Wanted: Books editor for Durham21

Uploaded 162 days ago by Olivia Varley-Winter

It's coming up to graduation and I (books editor) am moving on. So, anyone out there who covets my position pipe up now. Now!

It's not essential to have written anything for the site before, or to be a prolific reader, as long as you are interested in it. Contact editor@durham21.co.uk and books@durham21.co.uk, to say who you are and why you want to edit Books. There is more info below on what I've been involved with, but really it is what you make of it.

If anyone does not want to be editor but wants to be added to the books mailing list (so that you hear of free books and such), also contact books@durham21.co.uk to say so. We love you!

Doings of the books editor:

1) Prod those who read to share their vast knowledge and opinions by way of reviews. This can be done through the mailing list, if it's not forthcoming then try departmental emails. Literary features are also part of the Books section, so proposing ideas for these– top reads, summer reads, etc –may get results.

2) Obtain interesting-looking books free of charge. This isn't essential, but publishers like to market their books (especially ones that are just coming out or which are up for awards), and review sites are an easy way for them to do it, so contacting their marketing or publicity people about these titles often has a positive response. Having got the book for free, make sure someone reviews it. It's a good idea to contact the mailing list in advance and ask which titles they would be interested to have, also not to request too many.

3) Edit the end review for minor mistakes, look for a rewrite if you think it's needed. The uploading and editing is very simple, thanks to Alex's hard work.

Many thanks to all those who have sent me their writings, and best wishes to all.

Olivia Varley-Winter
Books Editor
books@durham21.co.uk

 

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d21 blog: Attention cinema goers!

Uploaded 206 days ago by Rebecca Thursten

A public service announcement.

This evening the Gala is screening The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Julian Schnabel's stunning film of Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir. Bauby, the editor of Elle, suffered a massive stroke at 43 and was left with the rare but terrifying 'locked-in syndrome'. Completely paralysed apart from his left eyelid but otherwise completely aware, Bauby dictated his memoir by blinking his eye while an alphabet was read out. It may seem unfilmable to fans of the book, but in Schnabel's hands it's intensely cinematic. He takes heed from Bauby's statement that everything he had was paralysed except his memory and imagination, and as such the luxuriously shot images of Bauby's past and fantasies are interwoven with scenes filmed exclusively from Bauby's limited point of view. It's equally engrossing and claustrophobic (especially in an early scene where Bauby watches helplessly as his right eyelid in sewn up) but if it sounds grim or mawkish it's not. It's just beautiful, and certainly one of the best films of last year. If you can find the time then make the effort, you can always call it revision if you're a French student

I'd also like to take the time to flag up next Wednesday's screening of Double Indemnity. Like most sane people, I have interests other than films. My tastes in music or books, for example, are equally unwieldy, and I imagine probably give me the same amount of pleasure. But while I may remember getting into particular artists, albums or novels, I don't remember 'getting into' music. I didn't, as far as I know, have a 'Eureka!' moment for liking books. I did for films, and it was Double Indemnity. When I was 12 there was a tour of a theatrical production of the novel Double Indemnity, and I was cast in it for the leg at my local theatre. It was fantastic. I have no idea if the play was any good - the fact that I played an apparition of a murder victim and spent all my time hissing 'Phyllis...' and basically wearing a sheet may suggest it wasn't - but I had a great time. The acting bug didn't bite (probably a good thing considering the limit of my talents), but after reading about the 1944 film in the programme I became curious and hunted it out. That's probably one of the better decisions I've ever made. It's a masterpeice. From that point on, I had my self-imposed cinema education in a pleasingly chronological fashion, and seven years later movies are still the pipe-dream of what I want to do with my life. I can't guarantee it will be a transformative experience, but if you have a taste for film noir (hell, if you haven't) then go to see it and reward the Gala for giving us the choice of films they are. I'm not getting paid for this, but I really do think it would be a good use of your time.

Have something to say about movies? Then durham21 needs you! Get in touch and get involved.

Rebecca Thursten
Cinema Editor
cinema@durham21.co.uk

 

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d21 blog: Lamb to the slaughter!

