Things to unlearn

after term one

Getting to know:
Loose Change

GAP: the decision

to report

The Oppidan Press

Edition 2, 16 March 2016

Cover design: AMY-JANE HARKESS

The Oppidan Press 16 March 2016

News Features

Unlearn to
Know More

University is about more than what you

learn in o-week orientation.
Lili Barras-Hargan

s the first term of 2016

draws to a close, it is
important to reflect on the
countless lessons that have been
learnt, both inside and outside the
lecture halls. Although conversations about transformation have
been ever-present around the Rhodes University campus, it is important to consider the exclusionary
traditions and teachings that go on
behind closed doors.
Concerns surrounding the
inclusiveness of many of the traditions at Rhodes have been discussed
for years. However, within the first
three days of O-Week this year, SRC
Activism and Transformation Councillor Naledi Mashishi posted on the
SRC page about a case of serenadegoers singing derogatory songs
about women. Although one of

the sub-wardens leading the group

apologised, this highlights a fissure
in the leadership programmes
and training workshops at Rhodes
University.
Throughout O-Week, spaces for
discussion were open to first-year
students in many forms. Daily talks
organised by the university delved,
among others, into topics such as
fire safety and community engagement. In addition, the Unzip Your
Knowledge production, presented
by Ubom!, provided a crash course
of what to expect from university.
From the loss of a DP to the dark
side of the Grahamstown nightlife,
the production left no question
unanswered and encouraged a
post-production discussion between
cast members and the audience to
ensure this. New this year were the
Lived Experiences talks - organised
by Mashishi herself - where topics

The unaltered traditions such as seal clubbing that are practiced by students are questioned in the dawn of our
transformation era. PHOTO: ROBYN BARNES
such as white privilege and sexuality
were raised.
Although these talks aim to arm
students with the skills and vocabulary to successfully negotiate their
first year of university, the meetings
organised within residences can
easily undo this learning. One of
the most important conversations
or first-years is about safe sex at
university.
It is generally assumed that arriving students are equipped with
sufficient knowledge of safe sex, but
some people may require a formal
space for these discussions. When
poorly trained comm members are
reluctant to engage with their peers

and make unconstructive comments

in the face of questions, it can foster
a sense of confusion surrounding
safe sex. There have been countless incidents of unprofessionalism
during these conversations. In one
female residence, first-year students
were told, just dont be the campus
mattress. In male residences, the
focus can often veer from being
sexual health-oriented to general
etiquette, such as keeping noise
levels down.
In recent years, some female residences have been given safe sex talks
by representatives of the Health Care
Centre. Through asking a professional to step into any residence sex

talk, comm members are not under

the pressure of creating a comprehensive, informative space, while
also providing all the facts. Being
guided by a trained professional
also guarantees a focus on sexual
health across all sexualities, which
is imperative during these residence
discussions.
While much has been learnt in
the past six weeks, it is always important to keep in mind the bigger
picture at university and in South
Africa. It is one of transformation
and progression that requires continuous self-reflection and criticism
of the systems that have been set in
place for too long.

What do you want to see change this year?

Kathryn Cleary

In October last year, the Fees Must Fall student movement took the country
by storm. As such, Rhodes University students have become immersed in
the discourse surrounding transformation and student activism. With issues
revolving around topics of politics, race, and decolonisation, students are constantly thinking about a way forward. With the year 2016 just beginning, The
Oppidan Press asked students what they want to see change this year.

Mike Searle, 2nd year student,

Nandi Jakeja, 4th year student,

Mlondiwethu Dubazane, 3rd year

student,

Id like to see more respect from

people in general because I believe
that through respect you can change a
lot of things. Just by basically respecting everyone, you can bring a lot of
people together.

I really just want white people

to wake up. Its time for change,
wake up. Its not just my job.

Id like to see white people stop using

their white privilege as making themselves as better whites.

Heather Dixon, 3rd year student,

I think there needs to be a compulsory
University initiative for all degrees like a
how to be woke or awaken yourselves
course that will cover race, feminism, and
queer issues, every kind of thing.

16 March 2016 The Oppidan Press

News Features

Blocked drains a concern at Rhodes University

Nuthoni Menolia

n the week beginning 14 February, Rhodes University pedestrians were confronted with overflowing sewage along various sections of Prince Alfred street. According to a number
of sources, the sewage originated from a sewer near Kimberly
Hall and ran down the lawns alongside the African Media
Matrix. Although the issue has been rectified, this is not the first
instance of overflowing sewage on campus and such instances
remain a significant health concern.
Malcolm Martin, a plumber employed by the Building Maintenance Department, explained that the sewage overflow came as
a result of a build-up of various substances in the sewage systems

surrounding Kimberly Hall.

