Palatinate Blog

Moscow to Vladivostok, Irkutsk to Yekaterinburg; take the Trans-Siberian and not only will you be travelling the world’s longest continuous line of railway but you will be crossing its vastest and most fascinating country. Churchill described Russia as an enigma, Russian literature admits that she cannot be understood only believed – a growing number of adventurous travellers are attempting to crack the puzzle with the melting of the winter snows and taking the journey.
Commonly, travellers begin in Moscow and take the train east either to Vladivostok on Russia’s far Eastern shores, or else breaking away and taking the trans-Mongolian on to China. The train stops frequently along the way at all the major cities and most people like to take a day or two out to see some sights along the way. Visiting the giant’s major cities such as Omsk is undeniably fascinating, but those with a love for the outdoors might look into taking advantage of the miles of relatively unexplored expanses with which Russia is blessed. The Altai Mountains and Tuvan Republic are two of the infinite possibilities. My journey on the Trans-Siberian came about through means of practicality. I had been camping for two weeks on the white sandy beaches of Lake Baikal, the World’s deepest and oldest lake and had to get back to Moscow. Travelling east to west turned Moscow into a buzzing, cosmopolitan city, something which coming from Europe, travellers are unlikely to experience. Internal flights in Russia are notoriously substandard and accidents have been a problem. This, along with the cost of flying and the undeniable lure of riding the Trans-Siberian, urged me to look to alternatives. Unlike many foreign travellers, therefore, I took the train direct: three days, ten hours. To the Brit, who thinks that three hours direct to the North is too far to warrant a visit, this seems like a ghastly test of endurance. With the right companions, however, travelling the Trans-Siberian is rarely ever dull.
There are two options when travelling on trains in Russia, coupe (second class), which consists of berths, grouped in fours in private compartments with a door; or platskart (third class), where the feng shui is far more open plan and you can find yourself sharing a carriage with fifty or so other sleepers. That being said, coupe can become somewhat claustrophobic, especially if you do not get on with the travelling companions you are cooped up with. Certainly, in terms of finances, third class is the obvious choice. Many foreigners choose what they consider to be the relative safety of second class and miss out on the best part of the Trans-Siberian experience: the people.
Down in third class I have been forced fed with confectionary, sweets and sticky jam; had Shakespeare recited to me in Russian and sung along to nineties’ classics strum out on an acoustic guitar. All in all, on the Trans-Siberian express, travelling ceases to be simply a means and becomes an end in itself.

1.    Margaret Anderson once said ‘Paris is the city in which one loves to lives’ so why not take your loved one there this Valentines. Whilst we’re all for trying new things, Palatinate is not going to try and contest this city’s dazzling romance credentials.  Inspiring countless poets, artists and lovers, Paris truly is where the heart is. Home to beautiful cobbled streets and numerous public gardens, we suggest all good boyfriends book a last minute flight and head straight to the capital of love. The city offers a variety of accommodation from pushing the boat out and booking a suite at the five star Champe Elysee Plaza complete with Jacuzzi (and if you book in advance they’ll even include a Swarovski crystal for your valentine in the deal) to booking a dorm room at one of the many hostels. Though note to all couples, please be considerate to the other sleepers.
In the day you can visit the art galleries of Montmartre, let the hours fly by with some wine at a traditional café or even climb the Eiffel Tower.  Either way, you’ll feel at home, surrounded by fellow beautiful couples wherever you look.
2.    Now an alternative to splashing out and heading cross channel is to hold back on the cash but make up for it in effort. What greater gift can you give your loved one than marriage? We suggest all hopeful young couples head to Gretna Green come Valentines Day. Follow in the footsteps of many a young runaway bride and get married over the anvil. Only a few hours north of Durham you can travel here via car, public transport or even try your hand at hitchhiking.
This charming town of lawful union resides in the Dumfries and Galloway district of Scotland. Gretna Green also holds host to a variety of pubs so after the ceremony you can go for a well-deserved pint. Please bear in mind though that Palatinate accepts no responsibility for any consequential increase in the Durham divorce rate or lawsuits from angry parents.

3.    Say you are lazy, poor or in the early stages of your relationship…we have found the answer. Durham’s top romantic travel destination is none other than the dark path along the river. We suggest a night time trip though hear it’s already popular with other amorous couples so maybe check for an all clear first. Then why not take your partner’s arm and go for a romantic stroll (or stumble) in the dark.
The cold northern chill will offer you more reason than ever to snuggle up to your valentine. For the adventurous, you even have the option of skinny dipping in the murky river  if your heart so desires. Note of warning to couples though, be careful if you deter off the main path, nettles are said to lie in the grassier areas.
Not satisfied? If you’re yet to find a partner to head to Palatinate’s top romantic destinations we suggest Klute dance floor, standing on North Road around 2am or alternatively sending your preferred choice of spouse some  flowers.
Alternatively, we suggest those who are happy, single and carefree travel anywhere  they like and make the most of the stress free possibilities of relaxing in your own company or with your friends. Though just in case the festivities do begin to get to you, we hear Vatican City is great for avoiding couples.

