→ The Scars Of The Past
Minority Wins the Vote? Since When?
“Dear Students
The resolution reported by Academic Administration is that there will be NO SATURDAY examinations held.
The results from students votes in the SRC poll were as follows:
No Saturday exams 810
Yes to Saturday exams 817
No strong opinion either way 135
The SRC presented these results to Academic Administration and Senior Management. Given that the results of the poll were inconclusive, the resolution sought to benefit the majority of students. The draft time-table is to be released later this afternoon.
Regards
Your SRC”
Not long ago, that message was posted within the SRC group pertaining to the number of votes of whether or not Saturdays should be used to write because of the Seven Day Adventist Christian society; now, being catholic, myself, I’ve had to come to university and make a lot of adjustments and sacrifices when it came to religion, because, let’s be realistic here, your religion is not going to get you a job. Education will, a degree will. And what the SRC have failed to mention, is that with the ruling of the MINORITY of having no Saturdays for the writing of exams, our SWOT week has been taken away. What SWOT week is, is a week in which students are given time off from Practical sessions and lectures so that they are able to study for the up, coming exams; and hell, we all know how stressful those days are, especially when they approach and you find you have a timetable of an exam one after the other. Being a student of science, I know this is going to be potentially lethal as during the last week of term, the lecturers give us assignments, reports, tests, you name it, while we still have to take part in the practical times; how on earth are we, science students, let alone the other students with heavy schedules, going to survive? Is Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, looking for a way to fail their students to prevent those who have taken hard, time-demanding subjects?
But, of course, the university can only be partly blamed for this heresy and sacrilegious act, as it was but the SRC who decided to have this “vote” after many years where the system was kept the same, working efficiently without complaints from the majority of the students. The SRC are the Student Representative Council who are supposed to voice the opinions of students to the body of the university; however, I sure as hell can say that they have failed to do such a thing. Since when does the majority lose a democratic vote, even if it is by only a few votes? If that were the case, we would have many presidents in the world who weren’t supposed to be in parliament because the majority got only a few more votes than the minority.
I am utterly disgruntled by this poor, poor display of student representation. The university was running fine with regards to the exam time tables before they showed up and started changing everything. My only guess would be that there was a Seventh Day Adventist on the council who voiced such a stupid opinion about Saturday exams, when they are given the option to write in the evening, although not comfortable, but they are here for education, not to inflict their religion on others. What about the Muslim, Islamic, and Hindu people as well who are at the university? Why don’t we just not write exams on days that they have their holy preparations? To me, if you’re going to stand behind some stupid comments, as I have seen in this group from the Adventists saying that it is God’s Will and Way, then allow other religions to do the same and do not be so supportive of only one.
As I have mentioned, I am catholic, I have been confirmed, baptized, and received my Holy Communion, yet it is people like this, the extremists who think they religion should trump all, that grates me. I mean, without some of the limitations that religion has placed on the world, medicines would be far more advanced than what they are now; we would be curing the incurable with stem cell research and other medical discoveries. It is when religious people take their opinions to a higher level that I start to lose respect in it all, because they honestly do not know the best for others, and should stop trying to inflict their religion on others, and crying about something if it clashes with such Holy days.
I do hope the university fixes this, otherwise a lot of students are going to be screwed.
The Little Things that Happen…
When you decide to die, little things begin to happen. You stop looking both ways before you cross the street, you start answering the door without asking who’s there. You don’t hold onto the railing when you go down the escalator, you don’t buckle your seat belt. You play with matches. You smoke, and breathe it in, actually praying it will make a difference. Deciding to die is actually almost nice, in a way. You stop caring. Even if you are not pro-actively looking for ways to kill yourself, you stop looking for ways to survive.
(Source: loveamongowls, via takemyhand-showmetheway)
A Drink Between Two Friends
This is a picture of a typical South African “boer” game ranger enjoying a sunny afternoon with a close friend. Many conversations were had along with a soothing bottle of alcohol at the ready. As one can see, the duo enjoyed a thrilling conversation, at the end of the bottle, that ended up in the babboon howling with laughter, and the Afrikaans game ranger left almost perplexed…
Another Astounding Victory for South Africa’s Bokke!
The South African fans were out in full force, waving banners of green and gold for their team. There was no doubt that the atmosphere surrounding the stadium was paramount.
It was another day of rugby for the two-time champions that hail from South Africa. Sporting the classic green and gold of the Springbok rugby jersey, the South African squad filed onto the fields of the stadium situated in North Shore, of the host country, New Zealand. The stadium rose and roared their cheers for their teams, with an approximation of 26 000 people filling the stadium of North Shore, colouring the exuberant atmosphere with Mexican Waves that swept across the grounds during the various stages of the match. The fans showed their support for their home teams with a never ending supply of deafening screams and cheers.
South Africa vs. Namibia was to be a match where everyone knew who would be victorious in this struggle between the two African nations; however, as it has been proven before – there is still hope that the underdog side can still be triumphant (as was seen in the emphatic victory of the Irish against the Australian rugby team). Unfortunately for Namibia, they were to find themselves locked in a losing battle against a team filled with true champions that were finally starting to show their mind-blowing skills and daunting teamwork, unlike the floundering and flailing that was seen during the very first match that South Africa played against Wales, where the champions walked away with only a one point difference for their victory.
The match definitely swung in the favour of the South African Bokke as they scored try after try, using the large ventures of the field and surprising the Namibians with an undying amount of energy that just enabled them to keep running forwards. In the end of the full 80 minute match, Namibian heads were lowered while the cries and cheers of South Africans celebrated the whitewash victory of 87 – 0.