Kimberly Hall, Miriam Makeba Hall and Desmond Tutu Hall
occupy the same building and serve a total of 1100 meals during
each meal time. This building is served by a network of pipes which
continues past the surrounding residences before joining up with
the main sewage system in Prince Alfred Street. Martin said the
pipes had become blocked with a mixture of fat from the dining
halls, cloth and other residue from residences, and built-up roots
which had not been cleared since before the summer vacation. This
happened despite the local municipality being notified. However,
the housekeeping staff from Kimberly Hall claimed that the buildup of food should not be an issue anymore thanks to measures put
in place by Food Services.

Simon Wright, Food Services Manager at Rhodes University,

explained that the university implements a system called Momar.
Momar is a chemical which breaks down food waste and is used
in the drains of dining halls to avoid blockages. Due to the large
amounts of waste entering the sinks of Kimberly, Miriam Makeba
and Desmond Tutu Halls, these dining halls have drains with
greater performance capabilities and use higher concentrations of
Momar than other dining halls.
The problem was dealt with swiftly by the relevant departments.
Wright has given his assurance that he will address the matter with
the company who oversees Momar, while the Maintenance Department continues to wait for the local municipality to address the
issue of roots in the sewage system.

Rhodes is faced with sewage issues, particularly affecting the residences and dining halls situated up the hill. Photo: KYLE PRINSLOO

Whos Who? Loose Change Events

Kathryn Cleary
In each edition, The Oppidan
Press is going to sit down with one
prominent person or organisation
within the university community
and discuss their feelings regarding
local transformation, activism, and
current events. This edition we spoke
with Loose Change Events, a student
run organisation renowned for hosting events such as the recent Peachy
Beach, in Kenton-on-Sea. However,
little do students and members
of the community know that the
impact of the organisations beachy
parties extends much further.
Q: Partying for the People, Partying with a Purpose, what do these
slogans mean for the local Grahamstown community?
The slogan comes from the ethos
of Loose Change Events, which is to
do something for the greater community. The thought process behind
this was that students love to party,
so we asked ourselves how can we
develop something positive out of this
which would help the Grahamstown
community as a whole. Thus came the
idea of creating an amazing experience whose main aim was to take

little from everyone so that together

we could give back a lot to those who
need it.
Q: What are some of the community events Loose Change has done
in the past? What can we expect for
this year?
In the past, we have helped communities like the SPCA or The
Grahamstown Feeding Association.
We normally spend a day at the SPCA
with the animals and try learn from
the process of having to care for
them. Weve also donated food to the
Feeding Association. Apart from that
we have done donation of clothes as
well. This year since Peachy Beach, we
plan to donate all the clothes received
to the people who need them most.
Apart from that Loose Change plans
on starting various non-profit subsidiaries in order to try and give back
even more to the community.
Q: How can students become more
involved with the organisation?
Well, after each event we do
organise a volunteer day and even
throughout the term we have these
volunteer days where anyone who is
willing to come and help us is more
than welcome to join. Weve teamed

up with RU Green before to help plant

some indigenous trees in places where
its needed. Notifications for the volunteer day are put out well in advance
so anyone willing to help will certainly
know when our next one is planned.
As an organisation, Loose Change
Events has three main agendas: we
have the humanitarian side, the social
side, and the environmental side. We
try to make sure we focus on each aspect as they are all equally important.
Q: What is something that
students may not know about the organisation, but you wish they knew
more about?
It is entirely student run. People
normally think Loose Change is this
outside organisation when in fact its
completely comprised of students
who sit in the same lecture halls,
dining halls, and exam halls. Rhodes
University taught us to [combine] the
concept of having a good time whilst
helping the community, and that is
what Loose Change is all about.
Students can learn more about opportunities with Loose Change Events
directly via their Facebook page, or
via their email address loosechangeevents@gmail.com.

Follow @theoppidanpress

news on the go

FM
For more information go to www.oppidanpress.com

The Oppidan Press

16 March 2016

Opinion

The Oppidan Press

What a time to be a student!