Here at Palatinate we take freedom of expression and speech very seriously – it is the basis of any news outlet’s operation. In these pages you will find a cross-section of voices putting forth their evaluations and opinions on the world around us. You are welcome to join their ranks at any time, because we are the paper of the student body.

When our fellow pillar of Durham democracy announced that they would be hosting two BNP members for a debate on multicultural Britain, our first thoughts were: “controversial, but a well-reasoned decision” – the level-headed part of our minds, “let’s prove these pricks wrong” – the rebellious youth student part, “are we giving them the oxygen of publicity?” – the parts of us that aren’t from these shores fear their rise in popularity, and finally, “this will make for a great story” – the journalist section of our minds.

At varying times since covering this story in our last edition these thoughts have competed in our minds. We know the DUS President personally, and having been in constant contact with her throughout this affair, we know she has acted professionally and at all times with the best of intentions. She has not sought attention or publicity for her society by courting controversy. She is in fact staying true to the soul of it by recognising that this debate needed to happen.

The river which wraps around our city might as well not have any bridges some times. When we arrive here in Freshers’ Week, some students enter a Truman Show -esque bubble where they are oblivious to the real world, like Big Brother contestants cooped up for three years. This debate was a needle to burst the bubble. In the four years we have studied here, we have never seen students discussing, debating and arguing over any event as much as this.

This is what students should be doing: we shouldn’t be perched on our white Durham picket fence, but should get informed, make an opinion, and argue for our causes. It’s not enough to simply click ‘Accept’ to join a Facebook group or RSVP to an event – we must actually leave our computers and make our voices and opinions heard in the real world. Ever since we first came across the Palatinate archives and discovered what our forebears got up to, we have been slightly ashamed of the collective apathy of today’s Durham students.

This bolt of political energy which has shocked us all is what we needed, and we commend the Durham Union Society for being brave enough to even contemplate staging this event.

The last time a DUS President extended an invitation to the BNP we were in a very different situation. Then, the party was still a fringe extremist loony one. Today, they are still an extremist loony one but they are sadly no longer fringe. Enough of the electorate last year felt that they were being ignored by the mainstream political parties that they voted these people in.

The BNP now thrive on playing this anti-establishment, ‘woe is us’ victim card. They know people are scared to stick their necks out and debate with them one-on-one. But they can’t handle the debate either – they prefer to chorus slogans in packs. We know that you, dear reader, as a student of one of the most academically acclaimed universities in the land, have the power to take to the floor of the Union Society and win every argument against them.

Finally, if you would like to comment on this editorial you are welcome to, but you can only do so by knowing all of the facts and considering them carefully. In order to do this you must be reading the end of this article, and we thank you for your perseverance because it has been difficult to draft! The disclaimer that you have seen in all of the correspondence on this debate usually sits right at the top so that any accusations of being a racist are dispatched quickly, but we decided to be different. So here it is: we abhor the BNP and their position. They are undoubtedly racist, fascist and homophobic. They provoke reaction and incite violence. As the BNP banner bus paraded through our city’s streets we were ashamed that our friends who don’t ‘originally hail from these shores’ were subjected to it. But we wanted the opportunity to confront the people propagating these views head on. We do not want an national organisation claiming to represent our interests saying we can’t.

We are a month into what is being billed by the government as the “decade of sport”, and undoubtedly the highlight will be the London 2012 Olympic games.

Athletes up and down the country are dreaming of stepping out in front of a roaring home crowd, and for some of the current crop of Palatinates this dream may well become a reality in two years.

The 2008 Beijing games saw four Durham students, James Clarke, Alice Freeman, Louisa Reeve and Stephen Rowbotham, who won a bronze medal, make the Great Britain Rowing Squad and join a illustrious list of Durham students to compete at the games so far; a list topped by gold medal triple-jumper Jonathan Edwards and Wade Hall-Craggs. There is great confidence amongst Team Durham officials that the athletes profiled below will be able to emulate their successful predecessors.

Quentin Sloper, Team Durham’s Assistant Director of Sport, said: “If the athletes continue to train hard, remain dedicated and stay injury-free then we are very confident that they can make the 2012 squad.

“And if they make the games, then they have every chance of winning a medal”.

The last games were Team GB’s most successful to date; let’s hope they can rewrite the history books in front of the roaring home crowd.

2012 Olympic hopefuls

Kiera Roberts

Age: 20 Subject: English College: University Sport: Fencing

Greatest sporting achievements?
Competing in the World University Games, Commonwealth Games, and World Championships four times. Representing Britain at Cadet, Junior and Senior level abroad. Being the current Junior Commonwealth Champion.  I’m also proud of being BUCS Individual Champion in 2008, coming close second in 2009.  I’m honoured to be Senior Sportswoman of the Year in Durham and on the Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship.