Uploaded 253 days ago by Zaki Moosa

BBC 6 Music is 6 years old today. On this happy anniversary let me state that I’d joyously pay the licence fee for all my housemates, nay the entire country (please don’t hold me to that), just to make sure it keeps going. Who needs Newsnight? This is what the Beeb should be all about!

Ever since I got a digital radio for Christmas three years ago, back when Phill Jupitus played Gogol Bordello on the breakfast show and Andrew Collins was on drivetime, apart from brief forays to R4 for the news programmes it has just about stayed permanently tuned to 6. When I went to Germany for 6 months it was an internet musical lifeline in the face of lacklustre and monotonous German music radio. The original brief was to provide a station for proper music fans who’d grown out of R1 but weren’t too keen on R2; the result was a station that was like an audio version of the record shop from High Fidelity. Its strongest point was, and still is, its use of the BBC’s archives of 40 years of live music performances, in particular the Peel sessions and entire gigs played overnight – there’s no better accompaniment to essay panics. The DJs at the moment include Tom Robinson (2-4-6-8-Motorway!), Marc Riley (once of Mark and Lard and before that of The Fall, not that that’s a unique achievement), Liz Kershaw and Steve Lamacq. How can you not like a station that during one 3-hour show plays Siouxsie Sioux, Captain Beefheart, Velvet Underground, Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit, David Bowie, something called “Grow A Moustache” by Snippet and Joy Division (the last a Peel session from 1979)?

But all is not well. Long-term listeners got irritated a few years ago when the excellent host of the late-night “Dream Ticket” show was kicked out to make way for R1 DJ Nemone, who’s now on afternoons. But never mind – she may not be the most charismatic DJ in the world but she knows her music and doesn’t drive me to Steve Wright. Now the gentle world of 6 Music is in uproar, ever since the amazingly fantastic Gideon Coe was shifted from 10am-1pm to 10pm-1am. On its own this isn’t perhaps a disaster – Coe’s whimsical and relaxed tone actually suits listening in bed with a good book and a cuppa more than being background noise during the day. But – horror of horrors – his replacement is the Big Brother host George Lamb whose idea of funny is to say “Shabba!” every now and again. His music knowledge is non-existent, as shown (up) every time there’s a band in the “6 Music Hub” performance slot which used to be so good under Gideon. As somebody once said of Jeffery Archer, is there no beginning to his talent? I’ve actually gone back to Jo Whiley.

Just to rub salt in the wound, the controller of 6 Music claimed this was an attempt to attract more female listeners. So now not only are there petitions to get Lamb out, there are protests about how patronising it is to presume female listeners need their hands held in the scary world of listening to Kylie and Madonna. The point isn’t really that 6 has some good female DJs banished to overnights and breakfast at weekends, or that Lamb is an X-list celebrity. Celebrity per se isn’t the problem; 6 has a great funk show presented by Craig Charles, a Sunday-night show with Elbow’s Guy Garvey, the Bruce Dickinson Rock Show, other shows with Stephen Merchant and Adam and Joe, and is still missing Phill Jupitus on breakfast. The point is that this moronic prat has nothing else to commend him. I normally hate the term dumbing-down, because it tends to hark back to non-existent glory days in the past, but its hard to escape the feeling when Lamb is on. Don’t let this put you off 6 Music, nonetheless; sign the petitions and until something is done, just don’t listen between 10am and 1pm.

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d21 blog: Déjà vu

Uploaded 254 days ago by Alex Marshall

I couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu whilst reading the latest issue of Palatinate. In particular, an article written by Jodie Smith seemed strangely familiar.

But first let me set the scene, in a typical 'who-cares-about-your-life' blog style.

Take your mind back a few weeks to Wednesday February 27. If your memory is anything like mine you probably can't remember what you were doing that day, but luckily during the early hours of the morning an earthquake struck. Remember now?

