By Julien Fiévez

On the evening of Friday the 5^th of March, a Rhodes University student was knocked over by a scooter in New Street.

The accident happened shortly after 10pm whilst the pedestrian was crossing the road on his way to a club.

The driver of the scooter was visibly distressed. Reportedly, he was under the influence of alcohol and had only had his licence for a few days.

Emergency crews were on the scene within minutes, as were the police.

The pedestrian was rushed to Settlers hospital, but he incurred no serious injuries. After receiving stitches for several cuts, he spent Friday evening under observation in the hospital. With minor bruises and scratches, he was released early on Saturday morning to return to his residence.

Update of this story coming soon, please keep visiting the website for more details.

The Red Elephant Project is a new competition that the theoppidanpress.com is running in hopes of encouraging students to ‘go green’.

This competition is based on the saying that ‘there is an elephant in the room that no body is talking about’. We have called it the Red Elephant Project as we want to represent ‘going green’ Oppidanpress.com style.

The idea is that you, the students, send in proof to REDelephant@theoppidanpress.comof doing ‘green things’. Photos and short videos are both acceptable.

We will then ‘pop in’ to check up on you at any given time with an under-cover camera crew to make sure that you really have turned ‘green’.

The reward will be a surprise-prize sponsored by one of our friendly, Grahamstown businesses.

Our resident DJ Andy (or DJ Chop) will be running the competition.

Please listen to our RMR advert above!
Or download it here:
Red Elephant (600KB)

In this edition, Fabiana Giorgi, a BJOURN kid that calls Zambia home, reveals her blog entry before, during and after O-week…

The windy road, the wind blowing in my hair, the sound of Jack Johnson music in the background all taking over as  I approached Rhodes with this fairly ‘laid back’ attitude, clearly unaware of the mayhem and chaos that would soon become known to me as O-week.

Upon arrival my trusty companion and I were directed to Eden Grove for registration. Never mind that the lines were three hours long, we were soon to be official “Rhodents”. Three hours and a student card picture fit for a prison record later i was ready to start my new life at Rhodes.

Besides the introductory lectures, the “how do i use the library” courses and the “what does Sharc stand for?” campaigns, what really intrigued me was the nightlife found on campus. From the handy little glasses from The Union to the stairs at Friars that most first years seemed to fall up, let alone down, my O-week seems to be one big blur.

Although I must say the one thing I remember about O-week was “seal clubbing” and the various forms of warning against it. Take my friend for example. While dancing in Friars I dropped my student card on the floor. Some poor fourth year happened to pick it up and hand it back to me. Before I even had a chance to say thank you my arm was nearly yanked out my socket and I was dragged away with my friends screeching voice saying “HE’S TRYING TO SEAL CLUB YOU!” as the music cut. Needless to say the guy was not impressed.

Along with all the unidentified drinking injuries and debaucherous behaviour displayed during O-week, I feel like I am now well equipped to take on any kind of “party”, for example the “Field party” but that’s a different story all together. For now I am enjoying the quietness of my res as well as the company of my kettle in the hope that I may one day recover from the Rhodes O-week of 2010.

Look out for our team asking students what they think and you could be up on our site next month!

1)      Name: Ania Barma

Age: 21

Degree: BA

What you did this valentine’s day: “I went for a milkshake with a friend”

Additional comments: “I don’t like Valentine’s Day much, it’s commercialised and the typical Valentine’s Day gifts are kitsch.”

2)      Name: Sarah Green

Age: 19

Degree: BA

What you did this valentine’s day: “I went to a friends’ house to watch a movie and chat”

Additional comments: “I think it’s an over commercialized money-making scam. If you love someone enough, you will show him or her how you feel every day, not just when society says you should… it keeps the card makers in business.”