What would it mean to you to compete at 2012?
It would be a great achievement in which I would feel that years of hard work had finally paid off.

What would be your aims for 2012?
Medals! You cannot aim for anything lower really.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
3-5 times a week fencing excluding the weekend, as there is usually a competition on at the weekends,  2-3 times a week strength and conditioning  and twice a week I do my own training.

Matt Gunby

Age: 21  Subject: Economics  College: St.John’s Sport: Triathlon

Greatest sporting achievements?
Representing Great Britain at Under 23 Level in Triathlon and Duathlon over the past 2 years, with my highest placing being 2nd at the European Under-23 Championships in 2008.

What would it mean to you to compete at 2012?
Just qualifying for the Olympic Team would be a huge achievement. Competing in the greatest sporting event in the world would be incredible, and having the home support would be unreal.

What would be your aims for 2012?
Every athlete has to have a lot of self belief. Standing on the starting pontoon I would almost certainly think I had a chance of winning the race.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
On average I spend 25 hours a week training (12 swimming, 7 cycling and 6 running). When I turn professional next year, this will increase to around 30 hours a week.

Matt Rossiter

Age: 20 Subject: Biology College: St.Cuthberts Sport: Rowing

Greatest sporting achievements?
World Rowing Junior Championships, Beijing, 2007; Gold Medal in the Great Britain Coxless 4;World Rowing U23 Championships, Brandenburg, 2008, 5th Place in Great Britain; World Rowing U23 Championships, Prague, 2009, Bronze Medal in Great Britain 8; Australian Youth Olympic Festival, 2009, three Gold Medals in Pair, Coxless 4 and 8.

What would it mean to you to compete at 2012?
It would be a dream to compete at an Olympic Games and with them being in London, it would be something really special and a huge honour.

What would be your aims for 2012?
Primarily my aim is to try and get into the team and if I were to achieve that, the aim would have to be to get a medal.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
It depends week on week but typically it would be about 18 hours.

How do you balance your degree, sporting commitments and social life?
It can be hard to get the balance right – I try to get the training done as efficiently as possible to leave time in the day to get work done  and to leave my evenings free.

Emily Taylor

Age: 22 Subject: Economics and Finance College: Hatfield Sport: Rowing

Greatest sporting achievements?
Gold at U23 World Rowing Championships 2009. Team Durham Sportswoman of the Year 2008/9.  Bronze at U23 World Rowing Championships 2008, Silver at European Rowing Championships 2008,  Bronze at U23 World Rowing Championships 2007. 15 Gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze medals in BUCS.

What would it mean to you to compete at 2012?
It would be absolutely amazing. Sometimes training is really difficult but having 2012 as a goal makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning. I had never been in a boat until I came to Durham, and after only 18 months of rowing I won a bronze medal at the U23s World Championships, and since then things have only got better, so to take it one step further and make the Olympic squad would mean so much to me.

What would be your aims for 2012?
I definitely would be aiming for a medal if I made the team.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
20 hours including water work, ergos, weights, core and cross training.

How do you balance your degree, sporting commitments and social life?
It is difficult but as long as I stay organised and plan my day, it can be done. I think it is important to make time to see friends and do something completely unrelated to rowing each week otherwise I would go mad!

More future sporting stars

One must not forget that the university has also produced many outstanding ‘non-Olympic athletes’, and the next decade will without question see the list of famous alumni grow rapidly.

Current England and Durham Country Cricket captains Andrew Strauss and Will Smith, along with Nasser Hussain, who too has captained his country, and wicket-keeper James Forster, are all notable graduates of our fine Centre of Cricket Excellence.

Equally impressive is the fact that former England rugby captains Will Carling and Phil De Granville, and former vice-captain Will Greenwood, are products of an outstanding rugby program that, since 1967, has produced 25 full internationals including Tim Stimpson, Duncan Hodge, David Walder and Charlie Hodgson.

No one can predict the future, but the students below have the talent and attitude needed to reach the top of their respective sports.

Holly Colvin

Age: 20  Subject: Natural Sciences College: St.Mary’s Sport: Cricket

Greatest sporting achievements?
Winning the Ashes in 2005 and retaining them in 2008 and 2009. Being the youngest ever cricket male or female to play a test for England. Becoming the number 1 bowler in the World ICC rankings.

What are your aims for the next few years?
To get my first five-wicket haul, and be promoted up the batting order.  To take over captaincy at some sort of domestic level.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
Including fitness, about eight.

How do you balance your degree, sporting commitments and social life?’
I’m quite organized so I don’t leave things to the last minute. I went on tour for two weeks during the first term and just took a bit of work with me, and did the rest when I got back.  Balancing my social life is hard but luckily I’ve made some really good friends who understand why I don’t go out as much as them.

