Norman Ralph

This post could be a long one if I included everything that happened at Atheist Society’s Rationalist Week 2008. A pretty good run down of everything that went wrong for us can be found here so I won’t include them in this account. I want to focus on the positive sides and more of the human interest aspects of the week.

Chris, the retiring president, wrote this account of the week, well worth checking out. My version of the week follows here.

The week got off to a bad start, the tent was late and the generator needed fetching, and we were late starting. There were hiccups during the rest of the week, not least of them me being ill, but in general the week got better. A lot better.

We signed up a lot of people, didn’t lose too much money and our events ran smoothly for an A-Soc event but the ultimate success came from within the society. We finally got people involved, found leaders from within our ranks, something we have been sorely lacking the past two years.

We reached a lot of people during the week, I would estimate that we probably developed our brand to over a thousand staff, students and members of the public during the week and that we physically spoke to well over a hundred (excluding all night debate) and signed up a quarter of those that came into the tent. The membership numbers now rival our competitors and should hopefully mean we can start playing with the big boys in terms of politics and campaigning as well as securing some decent funding for the year!

The highlights for me included the CU debate, where again we out argued the opposition and should have come away with the victory had the crowd not been partisan, and the internal debate on the Flying Spaghetti Monster where the key flaws in religious argument were highlighted and exposed. In fact, most of the events went well – especially the evening ones. Once again Mike Lake was excellent and converted some fence sitters.

My personal highlight however, was the friends and friendships that I forged and strengthened during the week. The improved ties we developed with the CU and other societies. The fact that I think our message got across. Atheist Society is not about religion bashing or telling people they are wrong, but to offer an alternative that wasn’t available.

It was a success that didn’t kill us financially.

We finally pulled off an event that was worthy of the work that went into it.

Well done all!

It is not often that St Patrick’s Day and Easter are in the same week! What’s going on here??!!

The end of the term is approaching, Easter break starts today and I have to say it can’t come quick enough. The last week has been a chore and I have developed an apathy for life that just isn’t healthy. The chance to recharge and catch up on reading, essays etc is well overdue!

The week started with Rocky Horror on Monday which went atrociously, A-Soc on Tuesday wasn’t much better – although it was a chance to see all four of the atheist characters (Dawkins, Dennet, Hitchins and Harris) sat round a table, Wednesday was School Disco (post to follow) and yesterday was a recovery day with One Life virtually being a non-event. Today has also been a write off, although I have managed to tidy quite a bit.

I hate this limbo period where my drive has gone, but it is not yet officially holiday!

I have decided to stand for Faith and Culture Rep within the union. This is my mnaifesto…

My name is Norman Ralph and I want to represent you as Faith and Culture Representative for the next academic year!

I am a 4th year student, currently studying Computing and Management. I have a number of years sitting on society committees and relish the opportunity to step up to this unique challenge.

I feel I have the skills and understanding necessary to best represent the diverse group of societies that make up this assembly. I realise the need to combine our strengths yet highlight out uniqueness. I believe that this is best achieved through a combination of inter-society cooperation and support for your individual events.

Why me?

l Vote for me and I will improve communication by:
 Replying to emails within 3 days.
 Becoming the point of contact for more inquiries.
 Working with the Development Coordinator to reduce the turnaround on requests.

l Vote for me and I will improve inter-society cooperation by:
 Ensuring that all societies can contact each other easily.
 Working with societies to increase the number of inter-society events.
 Setting up a Faith and Culture forum to share best practice.

l Vote for me and I will highlight the needs of our societies by:
 Vigorously representing your views at the Societies Executive.
 Ensuring fair and equal access to union facilities.
 Fighting for your funding.

Vote for me. Vote for your future.

Dammit, Janet. I hate Rocky Horror.

Until recently I have always categorised Rocky Horror Picture Show as a kitsch film for kitsch people. I have never really had strong feelings for it either way – I could take it or leave it.

Last night we ran a Rocky Horror Night complete with props and audience participation in order to try and raise funds for Rationalist Week. However, we only sold 1/4 of the tickets we had, so ended up losing over £200 on the night! There were some small successes, a) we actually managed to pull the night off logistically and b) the people that turned up had a good time, especially at the after party at Fab Cafe (a chain of bars owned by Rocky creator Richard O’Brien).

The night post Rocky Horror was generally amusing, Chris got drunk, Sarann got chatted up by some weird stranger and Liz flashed everyone! The hardcore Rocky fans who came down to Fab were nice enough and we ended up having a decent night. The only real downside is that a large part of me wishes the night hadn’t happened in the first place.

The original plan was for us to hold two fundraisers this week, Rocky Horror was supposed to pay for the two events and School Disco was to earn the profits for Rationalist Week. Now, School Disco needs to sell out to make just enough money for us pay off the events costs and run a bare bones Rationalist Week!

Yes, it’s that time of year again – A-Soc started planning this year’s Rationalist Week in Earnest yesterday, getting a provisional timetable together and starting to look at the budget. The event is likely to cost in the region of £1500, of which the Union’s grant will cover maybe £200-300, which means we will have to raise the rest ourselves. Yesterday’s cake sale was a good start but we need a lot more money.

A-Soc is looking into running a Rocky Horror Picture Show Night and a couple of club nights to break the back of the fundraising. We are also looking for sponsors, both private and corporate who might be interested in getting involved. So if anybody has any ideas or would like to contribute let me know!

It is a great event, check out the posts about it from last April.

