REGENTTHE

Issue 5 Summer 2010

Inside Regent’s first ArtSpace festival; young entrepreneurs and volunteers: going for gold and Gdànsk

4>>

Fashion >> 6 Volunteers >> 16 College News >>5 Features >> 3 Travel >> 8 ArtSpace >> 9

Torches in the snow blaze for Martine

Family and friends of murder victim Martine Vik Magnussen gathered outside Herringham Hall on 10 February

for a torch-lit walk to remember the RBS student and to demand justice. At a short memorial service, Martine’s

father Odd Petter Magnussen, the family’s priest and Regent’s College CEO Aldwyn Cooper announced that the

college will plant a tree in her memory. Martine’s father responded to this announcement by saying: “That is the

second reason I would come back to London. The first one is, of course, if I can ever see a trial case.” Suspect

Farouk Abdulhak remains in Yemen, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom.

photo Jason Pittock

This autumn marks the first

semester of Regent’s College’s

London School of Film, Media &

Performance (LSFMP), and Head of

School David Hanson isn’t breaking

a sweat. After all, since joining

Regent’s College in October 2008

to assist in the creation of LSFMP,

Hanson has seen four degrees he

created approved, with the final

two to be approved by May. “It

takes quite a long time to get a

degree approved - normally about

18 months to two years for one

degree,” he said, meaning that by

industry standards LSFMP is far

ahead of schedule.

LSFMP is

the sixth school

under the

Five new Arts degrees to launch in Septemberby Max Kaplan

photo: Andy Ives

Folklore de México Mestizo kicked off this year’s International Week

with a flamoyant display of Mestizo dance in the college quad.

Olé! It’s International Week

The student newspaper for all schools in Regent’s College

Ash strands students & staff More than a few desks were left

empty at Regent’s College last

week when students and staff were

stranded around the globe by the

ash fallout from Eyjafjallajökull

volcano in Iceland. But that didn’t

necessarily mean a break from

classes for some of those displaced.

At the time of printing The

Regent had tracked stranded

students and faculty from Egypt to

San Diego. “Still stranded in Cairo,”

e-mailed EBS student Nadim Stub-

Jensen Shawarby on Wednesday.

On Friday night, after the skies had

opened to flights again, he again

texted, “I have just landed in Vienna

and bound for Copenhagen. From

there I will travel to London on

Monday morning. “

Eric Chan, program director for the

RBS Management Program was with

five graduate students in the middle

of the annual International Collegiate

Business Strategy Competition in San

Diego when they got news that the

European and UK airspace were shut.

Originally due to return on 19 April,

Chan was told that it might be take

months to get back.

“The first 48 hours where I could

not book any flight were the most

challenging. I took the time to think

and re-strategise on our options,

which included the possibilities of

cruise ship, train and coach travel

plus travelling via Spain as suggested

by the media. Additionally, I had

to monitor the news constantly on

the internet as there was not much

coverage from the American TV

channels in San Diego.

“The students were anxious but

my first priority was the safety and

well being of all. I made sure that

the students stayed in contact and

updated their families,” Chan said.

While he stayed in close contact

with his line manager, the Dean of

RBS and the CEO of the college, Chan

also arranged with the University

of San Diego to allow Regent’s

students access to their premises

and libraries.

Chan says that

the students coped

very well under 5>>

2 REGENTTh

e

College News

What would you do with the quad?

The Regent asked a cross-section of students what they would do with the quad if the decision was theirs.Interviews and photographs byDina el Kilany

Tarek Seif El Nasr (RBS)

They should keep the Quad as

it is since all students got used

to it and it’s a symbol of the

college now.

Mahmoud Bassiouny

(Webster Graduate)

Put more seats, comfortable

seats, maybe a tropical bar, café

with hookah and make cultural

events at night to make students

come at night instead of the

sports bar. I would prefer to

make it something active.

Armen Alevardyan (RACL)

I do not like the quad at all.

I think this area could be

beautiful since it is the centre

of Regent’s College they should

do a lot in it. Like a swimming

pool maybe, bar, hookah place,

parties and much more.

Jemma Aleverdyan (RACL)

I think that the statue in the

quad makes no sense at all.

They should take advantage of

this area and allow students to

use it and put in more umbrellas

and chairs.

At its current rate of progress,

Parliament won’t see an equal

number of women to men for 200

years, or for another 40 elections.

Statistics like this one raise the

question: what can be done about

gender inequalities in politics and

the workplace? In a search for

answers, the Swedish Chamber of

Commerce for the UK (SCC) hosted

“Women in Business & Politics,”

a panel discussion in February at

Regent’s College, chaired by human

rights lawer Cherie Blair.

Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair

Foundation for Women, moderated

discussion between 11 experts

on the topic. Among them were

Confessions of a Sexist author Lars

Einar Engstrom, British MP Hon

Patricia Hewitt and Saab Executive

Vice President Lena Olving, with

an introduction by Bo Lerenius,

Director of SCC. “I don’t think

you have to be anti-men to be

pro-woman,” Lerenius said in his

welcome to the enthused audience

in Tuke Hall.

Panelists discussed the struggle

by women to compete in a male

corporate model, by reflecting on

their personal and professional

experiences. After six years in

Parliament, Labour MP for Leicester

Hewitt cites its male dominancy

as inhibiting women from joining.

“As women look at our parliament,

they don’t see themselves properly

reflected or represented in it,” she

said. “However, as the number of

women in politics has grown, we’ve

seen issues like childcare, which

were previously regarded as having

nothing to do with politics or

government becoming a frontline

political issue.”

“Double-burden syndrome,” or

a balancing of career ambitions

with a family, was named among

top contributors to the problem.

Panelist Helena Morrissey, Chief

Executive Officer of Newton

Capital Management, has raised

nine children while becoming one

of the Financial Times’ 100 most

influential women in Europe. “My

husband stayed at home after our

fourth child, allowing me to progress

in the workplace,” she said.

With its culture of gender

equality, few associate Sweden

with discrimination against women;

after all, in Swedish Chamber of

Commerce Managing Director

Annika Wahlberg’s presentation,

she claimed that compared with

men, women in Swedish households

only work in the house 73 minutes

longer than men each week.

However, both Sweden and the

UK fare poorly in gender equality

compared to neighbour Norway,

where company boards must be

filled with at least 40 per cent

women. In contrast, Spain and the

Netherlands may not impose this

law for at least five more years.

According to Lerenius, “Sweden has

for a long time focused on gender

equality and gender issues, but

Sweden is still faced with inequality

and discrimination.”

Regent’s hosts ‘Women in Business and Politics’

Bo Lerenius, Director of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, introduced the seminar’s discussion panel chaired by Cherie Blairphoto: Hannah Moström

by Max Kaplan

3Summer 2010

The trouble is there seems to be a public-private split in the borders agency so everything in the public sector can be trusted while private schools cannot, despite our size and reputation.”Futuristic building on blueprint to meet space push, p5

“

Flipping pancakes in the rainOn February 16th, Shrove

Tuesday, Regent’s sponsored

its third annual Pancake Race.

Despite the rain a few sporting

students showed up. The winner

Huang Zi (right) won a meal for

two in the Regent’s Brasserie

The prize was presented by head

of catering Rafael Azzopardi.

The Regent’s College business

department, which encompasses

the European Business School and

the Regent’s Business School, will

offer a variety of new programs

this fall, including Leisure, Tourism

and Sports Management (LTSM) and

Luxury Brand Management.

While the department already

offers a BA in International Events

Management, a program entering

its third year, the LTSM degree

will be of a different nature: “It’s

going to cover leisure, tourism,

entertainment and corporate

sports,” said Head of School Martin

Timbrell. “We are looking for people

who are going to manage superstars,

pop stars and football stars.”

Unlike many of its competitors,

LTSM’s offerings do not include

hospitality management - a

conscious decision “because we

don’t have the facilities to do hotel

management,” explained Timbrell.

“We’re not going to teach people

how to cook. Our market is up-

market; we’re looking for someone

who is going to book the O2, not the

Village Hall.” Although LTSM is not

a hospitality management program,

“tourism management” remains

one of the degree’s founding skill

sets. Timbrell explains: “It’s not

about how to run a travel agency.

It’s about putting on cruises or

developing tourist offerings in

other countries. You will know

about their local environment and

the opportunities.”

As course development continues

for LTSM (with its first crop of

students enrolling in 2011), the

department’s MA in Luxury Brand

Management will launch this fall.

The program will be available not

only to students with degrees from

Regent’s undergraduate programs,

but also to students who have

studied business and management

elsewhere. Core modules will include

Luxury by Design, Contemporary

Issues in Luxury Brands

Management, Marketing of Luxury

Brands, and more.

In conjunction with the launch

of the program, Regent’s College

has joined the international

Luxury Brand Council, a move

Timbrell considers imperative for

the program’s validity. “What’s

important is that we see Regent’s

College as a luxury brand in itself,”

he said. Tentative endorsers of the

program include fellow Council

members Harrods, Chanel and

Harvey Nichols.

BaM bags luxury brandsby Max Kaplan

Charles Ladbroke (RACL)

I would have more seating, more

umbrellas. For the winter, I

would have outdoor heating.

Michael Buzuayehu (RACL)

I think they should remove the

middle garden and put maybe a

pond and Starbucks because all

students here would definitely

enjoy it. In addition, put more

tables and chairs.

Trenton Pande (RACL)

I think that they should keep the

quad as it is since it is beautiful

and the statue can be considered

the symbol of the college.

Naira Al Harty (RACL)

I would change it because

everyone wants to go outside

and there isn’t enough space.

Open the middle garden and

make the area more free so that

people would be able to walk

around since this is the social

area of the college.

Edward Scharborough ( RACL)

I would keep it the same because

it is nice to have a green space

in the middle of the campus.

However I would change

the middle statue to a water

fountain and make it more of a

park field and let students go

hang out on the grass.

“We are looking for people who are going to manage superstars, pop stars and football

stars.”

I realised that sign language is a very beautiful language”Signing up to Olympic Gold, p6“

editorialLetters to the editor and contributions: vineyl@regents.ac.uk or greyp@regents.ac.ukPrinted through www.quotemeprint.com 0845 230 1590

Every college that I’ve ever known of, in England

and America, publishes a newspaper. It’s run

by the student with staff advisors, and covers

college events and news from near and afar that

is of interest to college readership. Some colleges

publish online; some also have magazines,

even literary magazines. Then there are college

radio stations, pod casts, and goodness knows

what else that could make Regent’s newspaper

advisors weep with envy.