Sandra Hyslop

Age:19 Subject: Natural Sciences College: Collingwood Sport: Kayaking

Greatest sporting achievements?
European Championships Silver Medalist, Sprint event 2009. World Championships Silver Medalist, Sprint team event 2008. Junior European Champion, Classic and Sprint 2008. Junior World Champion, Classic and Classic team 2007. Junior World Championships Silver Medalist, Sprint 2007. Shortlisted for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2007.

What are your aims for the next few years? To just keep working hard and improving my game.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
About fifteen hours a week on average.

How do you balance your degree, sporting commitments and social life?
My social life mainly consists of my sporting commitments, as most of my friends are paddlers.  I do most of my training in the morning before lectures, and in the evening or afternoon when lectures allow.  Weekends are spent on white water rivers in the local area or on training camps or races.

Alex Waddingham

Age:20 Subject: Sport College: Hild Bede Sport: Rugby Union

Greatest sporting achievements?
Being selected for the England Students squad for 2009-2010 season. Winning the Durham County Championship Plate in 2008-2009 and being awarded Player of the Season in 2007-2008. Making my first appearance in the inter-squad First Team Sale Sharks match at Edgeley Park in 2006.

What are your aims for the next few years?
To play in the upcoming games against Portugal, Irish Colleges and France Universities for England Students, and to break into the first team at Sale.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
Whilst at university I spend about four hours in the gym and another four playing rugby with the first team. I also have to complete extra speed and fitness work so that I meet standards when I return to Sale because the training hours are far more intense. When I’m with Sale over the holidays, I can be training for up to four hours a day, five days a week.

How do you balance your degree, sporting commitments and social life?
I find it quite difficult – the degree and training are on level ground because it is a crucial year for both my rugby and my work. I’m not going on as many nights out this year and if I do I’m not staying late. However, I’m a non-drinker so I don’t have the hangover effects! At Sale I was taking dissertation work to the training ground with me to get on with over breaks.

James Birch

Age: 20 Subject: Geography College: Hatfield Sport: Motorsport

Greatest sporting achievements?
European Formula Vee 2009 Champion, 2nd place in 2008 and 5th place in 2007, 2005 Karting NKRA National Junior Championion, Grand Final winner and Southern Area winner.

What are your aims for the next few years?
Hopefully next year I will win the Mid-European Formula Renault Championship and graduate to Formula 3 Europe, with Formula 1 being the final pinnacle. However, if I cannot make it in single seaters I would like to make the switch to touring cars with a look to moving into Le Mans prototype cars.

What is your overall career aim? My main aim is just to make a career out of motorsport.

How many hours a week do you spend on training?
My training started over Christmas with three strength and conditioning sessions. The problem with motorsport is you have to be toned rather than built. I cannot exceed a certain weight, although I must be over a certain weight, and my training is basically a mission to stay within that weight, while building up as much muscle as possible.

How do you balance your degree, sporting commitments and social life?
On race weekends I’m away Thursday and Friday, however the University is very accepting and I catch up on the work in between races. The week before a race, I have to cut out alcohol completely.