In all honesty, the South African win was to be expected from the reigning champions. The team, as a whole, seemed to be well-constructed and tuned in to work as a single unit where defence was maintained and the offense was almost rampant. Although, the first half of the match did not show a very well-refined, capable group of champions, words exchanged during half time by the coach, Peter de Villiers, definitely sent forth a team of fiery spirited players, who utterly crushed their opposition during the second half, that seemed to show a nasty hunger for scoring try after try. The last quarter of the match proved to be the most exhilarating for the Bok squad as a flurry of tries were scored by the world champions, pushing them to the highest tally of the World Cup to date.
Even though the South African rugby team claimed their victory with such a considerable point difference, there are still a lot of areas for concern that need to be addressed for their up and coming match against the mighty Samoans (who almost define the word: “physical”). When trying to keep the opposition from scoring, South Africa players seem to be missing too many tackles, which, inevitably, gives the other team enough leg room to surge forwards and pass to the supporting runners. Namibia ended up breaking nine tackles during the first half, which, when considering how little ball they actually got, is quite a lot.
When on offense, the Bokke seemed to struggle (on occasion) to keep the ball in their hands; when it comes to offloading and general passing, this can sometimes be a sloppy trait associated with the South African squad of champions. Field awareness needs to be taken into consideration, as well as who and where each of the supporting runners are, should the pass need to be made. With slopping passing, and dropping the ball, interceptions can easily be made, which can turn a match around in the blink of an eye – especially when up against top teams, such as the All Blacks (New Zealand).
However, with such a tremendous victory, which almost shot into the triple figures, one should not simply speculate too much on the negative issues and manner of play, but should rather acknowledge the players and the team as a whole. The fact of the matter still remains, the South African Springbokke made a definite come back from the disappointing first match against Wales, even though, as mentioned before, the first half of this game proved to show an almost dismal result for the champion team. One of the biggest positives upon this sensational night of World Cup Rugby was the undeniable confidence that the team demonstrated as a unit, with thanks to the outstanding win against Fiji last week, 17th September 2011. After the gruelling task of keeping the Namibian team down and away from their try line, for the first hour of the match, the South Africans were rewarded by the “fun” runs and uplifting morale that was definitely shared amongst all the players. This boost of energy whipped through the last 20 minutes of the game, where the green and golden boys kept flying over the Namibian try line almost after every restart of the match. This last 20 minutes looked as if the Boks were simply walking over their opposition like a domineering, conquering army with only one intention in their minds.
As many thought, the Namibians played an extremely physical game at the start, however, the South African side were on the board just after three minutes into the first half, when Morne Steyn sent the ball flying through the goals due to a penalty kick. After that, it seemed that the idea of being on the scoreboard increased the South African spirit and wiped away any sort of complacency that the team would have offered to the Namibians in order to give them a competitive match.
Captain John Smith, of South Africa, passing the ball in the Pool B match of South Africa vs. Namibia at North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand (22 September 2011)
- Photo by: Hannah Johnston/Getty Images
A brilliant performance was shown by all the players; however, Francois Hougaard is a man that definitely needs some special recognition for the outstanding game play and diversity of positions in this game. Starting off in the position of scrumhalf, for the first three quarters of the match, this magnificent athlete was switched to wing later on in the game. Here he managed to score two amazing tries. Hougaard seemed to be the most elusive player on the squad. However, Hougaard did not reveal his outstanding diversity in position before the famous Bryan Habana had scored and claimed the shared title of being one of South Africa’s highest scoring players, alongside some of the best ex-players South Africa has ever produced.
For a long period of time, South Africans have all been waiting with bated breath for Habana to finally demolish Joost van der Westhuizen’s record for the number of tries scored for his country. Many hoped that he would accomplish this feat against the less experienced Namibians, which is precisely what he did – accompanied by the aid of the flat, quick passes by Schalk Burger and Danie Rossouw. The succession of these accurate passes seemed to open up a gap for Habana to shoot through and run for almost 40 metres in order to successfully score his 39th try in the grand green and gold jersey of South Africa.
The forwards of the Springbok team seemed to be the main factor that built up the foundation for such a success against Namibia. Paving the way for a total annihilation, Willem Alberts, Schalk Burger and Danie Rossouw each took their turns to bash their way through the middle of the Namibian defences. Faced with this unequal amount of strength and sheer power, the Namibians were almost left hopeless against this crushing force.
Overall, the try-scorers of the match were: Gio Aplon (2 tries), Bryan Habana (Penalty Try), Jaque Fourie (1 try), Frans Steyn (1 try), Morne Steyn (1 try), Juan de Jongh (2 tries), Danie Rossouw (1 try), and Francois Hougaard (2 tries). This definitely demonstrates the selfless attitudes of the Bok players as the ball was handed from player to player in order to gain the end 12 tries. Morne Steyn definitely had a brilliant kicking game, converting 6 of the scored tries, and the one penalty, with a 100% kicking rate. Towards the end of the game, Ruan Pienaar was brought on as M.Steyn’s replacement and continued to this amazing kicking streak by converting the other 6 tries with a 100% kicking rate.
South Africa is definitely making it clear who the real champions of World-class rugby are. Sending a clear message out to the rest of the countries that have their eyes set on the trophy, South Africa seem to be looking in fine condition to take up the competition. Hopefully we will see this lively multi-racial nation defend the World Cup and become the first country to successfully defend the World Cup and win the trophy in two consecutive World Cups.
Best of Luck, Bokke. Bring home the gold!
Juan de Jongh of South Africa is seen celebrating scoring a try with Gio Aplon against African neighbour, Namibia at North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand (22 September 2011).
- Photo by: Sandra Mu/Getty Images