Mahlatse Magau

It has been an incredibly short term and all of us have been scrambling
to get assignments in and keep on top of all the significant upheavals
and changes which have happened on campus and on campuses around
the country. It has been much the same for us at The Oppidan Press.
The Oppidan Press is still a fairly new paper as it has only been around
since 2007. In that time it has already experienced one major makeover in
which the entire look and purpose of the newspaper was revamped. As a
result of the fantastic work of that team, we have inherited a media organisation that is well recognised at the University currently known as Rhodes,
in Grahamstown and in South Africa as well.
This year has shown us that a media organisation, even one as small as a
student newspaper, cannot afford to stand still and rest on their laurels but
rather has to move with the times and innovate in order to stay relevant
and interesting. Our online culture has meant that students will first look
to their cellphones or computers for their news updates and information. So that is where we have to make sure our information is, in order to
remain relevant.
In addition to this, the economics of running a newspaper have seriously changed and as a result so do our business models. While newspapers have run on a steady stream of advertising revenue for the last few
decades these channels are slowly drying up with advertisers preferring to
place adverts online.
For Oppi, this means that we have had to make the decision to take a
small step away from the intensive print editions which we have always
brought out. Instead we will now be putting together interactive PDFs and
ramp up our online content.
This will mean we will be able to stretch our capabilities to provide
interesting articles for our readers, as well as allow our staff to extend their
skills beyond just putting pen to paper. This does not mean that there will
be no printed editions but rather that those which are printed will be of a
higher quality and will focus on a specific issue such as transformation or
our annual Investec Top 100 content.
We will also be able to marry our content from all the different arms of
the organisation into more cohesive content which will be more exciting
for our readers, viewers and listeners.
This is an exciting time for students journalists for a number of reasons
and us at The Oppidan Press are so happy to welcome our staff (new and
old) and the students and staff of the University to join us in this time of
transition, learning and improvement.

The Oppidan Press staff and contact details

Editor-in-Chief: Leila Stein. Deputy Editor: Lili Barras-Hagan. Financial
Manager: Zikisa Maqubela . Advertising Manager: Bianca Matthis.
Marketing Manager: Leila Kidson. Online Editor: Liam Stout. Assistant
Online Editors: Leila Kidson, Pierre Durandt. News Features Editor:
Muthoni Munida. Assistant News Features Editor: Nonay Hlela Politics
Editor: Kathryn Cleary. Opinion Editor: Mokgatle Thulare. Arts &
Entertainment Editor: Ayanda Gigaba. Assistant Arts & Entertainment
Editor: Emma Campbell. Scitech Editor: Jason Leonard. Environment
Editor: Josh Stein. Sports Editor: Sam Johnson. Chief Photo Editor:
Bronwyn Pretorius. Assistant Chief Photo Editors: Kyle Prinsloo, Vicky
Patrick. Sub-Editors: Emily Stander, Lebogang Mashego. Chief Designer:
Tiffany Mac Sherry. Assistant Chief Designer: Lauren Dixon-Paver.
Junior Designers: Athi Conjwa, Abigayle Daniels, Cameron Seegers, Ellen
Heydenrych. Senior Designers: Tevin Tobias, Amy Harkess. External
Content Advisors: Chelsea Haith, Kate Jennings. OppiTV Chief Editor:
Phiwokuhle Mandisa Dhlamini. OppiTV Managing Editor: Mayo Twala .
OppiTV Content Editor: Zama Luthuli. OppiFM Chief Editor: Julia Fish.
OppiFM Managing Editor: Collette Prince. Ombudsperson: Professor
Anthea Garman.
Letters to the Editor: editor@oppidanpress.com
Advertising details: advertising@oppidanpress.com
www.oppidanpress.com
www.facebook.com/theoppidanpress
www.twitter.com/oppidanpress @oppidanpress

The Oppidan Press publishes letters which are bona fide expressions of opinion provided that they are not clearly libellous,
defamatory, racist or sexist. We publish anonymous letters, but as
an act of good faith on your part, we require your full name. We
reserve the right to shorten letters due to space constraints and to
edit them for grammatical inaccuracies. Letters that do not make it
into our print edition will be published on our website.

h, what a time it is to be a student. Suddenly we

are the cause for all the problems in the world,
just because we are supposedly the confused little
younglings pretending to know what we want to do with
our lives and our degrees are our very first step to total
world dictatorship.
Pity I couldnt get to work today, the students are at it
again
Oh dear it really is a problem. We probably wont even
have electricity tonight because the rascals would have
burned down all the power plants at the rate theyre going
We can only pray our boy doesnt become like them.
I dont think he will. Weve raised him too well.
Now for the gospel:
The students are not marching because they are black.
The students are marching because the country is facing a
serious economic crisis and with the cost of living rapidly
increasing at the pace it currently is families cannot afford
the fees. They are simply economically disadvantaged. A
student is also not economically disadvantaged just
because they are black either. There are students
nationwide of multiple cultures and races that are
faced with the economic struggle as well.
Students, the fees do need to fall. I agree. We
care about our parents and love them and understand that they can only make so much money
and thus we feel the need to assist them by relieving them of some pressure.
However, this will not happen instantaneously.
Judging by the speeches made during the protests
and the steps that are taken, these actions are taken
with the expectation that tertiary education will be
made free immediately.
Sadly, that is not possible, at least not in our country.
The most realistic goal that can be achieved from the activism is that the fees be gradually lowered, but that does
not mean that the fight should stop.