It has been said a thousand times and will be a thousand more, but beauty is a fickle thing. Everybody wants to be it, and most will do anything to get it. It is impossible to open up a magazine these days without seeing some half-naked young thing strutting their stuff, photoshopped beyond belief so they are almost unrecognisable as human.
Yet, we are supposed to worship this ideal, and, perhaps more worryingly, expect it in our partners. But, in case you were thinking I was preaching to the choir, I was talking about the men.
Male beauty in particular is an unusual topic to talk about. People are quick to jump on the bandwagon talking about how the media has unrealistic expectations of beauty in women that they forget the same is true with men. Everybody knows that women are not naturally that pruned and polished but does everybody know that neither are the guys? The (hopefully) obvious answer is ‘yes’ but I’m not so sure.
Try looking for a major ad campaign which doesn’t feature a man with a body that would make Brad Pitt jealous and let me know when you find one. It is nigh on impossible. Flicking through my housemate’s Cosmo was a humbling experience at best, what with the multitude of ruggedly handsome gentlemen and their toned physiques, wearing next to nothing.
Of course, women have it tough too; bikinis aren’t that flattering for the majority of ladies out there but at least with women, there is a much wider variety of shape and size; see yet another trashy magazine – anorexia to ‘elephant bum’ fat in approximately 50 pages – a far cry from the strict triangular male build that is constantly thrown in your face with us guys.
Obviously, when it comes to advertising, it is all about sex, but that is precisely the point. Whilst countless girls are off dieting and plucking in order to try and get a guy, countless boys are knocking back  endless protein shakes  and living their lives around the gym in order to try and get a girl because somewhere, somebody has told us that if we don’t look perfect, nobody will ever love us. It sounds absurd said like that, but then, if it isn’t true, why do people do it? Even if it is just to feel better about themselves, why do they need to fit in the first place?
This question is, of course, rhetorical. The reason people try to change themselves is that (bizarrely) what you look like is said to lead to what you become.  Supposedly, if you look good, you’ll feel good. Naturally,  a plethora of products is required to become a ‘better you’ in consumerism at its best, (or, depending, worst.) It seems like a waste of breath to state though that what usually happens is that you end up consuming the product, and feel no better, if not worse. There’s always something else to do to yourself and something else to buy.
It isn’t just advertising though; entertainment plays a large role in this preaching of unrealistic expectations. One culprit in particular is the latest craze, the vampire phenomenon Twilight, based on the books written by Stephenie Meyer. For those not in the know, normal human girl falls in love with supernaturally attractive vampires. For those who have read them, can you count the amount of times the heroine talks about how physically attractive her  beau is? I couldn’t. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so fundamentally disturbing. He loves her because she is beautiful within (and delicious, in an edible sense.) She loves him because he’s hot.
If the roles were reversed, it is highly unlikely that you would have even heard of Meyer but instead, this propaganda (for want of a better term) is quietly assimilated. Unfortunately ladies (and, a few gentlemen), the man you end up with is not going to look like Edward. However, in an irony that is almost delicious, not even Edward, the male protagonist played by Robert Pattinson, looks like Edward. The chiselled physique he will be showing off soon in cinemas near you is the result of careful make-up (unless he has had a body transplant since he filmed Little Ashes. )The standard you see from the men is just as artificial as that of the women yet this is seemingly unspoken.
Allegedly though, men are not as concerned over their physical appearance as women. If this is the case then could somebody explain to me the rise of the ‘metrosexual’, why the male toiletry industry is the fastest growing one in the UK and now worth over one billion pounds or why liposuction and breast reduction rates in men are becoming increasingly common?
Worse, can someone please explain why over 11,000 men per year now seek treatment for anorexia? Young men are under just as much pressure to look good as young women but the difference seems to be that unlike women, there is nobody telling these boys that what they see isn’t real or indicative of the everyday man’s body.
The problem runs deeper than the media though. It is an unfortunate truth that many guys simply don’t talk about their insecurities with their peers as women do. Instead,  they tend to bottle them up which probably explains why the male teenage population is the most likely to commit suicide.
Even today, to talk about such worries as that of body self-perception is seen as ‘unmanly,’ as is the failure to have a six-pack when this should not be the case. We are taught as children that ‘boys don’t cry’ because boys are tougher than that. Physically, yes. Emotionally? I’ll get back to you on that one.
Ultimately, half of the problem is that gender roles are still deeply inbred, and feminism and its related movements haven’t come as far as they think they have. Still to this day there is the feeling that women are to be desired, whereas men are to desire and both have to have the physique which the social code entails. Happiness, according to this code, does not exist for those who deviate.
Naturally, the majority of people do deviate, which is why the issue of beauty is so frustrating. Your random person in the street isn’t going to look like they got lost on the way to some modelling audition but a quick flick through some magazines would make you think otherwise. And yes, whilst the hourglass figure or the triangular body does look good, it cannot be denied, for the most part, it is an ideal aesthetic standard, and, as communism told us, to put the ideal into reality often leads to trouble.
In other words, most of us are going to live our lives distinctively average looking and we should come to terms with that, both in ourselves, and in others.

January can be so…urghh. Long gone is that Christmas glee which previously compensated for the blistering cold and, after plummeting from the festive season high, we are now overcome with inflated waistlines, diminished bank balances and resentment towards New Year’s resolutions. And the snow!
Of course it’s pretty, but the novelty soon wears off when journeys take twice as long and your legs burn much more than they should do after a trip to the library and back.
Yes, I know I sound like a miserable, middle-aged woman but I’m certainly not the only one afflicted with the winter blues at the moment. Apparently, up to eight out of ten of us Brits get them. And the mathematically-calculated ‘Most Depressing Day of the Year’ always falls in January – Monday 25th this year. Cheery stuff. If it’s any consolation to the readers who share my gloom, your persistent desire to vegetate, and feelings of acute loss when separated from your bed do not simply render you an idle slob – at least, not during the winter anyway. The scientists reckon it’s the light’s fault. Many surmise that light stimulates a part of the brain which controls mood, appetite and sleep, amongst many other things. Our lack of exposure to light in the winter months, therefore, causes us to feel lethargic, get the munchies, and stress.
Some people experience these symptoms to a more severe extent in the form of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression. SAD affects one in 50 people in the UK. Most sufferers fall into the 18-30 age group and more develop it before the age of 21 than after. The condition usually takes effect on an annual basis, initially making its presence felt in the autumn, worsening as the days become shorter, and gradually easing away with the arrival of spring. Symptoms include lack of motivation and energy, mood swings, anxiety, overeating, oversleeping (or having disturbed sleep) and social withdrawal.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. If you think you could have SAD, or are just feeling the effects of the post-Christmas slump at the moment, there are certain things you can do to pick yourself back up. So now for the perky approach, spewing of clichés and indispensable advice…It’s time to be positive, productive and take control. Here are my five top tips for boosting your mood and beating those blues!