Having a college newspaper, like having

a student council, is a sign that all is healthy

on campus. The two bodies are engaged in

guaranteeing free speech, generating community

involvement and engaging in politics at a

relevant level. But here’s the problem: while the

opportunity exists at Regent’s for much of these,

sometimes getting contributions for The Regent

newspaper can seem harder than getting out of

Guantanamo Bay.

The latest issue of the Regent was written by

just six current students, two former students

who still like to contribute, six staff members

and one Max Kaplan, our excellent, but single,

student reporter, who had the unenviable task

of writing the remaining stories as part of his

newspaper production course. Even in Max’s

college of less than 1000 students in Chestnut

Hill, Pennsylvania - fewer than half our numbers

at Regent’s - a student-run newspaper is still

published twice a term.

The Regent’s newspaper course was set

up to get the paper off the ground, with the

hope that writing and production would pass

to interested students. At the moment, it is

mainly staff that make sure it gets to press. We

know, from stories about the students featured

in The Regent, that there is a huge reservoir of

initiative, social awareness and self-expression

within the student body. People are engaged

in important arguments and exciting activities.

We encourage and welcome you to use the

newspaper as your forum to express them and

to make it into your newspaper.

4 REGENTTh

e

by Tom Metcalfe & Marisa Fultz

Students are a model of united nations

Back row - Becky Kuykendall, Jetsun Pema, Sabrina White (Professor),

Derrick Dabur, Elene Melikishvili, Professor Aldwyn Cooper (CEO), Max

Kuhnke, Cody Wooden, Farooq Khan, Aaron Choo

Seated - Maryke Webb, Tom Metcalfe (Head Delegate), Marisa Fultz

(Fundraising Director), Natasha Lipman

A team of 12 students represented

Regent’s College at the Model

United Nations (MUN) in New York

in April. Led by Professor Sabrina

White, the students - Tom Metcalfe,

Marisa Fultz, Cody Wooden,

Becky Kuykendall, Aaron Choo,

Farooq Khan, Maryke Webb, Elene

Melikishvili, Max Kuhnke, Natasha

Lipman, Jetsun Pema and Derrick

Dabur joined 2,500 students from

around the world in New York City

in a simulation of the actual United

Nations proceedings.

In November the team was

selected to represent Latvia,

located in the Baltic region of

Europe, and since then had been

busy researching its role in the six

different committees our members

were assigned. In the six months

leading up to the conference, the

team studied and discussed topics

ranging from safe nuclear energy

to the eradication of poverty. We

also held extra-curricular informal

discussions where we would

question each other and provide

alternative thoughts on topics and

further simulation practice and

public speaking work.

A major part of our work involved

fundraising, led by the fundraising

director Marisa Fultz. Our ambitious

target was to cover the outstanding

costs of accommodation, visas,

and flights beyond that allocated

by the college. Through several

events including fundraising tables,

a Christmas party and masquerade

ball, we managed to surpass this,

raising a total of £2,750.

During our preparations, the

Head Delegate of the MUN team,

Tom Metcalfe, organised the visit to

Regent’s of the Latvian Ambassador,

whose presence was extremely

useful in giving us some excellent

insights into Latvian culture and

political decision making agenda.

We also managed to spend time with

Latvian students, specifically Jana

Greitane, who provided in-depth

cultural and educational perspectives.

After months of hard work in and

out of the classroom, the team finally

arrived in New York. Rain greeted us

on our arrival, so little had changed

in that respect from London. After a

day familiarising ourselves with the

city and our meeting rooms, the five-

day conference began. Registration

completed, we were starting to feel

the exhilaration of what was ahead.

Every ounce of knowledge and public

speaking preparation was about to be

challenged and we felt as prepared

as we could be. From then until the

conference’s completion on April

3, we worked with other schools to

construct working papers and tackle

world issues that we hoped would be

voted into resolutions. Every team

managed to get on the speaker’s list in

their committee, delivering speeches

to nearly 400 students, expressing

Latvia’s position and gathering

support for the working papers they

were sponsoring. We were proud that

every committee passed a resolution

that Latvia co-sponsored.

All student participants then

gathered for the closing ceremony

held in the United Nations General

Assembly Hall where we heard this

year’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

speak, along with the announcement

of next year’s Secretary-General.

The opportunity for our team to

visit the Grand Hall of the United

Nations was inspiring. World leaders

and representatives have discussed

critical issues there concerning the

fate of the human race for more

than 60 years.

As a result of the effort by the

team and the tremendous support

we have received from students,

faculty, and staff, we have the

confidence that we represented

both Latvia and Regent’s College

with pride. With our team being

made up of people who had not

done the conference before, the

learning curve was steep. Many other

delegates were surprised when they

found out it was our first year at the

conference, as we were professional

and confident. We want the Model

United Nations project at Regent’s

College to push on next year and

draw on our experience to make an

even greater impact!

“It is my hope that the MUN

programme will serve as a model

for excellence in understanding

and studying international

relations on a broader and more

involved scale for the students

of Regent’s College. We are

hoping to recruit more people

to the programme, attend

more conferences and even

hold a MUN conference here on

campus. We should all be very

proud of this year’s team as they

have served as fantastic, mature

and well-informed role models

and ambassadors, not only for

future groups of MUN students,

but also for future Regent’s

College students.”

Sabrina White

Regent’s MUN delegation leader

At the recent Town Hall meeting,

which attracted a record number

of attendees, Regent’s College CEO

Aldwyn Cooper announced plans for

space management improvements;

forthcoming developments in TDAPS;

the status of Border Agency changes

affecting the College, and more. In a

follow-up interview, Cooper offered

The Regent further insight into his

Town Hall meeting updates, as well as

a glimpse into the College’s future.

Cooper stressed that the

College’s status with the UK Border

Agency is of great importance

to students, primarily those in

foundation programs. Unfortunately,

a divide has formed between public

and private-sector institutions, with

public-sector universities receiving

a greater number of visa grants than

private-sector institutions.

“There is no doubt that there are

educational institutions in the UK

who have been recruiting students

who never had any intention of

studying, and just wanted a visa to

get into the country,” said Cooper.

“The trouble is there seems to be a

public-private split in the borders

agency so everything in the public

sector can be trusted while private

schools cannot, despite our size and

reputation.” To its benefit, Regent’s

College has earned a spot on the

Border Agency’s highly trusted

status list. In fact, Cooper notes,

“those students who come in and

out on student visas who are found

to have terrorist aspirations have

been coming to the state-sponsored

institutions, not places like here.”

As the College prepares for the

first crop of London School of Film,

Media & Performance students this

fall, and with over 3,000 students

on campus during peak hours, it is

imperative that space is maximized

in classrooms, dining, and leisure

areas. One of the easiest fixes is to

cut back on conferences hosted at

the College. “The delivery of higher

education programmes is our core

business, so if it’s not getting served

but we’re taking conferencing we

shouldn’t be doing that,” Cooper

stressed. “We need to make sure

we’re releasing space. At the same

time, conferencing does help to

subsidise costs of the institution.”

To keep up with a growing

student body, plans for a new

building on campus are in the

works. “We have wonderful

plans,” says Cooper. “A famous

architect is producing them; a

world leader in environmentally

friendly architecture. It will be an

iconic environmental building,

built for 2050.” The green-faced

building will be entirely carbon-

neutral, with natural-air cooling

and heating. A “green” building is

a logical next step for the College,

says Cooper, who is proud of the

astounding 97% recycling rate.

“We are one of the most highly

respected environmentally friendly

organisations in London.”

Futuristic building on blueprint to meet space push at collegeby Max Kaplan >>1 Regent’s College

umbrella. “It was

conceived before I

came here, as a decision taken to

create a new school in the area of

media,” said Hanson. “With that

in mind, a head of school was

appointed, that was me.” In its

first year, available degrees will

include a Creative Industries BA, a

Screenwriting and Producing BA, a

Writing for Screen and Stage MA, an

Acting and Global Theatre BA and

an Acting Foundation course. Fall

2011 will bring a Film, Television

and Digital Media Production BA.

Each BA program lasts three years,

while the part-time MA program

will last two.

Hanson stresses that LSFMP is

not a school solely for seasoned

performers. The Acting Foundation

course will satisfy a mere curiosity

for theatre, while also serving

as a stepping stone for further

education. “It would train people

in voice and movement skills;

teach the essentials of working in

that area; increase their confidence

in terms of communication and

movement; and prepare them to go

on either to a BA in theatre here,

or to go onto drama school,” he

said of the programme, which can

last either one or two semesters.

Students will be guided through

the process of applying for drama

school or university auditions and

receive feedback from industry

professionals, an invaluable bonus

the course offers.

LSFMP may have several degrees

and a team of highly qualified

professors, but one wildcard is

still missing: students. Recruitment

may be Hanson’s biggest challenge

so far. “They don’t know of you. If

you don’t have that [reputation],

you’re starting from scratch. You’re

in first gear,” he said. “You have no

alumni, you’ve got no people who

have done your degree and are

going to talk about it, you’ve got no

existing students to talk to other

people about it, so you’re really

starting right from scratch.”

New school to offer five new degrees

5Summer 2010

Signing up to Olympic glory

Winning gold. Allison Galoob (back row second from left) with her victorious team mates

Regent’s College students can boast

that they have an OIympic Gold

medallist in their midst.

Allison Galoob, currently

on study abroad from St. Louis

University in the United States won

gold as part of the US woman’s

soccer team, at the twenty-first

Summer Deaflympics held in Taipai,

where she played midfield.

Galoob, a communications major

from Colorado, was diagnosed with

profound hearing loss when she

was born. “My whole family is deaf;

it is genetic for me and my siblings.

We carry the gene.” She attended

mainstream schools, where she

spent part of the time in regular

classes and part with other deaf

students for English lessons.

Galoob’s teamates in the

Deaflympics, aged between 15 and

35, all have some sort of hearing

loss and cannot wear hearing aids

or cochlear implants to assist their

hearing so that no individual has an

advantage during the game.