Keyboard warriors, we simply cannot just enjoy logging

onto Facebook anymore. We live in an era where we interact
with each other 24/7 and we need to use our influence to
change the mindsets of those who do not yet understand
what the fight is about. I mean that, the passion and conviction that we burn the keypads of our phones with is powerful. Let us use that to our advantage.

Photo: ASHLEIGH MAY

Bridging the Gap:

To report or not to report?

Naledi Mashishi

CW: rape, sexual assault

Why didnt you report him?
Theres a very specific set of reasons
I decided not to tell anyone outside
a small group of people in what was
supposed to be a safe space about my
sexual assault. One of the reasons is
that I had decided not to report, for
personal reasons, and I did not want
to have to answer the above question.
These reasons, as well as the incident
itself, were something I was perfectly
content to forget about. Until one
day, the SRC found itself embroiled
in controversy and I found myself
having this incident used in a personal attack against me by a student.
The personal attack was a shock to
my system. It forced me to once again
think about exactly what I had been
trying to forget. I started remembering
the sexual assault. Once again, I was
asked by others and ultimately asked
myself, why had I not reported the
incident? Perhaps, most importantly, I
once again began to radically question
the notion that there should be an
expectation imposed on survivors to

report.
It is a narrative that we frequently
hear. We are often told that over half of
all sexual assault victims do not report
their assault and that over 90% of all
perpetrators do not spend even one
day in jail. We are fed the idea that if
we are assaulted we should report it,
and if we report it the perpetrator will
go to jail.
But we are not often told of the
second hand victimisation that we are
likely to experience while reporting.
The second hand victimisation that
leads to survivors being treated carelessly by the authorities they report to,
and that leads to being questioned on
every decision made that led up to the
incident itself including the survivors
choice of clothing, company, and
sexual history. We are not told of just
how often it is that the perpetrator is
absolved, despite being reported, while
the survivor is left with new scars.
This is not to scare off any survivors
who do want to report their assaults. A
survivor who wishes to report should
of course be given all the support
they need. Rather, this is to say that
the decision to not report is one that
many survivors make for a variety of

reasons. All of these reasons are valid.

There are a number of societal
factors that make reporting difficult.
One is the pervasive idea that there is
a perfect victim, a morally upright
woman who is assaulted while doing
something as innocuous as walking
down a street. Survivors who dont fit
this mold are often subjected to victim
blaming. Another is the fact that the
majority of perpetrators are known to
their victims and this may deter a survivor from reporting them. Another
is the fact that many survivors are assumed to be lying because of the myth
that women lie about being raped out
of revenge because they feel guilty
about having sex.
The belief that a survivor needs to
report in order to prevent the perpetrator from assaulting again is one that
is rooted in rape culture, as it places
responsibility for the perpetrators actions on the survivor. Regardless of the
reasons, a survivors choice to report
or not report is a decision that should
be respected by all parties. Perhaps
then, before one questions the validity of not reporting, one should first
question how our society treats those
who do.

16 March 2016

The Oppidan Press

Features

Meet the Black Lawyers Association

The Black Lawyers Association

he Black Lawyers Association

(BLA) was established in 1977
in response to the exclusion
of black lawyers in the South African
legal profession. Under the leadership of Mr. Godfrey Pitje, the society
dedicated itself to the promotion of
justice and transformation in the
legal profession.
The BLA Rhodes Student Chapter
are pioneers of the legacy of the BLA
and seek to protect as well as promote
it. At Rhodes, the BLA is a society
whose mandate is for transformation
They identify themselves as being
more than just a society, but rather a
movement. The BLA aims to advance
and facilitate transformation in the
student community through the
implementation of a number of events
and programmes. Guest speakers that
the society plans on inviting this year,
as well as the various educational
programmes they will be spearheading, are centred around promoting the
ongoing dialogue regarding transformation and equality in our country.
Being a society which is geared
towards transformation, the BLA
stand for all things which support the

theme of equal treatment and justice

for all. They also strongly believe in
the notion that individuals should be
afforded equal opportunities in the
legal sphere as far as possible. People
will be aware of the protests that were

conducted by a number of (majority

black) advocates against the allegedly
skewed and discriminatory briefing
patterns of South African advocates
late last year. The Black Lawyers Association National Executive Committee

gave its unequivocal support of the

movement and its stance on that matter is indicative of what the society
stands for at Rhodes. They want to
promote a culture of an intelligent and
professional community of thinkers