1. Work It Out

Exercise – it really does help. Studies show that exercise is an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. It increases energy levels, so vanquishes that sluggish feeling, enhances the immune system, helps to combat anxiety and releases endorphins to give you that ‘natural high’. Plus, if you do as much exercise as you can outside in the open air, you expose yourself to more natural light. Bonus!

2. Mood Foods

According to those clever researchers, omega-3 fatty acids can also help to improve your mood. Think oily fish (mackerel, salmon, tuna, sardines and herring), linseed oil, nuts and seeds. B vitamins are also supposed to be mood boosting. Good sources include meat (especially liver and turkey), tuna, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chilli peppers and Marmite. Finally, don’t starve yourself in an attempt to shed the mince pies – low blood sugar levels can make you feel worse.

3. Sleep Tight

Don’t oversleep but make sure you’re getting enough kip. Try to maintain a fixed body clock by establishing a pattern of seven to eight hours sleep a night. If you’re having trouble sleeping, avoid caffeine, nicotine and watching television before you go to bed. Take a bath to unwind and try lavender scented oils and sprays to help you drift away to the land of nod.

4. Show Me the Light

The most common and efficient form of treatment for SAD is light therapy – sitting in front of a light box which mimics outdoor light. Light boxes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They start from £100 but there are some much cheaper alternatives, such as Verilux bulbs and lamps, which are specially designed to shine some well needed light onto anyone who’s growing tired of these dark winter days.

5. Flap Your Wings

It’s the beginning of a new term – time to break out of hibernation and release your inner social butterfly back into the Durham wild. Doctors prescribe socialising as an anti-depressant. Find some funny friends. Alternatively, stay home and rent them; nothing beats a good comedy.

For more information visit:

Nightline: 0191 334 6444, www.dur.ac.uk/nightline
www.dur.ac.uk/counselling.service
www.nhs.uk
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
www.mind.org.uk
www.sada.org.uk

Our writer talks us through his diverse travel experiences on the infamous Greyhound Buses of the U.S.A, Will Greenwood

There’s no better way than a Greyhound adventure to discover America’s West Coast. The Greyhound bus is cheap (300 bucks for two weeks) and gives you the opportunity to meet the most incredible travellers ever. I sat next to a forty-year-old “engineer” who owned a “huge collection of classic cars” and, despite earning a “six-figure salary”, preferred six hours of Greyhound sogginess to one hour of plane. Yeah… right. Or you can sit for twelve hours next to a post-modern prophet who will lecture you on aliens, 911 conspiracies and Jesus’ imminent return. Now I’m just taking the piss out of a few exotic cases, but to be fair people were exceptionally friendly and open.

We started off in San Francisco, a very, very cool city indeed. The most welcoming place we’ve ever visited, it’s cosmopolitan, modern and refreshingly anti conformist. To make things really exciting we stayed in a cheap hostel in the middle of the crackheads’ area. We also failed to book a room for Independence Day. So, out of five, three of us had to spend the night in a park after a glorious shower of fireworks. We were woken up in the middle of the night by terrifying noises and an atrocious rotting smell. It was a skunk.

Saying that Vegas is a crazy city is a massive understatement. I tend to dislike the artificial feel of it, but my mates were hooked. Book your room on the Internet and you’ll get some great deals in the best casino-hotels. It’s virtually impossible to get into a nightclub when you’re under 21. Thankfully, to play on the slot machines is a lot easier. Just look confident and they shouldn’t bother you. If you’re really convincing, they’ll offer you free drinks to make sure you keep spending. Playing roulette is a little trickier, but just wait for the floor to empty at around half three and they’ll be too greedy/tired to check your ID.

If you’re going to LA you can’t avoid Hollywood, but don’t waste your time there. Venice Beach is a lot more pleasant. It’s like Malibu meeting Woodstock. The beach is huge, the waves are rather strong and there are all sorts of sideshows going on all the time. The atmosphere is kind of surreal but we liked it so much we stayed two extra nights at the Hostel California, which is rather cheap and full of European backpackers.

Carefully plan visits to national parks. Just after leaving Yosemite, we learnt that we’d just missed one of the most picturesque walks in California. So when in Zion national park, decision was taken to walk up to the Angels Landing, even if that meant waking up at half six. It’s a precarious hike and there are fatalities nearly every year, but the panorama at the top is breathtaking. Or at least that’s what my friends told me as I emerged from the tent at ten. Both Zion and Yosemite are more impressive than the Grand Canyon. So, unless you spend serious money to rent a plane, the canyon will most probably disappoint you.

