Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Sally Le Page the British student studying Biological Sciences at Oxford University working on evolutionary theory and reproduction has won the Guardian/OUP Very Short Film competition. An article in The Guardian states “Sally Le Page has taken first prize at the Guardian and Oxford University Press (OUP) Very Short Film competition. She was awarded £9,000 towards tuition fees for her minute-long film about evolution in a ceremony at the Guardian’s London headquarters. Three runners-up each received a £250 voucher for OUP books. The competition challenged students to make films inspired by the Very Short Introduction book series – no more than 60 seconds long. Thousands of Guardian readers voted to select four finalists, with the judging panel deciding the winner. Chair of the Judges, Judy Friedberg, the Guardian’s universities editor, said: “All those that were selected for the final 12 were excellent and I’d like to congratulate everyone who made the cut on their talent and skill. “Sally Le Page’s film on evolution is an energetic and uplifting piece, with strong use of typography and great communication skills. In fact, Sally would make a wonderful TV presenter.” After winning the prize, Sally said: “I wanted to make my film about evolution because life is the most interesting thing in the universe – and we can’t understand life without understanding evolution. Most people know what evolution is, but not how important it is. And that’s what I wanted to get across in my video.” Sally, a third-year biology student at Oxford, is set begin a PhD in evolutionary theory later this year. She said: “When I was little I spent all my time in the garden playing around with frogs or watching David Attenborough programmes on TV. Increasingly, evolution is being threatened by creationism – and that’s threatening biology. So it’s important that we have an understanding of what it is.”

Inspired by Sally Le Page, The Guardian ow.ly/jBeYg Image source Twitter ow.ly/jBeXE

Kill the bitch and eliminate the litter (October 22nd)

Camila Antonia Amaranta Vallejo Dowling the 23 year old Chilean student movement leader during the recent Chilean protests that met with ferocious police opposition, has succeeded in obtaining a Supreme Court order instructing police to provide her with protection following death threats. Vallejo is considered an influential icon of modern Chile, seen by some as the successor to the symbolic Gladys Marín. Vallejo is a active member of the ‘Juventudes Comunistas de Chile’ (Chilean Communist Youth), and is the president of the Federación de Estudiantes de la Universidad de Chile (FECh) (Student Federation of the University of Chile). Vallejo a geography student was blamed by the government for the protests, and was attacked by squad vehicles firing jets of tear gas and water, setting off chemical allergic reactions resulting in welts and respiratory conditions.

Inspired by Mac Margolis http://ow.ly/6SiX9 image source profesorbaker http://ow.ly/6Sju6