A letter by the Black Lawyers Association addresses the aims and missions implemented by the association surrounding injustice and transformation. Photo: GODFREY TAFADZWA KADZERE

and to introduce students to the issues

they will confront in society when they
eventually become practising lawyers.
Important to communicate to
students too, is the fact that BLA is an
inclusive society. There is a tendency
among students who are not black to
feel like they are not welcome in our
society as the name makes reference to
the word black. They feel it is important that students be reminded that the
word black in the name is merely of
historical significance. The BLA could
not call itself a transformative society
if they perpetuated the exclusionary nature of the past. It is upon this
basis that they strive to be as diverse
as they can be. This in turn creates an
environment where different people
from various cultures can learn from
each other.
At a University where leaders
learn, the BLA feels that being a part
of a society such as theirs would be
valuable to a students development
as a leader in our current society. The
BLA wants to also pass thanks to our
current and alumni members for the
foundation and faith they have placed
in the society as a whole to uphold the
quality of its service to all.

Behind the science: Information Theory

Jason Leonard

Anyone who is or has the privilege of knowing a

record collector should be familiar with the delicacy of handling vinyl. Records must be turned over
like newborn babies, and all the care in the world
must be taken not to ruin them with a scratch.
Any CD that you might pull out of your cubby
hole will probably be thoroughly scratched- but
perfectly playable. You might even avoid the perils
of physically recorded music altogether and opt to
store your music digitally. It seems like cheating,
doesnt it?
Surely, when you scratch a CD or shrink an audio
file, that information must go somewhere? Questions like these fall under the domain of Information
Theory, a mathematical theory of communication
brought into being by Claude Shannon in 1948. Already on something of a roll (Shannon had by then
written what has been called the masters thesis of
the century at the enviable age of 21) he published
a landmark paper called A Mathematical Theory of
Communication. The paper gave precise mathematical meaning to the previously vague concept of
information.
By casting slippery concepts like communication and information into the rigorous language of
mathematics, Shannon was able to ask and answer
some pretty extraordinary questions. Firstly: is there
a limit to how fast information can be transmitted
over a channel, like an ADSL cable for instance?
Secondly: just how feasible is it to transmit information perfectly; or rather, to reduce the probability
of error in data transmission to zero? As it turns
out, these questions are closely linked. Shannon
proved mathematically that every channel has an
intrinsic channel capacity, which is a speed limit
on the rate of data transmission. Above it, it is
impossible to transmit information without error.
Below it, Shannon proved, perfect transmission of
information is possible.
It is not difficult to find applications of this
amazing idea- one of the reasons they managed
to worm their way into our everyday lives so
effectively was the amount of funding the field of

Information Theory received in its infancy. Communications technology rather unsurprisingly attracted
the militarys interest, where a new method of protecting radio signals from enemy jamming was desperately needed. This allignment of interests between
Information Theorists and the military produced,
among other things, the CDMA technology used in
cellphones, which allows you to place your order for
a pizza across kilometers of turbulent air, filled with
thousands of similar signals.
This is because Shannons discoveries guarantee
the existence of decoding algorithms at the receiving
end of a transmission that will be able to perfectly
reconstruct data without error, so long as the rate
of data transmission does not exceed the channel
capacity. Encoding algorithms at the transmitting
end, just like those used in file compression, enable
vast quantities of information (like images of planets
in our solar system or high-fidelity audio
recordings) to be sent and decoded
precisely at the receiving end. If
you ever feel grateful for ZIP
or mp3 files, it is Claude
Shannon you have to
thank.
Information Theory
has since
diversified
into myriad

sub-disciplines within mathematics, computer science and electrical engineering. Its an interesting
field with rich applications and, if history is
anything to go by, a very rich future.

