My Reasons For Considering This
As a Sheffield United fan this is an issue that has present in my life for the past 3 years. Evans was our best player, and it is pretty certain that we'd have been promoted had he not missed the last half a dozen or so games due to being in prison.
Obviously I do not condone rape or anything like that, but what annoys me is his difficulty in finding a return to football now he's served his sentence. There are players currently playing who have been found guilty of rape numerous times and players who've been convicted of murder, and so I see it unfair that Evans is being made an example of, especially given the dubious nature in which he was convicted.
That said, I also think a line needs to be drawn under the issue, and so doing a project based around it seems quite hypocritical.
30 May 2011 Ched Evans is arrested on suspicion of sexual assault at a Premier Inn near Rhyl, north Wales. He was charged with rape two months later, along with former team-mate Clayton McDonald.
20 April 2012 Evans is jailed for five years for rape as McDonald is acquitted of the same charge. Evans maintains his innocence but is released by Sheffield United at end of season. Loses subsequent appeal.
18 April 2014 A 165,000-signature petition urges the Blades not to re-sign the striker on his release.
17 October Evans is released from prison after serving half his sentence. The 25-year-old states he will fight to clear his name and wants to return to professional football.
11 November Sheffield United confirm Evans will train with them. TV presenter Charlie Webster stands down as a patron.
12 November Sheffield MP Paul Blomfield urges United to change their decision as the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, also a Sheffield MP, says the club must “think long and hard” before letting Evans play again.
13 November Olympic champion and Blades fan Jessica Ennis-Hill asks for her name to be removed from a Bramall Lane stand should Evans be offered a contract. She is then sent rape-threat tweets.
20 November United retract their offer for Evans to train with the club.
1 December Oldham deny offering Evans the chance to train with them following reports linking him to the League One club.
20 December Hartlepool United manager Ronnie Moore announces he would like to sign Evans. Two days later the League Two club release a statement saying they will not be signing the player.
3 January 2015 After he was denied the chance to return with Maltese side Hibernians, it is revealed Evans has been in fresh talks with Oldham. A number of sponsors threaten to cut ties with the club.
7 January Oldham owner Simon Corney says there is an “80 per cent” chance Evans will join. Labour sports spokesman Clive Efford urges the FA to block the deal.
8 January Oldham pull out of the signing.
Good Articles
The Guardian 23/4/2012 - Twitters Reaction To The Case
The Morning Star 19/11/2014 - Brief History Of Footballers Crimes and Problems With Evans' Potential Return To Sheffield United
The Independent 20/12/2014 - Reasons For And Against Evans Potential Signing For Hartlepool United
The Independent 8/1/2015 - Why Evans' Almost Certain Move To Oldham Athletic Fell Through
Final Thoughts
The law provides rape victims lifelong anonymity, and rightly so. But because of this the story is only reported from the side of Evans, and we never hear anything from the victims point of view. This makes it very easy to look at anyone wanting him to play again and say "you condone rape and are targeting an innocent young woman", which isn't something I want to happen to me. The second article talks about chants from Bramall Lane (Sheffield United's stadium) of "he shags who he wants", and idiotic things like this don't help.
From an ethical standpoint I wouldn't have a problem with doing this project, because of how I feel about it personally. It reminds me of a quote about thinking relatively I read from a book about ethics for COP.
"The result of this way of thinking is that a design project cannot be deemed good or bad in itself. It can be said to be good or bad when considered against the circumstances that created it, or by applying a variety of different criteria"
However, this isn't a view which I would expect other people on the course, tutors or fellow students to endorse, and doing a project of this nature might make for difficult conversations or situations when getting feedback, and I feel like following this project up might cause some people to change their opinions of me for the worse. For these reasons I won't be following it up, despite wanting to.
At it's most stripped back and simplest form, people might look at me and think, "he's trying to find a rapist a job, great".
Endangered Giant Pandas
My Reasons For Considering This
I've always been interested in animals, and love going to zoos and safari parks. My favourite animals when I was younger were pandas and giraffes. They're an endangered species, with a study in 2004 showed that there were less than 1,600 left in the wild. Seeing them go extinct would see a part of my childhood gone.
I remember watching a wildlife programme a few years ago where one of the presenters (I forget who, but it wasn't Attenborough) was talking about how impractical it is to continue using WWF's resources to struggle to keep pandas from extinction when there are other species out there that could benefit more from the resources.