Communication on the field,

Galoob explained, is like a game

of charades that involves a lot of

waving. “You just have to keep

your eyes open. You have to be very

aware of everything.” She recounted

her vital role as the team interpreter

during the game, using her skill of

reading lips in order to sign what

the coach said to the rest of the

team. “Even during half time, you

are not allowed to wear cochlear

implants or hearing aids and so I

was really lip reading. My coach is

British, so not only was I trying to

lip read, but to lip read a pair of lips

with a British accent. It was a huge

challenge. I’m just amazed by the

fact that I was able to do it.

“It was my first time to see

4,000 deaf athletes in one place

and it made me realise that even

though we’re all speaking a different

language, we have two things in

common: we have a hearing loss and

we play sports.”

Galoob said that her time in

Taipei made her realize how much

she loves being deaf, and how being

deaf has given her new ways to relate

with others. “When I was interpreting,

I realised that sign language is a very

beautiful language. It’s given me the

ability to use my facial expression

to connect with people.” Deafness

and playing sports provided the

athletes in the Deaflympics with

an automatic connection. “Because

of that connection we were able

to trade stories just by using our

body language. I have a greater

appreciation for myself as a deaf

person and signing in general.”

It was her experience in Taiwan

that indirectly brought her to

the UK. “It was the most amazing

experience I’ve ever had. So the

next chance I got, I wanted to go

abroad again.”

This is the second time

women’s soccer has appeared at the

Deaflympics and the USA has won

gold in both tournaments. Galoob,

who has been training with the U.S.

women’s team since 2007, hopes to

compete in the next Deaflympics,

which will take place in 2013.

“Eventually I would like to work

for the Olympic Committee or the

government,” she says. “I call myself

the Triple Threat, because I can

lip read, I can sign and I can hear,

thanks to my cochlear implant.”

by Molly Quinn

Allison signing the coach’s instructions

The Institute of Contemporary

European Studies (ICES) at Regent’s

College hosted a presentation

by David Hillman, head of the

NGO ‘Stamp out Poverty’, on the

possibility of ‘Robin Hood Tax’

being introduced on financial

market transactions. The Robin

Hood Tax would be levied on

banks, hedge funds and other

finance institutions such as foreign

exchange, derivatives and share

deals, at an average of 0.05 percent,

to potentially raise hundreds of

billions of pounds every year.

The EBS event, organised

and chaired by Alan Sitkin,

Pathway Leader for the EBS MA

in International Business, was

very timely, since the European

Parliament had that very afternoon

voted overwhelmingly in favour of

a resolution supporting such a levy.

At the same time that Hillman was

presenting his ideas to an audience

of around 80 EBS students and staff

members - including a short film

he recently put together with actor

Bill Nighy and screenwriter Richard

Curtis of Love Actually fame - the

House of Commons was holding a

similar discussion on the issue.

The evening was interesting

and polemic, according to Sitkin,

given that the Robin Hood Tax

embodies criticisms of the status

quo in global banking system,

a stance that met with both

approval and disapproval of the

audience. A follow up event on the

issue featuring David Hillman is

planned in 2011.

The tax man cameth

What can you do to make your

academic research rigorous and

relevant and get it published? These

topics were central to the two days

of intensive training in the Spring

Research Series 2010 at Regent’s

College.

Professor Dan Remenyi from

Trinity College, Dublin led the training

on the first day, leading participants

to think about the importance of

rigour in academic research and

speaking about relevance of academic

research in social sciences. Professor

Remenyi explained the shifting trend

in the nature of research from a

traditional theoretical approach to

a more practice oriented approach.

Dr Peter Sharp, a BaM senior lecturer

in research methods led training on

the second day, providing insights

from his experience of publishing

and editing journal papers. Dr Sharp

considered the value of publishing,

types of papers, and how to start, plan

and write academic papers. He also

encouraged participants to consider

their own research strategy.

If you are interested in getting

involved in such events please

contact Dr Peter Sharp

sharpp@regents.ac.uk

Spring research

the circumstances.

They will return

home as champions

on 27 April, having won awards for

best performance and best annual

report at the championship.

For 30 visiting John Carroll

students and their professor Scott

Moore, what should have been a

two-and-a-half day break to Berlin

as part of their semester abroad

at Regent’s , turned into a week of

improvised classes and tours.

The group left campus on

Thursday and when they heard

that their Saturday flights were

cancelled, professors and staff from

their home campus in Ohio jumped

into action, rebooking travel and

planning new activities.

“Air travel booked for Monday

was cancelled, rebooked for

Tuesday and then cancelled again,”

says Moore. Fortunately our hotel

happened to have enough room

for us for two additional days. The

third extra night -Tuesday - required

some shifting and sharing of rooms,

but we managed to stay in the same

hotel,” added Moore.

“The extra days were remarkably

productive; since my entire

accounting 2025 class was on trip,

we held class in the breakfast room

on Monday and Tuesday Morning.

After class the International Studies

team kept us programmed. We

managed to work in the Allied

Museum and Berlin Zoo as well as

half-day trips to the Sachsenhousen

concentration camp and Potsdam.”

Not everyone at Regent’s got

marooned outside the UK. As

part of International Week, James

Brasfiled, Professor of Management

and Health Services Management,

was invited to chair a panel for

International Week. He managed

to make it over, but then got stuck

in London.

At the same time, Grant

Chapman Director for International

Programmes at Webster St Louis,

who was due to be part of the

opening panel of international week,

skyped his contribution instead.

>>1

6 REGENTTh

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Features

The exotic hand-painted garments

of Angelika, a company launched by

EBS International Business student

Max Rice and his designer girlfriend

Olivia Totman in June 2009, are so

popular that the pair are finding it

hard to keep up with orders.

The company came about after

Olivia, 21, designed a range of hand

painted t-shirt dresses, tops and

leggings for her final project at The

Fashion Retail Academy, a training

institute set up by Sir Philip Green,

the man behind Topshop, BHS, and

Miss Selfridge.

When Olivia, who always

wanted to be a fashion designer,

wore the sample shirts on the

beach in Ibiza, where Max lives

most of the time, people kept

asking her where they could buy

the designs. “Because so may

people loved them, I decided to

make them a brand,” she says.

Olivia found a talented painter

who could transpose her designs of

snarling tigers, delicate butterflies,

grinning skulls and giant bows onto

tops and leggings. “All my designs

are fun and colourful but then I

have some pieces that are very edgy.

I wanted to create pieces that people

could wear over bikinis on the

beach, or walking around London

with an edgy skull top on, or with

biker boots, or simple things like a

big bow or a peace sign.” She called

the company Angelika to reflect

“both the dark and the finer things

in life: dark, like skulls and finer like

butterflies and fairies.”

Each garment is painted to

order, but to retain their exclusivity

only a limited number of each

design are produced. Tops sell

for around £150, dresses for

£175, and they are stocked in

boutiques in Glasgow, Wales,

Berkshire and Ibiza, with talks in

progress with Kitson and Catch

boutique in Los Angeles to carry

the line. Online they are available

at angelikalondon.com or www.

spoiledbrat.co.uk.

Contributing to the staggering

growth in popularity are high

profile clients including TV

presenter Alexa Chung and singer

Alesha Dixon, who have been

snapped wearing them at celebrity

events. Katie Price (Jordan) has

worn the ‘Sneaky Snaky Leggings’

and ‘Lucy Lou Bow Dress’ on

television and for the April issue

of OK Magazine, outfitted her

three children in the new Angelika

children’s line for a six-page

spread. “Since Katie Price was

seen on television two months ago

wearing our designs, sales have

shot up,” says Rice. “Olivia and I

are working around the clock, but it

is paying off. We are enjoying this

endeavour and hope we can sustain

it for many years to come.”

Max, 21, who is half German

and half Australian but attended

boarding school in England,

plans to keep control over the

business side of Angelika and

the Ibiza shops. But his career

plans also include going into

sports management, preferably

as a football agent. “Through my

business modules at EBS I have

developed organisational skills,

people skills and most importantly

financial skills that have helped me

run the business side of Angelika.

In the future I want to do both.”

A hand-painted business

by Leslie Viney

Regent’s student Alexia Bergstrom models the latest Angelika design

photos: Konstantin von Bayern

When it comes to the Web, the most

useful tools are often the simplest.

Take Twitter, for instance. To

engage the site, simply answer the

question “What’s happening?” in 140

characters or less. In two short years

it has become a go-to search engine

for bits and pieces of many global

conversations.

EBS students Massimo

Agostinelli and Max Aengevelt hope

their creation, www.MyHomepage.

com, finds a similar place in users’

e-hearts. The site’s mission is

to “become the world’s leading

online password and bookmark

management system as your

homepage,” which is no small feat.

The premise is simple:

myhomepage will securely store log-

in information for all your favorite

sites, making them all accessible by

logging into one site. Then, when

you want to visit one, simply click

its thumbnail and hit a button in

your toolbar and you’ll be logged in

securely without having to remember

a single password.

A £350,000 investment,

myhomepage has been in the works

for quite some time. Agostinelli

and Aengevelt were in the Regent’s

College student council one evening

discussing post-graduation plans.

Agostinelli explained to Aengevelt

that he and his brother had come up

with an idea a few years back called

myhomepage. After discussing the

concept, they spent the next few

weeks doing extensive research on

existing one-click log-in sites. Now,

their 10-person team, operating out of

Buckingham Palace Road, is working

diligently to make myhomepage a

widely used web tool. The service is

free, and it will soon be released in

German, Russian and Japanese.

by Max Kaplan

Max Aengevelt (left) and Massimo

Agostinelli

Password key for Regent’s duo

The myhomepage logo

four talented students are managing to combine studying with getting their first businesses off the ground

Regent’s entrepreneurs

I see your personality so it gives me an idea of what would suit you,”“

7Summer 2010

In just five years, Alston Stephanus

has established a highly successful

accessories brand with global

clientele and a team of designers,

Alston Stephanus Accessories.

The 23-year-old native of

Jakarta, Indonesia combines his

degree in international business

management at Regent’s College

with a passion for creating exotic

accessories made from Swarovski

crystals, precious gems, precious

metals, pearls, feathers, French

lace and more.

In fact, Stephanus never

formally studied his craft. “No one

ever taught me, but my mom got

me beads and so I started with that

and I thought to myself, ‘Oh, this is

pretty...cool and weird!’” His natural

talent has taken the brand into its

fifth year. Stephanus designs each

piece himself, personalising the

design for his clients: “If you’re my

client, I’ll ask you what you want,

what you’re interested in and what

your budget is, and mainly I see your

personality so it gives me an idea of

what would suit you,” he said.