Claude Shannon with a mechanical mouse of his own invention. Photo: SOURCED

The Oppidan Press

16 March 2016

Arts & Entertainment

Dave Mann on Art, politics and elitism

Emma Campbell

ave Mann is a Rhodes journalism graduate. Among other projects, he is the co-editor of Ja.Magazine an online
magazine that he started with Niamh Walsh-Vorster to
provide an alternative platform for publishing works by an array
of artists. Mann discusses his projects and the South African art
scene with The Oppidan Press.
What inspired you to start Ja.Magazine?
Niamh Walsh-Vorster and I started Ja. for two main reasons; one
of those reasons was to give ourselves a space to publish our own
work, free of the editorial guidelines and agendas of mainstream
media organisations. The second was to provide a platform for artists, writers, photographers, and illustrators alike who were either
struggling to publish their work, or simply didnt know how to.
How necessary do you think the promotion of local art is? Are
South African artists supported and appreciated enough?
Local support is invaluable to the South African arts. Support
is there, but it is marginal and misguided. Art in South Africa is
largely elitist and because of that people either dont understand it
or dont care about it. Of course there is also the issue of many local
artists being underpaid and exploited but I believe that before we
tackle that issue, we need to dismantle the elitism surrounding the
local art scene.
How can media outlets and audiences better support local artists?
Too many arts writers write for select audiences, namely the
highbrow art community who can afford to access gigs, galleries
and theatre spaces, and too much of the public shies away from
commenting on art. This creates a culture of cronyism in the
art community whereby youll see the same artists work lauded
around again and again while the rest struggle to even get a short
feature on a website let alone an album deal, a bit of gallery space,
or a small bit of funding to rent out a rehearsal venue. Commercial
art only really exists when somebody views it and either appreciates
it or hates it.

Do South African consumers and audiences care more about art

from outside of Africa? If so, why?
I think that lately, theres been a tremendous resurgence in the
celebration of local art. Our local music scene always suffers and
because its been underappreciated for so long, we now see an
export of local musicians to international markets. John Wizards,
DJ Spoko and Petite Noir are just a few examples of this. Even this
thing of local Arts writers comparing our artists and musicians to
similar artists overseas is complete nonsense. Our artists dont need
international qualifiers to make them worthy of being written
about.
Who are some of your favourite local artists? Any personal
favourite artists that you have written about?
Oh wow, there are so many artists I have come to know
and love. Musically, I really love artists like Umlilo and Dope
Saint Jude who are using their work to challenge societally
constructed notions of class, gender, race and power. In the
art world, there has been an emergence of South African
digital art that I believe is doing an incredible amount for the
way we engage with and understand art in so called postapartheid South Africa as well as doing away with the
predominantly white, elitist art were currently flooded
with. These artists include Tiger Maremela, Joseph
Coetzee, and Tabita Rezaire to name a few.

Dave Mann, a Rhodes

graduate, discusses his
thoughts on the importance of celebrating and supporting
local art.
Photo: SOURCED

Would you like to see anything change with

regards to the National Arts Festival (NAF)?
There is a huge problem with the way that
NAF goes about engaging with the artistic
communities in Grahamstown. Because it
operates largely out of the alienating and
offensive space that is the 1820s
Settlers Monument, it misses out on
vital conversations taking place. In
Grahamstown there is art and there
are artists absolutely everywhere and all
you need to do to be a part of it is venture a
bit further than the top of High Street.

Rhodes University student and artist, Sarah Rose de Villiers, shares her opinions on why art and creativity plays such a leading role in her life. Photos: SOURCED

Local artist draws connections between people

Ayanda Gigaba
Sarah Rose de Villiers, a fourth-year Journalism, English and Philosophy student at Rhodes
University, is a creative soul in every sense of the
term. De Villiers devotes her time to photography,
writing and art.
She attributes her compulsive creativity to honest advice she received in high school, I had a
career counsellor in grade 10 who said: you have
to have a creative outlet. If you arent creative
you will become negative, cynical and clinically

depressed. I always draw, I always doodle. It

wasnt so much that I was inspired to draw. I
needed to do it.
De Villiers WordPress blog is a coalescence of
her art which functions to serve not only herself
but others too. Her cartoon and comic series
called Drawing The Line explores topics that
range from social politics, arts and culture to
environmental and educational programmes.
If there is a way for me to distil it into an
article or an image or a cartoon then for me
thats part of the experience of understanding
what I experience because then I have to look at

it critically and see what was the most valuable aspect of it. If I can share some part of that
with somebody else, what would it be? And that
translation process is where my art comes from,
said de Villiers.
While living in Milan, Italy, for three months
as an English tutor to an Italian family, de Villiers spent her spare time exploring the city. She
captured the experience through sketches and
photography and published the series A Traveling
Trail of Art. De Villiers explains that her drawing
comes from appreciation: when she has completed a drawing, she offers it to the very people who

inspired her in that moment.

Everyone is always saying a pen is a weapon
but I see a pen as a wand and we all contain a
bit of magic and when I draw, I can release that
magic. If I can give it to someone else and its
beautiful then whatevers beautiful inside them is
reflected and it comes out, and then you see them
as beautiful, explained de Villiers.
De Villiers artistic motivation is driven by
shared beauty, Eleanor Roosevelt said: I will
make everything around me beautifulthat will
be my life and I stand by that. I learned you can
make beauty if you show beauty.