- The giant panda has been the WWF logo since 1961.
- Their habitats are important to the geographical and economic layout of China. Having a sustainable habitat for pandas benefits the Chinese people.
- Pandas are hunted for their fur, although this is decreasing because of stricter laws being put in place and greater education in China about pandas.
- The Chinese government has established reserves for pandas, but only about 60% of the panda population actually inhabit the reserves.
- The unprotected habitats are being cut down for roads and train lines etc because of how big China is and how fast it is developing.
- Captive breeding of pandas is slowly becoming more successful despite pandas being notoriously hard to breed.
Good Articles
Final Thoughts
A few years ago I looked round Edinburgh University before making my uni applications. Whilst I was there I went to the zoo and saw the 2 pandas that are currently there, and I found them as interesting and intriguing as I imagine I would have when I was younger. Pandas are still something I'm interested in.
Quotes like the below from the top article are the sort of things that I could specifically campaign against given the progress that is being made with panda conservation.
"The truth is, pandas are extraordinarily expensive to keep going. We spend millions and millions of pounds on pretty much this one species, and a few others, when we know that the best thing we could do would be to look after the world's biodiversity hotspots with greater care. Without habitat, you've got nothing. So maybe if we took all the cash we spend on pandas and just bought rainforest with it, we might be doing a better job."
-Chris Packham (Naturalist and Autumnwatch Presenter)
The innocence of the project is something that makes it easier to talk about during crits, and I won't have to defend it like I would do the Ched Evans thing.
Highlighting The Importance Of Taking Statins On The NHS
My Reasons For Considering This
The man pictured above is my grandad, Dr John Revill. Over the past 3 years I have been helping him collate and publish the results of his heart disease, hear attack and stroke treatment and prevention over the past 30 years. He was doing differently to other GP's in the country but to a greater success. He used drugs called statins to do this.
Last summer, after it was finally published, his research and practice influenced all sorts of national medical guidelines after he'd caused deaths from cardiovascular causes in his patients to drop by nearly 90% from 1982 to 2012.
Knowing how much it costs hospitals to treat heart attack, heart disease and stroke patients through conversations with my grandad, I know this will save a hundreds of millions of pounds for the NHS, as well as lengthening the lives of many people. Having grown up seeing my grandma on the other side of the family recovering from a stroke, I appreciate how important this issue is and am incredibly proud to have played a part in the process of getting these changes implemented.
Because the change has only been recently been implemented, people may need convincing of the important of taking the statins. Not only that, but apparently some GP's need convincing to start prescribing them.
Good Articles
The Independent 20/7/2014 - An Introduction To My Grandads Work
British Journal of Cardiology, June 2014 - The Published Article That Led To The Changes
Highlighting The Importance Of Taking Statins On The NHS
My Reasons For Considering This
The man pictured above is my grandad, Dr John Revill. Over the past 3 years I have been helping him collate and publish the results of his heart disease, hear attack and stroke treatment and prevention over the past 30 years. He was doing differently to other GP's in the country but to a greater success. He used drugs called statins to do this.
Last summer, after it was finally published, his research and practice influenced all sorts of national medical guidelines after he'd caused deaths from cardiovascular causes in his patients to drop by nearly 90% from 1982 to 2012.
Knowing how much it costs hospitals to treat heart attack, heart disease and stroke patients through conversations with my grandad, I know this will save a hundreds of millions of pounds for the NHS, as well as lengthening the lives of many people. Having grown up seeing my grandma on the other side of the family recovering from a stroke, I appreciate how important this issue is and am incredibly proud to have played a part in the process of getting these changes implemented.
Because the change has only been recently been implemented, people may need convincing of the important of taking the statins. Not only that, but apparently some GP's need convincing to start prescribing them.
Good Articles
The Independent 20/7/2014 - An Introduction To My Grandads Work
British Journal of Cardiology, June 2014 - The Published Article That Led To The Changes
The graphs in the second article were the first things I did for this cause over 2 and a half years ago.
Final Thoughts
Whilst this cause is undoubtedly the most important of the 3, I also think that there is the least potential content and room for creativity. I think it's an issue that's potentially too serious to try and influence through graphic design without having a full understanding of the subject. Despite being involved in it somewhat, I feel like it would be far too time consuming to gain enough knowledge and understanding on the subject to be able to use this as a basis for my project.