Well the main news for today was going to be about the success of Darwin Day 2008, A-Soc’s annual celebration of the birth of Charles Darwin. Sarann and Michelle kindly spent their weekend baking the most delightful selection of cakes – crispy cakes, fairy cakes, Victoria sponge, chocolate cake, banana bread, scones, cookies, shortbread, flapjack and ginger bread men!

We spent the day outside the union foyer selling these cakes and generally spreading the word about the life and work of Charles Darwin and how his theory of evolution by natural selection is still influencing us today. I presented a discussion on how this theory works within the idea of social evolution and how society and altruism within that society is a result of Darwinian evolution, not a contradiction!

As I said, this was going to be the main news – however, when Chris and I returned from the A-Soc social this evening we tripped over a pair of shoes and a bag in the hallway and then noticed a strange coat on the hangers! Intrigue was in the air as B has been away and Chris and I were out – leaving Michelle or Sarann to have visitors. The lounge was empty and their was no reply from downstairs. The plot thickened…

On closer inspection we determined the stuff belonged to a boy! Secret boys in the house. Who had the mysterious visitor in their rooms? Well, on logging onto MSN I discovered Michelle was online and soon came downstairs on hearing the news! This left one suspect… Sarann!

The list of possible candidates for the secret boy is short – there are very few people that Sarann would have round without telling Michelle at the least. In fact, only one name springs to mid. The same boy that stayed over just recently – supposedly on the sofa – after inviting himself round.

I have been informed that revealing the secret boy would be unethical, so I won’t mention his name, but anyone who knows the people involved should be able to guess!

Jack, a colleague from the School of Computing, returns to Australia tomorrow following a year’s study here in Leeds. The impact that he has had on the school, and university as a whole, is quite remarkable as was evident by the turnout at his leaving do on Sunday. He must have attracted more than thirty people from the school, archery society, ju jitsu society and atheist society. This level of impact is something I have not encountered since school when we had temproray pupils from New Zealand every year on a rugby exchange.

I often wonder if the impact i have on those around me would be as noticeable as Jack’s. This Summer will see a large transition period in many of our lives. A lot of my friends will be graduating in June and moving on to bigger and better things and as much as everyone promises to keep in touch Jack, I think the actual number will be relatively low. Will this occur amongst the circle? How many of us will remain such close friends once we move apart. I think the numbers, again, will be fairly small. This thought upsets me a little as many of the relationships I have forged over the past four years are dear to me and will not be easily recreated.

Then there is the matter of housing…

I will be leaving my current house in June after a good three years here. Living with the girls in the first two had its ups and downs but it was a defining time of my university career. The last six months, and hopefully the next six, have been really good. Having housemates that I enjoy living with has been a revelation!

I am looking at moving up slightly in the world with my next house and get something a little less studenty and more family orientated. I have been looking at houses outside of the main student areas as the rent is comparable and you geta lot more for your money. The problem I face, however, is who to live with?

Well as of today I have no more exams until June! From Monday I will be back into the swing of everyday university life, something I am surprisingly looking forward to. Examination periods, although a necessary evil, do tend to ensure that I get well behind on other projects – such as CompSoc and A-Soc stuff I have to do, coursework that is due and personal relationships that are starved somewhat of attention.

I think the exams went well enough and I am confident of good passes ina ll the exams with hopefully a few fists dotted in for good measure. They will, of course, be meaningless as this year is entirely formative but I think they are a good indicater of progress and allow for some positive feedback and constructive criticism from the teaching staff.

Speaking of results, best wishes to all those who are waiting on significantly more important results with regards to their degree courses and ultimately their career choices! I hope that you all get what you need to make sure you get where you want to be!

Well, my first exam of this year starts in a little under seven hours and I am still awake. Don’t get me wrong, I am as prepared as I ever have been for an exam. I actually am convinced that I will get a very high mark regardless of the question that come up even bearing in mind I have not taken an essay based exam paper since my GCSEs in 2001! I am just suffering from pre-exam nerves, or possibly over stimulation from the fact that I have been feeding my brain philosophy and logic for a week solid now…. Who knows?

On a slightly different note, A-Soc had a screening of The Da Vinci Code which was a welcome break from the seemingly endless reading, writing and watching CSI! There was a modest turnout, we managed three, which is not too surprising as it is the first week of exam week and the first real week back to work for most of our adult members. Even though, I was hoping for more – watching a video is not exactly taxing and even at nearly two and half hours long, it doesn’t fill up too much of an evening. We did a new face turning up so not a total watse of time. It’s not a bad film either in all honesty. it doesn’t get the reviews it deserves and most people I know slate it due to the variation from the book. To be totally frank though, the film is good. It is well acted, benefits from the screenplay differences and is a genuinely enthralling conspiracy thriller. Slate it if you dare. Plus Dan Brown is a twit, a profit mongering, semi-talented, sell-out of an author; for whom I have infinite respect. I wish I could churn out that kind of material with little effort or quality and make the kind of money he does!

1000 – 0230

I managed nearly twelve hours of game time today. rushing through to level 17, doing all the pre-deadmines quests and farming for gold.

The pace is still relatively slow but most people are ready for DM now with the exception of George who had his CHristmas party today. I am sure we will all manage level 20 by end of play tomorrow.

I was wondering whether I will continue this protection specced paladin after the marathon, bearing in mind I have a level 41 paladin on another server (although a different specification). I am getting used to the character now and I am loathed to give up on him, but as I mentioned I have a similar character and I have played most of the quests to death.

Anyway, I am starting to feel the pain of the marathon now. I have slept for less than 10 hours in total since we started and barely eaten – except for the A-Soc dinner this evening.