mr Watupa pleaded to the audience to raise awareness about these atrocities as much as possible, saying, “We are helpless, please help us”.

Professor Mario Anguilar, of the School of Divinity’s Centre for the Study of Religion and Politics, and an expert on politics of the African continent, encouraged the audience to join the Coalition, to put pressure on the University to act, and also on the Foreign Office. Professor Anguilar suggested that: “Pressure needs to be put on the Foreign Office about the atrocities that are taking place in the Congo”.

Following questions about whether the Congolese province of Katanga should become independent, and disagreement amongst the panel regarding this, the panel closed the discussion by collectively agreeing that there was a need to improve awareness and to disentangle the powerful MNC lobbies which currently fund many Western governments. Dr Fumanti added: “Unfortunately, you need a lot of money to be elected, and the MNCs and lobbies try to make them take this money”.

After a meeting on Friday 27 April, the Coalition for a Conflict-Free St Andrews told The Saint: “The talk produced an enormous amount of positive feedback. At the end, Jean Paul Kasusula, a former legal adviser for the Congolese parliament, said it was the ‘best day he had ever had in the UK, since he arrived here several years ago.’ We have received multiple emails off people wanting to get more involved, since many have never realised how severe the situation in the Congo has been.

The Scottish Congolese Coalition is more established as an organisation within Scotland. They have political connections but have never found the opportunity to reach out to the community. We are hoping that we can work with them to possibly draft legislation on conflict minerals and fill that gap in community outreach, while also maintaining an impartiality to the SCC’s political views. Nonetheless, the Coalition is composed of groups who look to defend universal human rights, so we will connect with the SCC on that basis”.

The Coalition has met with the University of St Andrews’ Principal, Louise Richardson amongst many other prominent figures, and looks set to make an impact, as Bennett Collins summarised: “Today, we have over 2,000 signatures on our petition: we have met with MP Menzies Campbell to discuss Conflict Minerals; we have been in contact with, and have received support from, MEP Michael Cashman, who has worked to address the issue in European Parliament; we have met with Louise Richardson to discuss our requests; we have been working closely with Patrick O’Hare, who officially submitted our motion before the Sustainable Policy Group a couple of weeks ago. In the meantime, we have released an open-letter video to the three CEOs of the University’s main electronics suppliers and even had a chance to ask the Vice President of Global Sales for HTC what the company was doing about conflict minerals when he came to visit St Andrews”.

In Focus: St Andrews students set their sights on Mongolia

Adam Born, Tom McMurray, Emily Dick, Dave Doherty, Moritz Drescher, and Natalie-Anne Rueek have all decided to embark upon an intriguing adventure from St Andrews to Mongolia. The team will be leaving 5 July with two cars, which they will donate to charity in Mongolia. It all started with an email memo and a word of advice from friends who did it previously. The Saint’s Christian Manley met with the team.

Christian Manley: What is the charity all about?

Adam Born: Well, the entire endeavour is pretty start-from-scratch. We needed to raise money ourselves for purchasing the very vehicles that will be transporting us. These cars, specifically a Mitsubishi L200 and a Proton Jumbuck, will be donated to an isolated community in Mongolia along with loads of educational tools and medical equipment.  We have needed to raise a total of £15,000 in order to buy these vehicles and support our journey.

CM: Where will you be visiting on your way?

Tom McMurray: We all got together and planned the trip. We’re hoping to go through a ton of countries and explore some new sights. In order to get to Mongolia we’ll need to travel through quite a few countries. To a name a couple there will be France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. Most of us have never been this far away from home so you can imagine that we are extremely excited. We have friends all over the place that can look after us, but we’re looking forward to spending a few days in Istanbul and Astana to do some sightseeing. There will be a blog full of pictures and journal entries every two days as well as a satellite tracker to let everyone know exactly where we are on the adventure. We are estimating that it will take about 6 weeks. We have been preparing for this for quite a while now, even gone about signing up for some first aid training classes that may come in handy along the way.

CM: What have you been doing to raise the money?

David Doherty: We’ve certainly been busy between the six of us. Of course there have been the usual bake sales, pub quizzes, and cloakrooms, but we have also started searching for other activities to make the job more exciting. There was a raffle at the Geo ball and we’re taking advantage of the Edinburgh Half Mile next month to support the cause. Many people have been donating as well. So far, with £8210 acquired, we are 54% of the way to achieving our goal. It’s been a lot of hard work so far, but we are not giving up and now only need to work even harder.

CM: Is there any way students can support?

Emily Dick: Yes, we have our website at www.justgiving.com/mongolia12 where everyone can go and make donations. It is a really quick press of a few buttons and we need all the help we can get. We’ve already had a few companies like the Lethendy Charitable Trust sponsor us and people place bumper stickers on their cars to raise awareness. If anyone has any spare camping equipment that would be incredible.

CM: Are there any upcoming events where you’ll be more vocal about the campaign?

Natalie-Anne Rueeck: Yes, we’ll be there on Tuesday morning at the May Dip asking for donations, so look out for us! Other than that there is going to be a huge event at the Vic on Saturday 5 May. Specsavers will be there for anyone wanting to enter their competition where people need take pictures of themselves wearing specs. There are a load of prizes ranging anywhere from a year’s modelling contract with the London agency MOT to a weekend break for two in Paris.  It’s bound to be a really good night.

CM: What are some basic thoughts going into the campaign?

Moritz Drecher: This is an opportunity that we can’t miss. It’s not often someone can grab a few great people together for a terrific cause and drive 10,000 miles across the world seeing new places and new faces.

David Doherty: I’ve been planning to live somewhere different like India or Fiji after I get my degree. This road trip will be an awesome chance to experience the beauty that I know can be found in the adventures our world has to offer.