Stephanus creates a sample of

his design, which then goes to a

team of several craftsmen from his

native Indonesia. “The people in

my team are all about the same age

as me, so we are more like friends.

Each of them comes with me when

I have to present my accessories to

the clients.”

While studying business might

seem the logical choice for the

accessories design company,

Stephanus chose his major to help

with the other four companies he’s

by Haya Asif and Max Kaplan

Jewels in the crowninvolved with, which include event

organising. He is also an Indonesian

national athlete in equestrian.

Accessories may be Stephanus’s

pastime, but they are not his real

passion. This is zoology, and

reptiles in particular, which he

plans to return to after finishing at

university. “I can see myself doing

something in that field when I am

older, but with accessories, I can

leave it in a blink of an eye if I get a

project in the zoology field.”

“The people in my team are all about

the same age as me, so we are more like

friends. Each of them comes with me when I have to present my

accessories to the clients.”

Since Katie Price was seen on television two months ago wearing our designs, sales have shot up,” “ The site’s mission is to “become the world’s leading online pass-

word and bookmark management system as your homepage,”“

8 REGENTTh

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Travel

Although I was born and raised in

Australia, my surname gives me

away straight off the bat: I am of

Polish descent. My Grandfather was

born in Poland, and like seemingly

every European, he spoke about

sixteen languages fluently. He did

teach my siblings and me a few

Polish ‘swear’ words, but on a recent

trip to Gdańsk I learned that the

words he taught us were woefully

‘old school’. Apparently exclaiming

‘dogs’ blood and thunder!’ when you

slam your fingers in a drawer isn’t

quite as shocking as it used to be.

Gdańsk is a small city bordering

the Baltic Sea in Northern Poland. I

travelled there with my boyfriend

in early March, and we couch-

surfed with a local man called

Andrzej. Luckily for us, Andrzej

was an historian with an in-depth

and passionate explanation for

everything we were seeing.

We already knew that Gdańsk

was under the Nazis between 1939-

1945, that it was the birthplace of

the Solidarity movement, and that

it was mostly reconstructed after

WWII bombings devastated the

region. As we were strolling down

the pastel-coloured main street

in Gdańsk (‘Długi Targ’, or ‘Long

Market’), Andrzej explained that

after the war the buildings were

not reconstructed in their original

style. The architectural style and the

motifs used on the buildings were

also not typical of Northern Poland.

To a tourist and the not-so-

historically inclined, it might not

matter so much, as the city has been

very beautifully reconstructed and

definitely lures the crowds. To a

local, on the other hand, I guess this

would be akin to having your beach

house burn down and then someone

rebuild it for you as an igloo. You’d

feel confused, distressed and

misunderstood. You’d start pining

for your old house, where you could

throw open the windows to let the

sea air come in, and possibly come to

resent these incongruous icy blocks.

With Gdańsk having changed

hands almost as often as there has

been turmoil in Europe, you could

argue that the Dutch architectural

style says something about the

‘confused’ nature of the place, But

talking to Andrzej, it was plain to

see that despite adverse historical

circumstances, those living in the

area have managed to retain a strong

sense of local identity.

The city is quite small – you

can see almost everything in a day

– but there are plenty of historically

inaccurate buildings to gaze up

at, as well as (luckily) structures

that actually survived the war. The

imposing Bazylika Mariacka (St

Mary’s Church) is the largest brick

church in the world, and some of

its towers date back to 1452. If

you’re into your metaphysics, the

philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

was born in Gdańsk, and his

birthplace still stands.

There is also a stunning water-

front area on the banks of the

Motława River, with cafés, bars and

shops selling amber (a speciality

of the Baltic region). A short train-

journey away is Sopot, a spa town

that has the longest wooden pier in

Europe (511 metres), stretching out

into the Baltic Sea. The main street

in Sopot also hosts a bizarre building

that wouldn’t be out of place in Tim

Burton’s Alice in Wonderland: the

‘Krzywy Domek’ or ‘Crooked House’.

Apart from sightseeing, we

came across a fair few words that

would put my surname to shame

in the ‘pronunciation challenge’

stakes. I’ve spent a lifetime teaching

native English speakers how to

curl their tongues around ‘Więcek’,

but unfortunately my Polish roots

didn’t help me when it came to

words like ‘pszczółki’ (yes, that’s

five consonants before a vowel),

‘Wrzeszcz’ (a town we passed on

the train), and ‘sześćdziesiąt’ (the

Polish word for ‘sixty’).

If you’re not already convinced

that it’s worth visiting Gdańsk for

the sights and the tongue-twisters,

you might like to bear in mind that

it’s also exceptionally cheap. Poland

has not yet converted to the Euro,

so at present one British pound is

equivalent to 4.34 złotych. We got

by on £40 for an entire weekend.

This covered meals, transportation,

gifts which were later confiscated

by Australian Customs, and an

undisclosed amount of vodka shots.

Go on, give Gdańsk a go

Gdańsk: Baltic city with proud history and citizens

Words and pictures by Sarah Więcek

Unfortunately my Polish roots didn’t help me when it

came to words like ‘pszczółki’ (yes,

that’s five consonants before a vowel)

Gdańsk town hall Ratusz Glównego

Miasta (left) and the ‘crooked house’

Krzywy Domek (below)

Apparently exclaiming ‘dogs’ blood and thunder!’ when you slam your fingers in a drawer isn’t quite as shocking as it used to be”“

9Summer 2010

ArtSpace

Human Rights Watch, in association

with Regent’s College, hosted a

screening of the film Good Fortune

during Artspace week in March.

The film followed two events

taking place in two areas of Kenya

to improve the lives of Kenyans

and the effect these had on the

people living there. In the slums

of Kiberia, the United Nations was

implementing a housing project and

in the Yala Swamp, Dominion Farms

was attempting to convert land into

rice fields.

The portion of the film taking

place in Kiberia began with the

planning process, including research

done by the United Nations, and

ended with the forced eviction -

by bulldozers - of thousands

of residents from their homes

without temporary accommodation

provided. During the process, an

election occurred in which the

Kiberian people attempted to vote

out the current president in an effort

to stop the housing project. When

their efforts failed, the dismay felt

by the population was poignantly

displayed, as were the challenges

they faced to find new homes as a

result of construction they didn’t

want to happen in the first place.

In Yala, views from Dominion

Farms and the Kenyan farmers were

included. Dominion Farms believed

they were trying to better the lives

of the native people and the native

people believed Dominion Farms

was destroying their way of life. The

actions by the American company

included the spraying of diesel fuel

and subsequent burning of land

and the unintentional flooding of

property not under their ownership.

In the end, Dominion left when

the dam broke and the farmers

regained their ability to provide for

themselves and their families.

After the showing, two speakers,

Dr. Lorena Arocha and Ben Rawlence,

participated in a Q&A session,

facilitated by Dr. Yossi Mekelberg,

Programme Director of International

Relations and Social Sciences at

Webster Graduate School, London.

Two themes recurred during this

Q&A- the lack of emphasis on the

political process, which enabled

these two projects to occur and the

lack of accountability, particularly

at the government level in Kenya,

which allowed its people to be

taken advantage of . The film did an

excellent job of raising awareness

about these issues and the speakers

did an excellent job of facilitating

their deeper understanding.

Good FortuneA matter of opinion in Kenyaby Marisa Mae Fultz

The second annual ArtSpace held in

March featured performances, talks,

walks and exhibitions throughout

the college. The week started off

with The Jiving Lindy Hoppers

who posed the question: “What do

we mean by street dance?” to the

audience at ‘Street Dance in Context’,

ArtSpace’s keynote event. “We mean

dance that isn’t commercialized.

Commercialized dance loses street

credibility, and dancers move onto

something new.” At Street Dance

in Context, one presenter and two

dancers gave audience members a

hands-on lesson in the cakewalk,

the shimmy, the Charleston, and

more. After an introduction from

Bill Lynch, resident director of HASS

and the Webster Graduate School,

a multimedia presentation of awe-

inspiring dancing was followed by

authentic moves from members of

the Jiving Lindy Hoppers. After the

presentation, attendees enjoyed

drinks and post-show discussion in

the Knapp gallery.

On Wednesday the rich and royal

history of Regent’s Park was the topic

for ‘The Regent and His Park’, a talk

about the rich and royal history of

Regent’s Park. Two of the College’s

faculty who are the most qualified to

share it, Professors David Brady and

Sophie Laws, offered the audience of

students, faculty and staff insights

into the architectural and cultural

history of Regent’s Park. Following

this, Brady led a guided walk through

the areas of interest in the Park.

On Thursday, Professor Peter

Verdon and Yong Choi gave it their all

during A Duel of Honour: Fighting in

the Renaissance Period in the Regent’s

College dance studio. Dressed in

clothing from the time period, Verdon,

a qualified fencing master and stage

fight choreographer and Yong Choi.

demonstrated the techniques used

when fighting with the rapier and

dagger. Many students and faculty

members were able to hold the

weapons and try on the clothing.

Also on Wednesday, the Refectory

hosted the week’s sweetest event: a

cupcake-decorating competition. For

£2, students faced off for the title

of “Best Cupcake Decorator,” with

RACL student Ellen Ennes taking

the crown with her icing and sweetie

encrusted cake. photos: Kati Casoli

photo: Philip GreyDoin’ the jive!

A walk in the park

Cake artistes

Dueling it out

10 REGENTTh

e

Alumni

Continuing our regular column

where we focus on a graduate

from one of our schools and see

what they have been up to since

they left the college.

This issue we look at Brandon

Bakshi, a graduate of the British

American College (the former

incarnation of Regent American

College London) and Webster

Gradute School

Why did you choose to study at

Webster Graduate School?

It was close by my office and I was

familiar with the campus after

studying at the British American

College for my undergraduate

degree during my freshman year in

1991. Also, I was working full time

at British Music Industry (BMI) and

Webster graduate school gave me

the flexibility to study part-time.

What are your fondest memories

of that time?

Advanced corporate finance

tutorial sessions with David Parrish

and field trips to places such as the

Bank of England.

At Regent’s College, who inspired

you most?

David Parrish and James Knight

What ambitions did you have for

your career during your time as a

student?

To learn how to manage a small

office as a music business executive

at BMI.