My first earthquake experience was blissfully uneventful. I was snuggled into a leather sofa in Fabio's at the exact time it occurred and the first I knew of the earthquake was when an email from the University's Media Relations Team popped up in my inbox. It containing a press release full of quotes from geophysicists, with phrases such as 'fault zone', 'tectonic plate' and 'seismic activity' - words I hadn't heard since secondary school geography.

Confused and mildly hungover, I donned my dressing gown and stumbled into the kitchen in order to fetch a glass of water to assist in removing the residual taste of the previous nights footlong Subway sandwich. My flatmate, Andy, seemed rather excited. "Did you feel the earthquake last night? The whole building shook!" he said. Typical, when something cool happens I didn't even (..or was too drunk to) notice.

I explained that I was out and felt absolutely nothing. I wasn't very surprised to learn that the building shook, since the walls of Brooks House seem to be made of a material only slightly stronger than papier-mâché.

Considering that the earthquake caused a minor tremor in Durham, and expert comment was provided from Durham lecturers, I deemed it vaguely newsworthy and so later that day I put together an article for the site, also including some additional detail on the recent high winds causing problems around Durham [based on my, and a fellow d21 writers, own experiences]. The deputy ed checked it over and put it live on the site. The article attracted a few comments, confirming that people in Durham had also felt the tremor.

plagiarism.org states that: "Changing the words of an original source is not sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have retained the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarised."

Take a look at the following extracts from durham21 and Palatinate, noting the publication dates, and decide for yourself if it meets the above definition. I'd also like to point out that I have no idea who Jodie Smith is and that I have no connection with Palatinate, other than two of my photographs which have been published in issues 693 and 695 on an informal basis.

durham21 27th February 2008 Alex Marshall "Old fault zone could be to blame for earthquake"	Palatinate 10th March 2008 Jodie Smith "Durham under the weather"
Elsewhere in Durham yesterday, high winds caused loose tiles to fall from the roof of the Philosophy Department on Old Elvet, seriously damaging a Range Rover and two other vehicles parked nearby. The road was closed for a short period.	It also saw the roof tiles of the Philosophy building on Old Elvet torn off, causing considerable damage to nearby vehicles. This led to the closure of the road for some time after the incident, forcing a number of students to use the back door to the department.
Students of Hatfield College were also asked to avoid using a pathway alongside their chapel due to fears that the stone cross which sits on the top of the building was loose. It had reportedly been seen swaying slightly in the wind.	Hatfield students were also warned to avoid using a pathway near the college chapel, as it was feared that the Chapel Cross, which had seemed to be swaying in the wind, might fall down.
Meanwhile, Palace Green Library's computer room was forced to close for the afternoon due to health and safety reasons.	As well as this, the computer room in Palace Green Library was closed for the afternoon due to fears over health and safety.
The stained glass windows of the listed building were at risk of shattering - something that has occurred before in fierce winds.	There were concerns that the listed building’s stained glass windows might shatter, something that has previously occurred in such windy conditions.

So what do you think; Which of these categories do you think this fits into? "The Poor Disguise" maybe?

How do I feel knowing that my work has been passed off as somebody elses - and published in the 'official student newspaper' of Durham University. Angry? Not really. In fact, I'm glad that someone has deemed it good enough to copy, but my indifference doesn't make it acceptable.

The last point of the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) Code of Conduct, which is widely accepted by journalists and the media community, states that a professional journalist "avoids plagiarism". Even in student media, I would expect even the most basic of academic rules to be adhered to.

durham21 and Palatinate have picked up on a few news stories recently which have been covered in both publications (Durham Olympic training venues, for example), and there are bound to be some similarities when reporting the same story independently; especially considering that we both spoke to the same Team Durham contacts who provided us with identical comment and we're both free to use the same press releases.

The editors column in the previous issue of Palatinate asks the question: "Is there room for ‘news’ in Durham's student media?"

I'd argue strongly that yes, there is room for 'news', provided that it is still relevant by the time it is published. The wonders of the internet allow durham21 to bring you up to date news, and our RSS feed, duo module and email updates (coming soon) allow you to keep track of what's fresh. Who really cares if there was an earthquake and it was a bit windy nearly two weeks after it happened?

durham21's impressive website statistics, in the news section in particular, also go someway to proving my argument, as do the active community members frequently posting comments on articles. I've received emails from alumni, local residents and expats who stumble across durham21 and have wanted to say how much they appreciate the site.