3)      Name: Zolani Baneti

Age: 23

Degree: BA

What you did this valentine’s day: “I spent time with my girl friend”

4)      Name: Bradley Janssen

Age: 20

Degree: BJRN

What you did this valentine’s day:      Spent the day in Addo Elephant Park with 8 French chicks

Additional comments: “It’s cool but over-rated”

5)      Name: Natnael Anoude

Age: 21

Degree: BA

What you did this valentine’s day: “I slept and recovered for half a day, then I went out and got intoxicated and made a lot of friends”

Additional comments: “I think it is a commercialised, money making ‘holiday’… but the concept is beautiful”

6)      Name: Sivuyisiwe Ngcaba

Age: 21

Degree: Bcom

What you did this valentine’s day: “I chilled with the girls- wine and sushi”

Additional comments: “I think it is a lovely day if your boyfriend is at Rhodes with you, but mine isn’t.”

7)      Additional Name: Storme Sydow

Age: 20

Degree: BJRN

What you did this valentine’s day: “I and a bunch of other people had a picnic on the lawns. We ate a huge cake and had a couple glasses of wine.”

Additional comments: “Valentine’s day to me is just another day”

8)      Name: Darryn Ah Yui

Age: 21

Degree: BSc

What you did this valentine’s day: “I did nothing because my girlfriend is not here so I just sent her a letter.”

9)      Name: Namsa Krawa

Age: 19

Degree: BA

What you did this valentine’s day: “I didn’t do anything exciting, I just stayed in at home.”

Additional comments: “I think it’s a day of celebrating your love with the one’s you love”

10)  Name: Tom Esteba

Age: 19

Degree: BJRN

What you did this valentine’s day: “I gave my girlfriend a gift 2 weeks earlier. Our anniversary and valentine’s day are on the same day.”

Crime in Grahamstown

As Oppidans or even average res students we all know someone that has been a victim of crime in Grahamstown.

What do you think about the high levels of crime in Grahamstown?

Have your say below!

Our resident ‘agony aunt’ is right here to relate to! This month she tackles ‘Valentine’s Day Demons’… guys and girls ‘this is it’ with Roza Carvalho

I’m pissed off. To be more accurate, I was pissed off. Yesterday. On Valentines Day. You’ll be happy to know, that besides possibly having the new strain of swine flu, my emotional state is considerably better.

Does that communicate to you exactly how much I loathe that squishy heart, chocolate rich day? Yes, you may accuse me of being a bitter shrew. Guilty as charged.

Of course, I will be the first to admit to being fickle. Send me some roses, some form of sugar and any type of corny cuddly being and I will love the day fervently. I might even smile as that couple walks past, instead of silently cursing them and my single doom.

I find myself going through four distinct stages leading up to Valentines Day and culminating the day after. The first, more pleasant one of ‘said phases’ is filled with hope and happy expectation. Someone out there loves me secretly and I will find myself inundated with hordes of Valentines kitsch. On the other end of the spectrum, it will finally be the day that I tell that person I have secretly been yearning for with every particle of my being that I’m in ‘like’ with them.  Actually, I wouldn’t have been quite certain about that part.

Alas, it does not last. I drag myself into the reality of the situation, learnt at the ‘Valentine’s Day School of Experience’.

The second stage is still positive though. You are a strong, independent, unusually charming (slight exaggeration) woman, who definitely doesn’t need roses and chocolate. Repeat this phrase three times daily after alcohol. I find like minded people, who talk of anti-Valentines Day bashes and share their cynicism about the commercial, corporate bullshit day.

After this comes the hard part. Valentines Day and the third stage. I’m not wading through a sea of Princess-Diana-like-flowers at my front door, breathing in their sweet scent, contemplating love and existence. No. I’m doing terribly mundane things, like washing the dishes and dealing with an ant infestation.

I find little solace in finishing my Cold War essay and the quarter glass of wine that was left after all my self-medicating.

Then the rage builds and I do little to constrain it. I let my indignation and anger simmer at a healthy temperature for the rest of the day. Sleep is more than welcome. Today, in the midst of the final stage, acceptance, I’m relatively okay. Besides the burning sensation at the back of my throat and the growing heap of vile tissues next to my keyboard that is.