Since taking your MBA at Webster

Graduate School your career

has had a strong international

flavour, how did your time at

Regent’s College prepare you for

this?

By having interaction with

classmates and professors from all

over the world.

How did you start your career

within the music industry?

As an intern at BMI in 1993.

What are you working on right

now?

I am focusing on the membership

acquisition of songwriters and

music publishers from Europe and

Asia, as well as Jamaica.

What does success mean to you?

Doing a job that one loves to do

and being paid for it at the same

time.

What are the most important

things you have learnt during

your career?

Patience and it is all about timing.

At BMI you are at the cutting edge

of music trends across the world,

who/what should we be looking

out for this year?

Marina and the Diamonds and Ding

Dong.

Embracing new technology has

frequently been at the heart of

popular music, what are your

thoughts on the current debate

around file-sharing?

The creators of music should

be financially compensated and

their works should be protected.

Otherwise you will not have

professional songwriters creating

wonderful music. Time will tell

if this is achieved through an ad

sharing revenue model, all you

can eat subscription, or pay per

download.

What is your advice to students

just embarking on their study

with us?

Take advantage of the small classes

to know your professors and the

students. The connections and

knowledge that you attain now may

help you further down the line.

What does networking mean to

you and how do you use it?

Networking means creating and

maintaining connections with

people that you can help and

hopefully they can help you as well.

However, if they do not reciprocate

then that is ok as well.

What is the value of a strong

alumni network to you?

The value is extremely important as

I met my wife, Aigerim, at Webster

Graduate School.

How does NYC compare with

London?

NYC is a fabulous city although my

heart is in London.

Where on Earth are you?The global community of Regent’s College alumni stretches across 140

different countries. With alumni developing their careers in the most

diverse fields, the alumni network is a great social and professional

connection for you.

When you graduate you can ensure that you continue to stay connected

and informed of events and initiatives, by letting us know where you are

and regularly updating your details via the alumni web pages at www.

regents.ac.uk/alumni or by emailing us directly at alumni@regents.ac.uk

Facebook: become a fan of the Regent’s College London Alumni page

Throughout my whole academic

career I have only ever been sure of

one thing: that ‘the more I learn, the

less I know’ Possessing a multitude of

and a diverse range of skills doesn’t

exactly endow one with clarity or

focus when it comes to choosing a

first job. However, it is equally true

that ‘knowledge brings power’. And

while you’re young, talented and

vivacious, that power rests entirely

in your hands.

At a much simpler time in high

school, my interests were anything

to do with art, while I hated anything

to do with maths. In art class I was

interested to the extent that I could

daydream while simultaneously

lending enough ear to what my

teacher was saying, that if asked

(which I often was on account of the

distant expression on my face), I could

repeat what he said word for word.

In maths however, my daydreams

seemed to completely numb out

anything that my teacher would

attempt to get through to me. I knew

that my degree should encompass all

aspects of my creativity and it was

also important that it should open

the door to good career prospects.

I thought that English Literature

would allow me to enhance my

communicative and analytical skills

and would also look impressive on

my then nonexistent CV. I worked

hard to get good A levels, went

through the headache of the UCAS

‘thang’ and hurrah; I was accepted

into one of the most prestigious

British colleges in London.

Looking back, it still baffles me

how anyone who enjoys learning

would choose an institution known

as ‘the pay and go school’ over the

academic standards of a credited

British university. Though often

when a goal is reached, one is in a

better position to actually imagine

its reality. I realised that I would

have to study something other

than literature to satisfy my other

passions. At that time Regent’s

seemed to be the perfect solution.

It offered the opportunity to study

Media Communications with a

minor in English. I could broaden

my knowledge of all aspects of the

media, still keep up my English savvy

and not destroy my social life.

Regent’s provides one with two

options right off the bat. The first is

to waste all the money your parents

invested into your education by

spending the whole day smoking in

the courtyard and matching your

Lamborghini to your outfit (you

know who you are). The second, is to

actually use the resources available to

you, work hard and learn something.

Never having been one to settle for

either black or white, I went for the

grey. I spent my days in the library

researching Rousseau and my nights

hitting up Movida (which believe it or

not was ‘hot’ at that time), expanding

my knowledge and social life.

I knew I needed to build a

foundation which I could stand

on after I graduated. I sought out

internships based on where I saw

my future going. In summer 2008,

that prospect was at Vogue House.

I felt that with my knowledge of so

many subjects, my ability to write

and my social skills, Tatler Magazine

could be a likely route. No one can

describe the amount you learn at the

right internship, but like anything,

it is up to you to make the best

of the situation. While at Tatler, I

showed my clips to the editor, asked

millions of questions and used their

fashion monitor to find out about

events I could attend to network.

What began as a two-week stint at

Tatler, turned into two months, and

made me confident in liaising with

fashion buyers, researching articles,

attending press

events, graphic

designing and

Learning how to flyby Francesca Barrow

11>>

11Summer 2010

EducationLast year I started tutoring to

supplement the paltry income I

was making as a freelance writer

and part-time student at Regent’s

college. In doing so I joined the

estimated 1500 tutors currently

beetling around London.

Several of my friends have

tutored for years and I’ve always

envied them their flexible hours

and the chance to break textbook

spines again on dormant subjects.

It’s also an excellent way to make

some additional money while you’re

studying. Being fluent in a foreign

language or having a high level of

mathematics will ensure you are in

demand. Then all you need to do

is check out some companies with

clients in your area, pester them

until something comes up that fits

your timetable and soon you could

be bringing in £45 an hour. With

a huge demand for tutors at the

moment, young college students or

recent graduates for whom taking

exams is not too distant a memory

are the ideal candidates for the job.

A recent Sutton Trust report

indicates that 43% of young people in

London today have received private

tuition in some form during their

school years, up from 36% in 2005.

Clearly this is going to increase even

more if the plan by Prime Minister

Gordon Brown and Secretary of State

for Children Ed Balls, to provide

a personal tutor for every pupil

at secondary school and catch-up

tuition, including one-to-one for

those falling behind is implemented.

This would cost a staggering £468m

and require a further hundred

thousand tutors, making tutors as

prevalent as Starbucks. Time to get

in there ahead of the curve.

Woody Webster, founder of

tutoring agency Bright Young

Things, receives dozens of

applications a day from prospective

tutors, but is particular about who

he accepts on his books, focusing

on Oxbridge graduates with niche

skills. (Unsurprisingly half of

Oxbridge applicants have been

tutored beyond their school level).

Webster admits there’s been a

real surge of interest lately, due to

increased redundancies: ‘Our tutors

include ex-fund managers and post

PhD mathematicians who should

technically have jobs but don’t in

the current climate. Our age bracket

is still about 23-30 though, as we

like tutors to be young, vibrant,

enthusiastic and able to recall taking

exams themselves.’

The increased demand for

tutors at the moment, according to

Webster, is because “school doesn’t

fit the requirements desired to excel

at exams and in the system.”

Bright Young Things now has

more than 100 tutors on its books,

of which I am one, having found the

enthusiasm of others for tutoring

contagious. I was asked to provide

a wad of documentation including

references, CV and a statement

from the Criminal Records Bureau

declaring I was neither a nutter,

nor paedophile. Through another

agency, Enjoy Education, I was

soon in command of a few students

hovering around the 11-plus, senior

school entry level.

I predominantly tutor English,

but also science and maths,

which involve substantially more

preparatory work, as there’s been

a bit of an interim since I donned

a white coat. With the exams being

harder for science and maths,

the majority of tutors focus in

these areas. Time to spark up

the dim recollections of Bunsen

burner flames and burning peanut

experiments from years gone by.

Tutoring is emotionally taxing

as it’s a big responsibility. My French

friend Louis found himself tutoring

French literature to undergraduates

in a lull between City jobs, and

despite finding it extremely

rewarding and commanding £45 an

hour, he claims that having to do at

least five hours preparation made

it not quite the hourly windfall that

it sounds.

Even more strenuous is going

‘on holiday’ with a family as a live-in

tutor. Ettie, 30, was made redundant

from her job in financial PR last

year and has since set up her own

PR company, while also pursuing a

part-time Psychotherapy course. As

a supplement, she tutors 12 year-

old Sam twice a week and regularly

travels with his family to France,

where she’s paid on the basis of

working four hours a day, with an

extra £30 for the inconvenience. “I

always end up doing about six hours

though,” she says, “as I’m so keen

for Sam to get ahead, and I then end

up having to talk about his progress

with the parents over dinner. The

fine wine and food is a perk but

I’m definitely constrained by the

family’s boundaries.”

I don’t think I’ll be swapping

madness and mojitos for tutoring

‘breaks’ just yet, but for the moment

I’m very much enjoying tutoring and

I highly recommend it to students

grappling within the constraints of

their student loans. I find tutoring

complements my other pursuits of

freelance journalism and studying

Psychotherapy at the college. Plus

one of my pupils Sophia is a very

able gymnast as she demonstrated

by jumping up and spinning a one

handed cartwheel followed by the

splits the other day, proving to me

we can all learn something from one

another. I was about to attempt the

splits myself when I remembered

that as I am supposed to be the

omniscient tutor, it would be foolish

to attempt something the student

could do better.

by Connie Alfrey

Recession means boom time for personal tutors

>>10

“Our tutors include ex-fund managers

and post PhD mathematicians who should technically

have jobs but don’t in the current climate.”

database work.

The following

year, I decided to

consolidate those skills by seeking a

PR position. With my CV now boasting

strong communication experience,

I was offered a PR internship at a

private client stockbroker in London.

It was here that I really used my

initiative. The more I became involved

and shared my ideas, the more my

employer would give me freedom.

After six months of working there

alongside attending my classes at

Regent’s, I was in charge of a whole

project for the company. I learnt

that I enjoyed PR and had a knack

for marketing, despite my interest in

finance still stretching only so far as

handing over a credit card in Prada.

The combination of my

internships and my degree courses

made me feel that I was ready to enter

‘the real world’. Like a caterpillar, I

had eaten every opportunity around

me and it was time to enter phase

two. At this point, I was over the

drama of everyday life at Regent’s.

Indeed, my hunger to achieve what I

was capable at overrode the pleasure

derived from partying. I worked

doubly hard to ensure that I would be

able to do this as quickly as possible.

I graduated a year-and-a-half early.

