Stuart Kenny

When describing the French national football team, the term “underdog” would normally be irrelevant. The great footballing nation has a world cup title and two European Championships to its name, but Les Bleus will head to Ukraine this summer free from the weight of expectation, after a notoriously poor World Cup performance.

The 2010 World Cup saw the French side crash and burn in more ways than one. With Laurent Blanc now at the helm of the team, and a big redraft of the squad list, the underdog tag on the French cockerel may turn out to be one perfectly designed to set up an unexpected push for the championship.

After a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Belarus on the opening day of Euro 2012 qualification, the French support must have feared for the worst for the remainder of their international fixture list. However, Laurent Blanc has since seen his side embark on a 18 match unbeaten run. His experimental side has all the talent, and much less of the ego responsible for the national side’s infamous World Cup implosion.

Full story here.

Alex Chafey

It’s remarkable how an institution so apparently indifferent to child abuse as the Catholic Church continues to concern itself with the sexual activities of consenting adults.

Yet in the latest addition to the Vatican’s vast, 2000 year old anthology of morally corrupt behaviour, the Catholic Education Service has exhorted almost 400 Catholic high schools in the UK—teaching some 340000 pupils—to promote a petition against equal rights for gay people. The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has ordered an investigation into the legality of schools presenting a one-sided political view, a clear breach of teaching guidelines.

Gay marriage, seen by many as the final step to legal equality for homosexual couples, is likely to come into effect in the UK in the near future. Yet, as with European fascism, the AIDS epidemic and the acceptance of modern science, the Catholic Church has once again chosen to be on the wrong side of history, as it not only opposes the equality measure (which religious institutions will not have  to recognize anyway), but encourages the pupils of its schools to do so too.

Full article here.

Lucy Kenderdine

There is a rumour going around university that I’ve been hearing since my first lecture and that I’ve yet to see any proof of. Everyone believes it, despite having no clue as to where the idea started. The rumour I’m talking about is that a first class degree at university isn’t worth the hassle; all you need is a 2:1 and you’re home and dry, ready to take on any career you want after graduation.

In my final semester at university, and possibly a bit too late in my degree to really make use of the findings, I decided to investigate whether a first really is worth the hassle. Should anyone sacrifice other aspects of university life to attain the highest classification? Is it really worth spending late nights (which turn into very early mornings) in the library, declaring a self-imposed Facebook exile and generally avoiding all social interactions that do not focus on seminar presentations or tutor meetings? Will a first really make that much of a difference in the job market? …

Full article here.

Rory Anderson

A leading medic has expressed her ‘deepest concern’ for the Leeds University student behind the ‘Man vs. Booze’ videos.

 The 21-year-old art student, who has become an instant YouTube sensation after posting nine videos of himself completing various “alcohol challenges,” could end up causing “irreversible liver damage” if he carries on with his boozing ways, according to a medical professional.

Speaking to Leeds Student, medical specialist Catherine Walsh warned that the man “clearly hasn’t a clue about the ramifications of what he is doing.”

The student is believed to have already drunk close to 160 units of alcohol on screen in the last two weeks; almost four times the maximum suggested amount for that period of time.

Walsh said the “liver damage may not be irreversible, yet he’s clearly not aware of the other damage the alcohol will have done and will be doing. Also, has he not realised how this could be viewed by a future employer? He needs to be very careful.”

Full story here.

James Murray

Examination concessions are simply not justifiable within the current examination system. Having been assessed as dyslexic, I am entitled to 25% extra time on examinations, yet even to me this seems grossly unfair.

Assuming that examinations are meant as markers to society and prospective employers of our proficiency at performing certain tasks I cannot understand why those who will always be impaired at such tasks should therefore be entitled to effectively mask that impairment.

With few exceptions most people are generally constrained by the stringent timing of examinations. Given that such an onus is placed upon expediency it seems reasonable to assume that it is therefore considered a valuable skill by society and employers. If I am incapacitated in this way, why should I be allowed to compensate for it and present a false impression of my skills?…

Full article here.

Tom Beardsworth

Neil Kinnock famously quipped that ‘those who call Peter Mandelson an ‘evil genius’ are only half-right’. When I put this to the now ennobled Lord Mandelson, he cracks up into laughter – an uncharacteristic release of energy. The truth, I suggest, is that the two aren’t quite mutually exclusive, even mutually reinforcing. This time he reveals a wry smile and a knowing glance to his aide; he seems relaxed, jovial but overall – in control.

Since Labour failed to get a majority at the last election, the peer has maintained a ferocious schedule, globe-trotting, meeting foreign leaders – especially in the EU, on which he delivered the annual ‘Hands Lecture’ last Friday…

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Jack McKenna

The main event is surely the three Test Series against South Africa, which begins on July 19th at the Oval.

England struggled in Asia this winter, losing 3-0 in the Test Series with Pakistan in the UAE. Most worrying of all, the previously infallible top six struggled, with no batsman reaching three figures. Matters improved upon winning the One Day Series and the Twenty20, and normal service was resumed in beating Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Colombo last month.

Before South Africa arrive however, England face three Tests against the West Indies, starting at Lords on May 17th. This will be no walk in the park for Andrew Strauss’ men, with West Indian lynchpin Shivnarine Chanderpaul a thorn in the side of any bowling attack.

Full article here.

Reanne MacKenzie

As a twenty-year old, the last thing I want right now is a baby.

I’m terrified of getting pregnant. However, sometimes I do find myself getting broody: seeing babies makes me happy.  I love watching One Born Every Minute and bawling my eyes out at the euphoric moment when the baby finally arrives. I know that I want children, and glibly assume that I will be able to have them.

But what if I can’t? What if I start trying for a baby and I find out my eggs are no good, that I’m infertile? I don’t know what I would do. So, I have immense sympathy for infertile couples that rely on egg donations to help them conceive. That said, (and I know this is hypocritical) I probably wouldn’t donate my own eggs; at least not at this age.

The company Altrui who run a “truly personal egg donation service” have recently been leafleting in some colleges’ pigeon holes. There’s something about this that I find vaguely sinister. I looked up their website, and for all its talk of helping women, and believing in “integrity, honesty, determination and kindness,” it struck me as a bit of a sales pitch. It could have been a site offering bespoke holidays, the way it promised an egg donation “exclusively for you”…

Full article here.

Vickie Morrish

…If you’d told me a few years ago that by the time I was twenty I’d regularly be spending my time wiping excrement off another human being, I would have been enormously offended, and probably questioned your twisted sense of humour. You see, being single and having a child wasn’t in the life plan – let alone having a child at the tender age of eighteen. When I was twelve I envisioned myself being relatively child-free until around thirty, when suddenly I would ‘settle down’, get married to Hugh Grant’s younger brother, and pop out a set of twins named Tom and Jerry. But I’ve realised two vital things in the eight years in between. Firstly, that Tom and Jerry were never going to be good name choices, whatever the circumstances. Naming your children after a fictional duo of an unlucky cat and a devious mouse just isn’t a good move for the playground. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, that life doesn’t care about the plans you have for it. But I’ve adjusted, and I’m loving the adjustment, despite the copious amount of nappy changes.

Having a child is alien to most students – many of my friends were petrified even to go near Bailey when he was a baby, in case (a) he started crying (a given) or (b) they got asked to hold him (also a given). But what I’ve learnt from being both an Oxford student and a toddler’s mum, is how there are a few common ways that can help you to survive both…

Full article here.