I’ve got a year till I need to be put on the wrack again. Or maybe not…

In this edition we ask you what you thought of Valentine’s Day and got some interesting responses!

We also sent a reporter to the Health Suite to ‘get fit’ for you and give you the low-down on all the best exercises to do when you eventually make it to the gym.

We’ve covered everything from campus fashion to thoughts on social entrepreneurship so get surfing and check out our latest content!

In the spirit of ‘going green’ we have launched a competition where you send in ‘proof’ of doing ‘green things’. Check out our podcast advert on RMR and the website for more information. We could be paying you back for your green deeds before you know it!

Till the next edition kids!

Lisa Brigham

The Oppidan Press.com Editor

A university degree is no longer a guarantee of future security; and it is highly likely that this generation of graduates will be engaging with the survival tactics of entrepreneurship.

While it is easy to feel slightly overwhelmed by society’s current confusion, don’t forget that chaos represents opportunity.

I recently watched ‘Che: The Argentine’ at Pepper Grove and realized that today’s revolution is no longer armed struggle, but rather [r]evolution of the mind. The strongest thread running through this revolution is social entrepreneurship.

Today’s revolutionaries are demanding Uhuru on the level of possibility. They are social entrepreneurs using entrepreneurial principles to organize and create social change.

Forerunners in this thought revolution include South African Bodyshop founder Anita Roddick, Kenyan democracy activist Wangari Maathai, and, perhaps surprisingly, rebel billionaire Richard Branson.

Branson would agree that entrepreneurial mindset represents this generation’s biggest potential investment for both our collective and individual future.

Today’s engaged citizens are no longer, by definition, barefoot and broke. Realistically, cash funds dreams.  There would be no Branson School for Entrepreneurship or Carbon War Room had Branson chosen to spend the rest of his life chaining himself to trees.

That’s not to say, however, that we don’t need people chaining themselves to trees. It was estimated in 2001 in the scientific journal New Scientist that proposed developments at that stage would leave only five percent of pristine Amazon rainforest intact by 2020. But my point, aside from the value of ‘direct action’ such as that I experienced at the 2007 Climate Camp outside Heathrow airport, is that wealth increases an individual’s leverage for social change.

It’s not all about the money though. In today’s entrepreneurial language wealth is a mindset. Wealth emerges from a personal investment in your own capacity to act and through investing time in creating a network of relationships. Social visionary Roger Hamilton defines wealth as being “what you are left with when you lose all your money”.

This relates to fellow Rhodes student Lowell Scarr’s quote at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation’s recent orientation weekend, “To really develop a country, you need to develop its people”.

Over the next two weeks I will be looking into the ‘carbon war room’ conceptualised by Branson and the phenomenon of an emerging ‘democratic nation’ of entrepreneurial change makers spearheaded by Roger Hamilton.

Very interesting times!

Bruce Haynes is a Rhodes University Student, Allan Gray Fellow and Capestorm-sponsored spoken word artist. You can follow him on his MySpace and his twitter feed. You can also check him out on his blog at:http://mental-guerilla-warfare.blogspot.com/

Want to build muscle? Want to look slim and sexy? Or do you just want to keep fit, while socialising and meeting new people? Well then the Rhodes Health Suite is the place to be!

Situated just behind King’s Field and next to the university’s tennis courts, the Rhodes Health Suite has something for everyone, boasting a weight and cardio section, aerobic and spinning classes as well as a Personal Training Program.

Gym members are able to train at their own leisure, with numerous classes available at differing times each day of the week, while the weights section is open from 5am to 10am, and 12pm to 9pm on weekdays, and 2pm to 5pm on weekends.

To get you started, personal trainer Pete Moores-Pitt demonstrates 5 different work-out moves that both guys and girls can try out:

Barbell Squat:

For this exercise, place the barbell on your shoulder, push your traps back while keeping your back straight. Then squat down until your quads are horizontal to the floor, before slowly returning to the starting position.