With diploma in hand and an

updated CV, all that was left to

be done was to jump in to the job

search head first. Even searching on

various websites and in newspapers

is a learning process. One learns

to match skills with job outlines

extraordinarily well. I tried a job

agency, but found that I could find

a career just as well without letting

go of a ten percent commission. To

intertwine everything that I loved and

had learnt thus far, I chose to seek a

marketing role within a publishing

house. I wanted to be able to learn

more about the publishing process,

to keep writing about everything I

found exciting and also to be able to

directly communicate and network.

I am now happily employed at a

magazine company in London and

am involved in the development of

a relatively young magazine. I sell

advertisements, I get to talk to a

variety of different people, develop

marketing skills and learn how to

form alliances with businesses. Most

importantly, I am in the midst of

the publication process. I am also

currently finishing off my debut

album (no, I could never let my love

of music go), continuing my artwork

and taking French classes to finally

become fluent after fifteen years of

secondary school tutoring. In the

future, I hope to grow in a PR position

and write freelance about whatever

my heart desires. If my music takes

off that would also be wonderful.

Eventually, I would like to begin my

own company, of which the ideas are

already in the pipeline. The biggest

lesson I have learnt is that it’s ok not

to be completely sure of your ‘niche’;

as long as you are doing something

that involves the use of all your skills

so that when the day comes that

you are sure, you have the world at

your feet. And most importantly, the

ability to fly.

Puzzle cornerA prize will be given to the first correct set of answers to the questions

below to reach Dr. I.C. Brown (Regent’s American College London)

1. Here is a diagram showing an array of 8 by 8 small squares. How

many squares OF ANY SIZE are there in the diagram?

2. By being methodical in your approach to question 1, find what the

answer would be if we had

(i) an array of 100 by 100 small squares,

(ii) an array of n by n small squares.

email your solutions to browni.ac.uk

12 REGENTTh

e

It was always a risible idea – to

present a sequel to the stage

musical that had become the most

successful event in entertainment

history. Hollywood thrives on

further instalments, musical

theatre doesn’t: even George and

Ira Gershwin flopped with Let ‘Em

Eat Cake, their 1933 follow-up to

the Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Thee

I Sing (1931). And only masochists

recall the train-wrecks that were

“Annie Warbucks” (the 1993 sequel

to “Annie”) or “Bring Back Birdie”

(the 1981 sequel to “Bye Bye Birdie”).

But, 24 years after The Phantom of

the Opera first haunted London’s

Her Majesty’s Theatre; here it

is, seemingly undeterred by any

lessons offered by theatre history:

Love Never Dies, the most eagerly

awaited musical of the 2009/2010

theatre season.

The Phantom of the Opera, an

adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1911

novel, with music by Andrew Lloyd

Webber and lyrics by Charles Hart

has earned more than $3.3 billion

worldwide. It has been seen by more

than 100 million people. With more

than 25 million copies sold, the

original cast album is among the

most successful recordings ever

released. All of this clearly must have

been an incentive to finally finish a

musical that was started more than

10 years ago and then abandoned by

the composer for other projects.

Lloyd Webber has always avoided

calling Love Never Dies a ‘sequel’ or

Phantom 2. Instead, he insists, it is a

‘continuation’ of the story, bringing

back all the beloved characters of

the original. Which leads us directly

to the major problem of Love Never

Dies: none of the people on stage

have much in common with the

protagonists of Phantom.

At the end of the 1986 show,

budding opera star Christine

chooses her childhood sweetheart

Raoul over the disfigured artist

living underneath the Paris opera

house. Love Never Dies is set 10

years later in New York. With the

help of former ballet mistress

Mme Giry and her daughter Meg,

the Phantom has fled to America

where he has acquired a fortune by

creating one of the main attractions

on Coney Island, ‘Phantasma’, a sort

of vaudeville theatre plus freak-

show ride. Never having got over

his love for Christine, he invites the

now-famous diva to sing at his new

Coney Island venue.

This is the basic set up for

a story that grows more and

more bewildering as it unfolds.

Bewildering, because none of the

characters concocted by the plethora

of librettists – the official credit

reads: Book by Andrew Lloyd Webber

and Ben Elton, with Glenn Slater and

Frederick Forsyth – is recognizable.

The Phantom, the former avant-

garde opera composer and aesthete,

now presents vaudeville ditties such

as “Bathing Beauty”. Even worse,

instead of driving the plot with his

elaborate schemes, he now mostly

re-acts. Furthermore, when choosing

Coney Island as their setting, did

none of the authors realize that if

the Phantom can just walk around

in public wearing his mask and

nobody bats an eyelid, they killed

off the drama?

Instead of the archetypal young

ingénue who was enthralled and

frightened by the masked creature,

we get a Christine who is reduced

now to doting mother and devoted

wife. Raoul has become an alcoholic

and a gambler who has squandered

the family fortune. He clearly is

no longer suitable for Christine,

meaning that the love triangle falls

flat. Mme. Giry has turned into

Mrs. Danvers out of Hitchcock’s

Rebecca. And her daughter Meg not

only is a fully-fledged neurotic, but

also inexplicably has fallen for the

Phantom’s charm.

None of this is explained in

any of the lengthy songs that fill

us in about what happened in the

intervening years. Long after we

have figured it out for ourselves,

Raoul confesses in his second act

solo “Why Does She Love Me?” that

he is a failure as husband and father.

But the far more pressing question

why he has become such a jerk is

left unanswered.

Then there is Gustave, Christine’s

10 year-old son. Gustave is a musical

prodigy and a mere plot contrivance

who – spoiler alert! – turns out to be

the Phantom’s son. But wasn’t the

original Phantom revealed to be

impotent, in what came across as a

rather puzzling negation of all the

sexual tension that had driven the

plot up to that point?

The revelation of Gustave’s real

father is set up so clumsily that it is

utterly anti-climactic when it finally

arrives. In all fairness, though, it has

to be said that the song explaining

how the child was conceived

(“Beneath a Moonless Sky”) is so

bizarre that is constitutes one of

the more interesting moments of an

evening severely lacking in narrative

tension. And so what was originally

a mythic retelling of the Beauty

and the Beast tale, that cleverly

combined thrills and romance, turns

into a custody battle set to music:

“He’s my son!” – “No, mine!” (Since

Gustave, by the way, recognizes

his real father, by “looking with

his heart”, one wonders why the

“Jeremy Kyle Show” is so obsessed

with DNA tests.)

The irritation reaches its peak

with a real dud of an ending. The

original was written by Lloyd

Webber to showcase his then-wife

Sarah Brightman, in the role of

Christine. Now no longer married to

Brightman, the composer obviously

has decided that Christine has

become expendable. Audiences will

beg to differ. This plot resolution is

of the “You gotta be kidding!” variety.

Not only will it upset fans of the

1986 show, it also leaves the rather

frightening prospect that there

might be another ‘continuation’ in

the year 2034, Son of Phantom.

The music is the only really

successful element here – all

throughout the evening we are

presented with lush and intriguing

melodies that hark back to the

European operetta tradition. The

orchestrations are less successful.

The hard rock

instrumentation

of “The Beauty

Theatre Lightning fails to strike twice for Lloyd-Weberby Olaf Jubin

Love Never Dies...but it did The Phantom (Ramin Karimloo) and Christine (Sierra Boggess)

13>>

13Summer 2010

Peter Brook’s innovative style of

direction explores the process of

integrating audience and concept

until the two mesh together within

a single moment in time. Such is the

case with his latest production, ‘11

and 12’, at the Barbican Theatre.

Upon entering the theatre, one’s

focus is drawn immediately to a

barren stage with trunk-like sticks

on wheels, sand, and an array of

unidentifiable musical instruments

assembled downstage left. Before

any action takes place on the stage,

however, the audience is increasingly

aware of a deeper meaning.

Adapted from the work of

Amadou Hampâté Bâ, 11 and 12

tells the story of a religious dispute

among the Sufi community in French-

occupied West Africa over whether a

certain prayer should be said 11 or

12 times. The dispute is made worse

by the intervention of the French,

eventually leading to tribal disputes.

Initially the viewer believes the

play’s narrator, Hampate Ba, to be the

focus of the piece; however, it soon

becomes clear it is Tierno Bokar, a

Sufi spiritual leader, whose attempt

to resolve the prayer issue seems

like a small thing from the outside.

Although the play is set 80 years ago,

the connections to contemporary

issues are easy to spot. ‘It shows

what happens when religion fails to

accommodate dissent in the pursuit

of sectional truths,’ reviewer Michael

Billington wrote in The Guardian

newspaper. The play also spotlights

the devastation caused by European

powers that impose their values

upon others they don’t understand.

Sound familiar?

These ideas are expressed

through subtle and uncomplicated

staging techniques that allow the

viewer to be a fly on the wall. There

is a lovely moment where a folded

cloth becomes a gently rocking boat

as the narrator crosses a river. Brook

uses a calm, meditative approach

to the action of the drama. Even

the moments of intense action are

effectively spiritual, as seen when a

group member is captured and has his

feet burned by members of the other

group. This elegant symbolic staging

is typical of a Peter Brook work.

11 and 12 is a show about

limitations and the necessity of

tolerance. Even as Tierno decides

to take the higher road and change

his opinion on the so-called correct

number of prayers, resulting in

his banishment, the loss of all his

followers, friends, and family, and

eventual death, we are left not with

anger, but with resolution. Some

viewers did not enjoy the minimalist

approach to the piece, finding it

irritating after a while. The mellow

pace can take viewers out of the

action, while the philosophical

dialogue becomes dizzyingly hard to

follow at times. Overall, it proves to

be a piece that makes one think, by

one of the most provoking directors

of our time.

11 and 12: Dividing communities and audiences by Rainey Latislaw

Underneath” ,

the finale to Act

I, for instance,

seems totally out of place.

But as so often in his career,

the composer has undermined

his best interests by choosing the

wrong collaborators. After seeing

We Will Rock You and working with

Ben Elton on The Beautiful Game,

shouldn’t Lloyd Webber know better

than to use Elton again?

Lyricist Glenn Slater fares

slightly better, even though he

has the unenviable task of coming

up with words to Lloyd Webber’s

insistently used recitative. Slater

is much better suited to musical

comedy, as evidenced by his lyrics

for Sister Act, which show a wit and

originality sorely missing here.

The show is directed by Jack

O’Brien, who was hired by Lloyd

Webber on the strength of his

staging of the hit musical Hairspray.