Granted, sometimes the news in Durham can sometimes be a little slow. The first week of this term was particularly quiet, but as I type we currently have a backlog of news stories, both local and national, that I'd like to cover - so please get in touch if you're interested in writing original content for durham21.

As usual, comments and feedback are welcome. That is what the blog is for. Simply click the 'add your comment' link below or send me an email.

Alex Marshall
News Editor
news@durham21.co.uk

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Comment is free

Uploaded 269 days ago by Victoria Raimes

Comment is free
The feature of a comments board on a site like durham21 is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it is incredibly useful, allowing the discussion of different views and/or providing a necessary level of constructive criticism as to the style and construction of an article. But the freedom to comment can also encourage we students - a cynical and critical bunch - to mercilessly slate pieces we deem not good enough for publication.

Any hint of a lack of originality, poor quality writing or the fact that an article fails to make a sound or developed enough point brings criticism - whether anonymously, protected by pseudonym or as their proud selves. Even worse, there are sometimes people who will criticise us when we do a semi-decent job - as is the beauty of subjectivity (and, on occasions, pedantry).

Cruel commentary can be both useful and unfair. Useful because we can learn from and be hardened by it; unfair because we are all amateurs and, unless the piece is really terrible (which is as much the editors fault in that case), one would hope for a degree of tolerance from our fellow students. Lambasting somebody for minor - sometimes arguably non-existent - mistakes achieves little other than a fearful and demoralised writer, but some of us seem to derive great pleasure out of submitting our negative views from behind the safety of our screens.

The Guardian, however, arguably made a whopper of a mistake last week. Their newest blog, 'Max, 19, hits the road', was designed to document the exploits of travelling gapper Max Gogarty; instead it encouraged perhaps the most scathing comment eruption in the paper's history. The blog, dubbed "fucking awful", a shameless nepotic hand out and an editorial decision worthy of the travel editor's P45, is an example of a comments board going very wrong...or very right.

Take a look and see what you think. An example of a comments board being one of the best forms of feedback around or cruelty taken a bit too far? And if you manage to get through all that, see the editor's response to the whole furore see this page.

Victoria, deputy editor, durham21.

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Just how popular is durham21?

Uploaded 282 days ago by Alex Marshall

In the past week we've been host to over 1,000 unique visitors per day, spending an average of 1 minute 37 seconds on the website. If you subtract the people who find us from Google by searching for naughty things (then leave the site immediately after not finding what they're looking for) who drag down the average, then those figures are really quite impressive!

So how do people find us?
The majority of our traffic comes from search engines (52%), mostly from users who are too lazy to type durham21.co.uk into their browser and rely upon Google to redirect them. Oh, and we can see what you search for if you access us via Google. Some of the search keywords are quite revealing: "how to be cheap", "naked people", "rah fashion" and "oap porn" just to name a few. Google stalking our editors and writers is also quite common.

Next comes referring sites (35%), which includes websites which link to durham21 such as facebook and duo. The remainder is direct traffic, from users visiting the website directly.

How can you help us?
Write for us - please... you make us what we are!

Vote for us - in the shiny digital awards.

Comment on articles - but be nice.

Click the facebook button at the bottom of each article and easily share an interesting article with your friends.

Alex, webmaster and news editor, durham21

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Whooo, we're having a social (and other news...)

Uploaded 290 days ago by Victoria Raimes

Latest News: Social (change of venue)! Awards! And other exciting things...

Greetings! Read on for a quick d21 update...

d21 Social: Yay, durham21 has finally got its arse into gear and organised a social for all editors, writers and lurking readers.
This Tuesday (05/02) from 8pm we shall be holding a (free) buffet and (not free, but possibly discounted) drinks at Varsity. For Varsity ignorants out there, it's located on Saddler Street, just opposite the "academic" Waterstones.