This work-out will target your lower back, quads as well as your hamstrings.

Dumbbell Lunges:

Holding a dumbbell in each hand, place one leg forward, bending your trailing leg in the same motion. Keep your back straight, and ensure that your front knee does not extend past your front foot. Alternate between left and right foot.

This exercise will strengthen your core, quads and hamstrings.

Barbell Bench Press:
While in a horizontal position, hold the barbell just outside shoulder width apart above your chest. Then lower the barbell to roughly a fist distance above your chest, before slowly pushing it back up again.

This will work your major and minor pectorals, as well as your triceps.

Stability Ball Crunches:

For this workout, sit on a stability ball with your feet against the wall for balance. Lower your back until it is parallel to the floor, and then gradually come back up again. This will build your core and abdominal muscles, which are constantly engaged throughout the exercise.

Power Clean and Press

Place your legs just outside shoulder width apart, with your hands in an overhand grip on the bar. Starting with the bar at hip-height, fling the barbell up to shoulder height, and then raise it up over your head, before returning to shoulder height, and then back down to the starting position. You should feel a burning sensation in your shoulders and traps.

So there you have it, a full body workout that will have those muscles pumping in no time!

Sign up for the Health Suite will take place on Tuesday, 23 February at the Health Suite itself. For students wanting personal training, you can email the PT Manager at ruhspt@gmail.com.

From the 2^nd till the 8^thof December 2009, the Rhodes University Underwater Club embarked on a trip dedicated to SCUBA diving on Aliwal Shoal, a marine protected area (MPA) about 70km below Durban and 5km offshore from the Umkomaas River mouth. MPA’s are some of the last remaining areas where divers can experience a glimpse at a modicum of how bountiful our oceans used to be, and our diving team, consisting of 11 Underwater Club members, was lucky enough to clock six dives on the shore.

By: Alex Lenferna

(Rhodes Underwater Club Chairperson)
In December 2009, the Rhodes University Underwater Club embarked on a trip dedicated to SCUBA diving on Aliwal Shoal, a marine protected area (MPA) about 70km below Durban and 5km offshore from the Umkomaas River mouth. MPA’s are some of the last remaining areas where divers can experience a glimpse at a modicum of how bountiful our oceans used to be, and our diving team, consisting of 11 Underwater Club members, was lucky enough to clock six dives on the shoal.

Each of our dives took place on a different spot along the shoal, which provided for a diverse experience of what Aliwal had to offer. Just some of the marvellous creatures that we were able to experience in their natural habitat of the coral reef were: scorpion fish, honeycomb eels, parrot fish, ragged-tooth sharks, large schools of Moorish Idols, crayfish, lion fish, nudibranchs and loggerhead turtles to name just a few.

Apart from diving with down with marine creatures we also were lucky enough to see a pod of common dolphins, and a humpback whale and her calf, which began breaching right next to our boat. For many however the real highlight was, what was for many of our divers, their first real shark dive. On our last day of diving we set out for a dive dedicated to diving with sharks, and we were not disappointed. For just over an hour we were able to free and SCUBA dive with what must have been at times over 25 sharks, ranging from Black Tip, Dusky, Tiger, and Bull (Zambezi) sharks.

Contrary to what Jaws would have many believe the sharks were only fleetingly curious about us, and were more concentrated mostly on other sources of food, which allowed for most of our divers to have the phenomenal experience of watching these highly revered apex predators in their natural habitat and at times even getting to stroke them. It was an experience that gave many not only a new perspective on sharks, but also of their own vulnerability.

Our trip was also educational as we got to experience the Oceanographic Research Institute, Ushaka Museum andwe also learnt -thanks to Blue Wilderness (our dive centre)- about the evils of the often highly lauded Natal Sharks Board.

For more information about the Underwater Club please visit the website at the following address and feel free to contact the committee: http://www.ru.ac.za/underwater.

For more information about the Natal (Anti) Sharks Board see: www.sharkangels.org