On the crucial subject of food and drink, I cannot recommend In-N-Out burgers enough. If you want to go upmarket, try Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood. Hooters is worth a try, but perhaps not with your girlfriend. There is no point stressing the illogical nature of US law on alcohol, suffice it to say that not everyone will ID you, and you’ll always find a way to get some. Be careful when you cross a state border, though. They checked our bus once and we were really glad to have given our vodka to pleasantly surprised campers a few hours earlier.

Despite its silly laws though, the West Coast is well worth a visit, and I thoroughly recommend it. After all, California is about to legalise cannabis.

I can’t remember what I was going to write about. Something profound I’m sure. Probably would have changed your lives.
A new Enlightenment would have begun outside St Aidan’s College bar, via a group of educated Durham students, talking late into the night.
Unfortunately I remember more vividly the rounds of snake-bite and gin & tonic, and somewhat more dimly the promise to write a piece for Palatinate. The brilliant theory/idea I was going to explain here has been lost forever.
Was I going to tackle Cartesian dualism? Our true purpose in life? Or even, the fastest time you can down a bottle of wine? (Six seconds; that I do remember)
Rather than try and recreate these Deep Profound Thoughts from these drunken, late night conversations, I will attempt to delve into the very root of them. Why is it that after a few pints suddenly we are experts on Kant’s categorical imperative, or brain chemistry, or the world’s economic crisis?
It appears that by day we are apathetic and unopinionated, yet by night, fuelled by vodka, or too much sugar, we are passionate advocates of Communism (works in theory, never in practice), are Boris Johnson’s greatest fan, and have this remarkable ability to sustain conversations about subjects we know very little about. We discover new truths about things that we would never have discussed by day.
There’s a tendency to demonize drunken conversations, but they can hold lessons for us all. Looking at them in a Freudian light one can interpret them as you would dreams or Rorschach ink blots: cloudy reflections of inner desires and fears.
However, its perils should be noted, for there are times when you stand the chance of making a complete fool out of yourself by loudly ranting about the most pointless or embarrassing of subjects in front of bewildered spectators.
Let’s not forget too those drunken confessions where you tell your friend that you’re actually completely in love with them, only to regret it the next day.
Drunken conversations hold many side effects, some healthy, others less so, and they’re not always fun. But in our busy lives – where being politically correct is the norm – because of cultural or even language difficulties, we seldom really express ourselves, about our true loves, interests and passions, or experiment with how far our minds can be stretched via those Big Questions.
These conversations cleanse us, flush out emotions, and challenge our intellectual limits.
Suddenly we are free to talk. Naturally though, this clearly highlights one of society’s main problems.
Too much drink, and too little debate and letting out of emotion, is not very healthy – dehydrating even, to continue that metaphor.
They must also be shared experiences. A one-person drunken conversation is not so much deep and interesting as an inebriated monologue, usually lying somewhere along the spectrum between heart-breakingly honest and touching to completely pathetic, or coming from someone smashed, literally lying in the gutter.
A true drunken conversation requires at least two individuals. This is where the magic enters. Somewhere in the shared experience emerges something transcendental, something that rises above normal comprehension and compassion.
We need this sort of thinking to try out everything we learn in our degrees too. Particularly for Arts subjects and Psychology, ideas are everywhere, yet we need the alcohol or the late nights and the comfort of a group of friends to add our own personal opinions to the vat of Deep Profound Thoughts.
Drunks are said to be out of control – but whose control? Surely it is because of this lack of restraint and political correctness that great ideas, answers and solutions to the world’s problems come to the fore.
The greatest pity nevertheless, is that these answers, these wonderful solutions, however substantial at 4am, fade by the morning. People often wish that they had recorded themselves whilst drunk, just to capture these insights.
The other night in a particularly contentious theological debate, not at all fuelled by our old friend Jack Daniels, I would have given anything to have my examiner in the room at that ungodly hour, instead of marking my written Theology paper.
The same level of profundity and meaning can never truly be retrieved, so you have to treasure it for what it was.
I encourage all of you to speak your mind more, to talk to the random local in Beni’s chip shop at the end of a night out about the meaning of life, to ask for advice, to enter into free, dynamic debate about philosophy, politics, aliens, and ghosts.
But for God’s sake (the existence of whom is another fine topic of conversation in the late hour), don’t get too hammered and spill all your secrets and big ideas to the love of your life, or to a tree. So grab a beer, a mate, and get talking.

He’s already led the 1sts to a mighty 70-0 victory over Edinburgh, but where does this Cuth’s man’s allegiances lie when it comes to Cheryl Cole, Jane’s and Disney films?

The most embarrassing Durham moment to date is…

a naked dash from Maiden Castle to the DSU. And it was in broad daylight.

The hottest sportswomen in Durham are…

The lacrosse girls.

Cheryl Cole or Gisele?…

Cheryl. Definitely.

The location of a top Durham date would be…

Costa or Café Nero.