Of course, there is a catch dear d21'ers. We've decided to set the ever-so-original theme of dressing up as anything beginning with the letter d...or 21, if you're clever enough to master that. To give you an example, a dragon or Darth Vader would be perfectly acceptable characters on Tuesday's eve. (Although I have it under good authority that these two 'd's' are taken already.) If you happen to turn 21 on Tuesday and have nothing better to do, rock on over to our party and you'll not have to dress up as anything. We'll even provide a badge if you inform us in advance.

In fact, none of you HAVE to dress up. But it would be fun, wouldn't it? Yes, it most definitely would.

Anyway, come to our social, at 8pm, on Tuesday. You're welcome at our massive piss-up, dressed up as a 'd' or not.

Awards: Yes, yes, we know, this award stuff is getting boring now. But we have entered another award and our nomination has been accepted. Perhaps not quite as prestigious as the Guardian or the NUS Media accolades, we are now in the running for the Best Youth Enterprise project with the north-east Digital Awards.
We'd be very grateful if all staff and readers could take the time to click the shiny digital award button (to the right of our homepage) and vote for us. Have a nosey at the other categories/entries at www.northeastdigitalawards.co.uk

Marketing and Advertising Bod: We're looking for an outgoing, organised and creative new member to join the d21 team. If you're looking at going into marketing/PR, what better way than to get experience with our award-winning website?
We're looking for an individual who has time to spend a couple of hours a week designing posters/other advertising bits with the webmaster, looking for local and national businesses to advertise on our website, coming up with new advertising strategies, etc. It's a position that will no-doubt look good on your CV and you'll be working with a fabulous bunch of people too.
We've already made headway re: marketing this term, so the workload is even easier to manage at the moment. To apply (send a couple of hundred words and any relevant experience) or for more information email: v.j.raimes@dur.ac.uk

New editorial members: d21 would like to welcome two new members to the team: Rebecca Thursten with the Cinema section and Nathan Griffin with Features. So look out for new articles and exciting changes in those sections.

That's it for now. Hope to see you on Tuesday for food, booze and general merriment,

Victoria, deputy editor, and all the durham21 team.

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Keep up to date with durham21

Uploaded 302 days ago by Alex Marshall

We hope that you enjoy reading durham21 just as much as we enjoy writing articles for it! There are lots of ways to help you keep up to date with all the latest articles and features on the site to ensure that you don't miss a thing...

Add us to duo
Did you know that you can add a panel of the latest durham21 articles onto duo? It's really easy to add. Simply log into duo as usual at duo.dur.ac.uk and click on the 'Personal' tab from the menu bar along the top of the screen. Now select the 'Modify content' link where you'll find a number of different panels which you can add to duo. Find durham21 in the list, select it and hit submit.

Now take a look at your newly personalised 'Personal' tab, complete with the latest articles feed direct from durham21. Feel proud of your technological achievement and feel satisfied that you're always up to date ...unless you don't check duo that often.

 

Add us to facebook
They say that there's a facebook group for everything - and durham21 is no exception! We'd love it if you'd join our group: "I love durham21.co.uk".

We'll even send you nice messages occasionally to make you feel popular and to keep you up to date with the latest happenings in the world of durham21.

 

Add us to your Google homepage
Simply click the button below to add durham21 to your Google homepage.

 

RSS feeds
For you geeks out there who know what RSS is, we have two feeds available for you to subscribe to in the feed-reader application of your choice. There are two feeds; one for the latest articles published on the site, and another for the blog entries. The URL's for the feeds are as follows.

Latest articles feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/durham21
Blog feed: http://durham21.co.uk/rss/blog/

 

Get involved
We're always on the lookout for people (read: geeks) to get involved with the technical side of the website. We use a wide range of exciting and modern web technologies to bring this award-winning website from our editors creative minds onto the web and into your eyes. If you're interested in getting involved then please get in touch. Contact details are here.

Alex, Webmaster and news editor, durham21

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d21 news: Re-Freshers' Fair...