Nothing in that fun show suggested

that O’Brien could pull this off,

and he can’t. He proves himself

out of his depth with staging that

is mostly inept. In painfully slow-

moving scenes with songs that don’t

drive the plot forward, he resorts

to visual compositions that are as

uninteresting as they are without

meaning. Instead of any steamy love

scenes we get lots of dry ice, always

the last resort for any director

running out of tricks.

It wasn’t a good omen that

several of the people who were

major contributors to the success

of the 1986 musical are not

connected with Love Never Dies,

especially producer Cameron

Mackintosh and director Harold

Prince. Love Never Dies proves (if

proof were needed) how much The

Phantom of the Opera depended

on Prince’s marvellously fluid and

psychologically astute staging. It

was Prince who turned what could

have been a story plagued by plot-

holes into a coherent drama full

of scenic delights and suggestive

moments of sensual mystery.

Just as sorely missed is set and

costume designer Maria Björnson

whose untimely death prevented

her involvement with the new show.

Her replacement, Bob Crowley, has

created amazing décor in the past

(for instance for Mary Poppins),

but here the mixture of projections

(by Jon Driscoll) with Crowley’s flat

backdrops and art deco-inspired

sets and props never comes together

as a coherent design concept or help

to advance the plot.

The cast is not to blame:

Ramin Karimloo (Phantom), Sierra

Boggess (Christine), Joseph Millson

(Raoul), Liz Robertson (Mme Giry),

and Summer Strallen (Meg) are all

supremely accomplished actors

and singers, struggling valiantly but

in vain with roles that have fewer

dimensions than paper cut-outs.

Love Never Dies is a show that

is unlikely to find an audience. Fans

of the original Phantom will hate

it, and people who haven’t seen

the first part won’t care. Word of

mouth is destined to be toxic – there

already is a Facebook site called

“Love Must Die” created by enraged

Phantom admirers – so it is far from

certain that the planned transfers to

Broadway and Australia will happen.

It clearly is time for Andrew Lloyd

Webber to bid a final goodbye to the

Phantom. The most haunting aspect

of Love Never Dies is its implication

that the most successful theatre

composer alive seems unable to put

the ghost of his biggest commercial

smash behind him and move on.

>>12

Raoul (Joseph Millson).

Peter BrookPeter Brook, born in 1925, remains

one of the world’s most influential

and frequently controversial

theatre innovators and directors.

His first production was in

1945 and within two years he

had started work as an assistant

director of the Royal Shakespeare

Company at Stratford upon Avon.

Disheartened by what he

perceived as the narrowness

of much of the Western

theatre tradition, he continued

his work outside Britain, forming

the International Centre for

Theatre Research with a crack

company of actors, dancers

and musicians, and working

extensively in Africa and the

Middle East, often touring large

scale and ambitious productions

to enormous international

acclaim.

Subsequently, he transferred his

company to a permanent home

at the Bouffes du Nord Theatre

in Paris, where he continued to

develop his theatrical language

and style, only resigning in

2008. Despite being in his eighties,

he continues to direct and devise,

and remains one of the most

significant forces in theatrical

innovation, frequently honoured,

and winning prizes and awards

around the world.

Religious tensions. (left to right) Jared McNeill, Makram J. Khoury, Toshi Tsuchitoriphoto: Pascal Victor ArtComArt

Ideas are expressed through subtle and uncomplicated staging techniques...11 and 12 is a show about limitations and the necessity of tolerance“The revelation of Gustave’s real father is set up

so clumsily that it is utterly anti-climactic when it finally arrives.“

14 REGENTTh

e

Comment I have a confession to make. I don’t

have health insurance. I have never

had health insurance. In fact, I have

never needed coverage to ensure

that my having surgery or needing

to purchase prescription drugs to

ward off an extreme case of swine

flu would not leave my bank balance

looking like it had been mugged by

Bernie Madoff.

I have been lucky by having

lived most of my life in a country

which has Universal Healthcare in

the shape of the National Health

Service, a system that has provided

the essential services required in

the event of individual sickness or

elective surgery. For over 6o years,

residents in the UK have been able to

see their local doctor, go to a hospital

or be able to purchase prescribed

medicine over the counter without

the fear of being presented with an

enormous bill.

Last year, I moved to America.

Unlike the NHS, everyone needs

to have insurance which you can

either purchase privately or have

access to through your employer.

If you are over 65 you can sign up

for the government run Medicare

scheme or if you are a military

veteran coverage is also provided

by the government.

I am currently unemployed (or

at the very most earning a minimum

wage through freelance work),

not over 65, not a military veteran

and live in a State where health

insurance is required by law. If I

were to take out health insurance

it would cost me $350 per month,

which I don’t have. Happily though,

I live in Massachusetts which does

provide some universal healthcare

under the Commonwealth Health

Insurance Connector Authority,

which was part of sweeping reforms

enacted in The Bay State in 2006.

But this still doesn’t solve the

inherent problems with healthcare

that Barack Obama had identified

during his successful Presidential

campaign and which he vowed to

solve when he took office on 20

January, 2009.

In 2008, the US census bureau

estimated that 47 million people in

America out of a total population of

300 million were either uninsured

or did not have access to adequate

healthcare facilities. For a country

that prides itself on delivery of The

American Dream that is a damning

statistic not to be proud of.

Matt Taibi in Rolling Stone

magazine (September 3, 2009)

summed it up by stating that

“America has not only the worst

but the dumbest healthcare

system in the developed world.

It’s become a black leprosy eating

away at the American experiment

– a bureaucracy so insipid and mean

and illogical that even our darkest

criminal minds wouldn’t be equal

to dreaming it up on purpose. The

system doesn’t work for anyone.”

Strong words, but as healthcare

costs have continued to soar in

the economically challenged USA,

affordable coverage has become

harder to find.

From what I have observed in

my short time here, even those

with coverage aren’t guaranteed

access to affordable healthcare and

for those who live on or below the

Federal Poverty Line, the options are

severely limited.

According to the BBC, over half

of all personal bankruptcies in the

US are partially due to medical

expenses and even people with

insurance have discovered that

the policies are severally limited

when it comes to actual treatment.

The media has highlighted cases

where coverage has been denied to

thousands of Americans due to “pre-

existing conditions”, all of which

has merely increased the pressure

on the healthcare industry to agree

to some sort of reform.

For someone arriving from a

country that does provide healthcare

for its citizens, the debate that has

raged for over a year is nothing

short of astonishing. Right-wing

media commentators have claimed

it is an assault on freedom and

have whipped up associations

such as The Tea Party into a frenzy

of protest against Obamacare.

Prominent politicians claimed that

reform would lead to “government-

endorsed death panels deciding who

lives or dies” (for those interested

her initials are SP) and there have

been demonstrations the length of

the country by those for and against

healthcare reform. In Congress,

one Republican declared that the

proposed bill would “lay a socialist

utopia on the backs of the American

people” whilst another accused the

Democrats of being “baby killers”.

So it came as a huge surprise

when in November 2009, both

Congress and the Senate agreed

to draft a bill that would enable

healthcare reform within the USA.

On 21 March 2010, after some fierce

and compelling televised debate,

the bill was passed by 219 votes to

212 with no Republican backing. On

23 March 2010, President Barack

Obama finally signed his landmark

legislation.

From 2014, the system of

healthcare in the USA will be set for

the largest overhaul since the Second

World War and extend coverage to

32 million Americans.

That is not a typo. The majority

of the key reforms will come into

full effect in 2014. For the uninsured

with a pre-existing condition,

immediate access to an emergency

pool of cash will be available and

children up to the age of 26 can

remain on their parents’ policy.

Neither of these helps me out. I

still can’t afford $350 a month and,

as a resident alien, I am exactly the

sort of drain on the system that

Glenn Beck and his followers fear

will drag the country down into a

quasi-socialist; welfare-dependent

state from which it will never

recover.

So I will just have to make sure

that I don’t get ill before 2014. If I

do, I shall be rushing back to the

comforting arms of the NHS.

Real, if flawed, Universal

Healthcare.

David Bolton graduated from

RACL in December 2008 and moved

to the USA. He blogs under the name

Limeyview (Ramblings of A Resident

Alien) which can be found at: http://

davidjbolton.wordpress.com”

Will Universal Healthcare cure the U.S.A?by David Bolton

In a few short years, Apple has

grown from a near-bankrupt

company selling quality computers

for fanboys and graphic designers,

to a global force-to-be-reckoned-

with, dominating the mobile

phone, music and (slowly)

computer industries. Apple is a

brand respected by its long-time

users for exceptional customer

service and long-lasting products.

So, what’s the problem?

Call me crazy, but I believe that

somewhere in its transition from

industry underdog to computer

du jour, a bit of Apple’s customer

service mentality, and some of its

charm, has gone by the wayside.

While I won’t bore you with

nostalgia, I remember the days

when the local Apple store was

a comfortable place to mingle

with holy Geniuses and scope

out the technological wonders of

tomorrow- and occasionally get

a computer fixed. Now, with the

massive crowds; hour-long lines

for testing computers; bitter,

overworked “Geniuses” (whose

titles are often debatable); and

questionable service at the Genius

Bar, I consider stopping by a

happy hour session before I enter.

My service trauma recently

peaked at Apple’s London flagship

store on Regent Street. I was off

a plane from the States fewer

than 12 hours before my black

MacBook crashed and wouldn’t

get past a “do not enter” symbol,

a problem I’d encountered before.

I knew immediately that I was

experiencing my third (yes, third)

fatal hard drive failure, which

always means total data loss. I

rushed to Regent Street. After

my “Genius” fumbled with my

computer for a few minutes, I

told him my diagnosis. He agreed

and told me it would be several

hundred pounds, and require a

trip to a third-party service centre

to recover my data. Side note:

when I experienced this problem

in the States, my Genius backed

up all my data for $70 in-store.

Draw your own conclusions.

Much to my chagrin, said

Genius told me to come back for

my computer in three weeks. Two

hours after leaving it, I received a

call from the Apple store asking

me to pick my MacBook up. While

I’d experienced a hard drive crash

before, it was most upsetting to

be handed back an entirely erased

computer with a three- year-old

operating system. I started to

ask the Genius if he could give

me pointers on restoring data.

He replied, “I don’t have time to

answer your questions. Please

move so I can help the next

customer.” And that was that!