16 March 2016

The Oppidan Press

Environment

Water in Grahamstown is slowly

becoming safe for human consumption. Photo:
BROWNYN PRETORIUS

Common Ground is a society at Rhodes University that gives students the opportunity to learn how to grow their own food. Photo: NITA PALLETT

Can I drink this?

Lauren Buckle

rahamstowns tap water has been regarded

as being unsafe to drink in previous years
as a result of containing high heavy metal
level. In 2010 actions were taken to ensure that the
water was brought to an acceptable standard. There
are alternative water sources that students can use if
the Grahamstown water becomes unsuitable or the
plumbing systems suffer any kind of damage.
Officials suspected that the water was contaminated
in 2006 when a large number of fish died as a result of
the high levels of metal in the water. In 2009 there were
reports of the water containing a high level of E.coli,
an intestinal bacteria found in humans and animals.
This resulted in an investigation into how drinkable the
Grahamstown water was.
In 2010, Saving Water Aquarista reported alarmingly
high levels of deadly toxic metals in Grahamstowns tap
water has scientists worried about the future health of
residents who drink municipal water. High levels of
metal can affect the brain causing depression, kidney and
liver damage as well as accelerated aging.
In recent years the water has reached safer levels and is
now regarded as safe for human consumption. Thembela
Rala, from the Makana Water division said, We test it
every month in East London. The water is drinkable.
There are no non-compliances.
A slight brown discolouration in the Grahamstown
water occasionally occurs due to excess iron in the water.
Iron is harmless to humans if it remains within a

certain limit.
The Grahamstown Municipal water varies between
a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of 150 - 600 ppm, said
Neil Currie, co-owner of the Grahamstown Oasis. Oasis
reduces their TDS to below 20ppm through a purification
process involving sand filtration, element filtration,
reverse osmosis, carbon filtration, UV protection, and
ozonation. This removes the dirt, undissolved solids,
sodium, organic chemicals, and bacteria and viruses.
We also send monthly water samples to Pathcare for an
independent audit to make sure that we meet all the specs
and have no bacteria or E.coli in the water, he said.
The plumbing in Grahamstown also often fails, leaving
the higher lying areas of Grahamstown without water.
Rhodes University has set plans for what to do should this
occur. These plans ensure that students in residences are
able to obtain a small supply of water to make sure that
students remain hydrated.
Students can also get water from alternative sources.
Many rain water tanks can be located across the Rhodes
University campus. Some residences have their own rain
water tanks. Residence Environmental Representatives
are responsible for testing the water in these tanks to
see if the water is suitable for human consumption. It is
advised that students boil the water obtained from these
tanks before drinking it to minimise the risk of illness.
There is a spring located at Cold Stream farm outside
of Grahamstown on the road leading towards Bathurst
and Port Alfred. However, the springs location makes it
difficult to reach for students without cars. Water can also
be purchased at Oasis and local supermarkets.

Common Ground: Rhodes

Gardening Society
Nita Pallett
There is no doubt in the power of
a green space in a community. The
space can help lighten the atmosphere, enrich the environment,
or simply create a better view and
area to work in. One aspect of it
goes hand in hand with being selfsustainable, and not supporting the
market of mass-produced food that:
gardening. The power of gardens in a
community can never be underestimated, and certainly not the value of
being able to grow your own food.
At Rhodes University, there is a
society that grows their own vegetable garden called Common Ground.
Founded in 2011 by Bruce Haynes who graduated from Rhodes University in 2013 with a degree in Botany
and photojournalism - the aim of
the society is to equip students with
the skills needed to grow their own
food. The idea was that you didnt
have to be an environmentalist to take
responsibility for your own food supply, he explained. Common Ground
highlighted the need for universities
to become spaces of innovation for
adapting how we get our food from
our landscape.
The way many parts of the food
industry are run today provide a
gruesome tale concerning most
of the products we consume daily.
Many different aspects of our food
industry today are not particularly

eco-friendly, and the need to have

fresh, organically-grown produce is
continually increasing in our society.
Therefore, teaching people about
growing their own food and becoming
more self-sustainable is an important
part of teaching people the value of
self sustainability and reducing their
carbon footprint. However, Common
Ground decided that it would make
more sense to teach students how to
grow food themselves, before trying
to spread the awareness and action
through community engagement. As
Haynes explained, a great challenge
to the society was having too wide a
scope; had we focused on measurable
goals like the project WildReach we
could have had a far greater impact
early on.
Student schedules often provide
a challenge for the garden, leaving
a heavy burden on the committee
members, not to mention the fact that
the product in the soil need care and
attention, or else would perish and
only be useful as compost. However,
despite the workloads all members
would have had, the society has survived the past six years, and is up and
running again this year.
Being able to produce your own
food can have a marked impact on
your life as a consumer, and on the
greater community. For more information on Common Ground, contact
them on their Facebook page (Rhodes:
Common Ground).