Uploaded 307 days ago by Victoria Raimes

The second exciting chapter in our not-quite-off-the-ground-yet blog
Hello. Welcome back. Here we are again, back in Durham for a second term - a term that will no doubt be full of misery and woe for the majority of us.
A great number of the durham21 team are already crying over our predictably 'fail-grade' dissertations, research projects and summatives, but we're still working hard (harder than ever, I'd wager, in the name of procrastination) to bring you a semi-respectable student site. So here's some general info about what's going on in the next few weeks:

Re-freshers' Fair: We shall have a stall at the Fair, held from 10-3pm in the DSU next Tuesday. Come visit us if you've been lurking on the site for a while and want to find out what we're about.
We're always looking for new writers and fresh ideas, so if you think you'd like to give this journalism malarky a bash we'd be delighted to meet you. Even if you're only up for berating something you've seen on the site, come down and say hi. There will be sweeties for all and a friendly, if mildly eccentric d21 team ready to talk to you.

Cinema Editor: It is a rare thing for one of the ultra-prestigious (ahem) positions on durham21 to be available, but the day has finally come. We're currently looking for a film buff who'll put pen to paper and review the latest cinematic offerings. A bit of journalism experience is preferred, but not essential if you can prove to us that you're the person for the job. Send all applications to editor@durham21.co.uk. Deadline Tuesday 22nd January.

New Columns: This term you'll be seeing a few new columns from various durham21 sections. You may already have spotted the first article in our new 'Durham Legends' series (find it here) and we are looking for further contributions. To give you a basic idea, a few of the legends I can think of include:
DUCK rag raid: did they break into Durham prison and leave a box of milktray?
Hanging a mini of Kingsgate bridge: did it actually happen?
College tropying: How did a bunch of Hatfield students steal the Marilyn Monroe statue from Castle? What other spectacular pranks are there to report?

If you can think of anything slightly legendary and interesting about Durham email info@durham21.co.uk.

Look out for our new music column, coming soon. It would also be good to get another restaurant review or two. La Tasca is looking awfully lonely at the moment - are we really too poor to go out and eat!?

Comments - tell us what you think of the site: Here at durham21 we get our fair share of grumbles and such...but if they're constructive, they can only be a good thing. If you have any suggestions, questions or criticisms of the site, tell us about them and we'll see what we can do. Email the editor or post them in the comments section below. We guarantee we'll reply and look into anything you say. (As long as you're not rude and you don't swear as us. That makes us cry.)

That's it for now. Hopefully see you Tuesday.

Victoria, deputy editor, durham21.

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The icewoman cometh, and is confused by technology

Uploaded 349 days ago by Narayani Menon

The grand introduction
So in preparation for this blog, I thought, right, I’ll get myself down with the kids. I’ll get an iPod, I’ll steal a tiny bike from a child, I’ll happyslap a hoody and demonstrate voter apathy. I can be cool, I thought. I can blog.

Much to my disappointment, however, a little further research proved that blogs are no longer the domain of livejournal-touting tweenie hoodlums. They’re lauded by travellers, allow for up-to-the-minute social commentary, put to full use by wannabe music journos and – gasp – constitute the current frontier for what’s euphemistically called ‘citizen journalism’. In a world where knowledge seems to be created by consensus rather than by some nebulous ‘heart’ of truth – see Wikipedia, see Google – blogging gives everyone their own little bit of input into the world (wide web).

So here we go, with a durham21 blog. The idea isn’t to replace the site – that will still be updated frequently – but to augment it with the sort of constant comment which doesn’t really have a place in the magazine-based format of the site. The d21 blog, then, is going to be an outlet for general comment, opinion, ranting, questions, observations and ideas. As with d21 proper, there’s a comments forum, and even more than on the site, this is a forum where we can explore the conversation between writers and readers. Since your comments change and shape our writing, this will be an online assembly where your ideas and our ideas combine and explode and clash and…I’m not going to make any predictions. If there’s anything I’ve learnt from the young hoodlums of tomorrow, it’s that there’s no saying what they’ll do next.

Narayani, editor, durham21.

NB: Narayani is 21, and prematurely ageing.

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