My first and only Apple London

experience was indeed traumatic,

but I’m not one to hold grudges. I

have never been a PC person and

will always be a Mac user, but as

the rest of the world jumps on the

bandwagon, will the brand come

back to earth? Steve Jobs’ recent

move to start issuing personal

responses from his iPad to

customer emails is certainly a start

in the right direction.

Prominent politicians claimed that

reform would lead to “government-endorsed death

panels deciding who lives or dies”

Golden Apple shoots itself in the headby Max Kaplan

“I don’t have time to answer your

questions. Please move so I can help the next customer.”

15Summer 2010

My Hidden London - Anna Sullivan (HASS Senior Lecturer, theatre)

“Sir, if you wish to have a just notion of the magnitude of this city, you must not be satisfied with seeing its great streets and squares, but must survey the innumerable little lanes and courts. It is not in the showy evolutions of buildings, but in the multiplicity of human habitations which are crowded together, that the wonderful immensity of London consists.” So wrote Dr Johnson, one of this city’s greatest advocates, whose home is one of my suggestions for an escape into the lesser known treasures of the city. Welcome to my London. When you’ve ticked off Big Ben and the British Museum and you’re getting bored with Sports Bar, try something the natives do for fun at the weekend:

Dr Samuel Johnson’s House, 17 Gough Square, London, EC4A 3DE (Temple, Holborn or Chancery Lane Tube)‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,’ declared the author of the English language’s first dictionary. This is rare treat in London; an intimate domestic dwelling built in 1700, hidden in a small square, that reveals something of fashionable 18th century London life, and something of the character of the brilliant man of letters. Also a museum dedicated to Dr Johnson‘s life and works, you get a real sense of his personality. The house often hosts exhibitions, lectures, twilight tours and small-scale theatre productions relevant to Dr Johnson and his literary friends. Look out for the really clever movable wooden wall on the first floor. Follow it up with a glass of English ale at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub round the corner, rebuilt in 1667 after the fire of London, and patronised by the great man himself.

Sunday Morning at Columbia Road Flower Market (Old Street and Bethnal Green Tubes, then walk or Buses 26, 48, 55)This is quite the jolliest, edgily fashionable and unique set of shops and cafes, threaded through with a riot of fabulous flower and plant stalls. The shops date from the 1860’s and many were originally wood turning and milling factories. Each Sunday, stalls selling everything from exotic bird of paradise blooms to humble anemones line the street, with vendors offering cut price blossoms in huge armfuls. Just the place to buy an orchid for £5 to brighten up your Reid Hall bedroom. Breakfast at cafes selling miniature cup cakes, cappuccino, smoked salmon bagels and fresh oysters(!), and buy desirable, idiosyncratic gifts to take home to family and friends from the shops in the surrounding area.

An Afternoon on Hampstead Heath (see a map for entry points and routes across the Heath: Hampstead Heath Tube, 24, 46 or 168 buses)As soon as the weather is warm (yes, it will happen) head up to London’s ‘Beach’. The Heath is a glorious sprawling mix of ancient woodland, meadows and hills that is crowned by a lovely mansion, Kenwood House. Entrance is free, and a succession of elegant rooms contain a terrific set of paintings, including a Rembrandt self portrait, a Vermeer and several other gems of European art. After Earl Grey tea and lemon drizzle cake in the walled garden café, cross the Heath to the bathing ponds (Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Bathing), for an al fresco swim among the frogs and dragon flies.

Supper and a Show in Dalston, 27 Arcola St, London, E8 2DJ (30 bus from Marylebone Road, or Tube from Baker Street to Highbury and Islington, then London Overground to Dalston Kingsland)Arcola Street in Dalston, in London’s East End, offers two of the city’s lesser known treats. The small but highly regarded Arcola Theatre, housed in a converted textile factory, produces eclectic seasons of plays, and Tuesday is ‘pay what you can’ night. It has a shabby-chic foyer full of elderly squashy sofas, a café/ bar, and the guarantee of a stimulating night of cutting edge performance. After the show, cross the road to the tiny Mangal Restaurant which serves fabulous and very cheap Turkish food cooked before your eyes on an ocakbasi grill; try the barbecued lamb with yogurt.

St John’s Lodge Gardens: The Hidden Gem on Your Doorstep Just around the corner from the college, off the Inner Circle just past Chester Road, in a small turning through a tiny gate, lies a gorgeous hidden garden, elegantly designed, beautifully planted, full of benches and lawns where you can sit and picnic and enjoy the spring sunshine. It is attached to an 1812 Nash Villa, one of only two remaining from the original plan for the park. A great place to spend the afternoon reading a Jane Austen novel, eating ice cream and pretending you live in the grand house with Mr. Darcy (or Elizabeth Bennett?).

Get off the campus, on the bus, explore and enjoy.

Around TownTired of always going to

the same old boring places?

Let The Regent show you

the way to find some

hidden gems

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EDITION OF THE REGENT: Submissions to vineyl@regents.ac.uk or

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16 REGENTTh

e

Leading a life as a mentally

challenged person in India is more

difficult than people might think.

India’s ability to treat, care for and

rehabilitate mentally ill patients

leaves much to be desired. On

the whole, mentally ill people are

treated with little or no dignity

and often just locked away. Society

doesn’t accept them and if they are

born in certain villages they are

often considered as a curse. Believe

it or not, many of them are often

sold away for land or money. Luckily

organisations such as S.P.J. Sadhana

are determined to change that.

S.P.J. Sadhana School, based in

Mumbai, uses love and discipline

to transform the lives of children

who would normally be shunned

by society. “Education is an endless

journey through knowledge and

enlightenment. Real education

enhances the dignity of a human

being and increases his self- respect.

It transforms our world into a better

place to live in peace and communal

harmony,” explains Sister Gaitonde,

Principal of S.P.J. Sadhana. These

words have been a guiding light for

the special students at the school

founded in 1973, and challenge them

to reach their potential intellectually,

physically and morally.

As a volunteer at Sadhana, my

day began with assembly, seen as

particularly important because

it includes laughter therapy and

prayers and enables all students

to interact with other children

and teachers. Activites include

music and games, trips to theatre

and exhibitions. The students

also receive training in grooming,

manual work and following

instructions, and are encouraged

to show a cheerful attitude to

others and pride in their work.

This became apparent every

morning when the students came

running up to me with loud cries

of “Namaste Aunty.”

During my placement at

Sadhana I was asked to teach

a lesson. Having never taught

students before, I felt completely

lost. Lesson plans needed to be

tailor-made for each individual in

a way that takes each disability

and limitation into account.

Therefore, I contemplated that the

best way to teach in this manner

would be to first unlearn what

I “knew”. I visualised that I was

the student awaiting the lesson

from my teacher. What guidance

would I seek from my teacher to

begin performing the task? These

thoughts helped me plan how to

format the lesson plan. Instead

of teaching the students ‘what’ to

think, I taught them ‘how’ to think

and how to learn. Empathising with

the needs of the students brought

me closer to them and created a

bond which remained long after I

ended my placement.

After a few weeks at the school

I moved on to Om Creations, a

registered non-profit organization in

Mumbai that provides professional

training and support for women

with Down’s Syndrome and other

mental disabilities.

Om Creations aims to ensure

that these women live as normal a

life as is possible. Their production

centre buzzes with activity and

their special workers fit into a

routine, manufacturing craft and

ceramic items, designing and

making handmade silk scarves,

as well as cooking and baking,

for sale. Exhibitions are held to

promote the products at the private

and corporate level. Bollywood

celebrities such as Karishma

Kapoor attend the ‘Om Bazaar day’

to participate as well as to buy

their beautiful products. I looked

up to these women because they

taught me the way to overcome the

difficulties in life is to “treat people

as you would like to be treated”.

After working for these

inspiring women, I began to realize

that not only do the women at Om

Creations instantly make visitors

like me feel at home. They are

also excellent at their work. If

they get the support they deserve,

these organizations will continue

to grow and transform the lives

of people with special needs who

pass through their doors. They will

hopefully inspire people to try and

treat mentally challenged people

with the respect they truly deserve.

My voluntary work experience

as a teacher had, within a short

time span, helped to make these

places become an integral part of

my life and they will remain in my

heart always.

by Haya Asif

When asked to describe my recent

visit to Mombasa, Kenya, I am

unavoidably at a loss for words.

Mombasa is a town of paradox; its

extreme poverty contrasts steeply

with a booming tourist industry;

its shortcomings are underpinned

and perpetuated by years of

government corruption. And yet, for

some reason, I find that worn-out

descriptions such as “devastating”

or “heartbreaking” fail to depict

what I experienced in Kenya.

I taught English and Maths in a

slum of Bombolulu: six classes per

day in what we would recognize

as a shack. I spent the entire week,

breathing in chalk dust, sweating

and keeping students entertained.

I observed the children, ate lunch

with them and didn’t let them return

to their seats until they had got the

answer correct on their own. Four-

years-old, or sixteen-years-old, they

were all starving for knowledge.

The average Kenyan doesn’t

have excessive luxuries to entertain

their fleeting interests. They can

do perfectly fine without. The

concept of improvement is almost

incomprehensible because there is

so little proof of it. Many Kenyans

have survived events that would

demolish us completely. And

although the children have very little

to aspire to, they push through it. For

this reason, when I describe Kenya,

I don’t think of it as devastating or

heartbreaking. It is a place filled

with fascinating individuals just

like you and me, who were never

given a fair chance to reach their

potential. Forget about the mud

huts, tattered clothing, and long

faces. Kenyans have a resilience

that most of us find difficult to

grasp. They don’t gripe about what

could be. They are satisfied. Forget

about the heaps of burning rubbish,

HIV infection rates, and sullen

expressions. Instead, think of the

amount of strength required to

sustain oneself in these conditions,

the amount of courage needed.

Spare your pity for Kenya, it

does nothing to bring about positive

change. Instead, be inspired and

learn from these people. And in

return, give them what they need the

most: Hope. Volunteers are always

needed. If you let it, your experience

can result in a commodity so rich that

words or value cease to apply – this

is something I know to be true. To

find out how you can contribute in

a long-term, sustainable way, please

visit:

http://www.actionthisday.org.au.

by Becky Kuykendall

Little Mary scans with interest a pocket-size book of Swahili phrases.

Finding fulfillment working with those with lessTwo Regent’s students tell of their experiences volunteering to teach children in India and Kenya

photos: Becky Kuykendall