Mann discusses art,

creation and Ja

Sports

BLA: a society for

transformation and
inclusivity

Ultimate Frisbee is a new sport at Rhodes which is rapidly growing and player, hope it will become a national sport.
Photo: VICKY PATRICK

Ultimate Frisbee:
Not just about throwing
By Ntuthuko Mlondo

ltimate Frisbee is quickly
becoming a recognised sport
in the country. Its popularity
has grown rapidly among universities
nationwide and Rhodes has joined in
a bid to make it a national sport.
The chairperson of Ultimate Disk at
Rhodes, Jason Wehmeyer, explained
the sport in laymans terms saying that
it is a combination of American football, netball and touch rugby.
Players have a try area in which to
score and, like netball, the player in
possession of the disk cannot move
until they have thrown it and the disk
cannot touch the ground.
However, it differs from touch rugby
in the sense that if the disk is intercepted or slammed to the ground, it
becomes a turnover in favour of the
opposing team. Another important

aspect of Ultimate Disk is that the

players are responsible for self-refereeing, any disagreements or fouls are
resolved among the players.
Treasurer of the Ultimate Disk club
Francis Xavier said, I love playing the
sport, watching it [and] getting better
at it. His love for the sport started
when he was in Grade 8 and since then
he has never looked back.
Each team has 7 players and teams
that consist of both male and female
players usually require a difference in
gender of at least one player.
Wehmeyer mentioned that Ultimate
Frisbee has been waitlisted for the
Olympic games, but in order to become an Olympic sport it is important
for more countries to register it as a
national sport.
Currently there are four universities in South Africa that compete in
Ultimate Disk including NMMU, Wits,

UCT and UFS with Rhodes on its way

to becoming the fifth.
Wehmeyer discussed the importance
of having a minimum of five universities involved in Ultimate Disk saying,
the government requires five universities to [partake] in Frisbee before [it
can be recognised as] a national sport.
The vice chairperson and media
representative Bracken Lee-Rudolph
commented on the rapid growth of
the club at Rhodes saying, Its a good
sign of growth that weve [become an
official] society and our sign-ups bode
well in terms of having more active
players involved.
Besides being seen as a fun sporting
it also bodes well in terms of fitness as
it includes a combination of various
sporting codes.Ultimate Frisbee is fast
becoming a new sport nationwide and
Rhodes is certainly doing its part to
contribute to its growth.

RU thirsty?

The Rhodes University male and female basketball teams played a match
against the new members of the club, the rookies, to kick off the season.
Photo: GODFREY TAFADZWA KADZERE

Rookies vs Seniors Challenge 2016

Staff Reporter
Rhodes basketball took on the
newbies of the society in a RU Rookies
Vs Seniors Basketball challenge in an
effort to attract more members to the
game. The matches took place on 27
February, at Alec Mullins Hall.
Two matches were played, the
Rhodes womens team versus the female
rookies, and the Rhodes mens team
versus the male rookies. On the mens
side, it was a tight affair. At one stage, it
was 21-12 to the seniors, but the seniors
used their cohesiveness as a unit to end
the game with a 39-15 victory against
the rookies. Lusindiso Vika, a member
of the male rookie team, said we were
all pretty nervous...because its first year
and you dont know [your teammates].
The chairperson of the basketball
society, Matthew Bloem, said he felt
quite disappointed in the turnout of
the event, but was happy that they had
more players who signed up.
However, despite the turnout, Bloem
believes that there could be some strong
competitors for the current Rhodes
players saying, I think there is some
talent along the lines, I feel that there

[are] some players who [could be strong

contestants] for a position on the team.
The female rookies held their own
from start to finish, but narrowly lost
by nine points against the experienced
Rhodes team. Members of the Rhodes
womens team were surprised by the
level of skill displayed by the first year
rookies.
Carla Franco, who is the secretary
of basketball and plays for the senior
team was pleased with the turnout,
The female turnout from the rookies
[first years] side was definitely more
successful than we thought it would
be. The first years of 2016 have an
incredible amount of potential and
talent, she said.
Franco said that the vision for the
2016 basketball team is to qualify for
the University Sports South Africa
(USSA) tournament which is to be held
later this year. The first game of the
season will be on 3 March 2016 against
Fort Hare which is also their first
qualifying game for USSA.
Basketball at Rhodes is heading in
the right direction, with both teams
attempting to qualify for USSA, 2016
looks to be a promising year.