Is being a first team rugby player a regular chat up line?…

No. Because the charm does the talking! But if they happen to ask…

Keeping fit during the holidays is done by…

Playing for my local club, the Edinburgh Accies.

A protein shake or a steak?…

Ideally a steak every time but that’s unrealistic when we have to eat four to five meals a day.

The most inspiring rugby player is…

Brian O’Driscoll
If it wasn’t rugby it would be…

Golf.

Women’s rugby is…

A great addition to university sport and I completely support it!

£1000 to spend in Durham would be blown at…

Coral’s betting shop. On the red.

Would you put your money on a rower or a cricketer to win a fight?…

The amount of time they spend in the gym and their size means I would back the rower every time.

The Lion King or Aladdin?…

I’ve got a lot of time for both. It’s a very close call but The Lion King has to be the narrow winner.

The best club in Durham is…

Loveshack on a Wednesday night.

Would a year’s worth of free Jane’s or free Sky Sport be more tempting?

Considering the guilt of last night’s post-Loveshack kebab, I would opt for Sky Sport!

Intelligent, charismatic Ted; The smarter version of YouTube

I am in love with Ted… Charismatic, intelligent, smart, funny, confident, inspiring Ted. Ted and I are a match made in heaven. I even want to be like Ted. Ted is a musician, a brain surgeon, a bio-economist, a philanthropist, and so much more. Ted makes my pulse race and casts a spell over me every time we meet. Oh Ted, how I adore you.
Unfortunately, Ted is not a tall, dark and handsome man after all, but a non-profit organisation dedicated to the “Spread of Ideas”.
The website www.ted.com is a treasure trove of speeches by some of the most interesting people on earth, allowing them to communicate what they are most passionate about, untainted by corporate influence.
Each hortatory ‘TED’ talk starts with a bang and keeps banging ‘til it explodes in fireworks. It’s completely addictive, and even if you do spend all day watching videos, you know you’ve been expanding your mind and educating yourself in ways you  could never expect.
TED (which stands for ‘Technology, Entertainment, Design’) was founded in 1984 by the architect Richard Saul Wurman and his partners. Their first conference included one of the first demonstrations of the Macintosh computer and the compact disc.
In 2001, TED was acquired and is now run by Chris Anderson, the New Media entrepreneur who started Business 2.0, among other magazines and Web sites.
Giving a TED talk has become an opportunity for name-in-lights speakers to throw down, set forth “ideas worth spreading” and prove their intellectual heroism.
Speakers as acclaimed as Bill Clinton, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates and Isabel Allende have all given speeches at these conferences, but what is great about TED is that it brings you ideas and novel thought from people you’ve never heard of, but could – and quite often should – change the world with their findings.
I myself came across the website whilst researching Alain De Botton, a brilliant philosophical author of our modern times. The first ever TED I watched was one of his own talks featured on the site. He examines our ideas of success and failure – and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure?  What even is failure these days?
The video itself sent me reeling. The quote in de Botton’s message that made me really cheer was this;
I learnt from his video that comparison to others is something that plagues human beings in general. But what we compare ourselves by is unfortunately boiled down to common tools that don’t include the myriad experiences of success.
It appears that once you start watching TED talks, ordinary life falls away. The politicians, news readers and the celebrities normally on our screens crumble away, and a new in-crowd emerges: the one that loves Linux, organic produce, behavioural economics, Flickr, transhistorical theories and An Inconvenient Truth.
I love their greed for hope, their confidence in ingenuity, their organised but goofy ways of talking and thinking.
TED supplies its speakers with strict guidelines. “Start strong” is the most obvious one, and there is virtually no throat clearing or contrived thanking. Instead, speakers blaze onto the stage like stand-up comics, hellbent on room domination.
Some consult notes and stay close by their audiovisual equipment. PowerPoint is used for emphasis, but it never directs the talks, while others pace, spread their arms wide and take up space.
No one apologises for himself. No one fails to make jokes. The appreciative room roars at humour, when they’re not literally oohing and aahing at such insight.
Some show off inventions, others show off musical talent, some show you how to be happy, others how to survive a nuclear explosion. The variety is always surprising.
All videos are categorised according to their effects: Rated jaw-dropping, persuasive,  courageous, ingenious, fascinating, inspiring, beautiful, funny, informative. And also by certain themes: How We Learn, Unconventional Explanations, What Makes Us Happy? and so on.
My personal favourites so far, though I have yet to watch them all, are: Nancy Etcoff on the surprising science of happiness,Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice, Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives, Emily Oster who flips our thinking on AIDS in Africa, and Helen Fisher telling us why we love and cheat.
Online bloggers like to discuss which TED talks are the best too, and their idiosyncratic lists are often more interesting than the “Most Popular” category on the site. Nam-ho Park has a good list on www.strangesystems.com, as does Tara Hunt at www.horsepigcow.com. The TED group on Facebook is another great place to discuss these talks.
So sit back, load a video, and get psyched.